a praise to the unsurpassed teacher

7/29/2019 A Praise to the Unsurpassed Teacher

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A Praise to the Unsurpassed TeacherThe Buddha Bhagavan,for Teaching the Profound Through Dependent

Arising

Khen Rinpoche translation

From [Nagarjuna's]Root Wisdom:

I prostrate to those holy speechof the Perfect Buddha,

Who taught dependent arisingNeither cessation nor production;Neither annihilation nor permanence;Neither coming nor going;Neither difference nor sameness

And that peace is the [total] pacificationof [all] elaborations.

I pay homage to Lama Manjughosha.I bow down to you,

Omniscient One, Highest of TeachersVictor, who realized dependent arisingAnd then taught it to others.

Whatever problems there are in the worldHave ignorance as their root.

That ignorance, you taught,Is destroyed by perceiving dependent arising.

Given that, how then do the intelligent

Fail to comprehend that thePath of dependent arisingIs the very crux of all your teachings?

That being so, how could anyone findA more wondrous reason to praise you,0 Protector, than for teaching


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Dependent arising?

What method of instruction isMore marvelous than that which teaches:"Whatever depends upon causesIs void of inherent existence"?

The way the immature apprehend [dependent arising]Does nothing but tighten the bonds of extreme views.But [when apprehended by] the wise,It is the very means of cutting

The net of all elaborations.

As this teaching is seen nowhere else,

Only you can be called "Teacher."To call a non-Buddhist "Teacher"Is flattery; like calling a fox a lion.

Amazing Teacher! Amazing Refuge!Amazing Speaker! Amazing Savior!I prostrate to that Teacher

Who masterfully taught dependent arising.

Benefactor, for the sake of helping beings

You taught the peerless wayThat brings ascertainment ofshunyataThe very heart of your teaching.

How could they possibly fathom your systemOf results arising in relation to their causes

Who wrongly perceive that such a relationshipIs contradictory or not established?

You maintain that when emptiness

Is perceived as dependent arising,Emptiness of inherent existence

Will no longer be seen as contradictingThe validity of agent and action.

You also maintain that as long as [beings]Hold [emptiness] as being in opposition to that


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[dependent arising]that empty objects cannot function andthat agents cannot be empty

They will plunge into a frightening abyss.

It is because dependent arisingIs found in your teaching

That it is so well praised;

And because there is neither utter nonexistenceNor existence by way of [an entity's] own essence.

Nondependence is like a skyflower.

Hence, no existent is unrelated.If anything existed by way of its own nature,It would be contradictory for it to relyon causes and conditions.

Thus, since you taught that no phenomena existExcept those that arise dependently,

There are no phenomena other than thoseThat lack self-existent essence.

You taught that if any phenomenonHad the slightest inherent existence,Nirvana could not be achieved nor elaborations undone,Because a self-existent essence could not be reversed.

Therefore, who would dare challengeWhat you taught so often and so wellA lion's roar amidst a throng of sagesThe complete absence of self-existence?

"Not the slightest self-existence"And "in reliance on 'this''that' arises,"Are both correctly established,And, needless to say, exist together without contradiction.

You said that by reason of dependent arising


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One will be able to avoid extreme views.This teaching, 0 Protector, is the reason thatYou are a teacher unsurpassed.

That all things are empty of essence,And that from this [cause] this effect arises,Are two certainties that, rather than oppose,Support each other.

What is more amazing than this?What could be more wonderful?There is no other trueway ofPraising you than this!

No wonder those enslaved by ignoranceHave animosity toward you,And cringe at the veryWords "no self-existence"!

There are those who accept dependent arisingAs the cherished treasure of your holy speech,Yet cannot bear the sound of the word "shunyata."This to me is strange indeed!

Now, if upon hearingThe term "dependent arising,"They take it to mean inherent existence,When in fact it is the highest doorThat leads to lack of self-existence...

How then could they possiblyBe led to the noble path that pleases you,

Through that peerless entrywayWell traveled by the holy ones?

Self-existencenot produced and not reliant;Dependent arisingreliant and produced;How could these coexist

Without contradiction


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Therefore, that which is dependentlyarisen,Has always been utterly void of self-existence.

Yet, because things still appear as self-existent,You taught that all this is like a magical display.

