Mahamudra of Marpa

Development stage: Vajrakilaya

2011-11-01T02:21:00.003+01:00

What is instantaneous practice?
The deity is not developed,
but perfected, its essence recalled.

How does one practice in stages?
By entering successively
into basic space and wisdom.

Dracula: The shadow

2011-07-08T23:13:00.004+02:00

On the screen of the mind
perception takes place,
creating a virtual reality,
a mere image made out
of hopes, fears and
opinions.

Knowing this,
do not cling
to non-existent
entities:
just use them
as skillful means.

Do not let the fangs
of your self-image
suck the true blood
of the mind:

RIGPA

Padampa Sangye: The essence

2011-04-18T23:01:00.000+02:00

Never Born, Never Ceasing

A teaching on the nature of mind by the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

The great pandit Shantarakshita, who was instrumental in transplanting Buddhism from India to Tibet, promised that one of his students would come one day to complete his work. Kamalasila (Tib., Padampa Sangye) fulfilled this prophecy, making three trips to Tibet during the eleventh century. This was the time when the great yogi Milarepa lived, and his autobiography describes a momentous dharma debate between the two teachers.

The story behind the teaching presented here begins when Padampa Sangye throws a stone magically bestowed upon him by the Buddha, saying that he would teach wherever it landed. The stone landed in the village of Tingri, in Tibet, and true to his word, Padampa Sangye founded his monastic seat there and proclaimed The Hundred Verses of Advice to the villagers.

Translator Matthieu Ricard requested that his teacher, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991), considered an emanation of Padampa Sangye, offer a commentary on these pithy verses. A renowned Dzogchen master, Khyentse Rinpoche spent most of his early life in solitary retreat in mountain caves. He studied and taught tirelessly for many decades, influencing scores of teachers and thousands of students. He made several important teaching tours to Europe and North America and his works have been translated into many Western languages. In his final years, he was head of the Nyingma lineage.

Khyentse Rinpoche offered this commentary in 1987 to a gathering of students at Shechen Monastery, his seat in Nepal. John Canti of the Padmakara Translation Group translated Padampa Sangye’s verses into English. Matthieu Ricard provided the translation of Khyentse Rinpoche’s commentary. The entire one hundred verses succinctly survey the path. They begin with the miserableness of all aspects of samsara and the unavoidability of karma and death and end with the means of achieving enlightenment. The verses excerpted below, numbers 51 to 69, expound on the limitless nature of mind.

In a state of emptiness, whirl the spear of pure awareness;
People of Tingri, the view is free of being caught by anything at all.

Our realization, our view, should be as high and vast as the sky. Once the awakening of pure awareness arises within the vortex of emptiness, conflicting emotions can no longer obscure it, but instead become its ornaments.

The unalterable realization of this view, which has no birth, duration or cessation, is accompanied by an enlightened consciousness that observes the movement of thoughts as a serene old man regards children playing. Confused thoughts cannot affect pure awareness any more than a sword can pierce the sky.

Lady Peldarbum said to Milarepa:

When I meditated on the ocean,
My mind was very comfortable.
When I meditated on the waves,
My mind was troubled.
Teach me to meditate on the waves!

The great yogi responded:

The waves are the movement of the ocean.
Leave them to calm themselves in its vastness.

Thoughts are the play of pure awareness. They arise within it and dissolve back into it. To recognize pure awareness as the very source of thought is to recognize that our thoughts have never begun, continued or ceased to exist. At that point, thoughts can no longer trouble the mind.

As long as we run after our thoughts, we are like a dog chasing a stick. Each time we throw the stick, he runs after it. If we look at the enlightened consciousness instead, the source of our thoughts, we will see that each thought arises and dissolves in the space of that consciousness, without engendering other thoughts. Then we will be like a lion, which does not chase after the stick, but turns to face the thrower. You can throw a stick at a lion only once.

To conquer the uncreated citadel of the nature of mind, we must go to the source and recognize the origin of thoughts. Otherwise, one thought gives rise to a second, then a third, and so on. We will be constantly assailed by memories of the past and anticipation of the future, and will lose the pure awareness of the present moment.

A story is told of a practitioner who was giving some rice he had offered on his altar to the pigeons one day, when he suddenly remembered the numerous enemies he had had before devoting himself to the dharma, and conceived this disastrous thought: "If I had had as many soldiers then as I have pigeons at my door now, I could have easily wiped out my enemies." This idea obsessed him until he could no longer control his hostility, and he left his hermitage and assembled a band of mercenaries to fight his former enemies, thus committing incalculable misdeeds. And it all began with one simple, deluded thought.

If we recognize the emptiness of our thoughts instead of solidifying them, the arising and subsidence of each thought will clarify and strengthen our realization of emptiness.

In a state without thoughts, without distraction abandon the watcher;
People of Tingri, the meditation is free of any torpor or excitement.

If our mind dwells in limpid awareness, with no thought of past or future, without being attracted by external objects or occupied by mental constructions, it will dwell in primordial simplicity. In this state, there is no need for the iron hand of forced vigilance to immobilize our thoughts. "Buddhahood," it is said, "is the natural simplicity of the mind."

Having once recognized this simplicity, we should maintain it with effortless presence of mind. Then we will know an inner freedom that has no need to block the arising of thoughts or to fear that they will spoil our meditation.

In a state of natural spontaneity, train in being free of any holding back;
People of Tingri, in the action there is nothing to abandon or adopt.

Preserve that state of simplicity. If you encounter happiness, success, abundance and other favorable conditions, consider them like dreams, illusions. Do not become attached to them. If we are struck by illness, calumny, deprivation or other physical and moral trials, guard against discouragement, rekindle your compassion, and wish that the sufferings of all beings might be exhausted through your own. Fall neither into elation nor misery, whatever the circumstances. Stay comfortable and free in imperturbable serenity.

The four bodies, indivisible, are complete in your mind;
People of Tingri, the fruit is beyond all hope and doubt.

The state of buddhahood may seem to be a distant goal, almost beyond attainment, but the natural emptiness of our mind is none other than the “absolute body,” or dharmakaya. Its luminous expression is the “body of perfect endowment,” or sambhogakaya. The universal compassion which emanates from it is the “body of manifestation,” or nirmanakaya. The intrinsic unity of these three bodies is the “essential body,” or svabhavikakaya. These four bodies, or dimensions, of a buddha, have always been present in us. It is only through ignorance of their presence that we consider them as something external and distant.

"Is my meditation correct?" we wonder restlessly. "When am I finally going to make some progress? I'll never attain the level of my spiritual master." Torn between hope and fear, our minds are never at peace.

According to our mood, we practice intensely one day, and the next day not at all. We cling to the agreeable experiences that arise when we attain some mental calm, but feel like abandoning the meditation when we are unable to slow the flood of thoughts. This is not the way to practice meditation.

Whatever our state of mind, we should constrain ourselves to a regular practice, day after day, observing the movement of our thoughts and following them back to their source. We cannot expect to be able to maintain the flow of our concentration day and night all at once.

When we begin to meditate on the nature of the mind, it is preferable to practice in short, frequent sessions. With perseverance, we will progressively realize the nature of our mind, and this realization will become more and more stable. By that point, thoughts will have lost their power to perturb and enslave us.

The root of both samsara and nirvana is to be found within your mind;
People of Tingri, the mind is free of any true reality.

Our own mind is what leads us astray in the cycle of existence. Blind to its true nature, we fixate on thoughts, which are nothing other than the manifestations of that nature. Pure awareness becomes frozen into solid concepts such as "self" and "other,” "desirable" and "repulsive," and many more. That is how we create samsara.

If we can melt the ice of these fixations by following the instructions of a spiritual master, pure awareness will recover its natural fluidity. Put another way, when we cut a tree at the base, the trunk, branches and leaves all fall at the same time. Similarly, if we cut thoughts off at their source, the delusion of samsara will fall away entirely.

The phenomena of samsara and nirvana appear with the vivid clarity of a rainbow, and like a rainbow they are devoid of any tangible reality. Once we recognize the nature of phenomena, which are manifest and at the same time empty, our mind will be freed from the tyranny of delusion.

In substantive terms, to recognize the ultimate nature of the mind is to realize the state of buddhahood, and failure to recognize it is to sink into ignorance. In either case, it is our mind, and our mind alone, which binds or liberates us.

This does not mean that the mind is an entity that can be worked like clay, to which the potter can give beautiful or ugly forms. When the spiritual master introduces the disciple to the nature of the mind, he isn't pointing to a concrete object. When the disciple seeks and finds that nature, he doesn't lay hands on a graspable entity. To recognize the nature of the mind is to recognize its emptiness. That is all. It is a realization that takes place in the realm of direct experience and cannot be expressed in words.

