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WE ARE ALL BUDDHAS

A DZOGCHEN NGONDRO
Mind is mightier than the sword
Authentic presence is all
Loving actions inform lifes meaning
Helping uplift each other.
Lama Surya Das

Laying the foundation

of the
Diamond Path
Vajrayana practice
from
KUNZANGS HEART PRACTICE

DRAFT
October 2009
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by
Lama Surya Das
(Lama Kunzang Tenzin)
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I. THE BASIS: PRESENCING

THE MEDITATORS PRELIMINARIES
Which help prepare and stabilize the ground.

Emaho!
First, find a comfortable seat.
Breathe, relax, center and smile.
Befriend yourself.
Relax and release
all the physical and mental tension.
Focus on your inhalation,
Relax with your exhalation.
Doff the straitjacket of habitual
neurotic tendencies and preoccupations,
And just let go, let come and go.
There is nirvanic peace in things left
Just as they are.
Let be, at home,
on the spot.
Awake and aware.
As it is,
KuntuZangpo!
You are the one
Youve been waiting for.

OM
Now, pray to the Buddha and/or your
Root Guru
From the heart, in your own words,
With whatever prayers and invocations
you know,
Or without words and concepts.
Rest inseparable
In meditative equipoise,
balanced and at ease
In the innate Buddhaness of ones
original nature,
KuntuZangpo!
You are the one.
Just sitting, just breathing, just being.
Enjoy the Three Naturals:
Natural body, natural breath & energy,
natural heart-mind.
Simply perceiving and experiencing,
Allowing and releasing,
Savor the natural state of just being.
All good,
KuntuZangpo!

AH
American Buddhas, awaken!
Cast off your mental fabrications and conceptual
imputations.
Why try to tie knots in the sky?
Take a break from self-improvement
and other projects.
Dont let your mind bother you.
Lighten up and enlighten up;
Keep your native sense of humor.
Dance in emptiness,
the last and best resort!
Be a wisdom pioneer, a Dzogchenaut
plumb inner space,
And let your limitless enlightenment potential
effortlessly unfold.
Buddhas not pretending
Ordinariness and naturalness is the Way.
Recognize the perfect equality and rightness of all
things, splendid KuntuZangpo!
HUNG
Now, with nothing more to do,
Enjoy the View
Nothing to adopt or abandon,

Nothing to achieve, figure out,

Remember or accomplish
Enjoy the natural state,
As it is, KuntuZangpo.
FIRST, allow yourself to arrive
settling, relaxing & centering.
OM, rest in the natural state or
Whatever state youre in
The great perfection of things left
just as they are.
Dont contrive, interfere or manipulate,
no need to bother with mental activity.
There are no waves without wind,
so why stir yourself up?
Nowhere to go, nothing to do,
Nothing special to be or become.
Nothing to do but enjoy the boundless
wholeness and completeness
Of things left just as they are
The luminous Great Perfection.
How sweet it is, KuntuZangpo.
Now, resting a little.

SECOND, increase awareness... concentrating &

intensifying.

THIRD, let go of all tension, concepts, habitual

preoccupations & fixations, releasing completely.

AH, focusing and intensifying

by practicing the Vajra Breathing.
Complete nine-round alternate nostril breathing
to expel the stale prana-energy,
And then nine times the Om-Ah-Hung mantra,
with the inhalation, Om; holding, Ah;
exhalation and turning, Hung.
Bring everything into the center,
the central channel, the great Middle Way of
radiant, pulsating emptiness;
Thus resolving everything thru the inner
incandescence of naked awareness.

HUNG, releasing totally.

Letting go and letting be,
Setting everything free
In the natural state
in harmony, at peace, at rest.
See through yourself and see Buddha
Be Buddha, KuntuZangpo.

KuntuZangpo!
You are it.
Now, breathing freely.

Soaring clear and spacious,

Rely on being rather than doing,
understanding or becoming.
Open to the wisdom of allowing
uninhibited natural flow,
Spontaneous presence and innate
Wakefulness
Openness and incandescent awareness
inseparable as your own all-encompassing and
embracing true nature, KuntuZangpo!
Letting go, letting be.

