Rapid
transformation
is the pur- pose of the wonderfully effective teachings of the Buddha.
Kalu Rinpoche
They are a supremely effective path to Enlightenment, and involve Mahamudra meditation and the cycle of teachings concerned with the Mahamudra Realization.
Mahamudra is a Sanskrit word meaning "supreme symbol" or "supreme seal. " In Tibetan it is translated as cha j'a chen po [phyag rgya chen po). Cha is an honorific word for hand, which in tum is a code word for the Emptiness of mind and all phenomena. The sec- ond syllable, j'a, means seal, as on a document. It signifies something that gathers everything under one heading and seals it in its embrace. It refers to the all-embracing nature of Mahamudra Realization: no aspect of experience falls outside it, for it is the all- embracing awareness of the essential Emptiness of experience and phenomena. Chen po means great, and signifies that this experience is ultimate- there is nothing greater.
Mahamudra Realization and the teachings leading to it can be considered the quintessence of all Buddhist practice. The doctrine is
profound and difficult to grasp; the experience is intangible and cannot be demonstrated to the senses. A stanza from the teaching of the Buddha praises Prajiiaparamita, the Perfection of Wisdom, who personifies this experience.
The first line says that the Perfection of Wisdom cannot be spoken about, cannot be described, cannot be conceived of. The traditional comparison is with a mute person tasting sugar: the ex? perience cannot be communicated to anyone else. In the same way Mahamudra must be experienced personally to be understood: one cannot describe it clearly and effectively to another person, but one can make an attempt, and this is what the quatrain does.
The second line specifies that although realization of the nature of mind, the Perfection of Wisdom, is indescribable, we can say that it is not subject to origination or cessation. There is an eternal qual? ity to the nature of mind, which is empty, like space.
The third line identifies the realization of mind as the province of one's own awareness; it is properly understood only in one's own awareness and experience, not in someone else's description. Primordial Awareness is the direct and authentic experience of the mind as empty, clear and unimpeded, as dynamic and intelligent. This can only be verified through personal experience and the use of one's own intelligence.
The founh line is a personification: "I pay homage to the mother of the Buddhas of the three times. " In this metaphor our realization of the nature of mind, as well as that nature itself, is described as the origin of Enlightenment, because it is through this direct Realization that we experience Buddhahood. This is how enlightened beings experienced it in the past, how they experience it now, and how they will experience it in the future. Any being that achieves, has achieved or will achieve Enlightenment, realizes the same nature of mind, personified here as the mother of the Vic- torious Ones, the Buddhas. As a mother gives birth to a child, so the mind, once its nature is discovered, gives binh to enlightenment. As surely as we are born from a womb, so surely can we give binh to Enlightenment by directly realizing the empty, clear and unimped? ed nature of mind; other than that, there is no means. Iconographically, this supreme feminine principle is represented by such deities as Prajiiaparamita herself, Dorje Phagmo, and many
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others whose female forms symbolize this state of awareness,
Mahamudra Realization.
Approaches to Mahiimudrii
In all the schools of Buddhism in Tibet, a threefold approach to the Dharma is recognized. The first stage involves intellectual study, listening to the teachings and understanding their meaning. The second stage is one of contemplating what has been learned in order to deepen one's understanding. The third stage involves meditation and direct experience of what has been understood. Given this similarity in approach, however, each school tends to develop its own style, favoring either a predominantly intellectual or academic approach, (shay pay ka bap [bshad pa'i bka' bab]), or a more intuitive, meditative one, (drup pay ka bap [sgrub pa'i bka' bab]). The Sakyapa and Geliigpa schools, in particular, are noted for their intellectual skill in the doctrine. They maintain that to attain the state of awareness, one first must understand thoroughly what has been written and taught by those who have experienced it. One therefore approaches the direct experience of mind on the basis of a very thorough and far-reaching intellectual understanding of the nature of reality, experience, mind, and so on. For such persons, the first stage of hearing involves thorough intellectual preparation.
The other, more pragmatic, meditative approach is stressed by the Kagyiipas and Nyingmapas. Although these schools do not deny the validity of an approach based on vast intellectual understand- ing, their view is perhaps best summed up in the words of Atisa, who brought transmissions and teachings from India to Tibet, and from whom all lineages derive inspiration. Referring to the Indian myth of the swan that can extract pure milk from a mixture of milk and water, he said: "The field of knowledge is incredibly vast, and life is very, very short. Thus, the most important approach is to extract milk from the water, like the swan, and to practice what is most rele- vant to one's situation. " This is the approach the Kagyiipas and Ny- ingmapas aspire to when they emphasize involvement in meditative development without the preliminary requirement of extensive in- tellectual training. There is not always enough time for that, since there is no guarantee that we shall live long enough to cover all the necessary ground. But if we can extract the essence of the teaching
and apply it to our lives directly, we have a valid approach to Dhar- ma practice.
Despite these differences in emphasis, however, all schools have the same ultimate goal, and all agree that the threefold approach of intellectual study, contemplation, and meditation is necessary for true Realization.
The intellectual approach to the three-fold process emphasizes a thorough understanding of Buddhist scriptures and commentaries on them. In the Sutra tradition, one studies the Vinaya, or rules of monastic discipline; the Sutras, or discourses; and the Abhidharma, which is sometimes termed the psychology of the Buddhist tradition. In the tantric tradition one studies the four levels of tantras, Kriya, Carya, Yoga and Anuttarayoga, the Action, Performance, Yoga, and Highest Yoga tantras. For a person taking the intuitive, meditative approach, sufficient intellectual preparation consists of first finding a qualified Lama, someone of exceptional accomplish- ment, to give authentic and accurate instructions in meditation technique, and, secondly, studying the technique thoroughly.
Whether we follow the scholastic or meditative approach really depends on our inclination, but regardless of how extensive or specialized our own interest may be, some intellectual basis is cer- tainly necessary. It is said that someone who tries to meditate without a conceptual understanding of what he or she is doing is like a blind person trying to find the way in open country: such a person can only wander about, with no idea how to choose one direction over another.
On the other hand, we also have a saying that one who studies a great deal without ever applying it in meditation is like a person without hands trying to climb a rockface; one can see it, know how to get to it, know exactly what route to take, but without hands it's useless.
Although Mahamudra is not a vast subject, its meaning is very deep. To understand what is said about it is necessary, but not in itself sufficient. We must reflect on the teachings, and analyze them, asking, "Is this really true or not? If it is true, how and why is it true, and how do I know? " Such examination, in which the mind comes to some certainty, is the second phase of the process. Once we
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have recognized something in the teaching as true and valid for our situation, then we try to apply it in meditation.
The Nature of Mind
The fact that appropriate questions about the teaching arise in the mind at all indicates a considerable accumulation of merit brought about by virtuous thoughts and actions in the past. Nonetheless, we have only a vague, naive understanding of the mind. We know that we have a mind, but there is a great deal of ig- norance about its nature.
What is mind, then? Mind is that which is aware, which gives rise to thoughts, emotions and feelings such as ''I'm happy," or ''I'm sad. " Mind is what experiences all this. In Buddhism we term the nature of mind Emptiness. By this we mean that mind is devoid of, empty of, any limiting characteristics. It has no form, no color, no shape, no size, no limitation whatsoever. Analogous to this is the open space in a room. Like this space, mind is intangible and can- not be described; just as space itself is intrinsically empty-just as one never says "space is empty up to this point, while beyond it space is no longer empty"-so mind is intrinsically empty.
If we take the illumination in the room into account, we have a further analogy, because the mind has its own kind of clarity, though not in a visual sense. This illuminating capacity is mind's in- herent ability to experience. No thing in and of itself, mind never- theless experiences everything, and that ability is Clarity. We ex- perience this when we sit quietly by ourselves and, thinking of some far away place like New York or San Francisco, find we can call it to mind immediately. In speaking of mind, then, we can refer to its Emptiness- fundamental intangibility- and to the illuminating Clarity it demonstrates. Like the space and light in the room, these are not things separate from each other, but are two aspects of a single experience.
The properties, Emptiness and Clarity, do not complete our description of mind. Mind is more than empty, illuminated space; it is also the awareness that can decide "this is form, this is sound, this is a shape. " The intelligence that allows us to make judgments and recognize particular details is a manifestation of mind's Unimpededness.
Although the mind's Emptiness, Clarity and Unimpededness are inseparable, we can examine it from different perspectives, and speak of them separately or in combination. The mind's essential Emptiness and its clear nature taken together are what we call its Unimpededness, its power to experience. The fundamental threefold nature of mind-empty, clear and unimpeded-is Tathagatagarbha, the Seed of Enlightenment, possessed by every living being, human or otherwise. Tathagatagarbha is the fun- damental purity of the mind's intrinsic nature. In the words of the Buddha Shakyamuni: "This Tathagatagarbha, this Seed for Enlightenment, pervades all forms of life. There is not a single being that does not have it. " A tantric text states that all beings are innate- ly enlightened but that adventitious obscurations block the ex- perience of Enlightenment. If through practice we begin to recognize the inherent nature of mind we can become completely enlightened.
