No challenge, no progress.

(part one)

I am going to write a couple of articles to illustrate the spiritual realm working in the daily worldly realm. This may be read on many levels, but it is not for the faint hearted.

The root of everything is ego clinging – it is the mind that clings to concepts about itself, and desperately holds everything together. Seeing this can be painful! Although, primordially, clarity (awareness) and emptiness are indivisible, due to not being recognised, clarity grasps at objects outside. The mind that grasps (or ‘ego clings’) becomes more gross: the clarity aspect becomes aggressive and the emptiness aspect becomes passionate. The union of these two aspects of aggression and passion is ignorance. It is said that out of that, the 84000 obscurations arise, and the expression of these (even though they don’t have a true existence) manifests as infinite variety of forms arising in one’s own mind. These are called demons, and despite the fact that they are in our own mind, they are known as obstructing spirits.

What is the immediate cause of these mara (demons) influencing us? Ego clinging. But what is the underlying cause? Surprisingly, it is our perseverance, our diligence. Why? If there is no effort, then the demons don’t have a reason to be. Laziness is a demon in itself. For all the Bodhisattvas, the demons come. We should understand that their activity comes about because of the perseverance of the Bodhisattvas (how ironic…laugh!).

It is said that from time without beginning, we have been having this continuous ego clinging, even though there is no intrinsic identity. Because of that there are many subtle events that can happen and cause reactions within us. There must be an opportunity for us to refine – because if we leave the continuity of ego clinging, that creates a equal opportunity for the demons to interfere. Remember, we are not enlightened…yet!

If there is a hole, there is a chance for wind to get in. If there is no hole, the wind can’t enter. For a yogi, if they have a hole within themselves (an ego of some sort), that creates a chance for the mara to enter. This hole comes from the constant pressure of ego clinging and that creates an opportunity for mara to penetrate.

No worries: this is merely part of the process!

For the highest practitioner, the best way to remove this is to go back to the main principle of the Dharma, which states that all phenomena arise from our own mind. The antidote is that you have to understand (intellectually) or recognise (experience) that all these forces or appearances do not truly exist – they are manifestations of our own mind…and our mind does not truly exist either. Within that realisation of the nature of mind, all these false structures completely collapse, and the train of conceptual thought of hope and fear ceases. When all this happens, negativity changes into positivity: on the basis of the bad, we experience the good. If you can deal with this, your practice will be upgraded.

If understood, the symbolic teacher, which is life itself in this relative realm, reflects the empty nature of everything. No challenge, no progress. Without this, our practice will be very flat.

Just a note: Emptiness is called Rigpa or Mahamudra (different traditions have their own names). However, there are four aspects to this: Rigpa, Rigpa expression, Rigpa display and Rigpa ornament. Rigpa itself is dry, and depending on the practitioner, could be anything from a “baby” Rigpa to something little more constant. Rigpa expression is the juice: it’s love and compassion being expressed (though a little ego is present). Rigpa display is similar, but more advanced. Rigpa ornament is constant Dharmakaya – the real deal!