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.

MEDITATION – THE PRACTICE OF PRACTISING NOT PRACTISING

Posted on August 30, 2015 by tony

Meditation – The Practice of Practising Not Practising 🙂

How do we do that?
Naturally.

Isn’t it the case that, at the end of a practice session, we feel a sense of relief, being at peace? Even if we feel, “Glad that’s over!” – that’s it! It’s that natural. We have stopped practising the practice. This is why Tulku Urgyen said of awareness meditation, “Short moments, many times,” and “No one became enlightened by meditating, only by breaking the meditation.”

The practice is being aware; of being aware of awareness itself. When awareness looks into awareness itself, it finds only awareness. It is empty of any thing, of any modifying contaminations. It is therefore pure awareness. That is what WE ARE! In pure awareness, there is not even a hint of practice to practise. There is nothing to do, but be.

Can we ‘be’, by not meditating? Certainly, but we have to have a tamed mind to be able to sustain emptiness in our daily conduct.

“Short moments many times,” is such a relief. There is no holding our breath to get ‘it’ right. No trying too hard. No beliefs. No high or low state.

There is a bubbling up of thoughts from our karmic pasts, but in awareness, they just pop and disappear. Thoughts still arise, but now there is more space to discriminate, to see what is of value. The ability to discriminate increases intelligence, because wisdom is present. Wisdom is knowingness of our true nature.

We can come out of pure awareness from time to time to see what’s going on, but then we are in analytical meditation. Here, “short moments many times,” is of value again, to avoid being caught up in circling thoughts.

This ‘cutting through’ creates genuine experiences; a little shock, which may be different for everyone. It could be that colours appear brighter, or the realisation that we don’t have to comply with our patterning. We can actually stand in the shoes of the ancients and masters, and experience the magic of akashic presence (the akashic record is previous knowledge which seems to come from ‘somewhere else’; perhaps from having gone through the same processes as the ancients, we came to the same conclusions).

As we become familiar with this process, so confidence increases. Every moment is a teaching.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Akashic Record, Non-meditation., Tulku Urgyen | Leave a comment

SOMETIMES WE DON’T AGREE WITH OUR TEACHER

Posted on August 29, 2015 by tony

Sometimes We Don’t Agree With Our Teacher
(this applies to all teachers)

Buddhist teachers have two sides to them; the Buddha side and the social side. Actually, we all have two sides to us; a Buddha side and a social side. We are all teachers and students!

Teachers, like all of us, project either: form with little substance, or substance with little form – or a good balance of the two, which is rare.

‘Form with little substance’ means formal academic education, but without the ability to explain the practical psychological steps to pure awareness.

‘Substance with little form’ means experience of pure awareness, but without the formal academic education to explain the psychological steps to pure awareness.

‘Balanced between the two’ means someone you can truly talk to and they can empathise. The only teacher who represent this (as far as I can tell) is your own mind!

Synchronistic karma presents us with all three, and so we need to adapt in every situation.

We need detachment when engaging with teachers; as Tai Situpa Rinpoche, one of the regents to the Karmapa, said to my wife. “The teacher-student relationship is not a marriage.”

Teachers are like fire. Get too close and you will be burnt. Stand too far away and you feel no warmth. It’s the same when meeting people; three to five minutes is enough. After that, we start getting involved and emotions such as jealous, pride, anger, fear or boredom start to raise their ugly heads. We all need space, and not to be smothered.

Always stick to the essence of the teachings. This is what we need to understand. If we are near people who are only interested in blowing thigh bone trumpets, wearing brocade and hugging, smile and move away! 😀

If one enjoys the social side, that’s fine – but it’s also fine to ‘get’ the teaching, appreciate the teaching and the teacher, and then leave. The social side may involve inner circles, committees, organising, politics, rules of engagement 😀 and…money…“How big do we want the temple and shrine?” There are those who want to be near and dear to the teacher. If you enjoy this side of the community, that’s fine – but it’s also fine to just leave and practise what was taught.

A strange side effect

Perhaps the teacher annoys us. He or she annoys us so much that we are constantly thinking about them, and complaining about what they do and don’t do; “Why does he allow this or that to happen?”

Of course, if this gets too much, we can just leave and find another teacher. But then again, this may just be part of our habitual behaviour that we have to face at some time.

Although being annoyed at the teacher sounds negative, the point is that this dissatisfaction is constantly on our mind. That’s not such a bad thing, is it? 🙂 In life, there’s always something to complain about, something that causes us suffering, but we are still connected. There’s no running away.

There is something that still draws us, and something we just want to put right. We may even think that the teacher is being led astray by the ‘inner committee’. This may or may not be the case, but it is the teaching – and our own awareness – that are important. There is nothing in the teaching that says we have to agree with the process! It’s meant to cut through our habitual defilements which, to the ego (the sense of clinging fixations) is highly disagreeable. We merely have to be aware that the teachings and rituals are all to remind us of our true perfect nature – pure awareness. Practice is about the tool of mindfulness, and mindfulness is about remembering. Once we remember, we drop the practising!

On our death bed, we might even think, “Why doesn’t the teacher love me the way I want to love them?” That tells you everything that you want to know about your true intention. It’s love, and has always been love. Love is challenging, and love can hurt. Underneath it all is love.

As a student, we wish for unconditional love from our teacher.
As a teacher, we wish to express that unconditional love.
We are all teachers and students.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Not agreeing with our spiritual teacher., The annoying spiritual teacher | 1 Comment

DO I NEED A SPIRITUAL TEACHER?

Posted on August 28, 2015 by tony

Do I Need A Spiritual Teacher?

We need inspiration and guidance.
The teacher
is inspiration and guidance.
The teacher
is the mirror to our own inspiration and guidance.

The outer teacher is someone whose qualities match our own. A recognition takes place, and this gives us a boost of energy. A transmission of confidence.

However, the teacher cannot be with us 24 hours a day.
Do I have to remember my teacher 24 hours a day?

This will depend on what you consider the teacher to be. To remember outer teachers is essential, but this is still a synthetic teacher – a booster. So what is the real teacher? Conscience!

Outer teachers are there to remind us of the inner teacher, which is conscience, judgement, discrimination and discernment. This is the seventh consciousness (search ‘8 Consciousnesses’ for details.)

Outer teachers can explain the relationship between the light and the dark in a generalised way. The ‘light’ is pure knowingness, and the ‘dark’ is impure knowingness, driven by self delusions of ignorance, desire and aversion. Teachers cannot be with us 24 hours a day, so it is we who have to weigh up the balance of light and dark.

We need the light to see the dark
and we need the dark to see the light.
This is the balance of
“Not too tight and not too loose.”

The teacher shows us how to look, but we have to do the looking. To live without the presence of an outer teacher is difficult because we are easily distracted and forgetful. When on our own, we need to be extremely honest with ourselves, or we can fall into hell – or any of the six realms (search ‘The Six Realms’ for details).

When we are on our own, we cannot hope for success; we have to know what we are doing. We have to recognise the six realms in action, and then the darkness in the world becomes our inspiration and guide.

It is essential to remember the outer teachers until enlightenment. This is the meaning of the refuge prayer: “Until enlightenment, I go for refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha…”

To be practical, outer teachers have so many students that they cannot deal with us directly, holding our hand at every stage. We are with ourselves at every moment, day in and day out, and so we are the ones to know!

Let conscience be your/pure awarenesses guide.
😀 😀 😀

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Buddhist refuge prayer., Do I Need A Spiritual Teacher?, inner teacher, inspiration, Let conscience be your/pure awarenesses guide. | Leave a comment

TANTRA/VAJRAYANA: The value – and misunderstanding – of fantasy

Posted on August 27, 2015 by tony

Tantra/Vajrayana
The value – and misunderstanding – of fantasy

The following is from Wikipedia:

Esoteric transmission
Vajrayana Buddhism is esoteric in the sense that the transmission of certain teachings only occurs directly from teacher to student during an empowerment and cannot be simply learned from a book. Many techniques are also commonly said to be secret, but some Vajrayana teachers have responded that secrecy itself is not important and only a side-effect of the reality that the techniques have no validity outside the teacher-student lineage. In order to engage in Vajrayana practice, a student should have received such an initiation or permission.

If these techniques are not practised properly, practitioners may harm themselves physically and mentally. In order to avoid these dangers, the practice is kept “secret” outside the teacher/student relationship. Secrecy and the commitment of the student to the vajra guru are aspects of the samaya or “sacred bond”, that protects both the practitioner and the integrity of the teachings.

The teachings may also be considered “self-secret”, meaning that even if they were to be told directly to a person, that person would not necessarily understand the teachings without proper context. In this way the teachings are “secret” to the minds of those who are not following the path with more than a simple sense of curiosity.

The pointing-out instruction is the direct introduction to the nature of mind in the Tibetan Buddhist lineages of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen. In these traditions, a “root guru” gives the “pointing-out instruction” in such a way that the disciple successfully recognises the “nature of mind.”

This is all about realising the true nature of mind

The important thing about Tantra/Vajrayana is the outcome, the result, the fruition of realising the ground – the true nature of mind.

The world is full of fantasy, appearances and craziness, and we can use these phantoms to realise the true nature of mind, which is Mahamudra/Dzogchen. If we choose to go directly to Mahamudra/Dzogchen, we do not need Tantra/Vajrayana. However, it’s a great back up!

Saying that the world is full of fantasy, appearances and craziness isn’t actually correct; it is the mind that is full of fantasy, appearances and craziness!

All appearances take place in the mind, sentient beings mistake these for reality. The true nature of mind is empty awareness, the reality that is aware of all mental fantasies…that’s if we have received the right instruction.

This is why it is said that we live in a dream world. When dreaming, these fantastical appearances seem real enough – until we wake up. And then, even in our ‘waking state’, we are still in a dream in believing that which appears to be real. Until we realise the nature of everything (which is empty of any reality), we will never wake up. This is why some advanced practitioners engage in dream yoga.

Tantra/Vajrayana is meaningful at death. In the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it is said that we will meet all sorts of fantastical visions of peaceful and wrathful deities in the form of coloured lights, and if we don’t understand their appearances and symbology, we will be fearful, and panic.

Through proper practice, this need not be the case. Tantric/Vajrayana practice is the creation of visions of peaceful and wrathful deities; these are completely fantastical. We practise in developing detailed visualisation of deities, reciting their mantra and then dissolving all this into emptiness – the true nature of everything! We are practising, acknowledging and dissolving all appearances because we know that all appearances are empty, and merely projections of our mind. Because we are familiar with this, there is therefore no fear. This also applies to daily life.

Misunderstandings

We have to be aware of the context of traditions. Certain traditions suit certain cultures. For example, those who believe in ghosts and are superstitious will see these teachings in a certain light. If we are reasonable people, we can then accept that this is their tradition, but not ours and so, we practise from a slightly different perspective. If we went into a Tibetan house, their walls might be painted blue to remind them of the sky, but we don’t do that.

If we are not superstitious, we don’t have to become superstitious and start believing in ‘something’. Ideas are picked up without proper understanding; people believe that they are truly seeing ‘something’, and may even start talking to it.

We do make supplications in prayers, but this is a psychological enhancement, a reminder. The result is blessings of clarity.

Unfortunately, social media and conspiracy sites pick up bits of these ideas, and through ignorance, deceive themselves and others. The hallmark of this is that their emotions are not stable.

Tantra/Vajrayana practice
is creating and dissolving appearances into emptiness.

