Guru Padmasambhawa

"Korzyści i pozytywne właściwości płynące z powtarzania sześciosylabowej mantry Buddy Nieograniczonego Współczucia"

ENGLISH VERSION: Guru Padmasambhava on the Mani Mantra

Age of Five Degenerations

The era in which we now live is known as the "Age of Five Degenerations." Our lifespan is shorter than it was in the Golden Age; this is the degeneration of life. Also, it is very rare to find someone who practices the Dharma and whose behavior really accords with it; this is the degeneration of karma, or activity.

This world of ours is constantly stricken by wars, famine, and disease, and there is but little hope of peace and happiness; this is the degeneration of the times.

All the while, the root causes of this general degeneration are the intense emotions that plague beings: hatred, desire, misjudgment, pride, and envy; this is the degeneration linked with emotions.

Finally, beings even turn their back on the Dharma; this is the degeneration of the view.

We have to wake up to the desperate and miserable conditions of this age; instead of finding it a source of fascination and pleasure, we ought to feel like a fish writhing on a hook.

We need to turn to Guru Rinpoche, the perfect buddha who vowed especially to help the beings of these decadent times, and call out to him with ardor and with longing: "There is no other hope for me but you! Unless you take me under your protection, I shall sink even deeper into samsara's ocean of suffering."

This is how the sun of Guru Rinpoche's compassion, concentrated now through the magnifying glass of our devotion, will set fire to the dry grass of our ignorance and destructive emotions.

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Unless you cultivate Bodhicitta, you will not attain enlightenment.

Master Padma said: If you train your mind in love, compassion, and Bodhicitta, you will not take rebirth in the three lower realms. 

Moreover, from this very moment you will never fall back. This alone is my oral instruction.

Wherever you go, keep Bodhicitta in mind, never departing from its company.

Whatever action you engage in, train in doing it for the benefit of sentient beings. Train in regarding others as more important than yourself. You will attain numerous qualities as a result of this training, such as having unimpaired samayas and vows.

Unless you cultivate Bodhicitta, you will not attain enlightenment, even though you may gain mastery of mantra and be very powerful.

All the supreme and common accomplishments will result from Bodhicitta arising in your being. That alone is my oral instruction.

~ Padmasambhava

The meaning of the Vajra Guru mantra, the essence of Guru Rinpoche

The mantra begins by expressing the seed syllables of the diamond body, diamond speech, and diamond mind: OM AH HUNG.

VAJRA means diamond: it is never changed by the elaborations of dualistic characterizing thoughts. It is present as the essential nature that is the all-pervading indestructible essence, awareness-emptiness. It is, therefore, the absolute body.

GURU means teacher. From that state, infinite clouds of Buddha forms and Buddhafields are arrayed, loaded with special qualities and endowed with the seven branches of union.y This is the body of perfect enjoyment.

PADMA, or “lotus,” refers to the radiant awareness of discriminating wisdom — the diamond speech, great bliss—spontaneously appearing as a reflection or manifestation, miraculously born as the supreme lotus family. This is therefore the body of manifestation.

These three bodies being inseparable in the teacher, the great Diamond Bearer of Oddiyana, keep in mind his immense qualities as you pray from a state of yearning — the natural display, as devotion, of the basic nature of the mind free from all elaboration. Entreat him, “By the power of this prayer, may all the supreme and common accomplishments — SIDDHI — be now, at this very moment, bestowed in full on my mindstream — HUNG.”

Reflecting like this on its meaning, recite the mantra, as the Root Tantra of the Assembly of Knowledge Holders advises:

During the approach, visualize the teacher on the crown of your head,

Recite the mantra as a prayer.

This is an essential pith instruction.

As for the benefits of reciting the mantra, Guru Rinpoche himself said:

The essence, the mantra that embodies the Sugatas,
Is the practice that includes all the Buddhas.
By reciting the Siddhi mantra one can traverse
The fifteen levels and five paths and accomplish my level.
It is the same as reading all the sacred teachings
Of all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future.

and,

Because of it, the phenomenal world will quake.
Condensing the Buddhas of past, present, and future,
It is inseparable from all the teachers.

Because of it, haughty elemental spirits faint and tremble,
The dakinis and Dharma protectors will gather like clouds,
And all the hosts of dakas and dakinis
Will be helpless but to come in person
And bestow the supreme and common accomplishments.

If there are no signs of this happening,
I, Padma, have deceived beings.
Therefore, fortunate children of the future,
Keep it in your hearts. This is my pledge.

and,

The twelve-syllable quintessence of the Lotus-Born
Recited twelve hundred thousand times will render void the seed of cyclic existence;
Thirty-six hundred thousand times will place you in the ranks of the knowledge holders;
And ten million times will make you the equal of myself, Padma.

The Original Pure Land

Padmasambhava is to be inseparable from the primordial nature.

His Copper-Colored Mountain buddhafield is the purity of your personal experience.

May everyone be born in this original pure land,

The uncontrived natural state of indivisible appearance and awareness.

