Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[idiot_stimpy]

Quote

"In a state of Awareness there is no separation of samsara and nirvana." Look out from the motionless space of intrinsic Awareness at all experience, illusory like the reflection in a mirror, and no matter what manifests it can never be tasted, its existence can never be proved. In this dimension samsara and nirvana do not exist and everything is the dharmakaya.

 

All beings wandering in the three realms of samsara remain trapped in dualism until they realize that within their own perception resides the primal awareness that is the ultimate identity of all experience of samsara and nirvana. Due to the power of the delusive subject/object dichotomy, they hold samsara and nirvana to be different states of mind. They remain bound because, where in truth there is nonduality, they see a duality.

 

In reality no distinction between samsara and nirvana can exist in anybody's mind. However, when the worldly fool rejects some things and indulges in others, avoiding the "bad" and cultivating the "good", despising one while loving another, then due to partiality, prejudice and bias, aimlessly he wanders through successive lives.

 

Rather than attain the spontaneously accomplished three modes of intrinsic Awareness without striving, thick-headed aspirants explore the techniques and stages of many time-consuming methods of "self-improvement", leaving them no time to reach the seat of the Buddha.

 

Flight of the Garuda

The Dzogchen Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism

Compiled and Translated by Keith Dowman

 

[idiot_stimpy]

Quote

Three Kinds of Dharma Practitioners ~

 

• There are three kinds of Dharma practitioners: Firstly, there are those who look like practitioners outwardly, but inwardly they are Not Real practitioners;
• Secondly, there are those who talk very high, but have No Realization at all;
• Thirdly there are those who do not look like practitioners outwardly, but who are in fact genuine practitioners inside.

 

~ The Late Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche

 

[C T]

~ DZONGSAR JAMYANG KHYENTSE RINPOCHE ~

 

 

The quintessential teaching of the Buddha — the nature of mind — is difficult to understand, not because it is complicated but because of its unbearably naked quality. One common method for deciphering the truth is through commentaries, analysis, arguments, and research. But the more we try to decipher this simplicity through academic studies and intellectual analysis, the more we get sidetracked, deterred, or worse, we end up constructing very convincing concepts that we mistake for the simplicity itself. Therefore, one must work hard to accumulate merit. Accumulating merit is the one and only way to cultivate trust in simplicity. But many of us have to first convince ourselves that accumulation of merit works.

 

 

 

 

 

What constitutes merit accumulation, and why is it essential on the path - Tsoknyi Rinpoche

 

https://tsoknyirinpoche.org/2579/accumulation-of-merit-preparing-the-heart-for-bodhicitta/
 

[rideforever]

You should not learn meditation from anyone who has failed to become enlightened.

Perhaps this is the greatest reason for failure.

[silent thunder]

6 hours ago, C T said:

~ DZONGSAR JAMYANG KHYENTSE RINPOCHE ~

 

 

The quintessential teaching of the Buddha — the nature of mind — is difficult to understand, not because it is complicated but because of its unbearably naked quality. One common method for deciphering the truth is through commentaries, analysis, arguments, and research. But the more we try to decipher this simplicity through academic studies and intellectual analysis, the more we get sidetracked, deterred, or worse, we end up constructing very convincing concepts that we mistake for the simplicity itself. Therefore, one must work hard to accumulate merit. Accumulating merit is the one and only way to cultivate trust in simplicity. But many of us have to first convince ourselves that accumulation of merit works.

 

 

 

 

 

What constitutes merit accumulation, and why is it essential on the path - Tsoknyi Rinpoche

 

https://tsoknyirinpoche.org/2579/accumulation-of-merit-preparing-the-heart-for-bodhicitta/
 

 

On 2/18/2020 at 11:21 PM, C T said:

How wonderful it is, this free and spacious no-thing-ness called mind. Free of worry, and free from hope and fear. 

 

The utter simplicity and intimacy of this is perhaps why it is often seemingly so untouchable and beyond local awareness for me.  And perhaps why so many established lineages recommend quieting the mind and body... so that we may have the chance to hear and encounter this level of simplicity in local awareness.

 

it's so familiar, so intimate that I can readily become desensitized and unable to register it...

yet it's the foundation of my very fabric of mind and being. 

 

In relating to this, I often have the image of myself as a fish... who, while swimming, learning and making his entire life in water, is unaware that water is even exists, so close and intimate it is to foundational being.

