VAJJRA H:EART TUli(U URGl'1EN RINPOCHE
Compiled by Marcia B. Schmidt Translated by Erik Perna Kunsang Edited by Wayne and Judith Amtzis
RANGJUNG YESHF. PUBLICATIONS FLAT 2C HATTAN PLACE
I A Po
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ISBN
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SECOND REVISED EDITION CorYRIGHT (!)
1991
1988, 1991, 1994 TULKU URGYEN RINrOCHE
ALL RIGHTS RESF.RVF.D. PROTECTED BY COrYRIGUT Uli:DF.R TER~!S OF THE INTERNATIONAL CorYRIGHT UNION. No rART OF nus BOOK MAY BE RF.I'RODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN rERMISSION FROM THE rUBLISHER. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON RECYCLED AC:ID·FREE rArER COVER ()~SIGN BRIGID RYAN THE VAJRA IIEART IS THE SF.COND BOOK IN THE GUiiYA·GARIIHA SERIES OF TRANSLATIONS FOR RESTRICTED CIRCULATION. OTHER TITLES INCLUDE FLIGHT OF THE GARUDA, THE CIRCLE OF THF. SUN, AND CRYSTAL CAVE.
CONTENTS Prefou 9 Introduction 11 Brief Life History 19 History of Dzogchen 27 Pointing-out Instruction 35 Preliminary Teachings 47 Wake-up Practice 61 Development Stage 71 Recitation 83 Torma 95 Shamatha and Vipashyana 103 Experiences 115 No Sessions, No Breaks 123 Stability 131
Glossary 141
"All the conditioned and unconditioned merit, however much tbere may be, I dedicate in tbe even and open space ofdharmata. "
-Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
PRJEFACJE
Over the past few years various Western Dharma students have had the good fortune to meet and present their questions and doubts to the Venerable Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. Rinpoche in return has always responded with the compassionate brilliance of a great teacher. Slowly it has become apparent that to keep many of these teachings for a small group of friends is a bit selfish. What then followed was a careful selection of topics suitable for a wider audience. The collection presented in Vajra Htart is meant for the beginner as well as the advanced practitioner. This collection lays out a graduated path that can be followed in the course of a day or a lifetime. The skillful method of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's teaching is to never separate any practice or activity from the view 9
VAJRA HEART
of Dzogchen. Rinpoche himself especially wants to make people understand the importance of receiving the pointing out instruction and the necessity of requesting it from a qualified master. Vajra !Itart would never have been. possible without the translation skills of Erik Perna Kunsang and the editorial talents of Wayne and Judith Amtzis. Nor would it have come to life without the efforts of Mim Coulstock, Abraham Zablocki and Phinjo Sherpa. I pray this offering may benefit all who come into contact with it.
Marcia B. Schmidt
10
INTRODUCTION
Tulku Urgyen Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was born in eastern Tibet on the tenth day of the fourth Tibetan month in 1920. He was recognized by H. H. Khakyab Dorje, the 15th G)'alwang Karmapa, as the reincarnation of the Guru Chowang Tulku, as well as the emanation of Nubchen Sanbrye Yeshe, one of the chief disciples of Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava. Guru Chowang the First (1212-70 AD) was one of the five Tenon Kings, the major revealcrs of secret texts hidden by Guru Padmasambhava. Tulku Urgyen's main monastery was Lachab Gompa in Nangchen, Eastern Tibet. He has studied and practiced the teachings of both the Kagyii and Nyingma orders of Tibetan Buddhism. Among the four greater Kagyil Schools, his family line is the main lin~:age holder of the Barom Kagyti Lint":lgc. II
VAJRA IIEART
In the Nyingma tradition, Tulku Urgycn holds the complete teachings of the last century's three great masters: Terchcn Chokgyur Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. He has an especially close transmission for the Chok/ing Ttrsar. a compilation of all the empowerments, textual aUlhorizations and oral instructions of Padmasambhava's teachings, which were rediscovered by T ere hen Chokgyur Lingpa, his great-grandfather. Rinpoche recently passed on this tradition to the major regents of the Karma Kagyii lineage as well as to many other promising young tulkus. Tulku Urgyen has established several monasteries and retreat centers in Nepal. The most important ones in the Kathmandu region are at Boudhanath, the site of the Great Stupa, and at the Asura Cave, where Padmasambhava manifested the Mahamudra Vid>•adhara level. He lives at Nagi Gompa Hermitage above the Kathmandu Valley. He has completed four three-year retreats. In recent years Rinpoche has been instructing a growing number of Dharma students in essential meditation practice. He is famed for his profound mcdirati\'e realization and for the concise, lucid and humorous style with which he imparts the essence of the Buddhist teachings. His method of teaching is 'instruction through one's own experience.' Using few words, this way of teaching points out the nature of mind, revealing a natural simplicity of wakefulness that enables the student to actually touch the hean of awakened mind. Sty!~ ofT~aching
As Tulku Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, the oldest son of Tulku Urgycn Rinpoche, explains in his commentary on Karma 12
I NT RODUCTJON
Chagmcy's Union of Ma!Jamudra and Dzogclun there are many ways in which the Buddhadharma can be presemed. A fully enlightened buddha expounds the Dharma in one way; a noble being, abiding on one of the bodhisattva levels, in another; one who has attained the realization of an arhant in a third; and a learned pandita in yet another. A simple meditator in a mountain retreat teaches with few elaborations, while a high lama, a great master sitting on a big throne, teaches the important points of the Dharma in a concise and impressive way. Finally, there is a manner of giving meditation instruction in a direct, simple fashion. The teachings impancd by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche to his students which have been recorded in this book belong to the last style of expounding the Dharma. Less concerned with the systematic categories of topics of knowledge or with the logical steps of philosophy, Tulku Urgycn directly addresses the listener's present state of mind. This approach is rraditionally referred to as the multam vtbiclt of Vajrayana as opposed to the causal vtbiclts of Hinayana and Mahayana. The over-all background of the Dzogchen teachings, which are tremendously vast and profound, can be condensed into simple statements of immediate relevance to our present state of mind. Some of the terminology used may appear to be impenetrable or above one's head. Most of those terms are found in the glossary at the back. Furthermore, when explained by a qualified master of these teachings in connection with one's individual practice experience, such words as u/ftxisring waktfolntss, rigpa and dbannakaya will take on authentic meaning.
13
The BarciJey Kiinsc/ TeaciJings A sadhana practice entidcd Bard~ty Kt"imrl is mentioned throughout this book and it seems appropriate to expand a lirde on that cycle of teachings. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo the First described the Tukdrub Barchey Kunscl cycle of teachings as follows: This present teaching belongs to the short lineage of Terma. A coumlcss number of different Tcrma uaditions, both the Early and the Later have appeared, bur I will now describe the present one. Manjushri in person, King Trisong Deutsen, had three sons. The middle prince was Murub Tscpo Yeshc Rolpa Tsal, a master of the tenth bhumi. His reincarnation, authenticated by the triple m!ans of valid knowledge, and extolled by all holy beings, was the indisputably great treasure rc:vealcr and Dharma king, Orgyen Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa, who discovered an ocean-like number of profound termas. These termas were linked wirh the tannic scriptures, established by the logic of fact, adorned with the experience of oral instructions, ar.d endowed with the warmth of wondrous blessings. Chokgyur Lingpa revealed this terma of Barchcy Ktinsel from beneath the vajra feet of the Great Glorious One at Danyi Khala Rong-Go, the sacred place of the qualities of enlightened body. This was on the tenth day of the waxing moon of the nimh month in the year of the Male Earth Monkey, when he was twenty years of age,
11
INTRODUCTION
Keeping it secret for eight years, he applied it in his own practice. Later on, in connection with a perfect coincidence of time and place, he was accepted by the wisdom body of the glorious Dharma King of Uddiyana and consort, who bestowed upon him the empowerments and oral instructions as well as special predictions and confirmations. From that time forward, Chokgyur Lingpa gradually let the terma of Lamey Tukdrub Barchey KUnsd flourish. This terma cycle is the essence of the heart of Padmakara, the Knower of the Three Times, and the most unique treasure concealed under the earth in Tibet. It is like the great treasury of the universal monarch, complc:tdy and unmistakably filled with all the means for accomplishing the supreme and common siddhis. In terms of the sections of T antra, this profound path is based on the Grrat King ofTamras, tht Pracrfol and \flra:hfol Maniftstations of tlu Magical Ntt of tht Vidyadhara Guru, which is the root of blessings belonging to the category of the Eigbt Stctions oftht Magical Ntt. Due to the certainty of oral instructions, there is no conflict in the fact that it also belongs to the category of Lotus Speech among the Eight Sadl:a11a Ttachings. In short, it is like the extracted essence of the meaning of all development and completion stages as well as the activity applications of the T antra and Sadhana Sections. Among the numerous sadhanas, instructions and applications of yogic activities contained in the Barchey KUnsc:l cycle, the: most famous and the one Tulku Urro•cn Rinpochc repeatedly refers to, is the guru sadhana known as Tri11lty Nyingpo, the Essence of
15
VAJRA HEART
Activity. The empowermem for this practice was among the primary transmi;sions given by H. H. Karmapa, H. H. Dilgo Khyentse and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche on their first visits to the Western world and to Somhca.'it ASia. Moreover, H. H. the 16th Karmapa practiced the concise form of this sadhana daily throughout his life. h is also one of the first sadhanas which Tulku Urgyen Rinpochc transmits to his students for their individual practice. As a final note, although our prcscmation of Tulku Urgycn Rinpoche's precious teaching is in many ways imperfect and falls short of his profound, lucid and humorous style, please treat this book with proper respect. Do not leave it casually lying around to be sat upon or stepped over. Put it where its value as the essence of the Buddhadharma is recognized. Tulku Urgycn Rinpoche personally expressed his wish that this book not be made available as an open publication. When you share it with your friends, please make sure that they have a sincere respect for the Buddhist teachings. This book will, as Rinpoche stated himself, be of benefit to many people.
Erik Pmza Kunsang Nagi Gompa, 1988
16
"Through proper exertion in meditation it is possible to
destroy confosion. \Vben confosion falls away, enlightenment is attained. "
BRJIEJF LliFE
((Carry th( burden oftlu doctrine. "
I was born in Kham in Eastern Tibet, in the area called Nangchen. The Dharma teaching of my family line is called Barom Kagyti. My grandmother, Konchok Paldron, was the daughter of the great tenon Chokgyur Lingpa, so my family line also practices the Nyingma teachings. Since I hold both KagyO and Nyingma lineages, my monastery in Boudhanath is called Ka-Nying
19
VAJRA HEART
Shedrub Ling, "The Kagyii and Nyingma Sanctuary for Teaching and Practice." From when I was quite young until the age of twenty-one, I stayed with my father Tsangsar Chimey Dorje, a Vajrayana master and tantric layman. He was my first teacher and from him I received the transmission for the Kangyur, the entire teachings of the Buddha, and also for the Chokling Tersar, the New Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa. I later studied with my father's older brother, Tulku Sa1nten Gyarso, from whom I received, among other things, the entire transmission of the Chokling Tersar. Later I studied with Kyungtriil Karjam, an incredible great master, and received the entire Dam-ngak Dzii as well as Cbowang Gyatsa, the Hundred Empowerments of Cutting Practice. He also passed on to me the reading transmission for the Hundred Thousand Nyingma Tantras and the Jangter Gongpa Sangftll, the Northern Treasure of Unimpeded Wisdom Mind. In particular, he gave me a derailed commentary and clarification of the important treasure of Chokgyur Lingpa renowned as Lamrim YtsiJf Nyingpo, the Gradual Path ofThe Wisdom Essence. From the age cf eight, my own father gave me teachings on the nature of mind, and I was lucky later on to receive detailed instructions, as 'guidance through personal experience: from Samten Gyatso on the: teachings of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. From my other uncle, Tersey Rinpoche, a close: disciple of the great siddha Shakya Shri, I was also privileged to receive Dzogchen teachings. Moreover, Jo"yab Rinpoche, a disciple of Dru Jamyang Drakpa, again gave me detailed teachings on Lamrim Ytsht Ny•ingo. The body of teachings known as Rinclun Ttrdzo, the
20
BRIEF LIFE HISTORY
Precious Treasury, I received from Karsey Kongrrul. son of the 15th Karmapa. As for the other of the Five T rcasuries, I received the Gyachtr Kadzo from my third uncle Sang-ngak Rinpoche, the Kagyii Ngakdzij from H. H. the 16th Karmapa himself, and the SIJtja Kiinkyab Treasury from Tana Pemba Rinpoche. In addition, H. H. Dilgo Khyemse Rinpoche has given me the root cmpowcrmcnts of Jigmey Lingpa several times. In Eastern Tibet I spem three years in retreat simply reciting the Mani. (Laughs). Later on at Tsurphu, the scat of the Karmapas. I also spent three years in retreat and then again in Sikkim I managed to spend almost three years in imensive practice. For a few years now I have been living here at Nagi Gompa. That's my life story. My family line holds the Barom Kagyu teachings which origi:latc: from Gampopa's disciple Barom Dharma Wangchuk. His disciple Tishi Repa, had a disciple called Repa Karpo. Repa !<arpo's disciple was Tsangsar Ltimey Dorjc, whose disciple Jangchub Shonnu ofTsangsar, is in my paternal ancestral lineage. The line of his son and his son again, all the way down to my father, is called Tsangsar Lhai Dung-gyti, the Divine Bloodline of Tsangsar. Chowang Tulku is my incarnation line. I am the second incarnation bearing that name. My past life was said to be an incarnation of Guru Chowang, and a supposed emanation of one of the 25 disciples of Padmasambhava called Nubchen Sangye Yeshc, but who knows that for sure? (Laughs). My former incarnation, Chowang Tulku, was a secret yogi. No one knew the depth and manner of his practice, but when he passed away his body shrank to the size of one cubit without decomposing.
21
VAJRA HEART
Ka-Nying SIJedrnb Ling Monastery People ask why I built the monastery in Boudhanath and why I remain here at Nagi Gompa. I have: heard said: "In this age of degeneration, carry the burden of the doctrine. If you are unable to do so, simply your fear that the teachings may die out will have tremendous merit." Thus, by building a monastery and gathering a sangha of monks - as a simple image of the doctrine in this dark age - we have the great hope of maintaining the tradition of the Dharma. Whether or not the monks individually do any practice is their own business. However, by merely wearing the robes on their bodies, cutting the hair on their heads and gathering together in a group of at least four, their presence and the respect, faith and donations a benefactor may offer, no matter how insignificant the contribution or faith may be, will accumulate merit and purify obscurations. This is independent of whether or not the monks misbehave or misappropriate their donations: that is totally up to them. For the benefactors, the blessings of the buddhas are assured when they make a donation to a gathering of tour monks. For that reason I made the c:ffon to build a monastery. In this age Buddhism is slowly dying out, like the sun ready to depart over the mountains in the west. Against this setting, spurred on by the command of His Holiness Gyalwang Karmapa, we have constructed this insignificant monastery. Nagi Gompa was initially built by the meditator and hermit Kharsh~ R.inpoche as a hermitage for his following of monks and nuns. After he passed away, it was offered to H. H. the: 16th Karmapa who then appointed me as caretaker. So this old man here is just a caretaker (laughs). That is the only reason I live up here; I
22
BRIEF LIFE HISTORY
am not at all like Milarepa, living in mountain retreats and ca\'CS after renouncing samsara. Bur I have a nice spot to sleep and a warm place in the sun (laughs). That is how I live.
Students sometimes wonder about staying in retreat and I tell them that the Dharma cannot be practiced properly amidst the many distractions of business, the pursuit of necessities and the noise of the world. To go up to the mountains for retreat is to turn from these diversions. Then, if one can keep some discipline: remaining in solitude, barring outsiders from visiting and not going out oneself, there will be no distractions other than those of one's own mind. External distractions have been eliminated. That is the purpose of seclusion. When distractions have been abandoned one can exert oneself in the practice. Through proper exertion in meditation it is possible to destroy confusion. When confusion falls away, enlightenment is attained. That is the whole reason for retreat (laughs).
23
"Ground Dzogchen is the ground and basic state for both
buddhas and sentient beings. "
HISTORY OF DZOGCHEN
"Everything ofsamsara and nirvana is complete within tiJis. " I am often asked about Dzogchen, its history and how to practice it. The Dzogchen teachings were first offered in the Realm of Akanishtha, then in T ushita and finally in this world on the summit of Moum Sumeru from where they spread. Before reaching humans, the teachings on Dzogchen were disseminated and grew in the realm of the gods. Later, the Dzogchen
27
VAJRA HEART
teachings were spread in the world of humans by Garab Dorje as well as in the naga realm by the naga king Jogpo. Throughout history, the Twdve Great Perfection Teachers, who were not all human, disseminated the teachings in different realms. For us the main place the Dzogchen teachings were offered was Bodhgaya in India, but they were also given elsewhere. The human body within the Realm of Desire is the most excellent basis and support for the practice of Dzogchen. In the Desire Realm, the emotions arc quite strong. In the God Realm however, as in the seventeen abodes of the Realm of Form and in the four abodes of the Formless Realm, the emotions are not so powerful. Unoppo~ed by intense emotions. the occurring originll wakefulness is also not very strong. Thus just as a fire with little wood to nurture it will soon die out, a bonfire with wood to replenish it will blaze forth tremendously. So you can see the human body is a most eminent vehicle for Dzogchen practice. Despite obstacles and difficulties we have taken birth in the southern Jambu Continent. This three-thousandfold universe is immense! Among this vastness. the southern Jambu Continent is quite a good place for rebirth. If you are born in one of the other realms as a naga or a god, not possessing the body consisting of the six elements, you cannot practice the pure Dharma. Also, those born among the rakshas or other types of non-humans lack the perfect support for practice. \'\lhat are these six elements? Flesh and blood are the elc:mcms of earth and water; warmth and breath are the dements of fire and wind; the cavities in the: body are the clement of space; the mind and thoughts are rhe element of consciousness. The stronger the five poisons: anger, desire, jealousy, pride and stupidity, the
28
BRIEF LIFE HISTORY
stronger the original wakefulness which can arise. With recognition, they are the five wisdoms; without recognizing rheir rurure they are the five disturbing emotions. Once you recognize their essence, they are awareness wisdom and are transformed into the mirror-like wisdom, the discriminating wisdom, the allaccomplishing wisdom, the wisdom of equality and the dharmadhatu wisdom. The instructions of Dzogchen belong to Vajrayana teachings; the Mahayana sutras mention little about them and rhe Hinayana buely hints at them. Our teacher, the Buddha, who taught w to accumulate merit and purify obscurations, gave teachings suited to the different capabilities of those who received them. Thus the higher and lower vehicles are conducive to the different capacities of beings. Dzogchen, called Afabmandbi in Sanskrit and Great Perfection in English, is the summit of all the vehicles, the ninth, t~e royal peak. This short path ro buddhahood, contains the eight lower vehicles, but Dzogchen itself is not mentioned in the lowest of the nine vehicles, the Shravaka Vehicle. In the name Dzogchen, Great Perfection, perfect or compl:te means that all the lower vehicles are perfected or completely conrained within the Dzogchen teachings. The meaning of the word dzog, perfection or completion, is explained thus in the Kunjt Gyalpo Tantra:
Compltu as o11t- tvtryrbing is complttt wirhin mind. Complttt as two- tvtrytbing ofsamsara and nirvana is complttt within tbis. 'Dzog' means that the vehicle of Dzogchen contains all the te<.chings, as well as all phenomena and the lower vehicles. 'Chen' or 'great' means that there is no method or means higher than this 29
VAJRA HF.ART
vehicle. Although we say that Dzogdten, sometimes called Ati Yoga, is a Dharma tradition, it is in actuality nothing other than the basic state of one's mind. Turning to the practice itself, we can speak of Dzogchen as we can of all views, in terms of ground, path and fruition. Traditionally we say: ''The ground is Mahamudra, the path is the Great Madhyamika, the great Middle Way, and Dzogchen is the fruition." Applied in practice, each of these three great vkws has its own view, meditation, action and fruition. In the system of Dzogchen we can compare the ground to pure gold, and the path to gold mixed with impurities being slowly purified. Fruition, the state of buddhahood, is once aga:n pure gold, the attainment of stability in recognition of the primordially pure ground. The difference here between sentient beings and buddhas, is merely the difference between gold mixed with impurities and pure untainted gold. Ground Dzogchen, defined as tssmct, nat11rt and capacity which correspond to the three ka)'as, is the ground and the basic state for both buddhas and sentient beings. For a buddha there is no straying onto the 'path.' Sentient beings strayed into the confused state of what we call path when their essence, nature and capacity were obscured by the three kinds of ignorance: the ignorance of single identity, coemergent ignorance and conceptual ignorance. Sentient beings are like gold mixed with impurities. In the case of the buJdhas on the other hand, their essence ripened into enlightened body, their nature ripened into enlightened speech and their capacity ripened into enlightened mind. The ground itself being realized, fruition is like pure gold without defects and is called the union of ground and fruition. In this way
30
BRIEF LIFE HISTORY
huddhas were matured into primordial enlightenment and the three aspects of the ground became the three vajras: vajra body, 'lajra speech and vajra mind.' When the essence, nature and capacity of sentiem beings are obscured by the three kinds of ignorance, the three vajras in rheir impure state become ordinary body, speech and mind. The three kinds of ignorance are fleeting or incidental. The confusion which has arisen on the state of the path, can be cleared away. When we remove the stains of the three kinds of ignorance, we can become 're-enliglnened' instead of 'primordially enlightened.' This is accomplished by following the oral instructions of a qualified teacher; through this we accomplish the three kayas.
