Simple_Jack

Gatito, I can say the reverse towards you, since you seek to subsume the principles and praxis of buddhadharma under the fold of Vedanta; this attempt at whitewashing undesirable elements that undermine Upanishadic doctrine is an intrinsic act of violence. None of it matters in the end, because anyone who sincerely applies the instructions for praxis in buddhadharma, will eventually come to an understanding of the underlying meaning of buddhadharma.

themiddleway, you're unknowingly perpetuating sectarian stereotypes, by stating that the Kagyu lineage is a "practice lineage", which in turn implies that other lineages (usually Gelugpa) are 'all study and no practice'. Sometimes people like to downplay the significance of scholarly study within lineages, but people overlook the hagiographical accounts of the Mahasiddhas who were founders of lineages, being praised for both their yogic accomplishments and depth of learning; Milarepa was not an illiterate yogi, he was quite learned himself as evidenced in the records of his teachings and yogic songs. Of course, it's not necessary for the average person to become thoroughly familiarized with Buddhist tenet systems unless they plan on becoming teachers and/or scholar-translators.

I think you guys are over exaggerating the sectarianism between the lineages today, but I'm not denying that there aren't still elements of this that still persist to this day. The average person I meet at retreats or whatever usually has received teachings from more than one Lama up to several different lineages. Historically, and today, many Lama's have received empowerments and teachings outside of their main lineage; many Lama's have connections to more than one lineage.

IRL, you're also in an environment where people have chosen to receive these teachings of their own accord, generally a person has to be receptive to the teachings in the first place in order to this. It's not that 'Buddhist' view is absent when attending Dharma talks or being taught how to practice vipassana, Mahamudra, etc., by attending these teachings and being taught these practices, the individual is being trained according to the view of buddhadharma. Whether the average person chooses to take the time, to become deeply familiarized with Buddhist tenet systems outside of receiving general teachings, since the means and programs are available to those who're interested, is another question altogether. It needs to be kept in mind, that Tibetans are the inheritors of the Indian scholastic traditions, which is why Buddhist dialectics are a prominent feature in each lineage, and why this tradition is being continued in the training of khenpos and geshes in monasteries, in the training of tulkus, etc.

QFT: Typical Vedantin Sectarianism.

From Working Toward Enlightenment by Nan Huaijin trans. by Thomas Cleary: "The Source Mirror tells us what enlightenment means. In the book, ten questions are raised. There are no enlightened people who have not mastered the scriptural teachings. They know all the principles of the Buddhist scriptures at one glance. For them reading the scriptures is like reading a novel: They understand everything as soon as they read it, and they do not have to study them in depth. Zen master Yen-Shou's Source Mirror says this in Volume 1: Suppose there are people who stubbornly cling to their own views, who do not believe the words of the Buddha, who create attitudes that block them, and who cut off other routes of study. For their sake I will now discuss ten questions in order to firmly establish the guiding principles. First question: When we completely see true nature as plainly as we see colors in broad daylight, are we the same as bodhisattvas like Manjushri? Second question: When we can clearly understand the source in everything, as we encounter situations and face objects, as we see form and hear sound, as we raise and lower our feet, as we open and close our eyes, are we in accord with the path? Third question: When we read through the teachings of Buddha for our era contained in the Buddhist canon, and the sayings of all the Zen masters since antiquity, and we hear their profundities without becoming afraid, do we always get accurate understanding and have no doubts? Fourth question: When people pose difficult differentiating questins to us, and press us with all sorts of probing inquiries, are we able to respond with the four forms of eloquence, and resolve all their doubts? Fifth question: Does your wisdom shine unhindered at all times in all places, with perfect penetration from moment to moment, not encountering any phenomenon that can obstruct it, and never being interrupted for even an instant? Sixth question: When all kinds of adverse and favorable and good and evil realms appear before us, are we unobstructed by them, and can we see through them all? Seventh question: In all the mental states in Treatise on the Gate for Illuminating the Hundred Phenomena, can we see for each and every one of them, their fine details, the essential nature, and their fundamental source and point of origin, and not be confused by birth and death and the sense faculties and sense organs? Eighth question: Can we discern reality in the midst of all forms of conduct and activity, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, whether receiving instructions or responding, whether dressing or eating? Ninth question: Can we be singleminded and unmoved whether we hear there is a Buddha or we hear there is no Buddha, whether we hear ther are sentient beings or we hear there are no sentient beings, whether wea re praised or slandered or affirmed or denied? Tenth question: Can we clearly comprehend all the differentiating knowledge we hear, and comprehend both true nature and apparent form, inner truth and phenomena, without hindrance, and discern the source of all phenomena, even including the appearance of the thousand sages in the world, without any doubts? The preceding ten questions can provide definitive criteria for deciding whether or not a person is really enlightened. The first question deals with the realm of illuminating mind and seeing true nature, being totally clear at all times in all places about all things, just as you would be when seeing the colors of a painting in broad daylight, and being in the same realm as such exemplers of wisdom as the Bodhisattva Manjushri. Can you be this way? The second question asks whether you can be in accord with the Path when you encounter poeple and situations, or when other people get in the way. The expression "encounter situations and face objects" is very broad. Can you see forms and hear sounds without your mind moving? In your daily life, even at night when you fall asleep, can you be in accord the the Path in all things? Can you do that? The third question is about the Buddhist scriptures. Can you take The Lotus Sutra and The Surangama Sutra and read them and fully understand them? Can you hear the loftiest explanations of the Dharma without becoming afraid? Can you thoroughly understand understand them, without having any doubts? Can you do that? The fourth question asks, when students bring to bear all sorts of learning to ask you questions, are you able to answer them with unobstructed eloquence? All of you can investigate the last six questions for yourselves. The final passage of The Source Mirror presents the following information. If you cannot really do these things, you should not assume a proud, deceptive, lying attitude, or take a self-satisfied attitude. What you must do is make a wide-ranging study of the ultimate teaching, and broaden your learning of previous people of knowledge. Penetrate to the inherent nature that is the source of the enlightened teachers and Buddha, and reach the stage of freedom from doubt that is beyond study. Only at this point can you stop your studies and give your wandering mind a rest. Then you will handle yourself with concentration and contemplation in harmony, and act on behalf of others by teaching with skill in means. If you cannot go everywhere in the universe to study, or make broad study of the multitude of scriptures, just make a careful reading of The Source Mirror, and you will naturally gain entry. This is the most important of all the teachings, the gate for moving toward the Path of enlightenment. It is like watching the mother to know the child, like finding the root to know the branches. When you pull the cloth, all the threads of the net are straight. When you pull the cloth, all the threads from which it is woven come along too. If you cannot accomplish even one of the items mentioned in these ten questions, then you should not deceive yourself or others and think you are right. If you have any doubts at all, you must ask for instruction from enlightened teachers everywhere. You must certainly reach the realm of the Buddhas and the enlightened teachers. Only when you have accomplished all that the enlightened teachers awakened to, can you reach the level of freedom from doubt beyond study, where you no longer have to study. When you 'give your wandering mind a rest,' the mind of false thought totally stops. 'Then you will handle yourself with concentration and contemplation in harmony and act behalf of others by teaching with skill in means.' After you have attained great penetrating enlightenment, you either travel the Hinayana road, and further cultivate the four dhyanas and the eight samadhis and realize their fruit, and become fully equipped with the six spiritual powers and three Buddha-bodies and all the wondrous functions of the spiritual powers; or else you travel the Mahayana road, and sacrifice your own cultivation to help others, and appear in the world to propagate the Dharma. 'If you cannot go everywhere in the universe to study, or make a broad study of the multitude of scriptures," that is, if you think there are too many works in the Buddhist canon for you to be able to read them all, "just make a careful reading of The Source Mirror and you will naturally gain entry. This is the most important of all the teachings, the gate for moving toward the Path of enlightenment.' Zen master Yen-Shou urges you to make a careful study of his The Source Mirror, because he has collected together in his book all the essential points of all the scriptures. 'It is like watching the mother to know the children, like finding the root to know the branches. When you pull the cloth, all the threads from which it is woven come along too.' How beautiful the language is here. This is the importance of this book as Zen master Yen-Shou explains it."

