Other translations:

Seven Practice Advices

The mighty lama's blessings live here in the mountains,
Please grant your blessings that here in the mountains I will stay.

Fortunate Rechungpa, your past merit's brought you here,
Now listen to these words I sing with your mind sharp and clear.

When you are in the mountains in solitary retreat,
Don't think about the worldly things your family told you to do.
For if you do, like zombies, your old enemies will come back to haunt you.

When you're doing your practice in the presence of the guru,
Don't hope for a reward for all the good things that you do.
For if you do, your bad conduct will be like a huge army fighting you.

When giving cakes of torma to the spirits of the land,
Don't be a miser—don't keep any of it for yourself.
For if you do, in your next life you'll find that you've become a spirit too.

When free of distractions, you're concentrating your mind,
That is not the time you should be meeting with your friends.
For if you do, your Dharma friends will make your practice fly away from you.

When practicing with heart-bone courage in austerity,
Don't yearn for meat and beer and other foods you like the most,
For if you do, in your next life you'll find that you've become a hungry ghost.

When practicing the methods of the whispered lineage,
Don't think about your studies like some intellectual.
For if you do, you'll follow a mistaken path because you've missed what's true.

When staying in the mountains in a place of solitude,
Don't think of going somewhere or of things you have to do.
For if you do, negative thoughts will quickly fill your mind up through and through.

My son, heart-bone courage is what makes your practice good,
So in hard times, be strong and you'll leave suffering behind.
         My son, we are related to each other by our prayers,
         I pray in you be born your father's realization.
         May you soon realize, son, in your own experience
         That everything appearing is the Dharmakaya. } x 2


Under the guidance of Dechen Rangdrol, translated by Ari Goldfield, Tekchen Kyetsal, Tenerife, Spain, April 29, 2003.Tibetan page 729. Translation copyright 2012, Ari Goldfield.