BUDDHA IN THE MUD is a blog – a living book based on the Dzogchen teachings. Our teacher is life, and life is karma. We are all Buddhas in the mud of concepts.

Bodhisattva Vow

The right intention.

There are nine levels of bodhisattvas, up to enlightenment. This vow to work for the benefit of others is not to be taken lightly; taking this vow means one’s life will never be the same again.

Bodhisattva Vow

Just as the earth and the other three elements, together with space,
eternally nourish and sustain all beings, 
so may I become that source of nourishment and sustenance
which maintains all beings situated throughout space, 
as long as all have not attained peace.

When the Sugatas of former times committed themselves to the Bodhicitta, 
they gradually established themselves in the practice of a Bodhisattva.
So do I commit myself to the Bodhicitta for the welfare of beings,
and will gradually establish myself in the practice of a Bodhisattva.

Today, my birth has become fruitful; my birth as a human is justified.
Today I am born in the Buddha family; I am now a child of the Buddha.

Now I am determined to perform those acts appropriate to my family;
I will not violate the purity of this faultless noble family.

Just as a blind man wandering about comes upon a jewel in a heap of refuse,
so apparently by chance, the Bodhicitta is born in me.

That supreme amrita destroying death. 
The inexhaustible hidden treasure relieving the universal poverty.

The supreme cure for calming the universal ill. 
The tree which shelters beings weary of wandering the paths of samsara.

The vehicle for all travellers passing over distress. 
The moon of mind which cools the heat of desire.

The great sun dispelling the obscurity of ignorance. 
The butter made from churning the milk of the Dharma.

The great happiness for those travellers wandering the path of samara,
searching for objects of enjoyment.

In the presence of all the Buddhas, I have invited the Tathagatas and all beings as my guests. 
Devas and Asuras rejoice.

“Taking the Bodhisattva vow is an expression of settling down and making ourselves at home in this world. We are not concerned that somebody is going to attack us or destroy us. We are constantly exposing ourselves for the benefit of sentient beings. In fact, we are even giving up our ambition to attain enlightenment in favour of relieving the suffering and difficulties of people.

“Nevertheless, helplessly, we attain enlightenment anyway. Bodhisattvas and great tathagatas in the past have taken this step, and we too can do so. It is simply up to us whether we are going to accept this richness, or reject it and settle for a poverty-stricken mentality.”

– Chogyam Trungpa. 


Unless We Practise

Unless we practise, we won’t know what the words mean. 
But what do we practise? 

We practise being aware of both the habitual patterns in our mind which cause conflict, and that which observes this pattern of behaviour.

We can talk about Madhyamaka, Abhidharma, and this or that Sutra; we can chant text, wave vajras … but if we cannot control our arrogance that destroys genuine kindness, then our practice is useless. When we become academics, we become isolationists to protect ourselves and shun others.

Practice is to practise change.

(Grammar alert: practice is something to do, while practise is actually doing it.)

We Don’t Have To Agree With Teachers

To say that we don’t have to agree with teachers is not to say that they’re wrong, but that their approach may not suit us. 

It all depends at what level someone is speaking; something that may be right for one person may feel like hell to another as it’s too restrictive. Of course, we need discipline, but if we’re disciplined already, we can go nuts.

This is why certain eastern practices may not be suitable for westerners. If something works and clarity is the result, then fine, but if we’re pushing ourselves and just going through a comforting routine, then we need to think again.

One pill (or approach) does not suit all. 
That way leads to dogma.

Why Are We So Ready To Believe?

Why are we so ready to believe?
Stimulation.

Stimulation:
Encouragement of something to make it develop or become more active.
The action of arousing interest, enthusiasm, or excitement.
The raising of levels of physiological or nervous activity in the body, or any biological system.

From birth, we are over-stimulated by stories, and then news. Once we’re stimulated, we want more, as a result of dopamine addiction. We merely have to watch people ‘engaged’ in life – inside the box, excited to take sides in stories, and limiting their use of language.

This is the same as Plato’s cave dwellers, who believe that the shadow projections on the wall are the only reality, while remaining unaware that they are, in fact, the reality of observation. 