http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=w70ASb2AZV0C&source=gbs_navlinks_s From Bendowa, by Zen Master Dogen Question Ten: Some have said: Do not concern yourself about birth-and-death. There is a way to promptly rid yourself of birth-and-death. It is by grasping the reason for the eternal immutability of the 'mind-nature.' The gist of it is this: although once the body is born it proceeds inevitably to death, the mind-nature never perishes. Once you can realize that the mind-nature, which does not transmigrate in birth-and-death, exists in your own body, you make it your fundamental nature. Hence the body, being only a temporary form, dies here and is reborn there without end, yet the mind is immutable, unchanging throughout past, present, and future. To know this is to be free from birth-and-death. By realizing this truth, you put a final end to the transmigratory cycle in which you have been turning. When your body dies, you enter the ocean of the original nature. When you return to your origin in this ocean, you become endowed with the wondrous virtue of the Buddha-patriarchs. But even if you are able to grasp this in your present life, because your present physical existence embodies erroneous karma from prior lives, you are not the same as the sages. "Those who fail to grasp this truth are destined to turn forever in the cycle of birth-and-death. What is necessary, then, is simply to know without delay the meaning of the mind-nature's immutability. What can you expect to gain from idling your entire life away in purposeless sitting?" What do you think of this statement? Is it essentially in accord with the Way of the Buddhas and patriarchs? Answer 10: You have just expounded the view of the Senika heresy. It is certainly not the Buddha Dharma. According to this heresy, there is in the body a spiritual intelligence. As occasions arise this intelligence readily discriminates likes and dislikes and pros and cons, feels pain and irritation, and experiences suffering and pleasure - it is all owing to this spiritual intelligence. But when the body perishes, this spiritual intelligence separates from the body and is reborn in another place. While it seems to perish here, it has life elsewhere, and thus is immutable and imperishable. Such is the standpoint of the Senika heresy. But to learn this view and try to pass it off as the Buddha Dharma is more foolish than clutching a piece of broken roof tile supposing it to be a golden jewel. Nothing could compare with such a foolish, lamentable delusion. Hui-chung of the T'ang dynasty warned strongly against it. Is it not senseless to take this false view - that the mind abides and the form perishes - and equate it to the wondrous Dharma of the Buddhas; to think, while thus creating the fundamental cause of birth-and-death, that you are freed from birth-and-death? How deplorable! Just know it for a false, non-Buddhist view, and do not lend a ear to it. I am compelled by the nature of the matter, and more by a sense of compassion, to try to deliver you from this false view. You must know that the Buddha Dharma preaches as a matter of course that body and mind are one and the same, that the essence and the form are not two. This is understood both in India and in China, so there can be no doubt about it. Need I add that the Buddhist doctrine of immutability teaches that all things are immutable, without any differentiation between body and mind. The Buddhist teaching of mutability states that all things are mutable, without any differentiation between essence and form. In view of this, how can anyone state that the body perishes and the mind abides? It would be contrary to the true Dharma. Beyond this, you must also come to fully realize that birth-and-death is in and of itself nirvana. Buddhism never speaks of nirvana apart from birth-and-death. Indeed, when someone thinks that the mind, apart from the body, is immutable, not only does he mistake it for Buddha-wisdom, which is free from birth-and-death, but the very mind that makes such a discrimination is not immutable, is in fact even then turning in birth-and-death. A hopeless situation, is it not? You should ponder this deeply: since the Buddha Dharma has always maintained the oneness of body and mind, why, if the body is born and perishes, would the mind alone, separated from the body, not be born and die as well? If at one time body and mind were one, and at another time not one, the preaching of the Buddha would be empty and untrue. Moreover, in thinking that birth-and-death is something we should turn from, you make the mistake of rejecting the Buddha Dharma itself. You must guard against such thinking. Understand that what Buddhists call the Buddhist doctrine of the mind-nature, the great and universal aspect encompassing all phenomena, embraces the entire universe, without differentiating between essence and form, or concerning itself with birth or death. There is nothing - enlightenment and nirvana included - that is not the mind-nature. All dharmas, the "myriad forms dense and close" of the universe - are alike in being this one Mind. All are included without exception. All those dharmas, which serves as "gates" or entrances to the Way, are the same as one Mind. For a Buddhist to preach that there is no disparity between these dharma-gates indicates that he understands the mind-nature. In this one Dharma [one Mind], how could there be any differentiate between body and mind, any separation of birth-and-death and nirvana? We are all originally children of the Buddha, we should not listen to madmen who spout non-Buddhist views.

