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The Song that Clarifies Recollection 

by Lord Jigten Sumgön

Once, when Jigten Sumgön was residing at Drikung Thel, he gathered his students in a meadow behind the monastery and asked them to perform displays of their miacle power.  All but one were able to comply with their guru's request, and this disciple, Rinchen Drak, suddenly died from shame.  When the undertakers tried to dismember his corpse in order to feed it to the vultures, the body resisted the knife.  Jigten Sumgön placed his walking stick on the heart-center of the corpose and sang this song:

I bow at the feet of glorious Phagmo Drupa.

 

Listen, Rinchen Drak, my son.

Ka!  At the time of death ...

 

Worldly activities are a lie.

The eight worldly dharmas1 are like the color of a rainbow.

Think, can you put your trust in them?

1 gain, loss, pleasure, pain, fame, disgrace, kind and harsh words

 

When you see the separation of gathered friends,

The affection of relatives and friends is a lie.

Heartfelt words are like an echo2.

Think, can you put your trust in them?

2 the attachment to affection and heartfelt words

 

When you see the growth and decline of the four elements of the body,

The illusion of strength and ability is also a lie.

The spring flower of youth –

Think, can you put your trust in them?

 

When you see the gathering and consumption of wealth,

Clinging and painful accumulation are also lies.

Food and wealth are like dew on a blade of grass.

Think, can you put your trust in them?

 

When you see the suffering of birth and death,

The happiness of the assemblies of gods and men is a lie.

The joy and suffering of the wheel of samsara –

Think, can you put your trust in them?

 

To bodhicitta that gives unbiased protection like the father and the tree,

The bias of disciples is a lie.

Nonvirtuous and misleading friends –

Think, can you put your trust in them?

 

When you understand that all sentient beings are your parents,

Attachment to self-cherishing is a lie.

The Shravakas’ vehicle of self-liberation –

Think, can you put your trust in them?

 

When you become convinced of the cause and result of karma,

The instruction of non-effort is a lie.

Thunder without rain in an empty sky –

Think, can you put your trust in them?

 

For the guru who has the realization of power and blessings,

The obstacle of maras and error is a lie.

Chattering prayers like a parrot –

Think, can you put your trust in them?

 

When you realize the nature of your mind,

The three limitless kalpas are also a lie.

The deceptive vehicle of relative truth –

Think, can you put your trust in them?

 

In the cemetery, Gathering Relics3, are you sad, son, at being alone?

Since nothing lasts and all must die, Rinchen Drak, don’t be attached.

If your mind is still attached, transfer it to your guru’s heart.

 

Richen Drak’s body was then cut open and found to contain numerous relics.  There were so many of these that they had to swept together with brooms.

3 The cemetery where this miracle occurred was thereafter referred to as Ten Chak Gang (“Gathering Relics”).  There, Jigten Sumgön opened a mandala for the purification of the lower realms, which was placed under a large slab of stone.  Under that slab, he also created a light which will burn until the end of this kalpa, and which benefits the minds of those whose bodies are brought there, causing them to be free from birth in lower realms.