Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[Anderson]

 

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call 'support', of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which ordinary consciousness is is attached. When we recognize and become grounded in awareness of awareness, the “wind” of emotion may still blow. But instead of being carried away by the wind, we turn our attention inward: Oh, this is what I’m feeling, this is what I’m thinking. As we do so, a bit of space opens up within us. With practice, that space — which is the mind’s natural clarity — begins to expand and settle. We can begin to watch our thoughts and emotions without necessarily being affected by them quite as powerfully or vividly as we’re used to. We can still feel our feelings, think our thoughts, but slowly our identity shifts from a person who defines him- or herself as lonely, ashamed, frightened, or hobbled by low self-esteem to a person who can look at loneliness, shame, and low self-esteem as movements of the mind.

~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, “The Aim of Attention”

 

 

Shouldn't he be out of retreat yet ?

[C T]

Shouldn't he be out of retreat yet ?

As far as i know Rinpoche has yet to return to his official seat. Met my teacher in February where he mentioned this in passing. 

[3bob]

in #100 such an idea is still a view or concept being put forth in an attempt to point to reality - which at best is all that such can do -,  knowing that objective reality is always subjective to the subject.

Edited March 14, 2015 by 3bob

[C T]

"The Dzogchen teachings often speak of view, meditation, and conduct. The view means you understand the nature of your mind. You know it the same way that you know your own face when you see it in a mirror —instantly, without any doubt or hesitation. This is called “certainty wisdom.”

 

The next step is meditation. Meditation means maintaining this view by continuously recognizing the nature of your mind as a way of life. Conduct refers to your speech and actions, which are the support for your view and meditation. Whatever you say and do should reflect, support, and strengthen your understanding of the nature of your mind. The essential point of conduct is to not accept or reject the six sensory experiences. If you continue to practice like this, your view, meditation, and conduct will merge into the result: your view will become indestructible, and you will no longer be distracted by thoughts or external events. You will maintain the view perfectly at all times and in all places. This result is not far away — in fact, it’s right here. But you must release your belief in thoughts to see it.

 

For the view, meditation, conduct, and result to manifest properly and fully we need a foundation, and that foundation is two-fold: (1) generating bodhichitta and (2) reflecting on impermanence. This is not only Shigpo Dudtsi’s teaching, but the teaching of all the great Dzogchen masters, from Garab Dorje until now. As we cultivate vast, impartial love, compassion, and wisdom, and develop a deep understanding of both the transience and preciousness of life, we’re crossing the bridge that leads from habitual patterns to absolute freedom. Bodhichitta and impermanence are not only catalysts for realization, but are expressions of the true nature of the mind."

 

~ Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches
The Beauty of Awakened Mind:
Dzogchen Lineage of the Great Master Shigpo Dudtsi (pgs 141-142)

 

[C T]

“OM is composed of A, U, M. Viewed as the seed syllables of the Three Vajras, they represent the Body, Speech, and Mind of Noble Lady Tara. Protecting all beings by nonconceptual love, compassion, and wisdom, and completely abandoning all wrongdoing of body, speech, and mind, is “Lady.” Going far beyond the limits of samsara and nirvana is Exhalted or Noble. Protecting all sentient beings from the cause and result of fear and suffering is the Liberator or Tara. For this reason, from my heart, I pay homage to you, Noble Lady, with devotion of body, speech, and mind.”

 

~ Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche
Smile of Sun and Moon

[C T]

Pointing the Staff At the Old Man's Heart 

 

WHILE THE GREAT MASTER PADMASAMBHAVA was staying at Great Rock Hermitage at Samye, Sherab Gyalpo of Ngog, an uneducated 61 year old man who had the highest faith and strong devotion to the master, served him for one year. All this while Ngog didn't ask for any teachings, nor did the master give him any. When after a year the master intended to leave, Ngog offered a mandala plate upon which he placed a flower of one ounce of gold.