http://www.zenforuminternational.org/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=7135 FIVE RANKS This theoretical exploration of the interplay between absolute and relative is attributed to Dongshan Liangjie (807-869). In Japanese, the characters for the name Dongshan are read as Tozan, who is the To of Soto Zen. In traditional Buddhist ways of seeing, there are two truths: absolute and relative. The teaching of the five ranks are a philosophical examination of the interplay between these two truths. "absolute and relative" is also presented as "real and illusory," "noumenal and phenomenal," "true and partial," "upright and inclined," "straight and bent," "equal and diverse," and "empty and formed." 1. the relative in the absolute (Coming from within the absolute) 2. the absolute in the relative (Arriving within the Relative) 3. coming from within the absolute (The Relative within the absolute) 4. going within both absolute and relative (The absolute within the relative) 5. arriving within both together (Arrival in Both at Once) Taigen Leighton is a respected Soto Zen Buddhist priest and scholar. Here's his assessment -- The five ranks are, first, "the relative in the absolute," seeing phenomena against the backdrop of ultimate void; second, "the absolute in the relative," seeing the ultimate universal in each or any one phenomenal event; third, "coming from within the absolute," emerging silent and shining from the experiential state of union with the ultimate; fourth, "going within both absolute and relative," using both particulars and the sense of the universal with familiarity; and fifth, "arriving within both together;" freely using either the phenomenal or the ineffable reality without attaching to either and without seeing them as separate. These five ranks represent ontological aspects of awakened mind more than stages of spiritual development. Caoshan’s (Jap. Sozan, the So of Soto Zen ) assessment: COMING FROM WITHIN THE ABSOLUTE: The whole body revealed, unique, the root source of all things, in it there is neither praise nor blame. ARRIVING WITHIN THE RELATIVE: Going along with things and beings without hindrance, a wood boat empty inside, getting through freely by being empty THE RELATIVE WITHIN THE ABSOLUTE: A piece of emptiness pervading everywhere, all senses silent. THE ABSOLUTE WITHIN THE RELATIVE: The moon in the water, the image in the mirror -- fundamentally without origin or extinction, how could any traces remain. ARRIVAL IN BOTH AT ONCE The absolute is not necessarily void, the relative is not necessary actual; there is neither turning away nor turning to. When mental activity sinks away and both the material world and emptiness are forgotten, there is no more concealment -- the whole thing is revealed; this is the relative within the absolute. Mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers -- no one establishes the names, nothing can be compared; this is the absolute within the relative. Clean and naked, bare and free, the visage is in full majesty -- throughout all heaven and earth, the sole honored one, without any other; this is coming from the absolute. Just as the emperor in his realm does not rely upon the ordinances of wise kings and emperors of the past, the eye sees and the ear hears without using any other power. As the ear does not enter sound, and sound does not block up the ear, the moment you turn therein, there have never been any names fixed in the world. This is called arrival within both at once. This is not mind or objects, not phenomena or principle; it has always been beyond name or description. Naturally real, forgetting essence and appearance, this is called simultaneous realization of both relative and absolute. Hongzhi’s (Jap. Wanshi Zenji) assessment: The Partial within the True: The blue sky clears and the River of Stars' cold flood dries up. At midnight the wooden boy pounds on the moon's door. In darkness the jade woman is startled from her sleep. The True within the Partial: Ocean and clouds rendezvous at the top of the spirit mountain. The old woman returns with hair hanging down like white silk And shyly faces the mirror coldly reflecting her image. Coming from within the True: In the moonlit night the huge sea monster sheds its scales. Its great back rubs the heaven, and it scatters clouds with its wing feathers. Soaring here and there along the bird's path -- it is difficult to classify. Coming from within Both Together: Meeting face to face we need not shun each other's names. In the changing wind, no injury to the profound meaning. In the light, a road to the natural differences. Arriving within Both Together: The Big Dipper slants across the sky before dawn. In dewy cold the crane begins to wake from its dreams. As it flies out of the old nest, the pine tree up in the clouds falls over.

