Text

[[Category:]]

The Great Bundle of Precepts:
The Source Esoteric Instruction on Severance,
the Profound Perfection of Wisdom

(draft translation by Sarah Harding ©2011)

Homage to the unspeakable, unthinkable, unimaginable state;
basic space beyond objects, without reference.

This Great Bundle of Precepts on Severance
is written in hopes of benefiting a few.

The root devilry is one's own mind.
The devil lays hold through clinging and attachment
in the cognition of whatever objects appear.
Grasping mind as an object is corruption.

Devils are classified as four:
tangible devil and intangible devil,
the devil of exaltation and the devil of inflation.
All are included in the devil of inflation.

Tangible devils are numerous; however,
judging the appearances that arise to our senses,
negating or affirming them, is the tangible devil.
Grasping them as definite binds us to samsara.

Form is empty of the essence of form.
Do not attach to form, meditate on it as empty.
Lacking attachment to form as definite
is release from the devil of fixation on permanence.
Not meditating on emptiness mentally 
is definite liberation from the devil of nihilism.
The appearance of form cannot be stopped,
but without definite grasping it is lucid self-appearance.
Sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation,
mentation, and so forth are similarly released.
Mentation is the intangible devil,
but when it arises through the sense doors
it is taught as the tangible devil.
With an attitude of self-liberation, 
directly cut through all that appears to the sense perceptions. 
It becomes inseparable great stupidity.

Intangible devils occur in this way:
good and bad sensations of mental objects
that are distinguished by one's own thoughts
are revealed as the intangible devils.

Apart from being products of naturally arising mind,
fixating on good gods as gods,
fixating on bad demons as demons,
and all the thought-provoking mental hopes and fears
are one's own devils rising up to oneself.

From the realm of phenomena's great expanse of clarity
any thoughts and memories whatsoever may arise.
For example, like the arising of waves and so on
from the unmoving ocean.
Thus a person with realization
rests on their own ground without altering it.
Help and harm do not occur, liberated in space.
Self-arising from the space of phenomena's nature,
jealous acts and acceptance and rejection do not apply
in self-occurring mind unengaged with acceptance or rejection.

The devil of exaltation occurs in this way:
common devils and supreme devils 
come from the mind of deluded cognition.

In haunted places, when demons do not affect you, 
arrogance arises and becomes the devil of exaltation.
When signs of blessing and ability occur,
the merit and material wealth are the devil of distraction.
Wealth, fame, friends, and foes are the devil of delight.
Gods and demons bestow spiritual powers,
children and relatives gather as entourage
causing joy (dga') and conceit (brod): the devil of exaltation (dga' brod).

Whatever qualities occur, whatever arises,
an attitude of nondual object and mind
does not grasp at those qualities [as the self].
As with the objects in dreams,
engage without attachment to their nature.
Like the beauty produced by a lovely face, 
self-occurrence adorns itself—
there is no cause for arrogance.
If it does arise, fixating in deluded cognition corrupts.
This supreme conduct of nonfixation's own way
fills the hearts of the wise.

Supreme devils are of two kinds:
those of the path and of the result.

The conceit of a view free of elaboration,
the conceit of a meditation in equipoise,
the conceit of conduct without thoughts,
all conceits on the path of practice,
if engaged in as objects for even a moment,
obstruct the path and are the devil's work.

View and meditation are taught only symbolically; 
they certainly have nothing to do with mentation.
Without asserting any notion of a view
about the unimpeded arising of anything,
unbiased experience dawns as basic space.15
The supreme severance is no view.16

Everything is self-occurring mind,
so a meditator does not meditate.
Whatever self-arising sensations occur,
rest serene, clear, and radiant.17
Serene since the meaning is unchanging,
clear because of definite realization, and
radiant since liberation is on its own ground.
For example, it is like putting butter into butter.
The meditative stability of not meditating—
that is the supreme meditation.

One's conduct is spontaneously self-liberated.
To do it purposefully is not to engage it.18
Do not grasp the arising experience through an antidote.19
Even if abolished20, when one knows it is self-occurring,
one self-liberates oneself without hindrance.
If there is particularly powerful realization,
definite conduct is uninhibited.
Do not engage conduct without realization.
The customary approach of this instruction
brings blessings of the sublime21 and the confidence
to directly stamp down discursive thought.
As blessings gradually enter,
definite realization will arise.
This truly spoken instruction
goes beyond all spheres of engagement.22
It is said to be the supreme conduct of no conduct.23

Taking nothing at all into experience 
is to have taken into experience.
Experience is the intellectual experience of knowables.
In the authentic meaning, there is nothing to taste.
Apart from the unborn, there is nothing to take up.