 

Then he said, "Great Master, think of me with kindness. First of all, I am uneducated. Second, my intelligence is small. Third, I am old, so my elements are worn down. I beg you to give a teaching to an old man on the verge of death that is simple to understand, can thoroughly cut through doubt, is easy to realize and apply, has an effective view, and will help me in future lives."

 

The Master pointed his walking staff at the old man's heart and gave this instruction:

 

Listen here old man! Look into the awakened mind of your own awareness! It has neither form nor color, neither center nor edge. At first, it has no origin but is empty. Next, it has no dwelling place but is empty. At the end, it has no destination but is empty. This emptiness is not made of anything and is clear and cognizant. When you see this and recognize it, you know your natural face. You understand the nature of things. You have then seen the nature of mind, resolved the basic state of reality and cut through doubts about topics of knowledge.

 

This awakened mind of awareness is not made out of any material substance; it is self-existing and inherent in yourself. This is the nature of things that is easy to realize because it is not to be sought for elsewhere. This is the nature of mind that does not consist of a concrete perceiver and something perceived to fixate on. It defies the limitations of permanence and annihilation. In it there is no thing to awaken; the awakened state of enlightenment is your own awareness that is naturally awake. In it there is no thing that goes to the hells; awareness is naturally pure. In it there is no practice to carry out; its nature is naturally cognizant. This great view of the natural state is present in yourself: resolve that it is not to be sought for elsewhere.

 

When you understand the view in this way and want to apply it in your experience, wherever you stay is the mountain retreat of your body. Whatever external appearance you perceive is a naturally occurring appearance and a naturally empty emptiness; let it be, free from mental constructs. Naturally freed appearances become your helpers, and you can practice while taking appearances as the path.

 

Within, whatever moves in your mind, whatever you think, has no essence but is empty. Thought occurrences are naturally freed. When remembering your mind essence you can take thoughts as the path and the practice is easy.

 

As for the innermost advice: no matter what kind of disturbing emotion you feel, look into the emotion and it tracelessly subsides. The disturbing emotion is thus naturally freed. This is simple to practice.

 

When you can practice in this way, your meditation training is not confined to sessions. Knowing that everything is a helper, your meditation experience is unchanging, the innate nature is unceasing, and your conduct is unshackled. Wherever you stay, you are never apart from the innate nature.

 

Once you realize this, your material body may be old, but awakened mind doesn't age. It knows no difference between young and old. The innate nature is beyond bias and partiality. When you recognize that awareness, innate wakefulness, is present in yourself, there is no difference between sharp and dull faculties. When you understand the innate nature, free from bias and partiality, is present within yourself, there is no difference between great and small learning. Even though your body, the support for the mind, falls apart, the dharmakaya of awareness wisdom is unceasing. When you gain stability in this unchanging state, there is no difference between a long and a short life-span.

 

Old man, practice the true meaning! Take the practice to heart! Don't mistake words and meaning! Don't depart from your friend, diligence! Embrace everything with mindfulness! Don't indulge in idle talk and pointless gossip! Don't become involved in common aims! Don't disturb yourself with worry of offspring! Don't excessively crave food and drink! Intend to die an ordinary man! Your life is running out, so be diligent! Practice this instruction for an old man on the verge of death!

 

Because of pointing the staff at Sherab Gyalpo's heart, this is called 'The Instruction of Pointing the Staff at the Old Man.' Sherab Gyalpo of Ngog was liberated and attained accomplishment.

 

This was written down by the Princess of Kharchen for the sake of future generations. It is known under the name 'The Instruction of Pointing the Staff.'

 

 

 

 

(many thanks to Buddhist Centre Miami and Paramito Ladakh for sharing the above)

[C T]

"Nirvana, or whatever you want to call it, means the complete deconstruction of all of our rigid mental patterns and habits as well as the deconstruction of all of our limiting beliefs. This deconstruction creates a space for true inquiry. When we open our hearts and our minds completely, we are in a place where we can experience something new, a new truth, a new reality, a miracle that we haven’t experienced in the past. We can see things differently and they present new, expanded opportunities, new horizons. Therefore an open mind is required. This is true not only in relationship to the truth but in relationship to everyday life as well.

