The Flight of the Garuda Translated by Eric Pema Kunzang Song 1 Emaho I,
The untroubled and carefree renunciant,
Will now sing this song about the view entitled The Flight of the Garuda.
It enables one to swiftly traverse all the levels and paths.
Listen carefully,
Fortunate children of my heart.
In both Samsara and Nirvana,
The renown of the enlightened state is widely heard like thunder throughout the sky.
As this remains within the minds of beings of the six realms,
How amazing that one is never separate from it,
For even an instant.
Not knowing that this state is within oneself,
How amazing that one searches for it elsewhere.
Although it is clearly manifest,
Like the radiant disk of the sun,
How amazing that so few see it.
Having no father and no mother,
One's mind is the true Buddha.
How amazing that it knows neither birth nor death.
No matter how much happiness and sorrow is experienced,
How amazing that it is never impaired or improved,
Even in the slightest.
How amazing that,
Without being fabricated,
This mind,
Which is unborn and primordially pure,
Is spontaneously present from the beginning.
This self-awareness is naturally free from the very first.
How amazing that it is liberated by just resting,
At ease in whatever happens.
Listen again,
Fortunate heart children.
That which is widely known as mind,
Does anyone have it?
No one has it.
What is it the source of?
It is the source of samsara and nirvana and their myriad joys and sorrows.
What is it believed to be?
There are many beliefs according to the various vehicles.
What is it called?
It is named in different countless ways.
All ordinary people call it I.
Some non-Buddhists call it self.
Shravakas call it individual egolessness.
The citta-matra label it mind.
Some call it prajna-paramita,
Transcendent knowledge.
Some label it sukhata-karpa,
Buddha nature.
Some name it mahamudra.
Some give it the name madhyamika.
Some say the single bindu.
Some name it the dharmadhatu,
The realm of phenomena.
Some give it the name alaya,
Ground of all.
Some call it ordinary mind.
Despite the innumerable names that are tagged onto it,
Know that the real meaning is as follows.
Let your mind spontaneously relax and rest.
When left to itself,
Ordinary mind is fresh and naked.
If observed,
It is a vivid clarity without anything to see.
A direct awareness,
Sharp and awake.
Possessing no existence,
It is empty and pure.
A clear openness of non-dual luminosity and emptiness.
It is not permanent,
Since it does not exist at all.
It is not nothingness,
Since it is vividly clear and awake.
It is not oneness,
Since many other things are cognized and known.
It is not plurality,
Since the many things known are inseparable in one taste.
It is not somewhere else.
It is your own awareness itself.
The face of this primordial protector,
Dwelling in your heart,
Can be directly perceived in this very instant.
Never be separated from it,
Children of my heart.
If you want to find something greater than this in another place,
It's like going off searching for footprints,
Although the elephant is right there.
You may scan the entire three thousand fold universe,
But it is impossible that you will find more than the mere name of Buddha.
