THE FIRSTBORN LYRICS

1. Illumination Of The Five Realms

Let there be homage,
Homage to the Virtuous One.
Conqueror of what must be conquered,
Resplendent with knowledge.

Beyond the eightfold Narakas'
Where one dies a thousand deaths,
Constantly consumed by flame,
The fire-torment of Great Roruva.

There lies Pain, without Intermission.

Beyond the cesspool of Milhaküpa,
The embers of Kukkula,
The trees of the Asipattavana
And the Nad' River

There lie Those Having Swords for Nails.

Beyond the Animal realm,
Where men are driven into
By passion and delusion,
By anger and arrogance.

There lie nägas of great iddhi-power.

Beyond the realm of ghosts and demigods,
The petas and katapütanas.
Where the wicked are reborn
As deformed kumbhandas'

There lie those reborn as Yama's rakkhasas.

Suffering is the fruit of evil,
Comfort of meritorious action.
A mixture of a mixture'
One should know that every fruit corresponds to the deeds.

Such is the doctrine of karma.
Such is the way of Man,
Towards the realms of the devas,
And Passion's release.

2. Water Transformation

Enter the stream,
Embrace true Sight'
Within the nature of 'reality',
Towards realities within.

Hark, stream-enterer!
Destroy the seeds for future birth
In the three lower realms.
Now, your mind is made of clear light'

Towards non-return.

Transformed - through mudrä [gesture]
Transformed - through mantra [speech]
Transformed - through samadhi [concentration]
United with the dharmakaya.

Aware of body, aware of feelings'
Aware of mind, aware of dharmas'

Thus is the being purified,
Surmounting sorrow and lamentation.
Pain and grief having disappeared,
Thus is the being transformed'

Transformed - through mudrä [gesture]
Transformed - through mantra [speech]
Transformed - through samadhi [concentration]
United with the dharmakaya.

Towards non-return.

3. Flesh To The Crows

Contemplate the body
As a body.
Ardent, fully aware and mindful
Having put away all grief for the world.

Aware
Of breath, and of posture.
Aware
Internally, externally.

Not clinging to anything in this world,
As this body too shall become Flesh to the Crows.

Aware
Of death and its nature.
Aware
Internally and externally.

Contemplate the body
As a body.
Ardent, fully aware and mindful'
Having put away all grief for the world.

Aware
Of the body's arising factors.
Aware
Of the body's vanishing factors.
Aware
Of the body's arising and vanishing factors.

Impermanent, in sati.
Suffering, in sati.
Independent, in sati.

Not clinging to anything in this world,
As this body too shall become Flesh to the Crows.

4. 'sunyata (The Wisdom Of Emptiness)

You who seek,
Reach for the Perfection of Wisdom.
Emptiness is itself empty,
Yet actions are fruitious.

You who seek,
Accept the non-self, tolerantly.
Firmly convinced of emptiness,
Yet compassionate towards all beings.

Bodhisattva,
Between permanence
And impermanence.
Bodhisattva,
Between self
And non-self.

Such is the way of "nyat":
Emptiness is itself empty.

Empty.
In the past. In the present. In the future.
Empty.

Bodhisattva,
Between wisdom
And compassion.
Bodhisattva,
Between existence
And non-existence.

Such is the way of "nyat":
Emptiness is not nothingness.

You who seek,
Fear not the void.
For emptiness is itself empty,
And pure.

5. The Noble Search

You, of little dust in your eyes

Go for refuge to the Buddha.
Go for refuge to the dharma.
Go for refuge to the sangha.

Thus, open the doors to the Deathless,
To ascend the palace of the dharma.
And by craving's ceasing freed,
Become all transcended a knower of all.

Search,
Above this human breed, engulfed in sorrow.
Search,
Above this word that has become blind.
Search.

Thus, beat the drum of the Deathless,
To set in motion the wheel of the dharma.
And with fires quenched and extinguished,
Become all vanquisher renouncing all.

Go for refuge to the Buddha.
Go for refuge to the dharma.
Go for refuge to the sangha.

Search,
Between perception and non-perception.
Search,
Between Gaya and Enlightenment.
Search.

Go for refuge to the Buddha.
Go for refuge to the dharma.
Go for refuge to the sangha.

You, who seek the Truth

Search.

6. In Praise Of Reality

Shatter the failing husk of flesh
With the diamond of samadhi.
Cleanse the cause of samsara,
Unveil the purity of the dharmadhatu.

For it is not produced,
It never ceases.
It is stainless,
In the beginning, middle and end.

With stainless jewels,
Blazing in the sun of the Buddha's hand.
He bestows consecration to his foremost children.
From his body, rays of light
Spontaneously appear
And open the doors of those who abide in dark obscuration.

A mind of clear light,
Purified by the fires of Wisdom.
Free from all conceptions,
Praising the purity of the dharmadhatu.

For it is not produced,
It never ceases.
It is virtuous,
In the beginning, middle and end.

And it is not far,
It is not near.
It neither comes nor goes,
Encaged in afflictions, it is seen or not seen.

Through knowing reality, there is liberation.
Always abide in oneself.

7. Bliss

Where neither mind nor wind roam,
Where neither sun nor moon enter
There, bring your mind to rest.

Know your mind exactly as it is:
It is like water mixed with water.

Where the sense faculties dissolve,
Where the innate self nature is shattered
There, is the body of the innate.

In this supreme great bliss there is no self or other.

When bound it runs in all directions,
When released, it stays still.
That which shackles the ignorant... liberates the wise.

When one has purified his mind,
When one is free from karma
Then, one enters the city of the conquerors.

Know your body exactly as it is:
It is compassion, and emptiness its consort.

In this supreme great bliss there is no being or non-being.

Now, shattered are the (solid) pillars of the word.
Cut off (are) the many bonds of samsara
At peace, you entered the (lotus) bed of the innate.

Know the nature of the innate exactly as it is:
In it there is no beginning, no middle, no end.

In this supreme great bliss there is neither existence nor non-existence.

Take the three refuges as a ship,
Cross the ocean of existence.
In it, you perceive no waves,
As your mind goes to great bliss
Words cannot grasp its true nature.

8. Ocean Of The One Vehicle

As a ship,
Upon a vast Ocean of Light...
Pure Light,
Joyful Light,
The Light of Wisdom.

The multitudes of beings all receive such radiance.

As a ship,
With the vow of Great Compassion...
The Light of Compassion,
It grasps, it illumines,
It protects us... always.

We, an Ocean of beings, in this evil age of five defilements.

We, who were like streams...
We became at one with the Ocean.
We, who were like streams...
We became as one in the Ocean.

As a ship,
Softly carried by the winds of Perfect Virtue...
So that the troubled waves,
The waves of our Evil,
Undergo transformation.

(The darkness of our Ignorance is quickly broken through.)

We, who were like streams...
We became at one with the Ocean.
We, who were like streams...
We became as one in the Ocean.

The ice of self-afflicting blind Passion melts,
And becomes the water of Virtues.
Though the light of the Sun is veiled by clouds and mists,
Beneath there is not dark, but brightness.

Likened to the pure Lotus,
The darkness of our Ignorance is already broken through.







THE FIRSTBORN LYRICS