To expect that this realization will be accompanied by clairvoyance, miraculous powers and other extraordinary experiences is to delude oneself. Let us simply devote ourselves to recognizing the empty nature of the mind!

Desire and hate appear, but like birds in flight should leave no trace behind;
People of Tingri, in meditation be free of clinging to experiences.

Generally speaking, we are strongly attached to our families, to our goods and to our position, and we feel an intense aversion to those who hurt us. So let us turn our attention away from external objects and examine the mind that clings to them. We will agree that desire and anger have neither form nor color nor substance nor locality. If this is so, why do we fall so easily under the power of such thoughts? Ironically, it is because we do not know how to set them free.

If we allow our thoughts to arise and dissolve by themselves, they will pass through our mind as a bird flies through the sky, without leaving a trace. This method applies not only to attachment and anger but also to the experiences of meditation, such as bliss, clarity and the absence of thought. These experiences result from perseverance in practice and the expression of the inherent creativity of the mind. They are like the appearance of a rainbow as the rays of the sun strike a curtain of rain. For us to become attached to them is as vain as running after a rainbow in hopes of wearing it as a coat. We should simply allow thoughts and experiences to come and go, without grasping at them.

The unborn absolute body is like the very heart of the sun;
People of Tingri, there is no waxing or waning of its radiant clarity.

Emptiness, the ultimate nature of the dharmakaya, the absolute dimension, is not a mere nothingness. It has a luminous cognitive aspect that knows all phenomena and that manifests spontaneously. The dharmakaya is not the product of causes and conditions; it is the original nature of the mind.

The recognition of this primordial nature is like the sun of wisdom rising in the night of ignorance. The darkness dissipates instantly; the shadows cannot remain. The clarity of the dharmakaya does not wax and wane like the moon, but is like the unchangeable brilliance that reigns at the center of the sun.

Thoughts come and go like a thief in an empty house;
People of Tingri, in fact there is nothing to be gained or lost.

Convinced of the reality of an entity called "I" and its thoughts, we create karma, whether good or bad. In reality, such thoughts are like a thief in an empty house, where the thief has nothing to gain and the owner has nothing to lose. The realization that these thoughts have never really taken birth, and therefore have never existed and cannot cease to exist, renders them harmless. Thoughts liberated in this way as they arise have no impact and bring no karmic effect. There will be nothing to fear from negative thoughts, and nothing to hope for from positive ones.

Sensations leave no imprints, like drawings made on water;
People of Tingri, don't perpetuate deluded appearances.

We are naturally attached to comfort and pleasure and bothered by physical and moral suffering. These innate tendencies lead us to seek out, maintain and enhance all that will give us pleasure—comfortable clothing, delicious food, agreeable places, the pleasures of the senses—and to avoid or destroy whatever displeases us.

Changing constantly and devoid of essence, the sensations rest on the ephemeral associations of the body and the mind. Becoming attached to them is perfectly futile. Rather than being dragged along, trapped by our perceptions, let them dissolve just as they form, as a letter written by a finger on the surface of the water disappears as it is being drawn.

Thoughts of attachment and aversion are like rainbows in the sky;
People of Tingri, there is nothing in them to be grasped or apprehended.

We can become so dominated by our cravings and our hatreds that we are ready to sacrifice our lives to appease them. Wars illustrate this well. Our thoughts seem very solid and compelling, but if we examine them more carefully, we find that they have no more substance than a rainbow. Devoting our lives to trying to satisfy our impulses is puerile. Those who hunger for glory, power, pleasures and riches are like young children wanting to grasp a rainbow.

In practical terms, when a desire or a burst of anger inflames your mind, look closely at your thoughts and recognize their fundamental emptiness. These thoughts will dissolve by themselves if you allow them to. If you can do the same with the next thought and with all that follow, they will lose their hold over you.

Mind's movements dissolve by themselves, like clouds in the sky;
People of Tingri, in the mind there are no reference points.

When banks of clouds build up, the nature of the sky is not affected, and when they disperse, it is not improved. The sky becomes neither more nor less vast or pure; it doesn't change. The nature of the mind is just the same. It is not altered by the arising of thoughts, or by their disappearance.

The nature of the mind is emptiness. The expression of this nature is clarity. These two aspects of the mind can be distinguished for descriptive purposes, but they are essentially one. Fixating just on the notion of "emptiness" or of "clarity," as if these were independent entities, is a mistake. The ultimate nature of the mind is beyond all concepts, definitions and partial views.

A child thinks, "I could walk on the clouds!" If he could actually reach the clouds, however, he would find nowhere to set foot. In the same way, our thoughts appear to be solid until we examine them. Then we find that they are without substance. Thus we say that phenomena are empty and apparent at the same time.

Without fixation, thoughts are freed by themselves, like the wind,
People of Tingri, which never clings to any object.

The wind blows through the sky and flies over continents without settling anywhere. It traverses space and leaves no trace. Thus should thoughts pass through our minds, leaving no karmic residues and not altering our realization of fundamental simplicity.

Pure awareness is without fixation, like a rainbow in the sky;
People of Tingri, experiences arise quite unimpededly.

Pure awareness, the enlightened mind, which is none other than the mind liberated of all delusion, transcends even the notions of being and non-being. "Where there is attachment, there is no view," were the words that Jetsun Trakpa Gyaltsen heard from Manjushri, the buddha of wisdom, during a vision. Enlightenment cannot be said to exist, because even the buddhas haven't seen it. Nor can we say that it does not exist, because it is the source of samsara and nirvana. As long as the concepts of being and non-being persist, we have not realized the mind's true nature.

A rainbow sparkles in the sky, but it is nothing other than the sky itself. You could call it a manifestation of the sky. Likewise, the experiences that arise during meditation have no substance. Good experiences make us suppose that we have attained lofty realization; bad ones discourage us. It is truly said: "Children are lured by a rainbow, meditators by their experiences." If we attach no importance to them they cannot dupe us.

Realization of the absolute nature is like the dream of a mute;
People of Tingri, there are no words to express it.

A mute might clearly remember a beautiful dream but cannot express it in words. Likewise, we lack words to describe the ultimate nature of the mind, the dharmakaya, since the mind escapes all definitions. If we say it exists, we have nothing to show for it but emptiness. If we say it is nothing at all, we are refuted by its myriad manifestations. The ultimate nature of the mind pertains to the domain of absolute truth, which defies all description and cannot be grasped by discursive thought.

Realization is like a youthful maiden's pleasure;
People of Tingri, the joy and bliss just cannot be described.

With the dawn of realization, the mind becomes perfectly free, at ease, fulfilled, vast and serene. This realization, however, is inexpressible, like the joy of an adolescent in the flower of youth.

Clarity and emptiness united are like the moon reflected in water;
People of Tingri, there is nothing to be attached to and nothing to impede.

The perceptions of samsara and nirvana are simply the play of the mind's natural creativity, the radiance of its emptiness. The essence of this radiance is emptiness, and the expression of emptiness is radiance. They are indivisible.

Take the moon reflected on the surface of a lake as an example. It is brilliantly apparent, but you cannot trap it. It is vividly present and at the same time utterly intangible. The same is true of the mind. By its very nature, which is the indivisible union of emptiness and luminosity, nothing can obstruct it and it can obstruct nothing, unlike a solid object, such as a rock, with a physical, exclusive presence. In essence, the mind is insubstantial and omnipresent.

Appearances and emptiness inseparable are like the empty sky;
People of Tingri, the mind is without either center or periphery.

The mind has the faculty of apprehending forms, sounds and other phenomena, of experiencing happiness and suffering. Yet the world of appearances has never existed in itself. When you analyze it, nothing is there but emptiness. Just as space is the condition allowing worlds to unfold, the empty nature of the mind is the condition through which it can express itself. Space is without limits; no center or periphery can be assigned to it. Likewise, the mind has neither beginning nor end, neither in time nor in space.

The mind with no thought and no distraction is like the mirror of a beauty;
People of Tingri, it is free of any theoretical tenets.

Once the nature of the mind has been recognized, we no longer need to constrain ourselves to a conscious recollection of that nature, nor to modify it in any way. At that point, the mind cannot even be said to "meditate," because it rests in a state of serene equilibrium. There is no specific concentration on the details of a particular visualization, such as the form of a deity; neither will the mind stray into the distraction and delusion that characterize the ordinary state, because it rests perpetually and effortlessly in its own nature.

