Longchenpa: Thirty Pieces of Sincere Advice (Stanzas 1 & 2)

[Bill Gardner]

From the infinite sky of your pristine awareness, the totality of experience, and the great clouds of your aspirations and prayers
Warm rays of compassion and showers of elixir stream down,
Ripening the three forms in the fields, your students' minds.
I bow to you, my teacher, my protector, supreme among the Three Jewels.

With stronger aspirations I might have joined the practice lineage.
I didn't make the effort and now enter the twilight of a meaningless life.
I intended to follow the ancient masters, but I've given up and I see others like me.
So, I'll outline these thirty pieces of sincere advice to evoke some determination in me.

(Ken's translation)

[Bill Gardner]

Here is a new discussion, this time on Longchenpa's Thirty Pieces of Sincere Advice. Longchenpa was a leading scholar and practitioner in the Nyingma tradition, and a Dzogchen master.

In stanza 1, line 3, the three forms (three kayas) are the form of what is (dharmakaya), the form of enrichment (sambhogakaya) and the form of manifestation (nirmanakaya). In line 4, the teacher was Rigdzin Kumaradza (Kumaraja), a yogic mendicant in the Nyingma lineage. He was the teacher for both Longchenpa and the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (Kagyu lineage), and I suppose that 'the practice lineage' in stanza 2 line 1 may be the Kagyus.

Following the expression of gratitude to Kumaraja, the second stanza gives a nice summary of what the next thirty stanzas are about. Like most of us, he feels that he hasn't practiced enough! So that we may avoid his (supposed) failing and to spur himself on, he delineates a series of faults. Many of them involve a kind religious careerism, but they also apply, I think, to other kinds of careers. So, on the advice of Lama Kathy Wesley, I am taking the opportunity to measure myself (and my voracious ego) against Longchenpa's verses.

[Valerie]

Bill, thanks for starting this! I'm happy to know we will be reflecting a new text. Your previous "courses" have been one of my favorite aspects of the unmind.ning.com site.

[Bill Gardner]

Valerie, that is so kind of you to say that... but you should know that my aspirations are so weak that it took a friendly kick in the butt from Ann Braun to get this launched. So the thanks are properly hers, and Ken's for pointing me to Longchenpa.

[Valerie]

So, I guess one of those moment where what you are doing reflects Longchenpa's state? A moment where the energy of the sangha and the lineage get you moving!

[Bill Gardner]

Yes, I do feel that L's state is something like mine. I'm 56, which is getting somewhere near the end of midlife. So, what has that life meant to this point? I've been exposed to the writings of ancient masters, have I really followed them? If not, what now?

And, yes, at the same time I do feel the energy of the sangha and the lineage in a new way, as something I can find and cultivate.

[Bill Gardner]

A few things to note in these introductory verses:
-- A great scholar is bowing to practitioners. This is a comfort to someone who will a) never learn Tibetan, b) never understand what the rangtong / shentong / dingdong (sorry!) argument was about, c) generally knows so little. That is, it's comfortable until I think about how much practice I actually do...
-- Was L serious about his lack of effort and "meaningless life", or was this just modesty?

[Loren Enders]

What is stanza 2, line 1 referring to? Maybe the thought to have children? To not be a solitary yogi his entire life?

[Greg]

Hi Loren,

No, stanza two in general is Longchen Rabjam's self-appraisal, as a representation of practitioners that 'are just like this'. While he expresses this in the first person, as readers we can be taken aback, reflecting on our own deficiencies in relation to his expansiveness, and exclaim: Wow!

In particular the first line, With stronger aspirations I might have joined the practice lineage refers to the lineage of accomplishment [not the various Kagyu]. It should be taken as the next thought from the first stanza of homage to the guru, wisdom mind, and an enticement that a practitioner should aspire to that accomplishment, wisdom mind.

I hope that makes some sense.

Best regards
G

[Jonathan Gaines]

Wonderful topic for discussion.

