By: Venerable Lama Gendun Rinpoche
Happiness cannot be found through great effort and willpower, but is already present, in open relaxation and letting go.
Don’t strain yourself, there is nothing to do or undo. Whatever momentarily arises in the body-mid has no real importance at all, has little reality whatsoever. Why identify with, and become attached to it, passing judgment upon it and ourselves?
Far better to simply let the entire game happen on its own, springing up and falling back like waves—without changing or manipulating anything—and notice how everything vanishes and reappears, magically, again and again, time without end.
Only our searching for happiness prevents us from seeing it. It’s like a vivid rainbow which you pursue without ever catching, or a dog chasing its tail.
Although peace and happiness do not exist as an actual thing or place, it is always available and accompaines you every instant.
Don’t believe in the reality of good and bad experiences; they are like today’s ephemeral weather, like rainbows in the sky.
Wanting to grasp the ungraspable, you exhaust yourself in vain. As soon as you open and relax this tight fist of grasping, infinite space is there—opening, inviting and comfortable.
Make use of this spaciousness, this freedom and natural ease. Don’t search any further: Don’t go into the tangled jungle looking for the great awakened elephant, who is already resing quietly at home in front of your own hearth.
Nothing to do or undo, nothing to force, nothing to want, and nothing missing—
Emaho! Marvelous! Everything happens by itself.
From: Nyoshul, Khenpo, Natural Great Perfection. Gendun Rinpoche (1918–1997) was trained entirely in Tibet and went into exile as a result of the Chinese occupation of belonged. He practiced in the Karma Kagyu tradition and spent over 30 years meditating in closed retreat in Tibet and India. His principal teacher, the 16th Karmapa, compared him to the great 11/12th century Tibetan yogi Milarepa. Later in his life, Gendun Rinpoche taught in Eurrope. He was the abbott and retreat master of Dakpo Kagyu Ling Monaster in Dordogne, France.
Comment: The Vajra is a symbol of indestructibility, strength and clarity of mind. It represents the unyielding, thunderbolt-like nature of enlightenment and the ability to cut through ignorance and delusion. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, great masters would spontaneously create “songs” of enlightenment like this one. As the traditional declaration at the end of the song states: Marvelous!