A Lamp for the Path to Full Awakening Skt. Bodhipathapradipam Tib. Jang-chub lam-gyi dr n-ma!

"Lam-dron" by Lama Ati#ha "Jowo-$e" Ati#ha %ipamkara Shri$nana &'()-*+,-. Obeisance of the translator from Sanskrit into Tibetan: Homage to the Awakening Warrior, youthful, refined and glorious Manjushri HOMA!" A#$ %&OM'S" TO "(%)A'# To all *on+uerors ,-uddhas. of the three times, to the Truth of $harma and to the S/iritual As/irants, with great res/ect, ' /ay homage -eing urged by the good disci/le *hangchub O, ' shall elucidate the )am/ for the %ath to 0ull Awakening TH" TH&"" S%'&'T1A) S*O%"S 2now that the three s/iritual sco/es as being small, mediocre and su/reme So that their characteristics will be +uite clear, ' shall write down what distinguishes each Anyone who, by whate3er means, seeks to /rocure for himself ha//iness merely in cyclic e4istence is known as an indi3idual of the lowest sco/e He who turns his back on the ha//iness of transitory e4istence and turns himself away from the actions of e3il, he who seeks for just his own /eace is an indi3idual known to be of mediocre sco/e Anyone who, realising the suffering /ertaining to his own being, wishes for the total elimination of the suffering of others is a /erson ha3ing su/reme sco/e 0or these highest beings who as/ire for the su/reme awakened state, ' shall e4/lain the /erfect method as taught by the s/iritual masters "TH'*A) $'S*'%)'#" 5Shila6 -efore /aintings, statues and so forth of the Totally Awakened -eing ,-uddha., 5as well as6 reli+uaries and the sacred $harma offer flowers, glowing incense and any objects one has recei3ed just as related in the 7*onduct of the "ntirely !ood Samantabhadra7 as well as in the 7Se3en8fold Offering7 With a mind ne3er turning from the limit of the essence, com/lete awakening, out of great faith in the Three &are and Su/reme 9ewels, while kneeling on bent knee, with /alms /laced together first go for refuge three times Then at the outset, out of a mind of /ure lo3e for e3ery sentient being, look at each and e3ery one of ,sentient. beings, who all suffer from death, transmigration ,bardo., birth in the three bad destinies ,animal, /reta and hell. and the like Out of the suffering 8 suffering, suffering ,of change. and ,all8/er3asi3e. suffering 8 and the wish to free li3ing creatures from its cause, acti3ate the awakening mind ,-odhicitta. that 3ows ne3er to turn back The e4cellent +ualities /roduced by such an as/iring mind are e4/lained well by Maitreya, the )o3ing One in the 7Adorned Tree $iscourse7 &ead that discourse or hear from a master the limitless e4cellences of the com/lete awakening mind -e aware of its as/ects and then, with this as your reason, generate this mind again and again 'n the 7$iscourses &e+uested by Suradata7 the meritoriousness of it is elaborated 3ery well At which juncture, ' shall +uote here just three stan:as:

