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Chapter 1 - The Nature of Samsara and Nirvana Does Not Go Beyond Space

I prostrate to glorious Samantabhadra.

Primordial self-existence, wondrous, marvelous Dharma;
Self-arisen wisdom, luminous bodhicitta;
Treasury, source of the rising of all the phenomenal world;
The vessel as well as the essence, samsara as well as nirvana;
I prostrate to that motionless simplicity.

Peak of the yanas, Mount Meru; Space of the sun and moon;
Naturally radiant Space; Space of the vajra heart;
Natural state of Space existing as it is;
Without any effort; without any act of being established;
Listen while I explain the space of dharmadhatu,
Wondrous in its rising, eternal, and universal.

Spontaneous Spaciousness, this is the ground of arising of everything;
Empty in essence, yet unobstructed in its nature,
It is nothing whatever, and yet it arises as everything.
Since the dawn of both samsara and nirvana
Rises out of the Space of trikaya as itself,
They do not depart from the space of the dhatu, the realm of bliss.

Within the great space of Mind, the changeless state of the sky;
Is play without limit, Space of the miracles of compassion,
All ornaments of the dhatu; other than that there is nothing.
To emanate and to gather are powers of bodhicitta.
It is nothing whatever, because it arises as everything.
O the wonderful miracle! Wondrous, marvelous Dharma!

All forms of the outer and inner appearance of sentient beings;
Are ornaments of the space, that arise as the wheel of body.
Whatever sounds and speech are heard without exception,
Are ornaments of the space, that arise as the wheel of speech.
The flickering discharge of memory and understanding,
And also the state of non-thought transcending all reflection,
Are ornaments of the space, that arising as wheel of mind.

Inhabitants of the six lokas, having the four-fold manners of birth,
Do not move even an atom apart from dharmadhatu.
Appearances of the six sense-objects as grasper and grasped
Do not occur within the state of dharmadhatu.
There all appearance seems to be like an illusion.
Tenuous and ethereal, it is without support.
This is the state of eternal emptiness of the great vastness,
Self-luminous suchness, rising to ornament dharmadhatu.

Thus, this glorious splendor, this great spaciousness,
Exists as self-existing equanimity.
This is unmoving dharmakaya, bodhicitta;
Eternally just as it is, self-emptiness that is changeless.
So all that appears is the natural wisdom of dharmata,
Undiminishing space of bliss, without any action or effort.

As for its self-luminosity, which does not depart from it;
This is sambhogakaya, enjoying the perfect expression.
This, from the time it appears, is the self-existing nature.
Without fabrication or change, it is natural, total equality.

The manifestation of play as variety without mixing,
That is the wondrous, magical meaning of emanation.
It does not transcend the actionless state of Samantabhadra.

In bodhicitta itself, there is no dangerous precipice.
Effortlessness of trikaya, spontaneous perfection,
Does not depart from space, self-existing and uncompounded;
Kayas and wisdoms, self-perfected buddha activity,
Eternally perfect assembly, eternally risen great Space.

The self-existing eternal fields are without change.
In dharmadhatu, dharmata is what is seen.
Knowledge without obstruction rises to ornament space;
Not established by action, existing from all eternity;
Just like the space of the sun; wondrous, marvelous Dharma.

In this eternal spontaneous womb, the space of the dhatu,
Samsara is total goodness; nirvana is also good;
And yet within total goodness, the Space of Samantabhadra,
Samsara as well as nirvana never existed at all.

Appearance is total goodness; emptiness also is good;
And yet within total goodness, the Space of Samantabhadra,
Neither appearance nor emptiness ever existed at all.
Birth and death are good; sorrow and bliss are good;
And yet within total goodness, the Space of Samantabhadra,
There are no bliss and sorrow; there are no birth or death.

Oneself is total goodness; the other is also good.
Eternity and the void exist as total goodness;
And yet within total goodness, the Space of Samantabhadra,
There are no self and other, eternal existence or nothingness.

By fixating what is non-existent as existing,
Arises the state that is designated as confusion.
Its nature is like a dream that is without support.
That someone should be attached to samsara and nirvana
As independent realities is something very strange!

Samantabhadra is everything; He is the great self-existence.
He was not and is not confused, and never will be so.
Samsara is only a name, for what in reality
Goes beyond the extremes of existence or non-existence.

Whoever was not confused about things at an earlier time,
Will now be unstained by confusion and will not become confused.
The intention of this is that the three worlds are alpha-pure.

With no confusion or any dharmas of non-confusion,
There is natural, self-existing, eternal great insight.
It never was or is or will be liberated.
Nirvana is only a name. No one is liberated;
Nor will they be, already unbound for eternity;
Completely pure like the sky, unlimited and impartial.
The intention of this is the total freedom of alpha-purity.

In brief, from the vast and self-existing womb of space,
Whatever rises is the skillful play of energy
That is samsara and nirvana equally.
Nevertheless, from the moment of their mere arising,
Samsara as well as nirvana never existed at all.

As from the power of sleep whatever dreams arise
Have no reality, but are just one's own insight,
Which naturally exists on the level of mahasukha,
These are great vastness, self-existing equanimity,
The total all-encompassing equality.

Chapter 2

“THE ARISING OF THE PHENOMENAL WORLD AS THE BUDDHA FIELDS”

The nature of space, primordial in its self-existence, Having no inside or outside, pervades and encompasses all. It is unlimited by any kind of extremes, Unbounded above and below, as well in all directions. Without the duality of vastness and constraint, The purity of insight is like that of space; Space that is free from complexities of conceptual thought.

From birthless space arise the miracles of birth. With nothing that is real,187 there also are no limits. This describes the signless, which has no marks of things. Filling the directions, with nature like the sky, It is unborn self-existence, free from before and after. In it there is no beginning and no end.

The essence of everything, sa.msaara as well as nirvaa.na, Bodhicitta is self-existing and has no birth. It has no rising or birth, and is not something fixed. Coming from nowhere, it has no place where it can go. Unbounded by past and future, bodhicitta-Space, Without any coming and going pervades and encompasses all.

