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Drikung Kagyu Mahamudra Teachings by H. E. Garchen Rinpoche     Translated by Khenpo Könchog Gyaltshen Edited by Peter Barth

Preface

Introduction

The Essence of Instruction and Practice
The Stream of Realization and Transmission of Lord Jigten Sumgon
A Unique Juncture And Opportunity

Preparation The Common Preliminaries Cause and Effect
Precious Human Life
Impermanence
Actualizing Freedom in Our Own Mind
Reality and Illusion in the Duality State
The Importance of the Common PreliminariesThe Special, Proven Role of Devotion
The Special Preliminaries The Practice of Guru Yoga, Devotion and Confidence
The Practice of Vajrasattva, Indestructible Pure Being
The Mandala Practice, Offering Everything
The Importance of the Special PreliminariesPractice Introducing the Unchanging Nature of Mind Shamatha, Calmly Abiding, With Support
Shamatha, Calmly Abiding, Without Support
Awareness, Mindfulness and Relaxation
Not Too Loose, Not Too Tight, Just Right
Responsibility for Our Condition and The Power of Mind
The Many Ways and Bodhicitta
Vipashyana, Special Insight
Progressing From Cascading Stream to Wide River to Vast Ocean
Two Methods and the Method of Realization

Questions and Answers

Intellectual Understanding vs. Actual Realization
Of Fame and Fortune
Plow and Sky Metaphors
Ngondro and Mahamudra
The Lama of Many Lifetimes and When One Can’t Find a Teacher
Experiencing Difficulties with Rituals

Buddha Nature

Mahamudra, Buddha Nature Within All Sentient Beings
"I Think I Can"
The Meaning of Sangye
Outer, Inner, and Ultimate Refuge
Mind "Free-From-Elaboration"

Progressing in Practice

The Four Yogas
Distinguishing Between Practice and Non-Practice
Fanning the Embers of Practice
Sustaining Mind, Free From Acceptance and Rejection
Bringing Suffering and Confusion to the Path
An All-Inclusive Practice
The Three Kayas
Practice and Establishing the View of Clarity
All Within One, One Within All
Inseparable Emptiness and Compassion
Ending Karma and the Unity of the Two Truths
Arising and Completion
The Nature of Realization
One-Taste and Impermanence
Practice in Daily Life and the Highway Toward Enlightenment
Inner and Outer Deities and Demons
One-Taste and Non-Meditation

Introducing Whatever Arises as the Nature of Mind

The Essence of Conceptual Thoughts as Dharmakaya
Actions Free as the Wind and Meditation Free From Fear or Attachment
Mindfulness and Meditation Sessions
Confusion Dawning as Wisdom
"To Realize or Not to Realize"
The Luminosity of Great Bliss
The Five Wisdoms
Ignorance and Sleep Dawning as Wisdom
Hesitation and Complete Confidence
Realization of the One Meaning and the Five Wisdoms
The King of Old Yogis
View, Meditation and Conduct – Advice for Various LevelConclusion

The Practice of Realization

The Gar family has been renowned in Tibet for many centuries. In the seventh century, one of Garchen Rinpoche’s ancestors was considered to be a great government minister for the King Songsten Gampo. During the twelfth century, Gar Chödingpa was one of Lord Jigten Sumgon’s foremost disciples. In later years, Gar Tenpay Gyaltshen benefited many sentient beings by serving as the regent of the Drikung Kagyü  lineage. Also Gar Chökyi Nyima was known to be a great yogi. The incarnations of Garchen Rinpoche have upheld the Dharma throughout the history of Tibet.

His Eminence Gar Könchog Nyidon Nyima Chökyi Senge was born in 1936. His Holiness Zhiwe Lodrö (the prior Chetsang Rinpoche, 1886 – 1943) recognized him to be the incarnation of Garchen Thrinley Yongchap. From the age of seven to twenty-two he stayed at the Drikung monastery called Lho Miyel-gon. At a young age he was given a special ordination during which he recognized Lord Jigten Sumgon in a portrait and said, “This is my lama.” During this period his former disciple, Chime Dorje, taught Rinpoche. When Garchen Rinpoche was thirteen, Chime Dorje gave him the Mahamudra teachings. Thereafter he received all the Drikung Kagyü  empowerments and teachings, started ngondro practice, and studied the Six Yogas of Naropa.

During the Cultural Revolution there were no Dharma teachings. However, he secretly received instructions from Khenpo Münsel. With great perseverance, he practiced the teachings for twenty years. Khenpo Münsel was very pleased and said; “He is a very special bodhisattva incarnation. Of this there is no doubt.”

Garchen Rinpoche is currently establishing a Buddhist College at his monastery Lho Longkar Gön for about one hundred monks. Whatever food or wealth he receives as offerings is always used for the monks and nuns. He keeps nothing for himself. He is very respectful to all persons. With loving-kindness, compassion and bodhicitta he thinks only of how to benefit others.  (Background notes are taken from the article “Introducing…His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche” in the Dharma Wheel, the quarterly newsletter of the Tibetan Meditation Center, Vol. 4, Spring, 1997).

This text contains Mahamudra teachings given by Garchen Rinpoche during his first visit to the United States in 1997. These teachings are based on the teachings of Lord Jigten Sumgon as clarified by Rinpoche’s own experience and realization and thus represent a unique record of the transmission of Mahamudra in the Drikung Kagyü lineage. In this respect, this is truly a remarkable set of teachings, stemming from the father of the Drikung Kagyü lineage.

These teachings were given in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. on July 27 and 28, 1997 and translated “on the fly” by Khenpo Könchog Gyaltshen. Khenpo is unusually qualified to translate these teachings, having authored several books on Mahamudra and the teachings of the Drikung Kagyü lineage. Khenpo Könchog Gyaltshen has himself, on numerous occasions, given teachings in English on the subject and has also acted as a translator for other notable teachers such as H. H. Chetsang Rinpoche. His utter joy at translating these teachings for students is clearly evident even from the edited transcript.

I undertook the task of transcribing and editing these teachings, with Garchen Rinpoche’s blessings, to contribute the little I could to preserving one more jewel from the land of Tibet for the benefit of living beings. As a record of the oral transmission of Mahamudra based on the instructions of the founder of the Drikung Kagyü  lineage, these teachings are of immeasurable value. As a student of Mahamudra, I have found that maintaining some record of oral instructions which subsequently can be reflected upon and serve as a guide for practice to be helpful. This is consistent with the teachings of the lineage, which define the path of Mahamudra to consist of listening to, reflecting on, and meditating according to the teachings. I hope that it will serve the same purpose for other students as well.

I have tried my utmost to preserve the spontaneous flow and intended meaning of the original presentation. Nevertheless, errors are certain to enter into this process due to gaps in the recordings and my own limited abilities. To ensure accuracy of key points I would refer the more serious students to the original tapes, which are available from Ratna Shri Sangha, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.  Thanks go to both Jeff Beach and Cindy Chang for recording these tapes and making them available to students.

I believe that both beginners and long-time practitioners will find much delightful and invaluable instruction embodied within these pages.

May they be taken to heart!
Peter Barth

The Essence of Instruction and Practice
(Day One)

First please begin by cultivating within yourselves the precious altruistic thoughts expressed by the opening prayers (see Ratna Dharma Chakra Book of Prayers, Khenpo Könchog Gyaltshen, 1982)

Today we will have some instructions on Mahamudra.  The Buddha gave so many teachings. These are sometimes referred to as the 84,000 categories of the teachings. There is no limit to the teachings, studies and practices of the Buddha. Even if one strives to become an expert and achieve the ranks of a great scholar, one finds that there is no limit to the studies. There are countless, infinite areas of study. However, at the same time there is also the opportunity to practice without becoming a great scholar, so in fact everyone has the opportunity to study and practice this teaching of the Buddha.

When the Buddha first presented the teachings of “The Four Noble Truths,” he said one should come to know the nature of suffering and avoid the causes of suffering. The Buddha taught this because every sentient being desires to be free from suffering and achieve complete peace and happiness. Yet we don’t know how to become free from this suffering and we don’t know how to avoid the cause of this suffering, that which is called ignorance. So the Buddha’s teachings are the principal teachings which make clear how to become free from ignorance and suffering.

When we first come into contact with or try to relate to the Buddha’s teachings and see the reality of our suffering, of samsara, a lot of doubts, wrong views and hesitations may arise in our mind. This is mainly due to our lack of wisdom and the power of the delusions we are subject to. Now it was in order to help us become free from these delusions that the Buddha gave so many teachings. However, since our lifetime is so short and since, within that short duration, it is so busy, it is particularly important to order our life with respect to meditation practice. It is particularly important to select a distinctive meditation practice. In the Samadhirajasutra it is said that the Buddha presented so many different kinds of teachings in this world and that in all of these different teachings there are such diverse levels of meaning. Yet if one gets the essence of instruction and practices that, then that substitutes for or covers the practice of all those different types of instruction and different details.  That’s exactly what the study and practice of Mahamudra is about. Mahamudra brings together the meaning of all those teachings.

The Stream of Realization and Transmission of Lord Jigten Sumgon

In order to bring benefits to all the sentient beings, countless Buddhas have manifested. So many beings have attained Buddhahood in the past and present.  It may be said that Buddhas are countless, like the sand grains along the river Ganges.

All of those Buddhas first cultivated Bodhicitta, “the mind of enlightenment,” the precious thought. Then, after cultivating this mind and gathering great accumulations of merit and wisdom and purifying all the obscurations, they attained complete Buddhahood. And with that the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion was able to extend and pervade to all sentient beings. It reached to each and every individual sentient being. To accomplish this Buddha gave countless teachings.

Buddha’s ultimate attainment of enlightenment is called Dharmakaya. Dharmakaya is like a space, all-pervading. Within that state of the Dharmakaya manifests the Sambhogakaya, “the enjoyment body,” for the sentient beings who are known as great Bodhisattvas. Within that Sambhogakaya, Buddha manifests Nirmanakaya to reach every ordinary sentient being. So in this way Buddha’s manifestations and compassion and wisdom pervade to every sentient being.

