Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse from the Shangpa Masters

Ignorant of the consequences of their acts, they live unaware
Of vows, tantric commitments, modesty, or shame—
They lead themselves and others to eternal calamity.
The Jewels are an unfailing refuge;
Apart from them, I’ve not found a reliable companion—
I’ve lost hope in everyone.
We pride ourselves on shouldering the burden
Of the doctrines of scripture, realization, teaching, and meditation
practice—
Excellent education, spiritual activity, monastic lifestyle,
And flourishing projects for others’ good—
Yet the impurities of our wish for fame and fortune, and the eight
worldly concerns, taint it all.
How could this be correct Buddhist practice?
To our conceit toward what we’ve requested and received of the
Teachings
We add complaints when putting them into practice.
I wonder if our good-looking guise of spiritual acts
Will ever result in what we wish to attain for eternity?
Now we should be more than a little kind to ourselves
And consider the lives of our lord Kagyu ancestors.
If we don’t sincerely nurture the Teachings in our hearts,
The teachings we repeat with our mouths—
Turning from attachment, the mind of awakening, and the phases of
creation and completion,
As lovely as rainbows—can enthrall our audience,
But when misfortunes occur,
We find we are but ordinary persons.
Thinking of this, I’m sincerely ashamed.
To wish to liberate others
Without freeing our own mind
By cultivating the ultimate—what folly!
A Sea of Blessings 207
Granting empowerments and teaching with arrogant self-assurance