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| Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche |
The Mirror of Essential
Points
Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
A Letter in Praise of
Emptiness
From Jamyang Dorje to his
Mother
I pay homage at the lotus
feet of Tenpey Nyima,
Who is inseparable from lord
Longchen Rabjam
And who perceives the
natural state of emptiness
Of the ocean-like infinity
of things.
A letter of advice I offer
to you, my noble mother Paldzom.
Listen for a while without
distraction.
Staying here without
discomfort,
I am at ease and free from
worries
In a state of joyful mind.
Are you well yourself, my
mother?
Here, in a country in the
west,
There are many red and
white-skinned people.
They have all kinds of magic
and sights,
Like flying through the
skies
And moving like fish in the
water.
Having mastery over the four
elements
They compete in displaying
miracles
With thousands of beautiful
colors.
There are innumerable
spectacles
Like designs of rainbow
colors.
But like a mere dream when
examined
They are but the mistaken
perceptions of mind.
All activities are like the
games children play.
If started, they can never
be finished.
They are only completed once
you let them be,
Like castles made of sand.
But that is not the whole
story.
All the phenomena of samsara
and nirvana,
Although thought to be
permanent, do not last.
When examined, they are but
empty forms
That appear without
existence.
Although unreal they are
thought to be real.
But, like an illusion when
examined, they are found to be unreal.
Look outward at the
perceived objects.
Like water in a mirage
They are more delusive than
delusion.
Unreal, like a dream or a
magical apparition,
They resemble a rainbow or
the reflection of the moon.
Look inward at your own
mind!
It seems quite exciting when
not examined.
But when examined there is
nothing to it.
Appearing without existing
it is nothing but empty.
It cannot be identified, you
cannot say, "that's it,"
Because it is evanescent and
elusive like mist.
Look at whatever appears
In any of the ten
directions.
No matter how it manifests,
The thing in itself, its
very nature,
Is the sky-like nature of
the mind
Beyond the projection and
the dissolution of thought and concept.
Everything has the nature of
being empty.
When the empty looks at the
empty,
Who is there to look at
something empty?
As it is illusion looking at
illusion
And delusion watching
delusion,
What is the use of many
classifications
Such as `empty' and `not
empty?'
Whatever you do is all
right.
However you rest, you are at
ease
In the effortless and
sky-like nature of the mind,
The vast expanse of
awareness,
The natural state of all
things.
This was said by Jetsun
Padmasambhava
And the great siddha Saraha.
All conceptual thought
constructions
Such as duality or
nonduality,
Leave them to be
spontaneously dissolved in themselves
Like the waves on a river.
The great demon of ignorant
and discursive thought
Causes one to sink into the
ocean of samsara.
But when freed from this
discursive thought
There is the indescribable
state beyond conceptual mind.
Other than mere discursive
thoughts
There are not even the words
`samsara' and `nirvana.'
The total subsiding of
discursive thought
Is the suchness of
dharmadhatu itself.
Not made complex by complex
statements
This unfabricated single
sphere
Is emptiness, the natural
state of mind.
Thus it was said by the
Sugata.
The essence of whatever may
appear,
When simply left to itself,
Is the unfabricated and
uncorrupted view,
The dharmakaya mother of
emptiness.
All discursive thoughts are
emptiness
And the observer of
emptiness is discursive thought.
Emptiness does not destroy
discursive thought
And discursive thought does
not obstruct emptiness.
The mind nature of fourfold
emptiness
Is the ultimate of
everything.
Profound and quiescent, free
from complexity,
An uncompounded, luminous
clarity
Beyond the mind of concepts.
This is the depth of the
mind of the victorious ones.
In this there is not an
object to be removed
Nor something that needs to
be added.
It is merely the natural
Looking naturally into
itself.
In short, when the mind has
fully severed
The fetters of clinging to
something
All the points are condensed
into one.
This is the tradition of the
supreme being, Tilopa,
And of the great pandita
Naropa.
Such a profound and natural
state as this,
Among all the different
kinds of bliss,
Is the one known as the
wisdom of great bliss.
Among all kinds of delights
It is the king of supreme
delight.
Among all the tantric
sections of the secret mantra
It is the supreme fourth
empowerment.
This is the ultimate
pointing out instruction.
The view of samsara and
nirvana as inseparable,
And that of mahamudra,
dzogchen, the middle path and others,
Has many different titles,
But only one essential
meaning.
This is the view of Jamgon
Mipham.
As an aid to this king of
views
One should begin with
bodhicitta
And conclude with
dedication.
Through skillful means, in
order to cut off
The fixation of ego, the
root of samsara,
The king of all great
methods
Is unsurpassable bodhicitta.
The king of perfect
dedication
Is the means of increasing
the root of virtue.
This teaching is the
specialty of Shakyamuni,
Which is not taught by other
teachers.
More than this is not
necessary
To accomplish complete
enlightenment,
But less than this will be
incomplete.
This swift path of the three
excellencies
Called the `heart, eye and
life force'
Is the approach of Longchen
Rabjam.
Emptiness, the
wishfulfilling jewel,
Is unattached generosity.
It is uncorrupted
discipline.
It is angerless patience.
It is undeluded exertion.
It is undistracted
meditation.
This emptiness, the essence
of prajna,
Is the meaning of the three
vehicles.
Emptiness is the natural
state of mind.
