Guru Chenrezig, the Embodiment of Refuge and Compassion
Composed by Panchen Lobzang Chökyi Gyältsen
Guru, yidam-deity, the very nature of refuge and compassion:
I and other sentient beings turn the wheel of birth and death,
Overflowing the billion galaxies1 with the collections of our flesh and bones.
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When we are born, naked, onto the face of this earth,
We’ve been carried in our mothers’ bodies for nine months and ten days,
Fought with heat and cold, and scraped through a tight ravine made of bone.
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
For me, a Dharma-less yellow-clad one, a phony bodhisattva,
With a body fully grown and in the prime of my life,
There is no liberation on this defile of birth, aging, sickness, and death.
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When the spine that was born straight changes and becomes bent,
My teeth fall from my mouth and I wish for nourishment,
And my hair and beard turn white,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When a beautiful countenance becomes a lattice of wrinkles,
Eyesight so impaired that even forms aren’t clear,
And footsteps that were once steady now stagger,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When, deafened, and scorned by others,
The flesh of my body sags, just bones wrapped in skin,
And I have little concern for either food or clothing,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When, ashamed and disgusted with old age and decrepitude,
I speak to those distant and they don’t listen, to those near and they quarrel,
And both I and others make prayers for death,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When, under the power of karma I am gripped by a fierce, fatal disease
Like the orbits of the sun and moon are gripped by the planet,
And the luster of my glowing countenance has faded,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When, from the sickness and pain, an anguished moan escapes,
And because of the disturbance of the four elements I won’t make it through another day and night,
And divinations are cast, offerings made to the gods, and the demons are beaten away,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When I can no longer digest food and, at the end, am surrounded by attendants,
Although medical and religious efforts are made they are of no benefit,
And I can’t control my bowels or bladder and I soil my bed,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When greatly nutritious food is nauseating,
And when it is time to express my final wishes, at the time I am being separated from my life,
My lips are curled up, nostrils flattened, and teeth encrusted with grime,
And nothing comes to mind other than blue water,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When bulging eyes stare the faces of those who are near,
Clutching hands grasp at friends and their clothing, and
The stench of death clings to my body,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When my lifespan and body are both exhausted, my body and mind have separated,
And like a nighttime shadow as a butter lamp runs out of fuel,
I am powerless to remain for even a brief moment more,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When the mind separates from the body, having been abruptly shot forth by death,
As if from a bow string, the cause of breath is severed, and
When, having abandoned possessions and relatives, I go forth alone,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When, because the earth element dissolves, my navel chakra loosens2,
The strength of my body is lost, my limbs can’t be controlled,
Dust collects on my face, and both of my eyes collapse inward,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When, because the water element dissolves, my heart chakra loosens,
With my sense of feeling slipping away, my mouth and nose shrivel inward,
And both nostrils dry up,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When, because the fire element dissolves, my throat chakra loosens,
The heat of my body dissipates, food and drink can’t be digested, and
Both my right and left ears become blocked,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When, because the wind element dissolves, my crown chakra loosens,
My breath is a harsh wheeze and I’m unable to bring in external air, and
I become mute, and my taste sense organ deteriorates,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When the bodhicitta flows downward and the white path appears,
And the blood reverses upward and the red path appears,
And when they collapse at the center and there is the suffocating black path,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When the eighty inherent conceptual minds gradually cease,
And the inherent clear light, the nature of mahāmudra,
Appears, uncontrived, in my mental continuum,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When my root guru bestows initiations and performs purifying bath rituals, and
Close relations, having gathered together, give food and drink for a corpse,
Shout my name, and beat their chests,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When my neck and hands have been brought together and bound with a grass rope,
Agreeable friends see me off with tears,
And follow from my soft bed to the charnel grounds,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
Or when my corpse is delivered to the top of a mountain,
My four limbs separated with a sharp weapon,
My intestines, brain and heart scattered across the plateau,
And they are eaten by birds, jackals, wolves and dogs,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
Or when my corpse is thrown into the blue water,
My blood and lymph mixing with the blue water, and
My flesh and fat eaten by the fish and otters,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
Or when my corpse is burned in the middle of a fire,
My flesh, bones and skin make a heap of ashes, and
Are consumed by all the scent-eating gandharvas3,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
Or when my corpse is buried under the ground,
My flesh, bones and skin develop the stink of rot,
Sucked up by the bugs, worms, and bees,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
Others will claw and scratch to get the wealth I accumulated, but
The negativities I accumulated because of that wealth come to me alone.
When I am led to court by the Lord of Death’s executioners,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
When I have fallen into the abyss of the three lower realms,
My consciousness without a body, like a feather carried by the wind,
Powerless, is led on the treacherous path of the bardo,
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
In the first part of this life I had a slothful disposition;
In the latter part of this life may I not be lazy,
And may the clinging that equalizes this worldly life with spiritual accomplishments be cut!
Precious Guru, bestower of refuge,
Supreme Ārya Chenrezig, lead me out of saṃsāra!
Author’s Colophon: Paṇchen Lobzang Chögyän’s Guru Chenrezig, the Embodiment of Refuge and Compassion is complete. May all be auspicious!
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 term used here is most often translated as trichiliocosm, or three times thousand. The meaning is to picture our entire world system, or galaxy, and multiply it by one thousand, and that galaxy cluster is the “first” thousand. Now you multiply that galaxy cluster again by a thousand, and that galaxy supercluster is the “second” thousand. Finally, you multiple that galaxy supercluster again by one thousand and you have reached the trichiliocosm, or “third-order universe,” which is the “third” thousand. Multiplied out that equals a billion galaxies, although it is often considered not literally but rather to express an infinitely large amount.
2. The chakras are actually locations in the subtle body where the left and right channels wrap themselves around the central channel, blocking the vital winds and drops from moving freely through it. As the coarse body breaks down at the time of death each of these channel knots, or chakras, also come apart, allowing the winds and drops to move more freely through the central channel.
3. The gandharvas are a class of celestial deity who consume odors as sustenance (the Tibetan translation of gandharva is literally “scent-eater”). In this verse the smoke from the funeral pyre provides the scents for the gandharvas to consume.