Appendix: The Ten Innermost Jewels of the Kadampa Geshes

These are the ten innermost jewels of the Kadampas. By merely keeping them in the heart, the fortress of delusion collapses, the ship of evil negative karma disintegrates and one will reach the very blissful ground of remedy. Therefore, if one has these ten innermost jewels, one will achieve liberation and enlightenment quickly and without hardships; and, by the way, one will attain the happiness of this life and the happiness of all future lives.⁷³

I request the possessor of the mighty one, the kind gurus, the direct and indirect gurus, please bless me to give up this life, as in the holy biographies of the previous holy beings.

By seeing sickness, old age and death, the unequaled son of Tsetsang (Prince Siddhartha)⁷⁴ felt great sadness and then abandoned his reign of the kingdom. At the end of six years, having lived the austere life of an ascetic, on the banks of the great river Naranjana,⁷⁵ he became fully enlightened. Like that, as in the life stories of previous holy beings who reflected on impermanence and death, felt great sorrow, gave up this life, practiced in solitary places and achieved enlightenment in one life; in this way, reflect on the nature of the uncertain nature of death: why shouldn’t I give up the activities of this life—home, field, house, relatives, food and wealth—all of which do not allow pure Dharma practice to arise?

Except for the needs of survival—the three robes, begging bowl and so forth—I won’t keep gold or jewels or anything extra, not even one piece, for myself. What is definite to occur for me is death. At that time, wealth, family, friends (cats and dogs, too) will not benefit me. Furthermore, there is the suffering of separation from them. By reflecting in this way, I should give up seeking the means of this life.

I should entrust the depths of my attitudes to the Dharma.
I should entrust the depths of the Dharma to the beggar.
I should entrust the depths of the beggar to death.
I should entrust the depths of death to the cave.

I should proceed well with the uncaptured vajra. (By proceeding with vajra mind, not changing from renouncing this life, I practice Dharma without being captured by the beloved ones.)

I should definitely leave behind the vajra without shyness. (Leave behind worldly concern: whatever people say about me, good or bad, I won’t change my mind when I go out into the world with renunciation for this life. This mind is the vajra without shyness.)

The transcendent wisdom vajra should accompany me. (I should equalize Dharma and my life together without transgressing the commitment to renouncing this life I live in.)

I should attempt to be out of line with the human beings. (I should be out of line with worldly human beings who are attached to this life.)

I should keep a lowly position, wearing ragged clothes. I should reach to the line of dogs and achieve to the line of devas. (Accept the loss of food, clothing and reputation. No matter how much hunger, thirst, hardship happens, I will bear it to practice Dharma. When one gives up all the works of the mundane world and completes one’s practice in solitary places, one achieves the supramundane deva of the devas, which is enlightenment in this life.)

In short, impermanence and death will come soon. Now is the time to give up this life. Due to the compassion of the guru and my own virtue, may I be able to give up the work of this life.

If one recites these words verbally and reflects on their meaning, one will be able to give up quickly the works of this life completely.

Colophon

This self-liberated speech, imbued with the blessings of the yogi Khedrup Nyiden Shabkar Tsogdruk, was lightly edited by the humble, ignorant beggar without Dharma [Thubten Zopa]. It was written with the thought that if I and those who are like me, when reciting the “Reviewing the Stages of the Path” prayer in the Guru Puja, were to recite these words after the verse that starts “Realizing how this body of liberties and endowments,” it would benefit by inspiring Dharma in the mindstream. By this, may all migrating beings be liberated from their grasping at the eight dharmas and quickly attain the highest, complete enlightenment. It would also be good to recite it when teaching the lamrim to others.

Translator’s colophon added June 2004

This text was written by the highly attained lama Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol and translated by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche with the assistance of Venerable Tsenla on the 23rd day of the first month of the year of the Earth Rabbit, March 10, 1999, at Kachoe Dechen Ling, Aptos, CA, USA; dictated to Ven. Lhundup Ningje. May all beings benefit. Lightly edited by Kendall Magnussen, FPMT Education Services, July 2004.

Notes

⁷³ FPMT Retreat Prayer Book, pp. 171–73, which can be found in the FPMT Catalogue. Lama Chöpa Jorchö, pp. 197 & 199, which can be found in the FPMT Catalogue. [Return to text]

⁷⁴ Both names for the being who would become Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha. [Return to text]

⁷⁵ The river (now called the Lilajan) that flows past Bodhgaya, the small town in the north of India where the Buddha became enlightened. [Return to text]