Seeing through all illusory appearances

and experiences,
Recognize the insubstantiality
Of all phenomena and noumena both.
Just being, thru and thru, endlessly
Appreciate the boundless and groundless
wholeness and completeness
Of the immaculate perfection
The nirvanic peace and bliss inherent in
The transrealescent dance of things
just as they are, KuntuZangpo!
HO Without meditator or
anything to meditate upon,
Like a dancer one with the dance,
Free from subject, object and karmic interaction,
Free from adopting or abandoning,
Savoring the natural state of the all-encompassing
Great Perfection illuminated by naked awareness,
KuntuZangpo!
Simply, enjoying everything, just as it is.
This completes the Meditators Preliminaries, the ground, the basis.

_____________________________________
II. THE PATH: REFLECTING
THE COMMON PRELIMINARIES
To abandon the harmful and unwholesome,
To adopt the wholesome & helpful,
To purify the mindstream:
This is the Buddhas teaching.
-- Sakyamuni Buddha
A. BUDDHAS FACTS OF LIFE & THE FOUR
MIND CHANGERS
(Precious Joyous Life, Death and Impermanence,
Infallible Karmic Causation, and the Defects and
Sufferings of Samsara)
Which, when contemplated upon, further world-weariness,
re-orient and motivate us, and give rise to inner conviction
and freedom through nonattachment and renunciation.

Breathe, relax, center and smile.

See everything as like a dream.
Things are not what they seem to be,
Nor are they otherwise.

You cant believe everything you think;

Why be fanatically opinionated?
Intellect is a fine tool but a poor master,
And we are too often under its thrall.
Always maintain an open and
friendly mind.
Pay attention; it pays off.
Awareness is the essence.
Everything must be meditated.
Everything we do matters.
Transform selfish attitudes and intentions.
Wisdom is as wisdom does.
Life is like a mirage, an illusion,
a techniconscious movie;
Cherish it while its given.
One moment of total awareness is one moment of
perfect freedom and enlightenment.
Neither too tight nor too loose,
Naturally inhabit the holy now,
KuntuZangpo!
Life is precious,
and not to be squandered or harmed.
Killing time is like deadening ourselves,

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So meditate as fast as you can.

May we make life meaningful through
relational mindfulness
And the generous path of altruism.
Remember that everyone wants and needs the same
as you.
Cherish well the opportune vehicle
of this rare and precious human life,
This lifeboat, this great vehicle.
Dont just seek a safe and secure
little harbor;
Far better to build an ocean-going vessel,
an ark even.
Become an awakener and an edifier,
and deliver the world from
confusion and delusion.
We each have the potential to make
a significant difference;
May we all continuously make meaningful
connections
For the boundless benefit of one and all.
Observe how everything passes, all fades away;
Through continuous investigation, achieve
unshakable certainty that nothing remains long.

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Were all going to die,

But whos going to truly live?
Wake up! Its now or never,
as always, KuntuZangpo.
Uphold this sovereign View.
In the ultimate sense, nothing matters;
In the relative sense, where we live,
everything matters.
All things are interconnected, contingent,
and interdependent;
Everything occurs and functions through
cause and effect,
the inexorable law of karma.
When we see others as ourselves and
ourselves in others,
Whom can we harm, whom can we
exploit?
Unless we tame our unruly mind and
habits, how can we benefit others?
The tongue weighs almost nothing,
but who can hold it?
What goes around comes around
in the vicious cycle of samsara,
So adhere to the high ground, KuntuZangpo.

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Maintain elevated View and cultivate

mindfulness and wisdom while acting
meticulously regarding ethical
self-discipline.
Trim and temper your neuroses with the sharp sword
of discriminating wisdom
At least until you realize it all
as the immaculate Neurotikaya,
For shadows are nothing but light
And all that occurs is a lawful unfolding.
Work on yourself, awaken again and again.
Learn the lessons of experience
And become a wise elder and mentor;
Forgive and remember.
Its not what happens to us but what we
make of it that makes all the difference.
We cant control the wind, but we can
learn to sail and navigate better
Across the oceans of confusion and suffering.
Achieve mastery rather than remaining a
victim.
The sunlight of natural awareness clarifies
everything.
Turn the searchlight, the spotlight,
inwards.