Dissolving into emptiness
is just letting go,
as with everything that occurs in daily life.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged conspiracy sites, deities, empowerments, pointing out instruction, Tantra, Vajrayana | Leave a comment

ENLIGHTENING THE LOAD

Posted on August 26, 2015 by tony

Enlightening The Load

The path to enlightenment
is lightening our karmic load,
by becoming aware
and wiping the slate clean.

The opposite of enlightening
is keeping in the dark.
We have to look in order to see
how uncomfortable the dark is.

We are constantly kept in the dark
by dark transmissions.
The devil gives us what we want,
because we want it.

Countering dark transmissions
are wisdom transmissions.
Discrimination occurs when
pure awareness is present.

Transmission is sending energy.
It is a boost.
Something is shown
and something is seen.

The test is:
“Is the load heavier or lighter?”
🙂

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Enlightening The Load, Wisdom transmissions. | 1 Comment

NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENS

Posted on August 25, 2015 by tony

Nothing Actually Happens

Although much is written about spirituality, nothing actually happens.

Empty essence merely observes karma playing, creating and going through its routine and, by detached observation, unwinding itself.

In our human form, we have learnt enough to survive and now we play, create and go through routines, day in and day out. But nothing is actually happening; we just believe it to be happening.

We play, create and go through routines but these are all transient having absolutely no permanent reality: they come to pass. It doesn’t matter what we try and do, the result will always turn to dust, sooner or later. The sun will die, the solar system will collapse, and there will be no thing left, except energies to start again…and life will go through the same routine, creating and playing, and wondering “Where did we came from?” We only took on human forms because we ignored our true nature of pure energy, which has no need for a body to play, create and go through routines. Unless we are a Bodhisattva!

Does anyone remember the previous solar system, and all the things we invented there? So we started all over again, thinking that every thing we do is important. The only thing that is happening is that groups of people are trying to make us believe this is the only existence, because they believe so strongly in their place in the illusion. But this too will turn to dust.

The only thing that matters is to allow the karmic illusion to play itself out; to collapse its creations, and break the routines and programming, by bringing light to bear on our heavy karmic load, thus thinning it.

In meditation, nothing just happens. Then it is easy to see the empty illusion within emptiness.

The Buddha said:

My dream-like form
Appeared to dream-like beings
To follow the dream-like path
That leads to dream-like enlightenment.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged My dream-like form. Nothing Actually Happens. | Leave a comment

UNCERTAIN ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE?

Posted on August 24, 2015 by tony

Uncertain About Your Practice?
About your path, philosophy, or even yourself?

It doesn’t matter what we do,
it’s all about that which is aware
of practice, path, philosophy and self.

Uncertainty can strangle commitment;
we become tied in knots and give up.

Even though we may be extremely tired or ill,
we can still be aware of awareness
Even if we go to a shopping mall, full of chaos and confusion,
we can still be aware of awareness.
We can practise anywhere and everywhere.

Awareness of awareness cuts through everything,
even uncertainty.

From “Hitting The Essence In Three Words” by Garab Dorje

Recognise, Resolve and gain Confidence:
Decide upon one thing, and one thing only (awareness).
Be directly introduced to the face of rigpa itself (empty awareness).
Have direct confidence in the liberation of rising thoughts (spontaneous empty awareness).

(For more details, search ‘Gaining Certainty In Spirituality’: a full commentary by Patrul Rinpoche)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Garab Dorje - three words., Uncertain About Your Spiritual Practice? | Leave a comment

CUTTING THROUGH CHAIN REACTIONS

Posted on August 23, 2015 by tony

Cutting Through Chain Reactions

Chain reactions occur in within the body, speech and mind.

We observe chain reactions in eating food, our actions, what we say, our emotions and our circling thoughts created by previous circling thoughts. ‘Chain’ is a good word; it means both events linked together, and a chain that binds and limits us. ‘Karma’ is the chain of reactions created from previous chains of reaction. Breaking the chain is breaking karma.

How do we achieve this?

We say, “Stop the reaction – stop the chain reaction.” Here, we need tools. The six paramitas of generosity, discipline, patience, perseverance, meditation and transcendent knowledge is the path of cutting through and realisation, and works two ways…

Some traditions explain these six ‘conducts’ as helpers along the path to realise transcendent knowledge, which is transcendent wisdom. This can take some time (so bring sandwiches).

Dzogchen starts with transcendent wisdom and then we see how this affects the paramitas in our actions. They are meant to consolidate our understanding of wisdom in our conduct. I call them the six ‘advanced paramitas’.

The six advanced paramitas.
These are the six paramitas within rigpa/pure awareness.

Rigpa Generosity.
Generosity here is non-fixation; there is no clinging. Rigpa generosity is not the generosity of giving away, which is a conceptual generation of merit. When it is included in rigpa, it belongs to wisdom – it is transcendent generosity. So we are practising generosity at the relative level and the absolute level at the same time, as they are inseparable.
The essence of generosity is non-clinging.

Rigpa Discipline.
In rigpa, there is no attachment and that is the paramita of discipline. In ‘being disciplined’ one may become conceited and attached. Discipline has the function of binding our actions so that we can remain in a virtuous state, but it has side effects; we can become conceited because we are so pure, and this can create a social I (the way in which relate to others). This can also happen with Rigpa/pure awareness itself; we can become attached to this view.
The essence of discipline in non-attachment.

Rigpa Patience.
While we are in the continuity of rigpa, there is timeless compassion without fear.
The essence of patience is spacious timelessness.

Rigpa Perseverance.
In rigpa, there is no effort, and therefore there is no perseverance. When we are distracted, we make effort.
The essence of perseverance is effortlessness.

Rigpa Meditation.
This is being non-distracted.
The essence of meditation is effortless remaining.

Rigpa Transcendent Knowledge.
This is Rigpa wisdom itself – pure awareness. It is wisdom resting in the ground in its innateness.
The essence of Rigps is clear view.

Within Rigpa, conduct is meditation in action – the six paramitas; our mind does not leave the clear view. Conduct is the six paramitas being automatically expressed, without effort; we will be naturally generous etc.

There are the paramitas that are practised with effort, and there are those that come automatically out of the pure awareness.

It is like a healing coming from within: if we are doing something wrong, when Rigpa is remembered, it will have an effect on our outer behaviour.

This is how we reduce and exhaust karma,
Cutting Through Chain Reactions

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cutting Through Chain Reactions., The Six Rigpa Paramitas., transcendent wisdom | Leave a comment

CONTRIVED SPIRITUAL BEHAVIOUR

Posted on August 22, 2015 by tony

Contrived Spiritual Behaviour

Spiritual groups develop contrived behaviour. This seems to come from an idea that people follow; a formula of what they think being ‘spiritual’ is. Our greatest problem here is converting theories into genuine experience – and that genuine experience is being ordinary. You can’t get more ordinary than emptiness!

We do need ideas or theories to convince the mind about the path we take, and then we follow the steps; we make the journey.

Unfortunately we cannot go as a group, as a step by step progression cannot work en masse because we are individuals. In the human condition, we are not all one. If we were all one, when one is enlightened, we would all be enlightened. In practice, it doesn’t work like that does it? 😀 There is oneness, but that is the unity of our absolute and relative nature. There is a progression in teaching, but much depends on the personality, capacity and intention.

Acting ‘spiritual’ is a contrivance, a stratagem, a deception and…it’s dishonest. If we do this as a group, it just looks and sounds ridiculous. I’ve seen people bowing so very low to a shrine as if they were trying to squeeze a drop of extra magic out of the artefacts by being ever so humble (when in fact, they are manifesting pride!). The magic – everything – is all in the mind!

If you just want to scream and be angry, compassion – unlimited compassion – will allow this. We need to be honest that we are suffering. Then we can do something about it. We are not here to squeeze ourselves into bejewelled spiritual boxes.

We are here to experience distraction, desire, fear, laziness, anger, stinginess, pride and jealousy in order to realise our true nature. It is only then that we can empathise with others who experience the same emotions. This level of compassion is rare – I mean genuine compassion for others’ (perceived) mistaken views; I was with a lama for eleven years when he kicked me out for not ‘fitting in’ and his followers – my former friends – closed ranks, and nothing was ever clarified or explained.

We are not here to pretend we are pure. We are pure. It’s knowing how to transform those emotions into pure emptiness, and realise the wisdom that their true nature is emptiness.

In emptiness, there is no distraction, desire, fear, laziness, anger, stinginess, pride or jealousy. These arise because of confusion. When we look directly, without distraction, into the one who feels these emotions, they clear and turn into emptiness. That is the purification. The very first instant of an emotion brightens the mind, as something is seen which creates a reflection, and so, a reaction. If we look into that which perceives the reaction, we are back in emptiness and lucidity.

It is we who have to look both at the experience
and
that which experiences the experience.

It is uncomfortable
but that conflict and resistance
is what makes the progression.

Walking the path is achieved by
the contact of foot opposing the road.
It is the irritation that creates the pearl.

This is all about spiritual beings in the human condition.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Contrived SPIRITUAL Behaviour, emptiness, genuine compassion, Spiritual groups. | 8 Comments

WHERE DO WE START? WHERE DO I START?

Posted on August 21, 2015 by tony

Where Do We Start? Where Do I Start?

Where do we start?
We begin by knowing why we meditate,
and then we meditate, starting with shamata,
twice a day 20-40 minutes.
Shamata is focused meditation.
(for details, type in search: Bum on Cushion)

Where do I start?
This will depend on our circumstances
and whether we live with others.
We need to know why we meditate
so as to explain to them what we’re doing.
We don’t what to alienate them, do we?

Meditation is relaxing, totally relaxing the mind,
cutting through our dream world.
Noting the mind’s reflections and refreshing with clarity,
de-stressing and being at peace.

It also makes us more intelligent
as we reduce the emotional clutter.
Tell ’em it’ll make you a nicer person!

And if they try it too,
it’ll make them a nicer person!
😀

Once we have a settled mind
we can then progress.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Starting our spiritual journey. | 2 Comments

WE REALLY DO KNOW

Posted on August 20, 2015 by tony

We Really Do Know
We all have Common Sense

Common sense: good sense, sensibleness, native intelligence, wit, sound judgement, level-headedness, prudence, discernment, acumen, sharpness, canniness, astuteness, shrewdness, judiciousness, wisdom, insight, intuition, perceptiveness, perspicacity, vision, understanding, intelligence, powers of reasoning; practicality, capability, initiative, resourcefulness, enterprise, gumption, nous, savvy, know-how, smarts, sapience. Antonym: folly.

Homo Sapiens = Wise Man/Woman = Wise Being
Or,
Being of Folly

Folly: Foolishness, foolhardiness, stupidity, idiocy, imbecility, silliness, inanity, lunacy, madness, rashness, recklessness, imprudence, injudiciousness, lack of caution, lack of foresight, lack of sense, irrationality, illogicality, irresponsibility, thoughtlessness, indiscretion, craziness.

The dharma is
direct wisdom into the nature of mind.
It is that which we already know and are,
but are confused about.
Or,
it can be turned into a religion:
that which binds.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged using Common Sense =Sapience/ Wisdom. | 2 Comments

RECOGNISING NON-DUALITY, UNLIMITED COMPASSION AND SHUNYATA

Posted on August 19, 2015 by tony

Recognising Non-duality, Unlimited Compassion And Shunyata

Simple.

Be aware of awareness, and do not modify.
In the moment of pure recognition, there is nothing else;
it is therefore non-dual.
If there is nothing else, that is emptiness; shunyata.
This is absolute reality.

Resting in non-dual emptiness, anything that then arises or appears
is a temporary confusion that is recognised as such,
and because we do not modify but merely allow it to be,
that is unlimited compassion.

