The Epic of Gesar of Ling
Page 9
The minister thought to himself, “Even though he’s sitting on his lordly throne, his bright eyes see the bridge outside.”
It seems that the sun is traversing the sky,
But its light pervades Jambudvīpa.
It seems that the southern clouds48 are piled in the sky,
But they rain across the dense earth.
He thought that Padmasambhava in his chamber had probably seen everything that had just happened outside and said to him, “Oh Precious Crest Jewel, in the varicolored hundred thousand demon villages of great bliss, at the eastern gate of the iron wall49 named Jampei Künkyab Lingchen, a little boy who is not a human and not a demon, who is not a god, but has an aura of white light, has dropped in. He says that he has a matter of pith and importance to impart. Listen carefully and focus the silk scarf of your hearing. Please, Lord, direct your mind.” With these words he prostrated three times and then sang this informative song:
Lu Ala, sing the song this way.
Above in the Ruby Palace,
Amitābha of Uḍḍiyāṇa, know me!g
May I and all sentient beings filling space
Attain the state of a deathless awareness holder.
Seated on top of a jeweled throne with a peaceful and wrathful corpse50
On a blazing lotus,
Leader in this life, dear lord and chief, listen.
Guide in the next life, O guru, listen,
Buddha who benefits us in both this and future lives.
This morning when the golden rays of the royal parasol51
Struck the peak of [Zangdog] Pelri [Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain],
At the eastern gate of Jampei Künkyab Lingchen,
In the middle of the Plain of Great Bliss,
Appeared a beautiful little boy radiating light,
Embellished with garlands of light rays and rainbows.
He said his name is Künphen Nyinje.
He said his great purpose is the limitless benefit of beings
And that he must be presented directly to you, the leader of Cāmara.
He said there is no time to spare.
This great utterance of the field of generosity,
If not a skillful way of offering,
Is a sign that the guru is a learned master.
That purification of the cause of a succession of crimes,
If not extortion exacted by a minister,
Is the yoke oppressing the mighty chieftain.
The heat-covering storm clouds in the sky,
If not the devouring mouths of the eight classes,
Are the timely rain that helps to ripen the six grains.
The prayers of a humble beggar,
If not hunger’s call for help,
Are the white silk scarf of the humble beggar’s pure intentions.
Although I could not grasp his thought, I am still obliged to speak on his behalf.
This long presentation scarf of his formal request52
Is difficult for this minister to pass on to you.
The essential point in his request seems to be
That he would like permission to come before your golden throne.
Forgive this fool for filling the golden palace of your ears with this news,
However, if the affair is important, I have served your honor.
If you hear and understand my offering song,
Then please give your reply to what he has requested.53
Thus he requested and the magnificent Skull Garland Lotus answered: “Oh, Excellent! According to the examples in the proverbs:
To the guru who is a guide and a teacher,
Better abandonment of evil deeds than a hundred offerings.
To the chief whose sovereignty is vast,
Better the straight truth than a hundred presentation offerings.
When you begin to accumulate merit,
Better an auspicious connection54 than a hundred material goods.
Today, in the Fire Monkey year, the eighth day of the first moon, on the day of the glorious gate of auspicious coincidence, whichever he is of the eight classes of beings, whether lha, nyen, lu, or human,h now quickly allow him to enter and stand before me.”
Then the minister went out to the gate but the little boy had disappeared without a trace. There should have been some sign of him, but instead it was like the proverb:
No tracks of the bird in the sky;
No path of wind for the bird;
No prints of the mouse on the ground
No hiding hole for the mouse.
But straight ahead there was a golden lotus with eight petals; upon its stamen stood a white HRĪḤ. On the petals, the syllables OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ HRĪḤ ĀḤ55 were repeating their own sounds. He thought, “How strange. What shall I declare to the chief? How will I explain this to the ministers? What will I say to the servants? What will I proclaim to the people?”His mind flipped back and forth twelve times; he came up with at least twenty-five stratagems.56 Finally he thought,
“Since the empty mind is inexhaustible,
There is no exhausting the intelligence of a great man.57
If you do not clamp down on your little tongue,
There is no end to the speech of learned ones.
If you do not measure the step of your little feet,
There is no end to the length of a dirt path.
If it does not reach the blue water,
There is no end to the blazing red fire.
This time it is like:
A support without blessings,
Like the relics of a pig;58
A mumble without clarity,
Like a mute explaining the taste of brown sugar.59
Although it may be pointless to try to describe this with words, maybe I can carry it in my hands. I guess that person I saw this morning must have been some kind of magical emanation. So it seems that this flower here might be his magic. If that’s so, then why not carry the flower in and place it before the king? Just this morning the king said a person with merit needs an auspicious connection.60 And after all, the king gave me orders, saying, ‘Whether it is a god or a demon, bring it in’. Since this thing is an intangible rainbow-like form, perhaps this is a magician’s trick or a magician’s basis for transformation.61 Whether good or bad, I know that it is something miraculous!
