Tsongkhapa Praise

The Flower of Faith

Praise to the Great Lord Guru Tsongkhapa

by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

Namo guru mañjuśrīye!

I bow down before the wish-fulfilling tree of bodhicitta,
Which you planted many aeons ago and is now vast,
Heavily laden with the fruit of benefit and joy,
To shelter beings of this final, five-hundred-year age of degeneration.

You swallowed an entire ocean of infinite learning
And pursued the sun and moon of knowledge and love,
Resplendent like a golden mountain of accumulated merit,
Embellishment of this snowy land, second buddha, to you I bow.

The orange bearer of the sword[1] lies hidden in your heart,
The queen of eloquence herself[2] is wedded to your throat,
And the lord of secrets[3] granted you a secret treasury of mantra—
Precious guru Lobzang Drakpa, you reign supreme!

You conferred directly with Mañjughoṣa,
Vajrapāṇi saved you from the ravine of doubt,
And you beheld infinite bliss-gone buddhas in visions—
All knowing one, glorious in renown, to you I bow.

The jewelled mountain of your superior ethical discipline
Is beautifully capped by the four terraces of absorption
And the universal victory palace of your perfect insight—
Great turner of the wheel of Dharma, to you I bow.

You hoisted the flag of the Buddhist teachings in this age of strife,
The great conch of your fame resounded to the far reaches of the ocean,
And you planted the banner of victory for the teachings at existence’s peak—
Incomparable king of Dharma, to you I bow.

Upholders of your golden tradition thronged this world of ours,
With unassailable confidence in exposition, debate and composition—
To this magnificent succession, which rivals in its resplendence
The fabulous riches of Vaiśravaṇa himself, I bow.

With the mind of awakening and your conduct spotlessly pure,
You banished the darkness of eternalist and nihilist views,
And revealed the reality of the profound Middle Way—
To you, glorious Nāgārjuna in person, I bow.

You unlocked the hidden treasures of Vajradhara’s secret tantras
And, through fully absorbing their profound meaning,
Reached the exalted state of an accomplished vidyādhara—
All-pervasive lord, mighty Vajra Holder, to you I bow.

In the presence of the great Maitreya in Tuṣita heaven,
You are the bodhisattva renowned as Mañjugarbha,
Teaching the Dharma amidst an ocean of buddha’s heirs—
Supremely great guide to gods and humans alike, to you I bow.

From this moment on, throughout all my lives to come,
May this sublime precious master’s feet grace the lotus at my crown,
And may he inspire me to perfect the strength of unimpeded intelligence
And act always in service of the teachings of the Victorious Ones!

Thus, Chökyi Lodrö wrote this with devotion extending to the tips of his fingers on the third ‘joy’ of the waxing phase of the Month of Miracles during the female Earth Pig year (1959), based on a delusory dream of filling a cubit-sized medicinal statue of the precious guru with dhāraṇī. May virtue and excellence ensue!

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Khyentse Foundation and Tertön Sogyal Trust, 2020.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

'Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros. "rje bla ma tsong kha pa chen por bstod pa dad pa'i me tog" in ’Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung ’bum. 12 vols. Bir: Khyentse Labrang, 2012. W1KG12986 Vol. 2: 639–641