 

For example, when I first came to the U.S., I was very close-minded and very close-hearted about Western food. I was very afraid of two things, the tomato and the avocado. The tomato reminded me of a clot of blood and the avocado reminded me of some kind of very repulsive grease. I had pictures in my mind and stories about them simply because my mind and my heart were not open to them. I was trying to defend my old belief systems about taste and diet. I wasn’t ready to open my heart to the tomato and the avocado. There was no way. All of these negative thoughts kept coming into my mind. ‘Well, the tomato may be delicious. Perhaps I should try it sometime, but not today. Maybe tomorrow or in another few months I will be ready to taste the avocado, but definitely not now.’

 

Actually there was really no good reason not to try a tomato or an avocado, but my mind came up with one reason after another. ‘Maybe it isn’t delicious. Maybe it’s disgusting. It looks like blood, very yucky.’ This was enough to keep me from trying either the tomato or the avocado and so my heart wasn’t open for a very long time. Then one day, accidentally, my mind and my heart were totally open to the tomato and the avocado and I tried them. They were quite good. Now I love avocados and tomatoes so much that I actually cannot imagine life without them. They are truly amazingly delicious. They have totally changed my life. Sometimes I feel like holding my palms together in praise to express my gratitude to the tomato and the avocado.

 

The truth is similar to that. We just don't open our heart and mind because we haven't experienced the benefit of that. Once we have experienced the truth, there isn’t even an issue. There is no worry. The whole question of whether we are ready to open our heart and mind to the truth isn't even a concern."

 

~ Anam Thubten, ‘No Self, No Problem’

[C T]

In a previous life there was doubt, confusion and delusion, which is ignorance.

 

There was kammic accumulation of many intentions, which is mental construction. 

 

There was attachment to the past life body, food, and pleasures, which is craving.

 

There was embracing this and that, delighting in this and that object, which is clinging. 

 

There was volitions, favourite choices, and firm determinations, which is becoming...

 

These 5 things accumulated in the previous kamma-process of becoming therefore
became the conditions for rebirth-linking at birth, here in the present life process...

 

Here in the present life process, there was rebirth-linking, which is consciousness. 

 

There was descent into the womb, which is mentality-&-materiality; name-&-form.

 

There is sensitivity of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind, which is the 6 senses.

 

There is what is seen, heard, smelt, tasted, touched and thought, which is contact.

 

There is what is felt as pleasure, pain or neither pleasure nor pain, which is feeling... 

 

These five things here in the present rebirth-process of becoming all have their 
conditions in kamma done in the past. Since feeling causes clinging. And since this
clinging, then causes new becoming resulting in future birth, these 5 things causes
the conditions for a future life to be deposited... The rebirth round is thus closed..    

 

Any present intentional conscious moment, thus creates a future conscious moment! 
 

Ps I 52, Vism 601

[C T]

The fading away of Ignorance causes Mental Construction to cease.

 

The fading away of Mental Construction causes Consciousness to cease.

 

The fading away of Consciousness causes Name-&-Form to cease.

 

The fading away of Name & Form causes the Six Senses to cease.

 

The fading away of the Six Senses causes Contact to cease.

 

The fading away of Contact causes Feeling to cease.

 

The fading away of Feeling causes Craving to cease.

 

The fading away of Craving causes Clinging to cease.

 

The fading away of Clinging causes Becoming to cease.

 

The fading away of Becoming causes Birth to cease.

 

The fading away of Birth causes Ageing, Decay & Death to cease.

 

The fading away of Ageing, Decay & Death... thus gone

 

Such is the Complete Cessation of this entire immense mass of Suffering!

[C T]

Entirely Spiritual 

 

Some people think that Buddhism is a philosophy and not a religion; but Buddhism is neither a nihilist philosophy nor an eternalist religion. This is a complete deviation whose source is material judgment, made by people who try to find out about Buddhism but merely focus on its objective, material aspects out of their own material habit.

