Without practicing renunciation at the start,
Giving rise to the supreme longing for liberation is difficult.
So first meditate in various ways that frighten you
Then to the three rare and supreme ones and the three roots, go for refuge.

Next, you need to practice emptiness and compassion,
For without practicing emptiness, how can you cut samsara’s root?
And without the practices of love and compassion,
What could ever close the door on clinging to the extreme of peace?

The great secret practices are those of pure vision—
Without them, what could ever stop fixation on impurity?
So gain stable certainty in the practice of pure vision
That sees the universe as mandala and all beings as deities.
When you can see even your enemy as a yidam,
Know that this is what the practice of pure vision is all about!

Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Shambhala Mountain Center, November 2003
Translated by Ari Goldfield. Translation copyright 2012, Ari Goldfield.