The nature of phenomena is experienced by taking into experience.
Practice without attachment to objective reality
with the attitude of severing objective mental appearances24
is the supreme path of freedom, say the gurus.
The result is like a wish-fulfilling gem.25

The supreme devil is like this:
desiring the results of tenet systems and vehicles
of the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and such,
and the definite attainment of the three kāyas
is to have desire: the devil of conceit.

Body, speech, and mind are taught to be
by nature the resultant three kāyas.
Buddha is not accomplished apart from that.
Leaving oneself behind and searching, 
even after many millions of eons
of practicing, will not attain it.
Don't search, don't practice; rest in your nature.
The confidence of severance is to be without hope.
No hope—free of extremes of fear.
Other than the decisive cutting off of fixation,
how could there be definite buddhahood?26

Devils are divided into four,
but they are included in the devil of inflation.

Becoming inflated with objective things
is taught to be the tangible devil.

Attachment and aversion to objective things,
if just realized as inflation at the root,
is like the smoke in the crevices of a wall
that subsides naturally by blowing out the hearth fire.
Decisively cutting through inflation liberates fixation to real things.
As in cessation, appearances do not stop.
Realizing rootlessness is to cut off 
the tangible devil and all definite devils.
For example, it is like a skilled illusionist
who has no attachment to [the created] appearances.
More than that, inflation [should be] decisively cut off.
Even if it is not cut off by severing it,
if rootlessness is realized it cannot take hold.
There is liberation in the expanse of the realm of phenomena.
Resolution without judgment is crucial.

The intangible devil also is included in inflation.
Afflictive emotions such as the five poisons,
fears about invisible demons,
hopes regarding unreal gods and
all similar hopes and fears about mental objects
arise from inflation and are the devil of inflation.27

Aggression is liberated on its own ground
but it comes from cutting the root of inflation.
Released from the boiling and burning of hell's devil,
the mirror-like primordial awareness is obtained.
Desire is liberated on its own ground,
but it comes from cutting the root of inflation.
Released from the hunger and thirst of the hungry ghost devil,
the discriminating primordial awareness is obtained.
Stupidity is liberated on its own ground,
but it comes from cutting the root of inflation.
Released from exploitation of the animal devil,
the primordial awareness realm of phenomena is obtained.
Jealousy is liberated on its own ground,
but it comes from cutting the root of inflation.
Released from the inconstancy of the human devil,
the primordial awareness of accomplishing action is obtained.

Pride is liberated on its own ground,
but it comes from cutting the root of inflation.
Released from the disputes of the devil of downfall,28
the primordial awareness of equality is obtained.
Inflation not decisively cut off is the five poisons,29
but inflation cut off is the self-liberated five awarenesses. 

Thus everything is included in inflation.
Just as a lion on the high snowy peaks,
has no fear or apprehension,
if you attain confidence without inflation
the gods and demons of apparent existence cannot arise.30
Even if a hundred rise up, the instructions will clear them away.
If you know that they are your own apparitions,
it will certainly become a great training exercise.
Don't meditate after severing the flow of thoughts;
realizing that it is self-arising is sufficient.31
It is the equivalent of epidemic disease and such.
Once rootlessness is realized, this cutting off
is especially elevated above all instructions.

Even with realization, if you do not directly cut through,
it is like tossing out a tempered sharp weapon: 
the view will not protect you, and you are bound by fear.32
The yoga that brings together view and conduct
is like the weapons carried by warriors
that vanquish all the enemy hosts.
All devils are vanquished in the space without inflation.

Emaho! Devils are pacified by cutting through one's own inflation.
Awakening is actualized by realizing rootlessness.
So then rest relaxed and unaffected.33
Rest just so with everything.

The devil of exaltation is also included in inflation.
Exaltation about common dharma and
exaltation about supreme results
come about from one's own inflation.
Definite attachment turns it into a devil.

Self-arising without attachment is not inflation.
It is said to be the adornment of dharmakāya.

Since the resultant three kāyas are oneself,
there is no need to be conceited about another.

Samsara is liberated on its own ground;
do not seek nirvana apart from that.34
Do not meditate purposefully on nonthought
apart from the arising of thoughts' own forms.

Since everything else is inflation,
I speak of decisively severing inflation.
Resting in refined essence is taught everywhere;
there is no recognition of the mind of refined essence.35

This is ascertained through example.
Yogins who have obtained the instructions
are like birds nourishing their young:
if instructions are [only] delivered by the lips,
autumn chicks will die of starvation.
One will certainly wander in samsara oneself.

