Sample translation · Level 3 · Lamrim
Dispelling the Darkness of the Mind
An Extensive Commentary on The Quintessential Nectar: Instructions on the Three Types of Persons, composed by the venerable Lama Tāranātha
This preliminary English translation is shared as a sample for study and may be revised before publication.
Homage and the Pledge to Compose
Your beautiful form, adorned with the marks and signs, pervades the three worlds;
Your eloquent speech spreads the light of benefit and happiness;
Your mind of wisdom and compassion constantly cares for wandering beings—
To the Guide, the King of the Śākyas, I bow.
All the wondrous scriptures appeared to you as personal instructions;
You comprehended every object of knowledge in its boundless extent.
Lord and master of the mind of awakening, venerable Jowo—
To glorious Atiśa, I bow in reverence.
You crossed to the farther shore of the ocean of tenet systems of sūtra and tantra,
And your realization of the paths of the two stages reached supreme perfection.
Gentle protector and omniscient lama, venerable Drölwai Gönpo,
Until awakening, I shall uphold you as the crown ornament of my head.
For the benefit of those of lesser understanding, I shall explain
The Quintessential Nectar of the Stages of the Path—
A concise yet profound and lucid commentary
On the Lamp for the Path, the central pillar of the Mahāyāna path.
Explanation of the Title and the Meaning of the Words of Homage
Here I shall write a word-by-word commentary on the instructional text concerning the stages of the path to awakening composed by the venerable Tāranātha.
First comes the expression of homage. Namo means “homage.” Buddha means “Buddhas,” bodhisattva means “bodhisattvas,” and the final term Bhya indicates the plural. Thus, the phrase means: “Homage to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.”
Next comes the explanation of the title of the root text on the stages of the path. The title of this work composed by the venerable Tāranātha is:
The Quintessential Nectar: An Instructional Guide to the Three Types of Persons, Presenting the Stages of Entering the Victor’s Teaching.
The term “Victor” means one who has conquered the four māras. The four māras may be explained in both coarse and subtle forms.
The Four Coarse Māras
The coarse māra of the afflictions consists of the afflictions together with their seeds. The coarse māra of the aggregates consists of the five contaminated aggregates produced by karma and afflictions. The coarse māra of the Lord of Death is the death through which, under the power of karma and afflictions, one helplessly relinquishes the aggregates. The coarse māra of the divine son is the māra called “Delight in Controlling Others,” who creates obstacles to the practice of the path to liberation. These are the four coarse māras.
The Four Subtle Māras
The extremely subtle habitual tendencies of the afflictions—the ground of the habitual tendencies of ignorance—constitute the subtle māra of the afflictions.
The uncontaminated mental bodies produced by the ground of the habitual tendencies of ignorance within the continua of śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha arhats who abide in nirvāṇa without remainder, as well as purified bodhisattvas, constitute the subtle māra of the aggregates.
Śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha arhats who abide in nirvāṇa without remainder and ārya bodhisattvas are unable to assume another bodily form without relinquishing some portion of their former body. Their inconceivable passage from one existence to another, in which they relinquish a portion of the former body and then assume a subsequent one, constitutes the subtle māra of the Lord of Death.
The māra called “Delight in Controlling Others,” who creates obstacles to the attainment of unsurpassed awakening, constitutes the subtle māra of the divine son.
The Buddhas have completely abandoned all these four māras, both coarse and subtle. They are therefore called “Victors.”
The Twofold Dharma
The teaching given by such Victorious Buddhas consists of the twofold Dharma of scripture and realization.
The Dharma of scripture comprises all verbal expressions of the scriptures—from the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines and other teachings within the continua of ordinary beings who have not yet entered the path, up to the teachings within the continuum of a Buddha—that reveal the meaning of the paths and results.
The Dharma of realization comprises all virtuous states of mind, including the three trainings, within the continua of ordinary Buddhists who have not yet entered the path; the paths of accumulation, preparation, seeing, and meditation within the continua of all śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas who have entered the path; and the path of no-more-learning—the omniscient wisdom—within the continuum of a Buddha.
It also includes the true cessations attained through the abandonment of the appropriate obscurations within the continua of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas on the paths of seeing and meditation; the true cessations attained through the abandonment of all afflictive obscurations within the continua of śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha arhats; and the true cessations attained through the complete abandonment of both obscurations within the continuum of a Buddha.