These instructions allow us to realize the true nature of the mind. These instructions provide us with the means to accomplish two things: the elimination of the thoughts that are disturbing our mind and the ability to develop the positive qualities that are naturally present in the mind. The faults that have to be eliminated are all the negative factors that are disturbing the mind such as ignorance, desire, anger, etc. Mahamudra practice can dissolve all these negative factors completely, naturally and automatically. And all the qualities that are intrinsic in the mind will develop naturally until they reach their fullness.

In The Jewel Ornament of Liberation Gampopa merged the stream of instructions of the Kadampa school with the Mahamudra instructions. The Kadampa teachings, from the philosophical viewpoint, are not the teachings with the highest view, but they put a great emphasis on proper conduct and practice. The Kadampa teachings came to Tibet after the destruction of the dharma by King Lang Dharma. First King Trisong Deutsen (718-785 AD) introduced Buddhism to Tibet. Then there was King Lang Dharma (863-906 AD) who persecuted the Buddhists and suppressed the dharma in Tibet creating great difficulties for the teaching of Buddhism. During this time a number of teachings were lost and practice degenerated. Although Vajrayana practice continued, it was slightly corrupted. Some people began understanding the dharma just in terms of the words, for example, they would say, “everything is empty” or “everything is the Great Perfection or Mahamudra.” They did not understand this correctly because they just clung to the idea that everything is empty or Mahamudra and did not see that on the relative level there is karma and bodhichitta and the various qualities that one must accumulate. To stop this misinterpretation of the dharma two great kings of Tibet, Yeshe Ur and Chang Chup Ur invited the great Indian mahapandita Atisha to come and give teachings in Tibet. They asked him to teach specifically on refuge, the resolution to reach enlightenment, and the paramitas. These are what became known as the Kadampa instructions. What Gampopa did in The Jewel Ornament of Liberation was to merge these Kadampa instructions with the Mahamudra instructions he received from Milarepa.

    The Name of the Text

The short name of this book is “tak chin” which means “the ornament of liberation.” The longer name of this book is “tak pa rinpoche chin” which means “the ornament of precious liberation.” To explain this more: the goal of our dharma practice is liberation. It is the liberation from all our problems, all our troubles and all the suffering of conditioned existence in samsara. We meditate and practice to attain liberation, freedom from suffering. But suffering is just the result of a definite cause and the cause of this suffering is the negativity that disturbs our mind. So we have to eliminate this cause to be free of the effect, which is suffering.
This liberation is given the name “precious” or “rinpoche” in Tibetan, which is what is used for a precious stone or jewel. Here the word “rinpoche” is to be understood as a wish-fulfilling jewel. Liberation is a wish-fulfilling jewel because when we have achieved it we receive everything that we have ever wanted.

The way to achieve liberation is here with an ornament. This might seem strange at first because when we speak of ornaments we usually refer to something we put on to look beautiful. Here an ornament is understood in the sense of something that clarifies, like a mirror, which brings clarity. This teaching then is the ornament which will make us see what is this wish-fulfilling jewel of liberation, how we can achieve it, what are the benefits of achieving it and what a shame it is if we don’t achieve it. That is why this book is called, “The ornament which makes it possible to see the wish-fulfilling jewel of great liberation.”

    The Homage

The homage says, “I prostrate to the noble Manjushri in youthful form.” There is a tradition in Tibet to begin every Buddhist text with homage, to offer one’s respect to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. This phrase varies depending on which of the three portions of the teachings it belongs to, the Vinaya, the Sutras, or the Abhidharma. So we can tell which of these the text came from by simply reading the homage. When a text came from the Abhidharma, which is quite difficult and subtle to understand, the homage is to Manjushri because Manjushri represents prajna, the highest wisdom. So the Jewel Ornament belongs to the Abhidharma.

