Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[C T]

[C T]

Q: In your recent publication ‘The Fundamental Landscape’ you stated that our total essence is that of the Great Light. Does that include even the essence of the wicked?

 

Ven. SongChol: The eternal, boundless Great Light expresses itself absolutely, so everything in the universe is indiscriminately equal. The fundamental essence of the greatest people who ever lived, of the wickedest murderers and thieves, of the beautiful flowers, of the filthy pollution are all equally the Great Light.

 

Let me give a small example. People can wear all different kinds of clothing, but that doesn't change the essence of the person. You can take pure gold and make a thousand useless things out of it, but the gold still remains pure. We purchase things with money, but the value of the money is the same whether the money is new, crumpled or tattered.

 

 

 

Q: Well, then, what in this world is bad?

 

Ven. SongChol: The only bad thing is not ridding oneself of delusions.

 

 

 

Q: But contemporary society is increasingly scientific and materialistic, and it is becoming more and more difficult to live like a real human being.

 

Ven. SongChol: That’s why I keep insisting on seeing things properly.

 

Your essence is like that of a vast, boundless sea, and materialism is only like the foam that keeps rising on the surface. In order to learn the true nature of the sea, you don't go chasing the foam. We think that this planet earth is some really big thing, but it is only a tiny speck of dust in the vast universe. And if this planet is so insignificant, what about all of this materialism?

 

If you're going to live like a human being, first of all you have to know the basic value of a human being. If you realize that you are Pure gold, you won't go chasing after such dust as materialism. You won’t be dragged about by materialism, and you won't march around this insignificant planet like you're really something.

 

 

~ Echos from Mt Kaya

[C T]

I study my mind and therefore all appearances are my texts.

 

~ Milarepa

 

[C T]

When we allow ourselves to feel that resting nature, with mind, inspiration, and the whole body—everything relaxed—there arises a special kind of attention that is very different from what we are used to. 

 

~ Dza Kilung Rinpoche

[C T]

The location of the truth of the Great Perfection is the unfabricated mind of the present moment, this naked radiant awareness itself, not a hair of which has been forced into relaxation. Maintaining this at all times, just through not forgetting it even in the states of eating, sleeping, walking, and sitting, is called meditation. However, until you are free from the obscurations of cognition, it is impossible for this not to be mixed with the experiences of bliss, clarity, and nonconceptualization. Nevertheless, just by not forgetting the nature of one’s own awareness — the kind that is not a tangled mindfulness that gets more tangled in order to be mindful — at some point the unelaborated ultimate truth, transcending terms and examples, will appear.

 

~ Jigme Lingpa

[C T]

Ultimately Going Beyond All Paths

 

"The Four Noble Truths definitely exist on the relative level. Since conventional reality forms a huge part of our experience, it is necessary for us to fully understand these precious truths. We can highlight them using the metaphor of sickness. To begin, we can say the First Noble Truth diagnoses a disease. As we all know, if we want to cure a disease, we must discover its cause. This is outlined in the Second Noble Truth. Once we know the cause of a disease, our doctor can prescribe effective treatment. Here, the Buddha is the doctor prescribing the path of Dharma, the Fourth Noble Truth. This is like the medicine that will bring us to a state of complete health, or cessation, described in the Third Noble Truth. That is the relative level. 

 

On the absolute level, the Four Noble Truths have no inherent existence—they are all based on great emptiness. Having thus pronounced the emptiness of both the ground and path, Avalokiteshvara arrives at the fruition or goal of practice: transcendent wisdom. This, too, is empty of inherent existence.  “...no wisdom, no attainment, and no non-attainment. Therefore, Shariputra, since bodhisattvas have nothing to attain, they abide in reliance upon the prajna paramita. Without obscurations of mind, they have no fear. Completely transcending false views, they go to the ultimate of nirvana.”

