Directions of the pointed stick
When the great master Padmasambhava was staying in the great rock hermitage at Samya, Sherab Gyalpo of Ngog, an uneducated old man of sixty-one, who had the utmost confidence and strong devotion for the master, served him for a year. During all this time Ngog did not ask him for any teachings, nor did the master give him any. After a year, the master was about to leave. Ngog offered him a mandala on which he placed a flower and an ounce of gold. Then he said, "Great Master, think of me with compassion. First, I am uneducated. Next, my intelligence is small. Thirdly, I am old and my life force is already worn out. Please impart a teaching to an old man on the verge of death, a teaching of effective insight, easy to understand, which cuts through doubts, easy to realize and apply. May it help me in my next life!"
The Master turned his staff, which he leaned on as he walked, on the old man's heart and gave him these instructions, "Listen, old man! Look into the awakened mind of your primal waking consciousness! It has neither shape nor color, center nor edge. First, it has no beginning, but is empty. It sits in no fixed place, but is empty. Finally, it has no predestination, but it is empty. This emptiness is not composed of anything, but is clear and awake. When you see it and know it, you know your natural face. You also know the nature of things. You see the nature of the mind, know the essential state of reality, and shake off the doubts of the various objects of knowledge.
This awake and awakened mind is not composed of material substance, but is self-existent and is your own. This is the essence of things. You realize it easily because it cannot be found anywhere outside. This is the nature of the mind, which is not composed of someone who perceives and something that is perceived, to which we might cling. It overcomes the limitations of duration and cessation. There is nothing in it to be awakened. The awakened state of enlightenment is your waking, naturally awakened consciousness. There is nothing in it that is hell-bent - wakefulness is naturally pure. There is no need to do any practice in it, for its nature is naturally awake and present. This great insight of the natural state is already within you, so resolve never to seek it outside.
When you grasp the insight in this way and wish to use it through your experience, wherever you linger, there will also be the perfect meditation retreat of the body. Whatever you perceive as external will become a naturally existing phenomenon and a naturally empty void. Leave everything as it is, completely free of thought-creations. Naturally liberated phenomena will become your helpers. Practice them and see them as your path.
Whatever arises in the mind, whatever you think of, has no substance, but is empty. The thoughts that arise become liberated by themselves. If you don't forget the essence of your mind, you can conceive of thoughts as a path and the practice will be easy.
And now the innermost advice - whatever disturbing emotion you feel, observe it and it will settle itself without a trace. It will free itself naturally. It is an easy practice.
If you can practice in this way, your meditation training will no longer have to be limited to meditation sessions. If you know that everything is a help, your meditation experience will be unchanging, your recognition of the primordial nature continuous, and your actions unrestrained. Wherever you linger, you will never be separated from your true nature.
When you realize this, your body may be old, but the awakened mind does not age. It knows no difference between youth and old age. The original essence transcends all prejudice and bias. When you realize this primordial consciousness, there is no longer a difference between penetrating intellect and limited ability. When you recognize that the primordial essence, free from prejudice and one-sided bias, is present in you, there will be no difference between small and great learning. Although the body, the support for the mind, will one day leave you, the dharmakaya of primordial wisdom will never cease. If you establish this unchanging state, there will be no difference between a short life and a long life.
Do not separate yourself from the real meaning, old man! Take this practice to heart! Don't confuse words with meaning! Don't separate yourself from your comrade, diligence! Accept everything with mindfulness! Don't indulge in idle talk and meaningless gossip! Don't get caught up in superficial goals! Don't disturb yourself by worrying about offspring! Don't be a glutton for food and drink! Prepare for death, simple man! Your life is short, so be diligent! Follow these instructions for an old man on the verge of death!"

Excerpt from the book Advice of the Lotus-born Master