Kalu Crystal Mirror
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Drunkar Chung Chung's pregnancy was joyful for her, and she was
never troubled by sickness. One day, when she and her husband
had cliMbed a mountain to pick medicinal herbs, she felt the
baby move, and realized that he would soon be born. They hurried
home, and when they got there saw that flowers were raining down
on their house from the sky, and that many rainbows had appeared
above it. As soon as Rimpoche was born, he sat up in the
meditation posture and chanted OM MANI PADME HUNG; then he said
that he had come to benefit sentient beings. His parents were
very happy, and everyone in the neighboring countryside soon
realized that a special incarnation had been born.
,
~fuenRimpoche was young he loved all sentient beings, and hac
great compassion for them. He would go to the lakes to bless the
fish, and would give mantras to the animals; he felt devotion
for all the lamas he met; he studied writing, spelling and
meditation with his father, and often said that he would spend
his life as Milarepa had, meditating in the mountains. He was
very intelligent and well-spoken; his yidam was White Tara.
monastery.
His first journey took him to Europe, the United States, and
Canada, where, in Vancouver, he established Kagyu Kunchab
Choling. During this, and subsequent journeys which took him to
many countries in Asia, Europe and back to North America,
Rimpoche established more than SO Dharma Centers, whenever
possible arranging for one of his own lamas to live a~ work with
their members. He also established three-year retreat centers
in France, Sweden, Canada and the United States. Many thousands
of people have heard him teach during these journeys, and many
hundreds have taken refuge with him and received initiation into
the practice of Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva who embodies
compassion. For some, these initial contacts have led to
further practice and a deeper understanding of Buddhist
teachings; for others, the initiation remains, as it were, a
seed planted but still waiting for the right conditions to
germinate.
These are the four major sufferings of the human realm, but
in addition to these there are many other sufferings.
For example, desiring things we can't have, and even if we
are able to acquire these things, we are not able to keep
them and so we suffer greatly from wanting to keep these.
There is a great deal of suffering which comes from one's
enemies, from being under the power of rulers etc. Amongst
one's family and friends, if one is not in harmony with them,
not friendly, then there is a great deal of suffering
which comes to the mind. This is the suffering which we
make ourselves and which we cause in our minds.
These are the six realms and the six places of re-birth
in Samsara. If we practice good actions, sometime we
will be born in the upper realms; if we practice wrong
actions, then we will be born in the lower realms. In
this way, we are constantly wandering in the six realms
of Samsara and by our continuous wandering, we are beings
of Samsara. This is the outer wheel of Samsara, and the
outer existence through which all beings wander. Then
within each being in Samsara, there is the cycle of the
twelve interdependent links.
It is necessary to meditate on the sufferings of Samsara
by examining closely the different kinds of sufferings
which exist throughout the six realms and to think, "If
I were reborn in the hells, would I experience these or
not?" Examine very closely all of these. Once one knows
about the different sufferings which do exist in the cycle
of existence, it is necessary to meditate on these and
this will produce fear and through that fear arises the
thought that if I don't practice Dharma now, there are no
means for me to escape from the sufferings of Samsara.
Meditating on the suffering which others experience,
produces loving kindness and compassion and this compassion
can be developed.
Through contemplation on these four meditations - acquisition
of a precious human body, impermanence, karma and the suffer-
ings of Samsara, Milarepa developed such a great diligence
that he meditated day and night and achieved enlightenment
in his lifetime. These four meditations make up the four
ordinary preliminaries which are meditated on in all schools
of Buddhism and also in each of the four schools of Tibetan
Buddhism. There is no way in which one can practice
Dharma in any of these schools without contemplation
on these four subjects. This completes the Teaching on the
four thoughts which turn the mind.
22
Then comes the first Tibetan lama, Marpa Lotsa and his
disciple Jetsun Milarepa. Then Gampopa and Dusum Kyenpa,
the first Karmapa. Then these follow in a line right up
to Kalu Rimpoche's root lama. This lineage is known as
the Golden Rosary of the Kagyu lineage.
