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.

“All they do is meditate!”

There is much going on in this world that creates suffering – power crazed governments, greedy corporation, people in back rooms inventing new ways to control the population and put us into debt. We read it in the news everyday – reading between the lines, to hear the “double speak.”

…”And all we do is meditate.”

Those who criticise meditators do not understand that meditation is concerned with having a clear mind – seeing clearly – and therefore not merely guessing and reacting.

If running around like crazy people,  over reacting and mistrusting everything helps to make the world a better place, then do it! But it doesn’t, does it? It only adds to the confusion.

There are subtle influences and manipulations going on, and it needs a subtle mind to see it. That is where meditation comes in, to enable us to be aware of consciousness, and how it can be misdirected. Stage magicians show us how easy that is, and Corporations use Neuro Linguistic Programming to their own ends and not for the benefit of the population.

First we have to be aware, and then deal intelligently with what comes into our lives. If more people had clearer minds, we could work better together and it would be a better world. Until then, we will blindly go round in circles, doing precisely what those in the back room want.

Our real problem is the creation of a self image – an “I” – that has to be defended and maintained, through hope and fear. We do this to ourselves! Outside forces merely take advantage of this selfishness to manipulate us. If we understand how this works, we will understand how everything works.

The body can be manipulated, and the mind can be manipulated, but our essential nature cannot! Our essential nature is Pure Awareness, but at the moment there are screens of illusions in front of it.

Take control of your mind, because others are doing it for you!

It’s good to Know,

Tony

Judging and staying happy.

 Let’s be honest, we make judgements all the time.

Judging, discriminating, discerning, valuing are all part of learning and evolving. But we make the mistake of confusing conventional reality with ultimate reality. On the ultimate level is there no judgement, as there is no judge and no thing to be judged. There is just mirror-like awareness.

 At a conventional level, our judgements may be objective or subjective. Objective would be…“Is this hotter than that?” or “That looks more green,” or“That person seems tense.”

It is something that others could agree on.

 At a subjective level, our judgements may be “I don’t like that,”… “I want this!”… “I don’t care.”

This is a personal opinion, based on our backgrounds and influences, and we will rarely agree!

This is how we run our usual lives, and of course, it creates much suffering, and it keeps us in a prison of this vicious cyclic existence… going up and down all the time.

 The question is, “Does this subjective judgement effect our natural happiness?”

 Our natural happiness is open compassionate space. That is absolute truth.

Whatever appears in the mind is a relative truth: it is to do with our embodied human existence. We live in a relative world, and so we definitely have to make judgements (some things are beneficial to our health, and some are not!)

 In Sanskrit, any appearance in the mind is called a ‘Nyam’.

 Now we come to judging others.

If we fall into merely judging – or blaming – others, because of our own bias and fixated ideas, we will obscure our own mind and we will and become unhappy. Unless we have a large, clear picture of someone else’s background and motivations, we cannot form a clear opinion about their actions…let alone gossip about them! All we can do is be aware of that person’s tendencies. For example, we can be aware that they may exaggerate.

 This is integrating absolute truth and relative truth. What we do about it is…tricky! We can try to bring about balance, or remain silent. Adding to the problem…merely adds to the problem, and we find ourselves getting sucked in a “Nyam”.

 We make judgements from differing levels of clarity: there are coarse, subtle and very subtle levels. The coarse is connected to the physical world, the subtle to the mind and the very subtle to our essence.

 The more the refinement, the bigger the picture. Sometimes we have to evaluate a situation, whereas at other times, it’s right to let be. If an evaluation can create space, then that is positive.

Zen koans are meant to do that – putting the mind into neutral (this relates to the enlightened activities of pacifying, magnetising, enriching or destroying ego created situations – see the essay Wisdoms and Demons).

 Judging takes skill. Sometimes we get it wrong, and so we learn. If we keep making the same mistake and getting the same reactions, then we have become a fixated personality.

 However, we can use the relative levels to peel away our fixated ideas and understand the ultimate level…that is why we are here! Saying all that, we do seem to have preferences – I have a fondness for grilled tomatoes on toast!

 We are beautiful tools,

Tony

In the ‘normal’ run of life we get involved in this and that: we get exhausted, we seek entertainment…we switch off. In the ‘normal’ run of life this is ok – it’s to be expected…we do all this and then die.

The mind has been so filled with this and that, and there is no time left to wonder, “What’s it all about?” We may have wondered at some time, but then went back to getting on with our ‘normal’ life.

The more we wonder, the more questions arise, and the more we are not satisfied. It does seem that the world around us is intent on making us feel satisfied, so that we no longer wonder and ask inner questions…funny, that!