 

Many practitioners reach a stage of realization in which they are still subtly attached to the state of wisdom itself. But to be truly free, it is important for them to cut through all dualistic conceptions, including those of “wisdom and ignorance,” “gaining and losing,” and “attaining enlightenment.” The ultimate view is therefore expressed philosophically as “neither ground, path, and fruition, nor no ground, no path, and no fruition.”

 

We must try to understand this crucial point. Both samsara and nirvana are in the single state of great emptiness. Once more, this emptiness does not describe just one part of reality—it is the true nature of every phenomenon, be it related with samsara or nirvana. There is absolutely nothing we can grab ahold of and cling to forever. For this reason, we need to be brave when it comes to the true nature, but it takes time to build up our understanding and courage. If we think, “Oh, reality can’t be like that,” it means we are hesitating because we are deeply frightened of the true nature. By cultivating vajra bravery, however, we can reach the stage of experiencing total equanimity in all situations. At that point, there is neither hope nor fear, neither demons nor gods. This is the ultimate level of fearlessness.

 

On the reality level, we exist in the same way a reflection of the moon in water exists. We experience in the same way a sleeping person experiences his or her dreams. In essence, whether we presently struggle through our dreams or enjoy them, we assume that what is happening is real and true in the absolute sense. Yet our reality is only true within the context of dreaming. When we awaken, where do our dreams go? The people, trees, and mountains we experienced were just illusions rooted in emptiness.

 

The dream state we have just described is actually very close to our everyday waking state. When we get up in the morning, we tend to think we have awakened from an insubstantial dream into a more substantial and true “reality,” but in fact we have simply shifted from one dreamlike state to another. All of our waking perceptions are merely the results of mental habits and karmic patterns accumulated throughout an infinite series of our previous lifetimes. Since these habits are so deeply ingrained, it can be terrifying when we are shaken from the illusory security they offer. We are afraid to see things differently, and we must give up a lot of our dualistic notions to do so. Nonetheless, when we succeed in changing our old habit patterns, our experiences and perceptions will have a greater dimensionality, understanding, and clarity."

 

~ Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches
Ceaseless Echoes of the Great Silence (pgs 51-53)

[Brian]

Thank you, C T.

[C T]

Be courageous, let the wild mind run free within the motionless awareness of the meditation practice.

Watch closely,

see how it soon exhausts itself and falls still, silent and serene.

It is in this state of utter exhaustion that the conditioned conceptual play of the mind finally gives way, 

in its entirety, 

to the non-conceptual or direct experience of the unconditioned clear-knowing

that is its essential nature.

 

~ Paramito Ladakh

[C T]

The More Carefree You Are, the Better Your Dharma Practice
Tsoknyi Rinpoche

"It’s actually fine to be happy and carefree. The more carefree you are from deep within, the better your Dharma practice is.

Carefree means being wide open from within, not constricted. Carefree doesn’t mean careless, that you are sloppy or that you don’t care about others. It’s not like you don’t have compassion or are unfriendly. Carefree is being really simple, from the inside.You need to be relaxed, yet without stupidity. Sometimes people relax like this: (Rinpoche lies back limply with eyes half-closed and a vacant expression). Especially around the swimming pool! You have a swim, then you climb out of the pool and lay down with your hat, sunglasses, and maybe a cold beer.

You’re very relaxed, but you’re relaxing into stupidity. You’ve relaxed into a very dull state. The point is to be relaxed and yet very clear. There is no need to create something by meditating, no need to achieve something—simply be very clear. Relaxed and bright.

You need to be in charge of yourself. Check yourself out, and if you find you’re missing some qualities, then work to develop them. It doesn’t help to go about with your hands outstretched, trying to obtain good qualities from others. Take charge of yourself. Be happy. Even when it’s not funny, still smile.

