Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[C T]

"It is very fortunate to hear the words of an enlightened being, free of all obscurations and full of compassion and love for all sentient beings. All compounded things are impermanent. All duality is suffering. All phenomena are emptiness and egolessness. Nirvana is peace."

 

~ Buddha Shakyamuni

[manitou]

 

~ Secret yogis ~

 

Even in this world, and even now, there are said to be many hidden yogis or discreet yogis, called bepay naljor in Tibetan. It means those realized ones who are not generally recognized as great spiritual sages or saints, but have deeply tasted the fruit of enlightenment, and are living it. Perhaps they are anonymously doing their good works here among us right now.

 

The infinite vast expanse is one’s own inconceivable nature. Who can say who has realized it and who hasn’t? When we travel around the world or experience other dimensions, there are so many beings who have tasted it. We can see it in their behavior, in their countenance, and in stories that are told—not just in the Dzogchen tradition or the Buddhist tradition, but in any tradition, and in our Western world too.

 

This true nature is so vast and inconceivable that even some birds and animals and beings in other unseen dimensions can be said to have realized it, as in some of the ancient Indian Jataka stories and other teaching tales. It is always said that everything is the self-radiant display of the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra. There are infinite numbers of Buddhas and infinite numbers of beings. Who can say who is excluded from it?

 

~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

 

 

I remember that wonderful thread that Spotless started which referred to the Buddhas at the Gas pump.  Yes, who is to decide the degree of another's Awareness and the degree to which they have tasted this samsara life, become aware of the true nature of themselves and life, and found alignment with all of it?  To have found the Clear Light?

 

Eckhart Tolle says something wonderful about rocks and plants in one of his tapes.  that originally there were only vines (I don't know how he knows this, but maybe it's the case) and at some point flowers appeared with the enlightenment of the plant.  That a flowering is the enlightenment of the plant; that a crystal is the enlightenment of a rock.

 

I think often of how limited we are as to what we can see within the confines of our audio attunement, our visual attunement, all sensory attunement.  How there could be other beings here now with us, but we are not able to see, touch, taste, or hear them due to our limitations, and perhaps the same is true in the reverse.  And that sometimes there is a cross-over, a crack in the separation, which may explain some things which are seemingly unexplainable.  This Earth does seem to be a special place within our solar system, perhaps our universe.  Capable of sustaining life, perhaps of all types that we cannot sense.  Our beautiful blue planet.

 

As to hidden or discreet yogis, the incredibly expressive metaphysician and 33rd degree Freemason Manley Hall said a wonderful thing; that there are those who have realized the 33rd degree of Freemasonry (essentially the I Am consciousness that lives within the Void) but not through the Scottish Rites.  He calls these people Cosmic Masons.  Seems to be the same principle as expressed above.

Edited March 13, 2016 by manitou

[Brian]

I remember that wonderful thread that Spotless started which referred to the Buddhas at the Gas pump. Yes, who is to decide the degree of another's Awareness and the degree to which they have tasted this samsara life, become aware of the true nature of themselves and life, and found alignment with all of it? To have found the Clear Light?

 

Eckhart Tolle says something wonderful about rocks and plants in one of his tapes. that originally there were only vines (I don't know how he knows this, but maybe it's the case) and at some point flowers appeared with the enlightenment of the plant. That a flowering is the enlightenment of the plant; that a crystal is the enlightenment of a rock.

 

I think often of how limited we are as to what we can see within the confines of our audio attunement, our visual attunement, all sensory attunement. How there could be other beings here now with us, but we are not able to see, touch, taste, or hear them due to our limitations, and perhaps the same is true in the reverse. And that sometimes there is a cross-over, a crack in the separation, which may explain some things which are seemingly unexplainable. This Earth does seem to be a special place within our solar system, perhaps our universe. Capable of sustaining life, perhaps of all types that we cannot sense. Our beautiful blue planet.

 

As to hidden or discreet yogis, the incredibly expressive metaphysician and 33rd degree Freemason Manley Hall said a wonderful thing; that there are those who have realized the 33rd degree of Freemasonry (essentially the I Am consciousness that lives within the Void) but not through the Scottish Rites. He calls these people Cosmic Masons. Seems to be the same principle as expressed above.

