Out of silence

No thought, no reflection, no analysis,

No cultivation, no intention;

Let it settle itself.

The first characteristic of 道。

道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬物。

The whole creation emanates from the first silence

As the 道 stilled up a bit its beat

When it cooled it down.

Essence, thoughts, expressions & words,

All originate from the silent void.

Only vibration and resonance

In the practice of the Noble Silence.

Being a creature

I sense the Silence of the 道，

有名， the Presence of the 萬物之母。

道德經

《道德經》第七五章，最後一節

Dao De Jing Chapter Seven-five — C Ganson

75 — Last verse

夫唯無以生為者，是賢於貴生。

『Only those who have nothing to live for are virtuous and worthy of life.』

Those who do not interfere with life

receive genuine value from it.

Dao De Jing Chapter Seven-five, Last verse — James Legge

Thus it is that to leave the subject of living altogether out of view is better than to set a high value on it.

Dao De Jing Chapter Seven-five, Last verse — Arthur Waley

And indeed, those in that their hearts are so little set on life

They are superior to those who set store by life.

महासिद्ध तिलोपा Mahasiddha Tilopa

গ্নাদ-ক্যি-গ্জের-দ্রুগ

	তিব্বতী	ওয়াইলি	বাংলা
১	মি ম্নো	mi mno	মনে রেখো না
২	মি ব্সাম	mi bsam	কল্পনা কোরো না
৩	মি সেম্স	mi sems	চিন্তা কোরো না
৪	মি দ্প্যোদ	mi dpyod	বিশ্লেষণ কোরো না
৫	মি স্গোম	mi sgom	নিয়ন্ত্রণ কোরো না
৬	রাং সার ব্ঝাগ	rang sar bzhag	শান্ত হও

Six Words of Advice

	First short, literal translation	Later long, explanatory translation	Tibetan (Wylie transliteration)
1	Don't recall	Let go of what has passed	mi mno
2	Don't imagine	Let go of what may come	mi bsam
3	Don't think	Let go of what is happening now	mi sems
4	Don't examine	Don't try to figure anything out	mi dpyod
5	Don't control	Don't try to make anything happen	mi sgom
6	Rest	Relax, right now, and rest	rang sar bzhag

महासिद्ध तिलोपा Mahasiddha Tilopa

তিলো পা বা তিলোপাদ

Watts-Wayman translation

An earlier 1957 translation by Alan Watts and Dr Alex Wayman rendered Tilopa's "Six Precepts" as

No thought, no reflection, no analysis,

No cultivation, no intention;

Let it settle itself.

In a footnote, Watts cited a Tibetan source text at partial variance with McLeod's in sequence and syntax, namely:

Mi-mno, mi-bsam, mi-dpyad-ching,

Mi-bsgom, mi-sems, rang-babs-bzhag.

Based on an "elucidation" provided by Wayman, Watts explained that

Mi-mno is approximately equivalent to the Zen terms 無心 wúxīnㄨˊ ㄒㄧㄣstate of no-mindedness or 無念 wúniàn ㄨˊ ㄋㄧㄢˋ to have no random thoughts, “no-mind” or “no thought.” བསམ bsam, “thought, thinking” is the equivalent of the translation of Sanskrit ध्यान (dhyāna). བསམ་གཏན • (bsam gtan) a stable state of mind, the Sanskrit चिन्तन • (cintana) n thinking, thinking of, reflecting upon anxious thought consideration, i.e., discursive thinking about what has been heard, and དཔྱད dpyad of मीमांसा mīmāṃsā, discussion or disputation held to find out the truth regarding anything or “philosophical analysis.” Bsgom is probably भावनाम bhāvanā or the Chinese 修 xiū  ㄒㄧㄡ, to revise; to write; to compile； to study; to cultivate; to take a course, “to practice,” or “intense concentration.” སེམས from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sam ~ sem-s (“breath, spirit, mind”) སེམས • (sems) mind, mental activity, spirit, is चेतना (cetanā) cetanā f intention volition or 自zì, with a sense of intention or volition. Rang-babs-bzhag is literally “self-settle-establish,” and “self-settle” would seem to be an almost exact equivalent of the Daoist 自然 zìrán ㄗˋ ㄖㄢˊ, “self-so,” “spontaneous,” or “natural.”

Watts had studied Chinese, and Wayman was a Tibetologist and professor of Sanskrit associated with UCLA and later Columbia University.

महामुद्रा Mahamudra instructions

तिलोपा Tilopa also gave महामुद्रा  Mahamudra instruction to नरोपा Naropa by means of the song known as "गंगा महामुद्रा" "The Ganges Mahamudra," one stanza of which reads:

The fool in his ignorance, disdaining महामुद्रा Mahāmudra,

Knows nothing but struggle in the flood of संसार saṃsāra.

Have compassion for those who suffer constant anxiety!

Sick of unrelenting pain and desiring release, adhere to a master,

For when his blessing touches your heart, the mind is liberated.