Tbt ground is primordial purity, Tht path is spo1lld1ltom prtsmct, Tht ftuitio11 is kaym a11d wisdoms. In practice, recognizing one's essence as primordial purity is tje ground; recognizing one's nature as spontaneous presenc:: is the path; and recognizing spontaneous presence as one's natural expression, devoid of a self-nature, is the fruition. Although we have strayed into confusion on the ground and path, by practicing in this way, ground and fruition can still be united in the final srate of enlightenment. The 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, taught thus about our blSic nature: "It is not existent as even the buddhas have not seen it." This means that the basic state of mind is not something that exists in a concrete way: even the buddhas of the three times h.lVe never perceived it. "It is not nonexistent as it is the basis for both samsara and nirvana. This is not a contradiction, it is the middle puh of unity." Contradiction, like the impossible instance of 31
VAJRA HEART
having fire and water on the same plate, does not apply here. The basic nature is ncith:r existent nor nonexistent- these two are an indivisible unity. "May I perceive the mind essence free from extremes." Usually when we say 'is,' we are contradicting 'is not.' and saying nonexistent, we are contradicting existent. But this middle path of unity is devoid of such contradiction. Recognizing and experiencing this is to attain the unified state ofVajradhara. Dzogchen tenr.inology calls nonexistence primordial purity and existence spontaneous presence, and regards these as an indivisible unity. \Y/e can also call primordial purity 'emptiness' and spontaneous presence 'luminosity' or luminous cognizance.' The two aspects of our basic nature, being empty and cognizant, are a ur.ity. Why is this? Mind essence is empty while being cognizant ar.d it cognizes while still being empty. There is no obstruction between the two aspects. The empty aspect is called 'essence,' th: cognizant aspect, 'nature,' and their unity is called 'capacity: The empty aspect is also called dharmakaya, the cognizant aspect sambhogakaya, and their unity nirmanakaya.' This unity of being empty and cognizant is the state of mind of all sentient beir.gs. As there is nothing special about that state, the practitioner should suffuse it with awareness. The path of practice is to become stable in recognizing this unity of empty cognizance suffused with awareness. D~votion
and Compassion
Merely repeating "empty, empty, empty!" and only thinking about rigpa or innate awareness however, is not enough. A practi· tioner must receive· the blessing of a qualified master, gather the accumulations and purify negative karmas. Methods other than
32
BRIEF LIFE HISTORY
these will draw us into delusion and not bring about realization of rigpa. Not generating devotion and compassion, even if the practitioner is very intelligent, bright and even industrious, is not the way to practice. To be effective, meditation should be spontaneous or free-flowing. Upwardly, bring forth devotion to all the buddhas, to all the lineage masters from dharmakaya S1mantabhadra to your own teacher. Downwardly, engender compassion for sentient beings without exception, for all the six k:nds of beings who have been your own mothers. Have devotion to the Three Jewels above and compassion for the six kinds of beings below. Our tradition includes emptiness, compassion and devotion, these three extraordinary features. You need means and knowledge, upaya and prajna, which are emptiness and compassion as explained in the sutras. Within devotion and compa.'ision are contained all the sutras and rhe tantras, scriptures and instructions. With devotion and compassion, you will surely reach the exalted state. The precious relative bodhichitta is compassion and the precious ultimlte bodhichitta is emptiness. With these two, enlightenment is unavoidable. To say "I don't need devotion, I don't need compassion for beings, for me meditation alone is sufficient," is to be mistaken. Meditation alone is not sufficient, becawe only with devotion and compassion will the view automatically and naturally blaze forth like a fire, quickly arousing the profound emptiness, the selfexisting wakefulness within one's being. Unfailing, unfabricated and unobscured, this is the straight path for attaining enlightenment within rigpa. Other than that, after having auained stability in rigpa, there is no need for any conceptual work.
33
VAJRA HEART
Without the work of.conceptual mind ordinary people cannot do anything, there: would not be: any worldly actions, right? So you must be free from conceptual mind. Without compassion and devotion there is no way to do that.
34
THE
POINTIN~
OUT INSTRUCTION
"Thr sptcia/ characttristic is to point directly to tiJt naked ,. awareness. Although the Dzogchen tradition has a gradual system of preliminaries, the special characteristic of Dzogchen is that it dircaly points out naked awareness, self-existing wakefulness.
35
VAJRA HEART
This is for suitable students, those with sharp mental faculties. Instead of going through many preliminaries, the master introduces them directly to their mind essence, to their self-existing awareness. As I mentioned before, this awareness is comprised of three a.o;pects: essence, nature and capacity. To ascertain th: essence of the mind, we ask whether it is compounded or uncompounded. That which is compounded must have material substance and that which is uncompounded must be substanccl~!ss. Substanceless means that there is nothing for the eyes to see, for the ears to hear, and for the hands to hold. This substancelessncss is said to be the empty essence of mind, the dharmakaya. Thus we say: "In the empty essence, dharmakaya." If this emptine;s were a total void there would be no talk of the buddhas anaining enlightenment and of sentient beings wandering in samsara and the hells. Space is not like that. Without being void, the emptiness is naturally cognizant. "In the cognizant nature, sambhogakaya" refers to the hosts of sambhogakaya deities; the nature of sambhogakaya is cognizance. Sambhogakap means something with perfect abundance. If something is totall)' void it cannot possess perfect abundance. The emptiness itself has perfect abundance; that is called sambhogakaya. "In the manifold capacity, nirmanakaya." Capacity here means union; the unity of emptiness and cognizance is called capacity. The term 'manifold capacity' means that the capacity is allembracing, unobstructed, nor just in one or two ways but as the inconceivable dharmata. 'Manifold' means that the unobstructed original wakefulness of self-display manifests a compassionate variety. It does not refer to external coarse substance bur to the
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THE POINTING·OUT INSTRUCTION
unobstructed sdf-display; capacity here is the unobstructed aspect of emptiness and cognizance. Manifold means all-embracing.' Dzogchen is said to possess great advantages but also great d.mgers. This is because all teachings are uhimately and finally resolved within the Dzogchen system. This act of resolving can be of two types: resolving through intellectual understanding and resolving through personal experience. To resolve the teachings through personal experience has a great advantage or benefit. Having had naked awareness pointed out and having recognized it directly, one simply makes that the main part of practice. At this juncture the path to enlightenment is very swift and direct, and the benefits are inconceivably great. On the other hand, there is great danger when one appropriates the teachings intellectually, assuming that: "In D:ogchc:n, there is nothing to meditate upon. There is nothing to \'iew. There is nothing to carry out as action." This conceptual nihilism is completely detrimental to progress, because the final point of the teaching is nonconceptual, it is beyond intellectual thinking. The: major mistake occurs when one imellectually conceives of what Dzogchen is and holds on to that concept tightly. So it is vc:ry important to incorporate the teachings into personal arerience through the teacher's oral instructions. Otherwise, to ha\'e the idea that "I am meditating on Dzogchen" is to completely miss the point. Self-existing wakefulness has been present wit:lin the mind-stream of all sentient beings since primordial time. This presence is something which should not be left as theory, but should be acknowledged through experience. First recognize: it, then train and anain stability in it. That is when
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Dzogchen has grc:n benefit. There is actually no greater benefit than this. When words convey mere intellectual understanding, then concepts preclude experience, and these concepts lack the nonconccptual quality. To rely on conceptual mind is merely to rely on the intellect, whereas to remain in the continuity of naked awareness and to grow used to it, is what is truly called expcnencmg. The principle is the same whether one talks of Madhyamika, Mahamudra or Dzogchen. As Shantideva said in the Bodhicharya Avatara: "When one's intellect holds neither the concept of concreteness nor that of inconcrereness, that is the state of not conceptualizing." As long as one's mind is not free from concepts, one has merely intellectually understood the view and it is nothing more than theory. One might then think: "Dzogchen is primordially empty; having no basis, there is nothing to meditate upon, no need to do anything. If I meditate in the morning, I am a buddha in the morning. When I recognize at night, I am a buddha at night. The destined one need not even meditate." Incredible as it may seem, the Dzogchen view can purify the most subtle cognitive obscuration. Merely assuming this is so however, as many people have in the past, assuring themselves that they need not either meditate or practice, is to completely miss the point. To guard against that, practicing according to Madhyamika or "Mahamudra, w~ere one goes along step by step, alternating theory and experience within the structure of theory, experience and realization, is much more beneficial. Proceeding gradually, what is to be resolved becomes dearer and dearer and one finally captures I
•
•
t
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THE POINTING-OUT INSTRUCTION
the dharmakaya throne of nonmcditation. This graduated system provides some reference points along the various paths and levels. In Dzogchen however, the master will from the very beginning, point out the nonconceptual state, instructing the student to remain free from concepts. If a smdent then thinks "I am free from concepts, I am never distracted!" while walking around with vacantly gazing eyes, he has strayed into intellectual understanding. Such understanding will not help us when we have to die. Tilopa told Naropa: "Theory is like a patch, it will wear out and fall off." After dying, we will undergo various pleasant and unpleasant experiences, intense panic, fear and terror. Intellectual understanding will not be able to destroy those fears; it cannot :nake confusion subside. So it is useless to ascertain that one's essence is devoid of confusion. Such patchwork thought is ineffective in dealing with one's confusion at the momen: of death. One needs to recognize and thoroughly acknowledge the view of one's essence. Constructing it from concepts is useless. Simply hearing that there is a delicious meal to be eaten but not eating it, you cannot know what the food tastes like. One must, moreover, be totally free from the merest flicker of doubt about the state of naked awareness. Concerning stability in awareness, Jigmey lingpa said: "At this point there is no need for 100 panditas and their thousands of explanations. One will know what is sufficient. Even when questioned by these scholars, doubt will not arise." The main point is to be become stable in awareness through experience, not through imcllc:ctual understanding. \'\'hen a ~ualified master encounters a worthy student, iron strikes flint,
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VAjRA HEART
creating fire immediately. When two such persons meet. it is possible to be free from doubt. The proof of having recognized the mind essence is that one feels no doubt. no matter how much one may try. If it is possible to start doubting. thinking "I wonder how it is. what shall I do? .. that understanding is intellectual. This difference between theory and experience is what I was referring to by saying that Dzogchen has both great benefit and great danger. When a practitioner is introduced to naked awareness he will be able to attain enlightenment in that very body and lifetime. This is because. in the momem of recognizing the essence of awareness. the cognitive obscuration is absent. This is called touching the fruition. In this there are three aspects: taking ground as path. taking path as path. and taking fruition as path. Receiving the pointing-om instruction means that one takes fruition as path. That is why it is so precious. So do not let recognition stray into mere theory. Experience is considered the adornment of awareness. Awareness exists within all beings; whoever has mind has awareness since awareness is the mind's essence. Mind is like the shadow of one's hand. and awareness like the hand itself. In this way there is not one single sentient being who lacks awareness. We might hear about awareness and then think: "I understand. awareness is just such and such." This mental construct is totally useless - from the very first the absence of mental fabrication is crucial. As is said: "Within the naked dharmadhatu of nonfabrication, wakefulness dawns - spontaneously present." To introduce awareness is to point om 1:he absence of mental fabrication.
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THE POINTINC·OUT INSTRUCTION
Otherwise it becomes an introduction to mere discursive thought. (Laughs)
"In tbt DzQgcbm tradition, tiJt vitw iJ pointtd out right away.
..
In Dzogchcn, shamatha and vipashyana are practiced as preliminaries and are called 'resting in naturalness' and 'sustaining freshness.' Resting in naturalness means nonfabrication and sustaining freshness means not losing the continuity of naturaln~s. Even though one has been introduced to the essence of Dzogchen, without resting in naturalness one cannot accompli5h an}1hing. In Kham we have a saying: "The innermost can be seen from the outside." If the door of a shrine room is open, even if one is standing outside, one can still see the innermost part of the room with all the images. So although the practice of naturalness is a preliminary, one should not abandon it and try to get to something more profound. The essence is introduced since there is a use for it in the very beginning. One is introduced to the nonfabrication, to the naturalness and freshness which in general are l:nown as shamatha and vipashyana. In the Dzogchen tradition, the view is pointed out right away. Sometimes the preliminaries are more profound than the main practice. To be introduced to the essence and to have recognized it is quite remarkable. Let me tell you about an incarnation of Tsangsar Samten Gymo. In his previous life, he was called Argey Samten. He was recognized as a rulku when he was a small child, and brought to the monastery. There he would play and fool around: being about eight years old, he danced and played with his friends. The gonia, 41
VAJRA HEART
an old lama who took are of the pujas for the protectors, was beating the drum one day and chanting, while the kids were playing around him. The gonia scolded Argey Samten: "You are an incarnation of a lama, don't act like this. If you are a tulku you should be a noble incarnation! Instead you are a completely spoiled brat, always playing around. Why are you doing this? Listen. Don't wander! Don't wander!" When the old lama said that, Argey Samten asked: "What does that mean? What docs it mean not to wander?" Gonia replied: "Don't let your mind wander, that's what it means!" The tulku asked: "How can one's mind not wander?" The lama said: "Look at yourself, look into your own mind!" Argey Samten recognized mind nature right there. No matter what masters or great teachers he met subsequently, he always acknowledged that his recognition was accomplished as a small child. Stories from his later life show the extent of his realization. As an adult, he went to Palpung, at that time the residence of Situ Padma N}•inche. Argey Samten, known for his incredibly high level of practice, was installed as the retreat master there after his second retreat. During Argey Samten's tenure, Chokgyur Lingpa arrived at Palpung for the first time. It was announced that somebody called Chokgyur Lingpa, also known as Kyasu Tenon from Nangchen, had arrived. Situ Rinpoche called for Argey Lama and said to him: "I am told that you are a trained yogi whose dreams are very clear due to your practice of the six doctrines of Naropa. Today, Kyasu Tenon is arriving. He claims to be a treasure rcvealcr and an emissary of Guru Rinpoche. He is very famous and we are arranging to welcome him as a dignitary, but in general! have no faith in tenons. He claims however, to be
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THE POINTINC·OUT INSTRUCTION
an accomplished terton. So tonight you should watch your dreams for proof of this!" Situ Padma Nyinchc had previously. said of 3nother tertcn: "He claims to be a treasure revealer, but is actually defaming Guru Rinpoche. He is nothing, his aim is only power." When Chokgyur lingpa came however, Situ Padma Nyinche had some confidence in him and prepared to meet him, telling Argey Lama, also called Ngagtrin lama, "Chokgyur lingpa is coming, please examine his claims in your dreams!" Having accomplished a lot in his retreat, Ngagtrin Lama was by then quite an incredible practitioner. He reported all the experiences and visions of his dreams of that night to Situ Rinpoche. Hearing what Samten Gyatso's former life Ngagtrin Lama said, Situ Rinpoche laughed, "Ha! Ha! Ngagrrin Lama had a great prophecy in his dream last night and according to what he says, Chokgyur lingpa probably is a true tenon." When Chokgyur Lingpa arrived, he told Situ Rinpoche, "There is a command from Guru Rinpoche that you be given the SabdUn Phurba empowerment to protect against obstacles to your life. You are an emissary of Padmakara." Situ replied, "Yes yes, you practice it. I will look to see if there are any special signs. I'm too old to do the recitations, so you do them. For the special signs, I will look myself." So he put Chokling in retreat for one month to practice SabdUn Phurba. Mter finishing a practice, the accomplishment of blessings are traditionally examined. Situ Rinpoche's servants were prc:pc.ring to bring the .blessed articles from Chokgyur lingpa. However Situ said, "No, bring the tenon himself! The tenon himself must come and give me the empowerment. Just sending
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up rhe things ro pur on my head won't help me at all. Vajrayana is not just something you put on the head. Call for Chokling himselfl" It is said that after staying in retreat for one month, Chokgyur lingpa offered the empowerment of Sabdtin Phurba ro Situ Rinpoche. Although Situ Rinpoche was very headstrong and did not believe: in just any tenon, he accepted as true rhe actual signs of recognition of Ngagtrin lama, the past life of my uncle. And yet it is this Ngagtrin lama who recognized the essence when he was young without any master. An old monk simply reprimanded him: "Oh, you naughty little tulku. Don't play around like rhat. Don't wander, what is the use of being distracted?" To the small boy's question: "What is nor wandering?", the old man replied: "look at your mind itself, that is it." At that point Ngagrrin lama recognized the essence. After that he said there was nothing further he needed to be introduced to or to have pointed out. He recognized rhe nature of mind right rhen, and later became a great accomplished master. There are many other stories about his power. In the wintertime in Tibet, water from melting snow would sometimes freeze: and make: barriers of solid ice the size of threestory buildings. Blocking the paths, this icc made navel impossible. However, no mauer how much snow would fall each winter, on the roof top of Ngagrrin lama's retreat hut, snow would never settle. His tummo practice always melted it. Once when one of Ngagtrin lama's major sponsors had passed away on the other side of the mountain pass, Ngagtrin Lama was called to come: and do phowa, the ejection of consciousness. •'I'm coming!" he replied. The way however, was blocked by a river that had overflowed, making huge: ice curtains
THE POINTING-OUT INSTRUCTION
which rose to a height of two or three stories. All his servants tried to discourage him, saying: "How can you go? Do you want to die in the ice water? Traveling around it will take two or three days. There is no way through. How can you, an old lama, do this? Forget about it." Ngagtrin lama insisted: "No, I must go. He has been a very kind patron. If I fail to arrive, it will be a breach of samaya. Tomorrow morning. I am going!" The servants could do nothing but obey, and thought that they would have to walk around the long way, but the lama said: "No, no, we need not do that!" The next morning he said, "Last night I cleared the way!" During tummo practice, he had melted the ice curtain; all of the ice on the whole mountain pass had turned to water and by the next morning not even a flake of snow remained. He had mel:ed it through his miraculous powers so they could travel freely in the morning. When asked "How is this possible?", the lama responded, "Last night I practiced some tummo. I melted the snow . mto water. He was a powerful master, with very great accomplishment in practice. The foundation for his practice, his manner of introduction, was established when the old gonia who did pujas for the Dharma protectors said, "Don't wander!" When being introduced to the essence, if one has the karmic potential, what transpires may be extraordinary. The traditional sequence docs not always apply. Some people are introduced during the general preliminaries, or during the practice of resting in naturalness and sustaining the freshness, which arc actually part of the Dzogchen preliminaries.
