Table Of ContentThe mahiisiddha Saraha
SARAHA ON MAHAMUDRA MEDITATION
COMMENTARY
KHENCHEN THRANGU RINPOCHE
TRANSLATOR OF THE SONG AND EDITOR
MICHELE MARTIN
TRANSLATOR OF THE ORAL COMMENTARY
PETER O'HEARN
WrsooM PuBLICATIONS • BosToN
Wisdom Publications, Inc.
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Commentary© 2006 byThrangu Rinpoche.
'Roar rexr, outline, apparatus, and introduction © 2006 by Michele Marrin.
All rights reserved.
No parr of chis book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
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Library ofC ongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thrangu, Rinpoche, 1933-
Song for the King : Saraha on mahamudra meditation f. commentary, Khenchen
Thrangu Rinpoche ; rranslaror of the Song and editor, Michele Martin ; translator
of the oral commentary, Peter O'Hearn.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN o-86171-503-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Sarahapada, 8th cent. Dohakosa. 2. Religious life-Buddhism. 3· Mahamudra
(Tanrric rite) I. Sarahapada, 8th cent. Dohakosa. English. II. Martin, Michele, 1942-
III. O'Hearn, Peter, 1959-IV.1icle.
BQ7775.S263T57 2oo6
294·3'4435-dC22
2006000538
ISBN o-86171-503-9
10 09 o8 07 o6
4 3 2 1
Cover designed by Eli2abeth Lawrence.
Back cover photo by Michele Martin: Thrangu Rinpoche on retreat at a Guru Rin
poche cave in the Helambu region of Nepal's Himalayas.
Interior designed by Gopa & Ted2, Inc. Set in Adobe Garamond 11.25/16.8.
Frontispiece: The maj,.asiddha Saraha; eastern 1ibet, eighteenth century, opaque
watercolor on cotton. Detail from a tangka of four mahasiddhas, © 2006 Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston.
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Contents
Editor's Introduction 1
1. Approaching Mahamudra 9
2. The Song Begins 17
3. Ground Mahamudra 45
4. Path Mahamudra 79
5. Fruition Mahamudrii 115
Appendixes
1. A Song for the King with Karma Trinlepa's Outline 123
2. A Song for the King in Tibetan 141
3. A Comparison of the Root Texts 153
4. Some Reflections on Dran med 157
Notes 161
Glossary 167
Bibliography 181
A Brief Biography ofThrangu Rinpoche 184
v
For the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa,
Ogyen Trinley Dorje
May his life be long and fruitful
May compassion like his unfold
in the hearts of every living being
Editor's Introduction
S
ARAHA HAS INSPIRED SEEKERS OF TRUTH for centuries with his spir
itual songs and the legends of his life. Prominent among the eighty
four masters oflndia, he lived most probably in ninth-century Bengal.'
Tradition holds that Saraha was the first to introduce mahamudra as rhe
central practice of meditation/ and irs relevance along with irs lineage
continue to the present day. On his visits to the West in the 1970s, the
Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, recommended mahamudra
because it transcends all cultural barriers. The essence of Buddhist med
itation is to tame our mind, and mahamudra practice does this through
working directly with mind's nature, which is found to be the same in
all living beings. Once this nature has been recognized, awareness of it
is sustained in every situation, from meditation sessions to all facets of
daily life. Over time, whatever arises is experienced as clear and fresh,
beyond expression, and transparent to its radiant, empty nature.
Woven with analogies, spontaneous song is a natural medium for
the expression of this ultimate reality. For this reality cannot be captured
by a net of words and concepts but only indicated through the oblique
lines of allusion. Metaphors have the capacity to evoke an experiential
reality that transcends the intellect, and so they are not only a teaching
tool to deepen understanding but an opening into another dimension.
Saraha sang his songs to bring his listeners to enlightenment.
2 A SONG FOR THE KING
Thrangu Rinpoche's commentary belongs to the living oral tradition
in which these verses began. Given in Colorado during the summer of
2002, his talks range from the basic points to the most subtle, all of
which he has chosen for their relevance to meditation practice. The style
of presentation reflects the oral tradition, which comes around to a topic
from different directions, allowing this repetition to settle an idea more
deeply into our minds. The tone is close to conversational, flowing in a
timeless setting of spiritual friend and disciples. Thrangu Rinpoche
based his explanations on a text by Karma Trinlepa (1456-1539), who
has written the most extensive commentaries on Saraha's trilogy-his
spiritual songs for the people, the queen, and the king.
A Song for the King is the shortest of the three compositions and the
most profound, for it presents in greatest detail Saraha's unique interpre
tation of mahamudra. The eminent Kagyii scholar Pawo Tsuglalc Trengwa
(1504-66) wrote that the songs correspond to the three kiiyas, or dimen
sions: A Song for the People relates to the nirmar:akaya; A Song for the
Queen relates to the sambhogakaya, and, finally, A Songfor the King relates
to the dharmakaya, which makes it the most subtle and succinct.3
In their Indian form, songs of realization were presented in a flow of
·Verses without an overt structure. It was the Tibetan commentaries that
added the outlines and gave a topography to the landscape the songs
explored. In particular, Karma Trinlepa's outline is quite detailed and
could actually serve as a summary of his whole commentary.
To introduce the song, let us look at an overview. At the beginning,
Karma Trinlepa uses the occasion of the traditional homage to elucidate
four major obstacles to practice. This discussion functions as the tradi
tional preliminaries for a text or practice. Following this, he presents the
usual precis of a text, which alerts the reader to the range of its content,
by dividing the verses into a summary of mahamudra, according to
ground, path, and fruition. He then returns to each one of these for an
extensive discussion as he builds the rest of his commentary.
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 3
In the longer presentation, Saraha's verses on the ground start with
his advice to keep it clear of attachment, especially to the various signs
of accomplishment that might arise from practice. This is a theme
that runs throughout the song, as these attachments are the basic way
that we deviate from an authentic path. In all the major manuals on
mahamudra, instructions on how to practice are followed by descrip
tions of how to avoid obstacles-all the diversions and sidetracks that
lead us astray. Saraha distributes these cautions liberally throughout
his song.
After warning us of dangers, Saraha defines classic. concepts, such as
the nonduality of appearance and emptiness, and then he points out the
essential nature of mind. When we are meditating, it is important· to
know what we are seeking, for this goal will guide the whole process of
practice. Therefore, in the beginning Saraha points to ultimate reality,
the fruition that is the realization of mind's very nature. Finally, he speaks
about cause and effect, which constitute the level of relative truth, and
about the perils of fixating on scholastic analysis.
Having provided this ground, Saraha begins his mapping of the path
with another series of verses on the dangers of attachment, in particular
the peril of taking meditative experience to be something real and truly
existent. Once this is complete, Saraha sets forth the actual path through
his unique presentation of mahamudra, laid out as the four symbols or
stages of practice: (1) mindfulness, (2) nonminding, (3) the unborn, and
(4) beyond the intellect.
In his commentary on A Song for the People, Karma Trinh!pa gives a
detailed explanation of these four stages in increasingly subtle levels.4
Since the third and secret one has been emphasized by Thrangu Rin
poche and prefigures the discussion in this book, it might be useful to
look at it briefly. In A Song for the People, Saraha's verse reads:
