| Philosophy and Religion / The twenty-eight categories of yogic precepts. |
Gampopa (Dvagpo-Lharje)
XV. The Twelve Indispensable Things
(1) It is indispensable to have an intellect endowed with the power of comprehending and applying the Doctrine to one’s own needs.
(2) At the very beginning [of one’s religious career] it is indispensably necessary to have the most profound aversion for the interminable sequence of repeated deaths and births.
(3) A guru capable of guiding thee on the Path of Emancipation is also indispensable.
(4) Diligence combined with fortitude and invulnerability to temptation are indispensable.
(5) Unceasing perseverance in neutralizing the results of evil deeds, by the performance of good deeds, and the fulfilment of the threefold vow, to maintain chastity of body, purity of mind, and control of speech, are indispensable.
(6) A philosophy comprehensive enough to embrace the whole of knowledge is indispensable.
(7) A system of meditation which will produce the power of concentrating the mind upon anything whatsoever is indispensable.
(8) An art of living which will enable one to utilize each activity [of body, speech, and mind] as an aid on the Path is indispensable.
(9) A method of practising the select teachings which will make them more than mere words is indispensable.
(10) Special instructions [by a wise guru] which will enable one to avoid misleading paths, temptations, pitfalls, and dangers are indispensable.
(11) Indomitable faith combined with supreme serenity of mind are indispensable at the moment of death.
(12) As a result of having practically applied the select teachings, the attainment of spiritual powers capable of transmuting the body, the speech, and the mind into their divine essences is indispensable.1
These are The Twelve Indispensable Things.
Footnotes
1. As a direct result of practically applying the Doctrine, the devotee should attain that spiritual yogic power whereby the gross physical body is transmuted into the radiant body of glory, called the ‘rainbow body’; and the erring human speech into the infallible divine speech, and the unenlightened human mind into the supramundane mind, of a Buddha.
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