Excellent Path Of Freedom: The Jewel Ornament of Liberation in BriefEmbodiment of all Buddhas, past, present, and future, whose kindness can never be repaid,
O benevolent root Guru, with great devotion of body, speech, and mind I prostrate
At your lotus feet and seek refuge in You. Please grant your blessings that I may
Come under your compassionate care from one life to the next, in all of my lifetimes!
Prophesied by Buddha, attained to the tenth Bodhisattva level,
Just hearing your name makes one irreversible on the path, Buddha said.
When debating, your were the regent of our fourth Buddha, Shakyamuni,
To Gampopa Sonam Rinchen I bow my head in offering.
Nectar of thousands of eloquent instructions,
Mixed with the river of Mahamudra teachings, this essence instruction,
Is a Lake Manasrovar of jewels left by the Father for his disciples,
An ornament to quench the thirst of those seeking Liberation.
My turtlelike small creativity cannot take the measure
Of your great ocean of unique profound Dharma,
Yet, urged by some fortunate, likeminded friends,
I shall relate just a drop of it here, in brief.
Chapter One
Buddha Nature, The Cause
1. First, the actual cause is Buddha Nature, itself,
Pervading all six realms of beings. For example,
Like the oil in sesame and the gold in ore.
By finding certainty that it pervades all beings
If this gives rise to joy that wishes to enter
The unmistaken path, it becomes an ornament of Liberation.
2. Although there is no better or worse in Buddha nature,
The way it pervades beings may be with a lineage
That is severed, or indefinite. When you understand
How Buddha nature pervades ordinary beings,
Hearers, Solitary Realizers, Bodhisattvas and Buddhas,
That is also an ornament of Liberation.
3. All sentient beings are indeed Buddhas,
But knowing or not knowing this brings the results
Of samsara or nirvana’s suffering or happiness. Realizing this,
If you proceed on a path from joy to joy
On the broad path to perfect Liberation
That is also an ornament of Liberation.
4. One basis, two paths, six results are proclaimed.
Sentient beings have forever had the same base as Buddha.
But because of not knowing this, samsara and nirvana become dual,
And karma and delusion bring the six realms’s lifeforms into being.
If you understand how this life’s joys and sorrows are created
By your own mind alone, that is also an ornament of Liberation.
5. In the illusory city of impurity and true sufferings,
Buddha’s form is like a lamp inside a vase.
By discovering it, samsara is shattered to pieces.
If you well understand this summary
Of Buddha’s system, when he said,
‘You are your own Protector’, that is also an ornament of Liberation.
6. Seeing samsara’s defects, yet lacking renunciation,
Hearing of Buddha’s qualities, yet lacking faith,
Without the slightest shame, consideration, or compassion,
Engaging in nonvirtue, such inferior, malicious beings!
If you understand that, since they are distanced from Liberation,
Their lineage is (as if) severed, that is also an ornament of Liberation.
7. The city of Liberation is a path of peace and freedom,
Whereas the city of samsara is a place of unbearable suffering.
At this waystation where we are free to decide where to go,
If we unmistakenly choose what is best to fulfill our ultimate aims,
And learn to climb the staircase of peace and joy
To find ultimate happiness, that is also an ornament of Liberation.
8. Within the mode of existence of ultimate truth
There is equality beyond karma, without adopting or abandoning.
The nature of samsara is nirvana
And the nature of conceptual thought is transcendent wisdom, it is said.
If you know how to present the two truths on the basis of
The relative truth of samsara and nirvana, that is also an ornament of Liberation.
9. Buddhas are Liberated through the power of awareness,
While sentient beings are deceived through the power of ignorance.
Buddhas and sentient beings are differentiated only by awareness or lack of awareness.
At this time, when our future destination is in our own hands,
Without mistaking our way from samsara to nirvana,
If we understand this secret, that is also an ornament of Liberation.
10. Buddha nature pervades all beings.
It is the cause of beings’ Buddhahood, without exception.
Finding certainty in these words that are spoken,
If we don’t fall under the influence of meaningless distraction,
And waste this precious life that is so meaningful and difficult to find,
If our mind turns towards Dharma, that is also an ornament of Liberation.