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See thru the seer, know the knower

and be free.
Dont be like a dog, running after every thrown stick
and bone;
Be like a lion, and jump right onto the thrower.
Gaze nakedly upon your minds nature,
Know the one at the root of all.
When you are clear, everything is clear.
We are all Buddhas; we only have to recognize that
fact.
Its so close we overlook it.
Seems too good to be true,
So we can hardly believe it.
Natural mind is Buddha Mind.
Let the Buddha breathe through you.
Pray: Not my life but Bodhisattva activity,
Lord Buddha.
Life is fragile, tenuous and challenging;
handle with prayer.
Recognize the true nature of reality.
See the Buddha Light in everyone and everything.
Unconditional love is far beyond the dichotomies of
like and dislike.
Truth without love kills;

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Love without truth is blind.

Wisdom without compassion is sterile.
Loving and caring, with affectionate appreciation, all
the way to enlightenment-- embracing all,
empathizing with all, joyful KuntuZangpo!
Simplify your life, purify your intention,
And refine the spirited heart and mind
which animate you.
You are far more Buddha-full than you think.
Love yourself, accept yourself, and the world will
embrace you.
When you abide in the true heartland,
theres no need to look anywhere else.
The heart is an organ of perception.
See things as they are, not as they aint.
Reality is not all its cracked up to be.
Open yourself. Breathe light in and out,
Lightbearer KuntuZangpo.
Desire for comfort and security
is like a greedy ghost lodged at your hearth.
Restlessness, anger and jealousy are obstacles;
Strive to loosen and recondition
your strongest attachments and fixations.

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Find serenity and contentment

wherever you are.
Contentment is the greatest form of wealth.
Dont seek others light;
Cultivate and illumine your own natural resources
for a change.
What we seek, we are.
Come home to your own innate Buddhaness.
Worldliness is next to unhappiness.
Our wants are so much greater than our needs.
When is enough, enough?
Theres enough for our need, but not our greed.
Be in the world, but not of it.
Learn to let go, or get dragged.
Why invest in fools gold
When the jeweled rainbow treasure
is shining within, KuntuZangpo?!
B. The EIGHT WORLDLY WINDS
Which are habitual pitfalls, temptations and addictions
which blow us around and drag us off course.

And not wanting to lose or fail;

From wanting to be praised,
And not wanting to be criticized;
From wanting fame,
And fearing obscurity and anonymity.
May we always see through and be free from
The momentary feelings of attraction and aversion,
liking and disliking,
Based on the dualistic illusion
of the wanted and the unwanted,
of hope and fear; separateness;
And thru equanimity and detachment,
May we recognize it all as merely subjective,
dream-like display of KuntuZangpo.
Thus, reflect upon the ephemeral, subjective nature of ones
temporal reality, mental projections, preferences and
iInterpretations. And without being hooked by illusory
appearances, enjoy the single savor of One Taste.
This complete the Path reflecting the Common Preliminaries.

May we be free from desiring pleasure and happiness

And not wanting pain and unhappiness;
From wanting to gain and succeed

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III. THE FRUITION: PRACTICING

THE EXTRAORDINARY
PRELIMINARIES in eight parts
Which develops transcendental wisdom.