So what’s the problem?

The moment awareness wants to relate to itself, to see how it is, a duality is created.
This ‘relating’ is called relative truth, and is a mistaken view.
The mirror is claiming its reflection, which is an confusion in emptiness.

OK, let’s be practical!

Non-dual emptiness – our absolute nature – is eternally present.
Unfortunately, it is immediately covered by mental imprints from our karmic load.
It’s a habit; a very strong and complex habit.
This modifies everything we (pure awareness) see, and causes doubt to arise.

In relative reality, we need to doubt.
In absolute reality, there is no doubt.

Our true nature is simple.
Our karma is complex.

Relatively, our minds become bored so we look for interest.
We become addicted to excessive activity
because the search is continually frustrating as it’s never complete.

Absolute mind is of no interest what-so-ever,
save for unlimited compassion for the mistaken view of relative mind.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged absolute reality, emptiness, Recognising Non-duality, Unlimited Compassion And Shunyata. Absolute and relative truth. | 10 Comments

BORROWING FROM THE MASTERS

Posted on August 18, 2015 by tony

Borrowing From The Masters
…a bit of fun!

Over the past few days, a couple of people have discussed Hieronymus Bosch as I mentioned that I was interested in his work.

Throughout our lives, certain individuals influence us, as they represent something we already feel. Spiritual masters are like that. In some traditions, we might be more at home than in others; I was a Kagyu student for many years, but it didn’t feel right. They weren’t wrong; it just didn’t suit my temperament. And then Nyingma came along. Eureka! Home!

I’ve painted for many years and again, it never felt right. I was obsessed with getting it ‘correct’, getting it ‘real’. Then a thought arrived; “Who said you have to be ‘correct’?” …?!!!

I’ve steered clear of figure work as mine always seemed wooden because I couldn’t afford to hire models. I found that, in ‘trying to get it right’, doubt arose and inhibited my approach. So I just painted landscapes, where I controlled the lighting; evening and morning light create great shadow shapes and luminosity.

Having glanced at Bosch’s work, I did some spontaneous designs in under painting – quick sketches which can be fleshed out later. I do several at once so as not to over fuss too much, and kill the spontaneity. There’s no judgement involved; as soon as the basics are down, I go on to another one! I’ve yet to decide on the colour scheme of the finished works. The whole activity is very much like writing this blog: after morning meditation, I have an abstract idea and it’s only when I sit down at the computer that it gets fleshed out and takes form.

I wanted to see spontaneous presence in action. This is what has transpired in the past couple of weeks. They’re basically about the confusion of good and evil – it’s not always clear which one will wake us up! 😀

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Under paintings for allegorical paintings. | 3 Comments

DO WE FEEL THERE ARE SECRETS BEING KEPT FROM US?

Posted on August 17, 2015 by tony

Do We Feel There Are Secrets Being Kept From Us?

This is ‘normal’ paranoia – irregular mind! 😀

If we feel there are secrets being kept from us, we will not appreciate what we already have, and that is purified awareness. We will always have the feeling that there is something more; this is just everyday paranoia. Irregular mind.

There are many elaborate stories from the spiritual past, and many more are being conjured up in the present, such as encounters with aliens. From the point of view of pure awareness, these are merely relative toys, and a distraction. Through suggestion, we can easily become superstitious; if we went to the Great Stupa in Boudhanath, Nepal, we would see westerners joining the Tibetans in their clockwise circumambulation of the stupa, chanting mantras and swinging prayer wheels for good luck – I did it too…just in case! Such belief merely gives rise to hope and fear. This is what neurolinguistics are all about; the power of suggestion.

Life is too short to worry about things we cannot prove. If they were true and people did indeed have these abilities, surely the time is now to use them to help this messed-up world. But all we actually get are more stories. These experiences may be true for some, or they may be just a fantasy. If we’re not careful, we can merely acquire someone else’s fantasy, which is not relevant to our progress and only deepens our confusion because it’s not our experience.

The only thing we can prove for ourselves is awareness, and the purity of that awareness. Belief may help some people by easing their minds, but this delays genuine experience.

If we feel there are secrets being kept from us,
we will remain distracted
and not appreciate what we already have.
That is purified awareness.

The final secret is always in front of us;
our own awareness, empty of elaboration.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Secret Teachings. Spiritual stories. | 3 Comments

THE DHARMA HAS TO ADJUST TO MODERN TIMES

Posted on August 16, 2015 by tony

The Dharma Has To Be Adjusted for Modern Times

There is an influence on humans now that was not illustrated in ancient text, and that is modern technology. In every walk of life, this has a profound effect on us.

Teachers talk about our minds clinging to ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ – desire and aversion – which is true, but thoughts can be placed in the mind by outside influences and have nothing to do with likes and dislikes. They’re just there; we are bombarded with ‘suggestions’. This is partly down to our upbringing and the upbringing of our parents. If we read Huxley’s “Brave New World”, we will get the idea of what’s actually going on, with the deep seated ideas that we hold, alongside the constantly changing, superficial ideas that we acquire: this creates much confusion.

Tibetan teachers, who’ve had a rarified upbringing, have not been brought up in our modern world. They’ve not been born into ordinary families and had ordinary friends; they’ve not gone to ordinary schools, taken an ordinary job, acquired ordinary debts, got into ordinary trouble. They don’t understand all the influences on us; if they did, they’d explain this extra layer of confusion. Many Tibetans see modern humans as being stupid and needy. This may be the case, but it doesn’t apply to those who want to learn.

At retreats, we are often treated like 4 year olds who need controlling. Going to retreats may cost hundreds of pounds (and even thousands if one has to travel from another country). We are there because we want to be there. There is always an ‘inner circle’ around the teacher which assumes superior qualities; unfortunately, it is from this group of individuals that the teachers often form their view of a society because they don’t mix daily with ordinary people.

In the modern world, we pick up millions of bits of information every day, and some of it “sticks”. Over a lifetime, we acquire much junk in our heads 😉 This affects the way our modern brains are wired, which in turn influences our mind. Once we can acknowledge this is happening, we then can discriminate as to whether this wiring is beneficial or not, and re-train as a result.

If this is not understood, then the Dharma is just another set of ideas that we pick up, and we still remain stupid and needy. This is not meant to sound harsh; just realistic.

Here’s an example:

A teacher might say, “Don’t criticise others; look at your own mind.” One can take this as “Don’t criticise others, criticise yourself,” or, as in the Bible, “First take the dust out of your own eye.” These sayings are generalisations. The important thing is how it actually feels, and is applied in a practical way.

Instead of feeling guilty (which is a subtle, control mechanism), we can be more practical than that. Using the faults we see in others, we merely look at our own reactions. If it wasn’t for seeing the faults in others, we wouldn’t reflect on our reactions; this is the rawness of genuine experience. So we should be more precise and practical thanks to our ‘awareness’ for being aware, rather than denying that we feel a certain way. And the ‘faults’ of others are only due to what they have picked up from their environment since birth…

We just have to be aware of everything that is placed in our minds.

We’re not 4 year olds. We do have infinite knowledge; it just has to be unlocked. Then we are free.

We use soap to clean.
Then we wash the soap off!
If we don’t,
we merely acquire a lot of fragile, empty bubbles
🙂

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged The Dharma Has To Be Adjusted for Modern Times. What Tibetan lamas do not understand. | Leave a comment

THE PURPOSE OF MEDITATION

Posted on August 15, 2015 by tony

The Purpose Of Meditation

Being mindful of wandering mind.
Meditation demons lie in ambush to distract.
These demons are the mind’s attractions, aversions and past experiences.

The essence of mind is pure awareness,
untouched by impurities.
This essence is free from dualistic comparisons.

There is no buddha elsewhere but the nature of our own mind.
There is nothing else to search for.
The outcome is spontaneous presence of non-meditation.

Be what is,
at rest and at ease.

However, momentary uneasiness can occur
when we suddenly see things slightly differently
to that explained.

Let go and go through exactly the same process.
Everything stays the same but perception refines.
The uneasiness is a natural conflict of past and present.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged meditation - a refining process., The Purpose Of Meditation | 1 Comment

OUR ‘SET POINT’ OF SPIRITUALITY

Posted on August 14, 2015 by tony

Our ‘Set Point’ of Spirituality

Our set point is the level at which
we ‘set’ or fix our standard.
It is a level at which we ‘work’.
It is our yana.

We usually talk about the two aspects of enlightenment: awareness of our true nature and the exhaustion of all our habitual, karmic, reactional imprints in the mind that obscure that pure nature. This requires resting in empty essence, and the continuity of that in daily life by not being controlled by our karmic imprints – our conventional programming.

However, this is a very dry way of existing, and lacks warmth because it’s still all about ‘me’.

To raise our set point – to raise our level of awareness – we need constant reminders. Monks and nuns wear special clothing, take vows and engage in rituals. We, as householders, use whatever we find suitable, and it is here that we have a special advantage; interaction – the expressing of essence love.

Our spiritual set point is the point at which we set our standard of response – what we can cope with. How much we can cope with will depend on our understanding of the needs of others. There are four levels of empty awareness (‘rigpa’ in Tibetan Dzogchen): essence, expression, display and adornment. Empty awareness itself is dry. Expression, display and adornment are various levels of joyous confidence. Of effulgence – to shine brightly!

This activity relates to relative and absolute bodhichitta, our altruistic attitude of loving kindness. We probably think we should first act through loving kindness from a relative/conventional level, but it actually works the other way round. It’s not until we understand absolute loving kindness that this can be applied to our conventional life. Otherwise it’s as Trungpa Rinpoche said; “It’s just grand mother’s compassion”. We stick a plaster over problems. Absolute bodhichitta is knowing the true nature of all sentient beings, and that they haven’t recognised this yet. One is not judging the person, but the degree of cloud surrounding that person.

So to raise our set point, we have to engage and be interested in others’ problems, and not just be ‘set’ in a bunch of theories and dogma.

Funnily enough, we can use desire and aversion as our path. Our reminder may be that which increases our desire for enlightenment, or (and surprisingly) aversion to all that is happening around and within us. As a “householder”, this approach can be very useful.

I’m going to say something that is not for everyone’s ears:

Tibetan lamas do surround themselves with ‘agreeable’ people. This can create a facade, as no one ‘extends’ the lama/teacher, or cross-examines them. If we feel we have to keep running to the lama/teacher for answers…we will never know!

It’s not until we let go of the teachings we’ve learned that we begin to experience them in the raw, and this is very uncomfortable. It is then that we see how it all works because we’ve tested it under many conditions.

This is when confidence arises.
We are then no longer a follower in the sense of running to the granny
– but we are a follower of the teachings.
We may have learned many theories,
but if we don’t manifest compassion, these theories are pointless.
It is empathy and compassion that raises our set point.

NB. At the Academy of Art we had ‘crits’ twice a day, when a teacher came round to guide our work. If you then wanted to apply to a another school, guided work is not accepted as proof of ability because you haven’t made it your own yet. Your ‘set point’ is someone else’s!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged effulgence - to shine brightly., Our 'Set Point' of Spirituality., The four aspects of Rigpa. | 8 Comments

TRAINING IN TAMING THE MIND

Posted on August 12, 2015 by tony

Training in Taming the Mind

Some things aren’t easy to explain…they have to be experienced

The Dharma, if not practised, is…I was going to say “pointless”, but there is a point to not practising. Not training has its consequences. If we keep the Buddha’s teaching as merely a philosophy or intellectual speculation, this can have disastrous effects. The journey to heaven can end up in hell.

