Stay On Your Meditation Seat!

By Shabkar (1781-1851)

Once, I gave this advice to some fifty friends and disciples doing retreat:

Life is short; the time of death uncertain;
Even tonight you may die.

A lot of talking is the source for evil deeds.
A lot of thinking is the work of Mara.
A lot of running around just weakens your practice.

The crucial instruction:
Stay on your meditation seat!

Keep to your silent retreat, don't talk;
Obstacles won't come, siddhis will.

You who practice the preliminaries,
Persevere throughout day and night.

Meditators resting in samadhi,
Meditate with unwavering body, speech, and mind.

Practitioners of tummo, the path of skillful means,
Be diligent, and bliss-warmth will blaze forth.

Even those of you who know only the mani,
Don't run around, stay inside; do your recitations.

Be ready to starve to death for the sake of Dharma;
Be ready to endure hardship for the sake of happiness in future lives.

In brief, don't think so much!
Put all your energy into practice!

Thus I exhorted them. Some practiced for one year, some for two. Ngondro practitioners had dreams indicating that their obscurations had been purified. Those who trained in relative Bodhicitta developed kindness, compassion, and the wish to benefit others. Those who meditated on absolute Bodhicitta were able to remain steadily in mind's true condition, the state of simplicity that is like the sky: empty, luminous, and beyond grasping. Phowa practitioners had many signs, such as itching, swelling, and secretion of liquid at the top of the skull. Those practicing on prana gained extraordinary realization of bliss-emptiness, their bodies blazing with the bliss-warmth of tummo. In reality, in dreams, or in meditation, Chöd practitioners had all the appropriate signs: the arising of challenging experiences and their successful termination. Those who prayed to the Great Compassionate One and recited the mani mantra were blessed: their obscuring emotions diminished, as did their clinging to reality. They had extraordinary experiences and realization of renunciation, Bodhicitta, and the perfect view.


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

From: Ogmin Twitwall