Cosmic Mason -- I like that.

 

(A bit too much like Cosmic Muffin, though. Still... )

[manitou]

Cosmic Mason -- I like that.

 

(A bit too much like Cosmic Muffin, though. Still... )

 

But as you're no doubt aware, they'll really get you out there.

 

It's the cosmic muffin tops that I have a problem with.

[Brian]

But as you're no doubt aware, they'll really get you out there.

 

It's the cosmic muffin tops that I have a problem with.

LOL

 

<giggle>

[rex]

If one does not stop the mouth from watering after yet another upadesha, one will fall into the trap of mind­‐made fabrications like searching for the footprints of the elephant in the forest while having left the elephant at home. Given that the time for liberation will not arrive it is necessary to be decisive with one’s practice!

 

Advice from an Upadesha

[Taken from:http://translationandtransmission.org/assets/sangye-khandro_upadesha_translating-spiritual-instructions-workshop.pdf ]

Other conference papers may be worth checking out: http://translationandtransmission.org/conference-2014.html

 

 

[manitou]

 

If one does not stop the mouth from watering after yet another upadesha, one will fall into the trap of mind­‐made fabrications like searching for the footprints of the elephant in the forest while having left the elephant at home. Given that the time for liberation will not arrive it is necessary to be decisive with one’s practice!

 

Advice from an Upadesha

[Taken from:http://translationandtransmission.org/assets/sangye-khandro_upadesha_translating-spiritual-instructions-workshop.pdf ]

Other conference papers may be worth checking out: http://translationandtransmission.org/conference-2014.html

 

 

And yet if one is too decisive with one's practice it too will become burdensome, rote - and of little value.  Perhaps the gentle merger with one's higher guru and maintaining awareness of the dream, whether at night or during the day, is less structured and of the same value - albeit a different approach - as decisiveness.

 

And there's always the possibility that I have totally missed the essence of your statement....

Edited March 19, 2016 by manitou

[rex]

And yet if one is too decisive with one's practice it too will become burdensome, rote - and of little value. Perhaps the gentle merger with one's higher guru and maintaining awareness of the dream, whether at night or during the day, is less structured and of the same value - albeit a different approach - as decisiveness.

 

And there's always the possibility that I have totally missed the essence of your statement....

 

What follows is how I interpret the statement though of course, caveat emptor and all that, as I'm flawed and there may well be other more valid explanations.

 

Decisiveness in this context doesn't mean rigidity in one's practice that becomes a burden. All sorts of practices can be done to suit one's inclinations and circumstances. It is rather a call to confidence in one's own ability to practice. What this statement is trying to impress is the reality of impermanence and what little time to practice one may have before the end of one's life - having already received the main point of practice with Direct Introduction, it is a wasted opportunity to constantly seek out intellectual reformulations and restatements of the same material over and over again only to find that one has been playing with concepts at the time of death.

Edited March 19, 2016 by rex

[C T]

SHRI SINGHA'S INSTRUCTION

 

Padmasambhava asked:
"Great Master, how is the nature of mind of Buddhas and sentient beings?"

 

Shri Singha replied:

The nature of the mind of Buddhas and sentient beings does not consist of any entity whatsoever. Yet, while it is not an entity, I have not found it to be in one absolute way. When one fails to find a reference point in the mind, something to identify, conceptions are liberated in themselves; there is no demon which can harm it. That is called 'cutting through outer misconceptions'.

 

This is the way to cut through inner misconceptions: This self-wakefulness of knowing cannot be found to have arisen from a particular cause, to have produced from certain conditions, or to possess such and such an identity. Even I, Shri Singha, have not discovered any mind that could be described as being such and such. So, Padmasambhava, I too have no mind to show you as being in any one absolute way.

 

 

Having spoken in this way, he dissolved into indestructible space.

[C T]

What follows is how I interpret the statement though of course, caveat emptor and all that, as I'm flawed and there may well be other more valid explanations.

