of Mind.Strenuously seeking truth by investigation and concentration,one will never appreciatethe unthinkable simplicity and blissthat abide at the core.To uncover this fertile ground,cut through the roots of complexitywith the sharp gaze of naked awareness,remaining entirely at peace,transparent and content.You need not expend great effortnor store up extensive spirtual power.Remain in the flow of sheer awareness.Mahamudra neither accepts nor rejects any current of energy, internal or external.Since the ground consciousnessis never born into any realm of being,nothing can add to or subtract from it.Nothing can obstruct or stain it.When awareness rests here, the appearance of division and conflictdisappears into original reality.The twin emotions of anxiety and arrogancevanish into the void from which they came.Supreme knowing knows no separate subject or object.Supreme action acts resourcefully without any array of instruments.Supreme attainment attains the goalwithout past, future or present.The dedicated practitionerexperiences the spiritual wayas a turbulent mountain stream,tumbling dangerously among boulders.When maturity is reached, the river flows smoothly and patientlywith the powerful sweep of the Ganges.Emptying into the ocean of Mahamudra,the water becomes ever-expanding lightthat pours into great Clear Lightwithout direction, destination,division, distinction or description.Alternative translation of extracts from Song of MahamudraPhenomena on every plane of beingare constantly arising and disappearing.Thus they are ever fresh,always new and inexhaustible.Like dreams without solid substance,they can never become rigid or binding.The universe exists in a deep, elusive waythat can never be grasped or frozen.Renounce arbitrary, habitual views.Go forth courageously to meditatein the real mountain wilderness,the wide open Mahamudra.Transcend boundaries of kinshipby embracing all living beingsas one family of consciousness.Remain without any compulsionin the landscape of natural freedom:spontaneous, generous, joyful.When you receive the crown of Mahamudra,all sense of rank or attainmentwill quietly disappear.Cut the root of the vine that chokes the tree,and its clinging tendrils wither away entirely.Sever the conventionally grasping mind,and all bondage and desperation dissolve.///Second alternative translation of Song of MahamudraTilopas Mahamudra Instruction to Naropa in Twenty Eight Verses(translation by Keith Dowman reproduced with kind permission)Homage to the Eighty Four Mahasiddhas!Homage to Mahamudra! Homage to the Vajra Dakini!Mahamudra cannot be taught. But most intelligent Naropa,Since you have undergone rigorous austerity,With forbearance in suffering and with devotion to your Guru,Blessed One, take this secret instruction to heart.Is space anywhere supported? Upon what does it rest?Like space, Mahamudra is dependant upon nothing;Relax and settle in the continuum of unalloyed purity, And, your bonds loosening, release is certain.Gazing intently into the empty sky, vision ceases;Likewise, when mind gazes into mind itself,The train of discursive and conceptual thought endsAnd supreme enlightenment is gained.Like the morning mist that dissolves into thin air,Going nowhere but ceasing to be,Waves of conceptualization, all the minds creation, dissolve,When you behold your minds true nature.Pure space has neither colour nor shapeAnd it cannot be stained either black or white;So also, minds essence is beyond both colour and shapeAnd it cannot be sullied by black or white deeds.The darkness of a thousand aeons is powerlessTo dim the crystal clarity of the suns heart;And likewise, aeons of samsara have no powerTo veil the clear light of the minds essence.Although space has been designated empty,In reality it is inexpressible;Although the