Like a fine cow nourishing a small calf,
when she helps herself to a full belly
it sustains the small calves and such.
If one's own inflation is decisively cut off,
sentient beings36 will surely become liberated.
No doubt the welfare of others will be achieved.

The great garuḍa soaring in the sky
sees the four continents effortlessly.
With no trepidation in the abyss of deep ravines,
she subdues with splendor the flocks of birds.
Similarly, the four devils are realized as rootless 
by decisively cutting through experiences.
Demons and devils and such are subdued by splendor.
There is no trepidation about the three lower realms.
Engaging in cause-and-effect dharma 
without knowing rootlessness definitely
is like leaving the trunk and reaching for the branches.

Yogins who realize rootlessness
know that thoughts and memories are incidental
and engage in the dharma without rejection or acceptance. 
Seeing form, they regard it as the mind's Body.
Hearing sound, they regard it as mind's Speech.
Whatever is thought is regarded as mind's Mind.
Behold the meaning of no cause and effect.37

The method of resting, the abiding nature of meditation,
is like a statue inside the shrine room:
it has good posture and smiles,
but no thought, and no manner of thinking.
So set one's body however is comfortable,
and with no thought, do no thinking.
No object of thought: that's exactly it!38
Therefore rest in the state of no-thought. 
Don't cut off sensations and thoughts after the fact.
As lightning bolts revert to the sky,
when conceptual thought occurs, rest just so.
Like the depths of a great ocean,
rest within an unmoving state.39
Circumstantial thoughts, like waves,
naturally become the realm of phenomena's nature.

Not to contrive or adulterate is the Victor's Word.
If you contrive, it is the devil of creation,
so definitely rest on your own ground.
Like a person pained by disease,
freely rest the six groups of consciousness. 
Like a person who has finished their work,
rest instantly with a satisfied mind.
Like a small child not seeing its mother,
appearing though powerless—rest within that state. 

Awareness carries the corpse of one's body;
cast it out in an unattached way
in haunted grounds and other frightful places.40
Rest mind itself41 in the expanse of the Great Mother.
Whatever thoughts and memories consciously occur,
consider them as actual emanations of the Great Mother.
Mother's emanations42 do not bind to samsara. 
Like a simpleton with a full belly,
rest in the complete eradication of concepts.
Samsara abandoned, nirvana is certain.
Emaho! Effortless! Realize the intent!

Conduct is presented by examples.43
Like the fierce gatekeepers, the kinkara,44
although they seem wrathful and fierce,
afflictive emotion does not arise in their being.
In the conduct of truly great yogic discipline
there is no thought of aggression or passion.
Great yogic discipline tames obstacles.
With no aggression or passion, that itself is the path.
Like fish swimming in the sea,
conduct is aimless, without fixation and attachment.45
Like mountain ravines cutting off the cold breezes,
attachment-aversion is traceless,46 beyond consideration. 

In one's conduct toward oneself
there is no need to involve inflation or inflated objects.
Conduct oneself without fixating on oneself.
Don't you consider the enemy in a dream
as coming from yourself?
Even the spiritual powers of yidam deities
arise to the mind from the meditating mind.
Therefore, it is oneself, not another.
Other than severing47 one's own appearances oneself,
there is no connection with others' objects, so they cannot harm. 
As, for example, the poisonous snakes of India.

Results are presented by an example.48
Even though white is not established in butter,
recognizing butter confirms white.
Once butter is just recognized for sure,
there's no need to establish white elsewhere.
Similarly, although buddha is not established,
recognizing the mind confirms buddha.
Once one's mind is recognized for sure,
there's no need to establish buddha from elsewhere.

Inflation-free, rootless, victorious over all:
there is nothing else to accomplish.
With such realization devils are pacified.
Moreover it is self-occurring self-pacification.

Noncognizant stupidity in the realm of phenomena
cognized49 as objective is deluded by grasping.

Cognition other than of a single inseparability50 
is to cycle in the places of the three realms
and be deluded in the places of the six classes.
That is inherently deluded cognition.
Gradual vehicles of dharma that are dependent51
are also deluded by cognition in view, meditation, and result.
Nihilists cognize the object as absolute nothingness,52
eternalists cognize the object as immutability,
śrāvakas cognize objective percept-perceiver,
pratyekabuddhas cognize the emptiness of interdependence,
chittamātrins cognize reflexively aware mind,
mādhyamikas cognize freedom from elaboration,
father tantras cognize bliss-clarity energy currents,
mother tantras cognize the seal53 of bliss-emptiness,
method and wisdom cognize nonduality,
mahāmudrā is cognition beyond intellect,
and great completion cognizes great atemporality.
Thus all of these cognitions
are cognitions that cognize objective [reality],
which is not the subject itself.
There is no cognition of mind, which is not object.
Any cognition is bondage by cognition.

