Splendid Nectar: A Summary of the Four Dharmas of Gampopa


~ H.E.12 th Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche
November 17, 2020

As Je Dakpo Lhaje taught,
abandon attachment to saṃsāra and give rise to renunciation,
striving for liberation with faith, effort, and wisdom.
In that way, the first point is turning the mind towards the dharma.

With a mind of love and compassion that cherishes others,
give rise to genuine conventional bodhicitta,
and based on that, the dependent arising
of all dream-like phenomena will dawn.
This is the correct cause for the second point—taking dharma as the path.

Don't just leave things at the level of intellectual understanding.
Instead, by meditating on impermanence, dispel confused clinging to this life.
Maintain mindfulness and awareness of the unfailing and definite nature of cause and effect.
By realizing the faults of saṃsāra, give up attachment and confusion.
Embark on the great way with everlasting love and compassion.
By seeing things as dreams and illusions, dispel reification.
This is the third dharma, the path dispelling confusion.

Fourth, as for how confusion dawns as wisdom,
although from the perspective of confusion, things appear to arise and cease,
in reality, their essence is primordially free from fabrication.
Thus, upon simply realizing this nature
all the phenomena of confusion dawn as the nature of wisdom.

Once you realize this, your human life will be meaningful
and you will have fulfilled the purpose of meeting with an authentic guru.
Having tasted the nectar of the supreme dharma, your mental continuum will ripen.
As stated by the earlier Kagyu masters,
following the parent, the child will accomplish the ultimate goal.