No More Learning

While on the path you will inevitably encounter experiences of bliss, lucidity and non-thought. However, if you can leave them without even the tiniest bit of hope or fear, of pride, attachment or satisfaction, then you have successfully negotiated these potential points of deviation.
It is important always to avoid distractions and to maintain one pointed mindfulness and aspiration. If you fall into intellectualization and wish fulfillment, becoming complacent about a bit of quiescence without digging in to the meat of experience, you will merely become skilled at mouthing the words. There is no benefit in that.
There is a proverb of the Great Completion, "Understanding is like a patch. It will fall off. " And also, "Experiences are like the mist, they will fade. "
Even the most trivial external circumstances, whether good or bad, can deceive "great meditators". There are so many ways to be led astray by circumstances. Even if you have entered the practice of meditation, if you do not meditate continuously that is just leaving the profound instructions on the pages of the text. Your knowledge and practice will become a mere facade and genuine meditation will never arise. Old "great meditators" still new to the practice, beware! You could die with your head covered in salt.
If you meditate continuously for a long time, at some point due to devotion or some other conducive circumstance, experience will blaze forth as realization. You will see the naked, extraordinary awareness. Like peeling a cover off of your head, your view will become vast, spacious and even. This is called "the supreme seeing of what is not seen". From this point onward thoughts will arise as meditation. Stillness and movement will liberate together.
At first you will recognize thoughts and then they will liberate in the manner of meeting someone whom you used to know well. Later thoughts will self-liberate in the manner of a snake releasing its own knot. Finally thoughts will neither benefit nor harm and will liberate in the manner of a thief entering an empty house. These stages will occur progressively.
A vehement conviction will arise from within that all phenomena are solely the display of your own awareness. The inner expanse will roil with waves of emptiness and compassion. There will no longer be any possibility of choosing between cyclic existence and going beyond suffering. You will realize that there is no difference between Buddhas and sentient beings. Whatever occurs, you will be joyous within the state of the actual nature. You would not even know how to waver from that alone-that limitlessness beyond day and night.
-7-
There is a proverb of the Great Completion, "Realization is unchanging like the sky. " Thus the body of a yogi appears as an ordinary human being, yet his mind is the realization of True Being, free from activity or effort. Without activity he will traverse all the paths and levels. Finally, both rational mind and phenomena will be exhausted. Like the space inside a broken vase, his body will dissolve into particles and his mind will dissolve into the actual nature. This is what is called "the inner lucidity of the expanse of the primordial ground gathering in the youthful vase body". So it can be.
This is the conclusion of view, meditation and conduct. This is what is called "actualizing the result that is not to be obtained". Such is the difference between experience and realization.
Some individuals will progress gradually in stages, others will skip the stages, some will realize instantly. This is due to the various abilities of different individuals; however, at the time of fruition there is no distinction to be made.
The third general topic is ensuing experience, guarding your vows and sacred commitments and completing the activities of this life in accord with the Dharma.
Although you may make effort at the practice of the view, meditation and conduct, if you are not skillful regarding the activities of ensuing experience your vows and sacred commitments will degenerate. In the interim there will be hindrances and obstacles along the paths and levels, and ultimately you will certainly fall into the hell of Utmost Torment. Therefore it is critical always to be vigilant and mindful, without making the slightest mistake regarding what should be adopted and what abandoned.
As the Great Master said, "Although the view is high as the sky, ones concern for the results of ones actions should be as fine as flour. " Thus you should forsake thoughtless crudity and be meticulous about cause and effect. Protect your vows and sacred commitments without the slightest degeneration and remain untainted by any faults or downfalls.
Although there are many ways of enumerating the sacred commitments of Secret Mantra, they can all be condensed into the sacred commitments of the body, speech and mind of ones root Guru. It is said that if one perceives ones Guru as an ordinary human being for even an instant, accomplishment is months and years away. If you were to think, "Why is that so? ", know that this is a crucial key point. As it is said, "For whoever holds the vajra, accomplishment depends on the master. " Thus it is.
At first whoever you are, until you rely on a Guru you are under your own power. However, once you rely on a Guru and become connected by empowerments and oral instructions, from that point onward you have no power not to keep the sacred commitments. At the end of the four empowerments one bows before the Guru as the main figure of the sacred circle and says, "From this point onward take me as your servant. I offer myself to you. Please accept me as your disciple, and use even the tiniest part of me. " Once you have made this promise, no matter how great or powerful you are, haven't you given up your autonomy to the Guru?