When we start to notice how much our minds are filled, the mind expands. Or rather the contents shrink! That is the purpose of meditation. Gradually the mind has more and more space. This is important: as more space becomes available, the easier it is to notice what’s there.

As the content shrinks, intelligence increases because awareness increases…funny, that!

Therefore, every action and reaction is more significant, as we have become more sensitive.

Meditation is familiarisation.

One can spend years watching the breath and doing strange things to one’s body, but meditation is purely becoming familiar with the awareness of awareness, therefore just being, just essence.

Merely rest loosely in pure awareness. Do not try to sustain it or modify it, as then you are doing something. Barely be aware of space-like emptiness, pure and simple.

In order that we do not get too involved or uptight, it is said to practise “short moments many times”.

So how do we do this?

We don’t!

Pure awareness is naturally there: we just have to recognise it….and let it be.Repeating this will gradually change our view.

In ordinary life we do not learn much. We just go through a repeated pattern.

Meditation changes everything!

Keep going…

Tony

The activities of Wisdom and Demons. One could see this as Buddhist psychology.

All sentient beings are BUDDHAS but do not notice it.
1.Our essence is emptiness/pure/Dharmakaya.
2.Our nature is cognisance/consciousness/aware.
3.Our expression is compassionate energy.

These if gone unnoticed become:
1.Ignorance.
2.Desire/attraction/grasping.
3.Aversion/hatred.

(It is interesting that attraction, repulsion and inertia, are the three main components of every atom in this universe!)

These the three Buddha qualities, prism into five Buddha families, or five wisdoms.

This is a description of the four enlightened activities of Buddhas and bodhisattvas and how the dark forces (Maras-Demons) can pervert them within us.

The following may seem a little complex, it is meant for those who like the idea of being spiritual engineers. Mara are like and dislikes in the mind. When we like or dislike we fall prey to those emotion, which can attract additional negativity. It all depends on our own negativity, that is why I find understanding the emotions is the key to sanity.

THE FOUR ENLIGHTENED ACTIVITIES.

With the laws of attraction, you have to be aware that there is another side to this. Every action can be distorted by the ego! This is because our capacity is not strong enough yet.

I’ll try and keep this brief.

An enlightened person will manifest these activities when a particular situation arises.

These activities are PACIFYING, ENRICHING, MAGNETISING AND DESTROYING.
Pacifying connects to mirror-like wisdom.
Enriching connects to the wisdom of equality.
Magnetising connects to discriminating wisdom.
Destroying connects to all-accomplishing wisdom.
The fifth wisdom of space allows the other four to operate.
(Karma here means action)

The karma of pacifying accommodates everything. It reveals that there are no problems, and that aggression from the ego is unnecessary.

The karma of enriching brings to light the process of growth, and allows the process of knowledge.

The karma of magnetising bypasses the conventional reality. In conventional reality, we continually try to draw desired situations towards ourselves and fend off undesirable ones. A realised person simply remains as he or she is, without this ego intervention, attracting naturally.

The karma of destroying is connected to compassion, aimed at ego’s manipulations.

THE DISTORTIONS OF EGO = THE FOUR MARAS.

These four demonic activities are directed at building and fortifying our concept of ‘self.’

The mara of pacifying appears as devaputra mara.
It attempts to make peace by using pleasure and security, to eliminate what is unpleasant. It is an imitation of genuine pacifying, which is beyond any self-serving strategy ( … “there, there – it will be alright, trust me”).

The mara of enriching is skanda mara, the mara of accumulating.
Ego takes the natural growth and turns it into its own ground. It takes the richness, and turns it into my wealth (… “see how clever I am”).

The mara of magnetising is klesha mara.
One attempts to attract, to feed one’s ego with what is desirable, based on the possessive emotions ( … “I enjoy praying for others” ).

The mara of destroying is Yama mara.
Yama mara, instead of destroying what needs to be destroyed, obliterates everything. Trungpa Rinpoche wrote, “it begins to get inspired in the wrong way, and uproots the whole tree…And that is the karmic quality of destruction gone wild, unnecessarily” (… “you are talking total rubbish!”).

This reveals that reality is nothing other than wisdom. We need to look closely at the world we actually inhabit and to contemplate our most ordinary experiences. If we do so, if we let go of what we think and simply let the true being show itself, we will discover that it is nothing other than primordial immaculate wisdom.

Remember: the outer demons do not miss a trick! Any whiff of ego involvement and they will feed off it. And off we go round in circles, re-acting… “Feeding time!!”