The Nature ofExperience
Although the concept that mind is empty of any limiting characteristic may be at least superficially understandable, many people find great difficulty in the idea that what we experience is likewise empty. What does it mean to say that the phenomenal world-this animate and inanimate universe we perceive-is empty? How is that true for this world full of rocks and trees and houses, earth, water and all the elements, living creatures moving about liv- ing their lives?
There is actually no contradiction in saying that something that appears to be so real is essentially empty. We can illustrate this by an example, the dream state.
When we go to sleep at night we dream. The mind is active in the dream, there is perception of form that is seen, sound that is heard, odors that are smelled, tastes that are tasted, textures that are felt, thoughts that arise. All these happen in the dream state, but when we wake it is obvious that nothing real was experienced. What occurred had a conventional reality during the dream, but no one will maintain that what took place in the dream happened in the same way things happen in our waking state. The dream was a
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series of mental projections: it had a conventional, temporary reali- ty, but not an ultimate one. Because the dream lacks an enduring self-nature, we can say that it is empty.
We can think of our perception of the waking world in just such a way. All sorts of ideas, emotions, concepts and reactions arise in us. Things we experience can make us happy, sad, or angry, can in- crease our attachment or aversion. But even though all these thoughts and responses arise, none has any nature of its own: we should not take them to be real- they are simply ongoing mental projections produced by particular circumstances. For this reason we can again say that our experience is empty, because it lacks any ultimate self-nature. We can say that no aspect of our experience, of the outer phenomenal world or the inner mental world, has one atom of reality. Nothing we experience is anything more than the mind's perception of its own projections, the reality of which is only conventional.
By understanding this and coming to experience it, teachers such as Milarcpa can demonstrate miracles and make things happen contrary to the normal laws that govern the universe. If the universe were something ultimately real in its own right, its laws would be in- violable, and miraculous events impossible. In fact, the laws govern- ing conventional reality are flexible, and once we realize this we have at least some limited power to manipulate the phenomenal world.
If it is the case that all experience is only the projection of mind, what determines the way in which our perceptions take place? The force that influences the way in which mind experiences the world is karma, actions and their results.
On the basis of fundamental ignorance about the real nature of mind, karmic tendencies and other obscurations develop. The fun- damental state of unawareness is like the earth, in which seeds can be planted. The seeds represent karmic predispositions, which are reinforced by physical, mental and verbal actions. Once a seed is planted, it needs support from the earth, and nourishment, water, light, heat: without these, it remains inert. When all the requisite circumstances are present, the seed germinates, grows, flowers and multiplies. In the same way, the tendency established and rein- forced by an action is stored in the fundamental state of confusion
and remains latent until circumstances in the environment or in the mind itself provide a channel by which the tendency emerges and comes to fruition as an active part of our experience.
As human beings we exist in a relatively superior state. This is a result of positive karmic tendencies reinforced by virtuous ac- tions- mental, verbal and physical- in countless previous lifetimes. All human karma is similar enough for all of us to experience more or less the same world: we have engaged in actions that result in similar, if not identical, impressions of what the world is like.
In addition to this general karma, there is also individual kar- ma, which accounts for the particular variations in the experience of each and every being. To be greedy or to steal establishes a tendency which, if reinforced, results in experiences of poverty and want, often in a future lifetime. On the other hand, to be generous, materially or otherwise, establishes conditions which, if reinforced, result in prosperity. Deliberate acts of killing establish a tendency which, if reinforced, results in a great deal of sickness and shortness of life, whereas to protect and respect life is conducive to good health and longevity. In short, while human beings share general qualities that are common to the human condition, some are richer or poorer than others, happier or unhappier, healthier or unhealthier, longer or shorter lived.
So, karma has both general and specific aspects, which together account for our group and individual experience. To understand the nature of that experience, however, and how the karmic process of cause and effect works, we have to understand the nature of mind. To understand the nature of mind, and to attain direct experience of i t - Mahamudra Realization- we have to meditate.
In Mahamudni practice there is an advanced level of realiza- tion called ro chik [ro gcig] in Tibetan, meaning "one taste. " At this point the sameness of subject and object becomes apparent, and causality becomes empirically obvious. We can see a given cause leading to a given effect.
How is it that we do not have this experience already? What prevents us from directly apprehending the nature of mind right now? There are four basic reasons, the Four Faults.
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The first reason is that for us the mind is too close (nye drak [nye drags]) to be recognized. Since the moment we were born and began using our eyes, we have never seen our own faces directly. In our present situation mind can experience anything but cannot see its own nature.
The second reason is that the experience is too profound (sap drak [zab drags]) for us to fathom. We are like people looking at the surface of the ocean: we guess it to be deep, but we have no idea how deep it actually is. If we could fathom Mahamudra, we would be enlightened, because to fathom it would be to realize it and to realize it means to be a Buddha.
The third reason is that Mahamudra is too easy (Ia drak [sla drags]) for us to believe. For someone who has really understood and experienced it, Mahamudra is the easiest thing in the world. There is nothing to do: we don't have to cross oceans to get to it, there are no mountains to climb. The only thing necessary is bare awareness of the ultimate nature of mind, which is always there. Beyond that, there is nothing to d o - but we really can't believe Mahamudra can be so easy to do, or rather not do. It requires only that we rest in the nature of mind.
The fourth reason is that enlightenment is too excellent (zang drak [bzang drags]) for us to accommodate. Buddhahood is the complete unfolding of the mind's infinite potential, which can take an infinite number of different forms and has qualities we never find in an ordinary person. The immense potential of Buddhahood doesn't fit into our narrow way of thinking, and we really cannot ac- commodate the notion that such a state is the real nature of our mind.
Given these difficulties, what must we do to experience the nature of mind directly? There are two fundamental elements in this transformation: (1) our own efforts to purify evil actions and obscurations, and to develop merit and awareness; and (2) devotion to our Lama, who plays an indispensable part in bringing about our transformation. These two elements together bring about Mahamudra Realization.
The pure, fundamental nature of mind, without confusion or obscuration, is known as Co-emergent Primordial Awareness (len che ye she [lhen skyes ye shes]). Primordial Awareness, inherently
the nature of mind, and free of obscuring factors, is co-emergent with consciousness (nam she [mam shes]). One text tells us that the only means of realizing Co-emergent Primordial Awareness are our own efforts in purifying faults and developing merit and awareness and our devoion to and reliance on a qualified Lama. Any other ap? proach is a waste of time. These two elements, of effort and devo? tion, must go together, and that is why they are combined in physical practices like prostration, verbal practices like prayer and mantra, and mental practices like visualization and meditation. To use these faculties is to eliminate the fourth karmic level of obscura? tion; we counterbalance negative tendencies, and eventually remove them as sources of confusion. Specifically, through shi nay medita- tion we develop stability or calmness of mind; that means that our mind can rest in a given state without distraction or confusion. At that point we begin to eliminate the third level of obscuration, emo? tional afflictions.
The next phase of meditation is insight into the nature of mind using the techniques of lha tong. This is often called the experience of selflessness which has two aspects: the absence of a personal self, and the non-existence of all phenomena as independent entities. We begin to realize that the self and the objects we perceive as external lack any ultimate reality. With experience of this insight, the second obscuration is eliminated, that of the habitual tendencies to dualistic clinging.
Now through the practices of Mahamudra meditation we move from a state of ignorance to a state of direct perception and ex- perience of the fundamental nature of mind. When ignorance has been transformed into Primordial Awareness the first, most subtle level of obscuration, the obscuration of the fundamental ignorance, is removed. This is complete Enlightenment.
These terms and practices seem formidable, but this is not to say that it necessarily requires a great deal of work to attain enlightenment and realize Mahamudra. It depends on cir- cumstances. If a person has matured through lifetimes of purifica? tion and development, with a great accumulation of Merit and Awareness, then an instantaneous transformation can take place when a skillful, enlightened teacher is met.
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Devotz"on to the Lama
An important stage in the practice of Mahamudra is medita- tion upon the Lama, who is conceived of as the union of all blessing and inspiration. The teacher is visualized either in the sky in front of us or on the crown of the head. We pray one-pointedly for the Lama's blessing, and afterwards meditate that the form of the guru dissolves into us. Thereafter, we simply let the mind rest in its natural state. By that point we actually are in Mahamudra medita- tion.
The importance of the Lama is characteristic of the Vajrayana, and is not found in the Hinayana or Mahayana. It is true that pray- ing to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and taking Refuge in them is an effective way to attain Enlightenment, but it is more gradual than the Vajrayana way ofestablishing a working relationship with a Lama. The Vajrayana contains teachings that can take one to the experience of complete Enlightenment in this lifetime. The Lama is the one who bestows those teachings. That is why the Lama is so crucial in tantric practice, and why Mahamudra teachings, which are part of tantric practice, place such emphasis on the student's relationship with the Lama.