Pure awareness is not affected by agreeable or disagreeable perceptions. It simply stays as it is, like a mirror, neither enraptured by a beautiful face nor offended by ugliness. Just as a mirror reflects all images faithfully and with absolute impartiality, an enlightened being clearly perceives all phenomena, without his or her realization of the ultimate nature being affected in the least.

One can neither say that an image on the surface of a mirror is a part of the mirror nor that it is anywhere else. In the same way, our perceptions of phenomena are neither in the mind nor outside it.

The realization of the ultimate nature of things is beyond the concepts of being and non-being. Thus Nagarjuna said in the Root Scripture of the Middle Way: "Because I affirm nothing, none can refute my point of view."

Awareness and emptiness inseparable are like reflections in a mirror;
People of Tingri, nothing is born there and nothing ceases.

The emptiness of the mind is neither nothingness nor a state of torpor, because it naturally possesses a luminous faculty of knowing, what we call pure awareness or enlightened consciousness. The aspects of emptiness and awareness are essentially one, like the surface of a mirror and the reflection in it.

Thoughts manifest within emptiness and are reabsorbed there, as a face appears and disappears in a mirror. Since the face has actually never been in the mirror, it does not cease to be when it is no longer reflected there, while the mirror itself has never changed.

Before entering the spiritual path, we dwell in the supposedly impure state of samsara, which is governed, in relative terms, by ignorance. When we are engaged on the path, we pass through a state where ignorance and knowledge are mixed, and at the end of the path, at the moment of awakening, nothing remains but pure awareness. But throughout the entire course, though it appears that a transformation has taken place, the nature of the mind itself has never changed; not corrupted at the beginning of the path, it is not improved at the end.

No-effort: Non-meditation

2011-03-27T16:30:00.004+02:00

I can keep uttering words,
but it is unnecessary.

I can keep pointing at the moon,
but it is useless unless
you open your eyes.

Vastness: Emptiness

2011-01-27T01:34:00.005+01:00

Ordinary mind is seduced by
trivial sense objects in all their variety.

One´s useless focus moment by moment
extends into a continuum, as days,
months, years, whole lives go by.

Beings are deceived by misconstruing what
is not dualistic as dualistic.

Longchen Rabjam: Great Perfection

2010-12-05T18:24:00.005+01:00

If you stray from your fundamental nature,
the functioning of conceptual mind is samsara,
pure and simple.

It involves cause and effect- you have not come
to the decisive experience.

A person who makes this mistake falls lower and lower.

Therefore, the sublime secret- great perfection-does not
stray from basic space, and the expressions of dynamic
energy resolve within the ground of being.

Enlightened intent abides as an
unwavering state of equalness.

Genuine practice

2010-11-26T23:03:00.003+01:00

Repeating old words
from famous meditators
will not improve our meditation.

Imagining that by reading
the experiences that others
have had, we become good
meditators, we are fooling ourselves.

Looking at our mind in order
to see its real nature is
called genuine practice.

Awareness: The heart of consciousness

2010-11-09T00:29:00.006+01:00

Hearing

Seeing

Touching

Smelling

Tasting

Five consciousnesses

Sixth consciousness

Seventh consciousness

Alaya consciousness

AWARENESS

Madhyamaka: going beyond thought

2010-11-03T01:02:00.003+01:00

This blog is not useful

This blog is not useless

This blog is not useful and useless

This blog is not neither useful nor useless

Where does this blog originates from?

Where does this blog abides?

Where does this blog ceases?

Third yoga: spark

2010-10-28T00:56:00.003+02:00

VAST

CLEAR

EMPTY

ordinary mind

Mahakala: Strength

2010-10-10T18:06:00.005+02:00

MAHAKALA

The wrathful face of compassion.

Karmic law in action.

The STRENGTH of spontaneous presence.

The POWER of MINDFULNESS,

protecting AWARENESS from delusion.

Self: Faking enlightenment

2010-09-28T23:09:00.002+02:00

I can quote many masters,
I can fake spontaneity,
I can pretend to possess insight,
but while there is identification
with an I,
the great perfection of the mind
will remain hidden within confusion.

Garuda: Rigpa

2010-09-21T23:08:00.003+02:00

Given spontaneous presence,
timelessly ensured and free
of hope and fear,
if you strive to achieve again and again,
you will see that there is nothing to achieve.

Nothing to achieve:
this is the fruition of
omnipresent awareness.

Longchenpa: Ati

2010-09-15T23:52:00.006+02:00

Nowadays, those "elephants" who pride themselves on
being ati practitioners, allege that thought patterns,
stirring and proliferating, are awakened mind.

All of these fools are submerged in darkness,
far from the meaning of natural great perfection.

They do not understand even dynamic energy
or what arises from that energy,
to say nothing of the essence of awakened mind.

Lada: Certainty

2010-09-01T22:46:00.003+02:00

Thoughts are like clouds,
invoked by the rocks of belief.

Drop clinging to opinions,
and the sky becomes blue.

The fresh wind of certainty,
clears the clouds of doubt.

The cave of Dawn: Beyond the intellect

2010-08-06T23:27:00.003+02:00

Get in the dark cave of subconscious mind,
with the light of mindfulness,
and you will find out,
surprisingly,
that there is nobody
neither outside,
nor inside.

In fact,
there is no real difference
between outside and inside.

This, my friend, is the
cave of Dawn.

Now: Non-conceptual wisdom mind

2010-07-26T21:00:00.003+02:00

In this very moment,
mixed up with memories
from the past,
and expectations for the future,
hides the little grain of

NOW

Let IT shine.

Saraha: the vanishment of the Self

2010-07-10T23:46:00.004+02:00

So simple,
yet so difficult to attain.

Unless we walk along the path,
ordinary mind will remain hiddden.

One and the same for all of us:

BEYOND THE INTELLECT

Utilizing thoughts: Lada

2010-05-30T19:41:00.005+02:00

When we practice looking into the ungraspable
nature of thoughts, we no longer need to be
scared of any thought that might occur;
we do not have to struggle with thoughts
nor be caught up in our thinking.

Instead, by recognizing its essence,
the thinking itself is used as the path.

That is the principle of

utilizing

thoughts

Non-attachment: Generosity

2010-05-15T00:54:00.002+02:00

Prajnaparamita: A

2010-05-05T23:33:00.004+02:00

Hidden in the midst of ritual,
you can find the formless technique.

Simple

Profound

Direct

Jigme Lingpa and the heart essence

2010-04-26T23:32:00.005+02:00

From the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse

Homage to glorious Samantabhadra!

The true nature of things is naturally free of conceptual projections.

It does not exist, since even the victorious ones do not see it.

Yet neither is it non-existent, as it is the ground of all samsara and nirvana.

There is no contradiction here, for it lies beyond the realm of expression.

May all realize this Great Perfection, the true nature of the ground!

In essence it is empty, hence free from the limitations of permanence.

By nature it is clear, and free from the limitations of nihilism.

Its capacity unobstructed, it is the ground of manifold emanations.

It is divided into three, yet in truth there are no such differentiations.

May all realize this Great Perfection, the true nature of the ground!

Inconceivable and free of all superimposition, one-sided fixation

On things being either existent or non-existent completely dissolves.

The full import of this turns back even the tongue of the victors.

Without beginning, middle, or end, it is a great expanse of deep clarity.

May all realize this Great Perfection, the true nature of the ground!

Its essence is pristine, unoriginated, and primordially pure.

Whatever manifests is the expression of this unconditioned spontaneous presence.

Without perceiving them as other, realizing the great unity of awareness-emptiness,

One’s understanding of the ground will reach a point of culmination.

May there be no deviations and mistakes concerning this key point of the path!

Pure from the beginning, even the term “view” does not exist.

Aware of the original state, the sheath of meditation falls away.

There are no reference points, hence no need to restrain one’s conduct.

In the spontaneously present nature, this state of naked simplicity,

May there be no deviations and mistakes concerning this key point of the path!

Not falling into partiality towards positive thoughts or negative ones,

And without giving free rein to a state of indifferent neutrality,

Manifestation and liberation—an expanse unrestricted, unbridled, and spontaneously free.

Understanding that the nature is inherently devoid of needing to accept and reject,

May there be no deviations and mistakes concerning this key point of the path!

Like space, awareness is the universal ground and starting point.

Manifest ground spontaneously present, yet vanishing like clouds in the sky,

The mind radiates out, projecting outwards and then returning within

To the youthful vase body’s inner space, possessing six unique characteristics–

May all seize the throne of this majestic fruition!

From the very beginning, awareness itself is Samantabhadra.

