In an instruction on the teaching and practice styles of his Kadamapa and Kagyupa teachers, Gampopa makes a few interesting remarks on “māra obstacles.” He says:

There are two kinds of māra that cause “māra obstacles” to the practitioner: Human and non-human māras and the māra of thought. There are three methods to dispel them. (1) They are dispelled through the practice of love and compassion. By practicing love and compassion, no harming of the child by the mother exists. (2) They are dispelled by practicing [māras] as illusionary dreams and emptiness. The harmed and the harm doer both do not exist, it is said. (3) By understanding them to be confusion, [māras] are pacified. By understanding them all to be projections of the mind, no harm is done. Even if done, it does not upset.

Accordingly, there are either sentient beings (human and non-human) who cause māra obstacles or obstacles caused by thoughts. But no matter whether sentient or not, all causes of obstacles are treated through means of the mind. The first method is love and compassion. In Tibetan Mahāyāna Buddhism, one imagines all sentient beings to be one’s mother who has raised one lovingly many times. Thereby one cultivates gratitude, love, and compassion for those beings who once have been one’s mother and now are in a state of despair. Such a mother, towards which one cultivates love, will not harm the child. This is a method of conventional bodhicitta.

Secondly, one practices emptiness and understands all māras as being like a dream. In truth, someone who causes harm and someone who experiences harm do not exist. That is a method of absolute bodhicitta.

Thirdly, one can understand all appearances as confusion since they are nothing but projections of the mind. This is a method that is based on the realization that all phenomena are only the mind. Then Gampopa continues:

This large retinue and the material wealth that presently appears is, on the one hand, in mantra taught to be an ordinary siddhi, and on the other hand, also said to be an obstacle of māra.

Here, Gampopa seems to speak about his own situation: Having settled in a monastery, there is a retinue of followers and material wealth. One can see that either as a siddhi or as an obstacle. Remarks like that can be found in many biographies of Tibetan masters. “Success” as a teacher can be quite a problem. He continues:

Māra, however, does not really cause obstacles. Earlier, obstacles are caused by the retinue. Then, great material wealth causes obstacles to virtuous practice. Then, the practitioner will be hindered by desire and hatred. Look at your own mind if that is an obstacle of the māra or not! If it harms you, it is an obstacle of the māra. If it doesn’t harm you, it is a siddhi, it is said.

Māra, however, does not really cause obstacles. Already on the conventional level, they are a cause for cultivating love and compassion, and on the absolute level, they do not exist and, therefore, cannot cause harm. All the trouble that arises for the successful master depends on his or her own mind. If afflictions like desire and hatred arise, that is the obstacle. If not, that is the siddhi.

The book I am about to finish will deal with the convergence of Vinaya, Mahāmudrā, and tantric Yoga in the teachings of Jigten Sumgön. One chapter of the book shows how Jigten Sumgön envisions the ideal person in whom these three converge. It is the kusāli yogi who embodies this convergence.

We know from Jigten Sumgön’s biography by his nephew Sherab Jungné that Jigten Sumgön spent more than a decade in retreats of strict solitude. In his early years, he wandered from place to place, sometimes wearing nothing but rags, sleeping under the open sky. Eventually, he and his disciples became monastic, wore monastic robes, and ate food from the monasteryʼs kitchen. However, that does not mean they gave up the frugal lifestyle of earlier years. Even in the environment of the monastery, Jigten Sumgön continued to recommend wearing rags. He told the assembly:

Rags are sufficient as clothing. That includes discarded and also worn clothing. Discarded clothes are those others no longer want to wear and left behind. One collects these and cleans them. If in that way harmful influences were avoided, one can wear them. … Therefore, part of [the Buddhaʼs] teaching discourses is devoted to the merits of rags.

Jigten Sumgön talks here about the “twelve virtues of ascetic training.” These twelve virtues are the Buddha’s recommendations regarding frugality in the context of clothing, food, and places of residence. Although ascetic in style, they are not meant as a form of self-mortification. Instead, they are a way of life conducive to the practice of meditation.

In the vihāra of Phagmodrupa, where Jigten Sumgön spent almost three years, it was the rule that the disciples had to build their temporary hut within only a day. Phagmodrupa himself spent half of each month (during the waning moon) in retreat and taught the assembly during the afternoons of the other half while remaining in seclusion during the morning hours.