..
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PREJLXMliNARY TEACHINGS
"\'(!hat can stop karma?"
The basis for engaging in Dharma practice is taking to heart the preliminary teachings known as the four mind changings: precious human body, death and impermanence, cause and effect of karma and the defects of samsara. All the vehicles mention the precious human body endowed with the eight freedoms and ten riches. The tight rmftu !taus are: living among the hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, barbarians, long-living gods, or living in a
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VAJRA HEART
time without buddhas or among humans having false views, or being unable to communicate. Born in any of these eight circumstances, we are fcuercd by our conditions and lack the freedom to practice. In the three lower realms: the hells, the hungry ghost and animal realms, one has no chance to practice Dharma. As a barbarian, a long-living god, one with wrong views or an idiot, one has neither thought nor ability to practice; one is not a suitable vessel for Dharma practice. A vessel is a place to put things. With no container, where can you pour your tea? Likewise, when born in one of the eight unfree states, one lacks the karma or fortune to practice. One cannot practice in the hells because of the suffering of heat and cold. The prttas are unable to practice because of the suffering of hunger and thirst. The animals are too dumb and stupid to know how to practice. Barbarians, for instance the primitives who live on the border between India and Tibet, have a human form but wear no clothing except for a small belt, and for food kill wild animals, which they eat raw. The long-living gods who remain for one or two aeons in the Realm of the Thirty-three on the mp of Mount Sumcru, have no interest whatsoever in Dharma practice; the thought never enters their minds. They disnact themselves in godly luxuries for the whole of their long life:. One day however, their life span ends and like rain falling from the sky they fall to the lower realms. They can even fall to the hells withom an intermediate state. Holding wrong views is another unfree state. Mistakenly thinking: "There is no karma, no cause and effect. How can there be buddhafields? Who has seen them? Who has returned from the
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hells? How can anybody know such things? There are no past and future lives, there are none of these things," even if one met the Buddha himself, one would have no interest whatsoever. Right now, we do not live in a time without buddhas. This excellent aeon is a time in which buddhas appear and teach, and where the teachings last for some time. One thousand perfect buddhas will appear during this time. So far, only four have come; many more will come in the future. A kalpa, the full time-cycle of our known universe, is civided into four parts: creation, abidance, destruction and voidness. Each lasts an equal amount of time, a very long time. We are now in the abiding aeon. During this time, there are eighteen middle aeons. Sometimes the life span grows longer and longer, the fortune greater and greater; then again it lessens, the life span gets shorter and shorter, everything becomes worse. Right now we are in a descending aeon where everything worsens. There are eighteen middle aeons with a long aeon at each end, making twenty in all. These twenty aeons together make a mahakalpa. For as long as the abiding mahakalpa lasts, the aeon of destruction also lasts, when everything is destroyed by the seven suns. The suns become hotter and hotter, drying up rivers, burning mountains, completely destroying everything. Everything ends in total voidness. This state of voidness lasts for as long as the creation. Only now, during the aeon of abiding, can we hear Dharma teachings. During neither the creation nor the destruction, is there Dharma. And how, during the void could there be any Dharma, teachers or listeners? In any of these three aeons, one is in an unfree ;tate. Bur we just now, are not in any of the eight unfree states; we have the eight freedoms.
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We have as well, the ten riches, the ten favorable conditions: five from oneself and five from others. The five from others are: the Buddha appea::ed, he taught, the doctrine survived, there are reachers and they continue to teach. Tbese five together are considered ro be the merging of external favorable conditions. Among the five favorable conditions from oneself: the first is to be born as a human; the second is to be born in a central country, a place where rhe Buddhist teaching is being spread; the third, to have the five senses intact; rhe fourth, to have an unpervened livelihood enabling one to enter the teachings; and the fifth, to have confidence and to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, the Three Precious Ones. With these five, the favorable conditions of oneself are complete. So now we have the five favorable: conditions from others and the five from oneself. Not being born in the eight unfree states and having the ten endowments is truly a supreme human life. It is like a wishfulfilling gem. Through this body, this preciow human life, we have the good fortune to practice. Though we have obtained the preciow human body, it is like holding an old piece of chinaware in our hand; the moment it hits a stone it completely breaks. It will not stay intact. I often quote: "As life is composite, it has no permanence." Life is impermanent. The external universe will, late at the end of this aeon, be completely destroyed by the heat of the suns. Cosmic annihilation moreover is not the only thing to consider. Supreme individuals arc also impermanent. What of the buddhas and bodhisattvas who appeared in the past? And the universal monarch of the golden wheel who ruled all the four continents, the universal monarch of the silver wheel who ruled three continents, the universal monarch
50
PRELIMINARY TEACHINGS
of the copper wheel who ruled two comincms, and the universal monarch of the iron wheel who ruled the Jambu Continent where are these powerful beings now? Many Indian kings of the past could fly, never needing to walk on the ground. They could enjoy the seven royal possessions: the precious wheel, the precious jewel, the precious queen, the precious elephant, the Frecious horse, the precious minister and the precious general. Som: could visit Indra, the king of the gods, and sit together on the same throne. Of these fabled kings, only their names remain. Powerful people are also impermanent. Consider further impermanence due to the many causes of death. The 404 sicknesses and eighty thousand evil forces are the circumstances for death. Due to the unavoidable fact of death, one cannot not consider impermanence. When the moment of death comes, you can put yourself in an iron chamber guarded by one hundred thousand soldiers. Will that ward off death? One cannot protect oneself from the Lord of Death. Beauty, heroism and wealth are not dc:ath's equals. A pretty face cannot seduce death nor bravery vanquish it. All the gold in the world is not a sufficient bribe. Nothing can be done; death is unavoidable. Impermanence has four ends. First, tht tnd of birth is drath. No one born from a father and mother has yet survived death; not now, not ever. Milarepa said: "As soon as you have a body, you have death." Thus, to assume a body is to assume death. As he added: "Between being alive and being dead is only the difference of one breath." The terrifying so-called corpse, the dead human body, is loathsome; yet it is our own bodies we are speaking of. Were sickness to take tp away right now, leaving the corpse behind to be disposed of in one way or another, what could be
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done? Right now we are breathing, we are alive. In the space of just a single breath, we become a corpse. That death follows birth is the most significant point of impermanence. Next, regardless of the inconceivable wcahh and possessions one may amass, tht md ofhoarding is disptrsion. Years ago in Tibet a great merchant named Norbu Sangpo had so many mules that if one lined them up they would reach from Lhasa to China, like a rosary stretching all the way without a break. Apart from his name, nothing remains now; not a single one of his possessions. All have vanished. Tlu md of mttling is uparation. Any people who are gathered together in a city or a country or in any community, like the nuns who stay at Nagi Gompa, or the members of a family, the husband and wife and children, are all like customers in a market place who come and go. Their staying together has no permanence. Although we are together now, we have no power to stay together forever. We are like people mingling in a dream. The end of meeting is separation. Tlu md of building is dtstruction. The houses built in the past never last more than a few thousand years at the most. They fall apart. Even though a house can withstand time for one or two thousand years, it will end in ruins. We should think about these four ends of impermanence because they are true. The years pass by and will never return. The month we stayed together in the past is gone, and now we arc: here at Nagi Gompa. The: month that passed can only recede further and further. Moreover, in each short moment we become older and as time passes our life grows shorter. The Lord of Death is like the mountain's shadow coming closer and closer. The Lord of
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Death does not linger for even an instant; he always comes closer as our life span diminishes without the power to remain still for even a second. We might not notice, but the Lord of Death one day catches up in the last moment of our life, and (Rinpoche snaps his fingers) we can do nothing about it. The time is up, gone. The external world is impermanent; yesterday and today are impermanent; and right now, while we are together, is also changing in the three times. The times are in constant movement, we are spending our lives every moment, and there is no possible way to make our lives last longer. Life only runs out. Contemplating impermanence and death, we must recognize this. Impermanence pertains not only to death, but also to enemies, friends and all relalionships which lack any permanence or stability. Nothing remains as we know it for even an instant: change is constant. As time runs out we get older, friends and enemies change, cities change, the local people change, and at home our family ages. Nothing in the world endures. All things change. Buddha nature alone is permanent and stable. Nothing else lasts {laughing)! Only self-existing wakefulness is permanent. Through impermanence weariness arises. For example, if one's father and mother die or if one of a married couple passes away, what anguish the one left behind must bear! Even among animals, for instance when the baby of a cow dies, doesn't the mother suffer? So weariness and suffering are the same. With such weariness comes the feeling: "Now my time is running out, what else is there to do but practice Dharma? Nothing else is of any use, nothing at all." With that kind of revulsion clearly in one's mind,
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unenlightened existence becomes unbearable. That is the meaning of weariness. Through renunciation one recognizes: uTherc is nothing in samsara with any permanence." The five sense objects deceive us. The eyes, fascinated by form, are like a moth diving into a flame. Set a butter lamp for an offering and these winged insects, attached to what they see, fly straight imo the flame and die, don't they? The cars, fascinated by sound, similarly bring suffering. Previously in Tibet h;.amers used very melodious flutes. Going to the forests they would play very sweetly and the deer would listen to the sweet music, while a hunter would slowly sneak up and kill them. The ear clinging to sound is like a deer killed by a hunter by means of flute ar.d arrow. The nose clinging to a smell is like a bee getting caught in a flower. A bee likes honey and the flower's fragrance. h goes into the flower to drink and in the evening the flower closes and it dies inside, captivated and captured through its sense of smell. The tongue's clinging to taste is like a fish caught by bait on a hook. The hook is thrown in the water and the fish, liking the bait, is caught, fJscinated by a delicious taste. \Vhen the body clings to touch it is like an elephant drowning in a mud pool. An elephant is very heavy, so when it goes down in a big pool it may be unable to get up and it dies there. Like this, if one clings to the five sense objects, they become enemies. Therefore, regard them as pointless, futile. Through imcnsc renunciation, endeavor in acceptance and rejection regardir.g cause and effect. If you think there is no cause and effect, then you lack understanding of positive and negati\'e
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actions. This must be understood. If the cause is virtuous the effect is also virtuous; one goes to higher realms, and further, to liberation and enlightenment. If the cause is unvinuous, negative, tied to the five poisons, one will wander about in the three realms of samsara. Cause and effect is infallible, like the shadow that follows one's body wherever it goes. Karma follows oneself like a shadow follows a body. To purify or get rid of this shadow, only recognition of and stability in the buddha nature can really help. Nobody else can throw karma away. No single person, not even the strongest man in this southern Jambu Continent, has been able to cast away cause and effect and be freed from karma. Karma follows one like a shadow. Karma is like that. To create white karma is to practice the true teachings; to create black karma is to practice negative actions. Their effect is infallible. You will have to experience the results of karma, your own actions. You must really understand this. What is it that can bring karma to an end? Only self-existing original wakefulness, buddha nature. When one is experienced in this self-existing awareness or rigpa, then karma, cause and effect come to an end, exhausted. Karma cannot run around with selfexisting wakefulness; it is free from causes and does not arise because of conditions. If a white or black cloud appears, does it change the sky? In the same way, self-existing wakefulness or rigpa, is untainted by karma and by cause and effect. Whatever undergoes cause and effect, such as eanh, water, fire and wind, can be exhausted. But space is without cause and effect. Can anybody paint the sky red or white? In all Olher cases, there is cause and effect.
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Through intmu rmtmdation tndtavor in acetpting and rtjtctbzg what conctrns caust and tffict. Accepting means taking up the white and virtuous accions as much as possible; and rejecting means abandoning the black, negative actions. Endeavor in this. The white and virtucus refer to the ten virtuous actions: three of body, four of speech and three of mind. One should take up these ten. Without practicing the ten virtuous actions, they automatically become the ten unvirtuous ones. One needn't develop or encourage wrongdoing, it occurs automatically. We must renounce the ten unvirtuous actions and, having given them up, the ten virtuous actions are automatically produced. Giving up the ten negative actions, we needn't add the ten virtuous actions on top. If one sincerely practices the ten virtuous actions as cause, then the effect is happiness in the higher realms and ultimately liberation in buddhahood. This is the happiness resulting from a virtuous cause. There are two things: truly high position, which refers to the higher realms of humans, asuras and devas, and the true goodness, which is the level of budd has and bodhisatrvas. By committing the ten negative actions one produces the suffering of the three realms of samsara. The cause of liberation is to endeavor in the ten virtuous actions and to curn away from the ten negative actions. In the three lower realms of the hells, preras and animals, there is no happiness whatsoever. In the higher realms, the joy do:s not last. One alternates between joy and sorrow. The three kinds of suffering arc: suffering upon suffering, changing suffering, and all-pervading suffering of formation. What is the changing suffering? Suppose there was an earthquake
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and the houses crumbled. You can imagine how it felt. Parents died; fire burned everything; one is left behind alone as in wa:timc. Such things happen in this world. Yesterday everybody in the family was together and everything was fine, but today, because of some sudden circumstances, one has no food to eat and nothing to wear. One walks around holding a stick and begging for something to eat. Suffering upon suffering is that in addition to this, one gets leprosy, a naga sickness, or an illness like cancer. What exemplifies the all-pervading suffering of formation? This suffering is that one draws closer to death with each passing moment. The beings of the three worlds are not aware of this, but the sublime beings perceive it. All the arhants, bodhisattvas and buddhas know it, but sentient beings arc not at all aware of the all-pervading suffering of formation. As an example, sentient beings are like a hand: pur a single hair in the palm of the hand and one feels nothing. But the Noble Ones arc like an eye: put a hair in the eye and one is immediately aware of it, one has no happiness nor the wish for it to remain. In the past in Tibet, there was one man from Lang-ro-tang who was depressed for his whole life. His face never showed any expression other than sadness. Why was that? He didn't suffer, but because he was aware that life was running out, he was called "D.uk Face from Lang-ro-tang." We should also consider impermanence and suffering, and taking its meaning to heart, blend it with the mind, not with mere theorizing but by actually assimilating the meaning.
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"Th( originally.ftee wakejiJ!ness is not something you must create or manufocture; it is simply the point at which we must all arrive. "
WAKJE~UP
PRACTliCE
"Tht rtal stupidity is ignoranct ofthe trne meaning." In the morning we should begin with the practice of stirring from tbt slttp ofignoranct. Chant the liturgy called Atvakming ftom tiJt Slttp oflgnoranct from the Barchey· Ktinsel teachings. and then, after exhaling the srale breath, visualize the guru on top of your head. Next recite the Budt/ba of tiJt TIJrtt Timts, after which the guru dissolves into
yourself.
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From beginninglcss time umil now, the wisdom prana has been obscured by the klesha prana, the wind of disturbing emotions. This klesha prana continually leads to thoughts of attachment, aggression and delusion, thereby creating habitual patterns. To avoid this, expel the stale breath. At the outset of practice straighten the body. As the right nostril is the major path for the movement of the strong kleshas, first exhale through the right nostril, then the left and finally through both. Exhale the stale breath three or nine times, whichever is suitable. The exhalation should be accompanied by a hissing sound and the inhalation should be done slowly. When exhaling, imagine that all the karmas, kleshas, evil deeds, obscurations, sicknesses and negative forces flow out like smoke from a chimney. \Vhen inhaling, imagine that five colored rainbow lights of the blessings, wisdom, loving compassion, activities and qualities of all the victorious ones and their sons dissolve imo yourself. Negativity leaves your body through all the pores, but mainly through the nostrils. Then, while imagining your root guru above the crown of your head, chant Buddha ofrht Tbrrr Timrs, an incredibly blessed supplication especially suited for these times. Most people in Tibet did not have to learn this supplication to the guru, because the Dharma was so widespread that even small children could chant it without deliberate study. When we chant, Oi.isum sangye guru rinpoche Buddha of the three times, Guru Rinpoche,
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WAKE-UP PRACTICF.
we are supplicating Guru Rinpoche who carries out all the activities of all the buddhas in order to tame beings. When we chant,
Ngodrub kundag dewa chc:npo shab Lord of all accomplishments, great blissful one, we recognize his attainment as the Guru of Great Bliss -
Guru Dcwa Chenpo. We know that he can conquer all when we chant,
Barchey kiinsel diidul drakpo tsal Dispdlcr of all obstacles, wrathful tamer of Maras. This is the external practice. The treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa include the external practice, called Barchey Ki.insel, "Clearing Away the Obstacles," the inner practice, Sampa Lhundrub, and the secret practice, Dorje Draktsal. These lines contain all three. The first line, "Buddha of the three times, Guru Rinpoche" is the outer practice, Barchc:y Ki.insd. The next line is the Sampa Lhundrub, the inner practice, and the third line is the !ecret practice:, Dorje Drakpo Tsal. One supplicates all three. Solwa debso jingyi lobtu sol I supplicate you, please grant your blessings. Chinang sangwey barchey shiwa dang Please pacify the outer, inner and secret obstacles. The outer obstacles are the obstacles of the outer elements. The inner obstacles are those of the channels and winds. The secret obstacles are those of grasping and fixation. So the essence
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VAJRA HEART
of the Barchey Kunsel, the external praclice, is to pacify or dispel these three kinds of obstacles. Sampa lhiingyi drubpar jingyi lob Bless me with the spontaneous fulfillment of my wishes .
.
Through this blessing, whatever you wish for, such as the supreme and common siddhis, may be spontaneously accomplished. In fact, when obstacles are cleared away, the siddhis will be spontaneously accomplished. The Barchcy Kunsel sadhana is contained in the Essmct Manual of Oral Instructions. However the essence of this instruction is condensed into the supplication, "Buddha of the three limes, Guru Rinpoche ... One wishes to accomplish the common and supreme siddhis. One supplicates wholeheartedly, with a single-pointed frame of mind, without any doubt. One resolves there is no hope or refuge elsewhere than in the: Guru. In Tibetan, the word glorious refers to the: splendor or the glory of having realized the: dharmaluya for the benefit of oneself, and the glory of manifesting the: rupakaya for the benefit of others. This is the twofold benefit. In Tibetan, the expression 'glorious and precious root guru' is always used since it is the root guru who confers the empowermems, expounds the tamras and imparts the oral instructions. Among root gurus, the one who introduces the unborn dharmakaya of one's own mind is called the precious root guru. Mter repeating the supplication to Guru Rinpoche three times, recite one rosary of Lama Khymno. That means, "Lama, think of me" or "take care of me, and is "I supplicate you" or •1 take refuge in you ... Finally, the Guru melts into light and one
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considers oneself inseparable from him. One's body, speech and mind and the Guru's body, speech and mind become inseparable. After this comes the two clarifications of animde: the bodhisattva attitude of vast thought, the Surra path, and the Secret Mamra attitude of profound method, the Mantra path. The two precious kinds of bodhichitta are the foundation of all the vehicles. According to the Surra path one accomplishes enlightenment through emptiness and compassion. Emptiness is the path of prajna; compassion is the path of upaya. According to Mantra, upaya is the development stage and prajna is the completion s1age. Through development and completion one attains the unified level of Vajradhara. These are the special principles of Sutra and Mantra. The relative and absolute bodhichina are the root of both Sutra and Mantra, which again are complete within the auilUde of compassion. The link between buddhas and beings is com?assion. It is never the case that budd has, after anaining enlightenment, leave sentient beings behind. This is because of the power of compassion. Once enlightened, buddhas have not even a hair-tip of self interest, they accomplish only the benefit of others. W'hether a Dharma practice carries one towards a perfect path or not depends upon one's animdc. Taking on the bodhisattva attitude of vast thought, resolve: "May all the sentient beings as Yast as the sky, possess happiness and be free from suffering. So they m&y obtain complete and perfect enlightenment, I will practice this profound path of meditation." The vast thought of the bodhisattva ani tude refers to the Sutra teachings of the bodhiS.ut\'as, the Mahayana vehicle. Thro·Jgh the Secret Mantra animde of profound method, envision the external world as the celestial palace and the
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VAJRA HEART
inhabitants, all sentient beings, as having the nature of dakas and dakinis. The thoughts of all semicnt beings have the nature of primordial purity, the original wakefulness of enlightened mind. This is called the threefold mandala: appearances as the mandala of the deity, sounds as the mandala of mantra, and thoughts as the mandala of wisdom. It is also called the tbr(( tbings to tarry. This pure perception is what is meant by the Secret Mantra attitude of profound methods. The principle of Secret Mantra is nothing other than pure per· ception of that which has existed since the very beginning. One should never be separated from pure perception. The outer world is pure; all sentient beings are dakas and dak.inis. Even dogs and pigs, although appearing to be impure beings, possess the enlightened essence. They also possess the constituents of flesh, blood, heat or warmth, breath and vacuities, the five properties of the five elements. In fact, the five aggregates are of the nature of the five male buddhas and the five elements are of the nature of the five female buddhas. Even the Hindu religion perceives the five elements as fire gods, water gods and so forth. "Worldly Hindus will take refuge in the gods of the dements, fire gods, wind gods, or water gods. We do not blame them for that: th~· don't know any better. Their gods include the sun and moon etc. We can acmally understand something from that. Their deities are worldly deities, ours arc wisdom deities, which means that the aggregates and the elements do not possess even a dust mode of .ampumy. . If one looks into the Vajrayana teachings and understands the intent of the Guhyagarbba Tantra, then all of the outer and the in· ncr, the world and the beings, are the continuity of pure deities.
