Advice From Gatön Dorje Chang

Advice Bestowed by Gatön Dorje Chang

by Gatön Ngawang Lekpa[1]

Namo gurave!
Sublime child, whom I hold dear in my heart,
If, while you’re studying, teaching or practising,
You should face any kind of obstruction, real or insubstantial,
Be assured that all these fluctuating sights, sounds and impressions
Are none other than the vajra body, speech and mind
Of the glorious guru, sovereign of a hundred buddha families,
And, with fervent devotion and intense, boundless longing,
Pray and mentally cry out to him.
If you do so, all perceptions will become favourable supports,
And there is no doubt that you will be availed in the long term
By the splendour of spontaneously accomplishing the twofold aim.

All phenomena of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are merely
The manifestations of one’s own momentary mind—
The mind that has always been free from conceptual limitations.
If you can sustain the actual face of its genuine nature beyond the intellect,
All hindrances, potential errors and forms of interference
Will be pacified within absolute space, empty and unborn,
And, as the boundless multitudes of enlightened qualities shine forth,
The darkness of whatever ails existence and quiescence will surely be dispelled.

When, through the alchemy of study, contemplation and meditation,
You develop the qualities of scriptural learning and realization,
Take delight in governing and defending the dharmic dominion
Of the great Dharma centre of glorious Nālendra, 'The Powerful Flow'.[2]

Elucidate for the benefit of this entire realm of existence
The noble tradition of the excellent, flawless statements
Of the second Buddha, Rongtön, Lord of Dharma,[3]
As an auspicious gift to enliven fortunate beings.

May these aspirations—that we may never be separated throughout all our lives,
That you you may be entrusted with this Dharma dominion,
And that our minds may merge inseparably in the single taste of awakening—
Come to pass precisely in this way.

Virtue! Virtue! Virtue!

These are the words of Ngawang Lekpa.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2023.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

A 'jam sprul sku kun dga' rgyal mtshan. gsung 'bum/ sde sprul kun dga' rgyal mtshan. 4 vols. Lhasa: bod ljongs bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun khang, 2015. Vol. 2: 187–188

Version: 1.0-20230117