The shining examples of such a frugal lifestyle provided by the commentaries of the Single Intention mention Milarepa, Phagmodrupa, and Lama Zhang Tshalpa. Phagmodrupa praised Milarepa:

   The mighty lord of yogis, Mila, 
   ate unsalted nettle [soup], transformed into nectar. 
   Cast off attachment! The supreme being 
   will have whatever food he wishes; have no doubt!

Jigten Sumgön said:

   The father, the dharma lord, the precious guru 
          [Phagmodrupa],
   abandoned the attachment to meat and cheese,
   merely preferred a bit of curd,
   nourished himself only on vegetable soup,
   and, based on that, accomplished awakening.

As a further illustration of this lifestyle, Lama Zhang Tshalpa is mentioned. Planning for a retreat, he brought together such things as a bag of flour, hardened fat for soups, salt, and so forth. He was about to enter a suitable cave when suddenly, a thought of happiness about these favorable circumstances crossed his mind. He recognized that happiness as an attachment and immediately destroyed the retreat facility, scattered the flour, and went away to practice elsewhere.

Thus, this form of asceticism is not practiced like an exercise in penance but is a mental training: The practitioner has to watch out for attachment and aversion to pleasurable and disagreeable objects and circumstances. When Lama Zhang recognized the signs of such an attachment arising in his mind, he immediately counteracted it. That is what Jigten Sumgön meant when he said: “Expert skill is necessary concerning means of preventing the māra from entering [the mind], and if it has entered, to repel it.”

Ideally, a kusāli yogi is, according to Jigten Sumgön, ordained. The kusāli strives to become “a pure monk in the most perfect way,” takes up the twelve virtues of ascetic training, and “has few desires, remains frugal, and is an expert concerning the dharma.” In praise of such frugality, Jigten Sumgön says:

By maintaining a frugal and moderate [lifestyle] with clothing that merely sustains the body and alms that merely fill the stomach, one has a virtuous practice of frugality like the birds. Wherever they soar, they float on their wings—wherever one goes, one goes endowed with the alms bowl and dharma robes.

Elsewhere he provides a list of similar qualities. The kusāli yogi should

be easy to nourish, easy to satisfy, possess few desires, be frugal, parsimonious, sober, possess the virtues of ascetic training, be graceful, and be temperate.

Again in another instruction, he puts frugality, which he describes as wealth, into the context of mindfulness:

Mindfulness, alert awareness, attentiveness, and frugality are synonymous with wealth. Therefore, if you did not dwell earlier in these, the faults of desire will later arise. If you have been frugal earlier, qualities arise naturally.

In his teachings to the great assembly in Drikung, he contrasts the right and the wrong kind of frugality:

To be frugal with sense pleasures is the Buddha’s dharma; to be frugal with the dharma is māras dharma.

In several of his works, Jigten Sumgön identifies himself with the kusāli-yogi-monk, whom he differentiates from the scholar (paṇḍita). Quoting Gampopa, he states that such a kusāli

must be one who can carry a large load of suffering with great compassion, guide others with great wisdom, and does not even have a hair tip’s concern regarding his own life.

In another text, he relates what Phagmodrupa had told him about his teacher, Gampopa. He calls Gampopa a kusāli who was in possession of knowledge. What he learned from him was this:

All phenomena combined as samsara and nirvana are one’s mind, which is unestablished from the beginning, like the center of space.

Kusāli yogis do not analyze external objects. They see them as the mind’s natural display, that is, just mind. When phenomena are understood as the mind, they disappear into their origin, the mind. To realize the mind, one needs the guru’s instructions. One needs devotion to understand how to put the guru’s teachings into practice. To practice the instructions in solitude, one needs great effort. In solitude, defects and qualities will arise. Asking the guru about them, the guru will point out the causes for their arising and how the defects can be removed and qualities enhanced. Practicing accordingly, one will be a yogi or yogini who is free from defects and endowed with qualities. At that point, wisdom will arise from practice. The wisdom that arises from practice is such that hundred-thousands of learned panditas may ask questions, and not a single question will remain unanswered.

