OM
Oh, glorious Vajrasattva,
You shine in my admiration, natural radiance expressed as your face and all around you.
Guard and protect the state of samaya,
Being right here, I am always within it, and it within me.
make manifest self-existing Vajrasattva,
None other than the Vajrasattva I imagine, if only I could see that.
be my constant, strong support,
My mindful recollection, my conscience, the force of gravity pulling my heart towards truth,
be pleased with me, I ask you!
as you can only be, when I am pleased to see you in all things.
Hold fast to me, I ask you!
Let me keep the best and true version of my self-essence in view.
Care deeply for me, won’t you?
Your lasso of compassion never letting go, reaching everywhere I wander, to pull me back home.
Grant me all attainments.
And take in return all that can be offered; I don’t need to hold on to it.
In all activities, make my intentions outstanding.
It might as well be you, acting… what could be better?
‘Hung’ and ‘ha ho’ your laughter resounds.
Even when I cry to you, my tears fall from your laughing eyes as amrita nectar, purifying, descending and uplifting.
Miraculous master, Bhagavat,
A masterful illusion that reveals truth, a perfect form arising from formless clarity,
vajra glory of all Tathagathas,
purity in abundance means a hundred Buddhas are also one, your perfect vajra perfectly balanced, effortlessly in hand.
never forsake me, do you hear?
May awareness never again forget itself, no matter what appears to happen,
Samaya hero, make me a perfect vajra holder, Ah!
Held at the heart, perfectly relaxed in the heart, the unborn exclaims: Ah!
Colophon:
Some years ago, Tulku Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche, the mind-emanation of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, my dear friend and Vajra Brother, wrote a meaning translation of the 100-syllable Vajrasattva mantra from Sanskrit into Tibetan, and asked me in turn to translate his version into English. Struck deeply by how we address the deity directly and earnestly when speaking this mantra, I spontaneously added interlinear notes after each phrase, expressing what I really wanted to say to Vajrasattva, and to remind myself. I share it in case it strikes a chord with others. Mangalam.