Someone of the highest abiltities, engaged in Mahamudra practice, has intense faith in his or her Lama, and intense compas- sion for all other beings. He or she understands that while every sen- tient being has the potential to become enlightened, all the confu- sion and obscurations preventing the direct experience of mind create endless suffering and frustration. That understanding is the source of compassion. In all practice of Dharma, whatever tech- nique or meditation is employed, taking Refuge with great faith should be followed by the development of Bodhicitta.
Every Buddha who has achieved Enlightenment in the past has done so through first giving rise to Bodhicitta, the deep wish that our practice be not only for our own benefit, but for the benefit and eventual Enlightenment of every sentient being. In fact, it is because we are so concerned with our own interests, and so little with others' welfare, that we continue to wander in confusion, reinforcing our involvement with samsara. That is why concern for the happiness and Liberation of others is crucial to Dharma practice.
Finally, this best type of person has intense dedication and diligence in practice, so that any task required is carried through with ardor. If all these qualities come together in the practitioner, a very rare transformation can take place. Most people, however, are not of such superior capabilities. How does someone, matured through previous lifetimes, but still at a lower level of preparation, go about attaining ultimate awareness? just as clouds keep us from seeing the sun, thick levels of obscuration in our mind keep us unaware of the nature of mind. The function of our practice is to dispel those obscurations until direct experience of the mind can take place.
You need not give up in despair, thinking, "It's hopeless. I have so many obscurations it will take me lifetimes to get rid of them. " We are not meant to feel like that.
Rapid transformation is the pur- pose of the wonderfully effective teachings of the Buddha. If you practice regularly, even for a few hours, even a few minutes, you can eliminate the confusions and obscurations that took aeons to ac- cumulate. That is the special blessing and efficacy of the Dharma.
Practice
For Mahamudra meditation to develop properly, our physical posture should be as straight as possible- not tense or rigid but erect and relaxed. In fact, relaxation of body, speech and mind is very important in meditation. With reference to speech, the jaws should not be clenched, nor should any of the associated muscles be tight. The lips should not be moving. The mind should not be tense or forced in any particular direction.
Once we have assumed a properly relaxed posture, we can try the following technique, searching for the "Origin, Location, and Direction" of mind, (jung nay dro sum ['byung gnas 'gro gsum]). In this context mind means that which experiences everything we perceive, think, and feel. Being aware of this mind, we inquire: Where does it come from? Can we find any origin for it? And where is mind located? Is it anywhere inside or outside the body? Is it located in any physical organ, any particular part of the body? Or is it in the external world? When the mind moves, does it actually go anywhere?
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Does mind move in any particular direction? If so, how does it move? As long as the mind is at rest, simply dwelling in a state of clear, transparent awareness without any thought, what rests and what experiences that rest is nothing other than mind itself. When a thought arises, the mind adopts some form of expression, takes some direction. How does that come about? In this technique, we try to maintain awareness of the process by which thought arises and takes form; we try to understand the nature of the actual experience of thought arising in the mind. The point is not whether the thought is a good or bad one. We are not concerned with the content of the thought, but the nature of it. How does a thought arise in the mind? Having arisen, where is it? How and where does it stay? When it disappears, what direction does it go in? North, south, east, west, up, down? Where does it disappear to? What is the cessation of a thought?
When there is no thought in the mind, but the mind is resting in a state of clear undistracted awareness, where exactly is it? Can we locate the mind anywhere? How does the mind dwell when it dwells in this state? When we examine the mind at rest, does it have any size of shape or limiting characteristic that we can discern and define?
In this approach, then, we seek to understand the mind in terms of its origin, location and direction. In its arising, staying, and passing away, is there anything we can describe other than empty, clear and unimpeded mind? Exactly how would we describe it?
If we use this technique again and again until there is some cer- tainty about what constitutes mind and how it works, it is entirely possible that we will come to some degree of authentic realization. On the other hand, there is also the danger of fooling ourselves, of getting lost in our own confusion and coming to what we think is a definite understanding when in fact we really have not understood anything. This is precisely where a relationship with a qualified meditation teacher is important. We need someone who can explain the process, evaluate our experiences, and give advice. If we refine our meditative technique in this way, by our own efforts and with the help of a skillful teacher's advice, our experience will become stable and authentic.
It is traditionally said that when mind is not contrived it is spontaneously blissful, just as water, when not agitated, is by nature transparent and clear. This is a most accurate description. In Mahamudra meditation we should maintain a bare awareness of the nature of mind as it is, without any effort to force some particular state of consciousness, to contrive a particular experience. In that sense, the goal is to be totally relaxed in a state of naked awareness, without distraction or dullness, alert to the nature of mind.
When the mind is resting in such a state and a thought arises, has the mind which was at rest become the mind in action? Or has something else been added to the mind that was at rest, something separate from mind? Are mind and thought the same? These are questions we need to be aware of while meditating.
When the mind is resting in this clear state of undistracted awareness, without any actual thoughts arising, the capacity that is aware of that state of being (and which is aware of mind in motion when mind is active and thoughts arise) is the mind's own Awareness. Are the mind at rest, the mind in motion, and the mind's Awareness different or identical?
These questions belong to another approach recognized in the Mahamudra tradition known as "The States of Rest, Movement, and Awareness," (nay ju rik sum [gnas 'gyu rig gsum]). If you work with this approach and come to what you feel is a significant ex- perience, you can then consult the Lama whose judgment will help you determine whether it is authentic or not, and whether or not you are working in the right direction. As in the previous approach, a certain "pointing out" (ngo tro [ngo sprod]) of your experience by a skillful Lama will be very beneficial.
Mistakes and Misunderstandings
If you understand the nature of these teachings and practice them well, there is perhaps no single more effective approach to the attainment of complete Enlightenment. But without understanding and effective practice, you are open to all sorts of errors. Without thorough understanding you may overemphasize one aspect or another of the teaching and thus distort it. For example, you might
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isolate the statement that phenomena, mind and experience are all empty, and develop a nihilistic view, thinking that nothing matters because everything is empty; that karma, virtuous and non-virtuous action, Enlightenment, and non-enlightenment do not exist. This is perhaps the single most harmful wrong view you could possibly develop.
It is true, of course, that the teachings say that mind and all ex- perience are empty. But the proper approach is to understand first the subjective nature of experience- that everything we perceive of the outer world, the physical body and the inner workings of our mind, is a projection and expression of mind. Having understood that, we return to the mind to determine that it is indeed essentially empty of limiting characteristics. But simply to understand this is not enough. You have to experience it through meditation. Only then, when you have directly realized the emptiness of mind and all experience, might you perhaps say: "Now I am not subject to the karmic process, the causal relationship between action and ex- perience. " Until you have had the direct realization of Emptiness that cuts the karmic process, karma is still unfailing and in- escapable. Positive deeds will continue to give rise to positive results, and negative deeds give rise to negative ones. This is not something you can change in any way. It is simply the way the karmic process unfolds as long as you have not had the Realization of the Emptiness of mind and all experience.
In following the Mahamudra path of meditation, there are many other possibilities for error. For example, if the mind lacks alertness, the result is not pure meditation at all, but stupidity. To reinforce this situation by taking it as the basis of meditative ex- perience leads to rebirth in the desire realm as an animal, especially one given to lethargy, like a crocodile, or creature that hibernates for months on end.
Even positive signs in the development of our meditation can become obstacles. In Mahamudra practice we can distinguish three basic forms of positive experience: states of bliss (de wa [bde ba]), states of clarity (sal wa [gsal ba]), and states of non-conceptual awareness (mi tok pa [mi rtog pa]).
If, for example, an experience of bliss arises and we cling to it or reinforce it, we fall into an error of limitation. Such practice will
definitely contribute to a higher rebirth, among the gods of the Desire Realm, for example. But the meditation is unstable, and its results subject to exhaustion; it will not take us to a pure state of Realization beyond the cycle of rebirth.
If experiences of clarity arise, clinging to them leads to rebirth in one or another of the seventeen levels of gods in the Form Realm, still in the cycle of samsara. Should the experience of non- conceptual awareness arise in meditation, and Emptiness itself become an object of clinging, this kind of meditation, if reinforced, will still lead to rebirth in one or another of the four levels of the Formless Realm of samsara, and we will remain in the cycle of con- ditioned existence.
Such errors are possible until we actually attain Liberation from samsara. It is, therefore, important not to abandon the prac- tice of purifying ourselves by eliminating negative tendencies and developing positive ones such as compassion, wholesome aspiration, and so on. All these are very important.
Perhaps the best way to conclude this brief introduction to Mahamudra is with the words of Tilopa when his student, the great pandit Naropa, had his first experience of Mahamudra Realization under Tilopa's guidance:
"Naropa, my son, never be separate from practices which develop your Merit and deepen your Awareness. Merit and Awareness are like the two wheels on the chariot that is taking you to Enlightenment. "
Questions and Answers
QUESTION: If mind is intrinsically pure, where do obscurations come from?
ANSWER: In Buddhism, we do not try to ascribe an origin to ig- norance. We do not say that at some point the mind became unable to see itself and lost the direct experience of its own pure nature. Rather, we speak of the beginningless cycle of existence, and accept that as long as there was mind, there was ignorance, co-emergent (len chik che wa [lhan gcig skyes ba]) with mind itself. As mind arises, so does ignorance, and in our present state we cannot speak of mind separate from ignorance. Funher distortion takes place; the
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essential Emptiness of mind is distorted into a subjective leaning toward something that appears existent in itself. Rather than ex- periencing directly the essential Emptiness of mind, we experience a self.