Pure consciousness is never stimulated, 
while the mind and body are. 

Pure consciousness is our true reality – take it back.
Wake up to being worked. 

Until We Acknowledge Suffering

Until we acknowledge suffering, we will never realise the truth of suffering, or its cause. 
Why not? Because we are either satisfied with how things are now, or we cover up dissatisfaction with form. 
Form: a mould of ideas we acquire and live by.

We may talk about suffering and about the cause of suffering, and we may even chant and practice meditation, but if we have merely adopted the form, we’re of no use to anyone. 

Until we feel the genuine horrendous-ness of how we exist, we will not look at why there is the suffering of confusion and arrogance in the world. The real cause of suffering is a belief in a self-image created by adopting the behaviour of communities oblivious to any sense of reality. That suffering is anything to which we cling, such as hope.

It is pure consciousness beyond form that acknowledges this charade. This clear light eliminates suffering, because we know the truth, and the cause of suffering.

The simpler the Dharma becomes, the more we recognise the complexities which obscure our true reality.

We Are Different, But Not In Essence

We are all different in our understanding and confusion, but not in essence. Our problem is that we are indoctrinated with words and names, which causes conflict and division – and is meant to. “By whom?” By subtle Mara activity. 

This happens in all traditions; 
there are followers and there are realisers,
and communication between the two is rare.

If we take the subject of ‘self’ and ‘Self’ – meaning our ordinary self and our higher being – these are both designations. The concept of a higher Self is still an idea; it is time-related, and so remains a duality. We start to think and act as if we have a higher self, but who is ‘we’? Enter: the building blocks of subtle confusion.

It doesn’t matter what we call our original essence, it’s always purely aware, pure consciousness. In this realisation, there are no names and no relating to cling to or defend. It cannot be found, only realised in silent awareness.

Mara’s work is confusion and conflict at a very subtle level. 
This is why people cannot truly converse as they are stuck in words and names.

Don’t take anyone’s words for the truth.
The wise just see and drop whatever is seen
= no clinging.

Sharing Being

When we realise what happiness is, and what life is all about,
we want to share it. 

This is not a theory;
we are pure awareness.

Others may not agree,
but we still share.

Interaction Is Our Teacher

Our path isn’t about what we know; that is the path of fame and gain. Our path is transforming information into wisdom – genuine experience – otherwise, we are doing Mara’s work. 

It is only through our interactions that we can test our realisation. How we react indicates the level at which we’re working – do we want to communicate or just compete?

The person we’re communicating with is our teacher. By avoiding interaction, we want to feel safe, and that is not the path to enlightenment; that is being imprisoned by facts and concepts.

We may be very good at repeating our history books, 
but we totally miss the present moment.

The Vicious Cycle Of Boredom

Boredom has two aspects:

• Constantly seeking novelty to alleviate a feeling of pointlessness that becomes an addiction.
• The meditative state of neither accepting nor rejecting anything; everything is therefore fresh because of detachment.The vicious cycle of boredom, 
  and the wisdom of boredom.

Whatever Is Known Is The Past

Whatever is known is the past.
Knowing is now.

Arrogance is thinking we know.
Wisdom is now.

It’s not what we know;
it’s how we are that matters.

Surrounded By Mara Activity

The news, media, people’s everyday comments … when was the last time you heard something worthwhile? Humans can create beautiful and clever things, but there comes a time in life when we have to make a decision about whether to follow the crowd, or go in another direction. 

When we choose to step out of Mara activity, life changes, and we see things differently. What we saw as trivia now becomes a teaching. 

Mara activity: “Trust me, I know”.
Realising this is a blessing.

What We Say Makes No Difference

What we say makes no difference.
How we are makes the difference.
🙂

Only A Few In Heaven?

What if there are only a few beings in heaven?

So where are the rest?
Here, swapping philosophies. 
🙂

Hell is ignoring heaven, the pure state of mind.

The Path Of No Hardship

Being aware is what we all do, but we are unaware of awareness itself. We are aware of things ‘out there’, and thoughts about things ‘out there’, but we’re rarely aware of awareness. This awareness is what we are.