Swoop down from above with the vast View

While climbing up from below through relative
practices according to ones capacity and aspirations.
Although my ultimate View is higher than the sky, my
relative actions regarding karmic cause and effect are
as finely ground as barley flour.
Padma Sambhava, The LotusBorn Guru
(8th Century, Tibet)
A. FINDING REFUGE
Ho! There are no real Buddhas,
No Dharma & Sangha, No beings;
No karma, nowhere to go and nothing
to attain, transform, or purify.
Simply resting at ease, relying on
the unfabricated natural state;

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Through self-recognition I find refuge

in the empty, open, radiantly
unobstructed innate Great Perfection
And realize the true nature of things
just as they are.
Traditionally, as Buddhists we bow and prostrate again and
again while chanting the three-fold traditional refuge formula:
I go for refuge in the Enlightened Buddha, the Sublime
Dharma and the Noble Sanghathus finding refuge in and
relying solely upon the Three Jewels, the Triple Gem, the
triratna. These represent Teacher, Teaching & Practice, and
the Community of Kindred Spirits of the Way.
On the inner level we take refuge in Buddha-- the
personification of the inner reliance of wisdom, enlightenment,
reality-- thru finding refuge in truth itself. We take refuge in
the Dharma, that which holds and supports us, the practice
path of enlightened wisdom and genuine practice, thru finding
refuge in realizing truth. And we take refuge in the Sangha
through living and embodying the truth, the enlightened life,
including genuine connection, selfless service, and engaging
in beloved community.
The meditators trikaya innermost refuge is resting evenly and
lucidly in the inseparability of the empty open essence of
awareness, its radiantly clear nature, and its inherent freedom
and naturally compassionate responsiveness manifesting as
unobstructed activities.

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Dzogchen refuge can be found in realitys primordial purity,

perfection and completeness inseparable from spontaneous
presence/nowness amidst the dance of energy in all its various
manifestions.
Ultimate, absolute refuge is realized in aimless, goalless,
signless, incandescent being itself, groundless and boundless,
transcendent yet immanent. At this level, the ultimate refuge
vow is the Four Dzogchen Samayas, the Four Rivets of the
View committing us to:
not a thing, yet the only thing, unique;
all pervasive and perfectly accomplished;
without separation, interpenetrating;
spontaneously present.
Rest in this ultimate sanctuary and refuge as your true home,
KuntuZangpo.

B. BODHICITTA: The Awakened Spirit

of Noble Heart
Which is the essence of the spiritually refining Mahayana
lojong teachings of mind-training, mental development and
attitude transformation.

Hey! We are all primordially Buddhas

by nature,
Yet some are asleep & some awakened.

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We all realize one taste in the immaculate

Primordial perfection.
All beings have difficulties
And want and need the same as we do.
As long as there are illusory beings,
suffering at the hands of their illusory
karma and klesha,
I shall practice the Ten Panacean Virtues
And awaken dream-like beings
From the dream-like sleep of ignorance
Until realizing dream-like enlightenment
And enjoying dream-like nirvana.
The fearless Bodhisattva warriors
enlightened magic is
Being there while getting there,
Every single step of the way.
Postponing nothing, fearless and indomitable,
May I always generate the indispensable
altruistic spirit of Bodhicitta.
And, like the MahaBodhisattvas Manjusri
and Avalokita, Tara and KuanYin,
Remain a bright beacon in this benighted world
Until we all together complete the
supreme journey of enlightenment.

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We need each other in order to develop authentic compassion

and become fully enlightened. Were all in the same boat, and
sink or swim together. Those who dont pull together pull
apart. The Dharma is that which heals what ails us and
renews our inner wholeness and well being. It is not just a
refuge from the sufferings of samsara/this world, but also a
means of creating an inclusive new world and renewed life of
joyous freedom and delight.
Our entire spiritual life and Mahayana practice is based on
the Bodhisattva Vow and the selfless, compassionate intention
and unwavering commitment to achieve universal
enlightenment. Transforming oneself transforms the world;
awakening oneself awakens the world.
Stay awake, KuntuZangpo! Continuously illumine this
benighted world.

C. FOUR BOUNDLESS HEARTITUDES

(FOUR BRAHMA-VIHARAS, STATES OF
GRACE)
Which vastly further unconditional love and compassion,
acceptance and kindness, tolerance and forgiveness.

May all beings be happy, healthy,

content and at ease.
May all be free from fear, pain and sorrow.