When we do this practice, visualize that all these lamas
are present in front of you. Think that each lama is
surrounded by many disciples and other lamas. Also, you
should visualize that all the lamas of the other lineages
(Nyingma, Shakya and Gelug) are encircling the Kagyu lamas.
Then you think that on the front branch of the refuge tree
are all the yidams such as Korlo Demchak, Dorje Palmo and
so on. On the left branch (as you are looking at the tree)
are situated all the Buddhas. The central figure is the
Buddha Shakyamuni and he is surrounded by all the Buddhas
of then ten directions and three times. On the back branch
of the tree are all the Dharma Teachings given by all the
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as well as all the precious scrip-
tures and Buddhist canons. On the right branch (as you are
looking at the tree) are all the members of the Sangha,
the Bodhisattva Chenrezig and all the Arhats, Sravakas
and Prateykabuddhas. Below the tree are all the Mahakalas
and Mahakalis etc. These are the objects of refuge.
The one who is taking refuge is yourself and you should think
that you are surrounded on all sides by sentient beings.
On your right are your fathers, on your left, your mothers.
In front of you are your enemies and those who wish to harm
you, and behind you are your friends and companions. Surround-
ing them are all sentient beings. These are the ones who
are taking refuge.
What is it that you are taking refuge from? You are praying
to have refuge from all the fear and suffering of the cycle
of existence and you should also be thinking that in being
freed from this suffering you may achieve the level of
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
As an expression of your faith and devotion in taking refuge,
you make prostrations with your body, you recite the refuge
prayer with your speech, and you develop faith and devotion
in your mind. As a sign of the great faith and devotion
which is expressed by the body, you make the prayer gesture
at the head; as a sign of the faith and devotion of speech,
you make it at the throat; and as a sign or faith and devotion
of the mind, you make it at the heart. Then as a sign of the
combined faith and devotion of the body, speech and mind,
you bend and place the five parts of your body on the floor,
that is the palm of your hands, your knees and forehead.
There are two meanings of the five places on your body
with which you are expressing faith and devotion. One
is with the five parts, your hands, knees and head; the
other is with the five centers of the body, forehead,
throat, heart, navel and secret centers.
Thenyou say the refuge prayer with your speech and the
first line says - I take refuge in all the glorious lamas.
You direct your attention to the main f~gure who is your
root lama. Then you take refuge in all the yidams, their
retinues and mandalas and you concentrate on them at the
front of the tree. In taking refuge in all the Buddhas
who have gone beyond, you take refuge in all the Buddhas
who are situated to your left. When you say - I take re-
fuge in all the holy Dharma - concentrate on the Dharma
which is visualized on the back of the tree. In taking
refuge in the glorious Sangha who are assembled at the right
hand side of the tree you direct your concentration to the
Bodhisattvas, Prateykabuddhas and all the Sangha. Lastly,
in saying that you take refuge in all the dakas and dakinis,
Dharma protectors and all those who possess the eye of wis-
dom, then you take refuge in those who are situated under
the front branch of the tree.
The Three Roots are the Lamas, Yldams and Khandros (dakinis).
The Three Jewels are the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. It is
very wonderful if you can do this practice saying one re-
fuge prayer and making one prostration, keeping your mind
completely undistracted and concentrated with faith on the
objects of refuge. If you wish to finish prostrations very
quickly you may make two or three prostrations as you are
reciting one refuge prayer. The main point is to maintain
great faith and devotion during this practice and to know
about the wonderful qualities and perfections of the Three
Jewels and the Three Roots who have the ability to help us
escape from the suffering of Samsara. If we know about
these perfections we will develop faith.
Kalu Rimpoche has tried to send Lamas to all his Dharma centers.
