A Way of Settling

A Way of Settling into the Realization of Mind’s Essence

by Khenpo Gangshar Wangpo

Within, awareness should be unbridled and free,
Without, there shouldn’t be any grasping at appearances.
In the absence of outer and inner, all is utterly transparent —
To be free of like and dislike: how wonderful!

Distraction is simply mind; as are like and dislike, hope and fear, good and bad, and clean and dirty — whenever you experience them adhere to cause and effect, be careful, and keep a low profile. Don’t be frivolous or vulgar, but be in harmony with those around you, letting all emotions and attitudes of like and dislike be purified in their own space.

Measure yourself against the various stages of the path; see if you can bear sufferings such as illness, being undermined, and despised. To be unable to do so is to be ordinary, a sign you have not completed the path.[1]

As such, you should supplicate the guru and yidam deity, receive empowerment and mix the guru's wisdom with your mind. Then relax, without any grasping, into that expanse, and remain without the slightest effort in an experience of utter relaxation — free and loose.

From time to time, contemplate the karmic law of cause and effect; take the suffering of others upon yourself, and offer whatever comfort and virtue you may have to others.

In the practice of the giving and taking of happiness and suffering, difficulty isn’t to be rejected, nor comfort sought. Simply relax. To be without ideas of good and bad, or hope and fear, enables you to be joyful in any company, to be cheerful wherever you may find yourself — surely this is what it means to be truly happy!

The more precisely you adhere to cause and effect, the more your selfishness and self-grasping will diminish, and the more your obsession with pleasure and pain or desire and hatred will decline as well. To be altogether free from the fear of death is a sign that your efforts at practice have been worthwhile.

Essentially then, at all times and in all situations, do not contrive with the mind, but allow it to settle naturally; knowing this means you will never be apart from the experience of the dhātu.

These are the insane ramblings of Gangshar Wangpo. May you and I become inseparable and be of benefit to all.

| Translated by Sean Price, 2016.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition Used

Gang shar dbang po. "sems ngo 'jog thabs" in gsung 'bum/_gang shar dbang po. 1 vol. Kathmandu: Thrangu Tashi Choling, 2008. (BDRC W2CZ6597). Vol. 1: 41–43

Secondary Sources

Khenchen Thrangu, Vivid Awareness: The Mind Instructions of Khenpo Gangshar, with commentary by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, 2011.

Version: 1.2-20220906