In the Instructions that are Like a Mighty King, Jigten Sumgön, once again, contrasts the kusāli yogi with the scholar pandita. The pandita treats words as essential, cutting off the false projections from the outside. The kusāli yogi treats meaning as essential, cutting off the false projections from the inside.

In the Three Words of the Lord, he says that in contrast to the pandita, the kusāli does not study and reflect many teachings. He meets with an excellent guru. He cultivates devotion and values just a single teaching and practices it. Through the power of the guru’s blessings and his own devotion, he realizes the innate mind, and all the appearances “arise like a book.” This is again due to the wisdom that arises from practice. In that way, the Kagyupas have “the system of the kusālis, who cut off false projections from inside.”

In the Three Words, he furthermore describes the kusāli as someone who realizes all phenomena of samsara and nirvana by practicing just one teaching. What kind of teaching is that? It has few words, a concise meaning, and is easy to practice. An example is the teaching of the Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā. Practicing just that, three things arise. The first is the original state of reality. The body’s original state is that it is, from the very beginning, a male or female buddha. The mind’s original state is that the nature of the mind is, from the very beginning, the utterly pure dharmakāya buddha. The other two things that arise through the Fivefold Path are the method and the fruits.

In this way, the kusāli embodies frugality in many ways: He or she maintains a frugal and moderate lifestyle and practices the virtues of ascetic training. Thereby, a great wealth is obtained, namely mindfulness, alert awareness, and attentiveness. Kusālis carry the load of suffering with great compassion for the sake of other beings. They do not aim at great learnedness and need only a few teachings. As practitioners, however, they are insatiable.

(German translation below)

Once again, Jigten Sumgön teaches the practice of Mahāmudrā as the Fivefold Profound Path. He calls this instruction the “quintessential practice of sūtra and mantra.” This is interesting in view of the fact that in recent years, many Western writers have described the teachings of Mahāmudrā that come from Gampopa as “sūtra mahāmudrā,” following the lead of some Karma-Kagyü teachers of the 19th and 20th century, starting with the first Kongtrul Rinpoche. But Gampopa himself has never described his method as “sūtra mahāmudrā.” Instead, Gampopa himself has differentiated the Buddhist paths of practice in other ways. Once, in reply to a question of the first Karmapa, he said that there is

1. the path of inference (= sūtra)

2. the path of blessing (= receiving empowerment and practicing deities, mantras, etc.)

3. the path of direct perception (= the mahāmudrā of innate luminosity)

Here, the sūtra is a path where one identifies through arguments what is to be accomplished and what is to be abandoned. In mantra, through the blessing of the gurus of the transmission, one realizes the purity of all phenomena, whereby, in a way, the faults are transformed into qualities. In mahāmudrā, the innate luminosity of the mind is directly perceived. The point is that mahāmudrā does neither need inferences nor transformations. The mind itself already is mahāmudrā; directly perceiving that is liberation. But such direct perception needs masses of merit, and these are accumulated through the practices of the sūtra path and—much faster—through the mantra path of blessing, empowerment, practicing deities, and so forth. Thus, unless you are an instantaneous realizer with masses of merit from practice in previous lives, your mahāmudrā approach will be one through practices of sūtra and mantra.

Moreover, the third path of direct perception, too, is not outside of mantra. Only the sūtra approach is outside of mantra, since Gampopa explained that sūtra is an indirect approach (through inferences) while “mantra takes the actual, direct object as the path.” Hence, the third path above—the path of direct perception—is also a mantra path. To conclude this point, Gampopa’s mahāmudrā is not a “sūtra mahāmudrā.” For those few individuals who are instantaneous realizers (and not even Milarepa and Gampopa counted themselves among such lucky individuals), it is a mantra path of direct perception, and for everyone else, including Mila and Gampopa, mahāmudrā is achieved through sūtra and mantra practices.

