So tonight we begin our new book group. And I hope that this process of studying this very crystalline set of poems by one of the great poet sages of the later Dzogchen tradition will trigger in you the recognition of the enlightened state as present, always already here and now, and not something to achieve in the future. But always a present underlying, true, essential, vibrational frequency that is the core of your being and of reality as a whole.
And because we are near the end of the cycle of time, it is of utmost importance to choose texts to be inspired by, that have that quality of pointing directly to the Real, to the Absolute State beyond the event horizon of ego-consciousness, so that you can grasp symbolically and intellectually the truth of this, and some of the flavor, the taste of it, because of the very fine descriptions of that state that this author, Lama Shabkar, has been able to embed in these fine songs. And I think if you study them each one several times, that the reality will begin to be felt internally. And the poems will seem a clear and obvious reflection of what has always been present, but which you have not fully recognized as being present in its true and full dimensionality. And so, I think that this can accelerate the spiritual process of self-liberation for all of us, which is why I have chosen this as the first of the books that I am hoping that we’ll do. Others, if there’s time before the cycle ends, or a need for that.
But I think that this one is a good, simple, short text that directly dives into the true nature of our Being. So I want to welcome the Pragyanis who are listening live on Zoom, and others who will probably listen later. But if you are, then I want everyone here, as well as online, to participate if you have questions, and not to be shy, because we want to clear away any doubts or confusions so that there are no obstacles in the path of your own self-liberation.
And we’re starting with a Buddhist text, even though our primary studies have generally been in Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivite wisdom schools. But we also, of course, have studied the mystical Christian texts and the Kabbalistic and the Taoist, etc., the Sufi poet sages as well. And our perspective is universal. We could call it the “perennial philosophy”, although that term has some baggage when used by certain people with particular biases of how to understand that. But nonetheless, all of the traditions, at their most esoteric level, their innermost level, are teaching nonduality. And regardless of the vocabulary and the nature of the jargon of their discourse being different from one another, that’s only true at the signifier level. At the level of the signified, they are identical. And that’s why I think we can use any and all of these lineages as stairways to the Supreme Light, and without any sense of superiority of one to another.
However, having said that, I will also add that certain discourses can be misinterpreted and taken at too literal a level, in which case that ultimate portal to freedom may not become so clear through the words. And so, if any of that is true with these poems, I want to at least be able to clarify what remains implicit and is not said explicitly in these texts. And so that’s the reason why I think it’s important to go over them critically and comment on them.
So Lama Shabkar was born in 1781. And as I say, the Dzogchen tradition had already been pretty well systematized by Longchenpa some centuries earlier. But I think he was able to crystallize a very essential form of presentation of the truth so that it is available and understandable, no matter how much or little you have studied of Buddhism, or of nonduality of any type.
And that’s, I think, very important in these days, when it’s too late to engage in the attempt to accumulate scholarly understanding in a way that would have been de rigueur in the monasteries of Tibet back in that time period, or in any other of the lineages. We now need to be able to reach instantaneous enlightenment and not depend upon intellectual accumulations of concepts. Because the goal, really, is to throw out all concepts and be in that space of naked awareness.
So, Lama Shabkar, as I say, is one of the great yogis of the Buddhist tradition who was able to formulate his own realizations into these very beautiful poems. He wrote many books, including an autobiography. This is one of the earliest books that he has written. And I think it’s clear that it signifies his own having arrived at the Buddha Nature.
I have found three translations in English, and I’ve chosen this one that I think you all have, by Erik Pema Kunsang. This translation of the flight of the Garuda that’s online, and the two others, one by Keith Dowman, is—Dowman, I try to like his books, but he has a very wry and ironic sense of humor, and he doesn’t really believe in a simple translation of the books. He wants to interpret them according to his view of what is really being said. Sometimes I think that’s very accurate and very good, and other times I think he is inaccurate and can lead you astray. There’s another translation by Tony Duff, who considers himself to be like the orthodox lineage holder with the authorization of translating into English. But his translation, I think, is way too nitpicky and filled with another kind of jargon of very minor distinctions of different aspects of consciousness that I think actually are confusing and off putting, rather than clarifying. Unless you are already involved in that vocabulary. So we’ll stick to this one. But there are times when either, or both of the others, have put in some elements of the original that have dropped out of this translation that I may call your attention to.