The theory of the nature of mind – our true nature being, awareness that is uncontaminated/pure – may easily be recognised in practice. The more we sit and practise, the more familiar this becomes. This awareness being still, looks into itself and finds only awareness and nothing else.

The more we do this, the more it effects our conduct in daily life, and our interaction with others. Actually, how we interact with others stems from previous actions in past incarnations.

As we know, there are two parts to becoming enlightened; one is recognising our true nature and the other is eliminating the effects of karma. Karma is our mental storehouse, or imprints in the mind, which influence and control our behaviour and our attitude.

If we do not practise substantially, we expose ourselves in our attitude. This exposure is vitally important to our evolution, our spiritual evolution. Feeling exposed, we can either experience guilt and hate it, or find the exposure inspiring and joyous. It is in this reaction that our true attitude is seen.

This is not a test. We are just coming at it from the very positive point of view of kindness. This morning, an idea came to mention how important actual practice is, as opposed to theory. Sometimes, when an idea comes, I pick up a book and open any page and read a line or two (I shouldn’t belittle this by using the word ‘just’, as there is always synchronicity present – or there seems to be!).

This morning, I picked up Padmasabhava’s “Dakini Teachings”; not a light read 😉 Enlightening yes, but heavy with profundity. Here is a brief synopsis of a chapter; bear in mind your own response as you read it. 😀 Remember – seeing is everything; seeing is being aware, and in being aware we can do something about it. And that ‘doing something about it’ is merely recognising. That is all that is needed, and the problem just subsides naturally.

The Ten Non-Virtues

These are: harsh words, ill-will, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, diversive talk, gossip, covetousness and wrong view.

“I have only repeated the result of negative conduct being reborn in a human form. And remember that we have had countless incarnations, and so everyone has been our mother. We have experienced all there is to experience. If we practise, the next incarnation may be more favourable, or this could be our last incarnation. If we do not practise, then we are subject to karma, and the results of karma.” from Padmasabhava’s “Dakini Teaching”

Harsh words
1 Exposing one’s faults in public
2 Hurting someone indirectly
3 Uttering, in private, something that will hurt another.

The dominant result is that, even if you take rebirth as a human being, whatever you say will be offensive to others and you will always appear to irritate them. The result corresponding to the cause is that you will be fond of speaking harsh words.

Ill-will
1 resulting from anger
2 resulting from resentment
3 resulting from jealousy

The dominant result is that, even if you are born as a human being, others are unjustifiably hostile towards you and you constantly meet with enmity and law suits. The result corresponding to the cause is that you will develop a malicious frame of mind.

A similar scenario applies to all the acts of non-virtue. These negative activities will result in rebirth in one of the six psychological realms.

This article is to emphasise the shortcomings of not training in taming the mind, which is the result of not sitting in pure awareness. Lower schools will address this through discipline, using antidotes; this approach has its uses. Dzogchen goes to the heart of the matter; when resting in pure awareness, misconduct does not occur, although we will experience a residue from past actions, which is dealt with by pure recognition.

You can start to see how this is an individual endeavour…it all depends on your point of view.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dzogchen, Padmasabhava's Dakini Teaching., Training in Taming the Mind. | 1 Comment

WE LIVE IN HELL, AND HELL IS A MYTH

Posted on August 11, 2015 by tony

We Live In Hell, And Hell Is A Myth

Hell: a place regarded in various religions as a spiritual realm of evil and suffering, often traditionally depicted as a place of perpetual fire beneath the earth where the wicked are punished after death.

Myth: a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.

Religions instil and control our view of hell: an allegory has been transformed into a false reality which creates fear. It’s a conjured-up distortion which has coloured our minds over centuries. Hell, from a Buddhist point of view, is a collective, psychological state of likes and dislikes which obscures our true nature. Hell is anything that distracts us. It is the controlling factor of confused ignorance.

Most forms of media are only concerned with likes and dislikes, causing the mind to chase one way and then the other. To them, it doesn’t matter which way you lean, left or right; as long as the mind keeps rolling, it’s easier to control. Who is the final paymaster of this confusion and disinformation? It doesn’t really matter, as long as we continue to buy into it. There’s never ever talk of reality, our pure awareness. There is no devil; it’s our collective ignorance that is the devil. Hell is merely a mistaken view of reality that makes a lot of money. However, there are also those who just like the control of deceiving others. This is cruel and evil – enjoying wilfully causing pain or suffering, and feeling no concern about it.

While religion keeps the idea of hell as something ‘down there’ or something ‘after death’, this leaves us to flounder, conforming to an artificial standard while pretending (and hoping) that we are ‘the good’. All the while, we feel guilty, and try hard to please – in a prison state.

Do you think this is far fetched?

In the ancient text of Manjushri’s prayer, there are lines such as…

“…all of us afflicted by suffering, being enveloped
in dark ignorance in the dungeon of existence.”

…“Awaken us from the slumber of the kleshas
(stricken down by afflicted emotions)
freeing us from the chains of karma.”

…“Fully dispel the dark ignorance of my mind”…

In the Prayer to Vajra Kilaya it says:

… “Purifying my being by practising the general and preliminary practices…”
(‘Purifying my being’ relates to the afflictive emotions that cover our true being, while the being itself is already pure by nature)

… “In order to tame the mara who create obstacles”…
(Mara are the afflictive emotions of like and dislike: our confused minds are the only devil).

Our time in the dungeon,
is up to us.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged And Hell Is A Myth., collective ignorance, Manjushri's prayer. Vajra Kilaya., We Live In Hell | 2 Comments

CULT MENTALITY

Posted on August 10, 2015 by tony

Cult Mentality
(cult: to cultivate worship)

Everyone has the right to see ‘it’ another way. The Buddha’s teaching are perfect…people aren’t.

Sometimes it’s useful to refer to other traditions when explaining something as this can help expand our understanding; we can then look back at ourselves. Of course, staying with our main tradition gives us a firm foundation, but the terminology can become monotonous and a fresh approach is beneficial. We must not forget our ‘common sense’ – something that is common to all of us.

The Three Gunas
According to the Vedanta tradition, these three Gunas are three states of mind.
Sattva, Rajas and Tamas; the three robbers.
Sattva is serenity.
Rajas is excitement.
Tamas is dullness.

I was a student of the Vedic tradition for many years. It’s assumed that the sattvic state is most desirable, more so than the rajasic and tamasic states; after all, we do use the word bodhisattva. All activities including, for example, entertainment, food, music, art and the company we keep, can be classified as sattvic, rajasic or tamasic.

We can easily see that being either over-excited or dull robs us of serenity, but it’s more difficult to realise that the sattvic state is also a robber. If we try to hold on to our serenity, this can rob us of clarity and compassion.

The point is that we can act serenely, enjoying inner peace when we have, in fact, fallen asleep; sattva has become tamasic. So then we need a boost of energy to create dynamism which can take the form of anything that we find effective. Rajas is energy, but too much energy or excitement can make us crazy, and so we then need to slow down and reintroduce a little tamas to bring about equilibrium.

In this way we achieve a balanced Sattvic state which is ‘Not too tight and not too loose’, using all states of mind.

Assumptions can work against us
In spiritual groups, most succumb to peer pressure and want to act serenely. This is faking it. Underneath, we may have our doubts but we keep these to ourselves, as the group wants a positive atmosphere. Out of fear, we cannot be honest as many take any criticism as a personal attack, and so avoid poignant questions. However, doubt – at certain stages – is vitally important as it is part of our path. Energy arising from doubt is rajasic, as opposed to the tamasic state of conformity.

We have to stay alert, sharp and clear, and use our common sense.

Cult mentality
The pressure of the peer group gives rise to fear; we cultivate a sense of worship, believing and repeating without questioning. This can be evident when, for example, a Tibetan lama walks into the room and everyone prostrates. And so people practise together in collective rituals as if they are a magical solution. That’s a bit cultish. Individuals who don’t conform feel guilt and confusion, and the threat of separation can cause them to lose their integrity, their spirit, and even their practice.

If people become defensive or uncomfortable, then they don’t have the ability to listen. If they don’t have the ability to listen, there cannot be compassion. Then it’s time to move on.

Our time in prison
depends on us.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cult Mentality., Sattva Rajas and Tamas. | Leave a comment

BUDDHISM – A DIVINE COMEDY

Posted on August 9, 2015 by tony

Buddhism – A Divine Comedy

Dante’s Inferno – The Divine Comedy
A poem by the 14^th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri
One might think Dante Alighieri was Buddhist!

The Divine Comedy is a poem of a symbolic journey through the three realms of: Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (heaven). The interesting word here is ‘purgatory‘ – to purge, to purify.

Of course, Dante was Catholic, but in his writing, there are similarities with Buddhism, although the approach to purification is different. It’s a very long poem estimated to be about 15 hours reading; Buddhist texts are pretty lengthy as well 😉

You don’t have to be Buddhist to realise that it is our selfishness that causes us suffering when we cling to the ‘seven deadly sins’ – the emotions – known as the ‘poisons’ in Buddhism.

In the Comedy, we have to atone for our ‘sins’; in Buddhism we have to repay our karmic debt.

In the Comedy, there are 9 circles of hell; in Buddhism, there are 18 hells. Remember that hell is a state of mind; we can either get very ‘hot’ about something (usually regarding others) or ‘frozen’.

Once we recognise that we are suffering, we recognise that we are in hell. In Buddhism, that is the first noble truth. We then have to recognise the cause of that suffering and do something about it. That is atonement/purification. In Buddhism, we only have to be aware of our true nature and not re-enact our emotions, which are the false adornments of our true nature. Gradually, happiness dawns: Gampopa: “May confusion dawn as wisdom.” We don’t engage in guilt because that’s another of the deadly sins, but we do have regret as part of the purification process, by recognising the consequences of our actions.

The uncomfortable truth is that we do live in hell. It may be a cosy hell but, as we are not enlightened, we are suffering – we just haven’t noticed it yet! Once we recognise our suffering and that of others, we want to do something about it. How, will depend on the tradition we follow.

A Comedy

In classical terminology, a comedy is a work that begins in misery or deep confusion and ends in elation or happiness. An ascension from a low state of confusion to one where all people are combined for the greatest happiness.

In Shakespearean comedy, the play often begins in confusion, with couples breaking up or separating, and ends with everyone finding the right partner. In other words, from a relative perspective, a comedy is not something one would laugh about if one was involved in such confusion.

In Buddhism we do laugh about it, as we realise that hell is our teacher. Facing and laughing at the devil/mara is our final teaching. The devil/mara’s ways are very subtle as he knows our false claims. If he does, we do! 😀 😀 😀 The devil/mara is our own, very subtle, clinging to likes and dislikes.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Buddhism - A Divine Comedy., Dante's Inferno – The Divine Comedy. | Leave a comment

WHO HAS BECOME ENLIGHTENED LATELY?

Posted on August 8, 2015 by tony

Who Has Become Enlightened Lately?

Who has become enlightened lately?
I have no idea.

Is enlightenment possible?
I have no idea.

Will we become enlightened at death, or just after?
I have no idea.

So what are we doing?
Remaining in pure awareness,
aware of the obstacles to pure awareness.

Isn’t that enough?
Pure awareness enlightens everything!

Life will never be the same,
just confident and happy.
..and still have no idea!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Who Has Become Enlightened Lately? | 1 Comment

EXOTIC CAN CREATE CONFUSION

Posted on August 8, 2015 by tony

Exotic Can Create Confusion

I love Tibetan Buddhism; it’s profound, logical and enlightening (in the senses of understanding). It takes everything apart and leaves you with nothing! It is very colourful, and full of imagery in the form of deities; this is the Vajrayana aspect of guru devotion.