11. This potent seed, the Buddha Nature,
Is innate to ourselves and has never been altered.
Yet without the condition of fertilizer and water of virtue,
The power of delusion will leave it dry.
Moistening it repeatedly with a rain of merit of virtue,
Faith, and devotion is Dagpo Rinpoche’s ornament of Liberation
12. Even though the child of good family is home, because of severed lineage,
He has been separated from his Mother for a long time.
Once he encounters his virtuous Mother,
From then on, his realized qualities will be perfected.
If he becomes certain about this family of eternal happiness,
That is also an ornament of Liberation.
Chapter Two
The Base, Precious Human Life
13. Second, the excellent base of this precious human life
Is a base with a body and mind superior to that of other lifeforms.
It can learn the practice of adopting virtue and abandoning evil,
But it is found only once. At such a time as this,
If we use it for the work of vast essential purpose,
That is also a perfect ornament of Liberation.
14. Relying upon this magnificent ship of a body, so difficult to find,
To escape the frightening ocean of endless rebirth in suffering,
If we happily persevere with body, speech, and mind in paths of virtue,
Eternal bliss is in the palm of our hand, Buddha said.
If, knowing this, our mind turns towards Dharma,
So that our human life becomes truly meaningful, that is an ornament of Liberation.
15. Human life is of best, middling, or least qualities.
The first serves others, which brings happiness.
The second remains in between, neither helping nor harming.
The third ruins themselves and others, creating suffering.
Understanding this, enter into action the first way;
If your human life becomes just right, that’s an ornament of Liberation.
16. This excellent basis of precious human life is extremely difficult to find,
As illustrated in different ways: by causes, examples, numbers, and natures.
No matter how you check, it will not be found again.
Letting ourselves be overpowered by meaningless distractions
We will return emptyhanded from the island of jewels.
Knowing this, if we make an effort in Dharma, that is an ornament of Liberation.
17. This body is impermanent, like a temporary guest house,
While mind is like a guest who has taken up residence.
At this guest station we have found because of our karma,
If we do not waste it in meaningless pursuits
And use it to enact perfect virtues,
So that our human life becomes meaningful, that is an ornament of Liberation.
18. The special characteristic which fully exalts the base
Of a human body and mind over that of other lifeforms
Is that if we correctly practice holy Dharma
With an altruistic intention to benefit others,
And to benefit future lifetimes, and a very strong wish
To attain the state of Liberation; that’s the real ornament of Liberation.
19. This one time that we have attained such an excellent base,
Not confusing what is good or bad for our ultimate aims,
Not entering the trap of the net of distraction,
If we perfectly take the essence of this life’s great purpose, and
For eternal happiness, practice the deep sacred Dharma,
Never separating from it, that is the ornament of Liberation.
Chapter Three
The Condition, the Virtuous Spiritual Guide
20. Although we have the Buddha nature
And have found the supreme profound base
If we do not encounter a perfect virtuous guide
There is no way to escape the abodes of samsara.
Therefore, if we inseparably rely upon the Virtuous Spiritual Guide,
Who shows the path to Liberation, that is the ornament of Liberation.
21. First, knowing the qualifications of the Guru to be relied upon,
As taught in scriptures such as The Ornament of Sutra
And Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life,
With an objective attitude, aspiration, and renunciation,
And irreversible faith, if we develop an intense wish
To attain the state of Liberation, that is an ornament of Liberation.
22. The way to rely is by perceiving ourselves as a patient,
Seeing the Guru as doctor and the Dharma as medicine.
Accomplishing whatever they teach, abandoning lack of faith and wrong views,
Insatiably enjoying their profound instructions,
If we shine our sun of faith and devotion upon them,
There is no ornament of Liberation which surpasses that.
23. A sword that severs selfgrasping and ‘becoming’,
A great boat to escape the sea of samsara,
This transcendent shunyata wisdom, realization of selflessness,
Is not found without relying upon a Guru.
If we rely on a qualified supreme Virtuous Spiritual Guide,
By delighting them in three ways, that is an ornament of Liberation
24. With clear faith our joy for Dharma grows.
With aspiring faith, joyful effort naturally arises.