Be aware that worldly demons use these very principles to twist our consciousness.

All the best,

Tony

The illusion.

Every thing in the universe is in an impermanent state. Matter is constantly changing. So, everything in the universe has no permanent reality. Only a seemingly real reality.

 If a thing is real

If a thing truly exists

It can never not exist

It would be constant.

As every thing is not constant, it only has the illusion of a reality.

 Likewise our minds.

Our minds are constantly filled with data which is  being updated. It too changes.

So, our minds are also impermanent and have no reality either.

Therefore we live in an illusion, a dream world.

Knowing this is so important! Every thing may seem important to us, but it all comes to pass: despite knowing this, we hold onto it for dear life. Phenomena has to be respected – we are in a body and it has to be cared for –  and others too – but know that nothing lasts.

Believing that everything is real and solid and then justifying it is delusional. So what is real? What is constant?     Well, space is empty space. It doesn’t matter what you do to the space in front of you, that space never changes.

The other reality is awareness. That too never changes. When you were a child and now – that awareness has never ever changed. You cannot be what you perceive.

Inner empty space and outer empty space are the only realities.

Ok, this may not seem like much fun, but wait…

Once we have established real reality, and know our true nature, we then increase our intelligence and are more creative. In addition, anger, fear, hope, pride and ignorance drop away, giving us more freedom and less bias. We are no longer weighed down by believing illusions to be real.

 “They are real illusions”

 Truly knowing everything to be an illusion is the union of the two truths – one reflects the other!

All the best with the fun,

Tony

The strong serve the weak.

The strong learn from life’s challenges,

and respond with compassion.

The weak find fault with life,

and blame others.  

Tony

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You have come this far, so now it is time for the Secret of Secrets!

First, we must look at the toilet door for instruction…

Does it say “Occupied” or “Vacant”?

When viewing ourself – and others – we notice that we are either occupied or vacant: rarely are we – or they – just ‘being there’.

We easily notice being busy, but rarely notice being vacant or blank.

If one only takes a superficial glance at meditation, one might mistake a vacant state for meditation. The vacant blank state is, in fact, what the masters of old called Ignorance. There is no virtue in it…no emotion, no thinking, no insight and no knowing. It is indescribable, as nothing whatsoever is going on.

Here we will have to return a previous article that mentioned the 8^th consciousness. The 8^th consciousness is called the Alaya or All-ground. It is our memory bank. There are two aspects to it : ‘the bank’ and the ‘memories’ stored in it (equivalent to the ‘hard drive,’ and the ‘software’ on the hard drive*)

In meditation, when the mind falls silent, we may find ourselves in a thought-free vacant state…this is the 8^th consciousness. The 8^th Consciousness is still a conceptual state: although it is a vacant state, there is still an “I” present.

It’s not a bad state at all…it’s near enough!

Now the good news!

By merely being aware of that blank vacant state with no thought or mental activity, look naturally into that which perceives this state, and remains without thinking. When doing so, there is an awareness, free from an experiencer and experienced – it is non-dual. The “I” has gone. There is merely…e x p e r i e n c i n g.

Once you have resolved that this is your own nature (Essence), and that there is nothing besides this, you arrive at conviction!

This nature is also indescribable, but has a different quality from the previous vacant state. It’s bright and clear. 

We will find that we oscillate between the 8^th consciousness and essence. It’s important to know the difference. Resting in Essence through recognition will gradually be sustained.

This is what it is all about – but don’t expect to not trip up now and again! Now we know where we are, we can fill out the details.

There is one important instruction – “Short moments, many times”.                                                                                         With this method, we have to keep breaking the meditation, in order to keep it fresh, and to not hold onto it.

This is, in fact, a meditation for those who do not want to meditate…who just want to ‘be’!

All the best,

Tony

 *When the ‘hard drive’ is destroyed enlightenment is said to occur.

Why I became a Buddhist.

I was looking for something that could answer all my questions – something complete, and something I could prove from every angle. Buddhism is not a belief system. It is an analysis of truth. I’ve experienced other systems, but they did not make a real change in me, and I was not looking for a path where one just followed the crowd (ok, that can happen in Buddhism too!).

The problem with Buddhism is all that jargon: people can really get hung up on jargon.

However, in describing something that is indescribable, one has to search for words that may not exist in our language, or may be used in a different way. Even then, the meaning changes as perception changes.

Sanskrit and Tibetan are very subtle languages when dealing with spirituality, and one word can have many meanings. Context is therefore very important. That is why some teachings are closed to the public, because much inner work has to be undertaken before questions can be answered at a higher level. One can spend an afternoon discussing one sentence!

