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Searching for Mind

Tsangnyön Heruka, the “Madman of Tsang,” depicted as a blue-skinned yogin seated within an ornate halo, wearing bone ornaments and holding ritual implements. His fierce, unconventional appearance is surrounded by wrathful figures above and dancing skeletons below, evoking the tantric imagery associated with his life and practice.

Homage to the Guru.


You who wish to see the very nature of mind, listen here!


Just as a blade, however sharp, cannot cut itself,

And an eye, however clear, cannot see itself;

Just as fire cannot scorch itself, nor water drench itself,

Just so, mind cannot find its own nature by seeking it,

As both finder and seeker are none other than mind itself.


Yet describing its characteristics in this way

Is like claiming to have seen the sky

And then describing its edge and centre, its shape and colour.


The natural state of mind is beyond thought, expression, and example.


Through the power of the blessings of the lineage,

And through the fruition of meditation,

The true nature of primordial wisdom

Will certainly dawn from within.


Without entertaining conceptual judgements

Concerning saṃsāra and nirvāṇa,

Rest in the state in which

There is neither coming nor going.


Evaṃ.


COLOPHON

None


NOTES

* “Searching For Mind” is a title supplied by the translators since this song is untitled in the Collected Songs of Tsangnyön Heruka.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Tsangnyön Heruka (gtsang smyon he ru ka rus paʼi rgyan can). rje btsun gtsang smyon he ru kas la phyi nas blangs pa’i nyams mgur. In gtsang smyon he ru kaʼi mgur ʼbum, 1 vol., 1, compiled by Godtsangpa Natsok Rangdröl (rgod tshang pa sna tshogs rang grol). BDRC MW4CZ1248.


Abstract

Tsangnyön Heruka, the famed “Madman of Tsang,” sings here of the paradox of seeking the nature of mind: the seeker and what is sought are not separate. Beyond thought and description, mind’s true nature is revealed through meditation and simply resting as it is.

LISTEN TO AUDIO

00:00 / 00:27

TRADITION

Marpa Kagyu

CLAN

Nyang

HISTORICAL PERIOD

14th Century 15th Century

TRANSLATOR

Tib Shelf

English editing by Libby Hogg

Searching for Mind

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