Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[Geof Nanto]

Building a Hut
Choosing from the whole land of open abstraction,
I find suitable conditions in the Dreamtime.
In building the foundation,
It must be steady and stable;
In setting up the practice,
It must be thoroughly grounded. 
Standing up real knowledge as a pillar,
I set the absolute as the main beam. 
The blue sky is the roof,
The occupant enjoys the uncreated.

 

Levelling off the ground,
I finish the foundation the same day. 
The mountains come in from the north, 
The river flows out to the west. 
The door is completely open,
The windows thoroughly clear. 
Who are the companions in the hut? 
The light of the moon,
The clarity of the breeze.

 

(Adapted from a poem attributed to Li Daoqun, 13^th century China.)

 

[manitou]

Gnome - what a wonderful dissertation by HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche you found from 2015 that CT posted.  I had not remembered that one; or if I had I'd forgotten it.

 

This has always been a challenging thread in that duality is overridden by the unity, the non-differentiation of everything.  Yes, it is an extreme view on the body if looked at it in duality - in fact, it makes no sense at all.   The concept of even finding a permanent abode, if I'm reading you correctly, is the belief that there is a destination - like some sort of heaven or nirvana - that we would aspire to once we shed this conveyance we think we occupy.

 

I look at it this way, which may not be correct at all - but it's the aggregate of  many different paths  which  all seem to merge in  metaphysics.  We are all the One Consciousness, only one type of form that comprises the Consciousness of this universe and beyond.  All forms are part of the Consciousness - animate and inanimate things as well.  To the way I understand things, which tends to be a little on the scientific side, I look at the space contained in a single atom, and comparatively in a universe.  The amount of 'matter' which actually occupies that spinning atom is infinitesimal - and I'm guessing that when the Hadron Collider has finished breaking down the quarks and neutrinos as they smash together, it will be further found that there is no real matter at all.  It is Thought.  The only thing that gives them appearance of form is Motion, or the relative appearance thereof. If the atoms suddenly stopped spinning around the nucleus and all matter were left in a pile of dust. I'll bet there's nothing there at all.  We, aggregately, are the Consciousness experiencing itself.  LOL.  The real question is Why?  I recently listened to a Deepak Chopra CD, and his suggestion was that the Consciousness (or universe) wanted to just take a vacation and let someone else do it for a while.

 

And quite a fine job we're doing......

 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2018 by manitou

[gnome]

14 hours ago, manitou said:

Gnome - what a wonderful dissertation by HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche you found from 2015 that CT posted.  I had not remembered that one; or if I had I'd forgotten it.

 

This has always been a challenging thread in that duality is overridden by the unity, the non-differentiation of everything.  Yes, it is an extreme view on the body if looked at it in duality - in fact, it makes no sense at all.   The concept of even finding a permanent abode, if I'm reading you correctly, is the belief that there is a destination - like some sort of heaven or nirvana - that we would aspire to once we shed this conveyance we think we occupy.

 

I look at it this way, which may not be correct at all - but it's the aggregate of  many different paths  which  all seem to merge in  metaphysics.  We are all the One Consciousness, only one type of form that comprises the Consciousness of this universe and beyond.  All forms are part of the Consciousness - animate and inanimate things as well.  To the way I understand things, which tends to be a little on the scientific side, I look at the space contained in a single atom, and comparatively in a universe.  The amount of 'matter' which actually occupies that spinning atom is infinitesimal - and I'm guessing that when the Hadron Collider has finished breaking down the quarks and neutrinos as they smash together, it will be further found that there is no real matter at all.  It is Thought.  The only thing that gives them appearance of form is Motion, or the relative appearance thereof. If the atoms suddenly stopped spinning around the nucleus and all matter were left in a pile of dust. I'll bet there's nothing there at all.  We, aggregately, are the Consciousness experiencing itself.  LOL.  The real question is Why?  I recently listened to a Deepak Chopra CD, and his suggestion was that the Consciousness (or universe) wanted to just take a vacation and let someone else do it for a while.

 

And quite a fine job we're doing......

 

 

 

 

No, I meant vehicle of awareness. But heaven or hell are also states of counsciousness, so...

[C T]

An insightful talk on Chod Practice by Lopon Chandra Easton

 

 

[doc benway]

Nice to have you back CT!

You've been missed...

བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།

[C T]

3 hours ago, steve said:

Nice to have you back CT!

