Mike Dickman, translator &
introduction by Tulku Thundup •
ISBN: 978-1-887276-05-4 • LIST PRICE $ 12.95
In the eighth century, Guru Padmasambhava—the Lotus Born—came to Tibet from India and became known as Guru Rinpoche, the Precious Teacher. He transmitted many esoteric teachings to his disciples and concealed them as Ter (gTer) or Terma (gTer ma)—hidden Dharma treasures—for the sake of future disciples.
From the eleventh century until today, thousands of volumes of those concealed teachings have been discovered by the reincarnations of his chief disciples through their spiritual discernment. Various types of sacred texts are included in this volume including prayers of supplication to Guru Rinpoche for his guidance and for achieving profound wisdom through devotion and meditation. Considered one of the greatest enlightened masters and most miraculous adepts of the Buddhist world, Guru Rinpoche is the founder of Tibetan Buddhism and is referred to as the Second Buddha by his followers.
EXCERPTS
From the Back Cover
This secret mantra vehicle is as rare as the udumbara flower—a flower which never appears. Even if it does suddenly arise, it will not remain for any pre-determined length of time, for that depends entirely upon the fitness of the vessels, the sentient beings. Now you, O King, listen to me, your guide. Use the precious human body to realize this teaching. Remain within the portals of the secret mantra. All of you who wish enlightenment in this lifetime, it is most important that you guard the purity of your commitments. If you do not, even if you find the very medicines of the Healer, they will seem to you like a mass of poison. Keeping samaya pure requires one’s entire faith, perseverance and strength of awareness
THE CHAPTER REQUESTED BY
PRINCE MUTR’I TSENPO
Then Prince Mutr’i Tsenpo spoke.“Please listen,Great
Teacher. When, in the future, the five hundred year period of the
dregs of the Dharma arrives, under the power of suffering and evil
karma, it is said, sentient beings will behave like ravening tigers.
Looking upon them with compassion,please, I beseech you, give
us a prayer that will protect them from suffering.”
Such was his request, and the great Guru said:“Mutr’i Tsenpo,
listen.Without a surface as a support, shellac will not take. Where
there is no field of faith, the seedling of enlightenment cannot
sprout.The blessings of the Triple Gem are delayed where there
is no foundation of astute mental awareness.
“Listen,Prince. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas all continuously
strive for the benefit of living beings but cannot bring about the
release of the beings of the six classes, for they are bound to samsara
by the power of the five poisons connected with ego grasping.
“Prince, since it is also my own wish to protect the common
people of Tibet from suffering, let them then turn their minds and 73
mental faculties with faith and resolution to the Triple Gem. This is
the message I leave for the common people.Let them pray as fol-
lows at all times.” he said.
E MA HO How wonderful.—In the Buddhafield
of Sukhavati in the western direction,
By the compassion of the Protector Amitayus,
Thinking to benefit the beings of Jambudvipa,
Blessed by the Buddhas of the ten directions,
To the Sugatas of the three times, we pray.
To the Lotus Born of Uddiyana, we pray.
In the parklands of the lake, ‘Sport of the
Vermilion Ocean’,
On the anthers of a blazing lotus flower,
With neither father nor mother, born of
his own inherent power,
And come without cause or condition for
the benefit of beings.
To He Who Possesses Spontaneous
Wondrousness,we pray.
To the Lotus Born of Uddiyana,we pray.
Emanation of the bodily forms of all Buddhas,
Complete in the spontaneous characteristics
and marks, you come,
Brilliant as the radiance of a thousand suns,
Pervading the whole phenomenal world with
your emanations:
To the wondrous emanation body,we pray.
To the Lotus Born of Uddiyana,we pray.
Emanation of the speech of all Buddhas,
Born on the anther-tips of the lotus of desirelessness,
Your voice like the roar of a thousand dragons,
Speaking the Mahayana Dharma for the benefit of beings.
To the Dragon-Like Voice, we pray.
To the Lotus Born of Uddiyana,we pray.
Emanation of the mind of all the Buddhas,
Born from the endless and fathomless blue ocean,
Your activities of compassion swift as the lightning flash
of the heavens,
Your profound primordial state equal
to the bounds of space.
To the Omnipresent Radiance of Mind, we pray.
To the Lotus Born of Uddiyana, we pray.
Wish Granting Body, existing for the benefit of beings,
To hear even a little of its characteristics dispels
all suffering.
Like a rainbow its various qualities appear,
Leading one to the path of enlightenment as
soon as one thinks of them.
Source of all Qualities, to you we pray.
To the Lotus Born of Uddiyana, we pray.
By means of compassionate activity,
The four activities: peaceful,increasing,
magnetizing and wrathful,
You overcome obscurations and tame
sentient beings by skilful means
And activities inconceivable as the stars in the skies:
To the Billowing Ocean of Activities, we pray.
To the Lotus Born of Uddiyana, we pray.
Above, below, and in the four directions, you
Fulfill the goals of beings.
Looking on snowy Tibet with compassion,
For the ruler of Tibet and his people,
Unceasingly throughout the three times
grant us your blessings
And liberate us from the ocean of suffering
of cyclic existence.
Thus he spoke.
AUTHOR
Mike Dickman is a long-time practitioner of Buddhism and has translated many texts of the Nyingma and ‘Drigung Ka’gyü schools of Tibetan Buddhism as well as Saying of Old Cheng, published by Cool Grove Press. He lives in Paris, France
