Invocation
Dewdrop, lamp, phantom, rainbow, oasis,
Such is my life and the lives of others –
I surrender to this truth.
To the one who spoke this truth,
The Prince of the Shakyas
I offer my adoration.
To all those who take this truth to heart,
I offer my allegiance.
With determination, I remind myself:
No emotion, just peace,
No ignorance, just awareness,
No anxiety, just serenity,
No weakness, just strength,
No fear, just tranquillity.
With this attitude and free from doubt,
I alone will liberate the world’s living creatures,
Plants, water and atmosphere.
Appearances are deceptive, I shall mistrust them.
Nothingness is just a point of view, I shall not get entangled in it.
Living beings are, by nature, stainless, I shall treasure that stainlessness.
Reality is the bait, I shall not be lured into conformity.
Only in darkness can I see light,
Only in mud can I find a lotus,
Only in defilements can I see Buddha.
Humbly, without a trace of hypocrisy,
I solemnly promise all living beings
That from this day forward,
I will never abandon you.
Wherever you are, may I always be beside you.
Past is now, future is now,
Now is an illusion,
Illusion is luminous.
Such boundlessness is mind:
Other than mind, there is no Buddha.
I beseech you, O Mind!
May I be free from death, old age and sickness.
May I be free from ideas and opinions,
May I be free from time,
May I be free from space,
And may I free all others from their limitations.
Written in response to a number of requests, on the last day of the tumultuous year of 2022, by one on whose five aggregates the label ‘Khyentse Norbu’ has been adhered.