Essence of Eloquent Teaching - Praise of Buddha Shakyamuni for His Teaching of Relativity by Tsongkhapa (vegetarian), Part 1 of 2

The venerated enlightened Master Tsongkhapa was a religious philosopher and the founder of the Gelug School, meaning the Virtuous Order. When He was three years old, He was given into the care of a famous lama nearby and began His life as a monk. Master Tsongkhapa studied the scriptures very thoroughly. After a long period of diligent learning, He wrote many famous works and was determined to revive the original goals and disciplines of Tibetan Buddhism. Strictly emphasizing a pure moral conduct for His disciples, Master Tsongkhapa stated that monks should refrain from killing life and drinking wine. His clear and elegant writings remain illuminating and accessible to this day. Supreme Master Ching Hai once spoke of Tsongkhapa during a 1997 retreat in the United Kingdom. “You know Tsongkhapa? The first Dalai Lama. The one who started the religious tradition in Tibet. I mean not starting but the one who reorganized, who taught the real enlightened method to the people. That’s how the tradition continues until now.” Today, we would like to share with you excerpts from “Essence of Eloquent Teaching - Praise of Buddha Shakyamuni for His Teaching of Relativity by Tsongkhapa.” “Homage to that perfect Buddha, The supreme Philosopher, Who taught us relativity, Free of destruction and creation, Without annihilation and permanence, With no coming and no going, Neither unity nor plurality; The quieting of fabrications, The ultimate beatitude! Homage to Him whose vision and speech Made Him unexcelled as Sage and Teacher, The Victor, who saw the relativity (himself) And then taught it (to us all)! Misknowledge is the very root Of all the troubles in the world; Who saw that and got rid of it Proclaimed universal relativity. Thereupon, how could it be possible That the Geniuses would not understand The path of relativity As the very pith of Your Teaching? This being so, whoever could find Anything even more wonderful, To praise You with, O Protector, Than the proclamation of relativity? ‘Whatever depends on conditions, That is empty of intrinsic reality!’ What method of good instruction is there, More marvellous than this discovery? Of course the naive can seize upon it As just confirming their extremist chains, But the wise find that very (relativity) The way to cut the whole net of fabrications. This Teaching is not seen elsewhere, So, You alone may be entitled ‘Teacher,’ Merely a word of flattery for Fundamentalists, As when you call a fox ‘a lion’. Marvellous Teacher! Marvellous Refuge! Marvellous Philosopher Supreme! Marvellous Protector! I pay full homage to that Teacher Who proclaimed universal relativity! O Benefactor, to heal living beings You proclaimed (this relativity), The peerless reason to ascertain Emptiness, the essence of the Teaching! How can such a one who sees The process of relativity As contradictory, or unestablished, Ever understand Your method?”