Historically speaking, Buddha Shakyamuni manifested in the world more than 2,500 years ago and gave the complete teachings. These precious teachings resulted in limitless accomplishments. For example, from Buddha, Manjushri, Nagarjuna, and so forth, and ultimately Lord Jigten Sumgon, who was Nagarjuna reborn, a lineage called the “Profound View” lineage emanated. Also from Buddha, to Tilopa and through to Milarepa, the “Blessing Meditation” lineage emanated. Alternately, from Buddha, Asanga and so forth, came the “Vast Action” lineage. This is how the lineage has come through from these great teachers until now.

Many of you know the excellent qualities of the Buddhas. The Buddha’s wisdom and compassion and excellent qualities and activities are purposely manifest to benefit sentient beings. Through these precious teachings so many sentient beings have realized the supreme benefit. These teachings were transmitted through the lineage masters up until now, so these great teachers who bring these precious teachings are also in no way different from the Buddha. These great teachers gave the teachings as the Buddha did, with a pure intention, and transmitted the teachings to benefit all sentient beings, particularly those that are in the Samsara State. So because of that, these great teachers are also manifestations of the Buddha and really no different than the Buddha.

Buddha said that his body is the Sangha, his speech is the Dharma, and his mind is the Dharmakaya. So even though historically speaking the Buddha took parinirvana and passed away and no longer exists in a human body, the Buddha’s wisdom mind continues lineage after lineage in that way. Because of that many great masters or great teachers were produced in so many different places. So through Buddha’s teachings, there are great teachers who studied and practiced the Buddha’s teachings and actualized the Buddha’s teachings by realizing the wisdom mind. So through the actualization of the Buddha’s teaching, they attained the Dharmakaya. Therefore we call the precious lama the embodiment of all the Buddhas. The lama’s body is the Sangha, the lama’s speech is the Dharma, the lama’s wisdom mind is the Buddha, because all of the Buddha’s teachings are all there, are all contained therein.

When we read the great life stories of the Kagyü  masters, from Vajradhara, Tilopa, until now, we can see that there were and are many great teachers. Within this lineage of great masters, today we will study the Mahamudra teachings of Lord Jigten Sumgon, the teachings, which he taught and wrote. Lord Jigten Sumgon is a manifest Buddha in the human form who gave all of these precious teachings.  Lord Jigten Sumgon’s teachings came through the lineage from Lord Jigten Sumgon’s time up until now. Like myself, each one of these lineage holders studied all of Lord Jigten Sumgon’s teachings and then practiced them. So now the transmission of the teachings taught by the Buddha and Lord Jigten Sumgon will take place, here and now.

As for Lord Jigten Sumgon it is not that some of his followers are saying some great things about him which do not exist, but it is something that Buddha explicitly prophesized in many sutric and tantric texts. Because Buddha was omniscient, knowing everything, the past and future, he clearly perceived all things without any error from within the mandala of wisdom. He prophesized Lord Jigten Sumgon’s coming, the name of the place he would come from, the number of disciples, and the essence of the teachings of the Buddha. From one perspective, this is what the Buddha prophesized.

As for the lineage, when you read the life stories of the lineage masters, Tilopa contacted Vajradhara directly and was himself not different from Vajradhara. Tilopa had many disciples, but the foremost disciple and the one who could take his place was Naropa. Naropa declared Marpa Lotsawa, the great translator, to be the regent in Tibet and Marpa had many disciples. From among them the foremost disciple was Milarepa who, as we know, also had so many disciples. From among them, Gampopa held Milarepa’s complete teachings, and is like the sun among all the stars. Gampopa had many, many disciples. From among them the one who held his vajra throne was Phagmo Drupa. Again, Phagmo Drupa had many, many disciples, about 80,000, and from among all of his disciples; Lord Jigten Sumgon was declared his Dharma heir and became the one who took his place on Phagmo Drupa’s seat. Phagmo Drupa enthroned him as his regent. So that is how the lineage holds through these great teachers. And that’s how they have the complete authority and realization of the Buddha’s teachings.

In addition, it is not just the case that great teachers were limited to the 11th and 12th century in history. Recently, for example, in my monastery my root lama, who was known as the great yogi Chime Dorje, was someone who was highly accomplished and practiced Mahamudra as well as the Six Yogas of Naropa. He had lived in retreat for twelve years. Because of that his meditation and quality of practice was completed. He was so highly accomplished that there is no doubt that through him we can see how Milarepa was. In seeing him, we can realize that Milarepa was not just a myth, not just a story out of history. You can see in person what Milarepa could really be like.  One can see Milarepa and other great teachers and their physical actions, verbal teachings and mental state of mind, and understand how they could do things like make footprints in rocks and move unobstructedly through walls, and so forth. So it is from this kind of great teacher that I first saw clearly and received all the precious teachings.
 

A Unique Juncture And Opportunity

Of those who are here today, in this particular place and in this time, many of you have come from this area, while many of you have traveled a long distance. Upon hearing about this unique occasion and due to your interest in and devotion to the Dharma you sacrificed a lot of other things to be here. It is not that we are just gathering here or something; this is something, which happened due to many causes and conditions through many lifetimes. Because of the force of these causes and conditions, through many lifetimes, we are all gathered here. Even though I don’t have any great qualifications, I do possess sincere altruistic thoughts to impart these precious teachings. Thus we have come together through many positive, auspicious causes and conditions and when we receive these teachings, we should receive them joyfully and with feelings of being extremely fortunate. We should take this advantageous opportunity seriously, with the mind that not only now but also in the future we will continue to take up the study and practice of these precious teachings.

We begin by paying homage and prostrating to the precious lama who dispels the darkness within the mind of all sentient beings. The uncreated, nature of mind, uncontrived or unfabricated mind, co-emergent -- which means that it has always been within us, or the primordial wisdom awareness -- which means that mind from beginningless time has always been with us. That very nature is the nature of the omniscient. So to introduce that mind, the mode of abiding, we do so according to the teachings of Buddha in the sutra and tantra and the instructions of the precious lama. This will be done thoroughly and completely with the altruistic thought to benefit all other sentient beings.  So within the special instructions to introduce the co-emergent wisdom mind of the Mahamudra, to introduce or see the mind as Dharmakaya, there are three topics: (1) the preparation, (2) the actual or main body, and (3) the conclusion, the conclusion of the way of experiencing the teachings or the enhancement through the practice.
 

Preparation

The Common Preliminaries
Cause and Effect

So first, even though the Buddha gave so many teachings, all of those teachings can be included in “cause and effect.” Therefore we have to understand the meaning of cause and effect. Confidence in cause and effect is the root of all the Dharma teachings and the root of study and practice in the relative state.

All phenomena in samsara and nirvana depend on cause and effect and indeed everything depends on causes and conditions, whether it is something manifest or something experienced. So because of that, from this perspective, the precious human life that we have also depends on cause and effect. Since we created or accumulated great merit or good, positive causes in the past, we can call this life here and now a precious human life.
 

Precious Human Life

Even though there are so many human lives in the world, the human life, which we have, is even rarer still since it is accompanied by the eighteen favorable conditions. This type of life is very, very rare. It is not just rare to have the eighteen favorable conditions, but it is rarer still that we have come in contact with the Dharma teachings, directly or indirectly, by many forces. And then by contacting the Dharma teachings, we became interested in the Dharma teachings. They make some sense and we regard them to be something useful and feel, “I should do it.” That is so precious. We can not get this from any other source outside of us.  This kind of precious human life with a genuine interest in and genuine devotion to the Dharma teachings can not be matched by even thousands of “wish-fulfilling” jewels. The wish-fulfilling jewel is so precious but the human life, which we have, nothing else can match this. So therefore we should be confident of this and possess a clear and decisive understanding of cause and effect.

As for the precious human life, many of you have read books about this and about the corresponding eighteen favorable conditions. Just to refresh this, we will go through it briefly. When we talk about the eighteen favorable conditions, we are talking about both the qualities called the eight freedoms and the qualities called the ten endowments. The eight freedoms are as follows: we are free from (1) being in the hell-realms, (2) being hungry ghosts, (3) being animals, (4) being long-life gods, (5) being members of the border tribes, where teachings are unavailable, (6) a time in which no Buddha appeared, (7) wrong views, (8) an incomplete sense of body. There are so many human beings and of all those various beings, there are few that are interested in the precious Dharma teachings, and within that there are fewer that have time to practice these precious teachings.  When we know the qualities of the Dharma teachings in a complete form, then we appreciate what this precious human life means. It becomes such a unique kind of technique or opportunity, which if we take advantage of, there is the distinct possibility to become free from all the delusions. This is something that no other life form can do. We are so fortunate to have such an opportunity to attain the complete Enlightenment State. That is what is called the precious human life.

In considering the ten endowments, there are five which we should have within us and five which we should have from outside. The five within us include (1) to be a human being, (2) the place where we are a human being is a place which has Dharma teachings to practice, (3) we have the complete sense organs, (4) we have devotion to the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and (5) we have not committed any of the five heinous karma. So these are the five endowments which we should have within us. And then there are the five endowments which we should have from outside. The five conditions or endowments include (1) the Buddha must have appeared in such time in which we are, (2) Buddha must have taught the Dharma teachings, (3) the Dharma which the Buddha taught has continued, that continuity of the lineage is there, (4) there should be followers of the Dharma teachings, the Sangha members, who we can take as examples of how to study, practice, follow, in the teachings, and (5) there should be kind supporters to our Dharma practices or otherwise that we have the condition to study and practice the Dharma teachings. So these five are called the endowments, which we receive from the outside.
 

Impermanence

So when we have this precious human life which consists of the eighteen favorable conditions and which has the complete opportunity, the distinct possibility to become free from samsara and to attain enlightenment, we must see that kind of precious jewel within our hand. So when we have this we have to take full advantage of it. If we waste it, then we have made a big mistake. We cannot ever get this again in the future. So therefore, to take full advantage of this precious human life we have to contemplate the meaning of impermanence, this momentary nature.