~ Chokgyur Lingpa

Supplicating the Karmapa

 A long time ago Yeshe Tsogyal asked Guru Padmasambhava what could be done to help beings in the dark ages she foresaw. What could be done to alleviate their miseries in the time of the Kalpa of Great Conflict, the Kalpa of Weapons, and the Kalpa of Famine? 

Padmasambhava answered: 

“In order to help eliminate intense suffering in that dark time, make supplications to one who is now one of my twenty-five foremost disciples, and who in the future will bear the name Karmapa. Sincere supplications and devotion to that being will bring about harmony.”

Guru Yoga by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

In Guru Yoga, we pray and direct our devotion towards the master who arouses in us the greatest feeling of devotion. Here, we let him appear in the form of the Lotus-born Guru, Guru Rinpoche, who made a solemn promise that for anyone in this degenerate age who has great confidence in him and devotion to him, his blessing would be swifter than that of any other buddha. In his own words: "Those who accomplish me, accomplish all the buddhas; Those who see me, see all the buddhas."

This is his promise, a promise which can never deceive. For although Guru Rinpoche's compassion is the same for all sentient beings, it is particularly swift and powerful for those who live in this decadent age. Reflecting on our own root master, we will see that his qualities have the same nature as those of all the buddhas, and yet his kindness is even greater than theirs because he has come now, at the time when we need him. Take a group of people, for example, who are equally rich; the kindest is the one who uses his or her wealth to help the poor and those who need it most. It is just the same with the master.

If we practice Guru Yoga, perceiving that our root guru is inseparable from Guru Rinpoche, then the blessings we will receive will be both powerful and swift. When an enlightened master who has wisdom and compassion meets a disciple who has faith and diligence, it is as if the sun's rays were suddenly concentrated through a magnifying glass and focused onto dry grass, causing it to burst into flames at once. In the same way, the blessings we receive will correspond directly to the intensity of our devotion.

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Guru Rinpoche himself made this pledge: "If you have strong faith and confidence in me, I will look on you with compassion: this is my promise, And never will I deceive you."

Without this kind of faith and confidence, we cannot receive any blessings, but if we pray to Guru Rinpoche with unfailing confidence and devotion, then there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Being a fully enlightened buddha, he has the power to manifest his wisdom, his loving-kindness, and his strength. And remember that he will never, never desert us, for this was his promise.

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When the celestial dakinis sang the Seven Vajra Verses, the letter HRIH, emanating from the heart of Buddha Amitabha, descended upon a red lotus blossom on the Lake of Milk" in the northwest of the land of Oddiyana, and transformed into an eight-year-old child-Guru Rinpoche, the Lotus-born. Later, at the time when Guru Rinpoche was meditating in the Eight Great Cemeteries, the dakas and dakinis sang this Seven-Line Prayer to invite him and to request him to turn the Wheel of Dharma.

The Seven-Line Prayer carries the essence of all Guru Rinpoche's blessings. As Guru Rinpoche said: "To this very prayer, you can give your whole mind, in devotion. When a disciple calls upon me with yearning devotion, And with the sweet-sounding song of the Seven-Line Prayer, I shall come straightaway from Zangdopalri, Like a mother who cannot resist the call of her child."

Do not ever think that the buddhafields are far away, or doubt whether the buddhas may or may not come. For as Guru Rinpoche said: "I am present in front of anyone who has faith in me, Just as the moon casts its reflection, effortlessly, in any vessel filled with water."

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By thinking only of the guru, a fervent devotion will arise, and our eyes will fill with tears. As Guru Rinpoche said: "Complete devotion brings complete blessing; Absence of doubts brings complete success."

If we can pray with real fervor to Guru Rinpoche, he will remove all obstacles and enable us to progress along the path. All buddhas have the same compassion and the same love for sentient beings, but Guru Rinpoche has for countless kalpas made powerful prayers to benefit the beings of this difficult, decadent age, who are the victims of so much torment. If we pray fervently to him, he will look on us as his only child, and he will come at once, from the land of the raksasas in the southwest, to appear before us.

Whenever we pray to Guru Rinpoche, we should not just mouth the words, but pray one-pointedly from the core of our heart, from the marrow of our bones, and with a devotion that consumes our mind.

We should constantly keep in mind that Guru Rinpoche is our sole refuge, whether in happiness or in sorrow, whether in the higher realms of samsara or the lower. Without any second thoughts, we should give our whole mind to him, like throwing a pebble into a lake.

We need to turn to Guru Rinpoche, the perfect buddha who vowed especially to help the beings of these decadent times, and call out to him with ardor and with longing: "There is no other hope for me but you! Unless you take me under your protection, I shall sink even deeper into samsara's ocean of suffering." This is how the sun of Guru Rinpoche's compassion, concentrated now through the magnifying glass of our devotion, will set fire to the dry grass of our ignorance and destructive emotions.