Therefore, this noncognizant (rig med) stupidity 
the victors teach as great primordial awareness.
Ignorance (ma rig) is without object, so delusion is clarified. 
When objective appearance is just mentally abandoned,
it is the decisive cutting off of all inflation without exception.
Without an object what would cognition get inflated about?

If cognition is just understood as delusion,54
then without fixation on deluded phenomena55
unfixated cognition appears as anything at all,
naturally occurring without deliberation.
If such is the intent, it is ever so.

The genuine meaning, that Great Mother,
is also the ground of all samsara and nirvana.
Even the buddhas of the three times
teach56 it as uncreated, birthless ground.

Since buddha is unconditioned,57
if you believe in the unborn,
then there is no creator of unborn ground.
Errors about unmade ground are severed.

Since the unmade (ma byas) is unconditioned,
one definitely travels the path of no making (mi byed).
Since appearing emptiness is not mind-made (yid la ma byas pas),
take the path without eternalism or nihilism.
Since nonduality58 is not mind-made,
the devil of four perception spheres is liberated.
Cognitive obscurations are pure on their own ground.

If form and feeling, perception, and so on
are truly not mentally engaged,
they will be liberated from the place of three realms.
They will not become mixed up59 in samsara.
If nothing at all is made in mind,
habitual patterns won't arise and the levels and paths are complete.
Mental nonengagement as the supreme path60
was definitely taught in the words of the Victor.
When one realizes mental nonengagement,
mental activity need not be stopped;
like a mirage it vanishes on its own ground.
The yogins with such realization
need not block carefree conduct.61
Whatever is done becomes the path.
Nondoing itself is the path.

Presentation of the unreal results:
three kāyas are taught as results but
other than teaching the expedient meaning,
the marks and signs and so on
have not even an atom of definitive reality.

If real, whatever is real ultimately falls.
It does not pass to the other side of samsara.62
The perfection of wisdom
is not real as an object of intellect.
To the intellect, samsaric phenomena are real.
Without realizing that results are unreal,
whatever effort is made towards achieving it 
will not become the attainment of freedom.

Without annihilating the mind craving dharma,
engaging in dharma with intellectual craving
becomes the support for bondage, despite being dharma.
Thus, one is cheated of the vitality of esoteric instructions.
Buddhahood is not conditional,
so how could one achieve it by conditioned effort?
Don't be mentally attached to conditioned dharma.
Don't hold out great hope for fabricated dharma.

Not fixating on body is the Victor's Body,
Not fixating on speech is the Victor's Speech,
Not fixating on mind is the Victor's Mind.
Other than lucid clarity without fixation,
do not seek elsewhere for the Victor's intent.

Emaho!
"Severance" means to sever conceptual thinking.
"Precepts" means unchanging in nature.
"Bundle" means teachings as a bunch of explanations.

Earnest experiential practice is taught
beyond referential objects,
free of intellectual experiential practice.

When severing in haunted places and such,
just as one who is burned by fire
is tormented [again] by that fire itself,
the instructions for suppression and severing in a place
are like cauterizing the wounds63 by fire. 

Carry the load of appearing conditions.
Understand that to carry the load is crucial.
If you don't carry the load of all phenomena,
the remedy of peace and happiness can't liberate you.

Wander in haunted places and mountain retreats.
Don't be distracted by text; the words of texts 
won't convey blessings, [but] carry word-brutes.
Better to practice in haunted places.64

The esoteric instructions on the perfection of wisdom called The Great Bundle of Precepts on Severance, created by the Ḍākinī of Primordial Awareness Lapkyi Drolma, is complete. 

(Note: It is said that there were only eighty [people] present during the oral explanation of this source text given at the time by Drapa Haktön65. Early commentaries connected it with the Verse Summary Sūtra, as can be seen in the outline and commentary by Dharma Lord Rangjung Dorje. Later on there were many commentaries on the source text. This and the source text created by the Brahmin Āryadeva are the two wish-fulfilling jewels that seem to be like the foundation of all instructions of Severance Object.)

Sarvadākalyānambhavatu.

• Footnotes