SHABKAR
Shabkar Tshogdruk Rangdrol (1781- 1851) received a full monastic ordination at the age of twenty, but like Milarepa spent much of his life in mountain retreats, and again like Milarepa was famous for the songs in which he conveyed his teachings. He was, as Victoria Sujata puts it, 'a yogi inspired by nature', and was an early advocate of a non-sectarian approach to Buddhism:
In the beginning I took the teacher as
the teacher,
In the middle I took the scriptures as
the teacher,
In the end I took my own mind as
teacher.
You white clouds floating gently like milk boiling over
In the sky by the tips of the mountains to the southwest –
If you are Pema Jungne and his disciples -- Oh happiness!
Well! Then I request the instructions for Dzogchen,
You white clouds piling up like heaps of fresh yoghurt
In the sky above the peaks of the eastern mountains --
If you are Milarepa and his disciples -- Oh joy!
Well! Then I request the instructions
for Mahamudra.
You white clouds stretching out like a white banner
Unfurling in the four directions of the sky overhead --
If you are Lobsang Dragpa and his disciples -- Oh happiness!
Well! Then I request the instructions for the great Madhyamaka.
I sang this song one afternoon at the white snow-covered mountain, Machen, when I saw clouds rising and floating in every direction.
Be inspired by the wide-open sky
Mind without centre or edge –Meditate on that!
Though inner thoughts build up like southern clouds,
Mind, like the sky, is at ease.
Be inspired by the luminous sun.
Mind without shadows or light – Meditate on that!
Though inner thoughts radiate as beams,
Mind, like the sun, is at ease.
Be inspired by Mount Machen,
Mind without tremor or quake – Meditate on that!
Though inner thoughts spread like thickets,
Mind, like the mountain, is at ease.
Be inspired by the vast unbounded ocean,
Mind without surface or depth – meditate on that!
Though inner thoughts roil like waves,
Mind, like the ocean, is at ease.
In former times, I sang many, many songs.
Singing songs, I felt such joy! Such joy!
Also I sang this song clearly, clearly!
May anyone who hears this song be happier and happier.
[The first of these pieces is from Mathieu Ricard's translation of Shabkar's autobiography The Life of Shabkar (State University of New York Press, 1994), p.250. The second and third are from Songs of Shabkar: The Path of a Tibetan Yogi Inspired by Nature by Victoria Sujata (Dharma Publishing, 2011), p.147, 201-3.]