If we contemplate impermanence, we see how seldom it is to have the favorable conditions required to remain alive. There are so many obstacles and hindrances to life and so many opportunities for death. Even those factors or people we consider to act as protectors or sustainers of our life can become the very causes of our death. So according to the great Kadampa teachers impermanence is the most important Dharma practice to take to heart. One should reflect on and contemplate impermanence. Impermanence is such a precious teaching. At first, it gives you the opportunity to start on the Dharma path. Next, it gives you the opportunity to continue Dharma persistently without any waste. And finally, because of that, in the end it will lead us to actualize the unchanging nature of mind.

Because of that we just meditate on this impermanence and how this impermanent life just goes to the next life and then goes to the next life. In fact, we are going through life after life or we may say day after day, year after year, due to the continuity of our habitual tendencies.  We just repeat the same thing everyday in our everyday life including attachment to self and hatred to those who bring obstacles. We just always go into that cycle and the cycle goes on day after day, year after year, life after life. So until we cut the rope of the continuity of the habitual tendencies which brings along endless suffering, then there is no way to be free from samsara or realize happiness.
 

Actualizing Freedom in Our Own Mind

In order to purify these habitual tendencies, we must practice these precious Dharma teachings, and in particular, we must practice Mahamudra. Mahamudra practice means to cut the inveterate propensity and so actualize freedom in our own mind. Right now our life is completely ruled by causes and conditions, by the so-called karma cause. We have no freedom. We don’t know what will happen in the very next moment. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. This is because our life is conquered by and ruled by cause and effect that we have created. So Mahamudra practice means to free from that, to get the real freedom within our own mind. If we cannot do that, if we just continue with this afflicted body, skandha, then it becomes like a vessel to bring all the suffering, one after the other. So when we have this skandha or heap of consciousness related to our afflicted body, we are just kind of inviting all the obstacles and suffering one after the other, endlessly, like the waves of the ocean. So therefore to free from suffering and to attain enlightenment we first make an effort to utilize cause and effect. We gather all the strength of the virtues, the causes and conditions, and avoid all the non-virtuous causes and conditions and repeatedly reflect on impermanence.

So to do these things we should realize how important the mind really is. Mind is the central figure, or the central essence, to contact and know these things and to avoid the causes of suffering and to gather the causes of happiness.
 

Reality and Illusion in the Duality State

If we just reflect how it is in this life we observe that we have what we may call daytime experiences and then at night we go to sleep and have dream experiences. Then the next day arrives and we wake up and again we have daytime experiences. So within this cycle, in what we consider to be our life, the daytime, we meet and have contact with people and we do things. We think and say, “This life is real.” So then at nighttime, we go to sleep and dream and we say about this dream that, “This is not real.” We go on like that and find ourselves perpetually going through that process.

Now when you come to die, when you go to your own death, it is as if, “This life is not real.” It is now like a dream, like nothing. It does not have any essence left. And then what was the dream realm becomes real. We believe, “This is real.” So bardo is like a dream, and it is real. You go through that.

So we should see how we are deluded in such a state and are dependent upon our perception, how we experience, and how the level of the mind, “real” and “not real,” is the way in which we perceive in the duality state.
 

The Importance of the Common Preliminaries

Because of our condition, the preparatory teachings such as cause and effect and impermanence are so very important to know. Before we start the “high” teachings or reveal all the teachings – which sometimes we feel are of some other dimension – we start here since, in reality, this is where we are. Therefore Lord Jigten Sumgon said, “The preliminary teachings are more important than the actual practice.” Some other teachers put emphasis on them in this way. When we know the nature of all samsara, in order to protect from this state of samsara, we should know that we have to reveal our Buddha nature and that this is the primary cause to enlightenment. To reveal our Buddha nature, we have to have the precious human life. The precious human life is indeed a special condition, a special cause, and a basis from which to know how to manifest the seed of enlightenment. Now to see that nature is so very important. The lama who knows this, who can introduce us to this, is really such a precious lama.
 

The Special, Proven Role of Devotion

Lord Jigten Sumgon mentioned how important it is to have confidence in the authentic, precious lama. When you have such an authentic, precious lama then with our confidence and devotion the revealing of mind is not very difficult. It becomes very easy. So therefore it is important to have devotion and confidence. Now even though I am sitting on a throne and giving these teachings, I am without many qualities but if you develop confidence and devotion then the blessings will be received not just from me but from the lineage masters, Lord Jigten Sumgon, Milarepa, and so forth. For example, there is a story where relics manifested from a dog tooth which was mistaken for Shakyamuni Buddha’s tooth. It is not the dog’s tooth, which produces the relics, but rather they arise from the blessing of the Buddha. When you have devotion and confidence, then you receive all the blessings. So because of this reason, to have devotion to and confidence in the root and lineage lamas is very crucial, and by this you receive all the blessings. They are particularly important in order to actualize Mahamudra.

So this putting emphasis on the confidence and devotion to the lama is not something like “guru worship,” but rather this is a special technique to realize Mahamudra. It is a bridge. In Tibetan Buddhism there are many lineages but, in particular, the Kagyü  lineage puts emphasis on devotion to the lineage. If you read the life stories of the great Kagyü  teachers you will see how much confidence the individuals have. From Vajradhara, Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, to Milarepa, and so forth, they each have had such strong confidence and realized Mahamudra completely. They had complete realization. So even if one may not have the great fortune of hearing and studying the Buddha’s philosophy, as long as one has such confidence to the teachings, to the authentic lama, then blessings arise without much effort.

Milarepa explained the reason for this when he said, “I went through great hardship. I went through all those difficulties and I crossed all of them successfully and have actualized the ultimate meaning. In the future, anyone who follows this path and just thinks of me, and just meditates, that person will not face any obstacles or any difficulties.” So the lineage has come from that time until now. There is a continuity of the realized being.

This exists very scientifically in the sense that everyone knows about it and agrees to it. Also, if you read about them, it is clear that each of these great teachers, one after another, is highly accomplished in Mahamudra. Therefore we also can develop that kind of confidence and devotion to follow the path and continue this lineage. And then we can become free from our confusion and actualize the meaning of Mahamudra.

To understand the relations, which may exist, between the teacher, the lama, and the disciple, take the example of Marpa and Milarepa. One Westerner told me that it looks like Marpa didn’t have any compassion and that he treated Milarepa so badly, even tortured him. Milarepa even came to a final kind of place where he contemplated suicide. All of this was done by Marpa just to try to get to Milarepa. But in reality Marpa’s compassion was so powerful. His compassion was unconditional. By knowing the whole system or the complete state and not just one small point, out of great wisdom and compassion to all sentient beings in the world, not just to Milarepa, he made Milarepa perfect. So after Milarepa went through all this hardship, one final time Marpa gave teachings to Milarepa. Marpa said, “Through the great perseverance of Milarepa there exists the heart-life of the Buddha’s teachings.” Because of that Marpa gave the complete teachings to Milarepa and Milarepa attained Buddhahood within a single lifetime. And through that countless beings have benefited.

It is through Milarepa and Gampopa that the Kagyü  lineage has been established everywhere in the world. Even in these days everywhere in the world people quote the example of Milarepa. For example, in the West where so many Kagyü  Dharma centers have been established everyone takes the example of Milarepa and the lineage. That’s how Trungpa Rinpoche and Kalu Rinpoche established Dharma centers. We are all working like this to benefit all sentient beings. So it is by the power of Mahamudra’s great compassion and wisdom that we still are getting benefit. That shows how important the relationship between the lama and the disciple is to experience the precious Dharma teachings.

To have strong devotion and confidence in the lama, in the Hevajra Tantra it says, “Actualization of co-emergent wisdom cannot be given or explained by others. Actualization of co-emergent wisdom does not occur anywhere without dependence upon the ultimate confidence in the lama and one’s own power of the merit or the gathering of the accumulations.” So when you come to Mahamudra practice, it is said that the power of the blessings due to confidence and devotion to the lama, in one moment, cannot be compared to the power of the blessings due to meditation practice of the deities for 100 kalpas or eons. So therefore, supplication to and confidence in the lama is far more important than just reciting mantra and visualizing deities.

Of course yidam deities are important. They are all a part of the authentic and great lamas. For example, when Marpa met Naropa, Naropa manifested Hevajra and all the yidam deities in space so that they were visible to Marpa. Then Naropa said, “Today to which one do you want to do the prostrations? To the lama, here, where I am sitting here, or to your yidam, who is in the space in front of you.” So Marpa thinks, “Oh, I see my lama everyday, but I don’t see my yidam everyday. This looks like a very, very great opportunity. Today I will make prostrations to the yidam.” And Naropa said, “Oh, that is not right. This yidam is the lama’s manifestation” and then Hevajra and all the yidams dissolved into him. There never has been a Buddha in the past that became a Buddha without dependence on the lama. All the Buddhas of the three times manifested, attained Buddhahood through the lama’s instruction.

This lama is not just the “outside lama”, but there is also the “inner lama.” The inner lama is as important as the outer lama is, but to manifest the inner lama we depend on the outer lama. All of the 100 deities, the wrathful and peaceful ones, all of these yidams are within us, within our nature. The Buddha nature includes all of these deities. So that’s why it is said that the outer yidam dissolves into the lama. We need to develop respect to both lamas but we first put emphasis on the outer lama since it is through the outer lama that we get to the inner lama. Once we get to the inner lama, at that time you realize that there is not so much difference between the two.

The Special Preliminaries
The Practice of Guru Yoga, Devotion and Confidence

All of this including the importance of devotion to the lama was explained in order to actualize the Mahamudra meaning. Now to do actual practice visualize yourself manifest as Vajrayogini, or as any of the other deities you have been practicing. If you don’t know who Vajrayogini is, you don’t have to worry. If you know Chenrezig or Tara or Vajrasattva, or any yidam, just visualize that to yourself. Then in the space in front of you visualize the lama upon a lion throne, on a sun and moon disk seat. Above the seat visualize lama Vajradhara. Vajradhara is the Dharmakaya of all the Buddhas. Just see this, that “my lama is in the form of Vajradhara.” Regard this Vajradhara to be the embodiment of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions.