 

Decisiveness in this context doesn't mean rigidity in one's practice that becomes a burden. All sorts of practices can be done to suit one's inclinations and circumstances. It is rather a call to confidence in one's own ability to practice. What this statement is trying to impress is the reality of impermanence and what little time to practice one may have before the end of one's life - having already received the main point of practice with Direct Introduction, it is a wasted opportunity to constantly seek out intellectual reformulations and restatements of the same material over and over again only to find that one has been playing with concepts at the time of death.

double like

[C T]

False views make up the world

 

true views are the world beyond

 

when true and false views are both dismissed

 

your buddha nature will be manifest

 

this is simply the straightforward teaching

 

also known as the Mahayana

 

delusion lasts countless kalpas

 

awareness takes but an instant

 

 

 

~ Hui-neng ~

 

 

 

[manitou]

What this statement is trying to impress is the reality of impermanence and what little time to practice one may have before the end of one's life - having already received the main point of practice with Direct Introduction, it is a wasted opportunity to constantly seek out intellectual reformulations and restatements of the same material over and over again only to find that one has been playing with concepts at the time of death.

 

Beautifully said.  It must be lived, moment to moment, so that the preparations are complete at the time of the ensuing bardo.  Intellectual reformulations and restatements help us understand, but must be tempered with the concept that life must be approached like a dream, and our actions in some way must reflect the aloofness of the emptiness in which we dwell.  This is the practice, as I see it.  And approaching the phenomena with a loving attitude makes it all so much nicer, allowing lesser emotions to rise and fall.

Edited March 19, 2016 by manitou

[manitou]

 

SHRI SINGHA'S INSTRUCTION

 

Yet, while it is not an entity, I have not found it to be in one absolute way. 

 

 

I am having trouble with this sentence.  Does it refer to the following sentence wherein there is no reference point?

 

And as to the difference between cutting through outer misconceptions and inner misconceptions, this seems incredibly nuanced; almost the difference between a noun and a verb.  The inner misconceptions, he seems to be saying, do not arise from cause and effect or karma of any sort.  apparently he, Shri Singha, is saying that mind has no inherent qualities whatsoever, it is emptiness.

 

Whereas, is he referring to the illusion of incoming phenomena in the first paragraph, the 'outer misconceptions'?

 

The second quote, by Hui-neng:  regarding true and false views.  True and false views are always going to be relative to the viewer.  Is this not to say that when one drops the concepts of right and wrong and sees things only as 'is-ness' that the buddha nature will manifest?

Edited March 19, 2016 by manitou

[C T]

“This is what the path of Dharma is like. It's not that you have to do all the practices. It is sufficient to take just one of them, whichever one you really have an affinity with, and through practicing that one alone, for the rest of your life, you will achieve enlightenment. Whichever practice you choose doesn't matter; they are all valid methods for achieving enlightenment - if you practice. The key is to practice with diligence for the rest of your life.”

 

~ Dhomang Yangthang, 'The Union of Dzogchen and Mahamudra`

 

 

[C T]

"So don't be in a hurry and try to rush your practice. Do your meditation gently and gradually step by step. If you become peaceful, then accept it; if you don't become peaceful, then accept that also. That's the nature of the mind. We must find our own practice and persistently keep at it."

 

~ Ajahn Chah

 

[C T]

To innermost bliss, I pay homage!

 

Were I to explain Mahamudra, I would say -
All phenomena? Your own mind!
 

If you look outside for meaning, you'll get confused.
Phenomena are like a dream, empty of true nature,

And mind is merely the flux of awareness,
No self nature: just energy flow.
No true nature: just like the sky.
 

All phenomena are alike, sky-like.

That's Mahamudra, as we call it.
It doesn't have an identity to show;
 

For that reason, the nature of mind
Is itself the very state of Mahamudra

 

...................

 

What are notions of going or staying?
Or, for that matter, "meditating" in solitude?
If you don't get this,
You free yourself only on the surface.

But if you do get it, what can ever fetter you?
 

Abide in an undistracted state.
 

Trying to adjust body and mind won't produce meditation.
Trying to apply techniques won't produce meditation either.

 

 

~ Maitripa

Edited April 13, 2016 by C T

[manitou]

Those were just what I needed this morning, CT.

