1. Vajradhara, the illustrious one,
2. Said to possess eight enlightened qualities

At the very beginning of this spiritual song, it says that Vajradhara was exceptional because he is endowed with eight special qualities. Vajradhara is the dharmakaya and therefore has the eight qualities or aspects. On the ordinary level these are of the five elements of (1) earth, (2) water, (3) fire, (4) air or wind, and (5) space, to which are added (6) red and (7) white elements from the mother and father and (8) consciousness. In the case of the dharmakaya Vajradhara, these are completely pure.
  In general, our experience is that our body consists of the eight elements. To us they appear to provide our vitality and life-force. But these substances are really a cause of bewildered appearances and keep us limited, unable to develop. For instance, the earth element gives us strength, the power of our body. But it is not vast so there is a limit to our physical strength because the earth element has a limiting quality. However, when the earth element is pure at the level of dharmakaya Vajradhara, then the siddhis and enlightened activities are unimaginable. Similarly, the water element gives us illness and experiences of happiness and sadness and so on. When it is completely pure at the level of a Buddha, however, it is naturally free from illness, sadness, and pain. The fire element gives us the ability to have bodily warmth and vigor, but it is not unlimited either. If it is pure, the dharmakaya and the sambhogakaya have the ability to radiate light unimaginable and vast throughout all the Buddha realms with no limit. The wind element gives us the ability to move and perform activities and actions. But again this is not unlimited activity. On the level of the dharmakaya this purified element has the ability of endless, unimaginable miraculous powers. The space element adds a quality of lightness to our being and we would just kind of implode if we didn’t have the space element as part of us. But still it is a restriction. In the purified aspect of dharmakaya, it makes complete and total unobstructed manifestation of everything possible. In addition to these five main elements there is a red element and a white element. The red element allows us to have a body: it allows for the development and existence of a body. But it does not have the power to emanate bodies. With the purification of the red element endless emanations of the body are possible. The white element gives us a feeling of happiness or bliss. This bliss is a very limited kind of bliss and is not the limitless bliss that is experienced when the white element is completely purified. The eighth element is consciousness which allows us to understand, to see, to hear, smell, taste, and so on. But essentially it is ignorant knowing in a limited way, that consciousness cannot know fully. When the element of consciousness is purified and wisdom (Skt. jnana, Tib. yeshe) arises, one attains the state of understanding all phenomena or omniscience. When these eight qualities are completely pure, then the enlightened activities of the dharmakaya of a Buddha are endless and boundless.

3. Appears to me, an ordinary person,
4. As a man called Padma, the protector, full of blessings.

Although Vajradhara is widely known as the dharmakaya possessed with these eight qualities, to Jamgon Kongtrul he doesn’t appear in this way, but in a human form, i.e., his guru. Jamgon Kongtrul received all of the instructions and all the blessings from his root guru, the ninth Situ, Pema Nyingche Wangpo, and therefore he supplicates him as the lord named Padma who is endowed with the blessing. Jamgon Kongtrul had exceptional faith and devotion to his lama, Pema Nyingche Wangpo, and regarded him as actually being Vajradhara. Even though he had human form, Jamgon Kongtrul thought that he actually was Vajradhara with all the eight qualities and so the qualities of devotion arose in his stream of being. We as disciples should do likewise by having absolute faith in our root lama so much so that we regard him or her as Vajradhara. Whether our lama is exceptionally learned or has extraordinary qualities or not, we should still think he or she is definitely Vajradhara.
  With sacred outlook or pure vision, Jamgon Kongtrul regarded his lama as Vajradhara even though he appeared to look like a human being. So Jamgon Kongtrul says, “To me he appears to be only a human, but in fact he is actually Vajradhara.” In the same way, through our sacred outlook, we should regard our root lama without faults, and if there are no spiritual qualities, we should regard him or her as having spiritual qualities. With pure vision we should see the lama with faults as without faults, and the lama without good qualities as with good qualities.

5. I supplicate you: never for a moment leave
6. The eight-petaled lotus-dome of my heart.

We should regard the lama as being Vajradhara with the eight qualities and also we should constantly keep in mind and pray one-pointedly and supplicate the lama. It says that in one’s heart, visualized in a tent of an eight-petaled lotus, there dwells the lama and the lama is there constantly. So not even for a second are we separated from the lama and so we can continuously recall the root lama.
  In the practice of Mahamudra devotion is crucial. It is said in the Kagyu lineage prayer (Tib. Dorje Chang Thungma) that “devotion is the head of meditation.” If someone doesn’t have a head, they can’t eat food, can’t listen to anything, and can’t see anything, and so on. But if they have a head, then they can eat and talk and see and hear. Devotion is like this because with devotion one develops one’s meditation and then is able to receive the blessings of the lama. The method of bringing about devotion is supplication. That is why in Mahamudra practices, we rely on guru yoga as the method to develop devotion. Jamgon Kongtrul shows that he has devotion in this way and that we should also supplicate the lama and arouse devotion. In the case of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, for instance, his guru yoga practice was a sadhana practice combining Karma Pakshi (the second Karmapa) and Dorje Trollo (the wrath¬ful aspect of Guru Rinpoche) arising from his pure vision.

