Delusions of Practitioners, Necessities, and Unnecessary Things

The Delusions of a Spiritual Practitioner

Having addressed errors and confusions earlier in the text, Gampopa returns to the theme with a different emphasis. Where the earlier lists identified contradictions and mistakes, this category focuses on specific patterns of self-deception — situations where the practitioner actively chooses the lesser path while having access to the greater.

1. It is extremely deluded to follow a cliché-spouting impostor rather than attending a master who correctly practices the sacred Dharma.

2. It is extremely deluded to pursue meaningless knowledge instead of seeking the pith instructions that are the oral transmission of accomplished masters.

3. It is extremely deluded to struggle with endless worldly affairs as though you were going to live forever, instead of being carefree concerning the temporary events of this life.

4. It is extremely deluded to spout the Dharma aloud in gatherings rather than pondering its meaning in solitude.

5. It is extremely deluded to hoard resources and possessions with avarice and deceit rather than giving away your excess wealth and supplies as offerings and alms.

6. It is extremely deluded to be careless and frivolous in thought, word and deed rather than observing your samayas and vows correctly.

7. It is extremely deluded to let your life run out in petty pursuits, chasing this and that, rather than familiarizing yourself with realization of the natural state.

8. It is extremely deluded to try to tame the minds of other incorrigible and childish people rather than taming your own entrenched habit of delusion.

9. It is extremely deluded to pursue ambitions of grandeur in this life, rather than cultivating the experience and realization you have already glimpsed.

10. It is extremely deluded to remain fond of laziness and indolence, rather than being diligent now while all the right conditions are present.

The Structure of Delusion

Each point follows a precise format: it is extremely deluded to do X rather than Y. The "X" in every case is something that looks reasonable from the worldly perspective. Following a charismatic speaker, pursuing knowledge, managing your affairs, teaching in public, accumulating resources — none of these are obviously evil. That is precisely what makes them deluded. They are the good that is the enemy of the best.

The eighth delusion deserves special attention: trying to tame others before taming yourself. This is the trap of the premature teacher, the practitioner who turns outward to fix others because the inner work is too uncomfortable. Gampopa does not say that teaching others is wrong — elsewhere he honors it as a supreme act. But the timing matters. Until your own delusion is at least partially tamed, your efforts to help others will be contaminated by the very patterns you have not yet recognized in yourself.

The seventh delusion — letting your life run out in petty pursuits rather than familiarizing yourself with the natural state — is the quiet tragedy that Gampopa has been warning against throughout the entire text. Not dramatic failure, but the slow erosion of a precious life through distraction and inertia.

The Ten Necessities

This is one of the most beautifully structured categories in the Precious Garland. Gampopa arranges the ten necessities in three groups of three, plus a capstone, and each point is accompanied by a vivid simile.

1. At first, you need a sincere trust that dreads birth and death, like a deer escaping captivity.

2. Next, you need a diligence that holds no regrets even in the face of death, like a farmer who perseveres in tilling the soil.

3. Finally, you need the carefree frame of mind that understands there is no "thing" which dies, like a person who has completed a major task.

4. At first, you need to acknowledge that you have no time to waste, like someone who has been hit in the chest by an arrow.

5. Next, you need to meditate unwaveringly, like a mother whose only child is dying.

6. Finally, you need to recognize that there is no "thing" to do, like a milkmaid after the enemy has carried off all the cattle.

7. At first, you need to gain certainty in the Dharma, like a starving man finding a delicious meal.

8. Next, you need to gain certainty in your mind, like a wrestler discovering his jewel.

9. Finally, you need to gain certainty in nonduality, like a charlatan whose falsehood is exposed.

10. Above all, you need to resolve what alone is real — like a crow flying up from a ship.

The Three Progressions

The structure reveals a pattern of deepening realization, repeated three times. Each group of three moves from urgency to effort to release.

In the first group: begin with the dread that motivates escape (the deer), progress to the perseverance that sustains effort (the farmer), and arrive at the carefree recognition that there is nothing to die (the completed task). This is the arc from renunciation through practice to realization.

In the second group: begin with the recognition that time is running out (the arrow in the chest), progress to unwavering meditation (the desperate mother), and arrive at the recognition that there is nothing to do (the milkmaid who has nothing left to guard). This is the arc from urgency through concentration to the release of all reference points.

In the third group: begin with certainty in the Dharma (the starving man finding food), progress to certainty in the nature of mind (the wrestler finding his lucky jewel), and arrive at certainty in nonduality (the charlatan exposed — when the pretense of duality collapses, only truth remains). This is the arc from faith through insight to the dissolution of all constructs.

The tenth point crowns the entire list: resolve what alone is real, like a crow flying from a ship. When a crow leaves a ship at sea, it flies directly toward land without hesitation. It has no doubt about the direction. Similarly, the practitioner must gain unshakeable certainty about what is ultimately real and fly toward it without wavering.

The Ten Unnecessary Things

This category reveals the Mahamudra view in its most radical form. Once certain recognitions have dawned, entire categories of practice become unnecessary — not because they were wrong, but because they have been transcended.

1. Once you realize that your mind is empty, you don't need to study and reflect.

2. Once you recognize that awareness is undefiled, you don't need to purify misdeeds.

3. Once you abide on the true path, you don't need to gather the accumulations.

4. Once you can sustain the innate state, you don't need to train in the "path of means."

5. Once you recognize that thoughts are the innate nature, you don't need to train in nonthought.

6. Once you recognize that disturbing emotions are rootless, you don't need to apply their antidotes.

7. Once you recognize that sights and sounds are magical illusions, you don't need to accept or reject.

8. Once you recognize that suffering is a boon, you don't need to strive for happiness.

9. Once you realize that your mind is nonarising, you don't need to train in the ejection of consciousness (phowa).

10. When everything you do is for the welfare of others, you don't need to accomplish your own aims.

The Dissolution of the Scaffolding

This list must be read with great care, and Gampopa places it late in the text deliberately. These are not instructions for beginners. Each point begins with a conditional: "once you realize..." or "once you recognize..." The practices described as unnecessary are unnecessary only for someone who has genuinely attained the realization specified.

For the person who has not yet recognized that mind is empty, study and reflection are absolutely necessary. For the person who has not yet seen that disturbing emotions are rootless, the antidotes are indispensable. The danger of reading this list prematurely is that it can be used to justify laziness: "I don't need to practice because everything is already perfect." Gampopa would identify this as one of the confusions described earlier — mistaking a nihilistic view for dharmadhatu.

The fifth point — once you recognize that thoughts are the innate nature, you don't need to train in nonthought — is a key Mahamudra instruction. Many meditation traditions teach the practitioner to suppress or eliminate thoughts. Mahamudra says: recognize the nature of thought itself, and there is nothing to suppress. Thoughts arise as the natural play of awareness. Fighting them is unnecessary once their nature is seen.

The ninth point is particularly striking: once you realize mind is nonarising, phowa (the practice of ejecting consciousness at the moment of death into a pure land) becomes unnecessary. Why? Because if the mind has never arisen, it cannot die. There is no consciousness to eject and no destination to eject it to. This is the ultimate Mahamudra view of death: there is no death, because there was never a birth.