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which have existed as the nature of the three vajras since the very beginning. Ic is not that we: must change the phenomenal world and its inhabitants from something which 'is' into something which 'is not,' nor must we transmute impurity into purity. We need not superimpose our own view on phenomena; pure perception is simply a recognition of the primordial state itself. Due to the difference between the confusion and liberation of thoughts however, we have been unable to make this distinction and have become confused. This has not been to our benefit. In fact everything, all that appears and exists, is all-encompassing purity. It is said that in the all-encompassing purity of the phenomenal world, the very name of obstructing forces does not exist. So the attitude here is that everything is all-encompassing purity. First we dissolve the guru into ourselves, then we form the attitudes of bodhichitta. The rraining in awakening from the sleep of ignorance is a practice widespread in all the Buddhist traditions ofTibet, both the old and the new schools. Different liturgies are used but the practice is the same. The Barchey Kunsel terma of Cho;ding was spoken by Guru Rinpoche. \Y/e incorporate it here, since waking up in just an ordinary manner has little benefit. Actually we have been sleeping since bcginningless time. Sleep is an aspect of ignorance, a subsidiary aspect of closedmindedness. The sleeping state is not stupidity itself because stupidity means being unaware or ignorant of the true meaning. Sleep is one of the seven thought states, whereas the real stupidity is ignorance of the true meaning. This king of stupidity has sleep as his minister.
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Vt\jRt\ HEART
At the very moment of waking up one should think of Guru Rinpoche with all the dakas and dakinis, voices singing and ornaments dangling. With ornaments of jewel and bone, they play hand drums and bells. "This is what wakes me up ... Thus should one wake, not jmt in an ordinary manner. This is the meaning of stirring from sleep. Due to their compassion and powers, one is awakened, not merely from ordinary sleep but from the sleep of ignorance. So: "Now I have awakened into the space of awareness wisdom". Rinpoche sings the liturgy: Guru Padma together with his host of dakas and dakinis, accompanied by the music of hand drums and bells, have arrived with great splendor in the sky before me. Their bodies in dancing postures, their voices as melodies of symbolic language and mantra songs and their minds as the essence of selfoccurring awareness are directed towards me. Lord guru and host of dakinis Gaze upon me: with your compassionate eyes. At this time all sentient beings of the three realms arc asleep With their minds in a state of indifference. Awakening therefrom, they wander through experiences of confusion. So that I. your child, the yogi who realizes self-born awareness, May guide my mothers, the sentient beings of the six realms, To the place of the celestial realms, I will follow you, the father guru.
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Without letting my body. speech and mind remain indifferent. I will achieve cerrainry through learning. contemplation and meditation. And place my actions within the order of the four sessions. In this delightful realm of a mountain retreat I will accomplish the: two benefits of self and others. May you. the guru and host of dakinis. Bestow your blessings upon my three doors.
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DEVETLOPMJENT S11\GE
"The development stage is the discovery ofwhat primordially exists within oneself." Dzogchcn teaches that the development stage reveals that which is primordially existing. The deities abide in the buddha mandala of one's body in the manner of 'abiding in the ground.' The cevdopment stage is taught as a system of symbolism for the manifestation from the ground of that which is abiding in the
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ground, and not for something nonexistent which one imagines to exist in oneself. It abides in the ground primordially. Both primordial purity and spontaneous presence permeate all sentient beings as essence and nature. That is what is meant by ground abidance and ground manifestation. One manifests the: ground through the ritual in which one imagines the deity. This makes manifest what already abides in the ground. It is not imagining something which isn't, to be. The development stage is the discovery of what primordially exists within oneself: rhe intrinsic essence which is primordial purity, with the nature which is spontaneous presence. Actually, the real root of development stage is the nature of spontaneous presence. The development stage that we practice is like awakening from the dream state; it is manifesting what primordially exists. The purpose is to purify evil deeds, to prevem one's thinking from falling under the influence: of the klcshas. By imagining the colors and hand emblems of the deities, the obscurations are purified. One is not imagining and mediraring on something which did nor already exist. It is not like raising someone from the dead, after which the deities appear. The expression of the spontaneously present nature from the essence of primordial purity has existed since the beginning, so development and completion stage should be practiced as a unity. I mentioned this before as upaya and prajna. On the other hand, practicing completion stage alone without any devclopmcm stage whatsoever is nor at all incorrect. Complc:· tion stage actually needs nothing else. If one truly understands the pure recollecrion, and one becomes adept in Togal, development and completion stage are contained within the practice ofTrckcho alone. That is the absolute development stage which one truly
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DEVELOPMENT STAGE
mms. Without having to be cultivated one can actually see deities. They do not arise through cultivation; the four visions of Togal appear just like one's face shows itsdf in a mirror. It is not that at first one had no face and after much meditating a face appeared. Likewise, the spontaneous presence cannot be fabricated. The word spontaneously present, lhiindrub, indicates that it cannot be created. Spontaneously presem means that which is primordially present by itself, self-existing: the spontaneously present mandala of the victorious ones is primordially sclf-prc:sem. Th:s has great significance. Someone who does not understand thi~ might say: "What is the use of development stage? It is completely without benefit!" That person will have to throw away the nature of spontaneous presence. (Laughs). That would be throwing away that which is imrinsic to oneself. People who have many discursive thoughts, many ideas and much thought activity need development stage. It is said that peo?le with thoughts should practice devdopmem stage. The nec:d depends on individual disposition. There are some with so much thought activity that only development stage is useful and completion stage is of no benefit. They think, "\Vhat is the use? There is nothing to see, nobody who sees. It would be better to hm something to think of." Many people feel like that. Thoughts are quite difficult. The kleshas accumulate karma through many thoughts, so if one can think instead of the celestial palace, the deity and so fonh, one utilizes the thoughts without gathering lwma and evil deeds. That is the actual purpose of development mge. However, the spomaneously present mandala of the victorious ones, the nature of the deilies, is not something nonexistent which
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one creates in the development stage. The expression of primordial purity is spontaneous presence. This spomaneous presence is the infinite purity of the samhhogakaya deities, the real development stage. The primordial purity is dharmakaya; the spontaneous presence is sambhogakaya. When you say sambhogakaya then there will be deities. "L~t awarmrss txprtSSifJn
ariu as tlrvrlopmmt sttzgr•..
Concerning the question of exactly how to practice: when beginning the meditation one cannot perfect the development stage practice without first having recognized awareness, rigpa. What docs that mean? The development stage springs out of the samadhi of suchness which means to know the natural state as it is. Without this sa:nadhi, the practitioner is left thinking, "This is emptiness!" and unavoidably fabricates it. h is better to rest in the state the guru has poimed our; that is the genuine suchness, the awareness itself, the true and real. In this way, one remains in the cominuity of the practice:. Otherwise one practices a fake development stage. To think: "All the sentient beings equal to the end of space are in nature empty and egoless, mahashunyata!" is memally fabricated emptiness. Then to think: "Poor sentient beings who do not realize: this emptiness!" is fabricated compassion. These two thoughts are artificial versions of the sarnadhi of suchness and the samadhi of illumination, lacking recognition of one's mind essence. This is the development sr:tge that most people practice. When awareness is recognized however, one should rest without thinking 'empty' or 'not empty.' That is the recognition of primordi:tlly pure and rootless self-existing wakefulness,
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01-:VF.l.OI'MF.NT STAGE
senuine sudmcss. When that happens one spontaneously rhinks, "Ah! Poor ones!" Jusr as water is wet and fire hot, the namral expression of awareness is the flame-like heat of compassion. This awareness has unfabricated compassion as its nature; one spontaneously thinks, "Alas! Poor sentient beings who do not realize the buddha mind as it is!" That is compassion, the samadhi of illumination. All devdopmem stage is embraced by emptiness and compassion. In the Surra teachings, emptiness is prajna (knowledge) and compssion is upaya (means). In the Mantra teachings, the samadhi of such ness is emptiness and the samadhi of illumination is conpassion. Right now, as a beginner, these two appear to be false, but when really resting in awareness, in emptiness, the expression of this awareness spontaneously arises as compassion. These are the first two samadhis. Within the unity of these two samadhis, emptiness and compassion, one must imagine the seed syllable. The spiritual lifeforce or vital syllable of the deity, a white HRIH in the case of Guru Rinpoche in the Tukdrub Barchey Klinsel praclice, should be visualized like the moon or a star appearing in the expanse of space. This syllable then emanates the leuer E for the mandala of !pace, then YAM, BAM and so forrh for the gradual layers of the elements of earth, water, fire and wind. Upon these one visualizes the letter SUM becoming Mount Sumeru on which the letter SHRUM becomes the celestial palace. So, these all appear one after the other. To reiterate: first of all, from the space of dharmakaya comes sambhogakaya as the expression of compassion, then the nirmanakaya as the seed samadhi. The nirmanakaya is the emanation of
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VAjRA HEART
emptiness and cor.1passion; the lener is the meaning of nirmanakaya. On this basis, everyrhing arises as development stage, and the external palace with the internal inhabitants of deities are visualized. First arises the celestial palace with the lmw and moon seat inside. When that is complete, the white HRIH syllable descends from the seed samadhi. In some traditions, the syllable first becomes a hand emblem and then a bodily form. The hand emblem is the mental sign, the syllable is the verbal sign. Next appears the visualized bodily form, with the hand emblem, the mental sign, in its heart center. Around this circles the mantra chain, the essence mantra. Thus, in the Tukdrub Barchey Kunsc:l practice, having first visualized the main figure, the twelve emanations follow like the rays of light from the sun. Mrer this, it is sufficient to remain unmoved from awareness while practicing the development stage. If you have grown accustomed to awareness, remain in the continuity of awareness, allowing the projection and dissolution of thoughts to arise as the development stage, like waves moving on the surface of water. When the: meditation manifests spontaneowly within unmoving awareness, the expression of awareness arises as the development stage. In that way, the meditation is first class and then as a matrer of fact, the two, development and completion, are not separated. Remaining in awareness as the completion stase, and lening the: awareness-expression arise as the development stage, is the perfection of the: development and completion m~e as a unity.
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DEVELOrMENT STAGE
If this is not possible, first cultivate emptiness, then compassion, followed by the visualization of the seed syllable samadhi wherein emptiness and compassion are united. Then the EYAM RAM BAM and so forth, the layers of the five elements upon which is the celestial palace. The seed syllable then descends and b:comcs the deity, and one visualizes onesc:lf as the deity. Practice like this, one step after the other. When mind nature has not been recognized, the completion sttge is scancrcd and the development stage practice resembles the building of a house. Without completion stage, the practitioner is like a man constructing a building. Thus, solely pursuing the dcvclopmenr stage, if you arc visualizing with arrachmenr to substance and solidity, you should in the end methodically di;solve the visualization - the palace dissolves into the deity, the deity dissolves inro the seed syllable and the syllable dissolves into th: nada and then into emptiness. Thinking at last "This is unborn and empty!" one completes the practice with emptiness. In such a case, that process of dissolving the visualization is called the completion stage. Acrually, first cultivate the dcvelopmenr stage then look into who it is that meditates. The recognition of the nature of the meditator is itself the completion stage:. One cannot practice a r-:rfect development stage without being introduced to awareness, to riga. When awareness is truly recognized, the development stage practices do not interfere with awareness at all. What harm can be done to the state of awareness? Thought is allowed; thinking is not prohibited. All thinking is empty; empty mo;•cmenr. The emptiness moves. How can there be any harm to the emptiness? It is like: a child at play.
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VAJRA Hf.ART
Again, it is <JUite permissible fim ro simply imagine the li\'e layers of elemcms with the celestial palace, spomaneously manifest. You need not hold on to what is visualized. Just let go of the faxation and resolve yourself in the continuity of completion stage. Here you should resolve, and I mean resolve definitively, in the space of the three kayas. In the Dzogchen teachings. we speak of differentiating rhe thinking mind and awareness, smz and r~r,pa, resolving one's body, speech, and mind in rhe space of the three kayas. In short this means that one's body, speech and mind are the three vajras, that they are resolved to be the essence of the three vajras. When one understands this mandala of the spontaneously present nature, then all bodily appearances are the mandala of body, all resounding sounds the mandala of speech, and all thought activity the: mandala of mind. This is not regarding something which is not to be as somerhing which is. The absence of complexity is body, complete within awareness. The self-utterance of pri· mordially pure cmptir.css is speech. That is resolving the space of speech. Thought activity as mind is awareness umaimed by defects, empty of both grasping and fixarion. "Untainted by outer grasping, uncorrupted by inner fixation," it is self-contained. Thus, thought activity is the mind vajra. To differentiate the thinking mind and awareness, one must arrive solely in awareness. The thinking mind as the expression of awareness should be Jbandoned. \X'hen awareness is recognized then the thinking mind is self-abandoned. Mind is changing and awareness is unchanging. In this way rhe two are differentiated. Look at the sky whidt is unchanging and the clouds which are changeable; douds are like rhe thinking mind and the space is like
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Dt:.VF.I.OPMF.NT STAC.F.
rigpa, awareness. The douds change again and again, hur space never changes. Awareness is both unceasing and unchanging. In this way the three vajras are complete, and are resolved as '•ira body, vajra speech and vajra mind. The vajra body is uncompounded; th= awareness uncompounded. Th:u is the nature of njra body. h is not a formation or compound. The vajra speech is the unceasing sound. The vajra mind is the unobstructed mental activity, awareness. That which ceases is the obstructed, thinking mind. Awareness does not cease. The mind first has one thought; when thinking of the next, the first thought has ceased. Awareness ~ unceasing and unlimited, beyond the conceptual mind of the three times, unmoving in the three times. Empty essence, cognizant nature and unlimited capacity; these three: aspects are extremely profound. If the cognizance and the emptiness were limited, the limitation would resuh in only cogniunce or only emptiness. That is not the case; the emptiness is cognizant, and the cognizance empty. Moreover, neither limits the other and that unobstructedness is itself the arising of the compassionate capacity. The empty essence is dharmakaya, unconstructed like space; ara1 the cognizant nature is sambhogakaya, which is intrinsic to SPJce like the sun and the moon. The unlimited capacity is like the image of the moon reflected on water. When the moon is ::fleeted on the surface of the water, its image is not obstructed or limited. It appears naturally, except when there is no water. lik~wise, the nirm:makaya works for the benefit of beings in an aplnsi,·e and unrestricted way. All three kayas arc contained within awareness. \X'hcn one has t:(ognized thu fact, one is said to have resolved it. Really, nothing
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VAJRA HEART
is impossible once awareness has been recognized; but until recognition occurs you will always have difficulties, no matter what you do. The perfect docs not come about; everything remains imperfect or fake, and the development will also be unnatural. Therefore one need not hold on to the cultivation of the development stage. To let the expression of awareness arise as development stag: and then to remain within awareness is enough. One need not examine the awareness expression at all. Our present ordinary cultivation of the Vajrayana path is a short path, a method for purifying evil deeds, as in Mahayoga and Arm Yoga. In Ati Yoga the development and completion stages are called Trekcho and Toga) and do not nec:d to be produced. The development stage of Ati Yoga invol\•es no development. All the deities arc complete in the mind mandala of Ati Yoga. One cannot say that deities are nonexistent, because they do appear in the bardo. Visualization is sufficient once in the beginning of the session. After that, let gc and remain free from an object, free from a mental reference point. Visualize the whole thing vividly one time and then rest in the state of objccrlessness. To alternate the practice so that one sometimes keeps an objective reference and sometimes doesn't, of course does no harm, but one need not alternate. Alternating between visualizing and resting does no harm because thought occurrence is itself the expression of rigpa. so when it arises as the visualization, this is fine. Thoughts and visualization arise as the expression of rigpa when one has attained some stability. Lacking stability, the expression becomes too forceful and the essence seems to get lost in that stare. When the essence is 'out of sight,' not recognized,
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DEVELOrMF.NT STAGE
that defect causes the development stage to incrca~e discursive thoughts. On the other hand, when recognition of the essence is stabilized, the expression of rigpa within the state of the essence will appear vividly as the visualization of the development stage. Thus, the unobstructed expression of your awareness arises as the development state out of the primordially pure essence, the selfexisting awareness, without moving away from this state for even ar. instant. (Laughs).
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RJECIT'ATION
"The methodfor nondistraction is mindfidness. "
In our Guru Rinpoche practice (the previously mentioned Trinley Nyingpo), after visualizing the deity you proceed with the recitat:on of the various mantras. When reciting you should try to recognize the essence of all thoughts as dharmakaya and be free from distraction. This Guru Rinpoche practice includes first a recitation for Amitayus. the approach: then for Avalokiteshvara, the jitll approa:b; then for Guru Rinpoche as the accomplislmzmt; then the Totreng Tsal mantra which is the intent of the grrat accomp
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VAJRA HEART
plislmzmt; and finally the Harinisa mantra which fulfills the activities and is the app!icatio11 oftiJt activitits. In another way, all aspects of approach and accomplishment can be completed within the recitation of a single mantra. The first of the four is the so-called 'moon with a garland of stars:' the syllable 1-1 RIJ I surround::d by a garland of stars in Guru Rinpoche's hean center. Then, as the mantra starts to circle and revolve, there is the second intent or visualization which is called the 'fire brand.' These refer to approach and full approach which are com· plctcd together in this practice. The 'moon with the garland of stars' is generally considered the intent of the approach, and the 'fire brand' the intent of the full approach. These represent the first two of the four types of recitation intents, approach and full approach, which arc here contained simply as approach. The third, 'the messenger of the king,' begins with the emanation of light rays. Upwardly one makes offerings to the mandala of the victorious ones; downwardly, the rays of light are the generosiry which purifies all the obscurations and negative karmas of sentient beings. This radiating upwards and downwards while making offerings and purifying sentient beings is called the intent of 'the king's messenger,' and belongs to the third aspect of recitation, the: accomplishment. The fourth, great accomplishment, includes all four of approach, full approach, accomplishment and great accomplishment. At the rime of pursuing rhe great accomplishment, there should be an individual for each of the deities in the practice. For example, for a convocation of the peaceful and wrathful deities, one needs a hundred people for the hundred deities. Then such a practice can truly be called great accomplishment.'