Within it, all hoping for attainments dissolves into the sphere of reality,

The true character of the Great Perfection, beyond intentional effort;

The sphere of reality and awareness, the inner space of Samantabhadri–

May all seize the throne of this majestic fruition!

Utterly non-abiding–the nature of the Great Middle Way;

All-embracing and spontaneously vast–the state of Mahamudra;

Freed from limitations and wide open–the key point of the Great Perfection.

The virtues of the levels and paths fundamentally complete–spontaneously present inner space.

May all seize the throne of this majestic fruition!

This profound prayer, a summation of the seal

Of the quintessential vast expanse,

Was set down at the behest of the protector of the teachings,

The Rishi Rahula, who took the form of a monk.

To make meaningful the spread of the profound reality

And bring to perfection this prayer of interdependence,

I let loose this profound seal to the mad yogi of Kong.

Entrusting it to this hidden master of awareness

Who himself has been blessed by Akashagarbha.

May its benefit for beings equal the extent of space!

Experiences and realization

2010-04-22T22:30:00.001+02:00

This is bringing brass to mind as gold.

You think carrying this experience onto
the path will accomplish the ultimate.

That is like being attached to the bliss
of a dream.

You claim that the aggregates are impermanent
and bliss is permanent?

Fourth symbol: Beyond the intellect

2010-04-04T16:34:00.005+02:00

Intellect, mind and mental appearances
have this very nature.

All the worlds appearing in their diversity
have this very nature.

All the varieties of the seen and the seer
have this very nature.

Attachment, desire, aversion and bodichitta
too, have this very nature.

Saraha: Nothing to negate or construct

2010-03-26T00:08:00.004+01:00

There is no negating,no constructing,
and no apprehending: it is inconceivable.
The ignorant are bound by mental categories.
The inseparable, the coemergent,
is utterly pure.

Ordinary mind: trikaya

2010-03-20T21:48:00.001+01:00

Nonduality: Appearance and emptiness

2010-03-14T18:22:00.004+01:00

First a thing, and in the end a nonthing-
neither is established;
likewise, there is nothing
other than these two.

There is no place to abide in the
beginning, middle or end.

For those whose minds are
obscured by continual concepts,
emptiness and compassion
are expressed in words.

Understanding Dependent Origination

2010-03-07T12:57:00.005+01:00

Today, in this tenth session, we are going to take up a very important topic in Buddhist studies and this is the teaching of dependent origination. I am aware of the fact that many people believe that dependent origination is a very difficult subject and I would not say that there is no truth in that belief. In fact, on one occasion Ananda remarked that despite its apparent difficulty, the teaching of dependent origination was actually quite simple; and the Buddha rebuked Ananda saying that in fact the teaching of dependent origination was very deep. Certainly in the teaching of dependent origination we have one of the most important and profound teachings in Buddhism. Yet I sometimes feel that our fear of dependent origination is to some extent unwarranted. There is nothing particularly difficult, for instance, in the term dependent origination. After all, we all know what dependent means, and what birth, origination or arising means. It is only when we begin to examine the function and application of dependent origination that we have to recognize the fact that we have a very profound and significant teaching. Some indication of this can be gained from the Buddha’s own statements. Very frequently, we find that the Buddha expressed His experience of enlightenment in one of two ways, either in terms of having understood the Four Noble Truths, or in terms of having understood the nature of dependent origination. Again, the Buddha has often mentioned that in order to attain enlightenment one has to understand the Four Noble Truths; or similarly, one has to understand dependent origination.

On the basis of the Buddha’s own statements, we can see a very close relationship between the Four Noble Truths and dependent origination. What is it that the Four Noble Truths and dependent origination have in common? The principle that both have in common is the principle of causality - the law of cause and effect, of action and consequence. In one of our earlier lectures we have mentioned that the Four Noble Truths are divided into two groups. The first two - suffering and the causes of suffering, and the last two - the end of suffering and the path to the end of suffering. In both of these groups, it is the law of cause and effect that governs the relationship between the two. In other words, suffering is the effect of the cause of suffering; and similarly, the end of suffering is the effect of the path to the end of suffering. Here too in regard to dependent origination, the fundamental principle at work is that of cause and effect. In dependent origination, we have a more detailed description of what actually takes place in the causal process.

Let us take a few examples that establish the nature of dependent origination. Let us take first an example used by the Buddha Himself. The Buddha has said the flame in an oil lamp burns dependent upon the oil and the wick. When the oil and the wick are present, the flame in an oil lamp burns. If either of these is absent, the flame will cease to burn. This example illustrates the principle of dependent origination with respect to a flame in an oil lamp. Let us take the example of the sprout. Dependent upon the seed, earth, water, air and sunlight the sprout arises. There are in fact innumerable examples of dependent origination because there is no existing phenomenon that is not the effect of dependent origination. All these phenomena arise dependent upon a number of causal factors. Very simply, this is the principle of dependent origination.

Particularly, we are interested in the principle of dependent origination as it applies to the problem of suffering and rebirth. We are interested in how dependent origination explains the situation in which we find ourselves here. In this sense, it is important to remember that dependent origination is essentially and primarily a teaching that has to do with the problem of suffering and how to free ourselves from suffering, and not a description of the evolution of the universe. Let me briefly list the twelve components or links that make up dependent origination. They are ignorance, mental formation, consciousness, name and form, the six senses, contact, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, and old age and death.

There are two principal ways in which we can understand these twelve components. One way to understand them is sequentially, over a period of three lifetimes: the past life, the present life and the future life. In this case, ignorance and mental formation belong to the past life. They represent the conditions that are responsible for the occurrence of this life. The following components of dependent origination - consciousness, name and form, the six senses, contact, feeling, craving, clinging and becoming - belong to this life. In brief, these eight components constitute the process of evolution within this life. The last two components - birth and old age and death - belong to the future life. According to this scheme, we can see how the twelve components of dependent origination are distributed over the period of three lifetimes, and how the first two - ignorance and mental formation result in the emergence of this life with its psycho-physical personality and how in turn, the actions performed in this life result in rebirth in the future life. This is one popular and authoritative way of interpreting the twelve components of dependent origination.

But for today, I am going to focus on another interpretation of the relation between the twelve components of dependent origination. This interpretation too is authoritative and has the support of recognized Buddhist masters and saints. This interpretation might be called a cyclical interpretation because it does not depend upon a distribution of the twelve components amongst three lifetimes. Rather, it divides the twelve components into three groups, and these are defilements (Klesha), actions (Karma), and sufferings (Duhkha). This scheme has the advantage of not relying upon a temporal distribution amongst three lifetimes. According to this scheme, ignorance, craving and clinging belong to the group of defilements. Mental formation and becoming belong to the group of actions. The remaining seven, that is, consciousness, name and form, the six senses, contact, feeling, birth, and old age and death belong to the group of sufferings. Through this interpretation we can see how the teaching of the Four Noble Truths and particularly the teaching of the Second Noble Truth - the truth of the cause of suffering, is conjoined with the teaching of karma and rebirth; and how together these two important teachings explain in a more complete way the process of rebirth and the origination of suffering.

You may recall that in the context of the Four Noble Truths, we have said that ignorance, desire and ill-will are the causes of suffering. If we look here at the three components of dependent origination that are included in the group of defilements, we will find ignorance, craving and clinging. Here too, ignorance is the most basic. It is because of ignorance that we crave for pleasures of the senses, for existence and for non-existence. Similarly, it is because of ignorance that we cling to pleasures of the senses, to pleasant experiences, to ideas and, perhaps most significantly, to the idea of an independent, permanent self. This ignorance - craving and clinging - is the cause of actions.

The two components of dependent origination that are included in the group of actions are mental formation and becoming. Mental formation refers to the impressions or habits that we have formed in our stream of conscious moments - our conscious continuum. These impressions or habits are formed by repeated actions. We can illustrate this by means of an example taken from geography. We know that rivers form their course by means of a process of repeated erosion. As rain falls on a hillside, that rain gathers into a rivulet. That rivulet gradually creates a channel for itself, and gradually grows into a stream. Eventually, as the channel of the stream is deepened and widened by repeated flows of water, the stream becomes a river which develops well-defined banks and a definite course. In the same way, our actions become habitual. These habits become part of our personality and we take these habits with us from life to life in the form of mental formation or habit energy. Our actions in this life are conditioned by the habits which we have formulated over countless previous lives. So to return to the analogy of the channel of the river and the water in it, we might say that mental formations are the channel of the river, and the actions that we perform in this life are the fresh water that flow again through the eroded channel created by previous actions. The actions that we perform in this life are represented by the component known as becoming. So here, as regards mental formation and becoming, we have the habits that we have developed over the course of countless lives combined with new actions performed in this life, and these two together result in rebirth and suffering.

