The Advice of Jangchub Ö
Composed by Lha Lama Jangchub Ö
Homage to the guru!
Generally, because of the subtle signs of heat gathered in the body
A great meditator will most likely become conceited.
Through clinging to the flavor of experience
A great meditator will most likely be bound to saṃsāra.
Because of the desire for fame as an excellent meditator
A meditator will most likely be carried along by the demon of desire.
If not separated from the clouds of delusion
The pure space of clear light is a falsity.
If you don’t purify the darkness of self-cherishing
The sunrise of selflessness will be false.
The great meditator who desires their own happiness
Will most likely be lost to the demons of their own mind.
If you don’t understand that life is like a water bubble,
And don’t reject the desire for fame,
Then although you persevere at listening, reflecting, and meditating,
You will most likely travel on only a reflection of the path.
Although you recognize that your own mind is unborn,
And your concentration is as stable as a mountain,
If it is not conjoined with the method, the mind of enlightenment,
Then you have most likely left the Great Vehicle behind.
If you don’t understand that everything is like a dream or an illusion,
Since you haven’t severed the ties of self-cherishing,
Although you exert effort to practice virtue with body and speech,
You are most likely squeezing out the pith of saṃsāra.
The Sun Friend1 has said that
There are two types of obstructions to the Great Vehicle:
Wisdom that is devoid of method
And method that is devoid of wisdom.
Generally, the mistaken mind that grasps at true existence,
Viewing as reality the mere emptiness of non-appearance,
The extreme of nihilism, is the mind of denigration.
Meditating on that is the path to the lower transmigrations.
The deluded mind that grasps at true existence,
Viewing as reality the mere appearance of non-emptiness,
The extreme of permanence, is the mind of reification.
Meditating on that is the basis of saṃsāra.
The mind that understands the indivisibility of appearance and emptiness
As the reality of the nature of all objects of knowledge is the mind devoid of extremes.
The path of union that meditates upon it
Is the way of the victors of the three times.
Furthermore, may the calm abiding that rests single-pointedly
Not become a supplement of ignorance.
May the self-luminous meditation that is free of grasping
Not be entrusted to the enemy, anger.
May the wisdom of primordial simplicity
Not become an experience included within this realm.
May the advice of the Dharma Lord Jangchub Ö abide in the heart of transmigrators:
Grasping at self-cherishing is the enemy and grasping at cherishing others is the friend. Appearance is false, and the mind itself is like the sky. Since self-grasping is the basis of suffering, if you cut it out from the root, that is excellent. Since the holy Dharma is the path of enlightenment, if you practice it, that is excellent. If you don’t hold the inherent nature of false appearances as true, that is excellent. Since your own mind is the experience of a buddha, if you readily strive for it, that is excellent.”
That is the stainless speech of the great guru Jangchub Ö.
The Advice of Jangchub Ö is complete.
Translator’s Colophon: This praise was translated by Ven. Gyalten Lekden at the request of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Sera Je Monastery during the summer of 2019. May any merit that is collected due to this translation be dedicated to the long and stable lives of all holy gurus teaching the authentic path.
Notes
1.“The Sun Friend” is a sobriquet for Śākyamuni Buddha.