Oh magnificent one, you disregard the eight worldly concerns with the understanding that mundane preoccupations are empty of inherent existence.
Stumbling blindly down an unmarked road paved with karma, positive and negative deeds catch up with us, creating incessant suffering fueled by ignorance, insatiable craving, aversion, and attachment.
By sharing your vast knowledge of the Dharma with kindness, patience, and practicality, you train a platoon, these impressionable soldiers of peace, to place the needs of others before self.
As the Lord of Death knocks on our door with utmost certainty, and we circle endlessly and needlessly in samsara, you teach us that the middle way is a better way and the only way to spend this rare and precious human rebirth mindfully.
For two and a half decades, you immersed yourself in the scriptures of the Nalanda Masters with utmost concentration, dedication, and diligence.
When you reference great Dharma Masters like Pabongka, Tsongkhapa, Atisha, and Nagarjuna, who spread the teachings of Lord Buddha, King of the Shakya Clan, with proper motivation, interpretation, and insight, you inspire us continuously to embrace the teachings with purpose and without interruption.
Regardless of our diverse needs and dispositions, you never give up on schooling us on the Graded Stages on the Path to Enlightenment, teaching us small, medium, and great, renunciation, bodhicitta, and the wisdom of emptiness as if we are receiving the transmission from Losang Dragpa himself.
May you live long, may we never be separated from you , and may you continue to spread the Dharma in places near and fat to those who exhibit the capacity to listen and learn.
Immeasurable thanks for keeping us on this limitless spiritual path, tirelessly motivating us to learn, and strengthening our faith in the three jewels.
In these degenerate times plagued by war, famine, natural disasters, and epidemics, your rebirth in this lifetime is cause for celebration, and a spectacular opportunity to rejoice!
For eons upon eons upon eons, oh splendid and precious root guru, as a result of you virtuous deeds, may you be showered with internal, external, and secret offerings equaling those offered by Samantabhadra and as vast and voluminous as space.
This poem was written during Lama Rim End of Year Retreat on December 27, 2011 as a dedication to Venerable Geshe Ngawang Phende in Atlanta, GA by his disciple Paran Pordell on behalf of the Drepung Sangha
