Alas! To guide all beings who’ve been my parents,
I’ll extract without exception the five poisons of each being
by means of the five poisonous afflictions present in me;
whatever virtue I may possess, such as an absence of attachment,
I will distribute equally to all beings of the six realms.
Using the painful fruits of my karma, such as sickness and so on,
I will extract all similar sufferings of sentient beings;
whatever joy and benefit I may possess, such as absence of illness,
I will distribute equally to all beings of the six realms.
If I do this, what occasion is there for me, even for a single instant,
to wander aimlessly in this ocean of cyclic existence?
Yet until I have attained full enlightenment,
whatever class of the five poisons and their fruits may lie in store,
I will exhaust entirely in this very lifetime.
I will extract them this very year and this very month;
I will exhaust them this very day and this very instant;
I will seek the means to cut even the thread of minor sufferings.
O Maitrīyogi, make sure that your mind becomes trained!146
I, Maitrīyogi, regularly recite this song, wherein loving-kindness, compassion, and awakening mind are sung as a vajra song, and on one occasion, near the river Ganges, Bhagavan Maitreya, the embodiment of great compassion, appeared in the form of a king and approached me. He then uttered the following lines:
This song that dispels sufferings of the lower realms through mere hearing,
this song that cuts down the tree of cyclic existence through mere reflection,
this song that swiftly grants enlightenment through mere meditation—
wondrous indeed is this song of love, compassion, and awakening mind!
Though the five poisonous afflictions must be destroyed as enemies,
amazing indeed that you still uphold them in your heart!
Though sickness and suffering are hard to endure in all respects,
amazing indeed is your current way of being!
Who would not find it hard to wander through samsara selflessly
by discarding self-interest and embracing others’ well-being?
So to take others’ misfortune upon yourself without being tied
by thoughts of self-interest even for an instant is sublime indeed!
Though the Mahayana scriptures are numberless,
not even an atom-sized portion is missing from this teaching.
So this vajra song of yours, O yogi,
whether it’s heard, reflected upon, expounded, or meditated upon,
is a sublime refuge for the entire world, including the gods.
Wondrous indeed that the innermost essence of the mind
of the buddhas of all ten directions shines within you!
As [Maitreya] uttered these lines in response to the words of the vajra song, Maitrīyogi experienced great ecstasy, and with the knots of his doubts undone, he entered the great battle of the heroic ones. Kye ho!
Furthermore, as [Maitrīyogi] trained his mind in this spiritual practice three times in the day and three times at night, with full mindfulness of time and context, and free of forgetfulness, singing this vajra song to rejuvenate his elements, like a mother who loves her only son, all the gods, yakṣas, smell-eaters, demi-gods, garuḍas, semihumans, the great belly-crawlers, flesh-eating demons, ogres, and so on were brought under his influence and revered him. Similarly, the king of the land, his ministers, his queens, the brahman priests, householders, young men and women, ordinary people, and so on, came under his influence as well. They joyfully followed him, and anyone who saw this or heard of this became endowed with loving nature. Horses, elephants, water buffaloes, monkeys, winged creatures, waterborne creatures, mountain creatures, predators, all beings of the six classes, including even small insects like the ants, remained unafraid of him, and peacefully they converged in the presence of the yogi.
Then the yogi felt, “I cultivated in my heart love, compassion, and awakening mind; I have recited the words as incantations and have sung the melodious vajra song. Because of this Blessed Maitreya, the embodiment of great compassion, revealed bare his face to me and uttered words of delight, which severed the entire matrix of doubts. As a consequence, my practices of forbearance, joyous effort, and so on became enhanced like a waxing moon. By the force of this, like a mother gazing on her only son, all beings of the six classes became pleased with me.”
In grateful response, and with thoughts of making offerings to Buddha Maitreya, Maitrīyogi sang this song:
Those closely related to me since beginningless time,
all sentient beings who’ve been my parents,
I recall my pledge to lead them to supreme enlightenment.
I make offerings to Maitreya with this spiritual practice.
Then, not entangled in self-interest for even an instant,
I contemplate in my heart others’ welfare alone—
this is the principal cause for attaining full enlightenment.
I make offerings to Maitreya with this spiritual practice.
Whatever experiences I may undergo—joyful, painful, or neutral—
I will eagerly embrace them as aids to enlightenment.
Whatever merits I may accumulate over many eons,
I will prevent them from ripening as the śrāvaka’s cowardly path.
I make offerings to Maitreya with this spiritual practice.
Whatever undesirable events may befall me on such occasions,
may my armor of forbearance never be lost for even an instant.
Even if someone I’ve nurtured with kindness
acts against me ungratefully, I will nurture him with a smiling face.
I make offerings to Maitreya with this spiritual practice.
Though the hateful, on their part, engage in negative acts,
may I never give in to negative thoughts for even an instant.
Even should the entire universe rise up as demons, ghosts, or enemies,
I will never guard the binding chains of self-centeredness.
I make offerings to Maitreya with this spiritual practice.
Even when afflicted with an illness certain to kill me,
I will not entrust myself to nonvirtuous acts.
Though my resources may be meager because of my habit of miserliness,
I will never place my hope in an unwholesome livelihood.
I make offerings to Maitreya with this spiritual practice.
Even when surrounded by negative companions,
I will never forsake the resolution of the remedies.
In brief, whatever I do—going, sitting, and so on—
I will never act without careful examination.
I make offerings to Maitreya with this spiritual practice.
Though this is so, not even an atom has ever existed
that has been affirmed to be substantially real.
This, then, is the principal cause for attaining enlightenment.
I make offerings to Maitreya with this spiritual practice.
Through this sublime offering of meditative practice
to help train this yogi’s mind,
O soldiers of loving-kindness,
Accept this offering and help transform my mind.
As this offering was made, the five offering goddesses appeared in space with an infinity of diverse offerings, such as music, lights, and other attractive objects. At that moment, the sublime masters who have trained their mind in Mahayana recognized this spiritual practice as a source of great wonder. They observed that although many have engaged in the austerity of this spiritual practice—received the teaching and undertaken its practice—[it was Maitrīyogi who] gave the instruction to Atiśa. He was the master of 108 extremely holy places, the crown jewel among fifty-two learned pandits, a heroic being venerated by sixty-two religious kings, the preceptor of countless upholders of ethical discipline (vinaya), the teacher of countless upholders of scriptural discourses (sūtra), an object of reverence by numberless upholders of higher knowledge (abhidharma), and the spiritual mentor of oceans of knowledge bearers (vidyādhara)—in brief, he is an unrivaled sublime being and the protector of all sentient beings. This embodiment of great compassion undertook the practice [of this teaching]. This is as stated in the following lines:
He who discards his own interests and spontaneously accomplishes
the welfare of others, he is my spiritual teacher.
This sublime being gave this instruction both in India and Tibet as a hidden guide to those sublime ones who shared deep interest in the practice.
As for its lineage: Maitreya, Maitrīyogi, who in turn transmitted it to Master Atiśa.