This has been difficult to do. However, the reason for
sending a lama is to teach people about Dharma - what are
·the Three Jewels, their qualities and perfections- what
is the cycle of existence and enlightenment - what are the
benefits of practising and what are the dangers from not
practising. The lama is teaching you all in order to help
you progress through the Five Paths towards enlightenment:
the Path of Accumulation, the Path of Preparation, the Path
of Meditation, the Path of Insight and the Path which is
without obstacle.
If you are pract~ing the Kagyu Mahamudra tradition, then you
will have to pass through the twelve different stages of
meditation practice - the lower, middling and greater de-
grees of one-pointedness; the lower, middling and greater
degrees free from conceptions; and the lower, middling and
greater degrees of non-meditation.
The lama is also the one who will teach you from the sutras
and Mantrayana Path, giving you different teachings to
enable you to progress on the Path. If you are going to
study Dharma it is very important to have some knowledge.
You already have worldly knowledge, and having that will
make it easy for you to acquire Dharmic knowledge.
In order to awaken diligence and patience it is necessary to
meditate on fear and suffering. If you naturally have dil-
igence and patience, then there is no need for you-to medi-
tate on these subjects.
It is very difficult to have a clear visualization of each
individual figure in the refuge tree - to be able to see
each lama, Buddha and Sangha member etc. However, if you
believe that they are really present in front of you then
this is the same as having a clear visualization. The
reason for saying that it is the same is that Buddha him-
self taught that whoever believes firmly that the Buddha
is present, then the Buddha will be present.
In Tibet, there was an old woman who had great faith in the
Buddha and she had a son who travelled to India on a business
trip every year. She asked her son to bring her back a relic
of the Buddha as India is the country where the Buddha ap-
peared. He went to India twice and each time after complet-
ing his business be forgot to bring back a relic for his
mother. On the third trip, his mother told him that if he
didn't bring her back a relic this time, she would die.
So he went again to India and on his way back be realized
that be had once again forgotten. Then he noticed that
lying nearby was the skull of a dead dog and be went over to
the skull and pulled out a tooth and wrapped it in many
coloured silks. He took this back to his mother and said
that this was the tooth of the Buddha. The mother put this
tooth on the highest place o~ her shrine and continually
said prayers in front of it,and from the tooth little
relics appeared. So it is said that with the greatest of
faith it is possible to produce real relics from a dog's
tooth. At the time of her death, due to her great faith
and devotion, a rain of flowers and a rainbow appeared in
the sky and the mother achieved-the level of a Bodhisattva.
26
When you begin this practice you should visualize almost the
same refuge as was visualized in the taking of refuge and
prostrations. However, it's not necessary to visualize the
tree and the lake. Simply, in front of oneself in the sky,
there should be a most beautiful, spacious and celestial
palace. Inside, in the center, should be the lama and in
front, the yidams, on the left, the Buddhas, in the back, the
Dharma and on the right is the Sangha. Beneath are the
Dharma protectors and dakinis. Visualize these in these
positions inside a celestial palace.
One also imagines that in front of the lamas upon the crown of
one's head, are gathered all the yidams, to the right all the
Buddhas, and behind all the Dharma teachings and to the left,
the Sangha. Gathered around in the sky in a great cluster,
are all the protectors, dakas and dakinis. One thinks that all
these objects of Refuge are in fact different manifestations,
or different aspects of one's lama. These aspects appear in
order to benefit beings through different methods. In fact,
they are all one's lama and not different from one's lama.
To begin with one thinks that one is openly confessing all the
unskillful actions that have been committed by oneself and all
sentient beings. One thinks that through this confession, one
becomes completely pure and all sentient beings are completely
purified of their actions. One resolves that in the future one
41
Tilopa and Naropa arrived at a very big house, and Tilopa said
to Naropa, " Well, if you have great faith in me, you will climb
to the top of this house and jump off, and there will be no
doubt in your mind." And of course, Naropa with absolutely
no doubt whatsoever, proceeded to do this. He climbed to the
top and jumped off and reached the bottom in a very battered
condition. He lay like this for one day. When at last Tilopa
arrived on the scene, he again applied a few medicines and his
blessing and immediately his disciple was better.
