The Three Principles of the Path

THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF THE PATH by Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419)
Translated by Gelek Rimpoche

Homage to the Great Masters.

(1)
Heart of the Buddha's teachings,
path praised by bodhisattvas,
gateway to liberation
this I will explain as best I can.

(2)
Not addicted to samsara's delights,
fulfilling the mission of precious life
pursuing the fully reliable path,
listen with a clear mind, you fortunate one.

(3)
Lacking the determination to be free,
you remain stupefied by samsara's delights.
Since obsession ropes all beings to samsara,
First free yourself from it.

(4)
Wonderful is this life, short its nature.
Don't cheat yourself with fleeting pleasure.
Deeply contemplate the certainty of karma
and the constant suffering of samsara.
See beyond the cycle of lives.

(5)
No longer craving fantasy,
a steadfast desire for liberation,
attaining these two is the first breakthrough.

(6)
Seeking freedom for yourself alone
can never bring the exaltation of peerless buddhahood.
Therefore the wise develop bodhimind.

(7)
Swept away by four raging rivers,
tightly bound by karmic chains, so hard to escape,
trapped in the iron cage of self grasping,
shrouded by pitch-black ignorance,

(8)
born again and again in endless cycles of life,
constantly tortured by the three sufferings,
all our mothers are in this plight.
Please generate ultimate compassion and love.

(9)
Without opening the wisdom eye,
seeking freedom and generating bodhimind
cannot cut the root of samsara.
Strive to see interdependence.

(10)
Whoever sees that cause and effect
can never fail in samsara or beyond
and destroys all objectivity,
has entered the path that Buddha enjoys.

(11)
Interdependent appearance -- infallible.
Emptiness -- inexpressible reality.
As long as these two seem separate,
Buddha's insight is not understood.

(12)
Perceived simultaneously without alternation,
seeing infallible interdependence
destroys objective identity.
With this, the analysis of wisdom is complete.

(13)
Further, appearance eliminates the extreme of existence.
Emptiness eliminates non-existence.
Emptiness itself is cause and effect.
Understanding this protects from these extremes.

(14)
Once you understand the essence of the three principles,
maintain solitude and great enthusiasm my child,
and quickly achieve the ultimate mission of life.