You've been missed...

བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།

 

Thank you, Steve. 

 

I took a lot out of the above talk, and simply wanted to pass it on that others may benefit too. 

I have only recently found this teacher, and felt quite an immediate connection. 

 

[Fa Xin]

On 10/12/2018 at 6:22 PM, C T said:

 

Thank you, Steve. 

 

I took a lot out of the above talk, and simply wanted to pass it on that others may benefit too. 

I have only recently found this teacher, and felt quite an immediate connection. 

 

 

I like her too... she seems like very genuine. Good to see you CT! Thanks for sharing.

[C T]

“The nature of mind has to be recognized by the nature of mind. It is not 'you' recognizing your nature of mind; it is your spontaneous, effortless nature of mind that recognizes itself, timelessly. It is so easy therefore it is so difficult. It is there all the time, and is without beginning or end. Our mind recognizes our nature of mind all the time. We are never separate. But somehow, as it is said in the Mahamudra prayer, “self awareness, under the power of ignorance, is confused into a 'self'”. So, because of ignorance, the nature of mind that we recognize every moment, every moment we tend to mistake it as 'I'”. 

 

~ Tai Situ Rinpoche ~

[Marblehead]

Reminded me of the concept of Tzujan.

 

[C T]

 

"Ego" is merely consciousness coalescing around an intrinsically insubstantial form,

feeling, perception, thought formation or sense impression, 

and mistakenly claiming it as “self”.

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

[manitou]

46 minutes ago, C T said:

 

"Ego" is merely consciousness coalescing around an intrinsically insubstantial form,

feeling, perception, thought formation or sense impression, 

and mistakenly claiming it as “self”.

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

 

Hi CT!

 

And this is why making negative judgments to affirm our own superiority is to be avoided.  It reinforces the ego and makes the false sense of self even stronger.

[C T]

To understand selflessness, you need to understand that everything that exists is contained in two groups called the two truths: conventional and ultimate. The phenomena that we see and observe around us can go from good to bad, or bad to good, depending on various causes and conditions. Many phenomena cannot be said to be inherently good or bad; they are better or worse, tall or short, beautiful or ugly, only by comparison, not by way of their own nature. Their value is relative. 
 

From this you can see that there is a discrepancy between the way things appear and how they actually are. For instance, something may—in terms of how it appears—look good, but, due to its inner nature being different, it can turn bad once it is affected by conditions. Food that looks so good in a restaurant may not sit so well in your stomach. This is a clear sign of a discrepancy between appearance and reality.

 

These phenomena themselves are called conventional truths: they are known by consciousness that goes no further than appearances. But the same objects have an inner mode of being, called an ultimate truth, that allows for the changes brought about by conditions. A wise consciousness, not satisfied with mere appearances, analyzes to find whether objects inherently exist as they seem to do but discovers their absence of inherent existence. It finds an emptiness of inherent existence beyond appearances.

 

 

~ HH 14th Dalai Lama ~ 

[rex]

You’re back CT! Fantastic!

[C T]

There are forms, and there is that which is aware of forms;
There are feelings, and there is that which is aware of feelings;
There are perceptions, and there is that which is aware of perceptions;
There are thought formations, and there is that which is aware of thought formations;
There are sense impressions, and there is that which is aware of sense impressions:
That which is aware has always been, is now, and will always be, awakened!

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

[C T]

6 hours ago, rex said:

You’re back CT! Fantastic!

 

Its been a while, Rex  

How have you been, my friend? 

Trust you & all dear friends here are in great happiness always! 

Wishing you & everyone here a truly blessed new year _/\_ 

May all enjoy the causes of great liberation and peace, today and always! 

 

[rex]

20 hours ago, C T said:

 

Its been a while, Rex  

How have you been, my friend? 

Trust you & all dear friends here are in great happiness always! 

Wishing you & everyone here a truly blessed new year _/\_ 

May all enjoy the causes of great liberation and peace, today and always! 

 

It certainly has CT! Been doing alright thanks! I trust you have too? 

May you also have a blessed year and enjoy the causes of great liberation and peace, today and always! 

[C T]

As they draw near to the nature of things
The words of the learned become mute.
All phenomena, subtle by their very nature,
Are said to be beyond expression in words or thoughts.

 

The mind arises in the nature of the emptiness of all things.
In this samsara, thick with the mirages of appearance
That even the Tathagata’s hands cannot stop,
Who can let go of belief in existence and non-existence.

