Resolution of doubts on ultimate truth (Chapter Seven)

CMP 7.1

Just as a lamp set within a pot does not shine forth outside, but once that pot is broken the lamp's flame thereupon shines forth—

CMP 7.2

—one's own body indeed is the pot; reality itself is the lamp; when [the pot] is broken by the mouth [-instruction] of the guru, buddha-knowledge becomes manifest.

CMP 7.3

He sees space [merge] with space arisen [from space], sky [merge] with sky; just so, this practice has been shown forth from the mouth of the guru. Thus [it is said].

CMP 7.4

These dharmas are designated through the sounding of words; yet neither dharma nor word is apprehended herein. And [only] by descending into the unity [of things], into [their] dharma-nature, will one touch the unsurpassed, supreme acceptance. Thus [it is said].

CMP 7.5

Homage to you, boon-granting foremost Vajra; homage be to you, Limit of the Real (bhūtakoṭi)! Homage to you, Womb of Emptiness; homage be to you, Awakening of the Buddhas!

CMP 7.6

Grant me, O great master, the vision of full awakening, the great knowledge of all the Buddhas, the unsurpassed all-emptiness.

CMP 7.7

Grant me, O great being, [that which has] the sole character of self-experience, freed from karma and birth; may I attain awakening here in this very [life].

CMP 7.8

Apart from the lotus of your feet there is no other refuge, O Lord; therefore be gracious, foremost of Buddhas, Hero of the world, Great Sage!

CMP 7.9

Having thus praised [him] with that divine, supreme rite of supplication, the glorious guru, an ocean of virtues, gives rise to compassion for the disciple—

CMP 7.10

—becoming serene of countenance, compassionate, and gladdened, he should impart [to him] the divine supreme pledge (samaya (sacred pledge, commitment)) that springs from the yoga-tantra.

CMP 7.11

Then the master, concentrated, should bring forth bodhicitta, and having deposited the bodhicitta in a vase or a conch—

CMP 7.12

—then, having summoned that disciple, blessed and empowered by all the Buddhas, he should bestow on him the pledge, endowed with the seal (mudrā) of the Conqueror.

CMP 7.13

The consecration (abhiṣeka (consecration, empowerment)) is to be given by the second Vajra-holder [the vajra-master], with auspicious uttered words and with the varied sounds of [many] instruments.

CMP 7.14

By the consecration of the triple realm, the disciple, with bowed head and joined palms—then, being urged thereto, [the master] should give to him what is [thereby] authorized.

CMP 7.15

The garland, the water, the fully-awakened [crown], the vajra, the bell, then the mirror, the name, and the authorization of [becoming] a master—this indeed is the sequence of consecration.

CMP 7.16

Then he should bestow upon him the mark of the outer full awakening, that which has been received in the [lineage] tradition, come down through the succession of gurus. Thus [it is said].

CMP 7.17

The yogin should constantly recollect the drop (bindu) that dissolves into clear water, in a river or a lake—[that] pure [drop], explained step by step in [its] sequence of distinctions; just as in a mirror the gradual vanishing of the breath-mist comes about and is no longer perceived in that manner, so the sequence [of practice], [namely] the apprehension of the condensed [drop], is to be discerned thus by those who follow the [proper] procedure.

CMP 7.18

Beyond the cultivation of all the limbs [of practice], free of conceiving and the conceived, wholly transcending [even] the [smallest] measure and drop—this is the supreme maṇḍala.

CMP 7.19

He who enters the stainless [reality] of all existents, in [their] forms and formlessnesses—the mind, awakened and impelled, [is] the maṇḍala, having the form of the maṇḍala.

CMP 7.20

"It is" and "it is not"—both are extremes; "pure" and "impure"—these too are extremes. Therefore, abandoning both extremes, the wise one does not even take a stand in the middle. Thus [it is said].

CMP 7.21

In the sense of "endless as space," the great resting-place of all beings—[that is the] glory, the splendor, the radiant King, the fulfiller of all hopes.

CMP 7.22

Oh the Buddha! Oh the Buddha! Oh the teaching of the Dharma! O bodhicitta, whose meaning is the pure reality, whose import is pure—homage be to you!

CMP 7.colophon

[Here ends] the seventh chapter, the resolution of doubts about the integration [of the stages, concerning] ultimate truth (paramārthasatya (ultimate, absolute truth)). // 7 //