2020 Retreat Booklet - wisdomsun.org

The Heart of Depth Meditation

At-Home Retreat June 14-17, 2020

Offering Prayers 4

Refuge and Dedication Prayers 5

Bodhisattva Vow 6

Milarepa’s Song of the Eighteen Kinds of Yogic Joy 7

Three Dimensions of Experience 8

Three Little Birds, Bob Marley 10

Moon River, Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini 10

Stand by Me, Ben E. King 11

Somewhere Over the Rainbow 12

Across the Universe 13

Let It Be 14

Rest in the Fresh, by Guru Rinpoche 15

Verses for the Three Centers 16

From Walking, by Henry David Thoreau 18

Milarepa’s Departing Aspiration Prayer 19

Marpa’s Departing Wishes 21

4 Please do not reprint without permission

Offering Prayers BREAKFAST Beyond words, beyond thoughts, wisdom transcendent: Beyond birth, beyond death, space’s quintessence. Experienced by deeply self-aware jnana, O mother of the Victors past, present, and future, I make this offering to you. Deity whose practice I perform in all my lifetimes, You who embody all enlightened action Of the victors of the past, present, and future, You are swift, you are peaceful and brave, Great Mother, flourishing a blue lotus flower, I make this offering to you. I offer this undefiled amrita To the deities, nagas, and lords of this place— Please accomplish the wishes of yogis and acharyas, And perform the enlightened activity of helping the Buddha’s teachings to flourish. LUNCH To the unsurpassable teacher, the precious Buddha, To the unsurpassable protector, the precious genuine Dharma, And to the unsurpassable guide, the precious Sangha— To the sources of refuge, the three rare and supreme jewels, I make this offering. DINNER By offering this ganachakra In the mandala of Vajrasattva, May I and all wandering beings, Be established in this same mandala. CANDLE FLAME OFFERING By offering this shining candle flame, To the ten directions’ Victors and their heirs May all beings’ dark ignorance be dispelled, May the shining light of knowledge and wisdom grow. Translated by Ari Goldfield and Rose Taylor.


Refuge and Dedication Prayers Within you, in your natural emptiness, An expanse beyond fabrication, Shine illusory scenes of existence, Both luminous and profound. You are connate bliss and emptiness As you have and always will be, Present as the nature of everything— I bow to natural mind. May the auspiciousness of body—majestic and unchanging —be present. May the auspiciousness of speech—endowed with sixty qualities—be present. May the auspiciousness of mind—immaculate and free from extremes—be present. May the auspiciousness of the Victors’ body, speech, and mind be present. In this place, may there be happiness and excellence day and night, May there be happiness and excellence at midday, May there be happiness and excellence all day and all night, May the auspiciousness of the three rare and supreme ones be present. May we live long and be free of illness, Enjoy freedom, great resources, and happiness. Next life, may we meet in the pure realm, May we always practice Dharma and benefit beings. By this merit, may I swiftly accomplish The level of the Noble Liberator Tara, And having done so, may I establish in that same state All wandering beings without exception. Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha

(Translated by Ari and Rose)


Bodhisattva Vow !ང་། Cleanse

I cleanse myself of being intolerant of myself and others. I cleanse myself of closing my heart to myself and others. %བ། Awaken

I awaken into openness and warmth towards myself and others. I awaken into acceptance of myself and others. I awaken into love for myself and others. སེམས། Aware

I am aware of what I am thinking, feeling, and doing. I am aware of my intentions and aspirations. I am interested in learning the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others. I am interested in others’ intentions and aspirations. དཔའི། Courage I am courageous enough to love myself and others. I am courageous enough to remember that my own nature is a treasure of good qualities. I am courageous enough to remember that others’ true nature is a treasure of good

qualities. I am courageous enough to admit and forgive my own and others’ mistakes and flaws. I am courageous enough to interact with others in an honest, genuine, and skillful way. I am courageous enough to avoid interaction with others when that is the best course of

action. .ོམ་པ། Commitment I commit myself to self-love and self-care. I commit myself to a life of altruism and meaning. I know that I may not always keep this commitment, but it is always here for me to renew. Composed by Ari Goldfield and Rose Taylor Goldfield, spiritual directors of Wisdom Sun, www.wisdomsun.org.


