A river of virtue undefiled by the three spheres
Springs from the snow-mountain of pure actions and intentions —
Mine and those of all sentient beings without limit.
May this river flow into the ocean of fourfold presence.
Commentary
Why are you doing this practice? Listen. Listen to your heart and listen to your body as deeply as possible. Let other voices bubble away into silence, and feel what is there, in your heart and in your body. When you feel deeply, so deeply that thoughts have no power to distract or confuse you, you may sense a possibility of a peace and freedom that permeates not only everything you know and experience, but every being in the universe and everything they know and experience. What you are doing may start in you, but it is not just for you.
Whence comes this possibility? This possibility is present in every thought that arises, every word that is uttered, every movement that is made. You feel its presence when you do what needs to be done without thought of doing, doer, or what is done (the three spheres). Every moment in which you do just what is called for without thinking, planning, or scheming is a moment of pure action and intention. It is like a single snowflake. As that action takes form in the world, the snowflake melts and becomes a drop of water for a person lost in a desert and racked by thirst. The thirsty person is the whole world, the whole universe, racked beyond endurance by the struggles of beings everywhere. That one drop eases the pain and suffering of life. It may not be much, but it not only eases pain and suffering, it does so in such a way that each and every being is awakened to a similar possibility if only for a fraction of a second—a way of knowing and living in which they know that every moment of experience arises as the fourfold presence.
Fourfold presence permeates mahamudra teaching. To understand what it means, take a moment of strong feeling, anger or joy, for instance. Whether anger or joy, you experience it vividly. This is perceptible presence (Skt. nirmanakaya). At the same time, as we shall see later, it is groundless. When you look into it, there is nothing to it. It is empty. This is empty presence (Skt. dharmakaya). When you experience both at the same time, an ineffable quality arises, a richness which evokes neither pleasure or pain, but something in an entirely different dimension. This is mystical presence (Skt. sambhogakaya). These three arise simultaneously and inseparably. This is essential presence (Skt. svabhavikakaya). The same fourfold presence holds for everything you experience, whether a sensory sensation such as color, texture, taste, sound, or aroma, an emotion or feeling such as hate, compassion, pride, or faith, or a thought or a string of thoughts that floats through your mind.
When you make a wish, make it a big wish. Make it so big that it takes you far beyond the limits of everyday life. Remember the snowflake mentioned above? What would it be like to touch the possibility of peace and freedom in each and every snowflake of experience? Every moment of experience would become a drop of water free from any sense of doer, doing, or done. Every action that followed would bring understanding and freedom into each and every being. All together, they would become a river of good, a river of virtue. That river, arising from the thoughts, words, and deeds of every being, would flow into an ocean of presence, making understanding, openness, balance, and effective action possible in every being. That is Rangjung Dorje’s wish. It is to this aim, the awakening of the whole universe, that Rangjung Dorje directs this prayer. What you are doing may start in you, but it is not just for you.