Advice for Gema Kunzang

Advice Written for Gema Kunzang

by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

Homage to the guru!

Now that you have found this free, advantaged human form,
Do not waste it in meaningless pursuits.
It’s vital that you exert yourself in virtue
That is embraced by the three noble principles.[1]

With a determination to escape conditioned existence,
Set about counteracting your attachment to saṃsāra.
And with the magnanimous wish to free from worldly existence
All beings, who have been your own parents,
Repeatedly cultivate loving kindness and compassion.

Bodhicitta is the core of all Dharma practice.
Train the mind in exchanging self and others
And in cultivating a noble, altruistic intention
For sentient beings impartially again and again.

To embark on the supreme Vajrayāna path,
The essence of profound and vast Dharma,
Is to be highly fortunate, so it’s crucial that,
Once you have received empowerment,
You maintain sincere and constant faith
And commitment to the root guru.

Constantly meditate on the generation phase,
Which limits attachment to ordinary appearance.
Do not view the visualizations as substantial
But as the illusory play of bliss and emptiness.

Cultivate prāṇa and tummo yogas
Of the profound perfection phase,
Which restricts conceptualization,
And merge with the great wisdom of non-attachment.

Constantly sustain the wisdom of the fourth empowerment,
Reality as such, the very essence of all dharmas.
Abide undistractedly in the profound natural state,
The luminous union of awareness and emptiness,
Which is free from the taint of dualistic perception.
No matter what thoughts and impressions might occur,
Let them be freed in dharmatā experience—this is crucial.

Cultivate profound guru yoga,
Which is the essence of the path.
Receive the four empowerments
And exert yourself in prayer.
You’ll easily accomplish thereby
The aims of this and future lives.

Jamyang Chökyi Lodrö offered this brief advice,
Quickly writing down whatever came to mind,
In response to a request from Gema Kunzang.
May it prove virtuous!

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Khyentse Foundation and Tertön Sogyal Trust, 2022.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

'Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros. "dge ma kun bzang gis bskul ngor bris pa’i gdams pa/" In 'Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung 'bum. 12 vols. Bir, H.P.: Khyentse Labrang, 2012. (W1KG12986) Vol. 8: 345–346

Version: 1.0-20221114