CHAPTER TWO

SPECIAL PREPARATIONS

The Jetsun Milarepa also said in his song:

"Good and evil do never fail
To bring about corresponding fruits;
Hence, one should be extremely careful to avoid evil deeds.
Even petty misbehaviours, one must forbid;
For the law of retribution never fails,
And the misery in the Lower Paths is hard to bear!
If anyone realizes not the faults of desire
And the consequences of pleasure,
He can never resign ardent longings!
Then, from the Samsaric Prison he has no way to escape.
One should therefore remind oneself:
All these desires are delusions!
Bearing this understanding in mind
One may work on the cure of the kles'as!"
If one remembers not the gratitude one owes
To the father- and mother-like sentient beings in the Six Paths,
One is liable to fall down to the Small Vehicle, (Hinayana).
Therefore one should foster great compassion,
And learn to nourish the Bodhi-Heart."

Milarepa said in another song:

"I am so much afraid of the Eight Non-Freedoms[r_nar:16]
That I think of the faults of Samsara
And the transiency of beings!
I submit myself completely to the care of the Three Precious Ones!
I strictly discipline myself in all karmic doings.
By repeatedly practising the Heart-for-Bodhi,
I dispel the enduring shadow of Habitual-Thinking[r_nar:17],
Realizing that all the manifestations are delusory magic
Of the Three Miserable Paths, I have no fear nor alarm!"

In view of these admonishments (by the celebrated masters), one ought to work hard in the preparatory practices until one's mind is consolidated. One should bear in mind that to complete a perfect journey, a clear knowledge is needed of the route and what is required for the journey. This is not a light matter. In fact, the most important and crucial of all the teachings is the preparation work, or the "Common Foundation of All Practice."

In the second group of teachings, the extraordinary for the Supreme Vehicle, there are also two types of preparations, the general and the special. The general preparation for the Supreme Vehicle means to attain a complete initiation, and to observe the precepts of Tantra. I want to expound the attainment of initiation first.