Funds for the Living and the Dead

We've reprinted isolated quotations from this before, but never the whole thing. Herewith is Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche's famous autobiographical note:

"This is an autobiography that hits the vital point of pith instruction, of me, a present-day crafty charlatan. May the masters and the Three Jewels gaze upon us!

"At this junction, when I, the old father, am near the end of my 87th year and about to be 88, many people, known and unknown, have encouraged me to write an autobiography for the sake of followers and disciples. But, seeing it as an obstacle and barrier for liberation, I don’t feel the need for a heap of luring words. Taking as witness the fact that no one knows a person better than himself, I leave this Testament in Three Syllables in the manner of an advice.

"The three qualities of ethics, samadhi and insight,
Untainted and proven through direct perception,
Like dry moss, free from the dampness of pretentious falsehood,
I consumed in the space of blazing fire jvala ram.

"A religious façade, the jumble of materialism and Dharma,
I surely knew was not the friend of effective practice.
So I tossed the dry ashes of deceit and insensitivity
To the wind from the mountaintop, as the letter yam.

"Funds given for the living and the dead, a hindrance to freedom,
And the schemes to collect, hoard and invest them to build sacred objects,
I resolved to cleanse away with the clear stream
Of renunciation, detachment and revulsion, as the element kham.

"I would like to make it explicitly clear that these verses were only uttered in reply to a questioning introspection of myself and definitely not as a message to the sublime and authentic beings who perceive the truth of dharmata and spontaneously fulfill the aims of others and themselves. Rather than misunderstanding my intent and reacting with envious annoyance, please keep your hearts at ease in blissful equanimity.

"Even though I and people like me are not above ordinary beings, may this cause instigators of disunity and distorters of the Buddhadharma, whose conceit inflates them to the sky, to understand the truth in my words and actively seek to be mindful, careful and conscientious."