This is also the case in Jigten Sumgön’s Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā. Both the first and the last of the five limbs are sūtra practices, namely (1) love, compassion, and bodhicitta and (5) dedication of merit. The second and third limb are mantra practices, namely (2) practicing the deity (in this instructions, it is explicitly mentioned that one can use Avalokiteśvara for the Fivefold Path) and (3) practicing the guru in one’s heart, or, at the time of death, at the crown of your head. Having practiced the first three limbs, one dwells within one’s clear awareness without thoughts, which is the practice of mahāmudrā, embedded in practices of sūtra and mantra. Dwelling in that state, from time to time, one dedicates the merit to all sentient beings, which is the fifth limb.

This instruction of Jigten Sumgön is explicitly directed to laypersons.

Translation

In general, the certain cause of attaining perfect buddhahood is the resolve for awakening. Therefore, at all times and in all ways, when you practice the root of the great waves of virtue, when you do any practice, and at the beginning of any practice session, practice as follows to bring forth the resolve:

“May all my mothers—the sentient beings who are as limitless as space—have happiness, be free from suffering, and attain the precious, supreme, and perfect awakening. For that purpose, I will, until I reach buddhahood, bind body, speech, and mind to virtue. I will, until I die, bind body, speech, and mind to virtue. I will, until the same time tomorrow, bind body, speech, and mind to virtue”—thinking that, practice your body as your cherished deity. If you do not have such a deity, practice my cherished deity, the lord of great compassion, the noble Avalokiteśvara, or any powerful lord whatsoever. Practice the excellent guru in your heart. At the time of death, practice him at the crown of your head, it is said.

Then, look at your own vigilant and clear awareness and “not seeing anything at the time of looking is seeing true reality.” Therefore, dwell in that state without any mental activity.

If your mind begins to stirr again with high and low thoughts, transform your going, standing, lying, sitting, or any other conduct so that through practice, it becomes uninterrupted virtuous practice, the essence of being without thoughts, and the spontaneously accomplished nature. Then maintain that without interruption.

After you have cultivated the root of virtue or dwelled in meditative balance in your practice, recollect from time to time the root of virtue that has been accumulated by yourself and all sentient beings in the three times and the virtue that is existent [in the buddha nature of all beings]:

“May through this virtue that I and all sentient beings in the three times have accumulated, and that is existent, I and all sentient beings quickly attain the precious, supreme, and perfect awakening.” Thereby the root of virtue is to be dedicated.

You must practice at all times uninterruptedly in that manner, guard the precious approximation vow(*) and whichever lay vows from among the four roots you can maintain. Accordingly, the Exalted One said: “If you do not guard at least one rule, you are not part of my retinue.” Thus, knowing that all activities are without purpose if you do not belong to the retinue of our teacher, make efforts to guard disciplined conduct! This is complete.

Note

(*) “Approximation vows” (bsnyen gnas kyi sdom pa, Skt. upavasasaṃvara), are vows where laypersons practice the first four vows of ordination, relinquish alcohol, fancy clothing, jewelry, and high seats, and also cease taking meals after noon for one day to approximate the vows of ordination.

Quintessenz der Praxis von Sūtra und Mantra: Die Wesentliche Unterweisung des Fünffachen Pfades der Mahāmudrā

Einmal mehr lehrt Jigten Sumgön die Praxis von Mahāmudrā als den Fünffachen Tiefgründigen Pfad. Er nennt diese Unterweisung die “Quintessenz der Praxis von Sūtra und Mantra”. Dies ist interessant angesichts der Tatsache, dass in den letzten Jahren viele westliche Autoren die Lehren der Mahāmudrā, die von Gampopa stammen, als “Sūtra Mahāmudrā” bezeichnet haben, in Anlehnung an einige Karma-Kagyü Lehrer des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, beginnend mit dem ersten Kongtrul Rinpoche. Aber Gampopa selbst hat seine Methode nie als “Sūtra Mahāmudrā” bezeichnet. Stattdessen hat Gampopa selbst die buddhistischen Praxispfade auf andere Weise unterschieden. Einmal sagte er als Antwort auf eine Frage des ersten Karmapa, es gäbe

1. den Pfad der Schlussfolgerung (= sūtra)

2. den Weg der Segnung (= Empfang von Ermächtigungen und Praxis der Gottheiten, Mantrarezitation, usw.)

