Four Faults of Natural Awareness

So close you can’t see it. 

So deep you can’t fathom it. 

So simple you can’t believe it. 

So good you can’t accept it.

~ Kalu Rinpoche

Space and awareness.

It is said that the difference between buddhas and sentient beings is like the difference between the narrowness and the openness of space. Sentient beings are like the space held within a tightly closed fist, while buddhas are fully open, all-encompassing. Basic space and awareness are innately all-encompassing. Basic space is the absence of mental constructs, while awareness is the 'knowing' of this absence of constructs, recognizing the complete emptiness of mind essence. Space and awareness are inherently indivisible.

 ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

Without causes and conditions, it is originally present.

Lady Tsogyal asked: 

Since it is meaningless not to cut through these three ways of straying, how should we transform them?

The master replied: 

Tsogyal, the empty essence of your awareness is not created by anyone. Without causes and conditions, it is originally present. Don’t try to change or alter awareness. Let it remain exactly as it is! Thus you will be free from straying and awaken within the state of primordial purity. In the same way, your cognizant nature is originally and spontaneously present indivisible from emptiness. Its expression, the unconfined capacity of whatever arises, has no concrete existence. Recognize that all three aspects [of awareness] are a great indivisible unity. Thus you awaken as the indivisibility of the three kayas.

~ Padmasambhava

Appearances are not real!

This is what the dharma practitioner needs to understand — that the whole of samsara, or nirvana, is as essenceless or untrue as that film. Until we see this, it will be very difficult for dharma to sink into our minds. We will always be carried away, seduced by the glory and beauty of this world, by all the apparent success and failure. However, once we see, even just for a second, that these appearances are not real, we will gain a certain confidence. This doesn't mean that we have to rush off to Nepal or India and become a monk or nun. We can still keep our jobs, wear a suit and tie and go with our briefcase to the office every day. We can still fall in love, offer our loved one flowers, exchange rings. But somewhere inside there is something telling us that all this is essenceless.

~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Ten things to understand

Understand that outer appearances are unreal

because they are illusions.

Understand that inner mind is empty

because it is devoid of self-entity.

Understand that thoughts are momentary

because they occur due to conditions.

Understand that your body and speech are impermanent

because they are conditioned.

Understand that the consequences of your actions are inevitable

because all the pleasure and pain of sentient beings result from karma.

Understand that pain is your spiritual friend

because it is the cause of renunciation.

Understand that pleasure and happiness are the demons of attachment

because they are the roots of samsara.

Understand that many engagements are obstacles for merit

because they hinder spiritual practice.

Understand that enemies and obstructers are your teachers

because they are inspiration for spiritual practice.

Understand that everything is of equal nature

because all phenomena are ultimately devoid of self-nature.

These are the ten things to understand.

~ Gampopa

Nature of emptiness is compassion.

It should be clearly understood that anyone who has realized the nature of emptiness experiences the spontaneous arising of bodhicitta. There is no realization of emptiness that doesn't inherently contain bodhicitta. Just like fire is hot, the nature of emptiness is compassion.

~ Yangthang Rinpoche

Look at the one who is looking.

Look at this picture, then look at your mind. Look at the one who is looking. If you see this, you are the excellent one

~ Dudjom Rinpche

Mind is empty

Mind is empty, and while being empty, it still knows or experiences. Space is empty and does not know anything. That is the difference between space and mind. Mind is similar to space in that it is insub­stantial, not material. Isn’t it quite amazing that some­thing that is insubstantial is also able to experience?

There is mind, but it is not tangible or substantial. You cannot say that there is no mind because it is the basis of everything; it is that which experiences every possible thing. You cannot say really that there is a thing called mind, and yet at the same time you can­not say that there is no mind. It lies beyond both extremes of being and not being. That is why it is said, "Not existent, since even a buddha does not see it; not nonexistent, since it is the basis of both samsara and nirvana."

~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

Fearless in the face of death.

Lady Tsogyal asked the master:
Where do we find an abode that is fearless in the face of death?

The master (Padmasambhava) replied:
When you realize that the nature of your mind never arises, you may seem to change bodies, but you do not move from the empty and lucid dharmakaya, the nature of your mind. You can firmly resolve on that.