Think about how much time we put into washing ourselves, freshening up, brushing our teeth, putting on make-up, and so on. It’s just as important to fix up your mind. If your mind is down, pull it up. If you’re flying too high, ground it. Take charge of yourself. Of course you can’t literally wash your mind or comb it. You can’t cut your mind’s nails when they’re too long. But you can be in charge of your attitude; you can take responsibility for your mental and emotional state.

In fact, that’s the main point of the Buddhist teachings. Be aware of your own mind. Let it be undisturbed and free of confusion, because only then can you be of help to others. Otherwise, you just remain confused, confusing yourself, and there’s no way to really be of help to anyone else. Don’t get too overexcited about this, either. Just relax, sit upright, and be open—wide open and carefree. The view in the Great Perfection (Dzogchen) tradition is to be totally open and carefree.

If we act a little too carefree, that is not so good either. That is called losing the conduct in the view. A lot of people do that. They revolt against a particular culture, against the system, against the establishment—against the fixed habits of this world. They shave off half their hair, or half their beard, or they dress funny, or they wear no clothes at all. It’s all a reaction against cultural mores. Sometimes they take drugs and they try to be free in that way. Actually, that’s not being free at all. That is losing the conduct in the view.

Once I met a man who wore all his hair pushed up atop his head, had painted it blue, and had half his beard shaved off. I am not saying that he was a bad person; not at all. His behavior was his way of reacting against stereotypes of how we should look. But if you’re carefree and open from within, you can fit in anywhere, anyway, without having to go to dramatic extremes or make shocking statements. If you’re not open or carefree from within, you’ll find you always get bumped up against things. Your life gets so narrow, so tight, so claustrophobic. The point is to be free, not to be crazy.

Be carefree and open, and feel free. Train in being free. It is said that when the dharma is not practiced correctly, practice could become a cause for rebirth in the lower realms. We’re supposed to practice in order to become free, to liberate ourselves. But if our practice only makes us more stuck, then what? What if we get stuck in the method? When you take the ferry, the ferry is the method. Once you get to the other shore you leave the ferry behind and go on. There’s no point in dragging the boat back to your house. Nor is it good to stay on the ferry, for twenty-four hours a day, forever.

The state of wisdom (rigpa) is not bound by any method. It’s not stuck at all. It’s naturally free. If that’s the case, what’s the point of sitting and making up ideas in meditation? The situation becomes completely claustrophobic—why try to accustom yourself to that?

If your hands are very dirty, you wash them with soap. Once you’re finished rubbing the soap, you don’t keep it on your hands. You rinse it off, because you don’t need it any longer. The soap is used to get rid of the dirt. Once the dirt is loosened from your hands, why keep the soap?

Likewise, don’t hold on to the method; don’t hold on to the meditation technique. Just let be and relax. This is called nonmeditation, undistracted nonmeditation. If you meditate, it’s conceptual. If you get distracted, you’re just a normal person. So, don’t meditate, and don’t get distracted.

The next point is don’t harm others, but help others. Liberate yourself, and after liberating yourself, help to liberate others. Someone who is really full of himself might think, “I am practicing something that is special. Hey, I am really something!” If one has that type of attitude about oneself, really, what is the use? It doesn’t help anyone. Far better to run away and give up practicing.

Because if spiritual practice really doesn’t help oneself, why bother? It’s much better to be genuine and real about how things are. Take the truth of impermanence more and more to heart, in a very sincere way. Be more loving, more kind, more compassionate. If you find that this is happening, then the dharma is really taking effect. To have less craving and more contentment—that is the point.

It’s quite okay not to be very educated. In fact, to be simpleminded is fine. It’s far preferable to being egotistical. Much better to be simple about oneself and not get into a lot of details about “what is good for me.” It’s all right to get into a lot of details and make a lot of fuss when it comes to being helpful, to helping others. But if we complicate our own lives and focus too much on ourselves, we forget how to be simple, and we are never happy."

