Tutor, to cultivate your mind’s nature,
Do not be content with your understanding of emptiness.
Diligently cultivate, as much as you can,
Unaltered even rest in the fresh nature of whatever arises.
I have no instructions beyond that to give.

Written by Barway Dorje at the wish of Tragyal.

When your mind is caught by recollection, it is seen.
Don’t introduce the intellect’s alterations. Leave it as it is.
If the doubt “Is this it or not?” arises, rest in that.
If the resolution “It is” arises, rest in it.
If the dissatisfied thought “It isn’t” arises, let it go.
Whatever happens, be content with naked ordinariness.
Meditate on devotion for your guru and compassion for beings.

Dechen Barway Dorje wrote this to remind Karma Jangchup.

OM AH HUM!
Personification of the three times’ buddhas,
Vidyadhara, you have appeared for the good of beings
From the vast expanse of Padmakara’s compassion.
I pray to Dechen Barway Dorje.
Transfer your blessing and wisdom to my continuum.
Bless me so that I realize the unborn essence.

If our various thoughts are not embraced by awareness,
We waste our lives by wandering in bewilderment.
Even though there are frequent moments of distraction and
forgetfulness,
As soon as awareness returns, cultivate it.
Don’t intellectualize, alter, or fabricate.
By cultivating naturalness a great thing will be achieved.

In response to the request of a few male and female disciples,
This was immediately written by Barway Dorje. Virtue!

All-Seeing Manjushri Vajradhara,
Protector of all beings,
Great Splendor Tobden Düdül Lingpa,
Barway Dorje: I pray to you.
Liberate my continuum through the force of your blessing.
May my wishes be fulfilled in accord with dharma.

At the request of Kawo Tsodzay, this was written by Dechen Barway Dorje. Virtue!

The beginningless samsara is, fundamentally, caused by our strong fixation on a personal self. We think “I” and “me” all the time, and we regard as “other” and as threatening anything that does not seem to be “I” or “mine,” that seems to be against the centralized stability of this self.

We are attached to what we call “I” or “me,” and we are strongly adverse to what we perceive as other. And those things and persons that do not seem to threaten the “I,” that are not really part of it either, we regard as insignificant. And in that way, we react to everything we experience with one of the three poisons of attachment, aversion, and ignorance.

We cannot magically reverse our self-fixation. Attempting to abruptly reverse it would be like attempting to reverse the current of a river. The river is going to flow downward and likewise, left to itself, self-fixation is going to continue. However, if we use resources and techniques, we can weaken and finally eradicate self-fixation.

Just as nowadays, using all of the technology we have developed, we can actually reverse the current of a river if we want to, in the same way, using the techniques of the mahayana and especially those of the vajrayana, we can gradually reverse self-fixation. This is where the generation stage is so important; the generation stage is central to this process of reversal.

Countless siddhas in India and Tibet used this means to achieve the state of buddhahood in one lifetime. They were able to gain fearless confidence that they could transmit to others in their presentation of the path. They achieved ultimate or final wisdom, and they manifested nirvana that does not abide in either existence or tranquility.

This achievement is not just past history. It is not something we know that happened but that does not happen anymore; it still happens. If we practice, the results of practice will be exactly the same as they have always been.

In the teaching on the Clear Guide for the Generation Stage, Guru Rinpoche describes the various aspects of gurusadhana of means of accomplishment of the guru, and he classifies them as outer, inner, secret, and very secret. But the fundamental question is: Why practice guru sadhana? In spite of the fact that in his introduction to these practices, Guru Rinpoche describes the historical basis in which they occurred, the purpose of gurusadhana is not the commemoration of history.

In general, all vajrayana practice is concerned with one or more of the three roots: the gurus, who are the root of blessing; the yidams, who are the roots of attainment or siddhis; and the dharmapalas, who are the roots of activity. Of these, the guru is the most important and includes the other two. After all, it is said, “Before there was the guru, even the name of Buddha was not heard.”

So we practice gurusadhana because each and every one of us possesses buddha nature. In fact, the true nature of our being—the true nature of our mind—is buddha nature. It is, however, veiled by our kleshas. The purpose of practicing gurusadhana is that it is the most effective way of removing the veils that obscure our buddha nature, of gathering the two accumulations, and achieving the two siddhis in this life.

This means that if someone practices gurusadhana with intense faith, they can achieve the state of Vajradhara—the state of unity—in this very lifetime. When we say that, it sounds almost unlikely because when we think of where we are now and the state of Vajradhara, the distance between them sounds impossibly great. But remember that the actual force of this path is faith, and even one moment of intense faith can make a tremendous change in your being.

Because we have buddha nature, if we have enough faith in and devotion for our guru, and if we can practice with confidence—confidence in the fact that because we have buddha nature, we can achieve the state of result of this practice—then, we will definitely be able to do so.

If we have less confidence, if we think “Well, these are wonderful practices—this outer, inner, secret, and very secret gurusadhana—but, surely they are not meant for an ignorant person like me. They must be meant for people who are already somebody special. And no doubt it would work for them, but it won’t work for me;” in other words, if you practice with doubt about the efficacy of the practice for you, then you will achieve a doubtful result. And if you take the attitude, “Well, you know they say this stuff. But, you know, who knows? They’re just trying to get you to do it. So they exaggerate. And probably not much is going to happen,” then not much is going to happen. So the effectiveness of the practice depends on your mind, your faith, and your attitude.

Technical proficiency, clear generation stage, and lucid completion stage practice are, of course, important, but faith and devotion are far more important than any technical proficiency. After all, it is said, “Even if the yogin crying or praying with faith sounds like a whining dog, the blessings will still enter them.” Remember that.