Buddhist texts do not exaggerate when they say that our greatest enemy is clinging to a self. Why? We are caught in a situa- tion where mind is incapable of directly experiencing its own essen- tial emptiness, and instead posits a self that must be sustained. We thus develop all the needs and wants that must be gratified in order to maintain such a self. Suffering comes from the endless search to satisfy that which cannot be satisfied. "I'' leads to "I am" which leads to "I want" and so on.
The fundamental level of ignorance, the first level of obscura- tion in the mind, is the mind's inability to recognize its own nature. Moreover, mind is not simply empty. It has another aspect, its Clar- ity, which is its ability to experience all sensory impressions, thoughts, emotions and ideas. Because of fundamental ignorance, this aspect of the mind is also taken to be something different: the objects we perceive are seen not as expressions of the mind's Clarity, but as existent in and of themselves, separate from the mind. A dualistic split has occurred between the self which is posited, and an object understood to be separate from it. This duality and the cling? ing to it is the obscuration of habitual tendencies, the second level of mental obscuration.
Thus in our present situation, we already have a degree of ig? norance which causes us to experience a self as something ultimately real. Further, the Clarity of mind has been distorted into something objective, seen as completely separate from the mind and ultimately real.
This condition will continue forever if we do not attain Enlightenment. We cannot expect it simply to fade away. On the contrary, if we do not transcend the obscurations which led to this distortion, the state is permanent. It will continue to reinforce itself as long as we do not attain Enlightenment.
Even when we go to sleep, this dualism carries over from the waking state. In an entirely different realm, where the projections of the mind arise in dreams, there is still the perception of "I" and "other," the self and something outside it. This division permits all
the other more complex aspects of the dream state, such as pleasure, happiness, pain and so on.
In the future, when each of us comes to die, and our physical bodies are gone, even in that totally disembodied state, where there can be no physical basis for consciousness, there is a continued im- pression of embodiment, and the dualistic habit of mind continues: experiences arising in the mind are projected into an environment, and experienced as something other than mind itself.
The third aspect of mind is its Unimpededness. In a pure state this is simply the mind's spontaneous cognitive activity, but when we are caught in the split between subject and object, the thought arises, "That object is good, I want it," and so attraction and attach- ment form. Or we think, "That threatens me, that's bad," and repulsion and aversion develop. There is also another possi- bility-that of simple stupidity, of not understanding the situa- tion at all, but being caught up in the whole illusion. The three fun- damental poisons or patterns of emotional reaction- attachment, aversion and stupidity-enter here, and from them develops an abundance of emotions, which we traditionally call the eighty-four thousand emotions that afflict the mind. The distortion of the Unimpededness of mind forms the third level of obscuration, the obscuration of emotional afflictions.
When we speak about the three realms of the universe-the Desire, Form and Formless Realms-we are talking about the distorted side of the pure nature of mind, which itself is essentially empty, clear in nature and unobstructed in manifestation.
What pertains on the general level to the universe also applies to the individual unenlightened being: the experience of a self is a distorted perception of the direct experience of the essential emp? tiness of mind; the experience of speech is the distorted perception of the clear nature of mind; and the experience of the physical body is the distorted perception of the unimpeded manifestation of mind. With this threefold distortion we produce not only samsaric ex- istence in general, but also the body, speech, and mind of an in- dividual being.
Because of these distortions, we behave in various ways. Physically, verbally and mentally, we react through emotional af- fliction, which through repetition becomes habitual. Once habits
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are established, they lead to yet further actions which, like all ac- tions, lead to specific results later on. Causality connects our ex- periences with our actions. This is kannic obscuration. In this way, our basic confusion, our ignorance of the fundamental nature of mind is hannful to ounelves and othen.
We can think of these four levels of confusion (fundamental ig- norance, duality, emotional afflictions, unskillful action) as depen? dent upon one another. Basic ignorance is the mind's failure to ex- perience the Primordial Awareness which is its own nature. From this fundamental ignorance develops the dualistic clinging to self and othen as separate, independent entities. This is the second level of obscuration. The third level of obscuration, the mental afflic- tions, emerge from dualistic clinging. Finally, based upon emotional afflictions, the fourth level, kannic obscuration, develops, wherein all these unskillful, negative tendencies are reinforced through physical, verbal and mental actions.
In our present condition as unenlightened beings, we ex- perience all four levels at the same time. The inherent purity of mind has not been lost, but it is so veiled that we experience a great mass of obscuration. Confusion coven the pure nature of the mind as clouds cover the sun. The single element binding all this confu- sion together is the clinging to the reality of a self.
Until all these levels of confusion and obscuration are eliminated, Enlightenment cannot arise. We must recover the original purity and transparency of water now polluted by sediment; we must dispene the clouds veiling the sun, so we can see clearly and receive its wannth directly. Once we undentand through medita? tion the Emptiness of mind, its Clarity and Unimpededness, the in- tense constriction produced by clinging to self and phenomena begins to diminish.
QUESTION: My emotions seem as real as my body and the world around me. They interfere with my practice. What can I do about it?
ANSWER: At present, we are instinctively sure that we exist and have a mind. We are intensely aware of the physical body. We think, my body, and tend to regard the two, body and mind, as one. So we tend to experience emotions on the physical and mental levels
simultaneously, as if they were somehow inherent in both. In fact, the origin of all emotion is mental. Ultimately speaking, the way these emotions arise in the mind has nothing to do with the body. We have simply conditioned the mind to experience them as if there were some physical origin for any emotion. In fact, the mind is like a stem king, and the body like a humble servant. It is the body's func- tion to follow the orders of the mind, which it does without any iden- tity of its own. If there were no desire in the mind, there would be none in the body. Likewise, if the mind is without anger, so is the body.
Our problem now is that we experience mind and body as a unity, so whatever comes up in the mind we wish to translate im- mediately into physical action. When desire or anger arise in the mind, we hurry to express it on a physical level. Our sole mode of ex- perience seems to be that emotions arise in mind and body simultaneously. Yet this is not the case. If it were, then when the mind and body are separated at death, the corpse would continue to feel desire and anger, and act accordingly.
What is necessary is to understand how emotions arise in the mind, and how the physical body is based upon the projection of mind. We must understand more about the nature of mind itself, and see the intangibility of thoughts and emotions that arise from an essentially empty state of mind.
Since thoughts and emotions-attachment, aversion, envy, pride, and so on-are insubstantial and intangible, then we need not go to all the trouble of expressing them physically or verbally. Even if we do not have direct meditative experience, a great deal of difficulty can be eliminated simply by intellectually understanding that mental projections are as intangible and empty as mind itself. Nagarjuna, the great Indian siddha and scholar, said:
All things are realized when Emptiness is realized. Nothing is realized when Emptiness is not realized.
If one has this basic understanding of the Emptiness of mind and its projections, then any method of meditation will be effective. Without it, no technique will work.
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QUESTION: Doesn't the desire for Enlightenment contradict the teachings that say desire is a bad thing?
ANSWER: We have to want Enlightenment, because we must start from where we are right now-afflicted with a great deal ofdualistic attachment. Since our experiences are governed by a sense of "I" and that "I" therefore wants "things," let us at least make what we want something worthy-Enlightenment. As we actually get closer to that Enlightenment, the need to want it becomes less powerful. As we progress through the first, second and third Bodhisattva levels, we experience an increasing awareness of the Emptiness of the self, and of the true nature of mind. This brings a gradual lessening of our desire for Enlightenment.
We can illustrate this rather simply. When you staned this morning from wherever you were in New York to come here, you first had the strong thought in your mind, "I'm going to the teaching. " The closer you got, the less you needed to worry about it, because you were getting closer. When you finally arrived here, there was no point in thinking, "I've got to get to the teaching," because you had already arrived. Dualistic desire for Enlightenment is gradually dispelled and need not be considered an obstacle; in a certain way, it is essential.
QUESTION: How can one practice Mahamudra if one does not have regular contact with one's Lama?
ANSWER: If we are not able to be in close proximity to our Lama, it does not mean that we cannot receive blessing and inspiration and guidance from that teacher. If we really have faith in our teacher, it does not matter how far away we are or how seldom we see our Lama. It is our own faith, devotion and prayers which bring about the benefits. If such faith is lacking, we could sleep at the Lama's feet and derive no benefit.
QUESTION: When I try to meditate, my mind keeps wandering. What should I do?
ANSWER: In order to meditate properly, it is necessary to have practiced shi nay, tranquility meditation. This will pacify all disturbing emotions and allow your mind to remain in one- pointedness.
When you first start tranquility meditation, the experience is like water rushing from a mountain top: the mind just keeps run-
ning, full of many thoughts. Later, at the second stage, the mind is like the same river when it reaches the plains, running slowly and steadily. Later still, in the last stage, the water in the river reaches the sea and dissolves into it.