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May their good fortune, virtue, understanding and

well-being ever increase.
All beings are responsible for their own karma.
Their happiness and suffering, success and failure
depends on their actions and not on me;
Nonetheless, I must do everything in my power to
benefit them, without hope or fear,
expectation or anxiety.
From the heart I wish all well
the essence of Loving-kindness.
I feel their pain and am moved to help alleviate their
suffering and confusion
the essence of unconditional Compassion.
I rejoice in their virtues and accomplishments
the essence of Sympathetic Joy.
I appreciate and treat them impartially
the essence of objective Equanimity.
Recognizing our utter interbeing and interdependence, and
feeling grateful for the infinite benefactors of all kinds who
have helped and protected and nurtured me throughout this
and infinite other lifetimes;
I hereby resolve and affirm to practice the timeless truth that
love is found through loving, and vow to strive all-ways to
impartially embrace others in the inclusive circle of heartfelt
compassion and care.

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May I be-come the Bodhisattva of all those who are struggling

and in need, especially the underdog, the oppressed and
marginalized, those who are lost, ill or infirm, children,
animals and travelers from afar. May I be able to take their
burdens and sufferings upon me, and share with them all my
strength, joy, health and resources.

Chant and affirm:

I am with Buddha and in Buddha completely;
One has no existence apart from that.
Who cares if anyone loves and embraces me,
Or even if everyone does?
Buddha loves and accepts me.
I am love and live to love,
KuntuZangpo.
In gratitude, reverence and appreciation
I offer loving service continuously
and simultaneously receive it,
Circulating through my larger system
Like an ever-replenishing fountain
of light
Ever renewing itself, time without end.

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D. PURIFICATION ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE

AH! Abiding in incandescent presence, innate
wakefulness, nowness-awareness
Pure vision unobscured by conceptual scaffolding
or elaborations;
With nothing to purify and no one to purify it;
in radiant open emptiness;
Neither coming nor going,
The intrinsic nature of mind is
Primordially immaculate, stainless,
free from the beginningless beginning.
How can cleansing and polishing
either improve or liberate it,
our radiant primordial nature, KuntuZangpo?
Meanwhile, acknowledging and repenting our
misdeeds and confusion,
Adhering to universal values and virtues,
Straightening ourselves out and
resolving not to stray again,
Helps us clean up our act
and the entire environment,
the body of KuntuZangpo.

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Now chant the Diamond Purification Mantra:

OM BENZAR SATO HUNG
Knowing reality or sunyata is the ultimate purification, as it
brings panacean prajna-wisdom. Rigpa practice itself is the
ultimate purifier. Awareness is curative, awareness is all.
Take care, be aware, KuntuZangpo!
On the relative level we purify our hearts and mindstreams,
body and soul, karma and energy, through reconditioning and
deconditioning our unskillful negative habits and attitudes in
favor of more intentionally conscious and even impeccable
ways of doing and being.
Vajrasattva embodies in one essential form all the yidam
deities of the infinite peaceful and wrathful mandalas.
Chanting his six syllable and/or hundred syllable purification
mantra helps purify all breaches of vows and maintain all
tantric vows and samaya.

E. OUTER, INNER & SECRET MANDALA

OFFERING
Which furthers generosity and loosens grasping, helping
accumulate good karma and other necessary provisions for
the selfless undertakings of the heroic Bodhisattva career.

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The outer or Nirmanakaya mandala of the entire

triple-void universe time, space, & infinity, in
form and formless appearances, experiences,
and states of consciousness - I offer up
To all that is venerable, good and holy;
The inner or Sambhogakaya mandala is my
impermanent, illusory body offered up free from
grasping, attachment or aversion and
identification or reification;
The secret or Dharmakaya mandala is the
primordially pure & perfect radiant innate nature
of being, beyond notions of liberation & bondage,
samsara and nirvana, existence and nonexistence, doing and being.
This trikaya mandala is spontaneously offered up
To all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas before and
above me, and
Returned as blessings and simultaneously realized as
blissful light
Suffusing and illumining all beings everywhere
Through inexhaustible circulation
As the three-fold blissful Vajrakaya,
The very body, speech energy, and mind
of KuntuZangpo!

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Happy am I to do without material things.

