OPENING THE GATE OF PRAJNA (BAC NHA KHAI MON)
GENERAL DISCOURSE
POEM:
KHAI (Opening) the mechanism of the teaching, the essential mind-to-mind transmission,
MON (Gate) of study for the esoteric practice bearing the fruit of Buddhas and Immortals.
BAC (the Eight Treasures) — the Golden Elixir forming the Life-Wisdom (Hue Mang),
NHA — MINH LY DAO awakens to this profound mechanism.
VERSE
1.- MINH LY DAO opens the Gate of PRAJNA (BAC NHA),
To save the world by destroying Ignorance.
Ignorance creates the karma of birth and death,
Subjecting one to endless suffering through the cycle of rebirth.
2.- The twelve links of dependent origination bind tightly together,
Illusory transformations sweep and deceive us in confusion.
Passion, fame, and profit serve as bait,
Luring and deceiving through countless cycles of upheaval.
3.- The fire of disordered thought and affliction blazes fiercely,
The whole body becomes but a soulless machine.
Let no one in this world speak of wisdom or foolishness —
It is nothing but the sole tyranny of karmic obstruction at work.
4.- The notions of Self, Other, Sentient Being, and Life-span,
Cling to a “self” that obscures our original nature entirely.
The very root of our fate arranges itself accordingly,
Loss and gain, glory and disgrace — none of it lies outside consciousness.
5.- When the mind is stirred, it creates error and disaster;
Once the mind loses its sovereignty, the consequences are never light.
Tragically, discord and injustice follow,
Incest, betrayal of principle, and human affection bought and sold.
6.- Love, whether ardent or cold, becomes a game of bartering,
The “sack of wisdom” fills up like a trash bin.
Cleverness and talent swarm like flies,
What, then, of the great deeds of heroes, East and West?
7.- However vast their reach may extend,
They still remain caught within the trap of Ignorance.
Spinning silk, they bind themselves within their own cocoon,
Yet the wise know how to break through and fly free.
8.- Life, in the end, is but a dream,
Cleverly mocking, deceiving, and confusing us.
What is there, after all, but a false and fleeting illusion to chase?
Vast is the ocean of suffering — where, then, lies its shore?
9.- The place of liberation is found only by turning back and awakening,
Halting the steps of worldly life, settling the mind, calming the spirit.
The inner mind and vital force are thereby restored,
Seeking out where one’s own hidden true nature may lie.
10.- It has slept soundly through countless centuries,
Allowing Ignorance’s reasoning to run rampant.
Rising and sinking endlessly through birth and death,
Trapped within an iron fortress of hellish suffering, unaware.
11.- Quickly awaken it, rouse it from its slumber,
For to rise up is to break the very chains and shackles.
Rushing forward like a flood, toppling mountains, filling rivers,
Cutting off karmic obstruction proves not so difficult after all.
12.- The very hells melt away like ice,
Causing demons and spirits to be transformed as though they never were.
Only then does one recognize the divine power of Prajna,
Having forgotten that it was the true Master of one’s own being all along.
13.- For so long, we have chased after form and grasped at shadows,
Mistaking illusory phenomena for the mind itself.
In vain we have wandered down the wrong path,
Longing for happiness — but tell me, have we ever truly found it?
14.- It is not found outside, amid rain and scorching sun,
Nor is it far away, across rivers to be waded and crossed.
The Buddha of others may dwell in the Western lands,
But our own Buddha lies right within our own heart.
15.- Sentient beings, through Ignorance, have gone astray,
Forgetting that their true master is the Prajna-mind itself.
Thinking wrongly, they act wrongly in turn,
And the doctrine that all phenomena are mind-only becomes the very seed of Ignorance.
16.- Consciousness projects itself into a thousand forms and ten thousand shapes,
Displaying every manner of illusion, then assigning names to each,
Fine and coarse, subtle and manifest, high and low —
Giving rise to love and hatred, and thus to friendship and enmity.
17.- The six sense-gates of consciousness receive and discriminate,
Sound, taste, and scent, displaying form and color in array.
Thoughts arise, false ideas are born,
Stirring up confusion within the naive and innocent heart.