Beginningless, endless, and centerless suchness of dharmataa; All-pervading and all-encompassing nature of purity; It is just as limitless as the space of the sky. Without a beginning or end, beyond both past and future;

Unborn and unceasing, with no solidified 192 characteristics; Not coming and going, with no distinction of this and that;193 It is unestablished and effortless, empty of dharmas of action; Without directions, parts, or center; ground of suchness; Without any concept or discontinuity, equal space.

Since everything is the equal nature of dharmataa, Not even one thing exists outside of the Space of equality. Equal as one and equal as all, since bodhicitta Is unborn in its vastness, limitless as space, Therefore the state of equality has no discontinuity.

This is the Space of eternity. This is the fortress of vastness. Boundless and birthless totality,204 fortress of dharmakaaya, Unchanging self-existence, precious, secret fortress, Sa.msaara as well as nirvaa.na, all the phenomenal world, The primordial fortress is perfect, being all in one.

Within the boundless, all-pervading, encompassing ground, Without any bias toward sa.msaara or nirvaa.na, Is the fortified castle which is the seat of bodhicitta. The vastness of Space of dharmataa is a lofty peak. Unmade nature, vast circle of the four directions; Without any stages or effort this vastest of gates is entered.

Ornamented by this self-existing rich display207 Natural wisd om, the King, is seated on his throne. Wisdom's energies gather and emanate appearance,208 So that all objects are empowered as ministers. Self-existing samaadhi is the holy Queen; And self-rising realization209 the Prince with his attendants; Contained210 in the Space of great bliss, as non-thought and its self-luminosity.

When one dwells in this realm, then all is dharmakaaya. Not going beyond the unity of natural wisdom, It was never created. It was always complete. It is the transcendence of effort and establishment. As if in a droplet229 of bindu without any angles or corners, One is contained within the realm of unfigured Space.

The six kinds of beings, as well as all the buddha fields, Are otherless dharmataa, the state of the sky itself. The single taste of self-luminous, insight-bodhicitta Encompasses and perfects sa.msaara as well as nirvaa.na.

Within this dharmadhaatu treasury, the source of all, Nirvaa.na has existed from all eternity. As it is self-existing, it does not need to be sought; So changeless, objectless238 dharmakaaya is universal.

The vessel and essence, all outer and inner appearance, Exist as the perfect enjoyment of sambhogakaaya.239 Nirmaa.nakaaya, like a reflection, is self-arising.240 Trikaaya, the ornament, does not have imperfect dharmas; So all is241 the play of the Buddha's body, speech, and mind. Though all the Sugata's buddha fields cannot be counted, The Space of trikaaya, from which they rise, is mind itself.

The nature of sa.msaara, the city of the six lokas, Rises from dharmadhaatu like a mere reflection. Apparent variety—joy and sorrow, birth and death— Is like a magic show within the space of mind itself.

The groundless appearance of existence and non-existence Rises244 from temporary conditions, like clouds in the sky. It is not existent; nor is it non-existent. And because its nature goes beyond extremes, By bindu, simplicity, it is encompassed and perfected.

Mind itself, which is the nature of bodhicitta, Is pure like the sky with no joy and sorrow, birth or death. Free from the dharmas of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na, It has no bias toward the solidity of things.

As this is the markless, Space of the sky, supremely vast, It is motionless, changeless, uncompounded self-existence. Enlightened as the vajra essence,251 luminosity, Everything is the self-arising field of bliss. This self-existing equality is the supreme enlightenment.

Chapter 3

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Chapter 4 - The Nature of Bodhicitta

The nature of bodhicitta is all-inclusive totality.
It does not appear, transcending the dharmas of appearance.
It is not empty, transcending the dharmas of emptiness.
Not existent, it does not have the marks of things;
Yet not nonexistent, pervading samsara and nirvana,
The self-existing equality of primordial space,
Is neither something existent nor is it nonexistent.
It has no parts or borders, ground or root, or solidity.

Having no gaps, this is the Space of enlightened insight.
Changeless, this is eternal, encompassing space of the dhatu.
Self-arising wisdom is matchless without example;
Unborn, unceasing, gathered into one drop of bindu;
Indefinite, all-pervading, totally boundless and limitless.

Self-existing equanimity is the stuff
Of the motionless essence which is the vajra heart.
This supreme and universal state of space,
Into which nothing is gathered, and from which nothing departs,
Is not within the scope of what words can characterize.
The Space of prajna comes forth within one's own experience.
The yogin who has no complexities of expression or thought
Is sure that marks and the lack of marks do not exist.
Since meditation and its object are not found,
There is no need of struggle to slay one's enemies,
Discursiveness, drowsiness, and the thoughts of conceptualization.

Dharmata, the eternal coronation vase,
Has no thought of itself and none of anything else.
The three worlds are therefore nothing else but this itself,
They are the field of equal nature with this itself.

The pure self-experience of the three times' victorious ones
Does not accept or reject, for all is a single totality.
Not even an atom of this has been obtained from another.
All dharmas are clearly great Space, the nature of the mind.
Without the least movement from the ultimate state of equality.

With nothing inside and also nothing that is external,
Its clarity unclouded by any rising or setting,
When the dark extremes are dispelled, the root is bodhicitta.
Without abandoning, one cuts through the power of straying.

The world, the appearance of things to various sentient beings,
And the kayas and wisdoms of pure enlightened ones,
That rise from the powers of realization and its lack,
As unobstructed play, are all the space of the dhatu.
All there is within the state of dharmadhatu
Is realization and the lack of realization.
Realization is the sugatas' sacred outlook.
With lack of realization, various things appear
From the vasanas of ignorant grasping and fixation.
Nevertheless, they do not go beyond the dhatu.

The actual ground of everything is bodhicitta.
Its mark that whatever rises in unobstructed variety
Is the clear self-apprehension of luminous dharmata,
Illuminating the purity of the space of the dhatu.
Nothing needs to be separated or cleared away.
Therefore, the style of insight is footloose and fancy-free.

The vast and natural Space of the wisdom of transparency,
Having no inside and outside, is unobscured luminosity.
The great light of one's own insight, this is the mirror of mind.
It is dharmadhatu, the precious wish-fulfilling gem.
These are all self-arising, not needing to be sought.
Wisdom arises in natural splendor as all one desires.