It is the nonconceptual
refuge
And the absolute bodhicitta.
It is the Vajrasattva who
absolves evils.
It is the mandala of
perfecting accumulations.
Emptiness is the guru yoga
of dharmakaya.
To abide in the natural
state of emptiness
Is the `calm abiding,'
shamatha.
To perceive it vividly clear
Is the `clear seeing,'
vipashyana.
The view of the perfect
development stage,
And the wisdom of bliss and
emptiness in the completion stage,
The nondual great
perfection,
And the single sphere of
dharmakaya
Are all included within
emptiness.
Emptiness purifies the
karmas
and dispels the obstructing
forces.
Emptiness tames the demons
And accomplishes the
deities.
The profound and natural
state of emptiness
Dries up the ocean of
passion.
It crumbles the mountain of
anger
And illuminates the darkness
of stupidity.
It calms down the gale of
jealousy,
Defeats the illness of the
kleshas
And is a friend in sorrow.
It destroys conceit in joy
And conquers in the battle
with samsara.
It annihilates the four
Maras,
Turns the eight worldly
dharmas into same taste
And subdues the demon of
ego-fixation.
It turns negative conditions
into allies
And turns bad omens into
good fortune.
It causes true and complete
enlightenment
And gives birth to the
buddhas of the three times.
Emptiness is the dharmakaya
mother.
There is no teaching higher
than emptiness.
There is no teaching swifter
than emptiness.
There is no teaching more
excellent than emptiness.
There is no teaching more
profound than emptiness.
Emptiness is the `knowing of
one that frees all.'
Emptiness is the supreme
king of medicines.
Emptiness is the nectar of
immortality.
Emptiness is spontaneous
accomplishment beyond effort.
Emptiness is enlightenment
without exertion.
By meditating on emptiness
One feels tremendous
compassion
Towards the beings obscured
by belief in a self
And bodhicitta arises
without effort.
All the qualities of the
path and levels
Will appear naturally
without any effort,
And towards the law of the
unfailing effect of karma
One will feel a heartfelt
conviction.
If one has but one moment of
certainty
In this kind of emptiness
The tight chains of
ego-fixation
Will shatter into pieces.
This was said by Aryadeva.
It is more supreme to
meditate on emptiness
Than to offer all the
infinite buddhafields,
Filled with the wealth of
gods and men,
To the sugatas and their
spiritual sons.
If the merit of resting
evenly,
Just for an instant in this
natural state,
If it would take on concrete
form
The element of space could
not contain it.
Shakyamuni, the peerless
lord of the Munis,
Threw his body into pyres of
fire,
Gave away his head and limbs
And performed hundreds of
other austerities
For the sake of this
profound emptiness.
Although one fills the world
with huge mounds
Of gold and jewels as
offerings,
This profound teaching on
emptiness,
Even when searched for, is
hard to find.
This is said in the Hundred
Thousand Verses of the Prajnaparamita.
To meet this supreme
teaching
Is the splendid power of
merit
Of many aeons beyond
measure.
In short, by means of
emptiness
One is, for the benefit of
oneself,
Liberated into the expanse
of the unborn dharmakaya,
The true and complete
enlightenment
Of the four kayas and the
five wisdoms.
Then the unobstructed
display of rupakaya
Will ceaselessly manifest to
teach whoever is in need,
Stirring the depth of
samsara for the benefit of others
Through constant,
all-pervading and spontaneous activity.
In all the sutras and
tantras this is said
To be the ultimate fruition.
How can someone like me put
into words
All the benefits and virtues
of this,
When the Victorious One with
his vajra tongue
Cannot completely elucidate
them all, even if he speaks for an aeon?
The glorious lord, the
supreme teacher,
Who gives the teachings on
emptiness,
Appears in the form of a
human being
Though his mind is truly a
buddha.
Without deceit and hypocrisy
Supplicate him from your
very heart.
Without needing any other
method
You will attain
enlightenment in this very life.
This is the manner of the
all-embodying jewel
Which is taught in the
tantras of the great perfection.
When you have this jewel in
the palm of your hand
Do not let it go to waste
meaninglessly.
Learning, like the stars in
the sky,
Will never come to an end
through studies.
What is the use of all the
various kinds
Of teachings requested and
received?
What is the use of any
practice
Which is superior to that of
emptiness?
Do not aim at many
disciplinary costumes,
Such as carrying a staff,
wearing braids and animal skin.
The elephant is already in
your house,
Do not go searching for its
footprints in the mountains.
Mother, meditate on the
essence of mind
As it is taught by the
master, the vajra holder.
This is the quintessence of
the essence
Of all the eighty-four
thousand teachings.
It is the heart substance of
a billion
Learned and accomplished
ones.
It is the ultimate practice.
This advice from the core of
the heart
Of the fallen monk Jamyang
Dorje
Is the purest of the purest
essence
From the bindu of my life
blood.
Therefore keep it in your
heart, mother.
These few words of heart
advice
Were written in a beautiful
countryside,
In the palace of the
spacious blue sky
That competes with the
splendor of divine realms.
To the devoted Chokyi
Nodzom,
My dear and loving mother,
And to all my devoted
students
I offer this letter of
advice.
Translated by Erik Pema Kunsang, 1982.
Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche's book: The Fearless Lion's Roar: Profound Instructions on Dzogchen, the Great Perfection
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