 

Wittgenstein alludes to it adroitly in this bit.

[C T]

This 2014 gem from Goldisheavy -  "Reality doesn't play itself. You play it. You're a player. If you stop all your playing, reality will stop playing too because without your input it has nothing to do of itself and for itself" - reminds me of Ryokan's poem, "Look Deeper"... 

 

 

You stop to point at the moon in the sky,
but the finger's blind unless the moon is shining.

One moon, one careless finger pointing -
are these two things or one?

The question is a pointer guiding
a novice from ignorance thick as fog.

Look deeper. The mystery calls and calls:
No moon, no finger - nothing there at all.

 

 

 

 

 

GiH... you are missed deeply. I pray that you are safe & well. _/\_

 

 

 

[gatito]

 

Four great gates has the city of Damascus
   And four Great Wardens, on their spears reclining,
All day long stand like tall stone men
   And sleep on the towers when the moon is shining.

 

   This is the song of the East Gate Warden
   When he locks the great gate and smokes in his garden.

Postern of Fate, the Desert Gate, Disaster's Cavern, Fort of Fear,
The Portal of Baghdad am I, and Doorway of Diarbekir.

The Persian Dawn with new desires may net the flushing mountain spires:
But my gaunt buttress still rejects the suppliance of those mellow fires.

Pass not beneath, O Caravan, or pass not singing. Have you heard
That silence where the birds are dead yet something pipeth like a bird?

Pass not beneath! Men say there blows in stony deserts still a rose
But with no scarlet to her leaf—and from whose heart no perfume flows.

Wilt thou bloom red where she buds pale, thy sister rose? Wilt thou not fail
When noonday flashes like a flail? Leave nightingale the caravan!

Pass then, pass all! "Baghdad!" ye cry, and down the billows of blue sky
Ye beat the bell that beats to hell, and who shall thrust you back? Not I.

The Sun who flashes through the head and paints the shadows green and red,
The Sun shall eat thy fleshless dead, O Caravan, O Caravan!

And one who licks his lips for thirst with fevered eyes shall face in fear
The palms that wave, the streams that burst, his last mirage, O Caravan!

And one—the bird-voiced Singing-man—shall fall behind thee, Caravan!
And God shall meet him in the night, and he shall sing as best he can.

And one the Bedouin shall slay, and one, sand-stricken on the way
Go dark and blind; and one shall say—"How lonely is the Caravan!"

Pass out beneath, O Caravan, Doom's Caravan, Death's Caravan!
I had not told ye, fools, so much, save that I heard your Singing-man.

   This was sung by the West Gate's keeper
   When heaven's hollow dome grew deeper.

I am the gate toward the sea: O sailor men, pass out from me!
I hear you high in Lebanon, singing the marvels of the sea.

The dragon-green, the luminous, the dark, the serpent-haunted sea,
The snow-besprinkled wine of earth, the white-and-blue-flower foaming sea.

Beyond the sea are towns with towers, carved with lions and lily flowers,
And not a soul in all those lonely streets to while away the hours.

Beyond the towns, an isle where, bound, a naked giant bites the ground:
The shadow of a monstrous wing looms on his back: and still no sound.

Beyond the isle a rock that screams like madmen shouting in their dreams,
From whose dark issues night and day blood crashes in a thousand streams.

Beyond the rock is Restful Bay, where no wind breathes or ripple stirs,
And there on Roman ships, they say, stand rows of metal mariners.

Beyond the bay in utmost West old Solomon the Jewish King
Sits with his beard upon his breast, and grips and guards his magic ring:

And when that ring is stolen, he will rise in outraged majesty,
And take the World upon his back, and fling the World beyond the sea.

   This is the song of the North Gate's master,
   Who singeth fast, but drinketh faster.

I am the gay Aleppo Gate: a dawn, a dawn and thou art there:
Eat not thy heart with fear and care, O brother of the beast we hate!

Thou hast not many miles to tread, nor other foes than fleas to dread;
Homs shall behold thy morning meal and Hama see thee safe in bed.

Take to Aleppo filigrane, and take them paste of apricots,
And coffee tables botched with pearl, and little beaten brassware pots:

And thou shalt sell thy wares for thrice the Damascene retailers' price,
And buy a fat Armenian slave who smelleth odorous and nice.

Some men of noble stock were made: some glory in the murder-blade;
Some praise a Science or an Art, but I like honorable Trade!

