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A Lamp for the Path to Full Awakening

Skt. Bodhipathapradipam

Tib. Jang-chub lam-gyi drn-ma! "Lam-dron"

by Lama Ati#ha "Jowo-$e"

Ati#ha %ipamkara Shri$nana &'()-*+,

Obeisance of the translator from Sanskrit into Tibetan:

Homage to the Awakening Warrior, youthful, refined and glorious Manjushri

HOMA!" A#$ %&OM'S" TO "(%)A'#

To all *on+uerors -uddhas. of the three times, to the Truth of $harma and to the S/iritual

As/irants, with great res/ect, ' /ay homage

-eing urged by the good disci/le *hangchub O, ' shall elucidate the )am/ for the %ath to

0ull Awakening

TH" TH&"" S%'&'T1A) S*O%"S

2now that the three s/iritual sco/es as being small, mediocre and su/reme

So that their characteristics will be +uite clear, ' shall write down what distinguishes each

Anyone who, by whate3er means, seeks to /rocure for himself ha//iness merely in cyclic

e4istence is known as an indi3idual of the lowest sco/e

He who turns his back on the ha//iness of transitory e4istence and turns himself away from

the actions of e3il, he who seeks for just his own /eace is an indi3idual known to be of

mediocre sco/e

Anyone who, realising the suffering /ertaining to his own being, wishes for the total

elimination of the suffering of others is a /erson ha3ing su/reme sco/e

0or these highest beings who as/ire for the su/reme awakened state, ' shall e4/lain the

/erfect method as taught by the s/iritual masters

"TH'*A) $'S*'%)'#" 5Shila6

-efore /aintings, statues and so forth of the Totally Awakened -eing -uddha., 5as well as6

reli+uaries and the sacred $harma offer flowers, glowing incense and any objects one has

recei3ed just as related in the 7*onduct of the "ntirely !ood Samantabhadra7 as well as in the

7Se3en8fold Offering7

With a mind ne3er turning from the limit of the essence, com/lete awakening, out of great

faith in the Three &are and Su/reme 9ewels, while kneeling on bent knee, with /alms /laced

together first go for refuge three times

Then at the outset, out of a mind of /ure lo3e for e3ery sentient being, look at each and e3eryone of sentient. beings, who all suffer from death, transmigration bardo., birth in the three

bad destinies animal, /reta and hell. and the like

Out of the suffering 8 suffering, suffering of change. and all8/er3asi3e. suffering 8 and the

wish to free li3ing creatures from its cause, acti3ate the awakening mind -odhicitta. that

3ows ne3er to turn back

The e4cellent +ualities /roduced by such an as/iring mind are e4/lained well by Maitreya,

the )o3ing One in the 7Adorned Tree $iscourse7 &ead that discourse or hear from a master

the limitless e4cellences of the com/lete awakening mind -e aware of its as/ects and then,

with this as your reason, generate this mind again and again

'n the 7$iscourses &e+uested by Suradata7 the meritoriousness of it is elaborated 3ery well

At which juncture, ' shall +uote here just three stanas:

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;'f whate3er merit of the awakening mind were to be form,

it would fill e3ery realm throughout s/ace and would come to e4ceed e3en that

&ealms of -uddha8fields, as many as the number of sand8grains in the !anges,

a /erson may fill them all with jewels and offer them to the %rotectors of the transitory world" *O#*"#T&AT'O# 5Samadhi6

The cause of fulfilling the accumulations which are in the nature of /hysical merit and

/ristine awareness is said by all Awakened -eings to be the generation of heightened

awareness 9ust as a bird whose wings ha3e not de3elo/ed is unable to soar in the sky, one

who lacks the /ower of heightened awareness is unable to benefit sentient beings Whate3er

merit accumulated in a day and a night for one who is endowed with heightened awareness

cannot be gained in e3en a hundred lifetimes for someone lacking heightened awareness

Those wishing to +uickly com/lete the accumulations for full awakening will gain the

heightened awarenesses by e4erting an effort to do so: not by being lay 5Howe3er,6 without

accom/lishing tran+uil absor/tion heightened awareness will ne3er arise Therefore e4ert an

effort again and again to accom/lish tran+uil absor/tion

=et e3en if one meditates with great effort for thousands of years while the contributingfactors for tran+uil absor/tion are weakened, meditati3e concentration will ne3er be attained

Therefore maintain these factors well as e4/ounded in the cha/ter of the 7Accumulations for

*oncentration7 %lace the mind 3irtuously on any single object When the yoga of tran+uil

absor/tion is attained, heightened awareness will also be attained

M"THO$ A#$ W'S$OM

To be lacking in the /ractice of transcendent intelligence gnosis. will not eradicate mental

obscuration So in order to discard e3ery emotional disturbance and mental obscuration to

omniscience, meditate constantly on the yoga of transcendent intelligence conjoined with the

method The method se/arate from wisdom, and wisdom se/arate from the method also, are

both. taught to result in. bondage to cyclic e4istence., so do not forsake either

What constitutes ;wisdom;< what constitutes ;method;?