If you find it difficult to visualize, you can look at a picture first. Repeatedly just look at the picture, meditate, and then again look at the picture. I also found it difficult to visualize at first but what you have to do in any case is have confidence that this is Vajradhara and that this is the embodiment of all of the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion. If you find it difficult to see all of this vividly and precisely just meditate in this way. If you can see it vividly and precisely of course this is wonderful. If you can see all the attributes of Vajradhara clearly, meditate that with the nature of great compassion he gazes at all sentient beings including yourself with a smiling and peaceful face and meditate that the lama’s mind is in the ultimate meditative state of mind, which is vajra-like, indestructible.

This is important since devotion to and confidence in the lama is one of the most important factors or methods by which to experience Mahamudra or, in the case of the Dzogchen practitioner, to experience Dzogchen. When we have some genuine devotion to and confidence in the lama, it breaks all the arrogance within our mind. Even if we have such a strict and rigid mind, it gives us the opportunity to develop great compassion and loving-kindness to all sentient beings. This is a special method for gathering great accumulations of merit and wisdom. At the same time, it is a special method to purify all the obscurations. So when that kind of state of mind is there, infused with devotion, it is such a great place to experience Mahamudra. So therefore express how important that devotion is.

When you visualize the lama, make offerings. Offer the whole universe, your body, speech, and mind, as a mandala. Without expectation, offer fully your body, speech, mind, and all your root virtues to the lama. Then supplicate him from the depth of your heart, from the marrow of your bone. There are some prayers in the ngondro text, which you can read. And then recite mantras. [Khenpo: You can say the prayers from the ngondro text, or if you have, from the Mahamudra text.] Recite the special supplications and mantras, which you have with devotion and confidence. If you recite aloud from the text, not only mentally, but also aloud in the world, it also becomes more powerful. Say, “I take refuge in the precious lama and the Buddha. Please grant me the magnificent blessing to release my self-grasping. Please give me the magnificent blessing that nothing is important to me besides the Dharma teachings. Please grant me the magnificent blessing to realize the nature of my mind, the unborn or Dharmakaya in an instant. Please grant me the magnificent blessing to become free from all the delusions. Please grant me the magnificent blessing to arise all the appearances of samsara and nirvana as the Dharmakaya.” So say this prayer and do this meditation. Then meditate that from the lama’s wisdom body, speech, and mind, the nectar of the blessings is received by you in the three places, the forehead, the throat, and the heart. Receive this empowerment completely, the wisdom body, speech, mind blessing of the lama, in a stream of nectar. Receive that and then let the lama dissolve into light, which in turn dissolves into you. Finally, just sit there and meditate in that state. In this state, you receive the lama’s realization of Mahamudra, and it is inseparable from your mind. And it purifies and dispels the collections of all of your obscurations and negative karma, which you have accumulated for beginningless lifetimes. They are dissolved and purified, right here, at this place.

So here we say the prayer, “Please grant me the magnificent blessing that nothing else is important.” What that means is that, in this life, we just concentrate wholeheartedly in making the effort to gather all the accumulations. Usually we live saying repeatedly,  “This is important to me,” “This is important to me,” “This is important to me,” and because of that, at the same time we gather all the suffering. So there is so much suffering. No matter how much we could gather the things we desire, there still is no freedom from suffering. We are not freed from our suffering. In fact, sometimes the more we have, the greater is our suffering. In any case, when we don’t get what we want, we suffer, and when we get what we want, we still suffer. The more we have the greater our burden becomes because of our ingrained attachment to these things. Before we get them, we fear not getting them. Once we get them we fear losing them.

It is said that it is not the things themselves, which bring about our suffering, but rather it is our attachment to them. If we are free from attachment, then whether or not we have these things, there can be such a peace and happiness. Then there is no big burden. You can have such a luxurious life, without attachment, such a happy life. When you have no attachment, you are happy when you have things, you are happy, when you don’t have things. This is a “broad way of happiness.” So this is also a special opportunity or condition to relax your mind. Through that relaxation mind you can get a glimpse of realizing Mahamudra and through that you can enhance the realization of Mahamudra, so therefore in the prayer one says grant me the blessing so that nothing is more important to me than to actualize that.

But when we develop devotion to and confidence in the lamas, by the power of devotion, some tears come into the eyes. These are a sign of genuine great confidence in and devotion to the lama. And that becomes a special method or factor that receives the blessings. For example, when a baby cries, the mother has to pay attention. Similarly, when the tears come by the power of devotion, we are assured to get Buddha’s blessings. But that does not mean that the Buddha is not with you; he is always with you.

The blessings of all the Buddhas are always with every single sentient being. But without the condition of our devotion, it is difficult to receive the blessings. For example, when Asanga went into retreat for twelve years until he got a genuine and powerful compassion to the dawn, he couldn’t see Buddha Maitreya. As soon as he got such a powerful compassion to dawn, an unconditional compassion, that served as the cause to dispel all of his delusions and obstacles which had acted as hindrances to seeing the Buddha Maitreya. At that time Buddha Maitreya said, “I was always with you, during all of these twelve years. But at this time you got to see me because of the power of your great compassion.”  So like that, compassion and devotion, are such a powerful factor by which to experience the Mahamudra realization of the root and lineage lama.

After receiving the blessings of the lama, which dissolve into you, then meditate in that state of the all-equipoise nature. When you are finished with this, then do the dedication.
 

The Practice of Vajrasattva, Indestructible Pure Being

This text includes a short Vajrasattva practice, which is the single most effective method of purification. Why do we need to do purification practice? We need to do this because it is obvious that we have some negative karma and obscurations as we are in samsara and we are experiencing all kinds of suffering. It is said that non-virtue has no good qualities but it has one quality of note in that it can be purified. If we practice purification then the fact that it can be purified becomes the one good quality of non-virtue. We got this precious human life due to the great accumulation of virtue and merit from other lifetimes. It is a result of such extremely good virtue. It is only through such good causes that we got this precious human life. Now to continue this trend in the rest of the life we need to also purify all the non-virtues and the negative karmas. Otherwise, although we got this human life through virtuous action, it is possible that this life ends with a non-virtuous action, which would not be so good. Therefore, in order to ensure that we complete this life in a virtuous way, repeatedly doing the practice of Vajrasattva becomes very important. So sometimes visualize and supplicate the lama, and then meditate and receive the blessings. And then sometimes do Vajrasattva, reflect, do the purification, and receive the blessings.

Some of you participated this past Friday in the Vajrasattva empowerment and you received those blessings. Some of you may not have. Those of you who have the Vajrasattva text can refer to this. [Khenpo: If you don’t have a copy of this, our center here has the text, and if you can get that you can refer to it. Or there’s a Mahamudra text too.] According to this, we will briefly explain the practice and its visualization. By this you will at least get a glimpse of what it looks like.

Visualize that you yourself as a regular person have on the crown of your head a lotus and a moon disk. On the center of the moon disk is a white HUM syllable. That white HUM syllable transforms into Vajrasattva. Vajrasattva has a white complexion, with one face and two arms. The right hand holds the vajra at the heart level; the left hand holds the bell at the waist. He is sitting in the half-lotus position, with the right leg and foot close to the front or crown of your head. He is wearing all the jeweled ornaments including the five-pointed crown, earrings, necklaces, shoulder-links, bracelets and the precious silks and robes. At his heart center within his body, visualize a moon disk. In the center of the moon disk stands the white syllable HUM surrounded by the “100-syllable mantra.” When you recite the mantra, the mantra rotates clockwise radiating light as an offering to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the ten directions. From these Buddhas and Bodhisattvas emanate their wisdom and compassion and blessings which all flow in a stream of nectar to the Vajrasattva on the crown of your head. Then meditate that Vajrasattva receives this completely pure nectar. This is an unafflicted nectar, which embodies all of the Buddha’s wisdom, compassion, excellent qualities, and blessings. These dissolve into the HUM and 100-syllable mantra. Then the stream of nectar flows from Vajrasattva’s right big toe and dissolves into the crown of your head and flows into your central channel. As it flows into the central channel it fills up all the four chakras of the body and thereby purifies all of your physical, verbal, and mental obscurations completely. Meditate that all your negative karma and obscurations leave your body in a dark smoky light from the two lower openings of the body as well as from the pores of the body. And then after purifying all of this completely your body is filled with the wisdom nectar. During this time recite the 100-syllable mantra as much as you can.

At the end of the session meditate that Vajrasattva dissolves into white light, which then dissolves into you and pervades your entire body, speech, and mind. You then manifest in the inseparable nature of Vajrasattva, in inseparable wisdom and compassion, like the vajra-bell. So meditate in such a state, in the inseparable appearance and emptiness of Vajrasattva. Then dedicate the realization of yourself to all sentient beings.
 

The Mandala Practice, Offering Everything

Next we have the short mandala offering instructions which are very important too. When we have a great amount of merit as a cause then it is not difficult to achieve realization of wisdom as the result. In enlightenment, emptiness is not just mere emptiness, but rather emptiness acts as the accumulation by which to get the nature of all the excellent qualities. When we make the mandala offering, that’s called, “offering mandala” and “practicing mandala.” As the recipient of the offering of the mandala you visualize all the enlightened beings in the space in front of you. It is not necessary to offer things, which you cannot gather. Just offer whatever you have, anything, any precious jewels or precious metals. Offer anything you can put in the shrine and use this as the basis for the visualization of the offering to all enlightened beings. In front of that you visualize lama Vajradhara in the center surrounded by all the yidams, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, the Dharma teachings, the Dharma protectors, and the lineage lamas. And to them you offer body, speech, and mind, and the whole universe, in the form of Mount Meru with the four continents, and all that. That’s called “offering your body, speech, mind,” or “offering the root virtue” which means something similar to taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

Someone once asked, “If I offer body, speech, and mind to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, then I have no freedom, right?” Well, that’s right. No freedom to create negative karma! Because the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and all of the enlightened beings, achieved such a state, they are free from all the non-virtuous actions. They have no freedom by which to create negative karma, but do have all the opportunities to gather the excellent qualities of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.   So in this way, first visualize all of these enlightened beings as described in the ngondro text. Go through those instructions if you want to and establish your visualization and make an offering of all that which is visible.