;'f whate3er merit of the awakening mind were to be form, it would fill e3ery realm throughout s/ace and would come to e4ceed e3en that &ealms of -uddha8fields, as many as the number of sand8grains in the !anges, a /erson may fill them all with jewels and offer them to the %rotectors of the transitory world< =et should anyone join his /alms to direct his mind to full awakening, this offering is /articularly noble: it is without any limit ; Ha3ing acti3ated the mind that as/ires to fully awaken, constantly make an effort to enhance it 'n order to recall it in subse+uent li3es as well, thoroughly safeguard your /ractices as it is taught 1nless one binds oneself to the 3enturing mind ,as/irational bodhicitta., one7s /erfect as/iration will ne3er increase Therefore, one who wishes to enhance the bond with com/lete awakening, should try and make sure to acce/t it One who is already endowed with a 3ow of the se3en categories of 'ndi3idual )iberation ,/ratimoksha. can recei3e the bond of an Awakening Warrior< others not 0rom the se3en categories of 'ndi3idual )iberation 3ows that were e4/ounded by the Ones Thus !one ,-uddha., those of /ure conduct are su/reme: 5the highest is6 correctly asserted as the bond of a fully ordained monk 'n accordance with the ceremony e4/ounded in the 7ethical disci/line cha/ter7 of the 7Awakening Warrior7s )e3els7, acce/t the bond from a good s/iritual master who has /erfect characteristics Anyone skilled in the ceremony of the bond, abiding in the bond himself, com/etent in bestowing the bond and com/assionate is known as a +ualified master Howe3er, if you ha3e tried and failed to find a master such as this, ' shall e4/lain a correct /rocedure for taking the bond other than that As in /re3ious times when Manjushri was 2ing Ambaraja, the way he acti3ated his heart to awakening is e4/lained in the 7$iscourse Ornamenting the -uddha8field of Manjushri7 Here ' shall write most clearly in accordance with that: be in the /resence of the %rotectors for acti3ating the com/lete awakening mind: 2ee/ as your guests all li3ing beings to release them from cyclic e4istence< A malicious mind, a mind of anger, a3arice and en3y, these should ne3er occur from now until the attainment of com/lete awakening Act in /ure conduct Work at abandoning e3il and desire -e joyful in your bond with ethical disci/line "mulate the /ractices of -uddha, the Awakened One -e not inclined to attain full awakening by a +uick means just for yourself, but 5be /re/ared to6 remain until the e4treme end 5of time6 for the cause of e3en a single sentient being %re/are for 5the attainment of6 /ure realms, boundless and beyond imagination Work to be known by your name and to abide /urely throughout the ten directions Always be /ure in deeds of body and s/eech and also /ure in the acti3ity of the mind #e3er commit unwholesome actions Maintaining oneself in the bond through the as/iring mind is the cause of /urifying one7s body, s/eech and mind

'f these three ethical trainings are /ractised well, one7s res/ect for the three ethical trainings will increase Thus, abiding by the bond of an Awakening Warrior with /erfect com/leteness, through effort will fulfil the accumulations for com/lete awakening M"$'TAT'>" *O#*"#T&AT'O# 5Samadhi6 The cause of fulfilling the accumulations which are in the nature of /hysical merit and /ristine awareness is said by all Awakened -eings to be the generation of heightened awareness 9ust as a bird whose wings ha3e not de3elo/ed is unable to soar in the sky, one who lacks the /ower of heightened awareness is unable to benefit sentient beings Whate3er merit accumulated in a day and a night for one who is endowed with heightened awareness cannot be gained in e3en a hundred lifetimes for someone lacking heightened awareness Those wishing to +uickly com/lete the accumulations for full awakening will gain the heightened awarenesses by e4erting an effort to do so: not by being la:y 5Howe3er,6 without accom/lishing tran+uil absor/tion heightened awareness will ne3er arise Therefore e4ert an effort again and again to accom/lish tran+uil absor/tion =et e3en if one meditates with great effort for thousands of years while the contributing factors for tran+uil absor/tion are weakened, meditati3e concentration will ne3er be attained Therefore maintain these factors well as e4/ounded in the cha/ter of the 7Accumulations for *oncentration7 %lace the mind 3irtuously on any single object When the yoga of tran+uil absor/tion is attained, heightened awareness will also be attained M"THO$ A#$ W'S$OM To be lacking in the /ractice of transcendent intelligence ,gnosis. will not eradicate mental obscuration So in order to discard e3ery emotional disturbance and mental obscuration to omniscience, meditate constantly on the yoga of transcendent intelligence conjoined with the method The method se/arate from wisdom, and wisdom se/arate from the method also, are ,both. taught to ,result in. bondage ,to cyclic e4istence., so do not forsake either What constitutes ;wisdom;< what constitutes ;method;? To eliminate any doubt, ' shall clarify the /ro/er distinctions between method and wisdom Aside from transcendent intelligence, e3ery kind of 3irtuous /ractice such as that of transcendent generosity is e4/lained by the *on+uerors as being the method -y the /ower of ac+uaintance with the method and by 5the awakening mind6 itself, anyone who meditates on discriminating intelligence will +uickly attain full awakening, 5but6 not through meditating on non8self8e4istence alone $'S*&'M'#AT'#! '#T"))'!"#*" 5%rajna6 -eing aware of the em/tiness of natural e4istence, which in3ol3es the realisation that the aggregates, sensory s/heres and bases are not created, is the full e4/lanation of what constitutes ;wisdom; 't is im/ossible for e4istent entities to be created and also non8 e4istence is like a flower in the sky Since fallacies conse+uently will be /resent for either, both together can ne3er arise Things are not created from themsel3es, nor from others, nor from both, nor from no cause Therefore, essentially they ha3e no nature in themsel3es 0urthermore, when one analyses all /henomena as unitary or multi/le, being essentially una//rehensible 5as such6, one will ascertain that they lack any nature of their own The reasons in such te4ts as 5#agarjuna7s6 7Se3enty "m/tinesses7 and his 70undamental Treatise on the Middle Way7 show that the nature of all things is established as being em/ty -ecause this te4t would become too e4tensi3e, ' will not elaborate any further here ' just mention it to establish my tenets and to e4/lain it /ro/erly for meditation