To eliminate any doubt, ' shall clarify the /ro/er distinctions between method and wisdom

Aside from transcendent intelligence, e3ery kind of 3irtuous /ractice such as that of

transcendent generosity is e4/lained by the *on+uerors as being the method -y the /ower of

ac+uaintance with the method and by 5the awakening mind6 itself, anyone who meditates on

discriminating intelligence will +uickly attain full awakening, 5but6 not through meditating on

non8self8e4istence alone

$'S*&'M'#AT'#! '#T"))'!"#*" 5%rajna6

-eing aware of the em/tiness of natural e4istence, which in3ol3es the realisation that theaggregates, sensory s/heres and bases are not created, is the full e4/lanation of what

constitutes ;wisdom; 't is im/ossible for e4istent entities to be created and also non8

e4istence is like a flower in the sky Since fallacies conse+uently will be /resent for either,

both together can ne3er arise

Things are not created from themsel3es, nor from others, nor from both, nor from no cause

Therefore, essentially they ha3e no nature in themsel3es

0urthermore, when one analyses all /henomena as unitary or multi/le, being essentially

una//rehensible 5as such6, one will ascertain that they lack any nature of their own The

reasons in such te4ts as 5#agarjuna7s6 7Se3enty "m/tinesses7 and his 70undamental Treatise on

the Middle Way7 show that the nature of all things is established as being em/ty -ecause this

te4t would become too e4tensi3e, ' will not elaborate any further here ' just mention it toestablish my tenets and to e4/lain it /ro/erly for meditation

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Thus the nature of e3ery single /henomenon is una//rehensible Whate3er constitutes the

meditation on non8self e4istence is the meditation of discriminating intelligence 9ust as

discriminating intelligence does not see any nature in all /henomena, mentally analyse that

intelligence itself 5and6 meditate on that without any conce/tualising As worldly e4istence

arises from conce/tualisation, it is itself a conce/tual thought Therefore, the discarding of

e3ery conce/tualisation is the su/reme state beyond sorrow0urthermore, -uddha the "ndowed $estroyer has similarly stated:

;*once/tualisation, the great ignorance, throws one into the ocean of cyclic e4istence

$well in non8conce/tualising meditati3e concentration, clear, without conce/ts, like s/ace;

Also he has said in the 7Mystic &ecitation of "ngaging in #on8conce/tualiation7:

;O Son of the *on+ueror, in this high /ractice of $harma, if one contem/lates non8

conce/tually on a//earance,

one will transcend the difficult to /ass conce/tions and gradually will come to non8

conce/tuality;

Once you ha3e attained through such scri/tural sources and reasoning that /henomena 8 by

lacking a nature of their own 8 in their entirety are uncreated, meditate without

conce/tualising

TH" S%'&'T1A) %ATHS A#$ )">")S

'n this way, when one has meditated on Thusness, gradually, from attaining 5the stages of the

s/iritual /aths6 such as ;Warmth,; 5the s/iritual le3els of6 the ;!reatly 9oyous; and so forth

will be attained and the full awakening of a -uddha will not be far away

TH" TA#T&'* %ATH

-y the acti3ities of /eacefulness, increase and so on that are accom/lished only by the /ower

of mantra and also by force of the eight great accom/lishments, such as the siddhi of the

aus/icious 3ase, one can com/lete the accumulations for full awakening 'f one wishes to

blissfully /ractise the secret mantra as e4/ounded in the tantras of Action, %erformance and

so on, then, for the bestowal of a +ualified master7s em/owerment, one should offer gains,

ser3ice, 3aluables and so on and carry out his words and the like so that by all means one

makes the 3enerable master delighted When the tantric master is well /leased, the full

bestowal of an accom/lished master7s em/owerment will gi3e one the fortune to achie3e

actualisation which, in its nature, is /ure of all e3il

As it is clearly reflected in the 7!reat Tantra of the %rimary -uddha7, the bestowal of thesecret wisdom em/owerment should not be 5actually6 taken by a celibate /ractitioner Since

one would be following a rejected /ractice, were one to hold that em/owerment, while

maintaining the /ure conduct of an earnest /ractitioner, the 3ows of celibacy will be

transgressed< the earnest /ractitioner will recei3e the downfall of defeat 'n doing so, he or

she. will surely fall into a bad destiny without any accom/lishment whatsoe3er 5Howe3er,6

listening to and teaching all tantra, making fire offerings, gi3ing /ujas and so on is without

fault for one has recei3ed the master7s em/owerment and is aware of Thusness

*O#*)1S'O#

The 3enerable elder Shri $i/amkara, ha3ing seen e4/lanations from the $harma in the

7$iscourses7 and so forth, in being re+uested by *hang *hub O, has made this briefe4/lanation of the /ath to full awakening

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The )am/ for the %ath to 0ull Awakening, com/osed by the great master $i/amkara Shri

9nana, the ;!lorious 'lluminator of %rimordial Awareness,; is com/lete

*O)O%HO#

Translated and settled into Tibetan from Sanskrit by the 'ndian abbot $i/amkara Shri 9nanaand the Tibetan translator, the monk !ewai )odro 5$ge8ba7i blo8gros6

Translated into "nglish from Tibetan by !onsar Tulku and -rian * -eresford in accordance

with the instructions of the Tibetan )ama !eshe &abten 5May @BC, 9an @BD, May @BE6

Slightly edited by &udy Harderwijk