If we go into more detail then there are Mount Meru, and the east, south, west, north and the thirty-seven points of mandala offering. Or more briefly, one can consider the seven points of mandala offering, without any expectation, without any attachment to self make this offering, make it to the root lama, the lineage lama, and the yidams, Buddha, Dharma, Bodhisattvas, Sangha and Dharma Protectors. Offer by saying, “May I actualize all the realization of the Buddha Vajradhara and may I become free from all the delusions. May I benefit all sentient beings through my realization of Mahamudra.” That’s the mandala offering. After you have done that all of the visualization dissolves into Vajradhara, who dissolve into you. Meditate that you receive all the blessings and that you free from all the attachments and boundaries. Meditate in that and then do the dedication prayer.

Do mandala offerings not only when you are sitting, but you can also make mandala offerings when you walk, even when you go to the shopping mall! [Khenpo: This is where some of you go repeatedly, isn’t it?] When you see all the things in the shopping malls, instead of attaching to these things, just make offerings to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. [Khenpo: Sit next to the shopping mall, sit down and say prayer… I am just teasing!]. When you go to those different stores, even the supermarket or any market, wherever you go and see things, make offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. When you drive and see a beautiful bay, beach, flowers or people, just make offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Milarepa said, “Some people say I have nothing to offer. That is ignorant. Everything is an offering. Everything that you see, that you encounter, just make all things an offering to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.” That is a special method by which to gather the great accumulations. It requires nothing. It lacks nothing. There is such a great possibility to do virtuous deeds everyplace, every time, everywhere.
 

The Importance of the Special Preliminaries

So the principle method or practice of Mahamudra is to release the self-grasping, the self-cherishing.  So don’t think that Guru yoga, Vajrasattva, mandala offerings are not Mahamudra practice. They are also Mahamudra practice. They are also teachings. These teachings are special instructions to release our attachment to the grasping of self. We always have to make this release from the self-grasping, self-cherishing the focus of any practice we do. And if we can do this, all practice becomes Mahamudra practice.

In the ngondro text two different kinds of mandala offering are mentioned. One is longer, the 37-pointed mandala offering, the other is shorter, the 7-pointed mandala offering. You can get this from the ngondro text. As for the supplication prayers, as mentioned earlier, “I make an offering of all my body, speech, and mind and any virtues of the three times that I have gathered here without any expectation to the precious lama. Please accept this fully.” Then also offer this to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Then request “Please give me the opportunity or blessing to actualize the supreme realization of Mahamudra. Please grant me the manifest blessings to give rise to the unceasing experience of the Mahamudra practice.” Say these prayers to the lama, yidam, Dharma, and Sangha.

So this practice is most important for the preparation for Mahamudra. It is most important for enhancing Mahamudra practice. And finally, these are very important for the completion or realization of Mahamudra practice.

This morning’s instruction has been on the preparation for Mahamudra. Is this good? This afternoon there will be teachings on Mahamudra itself. These preparatory practices are very useful since without preparation, without preparing a ground for understanding what it is about, if you just throw Mahamudra out there, there is no place by which to receive the Mahamudra. It just disappears. It doesn’t make much sense. And when we get all the Mahamudra teachings sometimes we think, “It is, oh, too much.” But when we first get these preparatory teachings, then when you receive Mahamudra you are more inclined to feel, “Oh, it was so useful, so very helpful, so very useful.”

My explanation this morning was very brief, just enough to get the basic idea. You can read about these teachings and practices in more detail. For example, you can read about cause and effect from texts such as The Jewel Ornament of Liberation. It is explained very nicely in there. There are many other texts. I am sure you have read many. Read and get more. Also, there are other ngondro practices with other ngondro texts.
 

Practice

This morning we went through the first of the three topics, the preparation. We covered reflecting on cause and effect and impermanence and the importance of meditating on the lama as having the same nature as the Buddha. We also discussed the Vajrasattva practice of purification and the mandala practice as special methods for gathering the two great accumulations. Now we will begin the topic of the actual practice of Mahamudra. Here there are two sub-topics: (1) introducing the unchanging nature of mind and (2) introducing, realizing whatever arises to our mind as the nature of mind.
 

Introducing the Unchanging Nature of Mind

Within the first sub-topic, first there are two areas: (1) calmly abiding  (shamatha) and (2) special insight (vipashyana.) In order to successfully have the special insight, the quality of calmly abiding or of mind calming, relaxing is very important. Without that, special insight is not possible. Even if you get a glimpse of the nature of mind, it disappears. We lose it right after that. So first, in order to actualize or experience that and then to sustain the special insight, calmly abiding is very important.
 

Shamatha, Calmly Abiding, With Support

What is calmly abiding? We need to bring our mind to the right place. That is important even in this life before we attain enlightenment, in order for us to have some happiness and peace. Also, it is very important for the mind to stay in the one-pointed state in order to be free from all the negative states.  So Tilopa said, “First our mind is like a stream cascading down from the mountains. It is very fast.” To simply realize “how the mind is fast and busy” is the first stage. Before that, we didn’t even realize how our mind was so busy. So first look at the mind and how busy it is and have awareness of that. We have to understand how busy the mind is. It is very important to know that. In this calmly abiding there are methods called calmly abiding meditation (1) with support and (2) without support. Examples of meditating with support are bringing Buddha’s image or the image of any deity to mind, or with the help of a piece of rope or piece of wood, just attending to that, or watching the breath, just focusing on it, relaxing the mind.

The meaning of this method is that the mind stays now with us. It does not follow the thoughts of the past. We often just follow or investigate what we did in the past, for example with resentment, hatred, or with attachment. We just think of the past constantly. But that will not bring any benefit at this moment since the past is completely gone. There is no use in doing this. For example, in the past someone may have hated me or “hurt me real bad” or destroyed such or such. If we contemplate on that past event, it will not bring us any benefit or any result. In actuality, it has completely left. At this moment it does not exist. So there is no benefit to resenting this or attaching to that. So just be now, in this moment.

Or sometimes we think about the future, we plan for the future. Thinking, “I will do this,” “I will do that,” we chase the future. We just keep chasing the future. Then, most of the time, whatever we plan does not happen. And so therefore instead of planning and chasing the future so much, do things right, right now. Gather and create good karma. Avoid bad karma. Because the future depends on the causes that we create, if we do things right and avoid all the non-virtuous actions, if we develop all the virtues, then without planning, everything will fall in the right place. If we make a mistake at this moment and prepare such a great and wonderful plan, for example, that “we will transform all to nirvana,” still it will not happen. So therefore with “not chasing the future” and “not following the past”, just be now in this right place.

When mind is calm and peaceful, at that time you can see. First of all you will experience harmony and peace and at that time mind is so clear. So there is the opportunity to see, to know at that time. It is like a pond or basin or water pool. When the water is so calm, you can see what is inside. You can see what kind of bugs are there. You can see all the insects, which are there. You can see what kind of dirt is there. You can see everything very clearly. However, if the water is busily churning away and just keeps on running you cannot see what is in the water. Similarly, if our mind is just running and running and running, after the past or after the future, you cannot see what the mind looks like.  If we could have such a calm and peaceful state of mind, then, at that time you can see how mind is, you can see your mental position and your mental state. This is the first, most important point to realizing peace and harmony just in this life. And this is also a special cause for bringing forth the special insight.

For example, right now we are listening to or studying shamatha or calmly abiding. After receiving these instructions when you get some understanding of how to practice, then you do the practice. Of course you have heard of the seven body postures or five body postures of meditation, and so forth. Maybe sometimes it is difficult for you to have all of those qualities of body. What is important is that when you meditate you just sit with your body straight. You make your backbone straight and at the same time relax. Don’t be so uptight. So with body straight yet in a relaxed position you are ready for meditation. The benefits of shamatha or calmly abiding meditation, also called the equipoised state of mind, is that when you have a good state of meditation, with mind relaxed, calm, and peaceful, that also very much helps to relax your body. When your body is relaxed and comfortable and your mental state is in harmony then your body also tends to be free from sickness and disease.

Most of the causes of suffering in this life are through the afflictive emotions or negative thoughts. The afflictive emotions or negative thoughts themselves are of the nature of suffering; they are the cause of suffering. So there is no difference between the two. We cannot say “this is suffering” and “that is a negative thought.” The moment we have negative thought, such as say anger, attachment, pride, hatred, right in that place we have suffering. Right there, there is no peace. In addition, they create further suffering for us. But at the same time when you look at them, these negative thoughts and this suffering, one sees that they are just empty. No matter how much we attach to something, how much we hate somebody, the nature is emptiness. There is no essence. We get nothing except the suffering. And the suffering itself is emptiness.  So therefore no matter how much we suffer, there is no benefit. We do not get any benefit at all. No matter how much we attach, we don’t get much benefit. So this also shows that it is emptiness.

Due to these strong negative thoughts and afflictive emotions we in turn plant the seeds of the habitual tendencies. The more deeply we plant the seeds of the habitual tendencies, the harder they are to get rid of. They are just stuck there and it is so difficult to be free from that. We know it is not right, even intellectually we know this.  But practically it is just so difficult to get away from that. We are just stuck in that. So therefore, to free from these negative thoughts which are of the nature of suffering, we need to do this meditation. Relax the mind, do not chase the future, and do not follow the past, make this kind of effort all the time. And the benefits we get from this shamatha meditation arise even in this lifetime. So if we have these habitual tendencies and if we follow them with attachment and hatred, then this causes and creates negative karma. This becomes a special kind of cause to bring suffering. So therefore, without chasing the future, just relax the mind in this state, kind of calm and peaceful.