Sell them the rotten, buy the ripe! Their heads are weak; their pockets burn.
Aleppo men are mighty fools. Salaam Aleikum! Safe return!

 

   This is the song of the South Gate Holder,

   A silver man, but his song is older.

I am the Gate that fears no fall: the Mihrab of Damascus wall,
The bridge of booming Sinai: the Arch of Allah all in all.

O spiritual pilgrim rise: the night has grown her single horn:
The voices of the souls unborn are half adream with Paradise.

To Mecca thou hast turned in prayer with aching heart and eyes that burn:
Ah Hajji, wither wilt thou turn when thou art there, when thou art there?

God be thy guide from camp to camp: God be thy shade from well to well;
God grant beneath the desert stars thou hear the Prophet's camel bell.

And God shall make thy body pure, and give thee knowledge to endure
This ghost-life's piercing phantom-pain, and bring thee out to Life again.

And God shall make thy soul a Glass where eighteen thousand aeons pass.
And thou shalt see the gleaming Worlds as men see dew upon the grass.

And sons of Islam, it may be that thou shalt learn at journey's end
Who walks thy garden eve on eve, and bows his head, and calls thee Friend.

 

allpoetry.com/The-Gates-of-Damascus

[C T]

~  TRALEG KYABGON RINPOCHE   ~ 

 

If we are honest with ourselves, we know from our own experience that the more we try to find solutions to our problems through thinking about them, the more we start going around in circles, sometimes interminably. Buddhism counsels us to resist being abused by our conflicting emotions and to let go of excessive thinking. Emotions can be expressed in an unhealthy, self-destructive manner or in a healthy and constructive fashion. Similarly, we can think in a self-destructive, confused way, which reinforces our negative habits, or we can think in a constructive way. Buddhism emphasizes that overindulgence in conflicting emotions and distorted forms of thinking only reinforces our old habits, which solidifies our karmic tendencies even further.

 

(from Mind at Ease: Self Liberation through Mahamudra Meditation) 

 

 

[C T]

"Dont worry about practicing to heal accumulated karma from the past; Practice instead to not create present negative karma so that future negative karma will not have ground to root. Doing this will also help heal past karma simultaneously. To begin practice in this way, one must first establish a refuge tree, or field of merit. This is important because it provides (1) shelter from the storm, and (2), an organic inner sanctum which, in times of need, can be accessed through proper visualizations. Within this safe space, the 3 Jewels are the primary support, followed by lineage blessings, dharma protectors, healing sutras & mantras, incense, nectar, divine music, pure visions of mahabodhisattvas, yidams, khandros, buddhas, and so on."

 

 

[C T]

The Mother/Feminine principle in Buddhatantra

 

Insightful talk by Lama Rod Owens. 

(If preferred, skip the first 5.5 minutes intro)

 

 

[doc benway]

I recently provided an excerpt from an important Bönpo dzogchen teaching in the lerner's thread on dawg's realization.

One point being made in that thread is that the objective of meditation is the complete and permanent silencing of the inner, samsaric voice. This is a common and serious error on the tantric and dzogchen paths. I thought it worthwhile to share the excerpt here:

 

Self-originated primordial wisdom is the base.

The five poisonous mental afflictions are the dynamic energy.

Chasing after them is the way you are deluded.

Viewing them as deficient is the error.

Leaving them as they are is the method.

Freeing them into vastness is the path.

Non-duality is the realization

~ from The Twenty One Nails 

[C T]

10 hours ago, steve said:

I recently provided an excerpt from an important Bönpo dzogchen teaching in the lerner's thread on dawg's realization.

One point being made in that thread is that the objective of meditation is the complete and permanent silencing of the inner, samsaric voice. This is a common and serious error on the tantric and dzogchen paths. I thought it worthwhile to share the excerpt here:

 

Self-originated primordial wisdom is the base.

The five poisonous mental afflictions are the dynamic energy.

Chasing after them is the way you are deluded.

Viewing them as deficient is the error.

Leaving them as they are is the method.

Freeing them into vastness is the path.

Non-duality is the realization

~ from The Twenty One Nails 

Dear Steve, 

 

Thank you for highlighting the misperception (fm the Dzogchen pov). Its quite a common error that even seasoned practitioners make, so it bears noting. 