One also says, "Whatever the main figure of the sacred circle commands, I will accomplish it all. " After having made this vow, do you have the power not to do whatever he says? If you do not accomplish your vow, although it may sound unpleasant, you cannot escape the fact that this is what is called a "violator of sacred commitments".
Nor is it taught that one needs to keep sacred commitments perfectly with great Gurus who have extensive retinues, or who are wealthy, powerful, eloquent and so forth, but
-8-
that there is no need to keep sacred commitments with humble Gurus who keep a low profile or engage in the conduct of beggars. In any case, you need to understand the key point of risk and benefit. It won't do just to sit there like a befuddled old horse. This need to keep sacred commitments, is it for the Guru's benefit? Or is it for your own benefit? You should focus your mind and reflect on this carefully, as if grinding medicine. If it is for the Guru's benefit, then you can just drop it this very moment. But if that is not the case, it won't do to throw ashes on your own head.
In general, the sacred commitments regarding ones Spiritual brethren is to practice pure vision, seeing all who have entered the door of the Buddha's teachings in a positive way. Abandon partiality and criticism toward particular traditions of practice. Especially, give up disrespect, competitiveness, jealousy and deceit toward vajra kindred who have received teachings from the same Guru or within the same sacred circle. From your heart you should cultivate a loving attitude toward them.
All sentient beings have really been ones own kind parents. Alas! They are trapped in cyclic existence and oppressed by fierce suffering. Thinking that, "If I do not protect them, who will? " you should train your mind by meditating on unbearable compassion. Engage all of the abilities of your three gates to ceaselessly accomplish the benefit of beings, and dedicate all the merit to the benefit of others.
At all times there are only three things to think of: the Doctrine, the Guru and sentient beings. Do not let your thoughts or your conduct go astray. Do not compete with those who bear the name or trappings of realized yogis or monks. Keep your mouth shut and control your mind. This is extremely important. Do not make a fool of yourself.
If you reflect on what is of benefit to yourself, it is only your future life. What is called "Spirituality" is something you need to do for yourself. If you are placing your hopes on virtue that others may accomplish for you after your death, it may be difficult for that to be of benefit.
So turn your mind inward. Begin by developing heartfelt certainty. With intense diligence, aspiration and mindfulness as your foundation, make the length of your practice equal to the length of your life. For the main practice, strike the vital point with the practice of the profound view and meditation. During ensuing experience, act without contradicting what is to be adopted and what abandoned with regard to the sacred commitments, precepts and vows. As a result, the qualities can not but arise from within.
The Great Completion is a path of such powerful skillful means that even sinful people can follow it to Awakening. However, due to this extraordinary profundity, there can be obstacles-just as great profit comes with great risk. The power of the oral instructions will cause all of the negative actions that you have previously accumulated to rise up as challenging experiences. Mara will create obstacles and apparitions. At your place of practice, you may see gods and demons. They may even call out your name or appear in the guise of your Guru and make prophecies. Various terrifying phenomena will occur in your experiences or dreams.
In actuality, you may encounter beatings, humiliation, robbery, theft, illness and other challenges. For no reason at all you will experience sadness, longing or intense mental suffering. Intense neurotic thoughts will arise. Your devotion, awakening mind and compassion will diminish. Your thoughts will arise as enemies and drive you insane.
You will misinterpret beneficial advice. It will become unbearable to stay on retreat, and you will long to abandon your promise. You will develop wrong views about the Guru and doubts about the Doctrine.
-9-
In addition, you may be wrongly accused or acquire a bad reputation. Your friends may become enemies. Both outwardly and within yourself, these and various other undesirable circumstances will arise. Ho! These are upheavals that have been ripened by your practice. Recognize them as such.