 

I'm learning the basics of TCM, the 5 elements. Seeing my own nature through the eyes of these elements and what they represent inside us is unbelievable. But it brings to mind an event that happened last night, and when it says in your quote 'Phenomena are like a dream, empty of true nature'. This morning I experience the concept of us being the microcosm to the macrocosm in a very individual way.

 

Every moment there is opportunity to view manifestation (of our own projections) and see what they are telling us. Last night my partner and I were trying to hang a heavy metal chandelier off a mobile home ceiling. It occurred to me that the weight of the metal lamp was too heavy for the circumstances, and that Joe hadn't screwed into a beam. I became aware that this would not work.

 

Joe, on the other hand, was of the attitude, 'well, we'll find out when we get down here next time' (to Florida). I immediately saw the relationship of this event to the 5 elements system, and how I am experiencing 'weakness' (in several forms) in my heart. And I immediately could see in my mind's eye coming down here this fall and finding my ceiling fallen, my beautiful new wooden table smashed by the chandelier. My first reaction was to shrink, to subjugate myself to him one more time, to let him be the decider in all things out of fear of his explosive nature.

 

The chandelier (metal) is, according to a TCM practitioner I am working with, way too abundant within me and needs to be balanced. The ceiling in this case is representative of my heart, the upper organ. My inability to stand up to Joe (even though everything we have, I have bought - I have virtually mothered him for 33 years in a co-dependent way). And yet, I have recreated the very situation that I grew up with - being terrified of my father. (You'd think by the age of 69 that a person would have 'gotten' this.) Joe has a lot of underlying anger, and as explosive as my father's.

 

My healing, my remedy for the heart and getting the system back into balance, is to stand at my full height. To stop thinking that if everything doesn't go his way, he'll leave me or go out and get drunk (apparently I have a savior complex too). So I have subjugated myself to a man that has duplicated the very same bathtub ring of discomfort that I had as a kid. and this is why I have taken Prozac for 30 years. To keep the truth stifled.

 

What an eye opener. What gratitude I am having for the fact that I have suddenly developed a great interest in TCM and am learning about the phases, interactions, elements. And what an eye-opener to see that at any given moment, particularly in a somewhat unusual situation, that we are truly the microcosm for the macrocosm; that we create the health for our own bodies, and that life gives us opportunity after opportunity to work through it. Sometimes all we have to do is look around, see what's happening, and see how it fits into our particular patterns.

 

I have been so unaware. The rage I am always afraid of when withdrawing from Prozac (one more time) is at none other than myself, for allowing this to reenact over and over for 33 years. Geez, I wish I would grow up.

 

Thank you, CT.

 

(P.S. - I have informed him that I will be calling a handyman today to figure this out, find a beam, and do it right). As to the rest of the sham relationship? One day at a time things will go as things will go.

Edited April 13, 2016 by manitou

[C T]

Death is certain, but when it will arrive is not. One thing that’s for sure is that we are not going to live for one hundred years. One hundred years from now, pretty much everybody alive today will be dead.

 

It is very important to remember impermanence.

 

The Kadampa geshes used to remember impermanence all the time in order to avoid seeking the comfort of the temporal life. They felt that if they didn’t bring it to mind in the morning they were in danger of wasting the entire afternoon, and if they didn’t bring it to mind in the afternoon they were in danger of wasting the whole night. By constantly keeping impermanence in mind, they were able to prevent the meaningless thought seeking only the comfort of this life from arising.

 

 

~ Khunu Rinpoche

[thelerner]

Training in Meditation to See, Recognise, Maintain & Increase One's Enlightening Potential

 

MEDITATION: Abandoning the strangle hold of suffering and worry. 

 

This was written by the late Karma Tashi Thundrup. It is a highly effective meditational technique which helps to restore the natural balance of the mind and body.

 

We shall begin by creating a quiet place to sit, cross-legged if we can or on a low stool or straight-backed chair if we cannot. A firm cushion will help to provide a comfortable and stable seat. We sit completely relaxed with our back and neck straight, the spine balanced nicely on the pelvis. A straight back is necessary for the unobstructed passage of spinal energies when they arise.

 

The hands can be placed on the lap, palms upward, the right hand resting in the left and the tips of the thumbs touching. We can meditate with our eyes shut or open, but outer distractions are more easily avoided with the eyes closed. The eyeballs should be perfectly relaxed as in sleep, just gazing, to the mind's eye down the length of the nose.

