Clearing Obstacles from the Path

B ar C ad L am S el Bar Cad Lam Sel

by Saint Nyima Ozer

Translated from the Tibetan by Dharmagupta bhiksuni lozang trinlae drolma
mahaprajapati clear light press

mahaprajapati clear light press

OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM1 I make requests to the infinite Ultimate Truth Body. I make requests to the great compassion Enjoyment Body. I make requests to the lotus-born Emanation Body. My virtuous friend's wondrous body of emanation, Born in India and made learned and studied, Arrived in central Tibet, and subdued all tyranny, And dwelled in the land of Orgyan, and worked for the purposes of transmigrators. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles.2 Clear the inside of inner obstacles.3 Clear my reality of hidden obstacles.4 Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM The wonders of your body are the view of your life: With the right, the seal of the sword is made. With the left, the seal of the summoning is made. With open mouth and clenched teeth, you look upwards. Descendant of the Conqueror, protector of transmigrators, Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM The precious holy way of understanding ultimate truth and cherishing others is the sound of your life: Having a body luminous and lustrious with light. Your right hand holds a volume of the scriptural collections5, Your left holds a scripture of a Phurba6, The profound way of ultimate truth and cherishing others fills your mind Master sage of the stone caves. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM Stainless, excellent abode; experiencer of every joy, In India, Tibet, and border-lands, Bestowing blessings, your life proceeded.
2

mahaprajapati clear light press

Mountains of sweet smelling, fragrant incense, Flowers, lotuses, even winter-blooms, Springs of full awakening, waters of nectar, To the excellent abodes, those of bliss, Supreme born, of good conduct, wearing religious robes, Your right hand holds a nine-pointed adamant, Your left holds a precious vessel, Completely filled inside with a nectar of blood, Oath-bound space beings7, bound to the holy And personal meditational beings8, Beholding their faces, the attainments are realized. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM The teachings of the Conqueror are the produce of your life. You established the practice in the woods of Ya mountain9, Approaching the phurba10, you conditioned the dimensions of space. With the seal of the adamant, you absorb and roll11, Rolling, you conditioned the sandalwood forests. With fire blazing and trembling, on lakes and plains, The non-Buddhist mountain slopes and lands all were incinerated; The black goblins12 were reduced to atoms; The unequalled rival demons were destroyed. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM Subduing the mouths of the cannibals is the deed of your life. As a small boy, you had the marks of distinction, A miraculous good body, elegant color, Straight teeth and handsome golden hair. At the age of 16 you received the method. Adorned with the myriad precious ornaments, Your right hand holding a bell-metal ritual dagger, You suppressed the mouths of cannibals and demons. Your left holding a teakwood ritual dagger, You guarded devoted adolescence. On the neck, you brandished a iron ritual dagger. Inseparable from meditational beings and celestials,
3

mahaprajapati clear light press

With your inseparable emanation body you ornament the world. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM Your life of caring for the land of ghosts. In the fertile soil of flaming explanation, Amidst a lake of an arrow's entire flight, Like cooling on top of a lotus, Reflecting within the lotus. Thus so the marks and lotus arose. The complete, fully awakened state actually came to be. Like that, the emanation body possessed the marks. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM Your life of deeds dawned in Tibet. The faithful people invited your glory. Manifesting whatever was appropriate for each one. At the summits of Tsang13, You bound to oath the layman war celestial. In the regions, in Tsha Shod of Tshawa14, the tyrant lay celestials; the twenty-one oath-bound were bound. In clouds of love of those many regions, You bestowed the realizations to the four monastics, You, the distinguished, most excellent Superior15 knowledge-holder. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM In the Plain of Plains, You bound to oath the twelve sorceresses, In the Tibetan regions, on the summit of Kha'i, You bound to oath Gangs dKar Sha Med16.
4

mahaprajapati clear light press

To the heart-official of the 'Dam Shod17 prince You bound to oath Thang Lha Yar Zhur18. Also above the Has Po Ri19 mountain, You bound to oath all cannibals and celestials. By superior celestials and demons all, From the mountain passes, the essence of life force was offered. From the mountain passes, the teachings became protected. From the mountain passes, all consented to become servants. Your psychic powers and miraculous displays are premium powers. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM1 As for the teachings of the holy Way of understanding ultimate truth and cherishing others, Your life of produce is like a victory banner, Samye not manufactured but spontaneously perfected20. You noble visions completely accomplished. By your three-fold incarnations your marks are also donned, The one, arisen from the lotus thus so, The one, Padmasambhava, The one, lake-born adamant-adorned, The secretly named, the Wrathfully Manifesting Adamant21, Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM You established the Chims Phur village at Samye, You averted the calamities and bestowed realizations. You placed the kings and ministers on the path of liberation. You eliminated the destructive forms of the Bon teachings, You showed the precious, stainless ultimate truth body. And placed the fortunate ones in the state of a Fully Awakened One. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles.