The rituals are complex to say the least: meditation, mudras, mandalas, dances, instruments, mantras, chanting, prayers, sadhanas, thanka paintings, prostrations, monasteries, stupas, statues, prayer, prayer wheels, robes, headdresses, protection cords, yantras, circumambulations, shrines, thrones…and, of course, thousands of texts of teachings, lung readings (hearing transmissions), bonkings on the head (ceremony of touching the head of participants with a relic or statue) ….

These are all a reminder a symbolism, of pure awareness. If we don’t get that, then it is all pointless. If we rest in pure awareness, then all the above are unnecessary.

But, we do need reminders of some sort. ‘Space’ is a good reminder, and it’s cheap!

Space/Pure awareness: “Don’t leave home without it”!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Tibetan Buddhism. Pure Awareness. Exotic spirituality | Leave a comment

RIGHT TEACHER, RIGHT TEACHING, RIGHT SUPPORT

Posted on August 7, 2015 by tony

Right Teacher, Right Teaching, Right Support

Where do we start ?
Right Student – Right Teacher

How do we find the right teacher, the right teachings and the right dharma centre? It all depends on what we are looking for. Generally it seems that we meet someone or read something, and that starts us off. We’re interested because of our karma – our previous actions. And so, we are reconnecting to something we have forgotten. Having forgotten, we are confused.

We start from wherever we are. We read books, or a nice blog like this 😀 If we are fortunate, we find a dharma centre, where teachings are taught and clarified by authentic commentaries from an authentic teacher (‘authentic’ is someone who is selfless and only interested conveying the Buddha’s teachings for your spiritual welfare). We ask questions and try the practices.

How do we find the approach that suits us?

There are two problems with dharma centres:
one is that there are many traditions/systems/approaches and the other is the dynamics of the group. Dharma centres can seem a bit cultish. Some students go there for teachings and practices, and some go to soak up the atmosphere as it’s just good to be in the company of like-minded people.

We need to practise with them to see if it suits us. We will start to learn more from other students about other dharma centres, teachers and traditions. It’s an evolving process. Some teachers get to the point quickly, some and don’t. Some talk about the practices, whereas others talk about the point of the practices.

This blog is about the point of practice, and then hopefully when you go to a centre you will know what you are looking for. The point is pure awareness; everything else is just bells and whistles. Bells and whistle can wake you up, but you have to recognise that you have woken up, otherwise it’s just noise.

Dharma centres are organisations. Organisation are people, and people – as we know – are a problem because they like to organise! 😀 That means becoming dogmatic.

Dharma centres are catalysts for intense emotions. Dharma students can get right up your nose as they develop peculiar mannerisms 😀 but this is an excellent time to observe one’s own reactions 😀 We may even get up their nose… I know I do!

It doesn’t matter where we go, our real path is our confusion. It’s that which has to be dissolved – or better still, we realise that the confusion does not truly exist.

We need many teachers. We have many teachers; they are all around when we recognise the inner teacher. That is then the right teacher, and you are the right student.

If we cannot find a dharma centre, we ask questions on blogs, as they are more personal; we will receive slightly different answers, so we choose what suits us. Everything can be refined, giving rise to a change in our perception as we progress through the levels. Same words, refined understanding.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dharma centres, Right Teacher Right Teaching | Leave a comment

WE ARE CONTROLLED BY HOPES AND FEARS

Posted on August 5, 2015 by tony

We Are Controlled By Hopes and Fears

As we are controlled by our own
hopes and fears,
we are also controlled by others’
hopes and fears
and so we control others by
our hopes and fears.

It’s a conscious – and not so conscious – un-merry-go-round.

Everyone sets out with good intentions, but quickly learns who is “buttering their bread”. Politicians make policies and police them. A political party is partial to its own agenda. Their objective is work together to deceive us. It’s been that way since society was conceived. Those in charge want to stay in charge. Those with wealth want to keep their wealth. Their power and wealth comes from us; we consent to them being in charge and acquiring wealth.

They need authorities to protect them, and they also protect themselves. It doesn’t matter what they say, we only have to look at the results to see what they’re up to. And it always seems that there is someone else to blame. Political parties are here to stay, so time does not matter as there will always be someone else to carry on the agenda. Corporations are the same; to them, what matters is their dynasty.

It is not a filter-down system; it’s a filter-up system. The population gets milked. It’s corruption, but as they made the rules, it can’t be termed ‘corruption’. Of course, it’s been this way for millennia, but now there is intrusive surveillance.

Why would they need such intrusive surveillance?
They fear that we will find out, and they hope that we won’t.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Politicians make policies and police them., We Are Controlled By Hopes and Fears. | 4 Comments

SUBTLE DOUBTS ABOUT SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

Posted on August 4, 2015 by tony

Subtle Doubts about Spiritual Practice

We may doubt whether we are doing a practice right, or even doing the right practice. “Well, there are so many teachings, and so much detail, and others act so ‘holy’, I can’t be doing it right! There’s so much out there to get right.”

Wrong! 😀
There is nothing to ‘get right’ out there.
We ‘get right’ out there by ‘being right’ in here.
It’s all about what is noted.

Whatever practice we do – formal or daily conduct – is to realise pure awareness.

Whatever is thrown at us (the stories of our life) is our karma we created; it’s our past catching up to us. The Dharma teachings on obscurations, defilements and grasping are all generalisations.

How it feels is specific to us.

In the beginning of our studies we readily admit to pride, jealousy, fear, desire and ignorance – our ego clinging. “Good, got that. That’s out of the way…what’s next?” Not so fast! When we walk into a meditation hall, we find we are still attracted to a few, have aversion to others and ignore the rest! And we can’t escape by not looking at anyone at all, by resting in our own paradise – that’s ignoring again…

“So, what do I do? There is no hiding place.” Exactly! Just note what is going on, just like any other practice.

If we spend all our time trying to get it ‘right’ (look good), we are merely re-creating luggage. Dharma has becomes a recreation; an entertainment.

Note and let go
Note and let go
Note and let go
gradually
j u s t n o t e = pure awareness.

If you meet an observer on the road, kill it.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged If you meet an observer on the road, kill it., Subtle Doubts about Spiritual Practice | Leave a comment

HOW DO WE MAKE DECISIONS?

Posted on August 2, 2015 by tony

How Do We Make Decisions?

There are many elements to our decision making. Much is to do with the power of suggestion from outside sources, through words and action. We fall into others’ patterning by our choice; we may identify with the deserving righteous, but it’s still “Monkey see, monkey do.” This is our dream world, our prison world. Our decisions may seem individual but they are still part of a collective mentality of social acceptance. It’s only when we wake up that we find we have been imprisoned by… ideas.

We also need to be aware that we may have an inclination to right or left brain bias – lateral thinking or vertical thinking. One is spacial and intuitive, and the other is programmed. Of course, we need both, but we also have to be aware of both!

Decisions are made in the mind through perception, judgement and reference (the storehouse of memories – the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th consciousnesses (the first five are the senses). This is our pattern of behaviour. Our programming. We also have survival instincts, using the primitive ‘reptilian’ brain, of fight, flight and freeze. There is much more to the ‘reptilian’ brain as it is the driving force of desire, aversion and ignorance – which are also the three kayas! (this is explained more on this blog; just search ‘Reptilian Brain’). This link between our basic instincts and the wisdom kayas is the cause of inner conflict; our pure nature that merely observes and our physical survival mode.

This mixture is our personal ingredient for living, learning and expressing. On a relative level, receiving feed back from others, giving rise to a social I, is generally our motivation. It creates our status and wealth and this, for most, is satisfaction enough…but not for all.

Some feel that there is more to life than running around trying to impress others. The game that played when interacting with others, is not a reality that we believe in.

There may be something personal we want to say or express, but there aren’t many who want to hear it. And so we have to skilfully balance this personal and collective reality in order to be in some sort of harmony with those around us. Blogs are good for that!

Probably that is as far as we can go, for to be totally honest about how we feel will be too much for most, as they are still in survival mode. This always brings us back to the Buddha’s statement, “Not too tight and not too loose.” That statement is such a “Godsend”, or perhaps I should say, a “Buddhasend!”

The answer I find is just to trust in the moment. Don’t doubt or think too much. If the energy is there, just do it. If there is a sense of relief without after-thought, then it is the right thing. It’s synchronistic. That is the “mystery” – sometimes called the 9^th consciousness or rigpa – coming through. It just feels right. Just let it go…there’s always more coming up behind. That is where the trust comes in.

And there something more. There is a messenger in the mind, a scanner. The Greeks called this Hermes and the Romans, Mercury, the messenger of the Gods. In Sanskrit it is Manas. We just ask a question and this fellow runs around looking for an answer. If the answer is not good enough, we ask him to go back and find another one. The action of being openly reflective, without bias, allows the mind to relax and see what joins up. Whether we find an answer satisfactory or not will depend on our personal experience and the data we have acquired. It is the interaction between the experience and the data that generates a connection that wasn’t seen before. A ‘Eureka’ moment!

If we don’t know something, it’s because we don’t have enough data, and so we study – whereas sometimes, the mystery just happens.

Whatever the influence, you decide.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged How Do We Make Decisions?, Reptilian brain, survival instincts, The mystery of Eureka!., The three Wisdom Kayas | 2 Comments

RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

Posted on August 1, 2015 by tony

Religion and Spirituality
It can be confusing.

Preconceptions fill our mind
so no spontaneity can take place.
Knowing spontaneous presence
is the magic!

Ideas, notions, presuppositions, assumptions, prejudgements, expectations…beliefs are mental bias. This is the reason why, in order to see clearly, empty awareness/spontaneous presence is so vitally important.

Clear seeing is pure awareness. It’s our essential nature, in which there are no preconceived ideas at all. Anything arising from that “emptiness” has the juice of compassionate kindness which is of one taste as it is unconditional; it has no preconceived judgements. However, there is discernment, and this is the ability to know the real from the unreal. Real is anything that does not change – ever!

Religion and Spirituality

Spirituality is absolute reality beyond our impermanent physical and mental realm.

Religion is an relative reality, an system to express beliefs about that which is beyond our impermanent physical and mental realm. Note that religion is based on beliefs and hearsay: it is in the practice that belief reveals absolute reality, our spiritual magic. This is not ‘deceptive magic’, but the universal mystery.

Once we realise reality beyond this impermanent physical and mental realm, we will know the spontaneous presence of pure inspiration. Organised religious expression becomes no longer satisfying as it dry hearsay. It is, however, important to have an organisation pointing the direction to reality beyond our impermanent physical and mental realm. Or that’s what it should do!

Spirituality occurs when we realise that which is beyond the physical and mental, and which now serves as our path to complete liberation.

Religion can be divided into two groups: theistic and non-theistic. Theistic entails ‘belief”, whereas non-theistic doesn’t. Non-theistic – which includes Buddhism – has no requirement for belief, but there is still an element of belief present until one realises the fruition of practice.

Those who ‘believe’ do not need to investigate as, by their nature, they just believe. For them, believing is an end in itself. They are prone to rapture; to ‘seizing and carrying off’.

Those who do not ‘believe’, investigate – or should do! We have to ‘do’ exactly what the Buddha did: look and see. “Not too tight and not too loose.”

Buddhism is not a believing tradition but, believe it or not, there are believers in Buddhism. If one just accepts everything one is told, then one is a believer. All over the world, there are millions of people doing millions of mantras. Does it help? They believe so.