7. Though I am not graced with simultaneous liberation
     and realization,
8. I am blessed with just recognizing my own true nature.

What are the benefits of supplicating and meditating on the lamas and arousing devotion? It is possible to attain realization and liberation, instantaneously, such as happened with King Indrabhuti who received the Mahamudra teachings, attained realization, and instantly became liberated at the same time. Jamgon Kongtrul says that he’s not as fortunate as King Indrabhuti who attained realization and was liberated instantly through his devotion. However, through his devotion and meditation on the lama, Jamgon Kongtrul received enough blessing to understand the essence of his mind.

9. Obsession with the eight worldly concerns has decreased.

What is the sign that Jamgon Kongtrul understood something of the nature of his mind through the power of his supplication and devotion? First, his attention to and attachment to the eight worldly concerns has diminished. The eight worldly concerns are phenomena which contradict dharma and keep one from dharma practice. They are (1) to be happy with pleasing things and (2) to be displeased with unpleasant phenomena; (3) to be happy with wealth and prosperity; and (4) to be displeased when not having it; (5) to be happy with praise and (6) to be displeased when one is not praised or slandered; and (7) to be happy when one has fame and (8) unhappy when one is not well known. Having excessive attachment to these can be an obstacle to the practice of dharma. But if one practices dharma well, one’s attachments are diminished. So Jamgon Kongtrul is saying although he has a small understanding of his own nature, based on the lama’s blessing his tendency for attachment to the eight worldly concerns is diminished.

10. By mixing my mind with the guru’s
11. I have seen clearly that famous “luminous dharmakaya.”

This describes the result of his supplication, devotion, and understanding of his mind. Similarly, the next line “That famous ‘luminous dharmakaya’” is about the nature of clarity or luminosity (Tib. salwa) that everybody’s heard so much about. Jamgon Kongtrul is saying, “I have seen it. I have realized it,” through the kindness of his root lama, Pema Nyingche Wangpo. This was done in meditation by visualizing Pema Nyingche Wangpo on his head and receiving the four empowerments from him. In this visualization white, red, blue, and yellow light emanated from the four chakras (the forehead, the throat, the heart, and the navel) of his guru and entered into the four chakras of Jamgon Kongtrul. By meditating this way, he was completely filled with light and received the four empowerments: the vase empowerment, the secret empowerment, wisdom empowerment, and the name empowerment. The blessings of body, speech, and mind entered. Then the entire being of Pema Nyingche Wangpo dissolved into light and melted into Jamgon Kongtrul making him and his guru inseparable. The mind of the guru and the mind of Jamgon Kongtrul completely mixed, which is called “mixing mind and mind.” This practice is the combining of the lama’s mind with one’s own mind believing completely that one’s mind is completely inseparable so that whatever qualities, realizations and experiences the lama’s mind has are now one’s own realization and experience. By just thinking and believing in this experience of the mixing of the minds, realization actually arises. Jamgon Kongtrul says, “Mind and mind mixing, I see it transparently.” This means he saw the dharmakaya. Based on the teachings of mixing the lama’s mind with one’s own, he is saying that we also need to practice in this way.

12. Non-thought was found amidst discursive thought
13. Wisdom dawned within non-conceptualization.

At first we are completely involved by many discursive thoughts, then gradually the thoughts clear away and we attain a state of non-thought through this practice. Even though there are many thoughts, with practice we develop the beginning of non-thought and the result of that development of reduced thought is that pristine wisdom gradually dawns.

14. Delighted to become a lineage heir of the Dakpo Buddhas,
15. I am moved to lift my voice in appreciation.

Having first met and supplicated Pema Nyingche Wangpo, Jamgon Kongtrul was able to enter into the teachings of the Dakpo Kagyu and able to do these practices. Through his devotion and supplication and receiving these blessings and receiving the indications of the blessings, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche feels like a child of the lineage, a possessor, or almost successor, of this lineage, and realizing this he is extremely pleased and very happy and joyful.
  So Jamgon Kongtrul made supplications to the lama, and based on the supplications he received blessing, then through the blessing realization dawned. After attaining realization he reflected on how realization had arisen due to faith and how one needs to mix one’s mind with the lama’s, and how if one doesn’t, then experience and realization won’t arise. It was not really enough for these experiences to have arisen in him alone, so he explains this to everybody so that they will receive the blessing of the lama and practice in this same way. Then the desire to compose this song arose in him.