Milarepa’s Song of the Eighteen Kinds of Yogic Joy I bow at the feet of the genuine guru Because of merit gathered I’ve met this lord The guru with his prophecy is what has brought me here My comfortable castle this wooded mountain range This is a meadowland so beautiful in bloom The trees are dancing in the midst of all the trees

This is a place of play where the monkeys and the langurs play A place where birds speak in bird-like tongues A land of flying bees on gentle wings Where day runs into night and rainbow paintings shine Summer runs into winter a light drizzle falls Autumn runs into springtime the mist comes rolling in

In a solitary place like this I, the yogi Milarepa Am feeling very clear light well meditating on emptiness mind When I get a lot of stuff coming up I feel extremely well When the highs roll into lows feels even better still Feels so good to be a human being without the karmic deeds When confusion gets complicated I feel extremely well

Fearsome visions getting worse and worse feels even better still Kleshas, birth and death and freedom from those is a good way to feel With the bullies getting worse and worse I feel extremely well When there’s not a painful illness in sight feels even better still The suffering being bliss feels so good that feeling bad feels good Since the trulkhor comes from what I am it feels extremely good

To leap and run about is dance feels even better still To be a king of speech with a treasury of song feels good That the words are like the buzzing of bees feels extremely good That the sound it makes is merit collecting feels even better still The bliss is good in the expanse of the confidence of strength of mind What develops on its own by its own force feels extremely good

What comes out looking like a hodgepodge feels even better still This happy experience song by a yogi carefree Is for you who believe in what you’re doing here To take along with you when you go —translated by Jim Scott.


Three Dimensions of Experience


Lie as Earth, Lie as Sky


Three Little Birds, Bob Marley Don’t worry, about a thing ‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright Don’t worry, about a thing ‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright Rise up this morning, Smile with the rising sun Three little birds, Pitched by my doorstep Singing sweet songs, Of melodies pure and true Singing, this is my message to you... Don’t worry, about a thing ‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright Don’t worry, about a thing ‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright Rise up this morning, Smile with the rising sun Three little birds, Pitched by my doorstep Singing sweet songs, Of melodies pure and true Singing, this is my message to you... Don’t worry, about a thing ‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright Don’t worry, about a thing ‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright

Moon River, Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini Moon river, wider than a mile I’m crossing you in style some day Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker Wherever you’re going, I’m going your way Two drifters, off to see the world There’s such a lot of world to see We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waiting round the bend My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me


Stand by Me, Ben E. King When the night has come And the land is dark And the moon is the only light we’ll see No I won’t be afraid, Oh, I won’t be afraid Just as long as you stand, stand by me So darling, darling, stand by me, Oh stand by me, oh stand, stand by me Stand by me If the sky that we look upon Should tumble and fall Or the mountains should crumble to the sea I won’t cry, I won’t cry, no I won’t shed a tear Just as long as you stand, stand by me And darling, darling, stand by me, Oh stand by me, oh stand, stand by me Stand by me So darling, darling, stand by me, Oh stand by me, oh stand now, stand by me, stand by me Whenever you’re in trouble won’t you stand by me Oh stand by me, won’t you stand now, oh, stand Stand by me


Somewhere Over the Rainbow Harold Arlen (music) and Yip Harburg (lyrics)—Iz version

Somewhere over the rainbow, Way up high And the dreams that you dream of Once in a lullaby Oh, somewhere over the rainbow Bluebirds fly And the dream that you dream of, Dreams really do come true Someday I’ll wish upon a star Wake up where the clouds are far behind me Where trouble melts like lemon drops High above the chimney tops That’s where you’ll find me Oh, somewhere over the rainbow Bluebirds fly And the dream that you dare to, Why, oh why can’t I? Someday I’ll wish upon a star Wake up where the clouds are far behind me Where trouble melts like lemon drops High above the chimney tops That’s where you’ll find me Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high And the dream that you dare to, Why, oh why can’t I?


Across the Universe Words are flowing out Like endless rain into a paper cup They slither while they pass They slip away across the universe Pools of sorrow waves of joy Are drifting through my open mind Possessing and caressing me Jai Guru Deva, Om Nothing’s gonna change my world x4 Images of broken light Which dance before me like a million eyes They call me on and on across the universe Thoughts meander like a restless wind Inside a letter box They tumble blindly as they make their way Across the universe Jai Guru Deva, Om Nothing’s gonna change my world x4 Sounds of laughter shades of life Are ringing through my opened ears Inciting and inviting me Limitless undying love Which shines around me like a million suns And calls me on and on across the universe Jai Guru Deva, Om Nothing’s gonna change my world x4, Jai Guru Deva x4

Written by John Lennon


Let It Be When I find myself in times of trouble Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be, Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And when the broken-hearted people Living in the world agree There will be an answer, let it be. But though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see There will be an answer, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be, Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And when the night is cloudy There is still a light that shines on me Shine until tomorrow, let it be. I wake up to the sound of music Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be, Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

Written by Paul McCartney


Rest in the Fresh, by Guru Rinpoche

This fresh and present consciousness: In essence, emptiness, Dharmakaya In nature, luminous, Sambhogakaya In manifestation, uninhibited, Nirmanakaya And buddha is nowhere else. When you hold the view, when you don’t, Please rest in the fresh. When you’re agitated, when you’re not, Please rest in the fresh. When you’re centered, when you’re not, Please rest in the fresh. When you’re meditating, when you’re not, Please rest in the fresh. When you’re distracted, when you’re not, Please rest in the fresh. So whatever happens, it can rest in the fresh, And being feels radiant, like a sparkling sea. Spontaneously blissful, Spontaneously luminous, Spontaneously inconceivable.

