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I pay homage to the completely pervasive great compassion of Küntuzangpo!
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who directly reveals self-knowing Awake Awareness.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is pure of all delusions from the very beginning.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is all-pervasive and without partiality.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is unobscured, uncovered self-knowing Awake Awareness.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is self-knowing Awake Awareness that is pure from the beginning.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the Completion Body of self-knowing Awake Awareness.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the Emanation Body of self-knowing Awake Awareness.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who clears the darkness of doubt.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is self-knowing Awake Awareness that is without uniting or separating.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is unmistaken self-knowing Awake Awareness.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who clears the darkness of ignorance.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the Three Enlightened Bodies without combining or separating.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the root deity of self-knowing Awake Awareness.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is self-arisen oneness.
Homage to Küntuzangpo who is without the obscurations of karmic traces.
Homage to Küntuzangpo who is not established anywhere and goes beyond everything.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the Enlightened Body of the ultimate king.
Homage to Küntuzangpo who protects all sentient beings with compassion.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is self-liberated, complete enlightenment.
Homage to Küntuzangpo who clears the darkness of mistaken views.
Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the direct manifestation of the Three Enlightened Bodies.
How to do a Prostration
The Homage of the Body
Place both palms together leaving a hollow space between them – not pressed flat together. Imagine you have a wish-fulfilling jewel inside the space of your hands.
Then place your hands on the crown of your head. Sometimes we place our palms on the forehead, but Tapihritsa specifically mentions placing at the crown of the head. Then from the wish-fulfilling jewel emanate various offering substances as rays of light. Then offer to the pure body of all Buddhas. Imagine this. The blessing of this offering is that all the karma and obscurations of the body of yourself, and all sentient beings are purified. Then imagine from this offering you get the thirty excellent major marks of the Buddha body.
Next, place your palms at the throat. Make offerings to the Buddha’s pure speech. Imagine this. The blessing of this offering is that all the karma and obscurations of the speech of yourself, and all sentient beings are purified. Then imagine from this offering your speech arises as the sixty limbs of melody of the speech of the Buddha.
Next, place your palms at the heart. Make offerings to the Buddha’s pure mind. Imagine this. The blessing of this offering is that all the karma and obscurations of the mind of yourself, and all sentient beings are purified. Then imagine from this offering your mind receives the sixty-one primordial wisdoms of the Buddha’s mind.
Then bring your palms down and bow down to the ground. Touch the ground with your two hands, your forehead, and two knees. This is a Five-point Earth touching in which the karma and obscurations of the afflictive emotions of the five poisons are purified. Let all of your obscruations and negative karmas accumulated as the five afflictive emotions melt down into the Earth. Release all of the poisons and disturbing emotionalities deep into the Earth. Let the Earth herself receive them. The Earth herself has the capacity to compost all of it.
Then, imagine being fully cleansed through letting everything go, and from this purified freshness you receive all the positive qualities of the Buddha. Feel this within you. Then slowly stand up. Turn your hand palms up and bring your palms back together as you stand up straight. As you rise up, feel that all sentient beings are also liberated. For you are not practicing only for yourself, but for your family, friends, neighbors, and all sentient beings. Each prostration is for them.
Then you can begin again with the next prostration. Do these prostration slowly. As you do this, you can recite a prostration prayer, mantra, or the homages above to Küntuzangpo.
The Homage of the Speech
This is the practice of prayer and aspiration. When you speak the prayer this is the speech homage. Let your words be beautiful offerings. Feel that these word of the prayer, mantra, or homage are the words of the Buddha and great masters. It is not your own words, but the stainless words of the Buddha echoing through the lineage.
The Homage of the Mind
When you practice, you have an embodied sense of the visualization, feeling, and aspiration of the words you recite and their meaning. In this way, your mind connects to the homage. So reflect on the meaning of the homage not just in an intellectual way, but also in a fully embodied way as well. Let the meaning penetrate all parts of you, and let yourself be steeped in it fully.
These are the three homages of body, speech, and mind.
The Purpose of the Three Homages
The purpose of the homage is to purify the obscurations of body, speech, and mind which is necessary to attain the actual truth of Enlightened Body, Enlightened Speech, and Enlightened Mind. Through this way we purify our body, speech, and mind so we may get the Enlightened Body, Speech, and Mind of the Buddha.
Commentary on the Meaning of Each Homage
“I pay homage to the completely pervasive great compassion of Küntuzangpo!”
Meaning of the homage:
There are three ways to explain this homage. First in the context of the example. Second, in the context of the meaning. Third, in the context of the sign.
By Example - Sky
First in the context of the example. “Kun” means all. This refers to all existing phenomena. “Zang” means good. This refers to all existing phenomena empty and clear like the sky. It is good, because all existing phenomena are without good & bad, big & small, high & low, near & far thus it is good.