That’s not difficult to realise, is it? Now, when we sit in silence, just being aware, we notice that there is nothing else. That is pure awareness – pure consciousness. That is what we are. Thoughts may distract us, but all the while, pure consciousness is present.

If, however, we give no value to this reality, then pure consciousness just becomes another fantasy, and we go looking for something more interesting to engage us.

And we are back into conflict and hardship.

Being Inspired

We (consciousness) can be inspired by positivity. At a deeper level, we (consciousness) can also be inspired by negativity. It all depends on our understanding and capacity.

When we’re in exoteric mode – seeker mode – we look for good things to up lift us. 
When we’re in esoteric mode – finder mode – we already know what’s good, and see negative things as a great reminder that the reactions in our mind are merely illusions, acknowledged by the essence of mind – pure consciousness.

Only looking for good things is the trap of clinging. 

Everything is ‘grist for the mill’, meaning it’s potentially useful;
life is a test to see if we are working properly.

‘Grist for the mill’ originates from the practice of farmers taking their grain to the mill to have the miller grind it into flour. 

Life Is A Test

Life is a test to see if we’re working properly.

The test: 
Do we function in clarity, or in pride and fear?

What If We See The World Differently?

Is that anti-social? 

The Buddha saw that life has meaning.

Introverts look inwards; extroverts look out. 
Are introverts anti-social?

We live in confused times.

How Do We Know When We’re Right?

We are the only ones to know rightness, not intellectually, but in actuality. We can’t rely on anyone else to say, “You’re right.” They can only say, “I found that also.” 

The indication of rightness is the gap of clarity. We know rightness in the pause that follows the question, “Am I right?” It is we who have to realise the truth of that empty space, never obtainable from a book. 

Truth which never changes is reading the words. What we then do or say is down to our experience.

Every Experience Points Back To Pure Consciousness

Every experience points back to pure consciousness.
That’s ‘it’.

It isn’t the experience that is ultimate truth;
that which experiences is the ultimate truth.

No Words, No Conflict

Of course, we need a few words to get through life, 
– the same as we need a little ego –
but using words to promote ego only leads to conflict.

Addiction to words = addiction to conflict.

Meditation promotes loving kindness … or it should. 

🙂

Intellectualisation Never Finds Inner Peace

Intellectualisation never finds inner peace, only conflict. We become a type – armchair philosophers dwelling in the fabric of the mind. If we don’t practise and experience, we’re in danger of mixing metaphors. This causes us to flex our mental muscles at others. 

The Buddha said, “Do not take my words for the truth; test them for yourself” for this very reason.

Spread the love, not the words. 🙂

Don’t Assess Your Worth By Others’ Standards

We are all at different stages in the evolution of understanding our true reality. There is no one to impress, as most people are either book-learnt or just follow others.

This is especially so when it comes to ‘spiritual’ groups. We may not feel the same way as them. The hallmark of anyone’s worth is whether they can listen. When we realise that they can’t listen and we don’t mind, we know our worth.

What Does One Do When One Is Right?

That isn’t to say that others are wrong. Things are just right for an individual, and their set of questions. This isn’t ego as we feel confident in the experience of pure awareness, where there is nothing to hold onto. All we know is that pure awareness is always present, and that is what we are. 

So what do we do now? Try to share if we can, and learn from whatever karma brings our way, or doesn’t bring our way. For some of us, nothing much happens. If others aren’t listening, that is their path, and this serves to strengthen our path – if we have empathy.

We cannot expect any conclusion from others; 
peace begins when expectation ends.

Bored And Dissatisfied?

Bored and dissatisfied?
Good.
What is presented as ‘life’ is futile diligence.

Religion ties us up in a neat package,
and we no longer face the rawness of life.
We become lazy.

Reality is direct sensory perception without concepts.

People Like Me Shouldn’t Know

We assume that people who look the part are special, 
and if we believe, we can be special too.

The true route to enlightenment isn’t through belief,
it is realising why we are in
the mess and confusion we are in.

Enlightenment isn’t being special, it’s being ordinary
with no special or distinctive features.

Suddenly it’s glaringly obvious.