Translated by Ari Goldfield


Verses for the Three Centers

ORIGIN POINT

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in.

—Robert Frost

All conceptual focus dissolves All fabrications are at peace The Buddha did not at any time Teach the Dharma to anyone

—Nagarjuna

At the point when there is neither thing nor non-thing To occupy a place before the mind At that point there is no projected image This lack of reference point is perfect peace.

Because they are not real they are not empty Because there is no thing there is no non-thing Free of speculation in pure being Just rest relaxed without a reference point

—Shantideva (Jim Scott, trans)

Beyond words, beyond thoughts, wisdom transcendent: Beyond birth, beyond death, space’s quintessence. Experienced by deeply self-aware jnana, O mother of the Victors past, present, and future, I open now to you.

—Praise by Rahula HEART

Our wheel in samsara turns and turns, While turning, our core remains unstained. Appearance is empty of real effect, Appearance is kayas’ richness manifest.

—Jamgön Kongtrül


At the core of experience is Dharmakaya, Ineffable while manifesting as everything. As I open my heart to your loving blessing, Without impedance, may my experience be playful, And may I realize samsara and nirvana are inseparable.

—Kagyü Lineage Supplication

Whatever the test, love can pass it. However intense the feeling, love is stronger. However hard it is to hold, love can hold it. —Ari Goldfield

HEAD No names, no types, no thoughts of others— Direct valid cognition, Nonconceptual. —Dignaga Even confused thoughts themselves are clear light that shines so brilliantly, Experiences so bright like sun and moonlight, Without any direction, clarity shines timelessly, You cannot find it, so you can’t say what it is. —Milarepa A variety of appearances is shining outside— You teach us how to know they are illusory, And awareness meets its mother, pure reality. The movements of the mind, its magical display, Like waves in the ocean, dissolve in their own place.

—Sahle Ö

This great variety is mind’s magic display But we can’t show that mind is “this” or “that” So samsara has no ground and nirvana has no root And this is dharmakaya, you should know!

—Nyimay Tsal


From Walking, by Henry David Thoreau

I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks—who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering, which word is beautifully derived “from idle people who roved about the country, in the Middle Ages, and asked charity, under pretense of going a la SainteTerre,” to the Holy Land, till the children exclaimed, “There goes a Sainte-Terrer,” a Saunterer, a Holy-Lander. They who never go to the Holy Land in their walks, as they pretend, are indeed mere idlers and vagabonds; but they who do go there are saunterers in the good sense, such as I mean. Some, however, would derive the word from sans terre without land or a home, which, therefore, in the good sense, will mean, having no particular home, but equally at home everywhere. For this is the secret of successful sauntering. He who sits still in a house all the time may be the greatest vagrant of all; but the saunterer, in the good sense, is no more vagrant than the meandering river, which is all the while sedulously seeking the shortest course to the sea…. It is true, we are but faint-hearted crusaders, even the walkers, nowadays, who undertake no persevering, never-ending enterprises. Our expeditions are but tours, and come round again at evening to the old hearthside from which we set out. Half the walk is but retracing our steps. We should go forth on the shortest walk, perchance, in the spirit of undying adventure, never to return, prepared to send back our embalmed hearts only as relics to our desolate kingdoms. If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again—if you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man—then you are ready for a walk.


Milarepa’s Departing Aspiration Prayer

Father protector of wanderers You who’ve fulfilled your heartfelt wish At your feet, oh Marpa the translator I bow down in gratitude All you students whose lives have brought you here All of you have been so kind to me And I have also been kind to you Equally kind we are, teacher and students I pray we meet in True Joy’s pure domain All you good people who live here at this place May you enjoy long life and merit full And may wrong thinking not come to you Your wishes be fulfilled to dharma true This country too may it enjoy prosperity Be free of sickness and of fighting free Enjoy good harvests, the good grain growing well May everyone be happy and may all of their endeavors Be ways of living dharma through and through May those who’ve seen my face or heard what I have had to say And those who keep my story in their minds Those who’ve only heard of it or only heard my name May we all meet in True Joy’s pure domain Anyone who lives by this story of my life Or uses it to practice dharma by Or writes it down, explains or listens to it being told Or reads it through, makes offerings, or lives up to its spirit May we all meet in True Joy’s pure domain And what of all those people yet to come in future times If they can also learn to meditate In weathering the hardships and managing hard times May they be free of hindrance and not stray


