Calling The Lama From Afar
[Go to text of Calling The Lama From Afar]
Introduction
In the Vajrayana practice of guru devotion, we repeatedly call to the guru as if “from afar” because we do not see that the guru is always with us. As we supplicate the guru for blessings, our intellectual understanding of the Dharma develops into the confidence and realization that ultimately the guru is none other than the fundamental nature of our mind. H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche’s well-known and much loved prayer invokes the inspiration and blessing of the three-kaya guru to perfect the Dzogchen view, meditation and action.
བྱུང་རྒྱལ་གཅེར་ཉལ་ངང་ལ་མི་ཚེ་འདི་སྐྱེལ་གཏོང༌། །
“Let this life be spent in this state of uninhibited naked ease.”
Calligraphy by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche.
In his commentary on the line “Let this life be spent in this state of uninhibited naked ease”, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche said:
“He exhausts his life by sleeping naked all day”. [By] being lazy. People like our mothers scold us for doing this. But here he says, “Be lazy, let all situations have victory”. That’s nakedness. “Without any thinking or alteration, let us waste our lives”. Giving victory to whatever happens is nakedness, as there’s no fabrication. For the Mahayana and Theravada, even non-Dzogchen Vajrayana paths, there’s sarcasm here. Non-Dzogchen people believe in the path of effort, the recitation of mantras, building monasteries, etc. You mustn’t forget [that element of] sarcasm [towards the path of effort] here.”
The translation below is by Adam Pearcey.
Calling The Lama From Afar
The essence, never changing, the natural, unelaborated condition,
Primordially pure, profoundly luminous – you who dwell in the youthful vase body,
Dharmakaya guru Yeshe Dorje, care for me!
Inspire me to gain the vast assurance of the view.
The nature, unceasing, the mandala gathering of the union of luminosity –
You who dwell in the spontaneously perfect display complete with the five certainties,
Sambhogakaya guru Dechen Dorje, care for me!
Inspire me to perfect the great strength of meditation.
The compassion, unlimited, wisdom that is free from extremes –
You who dwell in the essence of all-pervasive, naked awareness and emptiness,
Nirmanakaya guru Drodül Lingpa, care for me!
Inspire me to master the great enhancement of action.
The primordial ground of self-awareness is unmoving and unchanging.
Whatever arises as the play of dharmakaya is neither good nor bad.
Since this present awareness is the actual buddha,
I find the guru of openness and contentment within my heart.
When I realise that this genuine mind is the very nature of the guru,
There is no need for attached and grasping prayers or artificial complaints.
By relaxing in uncontrived awareness, the free and open natural state,
I obtain the blessing of the aimless self-liberation of whatever arises.
Buddhahood is not attained by fabricated dharmas;
Speculative meditation, fabricated by the intellect, is the deceiving enemy.
Now clinging to style and manner is destroyed with crazy abandon.
Let this life be spent in this state of uninhibited naked ease.
Joyful in all action, the Dzogchen yogi,
Happy in any company, son of the lineage of Padmakara,
Lord who has no peer, great treasure-revealing guru,
Dharma without equal, heart-essence of the dakinis.
Having naturally purified the great delusion, the heart’s darkness,
The radiant light of the unobscured sun continuously arises.
This good fortune is the kindness of the guru, my only father and mother.
Guru of unrepayable kindness, I only remember you!
[Go back to beginning of Calling The Lama From Afar]
Colophon
At the request of my foremost vajra student, the tulku Jigme Chöying Norbu Dön Tamché Drubpé Dé, this was spoken as delirious chatter by Jigdral Yeshe Dorje. May virtue abound!
Notes
Tibetan edition: rgyang ‘bod kyi gsol ‘debs gnyug ma’i thol glu, Dudjom Sungbum, vol. A, pp. 33-36. Translated by Adam Pearcey (2018) (with reference to an earlier translation by Ven. Lama Rinchen Phuntsok, Arthur Mandelbaum and Ani Lodro Palmo).
External links: (Tibetan text and English translation by Adam Pearcey): Lotsawa House; (alternative translation): Mike Dickman (Tersar)
This work is licensed by Lotsawa House under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 3.0 Unported License.
Artwork: H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche (photographer unknown)
Page last updated January 16, 2021