Adapted from Carefree Dignity

[C T]

We all know what happens when a fire goes out. The flames die down and the fire is gone for good. So when we first learn that the name for the goal of Buddhist practice, nibbana (nirvana), literally means the extinguishing of a fire, it's hard to imagine a deadlier image for a spiritual goal: utter annihilation. It turns out, though, that this reading of the concept is a mistake in translation, not so much of a word as of an image. What did an extinguished fire represent to the Indians of the Buddha's day? Anything but annihilation.

 

According to the ancient Brahmans, when a fire was extinguished it went into a state of latency. Rather than ceasing to exist, it became dormant and in that state — unbound from any particular fuel — it became diffused throughout the cosmos. When the Buddha used the image to explain nibbana to the Indian Brahmans of his day, he bypassed the question of whether an extinguished fire continues to exist or not, and focused instead on the impossibility of defining a fire that doesn't burn: thus his statement that the person who has gone totally "out" can't be described.

 

However, when teaching his own disciples, the Buddha used nibbana more as an image of freedom. Apparently, all Indians at the time saw burning fire as agitated, dependent, and trapped, both clinging and being stuck to its fuel as it burned. To ignite a fire, one had to "seize" it. When fire let go of its fuel, it was "freed," released from its agitation, dependence, and entrapment — calm and unconfined. This is why Pali poetry repeatedly uses the image of extinguished fire as a metaphor for freedom. In fact, this metaphor is part of a pattern of fire imagery that involves two other related terms as well. Upadana, or clinging, also refers to the sustenance a fire takes from its fuel. Khandha means not only one of the five "heaps" (form, feeling, perception, thought processes, and consciousness) that define all conditioned experience, but also the trunk of a tree. Just as fire goes out when it stops clinging and taking sustenance from wood, so the mind is freed when it stops clinging to the khandhas.

 

Thus the image underlying nibbana is one of freedom. The Pali commentaries support this point by tracing the word nibbana to its verbal root, which means "unbinding." What kind of unbinding? The texts describe two levels. One is the unbinding in this lifetime, symbolized by a fire that has gone out but whose embers are still warm. This stands for the enlightened arahant, who is conscious of sights and sounds, sensitive to pleasure and pain, but freed from passion, aversion, and delusion. The second level of unbinding, symbolized by a fire so totally out that its embers have grown cold, is what the arahant experiences after this life. All input from the senses cools away and he/she is totally freed from even the subtlest stresses and limitations of existence in space and time.

 

The Buddha insists that this level is indescribable, even in terms of existence or nonexistence, because words work only for things that have limits. All he really says about it — apart from images and metaphors — is that one can have foretastes of the experience in this lifetime, and that it's the ultimate happiness, something truly worth knowing.

 

So the next time you watch a fire going out, see it not as a case of annihilation, but as a lesson in how freedom is to be found in letting go.

 

 

Nibbana
~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu

[C T]

GURU RINPOCHE

 

https://vimeo.com/130946131

[manitou]

Beautiful thread, CT.

 

With as many words and philosophical thoughts as we love to banter about here, it never fails to amaze me that what the Rinpoche seems to be alluding to is to return to the state of the child.

 

How beautiful it is when we realize that the years of meditation and inner work have truly paid off.  That I no longer walk around in judgment; that I see the other person as 'god', regardless of what they're doing or how they're acting.  This awareness, once obtained, grows over time and subtly overtakes the monkey mind.  It is seldom that the monkey mind prevails now.  Almost never.  And when it's here....it's immediately detected and relegated to the ethers.

 

How often it occurs to me how very wise we were as children.  When we could say "bug off" to someone and not worry about hurting their feelings, because their feelings wouldn't be hurt.   It was honest back and forth - no second guessing.  Or when we would sing 'Row, row, row your boat....', not realizing that within that silly rhyme lies the secret to life.

[C T]

Doing as We Please

 

We all yearn to do whatever we please, entirely unconstrained.

