Advice on Proper Behavior, Bestowed in a Dream by the Guru, My Sole Father

By Kyapjé Düdjom Rinpoche

As I lay down to sleep on the night of the fourteenth, I supplicated Guru Rinpoche with all my heart, and prayed for his blessings to render my endeavors meaningful. Early the next morning, I dreamt I was sitting inside a grand, temple-like house. Out of nowhere there appeared a young, white man clad in white, his hair loose. As he played the cymbals most sumptuously, he danced towards me from the door, spiralling clockwise as in the Kiṃkara dances, and said:

If you’re going to plant the teachings, plant them in your mind:
in the depths of mind is where you’ll find buddha.
If you’re going to search out pure lands, purify your deluded clinging to the ordinary:
delightful pure lands lie right beside you.
Rouse diligence when it comes to practicing the essential teachings—
whoever reached accomplishment without practice? Your own worst faults are difficult for you to see;
to expose your faults is the single most vital piece of advice.
As your negative aspects fall away, one by one,
your positive side will grow and flourish, ever more.

He then rolled the cymbals and crashed them heavily together, waking me up. Upon awakening, I immediately remembered his words and understood that this advice on proper conduct was bestowed directly by the Guru, my sole father, himself. With great remorse and a heavy heart at not having recognized him upon our meeting, I, the old Nyingmapa Jikdrel Yeshé Dorjé, took his words to heart and wrote them down. May they be of benefit! May all be auspicious! Sarva maṅgalaṃ!

| Translated by Lhasey Lotsawa (trans. Oriane Sherap Lhamo and Peter Woods), 2020.