The Infinite Sky Beyond

By Shabkar (1781-1851)

Kunzang Shenpen went on, "That being the case, when one is remaining in the nonmeditation samadhi that is like a continuous stream, what should it be like?"

I replied:

One must remain in a vivid, lucid openness,
Like looking out
Into the reaches of the boundless sky
From the peak of a mountain open to every direction.

The lord of siddhas, Jetsun Tilopa,
Directing his gaze toward the sky,
Said to the great pandita Naropa:

What supports the sky? On what does sky rest?
The Mahamudra of one's mind has nothing to rest on.
If you loosen the bonds, liberation is certain.
Remain at ease in primordial simplicity.

The nature of mind is the sky beyond the contents of thoughts.
Remain thus at ease,
Not holding on to some thoughts,
Or pushing other thoughts away:
In true Mahamudra mind is undirected.

The unsurpassable fruition
Is simply to preserve this state.

Thus, through Marpa Lotsawa,
There will come many sky-like yogins,
Sons of the lineage of the great panditas Naro and Maitri.

The great awareness-holder, Shri Singha,
Pointing his finger toward the heart of a cloudless sky,
Told the Lotus-born Guru:
Ever empty, ever empty; ever void, all void;
This crucial absolute truth is a treasure
Which shines everywhere- above, below, between, in all directions-
Shri Singha made it spring from the perfect vessel:
Action inseparable from view.
And with this he dissolved into vajra space.

In the same way the omniscient Longchen Rabjam said:
In the infinite sky, there is neither meditation or non-meditation.
This is the vast expanse that is Samantabhadra's wisdom.

It is also said in the Miscellaneous Sayings of the Kadampas:
The place for practice must be open and spacious;
One's view must be vast and open, too;
Even if the whole of samsara and nirvana were placed within it,
It would remain as unfilled as ever-
Such should be the immensity of the view.


The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin
by Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol, Matthieu Ricard (Translator)
Published by Snow Lion, Ithaca, 2001