Sunlight

A Brief Explanation of 'Rangjung Osel',
Self-born Clear Light.

by Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche

With my three doors I respectfully pay homage at the feet of the venerable Lama.

Rangjung, self-born: Genuine true primordial wisdom, or great natural primordial wisdom, is free from the torment of mental fabrication and uncorrupted by the concepts of percept and perceiver. It is the continuum of the ground, the natural spontaneous mandala that the mind stream of every sentient being is endowed with.

Osel, clear light: Its essence is empty, its nature is clear light, and its compassion is all-pervading. Appearing as the embodiments of true nature, perfect enjoyment and emanation, it is endowed with immeasurable qualities. This is the self-born clear light of the ground.

Rangjung, self-born: Form and the rest, all phenomena that can be known and are included within the scope of omniscience, are completely insubstantial. However much their essence is analyzed, it cannot be found. Not being produced through any causes and conditions whatsoever, they are as they are explained in the sutras of the greater vehicle. Not being produced through any causes and conditions whatsoever and yet appearing as the disparate phenomena of samsara and nirvana, they are self-born.

There is no need to mention the fact that beginners do not realize the meaning of this. Even the superior Shravakas and Pratyekabuddhas do not have the basis for realizing it. Through the logical arguments of 'great interdependence' etc., those who definitely have the potential of the greater vehicle that is supported by the two accumulations, directly realize the meaning of the natural state just as it is, and in so doing, increase their realization of clear light. This is the self-born clear light of the path.

Rangjung, self-born: As above, through the strength of constantly repeated habituation on the path of the greater vehicle, the impurities of the two obscurations, along with their imprints, are completely eradicated. Through great self-born intrinsic awareness endowed with the two pure bodies, or through great primordial wisdom within all-pervading spontaneous presence, one sees the natural state of all phenomena, which are resumed within happiness and suffering, very clearly and in a way that is untainted by the impurities of exaggeration and denigration. This untainted knowledge, or clear light of primordial wisdom, is called the self-born clear light of the result.

Rangjung, self-born: The lord of our family, the one refuge, the protector of beings in cyclic existence, the great Trichen Dorje Chang, His Holiness Mindrolling Trichen Rinpoche, is free from any effort with regard to planning activity. All his activity is primordially untainted by thoughts of busyness and occurs as self-born spontaneous presence. He lives as a protector and defender of the beings of this degenerate time.

Osel, clear light: To him in the sphere of the vast expanse of the experience and realization of clear light, myself and others pray respectfully, that through his compassion he will care for us during this and future lifetimes. Since there is no doubt about this, the fact that I express it will surely form a strong bond with him.

Rangjung, self-born: The all-in-one source of refuge for all the beings of this degenerate time, the embodiment of all the Conquerors of the three times, the great master of Orgyen, Padmasambhava, does not depend on causes and conditions: on the top of the stem of a lotus in the Milky Lake in the south-west, he manifested the self-born pure body of emanation etc., just as it is described in the biographies of the Guru himself.

Osel, clear light: All Dharma friends gathered together in this place hold to the great Orgyen as the completely sufficient source of refuge, always following Guru Rinpoche with one-pointed mind. They pray sincerely not to be exiled from the sphere of the realization of clear light. Since they are indeed always there, the place is called self-born clear light.

Rangjung, self-born: The things that give much delight in this place such as the forests, the rivers, the meadows and so forth, the birds and their young, all the different kinds of feathered creatures who make pleasant sounds and beautiful movements, have not come about through any human effort. If someone who aspires to liberation comes to this place his mind will inevitably turn towards the Dharma, and his thoughts of busyness will be pacified automatically. The place is endowed with many other such qualities.

Osel, clear light: All the people who stay here rely upon the lama. As it says: 'Base your mind on the Dharma. Base your Dharma on a humble life.' Through being limited in one's desires and content with what one has, through feeling sadness and renunciation, through having great love and compassion, immutable faith and pure perception, through having great confidence in karma, cause and effect, through not looking for other protectors besides the lama and the rare and sublime ones, and through applying oneself one-pointedly to the yoga of the realization of clear light without letting one's mind be distracted, one's experience and realization of primordial wisdom develops like the waxing moon, or a river in summer, a tree in spring, or a bird still inside its egg. Because of the greatness of the place itself and of the individuals who stay there, I have called it 'Rangjung Osel', Self-born Clear Light.

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