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| View All Poems by Marpa (Marpa Lotsawa) |

Realisation of Dreams and Mind

Marpa (Marpa Lotsawa), Marpa (Marpa Lotsawa) poetry, Buddhist, Buddhist poetry, Tibetan poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Marpa (Marpa Lotsawa)
(1012 - 1097) Timeline

Buddhist : Tibetan
11th Century

Lord Paindapa, you who practice yogic discipline!
Your name has been prophesied by the devas; what a great wonder!
Under the hand of glorious Advayalalita
Are the vajra brothers and sisters whose minds do not differ.
Headed by Sri Gunamati,
Dakas who are sitting in the right hand row, listen to me!
After them, the secret yoginis,
Headed by the consort Sukhavajri,
Dakinis who are sitting in the left hand row, listen to me!
Generally, all Dharmas are illusion.
Dreams are exalted as special illusion.
Early in the night, dreams arise born from habitual patterns.
There is nothing whatsoever to rely on there.
At midnight, the deceptions of Mara appear.
One should not trust in these.
At dawn, there are prophecies by the devas.
How wondrous, how great indeed!
At the break of dawn this morning,
The great lord master appeared
And taught the Dharma which revealed the ultimate.
This is the unforgettable memory of what Maitripa said:
"In general, all Dharmas are mind.
The Guru arises from mind.
The Guru is nothing other than mind.
Everything that appears is the nature of mind.
This mind itself is primordially non-existent.
In the natural state, unborn and innate,
There is nothing to abandon by discursive effort.
Rest at ease, naturally, without restriction.
This can be shown by signs:
A human corpse, an outcast, a dog, a pig,
An infant, a madman, an elephant,
A precious jewel, a blue lotus,
Quicksilver, a deer, a lion,
A Brahman, and a black antelope; did you see them?" Maitripa asked.
The realization of the truth was shown by these signs:
Not fixated on either samsara or Nirvana,
Not holding acceptance or rejection in one's being,
Not hoping for fruition from others,
Mind free from occupation and complexity,
Not falling into the four extremes,
Nonmeditation and nonwandering,
Free from thought and speech,
Beyond any analogy whatsoever.
Through the kindness of the Guru, I realised these.
Since the experience of these realisations has dawned,
Mind and mental events have ceased,
And space and insight are inseparable.
Faults and virtues neither increase nor decrease.
Bliss, emptiness, and luminosity are unceasing.
Therefore, luminosity dawns beyond coming or going.
This transmission of the innate, the pith of the view
Through the sign meanings which reveal the unborn,
I heard from the great lord master.
The reason why I sing these words
Is the insistent request of the honourable lords.
I could not refuse the Dharma brothers and sisters.
Dakinis, do not be jealous!

Thus, this song was sung for the Dharma brothers and sisters headed by Paindapa at the Rinchen Tsul monastery in Nepal to show the meaning of the signs of mahamudra as revealed by Maitripa's appearance in a dream.

 

 

 

Themes

  Awakening
  Birth, Rebirth
  Bliss
  Dawn
  Dream


Recommended Books


The Life of Marpa the Translator: Seeing Accomplishes All, by Chogyam Trungpa
A Spiritual Biography of Marpa the Translator, by Thrangu Rinpoche

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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