As for “gradual cultivation,” although he has awakened to the fact that his original nature is no different from that of the buddhas, the beginningless proclivities of habit (vāsanā) are extremely difficult to remove suddenly. Therefore he must continue to cultivate while relying on this awakening so that this efficacy of gradual suffusion is perfected; he constantly nurtures the embryo of sanctity, and after a long, long time he becomes a sage. Hence it is called gradual cultivation. (Moguja’s Secrets on Cultivating the Mind, in Collected Works of Korean Buddhism, vol 2, p 216-217)

A Man of Zen: The Recorded Sayings of Layman P'ang trans. by Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Yoshitaka Iriya, and Dana Fraser: At the beginning of the Chen-yuan era [785-804] of the T'ang dynasty, the Layman visited Ch'an Master Shih-t'ou. He asked the Master: "Who is the man who doesn't accompany the ten thousand dharmas?" Shih-t'ou covered the Layman's mouth with his hand. In a flash he realized! ... One day Shih-t'ou said to the Layman: "Since seeing me, what have your daily activities been?" "When you ask me about my daily activities, I can't open my mouth," The Layman replied. "Just because I know you are thus I now ask you," said Shih-t'ou. Whereupon the Layman offered this verse: My daily activities are not unusual, I'm just naturally in harmony with them. Grasping nothing, discarding nothing, In every place, there's no hindrance, no conflict, Who assigns the ranks of vermilion and purple? -- The hills' and mountains' last speck of dust Is extinguished. Supernatural power and marvelous activity -- Drawing water and carrying firewood. Shih-t'ou gave his assent. The he asked: "Will you put on black robes or will you continue wearing white?" "I want to do what I like," replied the Layman. So he did not shave his head or dye his clothing. Later the Layman went to Chiang-shi to visit Ch'an Master Ma-tsu. he asked Ma-tsu: "Who is the man who doesn't accompany the ten thousand dharmas?" "Wait till you've swallowed in one swig all the water of the West River, then I'll tell you," replied Ma-tsu. At these words the Layman suddenly understood the Mysterious Principle. He offered the verse containing the phrase, "empty-minded having passed the exam." He remained with Ma-tsu two years, practicing and receiving instructions. He wrote a verse which says: I've got a boy who has no bride. I've got a girl who has no groom; Forming a happy family circle, We speak about the birthless. ... Dialogue with the Hermit Ku-yin The Layman visited the hermit Ku-yin. "Who are you?" asked Ku-yin. The Layman raised his staff. "Isn't that the highest activity?" asked Ku-yin. The Layman threw down his staff. Ku-yin said nothing. "You only know the highest activity; you're unaware of the highest matter," said the Layman. "What is the highest matter?" asked Ku-yin. The Layman picked up his staff. "Don't be so crude," said Ku-yin. "What a pity you strain to make yourself ruler?," returned the Layman. "A man of uniform activity has no need to pick up a mallet or raise a whisk; nor does he use wordy replies," said Ku-yin. "If you were to meet him, what would you do?" "Where would I meet him?" inquired the Layman. Ku-yin grabbed hold of him. "Is that what you'd do?" asked the Layman, and spat right into his face. Ku-yin said nothing. The Layman offered this verse: You lowered your hook into flaming water where there's no fish, And nowhere to look for one neither -- I'm laughing at your chagrin. Ku-yin, the Ch'an elder Tzu, how pitiable you are; You've been spat on, and now are ashamed to look at me. ... The Layman and the Lecture-Master The layman was visiting a lecture hall, listening to a discourse on the Diamond Sutra. When the "no self, no person"line was reached, he asked: "Lecture-master, since there is no self and no person, who is he who's lecturing, who is he who's listening?" The Lecture-master had no reply. "though I'm just a commoner," said the Layman, "I know a little about faith." "What is your idea?" inquired the lecture-master. The Layman replied with a verse: There's no self and no person, How then kinfolk and stranger! I beg you, cease going from lecture to lecture; It's better to seek truth directly. The nature of Diamond Wisdom Excludes even a speck of dust. From "Thus have I heard" to "This I believe," All's but an array of unreal names. When the lecture-master heard this verse, he sighed with admiration. Wherever the Layman dwelt there was much coming and going of venerable priests and many exchanges of questions. According to the capacity of each, the Layman responded as an echo to a sound. He was not a man to be categorized by any rule or measure. ... Mrs. P'ang at the Temple One day Mrs. Pang went into the Deer Gate Temple to make an offering of food. The temple priest asked her the purpose [of the offering] in order to transfer the merit. Mrs. P'ang took her comb and stuck it in the back of her hair. "Transference of merit is complete," she said, and walked out. ... The Layman and His Daughter The Layman was sitting in his his thatched cottage one day. "Difficult, difficult, difficult," he suddenly exclaimed, "[like trying] to scatter ten measures of sesame seed all over a tree!" "Easy, easy, easy," returned Mrs. P'ang, "just like touching your feet to the ground when you get out of bed." "Neither difficult nor easy," said Ling-chao, "On the hundred grass-tips, the Patriarchs' meaning." ... During the Yuan-ho era [806-20] the Layman traveled northward to Hsiang-han. stopping here and there. Ling-chao sold bamboo baskets for their morning and evening meals. The Layman had these [three] verses, which say: When the mind's as is, circumstances also are as is; There's no real and also no unreal. Giving no heed to existence, And holding not to non-existence -- You're neither saint nor sage, just An ordinary man who has settled his affairs. Easy, so easy! These very five skandhas make true wisdom. The ten directions of the universe are the same One Vehicle. How can the formless Dharmakaya be two! If you can cast off the passions to enter Bodhi, Where will any Buddha-lands be? To preserve your life you must destroy it; Having completely destroyed it you dwell at ease. When you attain the inmost meaning of this, An iron boat floats upon water. ... As the Layman was sitting one day he questioned Ling-chao, saying: "A man of old said: 'Bright, bright, the hundred grass-tips; bright, bright, the Patriarchs' meaning.' How do you understand this?" "What a thing for you to say in your ripe old age," admonished Ling-chao. "Well, what would you say?" asked the Layman. "Bright, bright, the hundred grass-tips; bright, bright, the Patriarchs' meaning," replied Ling-chao. The Layman laughed. ... Layman P'ang's Death The Layman was about to die. He spoke to Ling-chao, saying: "See how the sun is and report to me when it's north." Ling-chao quickly retorted: "The sun has already reached the zenith, and there's an eclipse." While the Layman went to the door to look out, Ling-chao seated herself in her father's chair and, putting her palms together reverently, passed away. The Layman smiled and said: "My daughter has anticipated me." He postponed [his going] for seven days. The Prefect Yu Ti came to inquire about his illness. The Layman said to him: "I beg you just to regard as empty all that is existent and to beware of taking as real all that is non-existent. Fare you well in the world. All is like shadows and echoes." His words ended. He pillowed his head on Mr. Yu's knee and died. His final request was that he be cremated and [the ashes] scattered over rivers and lakes. Monks and laity mourned him and said that the Ch'an adherent Layman P'ang was indeed a Vimalakirti. He left three hundred poems to the world. ... Of a hut in the fields the elder. I'm the poorest man on earth! Inside the house there's not one thing; When I open my mouth it say's "empty, empty." In the past I had bad friends -- I saved them all, made them priests; Sitting together in harmony, I always have them hear of the Mahayana. At mealtimes carrying bowls for them, I serve the m one and all. ... People have a one-scrolled sutra. Without form and without name. No man is able to unroll and read it, And none of us can hear it. When you are able to unroll and read it, You enter the principle and accord with the Birthless. Not to speak of becoming a bodhisattva, You don't even need to become Buddha. ... White-robed, I don't adhere to appearances: The true principle arises from Emptiness. Because my mind's without obstruction Wisdom goes forth to all directions. I only consider the lion's roar -- I don't let wild jackels yap! Bodhi is said to be most marvelous, But I scold it for being a false name. ... Traveling the path is easy, Traveling the path is easy! Within, without and in between I depend upon innate Wisdom: dharmas are not born; Birthless, I enter the true Principle. Not form, not mind, a single radiance streams forth; In the mind-ground appears the Udumbara tree of Emptiness. ... Without no other, within no self. Not wielding spear and shield, I accord with Buddha-wisdom. Well-versed in the Buddha-way, I go the non-Way. Without abandoning my ordinary man's affairs, The conditioned and name-and-form all are flowers in the sky. Nameless and formless, I leave birth-and- death. ... Without any cause you lose your mind, And run out the front gate seeking [it.] Although you try to question old friends, All's quiet, without any trace [of them]. But returning to the hall, when you carefully consider it, Transforming sentient beings, [in] accord with tranquility, You cannot go outside and seek friends; Of yourself, amidst your family, you enter Nirvana. ... Mind depends upon true Wisdom, The Principle pursues activity of mind. With the Principle and Wisdom unhindered The mind is birthless. Deluded, there is self; Enlightened, there is no-sentience. With great Wisdom penetrated, All the dharmas do not arise. The five skandhas are masterless, The six lands are in repose, The seven deaths are not encountered, The eight mirrors are completely bright, And excellent transformations fittingly occur In accord with the Buddha's words. ... Reading the sutras, you must understand their meaning; Understanding their meaning, you can practice. When you depend upon the meaning of the teachings You enter the Palace of Nirvana. When you don't understand their meaning, With your myriad views you're worse than blind: Congenial writings largely occupying your [mind-] ground, The mind-ox won't consent to cultivate it; Fields all over are covered with grass -- Where then can the rice-plants grow? ... Not wanting to discard greed and anger, In vain you trouble to read Buddha's teachings. You see the prescription, but don't take the medicine -- How then can you do away with your illness! Grasp emptiness, and emptiness is form; Grasp form, and form is impermanent. Emptiness and form are not mine -- Sitting erect, I see my native home.

