Other translations:

The Yogi’s Beer Drinking Song

For he who has gained the mastery of essential reality
For the one who rests in continual flow in natural reality
I bow at the translator Marpa's feet, his traits could be sung like this
Clear and bright like the sky he is when the sun and the moon lights all
For him there is no one better or worse, like the parts of a marshy swamp
He the one from Lhodrak is over all the buddhas king
From him I am never parted at all, he’s the jewel that crowns my head


The chief among the six worlds' beings are the human ones and yet
When every Spring and Fall rolls ’round, there's farm work lacking pith
And this is the way they get the grain for brewing the golden beer
But the kind of beer that we brew and drink, how do we brew our beer?
On the stove of Body, Speech and Mind put the cauldron of emptiness
And into it pour the barley grain of faith without a flaw
Add compassion's water to this, but do it with mindfulness


Kindle the blazing fire of great primordial wisdom's flames
And cook it until it's a soppy mash that has no center or edge
In the very midst of equality's floor, spread out the mash of great bliss
To this add the yeast of the guiding words that you can rely on in full
In the vat of the four immeasurables, just leave it to rest for a while
Then give it the malt of the many that all have the taste of the same one taste
And pour it into an earthen jar, where it can ferment for a while


Filter it through the two now not two, upaya and prajna not two
And let it mature till it turns into beer with the strength of the wisdoms five
Then just let it run through the tap of all wishes for all that you ever might want
And because of the process that it has been through, your beer will be undefiled brew


The alcohol's cause, the purifying DISTILLERY HERUKA
The supporting condition that brings it along, DHARMADHATU HERUKA
And as for its color, it shines with the hue of PADMA HERUKA
Its taste is that upon your tongue of VAJRA HERUKA
Its fragrance wafting all through the air, VARIETY'S HERUKA
And the touch of it tingling on your tongue is DELICIOUS HERUKA


So now we're ready to say our "cheers" and drink this yogic brew
At first, the dharmakaya we'll drink, with its clarity and its shine
The second time, we'll drink sambhogakaya's buddhas down
And third, nirmanakaya we’ll drink in the form of whatever appears
The weaker beer of continual flow without a single break
Of nectar will taste, be drunk by those so fortunate to drink
Don't worry, there is no way to drink this, if you are not ready yet

Another set of images explaining our way to drink
Take a portion of beer made of purity from fixation and how it all feels
And filter it down through the depths of pure being, the filter of dharmata
And offer it to the Buddha, the guru possessing the three qualities
Then, into the middle portion of beer with upaya and prajna full
Invoke the wisdom nectar to come and fill the samaya brew
And use it to please the gathering of the mandala's deities


The weaker beer of the siddhis, the two, the common and the supreme
Maintain it within your experience, just keep it right there in the flow
Then drinking this answers the wishes of all, your own, and others' as well
And now this mug with its excellent brew, endowed with six excellent traits
You'll find is holding the purest of beer, the whispered lineage's booze
Drink of this beer and you'll find that the bliss so blissfully blazes and burns
Savor its taste and you will be there, nirvana beyond misery


This is the way to drink yogic beer, its hallmark: not all can get this!
Conduct conducted in this kind of way is marvelous conduct for sure!
Is this something wonderful, fabulous, fine
Is this really “out there” or what!


Under the guidance of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, translated and arranged by Jim Scott, Karme Choling, Barnet, Vermont, August 20, 1995, Tibetan page 722. Translation copyright 2012, Jim Scott