**A Lamp That Dispels Darkness**
**An Instruction Directly Revealing the Very Essence of Mind**
**In the Tradition of the “Realized Old Yogis”**
By **Mip’am Jampal Dorje**
Homage
Homage to the lama, inseparable from Mañjushrī, the embodiment of wisdom!
Without extensive study, contemplation, or training,
By simply maintaining the recognition of the mind’s very nature
According to the approach of essential instructions,
Any ordinary village yogi, without great difficulty,
Can attain the level of a vidyādhara: such is the power of this profound path.
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The Instruction for Breaking the Shell of Ignorance
When the mind rests naturally without fostering any specific thought, 
While maintaining a degree of mindfulness,
You might experience an empty, neutral indifference—
A state of "loungmaten" (a "no-man's land")
Where awareness is dull and vacant.
In such a state, there is no clear vision of vipaśyanā,
The precise discernment of insight.
This is why masters refer to it as **marigpa** (non-recognition, ignorance, or unknowing).
Since it cannot be defined as “this” or “that,” it is called **loungmaten** (uncertain, vague).
As you cannot identify the state of mind you’re in,
Or pinpoint what the mind is thinking, it’s also referred to as **tha mal tang nyom** (a state of ordinary apathy).
Essentially, this state is stuck within the ordinary **ālaya** (store consciousness).
It is necessary to use a method, such as resting the mind,
As a support for giving rise to the non-conceptual state of primordial wisdom.
Yet, without the self-recognition of primordial wisdom, or **rigpa**,
This cannot be considered the core Dzogchen practice.
As the **Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra** states:
“An absent state devoid of all thought is **marigpa**, the cause of delusion.”
Thus, when the mind experiences this dull state—
Devoid of thought or mental activity—
Gently and naturally turn your attention to the one aware of this state,
The one who is not thinking.
You will discover the awakened pure presence of **rigpa**,
Free from thought,
Beyond notions of inside or outside,
Unbounded and spacious like a clear sky.
Here, there is no dualistic separation
Between experience and the experiencer,
Yet the mind recognizes its true nature
And feels, “There is absolutely nothing beyond this.”
When this occurs, as it cannot be conceptualized or expressed, 
It is acceptable to describe it as:
“Free from extremes,” “beyond description,”
“The fundamental state of clear light,”
And “the awakened pure presence of rigpa.”
As the wisdom recognizing your true nature arises,
It dispels the darkness of confusion.
Just as the interior of a house becomes clear with the sunrise,
You develop confident certainty in the mind’s true nature.
This was the instruction (mengak)
For breaking the shell of ignorance (**marigpa**).
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The Instruction for Cutting the Nets of Samsaric Existence
When you achieve this realization,
You understand that the nature of reality
Has always been thus—timeless,
Uncreated by causes or conditions,
And unaffected by change,
Past, present, or future.
At the same time, you cannot find
Even the smallest fraction of a “mind”
Separate from this nature.
The previously mentioned mental state of emptiness is also indescribable,
But it lacks decisiveness,
As you are entirely unable to articulate it in any way.
**Rigpa**, however, is essentially indescribable yet possesses a decisive quality,
Which cuts through all doubt about the ineffable.
Thus, the difference between these two “indescribables”
Is as vast as the gap between blindness and perfect vision.
This distinction between **ālaya** and **dharmakāya** is critical.
When resting in the mind’s essence,
Some feel they must sustain a simple clarity or lucidity,
So they settle into an ordinary state of mental consciousness,
Thinking, “This is clarity.”
Others focus their attention on an absorbing sense of emptiness,
As though their mind had “become” empty.
In both cases, there is subtle clinging
To the dualistic experience of ordinary mental consciousness.
By recognizing the innate nature of this clinging—
Clarity and the one who perceives it,
Emptiness and the one aware of it—
You remove the foundation of ordinary dualistic perception.
When you can directly recognize the innate nature of mind,
In its raw, unfiltered clarity,
Free from limits or center,
It is called the “very essence of **rigpa**.”
As **rigpa** sheds the layer of grasping experience,
Its primordial pure wisdom is unveiled.
This was the instruction for cutting the nets of samsaric existence.
EN