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RECITATION
In the practice of Barchey Kunscl, the redtarion of the Harinisa mantra fulfills the pacifying, enriching, magnetizing and subjugating activities embodied by the four gate keepers. Each of the four cypes of activilies has its own particular mantra for whatever action one has to complete. If one needs to magnetize, there is a magnerizing mantra; if one needs to subjugate there is a subjugating mantra. Through the supreme mantra, which is the spontaneously accomplished activity, one can accomplish the supreme action. In this case then there are five aclivities: pacifying. enriching, magnetizing, subjugating and the supreme activity, which is the spontaneously accomplished acrivity, the samadhi action of self-existing wakefulness. The merhod for nondistraction is mindfulness. In the beginning the mindfulness is called mindfulness of deliberate attentio:t. Mter training somewhat, one's mindfulness doesn't require effort any more; effortless mindfulness occurs naturally. The dharmata mindfulness follows after this. Mindfulness is itself the method for nondistraction. When your cattle graze on the mountain side, you must be a watchman and keep an eye on them: to look after them, to watch whether or not wild animals have eaten them or whether or not they th::mselves are eating grass. To keep an eye on whether or not rigpa is distracted one needs first of all deliberate mindfulness. As that is realized, one slowly becomes practiced in or accustomed to it, and mindfulness becomes effortless. Finally, one slowly reaches dharmata mindfulness and wisdom mindfulness. The scriptures mention six different kinds of mindfulness. On reaching the stage of the exhaustion of phenomena beyond concepts, recollection occurs as original wakefulness. This means that
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VAJRA Hf.Al\'1'
mindfulness has turned into wisdom, yesbr. \Vhcn that happens one needn't be mindful because there is neither distraction nor confusion. Mindfulness has become original wakefulness. As Jigmey Lingpa said: \flbm awarmrss r.rrivrs in tbr bmatt spacr, Anal)'lical mrditation naturally crmrs. Tht zvatciJtr dispmts imo tmptbuss. /low drlighrfid. firr and ttlSJ tlu spacr ofnondual awarmtss!
That is how it happens in Dzogchen. But until that truly occurs, mindfulness is indispensable. The emphasis in Dzogchcn is on effonless mindfulness that finally becomes sc:lf-sustained: mindfulness that is vivid, wakeful and effortless, naturally alcrr without being forced, without any tension or struggle. Once you have become accustomed to such cffonless presence of mind, there is only undistracted rigpa. Right now, rigpa. lacking self-sustaining discipline, is completely wild or untamed. That is how mind is at this point. We have fallen into this unruly habit by having f.1iled to recognize that, since beginninglcss time, dharmakaya permeates all of samsara and nirvana, all that appws and exists. Thus we must apply mindfulness. This application of mindfulness is equally true according to Madhyamika, Mahamudra or Dzogchen. Dzogchen mixes mindfulness and awareness and calls it awakcness or wakcfulne1.<. Mahamudra calls it watchfulness, and Madhyamika alertness. which is a combination of mindfulness, conscicmiousncss and carefulness. This care:'ulness can be compared to that of a newly wedded bride. With no anger whatsoever she speaks softly, ffiO\'CS gently in an emicing way and docs everything with consideration
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RECITATION
and care. Such carefulness is appreciated! This is the principle of almness and carefulness described in the Madhyamika which says that one needs mindfulness, conscientiousness and care. Presence of mind, the consdc:ntiousncss and carefulness, are definitely necessary. In the Barchey Kunsel sadhana, when practicing mantra recitation, one first visualizes the buddha mandala of one's body, then practices d:e approach, accomplishment, and applications of the acti\'ities simultaneously, like bees swarming from the hive. One's body is visualized as the nature of deity, the deity's body; all sounds are of the nature of the deity's speech: all thoughts are of the nature cf the deity's mind. According to the Secret Mantra tradition of the Nyingmapa, sights have the nature of body, sounds the nature of speech and thoughts the nature of mind. This is called the triple application of sil!hts, ... sounds and awareness . One should be the watchman of mindfulness. At first this mindfulness and clear wakefulness is deliberate. Requiring elTon in the beginning, it will slowly become spontaneous, like a river's consrant flow. A river does not flow slowly at times and quickly at ti:nes. A placid river is constant, slowly and peacefully flowing on without stopping. In such a way, one remains in a state of nondistraction without meditation. Some people say they arc meditating \\ithout being distracted. That attimdc too should be avoided. Proceed without distracdon and without meditation, without '1\"lndering and without cultivating a meditation state. One type of nondistraction is artificial and cultivated; one simply sits and holds on to the idea of being undistracted. This is ~milar to a certain traditional medicine against stomach disorder
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which, if undigested, becomes poison in the stomach. In the same way sitting and thinking "I am nor distracted, I am not distracted," is just another thought. When speaking of self-existing wakefulness, self-existing is the unfabricated quality of wakefulness, and original wakefulness means undcluded and undisrracted, primordial knowing. Unaware of this, we do not know that which has been our basic state since the very beginning. Knowing that which has always been our nature, is called orisinal wakefulness, primordial knowing. In other words, sdf-existing refers to that which is already in one's being and is not forced or produced through effort, neither accepted nor rejected. Original wakefulness or ytsiJt is primordial knowing, not primordial ignorance. There is dualistic fixation if this self-existing wisdom is mixed with even a hair-tip of a concept of a meditator and an object being meditated upon. That concept will tie us down. \V'ithout this conceptual defect, all sentient beings would be b~.:ddhas. All beings do possess the buddha-mind. Self-existing wisdom is primordially present in everyone from dharmakaya Samar.tabhadra down to the smallest insect. It is not just temporarily present. Were it just a temporary presence, we wouldn't know about it. \V'e could think, "It is probably not from the beginning. It may be only some temporary thing. I don't know." If our buddha nature only existed sometimes, it would be difficult to realize. What is it that leads us astray and brings about our downfall? It is the idea of a r.teditator and a meditation object. By regarding self-existing wisdom as something to meditate upon and retaining the conceptual m:nd as the meditator, we gain the intellectual knowledge of an empty and cognizant state. \Y/e keep that state in
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RECITATION
mind thinking, "The lama said there is something empty and cognizant. This must be it. I must not lose it by distraction." The whole thing becomes fabrication. Without such fabrication, selfexisting wakefulness is unfettered and free. Since the very beginning there is nothing to tie self-existing wakefdness. If something is tied, then again it must be untied. But since it has never been tied or fettered, it need not be untied. It is free, totally free, naked and fresh. Th: originally free wakefulness is not something you must create or manufacture; it is simply the point at which we must all arrive. Most people try to make the self-existing temporarily existing. They try to make 're-aware' what is primordially aware, they try to make it something to be newly understood. What need not be contrived, they make anificial. What need not be held, they try to catch. That is called conceptual delusion, being dduded by thoughts. This conceptual delusion has occurred for lifetime after ~fetime. As a master once said: "\Vakcfulness is beyond being f:rrered and beyond being freed." This statement is very signific.mt. Something fettered would need to untied, liberated. We wJuld !lave a job to do. But, being primordially unfettered, we n('edn't free it again. We need only attend to the truth. "Tht first instant is likt ont thoustlnd ouncts ofgold."
By applying mindfulness of deliberate attention, one recognizes: "I have wandered away, I must look again." One docs just that. Otherwise, to characterize this activity as nondistraction: "I am \\'3t~hing, I am not distracted," is to be engulfed in thought. Persisting with that attitude is fixation. One need not think like 89
VAJRA HEART
that: one should cast away thoughts of both distraction and of nondistraction. No benefit resuhs from thinking "I am not distracted!" Binding oneself to the thought "I have no distraction," the bond itself, though not aa iron chain, is a golden one. One's unbridh:d thoughts are the links in the iron chain of distraction. But think· ing "Now, there is no distraction, I am undistracted," one forges a golden chain. Such fixation ties one down. Cast away both the thoughts "I am distracted" and "I am not distracted." Dzogchen teaches that one should be free from both accepting and rejecting. The most important thing is to recognize the nature of mind. One shou]d notice with the mindfulness of ddibcrate ar· tent ion, "I am distracted." That is the deliberate mindfulness. In the very moment of reminding oneself, simply remain in natu· ralness. Whereas starting to think, "I am without distraction," is merely conceptual overlay. Give up both the thought "I am wandering," and the thought "I am not wandering," and just remain freely. Of the three ways of freely resting, the first is like a fred)' resting moumain. A moumain stays still. Not straying with th~ thought "I am withom distraction," rest freely in the immediate moment. Casting away thoughts of both distraction and nondistraction, be free from both watcher and what is watched. This most crucial point of the view marks the borderline between buddhas and ser.tiem beings, between light and darkness. (Rinpoche laughs). If you think you are undistracted, you are still a semient being. Having recognized the nature of awareness, the imporunt point is to resolve this recognition. Failing to do that one remains
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fenered and unfree. So if in the first moment of noticing distraction, one thinks "I was distracted," this is the occurrence of the mindfulness of deliberate attention, simple deliberate mindfulness. If one first thinks "I am distracted, I shouldn't be distracted," by neither accepting nor rejecting, one arrives directly in awareness. Like switching on a flash light, the light shines. That is the most important point. We needn't intercede by thinking "I am not distracted." As is said: "Beyond the clouds of appearance is the: sky of absolute meaning." By giving up all thought of "It is, it is not; I am distracted, I am not distracted," clear wakefulness remains. This is the dharmakara of profound brilliance, the arriving in awareness itself. Not needing to think "I am undistracted," one arrives at nondistraction. \X'hereas thinking "I am undistractcd," is like arplying a patch to cover a defect. Keeping or casting away, accepting or rejecting, is not wakefulness. Thinking "I am undistracted," one is keeping account, establishing a reference point, fabricating the thought of nondistraction. By establishing the nondistraction and casting away the distraction, one is accepting and rejecting, keeping and casting away. Jigmey Lingpa revealed the most important point: "The first instant is like one-thousand ounces of gold." When there is no thought, it is like not wearing an>· clothes. It is naked, exposed. Thinking "I am undisrractcd," howcvc: is like putting clothes on again. The correct view is said to be free from fixation; one is never told to fixate. To think "I am not distracted," is mere fixation, an experience within conceptual mind. Cognizance is beyond concepts. Thinking that one is not distracted, one remains fettered by concepts.
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Give up both accepting and rejecting. Never think "Now it is correct," or "Now, my meditation state is not exactly right." Direct awareness is when you engage in not even a hair tip of affirming or denying, accepting or rejecting, keeping or casting away or correcting anything. Although such awareness doesn't last very long, if one tries to prolong it then it is scaffolded by concepts and is no bnger cutting through. It is slow cutting. (Rinpoche laughs) This is the meaning of Trekcho, cutting through. It is a very important term, 'cutting through' or the 'thorough cut.' If one thinks there is something to keep, something to establish such as "I am not distracted from what I was introduced to," one has still not cut through. Having abandoned the thinker and what is thought of, rest thought-free like a child. Both what has been thought before and what can be thought of later must be abandoned. Both the concepts of subject and object must be c.1st away. Having completely cast away the thinker and what is being thought, watch as a thought-free child. · A small child has not fully developed the aggregate of conccp· tions. h lacks ideas or notions such as "I am going to do this. I will eat that tonight." Living in the immediate present, a child sees food, thinks "I want," and ears. Sitting and thinking "I am without distraction," one is not like a child because a small child never thinks this. Of course there is a difference in that a child hasn't been introduced to the essence. However, after connecting with a qualified master, we ha\'e been introduced to the naked, present wakefulness. After that, ro start thinking "I ar:t undisrracted" is to imroduce a concept. Without casting away the five aggregates, we will not attain the
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five buddhas. As long as we arc involved in the five aggregates, the five wisdoms remain far away. Thus the aggregates of conception should be abandoned. By being engrossed in thinking "I am without distraction," one: is still conceptualizing. Awareness by itsc:lf is completely awake, the unity of cognizance and emptiness. As long as the moment of naturally undisrractc:d awareness has not deteriorated, is not lost, one need not think that one should avoid being distracted. But when the continuity has been lost and natural awareness is finished, you need mindfulness to arrive back in awareness, just like switching on again the light that went off.
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TORJMA
"Do11 t imagine that became one practices Ati Yoga, one sbou!d abandon the ttct ofpresenting these offirings."
When beginning a retreat you should gather the offerings and the torma; when doing the daily practice, if you have no torma, you can create them mentally. There are both materially present obj:cts and mentally created ones. The materially present objects serve as examples and are actually less important. We create me:ually offered objects because the relative should be sealed wit!t the absolute. If the relative is lacking the absolute will suffice. As a beginner, one takes the materially present as the relative and th: mentally created as the absolute. When delusion has been cleared
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and the relative: purified, only the absolute is required. Symbolic offerings are not needed. Tantric teachings include the three of symbol, sign and meaning. Taking the symbols as support, it is said one should firsr arrange the offerings and tormas. The offering articles arc the argham, padyam, etc., the: drinking water, washing water, flowers, incense, lamp, perfume, (food and music). The inner offerings are amrita, rakta and torma. The secret offering is the unity of bliss and emptiness. Practice: materials refer to the offering articles. All the texts say that one should give torma ro the "local deity" and ro the "permanent deity," and that one should also offer a feast to the Three Roots. The purpose of such offerings is to eliminate obstacles and to swiftly accomplish the supreme and common siddhis. There arc two kinds of local deities, one called a permanent resident and the other a local resident, who has arrived temporarily. Torma is presented to both of these. Acruallr. according to custcm, the property owner should be asked for permission first: "Please let me usc your place. I am using it to practice vinue." The owner agrees and permission is obtained. Even if no one owns the land, there is still the local deity and the lord of the area. The lord at Nagi Gompa is the lord of the Shivapuri region and the local deity is Maheshvara, the deity for all of Nepal, who is very influential in this country. Both are ksbttrapal4z, Dharma protectors. \V/e present them with lOrma saying. "Please don't be displeased, have ill-will, or feel envious. I am doing this practice to attain enliglnenment for the sake of all beings as vast as the sky. My only purpose is to benefit all these
TORMA bein~,
nothing else. Permit me to use this place for spiritual n pract1ce. Torma is also offered to expel obstructing forces, the so-called gtk. In this case, you first give a torma peacefully, insisting "Now, don't stay here. Go elsewhere. I have many herukas on my side." Say rhe corresponding mantras and send the torma outside. Finally, in a wrathful way you emanate wrathful figures, rakshas, coundess as dust particles and chase them far, far away to the other side of the world ocean, imagining that they have been expelled. That is the wrathful way of the gtktor, the torma to the obstructing forces. In short, there arc peaceful, insistent and wrathful ways of dispelling the obstructing forces. The local lord and deity on the other hand, should not be expelled, but presented peacefully with the white torma and requested that there be no obstacles for accomplishing enlightenment. One should say "Please lend me your land; enjoy this torma however you like," and imagine that permission is received, that the deities arc pleased and satisfied. The torma represents the five pleasurable sense objects: beautiful form, melodious sound, sweet fragrance, delicious taste and soft pleasant touch. The mental object is an abundance of bliss and happiness. We imagine that we have made this present, that the deities are satisfied and content, and reply: "Child of noble family, usc this place as you wish." Imagining that we have received this permission, we present the torma and have finished. By presenting the gektor in the peaceful, insistent and wrathful ways, we have expelled the obstructing forces far, far away. Don't imagine that because one practices Ati Yoga, one should abandon the act of presenting these offerings. The tantras should be com•
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bined with the scriptur~s. dtc scriptures with the instructions, the instructions with the sadhana ritual, and dte ritual with the personal application. Do not disregard the application. Following the 10rma. offering, one visualizes the surrounding protection circle and continues the root text of one's particular sadhana practice with the consecration of the offerings. The ulrimate offering is beyond the threefold conceptions of offerer, offering and recipicm. In the space of the view, there is onlr oneness. That is the ultimate offering. Vajrayana includes the three aspects known as sign, symbol and mtmzing. The signs are what are displayed on the shrine, and the symbols arc what one docs with the hands, the mudra offering of ARGI-IAM, PADYAM, PUSUPE, DHUPE, etc. For an outsider who docs not know the meaning of the Secret Mantra teachings, mudra offerings look like children's play. If one really understands however, the experience is extremely profound and significant. Other people might say "I don't know what they're doing. just moving their hands ab:mt and playing around. What is the use of that?" They will question the purpose. In fact, every detail of Vajrayana practice has these three aspects: symbol, meaning and s1gn. The real meaning is the unity of appearance and emptiness or cognizance and emptiness. The entire phenomenal realm, all that appears and exists, universe and beings, has been consecrated to be self-existing wisdom, the unity of cognizance and emptiness. Nyingmapa tradition holds that when performing a ritual the phrases 'wisdom fire, wisdom wind, wisdom water' are alwars used. The word wisdom is always involved. Wisdom is the basic principle. Thus we speak of accumulating the wisdom
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TORMA
accumulations and offering the wisdom offerings. In Tibetan, wisdom is yrsbt, in Sanskrit, j111ma. In fact, there is nothing without wisdom. One follows the sadhana text through the development stage, the recitation stage and finally the completion stage. The completion stage has two parts: dissolution and emergence. Dissolution means that the entire phenomenal world dissolves into the deity and into the HUNG, the HUNG into the bindu and into the subtle 11ada, then into the nonconceptual, ultimate emptiness. One rests in the state of the true view. Emergence is manifesting in the form of the deity, with the pride of the deity. These two parts clear up the: two views of permanence and nihilism. The view of permanence, that things last, is cleared by dissolving into emptiness. To think that everything is empty is also inappropriate, the view of nothingness. So one again visualizes oneself as the main figure, the deity, and thereafter continually regards oneself as the deity. Finally one concludes with the excellent dedication.
"Substantial drmomand imubstamial drmom. ,. There are actually three kinds of enemies: the external, the internal and the ultimate. The external, outer enemies arc hostile toward the doctrine and toward the practitioner. With a perverted view of the teachings, they say there arc no deities, no phenomena (truths), no mantras, no blessings, no compassion and no buddha activity. Inner enemies are the conccprual thoughts of grasping and fixation; grasping outwardly at objects and fixating inwardly on mind. The ultimate enemy is the concept of antidote, the conceptual veil. This means doubt. Actually a subtle doubt or hesitation is identical to the cognitive obscuration. As long as the
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subtle concept is not eliminated then the cognitive obscuration cannot be cleared up. As Machik Labdron said: "Substantial demons and insubstant:al demons, joy demons and the demon of pride. The demon of pride is the root of all." This demon creates the greatest obstacle for practice. Taking the form of concepts, of perpetual thinking, it is the demon of indecision, indecision regarding the view, and doubt. Having arrived at the correct view, one might still wonder "Is this really it? Maybe it isn't." These four demons derive from the tradition of Cho. The general four demons are: the demon of the aggregates, the demon of the klesha.~. the demon of the son of the gods and the demon of the lord of death. But the Cho recognizes the so-called substantial obstructable and insubstantial unobstructable demons. The substantial demons refer to enemies like Mao Tsetung for instance, who can be burned, chopped into pieces, and carried away by water. •obstructable' or •substantial' means actual material demons. The unobstructable, insubstantial demons arc called gtk. The Tibetan tradition includes four-hundred and four kinds of diseases and eighty-thousand kinds of demonic forces. The demonic forces here refer to the unobstructable demons. Swords cannot pierce them nor stones hit them. They however, can kill people. The two categories of substantial and insubstantial demons incorporate the four general demons. The demon of the son o[tiJt gods is laziness. This demon is the postponement of practice, the thought "I'll practice tomorrow, or at least the day after." To think that we can practice Dharma when we have everything together, when all conditions are perfect, is the deceptive mara of the son of the gods.