First of all, let’s start with the title, The Flight of the Garuda. Notice the title doesn’t say the flight of Garuda, but the flight of the Garuda. OK? It’s a very important shift that the Buddhists make to indicate that they are not simply dealing with Indian mythology.
And I think we all know Garuda is somewhat of a bird God who is half bird, half human. But he is able to carry the gods, in particular Vishnu, into the heights of the divine regions. And he can fly Vishnu anywhere instantaneously and land him wherever Vishnu has some service to perform or some demon to slay or whatever is his reason for his journey. But it’s the speed of Garuda and his ability to reach the highest altitudes and come back to ground level that I think is being referred to here as a capacity that we all have. OK? So, the flight of the Garuda. What is the Garuda? Perhaps it’s our own imagination. Our own capacity to fly into our inner light and into levels of consciousness where we can receive inspiration. And where poetic metaphors become clear to us and are able to reveal panoramas of our own being that would not ordinarily be perceptible to us.
So, if we think of Vishnu as representing our God-Self, and Garuda being our will to rise into that highest state of consciousness in the ethers and receive from the Supreme Light and Lord the marching orders, or the particular wisdom that is needed at ground level and then return to that level and proceed having opened our minds to the infinite space of our true and complete Buddha Nature, or Shiva Nature. That we have the ability at any time to shift the altitude of our consciousness. We are free to be at any level. So, we are talking about then, our own capacity for divine flight that is being activated through this process of understanding and of inner focus.
So probably a lot of you don’t have the book yet, but I assume you may have read at least the first couple of poems. Is that true? OK. So I’m going to start with the poem, I guess, zero. The Mangala Shlokas, as they are usually referred to, in which he is thanking his gurus for their help in enabling him to reach the level from which he is able to write this book.
So, Namo, I would say, Guru Ji, he is first of all saluting his guru. His first guru.
And this text says,
From the illuminating sun disc of your loving wisdom
Limitless rays of compassionate light shine forth.
I pay homage to Chokyi Gyalpo who in a single instant,
Dispels the darkness of ignorance of all beings in the three realms.
So, his first guru, he is comparing to the sun and saying he received the light. His own enlightenment came in an instant of transmission from this guru. Now, what drops out from this translation that I think is worth having, that is present in the other two is a phrase that refers to the seven-horsed mandala of the wisdom and love that radiates the all-embracing beams of boundless compassion.
So, this idea that the guru has seven horses and that he signifies the sun. This goes back to a very ancient level of the mythology of India, where Surya is the sun god and his chariot has seven horses that take him across the sky. And the chariot contains the wheel of time and the wheel of life and death. And these seven horses, we could say, signify the seven chakras. They signify all of the powers of consciousness.
Interestingly, also, one of the names of Surya back in that ancient pre-Vedic time was Mitra. Before Mitra became the god of friendship, he was actually one of the epithets of the sun god, and in particularly the eye of the sun that was able to see and send laser beams of light to those who deserve to be filled with higher consciousness. So keep that in mind as your true identity, Mitra.
So the first paragraph is about receiving the light through a transmission. And then he goes on.
In the vast sky of your empty and luminous dharmakaya,
Clouds of loving kindness gather.
I pay homage to Ngakchang Dorja who is skilled in showering the rain of Dharma
Upon fields of fortunate students.
So now he’s talking about the second guru that he took. And this one has showered him with the reign of Dharma, which in this case, I would say what precipitates out of the light is wisdom, which is the essence of Dharma, but also Bodhichitta, loving kindness, compassion. So this is what he was able to take and emulate from the second guru.
And then he goes on,
The sail ofsupreme intention is raised on the ship of your view,
And billows with the wind ofjoyous diligence.
I pay homage to Jamyang Gyatso, the captain who leads all beings
drowning in the sea of existence
To the jewel island of the three kayas.
So this paragraph has some very profound depths that we are going to have to really analyze…