This is the crossroads between profit and loss. If you resolve these obstacles with the vital point, they will transform into accomplishment. If you fall under their power, they will become hindrances. At this point, with pure sacred commitment and persistent, earnest devotion entrust your mind and heart to the Guru. Thinking, "whatever you do, you know all things", pray with ardent confidence. Whatever challenging circumstances arise, accept them as something desirable and put intense effort into your practice. If you can practice in this way, the solidity of these circumstances will collapse by itself and your practice will be enhanced. Appearances will become insubstantial like the mist. Confidence in the Guru and his instructions will grow even greater than before. After this even if challenging experiences occur, you will feel confident and think, "Alright! "
This is the sign of having mastered the challenge. After circumstances have become a support for the path, whatever challenges arise are fine. Ah la la! This is precisely what we old fathers want. Don't be like a fox who skulks around a human corpse longing to eat it, yet trembling with hesitation. Develop courage!
Those whose accumulation of merit is meager, whose sacred commitments and vows are lax, whose misconceptions are huge, whose doubts are numerous, who make exalted commitments but are feeble in practice-such people, whose hearts waft farts, request the Guru's oral instructions to leave on their bookshelves. Clutching adverse circumstances in a death-grip, they follow after them and deliver themselves to the Devil. This will only lead to evil destinies. Alas! Pray to the Guru that this does not happen.
Actually, adverse circumstances that arise as challenges along the path are relatively easy to deal with. Felicitous circumstances that arise as challenges along the path are extremely difficult to handle. Those who presume that they have attained realization and become distracted by constantly striving after greatness in this life are in danger of enslaving themselves to the Devil of the Child of the Gods. One should be exceedingly cautious in this regard.
Know that this is the point at which "great meditators" are put to the test. This is the crossroads at which you will go up or down.
Until the manifest energy of the qualities of your inner realization is complete, it is inappropriate to tell stories of your experiences-however exalted they may be. Keep your mouth shut. Furthermore, don't become conceited about how many months or years you have spent on retreat. Wholeheartedly endeavor to practice for your entire human life. Do not deceive yourself by mouthing words about emptiness and then criticize the accumulation of virtue by cause and effect as deception.
Village rituals, subduing demons and so forth are for gathering food. Do not remain for long in populated places. Reduce meaningless work, needless talk and useless thinking. Do not deceive others through fraud, pretense or other actions that contradict the Teachings. Do not engage in wrong livelihood, uttering indirect requests or flattery out of craving for desirable things. Do not associate with unvirtuous friends or those who are not conducive to your view and conduct. Expose your own faults. Do not talk about the hidden faults of others.
Tobacco, opium and all other such drugs are said to be the manifestation of sacred- commitment-degenerating demons. From your heart abandon them. Alcoholic beverages,
-10-
however, should be relied on as a sacred-commitment-substance, but not wantonly consumed to the point of intoxication.
Whether others have faith in you and treat you with respect or have no faith and attack you or scheme against you, without differentiating between good and bad relationships take them all on the path and look after them with pure aspirations.
At all times sustain the valor of awareness. Don't be a coward. Although inwardly exalted and expansive, outwardly your conduct should be humble. Wear tattered clothes. Whether others are good, bad or indifferent, consider them all above yourself. Making do with meager provisions, remain steadfastly in mountain hermitages. Direct your ambition toward the life of a beggar. Emulate the complete liberation of past accomplished masters. Without blaming your past actions, practice the Doctrine in an impeccable and exalted manner. Without blaming circumstances practice steadfastly amidst whatever circumstances arise.
In short, take your own mind as witness. Devote this human life to Spirituality. At the time of your death, have nothing left to think about and no reason to be ashamed. The key point of all practice is just this.
At some point the time of death will arrive. At that time completely abandon whatever wealth or possessions you may have without attachment to even so much as a single needle. The best conduct is to be joyous at the time of death. The middling conduct is not to shirk from death. The inferior conduct is at least not to have regret when you die.
If the luminosity of realization has completed the cycle of day and night, there is no intermediate state, but merely the dissolution of the body. If you have not reached this level, but nonetheless have certainty of being liberated in the intermediate state, whatever you do is fine. If not that, then train in advance and develop confidence in the practice of transference. When the time comes, put the practice into action and transfer to whatever pure realm inspires your devotion. There you will traverse the remaining paths and levels and attain Awakening.
This precious lineage of ours is not merely about old stories of ancient occurrences. Even in the present day by bringing to perfection the realization of the paths of Cutting Solidity and Crossing Over, the material body is dissolved into a mass of light as the rainbow body.
Thus it is.