Even though there is no one here to give his message to, I’ll just have to take this thing that has appeared here inside and offer it.”
This is a matter of pleasing the white snow mind and
Of what seems lovely to these colorful eyes.62
He thought it must be some kind of auspicious sign, so he picked up the flower and carried it to the door of Padmasambhava’s [Skull Garland’s] private chambers, called Self-Appearing Lotus. The flower in his hand turned into a white light the size of the moon and dissolved into the heart center of the demon king Rākṣa Skull Garland.
[Avalokiteśvara calls upon Padmasambhava to create the incarnation of Gesar from primordial ultimate mind.]63
Then through the self-clarity of his wisdom intent, the Great Compassionate Avalokiteśvara sang this song, easily comprehended, which invokes the mind stream.64
OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ HRĪḤ
From the pure land of the Blazing Lotus
Blessed One Amitābha, know me.
You who are supreme in the lotus family, Treasure of Omniscience,
Miraculous king, please heed me!
It is difficult to tame the wilderness land of Tibet.
In the kingdom of the land of snow,
Nine oath-breaking demon65 kings and ministers uttered perverted aspiration prayers.
When they transferred from that life
They were reborn as:
The eastern demon [māra of the east], Southern Throne Tiger Eye,
The southern demon, Poison Tree of Sadam,
The western demon, Lutsen [Nāga Might] of the Mu clan,
The northern demon, Gurkar, White Tent The�
�u Rang Cub,66
Turquoise Peak67 Luminous Child,
Earth Lord King Nyenrawa,
The Lion Demon Asê Khyilpa,
The barbarian Demon King Shingtri,
And the general demons of the world such as Black Bear, and so on.68
Each one of them is surrounded by an innumerable retinue,
The visible enemies and the invisible demonic forces
Who are to be the culprit leaders inflicting misery on the land of Tibet.
They will treat the teachings of cause and effect and the Rare and Precious Three Jewels with contempt.
They will lead all sentient beings down the path to the lower realms.
They will sow the seeds of the lowest possible realms.
Oh pity the ignorant beings in saṃsāra!
The great powerful one who tames the difficult to tame,
Great being, divine child, Joyful to Hear,
The primordially pure is self-liberated.69
May the five families of the victorious ones grant him empowerment.
May the protectors of the three families bless him. As the nirmāṇakāya who tames the vicious,
It falls upon you to invoke your samaya.70
Therefore, protector of beings, don’t be idle.
Thus he supplicated. And then Nangsid Zilnön [Lotus Skull Garland] smiled, his heart glad, and replied, “Good,” and sang these words in a sweet melody:
Kye Ho! O supreme bodhisattva, very good!
Your striving for the benefit of beings is excellent.
In the limitless sky of your enlightened mind of bodhicitta
The white luminous moon of your compassion shines upon others.
The innumerable constellations are your aspiration prayers.
Your kindness eliminates the darkness of ignorance.71
Like the moon in the midst of the lunar mansions,
You are the child who binds the phenomenal world in servitude.
Great bodhisattva, hearing you brings rejoicing and liberation.
You are the lord who embodies the activity of all the buddhas.
All the victors are one in the space of wisdom.
The buddha nature of the sugatas pervades all sentient beings.
Accordingly, in order to liberate all unrealized saṃsāric beings,
The sugatas cannot help but fulfill their vows to benefit beings.
Protector, whatever you intend for others’ benefit
Will come true for sentient beings.
May your practice of the perfection of aspiration be complete.72
In this way he prayed and confirmed the invocation of the sacred vow of all the sugatas of the ten directions. Even the demon minister of this sambhogakāya field of disciples was established in bliss through liberation upon the sight of that which is astonishing. Then the Great Compassionate One departed for Potala Mountain.
[Padma causes the birth of the future Gesar as the godling Thöpa Gawa, Joyful to Hear.]73
Later, on the holy day when the ḍākas and the ḍākinīs gather, the tenth day of the lunar month, deathless Lotus Skull Garland himself was surrounded by a vast assembly performing a tantric feast.i While he was dwelling in the samādhi of the all-pervading dharmadhātu, from the top of his head he emitted a green ray of light, which invoked the mind stream of the dharmadhātu Samantabhadra [Always Excellent]. Then, from the heart center of the dharmadhātu Samantabhadra, there emanated a five-pointed blue vajra marked in the center with the syllable HŪṂ.j It radiated out and went tothe garden Tsasum Gawa [Joyful Three Roots] and entered the top of the head of the godling Demchog Karpo Ngangyag. He experienced inexpressible bliss and had a vision in which he became the wrathful deity Heruka Hayagrīva, the Neighing Horse.74
From the heart center of Dhātviśvarīk Mother of Basic of Space emanated a red lotus with sixteen petals, the anthers marked with the syllable ĀḤ.l It radiated light, which entered into the top of the head of Gyuma Lhadzei. An inexpressible meditation experience blazed within her, and she had a vision that she transformed into the Vajra Sow Vajravārāhī. Then Hayagrīva and Vajravārāhī joined in passionless union.75
The sound of their union of bliss and emptiness invoked the mindstreams of the sugatas of the ten directions. From the heart centers of the blessed ones, the victorious ones of the five families, various colored lights emanated in the ten directions, cleansing the obscurations of the five poisons of all sentient beings. The lights gathered back here and transformed into a crossed double vajra, the essence of the activity of all the tathāgatas of the ten directions.