Manjushri’s name in Tibetan is “Jam pal” with “jam” meaning “smooth.” So Manjushri is completely smooth and therefore totally free of roughness or coarseness of negativity. The other part of Manjushri’s name “pal” means “magnitude,” “full-ness,” or “splendor.” It is the great splendor of possessing the best possible virtue. So “Jampal” means the splendid and smooth one. In the homage one prostrates to the “youthful” Manjushri who is referred to as a youth because he is not yet fully mature but also no longer a child. This means that Manjushri is referred to as a bodhisattva. In terms of spiritual development a bodhisattva is not a child, an ordinary person, but also is not yet a mature person, a fully developed Buddha.

Gampopa also includes homage to show his respect for the deities and to give students an example of humility. By paying homage to others Gampopa acknowledges the higher qualities of other beings, which shows he has enough purity of mind to acknowledge them without pride. This shows students how they should behave and how they should have faith and devotion towards those with higher qualities.

    The Six Topics of the Book

The Jewel Ornament can be summarized into six main points that show us how to reach unsurpassable enlightenment. The first point is called “the primary cause.” We want to accomplish enlightenment, Buddhahood, and the cause answers the question, “Can we accomplish this?” The answer is that everyone can reach enlightenment because everyone has this seed of enlightenment. So, whoever tries to accomplish enlightenment in the right way will eventually succeed. It is incorrect to believe that some people when they try will succeed and others won’t.

The second point is that we need the “right basis” or right foundation to work from. This basis means the right kind of existence. For example, an animal has the seed of enlightenment, but an animal doesn’t have the opportunity to accomplish enlightenment. An animal will have to wait until it is freed from the animal realm4 before it can work towards enlightenment. One therefore needs the right kind of foundation to work towards enlightenment.

The third point is known as the contributory cause or “the condition.” We may have the seed of enlightenment and the right basis of a human birth, but we still need the right kind of condition of a person who can encourage and motivate us towards working to accomplishing enlightenment. This condition is a spiritual friend or lama who can guide us.

We may wonder if having the right cause, the right basis and a spiritual friend is enough to accomplish enlightenment. No, this isn’t enough. The spiritual friend can lead us, but cannot take all our negativity and simply wash it away. We need the “right means” or method to work towards enlightenment. The fourth point then is the right means, which are the instructions of the spiritual friend that are the tools we need to work with.

Once we have the right means, what can we accomplish? This is explained in the fifth point, which is the “right fruition” or result, which is Buddhahood.

What we can achieve on accomplishing Buddhahood is explained in the sixth point, which is the “right activity” which is spontaneous activity to benefit all beings. When we accomplish Buddhahood we achieve realization, but we also automatically engage in trying to help all other beings.

So that is a summary of the subject matter of this book. Then each of these six basic points is further developed with an explanation of their meaning. For the first point “cause” means the essence of Buddhahood or the essence of the sugatas. “Sugata” is a Sanskrit word which means “the one who has gone to happiness or bliss” or “dewa shepa” in Tibetan. The person described is the Buddha and this term describes what happens at Buddhahood: one leaves suffering and goes to happiness. This term (sugatagharba) is not only the name of the Buddha, but it also describes what happens at that point. The essence of the sugata, of the Buddha, is the pure wisdom of the Buddha that all beings possess and this is the cause of enlightenment, the seed of Buddhahood that is present in each and every being.

The second point is the “basis” and this is explained in terms of the precious human body or the jewel-like human body. The reason a human body is compared to a jewel is not because it resembles a jewel physically, but rather because it can function as a wish-fulfilling jewel insofar as it allows us to achieve our ultimate goal, so it is very beneficial.

The third point is the “condition” and this is explained in terms of a spiritual friend. These are those who can show us the path and lead us towards enlightenment.

The fourth point is the “method” and this is described in terms of the instructions of the spiritual friend.

The fifth point is the “fruition” and this is described as being the kayas of the Buddha.

The sixth point is the “activity” and this is explained in terms of the non-conceptual activity for the sake of all other beings. This means that when enlightenment is accomplished, we don’t have to make any effort to benefit other beings because this activity will arise spontaneously, without any need for thought and without any need for effort.