However great the extent of these, the buddha qualities,
They are the ceaseless arising of the supreme upaya.
They are the non-obstruction of space arising from space.
Since all is the self-perfection of that unborn space,
Things are overwhelmed by the emptiness of enlightenment,
And emptiness by the enlightened Space of one's own insight.

In bodhicitta appearance and emptiness never existed.
Here unthinkable miracles rise, unattached and non-dual.
The three times are timelessness, as unborn dharmadhatu.
They are unchanging, unaltered, uncompounded Space.
As for all the buddhas dwelling throughout the three times,
Their insight is nothing but that selfsame space of wisdom.
In one's own insight, which is the Space of enlightened Mind,
Fixation and grasping are overwhelmed by brilliant light.
Nothing is within it and nothing is external.
This is the self-existing vastness of dharmata.

Chapter 5 - Transcending Action, Effort, Cause, and Effect

In the nature of mind, which is the essence of bodhicitta;
There is no view, no meditation, nor any action;
No fruition established, no traversing the paths and the bhumis;
No developing stage with its visualization of mandalas;
No recitation of mantra, and also no stage of perfecting;
Empowerment is not bestowed, nor is samaya guarded.
Pure dharmata, eternal in its self-existence,
Is beyond the struggle of temporary stages
Having to do with the dharmas of cause and its fruition.

All of these are of the essence of bodhicitta.
The sun itself is not obscured by clouds and darkness.
It is not made into a temporary thing,
But by its very nature it always shines in space.

Ten dharmas of effort and establishing have been taught.
These are taught for those with a viewpoint that is confused,
Concerned with the incidental arisings from the power.
They are means for the gradual entering of those
Whose powers are only those involved with stages and effort.
But ati is the meaning of the vajra heart.
To those so joined to the natural state, those are not taught.

As individuals enter by stages involving effort,
Guided into dharmata, primordial space,
The shravaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva yanas
Are known as the three lesser stages of the teachings.
In the middle trio of kriya, upa, and yoga,
The nature is established by its having descended.

The trio of maha, anu, and ati yoga,
The three stages that are great, appear primordially.
By the opening of the dharma-gates of the causal yanas,
Fortunate beings are conducted into these three enlightenments.

Since all of these yanas finally have to enter in
At the gate of this ultimate meaning which is the vajra heart,
Into this great and wondrously arisen secret;
It is the peak of them all; changeless, supreme, luminosity;
Known as the vehicle manifesting the heart of enlightenment.

Dharmas with dual accepting, rejecting, act and effort,
Are taught so that we might abandon vasanas of mind and its contents,
Even though they arise as the nature's power of play.
Thus, they would like to "purify" wisdom from the mind.

The greater dharma that does not have any action and effort,
Neither accepting or rejecting anything,
Is the essence, self-rising wisdom, bodhicitta.
It does not go beyond the straightforwardness of that essence.
Fully complete, it need not strive for anything else.
Self-established, it seeks for nothing from another.

This is the essence of the sun. This is the meaning.
Luminous, Self-established, maintained to rest without moving.
The others have taught the clearing away of clouds and darkness
As something that is to be accomplished by means of effort.
This is like trying to re-create the eternal sun.
The distinction between the two is like that between heaven and earth.

Nowadays the pompous elephants of ati
Allege that the proliferating multitude
Of discursive, flickering thoughts is really bodhicitta.
All these deluded ones are in the Space of darkness.
They are far from the nature of the great perfection.
They do not even know the power of manifestation
And the manifestation that rises from that power,
What need is there to speak of the essence, bodhicitta?

This is primordial purity of bodhicitta,
The space of the absolute, the truth of dharmata,
Prajnaparamita transcending speech and thought,
Its state unmoving, its nature the field of luminosity.
Eternally free from the flickering discharge of complexity,
That which is called its essence is like the heart of the sun.
By its power of manifestation there is unobstructed arising
Of transparent insight free from analysis and examining,
Vividly luminous, yet without fixation or grasper.

The insight that arises from the power of manifestation
Is the insight of understanding, which is called the mind of complexity.
It produces fixation and grasping, along with their various seeds.
That which is objectless then is fixated as the five objects,
That which is egoless ego grasps as the five-fold kleshas.
No matter what confused appearances there may be,
Of an outer vessel and inner essence of the world,
Though they appear as samsara, still they rise from the power.
They are appearances wrongly grasped by non-realization.

Not coming from anywhere, not going or abiding anywhere,
The realization of the great space of dharmata
Is the vision of the three worlds as perfectly liberated.
The teaching of ati, the self-existing vajra heart,
Arises as the Space of great vastness, Samantabhadra.

In the essence of bodhicitta, which is completely pure,
There are no objects or dharmas about which to have a view.
There is not so much as an atom of a viewer,
Nor is there anything there that might be something viewed.
No mind to meditate nor any dharmas for meditation.
Actor and action are non-dual and self-existent,
Without so much as an atom of fruition to be established.

For a non-existent dharma, there is no progress of bhumis;
So the path by which these are reached is eternally non-existent.
The luminosity of the great bindu already exists;
So there are no discursive emanating and gathering,
As in the visualized mandalas of the development stage;
No mantras or recitations; no samayas or abhishekas;
No concept of gradual union, no subsequent stage of perfecting.
In kaya and wisdom, which have existed from all eternity,
There are no such things as causes and fruitions
Arising from the conjunction of incidental conditions.
There is no self-arising wisdom where these exist.
As what is composite, because of that, will be destroyed,
It is characterized as self-existing and uncompounded.

Therefore, the essence of the absolute space of the dhatu
Transcending cause and effect, not having the ten natures,
Is the nature of mind, without any effort or being established.
This is the ultimate meaning of the natural state.
All the complexities of existence and non-existence,
Should be known to be pacified into emptiness.

Chapter 6 - The Teaching that Everything is Included in Bodhicitta

As the solar rays are included in the essence of the sun,
So are all dharmas within their root, which is bodhicitta.
When they are examined, both the impure, confusion,
Which is the vessel and essence of the phenomenal world,
And the space that exists supporting this, whatever rises,
Are included in groundless, eternally liberated mind.
Within the great vastness, primordial Space of dharmata,
Both confusion and non-confusion are included
In a way beyond the realm of names and of their meanings.

