Closing verses
The closing verses of Gyalse Tokme Zangpo’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva. Below: the verses in one translation and what three teachers say about it.
Open in the study browser →Here I have set down for those who wish to follow the bodhisattva path, Thirty-seven practices to be adopted by all the buddhas' heirs, Based on what is taught in the sūtras, tantras and treatises, And following the instructions of the great masters of the past.
Since my intellect is only feeble and I have studied but a little, This is not a composition likely to delight the connoisseurs, Yet since I've relied upon the sūtras and what the saints have taught I feel these are indeed the genuine trainings of the buddhas' heirs.
Still, the tremendous waves of activity of the bodhisattvas Are difficult for simple-minded folk like me to comprehend, And I must therefore beg the indulgence of all the perfect saints For any contradictions, irrelevancies or other flaws this may contain.
Through whatever merit has here been gained, may all beings Generate sublime bodhicitta, both relative and absolute, And through this, come to equal Lord Avalokiteśvara, Transcending the extremes of existence and quiescence.
*This was composed in Jewel Cave (Rinchen Puk) in Ngulchu by the monk Tokme, a teacher of scripture and reasoning, for his own and others' benefit.*
The humility is Tibetan ritual modesty and a safeguard: Thogme disclaims intelligence yet affirms the practices are unmistaken because scripturally based — a paradox guarding against both pride and doubt. The dedication: may all beings become like Chenrezig, transcending both samsara and nirvana's one-sided peace.
Five parts: composed from sutras, tantras, shastras, and the Kadampa masters with "no personal invention" — he contrasts modern writers who "write whatever they like... without making reference to sutras and shastras." The self-belittling counteracts pride (Thogme in fact mastered the Five Great Treatises); speaking modestly even when confident "is the behavior of the wise." The final dedication holds the two bodhicittas: relative keeps one from nirvana's extreme, ultimate from samsara's.
Talk 12 covers the closing verses (vv35–41 in his count) — renunciation, presence, and the flow of awakening.
Tokme Zangpo's closing move — total confidence in the teaching, zero confidence in himself — is itself the last teaching, verse 31 enacted. A fitting final-session reading: the author models the seat you've been trying to hold all along. --- This completes the per-verse compendium: homage, verses 1–37, colophon. Companion files: [[COMMENTARIES — Master Catalog]] · [[COMPENDIUM — Homage and Verses 1–7]] · [[COMPENDIUM — Verses 8–11]] · [[COMPENDIUM — Verses 12–21]] · [[COMPENDIUM — Verses 22–24]] · [[COMPENDIUM — Verses 25–30]].
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche — The Heart of Compassion (Shambhala). A purchased book — no text is reproduced here.