The Fourfold Refuge and Bodhicitta Invocation of Yungdrung Bön: Classical Tibetan Text, Four Immeasurables, Dedication and the Bönpo Refuge Tree

The ornamental flourish ༄༅། ། is the Tibetan head-mark (yig mgo), symbolizing auspiciousness and the dawning light of wisdom at the opening of a sacred text. Verse 1 names the Four Jewels of Refuge in Yungdrung Bön: first, Bla ma (the Spiritual Master of unsurpassed spiritual weight); second, Sangs rgyas (the Awakened One or Buddha: sangs means awakened from the sleep of ignorance and purified of all stains, while rgyas means blossomed in omniscient wisdom); third, Bon (the eternal teaching and ultimate reality); and fourth, Gshen rab (the supreme sages and Bodhisattvas who uphold the Nine Ways). The dative particle la marks the objects toward whom devotion is directed.

Verse 2 immediately establishes the vast Mahāyāna-style scope of the invocation: the subject taking refuge is never the isolated ego alone (bdag, 'I'), but always 'gro drug sems can thams cad kyis ('together with all sentient beings wandering in the six realms of existence': hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demigods and gods). While chanting this line, the practitioner visualizes standing in open space with one's father on the right, one's mother on the left, adversaries and obstacles in front, and the countless beings of the six realms surrounding on all sides, all chanting the refuge prayer in unison.

Verse 3 engages all three doors of human existence (sgo gsum): lus (the physical body bowing or joining palms), ngag (the voice chanting the refuge verses), and yid (the mind filled with sincere devotion, gus pas). The compound verb phyag 'tshal ('to prostrate, pay homage') is explained in Tibetan commentaries through its two syllables: phyag signifies sweeping away the karmic defilements of body, speech and mind, while 'tshal signifies receiving the blessings and enlightened qualities of the refuge assembly.

Verse 4 defines the temporal horizon of the vow: byang chub ma thob bar du ('until supreme awakening is attained'). The Tibetan compound byang chub renders enlightenment (Bodhi): byang means purified of every fault and obscuration, and chub means having mastered and consummated every quality of wisdom and compassion. Unlike worldly petitions seeking temporary fortune in this life alone, spiritual refuge commits the practitioner all the way to complete Buddhahood.

Whereas Verses 1 to 4 form the four-line congregational refuge stanza, Verses 5 and 6 present the fourfold explicit refuge formula repeated hundreds of times during preliminary accumulation practices. Each clause highlights the specific liberating function of one Jewel before closing with la skyabs su mchi'o ('in you I go for refuge'): first is 'dren pa'i bla ma dam pa (the holy Guiding Master, from the verb 'dren pa, 'to draw forth, lead out of cyclic existence'); second is rdzogs pa'i sangs rgyas ston pa (the Perfectly Awakened Teacher, namely Lord Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche).

In Verse 6, the two defining terms of Bönpo soteriology appear side by side: g.yung drung gi bon rin po che (the Precious Teaching of Eternal Yungdrung Bön) and g.yung drung sems dpa'i dge 'dun (the Noble Sangha of Yungdrung Sempa Bodhisattvas). Because g.yung drung means unborn, undying and indestructible, a Yungdrung Sempa is a spiritual hero whose resolve to liberate all beings is as unbreakable as the swastika emblem of eternal truth.

With Verse 7, the liturgy moves from Refuge to the Generation of Supreme Bodhicitta (Sems bskyed, literally 'giving birth to the awakened mind'). Verse 7 opens the vast temporal vista of cyclic existence: thog med dus nas da lta yan chad du ('from beginningless time down to the present moment'). Because rebirth has continued without beginning, there is not a single sentient being across the six realms who has not at some point been one's own kind mother (ma gyur). Recognizing all beings as mothers and wishing to repay their kindness forms the emotional heart of Tibetan compassion meditation.

Verse 8 states the twofold inner transformation required to liberate those mother beings: purifying the two obscurations (sgrib gnyis, namely the afflictive obscurations of attachment, hatred and ignorance that bind one to samsara, and the cognitive obscurations of subtle dualistic grasping that veil omniscience) and perfecting the two accumulations (tshogs gnyis, namely the accumulation of merit through generosity and compassion, and the accumulation of pristine wisdom through resting in emptiness).