Pure experience, the kayas and buddha fields,
And the miraculous play of wisdom and buddha activity
Are included within the self-arising state
Where nothing has been added and nothing taken away.
Bodhicitta, including all the phenomenal world,
Including the state of samsara as well as the state of nirvana,
Like the sun in the sky, is luminous, empty, and uncompounded.
Primordial, self-arising, eternal Space is vast.

Nature of mind, great space, changeless state of the sky;
Play without fixation of the power of bodhicitta;
Sovereign over samsara, nirvana, and all the yanas;
By non-action alone they all are overpowered.
Without passing into extreme separation of objects as other,
They never are parted from bodhicitta dharmata.

Since everything arises as Samantabhadra,
Whose self-existing unity leaves nothing out,
All is included within his matchless excellence,
As all-good dharmadhatu, greatest of the great.
Just as a king includes all things within his power,
There is nothing in all of samsara and nirvana
That goes beyond the realm where he is sovereign.

All is total goodness, and nothing is not good.
All is Samantabhadra, one without good or evil.
All that exists or does not exist is a single space,
All is one self-existing, motionless equanimity.

All arises from the single dharmadhatu.
This unproduced state has no establishing and no effort.
Nothing can be outside the dhatu, one's source and essence.
From where would an effort come? Where would establishment be?

Without any objects to seek, unseen by meditation;
Without established existence, not coming from somewhere else;
Without any coming and going, equanimity, dharmakaya
Is included within the space of the great, self-perfected bindu.

The teachings of shravakas, pratyekabuddhas and bodhisattvas
Having resolved the issue of ego and egolessness,
Have one intended meaning, simplicity like the sky.
The teaching of great ati yoga, the secret that is supreme,
Is vastness of space, without separation of self and other.
So resting in self-rising wisdom, the natural state as it is,
This highest essence includes the intentions of them all.

The three classes kriya, upa, and yoga hold as one,
That from oneself, and the deities, samadhi and clouds of offerings,
The three gates are purified, and siddhi is attained.
For the vajra peak as well, the secret king of teachings,
The sights and sounds of insight, which are completely pure,
Are deities that have existed from all eternity.
The three gates' utter purity manifests as siddhi.
This excellent essence includes the intentions of them all.

In the three levels of maha, anu, and ati yoga
All of the vessel and essence of the phenomenal world
Exists in the form of gods and goddesses and their fields.
Space and wisdom, inseparable and utterly pure,
Are maintained to be natural wisdom, not going beyond dharmata.
Secret, all is completely pure;
It is the palace that never needed to be built.
This is the space of eternity; this is the field of bliss.
Having no inside and outside, all-pervading, encompassing;
Having no fixated dharmas to seek, accept, or reject;
The vast Space of dharmakaya is eternal and universal.
This great secret essence includes the intentions of them all.

One is perfection, all is perfection; Space that unites all dharmas.
Self-luminosity, that is eternally just as it is,
Is also included within that great, self-existing state.

Chapter 7 - Everything is the Eternal Self-Existence of Bodhicitta

The self-existing nature of the teaching of bodhicitta,
Is the uncreated attainment, the peak of the king of mountains.
The supreme, great king of vehicles towers over all.
As on reaching the summit of the king of mountains,
Though one sees the lower valleys all at once,
The valleys do not see the nature of the peak;
In that way, the vajra essence, which is ati,
The peak of yanas, sees clearly the meaning of them all;
But the lower vehicles do not see the meaning of ati.

As, if one supplicates a great, wish-fulfilling gem,
All that is desired naturally rises from it,
In which it is unlike all ordinary things;
So, trikaya, the vajra essence, is self-existing.
As space that is self-established, Buddha is self-achieved.
This is greatness that has no effort and no establishment.
When lower yanas accept and reject and make an effort,
There is no accomplishment for many kalpas;
A path of that kind is exhausting in its futility.

Primordial, monolithic equality, bodhicitta;
Vastness of dharmata; suchness just as it is;
Is the nature of dharmakaya, primordial Space of equality;
Existing in all, but the object of only a fortunate few.
If one lets things rest as they are, then this will come to pass.
All-pervading, all-encompassing self-luminosity,
Is self-existing enjoyment/activity, sambhogakaya.
It exists in all, but is an object seen by few.
It manifests when one accepts whatever appears,
Without any effort or any action of being sought.

That which is designated as being nirmanakaya,
Is the all-encompassing Space of unobstructed play.
Existing in all, at the time of rising it clearly appears.
Wish-granting qualities and miraculous buddha activity
Are only this otherless purity, this very self-insight Space.
Like troubled water, left alone it will clear itself.
As the dharmas are already pure primordially,
This cannot be attained by means of its being sought.
The luminous, self-existing Space of enlightened buddhahood
Is accomplished already, and need not be accomplished now.
This is the vision of greatness which is self-existing.
This is the vision of the Space of dharmata.
Do not strive for what is unchanging and self-existing.

The eternal primordial ground, the ground of things as they are;
The ground of the garbha, the heart-essence of enlightenment,
Does not go beyond the realm of its own nature.
Do not go beyond luminous Space, the meaning of insight.
The reasons that all is accomplished by being left as it is
Are the changeless and omnipresent masters of everything,
Five wisdoms, Five kayas, five kinds of speech and mind,
Five kinds of quality, five kinds of buddha activity.
Like the first primordial buddha who spontaneously
Was established in this Space without beginning and end,
Do not look anywhere else. The nature always existed.

The self-arising wisdom of all sentient beings
Unmade and unsought, exists by itself as dharmakaya.
Do not fixate on renouncing or receiving,
But rest instead within this state of dharmadhatu.
Unmoving, unthinking essence, like a mountain of equanimity,
Uncreated accomplishment, the Space of the ground is vast.
Unchanging, universal lord of kaya and wisdom.
Vase of royal anointment, great self-arising empowerment.
Since the vessel and essence of the phenomenal world
Are eternal self-existence, this need not be sought or produced.
The nature is self-existing. It does it all for you.
Everything blossoms as great, self-existing spontaneity.

Chapter 8 - The Non-Duality of Bodhicitta

In the single space of everything, self-arising wisdom,
Everything exists non-dually with the essence.
Dualistic appearance arises ceaselessly
As the play of manifestation of the power of insight.
Dualistic appearance arises as the play
That manifests the unobstructed power of insight.
This is called bodhicitta's non-duality
With the realm of mere appearance and that of projected conceptions.

