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.

The Words Or The Meaning?

What is more important,
the journey (words) or arriving (the meaning)?

Or the meaning of the meaning?
Once we experience and realise the meaning,
the result is empathetic compassion.

That is when we know the meaning
of the words.

The Sad Truth

The truth is that which is constant, like a straight line. It is the direct perception of consciousness, without contaminating presumptions.We are this pure consciousness and, as such, nothing special. Our problem is that we want to be something special, someone different, and it is this that causes suffering.

The release from suffering is realising what we are,
rather than what we are told and accept.
That release is the experience of joy.

When we sit down after a period of hard labour, we feel relaxed. Now, consider a lifetime of anxiety suddenly lifted –that is some relief! We no longer feel we have to follow the stereotypical ways that created our anxiety in the first place. How often have I spoken to spiritual teachers and asked, “Do I have to be like them?”? 🙂

Sadness is a heavy heart that restricts.
Through empathy, we feel it in others.

Idealism is a representation of truth, rather than the actual reality; it is a mental construct. It assumes that perception is reality, when the reality is consciousness behind the perception. Therefore idealism romanticises and is unrealistic.

What is more important, the journey (words) or arriving (the meaning)?

Hope and fear freeze us.
Wisdom frees us.
😀

The Cheese In The Trap

Following a ‘name’
rather than practising the meaning of the teaching,
we fall into the trap of addiction.

Escaping the trap:
through empathy, we know the traps we all fall into.

This is in no way an attempt to offend cheese.
I like cheese, but don’t want to become addicted.
😀

There Is Nothing For A Creator To Do

If the universe is infinite,
why would there be a creator?

The infinite universe is home for infinite conscious beings,
commensurate with their karmic tendencies.

This consciousness is pure,
and needs no physical universe.

Long Term Or Short Term Values

Is our personal evolution a long term or short term aim? Life is short, so some conclusion or realisation must be resolved about the value of life, sooner rather than later.
Conclusion: decision reached by reasoning

Realising our true reality – something we have sought all our life – is both shocking and a relief. It’s also shocking to recognise that this reality of pure consciousness has been present all our life.

Why didn’t we realise this before? We were lead astray by interpretations and stupidity.
That’s why the world is so misguided. In realising cause and effect, life becomes fruitful, but not necessarily comfortable 😀

No credentials necessary; just realise that we have been suffering for no reason.

Conclusion: decision reached by reasoning – rather then by adopting elaborate hearsay.

If there are further incarnations … wow … If not … wow 🙂

We Are Primordial Purity

To most, this sounds daft.
That’s because of the world we live in!

When we realise we are pure consciousness – the potential of enlightenment – our world changes. We no longer fit into the common consensus of tit-for-tat, entertaining ourselves and fighting others.

Pure consciousness is embodied in a human form, imprisoned in a virtual, almost-reality. Why is this? Our idiosyncratic tendencies have brought us to where we are now; what we do and say, and the words we choose are the result of the accumulation of karma.

Merely having a glimpse of our reality, we realise the predicament we are in. That’s the reason why we may we feel confused or angry at the antics people get up to … and we just joined in. Partial information messes with our minds, perpetuating confusion rather than explaining the complete picture.

A good heart, easy path.
A troubled heart, hard path.

There is no telling which is the fast path!
😀

Thoughts Arising In Meditation

All thoughts are related to the past (memories): even if they are considering the future, they still relate to the past. So when a thought appears, just say inwardly, “Past” and let it go, just as a reminder of how we dwell on memories

It’s always good to change one’s pattern, and see if it works.
🙂

The More We Communicate, The Better The World

To communicate is to know what we have in common.

When we only spout the facts we have learnt, this isn’t communication – it’s repetitive, and can be a form of aggression, usually ending up in conflict.

True communication is intimate and honest, and we have the courage to experience others’ suffering and joy. To be honest, both of these are uncomfortable as they are challenging to ego. For those who are suffering, we have empathy, and for those who are happy, we have compassion because that happiness is transient.

True friendship is having generosity, patience, morality, discipline, concentration and, above all, the wisdom to understand. We’ve each experienced every emotion possible; that is the wisdom store.

As students of the Dharma, we need to keep this store open.

Isolated From Reality

The contents of the mind is our barrier to pure perception, as the mind identifies and translates almost immediately, not noticing that a moment of pure perception has taken place, and that pure consciousness is present.

Ignorance of this pure moment means we are isolated
– locked outside! 😀

How do we get in?
Stop believing that the outside is our reality.

When Is Life Complete?

Life is complete when we let go of self-memory.

Mind is memories (software) stored in the brain (hard-drive).
Self is created by the watcher-consciousness that clings to these memories.

When consciousness is in its pure state, there is no watcher, no memories,
but the mind can be scanned for guidance.

This realisation may not make us perfect, but it brings an end to expectations.
We use the limited skills that we have to express the reality within the illusion.

Is there further to go?
First, we have to get over ourself.
🙂

Translations

If someone realises something in one language, in order to communicate this realisation, it has to be translated into others’ languages. As we know, there are many translations of the same text: much will depend on the the translator personally experiencing the original realisation – or it can become a dry translation.

The interesting factor is that realisation is beyond words.
Words can make a fine feast,
but may not supply the nourishment needed to receive that one taste.

Dzogchen text is about our original essence. It’s about what we are now, and not about an intellectual, mystical experience. All we need is a glimpse of what we are, which is pure consciousness.

When I received the pointing out instruction on the direct nature of mind, it was the essence of consciousness that recognised what was happening. This was the direct instruction, indirectly.

Nothing happened. There was nothing! No doubts. It was ordinary. No words were needed. Everything else seemed like nonsense.

What was realised was something I had known since I was four years old, but had doubted because all around me were life’s ‘enthusiasts’.

That was the release.

This is why the Buddha said,
“Do not take my word for it …”

Transcendental Understanding

A transcendental experience cannot be understood in ordinary ways: meditation detaches our self-reality from our actual reality.

Our actual reality is moments of pure being that gradually become more frequent with practice; our self-reality is the practice of grasping.

Grasping = greedy = excessive desire.

In transcendental moments,
we are almost there and not there.
All we need to do is acknowledge and let go.

Love is acknowledging the transcendental in others.
Wave and they will wave back.
Smile and they will smile back.
That is the transcendent wisdom of understanding.