 

Some teachers insist that one should focus the closed eyes sharply upon the point between the eyebrows where the Ajna chakra manifests but I should warn against this. The muscular strain of such a procedure creates the nervous illusion of flashing lights before the eyes which can easily lead one into a fantasy of meditational success. If you wish to put this sort of thing to the test, sit quietly in a darkened room, close your eyes and watch the fireworks as you push your eyeballs back and forth with your fingers.

 

In sitting meditation, we aim at a profound relaxation, any internal tension will defeat the object of the exercise. All we have to do is to watch our breath. Breathing through the nose we calmly concentrate upon our breathing and just watch the breath moving to and fro. 

 

As our concentration deepens we will find our mind, in a manner of speaking becoming one with our breathing. 

Our concentration must be absolutely calm and without effort. Absorption is the best word I can find to describe the required state of mind.

 

Thoughts will constantly arise to distract the attention. We do not try to block them off or shut them out in any way, but we observe them dispassionately from over our shoulder as it were, leading the mind, on a loose rein, gently back to the breath each time. 

 

That is all we have to do.

 

There is no need here for a lengthy dissertation on the manifold subjective results of our meditations for that would arouse a vicarious anticipation of events which is most undesirable. Suffice to say that gradually our awareness of being will become more detached from our thoughts. 

 

During our sitting sessions the grasping egotistical nature of our thoughts will become clearer to us, irrespective of whether these thoughts be considered good or bad. As our consciousness becomes finely tuned to the movement of the breath we shall in time develop an awareness of the currents of Pran Energy within the body. This meditation is natural Pranayama (the Way of Pran).

 

If the simple Buddhist practice of watching the breath is persevered with, we will discover that as our concentration deepens and thoughts fall away, the breath will quieten and slow down quite spontaneously. Then we should begin to experience a true meditative state of mind.

 

If at this stage we should begin to congratulate ourselves our meditation will simply go for a diffuse. We shall be exchanging Unconditioned Being for the delusion of achievement. Beware of the "How am I doing?" syndrome. It is a monstrous stumbling block on the path of meditation. 

 

Our approach to meditation is as important as the meditation itself. One Tibetan teacher has this to say: "Do not be consistent".

 

There are many Eastern Gurus who encourage their devotees to rise at 6 a.m. every day to do an hour's sitting before breakfast and another obligatory hour before retiring every night. For some of these teachers these obligatory hours are not enough and disciples are urged to spend more and more hours in sitting meditation. We are human beings however and not limpets. If we insist upon sitting cross-legged and cross-eyed for hours at a stretch we need have no surprise to find ourselves being used as a doorstop by one of our more active brethren.

 

Routines can easily condition and enslave us. We practice meditation to restore a quota of spontaneous being into our lives. Rigid routine in meditation is hardly the path to spontaneity. We should meditate when we feel like it. That is all. 

 

All kinds of internal happenings arise during sitting meditation of a paranormal or astral nature. It is your own psyche unfolding. Do not talk about them or you will inevitably become confused. We can become attached to these events, the side effects, so to speak, of meditation and tend to evaluate these events as good, bad or indifferent according to our expectations.

 

The Yogin who has realised his goal, however, places no great value upon these events which he recognises as mere projections of his own mind. Therefore we should not leave our sitting reflecting upon how good or bad it was, for the man of meditative power has long gone beyond ideas of good or bad. By the same token we shall not approach our sitting with great anticipation or apprehension. I shall not pontificate further about this for there are no words adequate enough for what I am trying to convey.

 

To summarise our meditation practice:

 

A comfortable seat, a straight back, hands on lap, palms up, tips of thumbs touching. Eyes closed and relaxed, "gazing down the nose". Breathe through the nose. 

 

Watch the breath. 

 

Calmly concentrate, the reins held loose. 

 

When thoughts arise do not resist them or block them off. Witness them from "over your shoulder", 

and gently lead the attention back to the breath. 

 

When you have done enough, rise calmly and slowly and go about your business. There you have it, a simple and very effective meditation technique.