Verses 9 and 10 unite the two classical facets of Bodhicitta. Verse 9 expresses Aspiring Bodhicitta (Smon pa'i byang chub kyi sems, compared in commentaries to forming the firm intention to travel to a destination): 'In order to attain unsurpassed, complete Buddhahood (bla med rdzogs pa'i sangs rgyas thob bya'i phyir), I generate the supreme mind of awakening (byang chub mchog tu sems ni bskyed par bgyi).'

Verse 10 expresses Engaging Bodhicitta ('Jug pa'i byang chub kyi sems, compared to actually setting out on the journey step by step): the practitioner vows to practice without interruption (rgyun chad med par spyad) the vast, ocean-wave deeds of the Yungdrung Sempa (spyod pa rlabs po che, referring to the Ten Perfections of Bön: generosity, moral discipline, patience, diligence, meditative stability, strength, compassion, aspiration, skillful means and wisdom).

Verses 11 through 14 set out the Four Immeasurables (Tshad med bzhi, four boundless attitudes directed toward immeasurable beings). Verse 11 is Immeasurable Loving-Kindness (Byams pa tshad med): 'May all sentient beings possess happiness (bde) and the causes of happiness.' Verse 12 is Immeasurable Compassion (Snying rje tshad med): 'May all sentient beings be free from suffering (sdug bsngal bral) and the karmic causes of suffering.'

Verse 13 is Immeasurable Joy (Dga' ba tshad med): 'May all sentient beings never be parted from sorrowless bliss (bde dang mi 'bral shog),' rejoicing in the virtues and happiness of others as the direct antidote to jealousy.

Verse 14 is Immeasurable Equanimity (Btang snyoms tshad med). The four-syllable compound nye ring chags sdang diagnoses the root distortion of ordinary human emotion: dividing beings into nye ('near', friends and kin) toward whom we feel partial attachment (chags), and ring ('distant', strangers and enemies) toward whom we feel aversion or hostility (sdang). Equanimity in Bön is not cold indifference, but leveling the peaks of attachment and filling the ravines of hatred so that loving-kindness and compassion shine equally upon all beings like the sun.

An important contemplative instruction in Yungdrung Bön (shared with the Nyingma tradition) deserves note: while doctrinal lists place Loving-Kindness first (Verses 11 to 14), in actual meditation practice during Ngöndro teachers instruct students to cultivate Immeasurable Equanimity (Verse 14) first. Unless the uneven ground of partiality toward friends and hostility toward enemies is leveled first through equanimity, any loving-kindness or compassion planted upon it will remain biased and conditional.

Verses 15 to 18 form the classic four-line Bönpo Dedication of Merit (Bsngo ba) chanted at the conclusion of every prayer service, teaching and meditation session. Verse 15 gathers all pure virtue accomplished through the three doors of body, speech and mind (sgo gsum dag pa'i dge ba gang bgyis pa).

Verse 16 performs the act of bsngo ('dedicating, turning over without selfish reservation') for the benefit of all sentient beings across the three worlds (khams gsum: the Desire Realm, Form Realm and Formless Realm). Bön masters compare un-dedicated merit to a drop of water left on a hot stone that quickly evaporates in a single moment of anger, whereas merit dedicated to all beings of the three worlds is like a drop of water poured into the great ocean, remaining inexhaustible until enlightenment is reached.

Verses 17 and 18 complete the striking numerical parallelism of the Tibetan dedication quatrain: Verse 15 opens with sgo gsum (the Three Doors of body, speech and mind), Verse 16 opens with khams gsum (the Three Worlds of existence), Verse 17 opens with dus gsum (the Three Times of past, present and future), and Verse 18 opens with sku gsum (the Three Bodies of Buddhahood). This fourfold cadence of 'Three Doors, Three Worlds, Three Times, Three Bodies' gives the Tibetan chant its unmistakable symmetry.

The final two lines pray that all karmic traces and obscurations accumulated across the three times be purified (las sgrib kun byang nas), so that oneself and all beings may swiftly attain complete Buddhahood perfecting the Three Bodies (Bon sku, Rdzogs sku, Sprul sku).