The homage says “completely pervasive” which means spreading everywhere without upper & lower, border, center, cardinal direction, intermediate direction, inner, outer, surface, or depth, and so forth. It pervades everywhere in every direction.
The homage says “great compassion” this refers to the extent of the compassion is immeasurable.
By Meaning - Dharmadhatu / Reality
Second, in the context of the meaning. “Kun” means all appearing phenomena with characteristics. The context here is that appearing phenomena manifest as or with characteristics. “Zang” means good. Here good means the great blissful nature of reality.
The homage says “completely pervasive” which means the nature of reality abides without boundary or direction, everywhere in every direction.
The homage says “great compassion” this refers to the extent of the compassion is immeasurable.
By Sign - Nature of the Mind
Third, in the context of the sign. “Kun” means all, signifying all sentient beings. All sentient beings composed of life-force and breath. “Zang” means good. Here good means the nature of the mind that is self-arising Primordial Wisdom. It is good because it abides equally in all sentient beings without partiality.
The homage says “completely pervasive” which means unceasingly arising in every sentient beings of the three realms. Every sentient being has a Buddha nature – the natural state of mind.
The homage says “great compassion” this refers to the extent of the compassion is immeasurable.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who directly reveals self-knowing Awake Awareness.”
Kun means all. What all? All beings without exception. Zang means good. Why good? Good here refers to compassion that is completely pervasive, unceasing, and equal to all sentient beings. Every sentient being, no matter their size or shape have the unceasing seed of compassion within them. No being is missing this seed for potential great unceasing compassion. Therefore, all beings have the potential for liberation. This is the meaning of Kuntuzangpo.
Revealing self-knowing Awake Awareness means that by the instructions of the teachings of Küntuzangpo, the reality of self-knowing Awake Awareness is nakedly revealed without obscuration or covering.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is pure of all delusions from the very beginning.”
Kun means all. What all? All the phenomena of cyclic existence and transcendence of suffering. Zang means good. Why good? Because Awake Awareness primordial wisdom pervades all phenomena of cyclic existence and transcendence of suffering impartially. Just like the essence of the sun never remains in darkness, Awake Awareness from the beginning does not remain in delusion. Thus Awake Awareness is Primordial Wisdom. The instructions cut through the root of delusion, making delusion no longer possible.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is all-pervasive and without partiality.”
This means the Universal Ground Enlightened Mind is without border, center, cardinal direction, intermediate direction, inner, outer, surface, or depth, and so forth. Not falling to one side or another, pervading everything it is all pervasive and without partiality.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is unobscured, uncovered self-knowing Awake Awareness.”
This means that the ground of the Enlightened Mind abides as self-arising primordial wisdom. That is why it is unobscured and uncovered.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is self-knowing Awake Awareness that is pure from the beginning.”
What is meant by self-knowing Awake Awareness that is pure from the beginning? This means that the Enlightened Mind is primordial without falling into any limits or extremes. This is why it is primordial pure – from the beginning. Extremes here are any pair of sides such as good & bad, or existing & non-existing.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the Completion Body of self-knowing Awake Awareness.”
This means that even though the Awake Awareness primordial wisdom is zero-sized, still all the cyclic existence and transcendence of suffering are complete in the Enlightened Mind – the Completion Body of zero-sized primordial wisdom.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the Emanation Body of self-knowing Awake Awareness.”
This means that the magical display of the Enlightened Mind arises everywhere and is the creator of everything. What does creator mean? Creator here means to create without causes and conditions. Every existing phenomena arises from this magical display of Enlightened Mind.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who clears the darkness of doubt.”
This means that from recognizing the Enlightened Mind, resolving decisively on that point, and having confidence by being clear about the nature of Enlightened Mind, in this way the darkness of doubt is cleared by itself. This means when we meditate on the Natural State of Mind or Enlightened Mind we have many thoughts such as “Is this the natural state of mind? Or maybe not? Is this not yet clear? Is my meditation wrong? Am I connecting or not?” This is doubt. There is no way to understand the natural state of mind by the conceptual thoughts such as “connecting or not connecting.” We need to be decisive on that point. Second, special to Dzogchen meditation, there is no meditator. There is no meditator and there is no object of meditation to meditate upon. We need to understand that decisively. Our mind which is diluted by the very many lives, obscurations, and karmic traces of the past, that very same mind needs to look back unto itself – to look back on its own nature. This is what we call mediation. You don’t need to purify any obscuration. You don’t need to clear the mind. You don’t need to put any effort to connect. You simply just turn and look back at the nature of mind. This is the special way of Dzogchen. This is what is meant by clearing the darkness of doubt.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is self-knowing Awake Awareness that is without uniting or separating.”