Longchempa's 'Advice' puts me to mind of Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887) and his
'Advice from Me to Myself"...I keep a copy of this always at hand. (See some quoted
Vajrasattva, sole deity, Master,
You sit on a full-moon lotus-cushion of white light
In the hundred-petalled full bloom of youth.

Think of me, Vajrasattva,
You who remain unmoved within the manifest display
That is Mahamudra, pure bliss-emptiness.

Listen up, old bad-karma Patrul,
You dweller-in-distraction.

For ages now you’ve been
Beguiled, entranced, and fooled by appearances.
Are you aware of that? Are you?
Right this very instant, when you’re
Under the spell of mistaken perception
You’ve got to watch out.
Don’t let yourself get carried away by this fake and empty life.

Your mind is spinning around
About carrying out a lot of useless projects:
It’s a waste! Give it up!
Thinking about the hundred plans you want to accomplish,
With never enough time to finish them,
Just weighs down your mind.
You’re completely distracted
By all these projects, which never come to an end,
But keep spreading out more, like ripples in water.
Don’t be a fool: for once, just sit tight.

Listening to the teachings—you’ve already heard hundreds of teachings,
But when you haven’t grasped the meaning of even one teaching,
What’s the point of more listening?

Reflecting on the teachings—even though you’ve listened,
If the teachings aren’t coming to mind when needed,
What’s the point of more reflection? None.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

See more of this short sweet discourse at the link;


http://sealevel.ca/patrul/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bottom line here it seems is to wring the juice out of the stalk (of the teachings) and savor the taste....in Dzogchen terms, live in the mirror, not in the reflections.

Simply practicing, practicing, cleaning altars, making offerings, using many words etc. (Spiritual materialism anyone) is in effect creating obstacles, of which we need no more. As is said in the beer commercial, Go for the Gusto!

It is also interesting to note the total freedom attained by these and other accomplished masters. They liked to live in utter simplicity, out in nature, generally away from society, like a hobo with his bundle of worldly possessions all tied in kerchief on a pole. Not so easy thease days but the ideal is useful.

[Valerie]

What do you all think of the phrase "twilight of a meaningless life"? I ask because the question of meaning is thorny -- if there is no self, no god -- where is meaning? All those constructions that are used to create meaning, like fame, reputation, being a "good person", the idea that we might have the power to change -- those create problems, and are the basis for samsara. Belonging to the practice lineage, and following ancient masters is also problematic as one may be taking another's path or merely belonging.

Finally "I've given up and I see others like me" sounds like success.

What a strange stanza! It is like a dramatic device, "oh I'm such a loser, let me give myself a kick in the butt."

[Jonathan Gaines]

My sense of the phrase "twilight of a meaningless life" is Lonchenpa is done with promoting himself, saying in any way he his life is in any way special....he simply 'Is'. Twilight can mean end of this human incarnation...also ending of giving any special meaning to his life in a way we still immersed in striving for attainment might like to do. Emptiness emptiness emptiness. One cannot find the center of one's existence, where the mind of awareness actually in the dimension of space and time, nor the beginning point, nor the ending point. Being in a life without meaning is wonderful if you can stand the spaciousness.

Auspiciously for us Lonchempa's life has extraordinary meaning and value...Precious Guru Lonchempa, we depend on you!

[Bill Gardner]

Valerie,
What a terrific question! Isn't this the recurrent paradox of Buddhism, that on the one hand we cultivate intention and aspiration, which suggest that we have some power to change, and on the other hand, we try to let go of everything?

Is he necessarily saying that he is a 'loser'? There is a way to read the stanza that doesn't sound like self-denigration. Maybe he saw something deep and that experience rescaled his sense of attainment. Haven't we all had experiences like that? For example, I feel that I have worked through a lot of issues in the last 15 years, and I am glad of it. But every so often, I get a glimpse of the shell I am in, and very rarely I get a glimpse of what it might really be like to get out of the shell. And this rescales things. It doesn't make me feel like a loser -- in fact it makes me want to purge myself of that concept. What I see is that I am as blind as everyone else.