3. den Weg der direkten Wahrnehmung (= die Mahāmudrā der angeborenen Lichthaftigkeit)

Hier ist das Sūtra ein Weg, auf dem man durch Argumente feststellt, was zu erreichen und was aufzugeben ist. Im Mantra erkennt man durch den Segen der Gurus der Überlieferungslinie die Reinheit aller Phänomene, wodurch gewissermaßen die Fehler in Qualitäten verwandelt werden. In der Mahāmudrā wird die angeborene Lichthaftigkeit des Geistes direkt wahrgenommen. Der Punkt ist, dass Mahāmudrā weder Schlussfolgerungen noch Umwandlungen benötigt. Der Geist selbst ist bereits Mahāmudrā; dies direkt wahrzunehmen ist Befreiung. Aber eine solche direkte Wahrnehmung erfordert Massen von Verdienst, und diese werden durch die Praxis des Sūtra-Pfades und – viel schneller – durch den Mantra-Pfad des Segnens, der Ermächtigung, der Praxis der Gottheiten und so weiter angesammelt. Wenn man also kein plötzlicher Verwirklicher ist, der durch die Praxis in früheren Leben massenhaft Verdienst erworben hat, wird man Mahāmudrā durch die Praxis von Sūtra und Mantra verwirklichen.

Aber auch der oben erwähnte dritte Pfad der direkten Wahrnehmung liegt nicht außerhalb von Mantra. Nur der Sūtra-Pfad ist außerhalb von Mantra, da Gampopa erklärte, dass Sūtra eine indirekte Annäherung (durch Schlussfolgerungen) ist, während “Mantra das eigentliche, direkte Objekt als Weg nimmt.” Daher ist dieser dritte Pfad – der Pfad der direkten Wahrnehmung – ebenso ein Mantra-Pfad. Um diesen Punkt abzuschließen: Gampopas Mahāmudrā ist kein “Sūtra Mahāmudrā.” Für jene wenigen Individuen, die plötzliche Verwirklicher sind (und nicht einmal Milarepa und Gampopa zählten sich selbst zu diesen glücklichen Individuen), ist es ein Mantra-Pfad der direkten Wahrnehmung, und für alle anderen, einschließlich Mila und Gampopa, wird Mahāmudrā durch Sūtra- und Mantra-Praktiken erreicht.

Dies ist auch der Fall in Jigten Sumgöns Fünffachem Pfad der Mahāmudrā. Sowohl das erste als auch das letzte der fünf Glieder sind Sūtra-Praktiken, nämlich (1) Liebe, Mitgefühl und Bodhicitta und (5) Widmung von Verdienst. Das zweite und dritte Glied sind Mantra-Praktiken, nämlich (2) die Praxis der Gottheit (in dieser Instruktion wird ausdrücklich erwähnt, dass man Avalokiteśvara für den Fünffachen Pfad verwenden kann) und (3) die Praxis des Gurus im Herzen oder, zum Zeitpunkt des Todes, auf dem Scheitel des Kopfes. Nachdem man die ersten drei Glieder geübt hat, verweilt man in seinem klaren Gewahrsein ohne Gedanken, was die Praxis der Mahāmudrā ist, eingebettet in die Praxis von Sūtra und Mantra. In diesem Zustand verweilend, widmet man von Zeit zu Zeit den Verdienst allen fühlenden Wesen, was das fünfte Glied ist.

Diese Unterweisung von Jigten Sumgön richtet sich ausdrücklich an Laien.

Übersetzung

Im Allgemeinen ist die sichere Ursache für das Erreichen der vollkommenen Buddhaschaft der Entschluss zu Erwachen. Gelobe daher zu jeder Zeit und auf jede Weise wie folgt den Entschluss hervorzubrigen wenn du die Wurzel der großen Wellen des Heilsamen praktizierst, wenn du irgendeine Praxis übst, und zu Beginn einer jeden Praxissitzung:

“Mögen alle meine Mütter — die fühlenden Wesen, die so grenzenlos wie der Raum sind — Glück besitzen, frei von Leiden sein und das kostbare, höchste und vollkommene Erwachen erlangen; zu diesem Zweck werde ich, bis ich die Buddhaschaft erreicht habe, Körper, Rede und Geist an das Heilsame binden; ich werde, bis ich sterbe, Körper, Rede und Geist an das Heilsame binden; und ich werde, bis zur gleichen Zeit morgen, Körper, Rede und Geist an das Heilsame binden”—wenn du das denkst, übe deinen Körper als die Gottheit, die du am meißten schätzt. Wenn du keine solche Gottheit hast, praktiziere meine geschätzte Gottheit, den Herrn des großen Mitgefühls, den edlen Avalokiteśvara, oder irgendeinen anderen mächtigen Herrn. Praktiziere den ausgezeichneten Guru in deinem Herzen. Zur Zeit des Todes praktiziere ihn auf dem Scheitel deines Kopfes, so heißt es.

