The Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra
Composed by
The Lord Protector Rangjung Dorje
The Third Gyalwa Karmapa
Namoguru,
Gurus and yidams, deities of the mandala,
Buddhas of the three times in the ten directions
and your sons and daughters,
Please consider us with kindness and understanding,
and
Grant your blessing that these aspirations may
be accomplished exactly as we ask.
Sprung from the snow mountain of pure intentions
and actions
Of myself and all sentient beings without limit,
May the river of accumulated virtue of the threefold
purity
Flow into the ocean of the four bodies of the
Victorious Ones.
So long as this is not accomplished,
Through all my lifetimes, birth upon birth,
May not even the words "evil deeds" and "suffering"
be heard
And may we enjoy the splendour
and goodness of oceans of happiness and virtue.
Having obtained the supreme freedoms
and conjunctions of the precious human existence,
endowed with faith, energy, and intelligence,
Having attended on a worthy spiritual friend
and received the pith of the holy instructions,
May we practice these properly, just as we have
received them,
without obstacle or interruption.
In all our lives, may we practice and enjoy the
holy dharma.
Hearing and studying the scriptures and
reasonings free us from the obscuration of not
knowing,
Contemplating the oral instructions disperses
the darkness of doubt.
In the light born of meditation what is shines
forth just as it is.
May the brightness of the three prajnas grow
in power.
By understanding the meaning of the ground,
which is the two truths free from the extremes
of eternalism and nihilism
And by practising the supreme path of the two
accumulations,
free from the extremes of exaggeration and denial,
Is attained the fruit of well-being for oneself
and others,
free from the extremes of samsara and nirvana.
May all beings meet the dharma which neither
errs nor misleads.
The ground of purification is the mind itself,
indivisible cognitive clarity and emptiness.
That which purifies is the great vajra yoga of
mahamudra.
What is to be purified are the adventitious,
temporary contaminations of confusion,
May the fruit of purification, the stainless
dharmakaya, be manifest.
Resolving doubts about the ground brings conviction
in the view.
Then keeping one's awareness unwavering in accordance
with the view, is the subtle pith of meditation.
Putting all aspects of meditation into practice
is the supreme action.
The view, the meditation, the action--may there
be confidence in these.
All phenomena are illusory displays of mind.
Mind is no mind--the mind's nature is empty of
any entity that is mind
Being empty, it is unceasing and unimpeded,
manifesting as everything whatsoever.
Examining well, may all doubts about the ground
be discerned and cut.
Naturally manifesting appearances, that never
truly exist,
are confused into objects.
Spontaneous intelligence, under the power of
ignorance,
is confused into a self.
By the power of this dualistic fixation,
beings wander in the realms of samsaric existence.
May ignorance, the root of confusion, he discovered
and cut.
It is not existent--even the Victorious Ones do
not see it.
It is not nonexistent--it is the basis of all
samsara and nirvana.
This is not a contradiction, but the middle path
of unity.
May the ultimate nature of phenomena,
limitless mind beyond extremes, he realised.
If one says, "This is it," there is nothing to
show.
If one says, "This is not it," there is nothing
to deny.
The true nature of phenomena,
which transcends conceptual understanding, is
unconditioned.
May conviction he gained in the ultimate, perfect
truth.
Not realising it, one circles in the ocean of
samsara.
If it is realised, buddha is not anything other.
It is completely devoid of any "This is it,"
or "This is not it."
May this simple secret, this ultimate essence
of phenomena,
which is the basis of everything, be realised.
Appearance is mind and emptiness is mind.
Realisation is mind and confusion is mind.
Arising is mind and cessation is mind.
May all doubts about mind be resolved.
Not adulterating meditation with conceptual
striving or mentally created meditation,
Unmoved by the winds of everyday busyness,
Knowing how to rest in the uncontrived, natural
spontaneous flow,
May the practice of resting in mind's true nature
be skilfully sustained.
The waves of subtle and coarse thoughts calm down
by themselves in their own place,
And the unmoving waters of mind rest naturally.
Free from dullness, torpor, and, murkiness,
May the ocean of shamatha be unmoving and stable.
Looking again and again at the mind which cannot
be looked at,
The meaning which cannot be seen is vividly seen,
just as it is.
Thus cutting doubts about how it is or is not,
May the unconfused genuine self-nature he known
by self-nature itself.
Looking at objects, the mind devoid of objects
is seen;
Looking at mind, its empty nature devoid of mind
is seen;
Looking at both of these, dualistic clinging
is self-liberated.
May the nature of mind, the clear light nature
of what is, be realised.
Free from mental fabrication, it is the great
seal, mahamudra.
Free from extremes, it is the great middle way,
madhyamika.
The consummation of everything, it is also called
the great perfection, dzogchen.
May there be confidence that by understanding
one,
the essential meaning of all is realised.
Great bliss free from attachment is unceasing.
Luminosity free from fixation on characteristics
is unobscured.
Nonthought transcending conceptual mind is spontaneous
presence.
May the effortless enjoyment of these experiences
be continuous.
Longing for good and clinging to experiences are
self-liberated.
Negative thoughts and confusion purify naturally
in ultimate space.
In ordinary mind there is no rejecting and accepting,
loss and gain.
May simplicity, the truth of the ultimate essence
of everything, be realised.
The true nature of beings is always buddha.
Not realising that, they wander in endless samsara.
For the boundless suffering of sentient beings
May unbearable compassion be conceived in our
being.
When the energy of unbearable compassion is unceasing,
In expressions of loving kindness, the truth
of its
essential emptiness is nakedly clear.
This unity is the supreme unerring path.
Inseparable from it, may we meditate day and
night.
By the power of meditation arise the eyes and
supernormal perceptions,
Sentient beings are ripened and buddha fields
are perfectly purified,
The aspirations that accomplish the qualities
of a buddha are fulfilled.
By bringing these three to utmost fruition-fulfilling,
ripening and
purifying-may utmost buddhahood be manifest.
By the power of the compassion of the Victorious
Ones of the
ten directions and their sons and daughters,
And by the power of all the pure virtue that
exists,
May the pure aspirations of myself and all sentient
beings
Be accomplished exactly as we wish. |
