THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER COMPOSED BY BAN GAR WA JAMPAL ZANGPO TRANSLATION AND EXPLANATION BY TONY DUFF PADMA KARPO TRANSLATION COMMITTEE Copyright and Fair Usage Notice Copyright © Tony Duff 2008. All rights reserved. The translations and commentaries contained herein are made available online as a gift of dharma. They are being offered with the intent that anyone may download them, print them out, read and study them, share them with friends, and even copy and redistribute the files privately. Still, the following must be observed: • The files may be copied and given to others privately provided that no fee is charged for them. • Other web-sites are encouraged to link to this page. 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TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................ iii THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER .......... 1 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER WITH COMMENTS ON THE TRANSLATION ............. 3 TIBETAN TEXT .................................. 27 i INTRODUCTION This is a new translation of one of the most used prayers of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the “Short Great Vajradhara Prayer” as it is called. The new translation is meant for practitioners but could also be used as an exercise by those who are trying to learn to translate Tibetan texts. There were many translations of the prayer around at the time of writing, most of them based on one of the earliest transla- tions made, the one done by the Nalanda Translation Commit- tee in the 1970's. The first part of the prayer is straightforward and easy to translate but the last two verses are not because they sum up very profound Mahāmudrā instruction. All translations made so far have failed to translate them correctly. At the urging of several people, we made a fresh translation and a short commentary to the prayer that does correctly show the meaning of the prayer. STUDY TOOLS In general, the Padma Karpo Translation Committee has published a wide range of books on Buddhist dharma. A number of them are on Kagyu Mahāmudrā and will be very helpful in understanding the prayer presented here. See our iii iv INTRODUCTION website at the address given on the copyright page; you will find texts free and for sale there, all of them prepared to the highest level of quality. We also provide many aids for those wanting to translate. We had the idea in producing this publication that it would help practitioners by giving to have a better version of a prayer which is so commonly used. We also had the idea that it could be used as an exercise in translation by those who were wanting to learn how to do that. You could easily use the book here, with all it provides, to take this prayer as a translation exercise. If you do so, we would strongly recom- mend the Illuminator Tibetan-English Dictionary as something you should use when you are translating. It contains a large amount of information about Tibetan grammar in general and all of the vocabulary mentioned in this prayer, too. You might also be interested in our major work on Tibetan grammar, The Thirty Verses of Minister Thumi, which presents, for the first time in the West, Tibetan grammar as it is actually used and understood by Tibetans. In fact, the translation exercise in here is founded on the principles of Tibetan grammar which are laid out very extensively in that book. This e-book has a binding offset built in so that it can easily be printed and bound as a book for your library. The text in Tibetan script has been included for those wanting to study it. iv INTRODUCTION v Finally, there are other publications on our website which can be used as exercises in translation. Our best wishes to you, Lama Tony Duff Padma Karpo Translation Committee Swayambhunath, Nepal 19 February 2012. v vi THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER Great Vajradhara, Tailo, Naro, Marpa, Mila, Lord of Dharma Gampopa, Knower of all three times and knowables Karmapa, Holders of the four great and eight lesser lineages of Drigung, Taglung, Tsalpa, these three, glorious Drukpa, and so on— You who have mastered the profound path of Mahāmudrā, Unequalled protectors of migrators, the Dvagpo Kagyu, I supplicate you the Kagyu gurus, I hold your lineage, Grant your blessings so that I might follow your example. Revulsion is the foot of meditation as is taught. To this meditator who is not attached to food and wealth, Who decides to cut the ties to this life, Grant your blessings so that I have no attachment to honour and gain. Devotion is the head of meditation as is taught. To this meditator who continually supplicates The guru who opens the door to the foremost instructions, Grant your blessings so that genuine devotion is born in me. 1 2 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER Non-distraction is the body of meditation as is taught. To this meditator for whom thought shining forth in freshness Is left unaltered and who stays in just that, Grant your blessings so that I am free of rational-minded meditation. Discursive thought’s entity is dharmakāya as is taught. To this meditator for whom nothing whatsoever Shining forth as everything, shines forth in unstopped play, Grant your blessings so that I realize the inseparability of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Composed by the man from Ban Gar, Jampal Zangpo. Translated by Lama Tony Duff of Padma Karpo Translation Com- mittee according to the instructions received from many Kagyu lineage holders, while staying with the Three Jewels at Swayambu- nath, Nepal, December, 2008. A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER WITH COMMENTS ON THE TRANSLATION The translation and explanation here of this very popular Kagyu prayer are based on the explanations of the various lineage gurus for whom I have personally translated or heard and the Tibetan commentaries I have read about it. There are several translations of this text floating around. The first few verses are not difficult to translate and are more or less correctly translated by everyone. There are differences in style, with some definitely being better than others; the Nalanda Translation Committee’s translation, with the imprint of the Vidyādhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche on it, stands out from the others in this regard. However the last two verses of the prayer are not translated correctly in any of the translations that I have seen—even the latest ones. This might not be surprising because the last two verses deal with high levels of practice whose details are secret. The information needed to translate these two verses correctly has obviously not been at the disposal of the people who have done the translations. If a Tibetan teacher were to give you a commentary on the last two verses, you could try to use the other translations with 3 4 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER it but it would not work as I found out several times over the years when translating for Kagyu gurus. As a matter of interest, I found myself several times over the years in the position where I was asked to translate such a commentary, on the fly, to these last two verses. Whenever I tried to use the existing translations, it did not go well and I was ques- tioned about it. After careful examination, the various teach- ers said that there were major problems with the existing translations; they stated plainly that these translations did not reflect the Tibetan at all and, as far as they were concerned, had obstructed the teacher’s teaching. So, the problem with existing translations is not just my opinion but that of several high level Kagyu teachers. Interestingly, the current Karmapa was also dissatisfied with the current translations. He had his team of Tibetan lamas work on a new translation which was presented at the 2007 Kagyu Prayer Festival at Bodhgaya. Unfortunately, their lack of knowledge of English shows through very strongly and that translation is even worse that some of the ones done by Westerners. Tibetans can be the teachers for non-Tibetans but they absolutely should not be the translators; this is just as they themselves insisted when the Indians were transmit- ting the Buddha dharma to the Tibetans.