Essential Advice
Essential Advice
by Katok Rigdzin Tsewang Norbu
Oṃ svasti.
Merely uttering your name smashes the machine of suffering.
Answering our prayers, you train us on the path to liberation.[1]
Incomparable Guru Padmasambhava, embodiment of great bliss—
You are my teacher; to you, I bow in devotion.
If there are fortunate ones who, like me, desire liberation,
Listen to this heartfelt advice:
This human life of leisure and opportunity is extremely difficult to obtain,
As rare as the uduṃbara flower.
We have no idea when we will die; the span of our life is uncertain.
Like lightning in the sky, it quickly flashes and is gone.
Karmic causality is indisputable;
Therefore, be skilled in abandoning non-virtue and adopting virtue.
The awakened state sets the stage for liberation;
The path of mantra sets the stage for the awakened state;
Let it be known that samaya is the Dharma's red life-vein.
These words of wisdom are essential, no matter who you are.
The essence of practice is the natural condition of Mahāmudrā and Great Perfection,
And the essence of your mind is awareness itself.
There is nothing to do but recognize your own essence.
No comparison, form, definition, or expression conveys the mind's essence.
You cannot say, "It is like this."
You might say, "It does not exist," yet all of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa arise.
You might say, "It exists," but you can't put your finger on it.
That is the primordial character of mind itself.
Apart from that character, there is nothing else to seek.
Don't drift away from it; keep recognizing your own essence.
In the ultimate truth, there is nothing to sustain and no one to sustain it.
Then again, as long as you have not united ground and path luminosities,
Undistracted mindfulness is the path traversed by all buddhas.
About this, there is no doubt, so guard your mindfulness.
Nevertheless, the ultimate view transcends the ordinary mind.
Having no fixed focus paves the way for meditation.
Undistracted mindfulness paves the way for noble conduct.
Having no expectation or doubt is the essence of fruition.
If I were to go on and on about it, there could be no end.
But even this brief heart advice should help you.
To benefit Pema Tsangyang, a mantrika
Born into the pure family line
Of the treasure revealer from the south, Letro Lingpa,[2]
And the young, devoted, and intelligent minister
From the royal lines of south-central Tibet,
Tsering Namgyal,
I, Gyalwa Padmākara's messenger,
Rigdzin Tsewang Norbu,
Well-known in the land of snowy mountains,
Expressed these words extemporaneously
At the site of Drago in the region of Nyal.[3]
If you do not forget these words and always remember them,
You will ascend the path to supreme liberation,
And you will enjoy the glory of all that is good and virtuous.
Maṅgalam.
| Translated by Joseph McClellan with NT Ninjyed, 2025.
Bibliography
Kaḥ thog rig 'dzin tshe dbang nor bu. "zhal gdams snying po". In gsung 'bum tshe dbang nor bu. Par gzhi dang po, vol. 3. Krung go'i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, 2006, p. 140. BDRC MW1GS45274.
Version: 1.0-20250109