The self-knowing Awake Awareness is without uniting or separating. This means that self-knowing Awake Awareness also called the Enlightened Mind does not come from anywhere, thus it does not become united. How can it come together if it does not come from somewhere separate first? The self-knowing Awake Awareness also called the Enlightened Mind does not go anywhere, thus it is not separate. How can Awake Awareness separate if it never goes away? Awake Awareness is free of gathering or separating in the three times – past, present, future. This means Awake Awareness is abiding co-emergently within oneself.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is unmistaken self-knowing Awake Awareness.”
This means that when the fundamental unfabricated uncontaminated reality of Awake Awareness primordial wisdom is realized then there is no mistaking the path. We could also say “no deviation off the path.” What is this unmistaken path? Connecting with our own self-knowing awareness, the path to Buddhahood is without deviation. The unmistaken path is also a reference to the three channels of the subtle body – the central channel, right channel, and left channel – which is the path of Awake Awareness.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who clears the darkness of ignorance.”
This means that the Enlightened Mind is cleared of the darkness of the three obscurations. The three obscurations are the obscurations of the illusory body, the obscurations of the appearing object, and the obscurations of the conceptual thought of the intellect. These three are called the darkness of obscurations. The enlightened mind is clear of these three.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the Three Enlightened Bodies without combining or separating.”
The three Enlightened Bodies – the Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya – are self-arising in the enlightened mind. “Within this enlightened mind” means Buddha nature. Sometimes Enlightened Mind means Kuntuzangpo, sometimes it means Bodhichitta. Here it means, the reality of mind, without delusion, which is our Buddha nature. The reality of our mind is the Enlightened mind. Every sentient being can be liberated because they have this Buddha nature.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the root deity of self-knowing Awake Awareness.”
This means that self-knowing Awake Awareness or the enlightened mind is the basis for manifestation of the deity and mandala. Here we should be clear that there are many names for the natural state of mind. Self-knowing Awake Awareness, the enlightened mind, and natural state of mind are all different names but are pointing to the same thing. The natural state of mind is the basis of the outer, inner, and secret mandalas as well as the basis of the peaceful, increasing, magnetizing, and fierce host of deities.
Kutunzangpo is the root deity of the Awake Awareness – the natural state of mind. We could also say Kuntuzangpo is the root buddha or primordial buddha. This is what is meant by the homage.
What does the root deity of the self-knowing Awake Awareness mean? The natural state of mind is the base of the deities and mandala. All the deities, peaceful, increasing, magnetizing, and fierce host of deities are arising from the natural state of mind – from the root deity, Kuntuzangpo.
What does mandala mean? Mandala can have two meanings. First, mandala means all of the deities from the root deity to the surrounding retinue. Secondly, mandala can mean the celestial palace, the place of the deities. In the context of this nail, Tapihritsa is talking about both meanings.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is self-arisen oneness.”
This means that the natural state of mind abides as the single sphere. Everything external, internal, every appearance all abides as a single sphere.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo who is without the obscurations of karmic traces.”
The enlightened mind or the natural state of mind is not obscured by karmic traces, thus it is pure without stains. This means that the natural state of mind is totally pure, without any karmic traces.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo who is not established anywhere and goes beyond everything.”
The Enlightened Mind – Natural State of Mind – does not fall in any extreme or abide in any limitation of samsara or nirvana. Thus the Natural State of Mind is beyond everything.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the Enlightened Body of the ultimate king.”
This means that the Natural State of Mind is the ultimate base of everything. There is nothing other than that. Kuntuzangpo is the final state, the ultimate base.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo who protects all sentient beings with compassion.”
Kuntuzangpo protects all sentient beings from the fear of dying, cyclic existence, and the bardo state. He protects with compassion. The important thing is to be clear in understanding that there is no protector who protects our fears. It is our own protector of ourself which protects us from our fear. This Kuntuzangpo is our individual Natural State of Mind. All our fears, doubts, feelings appear from our mind. That is why our practice of connecting to the Natural State of Mind allows us to recognize appearances as coming from the Natural State.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is self-liberated, complete enlightenment.”
If the reality of the natural state of mind is realized, there is complete enlightenment, without any need to go to the bardo.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo who clears the darkness of mistaken views.”
Because of reaching certainty through these instructions, fortunate beings realize the reality of the Natural State of Mind which clears away the darkness of mistaken views. Mistaken views means misunderstandings about the teachings of Dzogchen.
“Homage to Küntuzangpo, who is the direct manifestation of the Three Enlightened Bodies.”
The fruition of the Natural State of Mind is directly and naturally manifested. Complete Enlightenment of body, speech, and mind is the actualization of the fruit.
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