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.

Feeling As If You Are Not Making Progress?

This can have the effect of us becoming half hearted and merely going through the motions, or it can be the result of us actually noticing more. Some wise person said, “There is no such thing as an enlightened person; only an enlightened attitude.”

Progress is noticing more, being more aware. We can, however, become a little disheartened, and even depressed about our progress. It is then that we need a boost. We have to remember that, until the moment of enlightenment, we will have hopes and fears – an ego, a me complex 🙂 In the final moment of the Buddhas ‘undoing’ – the revealing of enlightenment – he was attacked by images of demons’ arrows and sensual women.

We have moments of lucidity, but constantly fall back into the mundane, being more interested in worldly affairs than our spiritual evolution. Of course, we have to be aware of the world in which we live (very much so*), but it need not be all consuming. It is so easy to fall into the samsaric trap of obsessive enjoyment, frustration and addiction as there is so much going on around us – and everything has speeded up!

This is where we need to find the shock treatment…

We have to discover something that motivates us. Whatever it is, if it works – great. It’s something that brings us sharply into the present moment…wham! And then, rest…

Traditionally, this would be the four mind changes (the precious human birth, death and impermanence, karma and the shortcomings of samsara: search ‘The Four Mind Changes’ for more detail) but this doesn’t seem to have the same shock factor for modern day students).

Here is mine:

*It is worldly affairs themselves. The world is conspiring to make me stupid! Governments, corporations, media, religion, lamas, students, friends, relatives…the lot. It’s either that people cannot help themselves or it is intentional; monkey see monkey do. People merely repeat. There is so much herd stupidity around that it becomes a glaring signpost reading, “Not this way!” I don’t hold it against them as this is my spur, so THANKS! Again, this is the meaning of the two truths, of the two realities – the absolute in the relative.

To be honest, I have never met a lama or student I can actually talk to, without them just repeating jargon. The jargon never hit the spot, and there was never a meeting of minds – but it was precisely that which turned on the light! There was Mara in the righteous jargon: the clutter in space reminds us of space. Following an interview with a lama, I found that I felt pacified for a couple of minutes…or hours…or days…but it never lasted, and this frustration made me addicted to revisiting because it – what I needed to know – hasn’t been introduced clearly.

We need to stand on our own two feet. It may feel wobbly but at least we are feeling the wobble and strengthening our limbs and – more to the point – our clarity of perseverance.

Progress is practice and practise is progress.
Meditation is the practice, and progress is in our conduct,
which is the result of the six perfections.

This is the basis of our integrity.

Karma Is A Picture Show

…of the two truths

Every day – at every moment – karma presents a situation that, in the first instant, is absolutely neutral; it is an experience of pure lights, sounds, tastes, smells, sensations. Depending on the individual, this then gives rise to a mental response (more or less). Karma is the result of previous actions which expresses itself in the present moment: if we remain neutral, no further karma is produced. We usually don’t notice the absolute, neutral state as we have become well and truly caught up in the picture. Just like going to the cinema – if we can step back a little we will recognise and learn something, and find freedom from the screen upon which we are fixating. We are in the present moment more frequently than we think, but that present moment-ness turns into a vacant state.

If we understand that everything is impermanent, we may find beauty both in the situation, and within ourselves. It is in the very understanding that everything is impermanent that the beauty of absolute reality is revealed.

In the autumn, the leaves fall. It’s part of nature’s impermanent beauty. If we are too preoccupied with our fixed view of life, we will miss the beautiful changing of colours. It is the impermanence that is beautiful: if it always stayed the same, we wouldn’t notice anything. Thank goodness for impermanence! A moment’s meeting with another is open and beautiful…after that, fixations close in!

Karma is showing us our reactions and our secondary ‘self’ nature. These reactions are the demon’s tools for imprisoning us (pure awareness) in a samsaric state. This is why the relative world is so important in order to realise absolute reality. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is all in the simplicity of spontaneous presence – not being too preoccupied with the next moment!

It is precisely because of recognising impermanence
that absolute reality is known
That is the unity of the two truths!

We are imprisoned by things that have no permanence,
kept in an illusory prison by our belief that everything is solid and real.
Once we recognise the impermanence of the conventional world,
the prison walls collapse.

We may still have to play our part in the game
because we could appear crazy 😉

Do Things Just Happen?

How can they? There is always a cause, because ‘things’ have parts: they are the result of a coming together of conditions. We call this karma, or perhaps good or bad luck. It’s the same thing. It is complex but there doesn’t seem to be any other answer as to why things happen. God’s will doesn’t hold up to investigation: it is lazy thinking, and takes away personal responsibility.

Of course, we can be born into a ‘bad’ situation, and whether we want to call this bad luck or karma, we still have to deal with it as best we can. Bad luck or karma is not a punishment: if we see it as such, further attitudes with then arise, spiralling down into a darker prison. If we just see it as a result, the original of which is unknown, then our reaction will be neutral: we will then just deal with the situation as best we can. Reacting creates karma, whereas neutrality does not. Neutrality does not mean doing nothing: rather, it means being without bias.

Generally, we can see why things happen to us, by looking at our past, our karmic tendencies and the nature with which we were born. But it is not so easy to see the karmic background of others as that is their story.

Of course, now comes the question, “Why were we born with a certain nature?” Again, this may be termed good or bad luck, or karma. Either way, we still have to deal with things as they are now.

‘The nature we are born with’: this is a tricky area, because it might presuppose reincarnation which is not a readily provable thing. We all have tendencies which may differ from other members of our family, and we may even feel we have done ‘this’ before. This in itself is not proof of reincarnation for everyone, so there is an acceptance that we all have certain leanings and we deal with that.

“Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could,
but somewhere in my youth or childhood,
I must have done something good.”
From the “Sound of Music.”

Confusing Truths
Absolute mind and relative mind.
Absolute mind in a relative world.

When we first hear about Buddhism, we want the top info!

“What do we want? Crazy wisdom! When do we want it?…NOW!” We want the shock treatment, now. This is our western mind talking, but first we need to be prepared –
or rather, unprepared… 😀

“Crazy stuff” comes in the moment just before Dzogchen/Mahamudra is introduced.
It can be very disappointing… 😀 “Oh is that all?”

Sometimes we get hold of information, and it might well be of a high order, but first we have to see what we are dealing with in our relative mind before relative and absolute are seen as a unity.

Relative: refers to something else, comparing, having a point of reference.
Having a duality.

Absolute: is free and unrestricted, not qualified or diminished in any way.
Having no duality, as there is nothing to refer to.

We must see and understand the playing field.

All we have to do is recognise
and see through the confusion.
That is why we meditate.

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NB. If the word are not clear in the diagram-
Absolute mind. Each of us has pure awareness. Each of us is pure awareness.
Relative mind. Each of us has a unique pattern, a unique pattern of confusion.
The eighth consciousness in relative mind is called the storehouse of memories, the alayavijnana, is a residue of thoughts activated when we react, or re-enact. Then thoughts become full blown colour!

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