A Prayer for Union with the Spiritual Teacher, Natural Liberation, without Renunciation of the Three Poisons

This prayer to the spiritual teacher is generally recited immediately after the Preliminary Practice. It is also recommended that it be recited at the beginning of any ritual, or when thinking of the spiritual teacher or whenever the practitioner is about to enter into periods of meditation.
A correct perception of the spiritual teacher is considered vital for all practitioners of the Vehicle of Indestructible Reality (Vajraytina). Further, it is considered essential that a practitioner receive spiritual inspiration, as transmitted through an unbroken lineage of masters, from a living teacher. First, however, before accepting anyone as a spiritual teacher, it is also regarded as essential that the practitioner examine and scrutinise the prospective teacher over a long period of time and accept him or her as a qualified teacher only when it is certain that the person meets the requirements of a spiritual teacher as set out in the authoritative sacred texts. Then, if they are sure that their own motivation is sincere, students should follow the advice of their chosen spiritual teacher with incontrovertible devotion.
Ultimately, the inspiration that is requested from the spiritual teacher is coming from the purity of the practitioner’s own perception, altruistic intention and confidence.
Herein is contained A Prayer for Union with the Spiritual Teacher, [Embodiment of] the Three Buddha-bodies, [entitled] Natural Liberation, without Renunciation of the Three Poisons,1 [which is an extract] from the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: A Profound Sacred Teaching, [entitled] Natural Liberation through [Recognition of] Enlightened Intention.2
In the palace of reality’s expanse, pure and pervasive,
Is my spiritual teacher, the Buddha-body of Reality –
Uncreated and free from conceptual elaboration.
To you, I pray with fervent devotion.
I request the primordially pure self-empowerment,
The blessings of the Buddha-body of Reality,3
So that naturally arising pristine cognition
Is uncontrived and spontaneously present,
Through natural liberation,
Without renunciation of ignorance and delusion.
In the palace of great bliss, which is pristine cognition, radiant and pure,
Is my spiritual teacher, the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource –
Unimpeded and supremely blissful.
To you, I pray with fervent devotion.
I request the spontaneously present self-empowerment,
The blessings of the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource,4
So that intrinsic awareness, which is pristine cognition,
Is naturally liberated in supreme bliss,5
Through natural liberation,
Without renunciation of desire and clinging.
In the palace of the lotus, untainted and pure,
Is my spiritual teacher, the Buddha-body of Emanation –
Naturally arising in unlimited forms, beyond determination.
To you, I pray with fervent devotion.
I request the naturally liberating self-empowerment,
The blessings of the Buddha-body of Emanation,
So that intrinsic awareness, which is naturally manifesting
Pristine cognition, naturally radiates,6
Through natural liberation,
Without renunciation of discordant views and aversion.
In the palace of intrinsic awareness, the genuine inner radiance,
Is my spiritual teacher, [the unity of] the three buddha-bodies –
Beyond spatial delineation, and supremely blissful.
To you, I pray with fervent devotion.
I request the supremely blissful self-empowerment,
The blessings of the Three Buddha-bodies,
So that naturally arising pristine cognition
Is spontaneously present as the three buddha-bodies,7
Through natural liberation,
Without renunciation of the subject-object dichotomy.
How needing of compassion are suffering sentient beings, right here,
Who are driven on through cyclic existence by delusion and confusion –
Because they do not understand that their own mind
Is the Buddha-body of Reality, free from extremes!
May they all actualise the Buddha-body of Reality!
How needing of compassion are mistakenly prejudiced sentient beings, right here,
Who are driven on through cyclic existence by attachment and craving –
Because they do not understand that their own awareness
Is the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource, imbued with supreme bliss!
May they all actualise the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource!
How needing of compassion are sentient beings with discordant views, right here,
Who are driven on through cyclic existence by aversion and dualistic perception –
Because they do not understand that their own mind
Is the Buddha-body of Emanation, arising and subsiding [naturally]!
May they all actualise the Buddha-body of Emanation!
How needing of compassion are all unenlightened living beings, right here,
Who, as a result of grasping, are obscured by dissonant mental states and [subtle obstructions to] knowledge –
Because they do not understand [that their own mind]
Is indivisible from the three buddha-bodies!
May they all actualise the three buddha-bodies!
These verses forming A Prayer for Union with the Spiritual Teacher, [Embodiment of] the Three Buddha-bodies, [entitled] Natural Liberation, without Renunciation of the Three Poisons, which are an extract from the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: A Profound Sacred Teaching, [entitled] Natural Liberation through [Recognition of] Enlightened Intention, were composed by Padmakara, the preceptor from Oddiyana.
May [the influence of] this sacred teaching not be extinguished until cyclic existence has been emptied!8
This prayer was brought forth from Mount Gampodar, which resembles a dancing god, by the accomplished master Karma Lingpa.