Homage to the greatly compassionate spiritual teachers!
DISPELLING OBSTACLES to Mahayana mind training, it has been taught, consists of (1) accepting ill omens as charms, (2) exterminating Māra at his very source, (3) bringing obstacles on to the path, and (4) capping your useless desires.
1. First [accepting all ill omens as charms] is as follows:
When worldly people encounter bad omens, such as hearing owls crying or foxes howling, they consult astrology, make divinations, and have rituals performed. You, on the other hand, should eagerly embrace ill omens and negative signs when they appear by cultivating the thought, “Since it is self-grasping that causes me to suffer, may all the suffering that exists in the world arising from the fear of encountering ill omens befall upon this self. May this help vanquish self-grasping.”
2. Second [exterminating Māra at his very source] is as follows:
It is taught that self-grasping causes us to suffer. So when you experience pain or injury to your body, caused either by humans or by nonhumans, think, “It is this body that causes me to suffer. If you want it, take it away this instant. O king of demons residing above, remove my head! Great indeed is your kindness in causing all the injuries to it. Since you are my ally in subduing the true enemy and my ally in subduing the ghost [of self-grasping], help me exterminate the very continuum of the worldly gods, humans, and ghosts, and help me vanquish this demon to the best of my ability.” Cut self-grasping from its root with the thought, “It is not inconsistent [for a mind training practitioner] to relish doing so.”
3. Third [bringing obstacles onto the path] is as follows:
Whatever unhelpful events, such as physical ailments, mental anxieties, and so on, occur, or when adversities afflict you, contemplate, “This comes from my own self-grasping. If today I do not discard this self-grasping, obstacles will continue to arise. So may all the adversities now in the world and those feared to come be realized upon me. May this help subdue the self and utterly destroy it.” Contemplating thus, bring them onto the path.
4. Fourth [capping your useless desires] is as follows:
“What benefit has this desire brought me, if any? It has never distanced me from cyclic existence, so it must be destroyed. Then, at least, I will have derived some purpose from its utter uselessness. If I achieve this, it will be due to my teacher’s blessing; it will be owing to his kindness. Pray help me so that in the future, too, I can heap upon this self-grasping all useless desires and vanquish them by subjugating them.” Contemplating in this way, cap your useless desires.
Iti.