To summarize, we have the defilements which may be described as impurities of the mind - ignorance, craving and clinging. These mental impurities result in actions, actions done in previous lives which have resulted in the formulation of habit energy, and actions done in the present life which on the whole are liable to conform to the patterns established in previous lives. Together, these impurities of the mind and these actions result in rebirth. In other words, they result in consciousness, in name and form, in the six senses, in contact between the six senses and the objects of the six senses, in feeling which is born of that contact, in birth, and in old age and death. In this interpretation, the five components of dependent origination included in the groups of defilements and actions - ignorance, craving, clinging, mental formation and becoming - are the causes of rebirth and suffering. Consciousness, name and form, the six senses, contact, feeling, birth, and old age and death are the effects of the defilements and actions. Together, the defilements and actions explain the origin of suffering and the particular circumstances in which each of us find ourselves, in which we are born.

You may recall that in one of our earlier lectures, we refer to the fact that whereas the defilements are common to all living beings, actions differ from individual to individual. So whereas the defilements account for the fact that all of us are prisoners within samsara, yet actions account for the fact that some are born as human beings, others are born as gods, and others as animals. In this sense, the twelve components of dependent origination present a picture of samsara with its causes and its effects.

There would be no point in painting this picture of samsara if we do not intend to use this picture to change our situation, to get out of samsara. It is in this sense that recognizing the circularity of samsara, the circularity of dependent origination is the beginning of liberation. How is this so? So long as defilements and actions are present, rebirth and suffering will occur. When we see that repeatedly, ignorance, craving, clinging and actions will lead to rebirth and suffering, we will recognize the need to break this vicious circle.

Let us take a practical example. Suppose you are looking for the home of an acquaintance whom you have never visited before. Suppose you have been driving about for half an hour or more and have failed to find the home of your friend, and suppose suddenly you recognize a landmark that you saw half an hour previously. Suppose you again come upon the landmark, and it dawns upon you that you have passed the landmark half an hour ago. At that moment it will also probably dawn upon you that you have been going around in circles, and you will stop and look at your road guide, or enquire the way from a passer-by so as to stop going around in circles and reach your destination. This is why the Buddha has said that he who sees dependent origination sees the Dharma and he who sees the Dharma sees the Buddha. This is why the Buddha has, as I have mentioned earlier, said that understanding dependent origination is the key to liberation. So once we see the functioning of dependent origination, we can then set about breaking this vicious circle of dependent origination. We can do this by removing the impurities of the mind - ignorance, craving and clinging. Once these impurities are eliminated, actions will not be performed, and habit energy will not be produced. Once actions cease, rebirth and suffering will also cease.

I would like to spend a little bit of time on another important meaning of dependent origination and that is dependent origination as an expression of the Middle Way. During one of our earlier lectures, we had occasion to refer to the Middle Way, and on that occasion we confined ourselves to only perhaps the most basic meaning. We have said that the Middle Way means avoiding the extreme of indulgence in pleasures of the senses and the extreme of self-mortification. In that context the Middle Way is synonymous with moderation. Now in the context of dependent origination, the Middle Way has another meaning which is related to the earlier meaning but deeper. In this context the Middle Way means avoiding the extremes of eternalism and nihilism. How is this so? The flame in the oil lamp exists dependent upon the oil and the wick. When either of these are absent, the flame will be extinguished. Therefore, the flame is neither permanent nor independent. Similarly, this personality of ours depends upon a combination of conditions - defilements and actions. It is neither permanent nor independent. Recognizing the conditioned nature of our personality, we avoid the extreme of eternalism, of affirming the existence of an independent, permanent self. Alternatively, recognizing that this personality, this life does not arise through accident, or mere chance, but is instead conditioned by corresponding causes, we avoid the extreme of nihilism, the extreme of denying the relation between action and consequence. While nihilism is the primary cause of rebirth in states of woe and is to be rejected, eternalism too is not conducive to liberation. One who clings to the extreme of eternalism will perform wholesome actions and will be reborn in states of happiness, as a human being or even as a god, but he will never attain liberation. Through avoiding these two extremes, through understanding the Middle Way, we can achieve happiness in this life and in the future life by performing wholesome actions and avoiding unwholesome actions, and eventually we can achieve liberation.

Buddha Dharma education association

Pointing out: Now

2010-02-28T19:42:00.006+01:00

Attachment to pleasant experiences
vanishes of its own accord.

Illusory and negative thoughts
are in their essence pure, like space.

In that simple state of mind there is
nothing that must be given up or
developed, avoided or attained.

May the truth of the uncomplicated
nature of reality be realized.

Shine: Experiences

2010-02-22T20:20:00.004+01:00

May the waves of subtle and coarse thoughts subside
on their own, and the placid river of mind gently come
to rest. May the ocean of serene abiding, without the
silt and mire of torpor and dullness, remain steady
and unperturbed.

Saraha: Nonattachment to what is untrue.

2010-02-14T18:53:00.005+01:00

Just as an image appears
on the mirror´s surface,
where the ignorant look
in their lack of knowledge,
so the mind that throws
away the truth relies on many
concepts that are not true.

Saraha: Attachment

2010-02-07T19:49:00.005+01:00

Bugs on excrement are attached to its smell
and think the pure fragrance of sandalwood foul.
Likewise, attached to dense ignorance,
the source of samsara,
individuals toss away the
trascendence of suffering.

Saraha: Undistracted awareness

2010-01-31T00:57:00.003+01:00

A mind cleansed of defilement
coemerges with its intrinsic nature;
such a mind remains free from disharmony.

Watch your own self,
for it represents intrinsic reality.
If unable to watch with an undistracted mind,
you will fail to penetrate the forest of substance
and will lose the gem of true reality,
for a distracted mind is uncapable of realization.

Second Yoga: Simplicity

2010-01-17T21:06:00.004+01:00

The lesser simplicity is when you realize that
the identity of the thinking and perceiving mind
is devoid of such constructs as arising and ceasing.

However, you are not free from the fetter of savoring
the conviction that clings to it as being empty.

You realize that the identity of all phenomena
is devoid of the constructs of arising,
dwelling and ceasing.

You also still entertain hopes and fears concerning
samsara and nirvana.

As well, your states of deep sleep and dreaming,
for the most part, are still deluded.

There are considerable fluctuations in your dharma
practice, and it is possible that sometimes you have
trust in your master, dharma friends and practice,
and that sometimes you feel doubt.

Utilizing sickness

2010-01-12T02:58:00.005+01:00

Use the acute feeling of ache and pain as the very
substance of the training and, without trying to alter it,
suspend it in being vividly present.

By continuing in this way, you find progress in that the pain
becomes the meditation training without having to be rejected.

Moreover, investigate the ego-clinging within the one who feels
sick, the one who hurts and the one who experiences, and suspend
it without artifice in the state that is free from any definable identity.

First yoga: Je Gyare

2010-01-02T12:43:00.008+01:00

The meditator has realized the one-pointed yoga when he has

with conscious certainty gained insight into his own inmost
awareness, which is an inseparable blend of its intrinsic
clarity and emptiness. Like the expanse of space,
this simplicity of mind is detached from any
substantive entity while manifesting itself
clearly and uninterruptedly.

On the other hand, the meditator has not gained insight
into the mind´s essential nature through the
one-pointed yoga if he has not achieved
such an awareness of certainty, even
though his mind is settled quietly
and serenely in the state of bliss,
clarity and non-discrimination.

Merry Christmas and happy 2010.

2009-12-24T14:44:00.003+01:00

I wish your genuine practice

allows your mind to express

its own inherent

PEACE

LOVE

and CLARITY.

NAMASTE

Guru yoga: Guendun Rimpoche

2009-12-18T02:23:00.002+01:00

Guru, the source of blessings

First yoga: One-pointedness

2009-12-15T20:59:00.004+01:00

When the one-pointed stage dawns,
one realizes the intrinsic nature of one´s mind
to be an unceasing stream of clarity and emptiness,
devoid of any center and circumference,
like the expanse of space,
settled in serenity and lucidity.

This is absorptive equipoise
on the first stage of yoga.

Savari: One Taste

2009-12-11T00:30:00.002+01:00

Watch, keep watching, but do not watch anything.

Meditate! Keep meditating!

But do not meditate on anything!

Maitripa: Sublimating afflictions

2009-12-05T01:08:00.004+01:00

A deluded mind by its intrinsic nature
is great awareness;

It aids meditators greatly.