Tilopa and Naropa were walking along and in the distance, they
saw a great wedding party, and there was a very beautiful bride.
She was dressed in a beautiful gown with flower garlands
around her neck. And·Tilopa said to Naropa, "Go over there and
get that bride and bring her here so we can fix things up. This
will be very, very good." So immediately his disciple took
off in order to get the bride. While he was attempting to
carry her away from the wedding party, the groom and the
other attendants became quite enraged. They beat him up
so that once more be way lying, exhausted and dishearten-
ed and couldn't get up. Also, his teacher was no where
to be seen. After one day, Tilopa returned and again gave
him various blessings and be was able to get up. Tilopa next
instructed his disciple to bring hi~ a woman -- a particular
woman, in fact, that he very much needed; when Naropa brought
this woman, then he would be able to give him further instruction.
Naropa thought that he must accomplish this and when he
he actually did bring the woman into the presence of Tilopa,
Tilopa was greatly enraged and said, " What on earth are
you doing? What are you doing bringing this woman here?"
And in order to punish him for doing this, be beat him up,
leaving him once again on the ground.
On another occasion, Tilopa instructed Naropa,when they
came to a ravine,to stretch his body across the ravine so
that Tilopa could walk across it, as though upon a bridge, to
the other side. And while he was stretched out like this,
his teacher instructed him to stay in that position until
he returned and wished to get over to the other side. While
Naropa was lying there, since it was a wet, marshy area,
his body was s~bject to the attack of leaches, but
he remained in that position. And when at last Tilopa re-
turned and was walking across the top of his body, his
feet slipped from the edge so that he was down into the
water and his teacher was extremely angry with him for not
staying in the same position. His teacher gr4bed him by
the scruff of the neck and proceeded to beat him on the head;
and from the blow on his head, the thought came to his mind
that now in fact, he would fall into unconsciousness. But
at this point, he in fact realized the nature of his own
mind. This was in fact, the pointing-out instructions.
So in this way,Naropa went through many different hardships
at the hands of his teacher. Following each of these, he
was given various instructions. It wasn't until he had gone
through these various austerities that he could receive the
pointing-out instructions. And in this same way, Marpa the
Translator journeyed from Tibet to India on several occasions
and stayed with his teacher, Naropa; working with him, study-
ing with him for twelve years and seven months. During this
time he had absolutely no doubt or wrong view concerning
his lama, and eventually achieved realization.
In the same way, Milarepa relied completely on his teacher,
Marpa and went through various trials and tribulations,
until in fact, he relied on the instructions of his teacher
and achieved realization. Most of you are very familiar with
the story of Milarepa. Having received instructions in
meditation from Marpa, Milarepa went off to meditate in
a solitary area in a cave. After meditating for a long
time, he eventually realized that the conditions he was
in were very poor. He had no water and no fire, and bare-
ly any food at all. He thought to himself, ''Well, I think
I'll go build a fire." So he wrapped his few rags around
him and set off outside in order to collect some fire wood,
and when he got outside, he found that there was a very
stong wind. This wind blew so strongly that~through the
effect of having very little food for so long he was
knocked unconscious. When he came to, he loo~ed up and
saw that some of his tattered rags were hanging from a
tree, and he felt very sad and longed at this time to see
his teacher, Marpa. And while he was sitting in this state,
feeling very unhappy, he looked up into the sky and saw
that Marpa was approaching on a great white cloud. Marpa
spoke to him at this time and said that he had felt and
heard his yearning and asked him what was the problem.
At this time, Milarepa sang many songs expressing his joy
and feelings of devotion at seeing his lama. Marpa gave
him more instructions and he returned to meditate in his
cave.
If one relies on the compassion of one's lama, then one can
dispel the various obstacles that do arise in Dharma
practice. Milarepa experienced such obstacles, but by
relying on the compassion of his lama, these were quickly
dispelled.