Furthermore, you taught thatNo debater could reasonably find fault

With your teaching nor defeat you.It is this very teaching that renders them silent.

If you ask, "Why so?"It is because this explanation [of dependent arising]Dispels any chance to exaggerate or deny[The status of] entities seen and unseen.

This very path of dependent arising,The reason I regard your speech as unmatched,Also gives rise to the certainty thatAll your other teachings are true.

Once you gained true realization,You then taught well.Those who follow you,Rid themselves of problems

by destroying the roots of evil.

Those who turn away from your teaching,Though they struggle long and hard,Only invite more problems,Because their self-grasping view is firmly held.

Amazing! When the wise understandThe difference between these two,Why wouldn't they feel respect for you

From the very marrow of their bones?

No need to speak of many teachingsWhen even a vague understandingOf just one facet of your teachingsBrings supreme delight!


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Alas! My mind is marred by ignorance.Although I have long since taken refugeIn the bounty of your excellence,I have yet to gain even its smallest part.

But before this stream of life runs out,As it courses toward the Lord of Death,I am thinking myself fortunate to haveGained just a little faith in you.

Among teachings, the teaching on dependent arising;Among [the types of] wisdom, wisdom of

dependent arising.Like the Buddhas in the [many] worlds,

You, and no others, know theseto be completely supreme.

Everything you taughtIs based on dependent arising-designed to effect nirvana.

And your every deedto yield nothing but peace.

0, howmarvelous your teachings are!

Since they bring peace to allWhose ears they reach,Who would not want to uphold them reverently?

This system, free from contradictionfrom top to bottom,Overcomes all rivals andGrants to beings the two goals.

In this I take increasing delight.

For its sake you gaveAgain and again over countless eons,At times your body, at times your life,Your dear family and ample wealth.

Upon seeing the virtues of that DharmaFathomed by your mind,


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I was drawn like a fish on a hook.How unfortunate not to have heardthat teaching directly from you!By the force of that sorrow,My mind can't give up that thought;Like a mother whose mind is consumedBy thoughts ofher dear son.

But when the thought of you teachingcomes to mind"This is how the Master taught,Blazing with the splendor of hisSigns and marks, encircled by an orb of light,

And speaking with such a pure voice"

Just the image of the Muni thatI conjure in my mind soothes this pain,

As does the light of the moon for oneTormented by the heat of the sun.

Those who are unskilledHave made of your most excellent system,

A complete tangle,Much like the belbadza.

Upon seeing this,I relied upon the works of sages

And diligently soughtYour true intent again and again.

At that time, the more I studied the many textsOf our own and others' systems,

The more my mind wasCompletely troubled by a net of doubt.

The way of your highest vehicle,Which rejects the extremes ofBeing absolutely or not being at all,

Would be explained, as you prophesied,ByNagarjuna, whose treatises,


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Like a garden ofmoonflowers,Blossomed, through the great kindness of my Lama,Beneath the white light beams of theBrilliant explanations of the Glorious Moon,

Whose waxing orb of stainless wisdomMoves unimpeded through the sky of scriptures,Outshining constellations of false speechand clearing the heart of the darkness of extreme views.

At last my tormented mind found true relief.

Among all his deeds,The act of teaching is supreme.And of his teachings, this one is supreme.Therefore, the wise should

remember the Buddha for this!

I became ordained as your follower,And studied your teachings

in no meager way;A monk who exerted himself

in his spiritual practice.m this way I respectfullyHonor that Great Sage.

Since it is through the great kindness of a LamaThat one even meets with such teachingsRevealed by the consummate Teacher,I dedicate the virtue of composing this work

to all beings without exception.May it serve as a cause for them to be takenUnder the care of holy spiritual guides.

May the teachings of the One who only benefits othersRemain undisturbed by the winds of bad thoughts,

until samsara's end.And may the world always be filled with beingswho have gained faith in the MasterThrough achieving correct understandingof his teaching system.

In all my future lives,


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even at the cost of life or limb,May I never stop or for a single moment slackenIn upholding this, the Muni's excellent system,that clarifies the true nature of dependent arising.

I pray that I may spend both day and nightContemplating ways to spread this teaching

The one realized by that excellent GuideThrough strenuous practice and measureless hardship.

If I exert myself to this endWith extraordinary intent,May Brahma and Indra,

Mahakala, and other guardians of the world,At all times willingly come to my aid.

