Tenth Day Invocation

The Invocation of Uḍḍiyāna[1] on the Tenth Day

revealed by Ratna Lingpa

I, the Lotus-Born, made these prayers,
Filled with goodness for the benefit of all:
Tertöns will emerge in the times to come,
Each to enjoy treasures deep and profound.

A great tertön there shall be for every great land,
And a minor tertön for every little one.
In brief, the ways I tame are beyond imagination,
For Uḍḍiyāna’s kindness is not slight, but vast!

Every realm shall have a most sacred place,
That will be a monument to Uḍḍiyāna;
At every frontier there will be a treasure trove,
Likewise a monument to Uḍḍiyāna;

Every ordained monk each with a lineage
Shall be a monument to Uḍḍiyāna.
In every land and every city a mantrin –
They too will be monuments to Uḍḍiyāna.

All practices for binding demons under oath –
These are monuments to Uḍḍiyāna.
All methods for subjugating all eight kinds of demons
Will also be monuments to Uḍḍiyāna.

Every way to avert black magic and spells
Will be a monument to Uḍḍiyāna.
And every tenth day of every month –
This too will be a monument to Uḍḍiyāna.

In sum, all the infinite ways to tame beings
Shall be my monuments—monuments to Uḍḍiyāna.
When people yearn for me in times to come,
Behold, I will be there, standing by their side.

When the tenth day of the month comes,
Those who uphold these monuments of mine
Shall be inseparable from me.

Every community with faith in the Dharma,
I will care for you.
Every town and every household
That acts out of virtue with faith in the Dharma,
I will care for you.
Amidst the pleasures and pains of eating and drinking, going to and fro,
Remember me but for an instant,
And at that very moment I will bless you—of that, be sure.
Whoever yearns for me out of trust,
Know that we have been connected
For eons upon eons beyond beginning.
In time you will be born again in my realm.
The Lotus-Born does not speak false words.

So fill your minds with joy, those with faith,
My followers in generations to come,
And practice the tenth day offering as follows:
Place a large bali mixed with spices,
Encircled by eight colorful lotus petals,
Upon a fine maṇḍala platform.
Garnish the bali all around with garlic and onions, meat and butter,
And encircle the whole with precious objects,
With butter lamps, ritual cakes, water offerings and incense.
It is also highly auspicious to perform a fire offering
Of three whites, three sweets, an abundance of jewels,
Of foods, drinks and various powders—
All that is in harmony with the maṇḍala you practice.
Chant the Seven-Line Prayer in your clearest voice
To the sound of drum and conch and cymbal.
As directed in the eighth chapter of the activity manual,
“Generally, proceed according to one’s own tradition.”[2]
With substances like meat, rice, garlic and onion,
Go beyond all concepts of pure and impure,
And practice a bountiful gaṇacakra!

With body, perform ritual dances and assume the postures,
And the experience of bliss shall blaze forth.
With voice, sing dharma songs and contemplative tunes,
And your secret speech will grow in power.
With mind, cultivate samādhi without concepts,
And the experience of realization beyond words will dawn.
Pray until you are stirred to tears,
And let a flowing river of blessings
Wash over you, and through you.
When these experiences are all ablaze,
The blessings have arrived,
A sign that I am there in person.
Have no doubt that I have truly come.

After I have travelled to the land of rakṣasas,
On the tenth day of every month I will return.
For my children, my disciples, the mantrins of Tibet,
I will come back personally—this is a promise.
The Lotus-Born does not deceive other beings,
So be rid of your doubts, my followers.
Make your minds suitable, and every tenth day
Do as follows, child: make effort and pray,
Certain in your wish to cast off saṃsāra.
Entrust me with your mind, your heart, your very core!

People of later generations who trust in me,
Disciples connected by their aspirations,
Should clear away any doubts, and be firm in their belief
According to these instructions so clearly written.
In truth, for me there is no traveling and no remaining.
Although I am beyond both coming and going,
Even so, conventionally speaking,
Within the dualistic experience of habitual thought,
I reside in the celestial realms.
Yet due to these habits swirling about the body’s enclosure,
And due to the two veils remaining unpurified,
None of you now can see my face.
But when the veils of your afflictions are totally cleansed,
You will look upon me, Padma, in person,
And then there will be the chance to converse.
Once you are a yogin well on the path,
We will meet in your meditative experiences and dreams.
In reality, though, whoever lets virtue arise in their mind,
Or whenever immeasurable compassion wells up,
Or when, for a split second, you remember me,
That too will be our meeting.
For those who have a mind filled with faith,
My stream of compassion flows unceasingly.
Ultimately, though I am beyond going or coming.
When your karma and veils are both washed clean,
That is the moment when we meet.
According to the aspirations and relative perceptions
Of those beings capable of training,
I am indeed residing in the land of rakṣasas.
And yet, because the stream of my compassion is unbroken,
There I am, beside all those with faith in me.

Now, I shall not explain much more,
Because words are but a rotten corpse.
In the end, just lay the weight of your heart and mind on me.
Whether your rank is high or low,
Harbor no doubts: my blessings will come
In step with your devotion.
On what should you rely for reaching accomplishment?
The invocation of Uḍḍiyāna on the tenth day!
In short, those with diligence, faith, and intelligence,
Will be embraced by my compassion, just as I have said.
May those with the karma practice just so!

Emaho![3]
Child of noble family, enjoy this profound treasure!
In the final fifty years of the degenerate age,
When demon murderers are on the rampage,
With swords unyielding,
Laying waste the holy places, plundering the sites—
Such are the times when this instruction will be revealed.
Iron element in opposition, conduct unattached—
Such are the signs of your noble birth.
You will be adorned in the crook of your right thigh
By a mole both white and black.
Below your navel will be a mark, like the eye of a ḍākinī.
Your shoulder will bear a mole, marked like the eye of a ḍākinī.
To the right of the hair that grows between his eyebrows
Will be a mark, a mole like a fish’s eye.
Your right flank will be marked by signs of the five ḍākinīs.
May all those with the karma meet you!

To the northeast of his treasure trove will be a marketplace
Where people from north and south gather together.
There, three authentic women,
Excellent in character, aged from thirteen to forty-five,
Will rely upon this yogin’s skillful means.
And after they rely upon you,
These ones with excellent character, they who have so relied,
Will take hold of ultimate awareness—have no doubt of that!

If a shrine to the three kāyas is built at that marketplace,
The southern border will be an area especially auspicious and blessed.
Of that, harbor no doubt at all, my followers.
And if you leave a yellow scroll at that place
The consecration will be truly auspicious.

Samaya. Gya gya gya. Katham.

A terma of Ratna Lingpa from Gungtang Khar.

| Samye Translations, 2019. (Translated by Peter Woods and Stefan Mang. Edited by Libby Hogg.)

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

Ratna gling pa. "o rgyan tshes bcu'i bskul thabs." In *Rin chen gter mdzod chen mo/". New Delhi: Shechen Publications, 2007–2008. Vol. 11: 227–231

Version: 1.2-20220103