We have to be believers first; something someone said inspired us…to seek the truth. But merely talking about suffering and the causes of suffering falls in the realm of speculation. When we know we are actually suffering, we really feel it. Then – and only then – will we want to do something about it, rather than merely believing we are suffering.

This will have a great effect on the decisions we make.
…to be continued.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Buddhism is not a belief system, or is it?, Religion and Spirituality. | 2 Comments

WHEN WE REALISE WE ARE ALL MAD

Posted on July 31, 2015 by tony

When We Realise We Are All Mad

When we realise we are all mad,
life starts to make sense 🙂

“I’m not mad, I’m just like everyone else!” 🙂 🙂 😀

When we realise that we are obsessing with our body and our cleverness
– which we call self –
thus creating a false self identification,
life starts to make sense.

This false self identification,
makes us easily distracted, programmed, and misled;
“That’s why we all are the way we all are!”

Being insane is being unaware. Unaware of our true nature of uncontaminated cognisance. And so, we are beings who are easily misled by contaminated concepts about ourself.

Being wise is being aware of awareness. Aware of our true nature of uncontaminated cognisance. And so, we are not easily misled by contaminated concepts about ourself.

Wisdom is being aware of our purity and our impurities.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged False self., When We Realise We Are All Mad. | Leave a comment

HOW DO WE TEST THE GURU-TEACHER?

Posted on July 30, 2015 by tony

How Do We Test The Guru-Teacher?

We can only know God by being God.
We can only know a Buddha by being a Buddha.
We can only know the teacher by being the teacher.

The outer teacher reveals the inner teacher.
The inner teacher is our own mind.
When the outer teacher/guide
shows us our true nature,
that is our teacher.

The outer teacher helps us to grow up, be free to leave home,
and exhaust all karma through our conduct.
Conduct is the continuity of the presence of the inner teacher.
The moment we recognise the inner teacher, pure cognisant essence,
all of phenomena becomes our teacher.

The outer teacher is a reminder;
never forget the teacher’s kindness.

…if the teacher does not do this, then they are not a teacher.
Teachings about facts are facts about teachings.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged inner teacher, it takes a Buddha to know a Buddha, testing spiritual teachers | Leave a comment

WANTING TO HEAR AND NOT WANTING TO HEAR

Posted on July 29, 2015 by tony

Wanting To Hear and Not Wanting To Hear

As a student, I know how this feels!
It all depends on who is explaining;

Spirituality is not about being a fanatic.

There are some things in spirituality that are a bit… heavy 😀 I’ve been reluctant to put Guru Rinpoche’s (Padmasambhava) writings on the blog as they are very precise, to say the least. They are the ultimate upgrade. It all depends from which yana/level we are viewing these; Theravanda, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Dzogchen/Mahamudra. All views are inspiring but much depends on one’s personal leanings and tendencies – some traditions are strict and some are loose. I’m all for loose!

One has to approach Padmasambhava’s teachings with a relaxed understanding. If one takes them literally, one will be turned off. They should be taken expediently to start with, and then literally – with a skilful mind. It’s still all about the nature of everything, which is emptiness. His teachings are more to do with conduct and ultimate refinement: we push with our practice, which allows blessings to pull us through to enlightenment.

If one is merely resting in pure awareness, one is completing all vows in all disciplines. That is what it’s all about. These teachings are for those who need rules and regulations. And remember, this was written for Tibetan ears; modern people need to be relaxed. I’ve put this the blog so that, if you come across teachings like these, you can be relaxed about them – they’re not scary!

I’ll put in a couple of extracts to illustrate this point.

This is from “Dakini Teachings”, which was written by Yeshe Tsokgyal, a female disciple of Padmasambhava in the ninth century. She was a dakini and an emanation of the female Buddha Lochana, the consort of the Buddha Ratnasambhava as well as of Vajrayogini appearing in the form of a woman. Yeshe Tsokgyal wrote these teachings in a secret, coded language called ‘dakini script’ and concealed them as precious terma treasures to be revealed by tertons many centuries later.

Lady Tsokgyal asked the master: “Without receiving empowerments from one’s master, will one attain accomplishment or not?”

The master Padmasambhava replied, “To exert yourself in study and so forth without attending a master and without having received empowerments, you will have no results and your efforts will be wasted. Empowerment is the entrance to the secret mantra. To enter the secret mantra without empowerments being conferred is pointless, since it will yield no result and your stream of being will be ruined.”

Lady Tsokgyal asked the master: “If the master himself has not been conferred empowerment and he gives them to others, will they receive the empowerment or not?”
The master Padmasambhava replied, “Although you may be appointed by a charlatan to the rank of a minister thus entrusted with power, you will only meet with misfortune. Likewise, although you may have an empowerment conferred upon you by a master who himself has not received it, your mind will be ruined. Moreover, you will destroy the minds of others and go to the lower realms like cattle yoked together, falling into an abyss carried away within an iron box with no exit. You will be sent to the bottom of hell.”

OK. I can feel your hackles rising. You are now spitting blood and probably muttering about how ridiculous this is! But it’s here that we have proceed intelligently and carefully, remembering that this is from another culture and another age. I can only talk for myself as a student, reflecting how I reason this. For the word ‘hell’, read deep, dark confusion.

We have to take responsibility for our choice of teacher, and we have to test them. Then, having chosen, we have confidence in practice. However, there are times when we just have to move on, and maybe find another teacher. As our understanding changes, so does our perception.

We can regard this earthly existence in our human form as either heaven or as hell – or as both. And that will dictate how we practise. When we first start practising, we practise with a rather blunt knife; we’re walking on a blunt edge. As we progress, the knife become sharper and we have to tread much more carefully, because we have a greater effect on others.

Taking on a teacher is precarious. An authentic teacher is like fire; get too close, and you will be burned but stand too far away and you won’t feel the warmth. There are certain teachings that are very heavy and a turn off, but it’s important to get an inclining of such teachings to sew the seeds of refinement for the future.

In spiritual practice, our pride has to be loosened, and there comes a time when this pride is totally smashed – and that happens only through a relationship with an authentic, qualified teacher. I remember one of my teachers telling of how scared he was about going to see one of his teachers, because he knew that asking a question meant you had to obey whatever answer you may receive (remember here that we are talking about a high level of advancement).

Monks and nuns take many vows to keep them on the straight and narrow; it’s a very precise life. We, as householders, are responsible for our own spiritual welfare, and in this day and age, rarely get the opportunity to have a close relationship with a teacher.

Padmasambhava’s teachings are inspiring, but they are concerned with discipline, when one is ready – when the synapses are in conjunction 😀 😀 😀 We don’t want sloppy connections!

Teaching should make you smile,
and not scowl.

It’s all about the end of confusion!
When resting in pure awareness,
even if a thousand Buddhas tell you you’re wrong,
you know you’re right.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Padmasambhava's teachings., Spirituality is not about being a fanatic., Yeshe Tsokgyal. | 8 Comments

THE SECRET OF JOY

Posted on July 27, 2015 by tony

The Secret of Joy

Where is the joy?

It’s in the acceptance and understanding
of whatever the moment presents.
The moment now may not present joy
but there is still joy
in the acceptance and understanding
of whatever the moment presents.

It’s not really a secret, is it?
😉

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged The Secret of Joy. | 3 Comments

THE QUALITY OF THE PRESENT MOMENT

Posted on July 26, 2015 by tony

The Quality Of The Present Moment

The quality of the present moment
was created by
the quality of the previous moment.

The quality of the future moment
will be created by
the quality of the present moment.

That’s karma for you.
You can trust Karma.

Whatever situation we find ourselves in, whatever thoughts arise, whatever attitude we display is due to previous actions and reactions. Makes sense? Just look at how you got to where you are now. It’s the reason you are looking at this screen.

Once we know how to look, our karma is our teacher, and we recognise why it is so important. It’s like being aware of what is hypnotising you. It’s the escape route!

Fighting or enjoying our situation both serve to create more problems/karma; after all, fighting and enjoying are merely aversion and desire! Here, we are working beyond our relative state; we are working with the relative and absolute as a unity. This is profound stuff.

The quality of our practice can either increase or decrease perception. It pays to pay attention, or we will find ourselves in karmic debt. The result of spiritual practice is to exhaust all karma, and not gain more. Our choice – freedom or prison.

It doesn’t matter what status we hold in life, we can still be high practitioners. One such adept was a doorman at a brothel. Another crushed sesame seeds, and yet another was a shepherd called “Big Nose”.

Emaho!
Once again, noble children, listen well!
In the self-luminous presence of awareness,
essence, nature and expression, the three kayas,
the five buddhas, the five wisdoms and others,
are all complete.

The essence of awareness does not possess the slightest existence
such as colour and shape.
This is emptiness, dharmakaya.
The natural expression of emptiness as luminosity is sambhogakaya.
The function of manifold things arising unhindered is nirmanakaya.

A way to illustrate these three kayas through example
is as follows:
Dharmakaya is like a crystal mirror.
Sambhogakaya is like its transparent bright nature.
Nirmanakaya is like its unlimited capacity to reflect images.

Primordially, the nature of all beings is the three kayas.
If they could only recognise their own nature,
they would simultaneously be enlightened
without practising for even an instant…

Shabkhar Tsokdrug Rangdrol
(Big Nose)
from Song 7: “The Flight of the Garuda”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Karma Is Our Teacher., Shabkhar Tsokdrug Rangdrol., The Flight of the Garuda., The spiritual quality of the present moment. | 1 Comment

LIVING A GENERIC LIFE

Posted on July 25, 2015 by tony

Living A Generic Life

Generic: a characteristic of, or relating to, a class or group of things; not specific. We can say “Blue” when the colour is actually “Ultramarine.”

Ultramarine: a brilliant deep blue pigment (more to the red spectrum) originally obtained from lapis lazuli, now made from powdered fired clay, sodium carbonate, sulphur, and resin…

…so it’s not just blue! 😀 Even then, any colour we see is within an environment, which reflects its own colours onto the object. So, in truth, we never see the actual colour – except in a room with no light source! Mind blowing!

If we find we are getting bored with our generic life, then the remedy is to look more closely. As a result, life becomes more meaningful, and more fun! Unfortunately, generically-orientated people don’t like this, as it makes them feel uncomfortable. However, they will spend time seeking out non-generic people for relief from their own self-imposed limitations.

We are not generic beings belonging to a class or group; we are all unique, and don’t all believe the same thing.

We have qualities beyond the conformity of our social and earthly environment. How can we know this? By simply looking into the mirror of the mind, the origin of our being – the original. That is pure wakeful emptiness – the source of our being. This pure, wakeful emptiness – like white – can manifest all colours, but stays unaffected in its pure state.

We are all geniuses. Genius: Latin; ‘attendant spirit present from one’s birth; innate ability or inclination.

Manifestations of genius are only to enlighten others. Anything else is merely a distracting toy (and this can include spiritual endeavours).

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Living A Generic Life. Genius., Spiritual toys. | 2 Comments

DON’T FAKE IT

Posted on July 24, 2015 by tony

Don’t Fake It
..and get trapped in the process

Sometimes (often) we are taught in a way that makes us feel that we are never good enough. That we don’t know enough, and that we should keep coming back for more. We find ourselves desperately trying to fit in to another culture, or to others’ idea of spirituality. This creates a false longing, and so we buy books – lots of books!

Do teachings need to be so complex, when all we want is “The Plain Truth”? To be happy?