From enlightened insight that is without transition or change
The phenomenal world, samsara as well as nirvana, rises.
Here there is nothing to be abandoned or be attained.
From the viewpoint of yoga without a grasper or fixated objects,
This appearance of what is not there seems like a wondrous joke.

In what has no appearance, various appearances rise.
In what has no emptiness, center and limit are fully encompassed.
In what has no grasper and is without fixated objects,
Still the I is attached to individual selfhood.
In what has no ground and root, successions of births appear.
In what has no negation and no establishing,
Accepting, rejecting, joy, and sorrow, are produced.

When one looks outward, appearance of beings is very strange.
By attachment to what is untrue as true, it seems to be true.
By attachment to clarity as confused, it seems confused.
By attachment to what is not fixed as fixed, it seems to be fixed.
By attachment to what is not as existing, it seems to exist.
By attachment to what is unpleasant as pleasant, it seems to please.

What is untrue is then fixated as being true.
What is unconfused is fixated as confused.
What is uncertain is fixated then as being certain.
What is beyond the scope of existence and non-existence
Is then fixated as being existent or non-existent.
What is unpleasant is then fixated as being pleasant.

When the mind is beguiled by various superficial objects,
The instant of insight lengthens into a meaningless chain.
It goes beyond days and months; then years, and the lives of men.
Beings grasp the non-dual as two and are deceived.

When one looks within, at the purified mind of yoga,
Insight, groundless and independent, is free from names.
It is not seen as expressible by characteristics.
One dispenses with organized view and meditation.
Natural, even and vast; pervasive and all-encompassing;
Unpracticable, unbounded by sessions or retreats;
It ranges freely, completely and totally unrestricted.

One looks and all of the objects that seemed to be external,
Are ethereal, tenuous wraiths; diaphanous, fluid transparency;
Ungraspable, protean bubbles; hollow pretensions of substance.
No dharmas are there to grasp as objective reference points.

Sound and appearance, understanding and memory,
Experience and feeling are none of them as they were.
"What is this? Is this the appearance of madness?
Is it that I am dreaming?" One asks oneself such questions.

Free from perception of enemies as well as friends,
Free from desire and hatred, near and far,
With no bounded partialities of day and night,
With neither distinction or preference, in total, single equality;
One awakes from samsara, fixation of reference points.

Since self-arising wisdom is not realized as a "self,"
It escapes the cage of accepting, rejecting, renouncing and antidotes.
If there is that realization, there is non-dual wisdom.
The vision of self-arising Samantabhadra is gained.
This is the ground of exhaustion with no place to fall back.

Not realizing equality, the self-arising state,
Having become attached to words like "non-duality,"
If one puts one's confidence in the conceptual notion
That no one should have ideas about anything whatsoever,
One's wrong conception is in the Space of ignorant darkness.

Therefore train in that which is self-arising and changeless
In perfect contemplation of the non-dual King.
The three worlds are already completely liberated.
That is the meaning intended by its being said,
"Samsara and nirvana do not exist as two."

Coming forth from within the nature of itself,
The fortress of dharmakaya spontaneously arises.
Completely pure like space, its rising transcends example.

While one has attachment to the individuality
Of "this and that," because this is dualistic,
One is caught in the cage of confusion of self and other.

When, because "this" is unbounded by anything different,
All is the all-encompassing equality,
And there is nothing to serve as conceptual reference points,
This is what is known as non-dual realization.
So it has been said by Vajrasattva himself.

Chapter 9 - All Dharmas Pass the Pass Into the Space of Enlightenment

In the single space which is the nature of the great vastness,
Bodhicitta which is as limitless as the sky,
Is the nail of space that holds everything together.
To bring out the pith of this and speak of just the essence:

Greatest of the great, the vast mind of Samantabhadra,
One's own essence, by its universal power,
Knowing its own measure, knows the measure of all.
The one great Space is the non-dual, great equality
Of realization and the lack of realization,
Of liberation and the lack of liberation.

Like the bird that comes out of the egg with feathers and wings full-grown,
And, free from confinement, soars within the Space of the sky,
Overpowering nagas, and cutting through mighty chasms;
So the peak of vehicles, the vajra heart,
For those who are fortunate yogins of that realization,
Conquers the lower yanas, cutting through the abyss of samsara.

The great equality is totally liberated.
It would be inconsistent for anything like that
To have cause and effect or effort and establishing.
That the ultimate vehicle is entirely immovable
Is what is consistent with the meaning of equality.

All is mahasukha, as limitless as the sky.
Within that Spaciousness, the Space of dharmakaya,
Where there is nothing at all that is not liberated,
The self-occurrence of dharmata has come to pass,
The kaya of the essence, which is the vajra heart.

Within the body which has arisen from the vasanas
There is the perfect power which is the vajra essence.
When the samsaric body has been cast away,
The body of birth and death, and the body of the bardo,
Insight alone remains entirely inseparable.
As it exists within the level of self-existence,
The reign of the King has been established at that time.
Then his limitless emanations will arise.

As for the unobstructed entering of all,
When in actionlessness we ride upon the pranas,
That entering is the sphere of one's yogic activity.
None of the lesser vehicles ever teach this properly;
But by ati the pith of fruition is properly taught.

As for the birthless rising of miracles of birth,
Fixating marks of cause and effect is confusion of mind.
As for the ati teaching, "No cause and no effect,"
What is wrong for the lower yanas is here the pith of reason.

Buddhas and beings are realized to be inseparable.
Dualistic fixation of samsara and nirvana
Here is realized as merely the mind of confusion.
When in ati these are taught to be non-dual,
What is wrong for the lower yanas is here the pith of reason.

Liberation is neither realized nor otherwise.
Desire for liberation after becoming realized
Exists as an enemy of equality-equanimity.
When ati teaches that equality is a unity,
What is wrong for the lower yanas is here the pith of reason.

Not depending on any particular skillful means,
By which there is the production of particular characteristics,
Inexpressible mind of a fool who wants no liberation,
When ati teaches inseparability from its meaning,
What is wrong for the lower yanas is here the pith of reason.