 

A few words of warning which, like Government anti-tobacco warnings should be, by law, printed on the spine of every book about Meditation: 

 

WARNING 

MEDITATION IS NOT A BIG DEAL 

BIG DEALS CAN LEAD TO MENTAL ILLNESS AND SPIRITUAL DEATH

just reading this now.  good stuff.  bump.

[C T]

Resting one’s mind without fabrication is considered the single key point of the realization of all the countless profound and extensive oral instructions in meditation practice such as Mahamudra, Dzogchen, Lamdrey, Cho, Zhije and so forth. The oral instructions appear in various modes due to the differences in ways of human understanding.

 

Some meditators regard meditation practice as simply a thought-free state of mind in which all gross and subtle perceptions of the six senses have ceased. This is called straying into a dull state of shamatha.

 

Some presume stable meditation to be a state of neutral dullness not embraced by mindfulness.

Some regard meditation as complete clarity, smooth bliss or utter voidness and cling to those experiences.

 

Some chop their meditation into fragments, believing the objective of meditation to be a vacant state of mind between the cessation of one thought and the arising of the next.

 

Some hold on to such thoughts as, "The mind-nature is dharmakaya! It is empty! It cannot be grasped!" To think, "Everything is devoid of true existence! It is like a magical illusion! Its like space!" and to regard that as the meditation state is to have fallen into the extreme of intellectual assumption.

 

Some people claim that whatever is thought or whatever occurs is of the nature of meditation. They stray into craziness by falling under the power of ordinary thinking.

 

Most others regard thinking as a defect and inhibit it. They believe in resting in meditation after controlling what is being thought and tie themselves up in fixated mindfulness or an ascetic state of mind.

 

In short, the mind may be still, in turmoil as thoughts and disturbing emotions, or tranquil in any of the experiences of bliss, clarity, and non-thought. Knowing how to sustain the spontaneity of innate naturalness directly in whatever occurs, without having to fabricate, reject or change anything is extremely rare.

 

~ Tsele Natsok Rangdrol - "THE LAMP OF MAHAMUDRA"

[steve]

That is a very nice summary of what meditation is not.

It puts me in mind of the via negativa of Aquinas.

[manitou]

Resting one’s mind without fabrication is considered the single key point of the realization of all the countless profound and extensive oral instructions in meditation practice such as Mahamudra, Dzogchen, Lamdrey, Cho, Zhije and so forth. The oral instructions appear in various modes due to the differences in ways of human understanding.

 

Some meditators regard meditation practice as simply a thought-free state of mind in which all gross and subtle perceptions of the six senses have ceased. This is called straying into a dull state of shamatha.

 

So the difference here is whether one is sitting in awareness of that which comes to the sensory perceptions - smells, sounds, etc - and letting it all merge into One?  No judgment, no separation?  Just resting in the is-ness?

[C T]

So the difference here is whether one is sitting in awareness of that which comes to the sensory perceptions - smells, sounds, etc - and letting it all merge into One?  No judgment, no separation?  Just resting in the is-ness?

The encouragement often reminded to practitioners is one of returning the awareness to a state of least contrivance, as often as possible. If the awareness strays, gently note the straying, and then lead the mind home to recognise its intrinsic nature, which is spacious and vast, suffused with knowing, and never, from beginningless time, sullied by dualistic conditions which is basically the cause of delusional views. 

[manitou]

The encouragement often reminded to practitioners is one of returning the awareness to a state of least contrivance, as often as possible. If the awareness strays, gently note the straying, and then lead the mind home to recognise its intrinsic nature, which is spacious and vast, suffused with knowing, and never, from beginningless time, sullied by dualistic conditions which is basically the cause of delusional views. 

 

Gently and beautifully said, IMO.

[C T]

~ DHARMARAKSITA ~

 

When drops of water fill a vase, it is not the first drop that fills it, nor the last drop or each drop individually; through the gathering of dependent factors the vase is filled.

Likewise, when someone experiences joy and suffering – the effects – this is not due to the first instant of their cause; nor is it due to the last instant of the cause. Joy and pain are felt through coming together of dependent factors. 

 

So within this mere appearance I will observe ethical norms.

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2016 by C T