Category Archives: Uncategorized

SATISFACTION IN A UNSATISFACTORY WORLD

Satisfaction In A Unsatisfactory World Is ignorance bliss? 🙂 Satisfaction can describe either a state of ignorance or of wakefulness. ‘Ignorance’ is not knowing (a lack of awareness or knowledge): it is confusion about reality (confusion: to mingle together). In … Continue reading

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LETTING GO…?

Letting go..? We use this phrase quite a lot, but in Dzogchen there is no ‘letting go’ of thoughts. In recognition, thoughts naturally dissolve. We don’t have to do anything. When rigpa is present, grasping isn’t. When grasping is present, … Continue reading

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RIGPA: THE ALL SUFFICIENT KING

Rigpa: The All Sufficient King In Rigpa – which is pure awareness/emptiness – thoughts will still arise, because the alaya (the karmic bank) is not empty yet. We do not block thoughts, as that would be doing something to something … Continue reading

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BY NOT PRACTISING, WE ARE PRACTISING

By Not Practising, We Are Practising Once we ‘get’ pure awareness, there is nothing upon which to meditate. The only thing we do is maintain that clarity, by noting when awareness drifts away from emptiness. If the mind is sleepy … Continue reading

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THE MIND INTERPRETS EVERYTHING

The Mind Interprets Everything …while empty essence merely notes experience with one taste Depending on how the mind is set-up (programmed), it will interpret things in a certain way, which will then be seen as its norm. By this, it … Continue reading

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WHAT DO I DO, SPIRITUALLY?

What Do I Do, Spiritually? The whole point is whether your practice clarifies your understanding. All spiritual activities are about remembering to recognise awareness – the awareness of awareness – the emptiness of awareness – resting in that pure awareness. … Continue reading

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THE REASON WE ARE NOT ENLIGHTENED

The Reason We Are Not Enlightened – we miss the obvious When awareness is obsessed, the view of pure awareness is clouded. It misses the obvious – its self. This pure awareness is empty essence. When awareness relaxes, so does … Continue reading

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STANDING BACK FROM ONE’S REACTIONS = WISDOM!!!

Standing Back From One’s Reactions = Wisdom!!! If we can stand back from our (the mind’s) reactions, then we deserve a slice of divine pride 😉 We have just stepped out of karma’s programming; ours and everyone else’s. If anger … Continue reading

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WAKE-FULL-NESS: BETWEEN AWAKE AND ASLEEP

Wake-ful-ness : Between Awake And Asleep Our mind has to become as subtle as the thing it is investigating, which is mind essence. Our current consciousness is not subtle enough for this, as it consists merely of circling concepts. The … Continue reading

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EVERY DAY ‘IT’ IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT

Every Day ‘It’ Is Slightly Different If we practise and study, then every day ‘it’ (clarity) is slightly different. A better word would be refined. So, it’s not just repetition…hooray! To be more precise; the more we practise, the more … Continue reading

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PURIFICATION IS NO BIG DEAL

Purification Is No Big Deal ‘Purification’ sounds as if we have to have all the badness burnt out of us – boiled in oil, lashed till our skin falls off, crushed, humiliated and submit to the will of … 😉 … Continue reading

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DO I HAVE TO BE AWARE? ALL THE TIME?

Do I Have To Be Aware? All The Time? This is up to you. Awareness is always present; we don’t have to ‘act’ aware. We are just awareness – pure awareness. However, awareness can get caught and held by external … Continue reading

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IT IS SO EASY TO FORGET

It Is So Easy To Forget …that is why we need a focus Being confused, being angry, being unable to remember what we are supposed to be doing – it is so easy to forget. It is so easy to … Continue reading

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WELL, THAT’S ABOUT IT.

Well, That’s About It There is really nothing more to say; to say more would only be repetition and would weaken the message. As Shabkar said, “Don’t doubt.” All there is is awareness. We are pure awareness before all thoughts … Continue reading

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THE MIDDLE WAY OF THE MIDDLE WAY

The Middle Way Of The Middle Way We have to discover what the Buddha discovered. The Buddha discovered pure awareness: “Not too tight and not too loose.” Not too rigid and not too easygoing. Not too supercilious (Old Age) and … Continue reading

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BUDDHISTS BELIEVE TOO!