Most of you have practiced for sometime already. As a beginner, when you first start to do these practices, when you sit down and meditate, watch all of the breath or watch the Buddha’s image and relax the mind. Then you starting noticing all the thoughts, how busy your mind is. When you see how very busy your mind is and how, at that time, you cannot control or suppress the thoughts, rather than make this effort, just look at your thoughts. Don’t bother them; don’t be bothered by them. It is like when you come to a house and you are not the owner. There is no attachment, no hatred if something happens. If you see something which doesn’t belong to you or which doesn’t belong to anyone, then you just don’t get bothered, you don’t attach to that, you don’t hate because of that. It’s similar to when any thought arises to mind and you don’t attach, you don’t hate. There is no owner, so you just aren’t bothered by the thought, you don’t bother about the thought.

When we do this during our sitting, then this meditation is like when the sun rises in the morning. When there is a sunbeam or sunlight in the room, then suddenly how much dust there is! However, when there is no sun, you cannot see that in your house. But when the sun shines into your house, then how many dust particles become visible! Oh, it is so busy. So when you do the meditation, within the meditation of calmly abiding, how busy your mind is, how fickle. Your mind is so fickle. Yet don’t suppress the thoughts, just let them be, and don’t attach, don’t hate, and relax. After all, in mind there is no one who controls that and there is no place to go.

When we do this meditation practice, start with short sessions. Sit for a very short period of time since our mind is so busy. With a busy mind, if we try to do a long session, then it may bring side effects or not much benefit. You become depressed or get upset. So to make sure that does not happen, do it for a short, short amount of time per session, with maybe 10, 15 minutes per session. Just do that, and then relax. Do that repeatedly. When you get used to it, you can make the session a little longer, and then gradually even longer. When you do this meditation practice mind should not be deluded by the duality of thoughts. This means mind should not be deluded by attachment, hatred, self and others. Be without that kind of duality-thought, and then in the non-scattered state of the mind, just practice with mindfulness, with awareness and meditate.

In the beginning, when you do this meditation, particularly when your mind is busy, it is better to gaze the eyes downwards. Gaze in the general direction of the tip of the nose, not looking too closely or too far away. Then if you are getting a little sleepy or feel like you are “sinking,” gaze upwards a little. This helps to uplift the mind. Then apply this kind of mindfulness practice not only during the sitting session time but also when you walk, when you sit, when you jog, when you eat, at any kind of place or time. Your mind is always with you; maintain it in a relaxed manner. Then do all different activities mindfully, with awareness, and with relaxed state. Tilopa said, “Use many different methods to relax your mind, to bring your mind to the right place, not just one.” Sometimes you need to reflect on impermanence, sometimes you may need to reflect on the suffering of samsara or on cause and effect, or maybe you need to reflect on the essenceless of mind or on how precious the Dharma is. Use all these different methods to bring your mind to the right place. So the emphasis should all be placed on how to bring the mind to the right place. This is very, very important.

Naropa got a “special method” teaching from Tilopa called “way of kind of holding the mind” method. It is like a chain, very, very complex. Apparently Naropa’s mind was so wild! In order to tame it and bring it to the right place, there’s a special method called “metal-like chain” which is put together in a very complex way!

So you should practice this calmly abiding meditation or shamatha until the time comes when you feel so comfortable with your meditation and you can set your mind in the right place very easily. Or, if you release that meditation, that also takes place very easily. Sometimes when you have such a meditation [Khenpo: Maybe a few, not many people maybe!], when you get such a state of calmly abiding meditation, then you feel so blissful. You feel such a peace and harmony, and sometimes you attach to that.  One thinks, “Oh, I don’t want to get out of this, I just want to stay there.” That also is not right either. It is not right for the special insight. This kind of shamatha is very good, but if you are attached, then you cannot actualize the special insight. If that happens then you just have to break that attachment. A sign of having this happen is that when one achieves it, it is very easy to meditate, but very difficult to come out of the meditation. [Khenpo: For us maybe there is no problem with that!] Anyway, with support meditation you just have to achieve a supple state of mind. Mind becomes so flexible. When you meditate, you can meditate. When you get out of that, then you can get out of it. This is what you need to achieve. After that, then you can start shamatha or calmly abiding meditation without support.
 

Shamatha, Calmly Abiding, Without Support

So when one achieves this supple state of mind by applying meditation with support, then one can start with the calmly abiding meditation without support. To do so assume a bodily posture, as described earlier, in a relaxed state. Then when we do this meditation, here in the West we often have all of the things we need. In contrast, in the Himalayan Mountains when you get cold, the upper part of the body is cooler, fresh, while we may have warmer clothes on the lower part of the body. In the West you can use a heater, isn’t it that so? When you get cold, there is a heater. When you get hot, then you use air conditioning. So usually, when it is a little bit cooler, that is good. When we get warmer we get sluggish, we “sink,” a little more lethargy rises, things seem a little unclear. Then before long we are ready to go to sleep. So these are some of the obstacles for the calmly abiding meditation. So you can look a little more alertly with your eyes. You can be a little tenser, a little more alert. In this case, basically, your mind should be a little more alert or tense.

For example, when you have an important job to do then you have to be very careful that you don’t make a mistake. Similarly, when you feel a sinking mind or lethargy, make your mind more uptight or bring up your gaze, looking slightly straighter ahead. Like that. So see, meditate by being not too tense, not too loose, just right.

You have to watch your mental position, you have to see how it is, and you have to be a witness to yourself, by yourself. When we do this practice without support that means that there is no object, there is nothing to bring to mind. Mind just relaxes in its own place. There is nothing to project, so it is called the non-objectified state. In that state, when we relax, there is nothing to meditate on, not even a dust particle. Yet, one does not scatter in any other direction. So this is a supreme kind of meditation, the mind is free from all directions.

Now when we do these meditations, sometimes we bring to them a high expectation. “Oh, my mind should be so calm and peaceful.” Instead, however, your actual experience is contrary to your expectations. We expect mind to be so calm and peaceful, but instead mind is so busy, occupied with one thing after another. “How can I stop all this thinking?” You cannot do that. In the case where this happens, you shouldn’t worry about that. Actually, if you are aware that your mind is so busy that in itself is a very, very good quality. You are starting to settle your mind in the right place. You see how busy your mind is. This is very good.

All the business of mind, even if you try, you cannot suppress it, you cannot get rid of it, because it is just part of the mind. So just let it happen. Recognize that all of these are just part of the mind, that they are of the nature of mind. Then just do the meditation. It is good to handle the thoughts like the ocean next to us. When you go to the ocean, there are so many waves. There are tides and sometimes maybe a big tornado arises. Isn’t that so? All of these are just part of the ocean. No matter how strong the tide or waves are, no matter how powerful, they are still water. They are inseparable from; they cannot be separated from the ocean and from the water. So likewise, all thoughts that arise in the mind are part of the mind. All are of the nature of the mind. So instead of pressing them down or instead of chasing them out, let them happen. Your mind remains just aware of that without chasing, without pushing. So that’s a good way to handle thoughts and a good way to bring the mind to calmly abiding.
 

Awareness, Mindfulness and Relaxation

So when we do this meditation, with mindfulness and awareness, just be here at this moment. Stay with that. Recognize the calming of mind and the movement of the mind. When it moves, it moves; when it abides, just meditate, it is abiding. But sometimes, when we are meditating with this method, then suddenly, in between our awareness, there arises a thought. It takes place and you lose your awareness of it. It goes over in that direction. For example, you start thinking of some person, “This person is so good, so wonderful”, or there is some person and you think, “This person is so bad” and that is how it goes on, with one thought after another. Then after a while you realize, “Oh, I was thinking like that!” In that state, you don’t realize how you are thinking, so be very careful not to have this happen. If it happens, then in between, we create karma and plant the seeds of karma because we attach to this or hate that. With hatred and attachment, right there we create our karma! So to not let this happen, just be mindful of this moment and stay just with your thought as it rises. If you think, “This person is good” then, when this thought first comes, just let your mind relax. Don’t investigate it further. What that means is don’t attach to it. If a person thinks, “This is bad” then, when the thought arises, at that moment, just keep your mind aware of this thought. Don’t hate, don’t follow the hatred, just be at this moment. So if we can recognize all the different states of the thoughts, then we will not create karma, and this then is the way to relax.

If you are a little tired, then don’t push yourself too much. Just take it easy, relax. Just relax a little bit, without thinking. Just relax and refresh your body, mind. Then you will be able to meditate so skillfully, and keep your mind from becoming too tense.

Sometimes questions may arise within such as, “What about if there are some very important things to do? Should I think about that or should I it let go?” If you think that this particular thing is very important to do, “I can’t miss this, you know,” and “If I let go of this, then how can I survive?” when there are some important things to think about, you just investigate it or integrate it into the practice. This means that you find a method by which to do the things within that awareness, within that mindfulness. This is important in this way; this should be done in this way. Meditate with mindfulness, without being fully involved. Meditate inside that, with that as object. Place that important item as an object and then just see all the things that are necessary to be accomplished. As soon as we have done that and “get the idea” which we needed to get, then just continue without attachment, without hard expectation. Just do it, and then just come back to mind in the Meditation State.

So in this way, as earlier mentioned, when we have a little kind of uplift or have enhanced our alertness slightly, we can become too rigid, and one gets somewhat fatigued. If that happens just relax, physically and mentally.  Relax. Sometimes the body is straight, but won’t relax. We have to meditate without too much ambition. So then meditate in the state of mind without bringing anything to mind. There is even no need to think, “I have to meditate.” Just relax. But again, continue with your mindfulness. Do not discontinue your mindfulness. Keep in a very fresh, clear state of mind and just relax there.