The way a forest fuels a great fire.

Ouroboros: Ordinary mind

2009-12-01T00:48:00.007+01:00

The nondiscriminatory simplicity
of mind is described as wisdom.

That which fulfills the wishes of
sentient beings without exception,
the way a wish-granting gem does,
is described as compassion.

Longchenpa: Great Perfection

2009-11-22T02:14:00.005+01:00

Let us cross the ocean of these
three worlds of samsara
within the vast ship of samadhi
where grasping is never found,
arriving at last in the nature
of the great perfection.
Along with the bliss of the ground
there is a constant well being.

Elevating dualistic thoughts to the path

2009-11-15T08:34:00.005+01:00

A transient thought arises from the unborn emptiness.

It embodies the nature of all-embracing reality.

These two have been inseparable from the beginning.

I therefore proclaim the two to be of one flavour.

Virupa: Lada

2009-11-12T20:47:00.005+01:00

Where the mind detaches itself from discrimination
there is neither defilement nor doubt;

Where mind perceives intrinsic reality directly,
there is no duality of knowledge and knower.

Savari: Non-meditation

2009-11-06T20:28:00.001+01:00

In the discipline of quiescent mahamudra

there is nothing to meditate on, not even an atom.

Do not meditate,
for the perfect meditation

is to remain inseparable

from the state of non-meditation.

Secret offering: Compassion

2009-11-01T20:48:00.001+01:00

BODHICHITTA

Inner offering: Bliss

2009-10-27T01:26:00.001+01:00

Cosmic mind: Master Mind

2009-10-18T21:26:00.003+02:00

Possessing a state of the art tool like the human brain

should be regarded as a very auspicious sign.

Learn to use it properly

and the mysteries of life will unfold.

You would never use a portable computer

just to crack nuts and decorate your room,

would you?

When ignorance, hate, pride, envy

and lust drag your mind, you are

behaving just like an animal.

So learn from the ones who reached

mastery of their lives through the

mastery of their minds.

Demons: Self clinging

2009-10-11T01:02:00.000+02:00

Hope and fear.

Our Self clings to pleasure

and rejects pain.

Clinging and craving:

The root of suffering.

Clinging turns pleasure into pain.

Do not fear pain.

Do not crave for pleasure.

Do not cling to sensations.

Do not crave for sensations.

Just let them flow.

Clinging wants to transform impermanent

objects or sensations into permanent.

Craving wants to escape the present feeling of unrest

hoping that the possession of some objects

will give us happiness.

Both clinging and craving are the only

demons that keep mind fettered to suffering.

Pyramids: Atlantis

2009-10-04T01:15:00.000+02:00

Just a few thousand years ago

there appeared a stirp of lucid minds

who mastered the secrets of pyramids.

They understood the essence of space-time,

and comprehended the relationship

between mind and matter.

They left a net of energy places,

so future generations could follow their steps

and join them in the NOW.

Geometry

architecture:

molding the mind.

Astronomy

physics:

stargate

Chamber of the queen

chamber of the king:

pyramidion.

Compassion

wisdom:

Orinary Mind

NOW

MenKauRa: Sagaramati

2009-09-27T16:33:00.001+02:00

O Sagaramati,

all realities are marked by the seal

of innate freedom, which is completely pure and nondual.

Like the expanse of space, all realities are without distinction

because they are all marked by the seal of evenness.

Tilopa: Lada

2009-09-20T17:38:00.000+02:00

The nature of mind is neither modulated nor unmodulated.

Understand it to be of primal purity, beyond concepts.

By abstaining from cogitation or contemplation,

examination or analysis,

meditation or performance,

as well as from hope or fear,

the mental clinging to them will be pacified spontaneously

and the mind will attune itself

to the primordial intrinsic reality.

Lada: Determining the mind

2009-09-14T19:31:00.001+02:00

Watch that which has been determined

without any mental activities.

Space is designated as empty,

yet its exact nature cannot be verbalized.

Similarly the mind is designated as luminously clear,

yet its exact nature is empty, with no ground for definition.

Thus the self-nature of mind is and has been

from the very beginning like that of SPACE.

Tilopa

Appearances: Virtual or Real?

2009-09-07T23:45:00.007+02:00

Appearances are mind.

Apparent objects are not mind.

Looking at mind within appearances:

Do not imagine that the external objects,
or apparent objects, are mind.

Look at appearances in the mind,
and you will find its nature.

Make sure you focus on appearances.

Imagining that apparent objects are mind
will not get you closer to seeing its essence.

Do not block appearances; look at them
as they emerge, stay and vanish.

Like a comet appearing in the sky.

Appearances: Climbing

2009-08-28T00:45:00.005+02:00

When I started climbing the mountain,
I put a lot of effort into it.

After trekking for a while,
there was just walking.

At the summit,
it was calm and clear.

Without any effort,
nobody went down.

Climber, climbing and mountain,
empty appearances.

HUNG

The Path: Gradual or Instantaneous

2009-08-16T19:20:00.006+02:00

According to their distinct levels of intellect,
there are persons inclined toward either the
gradual or the instantaneous path.

A great medicine for gradual seekers
becomes a poison for instantaneous seekers.

A great medicine for instantaneous illumination
becomes a poison for gradual illumination.

Persons with inborn creative abilities should
be shown the instantaneous path,
while young minds should be guided
through the gradual path.

Karpey Sarnying
(The Moonlight)

It depends on your karma if NOW you belong to
either the gradual or the instantaneous type of
practitioner.

It would be stupid to pretend to be instantaneous
if you are gradual.

It would also be stupid to pretend to be gradual
if you are instantaneous.

The genuine master is only the CATALYST of
your process of re-awakening. When you are
ready, the master shows up, and the changes
take place following your own karmic pace,
which can be gradual or instantaneous.

If it is instantaneous, you will get a glimpse
of the nature of mind, and your practice will
be in accord with your type.

If you are of the gradual type, then your
practice will lead you progressively towards
seeing the nature of mind.

We should be HONEST and assess impartially
our present condition and the type of practitioner
we are.

Without HONESTY, HUMILITY and INTELLIGENCE,
no master will be able to help us rediscovering
our real nature.

In fact, there is only one path, and it is us who belong either to the
instantaneous or to the gradual type of practitioners.

Dakini: Clear light

2009-08-10T22:40:00.005+02:00

Calling you from afar,
you appeared suddenly,
like a rainbow of awareness.

There is no doubt about THIS,
certainty ensues realization,
like thunder follows lightning.

Mixing is my main practice,
disguised under the mask of
a farmer and retailer.

Too many high class personalities,
made mind stuck in pride,
and karma took me down.

Now I learned there is no up or down,
only confused mind
and clear mind.

Bliss

Great Seal: Tilopa

2009-07-31T00:18:00.005+02:00

Nonduality means generosity;
nonexclusion, morality;
nondiscrimination, patience;
Nonacceptance and abandonment, striving;
nonattachment, tranquil absorption;
nonconception, Wisdom.

Whether by expounding the tantric mysticism,
the transcending wisdom, the sacred canon, and the
concise sayings, or by following the various classic treatises
and the doctrines of conceptual determination,
one may not realize mahamudra as lucid awareness.

Primordial awareness: Mushotoku

2009-07-21T21:55:00.005+02:00

Whenever one is absorbed in primordial awareness,
whatever one may be doing-jumping,running,
murmuring or talking- one is still in equipoise.
Whenever one is detached from primordial
awareness, one slips into postabsorption, even
though one may be sitting in meditation.

Gampopa: recognition of ordinary mind

2009-07-16T22:02:00.006+02:00

If at this moment one wishes to achieve liberation from
the cycle of existence, one must recognize ordinary mind,
for it is the root of all things. That which is designated as
ordinary mind is one´s own awareness. Left in its natural
state, this awareness remains unstained by any perceptive
forms, unmuddled by any levels of existential consciousness,
and unclouded by dullness, depression or thought. If one
has discovered the identity of that mind one has discovered
the self-cognizing awareness. If one fails to gain such an
understanding, this ordinary mind remains with the
coemergence of ignorance. However, the understanding of
that mind is called awareness, the essence, the coemergent
self-knowing, ordinary mind, unmodulated simplicity,
nondiscrimination and luminous clarity.

Gampopa: Ordinary Mind

2009-07-11T15:48:00.003+02:00

In summary, ordinary mind is an unmodulated simplicity,
which must be left to manifest freely and unaltered by any
exertion of accepting or rejecting it as being positive or
negative, empty or not empty, conceptual or nonconceptual,
good or bad, superior or inferior.