At one level, we use an antidote to combat emotions. At another level, the emotions are dealt with as wisdoms. At yet another, the emotions are clearly seen as not truly existing. If one hasn’t a clear view of these last two, they will not make sense.

I was a very angry person – angry at myself, and the world. This caused much suffering for me, and those around me. I had to find the real cause of that suffering, and what I could do about it. It is strange to feel everything to be pointless, be unable to understand or express why one feels that way.

The Buddha’s approach suits me, and specifically within that, the Nyingma tradition: the Dzogchen teachings were what I was looking for. The Dzogchen tradition clarifies the very nature of mind or Essence.

Quite often, people condemn Buddhism because they do not understand it. We cannot get to understand Buddhism from merely reading: it has to be practised, because the meaning is beyond the conceptual chattering mind. It is in the experience.

Now I have to deal with others’ anger!

“What is the truth? Tell me now!” someone might say.

“Well, there are two truths – relative and absolute truth. It is essential to see how they work together,” I might reply.

Then I notice their eyes glaze over…! Oh, they want a quick easy answer! To do no work themselves! It can’t be done!

All the best,

Tony

Religion and Spirituality: a personal observation.

 All humans have different capacities and understandings. Why? Because of work done in previous incarnations. As every sentient being is evolving at their own speed, we cannot judge others, but we can understand where they are ‘coming from’! We also have to understand where we are ‘coming from’!

 The material on this site comes from the highest teachings: there is nothing beyond. Some of these teachings are not easy to understand, unless one practises, has proper instruction and hears commentaries about the teachings. And we sometimes need commentaries on the commentaries…

 As these teachings are very subtle, they need to be expanded upon, with stories, analogies, paintings, images, and symbolic rituals. Maybe for some, it is just enough to go into a building where practice is taking place, in order to get a feeling of the atmosphere.

 One can see how religions are formed around subtle teachings, and the point of these can be lost in these rituals/buildings/images – and dogma is created. But we also have to remember that we all have different capacities! Tolerance, generosity and compassion are needed when dealing with one’s own capacity, and that of others.

 I was once in the company of a elder of a certain church. We were chatting in the kitchen, and an ant walked across the working surface. His fist smashed down on the ant and killed it – I nearly fainted! I was so shocked, but the deed was done. There was no point discussing it with him, as I could see that he would not understand.

 For some, spirituality is going to a building and meeting companions with the same point of view, and hearing stories. There is no criticisms here, as that is where they are at.

 In every spiritual setup there are people with different temperaments and luggage. There are those who are attracted to rituals, those who are attracted to the philosophy, and those who are attracted to the meaning and practice. One is not better than another as they all connect: however, we can get stuck in a certain aspect.

 If one has a good understanding of the teachings, then ritual is a symbolic gesture of that understanding. Ritual can keep one disciplined, and philosophy can help in understanding the nuts and bolts of a teaching. Even in pure practice, we need some foundation work before we can meditate.

Much depends on how WE see things: this will dictate how WE judge them…and that may not be correct, as this will depend on OUR understanding, at that time.

For example:

In Tibetan Buddhism there are three main approaches – Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana plus Dzochen/Mahamudra. Now to get complicated…laugh!

The following will depend on one’s attitude – the type of person we are.

 The Hinayana attitude will be to cut the emotions dead…however, they will still arise.

The Mahayana attitude will be to find an antidote for the emotions…however, they will still arise.

The Vajrayana attitude will be to transmute the emotions into wisdoms.

The Dzogchen/Mahamudra attitude will see that the emotions never existed in the first place.

We cannot jump levels, as everything depends on our actual relationship with the emotions – especially hope and fear – which is an indication of the strength of the feeling of “I”.

A traditional metaphor to illustrate this:

There is a poisonous berry bush (the negative emotions).

A Hinayana practitioner wouldn’t go near it.

A Mahayana student would put a fence around it to protect others.

A Vajrayana student would produce medicine from the berries.

A Dzogchen/Mahamudra student would understand that the berries never had any inherent existence in the first place.

It’s all about levels of fear…and here comes the twist.

There are those who consider themselves Vajrayana ‘medicine men’, but who are very rigid in their views, and so are actually Hinayana students.

There are those who consider themselves Hinayana ‘purists’, but who exhibit Vajrayana courage.

 There is no point in blaming the world for being the way it is, because that is the way it is. We have no need to try and fit into the dream worlds of others – and we have no need to demand that they fit into ours. All that is needed is to have a clear view of the world we have created – and are creating.

