Proverbs of Dezhung Rinpoche

On the high roads from India, the Dharma spread.

Before the Dharma spread, the conch spread.

The white conch opened the way for the Dharma.

On the low roads from China, law spread.

Before law spread, cloth spread.

The white cloth opened the way for the law.

(This ‘proverb’ reflects the fact that the religious teachings of the Buddha which form the basis of Tibetan spiritual life, came from India. In the story of the Gautama Buddha’s life, the god Indra gave Him a conch shell trumpet symbolizing the ‘broadcasting’ of His message.  The ‘cloth’ is made to symbolize the various aspects of material culture and social institutions adapted from China.)

* * *

The knotted cloth of religious rules needs to be tied.

But, while tied, the inside should be loosened.

The golden yoke of Chinese laws should be heavy.

But, while, heavy, it must be light inside.

(Make strong rules and laws, but don’t enforce them too stringently.)

* * *

The son of a good mother is someone you can confide in.

Good gold can be filed.

(Because the inside is also good.)

* * *

If you hit something above you,

you hit the white god Brahma.

If you hit something below you,

You hit the heart of the Naga spirit.

(You get in trouble for doing injury to anyone, high or low.)

* * *

The round, smooth stone does not move with the wind.

But the rock mountains of the north are moved by the wind.

The suing mouth will not die in a famine.

But the mouth of me, a beggar, will.

(Only well-to-do and established people can afford to pursue legal cases.  The other implications are clear.)

* * *

The blue cuckoo bird is tired in the tree.

The old blonde frog is tired in the marsh.

(I’m tired.)

* * *

It’s not necessary to wipe a white silver mirror.

It’s not necessary to explain a lady’s hair.

(The obvious needs no discussion.)

* * *

The flowers and meadows that grow in the summer

Will not grow so well in the waters and floodbanks.

(Don’t generalize.)

* * *

When, from the top of the yellow mountain, fog forms,

Then definitely the sun is not warm.

When a ‘boiled smell’ is put off by the puffed barley,

Then definitely the sausage will not taste good.

(When you start talking to someone, you can see right away if your ideas will have a good reception.)

* * *

In the lineage of Kargyudpa teachers,

There is not one who is not a religious person.

Among the puppies of a red bitch,

There is not one who is not a thief.

* * *

Whether a man is big or small, he needs to be reliable.

Whether the meat is big or small, it needs to be cooked.

* * *

If you are a success, bad appearances don’t matter.

If you are happy, merit’s no big deal.

* * *

Son of a good father.

Leather of a good yak.

* * *

Words can turn human thoughts into cannibals.

Words can give cannibals the thoughts of gods.

* * *

Bad ideas outside,

Inside no success.

* * *

Hear nothing.  See nothing.  Know nothing.

These words have great power in the Tibetan world.

* * *

I curse at the white clouds.

I walk on the black earth.

I carry a load in back

Tied with a knot in front.

I’ve turned my back on my dear mom and dad.

I’ve abandoned the land of my birth.

(Don’t criticize me.  I’m an ordinary, honest person doing the best I can.)

* * *

There’s no going back on the karma of previous lives.

There’s no wiping away the wrinkles on an old man’s brow.

(What’s done is done; the truth is self-evident.)

* * *

If a mountain is carried away by the wind,

It is hard to find rocks to hold it down.

If the ocean is consumed in a fire,

It is hard to find water to put it out.

* * *

The old man sits inside his house

And old legal disputes fall inside his window.

(I haven’t done anything, but trouble still seeks me out.)

* * *

The Chinese home is good, but like a doorless stronghold,

From the outside you see no cracks.

From the inside you see no patchwork.

The Tibetan home is bad, but like a butterchurn full of feathers.

Each man has his own hole.

(A Tibetan may admire the Chinese for their fastidiousness, but at the same time deplore their comparative lack of personal autonomy.  The Chinese Taoists would agree.)

* * *

Water has no paws,

But still it runs straight through the valley.

Words have no arrow point,

But still they cut the human mind to pieces.

* * *

If enlightenment grows, the mother grows and the son grows.

If birds fly, the mother flies and the son flies.

(vs. selfish pursuance of religion.)

* * *

The beautiful song of a beggar finds no listeners.

A King may be a weakling,

But rare is the man who will give him a heave.

* * *

For pleasant words we have the King of India.

For unpleasant words we have the King of China.

(India is known for its highly ornamental poetry, while China is known for harsh laws.)

* * *

It is better just to bow down quietly with good thoughts

Than to recite ‘Mani’ with bad thoughts.

(‘Mani’ is a name of the famous mantra, “Om mani padme Hum.”)

* * *

If I am a yak calf tied at the end of a tether,

The tether is a danger to the thief.

If I am a poor man living in a ditch,

There is always a danger someone will fall in.

* * *

(She who has) teeth white as glaciers is completely content

But talk of glaciers brings no contentment (to the young man).

Food brings the stomach complete satisfaction

But the depths of the mind remain unsatisfied.

(Eyes are bigger than stomachs.)

* * *

The place to appeal is the official.

The place to catch is the neck.

(Go straight for the jugular vein.)

These proverbs (གཏམ་དཔེ་) were written down from memory by Dezhung Rinpoche.  He is not the inventor or author of these sayings.  His role here is as transmitter of the oral genius of Tibetan society.

Translated by Thubten Jigme Norbu with the assistance of Dan Martin.

Originally published in The Tibet Society Newsletter, no. 12 (Fall 1984), pp. 4-7. 

Note: I should add for clarity’s sake that while the proverbs were written down from memory by Dezhung Rinpoche (1906-1987),* the parenthetical comments were written by myself in an effort to communicate the understanding of Taktser Rinpoche Thubten Jigme Norbu (1922-2008). For a magisterial biography of Dezhung Rinpoche, see David P. Jackson, A Saint in Seattle: The Life of the Tibetan Mystic Dezhung Rinpoche, Wisdom [Somerville 2003].

(*His complete name — སྡེ་གཞུང་ལུང་རིག་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་ཀུན་དགའ་བསྟན་པའི་ཉི་མ་ — Sde-gzhung Lung-rig Sprul-sku Kun-dga'-bstan-pa'i-nyi-ma — Dezhung Lungrig Tulku Kunga Tenpai Nyima.)