 

~ Gendun Chopel ~ 

[C T]

The basic ground of awareness, which both empowers and liberates experience,

is neither a condition of karma nor conditioned by karma.

Therefore, while this primordial foundation of unchanging wakefulness

may be revealed by means of the Noble Eightfold Path,

it is neither created by adopting it nor destroyed by abandoning it.

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

[C T]

One of the qualities that you can develop, particularly in your older years, is a sense of great compassion for yourself. When you visit the wounds within the temple of memory, you should not blame yourself for making bad mistakes that you greatly regret. Sometimes you have grown unexpectedly through these mistakes. Frequently, in a journey of the soul, the most precious moments are the mistakes. They have brought you to a place that you would otherwise have always avoided. You should bring a compassionate mindfulness to your mistakes and wounds. Endeavor to inhabit the rhythm you were in at that time. If you visit this configuration of your soul with forgiveness in your heart, it will fall into place itself. When you forgive yourself, the inner wounds begin to heal.

You come in out of the exile of hurt into the joy of inner belonging.

 

~ John O'Donohue ~ 

[ilumairen]

(((CT)))

 

Joyful hugs and smiles upon your return. 

 

 

[C T]

30 minutes ago, ilumairen said:

(((CT)))

 

Joyful hugs and smiles upon your return. 

 

 

 

Joyful hugs and smiles to you, dear Ilumairen, and to all my friends here. 

 

Trust that everyone is well, and is working diligently towards a kinder, more peaceful world. Its so needed right now. 

I pray for blessings of wisdom & love for all of you always. 

[manitou]

52 minutes ago, C T said:

 When you visit the wounds within the temple of memory

 

 

What temple of memory? 

 

So glad you're here, CT!

[C T]

Without language, who would you be? The idea of who we are is developed with language just as a fictional character is developed with words. But fictional characters are only fiction, they don’t actually exist except as an idea. Any feelings produced by reading their plot are felt, not by the character in the book, but by the one reading. Though they are truly felt, they are based on the fictional plot of an imagined character.

 

Likewise, the person believed to be you, is also a fictional character, existing only as an idea. It’s been developed over time through the use of words. Reading this character’s story likely stirs many sincere feelings, and is very touching. However, it’s not the character who feels any such thing, but the reader who is touched by the story of this imagined character.

 

Don’t be troubled by what’s only imagined, nor try to rid yourself of the fictional character that’s believed to be you, that’s just more fiction for a fictional character. There’s no need to fight an imaginary battle for the freedom you already have, but only imagine that you don’t. This character developed in thought, see it for what it is, a story which you’ve been reading. What you truly are, no story can tell.

 

~ a kind soul ~ 

 

 

"The cause of our discontent is our mistaken feeling of separateness. This isn’t based on anything tangible. It’s based on beliefs and concepts. The duality of subject and object, self and other, is an illusion imputed by the mind.” ~ Pema Chodron

 

Edited June 16, 2019 by C T

[manitou]

2 hours ago, C T said:

 What you truly are, no story can tell.

 

~ a kind soul ~ 

 

 

"The cause of our discontent is our mistaken feeling of separateness. This isn’t based on anything tangible. It’s based on beliefs and concepts. The duality of subject and object, self and other, is an illusion imputed by the mind.” ~ Pema Chodron

 

 

 

Just as the Dao that can be spoken is not the true Dao.

[C T]

The pleasure orientation is very important, very powerful, and very basic. If you are not pleasure-oriented, you can’t understand tantra. You have to be pleasure-oriented, because otherwise you are pain- and misery-oriented. But this is not a psychological trick of convincing yourself through positive thinking. It is an obvious, reasonable, and real thing. When you treat yourself well, you feel good. When you feel good, you dress yourself in good clothes and adorn yourself with beautiful ornaments. It is a very natural and basic way of relating to oneself.
 

The main qualities of tantra that come out here are basic trust and basic elegance. Elegance here means appreciating things as they are. Things as you are and things as they are. There is a sense of delight and of fearlessness. You are not fearful of dark corners. If there are any dark, mysterious corners, black and confusing, you override them with your glory, your sense of beauty, your sense of cleanness, your feeling of being regal. Because you can override fearfulness in this way, tantra is known as the king of all the yanas. You take an attitude of having perfectly complete and very rich basic sanity.

 

~ Chogyam Trungpa ~