I understand how you feel, if an individual isn't already receptive to the meaning of buddhadharma, then more than likely it will be met with aversion manifesting in the form of outright contempt or a feeling of dejection. It can be tough to handle especially if you're coming from a background in Hinduism. It doesn't help that you have assholes like me, on internet forums such as this, who refuse to give into common consensus, but once you start to really delve into buddhadharma then it becomes blatantly apparent that its message undermines the commonly held assumptions of other philosophies and traditions: both East and West. Buddhadharma does not invalidate other paths, but it does seek to cut all 'ties that bind', specifically stemming from extremes of reification and depreciation. In certain online communities, there are people who openly discuss their experiences, and from reading some of these discussions: it verifies that there is a consistency between certain individuals insights that reveals a common fabric between traditions. In other words, some of these people describe the refinement of their insights that mirrors what is described in traditions such as Advaita Vedanta, but they will readily delineate these insights from the insight into anatta for example. As we both know many posters on TTB's will be opposed to hearing the above, refusing to acknowledge the possibility of differences, and more than likely regarding the above as dogmatic bullshit. I would like to say though, that in actuality insights are neither "wrong" nor "right", merely revealing deeper intimation with wisdom that is inherent in all of us. As the Diamond Sutra says: "Subhuti, what do you think? Has the Tathagata attained anything by anuttarasamyaksambodhi? Does the Tathagata in fact expound a Dharma?" Subhuti replied, "As I understand the teaching of the Buddha, there is no definitive Dharma which the Tathagata can expound. Why is this? The Dharma which the Tathagata expounds is inconceivable and beyond words. It is neither Dharma nor not-Dharma. All of the saints and sages vary only in mastery of this." [trans. by Hue En, The Diamond Sutra Explained by Nan Hauijin; sec. 7, pg. 101]

"One mind", in Tsoknyi Rinpoche's usage, seems to be referring to the nature of mind [sems nyid] not being separate from mind [sems]. The only distinction between the two is vidya vs. avidya.