With irreversible faith we see the Guru as Buddha.
If the sun of the three faiths dawns within us
If we always carry our root Guru, whose kindness can never be repaid,
Inseparably, on the crown of our head, that is an ornament of Liberation.
25. With faith, seeing the Guru as actual Buddha,
And the profound practice of Guru Yoga,
Whatever arises appears in the nature of the Guru.
Knowing that this unaltered reflexive awareness itself,
Is the definitive Guru, and sustaining that pure awareness
Is Dagpo Rinpoche’s actual ornament of Liberation.
26. The unaltered entity is the Dharmakaya Guru.
Unceasing nature is the Sambhogakaya Yidam Deity.
All pervading compassionate energy is Nirmanakaya Dakinis.
Incorporating the three kayas, the Deity of our own clear-empty mind,
Understanding that we are meeting the primordial, ultimate Guru,
If we see all of existence as the Guru, that is the ornament of Liberation.
27. First, the Guru appears to us as ordinary,
Then we understand the Guru is Buddha in actuality.
Finally we realize the Guru is our own mind itself.
If, by compassion of the symbolic Guru
We meet the actual Guru that is symbolized,
That is the perfect ultimate ornament of Liberation.
28. Even if we cross the great ocean of Sutra and Tantra scriptures,
If we don’t partake of the cool, clear instructions of the Guru,
There is no way to heal the terrible disease of delusion. Knowing this,
Controlling our mind by insatiably listening, contemplating and meditating
On the glorious Guru’s instructions,
If we reach the state of Buddhahood, that is the ornament of Liberation
Chapter Four
Methods, the Spiritual Guide’s Instructions
29. Although cared for by such a qualified Guru,
If we don’t correctly practice their instructions,
It is like dying of thirst on the banks of the river.
Understanding this, by receiving all of the Guru’s instructions,
Like one vessel poured into another,
If we begin to experience lasting happiness,
That is an ornament of Liberation.
30. First, the Virtuous Spiritual Guide, like Buddha, says
‘Listen well and keep this in mind,
And I shall explain it to you!’
They also teach the disciples with a smile, a loving gaze
And by having a mind of love and compassion.
The good fortune to listen to Dharma is an ornament of Liberation.
31. First, as preparation for listening to Dharma,
If we abandon the three faults of a vessel:
Not listening, like the fault of a vessel being upside down,
Not remembering, like a vessel that has sprung a leak,
Or mixing it with delusion, like a vessel with poison,
If we practice virtue with a compassionate motivation, that is an ornament of Liberation.
32. The door to enter Dharma for beginners
Is determination, Buddha said.
Until we abandon this chronic disease
Of samsaric suffering, we have no happiness.
If knowing this leads us to have a strong renunciation of samsara,
And we enter the unmistaken path, that is an ornament of Liberation.
33. If, in being born as a human being
We live our human life in a way that is worse than an animal,
It’s like using a golden vase for filthy garbage.
Not following after the actions of fools,
If we don’t make the wrong choices at the crossroads of human life,
And understand what to adopt and abandon, that is an ornament of Liberation.
34. In our Dagpo Kagyu tradition
If we don’t redirect our mind with the four attitude reversers,
We will not penetrate the essential point of ultimate reality.
Therefore the preliminaries are more important than the main practice.
Without greedily grasping for high teachings,
If we gradually ascend from below, that is an ornament of Liberation.
35. Whatever virtuous deed we do, on that basis,
There are three sublime things that are indispensable:
The virtuous root must be sustained by the method of Bodhicitta,
And must be dedicated so that it is never destroyed by conditions,
And so that the main practice develops further.
If preparation, main practice, and conclusion are complete, that is an ornament of Liberation.
36. First, the preparation, sublime Bodhicitta,
Is the compassionate motive to have before engaging in virtue,
Like the reins and bridle that steer a horse,
Thinking, so that all sentient beings may attain full enlightenment
I must attain it, by all means.
If we make a promise to accomplish it, that is an ornament of Liberation.
37. The second sublime thing is that the main practice be unobserved.
Any virtue of listening, contemplating, or meditating,
Should be undistracted, keeping singlepointed focus of body, speech, and mind.