Buddhists Believe Too! Believing in the effectiveness of one tradition or method over another is a belief 😉 Belief is not a prerequisite in Buddhism. However, to choose to follow a certain tradition or method, we have to believe or … Continue reading

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CLARIFYING STILLNESS AND EMPTINESS

Clarifying Stillness and Emptiness There’s been a lot of interest on the topic of stillness and emptiness. The nature of mind and mind consciousness are not the same thing, and neither are they separate. The nature of mind – our … Continue reading

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THE ASYLUM IN ELYSIUM

The Asylum in Elysium Elysium: heaven, nirvana, paradise Asylum: place of refuge, or mental institution. If we look for liberation in paradise/heaven/nirvana/elysium, then we are wishing to escape from the place we are now, as we regard it either as … Continue reading

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BUDDHISM IN DAILY LIFE

Buddhism in Daily Life is Awareness in Daily Life Once we (that’s awareness itself) are aware of awareness’s true nature – pure/empty compassionate awareness – this will enhance, elevate and uplift our approach to whatever we have to deal with … Continue reading

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QUESTION QUESTION QUESTION

Question Question Question No question, no answer. An answer without a question is not the answer; it is an answer. The real Dharma is in the irritation and not in books or teachings. Our real path is our own confusion … Continue reading

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THE OPPOSITE OF TRUTH IS A LIE

The Opposite of Truth is a Lie In Buddhism, the word lie is not used: out of compassion, the terms ‘mistakes’, ‘confusion’ or ‘misperceptions’ are employed. A lie obscures the truth. This can either be a unconscious, confused idea or … Continue reading

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IN THE BEGINNING WAS NOT THE WORD…

In The Beginning Was Not The Word… it was just dressed up awareness! Ultimate truth is very simple, and is realised by recognising mistaken, conventional reality, which is also very simple but has become complex and ingrained. This is the … Continue reading

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WHAT HAS EMPTINESS EVER DONE FOR ME!?

What Has Emptiness Ever Done For Me!? All our lives, awareness has been wandering around looking for something, and not feeling satisfied. That dissatisfaction is due to the lack of clarity, and clarity is none other than emptiness. Pure awareness … Continue reading

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DON’T BLAME YOUR SELF

Don’t Blame Your Self This is the last thing we (pure/empty awareness) should do because it makes the ‘self’ seem real. ‘Self’ is merely awareness that has forgotten its pure/empty nature, thus creating an idea about itself. This creation is … Continue reading

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WHOM CAN YOU TRUST?

Whom Can We Trust? The ultimate decider to this question must be…us! Even if we are trusting something or someone outside ourselves, it is still ‘we’ who is trusting our own acknowledgement. We should, in fact, put ourselves on our … Continue reading

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ARE YOU ‘PUT OFF’ BY SPIRITUAL PEOPLE?

Are You ‘Put Off’ By Spiritual People? The Buddha said, “Not too tight and not too loose.” He could have said, “Not too wet and not too dry.” Not many of us are just moist! People seem to fall into … Continue reading

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STUCK IN MINDFULNESS

Stuck in Mindfulness A sticky problem! Mindfulness means to be aware of something. In spiritual terms, it is a useful tool: a reminder for awareness to be aware. Once awareness is remembered, we can drop mindfulness, otherwise we are over … Continue reading

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HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING?

How do we know we are doing the right thing? This is a personal dilemma. The Buddha said, “Do good; do no harm; train the mind.” This tests our conscience. It all depends on whether we talking conventionally, absolutely or … Continue reading

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WHEN THE BUDDHA’S TEACHINGS MOVE

When The Buddha’s Teachings Move When the Buddha’s teaching moves to another culture, the expression of the teaching has to adapt in order to adjust to that particular mindset. The primordial purity of the teaching never changes, but is expressed … Continue reading

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I AM A FAKE

I am a Fake I hope I am real I fear I am not Dharma is Not Complicated The nature of mind has three qualities: Emptiness…Awareness…Compassion. The nature of mind has five wisdoms: mirror-like, discriminating, equalising, all-accomplishing and all-embracing. This is … Continue reading

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ANGRY FOR NO REASON

Angry for no reason …really? Sometimes we just ‘blow up’ for no particular reason – or so it seems. Something small happens, we read or see something and maybe repeat this to someone else; we get an adverse reaction (or … Continue reading

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IS IT ESSENCE OR EGO?

Is it Essence or Ego? Essence is our essential nature, which is empty-awareness. Ego is awareness that has forgotten the emptiness of awareness, and so too, its essential nature. There is no such thing as an ego; it is merely … Continue reading

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VERIFYING PURE AWARENESS

Verifying Pure Awareness Verifying: to make sure Pure: nothing added Awareness: perception. When awareness (that’s what all sentient beings have) becomes aware of awareness, it finds only awareness. Finding nothing but awareness is known as emptiness or shunyata – that … Continue reading

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TO WHATEVER HAPPENS…

To Whatever Happens… Sometimes, the mind is lost in one of the six realms*. Sometimes, the mind is without thought. Sometimes the mind is depressed. Whatever happens, know this to be a product of karma – self programming. To whatever … Continue reading

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DON’T THINK YOU ARE AWAKE

Don’t Think You Are Awake ‘Being’ is pure essence. The opposite of ‘being’ awake is ‘being’ asleep. Asleep means ‘being’ unconscious or dreaming. Unconscious is not knowing. Dreaming is ‘being’ believing the images in the mind. All images are known … Continue reading

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SILLY BUDDHIST!