"In the country of Benares at Rsipatana in the Deer Park, the World-honored One first turned the wheel of doctrine, [teaching] the four holy truths for those setting out in the word-hearers' vehicle. This turning of the wheel was marvelous and wonderful, such as nobody, whether gods or men, had been able to turn in the world before. Nevertheless there were superior teachings, for [this first turning] had to be interpreted and occasioned controversy. Then the World-honored One with an underlying intent turned the wheel for the second time for the sake of those setting out in the great vehicle, [teaching] that all things have no-essence, no arising, and no passing away, are originally quiescent, and are essentially in cessation. This turning of the wheel was marvelous and wonderful indeed. Nevertheless there were teachings superior to this, for it also had to be interpreted and occasioned controversy. The World-honored One then with an explicit meaning for the third time turned the wheel of doctrine for those setting out in all the vehicles, [teaching] that all things have no-essence, no arising, and no passing away, are originally quiescent, and are essentially in cessation. This turning was the most marvelous and wonderful that had ever occurred in the world. It had no superior nor did it contain any implicit meaning nor occasion any controversy." (Samdhinirmocana Sutra, ch 5, p 49; tr. Keenan, BDK edition) "Good son, the term 'unconditioned' is also a word provisionally invented by the First Teacher. Now, if the First Teacher provisionally invented this word, then it is a verbal expression apprehended by imagination. And, if it is a verbal expression apprehended by imagination, then, in the final analysis, such an imagined description does not validate a real thing. Therefore, the unconditioned does not exist." (Samdhinirmocana Sutra, ch 2, p 12)

The same insights are discussed by Thrangu Rinpoche and Lama Gendun Rinpoche in their books: http://thetaobums.com/topic/33394-meditation-on-the-nature-of-thoughtsappearances/?p=515852 "...If we look for a perceiver, we won’t find one. We do think, but if we look into the thinker, trying to find that which thinks, we do not find it. Yet, at the same time, we do see and we do think. The reality is that seeing occurs without a seer and thinking without a thinker. This is just how it is; this is the nature of the mind...." http://thetaobums.com/topic/33394-meditation-on-the-nature-of-thoughtsappearances/?p=515862 "....Yes, we do have a sense of a watcher. That watcher is namtok, or discursive thought. And if we look very closely into it, where is it? It isn't really there...There is a story in a sutra in which the Buddha explained that we have a sense of a looker and of something looked at, but that is like rubbing two sticks together to make fire. When fire starts, it burns both the sticks up. It is like that in your meditation. If you go along in stages, the two of them will become nonexistent, like the sticks burning up...." http://thetaobums.com/topic/33394-meditation-on-the-nature-of-thoughtsappearances/?p=515881 "...So in the absence of these fixations, when in contrast to those fixations you experience the display of emptiness as it is, as a spontaneous presence that is not substantial entities, is not a self, then rather than this causing suffering, this produces great bliss..." http://thetaobums.com/topic/33394-meditation-on-the-nature-of-thoughtsappearances/?p=520999 "...If we wish to arrive at true understanding, we must let go of all personal desire. We should search for the thinker who wants to understand and control. Then we will see that we cannot find them, since they do not exist as such. If there is no thinker, then it is only natural that there is no understanding thought processes and the mind. Thinker and thoughts are empty, without true existence. This fundamental emptiness is the truth body. The luminosity, or dynamics, of this empty mind, its capacity to create thoughts, is the enjoyment body. The manifold expression of the mind, its capacity to assume a myriad of forms in continual change, is the emanation body..."

Sayings of Bankei, trans. by Thomas Cleary ["The Original Face: An Anthology of Rinzai Zen"; pg.112, pgs.116-117]: A layman asked, "Though I'm grateful for your teaching of birthlessness, thoughts from constantly applied mental habits readily come up, and I get lost in them and have difficulty remaining continually unborn. How can I apply wholehearted faith?" The master replied, "If you try to stop arising thoughts, the stopping mind and the stopped mind become split in two and you never have any peace of mind. Just trust that thoughts are originally nonexistent but temporarily arise and cease conditioned by what is seen and heard, and have no real substance." A monk asked, "All wild thoughts of mundane passions are hard to subdue; how can they be quited?" The master replied, "Thinking of trying to annihilate wild thoughts is also wild thought. Although wandering thoughts are originally nonexistent, they are produced by your own conception." Someone asked, "Last year when I asked you how to stop the arising of mixed-up thoughts, you told me to let thoughts be as they arise and cease. Afterward, faithfully trying to put this into practice, it's hard to get to let them be as they arise and cease. The master replied, "It's hard to attain because you think there is a rule to let thoughts be as they arise and cease." ... Originally there is no bodhi-tree Nor any mirror-stand bright Originally there is nothing at all Where can the dust alight? - Dajian Huineng The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch [Dunhuang cave edition] trans. by Philip Yampolsky: "No-thought means not to be defiled by external objects. It is to free thought from external objects and not to arouse thoughts about dharmas. But do not stop thinking about things, nor eliminate all thoughts. [if you do so] as soon as a single thought stops you will be reborn in other realms. Take heed of this! Do not cease objective things nor subjective mind." ... Chanzong Yongjia ji (Anthology of Yongjia of the Chan school), trans. by Ruth Fuller Sasaki ["The Record of Linji", pg. 222]: "He who aspires to seek the great Way must first of all make pure the three acts [of body, word, and thought] through pure practice. Then, in the four forms of deameanor -- sitting, standing, walking, and lying -- he will enter the Way by degrees. When he has reached the state where the objects of the six roots have been thoroughly penetrated while conforming with conditions, and the objective world and the subjective mind both have been stilled, he will mysteriously meet with the marvelous principle." ... Master Baizhang Huaihai, trans. by Ruth Fuller Sasaki ["The Record of Linji" pgs. 228-229]: "His mind is completely empty of impurity and purity; he does not dwell in bondage nor does he dwell in emancipation. He is without any understanding of the conditioned or the unconditioned. His mind's measure being universal sameness, while abiding in samsara he is free. He does not make any relation whatsoever with false illusions, the worldly passions, the realm of the skandhas, birth and death, or any of the sense-entrances. Having transcended these, there is nothing he depends upon; he is bound to nothing at all. He leaves or stays without hindrance; he goes and comes in birth and death as through an open door."