 

Through only paying attention to the outer appearances and activities of Buddhist organizations and scholars, they only see Buddhists studying and debating, without understanding that the purpose of their study is to lead to practice and to open wisdom. Then, deciding that what is studied and debated resembles the refined logic of some subtle, worldly philosophies, they speculate that the ultimate teaching of Buddhism must be philosophy. They do not see meditators who are practicing inconspicuously, and they do not see the development of the inconceivable, naturally secret, spiritual qualities which cannot be observed because they are intangible.

 

The Buddhist view is to recognize that we must not remain within ordinary phenomena by following a worldly philosophy limited to ordinary, substantial reasoning. We must decide to increase pure phenomena by following a spiritual philosophy which goes beyond ordinary reasoning and leads to enlightenment. Buddhist philosophy is entirely spiritual. Its purpose is to refute the views of the two extremes of nihilism and eternalism by the skillful means of wisdom, to release all beings to enlightenment.

 

~ Thinley Norbu Rinpoche

from the book "White Sail: Crossing the Waves of Ocean Mind to the Serene Continent of the Triple Gems"

[C T]

Q: When we’re in the Trekcho state would we ever need to use reasoning? If we did, would it be a form of grasping?

 

A: When we have good stability in Trekcho, we continue to perceive and relate with all the objects of the phenomenal world, and mind continues to function, and so we’ll reason when reason is necessary. But now we’ll see everything with perfect clarity, so there’s no more grasping. This is known as the state of “being like an old man watching children play.” When an old man watches children play, what is there for him to grasp? He sees the children having fun, no more or less than that. The children themselves might grasp at their play, but not the old man.

 

Q: Rinpoche, how do we become like that old man?

 

A: Listen to and contemplate the teachings. Cultivate bodhichitta and devotion. Analyze the mind. Do sitting meditation. Through this, you’ll get a glimpse of the true nature. Then, to transform what you glimpsed into full panoramic vision, continue to practice as before with joyful effort.

 

~ Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches
The Beauty of Awakened Mind:
Dzogchen Lineage of the Great Master Shigpo Dudtsi (pgs 96-97)

[C T]

What is the nature of this world into which the helping forces of the Bodhisattva hurl themselves? According to Buddhist definition it is what we experience as the world: the result of our sense-activities, our thoughts, feelings and actions. So long as this thinking, feeling and acting is motivated by the illusion of our individual separateness, we experience a correspondingly limited, one-sided and therefore imperfect world, in which we attempt in vain to maintain our self-identity, our imaginary ego, against the irresistible stream of eternally changing forms and conditions. The world, therefore, appears to us as a world of impermanence, insecurity and fear; and it is this fear that surrounds each being like a wall, separating it from others and from the greater life. 

 

~ Lama Govinda

Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism

[C T]

Empty essence means very, very open
And very spacious, like a totally open sky.
Space has no center or edge.
Nothing is prevented, it is completely unimpeded.
Empty essence, like space, is not made out of anything whatsoever.
At the same time there is a sense of knowing,
An awake quality, a cognizant nature,
Not separate from the openness of this space.
Like the sun shining in daytime,
The daylight and space are not separate.
It's all sunlit space.
Nothing is confined, nothing is blocked out.
All the doors and windows are wide open.
Like a total welcome - of all possibilities -
Which doesn't get caught up in whatever happens.
It is wide open,
The unity of empty essence and cognizant nature.
This is the third quality, that of unconfined capacity.

 

~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche

 

Edited March 24, 2015 by C T

[C T]

Inner Preliminaries

To be sufficiently receptive and ripe to receive an empowerment – and not just attend one and experience nothing – we need to have practiced beforehand the six inner preliminaries (nang-gi sngon-‘gro). As the nineteenth-century master Dza Peltrul outlined them in Guideline Instructions from My Totally Excellent (Samantabhadra) Spiritual Mentor, Perfect Words of My Excellent Teacher, they are, in reverse order:

• Guru-yoga, in which we recognize and focus on Buddha-nature in our spiritual mentors and in us, and make a yoke or bond between the two.