Thurman

Reverence to the Guru, Manjughosha!

I praise that perfect Buddha,The Supreme Philosopher,Who taught us relativity;

Free of (real) cessation and creation,Beyond nihilism and absolutism,

With no (real) coming and no (real) going,Neither unity nor plurality,

The quieting of fabrications, bliss supreme!2

I bow down to him whose insight and speechMake him unexcelled as Sage and Teacher;

The Victor, who realized (ultimate truth),Then taught us it as relativity!

Misknowledge itself is the very rootOf all the troubles in this fleeting world;

Who understood that and then reversed it,Taught universal relativity.

Thereupon, how could it be possible


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That the Geniuses3 would not understandThis very path of relativityAs the vital essence of your teaching?Such being the case, who could discover

Anything even still more wonderfulTo sing your praises for, O saviour,Than you teaching of relativity?

"Whatever depends upon conditionsIs empty of intrinsic reality."

What excellent instruction could there be,More amazing than this discovery?

Although the naive can seize upon it

As just confirming their extremist bonds,The wise use that same (relativity)To cut their way out of fabrication's trap.

This Teaching is not to be found elsewhere,So you alone are entitled "Teacher";

A term of consolation for escapists,5Like soothing a fox by calling him "lion!"

0 wondrous Teacher! 0 wondrous refuge!

Wondrous philosopher! Wondrous Savior!I pay full homage to that great Teacher

Who well expounded relativity!

0 benefactor! To heal all beings,You proclaimed (profound relativity),The unrivaled reason to ascertainEmptiness, the essence of the Teaching.

How can anyone who would understand

The profound law of relativityAs contradictory, or unestablished,Ever fully understand your system?6

Your position is that, when one perceivesVoidness as the fact of relativity,Voidness of reality does not preclude


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The viability of activity.

Whereas when one perceives the opposite,Action is impossible invoidness,Voidness is lost during activity;One falls into anxiety's abyss.

Thus, experience of relativityIs most recommended in your Teaching,

And not that of absolute nothingness,Nor that of intrinsically real existence.

The non-relative is like a sky-flower;

So there is nothing non-relational.Things' existence with objective statusPrecludes dependence on cause and condition.

Thus you proclaimed that just because no thingExists beyond relative occurrence,So nothing can really exist beyond

Voidness of intrinsic reality.

If things had any self-reality,

Since such could never be reversed, you said,Nirvana would become impossible,Since fabrications could not be reversed.

Dauntless in the assemblies of the wise,You clearly proclaimed in your lion's roar,"Let there be freedom from identity!"

Who would ever presume to challenge this?

All systems are completely viable,

Since lack of intrinsic realityAnd relativity do not conflict;Never mind they complement each other.

"By the reason of relativityThere are no grounds to hold extremist views!"For this excellent statement, you. Savior,


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Are unexcelled among philosophers.

"All this objectively is emptiness!"And "From this cause will occur this effect!"These facts are mutually non-exclusive;Certainties, they reinforce each other.

Than this, what could ever be more wondrous?Than this, what could ever inspire more awe?For this one principle, if you are praised,It is real praise; and otherwise not so.

Those held in the slavery of confusions,Helplessly resent you, (so free and clear),

Small wonder they find intolerableThe sound of "non-substantiality."

But those who assert "relativity,"The precious treasury of your discourse,When they resent the roar of emptiness;Really, they never cease to amaze me!

They hold unexcelled relativity,The gateway to identitylessness,

As a real identity just by name;Ah, how cleverly they deceive themselves!

They should be led by whatever techniqueTo that good path ever pleasing to you,That incomparable shore of haven,Well-traveled by the highest holy beings.

Reality, unmade and non-related,Relativity, made and relative;

How can these two facts be brought togetherIn one instance, without contradiction?

Therefore, the relativelyoccurrent,Though ever free of self-reality,Appears as if intrinsically real;So you said all this is like illusion.


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From this very fact one well understands(The Centrists') statement that, the way you taught,

Those who would strive to challenge (your Teaching)Rationally can find no fallacy.

Why? Because this your elucidationMakes utterly remote the tendencies

To reify and repudiate things7Empirical and hypothetical.

This very fact of relativity,The reason one sees your speech is matchless,Generates the certitude of the reason

embodied in all your other teachings.

