Homage to Śrī Samantabhadra: Longchenpa

The following is respectfully quoted from “Kindly Bent to Ease Us” by Longchenpa:

Homage to the beginningless primordial Lord,
an ocean great and full of capabilities,
Whose range of intuition and depth of
tenderness cannot be fathomed,
Who is the birthplace of the Wish-fulfilling Gem, the
Buddhas and their spiritual sons, and
From whom cloud banks of prosperity and bliss arise.

Sheer lucency, founding stratum of meaning,
immaculate, man’s Buddha-nature,
Through ego-centered apprehensions following the loss
of pure awareness, strays into fictitious being.
Wearied and weakened in the deserts of
Karmic actions and turbulent emotions may Mind
today find comfort and ease.

Friends, a precious human body, being a unique
occasion and the right juncture,
Is very hard to find within the six-life forms.
As delighted as a blind man who has stumbled on a
precious hoard,
Use this body for prosperity and bliss.

What is meant by a unique occasion and the right
juncture?
I am a person beyond the eight unfavorable
conditions:
My mind has not been born in the realms of hells,
of hungry spirits,
And of animals, I am not dumb, and I am not one of the
long-living gods, nor one of the savages, and
I do not harbor wrong views, and do not live in a period
in which there are no Buddhas;
And I represent the right juncture; five events affecting
me directly by being complete in me–
I have become a human being, I live in the central
country, and I possess all senses,
I do not revert to inexpiable evil deeds, and I have
confidence in the foundation of spiritual life; and
Five events affecting me directly;
The coming of a Buddha, his having taught the
doctrine, the presence of his teaching now,
The following so that it continues, and the loving
guidance by others.
These are the eighteen facets of a unique occasion and
the right juncture.
While they are thus complete,
Thoroughly exert yourself and realize deliverance.

If in this lifetime you do not make good use (of your
existence)
You will in the hereafter not even hear the word ‘happy life-form’
But for a long time will roam about in evil forms of life.
Not knowing what is to be rejected and what to be
accepted, so going the wrong way,
You cannot but drift about in Samsāra that has
no beginning nor end.

Therefore, while you still have the power now,
Apply yourself to the accumulation of inexhaustible
positive qualities,
In view of the fact that you are the juncture for the path
to happiness,
And pass beyond the stronghold of fictitious being.

But if I dare not cross the endless ocean of Samsāra,
Although I have a precious boat,
What shall I do when forever
Emotional reactions and frustrations are raging in
tumultuous waves?

Then quickly don the armor of perseverance
And, in order to let the turbid state of mind and mental
events be cleared,
Set out on the path of sheer lucency, of immaculate
pristine cognitions,
And let no obstacles impede the road to limpid
clearness and consummate perspicacity.

He who has become the foundation for bliss and
happiness
And has found a precious and clean vessel,
But does not gather the refreshing rain of the
nectar-like doctrine,
Will let himself be crushed by the swelter of Samsāra.

The downpour of (the Buddha’s) truth, the refreshing
water of pristine cognitions
With clouds of glorious bliss and happiness and
prosperity,
Will fall on the pure mind of living beings, the fertile
soil of a unique occasion at the right juncture.
Therefore, with joy and from your heart engage in the
quest for the real meaning of life.