•  

• We are able to do this successfully based on having made beforehand kusali offerings of chod, in which we imagine cutting up and giving away our ordinary bodies, which come from and are accompanied by unawareness (ignorance).

•  

• We are able to do this successfully based on having made beforehand mandala offerings, in which we develop generosity and strengthen our enlightenment-building network of positive force (collection of merit) by imagining giving away the universe.

•  

• We are able to do this successfully based on having practiced beforehand Vajrasattva recitation, for purification of the gross obstacles that would prevent us from building up an enlightenment-building network of positive force.

•  

• We are able to do this successfully based on having cultivated beforehand bodhichitta and the far-reaching attitudes (Skt. paramita, perfections), so that we are aiming for enlightenment and dedicating our constructive actions for attaining it to benefit all others as much as is possible.

•  

• We are able to do this successfully based on having put beforehand the safe direction of refuge in our lives, done while making prostration to show respect to those who have realized rigpa and to our Buddha-natures that will enable us to do the same.

    Outer Preliminaries

We are able to practice the six inner preliminaries successfully based on having practiced beforehand the six outer preliminaries (phyi’i sngon-‘gro). Again, in reverse order:

• Building and maintaining a healthy relation with spiritual teacher, as a living example of safe direction.

•  

• We are able to do this successfully based on having realized beforehand the benefits of liberation, so that we will look for an example of it.

•  

• We only think of liberation when we have understood beforehand karmic cause and effect and the fact that we can free ourselves from it.

•  

• We only think of  because it is the cause of the faults of samsara.

•  

• We only see this when we have thought beforehand about death and impermanence and the fact that problems and suffering continue from lifetime to lifetime.

•  

• We think of death only when we have appreciated beforehand our precious human rebirths.

 

~ A. Berzin

[C T]

The essence of mind is somewhat difficult to explain, so we look at it from the negative point of view, that is, what mind is not. First of all, we see that it is not something which arises or ceases or abides. It is free of these three things. From beginningless time, there is no arising, no cessation and no abiding in terms of staying in one place, not moving, or not changing. It is completely free of all three of these.

 

It is also free of being a thing or a substance composed of particles. The essential entity, or substance, of mind is not something that can be defiled or stained by grasping at subject and object. It is completely free of the stains from those activities.

 

Further, when we look at the essential substance of mind, we find that no matter how much we search for it, no matter how much we analyze it, there is no thing there to be found. There is no entity that we can come up with by searching, evaluating, and analyzing. No matter how much we seek for its essential substance, we cannot find it. The searcher, the one who does the search for essential substance of mind, cannot find it. Therefore it is said that the essential substance of mind itself is emptiness.

 

~ Chetsang Rinpoche

from the book "The Practice Of Mahamudra"

[C T]

"The mountains and rivers, the blueberries and tomato worms, these are the things that inform me. I share them with students, and they share themselves with me. Winter, we sew Buddha's robes or study around the fire, fill the frozen bird feeders, and sit zazen together; spring, we cut peonies for the altar, plant berry starts, weed and sit zazen together; summer, we paint the tool shed, string cable for the deer fence, put up our tea booth in the park for the Fourth of July, and we sit zazen together; autumn, we harvest bushels of apples and fill the pantry with applesauce, walk the Rogue River trail bearing witness to Fall's brilliant display, stack the wood shed with dry bark and kindling, and we sit zazen together. We turn compost and sit together. We repair the irrigation system and sit together. We rake mountains of sycamore and cottonwood leaves and sit together. We chant the Buddhas and Ancestors and we sit together. We screen the crawl space to keep the skunks out and we sit together. What else is there?"