[gatito]

 

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

 

[C T]

~ Paramito Ladakh ~

 

 

At a time of widespread panic and crisis, there can be an overwhelming urge to immediately react, and thereby reassert some sense of personal control over seemingly uncontrolled circumstances, but the profound stillness of contemplative non-action often provides the most insightful counsel, directing the most effective response to volatile, and not so volatile, events.

 

 

 

 

May the consciousness that seeks, find liberation in its own emptiness. 

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by C T

[C T]

~ Dogen ~ 

 

“From beginningless past, many foolish people identified consciousness and spirituality as Buddha-Nature. How laughable it is that these were called the enlightened people! If I were to explain the Buddha-Nature without getting too involved, I would say it was fences, walls, roof tiles and pebbles”. 

[manitou]

12 hours ago, C T said:

~ Dogen ~ 

 

“From beginningless past, many foolish people identified consciousness and spirituality as Buddha-Nature. How laughable it is that these were called the enlightened people! If I were to explain the Buddha-Nature without getting too involved, I would say it was fences, walls, roof tiles and pebbles”. 

 

 

Is-ness.  And if that's the case, 'Buddha-nature" is really nothing at all.  As though it were something to be attained.  And I don't think it's attainment at all.  I say it's a removal of as much egoic shell as possible.  And I think this is why it is said that 'a shaman is never alone' - because all objects seem to have enough consciousness to retain their shape.  I really do talk to my car Rosie.  She has treated me so well for over 10 years.  I pat her on the console often.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by manitou

[C T]

14 hours ago, manitou said:

 

 

Is-ness.  And if that's the case, 'Buddha-nature" is really nothing at all.  As though it were something to be attained.  And I don't think it's attainment at all.  I say it's a removal of as much egoic shell as possible.  And I think this is why it is said that 'a shaman is never alone' - because all objects seem to have enough consciousness to retain their shape.  I really do talk to my car Rosie.  She has treated me so well for over 10 years.  I pat her on the console often.

 

 

 

Thats the thing though with Buddha nature - it is positionless - cannot say its nothing, and can't say its something. One can only infer and make approximations. One such inference made relates to questioning the possibility of grasping at the wetness of water, or heat, or sound, or other sensual contacts for that matter. Same with aversiveness - even in the absence of unpleasant experiences, or stimulus, one can still agonise and suffer due to misapprehending the nature of reality. This misapprehension occurs as a result of a habitual reliance on memory as a forlorn method to map experiences. Hence the often provocative feelings of unsatisfactoriness some of us are subjected to. Some could be very subtle, thats why meditations that aid the dissipation of erratic mind fluctuations is helpful in the dissipation of subtle traces of agitation. Such agitations are often the cause of making us forget our non-dual essence. 

[manitou]

8 hours ago, C T said:

 

Thats the thing though with Buddha nature - it is positionless - cannot say its nothing, and can't say its something. One can only infer and make approximations. One such inference made relates to questioning the possibility of grasping at the wetness of water, or heat, or sound, or other sensual contacts for that matter. Same with aversiveness - even in the absence of unpleasant experiences, or stimulus, one can still agonise and suffer due to misapprehending the nature of reality. This misapprehension occurs as a result of a habitual reliance on memory as a forlorn method to map experiences. Hence the often provocative feelings of unsatisfactoriness some of us are subjected to. Some could be very subtle, thats why meditations that aid the dissipation of erratic mind fluctuations is helpful in the dissipation of subtle traces of agitation. Such agitations are often the cause of making us forget our non-dual essence. 

 

 

As I think of the people I've run into who have what I consider Buddha nature - what you say seems exactly to be the case.  There is really no defining it - as you say, you can't say it's nothing, you can't say it's something.  But Buddha nature, when displayed, seems to have love as the cornerstone.  Even when the Buddha-nature is having to make corrections in another's behavior (like a child), the love underscores and permeates the punishment.

 

When one is living within the reaches of wu-wei (I'm using this as comparable to Buddha-nature),  one waits until the situation reveals itself.  Not acting first.  The reality reveals itself to the Buddha-nature.  And then the appropriate response can be seen clearly.  I'm guessing there's room for anger or rage within Buddha-nature, but as it says in the DDJ, the utterances of nature are strong but pass quickly.

 

The true self.  The unadorned self.  The self that works on behalf of all, as we are all manifestations of The Undifferentiated.