 When I was young, I wondered, “If I could prove God did not exist, would I?” The answer is it all depends on how God is seen, and at what level. Everything can be refined…until there is absolutely no ‘thing’ left…but pure awareness.

All the best,

Tony

Human potential is total enlightenment…so what are we doing?

It is possible to become a Buddha or at least a Bodhisattva – one with the universe and beyond!

So what are we doing? Arguing, feeling proud, eating too much, staring at the computer, maintaining our lofty status… for what?

We live in a world of hope and fear. We are told to better ourselves, to work harder. So a subtle competitiveness gets set up –  mind games, appearances and mannerisms. We become caricatures. So we hope to be better people and become recognised for it, and we fear looking lazy and being recognised for it. It’s a vicious cycle of existence!

First we have to control our own minds.so as not to allow others to do that for us.

Hope and Fear.

Hope and Fear are two poisons that control us. They cloud our ‘view’!

Our ‘clear view’ is our true being, which is naturally Pure, Aware and Compassionate.

This is undeniable. These are the three natural qualities of our being, Emptiness, Cognisance and Love. So now we know what we truly are! We are embodied spirits of pure light.

But, of course, we have an opposite side – not-pure, not-knowing and not-compassionate, because of this “I” fixation!

These three aspects create the three main emotions of Desire, Aversion and Ignorance. Ordinary confused humans are governed by “I like”… “I do not like”… and “I do not care”.

So we blindly react, and our clouded view stays the same. This is because we Ignore our true nature. That is the first poison, Ignorance.

It is strange that the laws of this universe have to same characteristics: Attraction, Repulsion and Inertia. Maybe, our Ignorance, Desire and Aversion created the laws of this universe, that keeps us in this vicious cycle of existence…?!

Ignorance creates Hope and Fear. Ignorance also create Pride and Envy.

Of course they are other beings in ‘this’ universe, who have the very same spiritual-potential-essential nature as us. An enlightened nature! But we also have an endarkened nature, that gives into the emotions of Hope and Fear.

Hoping that there are beings in spaceships off planet to help us, and Fearing what is happening here on Earth creates a confused mind. We can cut through our confusion, by cutting through our cloud of Hopes and Fears.

We are Pure, Aware and Compassionate beings, not part time, but full time. This is an undeniable truth. It is precisely because we are stuck in a world of distractions that we need repetition to focus on our true nature. Once we get a glimpse of this, life will be much richer and more fun…promise!

All the best,

Tony

Nobody ever became enlightened by not meditating.

Nobody ever became enlightened by meditating.

The practice of meditation, is becoming familiar with just being.

The practice of non-meditation, is being.

The practice of meditation is the method to the destination.

When the destination is found – drop the method and rest.

Breaking the meditation – breaks the attachment to the method.

In breaking the attachment, the empty space is found.

On finding  empty space, no thing is found.

Recognising confusion is the beginning of wisdom.

All the best,

Tony

Being critical without criticising.

 Evolving means noting, discriminating and evaluating all that appears. One lets be one’s usual reactions to that, then something fresh maybe seen.

 Only accepting and rejecting because of our biased habitual opinions, leads us into deeper mind traps. We only achieve a more ingrained attitude, and therefore become more aggressive and have less freedom. We have to be critical of our criticising to be even more discerning!

 I find it useful to have an invisible peg board up in front of me, where ‘all’ information is hung, and pended. As more information comes in, the pegs either join up or go nowhere.

 There are two aspects to everything, in this world and our relationship to it. Quite often we criticise the world but don’t notice that we are part of the problem. It’s like being in a traffic jam and complaining about it! Even though we are part of the problem we still have to evaluate …constantly evaluate!

 We know that all sorts of consciousness control (mind control) is going on in the world: we are constantly being distracted into looking in the ‘other’ direction. We also do this to ourselves daily, distracting our consciousness with entertaining speculations.

 We are all different on a relative level, and all we can do is agree to see things differently, and get on with our own evolution. That is the only way to work together and keep our sanity…unity in diversity.

 When we are aware of our own frailties, then we can empathise with others, and communicate.

The more critical – without criticising – we can be of our own reactions, the more we learn to evolve. The trick is to be critical and kind at the same time.

 If we meet a spiritual guide (apart from killing them!), be careful of how we judge them. It is easy to looking for a stereotype of calmness and silence, but they are not all …what you might expect! Some are laid back, laugh a lot and seem to be hardly there, while others are very precise and critical of procedure and language…and can be a bit scary!

Everything and everyone is of value, viewed in the right way.

