The human form with its freedoms and advantages is hard to find.

As it is said, “The human form with its freedoms and advantages is hard to find.”

Thinking over and over about death and impermanence,
Give rise to certainty about the infallibility of karma and its effects.

When you see or hear of another’s death
Know it to be a warning for you.

When you notice the changes from summer to winter
Recall that everything is impermanent.

When you catch sight of bees with their honey
Know that possessions are unnecessary.

When you see a house or town that is empty
Consider it as your own home or dwelling.

When you see others have parted ways with their friends
Recall your own close relations.

When things suddenly happen to others against their will
Remember that such things could happen to you as well.

Self and other—everything—is as a dream;
There isn’t even the slightest thing which is truly established.

When you maintain the natural state as it is
Without spoiling or fabricating your mind,
The emptiness of all inner and outer phenomena
Is realized to be the sky-like union of clarity and emptiness.

That is ultimate bodhicitta.
Migrating beings who do not realize this
Wander in saṃsāra under the influence of dualistic apprehension.

Limitless and unfabricated compassion
Naturally arises for those who undergo such torment.
This is relative bodhicitta.

Without grasping at compassion, realize its emptiness.
Compassion, the spontaneous energy of emptiness, will emerge.
Union is the essence of the teachings of sūtra and mantra.
You should engage in this profound practice.

The method for having such things arise in your mindstream
Is to accumulate a wealth of merit, take all of it into your own hands.
Pray to the Three Jewels.
Take devotion to the guru as the vital point.

Encourage yourself and others to avoid wrongdoing
And, however you can, engage in virtue.
Do not separate yourself from the bodhicitta of the Great Vehicle
Nor from pure dedication of your merit.

JAMGÖN KONTRUL LODRÖ THAYE

***Excerpt from: Advice Given To Lhawang Tashi.
Translated by Joseph Faria, 2015.

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