Making the Most of the Freedoms and Advantages

Encouragement to Make the Most of the Freedoms and Advantages

by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

Oṃ svasti!

At the feet of the glorious guru Mañjuvajra
I bow down: stimulate my voice of counsel.

Since it will be difficult to regain such a support,
So hard to find, make the most of the freedoms and advantages.

This life is as precarious as a bubble in water.
Māra, Lord of Death, is like a shadow at eventide.

Having reflected on the unbearable sufferings of saṃsāra,
Adopt and avoid certain causes and effects—this is crucial.

Hold the guru and Three Jewels to be the essence of refuge.
Recognize all beings as your parents and cultivate compassion.

Exert yourself in the paths of gathering accumulations and purifying obscurations.
Continually strive to pray to the guru out of devotion.

Integrate everything into the path: body as deity, speech as mantra,
And all movements of mind as great primordial wisdom.
And dedicate all virtue, tainted and untainted, towards all beings.
Make an effort to recite the Good Actions, king of aspirations.

Not knowing the crucial point of mind, we stray into error.
In this regard, by probing to the root of deluded mind,
We come to determine how body, speech and mind
Are without basis or origin, and how our present awareness
Is self-cognizant, ceaseless, and one with basic space, beyond joining or parting.
In naturally arising wisdom, in which clarity, awareness and emptiness
Are indivisible from the three kāyas, beyond the domain of the conceptual
And unspoilt by dualistic thought, allow yourself naturally to settle.
Whatever thoughts arise, there will no option but for them to be freed.

If you can exert yourself without distraction in practising like this,
You will be liberated within this lifetime or during the bardo,
And capture the stronghold of the primordial state.

This was spoken by the bewildered fool Chökyi Lodrö
Merely to avoid declining the request of one with faith.
May the virtue of offering such a brief summary
Cause minds to be liberated and the twofold aim to be spontaneously fulfilled.

Maṅgalaṃ.

| 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. "dal 'byor don yod byed par bskul ba'i zhal gdams/" in 'Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung 'bum. 12 vols. Bir: Khyentse Labrang, 2012. Vol. 8: 243–245

Version: 1.0-20220211