Thirty Counsels from the Heart

Spoken by The Omniscient Longchen Rab'jampa

From the great cloud of his prayers and aspirations in the all encompassing wisdom sky of absolute space,

Warm rays of compassion and a streaming rain of nectar

Fall upon the field of those to be trained, ripening the shoots of the three dimensions of enlightened being —

To He Who is Supreme among the Three Rare and Precious Jewels, to the Protector, the Spiritual Preceptor, I bow down.

Though through the power of my prayers and aspirations  I am a follower of the supreme lineage of realisation,

I've lacked in persistence and dedication and now my meaningless life is fast drawing to a close.

I thought I would do what the Rishis had, but now I am cast down and have seen others just like me.

For this reason, and so as to rouse a genuine renunciation in my mind, I am setting down these thirty counsels of my heart.

KYE HO — Please listen!

This large circle of friends and retainers gathered by various means

And the fact that by auspicious circumstances one is master of a monastery and lands

Is just a basis for contention and a cause of attachment in one's own mind.

Dwell alone is my advice from the heart.

Repairing the ravages of si demons and subduing evil spirits at village ceremonies

One may dispense one's blessing to the crowds,

But through a greed for food and wealth it's one's own mind that will be carried off by the demons.

Tame your own mind is my advice from the heart.

Having exacted heavy taxes from the poor,

One may erect statues, monuments and so on,

But on the pretext of accumulating merit, one is only making others accumulate sin.

Endue your own mind with virtue is my advice from the heart.

Desiring one's own greatness, one may teach the Dharma to others

And with great deceit maintain a circle of highly–placed and lowly retainers

But a mind grasping at reality where there is none is just concocting pride.

Mind your own business is my advice from the heart.

Buying and selling, loaning money for interest, cheating and acting in a deceitful manner and so forth,

One may well make a hundred offerings with wealth gained in this negative manner

But merits established upon greed are just the source of the eight worldly dharmas.

Meditate on reversing desire is my advice from the heart.

Considering it to be for the wellbeing of  living beings,

One may settle the litigations of others with witness, testament, law and so on,

But basing oneself on such things just brings about the arising of self–interest and bias.

Be without hope and fear is my advice from the heart.

One may have dominion, wealth and retinue

And be reputed throughout the entire world,

But at the time of death these things have not the slightest value.

Put your effort into practice is my advice from the heart.

Stewards, attendants, highly–placed followers and the like,

May well be the pillar of your home or monastery

But they are the cause of a suffering– and regret–filled mind grasping after duality.

Minimise bustle is my advice from the heart.

Meditation–supports, offering, books, cooking utensils and so on,

Shouldering what you think you need, you may set out for mountain retreats

But your present abundance with become the source of suffering and quarrelling.

Have no needs is my advice from the heart.

In these times of the dregs of the Teachings one may rebuke the uncouth people around one,

But though one thinks this will be useful to them,

It's just a source of obscuration and poisonous thoughts.

Speak peaceful words is my advice from the heart.

With a helpful intention and no selfish ulterior motive

One may affectionately point out to people their defects

But though what one says is true, it will only ulcerate their hearts.

Speak kindly is my advice from the heart.

One may defend one's own point of view and contradict that of others

Thinking thus to preserve the purity of the Teachings

But doing this just causes impure thoughts and obscurations to arise.

Just stop arguing is my advice from the heart.

Imagining one is doing them a service,

One supports one's teacher, his lineage and philosophical views in a one-

sided and biased manner,

But praising oneself and belittling others simply increases attachment and

hatred.

Just drop it all is my advice from the heart.

Having thoroughly examined the Teachings one has heard,

One may consider recognising the errors of others to be peerless insight

But thinking like this is only to increase one's own obscuration.

Maintain purity of perception is my advice from the heart.

Mindlessly speaking only of emptiness and scorning cause and effect,

One may consider non–activity to be the ultimate teaching of the Dharma

But to give up the twofold accumulation  robs one of the good fortune stemming from practice.

Meditate upon these as one is my advice from the heart.

In the Third Initiation there is the descent of the essence and son on

And one may consider that the path of another's body  will lead one upward

But many great meditators have been taken in on the path of the impure.

Stick to the path of liberation is my advice from the heart.

One may bestow empowerment upon the unworthy,

Distribute sacramental substances to the crowds and so on,

But it's just a basis for abuse and cause for degeneration of the vows and commitments.

Bar those who seek only to dishonour what is noble is my advice from the heart.

One may consider going naked in public and other such meaningless actions

As the conduct of a penitent,

But it just makes ordinary people lose faith.

Maintain reverence and self–respect is my advice from the heart.

Wishing to be considered the greatest person here,

One may act well with greatest decorum and knowledge,

But this is the very cause of falling from the heights to the depths.

Be neither stiff nor careless is my advice from the heart.

Towns, monasteries, retreats and so on,

Not looking for special relationships no matter where one is,

Be friends with everyone, with neither special friends nor enemies.

Keep your independence is my advice from the heart.

Though one play the hypocrite, feigning fine actions

Before one's faithful patrons and so on,

Deceit on account of others is just a source of tying oneself in knots.

Let your actions be of one taste is my advice from the heart.

Although the innumerable writings on divination, astrology and medicine

Are the basis of omniscience founded on the methods of interdependent origination,

Since the create various forms of attachment, they result in the scattering of one's meditation.

Minimise such studies is my advice from the heart.

When dwelling indoors, avoid too much housekeeping and the like.

One may have all comforts and graces in the midst of one's solitude

But whatever one desires just binds one's own mind.

Put off endless doing till some other time is my advice from the heart.

Learned, noble and diligent as far as practice goes,

Biased qualities, even when brought to their highest accomplishment,

Will simply bind your mind with their associated desires.

Know how to be free and without attachment is my advice from the heart.

One may consider that various forms of protection against lightning, hail and so forth

Is the practice of the enlightened activity of subduing what is to be subdued,

But burning another's mind will only take one to the lower realms.

Keep a lowly position is my advice from the heart.

Scriptures, oral instructions and annotations,

One may have collected a great number of highly desirable and profound texts,

But if not put into practice, at the time of death they will be of no use.

Look into the mind is my advice from the heart.

When practising with single–pointed concentration, one may have experiences and discuss and compare them,

Compose teachings, songs of realisation and so forth

But, though these are natural expressions of the practice, they simply bring about an increase in dualistic thoughts.

Keep yourself from intellectualism is my advice from the heart.

When dualistic thoughts arise it's important that you look into them in their nakedness.

Once you've come to a clear decision concerning mind, from the very first the important thing is to attain stability.

Though there's nothing to meditate on, it's important to stably establish yourself in meditation.

Maintain nondistraction is my advice from the heart.

Acting in accord with cause and effect though in the state of openness,

When you have understood ‘non–doing’, keep the three grades of vows

And strive for the wellbeing of living beings with uncaused compassion,

Practice the two accumulations as inseparable is my advice from the heart.

Having followed many wise and accomplished teachers and heard many profound teachings,

Looked through a few profound sutras and tantras and thought about them a little but never tried to put them into practice —

How sad! — One just deceives oneself.

Thus for the benefit of myself and those like me, I have spoken these thirty counsels of my heart.

By whatever slight merit there may be in such an attitude of renunciation may all living beings be liberated from the solitary wastes of phenomenal existence and established in great bliss.

Following in the footsteps of the Victorious Ones of the three times, their sons and all great sages, may we become their most excellent children.

These Thirty Counsels of the Heart were composed by Ts'ültrim Lodrö in a small moment of renunciation.

translation by Mike Dickman