Diligence and devotion will help you calm the mind in this way, and then you will be able to meditate properly.
Mahamudra is a Sanskrit word meaning "supreme symbol" or "supreme seal. " In Tibetan it is translated as cha j'a chen po [phyag rgya chen po). Cha is an honorific word for hand, which in tum is a code word for the Emptiness of mind and all phenomena. The sec- ond syllable, j'a, means seal, as on a document. It signifies something that gathers everything under one heading and seals it in its embrace. It refers to the all-embracing nature of Mahamudra Realization: no aspect of experience falls outside it, for it is the all- embracing awareness of the essential Emptiness of experience and phenomena. Chen po means great, and signifies that this experience is ultimate- there is nothing greater.
Mahamudra Realization and the teachings leading to it can be considered the quintessence of all Buddhist practice. The doctrine is
profound and difficult to grasp; the experience is intangible and cannot be demonstrated to the senses. A stanza from the teaching of the Buddha praises Prajiiaparamita, the Perfection of Wisdom, who personifies this experience.
The first line says that the Perfection of Wisdom cannot be spoken about, cannot be described, cannot be conceived of. The traditional comparison is with a mute person tasting sugar: the ex? perience cannot be communicated to anyone else. In the same way Mahamudra must be experienced personally to be understood: one cannot describe it clearly and effectively to another person, but one can make an attempt, and this is what the quatrain does.
The second line specifies that although realization of the nature of mind, the Perfection of Wisdom, is indescribable, we can say that it is not subject to origination or cessation. There is an eternal qual? ity to the nature of mind, which is empty, like space.
The third line identifies the realization of mind as the province of one's own awareness; it is properly understood only in one's own awareness and experience, not in someone else's description. Primordial Awareness is the direct and authentic experience of the mind as empty, clear and unimpeded, as dynamic and intelligent. This can only be verified through personal experience and the use of one's own intelligence.
The founh line is a personification: "I pay homage to the mother of the Buddhas of the three times. " In this metaphor our realization of the nature of mind, as well as that nature itself, is described as the origin of Enlightenment, because it is through this direct Realization that we experience Buddhahood. This is how enlightened beings experienced it in the past, how they experience it now, and how they will experience it in the future. Any being that achieves, has achieved or will achieve Enlightenment, realizes the same nature of mind, personified here as the mother of the Vic- torious Ones, the Buddhas. As a mother gives birth to a child, so the mind, once its nature is discovered, gives binh to enlightenment. As surely as we are born from a womb, so surely can we give binh to Enlightenment by directly realizing the empty, clear and unimped? ed nature of mind; other than that, there is no means. Iconographically, this supreme feminine principle is represented by such deities as Prajiiaparamita herself, Dorje Phagmo, and many
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others whose female forms symbolize this state of awareness,
Mahamudra Realization.
Approaches to Mahiimudrii
In all the schools of Buddhism in Tibet, a threefold approach to the Dharma is recognized. The first stage involves intellectual study, listening to the teachings and understanding their meaning. The second stage is one of contemplating what has been learned in order to deepen one's understanding. The third stage involves meditation and direct experience of what has been understood. Given this similarity in approach, however, each school tends to develop its own style, favoring either a predominantly intellectual or academic approach, (shay pay ka bap [bshad pa'i bka' bab]), or a more intuitive, meditative one, (drup pay ka bap [sgrub pa'i bka' bab]). The Sakyapa and Geliigpa schools, in particular, are noted for their intellectual skill in the doctrine. They maintain that to attain the state of awareness, one first must understand thoroughly what has been written and taught by those who have experienced it. One therefore approaches the direct experience of mind on the basis of a very thorough and far-reaching intellectual understanding of the nature of reality, experience, mind, and so on. For such persons, the first stage of hearing involves thorough intellectual preparation.
The other, more pragmatic, meditative approach is stressed by the Kagyiipas and Nyingmapas. Although these schools do not deny the validity of an approach based on vast intellectual understand- ing, their view is perhaps best summed up in the words of Atisa, who brought transmissions and teachings from India to Tibet, and from whom all lineages derive inspiration. Referring to the Indian myth of the swan that can extract pure milk from a mixture of milk and water, he said: "The field of knowledge is incredibly vast, and life is very, very short. Thus, the most important approach is to extract milk from the water, like the swan, and to practice what is most rele- vant to one's situation. " This is the approach the Kagyiipas and Ny- ingmapas aspire to when they emphasize involvement in meditative development without the preliminary requirement of extensive in- tellectual training. There is not always enough time for that, since there is no guarantee that we shall live long enough to cover all the necessary ground. But if we can extract the essence of the teaching
and apply it to our lives directly, we have a valid approach to Dhar- ma practice.
Despite these differences in emphasis, however, all schools have the same ultimate goal, and all agree that the threefold approach of intellectual study, contemplation, and meditation is necessary for true Realization.
The intellectual approach to the three-fold process emphasizes a thorough understanding of Buddhist scriptures and commentaries on them. In the Sutra tradition, one studies the Vinaya, or rules of monastic discipline; the Sutras, or discourses; and the Abhidharma, which is sometimes termed the psychology of the Buddhist tradition. In the tantric tradition one studies the four levels of tantras, Kriya, Carya, Yoga and Anuttarayoga, the Action, Performance, Yoga, and Highest Yoga tantras. For a person taking the intuitive, meditative approach, sufficient intellectual preparation consists of first finding a qualified Lama, someone of exceptional accomplish- ment, to give authentic and accurate instructions in meditation technique, and, secondly, studying the technique thoroughly.
Whether we follow the scholastic or meditative approach really depends on our inclination, but regardless of how extensive or specialized our own interest may be, some intellectual basis is cer- tainly necessary. It is said that someone who tries to meditate without a conceptual understanding of what he or she is doing is like a blind person trying to find the way in open country: such a person can only wander about, with no idea how to choose one direction over another.
On the other hand, we also have a saying that one who studies a great deal without ever applying it in meditation is like a person without hands trying to climb a rockface; one can see it, know how to get to it, know exactly what route to take, but without hands it's useless.
Although Mahamudra is not a vast subject, its meaning is very deep. To understand what is said about it is necessary, but not in itself sufficient. We must reflect on the teachings, and analyze them, asking, "Is this really true or not? If it is true, how and why is it true, and how do I know? " Such examination, in which the mind comes to some certainty, is the second phase of the process. Once we
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have recognized something in the teaching as true and valid for our situation, then we try to apply it in meditation.
The Nature of Mind
The fact that appropriate questions about the teaching arise in the mind at all indicates a considerable accumulation of merit brought about by virtuous thoughts and actions in the past. Nonetheless, we have only a vague, naive understanding of the mind. We know that we have a mind, but there is a great deal of ig- norance about its nature.
What is mind, then? Mind is that which is aware, which gives rise to thoughts, emotions and feelings such as ''I'm happy," or ''I'm sad. " Mind is what experiences all this. In Buddhism we term the nature of mind Emptiness. By this we mean that mind is devoid of, empty of, any limiting characteristics. It has no form, no color, no shape, no size, no limitation whatsoever. Analogous to this is the open space in a room. Like this space, mind is intangible and can- not be described; just as space itself is intrinsically empty-just as one never says "space is empty up to this point, while beyond it space is no longer empty"-so mind is intrinsically empty.
If we take the illumination in the room into account, we have a further analogy, because the mind has its own kind of clarity, though not in a visual sense. This illuminating capacity is mind's in- herent ability to experience. No thing in and of itself, mind never- theless experiences everything, and that ability is Clarity. We ex- perience this when we sit quietly by ourselves and, thinking of some far away place like New York or San Francisco, find we can call it to mind immediately. In speaking of mind, then, we can refer to its Emptiness- fundamental intangibility- and to the illuminating Clarity it demonstrates. Like the space and light in the room, these are not things separate from each other, but are two aspects of a single experience.
The properties, Emptiness and Clarity, do not complete our description of mind. Mind is more than empty, illuminated space; it is also the awareness that can decide "this is form, this is sound, this is a shape. " The intelligence that allows us to make judgments and recognize particular details is a manifestation of mind's Unimpededness.
Although the mind's Emptiness, Clarity and Unimpededness are inseparable, we can examine it from different perspectives, and speak of them separately or in combination. The mind's essential Emptiness and its clear nature taken together are what we call its Unimpededness, its power to experience. The fundamental threefold nature of mind-empty, clear and unimpeded-is Tathagatagarbha, the Seed of Enlightenment, possessed by every living being, human or otherwise. Tathagatagarbha is the fun- damental purity of the mind's intrinsic nature. In the words of the Buddha Shakyamuni: "This Tathagatagarbha, this Seed for Enlightenment, pervades all forms of life. There is not a single being that does not have it. " A tantric text states that all beings are innate- ly enlightened but that adventitious obscurations block the ex- perience of Enlightenment. If through practice we begin to recognize the inherent nature of mind we can become completely enlightened.