From real experience, you teach so well,Those who train themselves as your disciplesGo far beyond every kind of trouble,Havingreversed the root of all evil.

But those who turn away from your TeachingThough they struggle wearily long and hard,Continue just to invite more problems,

Sticking to habitual views of self.

0 wonder! When the wise do understandThe difference between these two (trainings),How can they fail to feel (most gratefully)Reverence for you from their inmost hearts?

Not to cite the richness of your teachings,To achieve mere general understanding

Of just the meaning of some small portionConfers, even that, the highest pleasure.

Alas, my mind conquered by confusion,Though I came from afar to seek refugeIn the profusion of your excellence,I could not embody its smallest part.


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Yet when I stand before the Lord of Death,And the stream of life is not quite ended,I will consider myself fortunate

To have even this slightest faith in you.8

Of teachers, the Teacher of relativity,Of wisdoms, the wisdom of relativity;

These are like imperial victors in the world,Making you world champion of wisdom, over all.

Whatever you taught is penetratedBy means of relativity itself,

And since that really becomes Nirvana,

No deed of yours does not deliver peace.

0 Wonder! Whoever hears your Teaching,Finds liberating peace in everything;

And so who could possibly not respectThose who strive to uphold such a Teaching?

As it overcomes all oppositions,Is free from internal contradictions,

And fulfills both main goals of human beings,My delight ever grows for this system.

For its sake you gave again and again,Throughout long incalculable aeions,Sometimes your body, other times your life,

Your loved ones, and vast treasuries of wealth.

When I see such excellences as yours,Seeing how your heart anchors the Teaching,

Just as a steel fish-hook hooks tight the fish;How sad my fate, not to hear it from you!

The very energy of that sadnessKeeps my mind unwavering (from the Teaching),

As the attention of the anxious motherNever wanders from the beloved child.


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Even when I reflect upon your speech,

Thinking "That Teacher, radiantly haloedWith veils of light-rays, ablaze with gloryOf magnificent signs and holy marks,Spoke in this way with his heavenly voice!"

Then the image of great ShakyamuniJust flashing in my mind's eye, heals me well,As the moon's rays heal the pangs of fever.

Though that good system is so marvelous,Unskilled persons get totally confusedIn every respect, as if they were

All entangled like a coconut's hairs.

Having understood this problem, I thenSchooled myself in (the writings of) skilled sages,Studying with manifold exertions,Seeking your intent again and again.

And I studied numerous treatisesOf the Buddhist and the non-Buddhist schools,

Yet unremittingly my intellectWas still tormented in the trap of doubt.

So I went to the night-lily gardenOf the treatises ofNagarjuna,Prophesied to elucidate rightly

The principle of your final vehicle,Free of the extremes of being and nothing.

There I saw, by the kindness of the Guru,All illumined by garlands of white light,The true eloquence of the glorious Moon (Chand

Whose expanding orb of taintless wisdomCourses freely in the sky of Scripture,Dispels the darkness of extremist hearts,Eclipses constellations of false truths;

And then, my mind at last obtained relief!

Of all his deeds, his speech is the supreme;


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And for this very reason, true sagesShould commemorate a perfect BuddhaFor this (teaching of relativity).

I renounced the world on the example of thatTeacher

My study of the Victor's speech is not inferior,I am a Buddhist monk, diligent in yoga-practice,

And such is my reverence for that most eminent Seer!

By my Guru's kindness I was thus fortunate to meetThe liberating Teaching of the unexcelledTeacherAnd I dedicate this virtue as a cause of all beings'Being looked after by the holy spiritual teachers.

May the Teaching of that Benefactor, until worlds endBe undisturbed by the winds of perverse prejudices,

And achieving faith in the Teacher by understandingThe natural way of the Teaching, may it be ever Full!

May I uphold the wholesome system ofShakyamiThat illumines the principle of relativity,Through all my lives, though I give up body and even life!And may I never give it up, even for an instant!

May I spend all day and night in the considerationOfliberarive techniques to propagate this success

Which was achieved by that best Leader through countless trials,By making strenuous efforts the essence (of his lives)!

As I make effort on this way with pure high resolve,May the gods Brahma, Indra, and all the World-protectors,Good Mahakala, and the other Dharma-guardiansBe my constant friends forever and never let me down!

a praise to the unsurpassed teacher

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