Excerpts from The Record of Linji translated by Ruth Fuller Sasaki; edited by Thomas Yuho Kirchner: At the evening gathering the master addressed the assembly, saying: "Sometimes I take away the person but do not take away the surroundings; sometimes I take away the surroundings but do not take away the person; sometimes I take away both the person and surroundings; sometimes I take away neither person nor surroundings." Then a monk asked, "What about 'to take away the person and not take away the surroundings'?" The master said: The spring comes forth, covering the earth with brocade; A child's hair hangs down, white as silken strands. The monk asked, "What about 'to take away the surroundings and not take away the person?'" The master said: The rule of the sovereign prevails throughout the land; The general has laid to rest the dusts of battle beyond the frontiers. Again the monk asked, "What about 'to take away both person and surroundings'?" The master said: No news from Bing and Fen, Isolated and away from everywhere. The monk asked , "What about to take away neither person nor the surroundings'?" The master said: The sovereign ascends into the jeweled palace; Aged rustics sing songs. Then the master said, "Nowadays, he who studies buddhadharma must seek true insight. Gaining true insight, he is not affected by birth-and-death, but freely goes or stays. He needn't seek the excellent -- that which is excellent will come of itself. Followers of the Way, our eminent predecessors from of old have all had their ways of saving people. As for me, what I want to make clear to you is that you must not accept the deluded views of others. If you want to act, then act. Don't hesitate." ... "If you wish to differ in no way from the patriarch-buddha, just don't seek outside. The pure light in a single thought of yours -- this is the dharmakaya buddha within your own house. The nondiscriminating light in a single thought of yours -- this is the sambhogakaya buddha within your own house. The nondifferentiating light in a single thoughts of yours -- this is the nimanakaya buddha within your own house. This threefold body is you, listening to my discourse right now before my very eyes. It is precisely because you don't run around seeking outside that you have such meritorious activities." ... "Followers of the Way, mind is without form and pervades the ten directions. In the eye it is called seeing, in the ear it is called hearing. In the nose it smells odors, in the mouth it holds converse. In the hands it grasps and seizes, in the feet it runs and carries. Fundamentally it is one pure radiance; divided it becomes the six harmoniously united spheres of sense. If the mind is void, wherever you are, you are emancipated." ... "In my view there is no buddha, no sentient beings, no past, no present. Anything attained was already attained -- no time is needed. There is nothing to practice, nothing to realize, nothing to gain, nothing to lose. Throughout all time there is no other dharma than this. 'If one claims there's a dharma surpassing this, I say that it's like a dream, like a phantasm.' This is all I have to teach." ... Someone asked, "What is 'true insight'?" The master said, "You have only to enter the secular, enter the sacred, enter the defiled, enter the pure, enter the lands of all the buddhas, enter the Tower of Maitreya, enter the dharma realm of Vairocana and all of the lands everywhere that manifest and come into being, exist, decay, and disappear." ... "If you want to be free to live or to die, to go or to stay as you would put on or take off clothes, then right now recognize the one listening to my discourse, the one who has no form, no characteristics, no root, no source, no dwelling place, and yet is bright and vigorous. Of all his responsive activities, none leaves any traces." ... Your single thought's nondifferentiating light -- this indeed is the true Samantabhadra. Your single thought that frees itself from bondage and brings emancipation everywhere -- this is the Avalokitesvara samadhi. Since these [three] alternately take the position of master and attendants, when they appear they appear at one and the same time, one in three, three in one. Gain understanding such as this, and then you can read the sutras." ... Someone asked, "What about the 'Land of the Three Eyes'?" The master said, "When you and I together enter the Land of Pure Mystery we put on the robe of purity and preach as the dharmakaya buddha; when we enter the Land of Nondifferentiation we put on the robe of nondifferentiation and preach as the sambhogakaya buddha; when we enter the Land of Emancipation we put on the robe of brightness and preach as the nirmanakaya buddha. These Lands of the Three Eyes are all dependent transformations." ... There are a bunch of blind shavepates who, having stuffed themselves with food, sit down to meditate and practice contemplation. Arresting the flow of thought they don't let it rise; they hate noise and seek stillness. This is the method of heretics. A patriarch said, 'If you stop the mind to look at stillness, arouse the mind to illumine outside, control the mind to clarify inside, concentrate the mind to enter samadhi -- all such [practices] as these are artificial striving.'" ... Someone asked, "What about the state where 'mind and Mind do not differ'?" The master said, "The instant you ask the question they are already separate, and essence differs from its manifestations. Followers of the Way, make no mistake! All the dharmas of this world and of the worlds beyond are without self-nature. Also, they are without produced-nature. They are just empty names, and these names are also empty. All you are doing is taking these worthless names to be real. That's all wrong! Even if they do exist, they are nothing but states of dependent transformation, such as the dependent transformation of bodhi, nirvana, emancipation, the threefold body, the [objective] surroundings and [subjective] mind, buddhahood. What are you looking for in these lands of dependent transformations! All of these, up to and including the Three Vehicle' twelve divisions of teachings, are just so much waste paper to wipe off privy filth. The buddha is just a phantom body, the patriarch just old monks. ... "Therefore, when it realized that these six -- color, sound, odor, taste, touch, and dharmas -- are all empty forms, they cannot bind the man of the Way, dependent on nothing. ... Someone asked, "What about the true buddha, the true dharma, and the true Way? We beg of you to disclose this for us." The master said, "Buddha is the mind's purity; dharma is the mind's radiance; the Way is the pure light pervading everywhere without hindrance. The three are one, yet all are empty names and have no real existence. With the true man of the Way, from moment to moment, mind is not interrupted."

http://suttacentral.net/ - An alternative resource, to accesstoinsight.org, for sutta translations w/ parallels from the Agamas in Chinese, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Gandhari, etc. Dhammpada translation by Daw Mya Tin, M.A.: http://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/index.php