On another occasion, Milarepa returned to his cave and
found that five very fierce men had arrived. He found that
some of them were looking through his books. One was medi-
tating. Another was looking through everything that Mila-
repa had. Others were just generally working. At first,
Milarepa was a little afraid of these men, and so he tried
to remove these beings by feeling love and compassion for
them. However, this only increased their pride and was not
successful. In fact, two more appeared on the scene.
At this point, Milarepa tried to teach them Dharma, but this
was of absolutely no benefit. So then, Milarepa recalled the
instructions of Marpa, his teacher. All outward manifesta-
tions are but the bewilderment of one's own mind. And
thinking of this, he no longer thought in dualistic terms
of these outer beings and himself. And resting in this
knowledge, he had no doubt and no fear. When Milarepa had
achieved this realization, then these fierce men immediate-
ly dispersed in a great feeling of being upset and distraught.
They quickly left his cave. Through this event, Milarepa's
realization greatly increased. So in this same way, the
45
one can say it not quite so loud. So, when one is doing
foundational practices, one says this prayer one hundred
thousand times. When saying this prayer, one's mind should
not be wandering to anything else. If the mind wanders
away from the prayer, then it is very difficult to accrue
any benefit from saying it. Following this prayer, one
offers particular prayers to one's lama, asking for the
bestowing of particular initiations and then one imagines
that all the lamas around the central line dissolve
into light and are absorbed into the main line of trans-
mission. These lamas dissolve into light and melt into
the form of Dorje Chang upon the crown of one's head.
At this time one may imagine the form of one's own lama
in front of oneself or upon the crown of one's bead.
0~ imagines thatupon the lama's forehead is the letter
~OM, but one does not have to actually meditate that there
is this letter. However, from the forehead one imagines
white light coming forward, falling down and reaching one's
own forehead. This light enters one's own form and one
imagines that all unskillful actions that have been committed
through the body are completely purified. One receives
the vase initiation. That is, one receives empowerment to
meditate upon the stages of arising and ultimately achieves
the state of Nirmanakaya.
Then on~~magines that from the throat of one's lama, a
letter ~~ AH is emanating red light, \'lhich strikes
one's self at the same place in the throat. All obscura-
tions that have been accrued through actions committed
through speech are completely purified. One receives the
secret initiation and receives empowerment to meditate on
channels and prajna. And one ultimately achieves the state
of Sambhogakaya.
Then from the lam! heart, if one is meditating on the
letters, a blue HUNG emanates,whose light strikes
one's own heart, c sing all obscurations and unskillful
actions accrued through the mind are completely cleared away.
One receives the wisdom-awareness initiation and empowerment
to do deep meditative concentration in the stages of arising
and in the stage of perfection. Ultimately, one achieves
the state or the fruit of Dharmakaya. Through this part-
icular initiation one can meditate on both compassion and
wisdom, meditate on both the father and mother deities.
Then one imagines that simultaenously white light comes from
the lama's forehead, red light comes from the lama's throat,
and blue light comes from the lama's heart and strikes
one's own body at the forehead, throat and heart. And one
thinks that all obscurations of body, speech and mind are
47
Following this meditation, when one rises, one thinks that all
appearance is in fact the lama; all sound is the speech
of the lama and all mental activity is the very mind or
heart of the lama. Following the practice of Lama Naljor,
one shares or dedicates the merit for the benefit of all
sentient beings. This completes the practice of Lama
Naljor.
Rimpoche thinks that when you practice the preliminaries
and do Chenrezig meditation, it's very good for you to do
them in Tibetan. When Buddhism was first introduced into
Tibet, the language of Tibet had not yet been adapted to
the Dharma and all the Dharma practices were done in Sanskrit.
Sanskrit was ene of the languages in which the Buddha taught
the Dharma and so it inherently contains a great blessing.
