Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[C T]

"SO, YOU WANT TO BE A TANTRIC WIZARD, HUH??" 

 

https://perfumedskull.com/2016/01/22/tobeatantricwizard/

[C T]

"Subhuti, do not maintain that the Buddha has this thought: ‘I have spoken spiritual truths.’ Do not think that way. Why? If someone says the Buddha has spoken spiritual truths, he slanders the Buddha due to his inability to understand what the Buddha teaches. Subhuti, as to speaking truth, no truth can be spoken. Therefore it is called ‘speaking truth’.”

 

 

Subhuti again asked, “Blessed lord, when you attained complete Enlightenment, did you feel in your mind that nothing had been acquired?”

 

 

“That is it exactly, Subhuti. When I attained total Enlightenment, I did not feel, as the mind feels, any arbitrary conception of spiritual truth, not even the slightest. Even the words ‘total Enlightenment’ are merely words, they are used merely as a figure of speech.”

 

~ from the Diamond Sutra ~ 

[manitou]

I see a parallel.

 

The Dao that can be spoken of is not the true Dao.

[Bud Jetsun]

11 hours ago, C T said:

"Subhuti, do not maintain that the Buddha has this thought: ‘I have spoken spiritual truths.’ Do not think that way. Why? If someone says the Buddha has spoken spiritual truths, he slanders the Buddha due to his inability to understand what the Buddha teaches. Subhuti, as to speaking truth, no truth can be spoken. Therefore it is called ‘speaking truth’.”

 

 

Subhuti again asked, “Blessed lord, when you attained complete Enlightenment, did you feel in your mind that nothing had been acquired?”

 

 

“That is it exactly, Subhuti. When I attained total Enlightenment, I did not feel, as the mind feels, any arbitrary conception of spiritual truth, not even the slightest. Even the words ‘total Enlightenment’ are merely words, they are used merely as a figure of speech.”

 

~ from the Diamond Sutra ~ 

 

 

The diamond sutra shares such profound wisdom and beauty, body pours out salty eye fluid in a quantity that makes continuing to read optically blurred.  The Dao de Jing arises the same eye fluid response, the Upanishads also spontaneously trigger the same eye fluid flow.  

 

Diamond sutra as a collection of droplets of ink or patterns of symbols in itself carries nothing, just as the Buddha's words can't contain or capture/hold truth, but the truth of Now that exists in all beings may discover aspects of itself reflected as the reader or listeners experiential awareness permits. 

 

Whatever we cling to the fantasy of knowing, whatever we cling to the fantasy of needing, whatever we cling to the fantasy of scheduling/expecting, whatever we cling to the fantasy of what may have been, this is what we trade appreciation of the real to sustain.  

 

Even one more inhalation of breath is a priceless gift that comes with no guarantee.  This fleeting loan of energy from the universe will be paid back with atom-perfect conservation, before this inherent conclusion, the opportunity to appreciate this source of energy as it is in its indescribable incomprehensible splendor of phenomena remains always available for all beings. 

 

No moment to waste, no dress-rehearsals, no scouting passes, either push further and deeper into awareness shedding the constructed layers of dogmas, knowledge, and realizations or miss the unbounded opportunity in this one moment. 

 

No matter if you've meditated for decades straight or a day-dreaming child, mind begins fresh every instant, and it's our own optional choice alone to apply the bounds and confines to what natively is unbounded.  Explore every technique yielding results with the intensity you would if you knew that breath would be your last opportunity to embrace Now. 

 

Every being has exactly what they need already, but it's a flight with no baggage space for taking any dogma or clinging to traditions or past-beings wisdom along with them.  

 

May all beings choose to enjoy the unbounded liberation of Being.

 

Unlimited Love,

-Bud

[C T]

Four Noble Truths,
Eightfold Noble Path,
Three Characteristics of Conditioned Phenomena,
Twelve Links of Dependent Origination,
Thirty-seven Factors of Enlightenment,
Six or Ten Pāramitās,
Three, Six or Nine Yānas,
Two Truths,
And on and on;
Eighty-four thousand teachings of the Buddha, 
All pointing to one thing alone—
Mind realising its own true nature!

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~

[C T]

Whether wholesome, unwholesome or neither, whatever is manifesting in consciousness in the ineffable "here and now"; that is to be taken as the object of one's mindfulness and the subject of one's path of practice.