Excerpts from Nagarjuna's Bodhicittavivarana trans. by Geshe Thubten Jinpa: http://www.tibetanclassics.org/html-assets/Awakening%20Mind%20Commentary.pdf 39 The cognizer perceives the cognizable; Without the cognizable there is no cognition; Therefore why do you not admit That neither object nor subject exists [at all]? ... 53 To whom consciousness is momentary, To them it cannot be permanent; So if the mind is impermanent, How could it be inconsistent with emptiness? 54 In brief if the Buddhas uphold The mind to be impermanent, How would they not uphold That it is empty as well. 55 From the very beginning itself The mind never had any [intrinsic] nature; It is not being stated here that an entity Which possesses intrinsic existence [somehow] lacks this. ... 57 Just as sweetness is the nature of molasses And heat the nature of fire, Likewise we maintain that The nature of all phenomena is emptiness. 58 When one speaks of emptiness as the nature [of phenomena], One in no sense propounds nihilism; By the same token one does not Propound eternalism either. 59 Starting with ignorance and ending with aging, All processes that arise from The twelve links of dependent origination, We accept them to be like a dream and an illusion. ... 63 In brief from empty phenomena Empty phenomena arise; Agent, karma, fruits, and their enjoyer – The conqueror taught these to be [only] conventional. 64 Just as the sound of a drum as well as a shoot Are produced from a collection [of factors], We accept the external world of dependent origination To be like a dream and an illusion. 65 That phenomena are born from causes Can never be inconsistent [with facts]; Since the cause is empty of cause, We understand it to be empty of origination. 66 The non-origination of all phenomena Is clearly taught to be emptiness; In brief the five aggregates are denoted By [the expression] “all phenomena.” 67 When the [ultimate] truth is explained as it is The conventional is not obstructed; Independent of the conventional No [ultimate] truth can be found. 68 The conventional is taught to be emptiness; The emptiness itself is the conventional; One does not occur without the other, Just as [being] produced and impermanent. 69 The conventional arises from afflictions and karma; And karma arises from the mind; The mind is accumulated by the propensities; When free from propensities it’s happiness.

It's much simpler than that: "When the [ultimate] truth is explained as it is, the conventional [truth] is not obstructed; independent of the conventional [truth] no [ultimate] truth can be found" ~ Nagarjuna's Bodhicittavivarana

http://thetaobums.com/topic/32345-vdo-sound-effect-meditiation-and-mindfulness/?p=490442 "Mindfulness in Daily life." - Body and Mind - Samatha and Vipassana - Insight Meditation,Concentration Meditation - The Mindfulness of Mind, Awareness of mind, Observation of the mind - Suffering - Consciousness - Cittanupassana, Vedananupassana,Dhammanupassana satipatthana, - The Four Noble Truths, - Stream-Entry, Stream-Enterer or Sotāpanna - The Path to attainment of Holiness, Arahatta-magga, Arahant - The Path to Enlightenment - The Bliss of Nirvana

Paul, when you say "realize" do you mean realizing the full measure of rigpa or do you merely mean the recognition of rigpa?

The main methods, in Chan/Zen as it's widely practiced today, are zazen/shikantaza and koan meditation. Although, as complimentary to these, this doesn't stop some people from studying works such as those attributed to the founder of Tiantai, Shramana Zhiyi.

http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=9714&hilit=surangama+mantra The five Great Hearts Mantra of the Five Family Buddhas in Sanskrit: 104: Chedana 105: Akala 106: Mrtyu 107: Prasamana 108: Karim Chr Two Ni E Jya La Mi Li Jyu Bwo Li Dan La Ye Ning Jye Li These five lines are the strongest in the Shurangama Mantra for dispelling black magic, voodoo, curses, mantras of externalists and heavenly demons. http://dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=77&t=9069&start=0 Harmful spirits etc. also respond to the Heart Sutra with the three claps. However, I have witnessed the effects of compassion on them. it leaves them no opening to cause harm.... You perform the 3 claps at the end of the sutra. There are 4, but I was taught that the last 3 act as instruction for the spirits to obey: ''Great Mother, Prajnaparamita, and all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions, through the power of your blessings may these true words of mine be achieved. Just as before, when by contemplating the profound meaning of the perfection of wisdom and reciting its words, Indra overcame all the harm of maras, non-humans and so forth, in the same way, by my contemplating the profound meaning of the perfection of wisdom and reciting its words: May all the harm of maras, non-humans and so forth be overcome.(clap) May they become non-existent. (clap) May they be pacified.(clap) May they be thoroughly pacified.(clap)'' source: http://viewonbuddhism.org/resources/heartsutra.html More info on Shurangama mantra - http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=232&p=113429#p113429 - Shurangama mantra recited in Sanskrit & - Shurangama mantra recited in Chinese (fast version) & - Shurangama mantra recited in Chinese (slow version) http://online.sfsu.edu/rone/Buddhism/Shurangama/Shurangama.htm#Commentaries_on_the_Sutra_and - Shurngama Sutra: Text, Commentaries and Articles http://www.drbachinese.org/vbs/101_132/vbs132/132_6.htm - mantra w/ mudras http://www.dharmabliss.org/audio/sur-texttw-sktch/sur_text_skt-ch.htm - Romanized Sanskrit/Chinese mantra text http://cttbusa.org/shurangama1/shurangama_contents.asp - Shurangama Sutra w/ commentary by Master Hsuan Hua

http://www.fgu.edu.tw/~buddhist/chinese/paper_20/017.pdf - "Annotation on the 'Abridged Manual for Cultivation and Realization of [Repentance] Ritual [based on] the Scripture of Perfect Enlightenment Bodhi Site' compiled by Jingyuan (1011-1088)" by Shih Maio Di