The Nature ofExperience
Although the concept that mind is empty of any limiting characteristic may be at least superficially understandable, many people find great difficulty in the idea that what we experience is likewise empty. What does it mean to say that the phenomenal world-this animate and inanimate universe we perceive-is empty? How is that true for this world full of rocks and trees and houses, earth, water and all the elements, living creatures moving about liv- ing their lives?
There is actually no contradiction in saying that something that appears to be so real is essentially empty. We can illustrate this by an example, the dream state.
When we go to sleep at night we dream. The mind is active in the dream, there is perception of form that is seen, sound that is heard, odors that are smelled, tastes that are tasted, textures that are felt, thoughts that arise. All these happen in the dream state, but when we wake it is obvious that nothing real was experienced. What occurred had a conventional reality during the dream, but no one will maintain that what took place in the dream happened in the same way things happen in our waking state. The dream was a
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series of mental projections: it had a conventional, temporary reali- ty, but not an ultimate one. Because the dream lacks an enduring self-nature, we can say that it is empty.
We can think of our perception of the waking world in just such a way. All sorts of ideas, emotions, concepts and reactions arise in us. Things we experience can make us happy, sad, or angry, can in- crease our attachment or aversion. But even though all these thoughts and responses arise, none has any nature of its own: we should not take them to be real- they are simply ongoing mental projections produced by particular circumstances. For this reason we can again say that our experience is empty, because it lacks any ultimate self-nature. We can say that no aspect of our experience, of the outer phenomenal world or the inner mental world, has one atom of reality. Nothing we experience is anything more than the mind's perception of its own projections, the reality of which is only conventional.
By understanding this and coming to experience it, teachers such as Milarcpa can demonstrate miracles and make things happen contrary to the normal laws that govern the universe. If the universe were something ultimately real in its own right, its laws would be in- violable, and miraculous events impossible. In fact, the laws govern- ing conventional reality are flexible, and once we realize this we have at least some limited power to manipulate the phenomenal world.
If it is the case that all experience is only the projection of mind, what determines the way in which our perceptions take place? The force that influences the way in which mind experiences the world is karma, actions and their results.
On the basis of fundamental ignorance about the real nature of mind, karmic tendencies and other obscurations develop. The fun- damental state of unawareness is like the earth, in which seeds can be planted. The seeds represent karmic predispositions, which are reinforced by physical, mental and verbal actions. Once a seed is planted, it needs support from the earth, and nourishment, water, light, heat: without these, it remains inert. When all the requisite circumstances are present, the seed germinates, grows, flowers and multiplies. In the same way, the tendency established and rein- forced by an action is stored in the fundamental state of confusion
and remains latent until circumstances in the environment or in the mind itself provide a channel by which the tendency emerges and comes to fruition as an active part of our experience.
As human beings we exist in a relatively superior state. This is a result of positive karmic tendencies reinforced by virtuous ac- tions- mental, verbal and physical- in countless previous lifetimes. All human karma is similar enough for all of us to experience more or less the same world: we have engaged in actions that result in similar, if not identical, impressions of what the world is like.
In addition to this general karma, there is also individual kar- ma, which accounts for the particular variations in the experience of each and every being. To be greedy or to steal establishes a tendency which, if reinforced, results in experiences of poverty and want, often in a future lifetime. On the other hand, to be generous, materially or otherwise, establishes conditions which, if reinforced, result in prosperity. Deliberate acts of killing establish a tendency which, if reinforced, results in a great deal of sickness and shortness of life, whereas to protect and respect life is conducive to good health and longevity. In short, while human beings share general qualities that are common to the human condition, some are richer or poorer than others, happier or unhappier, healthier or unhealthier, longer or shorter lived.
So, karma has both general and specific aspects, which together account for our group and individual experience. To understand the nature of that experience, however, and how the karmic process of cause and effect works, we have to understand the nature of mind. To understand the nature of mind, and to attain direct experience of i t - Mahamudra Realization- we have to meditate.
In Mahamudni practice there is an advanced level of realiza- tion called ro chik [ro gcig] in Tibetan, meaning "one taste. " At this point the sameness of subject and object becomes apparent, and causality becomes empirically obvious. We can see a given cause leading to a given effect.
How is it that we do not have this experience already? What prevents us from directly apprehending the nature of mind right now? There are four basic reasons, the Four Faults.
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The first reason is that for us the mind is too close (nye drak [nye drags]) to be recognized. Since the moment we were born and began using our eyes, we have never seen our own faces directly. In our present situation mind can experience anything but cannot see its own nature.
The second reason is that the experience is too profound (sap drak [zab drags]) for us to fathom. We are like people looking at the surface of the ocean: we guess it to be deep, but we have no idea how deep it actually is. If we could fathom Mahamudra, we would be enlightened, because to fathom it would be to realize it and to realize it means to be a Buddha.
The third reason is that Mahamudra is too easy (Ia drak [sla drags]) for us to believe. For someone who has really understood and experienced it, Mahamudra is the easiest thing in the world. There is nothing to do: we don't have to cross oceans to get to it, there are no mountains to climb. The only thing necessary is bare awareness of the ultimate nature of mind, which is always there. Beyond that, there is nothing to d o - but we really can't believe Mahamudra can be so easy to do, or rather not do. It requires only that we rest in the nature of mind.
The fourth reason is that enlightenment is too excellent (zang drak [bzang drags]) for us to accommodate. Buddhahood is the complete unfolding of the mind's infinite potential, which can take an infinite number of different forms and has qualities we never find in an ordinary person. The immense potential of Buddhahood doesn't fit into our narrow way of thinking, and we really cannot ac- commodate the notion that such a state is the real nature of our mind.
Given these difficulties, what must we do to experience the nature of mind directly? There are two fundamental elements in this transformation: (1) our own efforts to purify evil actions and obscurations, and to develop merit and awareness; and (2) devotion to our Lama, who plays an indispensable part in bringing about our transformation. These two elements together bring about Mahamudra Realization.
The pure, fundamental nature of mind, without confusion or obscuration, is known as Co-emergent Primordial Awareness (len che ye she [lhen skyes ye shes]). Primordial Awareness, inherently
the nature of mind, and free of obscuring factors, is co-emergent with consciousness (nam she [mam shes]). One text tells us that the only means of realizing Co-emergent Primordial Awareness are our own efforts in purifying faults and developing merit and awareness and our devoion to and reliance on a qualified Lama. Any other ap? proach is a waste of time. These two elements, of effort and devo? tion, must go together, and that is why they are combined in physical practices like prostration, verbal practices like prayer and mantra, and mental practices like visualization and meditation. To use these faculties is to eliminate the fourth karmic level of obscura? tion; we counterbalance negative tendencies, and eventually remove them as sources of confusion. Specifically, through shi nay medita- tion we develop stability or calmness of mind; that means that our mind can rest in a given state without distraction or confusion. At that point we begin to eliminate the third level of obscuration, emo? tional afflictions.
The next phase of meditation is insight into the nature of mind using the techniques of lha tong. This is often called the experience of selflessness which has two aspects: the absence of a personal self, and the non-existence of all phenomena as independent entities. We begin to realize that the self and the objects we perceive as external lack any ultimate reality. With experience of this insight, the second obscuration is eliminated, that of the habitual tendencies to dualistic clinging.
Now through the practices of Mahamudra meditation we move from a state of ignorance to a state of direct perception and ex- perience of the fundamental nature of mind. When ignorance has been transformed into Primordial Awareness the first, most subtle level of obscuration, the obscuration of the fundamental ignorance, is removed. This is complete Enlightenment.
These terms and practices seem formidable, but this is not to say that it necessarily requires a great deal of work to attain enlightenment and realize Mahamudra. It depends on cir- cumstances. If a person has matured through lifetimes of purifica? tion and development, with a great accumulation of Merit and Awareness, then an instantaneous transformation can take place when a skillful, enlightened teacher is met.
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Devotz"on to the Lama
An important stage in the practice of Mahamudra is medita- tion upon the Lama, who is conceived of as the union of all blessing and inspiration. The teacher is visualized either in the sky in front of us or on the crown of the head. We pray one-pointedly for the Lama's blessing, and afterwards meditate that the form of the guru dissolves into us. Thereafter, we simply let the mind rest in its natural state. By that point we actually are in Mahamudra medita- tion.
The importance of the Lama is characteristic of the Vajrayana, and is not found in the Hinayana or Mahayana. It is true that pray- ing to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and taking Refuge in them is an effective way to attain Enlightenment, but it is more gradual than the Vajrayana way ofestablishing a working relationship with a Lama. The Vajrayana contains teachings that can take one to the experience of complete Enlightenment in this lifetime. The Lama is the one who bestows those teachings. That is why the Lama is so crucial in tantric practice, and why Mahamudra teachings, which are part of tantric practice, place such emphasis on the student's relationship with the Lama.
Someone of the highest abiltities, engaged in Mahamudra practice, has intense faith in his or her Lama, and intense compas- sion for all other beings. He or she understands that while every sen- tient being has the potential to become enlightened, all the confu- sion and obscurations preventing the direct experience of mind create endless suffering and frustration. That understanding is the source of compassion. In all practice of Dharma, whatever tech- nique or meditation is employed, taking Refuge with great faith should be followed by the development of Bodhicitta.