Although we are told to “Tame the Mind,” it’s not necessary to assume that this means having a blank, vacant mind. Such an idea only serves to bind us in knots, when all we are looking for is clarity! You may not agree, but it seems that the dharma is broken down so much as to sound truly complicated. This breaking down isn’t wrong, but it’s only necessary if one wants to be a scholar – a know-it-all! 😀 As an example, I find that a lot of time on retreat is taken up by scholarly students comparing technical points of translation (if you want to see the kind of thing that goes on, just browse through any Dharma forum 😉 )

Dzogchen is about pure experience. About being a simple non-practitioner; there is no need to fake it.

It’s simple.

Awareness is aware whether the mind is still or moving.
Stillness, Occurrence and Awareness are all one.
Awareness merely notes.
Noting and not reacting when stillness or movement occur,
awareness remains in non duality.
There is no difference.

That is taming the mind!

Holding on to either stillness or occurrence
is exhausting and unnecessary,
and we stay confused.

Here is the trap.
For ‘stillness’, read ‘desire’, and for ‘occurrence’ read ‘aversion’.

Awareness merely notes, and so there is no reacting; no creation of a duality. Gradually, through appreciating that the mind has occurrences, by merely being aware, a change happens naturally. Stillness and movement both become merely abstract occurrences that are not fully formed. By not holding on to either, desire and aversion lessen – they are just duly noted.

There is no need for complex analysis, conclusions or meditation; just rest in awareness. Then you are never mistaken. You are no longer in ignorance. You are no longer faking it. Scholars may say you need to understand this or that – just smile 😉

I’ve been on retreats where students have told me they are going on another retreat immediately after this one, and reel off the Tibetan names of lamas they are going to see.

One day, they might find what they are looking for. Until then, they just have to fake it.

But there is no need to fake it, because the awareness that we are faking it is already present!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Don't fake taming the mind. | Leave a comment

METAPHOR = CONFUSION = EMOTIONS

Posted on July 23, 2015 by tony

Metaphor = Confusion = Emotions

Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

This is a Nyingma Dzogchen blog and so the dialogue is coming from that point of view. Mixing metaphors – and mixing traditions – can be very misleading and is the cause of unnecessary arguments. If your metaphors work for you, that’s fine, but if they do not quite fit, then we have to be more precise because we may be sewing with a two headed needle.

There are no words for ultimate reality, as ultimate reality is beyond words. Genuine pure experience comes before the words used to describe ‘it’. If we rely on the words rather than the experience, this may develop into a belief system.

We have to understand the point of our spiritual practice so that we know what we are doing, and why we’re doing it. If we don’t understand it in an experiential way, it remains a concept. Because pure experience is continuous, at the very moment we claim “This is it!” – we are off ‘it’ and into a concept! Pure ‘it’ is a continuous non-involvement. Calling ‘it’ anything is in the moment afterwards.

There is also the problem different traditions have of what to call ‘it’. In fact, it’s not an ‘it’; it’s an ‘is’! Just being aware – hence pure awareness – or pure is-ness. Being, without being ‘something’.

When we mix metaphors, we can get into great problems and confusion, and this can become a cuase of aggression. In traditional text, there is much made of the phrase“neither exists, or does not exist”: that requires a deep level of understanding.

From a Buddhist point of view, practice is all about awareness and pure awareness (also called emptiness, as there is nothing other present).

In Buddhism, the words ‘God’, ‘Source’ or ‘Higher self’ are misleading if they are seen as different from our true nature. Generally, ‘God’ is seen as the creator; if that is your view then that’s fine, but it’s not a Buddhist view. The word ‘Source’ indicates some thing from where everything arises; this too is not a Buddhist view, as ultimate reality (our true nature) is beyond all external phenomena, and anything created has its cause in our innate ignorance of this true nature. ‘Higher self’ is also a not a Buddhist concept: this too is a confused view, as that which is aware of this statement is merely pure awareness. It’s not something ‘higher’.

We are constantly in the process of refining experience – beyond emotions, confusions or metaphors. Authentic scholars and meditators have spent centuries refining commentaries on ancient text to help all sentient beings, in their time and place.

We have to investigate too, in order to see if these explanations stand up to the reality we experience. And all experience can be refined.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 'Source' or 'Higher self'., God, Metaphor = Confusion = Emotions., Nyingma Dzogchen. | Leave a comment

LIFE IS MEANINGFUL

Posted on July 21, 2015 by tony

Life is Meaningful

Spiritual practice is meaningful.
Everything we do is meaningful.
Being relaxed is meaningful.

When we are relaxed we appreciate
the ‘life’ within life!
That is why life is precious.

Life is not meaningless;
producing karma and reducing karma both have an effect.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 'Life' within life., Life is Meaningful. | 3 Comments

APPEARANCES OVER EMPTINESS

Posted on July 20, 2015 by tony

Appearance over Emptiness

We become charmed and enchanted by appearances.

“The Kingdom of God is inside you and all around you,
Not in a mansion of wood and stone.
Split a piece of wood and God is there,
Lift a stone and you will find God.”
Nag Hamadi Scroll

The kingdom of pure awareness is inside you and all around you.
Not in a meditation hall of wood and stone.
Split a piece of wood and pure awareness is there,
Lift a stone and you will find pure awareness.

Enchanting appearances can be deceiving.
Pure awareness is the clear light that exposes
obscuring, charming appearances.

God and Buddha are mental appearances
to remind us of pure awareness,
for without that,
God and Buddha would not be known!

Splitting wood and lifting stones
are day to day living.

Heart sutra:
“Form is emptiness.
Emptiness is none other than form…”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged God and Buddha., Heart sutra. Form is emptiness., Nag Hamadi Scroll., The Kingdom of God | 4 Comments

“TO BE OR NOT TO BE, THAT IS THE QUESTION”…

Posted on July 19, 2015 by tony

“To be Or Not To Be, That Is The Question”…

Having established pure awareness-clarity-clear light-essential nature-pure cognisance-what we truly are, then anything that arises within this purity is seen as a contamination – a distraction – a mistaken view – something pure awareness has identified with.

Having established the different between pure view and mistaken view, we can see that the mistaken view never had any reality, but serves as a reminder when we lose pure view – reality.

Once we realise the mistake of having acquired this illusory programme, liberation can occur. Actually, it can be quite a shock when directly experienced! This mistaken concept of ‘self’ is merely ‘artificial intelligence’.

Through clarity we see this mistaken illusion, and so confidence and relief arise. And because of this clear view, compassion arises for the mistake we – and others – have made. Having anything other than compassion merely takes us back to a mistaken view. There will still be inner conflict as the programme isn’t totally destroyed yet. That’s why we are here.

….To be purely here now; not to be something else.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Finding contaminated reality., Finding reality | 1 Comment

WHEN ‘BAD’ KARMA HITS

Posted on July 18, 2015 by tony

When ‘Bad’ Karma Hits

It’s like a torrent of blackness.
It is bewildering.
Whom do we blame?

Unfortunately, when we blame,
this is the cause of further bad karma in the future
…and round and round we go…

Poo happens!

Expectation doesn’t help.
It only makes us feel more unhappy.
Nothing lasts.

Only one taste helps.

As Shabkar Tsokdrug Rangdrol said,
“Resolve that all of samsara and nirvana is of one taste in the mind. Then, while in the state of dharmakaya – your own un-fabricated mind – You should walk, sit, jump, or run, Speak, laugh, cry, or sing, And be subdued, wild or disgusted. Having acted in these crazy ways, rest finally in a state of peace and ease.”

This torrent of blackness is only seen by the virtue of light!
😀 😀 😀
The light is the one taste, as it shines on everything equally.
The light is clarity – clear view.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Shabkar Tsokdrug Rangdrol., When 'Bad' Karma Hits. | Leave a comment

GET ANGRY!

Posted on July 17, 2015 by tony

Get Angry!
Why is there so much toxicity in the world?

If we are spiritually aware, we must be socially aware as well, otherwise we are hypocrites – merely actors. We need to have integrity, and we need to get angry. Spontaneous emotions are energy, dynamic energy. If we merely conform, we consent to groupthink, to being dumbed down. As ‘spiritual’ beings, we need to do more than “feather our own nests”. At the last retreat I attended, I was angry: I mentioned that sugar was toxic, and fellow students all shouted out, “Stevia!” (a natural leaf sweetener) – as usual they ignored the plight of others because they had their “Stevia” so they were OK.

Toxic food – WHY is it allowed?

Carcinogenic foods, sugar-saturated drinks… the list is endless; these are creating massive health problems among people all over the world. Food for bad health is for profit. Who profits? The uncaring food and pharmaceutical industries. Why is this callous, insensitive and cruel disregard for others allowed? They know what they’re doing!

The following is from Gmwatch.org:

“Glyphosate mixed with other chemicals is carcinogenically damaging our DNA.”

“The Soil Association is calling on the Government, farmers, the milling industry and supermarkets to ensure bread containing glyphosate residue is taken off store shelves.

“It argues that consumers should be protected, despite levels of the chemical traces being well below the current European safety threshold, set before new information about the potentially toxic effects of glyphosate emerged.

“In March, a World Health Organisation report published in The Lancet Oncology journal concluded that the chemical “probably” caused cancer in humans, based on a thorough review of scientific evidence.

“However the finding is controversial and has been dismissed as invalid by German regulators.

Glyphosate is the chief ingredient in Roundup, the world’s most widely used herbicide, made by the agritech company Monsanto.”

http://www.gmwatch.org/ glyphosate-damages-dna-says-world-health-organisation-expert

Sugar drinks

There is between 7 and 16 teaspoons of sugar in soft drinks, and the effect is devastating our health – and children’ s health! http://www.sugarstacks.com/beverages.htm

..and don’t get me started on
“gaming” “texting” “surfing”…
the unhealthy activities of sitting, staring at a screen for hours.
The screen replaces our mind!

Saying that, maybe the “Future Buddha” will be the one who
“verily came forth and did press many buttons”!
😀 😀 😀

..I’m still angry!
Here’s another reason why.
“IMF and World Bank are Weapons of War” by John Pilger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=211&v=WYCH1Ylncxc

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged “IMF and World Bank are Weapons of War” by John Pilger., Carcinogenic foods., Get Angry!, GLYPHOSATE, Sugar sugar sugar and more sugar. | 1 Comment

TEACHER – ARE YOU ENLIGHTENED?

Posted on July 16, 2015 by tony

Teacher – Are You Enlightened?
No. However…

As students, we regard the teacher as more powerful than ourselves, but it can actually be the case that the student is more powerful. Here’s why. It’s to do with the way in which we view our reflection of the teacher. Our view is our teacher. If we see the teacher as an ordinary person, then we reflect those ordinary qualities. If we see uplifting qualities in the teacher, we reflect those qualities. It is our mind that has seen something – and so, it is coming not from the teacher, but from ourselves. The teacher is a representative of the teachings; a conduit or bridge.

When we become involved with spirituality, we first need a teacher, a bridge. This bridge shows us the way; how to see our own nature. Although the Buddha, Dharma and Teacher are of utmost importance, it all comes down to the final effect it has on us. Genuine experience is superior to scholastic learning.

However, this bridge/teacher and the traveller/student may have problems. This is a little bit of a touchy subject, as we are not all perfect, so being honest about this is challenging.

The student may want what they want, and not what they need, and the teacher may not be able to give the student what they need as the student can only deal with what the student wants! Are you with me? 🙂 There is also the problem of the teacher wanting and needing students because of their financial commitments to supporting a monastery full of monks and nuns. So we have to be smart, understanding and compassionate.