mahaprajapati clear light press

Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM Thereafter you arrived at Oryan. And presently subdue the mouths of cannibals. What great wonder to transform from human to beyond, Your marvelous conduct a great revelation. Your psychic powers and miraculous displays are premium powers. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM You are the glorious guide for the body, speech, and mind of transmigrators. All negativities abandoned, you know the states of the three realms. Excellent realizations attained, you are the body of excellent great bliss. You remove with certainty all obstacles to realizing full awakening. Bless me with compassion, With affection, guide me and others. Through your insight, grant me realizations. Through your energy, throw off my obstacles. Clear the outside of outer obstacles. Clear the inside of inner obstacles. Clear my reality of hidden obstacles. Reverently I pay respects and come for refuge. OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA THOD THRENG RTSAL VARJA SAMAYA DZA22 SIDDHI PHA LA HUM AH23 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Short Verse Oh three times' Awakened One Precious Virtuous Friend. I bow to the feet of the One of Great Bliss, grant all realizations. Clear all obstacles and manifesting wrath, reduce obstructions to atoms. I make requests to you, please bless me. Pacify outer, inner, and hidden obstacles. Bless all to manifest spontaneously according to my intentions. Literally, Om-Ah-Hum-Adamantine-Virtuous Friend-Lotus-Realization-Hum Outer obstacles are regional afflictions such as wars, environmental catastrophes, famines, epidemics, etc.
2 1

mahaprajapati clear light press

Inner obstacles are personal afflictions such as sickness, etc. Hidden or secret obstacles are mental afflictions such as fear, depression, anxiety, doubt, etc. 5 I.e., Pitakas of Sutra/Discourses, Vinaya/Ethics, Abhidharma/Treasury of Phenomena. 6 I.e., Vajrakilaya/Dorje Phurba/Adamantine Dagger scripture. 7 Aka dakini/mkha' 'gro 8 aka samadani/yi dam 9 Padmasambhava was said to have subdued the 'gong po demons at gya' ri gong. The 'gong po are supposed to have iron noses and be hostile to the rulers of Tibet. 10 I.e., as in actualizing the approaching retreats of the meditational being Dorje Phurba. 11 I.e., as in the rolling the Phurba ritual dagger. 12 aka Yakshas 13 aka g.ya g.yon, region of Tibet under jurisdiction of various site-celestials/gzhi bdag, such as sTag rtse ri, mGon po ri, Phung po rin chen zam bu ling, etc. 14 aka Tsha ba sGang region, under jurisdiction of site-celestials Gangs dkar ri bo (rnam gsum) and brTan Ma Dril dKar. 15 aka, Arya/'Phags pa 16 Gangs dKar Sha Med Ma, literally White Snow Mountain Fleshless One, a sorceress/bsTan Ma resident at rDo rJe Brag dKar, said, (according to NebeskyWojkowitz, in Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pgs. 185-187), to be white colored, lifts a blood-stained banner, dressed in glacier ice and with a toupet of pearls, and has a three-legged mule for a mount, 17 'Dam Shod sNar Mo is the abode of the mountain-celestial guardian of treasures, gTer bDag gNyan Chen Thang Lha 18 Literally, Upward-Snouted Plains Celestial, said by Nebesky-Wojkowitz to be another name for gNyan Chen Thang Lha, Tibet's most popular mountain-celestial and the most important according to the Nyingma tradition, who rules over the gNyan Chen Thang Lha mountain range stretching through north Tibet, and is said to be the ruler over th site celestials/gzhi bdag of the central dBus province. It is said that this gNyan Chen Thang Lha had been administered oaths several times, but only the one administered by Padmasambhava held, after the celestial tried to obstruct Padmasambhava's activities with hail and snow storms. This was accomplished by meditation on the Fully Awakened One Vajrapani/Phyag Na rDor rJe. 19 Has po ri is the mountain near Samye where gNyan Chen Thang Lha swore a second oath. 2020 bsam yas ma bzhengs lhun gyis grub is also poetry for saying the monastery at Samye was established, since bSam Yas Lhun Grub is also the common name for the monastery at Samye. 21 aka Dorje Dragpo rTsal 22 Literally, Om-Ah-Hum-Adamantine-Virtuous Friend-Lotus-Manifesting the Skull Garland-Adamantine-Commitment-Produce 23 Literally, Realizations-Bestow-Hum-Ah
4