18.- Desire drives us headlong through life and death,
Forever trying to fill some hollow void.
Greed grows ever more bottomless day by day,
Like an elephant struggling in a swamp, sinking ever deeper still.
19.- Rooted in false consciousness, craving never ceases,
Rejoicing when satisfied, yet consumed by anger and delusion when denied.
Arrogance, pride, and suspicion,
Expand the iron hell ever wider within the heart.
20.- There is no escaping the reach of consciousness,
For this power is vast and truly formidable.
It governs Heaven and Earth on every side,
And outside the Prajna-mind, what does it fear at all?
21.- Quickly seek liberation and unfold Prajna Wisdom,
Only then will you possess power supreme and all-encompassing,
Able to restrain and subdue the thief within your own heart,
And fill in at once the deep pit of past transgressions.
22.- When Prajna manifests, chaos turns to order;
When Prajna opens, demons and spirits vanish entirely.
No longer mistaking the thief for one’s own child,
Every matter, whatever it may be, becomes smooth, complete, and unobstructed.
23.- Heaven, Earth, and Humanity are mysteriously united as one,
Essence, energy, and spirit coalesce into a single embryo.
Our own destiny, we ourselves determine,
Transcending birth, illness, old age, and death, beyond the reach of yin and yang.
24.- Prajna is the divine, marvelous method,
Ever shining forth throughout the entire world (Saha-loka).
Heaven and Earth themselves shall one day pass away,
Yet this Bodhi-mind remains a fortress forever unshaken.
25.- Prajna is likened to a ferry of salvation,
Rescuing those adrift and drowning in the sea of suffering.
It is likened to the primal vital energy of early spring,
Bringing forth growth and flourishing, nourishing all living souls.
26.- It is likened to a pill that restores life and revives the dying,
Likened to the very space that contains and encompasses all things.
Like a compass needle that always points due south,
It has never once erred, from ancient times until now.
27.- This Dharma was realized long ago by the Tathagata,
Transmitted in unbroken succession by generation after generation of Patriarchs.
Bodhisattvas, Saints, and Worthies, as numerous as grains of sand,
Have all likewise entered this marvelous path, ascending beyond the ordinary as Immortals.
28.- Taoism contemplates the mind, gathering the Three back into the One;
Confucianism preserves the mind, advancing in virtue and cultivating benevolence.
Returning to one’s root, reverting to one’s true nature,
Governing the mind, governing the world, and governing the body — all without error.
29.- Eliminate desire, and the mind becomes calm and still;
When the heart is empty, the spirit becomes light and pure.
Once wandering thought and worry cease to arise,
Peace, joy, and ease naturally follow, and understanding naturally dawns.
30.- This mystery is known only to oneself,
Once steeped in the Way, one deeply and earnestly cultivates the body.
Releasing fame, profit, and the dust of this mundane world,
Cutting off worldly ties, simplifying affairs, to draw near to the Buddhas and Immortals.
31.- Restoring the original, true vital essence,
Preserving yang energy, so that illness and affliction are eliminated.
Balancing what is deficient and what is excessive,
Moderating exertion, eliminating desire, replenishing deficiency, warming what is cold.
32.- Once one perceives that body and health are at peace,
One enters the secret chamber and sits to cultivate vital energy (khi cong).
Nourishing and circulating the blood and bodily fluids,
The four limbs and hundred parts of the body become mysteriously soft and at ease.
33.- The nervous system, like a sensitive garrison,
Notices any obstruction, whether energy increases or diminishes.
Practice must be timed correctly, at the proper hour,
Regulating mind and breath, so that the heart becomes light and joyful.
34.- To avoid the spirit dispersing and the vital energy scattering,
Empty the mind of concerns and calamities, guarding against them in advance.
When the mind is empty, spirit and energy harmonize,
Like a lotus growing within fire — truly a most precious treasure.
35.- When the body is unmoving, essence and emotion both grow still;
Essence and emotion become tightly united as one single household.
When intention reaches great stillness, uniting the three houses together,
The Three Origins fuse as one — only then is true attainment reached.