The eternally topless, bottomless, limitless, great perfection
Is said to be beyond reach by those with the mind of a fool.
But ati teaching, without extremes is all-sufficient,
What is wrong in the lower yanas is here the pith of reason.

Within the single bindu there is the elimination
Of all our understanding and every kind of reason.
All hope and fear about the fruition has been cut off.
Therefore this state is said to be limitless like the sky.

It is vast. It is great. It is limitless, like the sky itself.
Its existence is that of the mind of all the victorious ones.
There is nothing to gain and nothing to leave behind.
The Space of the single bindu is liberated eternally.
It has neither realization, nor any lack of it.
Bliss is the actionless path of this state of yogic union.

This insight without objects, which is eternal buddhahood,
Transcends all grounds of confusion, not wandering in samsara.
There is no one to be confused and no confused existence.
All is dharmadhatu, a single luminous Space.
There is no exclusion of anything earlier or later.

This is vastness. It is as limitless as the sky.
It is self existent, eternally as it is.
It is primordial in its purity from samsara.

Liberation is not entered into; nirvana is not received.
Within this unchanging state, which is known as the great Space,
Samsara as well as nirvana have never existed at all.

Here there is no conception of either hope or fear.
Or of anything being abandoned, or anything attained.
"Primordial ground of enlightenment; Space that is great and vast."
These are only names. The meaning transcends all marks.

Because nirvana as well as samsara passes the pass
Into being neither liberated nor confused,
No one should strive to produce artificial transformations.

For insight having no wide and narrow, high or low,
Never falling into bias or partiality,
To have any kind of goal is something superfluous.

For insight that has no act or actor, coming or going,
With no time or antidotes, grasping and effort are forgotten.

When there is conception of purpose, that is the cause of bondage.
Do not create grasping because of reference points.
Rather see all things in terms of totality.

Whether dharmas are liberated from all eternity,
Or are not liberated, either way it is alright.

Whether the natural state is by its nature pure,
Or whether there is impurity, either way it is alright.
Whether mind is simple or complex, it is alright.
Whether things as they are are there or not, it is still alright.

Whether nirvana's and samsara's natures exist as two,
Or they exist non-dually, either way it is alright.
Whether all limits of thought and expression have been transcended,
Or they are not transcended, either way it is alright.
Whether or not confused affirmation and negation
Have been eliminated, either way it is alright.
Whether there has been realization of the view,
Or there is no realization, either way it is alright.

Whether one meditates on the meaning of dharmata,
Or there is non-meditation, either way it is alright.
Because there is no accepting and also no rejecting,
Whether or not things are analyzed, either way it is alright.
Whether fruition occurs, in the form of the natural state,
Or there is no fruition, either way it is alright.
Whether one progresses over the paths and the bhumis,
Or there is no progression, either way it is alright.

Whether there is liberation from obscuration,
Or there is no liberation, either way it is alright.
Whether dharmata is developed and perfected,
Or the stages are not completed, either way it is alright.
Whether the fruit of liberation has been attained,
Or there is no attainment, either way it is alright.
Whether the six kinds of beings wander within samsara,
Or whether there is no wandering, either way it is alright.

Whether the nature of things arises spontaneously,
Or does not arise at all, either way it is alright.
Whether or not one is bound by dualistic fixations
Of eternity or of nothingness, either way it is alright.
Whether one reaches the realization of dharmata,
Or whether there is no reaching, either way it is alright.
Whether one follows the steps of the forefathers,
Or whether there is no following, either way it is alright.

With heaven and earth overthrown, whatever appearances rise
Transparently hollow and groundless, are an even and stressless flow.
Insubstantial and unconstrained by conceptual reference points,
They ripple and billow obscurely, shifting and fading away.

Like a madman, without the duality of hope and fear,
Without any bias in terms of view or meditation,
Destroy the mind of desire that has fixated goals.
Not related to ego's desires, this is not established by effort.

Let there be the rising of whatever may arise.
Let there be appearance of whatever may appear.
Let there be the dawning of whatever wants to dawn.
Whatever may come into existence, let it be.
Let there be whatever exists or does not exist.

With no certain conduct, insight is in the state of thögel.
There is no way of distinguishing what is Dharma or not.
Just so, without reference point, it slips the net of doctrine.

Since it pervades and encompasses eating, as well as walking,
Sleeping as well as waking, day as well as night,
Equality-equanimity, nature of dharmata,
Has no gods to worship, no devils to exorcise,
Without any dharma to contemplate, it is just ordinary.

The uncreated King gathers all into one without arrogance.
His solitary ease is the freedom of evenness.
Without production, his task was complete from all eternity.
Free from having to strive and establish, he is blissful.

Since there is nothing at all that one could try to gain,
The dharmas of establishing mind have been exhausted.
Since there is nothing at all that is to be abandoned,
One transcends the bondage of being attached to antidotes.
Since any and every thing, neither "is" nor "is not,"
Whatever appears or arises is choicelessly liberated.

With no liberation, self-liberation, eternally free,
Because there are no dharmas of any kind whatsoever,
Monolithic, this is without any reference point.
It has transcended even the dharma of passing the pass.

Vast Space! Vast Space! State of vastness!
This is Longchen Rabjam, great, universal, Space;
Space of luminosity; all-pervading space;
One Space without duality, inclusive and blissful Space.

Within that Space variety is self-liberated,
Having reached the level of exhausting dharmata.
It is changeless self-existence, the peak of good aspirations.

You beings who wish to follow, and to be like me,
Let us all unite within this one great Space,
Which has pervaded everything from all eternity.
This is establishment of the eternal kingdom,
Existence on the level of Samantabhadra.

Chapter 13

I prostrate to glorious Samantabhadra.

Primordial self-existence, wondrous, marvelous Dharma;
Self-arisen wisdom, luminous bodhicitta;
Treasury, source of the rising of all the phenomenal world;
The vessel as well as the essence, samsara as well as nirvana;
I prostrate to that motionless simplicity.

Peak of the yanas, Mount Meru; Space of the sun and moon;
Naturally radiant Space; Space of the vajra heart;
Natural state of Space existing as it is;
Without any effort; without any act of being established;
Listen while I explain the space of dharmadhatu,
Wondrous in its rising, eternal, and universal.