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

[manitou]

13 hours ago, C T said:

Whether wholesome, unwholesome or neither, whatever is manifesting in consciousness in the ineffable "here and now"; that is to be taken as the object of one's mindfulness and the subject of one's path of practice.

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

 

 

Excellent quote!  I was practicing that very thing today standing in a long line at the market.  Everything is a practice.  I have been paying particular attention to the beauty of the Florida skies in the early morning and evening, and the trees with the Spanish moss.  I am mindful that that very beauty and grace is the real Me.  The real Us.

[C T]

13 hours ago, manitou said:

 

 

Excellent quote!  I was practicing that very thing today standing in a long line at the market.  Everything is a practice.  I have been paying particular attention to the beauty of the Florida skies in the early morning and evening, and the trees with the Spanish moss.  I am mindful that that very beauty and grace is the real Me.  The real Us.

 

Delighted to hear that beauty is slowly flowering again in your world, Barbara. 

May the awareness of the joy in simplicity grant you peace always. _/\_

[C T]

BUDDHA SPEAKS

 

Of all things seen in the world
Only mind is the host;
By grasping forms according to interpretation
It becomes deluded, not true to reality.

 

All philosophies in the world
Are mental fabrications;
There has never been a single doctrine
By which one could enter the true essence of things.

 

By the power of perceiver and perceived
All kinds of things are born;
They soon pass away, not staying,
Dying out instant to instant.

 

~ THE AVATAMSAKA SUTRA ~ 

[manitou]

CT - In case nobody has done this before, I want to thank you for the time you take to find the beautiful gems of wisdom and post them here.  Because of this longstanding endeavor, you are raising the collective consciousness of humanity.  Thank you, my friend.  Much of my piecemeal understanding has merged and gelled within this thread.  Truths are self-evident to those who can feel the resonance within.

 

Barbara

[C T]

'DZOGCHEN EXPLAINED'

 

https://www.lionsroar.com/dzogchen-explained/

[C T]

Not to keep yourself from evil actions
Is to have no pratimoksha,
Not to work for others’ welfare
Is to have no bodhicitta.
Not to master pure perception
Is to have no Secret Mantra.
If illusions don’t collapse,
There is no realization.
If you opt for one side or the other,
That is not the View.
If you have a goal in mind,
That is not the Meditation.
If your conduct is a contrivance,
That is not the Action.
If you hope and wish,
You’ll have no Fruit.

 

Peaceful self-control: the sign of one who’s heard the teachings!
Few defiled emotions are the mark of one who meditates.
Harmony with others is the sign of one who practices.
A blissful heart is witness to accomplishment.
The root of Dharma is your very mind.
Tame it and you’re practicing the Dharma.
To practice Dharma is to tame your mind –
And when you tame it, then you will be free!

 

~ Dudjom Rinpoche: Counsels from my Heart. ~

[C T]

Uncontrived naturalness is not something that one does, even though it sounds like you do remain in naturalness, and you avoid fabricating. Actually, it is the opposite of doing. One does not do anything. By repeatedly letting be in the state of uncontrived naturalness, it becomes automatic. Don’t think that there is a long moment between two thoughts that you need to somehow nail down and own. That would not be automatic; it would be fabricated.

 

Rather than improving upon the recognition of your own nature, simply remain completely at ease. It is a matter of self-existing wakefulness getting used to itself. Do not try to keep the state of naturalness. The state will be self-kept as the natural outcome of your growing familiarity with it. Do not fall into distraction. Short moments, repeated many times. Because of our very strong habit to always do something, the moment of non-doing doesn’t usually last long.

 

That is why we practice recognizing for short moments, repeated many times. If we do not repeat the recognition of mind essence, we never grow used to it. “Short moments” ensures that it is the real, authentic naturalness. For a beginner, recognition of the authentic state does not last longer than a short moment. “Many times” means that we need to grow more and more familiar with this state. 

 

~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche ~ 

Edited February 13, 2018 by C T

[manitou]

On ‎2‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 7:07 PM, C T said:

'DZOGCHEN EXPLAINED'

 

https://www.lionsroar.com/dzogchen-explained/

 

A very powerful statue of Dudjom Lingpa, and one can sense (and see) that many hands have touched it in reverence.

 

Quoting from the article:

 

In doing so, it reclaims a purity from which we have never strayed and uncovers our own primordial great perfection—a perfection that will, in T.S. Eliot’s words, “fructify in the lives of others.”