Like a hungry yak finding grass to eat,
If we are urged on by perseverance, not being lazy,
That is a perfect, sublime ornament of Liberation.
38. The third sublime thing is dedication at the end.
If we properly dedicate our own and others’ roots of virtue
In order to empty out the three realms of samsara,
Without hope for return or any karmic result,
Like mixing our own sugar cane juice into the water of the ocean,
So that it is never exhausted, that is an ornament of Liberation.
39. Not grabbing for the highest, most profound Dharma,
Without hope for name, reputation, or status,
Content, with few desires, acting with humility,
Taking the path that delights the Buddhas,
If the lie of the hallucination collapses and is destroyed,
And we attain the ultimate path, that is an ornament of Liberation.
40. This precious jewel of a human life, so difficult to find,
Is found just this time, not over and over.
If we return emptyhanded from the island of jewels,
We may look like a human being but we are acting like cattle.
Thinking about this and not mistaking our ultimate purpose,
If our life becomes meaningful, that is an ornament of Liberation.
41. The end of rising is falling, the end of collection is dispersion,
The end of birth is death, the end of meeting is parting, and so on.
If we think about how everything is impermanent,
Just like a fragile bubble of water,
Not expecting to be alive tomorrow,
If we continually remember impermanence, that is an ornament of Liberation.
42. Our present experiences of obvious happiness and suffering
All arise through the power of karma, Buddha said.
Knowing this, properly observing the natural law of karma,
Abandoning evil deeds and engaging in virtue,
Repeatedly examining our body, speech, and mind
With mindfulness and alertness, if we are careful about karma,
That is an ornament of Liberation.
43. Wherever we wander, high or low,
We are continually tormented by the three sufferings.
So that we never have happiness, Buddha said.
If we do not know these drawbacks of samsara,
There is no way to get free of the abodes of suffering. Therefore,
If we develop strong renunciation, that is an ornament of Liberation.
44. Planting this seed of virtue, conducive to Liberation,
In the field of our mind,
If it is not harmed by the frost of nonvirtue,
Before long, the harvest of virtue will ripen,
And the fruit of eternal happiness will grow. Therefore,
If our mind turns towards Dharma, that is an ornament of Liberation.
45. Although we train our mind in the four attitude reversers,
When our mind lacks the moisture of Bodhicitta,
It will not become perfect Mahayana Dharma.
If our mind is moved by genuine love and compassion
Wishing to set beings on to the path of Liberation,
Whatever virtue we create becomes an ornament of Liberation.
46. Until we abandon the bad attitude
That cherishes ourselves most highly of all, there is no happiness.
From now on relying on the mind of compassion
That cherishes mother sentient beings,
If we persevere with love and compassion,
That is an ornament of Liberation.
47. Because of evil self-grasping we wander in samsara,
But by realizing selflessness we manifest nirvana.
What makes someone a Buddha or a limited sentient being
All comes down to that essential point.
If we know how to reverse our mistakes, enter Mahayana paths,
And protect beings with compassion, that is an ornament of Liberation.
48. Gloom of ignorance densely shrouding their heads,
Chains of selfgrasping ignorance binding their limbs,
Karma and delusion landing them in the prison of samsara,
Thinking of our elderly mothers tormented by such suffering,
If we create virtue well, throughout the day and night
That is an ornament of Liberation.
49. Busily seeking happiness through force of desire,
Yet having unwanted results of suffering arise,
Sentient beings’ wishes and practice are at odds with each other,
Like blind people wandering, lost in a desert.
Never giving up compassion, unable to bear their suffering,
Generating Bodhicitta is an ornament of Liberation.
50. Generating Bodhicitta in presence of the Gurus
Who hold the lineages of profound view or vast activities,
And the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the space before me,
Out of compassion and altruism, shouldering the burden to liberate beings,
And the courageous wisdom to attain full enlightenment ourselves,
If we take the Bodhisattva vows, that is an ornament of Liberation.
51. Acting out Bodhicitta is not the main thing at first; generating it is.
The method to generate Bodhicitta,
Is to keep the precepts of wishing and engaging Bodhicitta, without mistake,
And with the cherished promise that we guard like our heart,
Integrating it with our mind, never letting it decline,
And increasing it wherever it has not declined, is an ornament of Liberation.