Do not throw away this wish-fulfilling gem and go searching for glass baubles. To receive these profound instructions which are like the heart blood of the dakinis is an exceptional good fortune. Elevate your mind, be joyous and meditate!
Disciples, cherish this text as your heart treasure and there will be great benefit.
Thus the cause being to benefit the mountain retreat practice of the meditators at Ogmin Pema Oling, and the circumstance being a request from the diligent practitioner Rigzang Dorje, who possesses the treasure of unchanging faith and respect, Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje spoke this heart advice in the form of direct guidance. May this be the cause for the realization of primal knowing to arise powerfully in the mind-streams of the fortunate.
? ? ?
-11-
Lexicon
Note: Capitalization does not exist in the Tibetan language; however, adopting the convention of capitalizing references to the Three Jewels, individually or collectively, provides a useful measure of clarity and flexibility. Thus: Three Jewels, Threefold Being, Buddha, Awakened One, Awakened State, Conqueror, Teaching, Doctrine, Spirituality, Community, Guru, Deity, Spacegoer, Channel, Wind, Sphere, True Being, Beatific Being, Emanation Being.
absolute nature - chos nyid
actual state - gnas lugs
agitation - rgod
as-it-is-ness - de bzhin nyid awakening mind - byang chub sems awareness - rig pa
being - sku
Conqueror - rgyal wa
consciousness - shes pa
conventional - tha snyad
Crossing Over - thod rgal
Cutting Solidity - khregs chod
cyclic existence -'khor wa
deception - kun rdzob
Devil - bdud
ensuing experience - rjes thob
equipoise - mnyam bzhag
essence - ngo wo
evil destinies - ngan 'gro
expanse - dbyings
experience(s) - nyams
freedom from suffering - myang 'das
going beyond suffering - myang 'das
Great Completion - rdzogs chen
ground - gzhi
impregnable ground - btzan sa
indeterminate - lung ma bstan
indivisible union - zung 'juk
intention - dgongs pa
inner space - klong
insight - lhag mthong
Kyabje - skyab rje
let be- 'jog
let go - 'jog
level - sa
lucidity - gsal wa
luminosity - 'od gsal
Luminous Indestructible Heart Essence - 'od sal rdo rje snying po manifest energy - rtsal
-12-
mind - sems
mindful - dren pa
mountain spirituality - ri chos
nature - rang bzhin
neurotic thoughts - nyon mongs rtog pa
nirmanakaya - sprul sku
practice - drup pa or nyams len
primal knowing - ye shes
primordial nature - gdod ma'i gshis
rational mind - blo
reality - yin lugs
realize, realization - rtogs pa
quiescence - zhi gnas
sacred commitment - dam tsig
self-occurring - rang byung
self-settle - rang babs
sinking - bying
thought - rnam rtog or rtog pa
three gates - sgo gsum
Threefold Being - sku gsum
Total Goodness - kun tu bzang po, skt. samantabhadra transcendent - don dam
True Being- chos sku
undercurrent - 'og 'gyu
unknowing - had po
vigilant - shes bzhin
-13-
Notes:
page 1, title
The term translated as "mountain spirituality" (ri chos) is sometimes translated as "mountain retreat", "mountain practice" or "mountain Dharma". This term is often used in the title of practice manuals that take a practical approach, avoiding technical language and scholarly commentaries. The term translated as "extracting the essence" (bcud len) is generally used to refer to alchemical practices in which the essences of flowers, minerals or other substances are extracted and condensed into tiny pills which provide sustenance in lieu of food for practitioners for extended periods of time. The implication of using the term in this context is that the instructions offered here extract the essence of all practices into a condensed form which is sufficient in and of itself.
page 2, paragraph 7, line 4
What has been translated here as "unresolved" could also be translated as "rotten".
page 3, paragraph 1
The eight worldly concerns are: gain and loss, pain and pleasure, praise and blame, fame and infamy.
page 3, paragraph 10
According to the oral tradition passed from Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche to my own Guru Soktse Rinpoche, the meaning of this example is that, although the iron boulder is completely immovable, the silk scarf tied around it is beautiful as it billows gracefully to and fro in the wind. Thus ones commitment to ones practice should be like the boulder, while ones skill in dealing with others should be like the scarf.
page 5, paragraph 4, line 4
The term translated as "Teachings" (chos) can also be translated as "phenomena". Both meanings work, and both meanings may be intended. However, given the context of the previous lines, "Teachings" appears to be the primary meaning.
