Think About It
Think About It[1]
by Khenchen Ngawang Palzang
Guru, my only father, one with Drimé Özer—[2]
Commander of the Teachings of Scripture and Realization—[3]
Not just now, but in all my lives
Please fill my heart with the blessings of the ultimate mind-to-mind lineage!
I offer one more piece of advice to my vajra friends.
Now that you have obtained the dear treasure of the freedoms and advantages,
If you haven’t thrown yourself into Dharma with joy and inspiration,
Then, what will come from your distractions and busyness? Think about it.[4]
In this ephemeral, shifting, and illusory city,
If deep down, you cannot accept impermanence,
Then, what will come from believing things last and planning down the line? Think about it.
If you don’t rouse renunciation after seeing the true character[5]
Of the three worlds’ painful nature, from top to bottom,
Then, what will come from pretending to enter the path? Think about it.[6]
If you don’t experience the faith of conviction[7]
In the reliability of karmic causality and interdependence,
Then, what will come from pretending to be an authentic practitioner? Think about it.
What’s more, beings in these degenerate times
Cannot be trusted; they offer nothing but deceptive illusions.
Talented in mendacious games, whatever they say, it isn’t true.
If you fall in with them, all kinds of negativities will grow.
In light of all this, it’s time you have a talk with yourself.
Stand on your own two feet.[8] That’s my heart-advice.
However noble your worldly activities may be,
While it all seems so real, ultimately, none of it exists; that’s for sure.
So, forget about your experiences in this life.
Far better to throw yourself into the holy, liberating Dharma!
If you don’t make the Dharma your life[9]
Is there any benefit in all your friendly relations? Really look.
If you can’t get yourself onto the road to freedom,
How can others force you onto it?
Among all the people you cross paths with
Are any of them on the path to freedom? Really look.
All the worldly activities you will do in this life
Have no benefit now or later.
So, these things to do in saṃsāra—streaming forth endlessly,
Honestly, is there any point to them? Think about it.
First, I relied on a qualified guru.
Then, through study and practice, I cleared the dust from my eyes.[10]
Now, through the landscape of reveling in dharmatā’s evenness,
Meditating in just one simple way,[11] I travel
To the summit of the palace of the Luminous Great Secret Essence,[12]
And rest in an open state of untrammeled, spontaneous vastness.
The things of the world arise as a magic show.
Existence and non-existence, is and is not, merge in the oneness of appearance and emptiness.
I wonder if I’ve understood the enlightened perspective of my all-knowing guru.
I wonder if I’ve caught up to the vidyādharas who came before.
This awareness of the nature of things, this direct seeing,
Is the grace of my all-knowing guru, nothing else.
When the darkness of confusion becomes limpid from within,
Afflictions and thoughts vanish without trace.
The innate kingdom of the nature of things has nothing to do with beliefs.
There is no one to ask about it now!
After reciting this, put all your heart into every recitation you do—whether the Seven-Line Prayer, or something else. Don’t let your attention waver. Don’t wallow in sadness. Stand on your own feet. Don’t hand your reins to others. Make decisions for yourself. Whatever others say, it’s not reliable.
The yogin of the luminous Great Perfection, Kunzang Pemé Rigdzin Ösal Rinchen Nyingpo Ledrel Tsal wrote this as it came to his mind and sent it down from the upper hermitage at Jönpa Lung.
| Translated by Joseph McClellan, with editorial assistance from Nyinyed N.T. and Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, 2024.
Bibliography
Source Texts
mkhan po ngag dga'. gsung 'bum ngag dbang dpal bzang, vol. 2, pp. 17–20. Khreng tuʼu, nd. BDRC W22946.
mkhan po ngag dga'. gsung 'bum kun mkhyen ngag gi dbang po, vol. 1, pp. 111–113. sNga ʼgyur kaḥ thog bcu phrag rig mdzod chen moʼi dpe tshogs. Khreng tuʼu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2017. BDRC W4CZ364088.