Knowing that all beings in the six realms of samsara
Are inherently Buddhas, and all the three worlds
The self-creating measureless (trikaya) palace,
Whatever I do is the play of the Dharmadhatu
(ultimate reality);

Chant the Mantra (with universal-offering mudra):

OM BENZAR MANDALA HUM
Here one can also offering bows and prostrations,
acknowledging and repenting ones faults and defects,
requesting the enlightened masters not to rest in blissful
nirvana but to continue to teach and return to this ephemeral
world, invoking transformative blessings, accomplishments
and empowerments--thus praying to realize in this very
lifetime the five-kaya rainbow light body of complete
enlightenment and all other spiritual siddhis (powers and
accomplishments).
(If desired, use the eight branch offering prayer or any other
auspicious and meritorious offering prayers and supplications
you know and have at hand.)

The Great Yogi Milarepa sang:

My body is the holy mandala itself,
Wherein resides the Buddhas of all times.
With their blessings I am freed
From all needs and attachments.
By day and night I offer them up;

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Whoever Im with is the yidam deity;

Wherever I stay is the Buddhas abode.
Happy am I to forego outer supports, rituals and
symbols!

F.

UNION WITH THE BUDDHA THRU GURU

YOGA PRACTICE
In which emotion is transformed into devotion, experiencing
our true identity, our ultimate object of refuge and reliance.

EMAHO Perfect embodiment

Of the invisible array of the awakened ones which
accompanies us all-ways;
You are never far off though we may sometimes feel
far from you,
Our alpha and omega, KuntuZangpo!

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Our Buddha-emanated Root Guru is closer than our

body, our breath, our pulse,
In the heart of our hearts:
O Precious lordly master,
Praying fervently from the depths of my heart,
Without fabrication or doubt and hesitation,
Like your only child
I beseech thee:
Hold me! Help me! Heal me! Hear me!
Heed our cries!
Please remain like an adornment upon my head,
before my eyes,
And a warm, shining sun in my heart.
You are my all in all!
Bless me that the path is free from obstacles.
Bless me to be able to practice diligently,
continuously and fruitfully.
Bless me that I may feel genuine renunciation,
devotion and world-weariness.
Bless me that in the moment of devotion
Awareness nakedly dawns.
Bless me that I may realize the siddhis of your
awakened three vajras (vajra-body, speechenergy, and mind).

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Transmit your wisdom, dynamic energy, love and

compassion to me
That I may become just like you!
Merge with me, melt into me, indissolubly one with
me
Far beyond all notions of oneness and none-ness
That we may recognize and realize
The splendid, most becoming you,
Precious Lotus Guru, Diamond Master,
Buddha Guru, KuntuZangpo!
O Buddha-Lama,
Your empty, transparent body is so vital and vivid;
Your resonant vajra speech so clear;
Your luminous mind vast and immutable:
Directly perceiving the rainbow-like radiance
of your true original face
In the union of emptiness and awareness
reflecting my higher self Buddhaness;
My heart-mind and your Buddha-mind remain everinseparable, Kuntuzangpo!
Here one can also add in the famous Seven Line Prayer to
PadmaSambhava, who is inseparable from ones own heartguru; or just simply chant again and again his twelve-syllable
Vajra Guru mantra until tears and blessings descend like

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gentle rain, washing away all obscurations and delivering one

to his delightful Buddhafield of the ultimate here and nowness.

Chant the Mantra:

OM AH HUNG VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI
HUNG!
After resting in nyamshak (experience left as it is),
then spontaneously arising from nonmeditation thru
the utter inseparability of being and doing in the
great non-action of proactive Buddha-activity.
Again and again, until tears well up and blessings
pour down like spring rain, chant the Mantra:
KUNTUZANGPO, LONGCHENPA, KHENPO,
ME
For completion, in reverence and delight, sing
OM AH HUNG HA HO HRI
And other spontaneous songs or prayers.