page 5, paragraph 10, line 2
The ambiguity in this sentence is deliberate. There is a double-meaning in the original Tibetan which has been preserved in translation. One reading is that the many teachings called "vast" and "profound" are deception for those of lesser intelligence because only those of the highest intelligence are capable of assimilating the vastness and profundity and arriving at the essential key point without becoming distracted or confused. Another reading is that the many teachings called "vast" and "profound" are deception either because they are provisional or because although they are definitive they are extremely elaborate and thus obfuscatory. Thus those of greater intelligence would abandon such vast and profound teachings for the essential meaning presented here.
page 6, paragraph 2, line 2
In English the verb "to liberate" is a transitive verb. Thus there is always a subject which liberates an object-and usually from an indirect object. For example: The police liberated the hostage (from his captor). However, the Tibetan verb grol wa, which almost translates
-14-
quite well as "to liberate", is an intransitive verb. It does not take an object. It refers to a subject becoming free by itself. For example, this verb would be used to say, "The knot came undone (by itself). " Even if one uses a passive form of "liberate" in English, such as "be liberated", this still implies a transitive verb with a subject and object, even if they are left out of the explicit syntax. Thus I have adopted the convention in this translation of treating "to liberate" as an intransitive verb and ask the reader to recognize it as such. The other option would be to substitute an intransitive verb such as "to dissolve"; however, that solution would lead to a significant loss of meaning. In the particular context of thoughts liberating, "dissolving" is roughly equivalent-although not exactly so. However, in other contexts "to dissolve" would miss the meaning completely. For instance, "liberation" can refer both to what happens to thoughts within recognition of True Being and also to an individual attaining a state of realization that frees him, or her, from cyclic existence. This double meaning is deliberate and significant.
page 6, paragraph 7, line 7
First, It is worth noting that the word ngo can translate as both "essence" and "face". Thus "let be on the face of the thoughts" could also be translated as "let go into the essence of the thoughts". Second, There are a variety of terms called "experience words" (myong tsig) which are somewhat challenging to translate into English. These terms are often onomatopoeic and sometimes have a wide range of meaning that requires more that a single word to translate. Three such words are to be found in this sentence. hrik ke has been translated as "stark". In following passages it is translated sometimes as "stark" and sometimes as "startling". The precise meaning of this term is seeing something in a fresh, intense way that really stands out. There can also be a connotation of suddenness, as in instant recognition or an instantaneous change of consciousness. rjen ne has been translated literally as "nakedness". This refers to an experience of freshness, openness, and lucidity that feels completely uncovered. ye re can literally mean "one time", but in general it implies singularity. Thus, for example, it can be used in a compound form to mean "standing out in a crowd" (ye re bud). Here it has been compounded with the verb "to let go" and is translated as "alone"; however, the implication is more than merely "letting go into one thing". The meaning also includes "let go into that singularity", "only let go" and "just let go".
page 6, paragraph 8, line 4
The phrase "something to be abandoned" (spang bya) is a common idiom from the lower vehicles, which is juxtaposed here to emphasize that when practicing the Great Completion one does not even come to the point of assessing the content of thoughts as "something to be adopted" or "something to be abandoned". The recognition by awareness referred to in this sentence occurs before one has fallen into that sort of dualism.
page 6, paragraph 11, line 2
According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a wish-fulfilling jewel is an extremely rare precious gem which, when properly cared for, will manifest whatever one might wish for in much the same way as a genie would in Western legends. The proper way to care for such a gem is to place it on a shrine, to present it with offerings and then to make wishes. Stuffing a wish-fulfilling jewel into the mouth of a corpse is thus an example of extreme stupidity.
