Aug 13

NIGUMA | Stages in the path of illusion – Sgyu Ma Lamrim (1-8)

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

1. I pay homage to you, mind itself:
primordial lucid clarity by nature,
[satisfying] all needs and desires,
like a wish-fulfilling jewel.

2. For the benefit of others I will explain
Stages in the Path of Illusion,
the central theme that is the quintessence
of the minds of the ocean of victors.

3. Beginningless basic space itself,
primordially nonexistent illusion,
is the seed of all phenomena,
the buddha nature, and virtue.
It is known as the essential base of all.

4. If those endowed with excellent faith, diligence, and devotion
meditate on the illusion-like [nature] of illusion-like phenomena,
illusion-like buddhahood will manifest.

5. So listen well as I duly explain
the five paths and ten grounds [as illusion].

6. The entire animate and inanimate [world] and whatever appears to the five senses
is all the empty appearance of the deity’s Body.
The deity’s Body is limitless illusion.

7. The wise should take into practice
all the factors of enlightenment
as inseparable from the illusion of the deity’s Body.

8. The stages on the five paths and ten grounds
are traversed on the strength of devotion.
The sublime vital point of the tantras’ intention
is never to be separate from the guru’s manifestation.