Dann schaue auf dein eigenes waches und klares Gewahrsein und “nichts zu sehen zum Zeitpunkt des Betrachtens ist das Sehen der wahren Wirklichkeit.” Verweile also in diesem Zustand ohne jegliche geistige Aktivität.

Wenn dein Geist wieder beginnt, sich mit hohen und niedrigen Gedanken zu bewegen, wandele dein Gehen, Stehen, Liegen, Sitzen oder jedes andere Verhalten so um, dass es durch die Praxis zu einer ununterbrochenen heilsamen Praxis wird, die Essenz des ohne Gedanken Seins und die spontan vollendete Natur. Dann halte dies ohne Unterbrechung aufrecht.

Nachdem du die Wurzel des Heilsamen hervorgebracht oder in meditativer Ausgeglichenheit in der Praxis verweilt hast, rufe dir von Zeit zu Zeit die Wurzel des Heilsamen, das von dir und allen fühlenden Wesen in den drei Zeiten angesammelt wurde, und des Heilsamen, das [in der Buddhanatur aller Wesen] vorhanden ist, ins Gedächtnis:

“Mögen ich und alle fühlenden Wesen durch dieses Heilsame, das von mir und allen fühlenden Wesen in den drei Zeiten angesammelt worden ist und das [in der Buddhanatur der Wesen] existent ist, schnell das kostbare, höchste und vollkommene Erwachen erlangen.” So ist die Wurzel des Heilsamen zu widmen.

Es ist sehr wichtig, dass man zu allen Zeiten ununterbrochen auf diese Weise praktiziert, das kostbare Annäherungsgelübde(*) bewahrt und je nach Fähigkeit eines oder mehrere der vier Wurzelgelübde aufrecht erhält. Dementsprechend sagte der Erhabene: “Wenn du nicht mindestens eine Regel bewahrst, gehörst du nicht zu meinem Gefolge.” Da ihr also wisst, dass alle Betätigungen zwecklos sind, wenn ihr nicht zum Gefolge unseres Lehrers gehört, bemüht euch, diszipliniertes Verhalten zu bewahren! Dies ist vollständig.

Anmerkung

(*) “Annäherungsgelübde” (bsnyen gnas kyi sdom pa, Skt. upavasasaṃvara), sind die Gelübde, bei denen Laien für einen Tag die ersten vier Gelübde der Ordination praktizieren, auf Alkohol, besondere Kleidung, Schmuck und hohe Sitze verzichten und auch die Einnahme von Mahlzeiten nach dem Mittag einstellen, um sich den Gelübden der Ordination anzunähern.

Collected Works of Jigten Sumgon, vol. 3, p. 67‒70.

