Once, when Jigten Sumgon was residing at Drikung Thel, he
gathered his students in a meadow behind the monastery and asked them to
perform displays of their miracle powers. All but one were able to comply
with their guru’s request, and this disciple, Rinchen Drak, suddenly died
from shame. When the undertakers tried to dismember his corpse in order
to feed it to the vultures, the body resisted the knife. Jigten Sumgon
placed his walking stick on the heart-center of the corpse and sang this
song:
I bow at the feet of glorious Phagmo Drupa ( the Teacher of the composer
of the song )
Listen, Rinchen Drak, my son.
Ka! At the time of death?.
Worldy activities are a lie.
The eight worldly dharmas are like the colour of a rainbow.
Think, can you put your trust in them?
When you see the separation of gathered friends,
The affection of relatives and friends is a lie.
Heart-felt words are like an echo.
Think, can you put your trust in them?
When you see the growth and decline of the four elements of the body,
The illusion of strength and ability is also a lie.
The spring flower of youth?
Think, can you put your trust in it?
When you see the gathering and consumption of wealth,
Clinging and painful accumulation are also lies.
Food and wealth are like dew on a blade of grass.
Think, can you put your trust in them?
When you see the suffering of birth and death,
The happiness of the assemblies of gods and men is a lie.
The joy and suffering of the wheel of samsara?
Think, can you put your trust in them?
To the tree, the father, bodhicitta,
The bias of disciples is a lie.
Nonvirtuous and misleading friends?
Think, can you put your trust in them?
When you understand that all sentient beings are your parents,
Attachment to self-cherishing is a lie.
The Shravakas?vehicle of self-liberation?
Think, can you put your trust in it?
When you become convinced of the cause and result of karma,
The instruction of non-effort is a lie.
Thunder without rain in an empty sky?
Think, can you put your trust in it?
For the guru who has the realization of power and blessings,
The obstacles of maras and error is a lie.
Chattering prayers like a parrot?
Think, can you put your trust in that?
When you realize the nature of your mind,
The three limitless kalpas are also a lie.
The
deceptive vehicle of relative truth?
Think,
can you put your trust in it?
In the cemetery, Gathering Relics, are you sad, son, at being alone?
Since nothing lasts and all must die, Rinchen Drak, don’t be attached.
If your mind is still attached, transfer it to your guru’s heart.
Rinchen
Drak’s body was then cut open and found to contain numerous relics. There
were so many of these that they had to be swept together with brooms.
Notes by Khenpo Koncohg Gyaltshen:
[1] Concern with gain and loss, pleasure
and pain, fame and disgrace, and kind and harsh words.
[2] This isn’t to say that human
beings don’t feel genuine affection for each other, but that
relationships are impermanent, and nothing to cling to as ultimately real.
[3] This is a metaphor that
compares bodhicitta, which is without bias, to a sheltering tree and
protecting father.
[4] An advanced teaching in
Vajrayana that can lead to carelessness if not properly understood.
[5]
The cemetery where this miracle occurred was thereafter referred to as
Ten Chak Gang (“Gathering Relics?. There Jigten Sumgon opened a mandala
for the purification of the lower realms, which was placed under a large
slab of stone. Under that slab, he also created a light which will burn
until the end of the kalpa, and which benefits the minds of those whose
bodies are brought there, causing them to be free from birth in lower
realms.
Appendix by
Kunga Nyima:
About the song: This song presents the main
points of the Buddha’s teachings of renunciation, bodhicitta ?the
supreme wish of wanting to achieve Buddhahood for the ultimate good of
all, the inter-dependent nature of phenomena and some of the most
important topics of the Vajrayana such as the Guru Yoga.
About the composer of the song –Lord Jigten Sumgon: He is the founder of the
Drikung Kagyu Lineage and is also one of the Teachers of the first Gyalwa
Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa, the Founder of the Karma
Kagyu School.
Who
is Khenpo Konchog Gyaltshen: Khenpo Konchog Gyaltshen is one of the highest
Abbot of the Drikung Kagyu
School. Rinpoche is also one
of the most widely-recognised scholar on Tibetan Buddhism in general and
the Drikung Kagyu tradition in particular alive in the world today.
Rinpoche is the teacher and founder of numerous Buddhist centres in the
west. Books authored or translated by Rinpoche includes The Jewel
Ornament of Liberation, The Garland of Mahamudra Practices, The Jewel
Treasury of Advice amongst others. Both a brilliant scholar and earnest
practitioner, Rinpoche touches people who come into contact with him with
his simplicity, sincerity, genuine humility and kindness.
Khenpo Konchog
Gyaltshen was in Singapore
for the first time and was teaching on the Five-fold Path of Mahamudra at
Karma Choying Kunkhyab Ling from 9 to 11
March 2001.
Karma Choying
Kunkhyab Ling is the official centre representing HH the 17th
Gyalwa Karmapa Urgyen Trinley Dorje in Singapore.
His Holiness the
17th Gyalwa Karmapa Urgyen Trinley Dorje is recognised by HH
the 14th Dalai Lama and all other senior lineage-holders of Tibetan
Buddhism as the authentic reincarnation of the Gyalwa Karmapas and the
Official Head of the Karma
Kagyu School.
Information on
the centre can be assessed at:
http://members.tripodasia.com.sg/karmachoying/contact_us.htm [ web-site ]
or Karmackl@singnet.com.sg 2747800 or 2706606
Permission to
quote the translation is graciously granted by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltshen.
This translation is found in “Prayer Flags? a collection of articles and
translations on the life and spiritual teachings of Jigten Sumgon. This
book, together with other works of Khenpo Konchog Gyaltshen can be
purchased from Snow.
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