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TORMA
Although one might think a comfortable srate of body and mind facilitates Dharma practice, difficulty. sickness or un· happiness are actually beuer incentives. The perfect time to practice meditation is when one feds completely without peace. Most people cannot practice when they are happy and joyful. When depressed and sick, or undergoing many hardships, mcd· itation practice is the best antidote. That is true now, in the bardo and even if one ends up in the hells. Whichever is the case, external objects cannot harm, cannot govern self-existing wakefulness. Therefore by thinking that one must get all favorable conditions together before practicing the Dharma, one is already possessed by the mara without even beginning practice. That is the demon of the son of the gods. Do not hesitate, practice imme· diatcly regardless of conditions. Only then will obstacles slowly fall away by themselves. Otherwise if one seeks a good time, obstacles have already arrived. Most people think they must first arrange everything nicely and then practice Dharma. They think "If I don't practice this year, surdy I will do it the year after." Obstacles will arise and next year is never certain. We may become sick, our relatives may fall ill, or there may be war in the world. Many different things can happen, many kinds of obstacles: the external obstacles of the four dements, the inner obstacles of nadi and pranas, and the secret obstacles for samadhi, grasping and fixation.
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SHAMATHA AND
VJIPASHYANA
"Words art like rice husks, one will gradually cast words , away. Students sometimes wonder whether shamatha praclice involves wakefulness, and if so, wh.ether it is connived. The word shamarha means abiding peacefully. There is essentially some bliss in that peace or calm, and the abiding means there is fixation. Shamatha is the same as delighr or bliss. and abiding means grasping or fixating on bliss. When there is no fixa-
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tion, no clinging to the wakefulness, it is not shamatha; it is the naked vipashyana, clear seeing. Thus the shamatha state arises with a slight auachmem, with a slight fascination in it; that is the definition of shamatha. Whereas vipashyana, clear seeing, is wide open, awake. Paluiil Rinpoche has described this state of vipashyana as being bare, but wide open; this wide-openness is inexpressible, indescribable. With such wide-openness you cannot merely abide in peace, in the shamatha state, because there is no abider and nothing abided in. If you say •abide,' it means abiding in the empty state, that the empty abides in something. Of course, the mind is empty, but if you say that this emptiness abides, then the emptiness refers to a fixation on the peace, the calm, the bliss. The abiding means that there is fixation on that sense of peace. So just remaining, holding onto this bliss, thinking "What a famasric meditation I have!" you almost dare not move your body at all for fear that "lfl move the body, the state will collapse." When you have bliss and attachment to the feeling of bliss, there is duality, and the seed or the cause for rebirth in the three realms of samsara is thereby still sown in your being. This is why mere shamatha practice does not bring liberation and enlightenment. If there is peace or calm, there is some delight or bliss, and then there is abiding in or clinging to it. Fixation accompanies this bliss, this case in the: feeling "So comfortable, so relaxed!" It is like feeling your body is not there at all; and if you move the body you feel "Now, my meditation will disappear." You fear "My meditation will vanish, it will disappear." In other words, shamatha means holding on to peace whereas vipashyana is nakedness, wide open and indescribable. This is the
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SHAMATHA AND VIPASHVANA
true meaning of vipashyana, the: vipashyana of dharmakaya, the dharmakaya awareness, rigpa. This is what is meant by the naked state of dharmakaya. "By tbr grrat ligbmbzg gau" - nowness is like a flash of lightning descending from the sky. "By thr grrat lighming gau, both butldluzs and brings art .frrtd." 'Buddhas' here means good thoughts, and 'sentient beings' means bad thoughts. In such awareness both good and bad thoughts are freed. Otherwise, such good thoughts as devotion, respect and shamatha ere. would remain. The nakedness of vipashyana is merely free freshness, no buddhas and no beings. This does not mean actual buddhas and actual beings. The statement refers to good thoughts and bad thoughts, that you should be frec:d from both so-called positive and negative thought states. Good thoughts are devotion, rc:lative devotion and relative compassion. Relative here means a concept is involved. These must all be destroyed, freed. 'No buddhas' means freeing the good thoughts; 'no sentient beings' means that our dduded experience and ego-clinging are equally liberated. Again, "By tbr grtat lighming gau, both buddhas and brings arr frml." Listen to that. Recognize how it is in that first instant. There are no good thoughts, no bad thoughts. That is the meaning of freeing both buddhas and beings. Don't cling to, don't become fascinated by your particular degree of wakefulness. Thought-free wakefulness is completely clear as the mind does nor apply or arrange any concepts. It is the first instant in which nothing is made, constructed, cultivated or manufactured; it is your present, uncrearcd freshness. If you have the feeling "I must make my meditation state a little more wakeful," you should realize that this feeling is born of intellectual understanding. You should be free of that. If you are
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too detailed in your approach. too concerned about this, then the meditation will not be successful because it is just conceptual mind which wams to be very correct. This must also be abandoned. OtheiWisc:, there is some concept involved. Thinking "Now I know. I know I am aware of this," there is a conceptual aspect to the experience. That which is aware is actually awareness wisdom. We needn't try to know; by itself it is wakeful, nonconceptual. Awareness wisdom is not something that we have created conceptually, by or from our intellect. If you think that, you are wrong, you err. Or you may think "There is some knowing. This is not right." Without any knowing, without cognizance, we would be unconscious. This knowingness or knowledge however, is self-existing, it is not something we have manufactured. This is the crucial point. Most people think that when they really examine this wakefulness of self-existing wisdom, it is just conceptual mind. They think they should attain something superior to that. But nothing whatsoever is superior; one has reached naked awareness itself. You can be too particular. Some people think "Self-existing wisdom is without a knower." They think there shouldn't be any knowing at all. Particularizing too much like this, you become trapped by fixation. But rigpa, awareness, has self-cognizant presence of mind, self-cognizant mindfulness. By thinking "Isn't this sense awareness jwt conceptual mind? It is probably just a mental fabrication. I need something totally unfabricated. This is not enough!", you develop a kind of suspicion or fear. Better to remain totally loose in that very instant, as it is, not making it worse, not trying to uplift or improve it. This is what you should
of
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SHAMATHA AND Vtl'ASHYANA
decide on. There is nothing other than that. You need not need think "There must be something better," because in this very moment, awareness is nakedly manifest. Believing there is something better than this, some people think, "This state is not correct. It is not self-existing wisdom. There is some conceptual involvement here!" But you have not created your awareness; it is self-existing, self-occurring. Were it fabricated even the tiniest bit, it would be dependent on conc::pmal mind. Bur it need not be manufacmred. That's the genuine awareness with no error whatsoever. What is the natural state, the actual state of awareness? It is the first instant. Don't defame or praise it; don't exaggerate or denigrate it. Yet we are not to blame if we slip into fabricating a little. Since bcginningless time, we have been fabricating the unfabricated. When we say "Let go into nonfabrication," isn't that itself also unnatural? Isn't letting go also a fabrication? \'Y/e use words because we: have no other way to proceed, but saying "Let go, rest loosely!", doesn't mean that there is something that is being let go of and somebody who lets go. True letting go is without these two, beyond duality. Wltcn you have finally attained stability in your practice, rclyin~ on such words as "Let go, rest loosely!" can be quite damaging. How can words compare to the naked, self-existing awareness itself? Words are just like rice husks. You will gradually cast words away as your view deepens, as it becomes more profound. \\Then the view reaches fullness, you will really know how much damage words cause. The practitioner should then recognize how submerged or entangled in words he has become. But you cannot notice that right now. The view is free from
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viewer and viewed. When you have grown accustomed to rigpa through a correct view then you will understand that "I have just been clinging to words. The words and what they mean are so different." In the true state of Dzogchen it is said you should "Herd primordially ftee rigpa with innatt mindfolnm." Nurture it as you would herd grazing cattle. Innate means uninterrupted. Then after that, rest freely. Dzogchen teachings use the words 'rest freely' a lot. So when nurturing the primordially free rigpa with innate mindfulness, without being disrracted or carried away, rest freely just as it is. In this context self-abiding nondistraction, is called mindfulness. But such mindfulness is without duality. When the primordially free rigpa is nurtured by innate mindfulness, the rigpa is nurturing or sustaining, watching itself. Mahamudra wes the word watchfulness or keeping guard, indicating a sense of watching. For some people, without some watchfulness or keeping guard, without some mindfulness, there is no abiding and the meditation is lost. Without this support they have no meditation. So it is said "By fobritattd mind, one is led to the natural statt." Fabrication leads you to the natural state, to the genuine truth. Were a beginner to proceed without the duality of a watcher and something watched, just resting freely, with no previous practice in this, his or her mind would be left without any support. Mahamudra definitely emph1sizes mindfulness as the main pan of meditation. In the first stage of the path of Mahamudra, in ontpointedntss, mindfulne55 is mixed with shamatha. Reaching simplicity. mindfulness is discarded. So in general you can say that the Mahamudra system treats beginners very kindly. Depending on your lc3rma, your interest will be in Dzogchen or Mahamudra.
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SHAMATHA AND VlrASHYANA
When Tscwang Drakpa, Chokgyur Lingpa's son, was asked to explain the general teachings of Dzogchen, he said, "Don't ask me for mind-teaching. I am a person who made it to the roof of the house without wing the stairs. Through my explanations you won't understand anything. You won't be helped at all. So don't ask me for mind-teachings, ask some other teacher." He was one of those who took the s11ddm approach and therefore said: "You can't ask me for mind-teaching. Somebody who explains should know the path, should tell you which step to take first, that you should go slowly up the staircase in such and such way. I have no practical knowledge at all. Were I to explain my view to you, you wouldn't be helped." Mahamudra, on the other hand, leads one to the effortless by means of deliberate mindfulness. In the Dzogchen system, in the very moment of recognizing your distraction, you have arrived at riga. For example when striking a match the flame appears the instant the match is struck, simultaneously. Likewise at the moment of noticing the distraction, you arrive at rigpa. If you fail to notice the distraction, there is of course, nothing at all. While being distracted, while wandering, you are unaware of that. When you cease wandering and notice "This is ignorance!" without rejecting it, that itself is sufficient. Do you understand? But as I have already mentioned you must understand when there is distraction and when there is not. This is very important. Not knowing the difference between wandering and not wandering, you can easily think "I am completely without distraction." Many people stray from the view in that way and such an artificial ani tude cannot destroy delusion. When thoughts are not freed or destroyed, how can you be free from samsara? The root of samsara is conceptual thought. So
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without being overpowered by thoughts, just rest self-contained and self-sufficient, in ncnconceptual wisdom. That is the view. The view is not something to be achieved from elsewhere. You must recognize that awareness is not something to be artificially prolonged. Nor should you try to shorten the duration of nondual awareness. Allow the moment of naturalness to exist as long as it lasts by itself. Neither try to prolong nor to shorten it because that would be jast a conceptually based undertaking. If it's long, it's long; if it's short, it's short. If the nondistraction lasts for a long time, let it be; a thought of nondistraction is useless. So do not have nondistraction where you think "I am without distraction," but a freely, self-abiding naturalness that is neither foreshortened or lengthened by your intentions. In that moment of naturalness, none of the three poisons of aggression, passion or delusion arise. The natural srate contains none of the three poisons and no thoughts of the three times. If thoughts of the three times exist, then as they have a place to adhere to and something to follow, the basis for passion, aggression and delusion to arise is there. When past, present and future do not exist, the three poisons have: nothing to adhere to or follow after. When the three poisons arc: not present, then nothing will grow, as they are the roots of the three realms of samsara, the seeds of the desire realm of the form and formless realms. No crop grows if no seeds are planted. Nor will there be any cause to stray into the three realms of samsara. The thoughts that do arise while resting in naturalness are st/f O(curring and st/flibtrattd, the expression of rigpa. When recognized, these thoughts which arise from yourself are liberated and freed back into yourselt: They dissolve back into the space of
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rigpa. This is unimrrmpud, srlfncmrrin.~ J't/flibtmtinn. Without gaining confldcn'c in this freeing of thoughts, even though you have recognized your essence, you arc unable to desrroy delusion. Delusion accompanies the thoughts that arise as an expression of rigpa, unless you have attained the state of rxlumstinn ofplmzomma bryond co71ctpts. But right now, thinking of ground, path and fruition, we arc at the stage of the path and have not yet realized the view of fruition. Thoughts occur from yourself; they don't come from elsewhere. They are the expression of rigpa. Again a thought arises from the expression of rigpa, again it dissolves into the space of rigpa. \X'irh training in this again and again as path, you become used to ir, the force of the thoughts decreases and rigpa becomes uninterrupted. Finally phenomena and concepts become exhausted; they finish. Upon reaching this level there: is no distraction. While undistracted, the thoughts that used to occur from rourself do not arise. When the strength of the thoughts is released into the primordially pure space, rigpa is said to be selfsufficient, to have seized its own seat of power. Seizing its own seat of power means that thoughts have dissolved into rigpa.
Ill
"The tnte sign ofpractice is that your mind is without fixation, naturally without any difficulty. "
E1GPJElUJENCES
"We siJottldfocus our minds on simplicity, the state of buddhahood, nonconceptual wisdom. " \Y/c must understand that the body is just a guest house, a templ'lrary dwelling. Some dwelling places arc good, some bad there are various kinds. When we travel a long distance the different places we stay at cannot all be good. Since mind is the most important - if the mind is indcpcndcm and can function b)' itself- why should the dwelling place matter? Don't worry about it. The body is just a guest house offering various pleasures and pains. You should not be governed by them.
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During practice, this physical body is both a help and a hindrance. Without a body, we would be a bardo consciousness, lacking independent power or force. Through the blessing of having a body, we do have some power. This body is actually an immense advantage. And yet it brings hindrances. for example, if we navel to Bodhgaya, unless we fly, we pass through mountains and valleys, ups and downs, rivers and gorges. There are comfortable places, steep places, all different kinds of places. Likewise our body, made of aggregates and elements, has within it the self-existir:g wisdom which is tied down by it. Due to the function of the fi,·e dements, the channels and winds, we sometimes feel at ease and sometimes disturbed. Sometimes, even without an external cause, the mind can become irritated. We can suffer even without any external painful object. Ahhough the enlightened essence its::lf experiences no suffering or pain, as we are tied down to the momentary habitual patterns and elements, our experience within the body varies. But as long as we persevere, regardless of ups and downs, hills and valleys, if we don't stop anywhere, sooner or later we will arrive at our destination, Bodhgaya. We should focus our minds on simplicity, the state of buddhahood, nonconceptual wakefulness. Aim your mind at that. Although you will not arrive immediately, if you aim towards it as if intending to go to Bodhgaya, then no matter what happens on the way, if you never give up you will arrive. Since harm occurs in the mind, whatever disturbances arise in this body from aggregates, elements and sense factors, just let go again and again inro unfabricated naturalness. Then you will reach your destination.
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Auach no imporrance to and don't be concerned about wharever happens, whatever you experience. Really this body is a great advantage. Without it you could not look into mind essence. In the hells, among the hungry ghosts or in the animal realm no one ever recognizes mind essence. That is how it is. As long as we have a body of aggregates, elements and sense factors, various experiences can occur. But your aim should be self-existing wakefulness. 'Aim' literally means the way you point your nose, your home place. So turn your nose towards home, towards what is ahead of you, in from and not behind. (Rinpoche laughs). For example, whenever I go abroad, my home place is Nagi Gompa. Your home place should be what is self-existing, free from concepts, primordial wakefulness, ytsht. Yeshe means wakefulness which is primordially free from distraction. When distracted, there is no wakefulness. The undistracted aspect is ytslu, wakefulness - unconfused and unmistaken. If confused, the wakefulness is gone. 'T/u trut sign ofpractict is tbat your mind is without fixation. "
Cor.cerning true signs of practice, if one has meditated upon a )idam deity, one should receive the vision of it. The general signs of the completion stage such as lights, smoke, mirage and so forth also exist. These signs of blessings we can actually perceive concretely with our eyes. Then there are what we call 'experiences,' nyam, which are neither actual nor dream, but somewhere in between. We can have experiences of bliss or emptiness. We might think "Today my awareness is really amazing, naked and unchanging, free from
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fixation, free from anachment to the experiences of bliss, clarity and nomhought. What incredible awareness. Today my meditation is really good!" Such a feeling is just a passing experience, understand that; but it is nonetheless, a sign of practice. Sometimes we find it impossible to meditate, very difficult to sit; we feel depressed or angry. Those are unpleasant experiences. These two kinds of experience, pleasant and unpleasant, are both signs of practice. Not all signs of practice are good ones; some are good and some are bad. But no matter what happens, within the sky of primordial purity, all these experiences are like mere clouds. Sometimes the sky has douds, sometimes it is cloudless. Whether it rains, storms and snows, whether the sun shines from a cloudless sky adorned with rainbows, these: are all nothing but pleasant and unpleasant experiences. Among the signs cf practice there are two stages: experience and realization. The true sign of practice is that your mind is without fixation, naturally without any difficulty. Also, like the sky suffused with the warmth of sunlight, your mind is endowed with devotion, faith and compassion. When your mind feels such ease, that is a good :xperience, a good sign and the grc.ucst accomplishment. However the real accomplishment is remaining unharmed by the experiences of bliss, clarity and nomhought, and also remaining free from dullness and agitation, the two hindrances to meditation. These: hindrances are the two experiences that can temporarily harm our practice. Dullness is divided imo three: feeling dull, drowsy, or obscured. Agitation is also divided into three: feeling scattered, agitated, or ah~ent· minded; thus there are six divisions in all.
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In short, C\'Cil rhc: slighrcsr fixarion, the most subtle sense of holding on, can harm our practice. If we don't notice rhat we are obscured and become oblivious, or if we become excired or agitated, the mind finds it impossible to be quiet and we feel we cannot cut through the thoughts. But cutting through should be automatic. With drowsiness or dullness, not really knowing whether or not your awareness is clear or sharp, your awareness is obscured. Once free from these two, dullness and agitation, within awareness there is no obscuration for rhe viC\v, How long awareness lasts depends on our habituation, how much we arc: accustomed to it. The perfect method for becoming quickly accustomed to the unfabricated state of awareness is to have devotion 'upward' to enlightened beings and compassion 'downward' to unenlightened sentient beings. With these two, "In tbt momtnl oflovt tlu tmpty naturt t!awm naktd/y." Devotion upward and compassion downward are both love. Body, speech and mind may feel O\'erwhelmcd in this love. If at this moment you can look inwardly, it is like a sun unobscurcd by clouds. This is how Kagyi.i and Nyingma practitioners could attain enlightenment without being learned. With little theoretical undemanding they were able to gain experience, the great adornment of awareness. This experience should be without fixation since experience with fixation has no benefit. Swift attainment of enlightenment depends on faith and devotion upward toward the Three Jewels, and compassion downward toward our mother sentient beings. If we have these, in the ~oment of love the empty nature dawns nakedly; the namre of
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emptiness is nakedly manifest. This is the supreme path of unity devoid of errors. Buddhism's special quality is this unity untainted by the two extremes of eternalism and nihilism. A fall into the view of eternalism or the view of nihilism is a limitation that will impede progress on the correct path. Taking the view of the unity of being empty and cognizant, the cognizance clears away the extreme of nihilism and the emptiness clears away the extreme of eternalism. This unity is what we talk about as the unity of empty cognizance suffused with awareness. Without this unity, one person will say that mind is eternal, another will say it is void. Straying into these errors, the eternalist and nihilist views create the dualistic fixation of a perceiver and an object perceived. The supreme method is devotion and compassion. In the beginning you need fabricated devotion because natural, unfabricated devotion or unconuived compassion does not occur immediately. How do they occur? As you become more and more stable in awareness you will feel: "Sentient beings are unaware of this most precious nature, which is like buddhahood in the palm of one's hand!" You will naturally feel compassion toward all beings. That is how it will be. Devotion occurs like this: "How fanta.~tic to be able to cut through the very base and root of confusion. h is incredible, this perfection of all virtues, exhaustion of all faults. Nothing is superior to this awareness!" Thus you g.1in faith. The devotion and compassion which do not require fabrication are present within this awareness, in your own essence. To have natural compassion you first need the fabric.1tcd type. In the Dzogchen teachings we say that externally, onlr unfabricatcd natural compassion and devotion are imporram. But
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if we look carefully inward, we must begin with contrived faidt and compassion. Devotion and compassion arc the two greatest techniques, the most eminent means. They are 100 times better than meditating on deities and reciting mantras. If we know how, simply meditating on emptiness is completely sufficient. But if not, then compassion is extremely effecth·e. This is Buddhism's special quality. For the best result you need both emptiness and compassion, which is called 'emptiness suffused with compassion.' But if you haven't truly recognized the correct emptiness, then only through compassion can you be guided to emptiness. To have true devotion and compassion is like the summer warmth which melts the ice. Looking into the essence of devotion you meet naked awareness directly. That is why devotion is so precious and important. There are two kinds of bodhkhina: one is emptiness and the other is compassion. "Bestow the blessings, that emptiness suffused with compassion may dawn within my being!" The main quality of Buddhism is at best to recognize emptiness, the mind essence; but if you have not, then you should certainly practice compassion. As I have mentioned elsewhere, imagine how you will feel if your mother is before you and someone cuts off her arms and legs and head. The overwhelming feeling that arises is called compassion. Suppose you are crippled, or that you are tied down by chains and ropes with your mother in front cf you, and the enemy arrives. First they pull out her eyes, strangle her and take out her heart. Then how will you feel? You will feel love and compassion. This compassion can be cultivated, and through the blessings or virtue of this compassion, insight inro emptiness will dawn within your being.
