The Seven Nails

The Seven Nails

Śrī Siṃha’s Final Testament

from the Vima Nyingtik

Sarva santika.

Homage to perfect insight, emptiness and clarity.

All-pervasive and manifest in varied ways,
The wisdom of awareness, boundless and impartial—
To hold it fast to the immutable ground,
I struck the chasm of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa with seven great nails,
So that immutable great bliss arose in my mind.

This pith instruction is like a beam of sunlight,
A secret principle for reviving the unconscious,
Which unlocks the treasury of clear insight
And is like a wish-granting jewel—realize its meaning!

Strike the nail of unimpeded luminous wisdom at the juncture of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.
Strike the nail of the lamp of spontaneous visionary appearance between mind and sensory objects.
Strike the nail of the naturally pure essence between mind and matter.
Strike the nail of open freedom from views between permanence and nihility.
Strike the nail of non-phenomenal awareness between dharmas and dharmatā.
Strike the nail of the five unconfined gates to the senses between dullness and agitation.
Strike the nail of the primordially perfect dharmakāya between appearance and emptiness.
Ithi!

Applying one’s own perspective—clear, unobstructed and spontaneously liberated insight—to what is regarded as other is like fire touching straw.
Mastery of thoughts and impressions based on the knowledge that appearances are directly liberated is like light entering a darkened room.
Direct realization of the fundamental[1] intent of primordially pure awareness is like the coming together of an affectionate couple.
The transcendence of concerns as to what is or is not through the natural dawn of the boundless wisdom that is one’s own true countenance is like the meeting of a face and mirror.
When thoughts that are free from view and meditation arise as the manifold display, this is like frost being touched by the sun.
Recognizing the subjective mind as perfect equality through the primordial seal of realizing appearance and existence just as they are is like encountering one’s only child.
The intrinsic liberation of the environment and its inhabitants—since even without effort there has never been any separation from the dharmakāya—is like a pauper encountering a store of riches.
Ithi!

When Śrī Siṃha passed into parinirvāṇa, ascending into the sky amidst a mass of light rays, Jñānasūtra fell faintingly to the ground and cried out in anguish, "Kyema kyihü! Alas! Alas!" A great sound from the sky then revived him, and he saw Śrī Siṃha’s right hand emerge from the circle of light. To restore Jñānasūtra to full consciousness, a casket of precious stones, the size of a fingernail, descended on to his palm. Its mere receipt was enough to bring him realization.

This concludes The Seven Nails, Śrī Siṃha’s final testament, which was imparted at Gateway to Abundant Auspiciousness[2] and is comparable to a guide for the blind.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation, 2025.

Bibliography

Tibetan Editions

"shrI siM ha'i zhal chems gzer bu bdun pa" in 'jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas, bkra shis dpal 'byor (ed.). gdams ngag mdzod/. 18 vols. Paro: Lama Ngodrup and Sherab Drimey, 1979–1981 (BDRC W20877). Vol. 2: 11–13

"shrI siM ha'i zhal chems gzer bu bdun pa" In snying thig ya bzhi. 13 vols. Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975. Vol. 3: 318–324 (3.5 folios)

Secondary Sources

Jamgön Kongtrul. Nyingma: Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga Part Two. Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. Boulder: Snow Lion, 2024.

Kunsang, Erik Pema. Wellsprings of the Great Perfection: Lives and Insights of the Early Masters in the Dzogchen Lineage. Boudhanath: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2006.

Tulku Thondup. Masters of Meditation and Miracles. Boston: Shambhala, 1996.

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