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G. GRATITUDE & REVERENCE

The root guru embodies and actualizes in our own world all
the Buddhas of the three times and ten directions. By
adhering closely to both the traditional and the heart-essence
pith-instruction teachings and training accordingly, in this
very life we can realize the rainbow light body of perfect
enlightenment--as so many have done in our eminent
Nyingma lineage; a magnificient tradition descended directly
from Khenpo Bodhisattva Shantarakshita, Dharma-king
Trisong Detsen, Lotus Master Padma Sambhava, Dakiniqueen Yeshe Tsogyal and impeccable Vimalamitra, through
omniscient Longchenpa, fearless Jigme Lingpa, our beloved
Nyoshul Khenpo and our other heart-gurus and lamas, to us
today. How fortunate we are!

LONG-LIFE PRAYER FOR THE GURU

Not only did you place the wish-fulfilling jewel of
enlightenment in the palm of my hand,
You held my hand until I learned to uphold it.
Gracious lord and master ever-present, my life is in
your hands
Let me directly be-hold you!
In-brace us! May you live long!
Throughout all my lifetimes
May I remain inseparable with the authentic guru,

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Be guided to unerringly progress through all the

levels and stages of maturation,
Perfect all enlightened qualities and transcendental
virtues,
And swiftly attain the citadel of the primordial
Buddha.
May the Buddhas blessings ever-illumine my mind;
May the enlightened Ones blessings ever-unfold in
my heart.
May the inconceivable blessing of enlightenment
itself
Dispel the momentary illusion
That weve ever been incomplete, separate or apart.
Homage to the Root Guru,
Who placed Buddhahood in the palm of my hand;
May your heart-mind and mine remain inseparable
For the boundless benefit of one and all!
H.

While dreams of the next begin

to appear more vividly;
May the inner-light essence of the Buddha
and all the radiant awakened ones
Continuously guide us onwards and upwards
on the path of spiritual enlightenment,
Through better and better rebirths
Until all are likewise illumined.
May we unerringly realize the great path of the
rainbow light body,
Transferring our current consciousness
Into timeless time, this ever-present moment,
The ever-fresh wakefulness and immediacy of the
supreme state of rigpa, Buddha Mind,
KuntuZangpo.
This completes the Fruition, practicing the Extraordinary
Preliminaries.

PHOWA
PASSING ON PRAYER
When the sunset of this life arrives
and its twilight shadows fade away,

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______________________________________

IV. SIX BUILDING BLOCKS OF A

WELL-ROUNDED SPIRITUAL LIFE
Which help integrate Dharma into daily life and provide a
brief six-step spiritual development programan
essentialized, nonsectarian westernized ngondro-- on its
own.

If we wish to progress and become enlightened, we

need to develop and maintain an ongoing spiritual
life. Continuity is the secret of success.
Heres how:

Practicing with the View in mind enhances all

ordinary practices. Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche

This completes Section IV, an addendum to help enhance the

practices desirable yet optional. You are the Fruition, the
result. What we seek, we are. Remain undeceived.
Emaho, KuntuZangpo!

(Three alone-ish)
1. Daily-ish explicit spiritual practice sessions
2. Spiritual study, inquiry and self-observation
3. Inner growth work
(Three together-ish, involving others)
4. Group practice
5. Teacher practice
6. Selfless service and compassion in action

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V. ENHANCEMENT: CONCLUDING PRAYERS,

ASPIRATIONS & DEDICATIONS
Which help further integrate the practices into a mindful,
prayerful, and soulful daily life.

THE FOUR DHARMAS OF LONGCHENPA

Bless and empower us that our hearts and minds turn
toward the sublime Dharma.
Bless and empower us that our Dharma practice
follows the authentic path of liberation.
Bless and empower us that the path truly dispels
suffering & confusion.
Bless and empower us that confusion itself dawns as
the light of primordial awareness.

