Beyond admiration and spiritual yearning lies a much deeper respect, deeper and wider. Its opens up the meditator’s mind when discovering the timeless value of true insight. A new horizon of freedom and appreciation often gives rise to devotional poetry. LEVEKUNST art of life presents Words of Appreciation by Amanda Lewis, written on the last day of a retreat.
Praises to the all-good guru,
Venerable Khentrul Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche
A la la!
Beloved all-good guru,
true guru, heavy with the weight of all good qualities,
the very moment we think of you, the words naturally come:
so entirely good, so absolutely pure.
With deep veneration and folded hands, we thank you precious teacher for showing us again and again how to recognize this original mind, the unchanging vajra essence, youthful, shining nature, residing right now in the very center of our hearts! May everyone fully realize the natural luminosity of their mind, pure from the beginning.
We pray that we can pay homage to you in the most supreme way: by abiding in the sphere of wholeness, beyond grasping any sense of subject, object, and action, where we are never separate from you. Until we’re able to unshakably maintain that view, we pray to keep up our meditation and practice exactly as you have taught us.
You glow so beautifully, bodhichitta shining, pouring from your every pore. We can’t help but melt with spontaneous devotion in your presence! Hearing one moment of the utter truth and sweetness that echoes as your victorious speech, we are magnetized to walk the true path to freedom! To witness the splendid radiance of your pristine wisdom mind, we can’t help but prostrate with tears of devotion!
Such compassionate, affectionate acceptance of us, just like Buddha Shakyamuni.
So humble and devoted to the teachings, just like Atisha.
So beautiful, smooth and free from stains, just like Manjushri.
Accomplished scholar and master of the nine yanas, just like Mipham Rinpoche.
You are like the sun, continually shining golden light of wisdom and compassion on us, your most fortunate children. We bow in reverence to the purity, integrity, and beauty that you effortlessly radiate! How lucky we are to be your students! Every teaching you give is as though whispered from your heart, so warm, soothing and personal, while stunningly precise and thorough. So patiently and tenderly you usher us to keep going, to move forward and fly, to keep opening our hearts and minds ever deeper and ever wider, your steady bodhichitta protecting us that we may learn to embrace all displays of samsara and nirvana without discrimination.
May we always see ourselves, and the world with all its varieties, as an immaculate illusory display of knowing. May we always be connected to the teachings, understand and follow the accurate meaning, and may we be blessed with perfect confidence to apply your pith instructions directly to all of our experiences.
We thank you from the bottom, all the way to the top, of our hearts, for your unceasing efforts and dedication to continually honor, preserve, and spread Venerable Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche’s precious lineage. We pray to always join and serve you both, in all your activities, singing and dancing in the light of the boundless sky of your love and wisdom. We fervently pray that you have a very long and healthy life, that all your wishes be swiftly fulfilled exactly according to your intentions.
May we always be in the presence of your body, speech, and mind great guru, essence of all the refuges. All we have to remember again and again is your key heart advice: to bring more joy, appreciation, and devotion. Truly, as you have taught, to activate and maintain the view of inseparable emptiness and compassion, and develop a more tender, caring heart that naturally moves to benefit others. This is the path of the enlightened ones.
Photo by Ftanuki, Japan