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Emptiness without compassion is never taught. \'Vater will always be: wet. With an understanding of emptiness in your bdng. you will also have: compassion. Why is this? Without understanding emptiness. not a single sentient being will attain enlightenment. Once you realize emptiness you will think "If all sentient beings could realize this. oh how wonderful!"
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NO SJESSIONS, NO BRJEAI<S
"From morning till night nondistrnction is most . tmporta11t.
.
You should know how to practice during the course of a day. Dzogchen, the system of the Great Perfection, teaches "clarify consrioumm at dmun," then "givf tlu daytimf apfrimus tlu natural stJ!." This means remain in awareness in all experiences. Walking or sitting down, remain undistractcd, again and again, many
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times. Practicing nondistraction in that manner is the true path, with no division between sessions and breaks. Usually during sessions you sit down, then after sitting for a long time you get up and walk around and that is the break period or pmmudirntion. According to the Sutra systc:m, formal meditation is like space, and postrneditation is like illusion. So when engaging in the activities of daily life, you act as an illusory person performing illusory activitic:s, thinking everything is an illusion lacking concrete essence, that there are no real samsaric phenomena. However, the Dzogchen system does not distinguish between sessions and breaks. This means that from morning till night nondistraction is most imponant, not meditating and not being distracted. The best diligence is never to be separated from the practice. You should act like: this without giving up, as when rising from the meditation. 'Rising' here means leaving the formal meditation behind in order to enter the postmeditation stare, the daily life activities. Proceed instead by not alternating between formal meditation and postmeditation. Make no distinction or division between sessions and breaks. \X'hether you are sitting in a session or walking around, whether you are eating, sining or talking to people, remain in awareness. By practicing in that way you will quickly attain stability and enlightenment. As long as you alternate between formal meditation and posrmedirarion, you will remain in awareness at the time of formal meditation. Bur when it comes to postmeditation, you will lose the continuity. A]J thought is conceptual mind, thus Dzogchcn teaches the absence of di\"ision between sessions and breaks. Everything is session. Sometimes rou
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No SESSIONS, No BREAKS
will become distracted, bur then, again and again, try to remain in nondistraction. This is how you should proceed in order to truly practice Dzogchen. During sleep your mind is not free, so upon waking apply diligence as much as possible. Sometimes, as you have grown used to habitual patterns since beginningless time, the practice will slip away. Again and again we are carried away after just a short moment, because we have not become free from the trap of the two types of ignorance. \Y./e have nor attained liberation. 'No division between session and breaks' means that, practicing Trrkcbo, there is no time when you should look into mind essence and no time when you should not. The main point is to practice in short periods, but repeated many times. Otherwise as Jigmey Lingpa said, "If the short moment is extended it becomes conceptual," for a beginner it is impossible to remain in unfabricated naturalness for a long time, so the moment will be only brief. Repeat these short periods as often as you can, again and again. Otherwise, if the moment of naturalness lasts for a long time, you arc merely thinking that this is so. It cannot possibly last long now. Although many people say "for a whole hour, I am undimacted," if we kept count, they are probably distracted a hundred or a thousand times during one hour without noticing. However they still think "I am undistracted." The fact is that we are used to being distracted, and in reality the period of true nomntditation wiriJ no11distractio11, will never last more than just a short moment. That which lasts a long time is conceptual mind telling itself it is in the state of meditation. The true, unmistakcn, unpervertcd view is free from conceptions. t.=nperverted means free from conceptual mind. The true
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view is nor perverted, it is what it is. At present 'the being as it is' cannot last for a long period of time. You only think it is lasting. An extended duration of unfabricated wakefulness can happen after many years of practice. To be able to say "I have no distraction," after one or two years is quite unlikely. A child born today docs not immediately have the power of a twenty-five year old. Slowly, slowly it will grow up. After recognizing. you must train and auain stability. As I mentioned before, when traveling to Bodhgaya, the road is not straight. But no mauer how the road is, you should not become discouraged. Similarly, don't lose courage when f.1cing difficult experiences, but again and again relax loosely in awareness. Acting like this, we will arrive in Bodhgaya one day; we will anain c:nligluenment. Yet without seuing out on the road how will we ever arrive? If you think "I can't go, I can't go," then in one hundred years you will never get there. But if you don't stop on the way and don't give up, you will arrive. So the practice of looking into your essence should never be given up, whether you sit or walk, whatever you do. Since you are in a physical bod}'. different experiences will occur. So let whatever happens, happen. Do not give it roo much importance; be unconcerned about it. "It is inconetivahlt wisdom, not conctivabl~ wisdom."
Though your body may lie comfortably in bed, when you dream your mind goes through deluded experiences and is governed by them. To what do these experiences adhere? In the bardo it is the same. Dreaming at night, your mind experiences emotions such as joy and sorrow with no link berwecn the world and the mind, hut
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NO SESSIONS, No BREAKS
on waking, your body and mind and the sense objects are linked to each other in various ways. During the night while your body lies comfortably in bed, your mind is completely deluded, roaming around terrified or fascinated, engaged by different kinds of fears and delusions. Right now during the waking state, you are directly linked to the world, but in the dream state, as your body is lying asleep, no direct link exists. The habitual patterns that influence the mind have no material substance at all. If they had material substance there would also be a physical body in the bardo state, in which the body has died and is left behind. The experiences in the bardo are the same as during dreams. Now we have a physical body, after death we: don't. While dreaming we have a bodyi it lies in the bed. But despite the body being cremated after death, habitual patterns which still exist within the: mind, cause us to feel that we have a body. That is called mental body. We no longer have the so-called illusory body made of aggregates and elements. The body in the bardo state is not of flesh and blood; it is a mental body. When we attain the: state: of enlightenment, all the karmas, habitual patterns and evil deeds have been relinquished, so we need not follow karmai we arc not governed by karma. Right now, forced on by karma and habitual patterns, we have a lot of trouble:, such as undergoing deluded experiences in dreams. In the bardo state after dying, enveloped in terror and fright, we will ha\'e to face the sou11dJ, colors and lights. We will feel that we have a body although we don't really. Being bodiless, we shouldn't feel thirst or hunger, but our undissolved habitual patterns will force us to undergo pain and misery. Right now we are told to "Recognize the mind essence, recognize the mind essence!" Once
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you are familiar with that essence: it will conquer all the karmas, habitual patterns and deluded experiences. That alone is sufficient. For example, when you feel angry, if you look into the essence of the anger, in that moment of looking into the essence the anger dissolves. Just as anger does not persist within your recognition of mind essence, neither will habitual patterns and the deluded experiences of the after-death state. Now our body feels cold, hunger and thirst. If we had no body, the mind should not feel this. But due to our habimal patterns, lacking a body doesn't seem to help. (Rinpochc laughs). That gives us a lot of trouble. Otherwise, once having abandoned the body, we wouldn't need to eat anything. When we feel cold, the body freezes, not the mind. The body feels hot or cold. If we imagine ourselves trapped in a burning building, is it the mind that burns? If submerged in icy water, is it the mind that shivers? Such experiences all result from habitual patterns. Habitual patterns and deluded experience arc actually the main culprits. Unless we can destroy them right now, then after death, it will be impossible. The karmas and disturbing emotions at that time arc too forceful. Like being scared by his own tail, the deceased is terrified by his own innate deities in the bardo. The dead person panics when seeing the deities from his own body and thinks that they arc going to kill him. They shout "HU~G HUNG! PHAT PHAT!" and so forth, and the deceased thinks, "The Lord of Death has come for me!" Thunder resounds as if one's mind is splining imo pieces; it is so terrifying. When t!te deceased flees the deities of his own boJr. it is no differcm from a person who imagines a wild animal, and thinking that it will eat him, runs away. A Tibetan proverb says:
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No SESSIONS, No BREAKS
"The donkey flees from rustling grass." A donkey in a grassy meadow becomes frightened and runs when a gust of wind disturbs the grass, thinking that something from outside has arrived. In fact that same grass is just something to ear. The deities of your body are the expression of primordial purity, the spontaneously present manifestations of your buddha nature. They arise from yoursdf and appear to yourself. Seeing them in the bardo and thinking they are messengers of the Lord of Death, you become terrified and try to flee, feeling that your heart is breaking. In fact the objects of these fears are merely imagined to be such, and possess no true existence. Everything can be grouped into relative and absolute, into conditioned and unconditioned. The conditioned is relative; the unconditioned, absolute. \Vhen talking about these two groups, the conditioned is what is conceivable, what can be talked ahout and explained. The unconditioned is inconceivable. Through cxplanJtion we can approach some rough idea about the inconceivable nature of mind. But that which can be understood, theoretically conceived as an idea, or technically applied, is only condirioned. What the mind can conceive of is always conditioned. The 'inconceivable' however, refers to that which cannot be thought of with concepts, which is impossible to comprehend intellectually. The empty mind, the nature of emptiness is the inconceivable. Slowly, slowly, progressing further and having attained mbility in recognizing the nature of your mind, you can resolve everything with certainty. But until then it is like the difference b::rween being at the top of the mountain and looking up to the top from the bottom. Likewise, the inconceivable can be only
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VAJRA HF.ART
partially or fractionally hinted at with words. Words can onlr indicate; the inconceivable must be experienced through practice. When you realize the nature of things, then like Longchen Rabjam you have mastered the inconceivable. \X'cstcrn scientists have mastered the conceivable. Mastering the conditioned can benefit your present situation. But when you arrive in the bardo and the aggregates and elements collapse, nmhing other than your familiarity with the unconditioned will be of benefit. As long as the link between body, speech and mind persists, your condition is conditioned. But when this link is broken, conditioned comforts do not help much. As long as the conditioned, habitual patterns obscure and cover the unconditioned, we fail to experience the inconceivable. We mmt get used to recognizing mind nature now. There is no other war. It is inconceivable wiidom, not conceivable wisdom.
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STABILITY
"So what it actually comrs down to is thr view. " Having confidence and being without any fear even at the point of death, is the measure or sign of success in practice. Having true confidence in yourself is very difficult however. If you can say "Now I have total trust in myself; whatever happens I will not go to the hells," you have attained stability in dharmara, in the essence of your mind. What we call hell is nothing other than a conditioned dharma, a phenomena; it is not dharmata, the innate. Rebirth in the hells requires two things: the place and the one who takes rebirth. When dualistic fixation has been destroyed and duality has become oneness, how can there be a place to take
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birth? The hells have then been emptied. As long as we have the dualistic notion of"l and that," the hell, there is no liberation. The sutras mention two-fold egolessness. When resolving egolessness, you must resolve the nature of grasping and fixation. The lack of a self-entity in the grasped external objects is called tgoltss1ztss ofplmzomtna. The lack of a self-entity in the inner fucating mind is called the tgoltsmtss ofptrson. To resolve that grasping and fixation, object and subject, have no self-nature is to realize the two-fold egolessness. There is then no hell in which to be reborn because a hell needs both a place and a person. 'The one' who takes rebirth is your mind and 'the place' where one is reborn is the hell. With the realization of egolessness how can there be rebirth in hell? In awareness, rigpa, the basis for hell has been destroyed. At that time then, you will have confidence in yourself. You will look at yourself and say, "I have attained egolessness now; I have no grasping and fixation; I have no chance of taking rebirth in hell." You can think like that. (Rinpoche laughs) Unless at that time you feel sure that you really have destroyed grasping and fixation, rhen just saying "Now there are no hells!" is completely useless. To mouth the words is like the pretense of saying "I have no dualistic fixation!" This is only intellectual understanding and is ultimately useless. In Kham we used to put patches, extra pieces of cloth, on top of clothes. They were not the clothing itsc:lf. Intellectual understanding differs from the view in that it does not destroy dualistic fixation. The Kagyil tradition teaches that intellectual understanding is like a patch; it will we1r ofT, fall apart. Having gained experience, when the egolessness of the person has been realized and the thought ofT destroyed, how can one go
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STA81liTY
to the hells? The two entities arise from thinking T: the hell to be born into and the self who will be born there. When grasping and fixarion have been desrroyed, you will have self-confidence. Otherwise you will think: "Despite all this Dharma practice I have done, what will happen later in the bardo? How will it be? Will my practice prove successful? Will the yidam deity practice have been useful? The: bardo is full of great fears and overwhelming sounds, colors and light rays, incredible difficulties in the hot and cold hells. When I arrive there, what will happen?" Without having resolved the view, you will have this kind of doubr. (Rir.poche laughs). Having real self-confidence is the rru:: measure, the test. Think about the conditioned nature of life. How can that which is dependent upon other things be permanent and lasting? "Lift is conditi01ud, it has no ptnnmzmtt." Were our lives unconditioned to begin with, we could do whatever we wam. Bm where in this life is there permanence? "Objrtts art ptrttptions: tiJty havt 110 trur txistmtt." All objects are the unreal, natural forms of emptiness. Perceptions or appearances themselves have no concrete existence. Only when our fixation on appearances has been destroyed, will appearances or perceptions be beyond benefiting or harming. What we call a hell is a mere perception, an experience. Everything we experience now is just perception. "Objtcts art ptretptiom: they havt no I rut txistmct." They possess not even the slightest concrete existence. Think about that. Objects arc just experience; they don't really and truly exist. Furthermore, it is said that "Tht path is confiuion: it has no mzlilJ." When you failed to recognize your own essence which is
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the primordial purity, you strayed into the 'path' where you experience the six realms of sentient beings. That is the path aspect. The path is confusion; it is not real. It is said, "Mind tssmct is tht natural statt; it has no concrttmm." This means it is without cause and conditions. The natural state is a synonym for the profound emptiness. The nonarising essence is the same as primordial purity. The Dzogchen teachings say that the essence is primordially pure; Mahamudra that the essence is nonarising, beyond origination. The Kagyupas recogr.ize the nonarising essence, the essence beyond origination. This is in fact the same as primordial purity. merely a different choice of terminology. Your mind essence is the natural state, it has no concreteness. Finally it is said: "Mind is conetptua/ thi11king: it is .ftu .ftom ground and root." \Vhat we call mind is just conceptual thinking, concepts moving to the five objects, conceptualizing the fi\'e objects. It is merely one thought moving after the other. Without an object a thought cannot possibly move. Objects are the visible forms for the eyes, sou=tds for the ears, taste for the tongue, rouch for the body, and joy and sorrow are the mental objects. If we do not experience these objects, a thought cannot move. Thought movement depends on objects, thoughts are linked to objects. Inside is the mind, in between are the five sense organs and their five doors, and externally arc the five sense objects. These three components are continuously linked together. Once we realize egolessness, the link breaks; as long as it is not cut we are connected to samsara. How can you really trust yourself? Unless you realize the correct view it is very difficult to have self-confidence. No matter
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how much you pretend to have self-confidence, without realization it is only intellectual understanding. You might think "Now it's all right, now it's fine, I'm not going to the hells." This is merely fabricating the thought. Actually hell exists nowhere apart from yourself. Once you have realized emptiness, hell has no separate existence because the hells are deluded experience, crealed by a unvinuous mind. Think about what we call hell. It should have a location and sh:mld originate from somewhere. The workers who torture sentient beings in the hell realms should have fathers and mothers. All this fire needs to be made; the molten iron must be heated up. The s!Jama/i tree must be grown by somebody. In the fcur directions lie the forests of trees with sword-leaves, the swamp of rotten corpses, the great fiery pit of embers and so forth. All these are created only by the habitual patterns of deluded experience, m;.de by unvinuous mind. They do not really exist. Once you realize egolcssness, everything is all right. Without having realized egolessness, you cannot make things right. It is taught: "Iftlu undtrstanding ofmzptintss is all right, tvtrything is all right. If tlu undtrstmzding of tmprintss is nor all right, nothing is right." Once you have become used to emptiness, an emptiness which is not just mere intellectual understanding, then know that everything will be all right. Nothing will be incorrect, unpleasant or unsuccessful. When the understanding of emptiness is not all right, it means that you have nor realized the correct emptiness, the true samadhi. Everything will be mere intellectual understanding. You will simply be keeping and perpetuating an intellectual idea.
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As I have mentioned before, even if one has recognized mind nature, if one does not attain familiarity with this, then thoughts will arise as enemies and you will be like an infant in a baule-field. As thoughts are inherent, they will arise and make enemies. When the beings of the six realms pass away, they are carried away by thoughts, overpowered by their conceptual thinking. Having auaincd stability in nonconcepmal original wakefulness however, there will no place to go and no one who goes, even should you be thrown down to the lowest vajra hell. There is a saying: "Even if the three thousandfold universe is turned upside down and the monster of the lord of death opens his mouth and the abyss of the hells is opened, not a hair of your body will move." Anaining stability in the truth of dharmata is like this. So what it actually comes down to is the view. When you have realized the view you will have confidence and trust. This is what self-confidence means: you should act in such a way that you arc not ashamed of yourself, never thinking "I am no good." When you know for sure "I'm good, I'm first class," this is self-confidence, not despising yourself. "I have no distraction; I have no confusion; I have no fixation; I have attained stability in awareness; there is nobody like me." This should not be mere intellectual understanding. It should be known without any pride or arrogance or conceit. This is the pride of self-confidence. You will think "Who is superior to me?" (Rinpoche laughs). I am just joking. When Milarcpa looked at sentient beings he thought they were crazy. When sentient beings looked at Milarepa they thought he was crazy.
"Enlighrmmmt is likt awakmingftom slttp."