 

Consider calligraphy. Most of us write in a free and easy manner – with unruly, ugly results. No one would wish to keep our productions even if paid to do so. Master calligraphers put their brush strokes to paper in a seemingly free and effortless manner, but their characters are full of vigour and beauty. They are priceless works of art that stand the test of time and remain much sought after throughout the ages.

 

When ordinary people do as they please, they are not governed by any rules or discipline. Calligraphers, however, have undergone strict training in technique. Their apparently free style of writing complies strictly with relevant guidelines. Beneath the vitality and intensity lies a subtle calmness and a deep restraint. The results are exquisite.

 

Some people know it is good to practice Amitabha-recitation and want to bring its benefits to other sentient beings. But when opportunity arises for them to join the monkhood, they balk. Their excuse is, “I am used to living a free life and monastic precepts are too many and onerous. Once I don a monk’s robes, I can no longer do as I please.”

 

That resembles ugly calligraphy. Though the writer has a chance to make it beautiful, she does not want to change. Worse, she comes to regard the ugly as beautiful.

 

~ Master Jingzong

[C T]

Not a religion in the usual sense ~ Lama Yeshe
 

When we study Buddhism, we are studying ourselves — the nature of our own minds. Instead of focusing on some supreme being, Buddhism emphasizes more practical matters, such as how to lead our lives, how to integrate our minds and how to keep our everyday lives peaceful and healthy. Buddhism accentuates experiential knowledge — in other words, wisdom rather than some dogmatic view. In fact, we don’t even consider Buddhism to be a religion in the usual sense of the term. From the lamas' point of view, Buddhist teachings are more in the realm of philosophy, science or psychology.

[doc benway]

Not a religion in the usual sense ~ Lama Yeshe

 

When we study Buddhism, we are studying ourselves — the nature of our own minds. Instead of focusing on some supreme being, Buddhism emphasizes more practical matters, such as how to lead our lives, how to integrate our minds and how to keep our everyday lives peaceful and healthy. Buddhism accentuates experiential knowledge — in other words, wisdom rather than some dogmatic view. In fact, we don’t even consider Buddhism to be a religion in the usual sense of the term. From the lamas' point of view, Buddhist teachings are more in the realm of philosophy, science or psychology.

 

Maybe not a religion in the usual sense, but defines exactly what religion is and should be in my view. 

Someone once said - religion is an individual's inner search for truth, everything else is politics.

Unfortunately, even Buddhism can get bogged down in ritual and politics.

[C T]

Unfortunately, even Buddhism can get bogged down in ritual and politics.

Very much so, Steve. If people did not allow themselves to be bogged down, by rituals, politics and the humdrumness of a million other things liable to bog one down, there would be no need for religion nor spiritual quests. No need even for Buddhism, for that matter. 

 

Ah, well... we do what we can, and keep at it.

[manitou]

I've recently been reading some Krishnamurti and he speaks of the 'religious mind' as being that mind after the transformation - after the structure of any religion has been dropped and what remains, in his view, is the religious mind.  Obviously, his view of religious is different than common usage today.  He speaks of the religious mind as being the mind that has undergone the chemical changes which lead to freedom of thought and no structure at all.

 

Interesting take he has.  I've never seen it referred to as the religious mind in this sense.  The religious mind, to me, was always something a bit undesirable.

[wilfred]

Maybe not a religion in the usual sense, but defines exactly what religion is and should be in my view. 

Someone once said - religion is an individual's inner search for truth, everything else is politics.

Unfortunately, even Buddhism can get bogged down in ritual and politics.

 

unfortunately most the discussion around it on the internet is exactly this.

[doc benway]

I've recently been reading some Krishnamurti and he speaks of the 'religious mind' as being that mind after the transformation - after the structure of any religion has been dropped and what remains, in his view, is the religious mind.  Obviously, his view of religious is different than common usage today.  He speaks of the religious mind as being the mind that has undergone the chemical changes which lead to freedom of thought and no structure at all.