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Our master, Guru Rinpoche, and the mantra are inseparable. So when we utter the name of the guru by reciting the mantra, it's as if we are calling out repeatedly to someone who simply cannot fail to reply. The guru cannot but turn his compassion towards us, and so, if we pray one-pointedly like this, there is absolutely no doubt that Guru Rinpoche will come at once to grant us his blessings. When rain falls on the earth, it falls evenly everywhere, but only the good seeds will germinate, not the rotten ones. In the same manner, the compassion of Guru Rinpoche is unbiased; it is directed universally to all beings, and yet his blessings will be swifter for those who have devotion and faith.

It is only through the blessings of a buddha that we can achieve realization. So a prayer like this, one that invokes Guru Rinpoche's very name, must go out from the marrow of our bones, from the core of our heart; then gradually our devotion will become spontaneous and unceasing. Remember that without faith, there will be no accomplishment.

This shows how important it is to have a faith that is very pure and genuine. And so, as a support, we visualize our outer environment as Zangdopalri, the beings around us as dakas and dakinis, ourselves as Yeshe Tsogyal, and above our head Guru Rinpoche, surrounded by his retinue. Then we pray, reciting the prayer in seven branches and the other prayers in the practice, with the confidence and trust that by so doing, accomplishment will surely blossom.

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The essence of Guru Yoga is simply to remember the guru at all times: when you are happy, think of the guru; when you are sad, think of the guru; when you meet favorable circumstances, be grateful to the guru; and when you meet obstacles, pray to the guru, and rely on him alone. When you are sitting, think of the guru above your head. When you are walking, imagine that he is above your right shoulder, as if you were circumambulating him. When you are eating food, visualize the guru at your throat center and offer him the first portion.

At night, when you are about to fall asleep, visualize Guru Rinpoche in your heart center, the size of the first joint of your thumb, sitting on a four-petalled red lotus. He is emanating countless rays of light, which fill your whole environment, melting the room and the entire universe into light, and then returning to absorb into your heart. Then the guru himself dissolves into light. This is the state in which you should fall asleep, retaining the experience of luminosity. If you do not fall asleep, you can repeat the visualization again. When you wake up in the morning, imagine that the guru emerges from your heart and rises up to sit again in the sky above your head, smiling compassionately, amidst a mass of rainbow light.

This is how we can remember the guru and apply devotion during every activity. And should death come suddenly, the best practice then is to blend our mind with the mind of the guru. Of all the sufferings of the three intermediate states, the most intense is the suffering of the moment of death. For this moment there are practices of Phowa, or the transference of consciousness to the buddhafields. The practice of Guru Yoga is the most profound and essential way of doing Phowa.

Through the Guru Yoga practice, all obstacles can be removed and all blessings received. And through merging our mind with the mind of the guru, and remaining in the state of inseparable union, the absolute nature will be realized. This is why we should always treasure Guru Yoga and keep it as our foremost practice.

Without causes and conditions, it is originally present.

Lady Tsogyal asked: 

Since it is meaningless not to cut through these three ways of straying, how should we transform them?

The master replied: 

Tsogyal, the empty essence of your awareness is not created by anyone. Without causes and conditions, it is originally present. Don’t try to change or alter awareness. Let it remain exactly as it is! Thus you will be free from straying and awaken within the state of primordial purity. In the same way, your cognizant nature is originally and spontaneously present indivisible from emptiness. Its expression, the unconfined capacity of whatever arises, has no concrete existence. Recognize that all three aspects [of awareness] are a great indivisible unity. Thus you awaken as the indivisibility of the three kayas.

~ Padmasambhava

Fearless in the face of death.

Lady Tsogyal asked the master:
Where do we find an abode that is fearless in the face of death?

The master (Padmasambhava) replied:
When you realize that the nature of your mind never arises, you may seem to change bodies, but you do not move from the empty and lucid dharmakaya, the nature of your mind. You can firmly resolve on that.

We are not separate!

Though primordially we are not separate, not recognizing me, you experience me externally.

~ Yeshe Tsogyal

Guru Rinpoche is the embodiment of all masters.

Guru Rinpoche is the embodiment of all masters, all deities, all dakinis, all dharma protectors, and all gods of wealth. Therefore, if we can have complete faith in Guru Rinpoche, thinking that, “I have no refuge other than you! You are my only refuge!” if we can develop this kind of faith single-pointedly and recite Guru Rinpoche’s mantra, we will accomplish the state of Buddhahood. By doing this, we can clear away unfavorable circumstances and obstacles. We do not anything else other than this. If you can make up your mind practicing as such, it would be wonderful.

~ Yangthang Rinpoche

Padmasambhava

I am present in front of anyone who has faith in me,
Just as the moon casts its reflection, effortlessly,
In any vessel filled with water.

For those with fervent faith and devotion,
My compassion is swifter than that of any other buddha.
Until there is an end to beings in these three realms of samsara,
There will be no end to Padmakara's compassion.

I am never far from those with faith,
Or even those without it,
Though they do not see me.
My children will always,
Always, Be protected by my compassion.

~ Padmasambhava