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Samsaric phenomena are impure. Traditionally, concerning !amsaric phenomena: "First nonexistence is taught, and the empty essence is explained; next existence is taught, and the cognizant nature is explained. Finally the unity of existence and nonexistence is taught." This means that the essence and nature, primordial purity and spontaneous presence, are a unity within rigpa, awareness. Therefore samsaric phenomena are said to appear while being nonexistent. Regarding their essence, they arc nonexistent; regarding their nature, they are manifest. The empty and apparent aspects of impure phenomena cannot be separated. Pure phenomena are the unity of primordial purity and spontaneous presence. They transcend objects of fixarion and attachment, like a rainbow appearing in the sky. It is visible but la::ks self nature, there is nothing to grasp and nothing to hold. This is the example for pure phenomena. Phenomena as perceived by sentient beings, have become m:»re and more coarse. Phenomena first began with the world called Neither Presence Nor Absence of Conception. From there we were deluded into the three realms of samsara, where we wander due to fixation on the apparem aspect. First appear the four limitless perceprions of the Formless Realm, then the seventeen worlds of the Realm of Form. Next come the six worlds of the gods in the Realm of Desire, and finally the rest of the six kinds of beings. As expressed by the Kagyti masters: "Coemergent mind essence is Dharmakaya; coemergent appearance is the light of Dharmakaya." Here appearance refers to pure phenomena. Impure phenomena have become increasingly gross. The four realms of infinite perception are formless; the form in the 17 go:l
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realms is a form of light. Becoming more gross, bodily forms arc made of flesh and blood in the six worlds of the desire realm. The external impure phenomena are the four major elements of earth, water, fire and wind. In between we have the flesh and blood, bones, body heat, breath, the aggregates and sense factors. All phenomena, since the very beginning, lack concrete existence. In last night's dream, we experienced joy and sorrow, coumries and places, houses and castles and so forth. We can dream of all these things, but on waking, what was dreamt no longer exists. Right now all phenomena definitely exist due to the power of confusion. But when we are not confused, having attained stability in rigpa, then as a sign of the primordial nonexistence of all phenomena, we can traverse freely through them. If all phenomena existed primordially, the buddhas would have to annihilate them in order w traverse through them. Bm they do not. Phenomena possess not even an atom of concrete existence, but due to the unvinuous mind we feel they do. To a hell being with conceptual thoughts, for example, hell seems to have a material existence. When free from conceptual thoughts, there is no real hell. At some future stage we will possess all the qualities and will have purified all the obscurations. Thus we will have attained the state of unsurpassable enlightenment. Before that however, sentient beings do not experience the domain of full enlightenment. If ordinary sentient beings could experience that, it would be very good. When you attain enlightenment, nothing is impure, neither sights nor sounds, nor states of mind, not even a mote of dust. An accomplished yogi perceives everything as the cominuity of pure wisdom; the entire external world is a celestial
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palace and the inhabitants, sentient beings, have the nature of dakas and dakinis. Our immediate perception is simply not pure. When it becomes pure, everything is seen as purity within one's personal experience. Others will not perceive in that way since, being sentient beings, they cannot perceive the purity. But having become a pure yogi yourself, you see purity. This is the difference between personal perception and the perception of others. You can see other beings as pure because they are already pure; but due to their obscurations they themselves don't perceive this purity. For a pure yogi, everything within and without, is the simple purity of body, speech, mind, qualities and activities. Called the greu equality of samsara and nirvana, it appears as such because it is that way. When all the obscurations and habitual patterns are purified, you sec everything as pure, even though it might not appear like that to others. Enlightenment is like awakening from sleep. Conceptual thinking creates all the perceptions and phenomena of daily life and whatever you experience at night is created by sleep. Awakening from sleep, the dream disappears. When the perceptions, experiences and confusions of conceptual thinking have been completely purified, nothing remains of this present confusion. The manifestation of all phenomena, are merely the display of rainbow light. When there is no manifestation there is just the space of primordial purity. The mundane experience of phenomena is called impure perception, the confused perception of sentient beings. In the experience of someone who has pure perception, a house will be a celestial palace. In the celestial palace there is no experience of
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earth, water, fire or wind. Everything is rainbow light. How amazing! The houses arc houses of rainbow light. You cannot say they do not exist because they have manifest qualities. You cannot say they do exist because there is no sense of concrete earth, fire, water or wind. This reveals their primordial nonexistence. Awareness must return to the inner space. Rigpa was first lost in the progressive straying into samsara; in the reverse order it must return to primordial purity. All phenomena of appearance and existence, grasping and fixation, possess not even a hair-tip of concrete existence. Primordial purity has no concreteness. All the phenomena of samsara and nirvana manifest from the space of primordial purity. The various phenomena of the waking state are all perceived within the framework of conceptual thinking. \X'hen you arc established in awareness wisdom free from concepts, it is like a movie that has fallen apart. You can create the Third World War in a film, but if the movie stops, so does the war; thus, the collapse of confusion. . Milarepa could traverse freely through rocks and mountains because he had attained stability in primordial purity, in his own self-existing wakefulness. He did not need to use force to pierce solid mauer with his body. The collapse of confusion is quite amazing! (Rinpoche laughs)
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GlOSSARY
AKANISHTHA ('og min). The 'highest.' The realm of Vajradhara, the
dharmakaya buddha. For a discussion of the various types of Akanishtha, see Gyurme Dorje's forthcoming translation of Longchen Rabjam's Phyogr bCu Mun Stl All-PERVASIVE SUFFERING Of BEING CONDITIO~ED (khyab pa 'du byed
kyi sdug bsngal). The third of the three sufferings. h is perpetuated by the continuation of the five aggregates. ANU YOGA (rjes su rnal 'byor). The second of the three inner tannas: Maha, Anu, and Ari. It emphasizes the completion stage and the mandala as being contained within the vajra body. AfPLICATION Of THE ACI'IVITIES (las sbyor). Refers chiefly to the four activities of pacifying. increasing. magnetizing and subjugating. AFPROACH AND ACCOMJ>LISHMENT (bsnyen sgrub). Two aspects of sadhana practice. Especially phases in the recitation stage.
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VAJRA HEART ARGF.Y SA.\ITEN (Tib.). The first Ngaguin Rinpoche who was the retreat master at Palpung Monastery. AliURA CAVE (a su ra'i brag phug). Tite cave where Guru Rinpoche sub· ducd the evil forces of Nepal through the practice of Vajra Kilara. Situated ncar Pharping in the Kathmandu valley. AWAKENING FROM THE SLEEP OF IGNORANCE {ma rig gnyid skros). A practice to be done immediately upon waking up. BARI\ARIAN {kla klo). A human being in an uncivilized area where the Dharma has not flourished. BARCHEY KONSF.l (bar chad kun sci). A cycle of teachings revealed by Chokgyur Lingpa together with jamyang Khyentse Wangpo con· sisting of about ten volumes of texts. Sec also Tht Grtat Gatt, (The Heart Practice of Guru Rinpoche, Vol. I, & the forthcoming Vol. 2,) Rangjung Ycshc Publications. BARDO (bar do, antarabhava). 'Inrermediate state.' Usually refers to the period berween death a:td the next rebirth. For derails of the four bar· dos, sec Mirror of Mi,Jfolnns, Shambhala Publicarions, and TIJt Bardo GuiJtbook, Rangjung Yeshe Publications. BAROM DHARMA WANGCHUK ('ba' rom dar ma dbang phyug}. A disciple of lord Gampopa who founded the Barom Monastery in northern Lato and who is regarded as the father of the Barom Kagyillineage. BLISS, CLARITY, AND NONH-IOUGHT {bde gsal mi rtog pa). Three tempo· rary meditation experiences. Fixation on them plants the seeds for re· birth in the three realms. Withour fixation, they arc the adornments of the three kay.ts. BUDDHA OF THF. THREE TIMES, GURU RINf>OCHE {dus gsum sangs rgyas gu ru rin po dtc). The name of the six-lined prayer to Guru Rinpoche. For a commentary on its outer, inner and secret meaning by H.H. Oudjom RinFoche, sec Tht G"at Gatt, Tht Htart Practiu of Guru Ri,pochr, Vol/, Rangjung Yeshc: Publications. CHO (gcod). Pronounced "choc". Literally 'cutting.' A system of practices based on Prajnaparamita set down by Machik Labdron for the purpose of curting through the four Maras and ego-clinging. One of the Eight Practice Lineages of Buddhism in Tibet. CHOKGYUR LINGPA (mchog gyur gling pa). The grear tenon who re\'ealed numerous tcrma teachings especially rhc cycle of Barchcy KUnsel.
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GLOSSARY CHOKl.ING TEitSAit (mchog gling ~ter gsar). The collection of termas revealed by Chokgyur Lingpa together with its connected teachings. CHDKYI NYIMA RINPOCHF.. (chos l..)'i nyi rna rin po che). The abbot of Ka-Nying Shedrub ling Monastery and the oldest son of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. Author of tht Union ofMahamudra and Dzogchm, Song of Kannapa, and Tht Bardo Guidt Book, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1987. CHOWANG GYATSA (gcod dbang brgya ma). A collection of one hundred cmpowcrmcms for the practice of'Cho.' CLARITY (gsal ba). One of the three experiences: bliss, clarity and nonthought. Fixation on them plants the seeds for rebirth in the three realms. Withom fixation, dtey are the adornments of the three kayas. CLOSE APPROACH (nye bar bsnyen pa). The second of the 'four aspects of approach and accomplishment. OA.\f-NGAK DZO (gdams ngag mdzod). The 'Treasury of Oral Instructions.' A collection of 13 volumes containing the essential teachings of the Eight Practice Lineages. One of the 'Five Treasuries' by Jamgon Kongtrtil the First. DHARMAKAYA THRONF. OF NONMF.DITATION (bsgom med chos sku'i rgyal sa). The last stage in the yoga of Nonmeditation which is the complete collapse of fixation and conceptual mind, like a sky fr:e from clouds. Same as 'complete and perfect enlightenment.' DHARMATA (chos nyid). The nature of phenomena and mind. DCRJE DRAKI'O TSAL (rdo rje drag po rrsal). '\Vra1hful Vajra Power.' A wrathful form of Guru Rinpoche and one of the 'twelve manifesta· tions.' DRU )AMYANG DRAKPA (gru 'jam dbyangs grags pa). A close disciple of Jamyang I
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VAjRA HEART Kadampa, Marpa Kag(il. Shangpa Kagyu, Sakya, Nyendrub, Jordruk, Shijc and Cho. ESSENCE, NATURE AND CAPACITY (ngo bo rang bzhin thugs rje). The three aspects of the sugatagarbha according to the Dzogchcn system. EsSENCE MANUAL OF ORAL INSTRUCTION (zhal gdams snying byang). SIJtldam Nyinf.iang. The major text among the collection of treasures belonging to Barchey KUnsel. It is the first volume: in the: New Delhi edilion of the New Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa (mchog gling gter gsar). EXHAUSTION OF PHENOMENA BEYOND CONCEPTS (chos zad blo 'das). The fourth of the four visions of Dzogchen. Same as complete and perfect enlightenment. FIVE TREASURIES (mdzod lnga). Five collections of teachings by Jamgon KongtrUI the First: Dam-ngak Dzo, Rinchen Terdzo, KagyU r-.:gakdzo, Sheja Kunkhyab, and Gyachen Kadzo. FOUR ASPECTS OF APPROACH AND ACCOMPliSHMENT (bsnyen sgrub k)•i yan lag bzhi). Approach, full approach, accomplishment and great accomplishment. Four aspects of Vajrayana practice, especially the recitation stage. FOUR GATE KEEPERS (sgo ba bzhi). Achala, Yamantaka, Hayagriva and Amritakundali. FOUR VISIONS OF 0ZOGCHEN (rdzogs chen gyi snang ba bzhi). Four stages in Dzogchen practice: manifest dharmata, increased experience, awareness reaching f.Jllness and exhaustion of concepts and phenomena. GEKTOR (bgegs gtor). A torma offering given to spirits and negative forces who may obstruct the sadhana practice. GONLA (mgon bla). The lama who performs the rituals for the Dharma protectors. GREAT STUPA (mchod nen chen po). The Jarung Khashor Stupa at Boudhanath, Nepal, situated in the Kathmandu Valley. For details, see Th~ L~gmJ oftht Grtat Stupa, Dharma Publishing, and Tht Lo:ur· Born, Shambhala Publications. GUHYAGARBHA TANTRA (rgyud gsang ba snying po). The widd}' renowned Mahayoga tamra of the Early Translations.
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GLOSSARY GURU CHOWANG (gu ru chos dbang). One of rhc Five Tcrron Kings. (1212-1270}. For derails, sec H.H. Dudjom Rinpochc's Th~ Nyingma Schoo4 its History a11d Fumiammtals, Wisdom Publications. G~ACHEN KADZo (rgya chen bka' mdzod). One of the Five Treasuries of Jamgon KongtrUI the First comaining his collected various writings. HARJNISA MANTRA (ha ri ni sa'i sngags). In the comcxt of Trinley Nyingpo, the mamra for the four male and female gate keepers. HUNDRED THOUSAND NYINGMA TANTRAS (rnying rna rgyud 'bum). The collection of Maha, Anu, and Ati Yoga tamras of the Early Translations. jA.\fGON KONGTROL TilE FIRST (byams mgon kong sprul). A great nonsectarian master of the ninerecnrh cemury and author of more rhan one hundred volumes of books. jAMYANC KHYE~'TSE WANCPO ('jam dbyangs mkhyen bnse'i dbang po). A great master of rhc last ccnmry and close friend, guru and disciple of Chokgyur Lingpa. • jANGCHUB SHONNU OF TSANGSAR (tshang gsar byang chun gzhon n!J). One of the masters of the Barom KagyU lineage. jANGTER GONGPA SANCTAL (byang grcr dgongs pa zang thai). Sec 'Openness of Realization Tanrra.' JlGMEY LINGPA ('jigs mcd gling pa). The great master and founder of the Longchen Nyingrig tradition based on teachings he received in visions from Longchen Rabjam. For details, sec Tulku Thondrup's Tht Tantric Tradition ofth~ Nyingmapa, Buddhayana Publications. jOJ..'YAB RlNI'OCHE (jo skyabs). One of the teachers ofTulku Urgyen Rinpoche. KA·NYING SHEDRUB LING MONASTERY (bka' snying bshad sgrub gling). Tulku ChoL-yi Nyima Rinpoche's monastery in Boudhanath, Nep.tl. The name means 'Sanctuary for the Tcaching and Practice of KagyU and Nyingma.' I
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VAjltA HEART KUNJF. GYALI'O TAN"J"ItA (kun byed rgy;tl po'i rgyud). The chief Dzogchc:n ramra of rhe Mind Section. KYASU (Tib.). The family :tame ofChokgyur Lingpa. KYUNGTitOL KI\HJAM (Tib.). A grc;u Nyingmot master of the Mindrol Ling Monasrery. l.A~t..a. KHYENNO (bla rna mkhyen no). "Maner, think of me!" lAMF.Y TUKDRUI\ BAIKHF.Y KONSF.I. (bla ma'i dmgs sgrub bar dtad kun sci). Sec 'Barchey Kiinsd.' l.AMRIM YE~HF. ~Yil\:GI'O (lam rim ye shes snying po). The Gradwzl Par/, of rht Wisdom Essmu, a mosr precious, concise, and profound reaching by Guru Rinpochc which condenses rhe emire parh. Praised by Jamyang Khyemse Wangpo as being more valuable rhan rhiny pk loads of scriprures, ir comprises, together wirh a commemary by Jamgon Kongrriil, rhc: lasr volume: in both the Rinchcn TerJzo and rhe Chokling T ersar. See Light of\l?isdom, Shambhala Publicarions. MAHASANDHI (rdzogs pa chen po). Same as Dzogchen. Literally 'grc:ar perfection,' a very direct pracrice for realizing one's buddha narurc:, according to the l'yingma, or Old School. NAGI GOMI'A (na gi dgon pa). Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's hermiugc: nc:.tr Kathmotndu. NANGCHEN (nang chen). A major province in Eastern Tibet. NGAGTIUN l..AMA (ngag p:trin bla rna). Tite former life ofSamren Gptso. NUBCHEN SANGYE YESHF. (bsnubs chen sangs rgyas ye shes). One: of the: 25 disciples of Guru Rinpoche. Sec 1/isrory of tht Nyi11gma Li11r.rgr. Wisdom Publications. 01'f.NNESS OF REAI.Ji'.J\TION TANTitA (dgongs pa zang thai gyi rgyud). A ramric scriprure concealed by Guru Rinpoche and revealed by Ri~dzin Godcm, rhe masrer who revealed the Jangter tradirion of the Nyingma school. Comains rhe renowned Aspimrion of Samamab!Jadra. PALPUNC. (dpal spung). The monasrery in East Tibet which w.ts rhe sell of Situ Rinpochc. PAI.TROL RINPOCilF. (dp
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GLOSSARY PRJMORmAL PUJUW (ka dag). The basic nature: of scmicm beings which is originally untainted by ddilcmcm; bC)·ond confusion and liberation. PU~E PeRCEPTION (dag snang). Regarding the environment as a buddl:aficld, self and others as deities, sounds as mantras, and thoughts as wisdom. RE?A KARPO (ras pa dkar po). One of the masters of the Barom Kagyii lineage. REsTING IN NATURALNESS (rna! dbab). The Dzogchen version of shamatha practice. RIG I'A (Tib. rig pa). The state of awareness devoid of ignorance and dualistic fixation. RINCHEN TERD7.0 (rin chen gter mdzod). One of the Five ·Treasuries of Jamgon Kongtrul containing 63 volumes of terma teachings. S:\t.DUN PHURI\A (zab bdun phur ba). One of the major termas revealed by Chokgyur Lingpa, the sacred dances of which are performed yearly at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim. S:\,\U'A LHUNDRUB (bsam pa lhun grub). A supplication to Guru Rinpoche as well as a rerma of Chokgyur Lingpa. SA.\1TEN GYATSO (bsam gran rgya mtsho). The root guru of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. S:\:iG-NGAK RlNJ'OCHE (gsang sngags rin po chc). The brother of Sam ten Gyatso. SE~I (sems). Whc:n opposed to 'rigpa,' it means the ordinary state of dualistic mind which is ignorant of its own nature and produces karma for further samsaric rebirth. SH!.KYA SHRI (Skt.). A Tibetan mahasiddha of rhe 19th century belonging chiefly to the Drukpa Kagyii lineage. SHfJA KUNKYAI\ TREASURY (shes bya kun khyab mdzod). One of the Five Treasuries of jamgon Kongrriil containing an encyclopedia of Buddhism and Buddhist culture in three volumes. SITU PADMA NYINCHE (si ru pad-rna nyin byed). (1774-1853) The 9th Situ Rinpoche and one of the root teachers of the 14th Karmapa and Jamgon Kongtrul. He was predicted by Guru Rinpoche as his ow:1 mind-emanation.
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VAJRA HEART SPONTANEOUS PRESENCE (limn grub). One of the two main aspects of Dzogchc:n teaching. the other being 'primordial purity.' SUSTAINING FRESHNESS (sor zhugs). The Dzogchc:n version of vipashyana. SYMBOL, MEANING, AND SIGN (brda' don nags gsum). Three aspects of Vajrayana teachings. For example, the peaceful and wrathful dc:irics depicted are the symbol. Tite meaning they symbolize is the enlightened qualities spontaneously present within the buddha nature. The sign is :hat they naturally manifest during the bardo of dharmata. TERSEY RINPOCHE (gter sras rin po chc:). A great lama and brother of Samter. Gyatso. For details, sec Tht Lift and Ttaching of Chokgyur Lingpa. THREE SAMADHIS (ling ngc: 'dzin gsum). The samadhi of suchness, of illumination and of the: seed-syllable:. THREE TYPES OF IGNORANCE (rna rig pa gsum). The ignorance of single identity, coemcrgcnr ignorance, and conceptual ignorance. TISHI REPA (ti shi ras pa). One of the masters of the Barom Kagyil lineage. TOGAl (thod rgal). 'Direct crossing' or 'passing above.' Dzogchen, mahasandhi, has rwo main sections: Trekcho and Togal. Titc former emphasizes primordial purity (ka dag) and the latter spontaneous presence (lhun grub). TRINLEY NYINGPO (phrin las snying po). The Essence Practice. The s1ort version of the guru sadhana of Barchcy KUnsel. Forthcoming in T!Jt Htart Practiu ofGuru Ri11pocht, Vol 2, Rangjung Ycshc Publications. TSANGSAR CHIMEY 00RJE (tshang gsar 'chi med rdo rje). The father of Tulku Urgyen Rinpochc: and brother of Samten Gyatso. For details, sec Tht Lift and Ttachings ofChokgyur Lingpa, Rangjung Yeshe Publications. TSANGSAR LHAI OUNG-GYO (tshang gsar lha'i gdung rgyud). The di\·ine blood-!inc: of the Tsangsar family whidt is said to originate from a dc:va descending on earth. TSANGSAR LUMEY OORJE (rshang gsar Ius mcd rdo rje). One of rhe masters in the Barom Kagyu lineage. WAKEFULNESS (yc: shes, shes pa). In this book, the term 'wakefulness' is