16. From the dakini’s secret treasure in Uddiyana in the West,
17. The great siddha Tilo
18. Opened the treasure chest of the three gems.

Up to this point Jamgon Kongtrul has been talking about his root lama and the benefits of the practice of the lama. After describing the great blessing of the root lama, he goes on to describe the lineage lamas who are the source of these powerful oral instructions and practices. “In Uddiyana in the West” is a poetic devise in which “West” means west to Bodhgaya in India. As described in the spiritual biography of Tilopa, he traveled miraculously to Uddiyana, the dakini’s land and received three special or pith instructions from Uddiyana and these are the Three Gems (Tib. norbu sum) of Tilopa. The first special instruction of Tilopa was the “wish-fulfilling jewel of lineage,” the second “the wish-fulfilling jewel of maturation,” and the third “the wish-fulfilling jewel of the path of liberation.” The first jewel deals with the instructions, supplication, and devotion in the guru yoga practice. The second one explains the Six Yogas of Naropa, for developing the channels, winds, and energies in order to attain liberation. The third path of liberation is Mahamudra practice which doesn’t involve practice of the channels, winds, or energies, but involves meditating naturally in samadhi, and based on this meditation, realization arises.
  So, the founder of the Kagyu lineage, Tilopa, brought from Uddiyana, from Chakrasamvara, and from Vajradhara these special instructions called the Three Gems.
  Of the two approaches (the path of method and the path of liberation), the path of liberation is doing very hard meditation and the path of method is employing various means for developing the life-giving energy of the body or the prana. When one has some control over the prana by being able to restrict or bind it, the experience of heat arises. With the experience of heat, the experience of bliss arises. With the experience of bliss, one’s realization and experience becomes clearer and clearer. When this clarity is attained through the path of method, eventually wisdom or prajna will dawn.

19. At the monastery of Splendid Ravishing Flowers in the North
20. The learned great pandita Naropa
21. Engendered the sign of attainment of inseparable prana-mind.

The second holder of the Kagyu lineage is Naropa. He is in the north in a place called “Illustrious, Seductive Flowers” which in Sanskrit is “Pupahari.” The north here indicates the University of Nalanda, a very important and special place where the Buddhadharma flourished. Here Marpa first met Naropa and received many teachings. There the learned one, the great pandita Naropa, displayed signs which indicated that he was a siddha whose prana and mind had become inseparable. This sign results from the exceptional practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa.
  Normally, “subtle wind” which is called prana in Sanskrit or lung in Tibetan is pretty much synonymous with breath. We think of prana as the inhalation and exhalation of breath, moving in and out with the body. This is our feeling or experience of prana. What we call “mind” is the movement of discursive thought that we perceive. There are two kinds of prana. On the grosser level it seems simply that prana is this feeling of the body inhaling and exhaling. But on a closer examination, prana is the moving of the mind which creates the feeling of prana. The mind and thoughts are connected with the prana because they are both moving. We believe inhalation is one thing and our thought process is another. But in fact they are inseparable. For instance, the feeling of lung, the feeling of wind being exhaled and inhaled, is actually just a perception of mind. If we try to locate exactly where this prana is by asking, “Is it in our body? Is it outside our body? and so on, we simply can’t find it solidly existing like a typhoon. The exhalations and inhalations are mental phenomena.
  The experience of the inseparability of prana and mind begins to happen with the practice of subtle heat (Tib. tummo) in which we are working on our breath, particularly holding the breath. When we hold the breath we start to notice that the mind also stays. Then the physical obscurations are cleared and bliss is generated. When this happens, there is more and more clarity and insight into the nature of mind. This engenders the realization of the inseparability of mind and prana. By changing the mind we can change the prana, by changing the prana we can change the mind. This is why there are so many meditations based on the breath; they show this inseparability of mind and breath. In the beginning of tranquility (Skt. Shamatha) meditation we focus on our exhalation and inhalation. By calming the breath, we calm the mind and less thoughts arise. All the way up to the practice of subtle heat where we hold the breath and cultivate the prana, we meditate on breath. Even in the visualization practice of Vajrayogini, the vajra recitation of this practice is based on the breath.

22. In the valley of herbs, Drowolung, in the South,
23. The translator, an emanation of Hevajra,
24. Established the wellspring of all siddhas.

The next lineage holder is Marpa Lotsawa. The line, “In the valley of herbs, Drowolung, in the South” means that it is a very isolated area where many different plants and medicinal herbs grow which wouldn’t grow in populated areas. So this really means in the wilderness. Marpa (who came from the Trowo valley in Tibet) was actually an emanation of Hevajra and being an emanation of Hevajra, his main activity was to translate books from the Indian languages into Tibetan. He is called a lotsawa, which means “a translator.” He stayed in Trowolung which was an isolated place but the “wellspring of all siddhas” means that although it was isolated, many disciples came and because the special teachings were so profound, they attained siddhi. They in turn transmitted these teachings to others who also became siddhas. Therefore it is said that Marpa established the source of the river, which is a spring, from which many siddhas have arisen. The reason is that the special teachings were so profound.