 

'Fructify in the lives of others"  Could this be construed to mean not only as a pebble sending ripples out infinitely, and also elevating the consciousness of others in proximity?  Seems like it could be either horizontal or vertical.

[Bud Jetsun]

On 2/12/2018 at 5:17 PM, C T said:

Not to keep yourself from evil actions
Is to have no pratimoksha,

 

The pratimoksha is a constructed rule set, and in itself offers no more effectiveness than a speed limit sign or drug laws. Being a constructed concept it can also not be held in a pocket or function by swearing it, only by making ethical choices in Now alone, one choice at a time as they come.  Living the Way not having the Way which can not be had.

Not to work for others’ welfare
Is to have no bodhicitta.
Not to master pure perception
Is to have no Secret Mantra.
If illusions don’t collapse,
There is no realization.

 

If realization does not collapse, the primordial wisdom is replaced by confusions of knowing.

If you opt for one side or the other,
That is not the View.
If you have a goal in mind,
That is not the Meditation.
If your conduct is a contrivance,
That is not the Action.
If you hope and wish,
You’ll have no Fruit.

 

Peaceful self-control: the sign of one who’s heard the teachings!
Few defiled emotions are the mark of one who meditates.
Harmony with others is the sign of one who practices.
A blissful heart is witness to accomplishment.
The root of Dharma is your very mind.
Tame it and you’re practicing the Dharma.
To practice Dharma is to tame your mind –
And when you tame it, then you will be free!

 

~ Dudjom Rinpoche: Counsels from my Heart. ~

 

 

 

Beautiful work, thank you as always for sharing my friend.

 

Perhaps some translator word-choice confusion has been clarified in the Buddhist spirit of maximum clarification to benefit all beings liberation.  

 

Unlimited Love,

-Bud

Edited February 14, 2018 by Bud Jetsun

[Jeff]

On 2/12/2018 at 7:17 PM, C T said:

Not to keep yourself from evil actions
Is to have no pratimoksha,
Not to work for others’ welfare
Is to have no bodhicitta.
Not to master pure perception
Is to have no Secret Mantra.
If illusions don’t collapse,
There is no realization.

...

 

~ Dudjom Rinpoche: Counsels from my Heart. ~

 

Thank you.  Very wise words and in the correct order. It is not possible to master pure perception unless you work for others welfare. Many traditions do not realize this point and hence perception is limited (and not pure).

[manitou]

31 minutes ago, Jeff said:

 

Thank you.  Very wise words and in the correct order. It is not possible to master pure perception unless you work for others welfare. Many traditions do not realize this point and hence perception is limited (and not pure).

 

 

I don't doubt that this is true.  But the other side of the coin is that the person for whose welfare one is working for also abides with The Essence within, and is drawing to himself exactly what he needs at the moment.  Going around and looking for good deeds to do seems like a bit of striving, to me, not a naturalness.  I sincerely don't know.  All I know is I do what's in front of me.  If that means giving a $20 to a homeless man on the street, that's what I do.  Personally, I think the heart has the answers when the situation arises.  No doubt Buddha would be scolding me at this very moment.....

[Jeff]

Just now, manitou said:

 

 

I don't doubt that this is true.  But the other side of the coin is that the person for whose welfare one is working for also abides with The Essence within, and is drawing to himself exactly what he needs at the moment.  Going around and looking for good deeds to do seems like a bit of striving, to me, not a naturalness.  I sincerely don't know.  All I know is I do what's in front of me.  If that means giving a $20 to a homeless man on the street, that's what I do.  Personally, I think the heart has the answers when the situation arises.  No doubt Buddha would be scolding me at this very moment.....

 

In my view, it is not about giving money away or physical welfare. In the context, the quote is talking about “clarity”. The quote is talking about helping others see through the illusions of mind so that they too can “master pure perception”. 

[C T]

You believe that your thoughts belong to a real person. At some point while listening to this ‘person’, you became confused, you forgot who you are and instead began to think that you are this person; you are not. What is more, this person that you take yourself to be doesn’t even exist outside of your imagination, it is merely a mental concept. Nevertheless, you are what you are, regardless of what you imagine yourself to be. When you no longer imagine yourself to be something you’re not, then all that is left is what you always were.

