Illuminating the Path to Liberation: Selections of Tibetan Buddhism Texts by the Venerated Mipham Rinpoche (vegetarian), Part 2 of 2

Let us continue with some of the wise Master’s texts on how we can enter the path towards eternal liberation.

“Above the crown of my head, upon a lotus and moon-disc seat, Is glorious Vajrasattva, the color of the moon. He holds a vajra and bell and embraces the consort, Vajragarvā. In full saṃbhogakāya attire, he is seated in vajra posture. On a moon-disc at his heart is Hūṃ, encircled by the hundred syllables. Amṛita nectar flows down to purify misdeeds and obscurations.”

“In the naturally appearing realm of infinite purity, My own body appears clearly as Vajrayoginī. At my crown, on a thousand-petalled lotus, sun and moon, Is the embodiment of all sources of refuge, the Vajradhara of Oḍḍiyāna, White with a tinge of red, smiling peacefully, and holding vajra and skullcup containing a vase of immortality.”

“From the three syllables at the guru’s three centres Stream out rays of white, red and blue light, Which dissolve into my own three centres, infusing me with blessings. Then the guru and retinue melt into light, And, having entered the brahma-path, dissolve into the core of my heart. Then, with my own mind inseparable from the guru’s wisdom, I rest in an experience of mind’s genuine nature, dharmakāya. This purifies the four obscurations, and I obtain the wisdom of the four empowerments.”

“Namo Mañjuśrīye! A key point to understand in both sūtra and mantra vehicles Is the perfect equality of the dharmadhātu. And when realising this perfect equality, Realisation of the view of entities is crucial. Through familiarity with the key points of The view of the Middle Way beyond concepts And co-emergent great bliss on the path of mantra, You’ll come to understand non-conceptual simplicity, And self-arising wisdom beyond the mind will dawn. When your familiarity with this becomes stable, All the phenomena of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth, death and rebirth) and nirvāṇa are perfectly equal. And the dharmakaya, the single all-encompassing sphere, Dawns unobstructedly in your being. All phenomena are perfectly equal. And in perfect equality there’s no acceptance or rejection. When you are confident about perfect equality, Realisation is said to ‘reach its limit.’”