36.- Essence transforms into energy through the body’s stillness,
Energy transforms into spirit through the emptiness of the heart.
Once intention becomes pure, spirit returns to the void,
The Three Houses meet one another, refining the elixir within the tripod and furnace.
37.- The Ethereal Soul (Hon) resides in the liver, Essence is stored in the kidneys,
Spirit (Than) resides in the heart, the Corporeal Soul (Phach) hides within the lungs.
Intention dwells in the spleen, at the central Earth,
Each fixed securely and clearly in its own proper place.
38.- Guard the passes and defend the fortress against invaders —
The nose, mouth, ears, and eyes on every side.
Keep the six sense-gates constantly closed,
Excluding sound, form, taste, scent, phenomena, and worldly dust from without.
39.- Fast the tongue, and the heart preserves spirit in its single place;
Fast the eyes, and the liver retains and stores the ethereal soul.
Fast the ears, and the kidneys store and treasure the essence;
Fast the nose, and the corporeal soul is preserved and gathered within the lungs.
40.- Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire all return to Earth,
Once purified, the Four Ancestral Elements return home together.
Eyes, ears, nose, and tongue, free of all deviance,
Essence, spirit, ethereal soul, and corporeal soul gather as one into a single elixir.
41.- The practitioner should press forward one step further still,
For only by attaining utter emptiness can the mind be truly cleansed.
Do not lean to one side, do not cling, do not err —
Empty yet real, real yet empty — endlessly subtle and profound.
42.- Once knowledge opens, emotion stirs within the heart,
Desire arises, and one’s lifespan grows shorter still.
When essence is full, its leakage becomes hard to restrain;
When spirit is strong, one must guard it carefully at every hour, like cream that must not spoil.
43.- Refine and purify to remove impure essence and tainted blood,
Mend and replenish wherever leakage has caused depletion.
Block off every passage, every path in and out,
Firmly maintain discipline and concentration, forming a barrier against demons.
44.- If purity has not yet been attained, one must apply still greater effort;
Should depletion occur, repair and replenish it at once.
Tend the fire gently at the base of the cauldron,
So that essence transforms into energy, and energy returns again to essence.
45.- Energy generates blood, and blood in turn generates energy,
Each generating the other, mutually dependent and interrelated.
Where one lacks within, borrow to replenish from without —
Take the surplus of Kan to patch Kan, and fill the broken line of Li.
46.- Restored to fullness, with neither deficiency nor excess,
Energy is empty while blood is full.
From this point, Chien and Kun (Heaven and Earth) are properly positioned,
And yin, yang, nature, and destiny are transmitted mind-to-mind through this very method.
47.- Many more subtle and profound methods are understood only by oneself;
Once one enters meditation and penetrates the mystery, understanding follows at once.
Ask your own heart: is Prajna truly present within?
It is the Teacher, the Master, the true and orthodox transmission itself.
48.- Cultivation and verification lead to the unity of the Three Origins as one substance —
The Buddha’s Three Bodies, God’s Three Persons (Thuong De Ba Ngoi).
All are together called by the single name “Prajna” here,
The wisdom of liberation, and the very throne of Nirvana.
49.- Liberation forms the very ladder of concentration and wisdom;
The more concentration deepens, the more wisdom increases.
The more diligently one cultivates liberation day by day,
The three minds grow calm and settled, and the six senses sink into stillness.
50.- The substance of Nirvana grows ever more tranquil day by day;
The wisdom-mind grows ever more luminous day by day.
Even the most subtle, hidden karmic defilements are brought to light,
Sweeping clean all demons and spirits, until their very kind is entirely dissolved.
51.- The Dharma-body is Nirvana, the Boundless Ultimate;
The Transformation-body is the Jade Capital of the Great Unity (Thai Nhut Ngoc Kinh);
The Reward-body is the Precious Numinous Realm of the August Ultimate (Hoang Cuc);
Primal Spirit, Primal Energy, and Primal Essence — this is the very Way of Heaven.
HUNG DAO DAI VUONG
Bac Nha Tinh Duong, 1972 (22/6; 26/6; 28-6; 5/7)