Beautiful String of Jewels

”A Heart Advice” from Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö to his wife and fellow practitioner, Khandro Tsering Chödrön.

Beautiful String of Jewels ~ Extracts

Homage to the venerable lamas!

This life of ours is fleeting, the same as autumn clouds:

Now we have it—but now it is gone.

This body’s like a bubble, floating on a stream,

Our very breathing like a candle in the wind.

Those best friends of ours, they seem like children of the gods,

But once we’ve left them behind, they can never be by our side again.

We may have stacked up wealth and possessions the size of a mountain,

But not even a single needle can we carry with us.
Him, the one called Yama, Lord of Death,

Does not let us go, but drags us off into the next life.

This body, glowing with youth and beauty

May look like a lovely flower in bloom,

But one day the frost of impermanence will destroy it.

Now is the time when freedom is still ours,

So if we turn our mind towards the Dharma,

Then whatever we do will become truly meaningful.

This mind of ours is like a wild horse,

So tame it with the whip of renunciation, and

Give up clinging to the delusory perceptions of this life.

See all beings as your father and mother, and

Then cultivate love, compassion, and the two bodhichittas,

(Note: Bodhichitta ~for the sake of others,
Longing to attain complete enlightenment.) 

And perfect the mind training of the mahayana!

Mind is primordially unborn, and so by nature dharmakaya;

(Note : Dharmakaya ~ beyond existence or nonexistence, and beyond concepts.)

Its radiant nature is clear light, unceasing

Rest in this natural state of rigpa self-awareness:

(Note : Rigpa ~ Knowledge)

Don’t let the ordinary mind contrive and spoil it, but release everything, spacious and even.

Don’t follow rising thoughts; leave them be.

Let whatever appears unfold and naturally liberate itself.

About A.D.

Generally just Being. Nothing in particular, no claims to fame. I like gardening and the sea, nature, art in all forms from poetry to films and everything in between, and being in the company of my family.