Of course, an authentic teacher will want to lead us to what we need and not what we want – but we have to be ready for that to happen. To progress to what we need in our development may be a painful undertaking, so we need a firm foundation to proceed.

This brings us to our effort. To proceed, we need energy and a live connection through inspiration. This is where deep appreciation (devotion) and confidence are required. This, and a feeling of connection with enlightened beings through supplication. Spontaneous presence is spontaneity; it is alive, awakened energy. Letting go of preconceived ideas, we receive blessings which make come in many forms, one being clarity.

Importantly, emotions are energy! That energy may be wise, or it may be destructive. Getting angry is full of limitless potential, whereas aggression is limited and destructive.

The problem is that the world is losing spontaneity through conformity. We are programming ourselves. This is not direct experience; it’s hearsay.

Along with spiritual awareness goes social awareness; without this, we are hypocrites, merely actors. “Hypocrite; hupokritēs Greek for ‘actor’.

The Buddha said,
“Don’t take my word for it; see for yourself.”

There comes a time to just suck it and see!
And then we know we know.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged “Hypocrite; hupokritēs Greek for ‘actor'., Buddha, Dharma and Teacher ., Teacher - Are You Enlightened? | 2 Comments

WHAT WE SEE WE CANNOT BE

Posted on July 15, 2015 by tony

What We See, We Cannot Be

Whatever is seen is an impure contamination which time will destroy as it is created by causes and conditions. We are deceived by time.

‘Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds’ – Bhagavad Gita.

Death = Time.
Time only exists due to temporary, physical phenomena;
it does not exist outside this illusory display.

Everything we ‘value’,
everything that we believe to be eternal
– the sun, worlds, creatures, knowledge –
time will destroy.

Anything that becomes is impermanent; destructible.
The only pure reality is “seeing”; indestructible.

Time does not destroy ignorance.
It is only our seeing that can achieve this.

If ignorance is not destroyed, it will be the cause of rebirth in more ignorance.
A moment of ignorance is created by a previous moment of ignorance.

Our job is to eliminate the darkness to see the light.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 'Now I am become death, Death = Time., physical phenomena, the destroyer of worlds’ . | Leave a comment

VAJRAYANA, SYNAPSES AND GOD

Posted on July 14, 2015 by tony

Vajrayana, Synapses and God

“Knock and the door shall open.”
We knock because we have a question.
When we admit that we are suffering,
we will look for a cause of that suffering.
When we find it, the synapses will join up = eureka!

We know.
That is our true nature; pure cognisance.
We just don’t know that we know.
And when we do know,
we have to learn how to express that knowing.

So to whom are we asking our question?
Our very own nature.

Is there a connection between Vajrayana deities and God? If we ask a strict Buddhist or Christian, they would say “No!” but just bear with me a moment. It all depends on how we look and what is actually experienced, rather than what we are supposed to experience according to doctrine.

Vajrayana or Tantric deities embody enlightened qualities; so does the idea of God. We might say that “God” is a figment of our imagination, but then, so are deities. Buddhists will say that deities are enlightened beings, showering us with blessings. Christians say the same of God. Buddhists might say “But God is not the same thing as Vajrayana deities – it’s just an idea. Who’s ever met God?” Who has ever met a deity?

Buddhist will say that deities represents the “pure consciousness” of compassion. Christians might say that God represents “God consciousness”, the lord of compassion. The Tibetan deity, Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezi), is also known as the lord of compassion.

Of course, zealous, dogmatic types will argue forever about this, and that is their choice. However, what matters is the effect on our own minds. We have a choice to live in division or harmony.

As an example:

Last week, I decided I was going to be “on holiday”, which pleased the wife! Nothing was going to upset me, not even being told off for not washing up ‘properly’! I realised that this compassionate state was freeing for me – and her. I have spent years doing Vajrayana practice and it never made sense – I wasn’t really feeling it, as it was a conceptual idea, a practice that I ‘do’. Until now. A connection has suddenly been made. I do the Avalokiteshvara (the lord of compassion) practice every day, and was supposed to walk around in daily life as if I was the deity – but this never felt right as it was merely a concept. Until now. Now, compassionate nature is a constant reminder to be Mr. Avalokiteshvara.

And that’s the point of Vajrayana; it’s a reminder to be who we are. God consciousness is exactly the same… walking around like Mr or Mrs God!

This is all about the power of imagination.
Imagination can lead us into fantasy or reality.

Only you know!
When the synapses join up,
we can have great fun
creatively expressing this joy.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Avalokiteshvara (the lord of compassion)., God consciousness, Synapses and God., Vajrayana, Vajrayana practices. | 1 Comment

PROOF THAT THE BUDDHA WAS RIGHT

Posted on July 14, 2015 by tony

Proof That The Buddha Was Right

The Buddha tells us that which we already know;
that we are pure cognisance.
This is our true nature.

How do we know this?
Because it is pure cognisance that is recognising.
Re-cognising: Latin = know again!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Proof That The Buddha Was Right., Re-cognising: Latin = know again!, The Buddha | Leave a comment

PROOF THAT THE BUDDHA WAS WRONG!

Posted on July 13, 2015 by tony

Proof That The Buddha Was Wrong!

Er…

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…

…haven’t found anything yet!

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🙂

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Proof That The Buddha Was Wrong! | 1 Comment

SYNCHRONICITY IS KARMA

Posted on July 12, 2015 by tony

Synchronicity Is Karma

…nothing just happens,
as everything is created by
causes and conditions.

Synchronicity = meaningful coincidences = karma = the result of previous actions = a meeting in relative time and space that results in events.

I came to the Dharma through many painful events which coincided; the results of both good and bad karma. Synchronicity/karma is happening all the time; it’s continuous. Everything is synchronistic karma.

There are seeming accidents, but we are just unaware that synchronistic karma is taking place. The whole physical universe is synchronistic karma which is constantly being created by more synchronistic karma. “If we could just stop picking th spot, it will get better by itself!”

As our perception refines, so does synchronistic karma. Everything becomes meaningful. Everything is significant as everything is the symbolic teacher. The more we are aware, the more we are aware.

There is order in chaos but it just goes unnoticed. Through wisdom, we may gain accurate and deep understanding, with insight into how and why ‘things’ happen. Insight = inner seeing; the realisation that everything arises within emptiness as a mistaken reflection that we take as reality. This ignoring of ultimate truth gives rise to desire and aversion, which in turn creates everything else.

We know 😀
but ignore 😉

As I like words, here’s one! Apophenia: the human tendency of perceiving patterns and connections. I would add, ‘without insight into the true nature of everything, and therefore, in the realm of fantasy and superstition’.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Apophenia = mistaking pattern., meaningful coincidences, Synchronicity Is Karma. Why 'things' happen. | Leave a comment

MEDITATION DOESN’T MAKE US NICE PEOPLE

Posted on July 11, 2015 by tony

Meditation Doesn’t Make Us Nice People

Conduct does.

We may have a ‘high view’ and be able to meditate very well, sitting still and straight and mastering complex practices, but our behaviour is the hallmark of achievement.

When we understand (through meditation) that the nature of mind is pure awareness – and that that pure awareness is the nature of our mind – then we understand that the nature of mind of others is pure awareness as well.

Pure awareness is dry because it just is. The moisture comes from expressing pure awareness: that is love without conditions. Confident compassion arises, which influences our conduct. Conduct is merely the continuity of pure awareness, which is the result of meditation.

Having lost a strong sense of self identity (expressing a ‘mere I’, a little ego), we then care more about others than we do about ourselves, and true happiness arises. This is a rare event, and worthwhile…as it is.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Meditation Doesn't Make Us Nice People., Spiritual conduct. | Leave a comment

WE LOOK AND WE’RE INFLUENCED

Posted on July 10, 2015 by tony

We Look and We’re Influenced

It all depends on what we look at, and the way in which we look at it. The world can seem full of hellish demons, or full of pure spiritual beings. Whatever takes our attention has an influence on us.

That’s what happened when we saw our reflection in the mind and mistook it for our self. The absolute (our pure awareness) related to an image and created a duality – a relative 😀 …my best friend!

Hellish demons know how to influence – and so do pure spiritual beings. This is determined by how open or closed minded we are. We need to understand the middle way; the unity of the two truths of relative and absolute reality.

If we become caught up in either extremes, we start judging and spiralling down to the dull hell realms. The absolute is the very nature of the hellish demons – the buddha in the mud. The hellish demons are just a psychological idea and have no reality. They have merely forgotten what they are, and so have we. We are both aspects – spiritual and demonic – being kicked around like a football (and getting very bruised)!

Whatever we read or hear, whatever we digest, can either be satisfying – a relief – or give us indigestion; the collywobbles!

This is why we have to be very careful, very aware, very mindful, to only take in that which inspires us, that which we can comprehend and that which makes sense to meditate upon.

We need constant wisdom inspirations.
This is what compassion and devotion are all about.
That is what Vajrayana is all about.

PS We should be aware of what is going on in the physical and psychological realms of samsara but we need to know from which vehicle we are viewing this; in the lower vehicles, samsara is something to be disgusted about, whereas at the higher levels, it’s seen to have no reality. This can be difficult to comprehend because it’s important understand our own temperament at this moment in time. Some need a literal practice and for others, an expedient practice is sufficient: some use a vajra and bell to remind them of means and wisdom and others don’t; there’s no right and wrong.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Hellish demons and wisdom beings., We Look and We're Influenced. | Leave a comment

I SHOULD HATE MYSELF…BUT I DON’T!

Posted on July 9, 2015 by tony

I Should Hate Myself…But I Don’t!

We may find that we cannot – or do not want to – conform others’ standard. They may feel threatened by this. We don’t even have to say anything; we are just not one of them.

Because of this, we could feel that we are ‘wrong’ in some way. Also (spiritually speaking) the way we think of our mistaken self identity could make us feel wrong. Hence: “I should hate myself.”

I should hate myself?! Our confused state is our path. Those who conform love themselves as they feel safe in their playground.

Some of us are not ‘group think’ people, and we shouldn’t hate ourselves for that.

Maybe some worry more 😀 !
“You won’t get to heaven by worrying!”
Perhaps some aren’t meant for heaven…
Bodhisattvas aren’t.*

We all have to start somewhere
with an aspiration to help.
We all need a doorway to start our journey out of the group think.

This is the final paragraph from an article by Kosho Uchiyama in Tricycle (an online magazine about Buddhism):

“It’s not enough just to know the definition of bodhisattva. What’s much more important is to study the actions of a bodhisattva and then to behave like one yourself.

Regarding the question “What is a bodhisattva?” you could also define a bodhisattva as one who acts as a true adult. That is, most people in the world act like children. The word dainin means “true adult” or “bodhisattva.” Today most people who are called adults are only pseudoadults. Physically they grow up and become adult but spiritually too many people never mature to adulthood. They don’t behave as adults in their daily lives. A bodhisattva is one who sees the world through adult eyes and whose actions are the actions of a true adult. That is really what a bodhisattva is.”

http://www.tricycle.com/new-buddhism/bodhisattvas/what-bodhisattva

*Traditionally, a bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta (a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings) but does not pass into Paradise.

King-like bodhisattva – one who aspires to become buddha as soon as possible and then help sentient beings in full fledge;

Boatman-like bodhisattva – one who aspires to achieve buddhahood along with other sentient beings;

Shepherd-like bodhisattva – one who aspires to delay buddhahood until all other sentient beings achieve buddhahood. Bodhisattvas like Avalokiteśvara and Śāntideva are believed to fall in this category.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bodhisattvas, I Should Hate Myself...But I Don't!, Non-conformists | Leave a comment

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