25. In the Lachi snow mountains of the West
26. The excellent being, Laughing Vajra,
27. Attained the state of unity in one lifetime.

Then the lineage continues to Milarepa whose main abode was the snow mountain range of Lachi. The fact that a cold region was his main abode is an indication of his practice of subtle heat. He is called Shepa Dorje or “Laughing Vajra,” because when Marpa bestowed the empowerment of Chakrasamvara on him, Chakrasamvara was seen actually appearing and giving the name “Laughing Vajra” to Milarepa. Because he had these exceptional teachings and put them into practice, Milarepa attained the ability to reach the state of union (enlightenment) in a single lifetime.

28. In the pure land of Dhaklha Gampo in the East
29. The honorable doctor, the second Buddha,
30. Actualized the samadhi of the tenth bodhisattva level.

Milarepa passed on these special and exceptional teachings to Gampopa who was like a second Buddha. By putting these exceptional teachings from Milarepa into practice, Gampopa was able to actualize the samadhi of the tenth bodhisattva level (Skt. bhumi). In the East in the pure land called Dhaklha Gampo, Gampopa established Dhaklha Gampo Monastery as his main seat and continued the lineage. So there were these first lineage holders: Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa.

31. In the holy places of the body, speech, and mind centers,
32. The many siddhas of the four great and eight lesser lineages
33. Gained the essential power of Mahamudra
34. And couldn’t help but reach Buddhahood.

The line “in the holy places of body, speech, and mind centers” refers to the three main seats begun by Dusum Khyenpa (the first Karmapa) where the Karma Kagyu teachings flourished. The monasteries referred to are Gampo (body), Karma Gön (speech), and Tsurphu (mind) monasteries. These are the three sources or three original seats of the Karma Kagyu teachings which Jamgon Kongtrul says are like the purified aspects of the chakras of body, speech, and mind, and that many siddhas arose from these centers.
  Gampopa had many disciples and in these places of body, speech, and mind arose the four greater and eight lesser lineages of the Kagyu tradition. He gave some teachings to some disciples and other teachings to other disciples. He had twelve main disciples each of whom in turn completely passed on the special instructions they had received. In this way, they developed an unbroken lineage of the four greater and the eight lesser Kagyu schools.
  So in this way all the way down to one’s root lama there have been unimaginable siddhas. All these various lamas of the Kagyu lineage are like siddhas or Buddhas because they practiced and mastered the Mahamudra. There was no way for them not to attain Buddhahood.

35. Expert in the attracting power through bodhichitta,
36. They couldn’t help but bring benefit to beings.

These lineage lamas were able to benefit an unimaginable number of beings. Each one had many, many disciples who were very special individuals who were naturally drawn to them. The reason that they had these many disciples and were able to spread their teachings so widely was that they had bodhichitta. They had the aspiration to attain enlightenment which came from their desire to benefit beings. If one has bodhichitta, then automatically beings are drawn to one because of the bodhichitta. However, it will be very noticeable if someone with the desire to be surrounded by an entourage tries to promote him or herself. People can usually tell if something is not very straightforward or honest and nobody comes. But if one has a sincere wish to help beings, then just from the power of the bodhichitta, beings gather around and there is an automatic ability to help many beings. The text says that because the lineage lamas are skilled in bodhichitta, there is no way beings will not be spontaneously or automatically helped through this bodhichitta, and there is no way not to help beings.

37. Having perfected the two accumulations, this
     profound attainment of wealth,
38. They could not help but experience enjoyment.

These lineage lamas also naturally acquired a great deal of wealth and necessities. If one thinks that there is something wrong with dharma practitioners acquiring wealth, then this is not quite a correct view. These genuine beings have no choice. These things are simply accumulated because they had completely accomplished the two accumulations of merit and wisdom. Having completed their accumulation of merit and wisdom, wealth and possessions automatically followed.

39. Developing the knowledge that “understanding one liberates all.”
40. They couldn’t help but fulfill their great prophecies.

Because these lamas all had great transcendent wisdom or prajna, all had received prophecies by the Buddha. For instance, the appearance of Gampopa and Jamgon Kongtrul were predicted in the sutras. They had prophecies due to their great insight and wisdom. This did not come about through many studies and working really hard but by developing the knowledge that “understanding one liberates all.” If one really knows the meaning of dharmata, the nature of true being, then one knows everything, so for this reason they had transcendental wisdom (Tib. yeshe).
  So up to this point this spiritual song has reviewed the necessity of faith and devotion in the root and lineage lamas.

© Namo Buddha & Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Publications