? ? -15-
page 7, paragraph 8, line 5
The example actually given in this sentence is of a Drey (dred ), which can be interpreted according to several traditions. According to one tradition, Drey means dred po, an animal known to have lived in Tibet which might be compared to the Sasquatch (or "Bigfoot") of the Northwestern United States. The Drey looks something like a cross between a hairy ape and a human being. It is very fearful of humans, but at the same time often spies on humans and imitates their activities in an ineffectual way. For example, if someone were building a house and left for some time leaving their tools and materials in place, they might return to see a Drey playing with the tools and materials and making a mess. Thus the Drey is an example of trying to do something without knowing how to do it or even why one is doing it, and thus just making a mess. The example given here in the text is of becoming "an intellectual Drey, a Dharma Drey and a practice Drey. " This has been translated as, "Ones knowledge and practice will become a mere facade. "
According to another tradition, dred refers to dred mong ("Dremong"), a bear indigenous to the northern areas of Tibet. The Dremong preys primarily on marmots and a kind of mouse, sitting outside the burrow of its prey and waiting for one to appear. On catching one of its prey, the Dremong puts the smaller animal into the cleft of its bottom and holds it there. While the Dremong is waiting intently for the next victim to emerge from the burrow, the first escapes unnoticed. The Dremong then catches its second prey, inserts it into the cleft of its bottom not noticing that the first has escaped, and waits for yet another to appear. The Dremong will spend the whole day in this form of useless behavior and at the end of the day have nothing to eat. Thus the meaning of this latter example is roughly equivalent to that of the former: someone who appears to be quite diligently and skillfully engaged in Dharma practice, but who is missing the essential point of the practice.
Finally, there is yet another tradition of explanation which also associates the word dred with the dred mong, but which gives a slightly different interpretation. According to this tradition, what is significant about the Dremong is simply that it is a bear. Thus someone who has become a "Dharma bear" is someone who has become tough, stubborn, rough, impenetrable and insensitive in relation to Dharma. Such a person can talk at length about Dharma and point out the faults of others, but if asked what practice he himself does he will have nothing to say.
page 7, paragraph 8, line 6
Ones head being encrusted with salt is used here as a euphemism for a state of ignorance. One may have received many teachings and practiced intermittently for a long time, but if one has not meditated continuously and attained decisive realization, when trying to re-enter the practice one may still be completely lost, just like a complete beginner.
page 9, paragraph 2, line 7
This reference is to grinding herbal medicine by hand, a process which requires great attention to the quality and quantity of ingredients, as well as sustained and meticulous effort directed toward achieving a sufficiently fine and uniform grind. Moreover, since the ingredients are presumably of considerable value and the medicine is to be used for an important purpose, one would approach this process with a great deal of care and seriousness.
page , paragraph , line
-16-
The term nges 'byung-translated here as "developing certainty"-is usually translated as "renunciation"; however, that is a very incomplete translation of both the literal and implied meanings. The literal meaning is either "to give rise to certainty" or "to be certain of emerging". The implied meaning is also twofold. First, one should be certain about the pervasive and profound faults of cyclic existence. Second, one should be certain that by completely abandoning cyclic existence one will go beyond suffering. "Renunciation" completely misses the second meaning and only partially captures the first. "Renunciation" means that one has reached a clear decision regarding the defects of cyclic existence and wishes to abandon this unsatisfactory situation. "Developing certainty" means much more than this. The standard example is of someone with a severe liver disease being offered a plate of greasy food. What would that person do? Would they calmly think, "I don't think I want to eat that? " More likely they would have a strong, visceral reaction. Simply seeing or smelling the food would be enough to make them feel ill. Eating it would be inconceivable. That is how someone who has developed certainty feels about the myriad activities of cyclic existence.
page 10, paragraph 3
The terms slong and lhongs, together with their compounds slong tshad and lhongs tshad, defy simple translation into English. slong literally means "to rise up", and lhongs means something like "a challenging eruption". In the context of meditation practice these two terms are synonymous. They refer to the various challenging inner and outer experiences that a meditator encounters when the power of her practice stirs up her accumulated store of negative actions and causes them to manifest as obstacles. tshad means "full measure". When joined with either of the aforementioned terms, tshad indicates that the challenging eruption has ripened to a maximal and critical degree. Such ripening is thus seen as a sign that ones practice is functioning properly and also as a moment of opportunity. Here lhongs tshad has been translated as "ripened upheavals". Three paragraphs previously slong has been translated as "rise up as challenging experiences".
page 10, paragraph 5, line 1
This sentence translates tshar tshad, which is a companion term to slong tshad (discussed in the previous note). tshar tshad literally means "full measure of completion". This refers both to the successful resolution of challenging circumstances and to the sign that one has reached that point.
page 11, paragraph 4, line 5
The term "complete liberation" is an honorific way to refer to the life stories or biographies of accomplished masters.