Later many Sanskrit scholars and realized beings visited
Tibet and many Tibetans visited India. Great scholars and
translators appeared who were able to translate the teachings
completely into Tibetan. When this had been accomplished,
then the practices were carried out in Tibetan. There ap-
peared in Tibet 108 scholars and translators who were able to
translate perfectly.
Now the Dharma in its Tibetan language form is spreading
and developing in the West. For the time being, it's very
difficult to have a complete understanding of the Dharma to-
gether with the ability to practice it perfectly from one
language into another. Rimpoche thinks that, although the
prayers are said in Tibetan, there will soon be many scholars
who will be able to translate the works into English. Then
it will be possible to recite the texts in English.
Another reason for reciting the texts in Tibetan is that in
Tibet itself, an unbelievable number of beings achieved
very high levels of realization using as their means of prac-
tice the Tibetan language. So, the Tibetan language carries
with it the blessing of these practioners.
A third reason is that there are many Dharma centers in Europe
and North America and in tbe western world. So it in all
these centers the practices are undertaken in the Tibetan
language, then when someone goes from one center to an-
other, he/she will be able to continue the practice.
The fourth reason tor practising in Tibetan is that at
the moment there are many bigh lamas such as the Dalai Lama,
Karmapa , Sak)a Trizin and Du4jom Rimpoche and many other
great lamas and scholars wbo will be coming to the West.
It they hear everyone practising in Tibetan, they will think
that people are really practising the Dharma very well and
it will make then very happy.
So these are tour cood reasons why practising in Tibetan
is good and important.
rough, warm etc.; these clothes which we wear are the objects
of the sense organ of the body, or of touch. The various
thoughts that come to our mind, good and bad, are the objects
of the consciousness of mind. To all the senses - eyes, ears,
nose, body - feelings come which we experience as liking
or disliking or indifferent. We become attached to the ex-
periences we like and want to reject those we dislike. The
mind which does not realize that its essence is voidness is
the mind which reacts in this way. This is the ignorance
mind and it is from this mind that the passions and disturb-
ing emotions arise.
And so, one can think of this clinging to the reality of the
phenomena that we experience as a disease; it is this disease
which causes us to suffer in this cycle of existence. There
is a medicine or remedy for this sickness, and this remedy is
three-fold. This applies to the level of form, the level of
speech or sound, and the level of mind. In this technique
one considers all form which one sees as the conjunction or
the coincidence of emptiness and form; that is to say, all
form is the form of Chenrayzi; and to consider all sounds that
one hears as the speech of Chenrayzi, which is dra tong in
Tibetan, the conjunction or coincidence of emptiness and sound;
and on the level of mind, one considers all thoughts and all
feelings which arise in the mind as rik todg, which is the
conjunction or coincidence of emptiness an intelligence or
awareness. In this way one comes to view these levels in this
purified way.
This three-fold technique of viewing all form as Chenrayzi's
form, all speech as Chenrayzi's speech and all thought as the
awareness or mind of Chenrayzi, this triple technique is a
very effective and rapid means for realizing Mahamudra. But
in addition one then continues to perform the meditation in
what is known as the dzo rim, or the stage of completion in
meditation, in which one diSsolves the meditation gradually,
meditating that the outer world is absorbed into one's form as
Chenrayzi; one's form as Chenrayzi is absorbed into the syl-
lable in the heart; the syllable in the heart dissolves stage
by stage into a state of emptiness in which one rests absorbed
without any conception in the mind, without any visualization.
This particular technique is a very rapid technique for
realizing Mahamudra, the nature of mind.
If we consider the word "Mahamudra" in Tibetan, the Tibetan
translation of the word Maharnudra is chaja chenpo, four sylla-
bles, and one can examine each of these syllables in turn.