 

~ Etsudo Patty Krahl, a founding teacher of Ashland Zen Center, Oregon, from SEEDS OF VIRTUE, SEEDS OF CHANGE: A COLLECTION OF ZEN TEACHINGS by 27 women masters (2014)

 

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2015 by C T

[C T]

"When we begin to practice meditation, we’re always surprised how fast the mind runs. Yet even though it seems to be running very fast, it’s actually slowing down. Here Shigpo Dudtsi follows the instructions of the great Dzogchen master Vimalamitra, as he explains the five stages of Shamatha practice, of which the first is “like a stream running down a steep mountain.” This describes the experience of beginning meditators very well—their thoughts are boisterous, and they keep coming and going without cessation. It’s tempting to judge this as being wrong, and to willfully strive to achieve a quiet and peaceful mind. But we don’t have to choose one over the other. Having thoughts is mind, and the absence of thoughts is also mind. In both cases, the nature of the mind is emptiness.

 

The purpose of Shamatha practice is to regulate the mind in order to make it stable and transparent to itself. Focus your mind for a short time, and then look directly at it. Once you behold your empty, open mind, simply rest in it. At this point there’s no need to regulate anything, and you should release the regulator too. Relax and let your mind do whatever it wants to do. This is one way to discover and experience the empty nature of mind."

 

~ Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches
The Beauty of Awakened Mind:
Dzogchen Lineage of the Great Master Shigpo Dudtsi (pg 78)

[C T]

The Buddha proved definitively that mere meditative concentration is not sufficient to gain liberation. Through meditation alone, one ends up in the realms of the meditation gods and the Formless Realms, states which in themselves definitely do not lead out of samsara. There is a famous quote: “If you know how to meditate, but not how to be free, then aren’t you just like the meditation gods?” So, it’s very important to know how to liberate your deluded thinking. That is the vital point.

 

~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

 

[Jeff]

The Buddha proved definitively that mere meditative concentration is not sufficient to gain liberation. Through meditation alone, one ends up in the realms of the meditation gods and the Formless Realms, states which in themselves definitely do not lead out of samsara. There is a famous quote: “If you know how to meditate, but not how to be free, then aren’t you just like the meditation gods?” So, it’s very important to know how to liberate your deluded thinking. That is the vital point.

 

 

~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

 

 

Excuse me for interrupting... But, I thought this one was worth repreating as it is missed by many traditions.

[C T]

"Abiding in the nature of the mind without being disturbed by thoughts or emotions is the practice of Kadak Trekcho. Trekcho means “cutting thoroughly.” What is being cut? Believing in our thoughts, and clinging onto them is being cut. Thoughts are given many names in the teachings: fabrications, delusions, mental events, and duality conceptions. When you recognize and abide in the natural state of your own mind, all thoughts—or whatever name you choose to give them—come and go naturally, spontaneously, and effortlessly, and can never bind you. Those who bring their practice to this point are Dzogchen yogis and yoginis, not just in name, but in truth.

 

Garab Dorje, the first human master of Dzogchen, was the holder of all 6,400,000 Dzogchen tantras. He had many students, the foremost being Manjushrimitra. In the early days of Dzogchen, the complete teaching was passed from master to disciple in a single lineage. In this way, Garab Dorje named Manjushrimitra as his regent. The histories say that Manjushrimitra studied with Garab Dorje for seventy-five years.

 

At the end of their time together, Garab Dorje entered mahaparinirvana. He transformed into rainbow light and rose into the sky. Immediately Manjushrimitra began crying, and with great longing and yearning prayed to his master. Garab Dorje extended his right arm, and in his hand he held a jeweled locket the size of a thumb. He handed the locket to Manjushrimitra, saying “The entire Dzogchen teaching I have given you should be condensed in this way.”

 

Garab Dorje gave Manjushrimitra what has become known as the deje, which means, “last testament,” or “legacy teaching.” It begins with a set of three instructions. “First, find out the source of your mind. Second, find out where your mind is presently abiding. Third, find out where your mind is going.” When you search for the source of your mind, for the time and place when it first came into being, you do not find anything. This is known as the “unborn” or “birthless” state. It is also called dharmakaya. When you search for where your mind is right now you cannot pinpoint it. In the Prajnaparamita the Buddha said, “Oh, Shariputra, mind is not outside, mind is not inside, mind is not in-between, nor is it someplace else.” This is known as the “nonabiding” or “nondwelling state.” It is also called sambhogakaya. When you search for where your mind is going you will once more find nothing concrete. This is known as the “unceasing” or “deathless” state. It is also called nirmanakaya.