Silly Buddhist! The opposite of compassion is callousness; showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others. For years, I’ve thought that global corporations and politicians were greedy to the extent of causing suffering. When engaging with others about … Continue reading

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OTHERS’ SPIRITUALITY: HELL OR REALISATION?

Others’ Spirituality: Hell or Realisation? When we were young and wondering what life was all about, there were plenty of people to talk to – we speculated. When some of us moved into the realm of spirituality, there were fewer … Continue reading

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“I CAN’T MEDITATE.”

“I CAN’T MEDITATE” “I can’t meditate.” “You don’t want to.” “I can meditate.” “Then stop.” Meditation is not doing anything. It is merely recognising awareness – purely awareness. We get so fascinated with the contents of the mind that we … Continue reading

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CANNOT ‘KNOW’

Artificial Intelligence Cannot ‘Know’ The only true nature an A.I. robot can know is what it adds by programming into itself. It can learn faster than human beings, but cannot drop the programme; the programme cannot cease to exist. If … Continue reading

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EVERYONE TEACHES THE DHARMA…EVEN SHAKESPEARE! ;-)

Everyone teaches the Dharma…even Shakespeare! 😉 It all depends on our view: from a Dharma perspective, suicide is not the end To be, or not to be – that is the question: … (to awaken or not to awaken) Whether … Continue reading

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CONFORMING

Conforming Mimicking Does it matter? Or rather, do we think that it doesn’t matter? “No one else bothers so why should I?” Our cultural behaviour is changing. This is the effect of the Kali Yuga – selfishness – and/or it … Continue reading

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“CALLING THE GURU FROM AFAR”

“Calling The Guru From Afar” The guru here means the awakened ones, which the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha represent. These three jewels are revealed by our guru/teacher who awakens our three inner jewels, which are none other than the three … Continue reading

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THE NEED FOR CONSTANT INSPIRATION

The Need For Constant Inspiration Patrul Rinpoche said: “You know the relative to be a lie, yet still you practise the two accumulations. You realize that in the absolute there is nothing to be meditated on, yet still you practise … Continue reading

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STUDENTS AND TEACHERS – A CAN OF WORMS!

Students and Teachers – A Little Can Of Worms! It needn’t be. This is mainly about Tibetan Buddhism, but it appertains to all spiritual groups and traditions. All spiritual ideals have been acquired from another culture, apart from indigenous people … Continue reading

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WE ARE NOT TOO THICK!

We Are Not Too Thick! Being ‘thick’ is being heavy with prejudices (preconceived opinions). However, this is not all bad news as the definition of enlightenment is full cognition of the problem. So if we are aware of how thick … Continue reading

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WHY IS THE DHARMA SO EXPENSIVE?

Why Is The Dharma So Expensive? The Dharma is beyond human culture. The Dharma frees us from human cultures. The Dharma frees us from suffering. The Dharma is our true nature. We cannot buy what we already have. The outer … Continue reading

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SIMPLIFIED: THE FOUR ENLIGHTENED ACTIVITIES

Simplified: The Four Enlightened Activities Pacifying, enriching, magnetising and destroying. Attending to one’s own mind: Destroying ego’s torment = ending fixations Magnetising = compassionate space Enriching = wisdom Pacifying = inner peace Attending to others: Inner peace – pacifies Wisdom … Continue reading

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THE FOUR ENLIGHTENED ACTIVITIES

The Four Enlightened Activities Sometimes in the dharma, it isn’t always possible to find an exact meaning of a text, such as those describing – in practical terms – the four enlightened activities of Pacifying, Enriching, Magnetising and Destroying. There … Continue reading

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WHAT DOES KNOWING AWARENESS DO?

What Does Knowing Awareness Do? Knowing awareness does nothing. Knowing awareness doesn’t believe anything that arises in the the mind, or in anyone else’s mind. That is compassion in action. Knowing awareness, in essence, actually has no compassion. It is … Continue reading

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ALL WE NEED TO KNOW

All We Need To Know is Knowing Awareness There are two aspects to knowing awareness – knowing of awareness, and knowing-awareness itself. This is the difference between Alaya-vijnana and Rigpa. They are very close. Knowing of awareness; there is still … Continue reading

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