For example, the syllable cha is a symbol for the state of
emptiness, or the state of-vicuity: Sunyata. The syllable
~, the second syllable, is interpreted symbolically as "not
to go beyond." This indicates that all the phenomena in
Samsara and Nirvana do not go beyond or do not pass away from
this basic state of emptiness which includes all phenomena or
pervades all phenomena in Samsara and Nirvana. And so this
state of awareness ~ay be translated as a state of awareness
which does not pass beyond or does not deviate from this basic
state of emptiness.
All the different practices that we practice in Dharma, all
the Foundational practices -- Ngondro, the meditation on the
che rim (phase of development) or visualization meditations
on y~dams, the dzo rim (phase of completion), the phase of
perfection in meditat~on, the meditations on sharnata or
calming the mind, or lhak tong (vipassana), d~rect vision of
the nature of mind, the meditations on love and compassion and
on emptiness -- all of these are skillful means to lead us to
this ultimate realization of Mahamudra.
66
We can say, perhaps, that all people are the same, but in fact
if we look around us there are many differences between people.
There are people who have very keen faculties, very sharp per-
ceptions, who have the capability of understanding. There
are people who have middling capabilities and people who have
very poor, very inferior capabilities to comprehend and real-
ize. It is very difficult for an individual of middling or
inferior capabilities to come to a quick realization of
Mahamudra.
For one who has meditated in this way, it then follows that
one examines the mind when the mind comes to rest, when there
is no thought in the mind and the mind is simply resting
without any activity. This is what we call, technically, "the
mind at rest" or "the rest stage of mind." In addition, ther~
are periods when the mind is agitated or moving, when there is
motion or dynamic events are occurring in the mind. This is
what is known as •the movement of mind." One examines these
two phases of mental activity, the passive or rest stage and
the active or agitated stage, to determine whether these two
phases are different or whether they are the same. If they
are different, how are they different? In addition,_one
considers the knower or watcher which is aware of the mind
at rest or the mind moving: and one considers whether this
watcher or this principle which is conscious is the same as
mind or different from mind. In this way one continues, for
a period of time, to meditate, examining these various sub-
jects of meditation, these various aspects of one's mental
situation.
We have heard a great deal spoken about mind in the past. But
it is necessary for us to understand something of the situation,
to understand something of the nature of mind. We speak of
mind as being empty, or being void. This means that mind has
no form: it has no color, no shape, no distinguishing charac-
teristics whatsoever. In this way we can say that mind is empty.
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So, when one examines the nature of mind, we see it has these
three aspects -- the emptiness of mind, the lucid aspect of
mind and the nonobstructed aspect of mind. All of these are
not three separate things but three aspects of one basic
nature, which is the nature of mind. This is very often
referred to as the Tathagatagarba, or the seed or essence of
Buddhahood.
If one is able to recognize, to realize and experience directly
this nature of Buddha, this seed of Buddha which is the nature
of mind, then one is enlightened. This is the state of
Buddhahood. If one is not, however, able to recognize this
state of mind, this potential of mind, then it becomes the
basis for all of the confusion and suffering in Samsara. For
this reason, the difference between a Buddha and a sentient
being, between an enlightened being and a nonenlightened
being, is simply the presence or absence of the recognition
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To speak of all this is just words. These are just the sounds
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of the words; and one can consider these words as the conjunc-
tion or coincidence of sound and emptiness. What remains to
be done is to realize this basic emptiness or basic nature
of mind. And so now we will all together meditate for some
time on this basic mind-essence, letting the mind rest simply
in its basic nature, without any contrivance.
We rest with the body held gently but firmly erect, and the
mind resting in a state of bare awareness, without any con-
trivance, without any artificiality in the mind, simply
letting the mind rest in this transparent lucidity.
If one is able to let the mind rest in this way, in this state
of transparency, lucidity and spaciousness, where there is
the emptiness, transparency and lucidity of mind, and there
is the bare, naked awareness of this experience, of the
mind-essence -- if one can rest the mind in this state
without distraction -- then one can say, after a fashion, that
one is very close to the realization of Mahamudra.