Thus the nature of e3ery single /henomenon is una//rehensible Whate3er constitutes the meditation on non8self e4istence is the meditation of discriminating intelligence 9ust as discriminating intelligence does not see any nature in all /henomena, mentally analyse that intelligence itself 5and6 meditate on that without any conce/tualising As worldly e4istence arises from conce/tualisation, it is itself a conce/tual thought Therefore, the discarding of e3ery conce/tualisation is the su/reme state beyond sorrow 0urthermore, -uddha the "ndowed $estroyer has similarly stated: ;*once/tualisation, the great ignorance, throws one into the ocean of cyclic e4istence $well in non8conce/tualising meditati3e concentration, clear, without conce/ts, like s/ace ; Also he has said in the 7Mystic &ecitation of "ngaging in #on8conce/tuali:ation7: ;O Son of the *on+ueror, in this high /ractice of $harma, if one contem/lates non8 conce/tually on a//earance, one will transcend the difficult to /ass conce/tions and gradually will come to non8 conce/tuality ; Once you ha3e attained through such scri/tural sources and reasoning that /henomena 8 by lacking a nature of their own 8 in their entirety are uncreated, meditate without conce/tualising TH" S%'&'T1A) %ATHS A#$ )">")S 'n this way, when one has meditated on Thusness, gradually, from attaining 5the stages of the s/iritual /aths6 such as ;Warmth,; 5the s/iritual le3els of6 the ;!reatly 9oyous; and so forth will be attained and the full awakening of a -uddha will not be far away TH" TA#T&'* %ATH -y the acti3ities of /eacefulness, increase and so on that are accom/lished only by the /ower of mantra and also by force of the eight great accom/lishments, such as the siddhi of the aus/icious 3ase, one can com/lete the accumulations for full awakening 'f one wishes to blissfully /ractise the secret mantra as e4/ounded in the tantras of Action, %erformance and so on, then, for the bestowal of a +ualified master7s em/owerment, one should offer gains, ser3ice, 3aluables and so on and carry out his words and the like so that by all means one makes the 3enerable master delighted When the tantric master is well /leased, the full bestowal of an accom/lished master7s em/owerment will gi3e one the fortune to achie3e actualisation which, in its nature, is /ure of all e3il As it is clearly reflected in the 7!reat Tantra of the %rimary -uddha7, the bestowal of the secret wisdom em/owerment should not be 5actually6 taken by a celibate /ractitioner Since one would be following a rejected /ractice, were one to hold that em/owerment, while maintaining the /ure conduct of an earnest /ractitioner, the 3ows of celibacy will be transgressed< the earnest /ractitioner will recei3e the downfall of defeat 'n doing so, he ,or she. will surely fall into a bad destiny without any accom/lishment whatsoe3er 5Howe3er,6 listening to and teaching all tantra, making fire offerings, gi3ing /ujas and so on is without fault for one has recei3ed the master7s em/owerment and is aware of Thusness *O#*)1S'O# The 3enerable elder Shri $i/amkara, ha3ing seen e4/lanations from the $harma in the 7$iscourses7 and so forth, in being re+uested by *hang *hub O, has made this brief e4/lanation of the /ath to full awakening

The )am/ for the %ath to 0ull Awakening, com/osed by the great master $i/amkara Shri 9nana, the ;!lorious 'lluminator of %rimordial Awareness,; is com/lete *O)O%HO# Translated and settled into Tibetan from Sanskrit by the 'ndian abbot $i/amkara Shri 9nana and the Tibetan translator, the monk !ewai )odro 5$ge8ba7i blo8gros6 Translated into "nglish from Tibetan by !onsar Tulku and -rian * -eresford in accordance with the instructions of the Tibetan )ama !eshe &abten 5May @ABC, 9an @ABD, May @ABE6 Slightly edited by &udy Harderwijk