Those undertaking hardships for the dharma’s sake Build up merit far too great to tell Those who inspire others to take up this call Their kindness stretches far too far to tell For those who hear of this austere way to live Blessings gather far too high to pile These are three qualities beyond all measurement And through the blessing of these three may merely hearing set them free By merely wishing may their wish come true And may all those places where I’ve settled for a while Be sites of joy and comfort to the mind And all of my possessions, however few they be Wherever they end up may they bring joy And just as the elementary principles Of earth and water, fire, wind and space Are everywhere you go, may I be just like that as well May I be everywhere that you might go May nagas, gods, and so on, in their eight battalion ranks And lokapalas and all hordes of fiends May they not wreak their havoc even for an instant’s time Their every wish fulfilled to dharma true May every creature down to the smallest worm Fall into samsara never more For each and every one without a single one left out May I be there to lead them on their way Translated by Jim Scott.


Marpa’s Departing Wishes (Lord Marpa’s wishes for Milarepa, sung to him the day before his final departure)

To all lord gurus I bow in salutation! Deserving son whose labours all accord with dharma May you awake to buddhahood, the dharmakaya May vajra recitation with its nectar-like taste Provide the link that’s needed to gain sambhogakaya On the tree of enlightenment whose root is your mind May the foliage of nirmanakaya grow May the vajra speech resounding as the words of the guru Never be forgotten but live on within your heart And may the blessing of the yidams and dakinis Soak down and penetrate the very roots of your life With protecting forces and dharmapalas behind you May they be with you always and take good care of you And through the link that’s forged through this wish for you so deep May you accomplish quickly what it aspires to And may the compassion of all who practice dharma Guide you as you’re passing on your way through all three times As soon as you get to the Silma pass in Tsang The Tenma* will be waiting there, all twelve, to guide you on And when you take your leave and are on your way tomorrow Dakas and dakinis will escort you on your way And at your longed for house and field back in your homeland Impermanence, the master illusionist, waits And of your family circle you’ll find your aunt and sister Those masters at shattering illusions there as well In a cave in the rock in a valley with no human being You’ll find your marketplace to trade samsara for nirvana And in the monastery of your body persevering You’ll find your shrine room for the deities and sugatas And at the feast where nettles are the healthy food that’s offered You’ll find the nectar pleasing to the dakinis And in the trulkhor yoga transforming all your vital points You’ll find the farm work just for you that yields such precious fruit

* The Tenma: twelve dakinis tamed by Guru Rinpoche and assigned by him to protect yogis and yoginis.


And in your own home country where you don’t count for much You can get straight down to practice, not get off the track In strict retreat, with neither man nor dog as your companion You’ll have the torch in hand for quickly seeing the signs For food your food will not be a ritual stipend It will be a gift of bliss that comes straight from the gods And in this palace of the deity that casts no shadow You’ll enjoy the spectacle of your own ends achieved By practicing the dharma without hypocrisy You’ll perform enlightened deeds of samaya so pure Through tending well your farm work of practicing as taught You’ll find the hidden treasure of the siddhis all at hand And in the sacred teachings, dakinis’ living heartbeat You’ll find the last frontier between samsara and nirvana For this transmission lineage of Marpa Lotsawa Many doors will open to the sound of sweet renown Through the persevering spirit of Milarepa The pillar of the Buddha’s teaching will stand May all of those who take this as their central pillar Enjoy the good that comes of an excellent lineage Enjoy the good that comes of the Kagyu lineage gurus Enjoy the good of yidams in all their excellence Enjoy the good of Chakrasamvara’s presence Enjoy the goodness of the lord Hevajra’s presence Enjoy the good of Guhyasamaja’s presence Enjoy the good of dharma in all its excellence Enjoy the good that comes of the heartbeat of dakinis Enjoy the good that comes of good dakinis’ presence Enjoy the good that comes of the three domains’ dakinis Enjoy the good of excellent dharmapalas Enjoy the good that comes of Dúsolma, the goddess Enjoy the good that comes of having excellent students Enjoy the good of practicing according to the guru’s word Enjoy the good of lineage surviving through transmission And know the good of being stable and not wavering Do not forget the points named here, but put them into practice

Translated by Jim Scott, Karme Choling, Barnet, Vermont, 1996.

Documents

2020 Retreat Booklet - wisdomsun.org