| Swept away by four raging rivers, tightly bound by karmic chains, so hard to escape, trapped in the iron cage of self grasping, shrouded by pitch-black ignorance, born again and again in endless cycles of life, constantly tortured by the three sufferings, all our mothers are in this plight. Please generate ultimate compassion and love. - from The Three Principal Aspects of the Path by Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) (Verses 7 and 8) |
I'm gonna be a happy idiot And struggle for the legal tender Where the ads take aim and lay their claim To the heart and the soul of the spender And believe in whatever may lie In those things that money can buy Though true love could have been a contender Are you there? Say a prayer for the pretender Who started out so young and strong Only to surrender - Jackson Browne, The Pretender (final chorus) |
Je Tsongkhapa's verses form a vivid, compassionate lament for the suffering of beings trapped in samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth characterized by ignorance, craving, and aversion. He enumerates six powerful metaphors:
- Swept away by four raging rivers – the forces of desire, aversion, ignorance, and the current of habitual karma.
- Tightly bound by karmic chains – our actions driven by delusion, binding us to suffering.
- Trapped in the iron cage of self-grasping – the delusion of a permanent, separate self.
- Shrouded by pitch-black ignorance – the inability to see things as they truly are, especially emptiness.
- Born again and again – endless rebirth driven by delusion.
- Tortured by the three sufferings – the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change, and the all-pervasive suffering of conditioned existence.
Now, let us listen again to The Pretender, whose voice comes not from the throne of a monastery but from the heart of modern disenchantment:
Here, the “happy idiot” is the modern person who chooses ignorance—pitch-black ignorance, in Tsongkhapa's terms—not through lack of intellect, but through despair and resignation. The “struggle for legal tender” is samsaric striving, the labor of beings swept away by the river of craving.
Advertising seduces, obscures truth, and strengthens attachment and identity. The “heart and soul of the spender” are the precious energies of Bodhicitta misdirected—where love could flower, addiction to appearance and possession takes root.
This is self-grasping delusion—the belief that identity, happiness, and worth can be obtained externally. It is the iron cage of false refuge.
A tragic recognition. True love—unconditioned compassion, the mind of Christ, Bodhicitta—is acknowledged as a possibility, but discarded in favor of material illusion.
This closing plea is Tsongkhapa's verse in Western song: it is the call to ultimate compassion. The Pretender is the suffering sentient being, who began with great potential, but who, due to karmic entanglement and ignorance, has surrendered to samsara, the world of "business as usual".
When we see the Pretender in ourselves or others, may we not mock, but generate the fierce, tender compassion Je Tsongkhapa describes. May we see their suffering as our own. May we work to become a Bodhisattva: not a pretender, but one who sees beyond illusion and devotes their life to awakening for the sake of all.