The Nature of Mind

No words can describe it 

No example can point to it 

Samsara does not make it worse 

Nirvana does not make it better 

It has never been born 

It has never ceased 

It has never been liberated 

It has never been deluded 

It has never existed 

It has never been nonexistent 

It has no limits at all 

It does not fall into any kind of category.

~ Dudjom Rinpoche

External guru and the guru in our heart.

"The illustrative guru, who is the external form of the guru, illustrates through his teachings the actual guru, which is the luminosity within your own heart. The guru's instructions awaken the ultimate guru within."

In this statement, the outer guru called "the illustrative guru," the one who has realized the nature of mind (Buddha nature) and shows this nature to you so that you can then realize the nature of mind. The outer guru is called the illustrative guru because he gives us the indication that leads us to realize the ultimate guru. When this happens, you will realize the bond between your mind and the mind of the guru. It is like the string of a mala. You will realize the nature of your own mind and the nature of the guru's mind to be the same by nature, an inseparable union. When this awareness occurs, you will see your own true nature, which is when you see the ultimate guru being your Buddha nature. But because we do not recognize it, we just ignore our true nature. That is why we rely on the master, on the outer guru, the rupakaya "master who appears in an ordinary form with a face and hands." The illustrative lama manifests to us in order to help us realize the ultimate guru, which is the clear light in the center of our hearts. Once this is awakened through the teacher's instructions, it is precisely this that we put into practice: the ultimate teacher beyond any arising.

~ Garchen Rinpoche

We are not separate!

Though primordially we are not separate, not recognizing me, you experience me externally.

~ Yeshe Tsogyal

It's all a matter of motivation!

Be ambitious about the magnitude of the motivation you arouse. Don't settle for simple kindness when nothing less than the fully-fledged mind of bodhicitta is what is needed. Kyabje Dudjom Rinpopche said that dharma practice is really not that difficult, it's all a matter of motivation. So never forget to arouse the motivation of wanting to bring all sentient beings to complete enlightenment. And the more magnanimous your motivation, the more merit you will accumulate, even when all you do is light a candle. If you light a candle merely as a decoration for the living room, your motivation is that of an ordinary person. If you light it with the wish to accumulate merit and eventually destroy samsara, you share the attitude cultivated by shravakayana practitioners. To light the candle with the wish that any merit attained be dedicated to the enlightenment of all sentient beings, your attitude is the same as that of bodhisattvayana practitioners. To consider the candle to be the light of wisdom that ilmuinates all sentient beings, with the aspiration that wherever its light falls becomes the mandala, is the attitude of a tantric practitioner.

~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Bliss that you experience upon realizing the nature of mind.

If you were to gather all the glory, enjoyment, pleasure and happiness of the world and put it all together, it would not approach one tiny fraction of the bliss that you experience upon realizing the nature of mind.

~ Kyabje Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche

Guru Rinpoche is the embodiment of all masters.

Guru Rinpoche is the embodiment of all masters, all deities, all dakinis, all dharma protectors, and all gods of wealth. Therefore, if we can have complete faith in Guru Rinpoche, thinking that, “I have no refuge other than you! You are my only refuge!” if we can develop this kind of faith single-pointedly and recite Guru Rinpoche’s mantra, we will accomplish the state of Buddhahood. By doing this, we can clear away unfavorable circumstances and obstacles. We do not anything else other than this. If you can make up your mind practicing as such, it would be wonderful.

~ Yangthang Rinpoche

The way of perfect bliss

Banishing all hope and all fear, rest in the diamond-like certainty that the primordial simplicity of awareness is itself buddhahood. That is the way of perfect bliss, in which all the qualities of enlightenment will flourish without effort.

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Understanding the nature of the mind

To understand the nature of the mind, there are two ways: one is easier, the other is harder. The easier way involves your lama introducing you to the nature of the mind, and on that basis you work on that and come to know the mind and its nature.

As for the harder way, even if a lama introduces the nature of the mind, still it may be difficult to understand its nature. Therefore, to really understand the true nature of the mind, the introduction by the lama must be supplemented by faith, belief, and longing supplications. Then you will receive the siddhi of your guru.