Every Buddha who has achieved Enlightenment in the past has done so through first giving rise to Bodhicitta, the deep wish that our practice be not only for our own benefit, but for the benefit and eventual Enlightenment of every sentient being. In fact, it is because we are so concerned with our own interests, and so little with others' welfare, that we continue to wander in confusion, reinforcing our involvement with samsara. That is why concern for the happiness and Liberation of others is crucial to Dharma practice.
Finally, this best type of person has intense dedication and diligence in practice, so that any task required is carried through with ardor. If all these qualities come together in the practitioner, a very rare transformation can take place. Most people, however, are not of such superior capabilities. How does someone, matured through previous lifetimes, but still at a lower level of preparation, go about attaining ultimate awareness? just as clouds keep us from seeing the sun, thick levels of obscuration in our mind keep us unaware of the nature of mind. The function of our practice is to dispel those obscurations until direct experience of the mind can take place.
You need not give up in despair, thinking, "It's hopeless. I have so many obscurations it will take me lifetimes to get rid of them. " We are not meant to feel like that.
Rapid transformation is the pur- pose of the wonderfully effective teachings of the Buddha. If you practice regularly, even for a few hours, even a few minutes, you can eliminate the confusions and obscurations that took aeons to ac- cumulate. That is the special blessing and efficacy of the Dharma.
Practice
For Mahamudra meditation to develop properly, our physical posture should be as straight as possible- not tense or rigid but erect and relaxed. In fact, relaxation of body, speech and mind is very important in meditation. With reference to speech, the jaws should not be clenched, nor should any of the associated muscles be tight. The lips should not be moving. The mind should not be tense or forced in any particular direction.
Once we have assumed a properly relaxed posture, we can try the following technique, searching for the "Origin, Location, and Direction" of mind, (jung nay dro sum ['byung gnas 'gro gsum]). In this context mind means that which experiences everything we perceive, think, and feel. Being aware of this mind, we inquire: Where does it come from? Can we find any origin for it? And where is mind located? Is it anywhere inside or outside the body? Is it located in any physical organ, any particular part of the body? Or is it in the external world? When the mind moves, does it actually go anywhere?
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Does mind move in any particular direction? If so, how does it move? As long as the mind is at rest, simply dwelling in a state of clear, transparent awareness without any thought, what rests and what experiences that rest is nothing other than mind itself. When a thought arises, the mind adopts some form of expression, takes some direction. How does that come about? In this technique, we try to maintain awareness of the process by which thought arises and takes form; we try to understand the nature of the actual experience of thought arising in the mind. The point is not whether the thought is a good or bad one. We are not concerned with the content of the thought, but the nature of it. How does a thought arise in the mind? Having arisen, where is it? How and where does it stay? When it disappears, what direction does it go in? North, south, east, west, up, down? Where does it disappear to? What is the cessation of a thought?
When there is no thought in the mind, but the mind is resting in a state of clear undistracted awareness, where exactly is it? Can we locate the mind anywhere? How does the mind dwell when it dwells in this state? When we examine the mind at rest, does it have any size of shape or limiting characteristic that we can discern and define?
In this approach, then, we seek to understand the mind in terms of its origin, location and direction. In its arising, staying, and passing away, is there anything we can describe other than empty, clear and unimpeded mind? Exactly how would we describe it?
If we use this technique again and again until there is some cer- tainty about what constitutes mind and how it works, it is entirely possible that we will come to some degree of authentic realization. On the other hand, there is also the danger of fooling ourselves, of getting lost in our own confusion and coming to what we think is a definite understanding when in fact we really have not understood anything. This is precisely where a relationship with a qualified meditation teacher is important. We need someone who can explain the process, evaluate our experiences, and give advice. If we refine our meditative technique in this way, by our own efforts and with the help of a skillful teacher's advice, our experience will become stable and authentic.
It is traditionally said that when mind is not contrived it is spontaneously blissful, just as water, when not agitated, is by nature transparent and clear. This is a most accurate description. In Mahamudra meditation we should maintain a bare awareness of the nature of mind as it is, without any effort to force some particular state of consciousness, to contrive a particular experience. In that sense, the goal is to be totally relaxed in a state of naked awareness, without distraction or dullness, alert to the nature of mind.
When the mind is resting in such a state and a thought arises, has the mind which was at rest become the mind in action? Or has something else been added to the mind that was at rest, something separate from mind? Are mind and thought the same? These are questions we need to be aware of while meditating.
When the mind is resting in this clear state of undistracted awareness, without any actual thoughts arising, the capacity that is aware of that state of being (and which is aware of mind in motion when mind is active and thoughts arise) is the mind's own Awareness. Are the mind at rest, the mind in motion, and the mind's Awareness different or identical?
These questions belong to another approach recognized in the Mahamudra tradition known as "The States of Rest, Movement, and Awareness," (nay ju rik sum [gnas 'gyu rig gsum]). If you work with this approach and come to what you feel is a significant ex- perience, you can then consult the Lama whose judgment will help you determine whether it is authentic or not, and whether or not you are working in the right direction. As in the previous approach, a certain "pointing out" (ngo tro [ngo sprod]) of your experience by a skillful Lama will be very beneficial.
Mistakes and Misunderstandings
If you understand the nature of these teachings and practice them well, there is perhaps no single more effective approach to the attainment of complete Enlightenment. But without understanding and effective practice, you are open to all sorts of errors. Without thorough understanding you may overemphasize one aspect or another of the teaching and thus distort it. For example, you might
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isolate the statement that phenomena, mind and experience are all empty, and develop a nihilistic view, thinking that nothing matters because everything is empty; that karma, virtuous and non-virtuous action, Enlightenment, and non-enlightenment do not exist. This is perhaps the single most harmful wrong view you could possibly develop.
It is true, of course, that the teachings say that mind and all ex- perience are empty. But the proper approach is to understand first the subjective nature of experience- that everything we perceive of the outer world, the physical body and the inner workings of our mind, is a projection and expression of mind. Having understood that, we return to the mind to determine that it is indeed essentially empty of limiting characteristics. But simply to understand this is not enough. You have to experience it through meditation. Only then, when you have directly realized the emptiness of mind and all experience, might you perhaps say: "Now I am not subject to the karmic process, the causal relationship between action and ex- perience. " Until you have had the direct realization of Emptiness that cuts the karmic process, karma is still unfailing and in- escapable. Positive deeds will continue to give rise to positive results, and negative deeds give rise to negative ones. This is not something you can change in any way. It is simply the way the karmic process unfolds as long as you have not had the Realization of the Emptiness of mind and all experience.
In following the Mahamudra path of meditation, there are many other possibilities for error. For example, if the mind lacks alertness, the result is not pure meditation at all, but stupidity. To reinforce this situation by taking it as the basis of meditative ex- perience leads to rebirth in the desire realm as an animal, especially one given to lethargy, like a crocodile, or creature that hibernates for months on end.
Even positive signs in the development of our meditation can become obstacles. In Mahamudra practice we can distinguish three basic forms of positive experience: states of bliss (de wa [bde ba]), states of clarity (sal wa [gsal ba]), and states of non-conceptual awareness (mi tok pa [mi rtog pa]).
If, for example, an experience of bliss arises and we cling to it or reinforce it, we fall into an error of limitation. Such practice will
definitely contribute to a higher rebirth, among the gods of the Desire Realm, for example. But the meditation is unstable, and its results subject to exhaustion; it will not take us to a pure state of Realization beyond the cycle of rebirth.
If experiences of clarity arise, clinging to them leads to rebirth in one or another of the seventeen levels of gods in the Form Realm, still in the cycle of samsara. Should the experience of non- conceptual awareness arise in meditation, and Emptiness itself become an object of clinging, this kind of meditation, if reinforced, will still lead to rebirth in one or another of the four levels of the Formless Realm of samsara, and we will remain in the cycle of con- ditioned existence.
Such errors are possible until we actually attain Liberation from samsara. It is, therefore, important not to abandon the prac- tice of purifying ourselves by eliminating negative tendencies and developing positive ones such as compassion, wholesome aspiration, and so on. All these are very important.
Perhaps the best way to conclude this brief introduction to Mahamudra is with the words of Tilopa when his student, the great pandit Naropa, had his first experience of Mahamudra Realization under Tilopa's guidance:
"Naropa, my son, never be separate from practices which develop your Merit and deepen your Awareness. Merit and Awareness are like the two wheels on the chariot that is taking you to Enlightenment. "
Questions and Answers
QUESTION: If mind is intrinsically pure, where do obscurations come from?
ANSWER: In Buddhism, we do not try to ascribe an origin to ig- norance. We do not say that at some point the mind became unable to see itself and lost the direct experience of its own pure nature. Rather, we speak of the beginningless cycle of existence, and accept that as long as there was mind, there was ignorance, co-emergent (len chik che wa [lhan gcig skyes ba]) with mind itself. As mind arises, so does ignorance, and in our present state we cannot speak of mind separate from ignorance. Funher distortion takes place; the
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essential Emptiness of mind is distorted into a subjective leaning toward something that appears existent in itself. Rather than ex- periencing directly the essential Emptiness of mind, we experience a self.