མདོ་སྔགས་ཉམས་ལེན་གྱི་ཉིང་ཁུ་ཕྱག་ཆེན་ལྔ་ལྡན་གྱི་ཁྲིད་སྙིང་བསྡུས༎ བླ་མ་དམ་པ་རྣམས་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། །སྤྱིར་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་ཐོབ་པར་བྱེད་པའི་རྒྱུ་ངེས་པ་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་ཡིན་པས། དུས་དང་རྣམ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་དང་། རླབས་པོ་ཆེའི་དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་བྱེད་པ་དང་། ཉམས་ལེན་གང་དུ་བསྣུན་པའི་དུས་དང་བསྒོམས་པའི་ཐུན་འགོ་ལ། སེམས་བསྐྱེད་པའི་དམ་བཅའ་འདི་ལྟར་བྱ་སྟེ། མ་ནམ་མཁའ་དང་མཉམ་པའི་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་བདེ་བ་དང་ལྡན། སྡུག་བསྔལ་དང་བྲལ། བླ་ན་མེད་པ་ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཐོབ་པར་བྱ། དེའི་ཆེད་དུ་སངས་མ་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་བར་དུ་ལུས་ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་དགེ་བ་ལ་བཀོལ། མ་ཤིའི་བར་དུ་ལུས་ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་དགེ་བ་ལ་བཀོལ། དུས་དེ་རིང་ནས་བཟུང་ནས་ཉི་མ་སང་ད་ཙམ་གྱི་བར་དུ་ལུས་ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་དགེ་བ་ལ་བཀོལ་སྙམ་དུ་བསམས་ལ། རང་གི་ལུས་ཡི་དམ་གྱི་ལྷར་བསྒོམ། མེད་ན་ངའི་ཡི་དམ་གྱི་ལྷ། ཇོ་བོ་ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་རྗེ་བཙུན་སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག་གང་ཡང་རུང་བ་ཞིག་ཏུ་བསྒོམ། བླ་མ་དམ་པ་ཐུགས་ཀར་བསྒོམ། ནམ་འཆི་བའི་དུས་སུ་ནི་སྤྱི་བོར་བསྒོམ་པ་ཡིན་གསུངས། དེ་ནས་རང་གི་རིག་པ་རིག་རིག་ཏུར་ཏུར་པོ་འདི་ལ་བལྟས་ལ། བལྟས་པའི་དུས་སུ་གང་ཡང་མ་མཐོང་བ་དེ་ཁོ་ན་ཉིད་མཐོང་བའོ་ཞེས་པས། དེའི་ངང་ལ་ཅི་ཡང་ཡིད་ལ་མི་བྱེད་པར་བཞག། རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ་མཐོ་དམན་གྱིས་སེམས་རྣམ་པར་གཡེངས་ན། འགྲོ་འཆག་ཉལ་འདུག་གམ། སྤྱོད་ལམ་བསྒྱུར་ནས་བསྒོམས་པས་རྒྱུན་ཆད་མེད་པའི་དགེ་སྦྱོར། རྣམ་རྟོག་མེད་པའི་ངོ་བོ། ལྷུན་གྱིས་གྲུབ་པའི་རང་བཞིན་དུ་འོང་བ་ཡིན་པས། དེ་རྒྱུན་ཆད་མེད་པར་བསྐྱང་། དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་བྱས་པའི་རྗེས་སམ། ཐུགས་དམ་ལ་མཉམ་པར་བཞག་པའི་རྗེས་ལ། སྐབས་སྐབས་སུ་བདག་དང་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིས་དུས་གསུམ་དུ་བསགས་ཤིང་ཡོད་པའི་དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་དྲན་པར་བྱས། བདག་དང་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིs་དུས་གསུམ་དུ་བསགས་ཤིང་ཡོད་པའི་དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་འདིས། བདག་དང་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་མྱུར་དུ་བླ་ན་མེད་པར་ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཐོབ་པར་གྱུར་ཅིག་ཅེས། དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་བསྔོ་བར་བྱའོ། །དུས་རྒྱུན་ཆད་མེད་པར་ཚུལ་དེ་ལྟར་ཉམས་སུ་བླང་ཞིང་། བསྙེན་གནས་ཀྱི་སྡོམ་པ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་བསྲུང་བ་དང་། རྩ་བ་བཞི་ལས་གང་ཐུབ་ཐུབ་ཀྱི་དགེ་བསྙེན་གྱི་སྡོམ་པ་སྲུང་བ་གལ་ཆེ་སྟེ། དེ་ལྟར་ཡང་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་ཀྱིས། ཁྲིམས་གཅིག་ཙམ་ཡང་མི་བསྲུང་ན་ངའི་འཁོར་དུ་མ་གཏོགས་སོ། །ཞེས་གསུངས་པས་སྟོན་པའི་འཁོར་དུ་མ་གཏོགས་ན་བྱས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་དོན་མེད་པར་ཤེས་པར་བྱས་ནས། ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་བསྲུང་བ་ལ་འབད་པར་བྱའོ། །རྫོགས་སོ༎་༎