 

Let go of everything you feel is you. When you reach the point where you fear the next step is total annihilation of your very self, put your fear aside, take the final step off from the sturdy ground of the known into the abyss of the great unknown, and find out for yourself just what you really are. Release the thinking mind whenever you become aware of it, and one day it will find its own freedom. What remains after is simply a profound awareness. With awareness comes unmitigated spontaneity. 

 

~ Notes on Non-duality ~ 

[C T]

^{We should learn to see everyday life as mandala - the luminous fringes of experience which radiate spontaneously from the empty nature of our being. The aspects of our mandala are the day-to-day objects of our life experience moving in the dance or play of the universe. By this symbolism the inner teacher reveals the profound and ultimate significance of being. Therefore we should be natural and spontaneous, accepting and learning from everything. This enables us to see the ironic and amusing side of events that usually irritate us.}

 

^{In meditation we can see through the illusion of past, present and future - our experience becomes the continuity of nowness. The past is only an unreliable memory held in the present. The future is only a projection of our present conceptions. The present itself vanishes as soon as we try to grasp it. So why bother with attempting to establish an illusion of solid ground?}

 

^{We should free ourselves from our past memories and preconceptions of meditation. Each moment of meditation is completely unique and full of potentiality. In such moments, we will be incapable of judging our meditation in terms of past experience, dry theory or hollow rhetoric. Simply plunging directly into meditation in the moment now, with our whole being, free from hesitation, boredom or excitement, is enlightenment.}

 

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche ~ 

[C T]

 

[C T]

“In Dzokchen, compassion is much more than the virtue of loving kindness. Nor does the word compassion in the Dzokchen context denote its English etymological meaning, “suffering together” or “empathy,” although both these meanings may be inferred. Essentially, compassion indicates an open and receptive mind responding spontaneously to the exigencies of an ever-changing field of vibration to sustain the optimal awareness that serves self-and-others’ ultimate desire for liberation and well-being. The conventional meaning of compassion denotes the latter, active part of this definition, and, due to the accretions of Christian connotation, response is limited specifically to virtuous activity. “Responsiveness” defines the origin and cause of selfless activity that can encompass all manner of response. On this nondual Dzokchen path, virtue is the effect, not the cause; the ultimate compassionate response is whatever action maximizes Knowledge — loving kindness is the automatic function of Awareness.”

 

~ Keith Dowman - Flight of the Garuda ~ 

[Jeff]

7 minutes ago, C T said:

“In Dzokchen, compassion is much more than the virtue of loving kindness. Nor does the word compassion in the Dzokchen context denote its English etymological meaning, “suffering together” or “empathy,” although both these meanings may be inferred. Essentially, compassion indicates an open and receptive mind responding spontaneously to the exigencies of an ever-changing field of vibration to sustain the optimal awareness that serves self-and-others’ ultimate desire for liberation and well-being. The conventional meaning of compassion denotes the latter, active part of this definition, and, due to the accretions of Christian connotation, response is limited specifically to virtuous activity. “Responsiveness” defines the origin and cause of selfless activity that can encompass all manner of response. On this nondual Dzokchen path, virtue is the effect, not the cause; the ultimate compassionate response is whatever action maximizes Knowledge — loving kindness is the automatic function of Awareness.”

 

~ Keith Dowman - Flight of the Garuda ~ 

 

Excellent point and often misunderstood. Clarity and not caught up in perceived emotional sympathy.

 

And at the time it can seem like very tough love.  

[C T]

Its fascinating that 'tough love' exists only within the human spectrum. Animals have no concept of it, and definitely do not respond to it the way humans do. Thats why I love dogs... they respond so well to unconditional kindness, so well in fact that we can learn much about our own capacity for empathy thru the interactions, but the moment we try to curtail their spontaneity and encroach on their naturalness, they immediately begin to develop distrust. I think most, if not all animals, would be the same.

 

Tough love may not, after all, be a good measure of response, I believe. If it does not work on animals, which have a narrower emotional range, it certainly needs to be investigated if such a response is appropriate for humans.  

[manitou]

When it comes to 'loving kindness' is, who really knows what's good for the next person anyway?  What may seem like loving kindness may be a real example of enabling the other person to remain disabled in some way that they alone can fix.  All is seemingly good or seemingly bad, if one chooses to look at it with dual eyes.

 

As said above:  'Loving kindness is the automatic function of Awareness".  Perfect.