Many people can talk about the nature of the mind, but when you have a karmic connection with a lama, even though the words are the same, the effect is different.

 ~ 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje

One deity, one mantra, and one practice.

One deity, Chenrezi, embodies all Buddhas;

One mantra, the six syllables, embodies all mantras;

One Dharma, bodhichitta, embodies all practices of the development and completion stages.

Knowing the one which liberates all, recite the six-syllable mantra.

The Buddha Shākyamuni himself is an emanation of Chenrezi; the Dharma, which shows us what to avoid and what to cultivate, is perfectly contained in the six-syllable mantra; the Saṅgha, the Bodhisattvas who help us along the path, are emanations of Chenrezi as well. Chenrezi is thus the union of the Three Jewels. Just as one reservoir collects countless drops of rain, Chenrezi’s compassion includes all the wisdom of Mañjushrī and all the power of Vajrapāṇi. With this one deity, one mantra, and one practice, you can accomplish everything.

The many deities are infinitely diverse: peaceful or wrathful, with one, three, or many heads, and with two, four, six, or many more arms, each one symbolizing a different quality. Yet you can be confident that all of them are included in Chenrezi. In the same way, since all the beneficial power of the immense variety of other mantras is contained in the six-syllable mantra by itself, you can put all your heart into reciting just the one mantra. Your body, speech, and mind are essentially one with the enlightened body, speech, and mind of Chenrezi; this you should recognize as the quintessence of the practice.

~ The heart treasure of the enlightened ones / Patrul Rinpoche; with commentary by Dilgo Khyentse.

Being in the present

Being in the present is so important in buddhism. It is the core strategy of buddhism to do whatever it takes to keep the mind present, to have ones mind from going astray. Every single method that exists in buddhism is for that result.

~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

The Four Immeasurables

Love means wishing for the happiness of others.

Like a loving mother cherishing her child,

One’s body, wealth, and virtue all amassed one gives for others’ benefit,

While training to endure the harms that they inflict.

Compassion is a powerful state of mind,

An inability to tolerate the fact that others suffer.

Beings in the six realms are entrapped by sorrow and its cause,

And seeing this brings tears to one’s eyes.

Joy is to delight in other’s pleasure and success;

It is to cultivate the wish that all have happiness.

It is a joy one feels when they achieve it for themselves

And is the wish that they should never be deprived of it

Impartiality is freedom from attachment and hostility,

When sides and factions are all seen as equal,

When enemy and friend and neither –

Are all treated with an evenhanded kindness.

We should practice these four attitudes, remembering

That all is without true existence.

~ Jigme Lingpa

Pay attention

Please be careful in the future to pay attention. Karma can be very subtle and tricky. We might think something is no big deal, but it may turn out to have serious consequences, so pay good attention to the karmic process. This is what every practitioner needs to pay attention to, even those with the highest realization.

~ Dudjom Rinpoche

Realization

Experience is always changing, like the movement of clouds against the sky. Realization – the stable awareness of the true nature of your mind – is like the sky itself, an unchanging background against which shifting experience occur.

~ Mingyur Rinpoche

The guru is essential

The guru is essential: though some people think that they can practise without a teacher. We may think we know how to do prostrations, but it is the teacher who helps us understand the nature of the practice so that our practice transforms our minds. We need three things: instructions from a teacher, study and reflection. In the end, no one attains enlightenment by completing a certain number of prostrations or circumambulations!

~ Gyalwang Karmapa

How will the rise and fall of the Dharma be like in the future?

"Support and take refuge in those spiritual masters who focus their practice in solitary retreat. Before one attains enlightenment, one should also enter into solitary retreat to focus on one's practice under his or her close guidance and mentorship. If not, it will be just like now, where everywhere is flooded with Khenpos who give empty talks. Those ignorant ones, who run after fame and fortune, and establish their own factions, will cause people to have aversion for Buddhism and lead to the extinction of Buddhism sooner or later. Hence, it is said that the authentic Dharma is not in the monasteries, it is not in the books and not in the material world, but within the mind. There is a need to awaken it through practice and to realised (actualised) it, in order to be called the continuation or preservation of the Dharma."

~ Chatral Rinpoche