The Two Obscurations

 Quite often, we hear teachings that sow seeds, but seem to wash over us. We know they are important and meaningful. but we don’t quite catch them. Actually, I’ve heard teachings being likened to viruses: you either catch them or you don’t!

Hearing phrase frequently, it can start to be become meaningless…maybe this is partly due to ‘technical’ translations…until one day the experience clicks!

The emotional obscurations (nyon-sgrib) – obscurations that are disturbing emotions and attitudes and which prevent liberation.
The cognitive obscurations (shes-sgrib) – obscurations regarding all knowables and which prevent omniscience.
Source: The Berzin Archives

Another way of explaining these two obstacles to enlightenment: ignorance of our true nature and the maintenance of that ignorance (the reverse of this is the recognition of our true nature, and the maintenance of that).

 Tulku Urgyen:
“Meditation is simply to sustain the view – pure awareness. It is nothing other than that. Artificially trying to extend the recognition spoils it. You need to know how to allow it to continue. This is why the Dzogchen instructions are incredibly special. The whole point of Dzogchen is to sustain the continuity.”

 NB ‘sustaining’ is recognising and remembering

Tsoknyi Rinpoche:
“As a result of the first type of ignorance, we lack wisdom. Lacking an understanding of our true nature, we perceive that which is illusory and spacious to be solid and real.

The second type of ignorance is the inability to clearly understand the laws of karma and interdependence, which then results in an inaccurate relationship to the world.

“To counteract this we use the two accumulations.

“Rigpa is not something that you can extend. You have to develop a habit of recognition: you have to train in it. In fact, what you are training in is the removal of the obscurations in order to be able to see the rigpa which is always there.

 “There are two methods of doing this. One method is to get involved in creating virtue and to set about accumulating a lot of merit.

 “The other method is to look directly at rigpa.

 “To make an example of this: I have paper and I need to cut it. To cut it I need to have a knife and then to actually cut it. Accumulating merit is like making the knife. Continuing to accumulate merit is like continuing to improve the knife, but not using it to cut the paper.

 “Rigpa recognition is like actually cutting the paper. As far as these two methods are concerned, you could put a lot of effort into creating or furthering the tool that you already have by working on the accumulation of merit, but in the end you have to recognise rigpa which is the actual cutting.”