Lament to Katok Situ

Tremendous Piercing of the Heart

A Lament Recalling the Guru

by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

Namo guru!

Great regent of the Vajradhara of Oḍḍiyāna,
Lord Guru Chökyi Gyatso, 'Ocean of Dharma' from kama and terma,
Look upon me with love from the imperceptible sphere.
Surely in your compassion you will not abandon us evildoers.

Now, at this time when the precious teachings of the Buddha are in decline,
For a protector such as you to remain dormant in the peaceful domain
Must surely be to transgress the pledges you have made in the past.
What can the buddhas and their heirs ever do but act on others’ behalf?

Strengthen, then, the force of your wisdom, love and power,
And arise, I pray, from the joyous expanse of dharmadhātu.[1]
Kyema kyihu! Direct the power of your wisdom, complete in all aspects,
Towards this, your son's mournful song.

Think of me, and in a body of great luminosity
Show yourself this very instant, I pray.
In the past my immature mind was beset with faults,
Now, when I'm mindful and aware, the guru has departed for the dharmadhātu.

Kyihu! I am impoverished, bereft of Dharma,
But your wisdom form is beyond birth and death.
Confer the blessings of your realization upon me.
Ignite the great potential of wisdom awareness.

With the great strength of experience and realization perfected,
As I work to bring great benefit to the teachings and to beings,
Inspire me with perfect mastery of all the boundless qualities
Of the guru’s secret physical, verbal and mental skill.

From now until I reach the essence of awakening,
O glorious guru, may you appear to me repeatedly—
Directly, in visions and in dreams—to offer guidance,
And always indivisible in the sphere of awareness, consider me!

May I perfect your profound realization
And carry out your enlightened activity.
May I remain undeterred by outer circumstances and influences,
And accomplish everything through thought alone, just as I desire.

May you swiftly appear as a supreme emanation of secret body, speech and mind,
And spontaneously perfect the qualities of learning, contemplation and meditation.
Like the brilliant light of the sun and moon that banishes the darkness,
May you be without rival and utterly victorious over all!

Through the power and truth of the oceanic Three Jewels and Three Roots,
May we triumph in the battle against discordant forces and the four māras.
May our intelligence with its wisdom, love and power be profound and vast,
And may all be auspicious so that positive signs for the teachings and beings abound.

Thus when, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, I heard the news that the lord of all maṇḍalas had dissolved his rūpakāya form during the aśvinī month (i.e., ninth month) of the Wood Ox year,[2] I was overwhelmed by a feeling of boundless devotion and began to weep. It was then that I, Jamyang Lodrö Gyatso, the worst of all the master’s devoted students, made this prayer while at the top of the Secret Mantra palace, before the golden mound palace of the nāgas at Neten, which lies to the south of the great place of dharma meditation, Yegyal Namkhadzö. May the guru and Three Roots grant their blessings so that this becomes a cause for always being cared for by the precious master throughout all future lives. Śubham-astu sarva jagatam.[3]

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Khyentse Foundation and Tertön Sogyal Trust, 2019.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

'Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros. "bla ma dran pa'i gdung dbyangs snying gi gzer chen/" in ’Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung ’bum. 12 vols. Bir: Khyentse Labrang, 2012. W1KG12986 Vol. 8: 542–544

Version: 1.1-20231211