Leaving aside "unmodulated", the term "ordinary mind"
refers to primordial awareness, not distorted by any dogma
or dialectics. The term "unmodulated" refers to letting that
awareness be as it is, without altering it.

One Taste: Non-duality

2009-07-06T23:09:00.004+02:00

Before climbing up,
I thought there was a mountain.

While climbing,
mind and mountain merged.

The one who went down,
is not the same as the one who climbed up.

In fact, there is nobody
climbing or going down.

Pedraforca mountain,
the little son of Kailas.

Amazing but true.

Pointing out: Coemergent thought

2009-07-02T23:18:00.005+02:00

Coming out from nowhere,
passing by without a trace,
vanishing into emptiness.

Look directly at the mind
while the wind of thought
is fiercely blowing.

See it´s nature
and the wind turns out
to be a refreshing breeze.

It can take some time
to go beyond time:
Now sip slowly
the true elixir of life.

Now there is no hurry:
thoughts are already fuel
for the blazing clear mind.

Luminous emptiness,
Great Bliss,
Mahamudra.

Gautama: Coemergent thought

2009-06-30T22:57:00.005+02:00

Watching thoughts pass by,
like water flowing down.

Tasting the essence of them,
and finding only One Taste.

When you can do that my friend,
then you are about to vanish.

When you can do that brother,
then you can call me by my name.

Flowing, flowing, flowing;
luminous emptiness.

Zen: Blowing

2009-06-24T19:29:00.004+02:00

- What is moving: the wind or the flag?
- Mind is moving, my friend, Only Mind is moving.

View: Watching

2009-06-17T22:24:00.004+02:00

Unless you climb the mountain,
you can not get the view.

Reading and listening to other practitioners
is like reading a map.

Make the first step:
then will come the second...

Some people only read maps,
but never start climbing.

A picture is only an empty image:
get the real VIEW.

Move on.

Subyugating: Red Garuda

2009-05-20T00:30:00.004+02:00

PHET

Rigpa: Wesak

2009-05-09T21:00:00.003+02:00

Before the beginning,
you are the only one.

Next, with the time.
I forgot you.

Later on, after suffering a lot,
I heard about you.

With elaborate practice,
I forged an image of you.

Not so long ago,
I recognized your face.

NOW, beyond time,
you keep beeing the only one.

Great Bliss.

Gautama: Brother

2009-05-06T16:07:00.003+02:00

Whenever I look,
I see only your face.

Whatever I hear,
it is always your voice.

Whenever I smell,
it is always your perfume.

Whatever I eat,
I find always your taste.

Everything I touch,
I know it is you.

When I look at the mind,
I find only luminous emptiness.

Great Bliss

No distraction: spontaneous presence

2009-04-19T20:46:00.003+02:00

I bow down to the guru,
root of all blessings.

Now there is only bliss,
and nobody to cling to it.

Now there is only non-conceptuality,
which is in essence clarity.

It took mind a lot of practice,
to get rid of that old I.

Without I, there is no MINE:
no more hopes and fears.

This can not be one more experience:
there is no experiencer any longer.

I bow down to the Great Seal,
root of samsara and nirvana.

May all sentient beings
discover their real nature.

Great Bliss.

Marpa Empowerment: Moonlight

2009-04-10T18:07:00.009+02:00

This is the master from whom I received the teachings
and transmission (Lung) of Moonlight of Mahamudra,
the comprehensive mahamudra manual written by
Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, on which I base my practice.

Phagmo Drupa: Fivefold profound path

2009-04-10T15:58:00.006+02:00

If one meditates for four periods and pacifies dualistic
thoughts in the nondual path, one will gain four experiences
described as the meeting of an old friend, the melting of snow
on a hot rock, the spreading of a forest fire, and an inner sensation
of bliss, clarity and emptiness.

The first experience is like the reunion of old friends, who
recognize each other instantly upon their meeting. So the
yogin, perceiving emerging thoughts instantly, comprehends
them to be identical with the mind´s intrinsic emptiness.
Hence its description as the reunion of old friends.

The second experience is referred to as "snow melting on a
hot rock". Snow that falls from water-bearing clouds melts
upon touching warm rocks. Likewise thoughts arise from a
discriminating mind. If one perceives them as originating from
the mind itself, without striving one will realize that the mind
is the nondiscriminatory dharmakaya, hence the term "the
revival of the awareness".

The third experience refers to the simile "spreading like a
forest fire". A raging forest fire burns everything indiscriminately-
trees, grass, and animals, clean and unclean land. Winds and
hailstorms cannot stop it, instead they intensify the flames.
Similarly, when the fire of thought flares, let it consume in
the emptiness of nonarising. All discrimination, good and bad,
self and others, all emotions, lust and hatred, without
acceptance and abandonment, affirmation and rejection.

The more numerous the thoughts are, the more powerful
an aid they become for inner transmutation. Hence the
description "sublimating recreated affliction".

The fourth experience refers to a secured realization, in which
the mind becomes clear, open, transcending, blissful, lucid,
nondual and detached-even a pinprick turns into ecstasy-
Day and night, the same experience will prevail during
intermissions, when one walks, sits, rests and so on. Such is
the fourth illuminating experience of bliss, clarity and so on.

Nagarjuna: Naga Kanya

2009-04-09T20:40:00.001+02:00

Dorje Chang: Inner Master

2009-03-31T22:43:00.003+02:00

They call you Vajradhara,
the holder of the vajra of Rigpa.

You bestow your blessings
upon the worthy practitioners.

Master of masters,
ordinary Mind.

Whoever has seen you,
has seen the nature of mind.

Great Bliss

Lukhang: Dzogchen

2009-03-22T19:42:00.005+01:00

Dzogchen: Pema lingpa

2009-03-17T20:26:00.005+01:00

Wake up from your dream,
created by your karma.

Take the wish fulfilling jewell
and walk like a buddha.

Rigpa has always been your nature
so stop clinging to dual consciousness.

Non-meditation,
non-distraction.

HUNG

Lada: Biting

2009-03-07T00:56:00.006+01:00

Just right here,
just right now.

One taste,
many flavours.

Pure awareness,
empty mind.

Piercing appearances,
unveiling reality.

No more doubts,
only certainty.

Vajrayoguini: Co-emergent Wisdom

2009-02-28T21:21:00.006+01:00

Beyond duality,
trampling on samsara and nirvana.

Drinking the nectar of bliss,
cutting the clinging to subject and object.

Ordinary Mind,
free from conceptual constructs.

Vajrayoguini,
mother and sister of all buddhas.

May you grant me all siddhis,
after seeing your real face.

Vajrakilaya: Wrath and destruction

2009-02-22T10:47:00.007+01:00

My real enemy is my own ignorance,
which shows up in my old habits.

My only crave for destruction,
is the destruction of wrong patterns.

My past actions created my present conditions,
but ego is not the master any more.

Wrath is powerful and dangerous,
but it is empty of self existence.

Gods and demons are gone:
there is only luminous emptiness.

PHET

Milarepa: Rigpa

2009-02-16T23:48:00.003+01:00

Hiding behind the veil of emptiness,
you can see the clarity of awareness.

Piercing the apparent practitioner,
you can find the real chodpa.

Cracking the symbolic words,
the profound meaning shows up.

Tasting the flavour of shamata,
abide in relative peace.

Developing penetrating insight,
appearances will self-liberate.

Then the four will turn into one:
Non-meditation.

Non Meditation: AH

2009-02-08T19:58:00.006+01:00

Je Phagdru writes:

By perfecting this nonmeditation stage,
the meditator attains naked, unsopported awareness.
This nondiscriminatory awareness is the meditation!

By transcending the duality of meditation and meditator,
external and internal realities
the meditating awareness dissolves itself
into its luminous clarity.

Transcending the intellect,
it is without the duality of
equipoise and postequipoise.
Such is the quintessence of mind.

When the meditator reaches the
highest level of nonmeditation,
he will achieve the transcendental qualities,
and will then carry out his spiritual functions
to their ultimate limit.

Luminous emptiness: Rigpa

2009-02-03T22:58:00.004+01:00

Looking at the mirror of consciousness,
I found out the spark of awareness.

Listening to the noise of thinking,
I heard the sound of silence.

Eating all arising appearances,
I tasted the essence of clarity.

Feeling the pleasure of meditation,
I discovered the bliss of emptiness.

Smelling the smoke of distraction,
I dived into the perfume of mindfulness.

Looking for My-Self,
I saw nobody.

