The Biography of the Great Orgyen that Naturally Liberates On Sight From The Profound Secret Heart Essence of the Ḍākinī revealed by Dudjom Lingpa

Due to the length of the text, we will post each day with the final part posting on Guru Rinpoche’s Birthday, July 9th, which is the 10th Tibetan Day of the lunar calendar.Translated by Nick Schmidt, with the assistance of Samten, Stefan Mang, Ben Ewing, Lowell Cook, and Jordi Roig, 2017. Edited by Libby Hogg and Susanne Fairclough, 2018.  

Chapter 1

HAPPY NEW MOON DAY! 

The Biography of the Great Orgyen that Naturally Liberates On Sight from The Profound Secret Heart Essence of the Dakinī  [1] revealed by Dudjom Lingpa

In response to the earnest, repeated requests of my noble sons Khyentsé Nyugu, the excellent Khedrub Gyatso, Wangchuk, Ngawang Thinlé, [221] and many other perfect heart-sons, I, the heruka Dudjom Dorjé extracted this from the Heart Practice Bearing the Seal of Secrecy. [222] While I faithfully decoded it, Ngagkyé Jampel Dorjé of Ling wrote it down. [223] Virtue! Virtue! Virtue! Sarva maṅgalaṃ!

Due to the length of the text, we will post each day with the final part posting on Guru Rinpoche’s Birthday, July 9th, which is the 10th Tibetan Day of the lunar calendar. Translated by Nick Schmidt, with the assistance of Samten, Stefan Mang, Ben Ewing, Lowell Cook, and Jordi Roig, 2017. Edited by Libby Hogg and Susanne Fairclough, 2018. 

Introduction

Homage to the principal guru, Padmākara! [2]
I bow to Dharmakāya Samantabhadra, the primordial ground;
I bow to Gangchen Tso, [3] spontaneous magical display;
I bow to Lake-Born Vajra, [4] the dance of myriad forms of compassion;
I bow to the tamer of those difficult to tame!

Long ago, in the Spontaneously-Arisen Temple of Samyé,
Raised through the miraculous power of humans, gods and demons,
In the shrine room in the middle story of the assembly hall
The sovereign Emperor, Trisong Detsen
Invited the great Orgyen to beat the dharma drum,
And a host of translators, scholars, and the Tibetan king and subjects came.

Then, both foreign and domestic ministers advised,
“Since the Emperor and the great Master
Will give edicts for the welfare of Tibet,
If this were done in a place where all can see and hear,
Then everyone could listen,
And we assembled ministers would be pleased.”
And all the hosts of ministers agreed.

Offering an arm-length of white silk brocade,
The noble son of Nub, Sönam Drak, [5] said:
“Kye Ho! Lord of the black-headed Tibetans, Dharma King –
If the Emperor and Orgyen, the protectors of beings,
Were to address the ministers and subjects here,
The assembly would be uncomfortable.
It would be better if we reconvened on Yobok Changmé Plain.[6]
For if all could hear the royal edicts,
No one, whether high or low, would contradict them.”
To that request, the sovereign Dharma King replied,
“It would be better, just as he has said.”  [1]

So, at daybreak on the tenth day in the first month of summer,
They constructed a throne at Yobok Changmé,
And invited the great Orgyen to be seated there.

Then, offering various precious substances, such as gold, silver and so forth,
Along with multi-colored silk brocades of all five colors,
Emperor Trisong Detsen approached the Guide,
the great Orgyen, and requested,
“Kye Ho! O Sovereign, universal splendour, Vajra-bearer!
For all of us Tibetans, Emperor and subjects,
Please relate a short account of your life and liberation,
In order to support our faith and produce devotion!”
And the Emperor and subjects made full prostrations.

The great Orgyen said,
“Listen, you faithful Tibetans, Emperor and subjects!
There is not much to my life story.
In the dregs of time, at the end of this eon,
Even though I, the Lotus-born, have arrived,
It will be difficult to benefit beings, as will they lack sufficient merit.

“Inept adepts and charlatan ‘treasure-revealers’
Will infest the land, acting like madmen.
Relentlessly deceiving the minds of the ignorant through fraud and ruse,
They will roam everywhere like dogs.
People like that resort to lovers and friends
And depend on trinkets and gold.

“My emanations — genuine, authentic yogis
Who, having abandoned activities,
Strive to practice the heart-essence in random mountain retreats —
Will be subject to slander, hurled like paving stones.
Therefore, when this profound treasure comes to be revealed,
Rare will be the ones with faith in it.

“By the power of our positive aspirations and karmic connections,
The minds of teacher and retinue are inseparable,
So there is no need for an explanation of my life story
In order to train disciples.

“I myself have not really come into the world,
As I am the unelaborate dharmakāya, like the maṇḍala of the sun.
Yet from the perspectives of my disciples
My life story appears in myriad ways
According to every limited viewpoint,
Like wavering moons in bodies of water. [2]

“However, since the Emperor so commands,
I will briefly recount it.
Listen well, faithful men and women
Led by the ruler of black-headed Tibetans!”