The Six Guides to Enlightenment's Fortress

A genuine lama endowed with qualities
Is the guide for transforming the dark into light.

This cotton that does not make me hot or cold
Is the guide who makes attachment go far away.

The three teachings on blending and transference
Are the guides who make bardo confusion be gone.

When prana and mind do just as you command
They are the guides for when you journey afar.

To cast off this body like food for the ghosts
Is the guide who makes clinging to self rest in peace.

When you meditate in a secluded place,
You have the guide for achieving buddhahood.

These are the six guides who will show me the way
To Enlightenment's Fortress—and that's where I'll stay.

Composed by Milarepa on the way to Mount Pal-bar. Tibetan page 243.
Under the guidance of Dechen Rangdrol, translated by Ari Goldfield, Guayrapa Asociación Cultural, Tarragona, Spain, May 3, 2003. Translation copyright 2012, Ari Goldfield