That vajra entered into the crown of the head of Demchog Karpo, where it was melted by the fire of exaltation. Then that became the energy of wisdom wind (prajñā), which entered into the space76 of Gyuma Lhadzei and was blessed as the nirmāṇakāya.77 A moment later, the god child miraculously appeared in her lap, blazing with magnificent dignity and splendor. To see him brought liberation. To hear him brought joy. As soon as he was born he began to recite the sound of the hundred-syllable mantra.78
Upon an eight-petaled golden lotus he floated in the air in vajra posture the height of an arrow length. He raised up this song, which teaches the meaning of cause and fruition.79
OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ HRĪḤ
From the pure land Akaniṣṭha,
Bhagavat of the five families of the victorious ones, know me.
For I and all sentient beings equal to space
Please naturally pacify discursive thoughts of the five poisons.
May we meet the wisdoms of the five kāyas.80
If you see the sole essence of the dharmakāya,
Buddhahood is delivered in the palm of your hand.
Nevertheless, for ignorant sentient beings,
Even if you explain it, it is difficult to understand.
According to the interpretable meaning, if gods and humans wish to be
Protected from the fear of saṃsāra,
They must seek refuge in the Three Rare and Supreme Ones [Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha].
If they wish to pacify suffering naturally in its own place
Then they must generate bodhicitta, which holds others dearer than self.
Beings of the three lower realms, barbarians, and erring gods,
Those of perverted views, inhabitants of lands without dharma, and the mute:
When you are free from the faults of these negative eight states of being81
And when you are born in the central land, with faculties whole, with faith,
Without reversed karma, inclined to virtue,82
Then, if you do not practice the holy dharma,
What will happen when the one known as Yama comes?
Lord of Death, the sharp and swift,
He comes whether good or bad, to friend and foe alike.
The high ones famed as the sun and the moon
May seem to pervade the four continents with their rays,
Yet it is unheard of that they would eclipse planet Rāhu with their light.
Likewise the high kings should think on this.
The red rock cliffs are high and mighty.
Only the vulture can make its way to them.
Yet it is unheard of that they would beat their rival, the lightning meteoric iron.
Likewise the mighty unrivaled aristocracy should think on this.
In the third month of summer, tiny creatures cover the ground.
At harvest time one covering of frost destroys their precious lives.
Likewise the lowly and humble should think on this.
Generally, at first you are born in your dear mother’s lap.
You are fed with soft food, the delicious three sweets.
You are dressed in soft clothes and silk brocade.
In the middle time, you are distracted by saṃsāric activities;
You turn the wheel of passion and aggression with friends and enemies.
If you are high up, that’s not enough, for
you fear that you may plunge;
If low, you will suffer from taxes, war, and forced labor.
Neither the strong nor the weak have protection from their inevitable end.
You suffer from fear of others’ contempt.
If you are rich, you suffer because you can’t sustain your livelihood.
If poor, you suffer by not being able to feed your face or clothe your back.
The suffering of human life is endless, and inexhaustible,
Tossed about on the wind of four hundred illnesses;
There are many ways to die from the onset of sudden obstacles.
When you are old, you can’t bear up against sickness,
Your old body is like a dead tree on a river bank;
It is rare for someone to listen to the words of the aged.
The old mind gathers all the suffering of the world,
When finally you are struck by a long fatal illness83
All sweet and delicious flavors nauseate you,
Your soft warm bed becomes harder than stone,
You become fed up with taking beneficial medicines,
The sleep guardian84 gets you angry,
Your grunts and groans are inexhaustible,
A day and a night take forever to pass,
Your spells and divinations reverse auspicious coincidence.85
Your life, so preciously guarded and pent within,
Even though you have pure dharmas; now it is too late to plant virtuous roots.86
For the stingy who held back generosity,
It is really too late to hope for help in the forty-nine days.87 On the day when death has finally come,
Taking medicine is like trying to drive a stakem into a stone;
On the day when you are facing Yama, Lord of Death,
Averting ceremonies are like using a torch made of water.
When the glorious gate of merit turns upside down,88
No matter how hard you work, all you get are blisters.