Buddhist texts do not exaggerate when they say that our greatest enemy is clinging to a self. Why? We are caught in a situa- tion where mind is incapable of directly experiencing its own essen- tial emptiness, and instead posits a self that must be sustained. We thus develop all the needs and wants that must be gratified in order to maintain such a self. Suffering comes from the endless search to satisfy that which cannot be satisfied. "I'' leads to "I am" which leads to "I want" and so on.
The fundamental level of ignorance, the first level of obscura- tion in the mind, is the mind's inability to recognize its own nature. Moreover, mind is not simply empty. It has another aspect, its Clar- ity, which is its ability to experience all sensory impressions, thoughts, emotions and ideas. Because of fundamental ignorance, this aspect of the mind is also taken to be something different: the objects we perceive are seen not as expressions of the mind's Clarity, but as existent in and of themselves, separate from the mind. A dualistic split has occurred between the self which is posited, and an object understood to be separate from it. This duality and the cling? ing to it is the obscuration of habitual tendencies, the second level of mental obscuration.
Thus in our present situation, we already have a degree of ig? norance which causes us to experience a self as something ultimately real. Further, the Clarity of mind has been distorted into something objective, seen as completely separate from the mind and ultimately real.
This condition will continue forever if we do not attain Enlightenment. We cannot expect it simply to fade away. On the contrary, if we do not transcend the obscurations which led to this distortion, the state is permanent. It will continue to reinforce itself as long as we do not attain Enlightenment.
Even when we go to sleep, this dualism carries over from the waking state. In an entirely different realm, where the projections of the mind arise in dreams, there is still the perception of "I" and "other," the self and something outside it. This division permits all
the other more complex aspects of the dream state, such as pleasure, happiness, pain and so on.
In the future, when each of us comes to die, and our physical bodies are gone, even in that totally disembodied state, where there can be no physical basis for consciousness, there is a continued im- pression of embodiment, and the dualistic habit of mind continues: experiences arising in the mind are projected into an environment, and experienced as something other than mind itself.
The third aspect of mind is its Unimpededness. In a pure state this is simply the mind's spontaneous cognitive activity, but when we are caught in the split between subject and object, the thought arises, "That object is good, I want it," and so attraction and attach- ment form. Or we think, "That threatens me, that's bad," and repulsion and aversion develop. There is also another possi- bility-that of simple stupidity, of not understanding the situa- tion at all, but being caught up in the whole illusion. The three fun- damental poisons or patterns of emotional reaction- attachment, aversion and stupidity-enter here, and from them develops an abundance of emotions, which we traditionally call the eighty-four thousand emotions that afflict the mind. The distortion of the Unimpededness of mind forms the third level of obscuration, the obscuration of emotional afflictions.
When we speak about the three realms of the universe-the Desire, Form and Formless Realms-we are talking about the distorted side of the pure nature of mind, which itself is essentially empty, clear in nature and unobstructed in manifestation.
What pertains on the general level to the universe also applies to the individual unenlightened being: the experience of a self is a distorted perception of the direct experience of the essential emp? tiness of mind; the experience of speech is the distorted perception of the clear nature of mind; and the experience of the physical body is the distorted perception of the unimpeded manifestation of mind. With this threefold distortion we produce not only samsaric ex- istence in general, but also the body, speech, and mind of an in- dividual being.
Because of these distortions, we behave in various ways. Physically, verbally and mentally, we react through emotional af- fliction, which through repetition becomes habitual. Once habits
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are established, they lead to yet further actions which, like all ac- tions, lead to specific results later on. Causality connects our ex- periences with our actions. This is kannic obscuration. In this way, our basic confusion, our ignorance of the fundamental nature of mind is hannful to ounelves and othen.
We can think of these four levels of confusion (fundamental ig- norance, duality, emotional afflictions, unskillful action) as depen? dent upon one another. Basic ignorance is the mind's failure to ex- perience the Primordial Awareness which is its own nature. From this fundamental ignorance develops the dualistic clinging to self and othen as separate, independent entities. This is the second level of obscuration. The third level of obscuration, the mental afflic- tions, emerge from dualistic clinging. Finally, based upon emotional afflictions, the fourth level, kannic obscuration, develops, wherein all these unskillful, negative tendencies are reinforced through physical, verbal and mental actions.
In our present condition as unenlightened beings, we ex- perience all four levels at the same time. The inherent purity of mind has not been lost, but it is so veiled that we experience a great mass of obscuration. Confusion coven the pure nature of the mind as clouds cover the sun. The single element binding all this confu- sion together is the clinging to the reality of a self.
Until all these levels of confusion and obscuration are eliminated, Enlightenment cannot arise. We must recover the original purity and transparency of water now polluted by sediment; we must dispene the clouds veiling the sun, so we can see clearly and receive its wannth directly. Once we undentand through medita? tion the Emptiness of mind, its Clarity and Unimpededness, the in- tense constriction produced by clinging to self and phenomena begins to diminish.
QUESTION: My emotions seem as real as my body and the world around me. They interfere with my practice. What can I do about it?
ANSWER: At present, we are instinctively sure that we exist and have a mind. We are intensely aware of the physical body. We think, my body, and tend to regard the two, body and mind, as one. So we tend to experience emotions on the physical and mental levels
simultaneously, as if they were somehow inherent in both. In fact, the origin of all emotion is mental. Ultimately speaking, the way these emotions arise in the mind has nothing to do with the body. We have simply conditioned the mind to experience them as if there were some physical origin for any emotion. In fact, the mind is like a stem king, and the body like a humble servant. It is the body's func- tion to follow the orders of the mind, which it does without any iden- tity of its own. If there were no desire in the mind, there would be none in the body. Likewise, if the mind is without anger, so is the body.
Our problem now is that we experience mind and body as a unity, so whatever comes up in the mind we wish to translate im- mediately into physical action. When desire or anger arise in the mind, we hurry to express it on a physical level. Our sole mode of ex- perience seems to be that emotions arise in mind and body simultaneously. Yet this is not the case. If it were, then when the mind and body are separated at death, the corpse would continue to feel desire and anger, and act accordingly.
What is necessary is to understand how emotions arise in the mind, and how the physical body is based upon the projection of mind. We must understand more about the nature of mind itself, and see the intangibility of thoughts and emotions that arise from an essentially empty state of mind.
Since thoughts and emotions-attachment, aversion, envy, pride, and so on-are insubstantial and intangible, then we need not go to all the trouble of expressing them physically or verbally. Even if we do not have direct meditative experience, a great deal of difficulty can be eliminated simply by intellectually understanding that mental projections are as intangible and empty as mind itself. Nagarjuna, the great Indian siddha and scholar, said:
All things are realized when Emptiness is realized. Nothing is realized when Emptiness is not realized.
If one has this basic understanding of the Emptiness of mind and its projections, then any method of meditation will be effective. Without it, no technique will work.
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QUESTION: Doesn't the desire for Enlightenment contradict the teachings that say desire is a bad thing?
ANSWER: We have to want Enlightenment, because we must start from where we are right now-afflicted with a great deal ofdualistic attachment. Since our experiences are governed by a sense of "I" and that "I" therefore wants "things," let us at least make what we want something worthy-Enlightenment. As we actually get closer to that Enlightenment, the need to want it becomes less powerful. As we progress through the first, second and third Bodhisattva levels, we experience an increasing awareness of the Emptiness of the self, and of the true nature of mind. This brings a gradual lessening of our desire for Enlightenment.
We can illustrate this rather simply. When you staned this morning from wherever you were in New York to come here, you first had the strong thought in your mind, "I'm going to the teaching. " The closer you got, the less you needed to worry about it, because you were getting closer. When you finally arrived here, there was no point in thinking, "I've got to get to the teaching," because you had already arrived. Dualistic desire for Enlightenment is gradually dispelled and need not be considered an obstacle; in a certain way, it is essential.
QUESTION: How can one practice Mahamudra if one does not have regular contact with one's Lama?
ANSWER: If we are not able to be in close proximity to our Lama, it does not mean that we cannot receive blessing and inspiration and guidance from that teacher. If we really have faith in our teacher, it does not matter how far away we are or how seldom we see our Lama. It is our own faith, devotion and prayers which bring about the benefits. If such faith is lacking, we could sleep at the Lama's feet and derive no benefit.
QUESTION: When I try to meditate, my mind keeps wandering. What should I do?
ANSWER: In order to meditate properly, it is necessary to have practiced shi nay, tranquility meditation. This will pacify all disturbing emotions and allow your mind to remain in one- pointedness.
When you first start tranquility meditation, the experience is like water rushing from a mountain top: the mind just keeps run-
ning, full of many thoughts. Later, at the second stage, the mind is like the same river when it reaches the plains, running slowly and steadily. Later still, in the last stage, the water in the river reaches the sea and dissolves into it.
Diligence and devotion will help you calm the mind in this way, and then you will be able to meditate properly.