52. Mahayana Dharma is included in mental development and application.
Mental attitude is developed through familiarity with the four immeasurables,
Protecting beings with love and affectionate compassion.
In application, it is properly practicing the six perfections.
If your body, speech, and mind are for the sake of others,
That is an ornament of Liberation.
53. Giving is also divided into three aspects.
Giving material things, giving protection, and giving Dharma.
The way to give is with respect,
Without hoping for any return or karmic result, and without miserliness.
Attaining its temporary result of prosperity,
And its ultimate result of Buddhahood is an ornament of Liberation.
54. Morality is also divided into three aspects: restraining faulty conduct,
Gathering virtuous Dharma, and accomplishing the welfare of sentient beings.
First of these is abandoning the ten nonvirtues.
Ascending the staircase to upper realms of existence
It causes attainment of the state of omniscience.
If we protect our morality well, that is an ornament of Liberation.
55. Patience is also divided into three aspects:
Patience with suffering, with enemies, and with difficulties for the sake of Dharma.
Without an object of patience there can be no hardship to bear with serenity.
Without patience there can be no love or compassion.
So it’s better to put on the armor of patience:
If we are victorious in battle over the delusions, that is an ornament of Liberation.
56. For anyone who wishes to proceed on the path
Of the good staircase that leads from happiness to happiness,
What is indispensable is perseverance.
It is a weapon that destroys the enemy of laziness,
And a lamp that dispels the gloom of ignorance.
If we always respectfully persevere, that is an ornament of Liberation.
57. Though there are many ways to develop a mind of singly focused calm,
If the child who rests in stillness on its focused object
Is not stolen away by the bandit of movement,
And is sustained and protected by its mother, awareness,
If we know how to meditate in the four modes of conduct—
Eating, walking, lying down, and sitting—that is an ornament of Liberation.
58. Understanding through listening, throughly understanding through contemplation,
And realizing the meaning through meditation, out of these three wisdoms,
The last one is supreme. In nonconceptual deep meditation
Endowed with confidence in our view of reality,
Beyond intellect, free of proliferation,
If we develop certainty from within, that is an ornament of Liberation.
59. Endowed with three doors of Liberation, the ultimate truth of shunyata,
Unfathomable to terms and concepts,
Through equipoise on ultimate truth,
The power of nonconceptual primordial wisdom dawns from within.
If we meet the inexpressible supreme Dharma of our own nature directly
Cutting through the net of projections, that is an ornament of Liberation.
Chapter Five
Buddhahood, The Result
60. Yet even with Mahayana Bodhicitta alone,
We are not free from the harm done by the demon of selfgrasping ignorance.
If we wish to uproot samsaric suffering completely,
By discovering the sword of wisdom realizing selflessness,
And completing the five paths and ten grounds
Being freed from samsara forever, that is an ornament of Liberation.
61. Those proud of meditating without being introduced to pure awareness
Are like shooting an arrow by guesswork, without seeing the target.
First, investigate and learn from a benevolent Guru
Until you are introduced to pristine awareness.
Then prolong your meditation for the rest of your life.
If you learn to meditate like that, it is an ornament of Liberation
62. Paths of meditation come in two aspects:
Analytical meditation and placement meditation.
Analytical contemplation refutes the object of negation,
Whereas placement meditation cultivates the subject mind element itself.
The two are not contradictory. If our practice pierces the lie of duality,
If that is revealed within, it is an ornament of Liberation.
63. Beginners enter the path of shamata—calm abiding.
For that, we train in the path of stillness, movement, and awareness.
Those who are new meditators, in general, will meditate
With little stillness and a great deal of movement,
And awareness will not recognize when movement has occurred.
Therefore, if they meditate in many short sessions, that is an ornament of Liberation.
64. In the system of our incomparable Dagpo Gampopa,
Vipasyana insight is found from the path of Shamata,
And the Guru boosts realizations higher.
At some point, with placement meditation of Shamata and Vipasyana together,
Undistracted, naturally dropping in, not altering whatever appears,
If we realize the union of awareness and emptiness, that is an ornament of Liberation.
