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Six Words of Advice
from Tilopa

Let go of what has passed.
Let go of what may come.
Let go of what is happening now.
Don't try to figure anything out.
Don't try to make anything happen.
Relax, right now, and rest.

This gem, in Tibetan, really is just six words. Translated by Ken McLeod and reprinted with his permission.

Tilopa (988-1069) was born as a brahmin in India, but renounced the world while young to become an ascetic. After a short period, he had a vision of a dakini who enjoined him to throw away his monk's robes, to act spontaneously and to practice in secret.

Here is a good story about Tilopa: he spent twelve years earning his living working for a prostitute. One day as he was pounding sesame seeds, he realized ultimate buddhahood. As a sign of this, he levitated to the height of seven royal palm trees while still holding a mortar and pestle in his hands and continuing to grind sesame seeds. The news quickly spread through the village.

When the prostitute who employed Tilopa heard that someone was levitating very high in the sky, she hastened to see who it was. To her surprise she discovered that it was her employee in the sky, and that he was still working for her, even as he hovered, by continuing to grind sesame seeds with a mortar and pestle. She felt ashamed to have given such work to a highly realized being, and with great regret, she requested him to accept her as his student. As she mentally made this request, Tilopa threw a flower down to her from the sky. The flower hit her on the head, instantaneously causing her to reach complete realization. She then levitated to the same height as Tilopa.

So once again, the news went out and quickly spread among a great number of people. When the news reached the king, he went out himself to witness the blessed event along with all his people. With everyone assembled below, Tilopa sang a song, using the example of the sesame seed. He explained that although a sesame seed contains oil, it cannot produce oil by itself: without the hard work of grinding the seed, the oil cannot be extracted. So although buddha nature is within every living being, without the hard work of practicing the Dharma, there is no way to realize our inherent buddha nature.

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