Khenpo Gangshar Series

1
A Way of Settling into the Realization of Mind’s
Essence
by Khenpo Gangshar Wangpo

Within, awareness should be unbridled and free,

Without, there shouldn’t be any grasping at appearances.
In the absence of outer and inner, all is utterly transparent —
To be free of like and dislike: how wonderful!

Distraction is simply mind; as are like and dislike, hope and fear, good and bad, and
clean and dirty — whenever you experience them adhere to cause and effect, be
careful, and keep a low profile. Don’t be frivolous or vulgar, but be in harmony with
those around you, letting all emotions and attitudes of like and dislike be purified in
their own space.

Measure yourself against the various stages of the path; see if you can bear
sufferings such as illness, being undermined, and despised. To be unable to do so is
to be ordinary, a sign you have not completed the path.1

As such, you should supplicate the guru and yidam deity, receive empowerment and
mix the guru's wisdom with your mind. Then relax, without any grasping, into that
expanse, and remain without the slightest effort in an experience of utter relaxation
— free and loose.

From time to time, contemplate the karmic law of cause and effect; take the suffering
of others upon yourself, and offer whatever comfort and virtue you may have to
others.

In the practice of the giving and taking of happiness and suffering, difficulty isn’t to
be rejected, nor comfort sought. Simply relax. To be without ideas of good and bad,
or hope and fear, enables you to be joyful in any company, to be cheerful wherever
you may find yourself — surely this is what it means to be truly happy!

The more precisely you adhere to cause and effect, the more your selfishness and
self-grasping will diminish, and the more your obsession with pleasure and pain or
desire and hatred will decline as well. To be altogether free from the fear of death is
a sign that your efforts at practice have been worthwhile.

Essentially then, at all times and in all situations, do not contrive with the mind, but
allow it to settle naturally; knowing this means you will never be apart from the
experience of the dhātu.

2
These are the insane ramblings of Gangshar Wangpo. May you and I become
inseparable and be of benefit to all.

| Translated by Sean Price, 2016.

1. Literally, "... a sign that the path's potential strength (rtsal) is incomplete." ↩

3
A Song of Advice for Gok Zangden
by Khenpo Gangshar

ནང་་ག་པ་ཁ་ཡན་ཐོང་། །

ི་་ང་ལ་མ་ན་པར། །

ི་ནང་ད་པ་ཟང་ཐལ་། །

་ོགས་ོལ་ལ་་མ་ཧོ། །

Allowing inner awareness to be unrestricted,

While remaining unattached to outer appearances:
Beyond outer and inner, all is transparently clear—
Free from hope and fear: how amazing!

ངས་པ་ཡོད་ན་མས་ི་ཆ། །

་ས་་འས་ད་མ་བསད། །

ངས་ད་ག་པ་འར་ལོ་བོར། །

ས་མས་བ་་ོལ་ལ་ཤོག །

Distraction, when it occurs, is an aspect of ordinary mind,

So, on such occasions, do not neglect cause and effect.
When undistracted, let the wheel of awareness turn—
May physical and mental restrictions be released!

གང་ཤར་དིངས་ལས་མ་གཡོས་པ། །

དིངས་ག་འལ་ད་དབང་པོ་ས། །

འགས་ད་ནམ་མཁ་ོང་ནས་བོལ། །

ེད་ང་ང་དང་གས་ད་ཤོག །

Through the power of inseparable space and awareness,

Wherein whatever arises does not stray from absolute space,
Fearlessness emerges out of the sky-like expanse:
May you and I thus remain inseparable!

Khenchen Gangshar Wangpo wrote this for Gok Zangden.

4
A Song to Introduce the Unmistaken View of the
Great Perfection
by Khenpo Gangshar
Placing my head at the feet of the Dharma King, I offer homage: Bless me that I
might see natural luminosity.

Hey, you of great fortune!

Sit without moving,

like a tent peg driven into hard earth!

Gaze with your eyes neither open nor closed,

like the eyes of a deity in a fresco!

And let your mind settle, loose and relaxed,

like a woollen blanket spread out on the ground…

At times like these, while resting in the utter brilliance that is the space beyond
thought, which may be likened to a cloudless sky, you will experience unimpeded
translucence like a faultless crystal.

This is none other than the view of the ultimate, the luminous Great Perfection.
Resting in equipoise within the pure luminosity, vividly clear like the sky, dullness
and agitation are naturally voided and do not arise anew – a faultless, brilliantly
clear non-conceptual meditation. When thought arises, be it good or bad, it is
recognized for what it is and will not disturb. Focus upon this method and view your
genuine nature; effortless, it arises by relaxing into the expanse, and thoughts are
pacified on their own ground.

When you are able to practice for longer periods, it can be like, for example, when
muddy water is stirred up and then allowed to settle – the innate lucidity of the
water becomes clearer. Similarly, when myriad appearances arise and are realized to
be like reflections, they cause the natural clarity of mind itself to become ever
clearer. This in turn leads to the effortless arising of various qualities, such as the
various types of clairvoyance and so on.

Should even the Great Master of Oḍḍiyāna appear before you, he’d have nothing
greater than this to say on the view of the Great Perfection.