HIS HOLINESS GYALWANG DRUKPAS

PRAYER
I call on you my teachers- regard me with
compassion.
I sincerely wish to receive your blessings.
Please regard your childs longing desire.
Please bless me with the resolve to attain realization.
Please bless me to have a steady and smooth mind,
So that for this life and those to follow,
As a true practitioner whose heart and mind are in
accord,
The special intention to help others is spontaneously
present.
May I be able to benefit measureless beings.
Without the toxic stains of a competitive mind,
Without the intoxicating liquor of anger & lust,
May I be able to practice the peaceful and soothing
Dharma
Through listening and thinking and examining,
Especially about those teachings I practice,
May I be able to precisely determine their meaning;

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Raising the victorious banner of ultimate practice,

May I be able to accomplish great service to the
Dharma.
This is the way I pray all the time,
And I request all of you to support my prayers.

PRAYER FOR TEN ACCOMPLISHMENTS

May we realize true sincerity and integrity,
Inner purity of mind,
Dispassionate equanimity towards all we see,
Right understanding of this dreamlike world
and the next,
Loving compassion towards others and the genuine
intention to be helpful in alleviating
suffering and confusion.
May we directly perceive the truths of
impermanence, mortality and interconnectedness,
Relinquish wandering thoughts and rampant desires,
Accomplish freedom of mind and clarity of spirit,

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Remember with gratitude those who have gone

before and shown the way,
And vow to reach together full and complete
enlightenment.
This prayer was written by the wandering hermit Surya Das at
Pao Lin Monastery atop the Buddha Mountain on Lantau
Island, Hong Kong, after reading an ancient collection of
Chinese prayers to Amitabha Buddha, September 1975.

ACCOMPLISHMENT AND COMPLETION

PRAYER
Lordly Root Guru, from the profound vastness
Of the infinite mandala of Dharmadhatu,
Enter into our lives, accompany us all ways,
Truly reveal yourself to us;
Please grant us your continuous blessing and
inspiration.
Help us, hold us, heal us-Support us within your compassionate embrace.
Through the inexhaustible skillful means
Of your boundless Buddha-activity,
Empower, encourage and protect us

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So that by whatever virtue and good karma we may

have accumulated here
Via our sterling aspirations and sincere efforts,
May all illness, conflicts, dangers, outer obstacles,

NEW MILLENNIUM PRAYER

And inner hindrances and obscurations

be alleviated and completely dispelled,

May all beings everywhere,

with whom we are inseparably interconnected
And who want and need the same as we do-May all be liberated, healed, harmonious, fulfilled
and free.

That we may realize true oneness with your perfect

Vajra-body,
Oneness with your resonant Vajra-speech,
And oneness with your immaculate Vajra-mind,
Union with your splendid enlightened qualities
And inseparability with your Buddha-activities.

May there be peace in this world and throughout all

possible universes,
An end to war and violence, poverty and disease,
injustice and oppression,
And may we all together complete the spiritual
journey.

May all beings achieve pure vision, peaceful

harmony and great ease,
And travel unerringly on the radiant path of
awakening
Which leads to transcendental wisdom, ultimate
reality,
Liberation and enlightenment: Om Ah Hung!

SARVA MANGALAM
May all be well and happy!
Lama Surya Das, January 1, 2000

This prayer was written by Lama Surya Das at the repeated

request of his retreat students at Dzogchen Osel Ling Retreat
Center outside Austin, Texas in December of 2006. May it be
auspicious.

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COLOPHON:
To fulfill the repeated request of sincerely devoted
students of the Dzogchen Center, while remembering
always the kindness, support, inspiration and
encouragement of the venerable master Nyoshul Khen
Rinpoche from Khatok Monastery in Tibet and his
glorious Longchenpa lineage; following in the large
footsteps of his lineage teachers, this happily extroverted
hermit Kunzang Tenzin has dared to set down these
English words of foundational ngondro practice along the
Pedernales River in the Valley of the Dharma Kings at
Dzogchen Osel Ling outside Austin, Texas, in February of
2007.
May they be useful, effective and auspicious!
May beings be benefited and the sublime BuddhaDharma
flourish on these shores!
May the lineage teachers live long and strong, & the flag
of authentic study and practice always fly high and point
out the direction of free spirit!
Lha Gya-lo!
Homage to the invisible array
Which always accompanies, blesses, guides and protects
practitioners and upholders of the Buddha Way.

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