The Melody of Unceasing Deathlessness

Our September text of the month is The Melody of Unceasing Deathlessness, the lineage prayer from the Uṣṇīṣavijayā practice of the Chimé Pagmé Nyingtik—Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s mind treasure of 1855, revealed in secret and only transmitted five years later.

Uṣṇīṣavijayā, the Victorious Crown, is one of the three great deities of long life within this cycle, and her dhāraṇī traces back to a teaching by Buddha Śākyamuni himself. Its syllables are understood as the nectar of deathlessness: anointing, purifying, and sustaining life. It is said to purify all lower rebirths for any being who encounters it—whether through recitation, hearing or inscription.

This lineage prayer was written to accompany the sādhana and to invoke the masters who achieved accomplishment through this practice—from Śrī Siṃha and Vimalamitra to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Dilgo Khyentse Tashi Paljor. A final stanza, added by Khenpo Phuntsok Namgyal, brings in Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche—extending this lineage into our own time, and with it, the promise that the blessings of the deathless state remain fully accessible to those who practice today.