mdo sngags nyams len gyi nying khu phyag chen lnga ldan gyi khrid snying bsdus//»  bla ma dam pa rnams la phyag ‘tshal lo/ / spyir rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas thob par byed pa’i rgyu nges pa byang chub kyi sems yin pas/ dus dang rnam pa thams cad dang / rlabs po che’i dge ba’i rtsa ba byed pa dang / nyams len gang du bsnun pa’i dus dang bsgoms pa’i thun ‘go <68>la/ sems bskyed pa’i dam bca’ ‘di ltar bya ste/ ma nam mkha’ dang mnyam pa’i sems can thams cad bde ba dang ldan/ sdug bsngal dang bral/ bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i byang chub rin po che thob par bya/ de’i ched du sangs ma rgyas kyi bar du lus ngag yid gsum dge ba la bkol/ ma shi’i bar du lus ngag yid gsum dge ba la bkol/ dus de ring nas bzung nas nyi ma sang da tsam gyi bar du lus ngag yid gsum dge ba la bkol snyam du bsams la/ rang gi lus yi dam gyi lhar bsgom/ med na nga’i yi dam gyi lha/ jo bo thugs rje chen po rje btsun spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gang yang rung ba zhig tu bsgom/ bla ma dam pa thugs kar bsgom/ nam ‘chi ba’i dus su ni spyi bor bsgom pa yin gsungs/ de nas rang gi rig pa rig rig tur tur po ‘di la bltas la/ bltas pa’i dus su gang yang ma mthong ba de kho na nyid mthong ba’o zhes <69>pas/ de’i ngang la ci yang yid la mi byed par bzhag/ rnam par rtog pa mtho dman gyis sems rnam par g.yengs na/ ‘gro ‘chag nyal ‘dug gam/ spyod lam bsgyur nas bsgoms pas rgyun chad med pa’i dge sbyor/ rnam rtog med pa’i ngo bo/ lhun gyis grub pa’i rang bzhin du ‘ong ba yin pas/ de rgyun chad med par bskyang / dge ba’i rtsa ba byas pa’i rjes sam/ thugs dam la mnyam par bzhag pa’i rjes la/ skabs skabs su bdag dang sems can thams cad kyis dus gsum du bsags shing yod pa’i dge ba’i rtsa ba dran par byas/ bdag dang sems can thams cad kyi[s] dus gsum du bsags shing yod pa’i dge ba’i rtsa ba ‘dis/ bdag dang sems can thams cad myur du bla na med par yang dag par rdzogs pa’i byang chub rin po che thob par gyur cig ces/ dge ba’i rtsa ba bsngo bar bya’o/ /dus rgyun chad med par tshul de <70>ltar nyams su blang zhing / bsnyen gnas kyi sdom pa rin po che bsrung ba dang / rtsa ba bzhi las gang thub thub kyi dge bsnyen gyi sdom pa srung ba gal che ste/ de ltar yang bcom ldan ‘das kyis/ khrims gcig tsam yang mi bsrung na nga’i ‘khor du ma gtogs so/ /zhes gsungs pas ston pa’i ‘khor du ma gtogs na byas pa thams cad don med par shes par byas nas/ tshul khrims bsrung ba la ‘bad par bya’o/ /rdzogs so//    //

Sorry, this time only German:

Ich habe jetzt unten rechts bei den PDF-Downloads einen Link zur deutschen Übersetzung von Jigten Sumgöns “Kühlende Sandelholz-Mala” eingefügt.

Diese Instruktion Jigten Sumgöns war der erste Text, den ich zusammen mit meinem Mentor Ngawang Tsering in den achziger Jahren gelesen habe (tatsächlich fand ich noch Dateien zu diesem Text von 1992!). Ich habe den Text viele Male überarbeitet, jetzt lasse ich ihn endlich los. Der Text ist ein wunderbares Beispiel für die Art und Weise, wie Jigten Sumgön öffentliche Belehrungen gab: Immer mit direktem Bezug zur Praxis, und immer ohne in verschiedene Fahrzeuge zu unterscheiden. Für Jigten Sumgön gab es nur einen Pfad, nämlich den, der zur vollkommenen Buddhaschaft führt.

Viel Spaß beim Lesen!