Other translations:

Eight Cases of Basic Goodness Not to Be Shunned

I bow to the lord who grants the bliss that is utterly supreme
Which takes away the suffering of illness
For every being that’s everywhere throughout the reaches of space
By administering the medicine of the three kayas


In the pure space of the sky that’s the sky of essential mind itself
The clouds of negative actions thickly gather
But the mighty force of the powerful wind of the wisdom prana
Doesn’t blow them away, but clears them up like this


The illness and its painfulness have neither base nor root
Relax into it, fresh and uncontrived
Revealing dharmakaya, way beyond all speech and thought
Don’t shun them, pain and illness are basically good


What confusion takes to be taking place is negative forces’ work
But it’s all your own mind – simple, unborn, unceasing
Without anxiety or even worrying at all
Don’t shun them, demons and gods are basically good


When the agony of illness strikes your four-fold elements
Don’t grasp at its stopping, don’t get angry when it won’t improve
Such adversities have the flavor of bliss that’s free of contagion’s blight
Your kleshas are not to be shunned, they’re basically good

All our joy and the pain we go through, all our highs and lows
When realized, have no ground, they are our friends
Don’t try to stop pain, don’t try to be happy, be free of all hope and fear
Samsara is not to be shunned, it’s basically good


And though this human life is plagued by the torments of falling ill
Don’t think that’s bad, don’t plan to get around it
Then it will be your badge, your proof of conduct of equal taste
Your suffering’s not to be shunned, it’s basically good


The mind that’s sunk in dullness and torpor, when realized for what it is
Is pure being, pure of every imperfection
So, free of thinking you should be wishing to clear this all away
Don’t shun your dense state of mind, it’s basically good


Habitual patterns’ imprints printed throughout beginningless time
Are the myriad doors illusion comes marching through
If you do not take them as true, don’t meditate on them as empty
Don’t shun your thoughts, they’re basically good in themselves


The state of coemergence has no birth and knows no death
Knows nothing of arising, or ceasing, or staying somewhere
It’s infinity, it’s the vast expanse of the unconditioned state
Don’t shun your death, it’s basically good in itself

All eight of these things that are not to be shunned, since they’re basically good in themselves
Need a meditation that turns them into equal taste
They are the thought that comes from the heart of the uncle and nephew lords
They are the hammer that hammers down the host of maras


They are the practice that’s put into practice by beggars like you and me
These are the tools that keep us in natural retreat
They are the bliss supreme that performs the two forms of benefit
You’ve mastered this from the beginning, old friend, but you better put it into practice


Composed by the lord Götsangpa.
Under the guidance of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, translated and arranged by Jim Scott, Karme Choling, Barnet, Vermont, August 1997. Translation copyright 2012, Jim Scott