Mind should be free from all elaboration. “Free from elaboration” means not being a busy mind. Mind should be in the unelaborated state, relaxed, like space. We cannot really elaborate space or the sky. Also, it is like the ocean, like the waves and the ocean, which are inseparable, which have one nature. There are no waves without the ocean. Or like the crystal, clear, all is completely clear. Or like a flower, the scent of the flower, is part of the flower. So sustain mind, fresh and clear. There are no objects to be mindful of, yet at the same time, we cannot discontinue the mindfulness. Just simply remain aware, mindful, keep the awareness. So just set the mind in that state.
 

Not Too Loose, Not Too Tight, Just Right

Sometimes we need to be a little more tense, uptight, then the sometimes we need to loosen, relax. It depends on the individual. Some take it so, so seriously, they are so uptight. They are tense like that. And that doesn’t bring a good result either. That may bring along a side effect, like getting shoulder pains or tightness, or pressure. Those things may rise so that you have to relax and be loose always.

Some people take the instructions “relax, relax, and relax,” that they become so relaxed, and then become careless. They sleep a lot and then say that they practice non-meditation. Those people need a little more alertness. They need slightly more intensity or excitement. It depends on the individual. You have to see by yourself, what is experienced in yourself.

One time a guitar player met Buddha and asked for instruction on how to meditate. Since Buddha knew that he was a guitar player, Buddha asked, “Is the sound of the guitar best when the string is too tight?” The guitarist answered, “No.” And Buddha asked, “Is the sound best when the string is very loose?” “No.” Buddha then asked, “How is the best sound produced from the guitar?” The guitar player said, “Not too tight, not too loose, just right.” Then Buddha said, “You should meditate like that.  Not too tight, not too loose, just right.” Whatever is necessary for each individual.
 

Responsibility for Our Condition and The Power of Mind

This meditation, in one way, is so very easy. It doesn’t cost anything. You just need to remain aware, keep mindfulness, and relax. Your mind is within you. You don’t have to get your mind from somewhere else. It is in the palm of your hand. It is with you always, twenty-four hours a day. So it is very easy. There are no difficulties if we know how to handle things, if we know how to practice this. But at the same time if we don’t know this, this “not knowing” becomes one of the most complex, most difficult occurrences. It brings along, invites all the suffering and the causes of suffering. So because of that, just meditate. First see how it is easy. “Why do I make it so difficult? I am the one who is making this difficult, no one else. Nobody else is doing this to me and no one else is causing this difficulty. I am doing this. Why am I doing this?” So meditate on the emptiness, impermanence, suffering of samsara, and suffering of the six realms.

The six realms are not something mysterious. They are very obvious and exist even in this world. We don’t have to look for the hell realms somewhere else. They can be found just in this world. For example, in a volcano, there are sentient beings that are suffering so much. They are practically inseparable from the fire. This is like the hell realm. In unbearably hot weather, beings suffer. In cold weather, there are sentient beings who are inseparable from the ice. They do not die. They experience a cold hell. There are others beings like this in the world. All kinds of suffering arise due to cause and effect. This is not just something which the Buddha made up. Buddha introduced to us how the world is constituted. Due to cause and effect, we are suffering.

So look at that nature. Why am I making this so difficult for myself? I should make it easier for myself. Reflect on the delusion that we have, the kind of suffering that, because of that delusion, we are going to go through, and the causes of the negative karma that we ourselves create. We will have to experience all of this suffering sooner or later. No Buddha will take that away from us. So see these things. And discipline yourself. Meditate. Meditate on and practice Mahamudra. When we practice Mahamudra, when we get even a glimpse of this Mahamudra meditation practice, that will destroy all delusion for 100,000’s of kalpas or countless eons, and all the karma. So these are the beneficial effects of this. And we need to encourage ourselves in our own mind.

Build encouragement. Inspire yourself in these precious teachings and then do some practice, for your own benefit and the benefit of others. Nobody will be able to take that away. So just develop that kind of mind, and do this, build up this calmly abiding and Mahamudra meditation practice.

We can talk about fixation and grasping, where fixation refers to the object, and grasping refers to the mind. When the mind grasps after an object, and then that goes on day after day, year after year. That follows life after life, along with all the other habitual tendencies. Through that we experience suffering. We don’t get what we desire; we get what we don’t desire. We go through a lot of suffering in this way. So we should carefully, wisely investigate this. Is it right or wrong? When we carefully investigate in this way, then we see that it is true. No matter how much we grasp at outer objects, we never come to a final solution, a final happiness. It is like an illusion, like a delusion. It just appears and disappears, one after the other. So through that one sees the power of the mind.

We may utilize the power of the mind in various ways, for example, to explore the inside of the mind or to explore the outside. When we explore the mind’s projections to the outside, we can create all these technologies, like nuclear bombs, which can destroy the whole world. A lot of this country does this, exploring the mind as it projects to the outside. Now if you could bring the mind’s power back inside and directly explore mind and meditate, then, like all the Buddhas and Milarepas, that kind of mental wisdom, nuclear wisdom bomb, will destroy all the delusion of samsara.  It will reveal all the “pureland” of enlightenment. It will destroy all the six realms of samsara and transform them into the pureland.

Milarepa is not just an example for the Kagyü  lineage but for all the lineages of Tibet. Everyone admires Milarepa’s exploration of that mental “wisdom bomb” or “nuclear wisdom bomb.” Because of his example, 100,000’s of great teachers were produced and everyone quotes Milarepa’s life story and Milarepa’s songs. There is some benefit. That’s why great explorer teachers do these things. And by utilizing such mental power, Buddha made great aspiration prayers and created Buddha fields. That becomes such a special place for many sentient beings to be reborn, and where they experience comfort and ease, physically, mentally. So we can see this and joyfully explore this limitless inner space, wisdom, and compassion and establish this rather than exploring outer space so much.
 

The Many Ways and Bodhicitta

So when we now meditate in this way, applying today’s instructions on how to meditate, the importance of meditation, etc., during these times there may arise a lot of questions or even some doubt or hesitation. Doubt or hesitations, and then perhaps over joy, over attachment to these Dharma teachings. It is good to having feeling of joy and feeling fortunate, but if you attach to that and have hesitation, then you have what are called Mara. [Khenpo: How does one say Mara in English? “Mara” is something like obstacles, demons, devils] These are hindrances to progress Dharma practice and, in particular, realization. You have to dispel these obstacles.

When we study and practice these Dharma teachings, and especially when you act to uphold the Dharma, sustain it, spread it, make it available to others, generally speaking, there are three things. Because of the many different systems, individual lamas will present different explanations on how to do these things. Some put so much emphasis on study. They say you have to study this, this, this, this, and this. They believe that without doing investigations comprehensively and becoming “well studied,” through studying this, this, and this, there is no way one can uphold the teachings. There are others who put so much emphasis on the practice. Of course, we have to know what to practice, and after knowing a particular subject, practice itself is very important. Through the practice one can experience realization and through that realization one can start helping others. So there are many different ways to help sustain these teachings, the precious teachings of the Buddha. So we should not have any kind of doubt about these things, feeling “this is right,” or “this is wrong.” All of these are wonderful ways of practice. But of all of these the most important one that we should all be aware of and which is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings is Bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is the base for love and compassion. And then we should also consider cause and effect.

Bodhicitta and cause and effect are the most important and crucial teachings, without which there is no basis from which to start and no basis by which to enhance the precious Dharma teachings. There are many different examples of this. When we practice these precious Mahamudra teachings, then we may develop like Milarepa, who is well known. Regarding this, there is no doubt. There is no hesitation. This accomplishment is well known everywhere. So just continue in that way. Meditate on Milarepa and how he successfully went through so many difficulties and then actualized the importance of enlightenment, and from that state, gave the teachings. Milarepa was in a meditative state or retreat all the time until he passed away. So we, in our calmly abiding meditation practice and Mahamudra meditation practice can take that as a kind of example for ourselves. Then just do what we can in our daily life. Practice.
 

Vipashyana, Special Insight

Next, we begin the instructions on special insight, vipashyana. The posture of the body, the technique of the body is as before, straight and relaxed, but at this point eyes gaze straight ahead into space. Mind should be alert, clear, fresh, supple, open. When we did calmly abiding mind, mind was kind of organized, put into a certain place, with a disciplined mind. This time open the mind, make the mind spacious. So when the mind is clear and in a very clear, abiding state, look at that mind directly. Look at the mind’s own nature. Then see what the mind looks like. See this carefully. See this well.

When we meditate in this way, and get the kind of decisive view or clarity. We feel, “this is it,” and “there is no further to go.” The mind is so clear, yet there is nothing to identify. It is fresh. So one should meditate with mind to achieve such kind of state. It is difficult to get the definitive understanding, to determine what mind looks like. One should do that meditation until one gets the definitive understanding. Until then we should supplicate to the lama and gather the great accumulations. In particular, supplicate the lama and developing devotion repeatedly. And then receive the blessings, dissolve, and just meditate there. And let all the mental activities dissolve in that state, just like the waves of the ocean dissolve in the ocean. Just like that. So when one’s mind is relaxed and in its own state, with one-pointed mind, that’s called calmly abiding, or shamatha. Within that relaxed, clear position, one-pointed state of mind, then look at mind itself, look at its own nature, see what that looks like. When you look at that directly, its own nature, that mind is so calm and one-pointed in nature, and there is nothing to identify and nothing to see. Yet it is an unceasing nature. There is nothing other than that. Mind is so fresh, alert, naked, which means there is no veil.

So there’s something to see: that there is nothing to see. You see that there is nothing to see. You experience that there is nothing to experience. So that kind of decisive or definite kind of meaning, you get that. So when there is something really definite or final, like “there is no other than this” and yet you cannot express what it looks like, that kind of insight is called vipashyana, special insight. So there’s no other place to go than this, itself. This thing is called Mahamudra.