 All the best,

Tony

 Noticing suffering is not as easy as we think. The word suffering, is a word for ‘being’ not happy. We tend to think, “Well, I’m not unhappy all the time, so I’m not suffering all the time.”

 Maybe we just do not notice our suffering? We also tend to think, “Well, one cannot be happy all the time!”

 That is exactly the point, our true nature ‘is’ happiness, it is there all the time. Once we acknowledge and recognise this, we realise that anything that distracts us from our true nature, is causing some sort of suffering, on some level.

 The object is not to eliminate the suffering, just recognise it. This recognition then serves as a reminder, that we have moved away from our true nature, and because we are still mainly stuck in consciousness (mind) we have to accept that this is our state at the moment.

 When it is said, “Suffering of some sort of level,” we might think that if I do not notice it, it is not happening…not so. Suffering can be on a very subtle hardly noticed level. Equally the more sensitive we get the more we notice suffering…especially in others.

 We sometimes get caught in the trap of thinking, “Well I’m all right, so everything is alright.” Well, it may be alright for you (at this moment) but not for others. This brings us to compassion, we quite often argue with others, and do not note their suffering.

 So suffering is when we move out of essence, into the mind or the physical, and as this is part of being sentient we just have to accept it, but not make a big deal of it. It is a bitter sweet relationship we go through, a sort of joy and sadness, it’s the way things are while we are here.

 We only have to look to see all this for ourselves. We are not totally at ease (resting in inner peace) all the time. This ‘being’ not at ease to a ‘sensitive’ will be called suffering.

That ‘sensitive’ will look for the cause of this suffering. Then that ‘sensitive will want find a way to do something about suffering. Finally the ‘sensitive’ will do something about that suffering.

So the next question would be: What are you going to do about this suffering, if you notice it?

But first one has to recognise one ‘is’ suffering, to be able to ‘want’ to do something about that suffering. Then one has to understand the cause of that suffering.

Remember, everyone who is sentient is suffering, as we are not enlightened…yet!

The whole process is going from the very coarse to coarse to refined to very refined to …….!

Yes, this is a buddhist view, it is called the four noble truths, which one can observe for oneself.

You don’t have to be buddhist to be happy!

1. Recognising suffering.

2. Recognising the cause of suffering.

3. Recognising a path away from suffering.

4. Treading that path.

All the best,

Tony

We live in two pyramids – deception and perception –  because within us are both darkness and light.

The pyramid of deception deals with the past and future of people, places, events, and with not knowing.

The pyramid of perception deals with now, awareness and knowing.

Living in the pyramid of deception creates more deception.

Living in the pyramid of perception creates more perception.

The pyramid of deception makes everything complex.

The pyramid of perception makes everything simple.

The pyramid of deception is controlled by the world in which we live.

The pyramid of perception is controlled by our awareness.

The pyramid of deception has no empathy.

The pyramid of perception has only empathy.

If you know you are in the pyramid of deception, then you are in the pyramid of perception.

If you think you are in the pyramid of perception, then you are in the pyramid of deception.

If you do not know which pyramid you are in, then by default, it will be the pyramid of deception.

Tricky isn’t it?!

We constantly switch between the two pyramids.

All we have to do is be aware.

Inner awareness changes consciousness (the deception pyramid) into essence (the perception pyramid)

Consciousness can be infiltrated and misdirected, as it is built on concepts.

Essence cannot be infiltrated because there is no thing there to infiltrate: just pure awareness… And love of course!

All the best

Tony

BUM ON CUSHION.

As long as you are relaxed and your back is straight, you can sit on a chair or cushion. Lying down is possible, but one tends to go to sleep. Sitting straight helps with natural breathing and flow, and keeps your mind alert.

Hands on lap or thighs, eyes slightly open, or open.

If there are many thoughts, just lower the gaze.

If you are feeling sleepy, raise the gaze.

Nothing forced, everything relaxed.

The senses are wide open.

Here we may have to make a distinction between paths. This is called Shamata meditation, and it uses the breath as a focus. Merely noticing the inhalation and exhalation, thoughts will come – just return to watching the breath. The thoughts may seem to get worse. They are not – you are just noticing more!

 The point here is that it is your time to relax, rest and be at peace. The body is still, and gradually the mind becomes still…but aware! You can go back to thinking later. This is called Shiney with support.

 Sometimes, we find ourselves in a vacant state, a dreamy state, which can be mistaken for meditation, but it’s not. It is a state of ignorance…not knowing. When we are day dreaming, we are cut off from our senses, and from what is around us.

 Once we are more or less comfortable with watching the breath, we come to Shiney without support. This is simply noticing that at the end and beginning of each breath, there is a gap – or we notice a gap between thoughts.

