At the feet of the glorious Mahasukha Padmasambhava, the essence of all the buddhas of the three times, I bow down and take refuge with deep respect of body, speech, and mind. With your great compassion, please accept me and grant your blessings at all times and in all situations.
You are the source of inconceivable life examples, unfathomable like the nature of space.
The immortal vajra play of your great bliss benefits others as far as space pervades.
Guru and consort together with devas, dakinis, and Dharma protectors, your kindness is incomparable.
By recognizing the view of same taste, I salute your single wisdom that manifests in manifold ways.
As the drama of the magical net endowed with spontaneously completed qualities of fruition,
The perfection of enlightened conduct,
You spread the great light endowed with the seven transmissions for the teachings and beings.28
Padma Ösel Do-ngak Lingpa, to you I bow down.29
Charioteer of activity of the Victorious One of Uddiyana [Orgyen],
You are supreme [Chokgyur] among all treasure revealers.
Sporting in the delight of changeless great bliss [Dechen],
May you, endowed with the name Sanctuary [Lingpa], accept me constantly throughout the three times.30
For the sake of embodying all the Buddha’s teachings
Solely into the practice of the stages of the path,
Garlands of volumes of scriptures of Sarma and Nyingma, extensive and subtle, common and special,
Have filled the entire Land of Snow.31
In harmony with all these, yet most excellent among them,
I shall here open up, as the wealth that delights all worthy ones,
An unprecedented jewel treasury, which completely and clearly shows the path of the summit of vehicles
And makes you realize the primordial view within a single lifetime.
I will now explain the root text Wisdom Essence, the excellent speech of the sacred Dharma that is the supreme and most eminent among all topics of knowledge endowed with the goodness of beginning, middle, and end. It belongs to the profound Vajra Vehicles that take the fruition as path and are more exalted, by means of four special qualities, than the extensive Philosophical Vehicles that take the cause as path. Among the outer and inner Vajrayana, The Wisdom Essence unifies the profound meaning of the three sections of the Inner Yoga Tantras.32
Within the Land of Snow, the activity of the buddhas was first carried out by the khenpo, the master, and the Dharma king.33 Having gathered one hundred incarnated translators and panditas, the teachings translated in this early propagation are renowned as Nyingma, the Old School. The Nyingma School possesses the three great transmissions of the extensive Kama, the profound Terma, and the short lineage of Pure Vision. Of these, the root text Wisdom Essence, graced with the splendor of blessings and vajra words, is a profound teaching endowed with the three special qualities of a terma revelation: not constructed by intellectual reasoning, not corrupted by ordinary words, and not repeating what is said by others.34
What is the meaning explained in The Wisdom Essence? Generally, there are three kinds of teaching:35 the tantras that manifest as the natural sound of dharmata from the Lord of the Circle and are like a treasury of jewels contained within the chest of the six limits and four modes;36 the statements by the lords of the ten bhumis that clarify the meaning of the tantras, fully disclosing their secret significance, and are like the key to the treasury;37 and, finally, the instructions in the key points of the tantras by the accomplished vidyadharas that condense them to be applicable for worthy people and are like one’s heritage placed in the palm of one’s hand.38 Of these three, The Wisdom Essence is an instruction text, a teaching in the key points. It teaches, clearly and without concealment, the nature of the ground, path, and fruition, as well as the entire practice of the general and special stages of the path.
How will this text be explained? There exist numerous systems of the learned and accomplished great beings who have upheld the tantric and instructional traditions of Sarma and Nyingma. Among them, I have taken as the basis the character of the root text, which was taught for the unelaborate type of person, with the intent to condense spiritual practice to the essentials. Not following the textual traditions of intellectuals, with expositional phrases, elaborate quotations and reasoning, or critical evaluations of contradictions and proofs, I will phrase the explanation plainly so as not to waste the excellent fortune of having personally obtained the nectar of oral teachings of the supreme vidyadhara, the lord guru. By clarifying the meaning of the text word for word, I will explain the secret and profound significance of this most eminent text to the extent and ability of my faithful and devoted intellect.39
This oral instruction in the stages of the path is the heart essence of Padmasambhava, the knower of the three times. It is the “background teaching” of the Four Profound Cycles of Guru Sadhana that lucidly shows, in their entirety, the complete stages of the view, meditation, and action of the Three Yogas, and is equal to receiving teachings directly from the great master of Uddiyana, who is the Second Buddha.40 I will now explain it under the following four headings:41
1. Teaching on the title in order to easily understand the main text.
2. Restating the sign script that is an authentic source and paying homage to the special object.
3. Explaining the actual text endowed with this title and meaning.
4. Concluding with words that establish the main text.