Namo Ratna Guru

When thoughts that there is something perceived and a perceiver
Lure my mind away and distract,
I don’t close my senses’ gateways to meditate without them
But plunge straight into their essential point.
They’re like clouds in the sky, there’s this shimmer where they fly;
Thoughts that rise, for me, sheer delight!

When kleshas get me going and their heat has got me burning,
I try no antidote to set them right;
Like an alchemistic potion turning metal into gold,
What lies in kleshas’ power to bestow
Is bliss without contagion, completely undefiled;
Kleshas coming up, sheer delight!

When I’m plagued by god-like forces or demonic interference,
I do not drive them out with rites and spells;
The thing to chase away is the egoistic thinking,
Built up on the idea of a self.
This will turn those ranks of maras into your own special forces;
When obstacles arise, sheer delight!

When samsara with its anguish has me writhing in its torments,
Instead of wallowing in misery,
I take the greater burden down the greater path to travel
And let compassion set me up
To take upon myself the suffering of others;
When karmic consequences bloom, delight!

When my body has succumbed to attacks of painful illness,
I do not count on medical relief
But take that very illness as a path and, by its power,
Remove the obscurations blocking me,
And use it to encourage the qualities worthwhile;
When illness rears its head, sheer delight!

When it’s time to leave this body, this illusionary tangle,
Don’t cause yourself anxiety and grief;
The thing that you should train in and clear up for yourself—
There’s no such thing as dying to be done.
It’s just clear light, the mother, and child clear light uniting;
When mind forsakes the body, sheer delight!

When the whole thing’s just not working, everything’s lined up against you,
Don’t try to find some way to change it all;
Here, the point to make your practice is reverse the way you see it,
Don’t try to make it stop or to improve.
Adverse conditions happen, when they do, it’s so delightful—
They make a little song of sheer delight!

Composed by the lord Götsangpa
Under the guidance of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, translated and arranged by Jim Scott in collaboration with Anne Buchardi, Karmê Choling, Barnet, Vermont, August,1996. Translation copyright 2012, Jim Scott