The Complete Path...by the Seventh Dalai Lama

[kerby]

The Complete Path
by the Seventh Dalai Lama
Whatever you want for yourself and others
With a human form is easily attained;
Disengage yourself from meaningless efforts,
Strive to accomplish the highest goals.
Because all things composite are impermanent
Life changes and never abides;
That change is the basis of suffering,
For the samsaric mind fills with frustration
On watching its creations continually fade.
The higher you climb in samsara,
The higher the cliff on which you perch;
The more things you own,
The tighter you are bound.
The dearer you hold someone,
The greater the chance he will hurt you.
The faster you subdue enemies,
The faster their numbers increase.
This body is a thing borrowed for a moment,
And possessions are things stored for others.
Now we dally with them,
But quickly are they lost and misused,
And only are sources of misery.
Therefore no worldly possession
Is worth the effort of gaining.
Turn your back on that which only handicaps:
An unburdened mind is joy supreme.
The pinnacle of aims is to follow this path:
Body, speech and mind kept stainless with pure self-discipline,
Mind held in samadhi blissful and clear,
And wisdom seeing all realities of every situation.
The mother beings wandering in the six realms,
To me, their son, are pieces of my heart.
For many times have they soothed my troubles
And in infinite ways have they brought me joy.
These infinite beings, so kind,
Are covered by the fog of ignorance.
Constantly slashed by whips of delusions,
They have no chance to lay down
The burden of misery from their minds.
Therefore whenever you meet anyone,
Greet them with eyes smiling with love.
Why mention that you should not even consider
Holding evil intentions or deceptive thoughts?
The way people and things seem to be
Other than projected labels
Is a distortion created by deluded mind.
If we look at the root of things,
Emptiness is clearly understood.
And in the vast space of perception of emptiness,
Mental grasping for ultimate subsides.
Then one looks into the face of the world,
Everything is seen without essence.
Understanding interdependence we understand emptiness,
Understanding emptiness we understand interdependence;
This is the view which is the middle,
And which is beyond the terrifying cliffs of
Eternalism, nihilism, neither or both.

Translated by Glenn Mullin

[kerby]

Try to read it once a day.

[Astus]

Wonderful summary. Can you give an exact source?

[kerby]

The writing of The Complete Path by the Seventh Dalai Lama was translated to english by Glenn Mullin and this was distributed by FPMT which is a very reliable source for Gelugpas and anyone else.

[Astus]

Is there anywhere on their website or in a book? I'm asking because a Google search did not help me to find it. I just want to get the references clear if I happen to translate or quote it.

[Caz]

This is a very profound text.

[kerby]

A portion of it comes up at this site when you do a Google search.

http://theosophytrust.org/tlodocs/artic ... .htm&p=113

[Astus]

OK. Where do you have it from?

[kerby]

My teacher at FPMT gave this to me to recite everyday.