In that gap, we rest naturally.

There is a still ‘nowness’ present, and the senses remain wide open.

With the senses wide open and the sense of nowness, one can take the meditation into daily life. One experiences moments of spaciousness.

 Shiney with and without support are both still at a conceptual level, but it’s a start. It is building a firm foundation. It’s good to notice the difference between the two, as sometimes we have to return to Shiney with support when thoughts are rampant!

 All the best,

Tony

MEDITATION.

Before we can meditate, we have to know why we are meditating. Of course we can meditation to just relax and feel good, and that is a good start. But then meditation can become a life style, too precious and must not be interrupted…making us angry!

There are two approaches to meditation, one is meditation with support and then without support,

this is called Shiney and Vipashana. One start here, and gradually what is beneficial is revealed and what is not beneficial drops away. This is a very sound and excellent approach, and is useful to come back to. What is gradually revealed is the “nature of mind”. There are many instructions on this approach, and we will go into them.

The other way is to be introduced to the “nature of mind” and then meditation is merely its continuity. There are not many instructions on this! When the mind gets too foggy or excited one then we use the meditations with and without support, to bring the mind back to balance.

Much will depend on the aspirant’s temperament, and what they meet in their lives. It may be significant that you are reading this now!

There other forms of meditation: Devotion, Compassion, Analysis and bodily movement.

All are about taking the “business as usual “I” out of the picture. We cannot find truth with fixated concepts, we need the practice of genuine experience. However concepts can be used as a tool to unwind the mind!

So to proceed, we need to practise, then the questioning refines. Otherwise the search for truth merely stays at a conceptual level, and we cannot breakout. Gradually we will connect with the inner teacher…in-tuition. This will then lead to seeing all outer and inner phenomena as the teacher.

We could go mechanically step by step, but we first need to get a ‘feel’ of the view.

All the best,

Tony

The Buddha within ‘me’.

The Dharma is really a science

I am a Dharma student, who wishes to share experiences as they come along. At each step on the path, perception changes, although the same words may be used. There aren’t any more words, just more meaning! It is an ongoing process. The purpose of analysing an experience is so it is deepened, clarified and confidence is gained beyond doubt or beliefs.

A couple of years ago, while on a intensive retreat, I realised that the three kayas (the three qualities of our being – Emptiness, Cognisance and Compassion) were in fact the three so-called Negative emotions (Desire, Aversion and Ignorance). This was a incredible breakthrough.

I enjoy writing about this subject as it is the key to cutting through all experiences that are just reactions to external and internal events. Nothing and no one can effect our true being. However our minds or consciousness can be mucked about with – controlled!

The expression aspect to practice is very inspiring.

Once we have recognised or had a glimpse of our true nature, then when an emotion arises (because there is some level of “I” still present), they brighten the mind. At that moment we clearly see the movement away from our true nature of light/clarity and simply return. If not, then we allow the emotions to take control and Wham!!!…the world has turned darkness…again!

The trick is to recognise that the emotions and this acquired “I” never truly existed in the first place.

To find the Buddha within oneself, one does not have to be Buddhist. All one needs is an open mind, the ability to reason, recognise pure awareness…and have a sense of humour!

A sense of humour is needed because, even though we may get glimpses of pure awareness, we still have a residue from past fixated ideas that has to be acted out. We wrote the script for this life time due to the karma we have collected, and it just has to play itself out without us adding more lines.

The word Buddha simply means awake and pure. The awake part is merely recognising or getting a glimpse of one’s true nature, and that is not difficult as it is just there, going unnoticed.

The hard part is the purity. That is a matter of clearing all one’s karma, and that is a moment to moment awareness of one’s reactions. We can either return to our true nature of light/clarity, or allow the emotions to take control and Wham!!!…the world has turned darkness…again!

I look forward to the best of interactions.

Have a good future with a good heart.

Tony

WAKING UP.

Waking up is simply to stop dreaming.

Dreams are merely disconnected concepts floating about in our minds. If we let them drop, we find ourselves awake. However, even though we have dropped them, the thoughts still arise: this is because of our residue of karma. This is just something we have to accept – if we do not just accept this…we get involved again…and again..and again!

Waking up is clarity of mind, and clarity of Essence.

Essence is pure experience, and the mind is the facility to express that experience. So first we need to quieten the mind by a focusing meditation: this is generally done by merely watching the breath, which help us to relax and become aware of all those circling thoughts.

