Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse from the Shangpa Masters

All accomplished masters’ heart-essence,
And Taranata’s experience.
Meditation on form is partial;
It cannot help in times of suffering.
Such teachings for life’s happy times
Are said to be expedient means to guide meditators
But cannot place enlightenment within their grasp.
To see your own naked face,
You need devotion toward a qualified spiritual lord.
A Sea of Blessings 147
Sweet talk that the master is the Buddha,
And attachment to beauty—
That everything he does must be seen as good—
Constitute devotion that is of thought rather than deed;
It is an appearance that masks doubt.
Even if a person begins well with the thought “I will practice the
Teachings!”
These are only words, not sight of the meaning.
The spiritual master has no partiality toward a buddha or a sentient
being.
Within his enlightened mind’s single essence—
The unborn body of ultimate enlightenment—
Even if his actions are faulty, those faults are useful.
His benefit to beings is impartial and very vast.
If his blessings enter you, that’s fine; if not, that’s also fine.
If you gain accomplishment, that’s fine; if not, that’s also fine.
With a firm decision, pray,
“I have no other place of refuge.”
Settle in evenness, inseparable from his enlightened mind.
How can meditation be prevented from arising?
The wish for happiness in collecting food and clothing
Impedes your virtuous practice and is a big distraction.
That distraction, which some call “conducive circumstances,”