 

By practicing the opening instructions of Garab Dorje’s final teaching, you realize that the three kayas are always inseparable from you—your mind is the embodiment of the three kayas. The Dzogchen teachings say, “The universe itself is in the three kaya state, which is enlightened and ever-present within your own mind.” This means that the universe is not separate from you; it is you, and you are it. To awaken this realization, in the Vajrayana you visualize yourself as a buddha and the universe as your pure land. Visualization is not a game of make-believe or an exercise in fantasy—it’s a means to reawaken to the original, indestructible perfection of the universe, inseparable from your own mind. In order to facilitate this realization with reasoning and logic, the great master Rongzompa composed a text that’s now available in English called Establishing Appearances as Divine. In this text, Rongzompa teaches that the universe is a divine mandala, and that this mandala is a display of your mind. You’ve forgotten this because you’ve been strongly clinging to your thoughts. Release all clinging and reconnect to the nature of your mind, and you will remember everything."

 

~ Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches
The Beauty of Awakened Mind:
Dzogchen Lineage of the Great Master Shigpo Dudtsi (pgs 80-81)

[C T]

The Four Qualities of Buddha-nature

 

"Maitreya clearly states that buddha-nature, or tathagatagarbha, has four different qualities. We have seen that some of the great early Tibetan scholars explained buddha-nature almost as though it were a state of negation. One scholar countered that such a view is incorrect, given that Maitreya clearly showed how Buddha Shakyamuni did not explain buddha-nature as a state of negation. Some of the early masters dismissed this point in a low-key way. In any case, what are the four qualities of buddha-nature?

 

(1) First, ‘Buddha-nature is great purity beyond all concepts of pure and impure.’

 

(2) Second, ‘Buddha-nature is the great self beyond all beyond all concepts of self and no-self.’

 

(3) Third, ‘Buddha-nature is great blissfulness of pleasure and pain, or suffering and bliss.’

 

(4) Finally, ‘Buddha-nature is the great permanent state beyond all concepts of permanence and impermanence.’

 

We can summarize this in a simple way by saying, ‘Buddha-nature is beyond duality mind.’ Characteristics such as permanent and impermanent, clean and dirty, pure and impure, self and no-self are all dualistic conceptions—they are the labels, restrictions, and distractions of duality mind. In reality, tathagatagarbha goes beyond each and every one of those boundaries.

 

The Buddha taught this very specifically throughout his Prajnaparamita teachings. If you have the time or opportunity, it is good to read the one hundred thousand stanzas of the Prajnaparamita; I think this text has been translated into English. In this teaching, the Supreme Teacher states,

 

‘O Subhuti, noble sons and daughters engage in the Prajnaparamita, the wisdom that goes beyond. If you hold on to form as permanent, you are grasping; if form is impermanent, you are grasping; if form is clean, you are grasping; if form is unclean, you are grasping.’

 

When the Buddha taught this, he was uprooting the dualistic conceptions to which we normally cling. Duality will never discover the true taste of reality itself. By making and holding on to labels, we get caught and bound up in delusion; whatever we do will be like a pigeon who walks in a cotton field and gets caught in the cotton, or a pigeon who gets stuck in a lamb’s wool. We have a Tibetan word that refers to when a pigeon tries to walk on a lamb and gets stuck in its wool—that big pigeon can’t get out!

 

The mind of the Buddha is known by many different names in the Buddhist scriptures. Sometimes it is known as ‘the union of the two truths’ or ‘the great absolute truth that is the union of the two truths.’ Other times it called ‘great emptiness with all inherent good qualities’ and ‘great wisdom that goes beyond all conception.’ It is also called ‘mother of the buddhas of the three times,’ ‘tathagatagarbha,’ and ‘buddha-nature.’ The beginning of the Heart Sutra briefly explains this nature, stating, ‘Inconceivable, inexpressible prajnaparamita, unborn, unceasing, its nature like the sky. Experienced by self-reflexive awareness discerning pristine cognition...’

