The Song of the Twelve Deceptions ~ Milarepa

Worldly affairs are all deceptive;
So I seek the truth Divine.

Excitements and distractions are illusions;
So I meditate on the non-dual Truth.

Companions and servants are deceptive;
So I remain in solitude.

Money and possessions are also deceptive;
So if I have them, I give them away.

Things in the outer world are all illusion;
The Inner Mind is that which I observe.

Wandering thoughts are all deceptive;
So I only tread the path of wisdom.

Deceptive are the teachings of expedient truth;
The final truth is that on which I meditate.

Books written in black ink are all misleading;
I only meditate on the pith-instructions of the whispered lineage.

Words and sayings, too, are but illusion;
At ease, I rest my mind in the effortless state.

Birth and death are both illusions;
I observe but the truth of no-arising.

The common mind is in every way misleading;
And so I practice how to animate awareness.

The Mind-holding Practice is misleading and deceptive;
And so I rest in the realm of reality.


Milarepa

from the book The Hundred Thousand Songs Of Milarepa

translated by Garma C. C. Chang


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