65. The true Buddha is great Dharmakaya itself.
Although it has been in beings’ minds forever,
Not believing it could be so easy,
We go through hardships to seek it elsewhere. If we don’t do this,
And by the power of the profound instructions of a realized Guru,
See the true nature of our own mind, that is an ornament of Liberation.
66. In the main practice of meditative equipoise,
With naked clear awareness, not altering mental factors
or Dharmakaya empty awareness that is beyond ordinary mind,
Settling in the inexpressible, free of projection, beyond intellect,
If we find inner certainty in our own pure awareness,
Beyond speech, thought, or expression, that is an ornament of Liberation.
67. Dropping in to our own present moment of awareness, fresh, unaltered,
With mindfulness and alertness, without distraction,
Not thinking of stillness as good and movement as bad,
In pure awareness, inexpressible, beyond thought,
Understanding concepts and emptiness to be equal
If you develop certainty in your own experience, that is an ornament of Liberation.
68. Not attached to stillness or averse to movement,
When, from the sky of mind’s true nature,
Snow of movement falls upon the hot stone of awareness,
Whatever appears leaves no trace.
If we understand Gampopa’s method of not altering
The fresh present mode of existence, that is an ornament of Liberation.
69. Not following after thoughts of the past,
Or anticipating and welcoming thoughts of the future,
Within inborn unaltered present awareness,
Not finding past, present, and future in primordial purity,
If we practice this essential instruction
That unifies Mahamudra and Dzogchen, that is an ornament of Liberation.
70. That discovered in definitive knowledge is the view.
Cultivating pure awareness without distraction is meditation.
Not rejecting, not approving, not altering whatever appears, is conduct.
Being beyond hope and fear is the result.
Practicing these important precepts of view, meditation, and action,
Is an ornament of Liberation.
71. Leaving it as it is, unaltered, is peaceful,
Experience, inexpressible, is vividly clear,
Direct experience of awarenessemptiness is wide awake.
Whatever appears is beyond intellect, free of fabrications, naked,
Primordially pure clear awareness, free of grasping, pristine:
If this appears in your experience, that is an ornament of Liberation.
72. Sometimes, between sessions make strong prayers
To the root Guru with devotion.
Do compassion meditation for the six realms’ sentient beings.
Between sessions of meditation, practice illusionlike conduct.
If you unmistakenly practice gathering of the two accumulations,
Upon a single meditation cushion without contradiction, that is an ornament of Liberation
73. Thus, fully completing qualities of the paths, grounds, and fruits,
The very qualities we have realized in our own experience,
If we perfect the expanse of Buddha’s three bodies
And fully abandon the two obscurations from the root,
If there dawns the sun of happiness of the good fortune
Of discovering Buddha within ourselves, that is an ornament of Liberation.
74. In stainless skylike Dharmakaya,
Is sunlike Sambhogakaya of ceaseless compassion,
Effortlessly emanating Nirmanakayas for the benefit for others,
Clearing the dark gloom of the ignorance of beings.
If we manifest the state of the three bodies in this very life
That is the definitive ornament of Liberation.
Chapter Six
Activities Accomplishing the Welfare of Beings Without Thought
75. Without moving from Dharmakaya, the energy of compassion
Of the two bodies, unceasingly, effortlessly benefit beings.
For instance, when the sun rises in the sky
Darkness is naturally cleared and the lotus grove of disciples grows.
If it appears without thought and, without effort,
And great waves of benefit arise, that is an ornament of Liberation.
76. Just as the form of the moon appears distinctly
In the vessels of water of sentient beings who are in training,
The different parts of our own mental faculties
Appear as the three secrets of Buddha.
If our activities are unceasing until samsara is emptied of sentient beings
And brought to an end, that is an ornament of Liberation.
77. During the path of accumulation powerful prayers are made.
Making the promise to benefit beings:
‘As long as space exists, that long may I remain,
Bringing benefit to sentient beings!’
With the promise fully ripening at the time of the result,
Effortlessly benefitting sentient beings is an ornament of Liberation.
78. You said, in the future, if followers who never met me
See this scripture, it is no different than meeting me.