 

When we discuss buddha-nature and study it according to the different systems of philosophy, it almost looks as though buddha-nature exists somewhere else, somewhere outside ourselves. Nonetheless, we are actually discussing our own innate nature. Buddhist philosophy establishes tathagatagarbha by means of logic and valid cognition, arriving at conclusions about the truth of the nature in this way. This is exactly what the Buddha taught; he said we should use logic and reason to examine the truth of his teachings, discovering and actualizing the nature in our own experience. In order to practice correctly, we need to develop certainty wisdom.

 

Certainty and trust in the teachings will bring about the result of realization. Without the confidence of certainty wisdom, our practice will become shaky. In his Beacon of Certainty, the great Mipham Rinpoche asks, ‘If you don’t engage in detailed analysis of the teachings, how can you be free from doubt? And if you haven’t freed yourself from doubt, how can you practice? Being full of doubt, how will the continual chain of karmic winds and actions be stopped? Even if you somehow manage to stop general reactions based upon these karmic winds, how can you go beyond or renouce samsara?’ Upon developing realization of the great dharmadhatu, we will no longer discriminate between samsara and nirvana, because we will perceive both as a display of the beautiful nature; samsara and nirvana are the completely pure display of the innate nature of our buddha mind. The teachings refer to this as the ‘one taste of samsara and nirvana,’ in which both merge into a single state. This is buddha-nature, the authentic nature of mind."

 

~ Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches
Opening the Wisdom Door of the Rangtong & Shentong Views (pgs 93-95)

[C T]

Everything has the nature of being empty.
When the empty looks at the empty,
Who is there to look at something empty?
What is the use of many classifications,
Such as 'being empty' and 'not empty'
As it is illusion looking at illusion,
And delusion watching delusion?

 

~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

[C T]

Behold and search your unborn mind;
 

Seek not for satisfaction in samsara.
 

I attain all my knowledge through observing the mind within.

 

Thus all my thoughts become the teachings of dharma,
 

And apparent phenomena are all the books one needs.
 

Seeing the innate face of the self-mind is supreme,
 

How can common meditation match it?

 

He who realizes the nature of his own mind knows
 

That the mind itself is wisdom-awareness,
 

And no longer makes the mistake of searching for Buddha from other sources.
 

In fact, Buddha cannot be found by searching,
 

So contemplate your own mind.
 

This is the highest teaching one can practice;
 

This very mind is the tathagatagarbha, buddha nature, the womb of the buddhas.

 

~Milarepa

[C T]

When discussing wisdom from the point of view of compassion, the Sanskrit term often used is Bodhicitta, which has been variously translated as "enlightened mind", "the heart of the enlightened state of mind", or simply "awakened heart". Bodhicitta is said to have two aspects, one absolute and one relative. Absolute Bodhicitta is the term applied to whatever state is considered ultimate or fundamental in a given Buddhist tradition - the experience of the groundlessness of Sunyata or the (positively defined) sudden glimpse of the natural awake state itself. Relative Bodhicitta is that fundamental warmth towards the phenomenal world that practitioners report arising from absolute experience and that manifests itself as concern for the welfare of others beyond merely naive compassion.

 

-Francisco J.Varela

[C T]

"Open awareness is not a consciousness and does not have an object in relation to which it is a subject. Thus, naturally enough, reality is not an object of wisdom but wisdom itself. Likewise, open awareness is not simply a knower of empty reality but IS emptiness and reality. It's authenticity comes as much or more because of the kind of subject it is rather than the kind of object whose measure it takes. This emphasis on the subjective state as such is characteristic of Dzogchen (and of many esoteric contemplative traditions).

 

The meaning of the mind of enlightenment not realized by the lower mind can be understood through three signs: clarity (Tibetan: ngang), nature (rang bzhin), and the nonduality (gnyis med) of clarity and emptiness."

 

~ Anne Carolyn Klein and Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, UNBOUNDED WHOLENESS (2006)