Written by H.E. Yeshe Sangpo Rinpoche
I wish that whoever reads The Lamp That Illuminates The Treasure House of The Three-fold Training will develop the correct concept toward the Buddha’s teachings. Through the sheer guidance of the right knowledge and vision, one’s body and mind can focus on the learning and diligent practice of the essence of the Buddha’s teachings. He or she will then become a true Buddhist practitioner.
The content of this book is not only applicable to monastic practitioners, but also to all those who truly wish to learn and practice the Buddha’s teachings. They will find this book immensely beneficial. The foundation for growth in wisdom is the state of an undistracted mind, i.e., the Samadhi. The foundation for reaching the Samadhi lies in the unbroken vows. To stay in the vows requires mindfulness of moral conduct. Therefore, all Buddhists, including practitioners of the Varjayana teachings (or the Secret Vehicle), must practice the Three-fold Training – the virtue of moral conduct, the Samadhi, and the wisdom. The Secret Vehicle is named because of the rapid accomplishments and the immense empowerments it gives, rather than keeping secret unknown faults. For an individual practitioner, holding the supreme key to correctly learn and practice the Vajrayana teachings, while obeying The Three Sets of Vows — the Pratimoksa Vows (Vows of Self-liberations), Bodhisattva Vows, and the Samayas of the Secret Mantrayana, will soon attain mutual and non-mutual merits and accomplishments.
To the whole world, all the worldly turmoil and chaos come from the inner obscurations of our mind. Therefore, the more people who practice authentic Buddha’s teachings, the more their inner virtues shine through the outer world, bringing harmonious inter-group and interpersonal relationships and world peace. This is my heartfelt wish and the very reason of writing this book, which is my sincere dedication to this world.
The Praise and the Homage to the Saints
The supreme sphere of your enlightened mind, deep and limpidly clear, is completely self-contained, completely perfecting all aspects of two glorious kinds of knowledge while thoroughly pacifying the marks of conceptual elaboration.
Your enlightened speech, with sixty pure and melodious tones, is indestructible and skillful at leading all beings to full enlightenment through the unceasing and spontaneous melodies that fulfill all beings’ wishes.
Unchanging in any way, this illusory reflection of the pristine awareness of the victorious ones is your vajra body, extending to the utmost throughout the essence of being, the definitive meaning of reality.
Thus, with undivided respect I prostrate to you, the crown jewel of thousands of learned scholars and accomplished siddhas in the limitless universe with the abundant presence of major and minor marks of perfection.
From the total purity of the basic space of phenomena, which are subject to nothing, free from limitations and from falling into extremes,
The original Buddha, Samantabhadra has a great amassing of the kayas and pristine awareness, and is temporally and pristinely perfect and complete.
The being of inherent and unceasing dynamic energy is Vajrasattva, the one who sends forth and draws in the entire vast array of mandalas.
Garab Dorjee is the teacher of the sublime spiritual approach.
I thus prostrate to the teachers in the lineage who delivered their teachings through mind-to-mind, symbolic and oral transmission.
Holding the sword of omniscience that is skillful in completely uprooting conditioned existence, and the book that correctly illuminates the nature of conditioned existence and the boundless and limitless peace of nirvana,
Unparalleled in conditioned existence, you are the sublime guide of beings and the one who sheds light on uprooting the darkness of the benighted.
Gentle and glorious Manjushri, the father of all victorious ones, who dwell neither in conditioned existence nor in the peace of nirvana, grants us all the auspiciousness!
The ocean of dharma that teaches how to attain enlightenment has nurtured millions of mani treasures—accomplished masters from India and Tibet, and has become the source of eliminating the poverty and suffering of all sentient beings. Prostration to the Root Lama, the Buddha.
Wiping out all the evils who committed the crimes of attempting to extinguish the lights of virtues in the Land of Snows; emanating the shines of dharma to all the sentient beings. Prostration to the auspicious Guru Rinpoche.
To the glorious one honored by the name as the Buddha Padma, the twenty-five chief disciples of the Guru—the king of Tibet and his subjects, the more than one hundred revealers of termas—So, Zur, Nub’nyag and others, and all gurus in this historical and revelatory lineage without exception: Please grant us blessings through your inherent compassion from the open space of dharmadhatu!