Keeping this profound prophecy of the unfailing vajra
In our hearts, through listening, contemplating, and meditating,
If we understand to persevere in this profound Dharma
Dagpo Rinpoche’s last will and testament to us, that is an ornament of Liberation.
79. These Kadampa instructions and Mahamudra combined,
Liberation’s staircase, Destroyer of the disease of the delusions, a supreme medicine,
A captain guiding beings to Liberation of blissful peace—
These jewels, completely different from ordinary riches.
Make a necklace for yourself with joy of three faiths!
If you uphold the teachings of this scripture, that is an ornament of Liberation.
80. In the vast ocean of samsara, without Liberation,
For followers who, like me, want Liberation,
This ship of an excellent scripture called the Ornament of Liberation,
Will, without doubt, free us into the ocean of Liberation.
If we really wish to attain the state of Liberation,
Why would a fortunate person not rely upon this?
Conclusion
Lacking complete causes to compose a commentary,
Without practice, this echo of Dharma talk,
Was requested by some of my likeminded disciples,
I wrote it to benefit them, not for the sake of fame.
If something is good and true, put it into practice!
If it is not true, contrary to fact, throw it out!
If something is not explained, wrongly explained, or contradictory to scripture,
O holy beings, please be patient with me!
If the meaning heard is not mentally cultivated, wisdom becomes distorted.
If we don’t begin to practice, we become jaded to Dharma.
May my followers who want Liberation like me
Manifest resultant Liberation!
May the dry earth of the hard ground of our minds
Be watered by the rain of virtuous holy Dharma.
Not destroyed by the hail-like demon of delusion
May we manifest the fruits of Liberation!
Since a merely verbal view of emptiness is of no benefit,
Not leaving my understanding with the texts alone,
May my listening, and contemplating become the actual remedy,
So that my practice may reach a successful conclusion.
O incomparable Dagpo Rinpoche, please grant your blessings
That your three secrets of body, speech, and mind,
Your deeds and prayers, your realizations and qualities
May fully ripen in the mind of myself and others
So that we may become just like you.
May I never be separated for even a moment
In all of my lifetimes until attaining highest enlightenment
From the Lamas of the Kagyu lineage of perseverance in practice,
Such as Venerable Marpa, Milarepa, and Dagpo Gampopa.
This composition came about because of having successfully completed, without obstacles, an oral commentary on incomparable Dagpo Rinpoche’s Jewel Ornament of Liberation for some of my western disciples over the course of about a year and nine months. A number of people such as my holy Dharma friend Lama Rigzin who lives in England, and others in the U.S. made this request: so that future disciples could know how to put all of the Jewel Ornament of Liberation into practice, day and night, in daily life, that I should compose a summary of the Ornament, but without poetic and flowery language, so that it would make it easy to translate into other languages, and would be of benefit to people of different cultures. I agreed to this request. I, who am last among the ranks of followers who revere the incomparable Dagpo Kagyu lineage, who has indestructible faith and aspiration for this Scriptural Teaching, I, named Khenpo Karten Rinpoche, wrote this summary of the Jewel Ornament called Excellent Path to Freedom, in California, North America at Manjushri Dharma Center. I wrote it in 80 verses which equals the number of major marks of an enlightened being’s body, on the 30th of August, 2017, the eighth day of the seventh month of the Tibetan calendar, completing it on that Wednesday, which was an auspicious day for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with special astrological conjunctions of the elements such as earth and water. Later, when I offered it to the learned and accomplished supreme emanation, Anam Thubten Rinpoche to read, he was delighted by it and, with congratulations and praise, suggested and prayed that, if it could be translated into multiple languages, that it would be highly auspicious. This seemed to me happily meritorious. I have only a small piece of yarn from the fabric of the holy qualities of knowledge and abandonments realized from birth or from training, yet, in order to benefit those like me who are beginners on the path, I call on the blessings of the Four Dharmas of Dagpo Rinpoche:
"May the minds of all sentient beings, such as myself, turn towards Dharma,
May the Dharma become the path,
May the path be cleared of deception,
And may deception appear as transcendent wisdom."
SARVA MANGALAM