[C T]

~ Gampopa ~

NO MIND, NO WORLD

 

The perception of the external world is dependent on the mind. We cannot find a material world that exists totally separately from the mind. The material world is a reflection of the mind rather than an independently existing thing. If your understanding of this leads you to realise the nature of mind, you will automatically realise the nature of the external world. It is not necessary to separately examine the nature of the world. We realise the nature of the external world through realising the nature of mind because of unity in diversity. This is the same as the realisation of non-dual wisdom.

 

[C T]

~ IN HEARING, ONLY THE HEARD ~

THE DHARMA OF SOUND

 

 

[manitou]

CT - not being a Buddhist per se, could you tell me what the 'dharma of sound' actually means?  Or 'in hearing, only the heard?'  What a fabulous video.  The huge gongs deliver an unearthly sound.

 

Is this a way of saying the performer and the performed are the same?

[C T]

27 minutes ago, manitou said:

CT - not being a Buddhist per se, could you tell me what the 'dharma of sound' actually means?  Or 'in hearing, only the heard?'  What a fabulous video.  The huge gongs deliver an unearthly sound.

 

Is this a way of saying the performer and the performed are the same?

 

 Dear Barbara, 

 

There's dharmas, and then there's the Dharma. 

I sometimes connect dharmas with dramas haha! In some ways, they're quite similar. 

But a more accurate description could be to say that dharmas are inter-relational, multi-dimensional elements that are present in unique ways to each of us. Not sure if that makes sense. So, in the case of the clip, the way it flows and speaks to you and the way it does to me can be quite different on a number of levels, though its the exact same content exposed to both. 

 

"In hearing, only the heard" - this is something i've been reflecting upon for many years now. It has to do with the concept of annata, or Non-self... Emptiness... Sunyata, in which sound is an excellent medium or objectless object to unravel the deeper, experiential meaning of Sunyata. The phrase itself comes from one of the Buddha's discourses known as 'Bahiya Sutta'. An extract below: 

 

 

Quote

 

"Herein, Bahiya, you should train yourself thus: 'In the seen will be merely what is seen; in the heard will be merely what is heard; in the sensed will be merely what is sensed; in the cognized will be merely what is cognized.' In this way you should train yourself, Bahiya.

 

"When, Bahiya, for you in the seen is merely what is seen... in the cognized is merely what is cognized, then, Bahiya, you will not be 'with that.' When, Bahiya, you are not 'with that,' then, Bahiya, you will not be 'in that.' When, Bahiya, you are not 'in that,' then, Bahiya, you will be neither here nor beyond nor in between the two. Just this is the end of suffering."

 

 

 

 

At the end of the discourse, the Buddha left these words to his disciples: 

 

"Where neither water nor yet earth Nor fire nor air gain a foothold, there gleam no stars, no sun sheds light, there shines no moon, yet there no darkness reigns. When a sage, a brahman, has come to know this for himself through his own wisdom, then he is freed from form and formless. Freed from pleasure and from pain."

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by C T

[manitou]

4 hours ago, C T said:

 

But a more accurate description could be to say that dharmas are inter-relational, multi-dimensional elements that are present in unique ways to each of us.

 

 

Yes, that makes perfect sense.  I see that joinder of elements as the I Am consciousness.  The void.  The undifferentiated.  Am I getting close?

[C T]

16 hours ago, manitou said:

 

 

Yes, that makes perfect sense.  I see that joinder of elements as the I Am consciousness.  The void.  The undifferentiated.  Am I getting close?

 

Its not for me to speculate on the premise of the 'I Am' consciousness since I'm not entirely informed of the nuances therein. However, it is worth noting that a firm basis of the Middle Way is one of positionlessness, extolled above by Gautama: "Where neither water nor yet earth nor fire nor air gain a foothold...." . Perhaps this ties in to the I Am concept you proposed, but at this juncture, I'm not able to make a connection. 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by C T

[manitou]

The I Am consciousness is as a result of inner work - removal of the things inside us that get in the way of clarity.  Looking to all the mistakes we've made and trying to correct them by making amends and straightening out our behavior.  It's crucial for long term recovery, and the removal process continues through life.  Once the inner self is found, the true self, that is the I Am.  It's not the result of a particular path or religion, it is self-correction and removal of emotional blockages, reversal of old imprints.  And that place seems quite understanding of any dogma that leads to that place, regardless of where in the world it comes from.  It is staying in consciousness and knowing that humanity is One, and aligning our wants and desires to the good of all.

 

Basically, it's discovering Who we really are.