Should even Longchen Rabjam appear before you, he’d have nothing greater to teach
you on the practice of taking thought as the path.

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Should even the twenty-five exalted disciples appear before you, they’d have nothing
greater to say concerning this practice.

As for myself, a yogin, this is my practice, and I have no greater meditation

instruction to offer you.

You may analyze meticulously, but when a wind blows it naturally disperses the
clouds and the sky can be seen. Endeavour to see empty clarity, mind itself, in the
same way – there is nothing greater than this understanding. If you don’t stir up the
silt, the water will remain clear; as such, don’t analyze. Simply rest without
contrivance and you will come to see the emptiness of mind itself. There is nothing
greater to see than this!

There are many views, but that of the emptiness of mind itself, devoid of all
grasping, is the unmistaken view of the Great Perfection. When death comes to yogis
of this method they are able to seize the clear light of death.

Hearing about it is beneficial, but I pray the actual experience of clear light will
become evident.

Written by the old ignoramus, Gangshar Wangpo. May it prove meaningful!

Translated by Sean Price, 2015

6
Vomiting Gold

A pith instruction in the form of advice for the

diligent practitioner, the excellent Atsang
by Khenpo Gangshar Wangpo
I bow before the glorious and sublime guru.

Child of a good father,

All worldly endeavors, focused, as they are, upon this life alone, have no essence
whatsoever. It is beyond the slightest doubt that the guru – embodiment of the three
rare and sublime ones – and especially the transcendent dharma are the absolute
refuge and source of your well-being. Understand that this realization is the divide
between continually transmigrating within saṃsāra and liberation.

Now let’s see if you are up to much. A good child would give up distraction,
disregard confusion, and extract the essence of leisure and fortune. To do this you
must reflect upon impermanence….

Child of good lineage, some listen to this and some to that, what is spoken here and
what is said there; some look at the ways of birth, illness, ageing and death; some act
to accumulate wealth; others build homes; while some are given to study and
contemplation, others train in the approaching and accomplishing practices of secret
mantra in retreat. Nevertheless, of all of these, those who go on to achieve the
ultimate are very few and far between.

Some ponder sickness, mortality, etc., and some do not, but all have to go through
the pain such experiences bring – and that includes you! To fully realize that you
could die at any moment is to have developed confidence in the contemplation upon
impermanence.

Continually counsel yourself and in each and every moment to look at and cleanse
your mind. Don’t give in to distraction or fall under the influence of confusion, but
rather, with the awakened ones and their offspring as your witnesses, practice with
ardent endeavor.

Generally speaking there isn’t a single teaching of the Buddha that is inadequate,
woeful, or fruitless; and the main import of them all is to embrace each and every
thought mindfully.

7
There is no need to alter your mind, simply sustain a mindfulness of your thoughts
that looks directly into their very essence. Through this a powerful and clear
awareness, unalterable by anything, will be revealed.

Essentially then, when distracted thoughts arise, they are called mind. When free of
such distractions your innate awareness cannot be influenced by anything, be it
positive and beneficial or negative and harmful.

When thought, confused or otherwise, arises, don’t see it as a failure or fault; simply
relax into its nature. With familiarity, awareness will come to be thoroughly
distinguished from mind, with the former stabilized and latter liberated.

From time to time it is important to supplicate your guru, receive empowerment,

and mix your mind with his or hers.

Similarly, should you practice deity yoga and mantra recitation, do so from within
awareness. Awareness stripped bare will sever the head of self-grasping and selfish
endeavor.

Shout "Phaṭ", practice yogic exercises, dream, and, during the day, meditate upon
your illusory body within the sustained continuity of awareness. For this practice
your environment makes no difference.

Sure signs of genuine practice are an increase in renunciation and compassion.

Please keep this in mind.

Without moving or being distracted from this natural state of awareness, and with
the attitude of bodhicitta, be diligent in making vast prayers of dedication; practice
the seven-branch offering to accumulate merit; and meditate upon Vajrasattva,
reciting the hundred-syllable mantra. As we have been carried along by a subtle
undercurrent of thoughts over successive lifetimes and have accumulated karma
thereby, it is imperative to confess all faults and to pledge to refrain from them in the
future. These and other such practices are essential.

Requested by the ardent practitioner, Atsang, I, the confused old beggar Gangshar, gave
rise to a cascade of concepts and wrote this, much like an old dog vomiting up golden
instructions.

Translated by Sean Price, 2015

8
Guru Yoga, the Consummate Blessing
by Khenpo Ganshar
Recognizing my mind to be beyond any and all elaboration, I take refuge in it, and
pledge to place all confused beings, my mothers, upon the primordial ground.

Ā. The naturally pure citadel, the expanse of awareness beyond all elaboration and
contraction; its expression unimpeded, appearing as any and everything pervading
both samsara and nirvana; it is the very wealth of their being. [Relax] Without
grasping within this expanse of empty awareness: Āḥ.

Sustain this, the immediate and direct ordinary mind, nakedly and devoid of all
contrivance; empty awareness, both clear and uncompounded. Get to know this as
the actual mind of your glorious guru.

Gangshar Wangpo wrote this at the request of Lama Mardri, one endowed with the
three higher trainings.

Translated by Sean Price, 2015.

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