Luminous Emptiness

OM AH HUNG: One Taste

2009-01-31T22:24:00.007+01:00

Je Gyare said:

"At the stage of one flavor,
appearance emerge as meditation,
which lasts for an uninterrupted
period of time."

On the average level of one flavor,
the meditator will achieve inner release
from his inborn clinging to dualities such
as realization and realizer, experience and
experiencer. He will cut the root of that
dualistic clinging to perception and perceiver.

Besides, the meditator, during the period of
postabsorption, will not experience much
solid clinging to duality, while the delusion
in his dreams will also diminish. It is said that
such meditator will gain sufficient inner power
capable of helping or harming his fellow beings.

Virupa: Lada

2009-01-25T10:23:00.007+01:00

By detaching itself from the duality
of observation and observer,
the mind achieves self-liberation
from division;

By thus smashing the contrived practitioner,
the mind frees itself from striving and seeking;

By discarding the concern for the fruit
of inner development, the meditator
unshackles himself from hope and fear;

By eliminating the sense of the "self" or the "I",
the mind emerges victorious in its battle
against inner adversaries;

By dismantling the clinging to substance,
the meditator will gain liberation from
both samsara and nirvana.

One Taste: Enhancement

2009-01-16T19:50:00.004+01:00

One Taste has three stages:

The lesser One Taste is when you have realized that all thoughts and perceptions are of one taste in being the Mahamudra of mind essence. However, you still retain a bind: the conviction of savoring and clinging to that.

The medium One Taste is when this tarnish has dissolved: the conviction of savoring and clinging to multiplicity as being of one taste. You have actualized the resplendent indivisibility of perceptions and mind in which the perceived is not held as being outside and mind is not held as being inside.

The greater One Taste is when you realize multiplicity as being of one taste and you experience one taste as being multiplicity. Thus everything subsides into the original state of equality.

Lada: Time for Transcending

2009-01-13T22:39:00.003+01:00

This is when the practitioner´s dense meditation
moods of bliss, clarity and nonthought have
dissolved. His mind has cleared up to such an extent
that the meditation training in space-like aware
emptiness has become constant. Or it is when
the daytime experience for the most part has
become constant. When you thus find a decisive
certainty within thoughts and perceptions it
is the time for transcending.

If the transcending takes place too soon, you
will miss the real experience and instead become
an insensitive intellectual spouting forth the words
of a "high view".

If too late, even though there may be many
fortunate people who dissolve their clinging
to experiences and are liberated into steady
realization, others may intensify their clinging
to noble thoughts and conviction and get
involved in various levels of virtuous activities.

One-Pointedness:Sustaining the essence

2009-01-10T19:34:00.003+01:00

As for sustaining the essence, it is taught
that you should remain in these three
manners: fresh, artless and unbound.

To be fresh, the key point of body is
to relax deeply from within. The key
point of speech is not to force your
breathing. The key point of mind is
to remain unconcerned and without
taking anything as support.

To be artless, leave your mind as it
naturally is, leave it without being a
definable entity and remain undistracted.

To be unbound, remain free from
accepting and rejecting, remain
effortless and leave the six sense
impressions in naturalness.

Lada: Transcending

2009-01-08T01:11:00.004+01:00

Now cast away all concerns about meditator and
meditation object, experiencer and object of experience,
the realizer and what is realized. Abandon all aims
such as holding notions about whether or not "this
is it" and the urge to meditate and be mindful.
Without even the intention "I should not keep
anything in mind", simply allow your ordinary
mind, plain and uncontrived, to be as it
naturally is.

Maitripa: Insight

2009-01-06T20:57:00.004+01:00

By realizing the intrinsic nature
of one´s self, one will realize all
cosmic appearances and actualities
as being Mahamudra, the great,
ultimate and all-pervaiding reality.

He who has not attained this intrinsic
reality will achieve nothing except
temporary freedom. Once he has
realized this intrinsic reality,
What is there that can bind him?

Savari: Ordinary Mind

2009-01-03T20:07:00.004+01:00

Ordinary Mind consists of natural simplicity.
Do not distort it through intellectual construction.
For the pure nature of mind needs no modulation.
Let the mind be in its natural state
with no attempt at grasping or releasing it.

Having discovered the intrinsic nature of ordinary
Mind, the meditator remains aware of it without
getting distracted, and at the same time maintains
unmodulated whatever immediate mode of mind
or thought arises.

Cosmos: Not two

2008-12-30T21:07:00.003+01:00

When looking at the sky,
suddenly YOU will vanish.

Not two.

Fudo Myo: Burning the debris

2008-12-18T15:58:00.004+01:00

When you are ready for moving up,
you must face all your past deeds.

Look at your memories without fear,
look at them without shame.

You did your best,
but ego deceived you again.

Now it is time to stand still,
immovable like a rock.

Hold on, and let Fudo Myo
cut the throat of karma.

No more fantasies, no more dreams:
just HERE-NOW.

Space-Time: Einstein

2008-12-09T23:30:00.006+01:00

Just keep thinking,
but do not cling to thoughts.

From the yoga of simplicity,
move on to one taste.

Then relativity theory,
will turn into unification.

No thinker, no thought,
no thinking.

Just luminous emptiness

Yesod: Air tablet

2008-12-02T20:01:00.005+01:00

Egyptian fellowcraft:

Go up the path of TAU and you will reach YESOD.

Visualize yourself as HORUS and take a look around.

You can use the names you will find in the tablet
to utilize the AIR element at your will.

See you there.

The king of the North: Earth

2008-11-27T22:30:00.008+01:00

Egyptian fellowcraft:

Invoke Vaishravana but do not forget EMPTINESS:

OM VAISHRAVANAYA SVAHA

The earth treasures belong to the ones who DARE,
but if your motivation is not right,
then BOLDNESS becomes RECKLESSNESS.

Wealth can trigger the power of EGO,
and you will be fettered by it. You
will DECEIVE YOURSELF and
accumulate bad KARMA.

Antiently, evoking the King of the Earth
with a selfish motivation was called to
come to an agreement with the devil:
the EGO.

So, if your BODHICHITTA is not well
developed, forget the King and develop it.

If you are still an egyptian apprentice,
forget about this post.

Take this WARNING seriously,
unless you want to fall and break
your bones.

Black Jambhala: Abundance

2008-11-24T00:11:00.006+01:00

If you can cut with avarice,
you can use black jambhala
as your yiddam.

Generosity is the key,
to open the vault of wealth
and plentifulness of Mind.

Om jambhala jalendraya svaha.
Om indrani mukham bhramari svaha.

If you are a genuine practitioner,
take the key and open the door.

If you do not practice genuinely,
pass by and wait for better times.

Hevajra: perfection stage

2008-11-20T00:12:00.009+01:00

Hold your breath,
relax your mindfulness.

Pump the base,
ignite the fire.

Blazing non-dual fire,
cleansing all defilements.

It is now, and only now,
when consciousness turns
into awareness.

The eight vanish into one:
prajnaparamita.

Just keep relaxed,
attentively at ease.

No more spinning,
only empty bliss.

Ninth Karmapa: Another Map

2008-11-17T15:35:00.008+01:00

This is another map, a commentary by Khenchen Thrangu
Rinpoche of the ninth karmapa´s Pointing Out the Dharmakaya.

You can download the e-version for free on Shenpen Osel,
that you will find in the Mahamudra Links of this blog.

You can read it, because it is very brief, and if you feel a
connection with it, you can start working with it, and maybe
later on you can get the transmission from a qualified master.

Now you have many maps available. All of them will take you
to the same place: the recognition of the Nature of your Mind.

But do not forget that without the help of a genuine master,
who will give you the transmission, it is very difficult to
use skillfully these mahamudra maps.

It is not impossible to do it by yourself alone, but you need
a very good karma and a very sharp mind.

If the connection with the mahamudra lineage is already
established, then it might be possible to practice by yourself
without the supervision of a genuine master, but you must
be really honest with yourself, because it is very easy to
deceive yourself thinking and imagining that you have
a high level of understanding when in fact, you are
slave of your ego´s phantasy.

Go ahead, mahamudra practitioner.

Karmapa: The Map

2008-11-17T15:13:00.009+01:00

This is another good Mahamudra Map. Khenchen Thrangu
Rinpoche presents a summary of the ninth karmapa´s Ocean
of Definitive Meaning.

Before buying the book, I had downloaded a free copy from
Shenpen Osel, which you can find in the mahamudra links of this blog.

In Spain it is difficult to find books on mahamudra, so I had
to resort to this e-magazine, and later on I bought the books
because I find them more convenient for studying. I´m afraid
I do not belong to the e-generation.