To start with, the thoughts will seem to get worse! They’re not – we are just noticing them more. We become like a ‘doorman’, acknowledging people but not following them in. If thoughts do arise, just say, “Thinking, thinking, thinking!” and return to just being one with the breath.

Gradually we notice a gap between the breaths, and we rest in that…rest in peace.The clearer the mind, the clearer the view. What we do in life depends on this.

The word Buddha means awake and pure.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Awake is recognising one’s true Essence. Recognising the empty space in which the thoughts occur, much like this white page – by virtue of the clean page, the words can be seen.                      Pure means having exhausted all karma and no longer creating any more.

It all takes practice – effortless practice of doing nothing, but recognising.

However we have been busy for a very long time, so do not be too hard on yourself. Kindness to our reactions is of paramount importance. Noting the reaction but not reacting upon it produces no karma…we have started!

All the best,

Tony

THE INTENTION.

Someone has asked a question about online teachings. My intention is just to be a ‘doorman,’ so that when one goes to an authentic Dharma centre or Dharma book, one will have some understanding and may be more familiar with the material – and no one can lord it over you! I spent years wondering what ‘they’ were talking about, as, for me, details were missing…it was unsatisfactory to say the least.

There are two ways of approaching the Dharma: one is from the front of the book and the other from the end. Different paths suit different temperaments, and what was missing for me was the ending. If we start at the end, we then know where we are going, and where we actually are…and the obstacles will be clearly seen. To use cookery as a metaphor: we can have a selection of raw ingredients and not know what to do with them. It’s only after eating a delicious meal made from them that we realise what can be achieved, and this inspires us to actually start cooking.

How this blog will proceed will depend on who comes to the door. There is much to be learned from discussion, as it triggers inspiration. As a group forms, the dynamics change, and with  goodwill we can help one another. So, the dynamics is the teacher!…and that is life!

Information is not knowledge unless practised and experienced. Then from knowledge, we find wisdom. Wisdom is our true nature – Empty Essence, Cognisant Nature, and unconfined Compassion.

Meditation is merely becoming familiar with our true nature.

All the best to us,

Tony

HAPPINESS.

[Writing about these subjects is tricky: if too much is said, it cannot be absorbed. If too little is said, then it is not satisfying. So take it that digestion will take place over many articles!]

Being happy.

That is our natural state…happiness! Happiness here means content and knowing, although that is not so easy in this modern speedy world. So how do we find this natural state of happiness? We find it by degrees of understanding. First, we have to know or trust that IT IS our natural state. From that, a sense of inner joy is discovered that no outside force can disturb.

Sounds good?

There are two aspects to ‘knowing’ happiness. The first aspect is knowing our true nature, which is the awareness of awareness of the emptiness of emptiness. Emptiness and Awareness are two qualities of our true being. Emptiness means uncontaminated – pure, like just seeing or reflecting something in an unexpected moment and being fully aware of that moment with no mental comments. Awareness means cognisant, having a knowing quality.

However, we ignore these qualities of our being and replace them with an acquired mental image of who we are – and the world around us compounds this problem! The second aspect is accepting life as it comes along.

This is so very important!

Our present was created by our past, and our future will be created by our present.  Because of the fixated ideas we hold about ourselves, the same reactions take place, and so we find ourselves going round in circles. Something has to change!

Being practical.

In every situation with which we make a ‘contact’, we have a choice either to react or recognise. If we just re-act, we are doing precisely that: re-acting the part. If we recognise the reactive response (which comes from our past), we can pause, and that creates a space, in which to see what is going on! If we react, we produce karma (the result of causes and effects, which are like filters held in the mind). If we pause and recognise, no karma is produced…simple.

We have just changed our future! When, through meditation or analysis, we recognise the two qualities of Empty Awareness, situations will still arise due to our karma, which still has to be exhausted.

Some days are good. Some days are bad.  Some days are clear. Some days are cloudy.  Some days are exiting. Somedays are dull.

Whatever arises is merely an appearance from the past…they all come to pass! Empty Awareness is always present,whatever occurs: however, it is usually unnoticed.

So what is happiness?

Merely Knowing Empty Awareness, everything that happens is part of our karmic script, which has to be played out. Knowing this brings a sense of relief. Our karmic script is our tool for mingling the meditation experience with daily life (this is known as conduct), and for finding our way back to our original being. We may wish for things to be better than they are, but that is only wishful thinking, this is mainly due to the claims and projections of those around us – and the media –we believe that happiness relies on conditions. That is conditional happiness.

The opposite of this is unconditional happiness, which is a happiness that is already present and does not rely on conditions. When we know happiness, we will know love, because we will recognise what is missing in others.

All the best,

Tony