So when we do this meditation, this is looking inside, not outside. Calmly abiding meditation, shamatha is a little inside, but still it is somewhat dealing with outside of the mind. It is not done quite fully with an inside mind. The earlier discussion was about how to meditate, how to relax the mind, how to “calmly abide” the mind. Special insight, vipashyana, is directly looking inside the mind.  To do this we have to have the calmly abiding, shamatha. Otherwise, if you are without the proper calmly abiding, shamatha meditation and you want to get the instruction on insight meditation, it is like grasping space. You can’t go too far, you will not be able to progress too far. So therefore look inside the mind, meditate, and get used to it as explained before. First we get the instruction, then we meditate and then we keep that meaning within our mind and sustain that all the time.
 

Progressing From Cascading Stream to Wide River to Vast Ocean

Progress in this practice is not a matter of going from place to place. Rather it involves exercising within your own mind and habitualizing or familiarizing yourself to this practice. Get used to it and purify the habitual tendencies of the other negative thoughts. Sometimes when strong thoughts or strong afflictive emotions arise, at that time, without that they in “force you” in one way or another, look at their nature directly. When you look at that nature directly, there is nothing to see it. That seeing there is nothing to see is called “you saw it.”

With this kind of meditation the mind becomes more calm and peaceful. As mentioned earlier, at the outset our mind is like a stream cascading down from the mountains, for example, from the Rocky Mountains, so fast, so rapidly. Then, through this meditation, our mind is more like a wide river floating on the ground. Flowing so smoothly. You are aware of the movement of the mind, but it is not so powerful or stormy. Then after that, when you get used to this practice more and more, then is it like the water mixing with the ocean. It all has no place to go it is just there. That kind of experience or meditation can arise through the continuity of mindfulness, by sustaining this practice. So at that time it is very easy to see. When the mind give rise to strong thoughts, without chasing or pushing them, you can just meditate like this.
 

The Great Joy of Cause and Effect

When we do these practices they may give rise to many different types of experiences. We may feel, “Oh, I have to know all these things, one has to know everything.” This is something that we don’t have to worry about. What we should do is be sincere to ourselves according to the Dharma teachings. Buddha gave so many Dharma teachings. So many teachings depend on the individual. Every individual has his or her own size of clothes. Similarly, in that way Buddha presented all the different teachings. In this way, he addressed beings of all different dispositions and according to all the different mental capacities. But what is really the important thing is to first see how everything arises in dependence upon the law of cause and effect. For example, meditating on calmly abiding is a special cause for actualizing special insight, and special insight is the special cause to delete delusions, ignorance. When we get this kind of understanding, experience, then one will give rise to great joy, great happiness. We see how wonderful that is and that stabilizes our mind in the precious Dharma teachings.

That kind of realization of the Mahamudra depends on the blessings of the lama. The more we have the blessings of the lama, the greater that our opportunity to experience Mahamudra realization is. So one will experience Mahamudra commensurate with one’s level of devotion to the lama.

Generally in the teachings there are what are called the attainments or achievements. Sometimes you may have heard of “siddhis” or powers. There are ordinary siddhis and extraordinary siddhis. An ordinary siddhi is like flying in the sky, showing miracle powers, like the fax machine. [Khenpo: Sometimes I think the fax machine is like a miracle power, isn’t it? And TV, you know.] These are called ordinary achievements. These days we use all the material things to enjoy the miracle powers. Before, in the past, people meditated inside and physically showed those miraculous powers. [Khenpo: So these days, individuals don’t have to work so hard, or maybe they are working harder, who knows?] So these are called common achievements. Anybody can attain this whether Buddhist or non-Buddhist. There is another called the extraordinary siddhis or the uncommon siddhis. These are the uprooting of all the obscurations and the attainment of complete realization.

Again, so much depends on the blessings of the lama. To actualize that depends on the blessings of the lama. This is the cause of Mahamudra; therefore we put a lot of emphasis on Guru Yoga practice.  Guru Yoga does not mean guru worship, but rather uniting the mind of the lama Vajradhara with our own mind, seeing our mind as the mind of Vajradhara, inseparable. To unite is called Guru Yoga. Yoga means uniting. Unite with our own Buddha nature, do this completely and see the inseparable nature of Vajradhara’s wisdom mind and our own.

Please don’t feel that it is so difficult to actualize this special insight. Actualizing this special insight isn’t difficulty because your mind is within you. Buddha nature is within you. You just simply need your interest, confidence, and devotion. To realize your mind is like milk and butter. Butter is always in the milk. You don’t have to look for any butter, which is separate from milk. Butter is within the milk. So your Buddha nature is within your own mind. So just make it easy, and just simply follow the path.

Two Methods and the Method of Realization

Generally speaking, to realize the mind, there are two methods. One is by having great devotion to the lama, as already discussed. Sometimes there have been great Kagyü  lamas who even without having been given an introduction to the mind just develop such a powerful devotion to the lama. And by receiving the blessings or by having such powerful devotion, it makes one lose one’s own sense of attachment. One is fully drawn to the lama and by that power one realizes the nature of the mind. There is nothing to grasp nothing to hold on to oneself. This is just all pervading. In that way, the Kagyü  system has such a powerful system of devotion practice.

And then sometimes in the sutras there is much emphasis on the Bodhicitta practice. By love and compassion and wisdom together we give rise to Bodhicitta. When we practice Bodhicitta, it has such a great method of equalizing oneself with others. So equalize. Then after that, exchange one’s self with others and practice that others are more important than one self is. And when one does this practice of Bodhicitta repeatedly, because of that power, the self-grasping, the self-cherishing, just loses. This is such a wonderful way of accomplishing benefit. There is nothing to hold on, there is nothing to grasp. There is no inner self that exists.

So then you see the inseparable nature of the emptiness and compassion. The nature of compassion is emptiness; the nature of emptiness is compassion. No separation. Realize the nature of the mind right there. So it neither exists nor does not exist. You just see that. Nothing exists independently. And yet within that, everything is manifest. You see all the sentient beings wander in samsara through delusion, without understanding or realizing these things. So of all those methods, whatever we are experiencing, realization is the most important. Without that, this introduction will not lead to any good place. So realization is the way by which to become free from the boundaries of samsara.

When we realize Mahamudra, we can find no words by which to express it. So the great Brahmin Saraha said,  “When one puts a lot of emphasis or effort into organizing the mind according to the instruction of the lama, then there is no doubt that one will realize the co-emergent wisdom. And that is free from all the letters, symbols, and colors. It cannot be expressed in words. And there is no metaphor to express that.” This is an embodiment of all the qualities, so how one can express it to others?

So regarding the mind which is introduced, observe that when your past mind has past, it is no longer here, and similarly, the future mind has not yet arrived, it is not yet here, and in the present moment, this moment does not exist here either. So in that way mind is free from birth, abiding, and cessation.  It is so fresh, alert, and clear. That is called Mahamudra, and that is called Dharmakaya. Just look at this, just look at this moment. The mind is free from all the boundaries. So this is a special instruction or introduction to knowing your mind, to seeing your mind.
 

Questions and Answers

Intellectual Understanding vs. Actual Realization

Question: “How do we differentiate between intellectual understanding and actual realization?”

Answer: Intellectually understanding is like studying a map. When you want to go a certain place, you study a map. You determine that you have to go from here to there and then from there to here. You can see those things. This is similar to when you study and have intellectually understood something. Now when you go through that, then you don’t always know what is next. So when you drive according to the map which you understood, sometimes you see that things in real are more detailed. Sometimes you see more things than you were able to pick up from studying the map. “Oh, this is different.” You can get some glimpse of what it was that you understood that was right or how things are a little different. Similarly, when you study practice, you get some idea that this is how it looks like. You have not yet experienced it. You have all that knowledge in the head and maybe can express these things. But then when you practice you see, “Oh, yes, this is what this means.”

Then sometimes, your experience may be a little different from that what you have studied. Up and down, back and forth, some can go through faster, some may go slower. So whether one is going slower or faster or having different experiences through the path, when you get the final realization of Mahamudra, then there is no difference. You realize Dharmakaya, Mahamudra. One’s Dharmakaya is the same as all the Dharmakayas.

For example, one person may study all the maps of the world. When he has studied all the maps of the world then that person has some good knowledge, isn’t that so? He has a lot in his head. We also may do that and get information about such and such place. We feel, “I must go see what is there.” Then when you arrive at those places you know what kind of hotel do you want to stay at and what kind of food you want to eat and the people you want to meet. So when you do this, that is kind of experiencing it.

Of Fame and Fortune

Question: “How do you continue to strive for your dreams for fame and good fortune without attaching to them?”

Answer: To strive for fame and good fortune, create good merit and create good karma towards enlightenment. Then when you have that good merit and good karma, things will fall into the right place if you don’t attach. And another thing, make whatever effort you can without bringing along attachment. In considering even how famous you might be, see how little essence there is. You can’t utilize that. There is nothing there. No matter how rich you might be, you can’t use everything you have. That’s why there is no essence either. Let’s say you owned the whole world, now what will you do? See, you can only eat one plate of food, wear one set of clothes, that much, so what is the essence there? It is just out of kind of delusion that all this arises. In reality, there is no essence. Just look at that nature and then become free from attachment.

Let’s suppose you have gotten these, then when you attach to your fame and fortune they become a cause of suffering. Instead of really enjoying them, they give rise to great fear. You work so hard to protect them. You become a slave to your fame and fortune.  See that nature. This is from the point of view even of samsara. Then from the point of view of Dharma practice, again there is no essence. So what we do is develop such a kind of thought, a mind to benefit others and to benefit you. To benefit others means to benefit to you. Cultivate altruistic thought, and meditate. Say the attachments to fame and fortune are obstacles to peace and happiness in the temporary state as well as the definitive state of enlightenment. In both cases the attachment to these are the real suffering.

If you read you will come across what are called the “worldly concerns.” Fame and disgrace, gain and loss, pleasure and pain, honor and dishonor. So we want to achieve gain, fame, honor, and all the wealth, we don’t want to get all the other four. We are just “working, oh so hard.” Nagarjuna advised a king who was fully involved in those, “Don’t worry about these four.” Just treat all equally, so real happiness will arise, not only from a Dharma point of view but also from samsaric point of view as well.