 

Interesting take he has.  I've never seen it referred to as the religious mind in this sense.  The religious mind, to me, was always something a bit undesirable.

 

I like how you said "freedom of thought" rather than "freedom from thought."

 

Your post brings to mind Alan Watts:

 

"We must here make a clear distinction between belief and faith, because, in general practice, belief has come to mean a state of mind which is almost the opposite of faith. Belief, as I use the word here, is the insistence that the truth is what one would “lief” or wish it to be. The believer will open his mind to the truth on the condition that it fits in with his preconceived ideas and wishes. Faith, on the other hand, is an unreserved opening of the mind to the truth, whatever it may turn out to be. Faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown. Belief clings, but faith lets go. In this sense of the word, faith is the essential virtue of science, and likewise of any religion that is not self-deception."

 

For me, that faith Watts is referring to is a characteristic of the religious mind that K is referring to, whereas belief is a characteristic of the deluded and ignorant mind. 

Edited September 9, 2015 by steve

[C T]

Although the luminous and calm nature of the spirit is shining brilliantly, do not under any pretext give rise to intellection or hold any opinions like 'I know' or 'I am enlightened'. If we give rise to such opinions while having neither penetrated the Hwadu nor awakened to the True Nature, we will lapse into the Palace of Delusion.

 

~ Zen Master Ku San Sunim,

   Nine Mountains

[Brian]

Thank you, C T.

[C T]

interlude

 

[C T]

Question: What do you mean by the primordial nature of the mind?

 

Khenpo Rinpoches: "In the higher levels of the Buddha’s teaching it is said that all the phenomena we perceive are simply displays of the mind. The deepest nature of the mind, the enlightened mind, is known as primordial awareness. All mental activities arise from primordial awareness, and if we recognize that, then enlightenment manifests in every thought and perception. If we do not recognize it, then thoughts and perceptions continue to be obstructions that cause suffering.

 

In order to awaken inner wisdom, it is necessary to break down the dualistic concepts that posit an internal subject and external objects. Typically, we perceive ourselves as individual subjects who experience objects that are separate from the self; we feel distance and make distinctions between the two.

 

The feeling of being a subject who relates to objects is simply a notion of the mind. The mind alone creates the concept of a separate self. Once that conception is formed we hold on to it, although from the primordial point of view the self does not really exist. To overcome duality it is necessary to cultivate the equanimity that encompasses both subject and object. Practicing love and compassion is extremely helpful in terms of understanding the inseparability of outer and inner reality. To recognize everything as the perfect activity of the enlightened mind is to realize the primordial nature of pure awareness. Sometimes this is called rigpa. Rigpa is the innermost, true nature of the mind, our awareness which is fresh, uncompounded, and very open. Along with emptiness, rigpa contains clarity, loving-kindness, wisdom, and skillful means.

 

Meditation reveals this awareness that we all have. To recognize the movements of the mind as the display of wisdom and to let thoughts arise and go their own way is called the natural flow of awareness. Maintaining the natural flow of pure awareness is known as the king of meditation, the supreme understanding. This is the best way to practice as we meditate, chant, and recite mantras.

 

The meditation on Guru Padmasambhava, the embodiment of all enlightened beings, is a practical way to invoke primordial wisdom. The word buddha means the primordial awareness that consists of love, compassion, and wisdom. When we visualize Guru Padmasambhava and chant the Vajra Guru Mantra, our potential wisdom is reflected in his image. The point of all practice is to bring out the primordial nature of the mind. When we are completely in the state of primordial wisdom, then that is enlightenment."

 

~ Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches
The Buddhist Path

[Tibetan_Ice]

CT, in that last quote, this part could be clearer:

Meditation reveals this awareness that we all have. To recognize the movements of the mind as the display of wisdom and to let thoughts arise and go their own way is called the natural flow of awareness. Maintaining the natural flow of pure awareness is known as the king of meditation, the supreme understanding. This is the best way to practice as we meditate, chant, and recite mantras.