Spontaneous Spaciousness, this is the ground of arising of everything;
Empty in essence, yet unobstructed in its nature,
It is nothing whatever, and yet it arises as everything.
Since the dawn of both samsara and nirvana
Rises out of the Space of trikaya as itself,
They do not depart from the space of the dhatu, the realm of bliss.

Within the great space of Mind, the changeless state of the sky;
Is play without limit, Space of the miracles of compassion,
All ornaments of the dhatu; other than that there is nothing.
To emanate and to gather are powers of bodhicitta.
It is nothing whatever, because it arises as everything.
O the wonderful miracle! Wondrous, marvelous Dharma!

All forms of the outer and inner appearance of sentient beings;
Are ornaments of the space, that arise as the wheel of body.
Whatever sounds and speech are heard without exception,
Are ornaments of the space, that arise as the wheel of speech.
The flickering discharge of memory and understanding,
And also the state of non-thought transcending all reflection,
Are ornaments of the space, that arising as wheel of mind.

Inhabitants of the six lokas, having the four-fold manners of birth,
Do not move even an atom apart from dharmadhatu.
Appearances of the six sense-objects as grasper and grasped
Do not occur within the state of dharmadhatu.
There all appearance seems to be like an illusion.
Tenuous and ethereal, it is without support.
This is the state of eternal emptiness of the great vastness,
Self-luminous suchness, rising to ornament dharmadhatu.

Thus, this glorious splendor, this great spaciousness,
Exists as self-existing equanimity.
This is unmoving dharmakaya, bodhicitta;
Eternally just as it is, self-emptiness that is changeless.
So all that appears is the natural wisdom of dharmata,
Undiminishing space of bliss, without any action or effort.

As for its self-luminosity, which does not depart from it;
This is sambhogakaya, enjoying the perfect expression.
This, from the time it appears, is the self-existing nature.
Without fabrication or change, it is natural, total equality.

The manifestation of play as variety without mixing,
That is the wondrous, magical meaning of emanation.
It does not transcend the actionless state of Samantabhadra.

In bodhicitta itself, there is no dangerous precipice.
Effortlessness of trikaya, spontaneous perfection,
Does not depart from space, self-existing and uncompounded;
Kayas and wisdoms, self-perfected buddha activity,
Eternally perfect assembly, eternally risen great Space.

The self-existing eternal fields are without change.
In dharmadhatu, dharmata is what is seen.
Knowledge without obstruction rises to ornament space;
Not established by action, existing from all eternity;
Just like the space of the sun; wondrous, marvelous Dharma.

In this eternal spontaneous womb, the space of the dhatu,
Samsara is total goodness; nirvana is also good;
And yet within total goodness, the Space of Samantabhadra,
Samsara as well as nirvana never existed at all.
Appearance is total goodness; emptiness also is good;
And yet within total goodness, the Space of Samantabhadra,
Neither appearance nor emptiness ever existed at all.

Birth and death are good; sorrow and bliss are good;
And yet within total goodness, the Space of Samantabhadra,
There are no bliss and sorrow; there are no birth or death.
Oneself is total goodness; the other is also good.
Eternity and the void exist as total goodness;
And yet within total goodness, the Space of Samantabhadra,
There are no self and other, eternal existence or nothingness.

By fixating what is non-existent as existing,
Arises the state that is designated as confusion.
Its nature is like a dream that is without support.
That someone should be attached to samsara and nirvana
As independent realities is something very strange!

Samantabhadra is everything; He is the great self-existence.
He was not and is not confused, and never will be so.
Samsara is only a name, for what in reality
Goes beyond the extremes of existence or non-existence.
Whoever was not confused about things at an earlier time,
Will now be unstained by confusion and will not become confused.
The intention of this is that the three worlds are alpha-pure.

With no confusion or any dharmas of non-confusion,
There is natural, self-existing, eternal great insight.
It never was or is or will be liberated.
Nirvana is only a name. No one is liberated;
Nor will they be, already unbound for eternity;
Completely pure like the sky, unlimited and impartial.
The intention of this is the total freedom of alpha-purity.

In brief, from the vast and self-existing womb of space,
Whatever rises is the skillful play of energy
That is samsara and nirvana equally.
Nevertheless, from the moment of their mere arising,
Samsara as well as nirvana never existed at all.
As from the power of sleep whatever dreams arise
Have no reality, but are just one's own insight,
Which naturally exists on the level of mahasukha,
These are great vastness, self-existing equanimity,
The total all-encompassing equality.

The nature of space, primordial in its self-existence,
Having no inside or outside, pervades and encompasses all.
It is unlimited by any kind of extremes,
Unbounded above and below, as well in all directions.
Without the duality of vastness and constraint,
The purity of insight is like that of space;
Space that is free from complexities of conceptual thought.

From birthless space arise the miracles of birth.
With nothing that is real, there also are no limits.
This describes the signless, which has no marks of things.
Filling the directions, with nature like the sky,
It is unborn self-existence, free from before and after.
In it there is no beginning and no end.

The essence of everything, samsara as well as nirvana,
Bodhicitta is self-existing and has no birth.
It has no rising or birth, and is not something fixed.
Coming from nowhere, it has no place where it can go.
Unbounded by past and future, bodhicitta-Space,
Without any coming and going pervades and encompasses all.

Beginningless, endless, and centerless suchness of dharmata;
All-pervading and all-encompassing nature of purity;
It is just as limitless as the space of the sky.
Without a beginning or end, beyond both past and future;
Unborn and unceasing, with no solidified characteristics;
Not coming and going, with no distinction of this and that;
It is unestablished and effortless, empty of dharmas of action;
Without directions, parts, or center; ground of suchness;
Without any concept or discontinuity, equal space.

Since everything is the equal nature of dharmata,
Not even one thing exists outside of the Space of equality.
Equal as one and equal as all, since bodhicitta
Is unborn in its vastness, limitless as space,
Therefore the state of equality has no discontinuity.
This is the Space of eternity. This is the fortress of vastness.
Boundless and birthless totality, fortress of dharmakaya,
Unchanging self-existence, precious, secret fortress,
Samsara as well as nirvana, all the phenomenal world,
The primordial fortress is perfect, being all in one.

