His Eminence Garje Khamtrul Rinpoche
Advice from Garje Khamtrul Rinpoche
by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö
Oṃ Svasti
Lordly Guru, most supreme refuge, may your feet ever adorn my crown.
Sublime holder of the teachings, you have requested me to summarize the path into pith instructions for you to practice. As I myself lack any deep experience, I feel it would be inappropriate for me to do so. Nevertheless, to avoid disappointing you, I’ll write a synopsis of what the masters of the past have said.
Begin by destroying the house of the analytical mind, and decide upon the groundless and rootless nature of all. This dharmakāya awareness that transcends ordinary mind is without essence and identity – lucidity without a reference point, completely free. It is awareness without dwelling, unobservable and free of notions such as existence, non-existence, permanence and nothingness.
It isn’t a mere vacuity; it is the Great Perfection, the spontaneous three kāyas, quintessential luminosity itself abiding as the ground, the great dharmakāya.
To experience it there is no need for a contrived path; simply rest in your own nature. Whatever else you practice, such as the generation phase (utpattikrama) or perfection phase (sampannakrama), will not be a distraction. This is it, there is no need for anything else!
To avoid distraction and vagueness, which may occur at the beginning of the practice, remain mindful and sustain awareness. Eventually mindfulness itself will dissolve into the dhātu, that which is all-pervasive and enduring like the sky, and within which there is nothing to hold onto or release, neither purity nor impurity. Everything arises naturally – without suppression or encouragement, complexity or simplicity – it is simply the dynamic display of compassionate awareness: settle into this.
This view should be as stable as a mountain. Meditation should be as unmoving as an ocean. Conduct should be relaxed and loose, regardless of what appears. As for the result, simply settle into awareness.
Don’t dwell in the past or anticipate the future. Regardless of whatever appears to the six consciousnesses, do not be attached, allow things to pass. This is the meaning of self-liberation.
Continually meditate upon devotion, renunciation, love, compassion, and the supreme mind of enlightenment, bodhicitta. Don’t forget that it is critical you practice the approach and accomplishment of your chosen deity.
Sublime one, kindly consider these points of practice that I, Chökyi Lodrö, offer you. May any ensuing merit dredge the very depths of saṃsāra.
Translated by Sean Price, 2016.