 

Isn't the king of meditation "non meditation"?

 

From "The Clear Light of Awareness Instructions in Mahamudra" by Khyungpo Naljor:

Spoken mantras , the paramitas the vinaya, sutras of the pitaka , etc. and all the respective siddhantas cannot show you the clear light of Mahamudra.

 

So it would seem to be counterintuitive to be referring to the realization of primordial wisdom in the same subsection that speaks of mantras, chants, visualization... Let alone present the idea that primordial wisdom cane be "invoked".

 

Again, from Tilopa's Mahamudra Upasesha:

Thus, mind’s nature has always been like space. There is no phenomenon that is not included in it. Giving up all physical activity, the yogi sits relaxed. Vocal expression does not exist. Why? It is like empty echoes. Without a thought in mind, look at the transcendent Dharma! Body has no essence, like a plantain tree. Mind, like being in space, is beyond objects of thought. Without discarding or placing, relax and settle within that state. [8] If mind is without fixed reference point, that is Mahamudra. Meditating and familiarizing with that, unexcelled enlightenment is attained. [9] Practitioners of Mantra, and of the Paramitas, Vinaya Sutra, the Pitakas, and so on, Will not see clear light Mahamudra By way of the tenets of each of their scriptures. Because of their assertions, clear light is obscured, not seen.

 

And again, this concept is much clearer in the Nang-Jang:

 

Understanding this fundamental nature, you give up the three kinds of physical activity-good, bad, and neutral-and sit like a corpse in a charnel ground, with nothing needing to be done. You likewise give up the three kinds of verbal activity, remaining like a mute, as well as the three kinds of mental activity, resting witho)lt contrivance like the autumn sky free of the three polluting conditions.5 This is termed 'formal meditative equipoise' (nyam-par zhag-pa). It is also termed •Letting go of anything to be done' or 'nothing needing to be done' (jar- med), since all manner of activities have been given up, and 'beyond ordinary consciousness' (lo-day), since there is no contrivance by ordinary consciousness. In the context of this key point, you will discover a great indwelling confidence.

 

"Furthermore, at all times while going about, sitting, shifting, moving, repeating mantras, speaking aloud, thinking, or otherwise conducting yourself, without losing the perspective of view (ta-wa) you are aware that the world of appearances and possibilities is like an illusion. Without losing the indwelling confidence of your meditation (gom-pa), you are aware of your fundamental nature (ngang) becoming evident. And without your conduct (kyod-pa) becoming careless, you rely correctly on the four kinds of authentic conduct. These are the key points to rely on until the end of your days. This is meditation that is naturally free and beyond ordinary consciousness.

 

"The key point of conduct is to renounce nonvirtuous physical and verbal activities as if they were poison, not overem phasizing view at the expense of conduct by thinking that since everything is emptiness you will not be sullied by flaws no mat- ter how you behave. You must be calm, restrained, and care- ful, like someone who has been brought before the highest judge.

 

"On the other hand, by clinging to three kinds of incidental virtuous acts-physical, verbal, and mental-as though they were profound, you override correct view and meditation. If you spend this human life merely accumulating merit within samsara, it is as though you were bound by chains of gold. Without overemphasizing conduct at the expense of view, you must be like a snow lion roaming majestically across glaciers, whom no other beast of prey can overwhelm.

 

So, while I don't disagree with what you've quoted, I think it blurs the idea of non-meditation into something that can be practiced through mantra or guru yoga. It could have been clearer.

[C T]

Hi Tibetan Ice,

 

A teacher i used to study with explains that non-meditation means being beyond distraction. It stabilises gradually, usually after years of accumulating merit. Since i have not even come close to attaining that state beyond distraction, it is not possible to offer any worthwhile comment to your observation. You seem to be far advanced on your path, so i guess what you have pointed out may be right, moreover, it is certainly right from your point of view anyhow.