Within the boundless, all-pervading, encompassing ground,
Without any bias toward samsara or nirvana,
Is the fortified castle which is the seat of bodhicitta.
The vastness of Space of dharmata is a lofty peak.
Unmade nature, vast circle of the four directions;
Without any stages or effort this vastest of gates is entered.

Ornamented by this self-existing rich display
Natural wisdom, the King, is seated on his throne.
Wisdom's energies gather and emanate appearance,
So that all objects are empowered as ministers.
Self-existing samadhi is the holy Queen;
And self-rising realization the Prince with his attendants;
Contained in the Space of great bliss, as non-thought and its self-luminosity.

This motionless state, transcending all expression or thought,
Rules over the vessel and essence of all the phenomenal world.
This is the realm of dharmadhatu, vast and wide.

When one dwells in this realm, then all is dharmakaya.
Not going beyond the unity of natural wisdom,
It was never created. It was always complete.

It is the transcendence of effort and establishment.
As if in a droplet of bindu without any angles or corners,
One is contained within the realm of unfigured Space.

The six kinds of beings, as well as all the buddha fields,
Are otherless dharmata, the state of the sky itself.
The single taste of self-luminous, insight-bodhicitta
Encompasses and perfects samsara as well as nirvana.

Within this dharmadhatu treasury, the source of all,
Nirvana has existed from all eternity.
As it is self-existing, it does not need to be sought;
So changeless, objectless dharmakaya is universal.
The vessel and essence, all outer and inner appearance,
Exist as the perfect enjoyment of sambhogakaya.
Nirmanakaya, like a reflection, is self-arising.
Trikaya, the ornament, does not have imperfect dharmas;
So all is the play of the Buddha's body, speech, and mind.
Though all the Sugata's buddha fields cannot be counted,
The Space of trikaya, from which they rise, is mind itself.

The nature of samsara, the city of the six lokas,
Rises from dharmadhatu like a mere reflection.
Apparent variety—joy and sorrow, birth and death—
Is like a magic show within the space of mind itself.
The groundless appearance of existence and non-existence
Rises from temporary conditions, like clouds in the sky.
It is not existent; nor is it non-existent.
And because its nature goes beyond extremes,
By bindu, simplicity, it is encompassed and perfected.

Mind itself, which is the nature of bodhicitta,
Is pure like the sky with no joy and sorrow, birth or death.
Free from the dharmas of samsara and nirvana,
It has no bias toward the solidity of things.
As this is the markless, Space of the sky, supremely vast,
It is motionless, changeless, uncompounded self-existence.
Enlightened as the vajra essence, luminosity,
Everything is the self-arising field of bliss.
This self-existing equality is the supreme enlightenment.

All is completely included, included in bodhicitta.
Since apart from bodhicitta there are no dharmas,
All of the dharmas are of the nature of bodhicitta.

The example of bodhicitta is being like the sky.
Mind has no causes, having no objects that are born.
"Space of the sky" is nothing but a symbolic example
For expressionless, non-existence, transcending the objects of thought.
If even the symbol is something that is unknowable,
How could the meaning exemplified ever be thought or expressed?
It should be known to exemplify purity of the nature.

That which is the meaning of this is our own insight.
It is bodhicitta, as limitless as the sky.
Not an object of thought, beyond expression or symbol,
It is motionless self-luminosity, vast and radiant Space.
Not having been created, it is self-existent.
Vast circle of enlightened essence, dharmakaya,
It has no vastness or constraint, no high or low.

The reason is, for all that rises from its power,
When it arises, nothing rises anywhere.
Rising is only a name, when analyzed like the sky,
There is only the all-inclusive state of perfection,
The great equality without partial limitations,
All-pervading and all-encompassing Space itself,
Without any fixated objects, without any grasping subject.

Self-rising wisdom, dharmata, is free from borders.
It is taught by example; joining example, meaning, and reason.
In equal space the subject of this great threefold ennailment,
All is included, without separation or clearing away.
In this, the great vastness, the all pervading womb of space,
Everything is the state of equality for eternity.
It has no before and after, nor any good and evil.
This is the vision of Samantabhadra and Vajrasattva.

Bodhicitta is like the heart-essence of the sun,
A luminous state, which is eternally uncompounded;
Without obscuration of dharmas; self-existing transparency;
Without complication by dharmas; non-thought of dharmata.

Because it is empty, therefore it is dharmakaya.
Because it is luminous, therefore it is sambhogakaya.
Because it radiates, therefore it is nirmanakaya.
This is trikaya that is not gathered or separated.

As its qualities are eternally self-existing,
It has no obscuration by the darkness of faults and evils.
It is without the transition and changes of the three times.
Being without any past and future, it is one.
It is one, pervading all buddhas and sentient beings.
This is known as naturally rising bodhicitta.

Its manifested power is whatever rises;
Both realization and the lack of realization.
This is the vessel and essence of the phenomenal world,
And whatever appearances there may be of sentient beings.

Though all of these rise as the nature that is unobstructed;
Like the water of a mirage, an echo, or a dream,
An emanation, reflection, or a castle of the gandharvas;
As with distorted vision, what seems to be there is not.
It is mere temporary appearance, without any ground or support.
Realize such interludes to be actually dharmakaya.

Everything here is within the state of bodhicitta.
In the unmade ultimate one is perfect, and all is perfect.
That self-perfected nature is self-arising wisdom.

Bodhicitta is what appears and what does not.
It has no dharmas of samsara or nirvana,
Nor does it have the dharmas of external and internal;
Yet from its power, by its nature of movement,
All the variety that exists in the world of phenomena,
Samsara as well as nirvana, rises up as play.

From the time of their mere arising, they are form that is empty of nature.
From the unborn come all the things that appear to be born.
From the very time of appearing, they were not born at all.
From the unceasing come all the things that appear to cease.
Yet they are only ceaseless, illusory, empty form.
From the time their duration begins, no dharmas are there to endure.
What endures is groundless; there is nothing to come or go.
Since what so appears is not the thing it seems to be,
Natureless, it is nothing more than a designation.

Though from its power appearances rise spontaneously,
Dependent arising is said to be merely symbolic in nature.
From the very time of apparent arising from its power
There is no separation of aspects that rise and do not arise.
Since the power too is merely symbolic, without any essence,
Eternally all is the state without transition or change.
Not even an atom has any motion from bodhicitta.