19) The master’s rain of flowers of holy Dharma
Ripens the garden grove of disciples,
Manifesting a glorious summer of Dharma,
Always together, inseparably. This is my heart advice.
This verse teaches the benefits of the Guru’s teachings. It is the custom of Tibetan writers to use material objects as examples with many poetic devices. Here the metaphor is one of the guru being the sky; the guru’s teachings being a rain of holy Dharma; disciples being gardens and flowers; and the holy Dharma being like beautiful summertime weather. The meaning is the river of nectar of holy Dharma of the lama’s teachings falling on our mind which, for years and ages of time, has been arid and dried out by heat of the delusions such as attachment, aversion, and ignorance. But now the holy Dharma spoken by the Guru rains down strongly on all the flowers and trees that have been dry for so many years, making them all lush and strong. Like that, the nectar of Dharma must become the remedy for our delusions. If it becomes the antidote to our delusions, the love, compassion, view of emptiness and so forth, primordially present in our mind, all the positive qualities that exist, blossom like flowers. This is theBuddha nature, the emptiness wisdom and bodhicitta, which has forever been intrinsic to our mind. Our mind is like a land that has lacked water for many years. The present root Guru’s nectar of holy Dharma is the actual condition that raises and activates the Buddha nature in our mind. Thus, the holy Dharma of the Guru is nectar which moistens our dried-out mind of delusion. We are like a land or a garden without water. When our mind finally goes towards the Dharma, by putting effort into our practice, one day like the sun, spontaneous faith, renunciation, aspiration and devotion, compassion, and so on, will dawn from within, and we will experience inexpressible happiness. As Buddha said,
Profound peace, free of projections, clear light, uncompounded,
I have found a Dharma which is like nectar.
But no one I teach it to could understand it,
So I’ll stay in the forest, without speaking.
If this realization occurs, it will manifest like the glorious bliss of summer. So I also impart this as important heartfelt advice.
Excerpt from ” A Door of Entrance to the Heart Advice Called A Ship Sailing to Liberation. A Commentary to the Heartfelt Advice of Dharma Nectar” Written by Khenpo Karten Rinpoche, originally published in January of 2019. Text is available in Tibetan and English on the Teachings page.