Secondary Sources
Kretschmar, Andreas. Drops of Nectar: Śāntideva’s Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra according to the tradition of Paltrül Rinpoche; Commentary by Khenpo Kunpal Chapter One; With Oral Explanations by Dzogchen Khenpo Chöga; Volume One. 2004.
klong chen rab ʼbyams pa dri med ʼod zer. "rang la gros su gdams pa rdo rjeʼi mgur". In gsung thor bu dri med ʼod zer (a ʼdzom par ma ldi lir bskyar par brgyab pa), 1:306–22. Delhi: Sanje Dorje, 1973. BDRC MW12829_3AEFEB.
Version: 1.0-20240830
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The catalog title for this text, gdams pa pha gcig bla ma (counsel + only father + guru) is simply based on the first words of the first line. This indicates that the piece was originally untitled, and a title was supplied by the editors. Rather than reproduce that title of convenience, we have supplied another one based on a catchphrase in the text. This catchphrase has clear parallels with a recurring line in chapter one of Longchen Rabjam’s Advice to Myself: A Vajra Song (rang la gros su gdams pa rdo rje'i mgur). Thanks to Adam Pearcey for making that connection. ↩
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Drimé Özer (dri med 'od zer) is one of Longchen Rabjam's several names. ↩
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This is a play on the name for Khenpo Ngaga’s guru, Lungtok Tenpé Nyima. Lungtok Tenpé (lung rtogs bstan pa’i) means “of the teachings of scripture and realization.” ↩
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We have amended this line for clarity. The generally superior 2017 edition reads g.yengs bar 'dug gam (“Aren’t you distracted?”), but here we prefer the older, undated edition, which reads yong bar 'dug gam (lit. “Is it coming?”—i.e. “What will come from?”). We prefer that reading because the same phrase yong bar ’dug is repeated in later lines. Also, since the line begins with the phrase rnam g.yengs (“utterly distracted”), it is rather redundant to then have the verb g.yengs ba repeated in the same line. However, some grammatical unclarity remains in the larger phrase ’du ’dzi’i yong bar, which awkwardly links “distractions” to the verbal phrase with the genitive particle 'i (འི) where the instrumental particle sa (ས) is much more appropriate. ↩
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In this and the next line, “true character” and “nature” both translate rang bzhin (“nature”), which we avoid repeating in deference to English conventions. ↩
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Here, “pretending to” loosely renders the term los, which is an emphatic particle closer to “indeed.” The passage, therefore, is more literally “What comes from really launching onto the path… if you have no conviction in the teachings of causality?” The same construction is used in the next stanza with the phrase chos pa bzang los (“a really good practitioner”), which is meant ironically as one who is just pretending to be a good practitioner. ↩
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“Faith of conviction” (yid ches dad pa) is one of the three types of faith, the other two being sincere or inspired faith (dang ba'i dad pa) and irreversible faith (phyir mi ldog pa'i dad pa). ↩
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“Stand on your own two feet” translates rang tshugs 'dzin pa, technically an infinitive phrase that could also be rendered as “Taking responsibility for yourself” or “Guarding your independence.” ↩
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“The phrase “spend your time with dharma practice” (rang mgo nyi ma chos kyis bton) means ’as long as the sun is shining on one’s head, spend your time with the dharma’ (rang gi mgo la dus tshod yod pa chos la ’bad stsol btang dgos). Atiśa said that life is short and the fields of knowledge so many that one cannot possibly know them all. Therefore, as we do not know how much lifespan remains to us, we should not even try to study everything but rather should use our time well. Atiśa advises that we should be like the swan, said to be able to separate milk from water. Just as swans extract milk from water, practitioners should be able to extract the most essential points of practice from the vast teachings of the dharma” (Kretschmar, Drops of Nectar, 439). ↩
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The Tibetan phrase thos bsam mig gis rdul phyis gets lost in literal translation, which would be “The eyes of study and contemplation cleared away the dust.” ↩
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A loose rendering of sgom pa’i gom stabs gcig gis (“Through a single approach to meditation”) which clearly refers to the unelaborate meditation of Dzogchen trekchö. ↩
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“Luminous great secret essence” is a highly ornamental term for the Vajrayāna in which its synonyms “luminous [heart] essence” ('od gsal snying po) and “great secret” (gsang chen) are combined. ↩
