From the onset, the lama being questioned emphasized that to truly engage in these two practices, one needed to unfold the sadhana from within the recognition of the view of all-encompassing purity, the application being an expression of awareness.
His compassionate humility created a comfortable ambiance that opened one up to being able to absorb his profound words. He was fearless in teaching the view, meditation, and conduct of the Great Perfection, due to the strength of his realization. He was like a general who ordered his soldiers to take no prisoners. In regard to the view, one either recognized it or not—and if not, no place to hide, nothing to capture! When I listen to or read his teachings, very often I have to stop and catch my breath, recalling how fortunate we have been that such a great being graced our world and that so many of us were able to connect with him personally or though his books, recordings, and videos.
He never gave up on us, repeating the same thing again and again, almost relentlessly, till at least we could understand intellectually.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche did not give me permission to openly share teachings on the “ground.” So, here, teachings on the ground have either been edited out or highly veiled.
When encountering these places, please be aware of this omission and make the effort to seek these instructions from your personal teacher.
Whoever came into his presence never felt tired, even after several hours had passed. That is totally unlike being in the presence of some politicians, when you can’t wait to get away. Speaking for myself, I never tired of being with Tulku Urgyen—I only felt happy. In all his conversations, he never mentioned any prejudice. Whether you talked about religious or secular affairs, he always spoke honestly and clearly, never acting pretentiously or ever lying. He also had a sharp memory and spoke of events long past as if they just happened yesterday.
When focusing on benefiting others, our own aims automatically become fulfilled without having to deliberately try. Building a monastery is a very difficult task that sometimes seems insurmountable. But most people are not aware of how many temples Tulku Urgyen built. Nor does anybody know exactly how many years he stayed in retreat, which practices he did, and the number of recitations he completed.
Without any concern for personal hardship, he always aimed to do his utmost to benefit sentient beings. He was also extremely humble and self-effacing—totally in tune with Shantideva’s bodhisattva ideal. He treated everyone, whether important or ordinary, with the same affection and attention, teaching everyone equally. In order to bring the highest benefit, he always tried to communicate in the listener’s own terms.
That is the application of Vajrayana, and if someone talks but doesn’t practice, then that person is definitely not learned.
He gave great attention to the performance of all the important rituals, including the drubchen ceremonies. In the first half of his life, in order to be of benefit to others, he learned these down to their minutest detail, never missing a single day. He also never belittled the consequence of any karmic action.
Yet all these projects were totally completed on the side; you never saw them as his main aim or occupation. In the latter part of his life, he basically abandoned all involvement in conceptual activities and didn’t put any obvious effort into building. Yet temples still seemed to rise up continuously and many tasks were accomplished. He always spent the money that came during the day, and when the sun went down, he had nothing. He didn’t keep a project schedule, and I never saw or heard about him sending out any fundraising letters, which are so plentiful these days.
To truly practice development and completion stages and teach them, one needs to have actualized and stabilized the view. The great dharmadhatu is free of center and edges, coming and going, outer and inner. Resting in the equanimity of rigpa, out of this great emptiness, the unimpeded display, the great compassion, appears as the deity, indivisible and complete—empty but apparent, luminous yet empty. From this unified, empty luminosity, all the characteristics of the deity appear, completely perfect. The appearance is the deity; the mantra is the self-resounding sound; the deity and resounding sound unfold from the nongrasping mind, which is recognized devoid of solid reality. A realized being knows that it is not appearing from outside but from the nature of mind, without elaborations. The deity is the empty essence, the cognizant, clear nature—nonexistent, like an illusion; free of concept; luminous; and liberated upon arising. One’s mind, free of elaboration, empty in essence, and luminous in nature is the completeness of the deity. This form unimpededly manifests as empty appearance, from which all phenomena arise; from within this state, the great display unfolds, and the mantra is recited.
The expanse of the great purity is seeing things as they are: All appearances are the display of the deity. There is nothing to visualize; merely know things to be as they are. For the practitioner, the deity and oneself are the same. There is no big or small, good or bad.
Dzogchen Key Points1 Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Our basic nature is essentially identical with the ground. It has two basic aspects: primordial purity (kadag) and spontaneous presence (lhundrub). Our mind’s empty essence is related to primordial purity, while its cognizant nature is linked to spontaneous presence.
These all appear automatically; we don’t need to imagine any of them. In other words, the samsaric states that unfold out of the ignorant dualistic mind are all experienced vividly and clearly.
Currently our “impure” samsaric experience is clearly present and quite tangible. We can touch the things around us, right? In “pure” awareness, known as the kayas and wisdoms, experience takes place in a way that is visible yet insubstantial. This immaterial or nonphysical quality means that the experience is something you can see but not grasp—like a rainbow.
For all dharma practice, you need preliminary steps, just like laying the foundation when you construct a house.
Having gone through a complete ngöndro, you come to the main part next, which is like building a palace upon the solid foundation. It may have many stories, but no matter how many there are, they will now all remain stable. The main part is composed of two stages: development and completion. Development stage, in this case, is the visualization of and recitation for one’s personal yidam deity. Yidam practice is then followed by the completion stage, which is Trekchö. Trekchö means recognizing that our essence is primordially pure. The basis for Tögal is recognizing, at the same time, that our natural display is spontaneously present. Then, recognizing that the natural display, the spontaneous presence, is insubstantial and devoid of any self-nature is the ultimate path—the unity of primordial purity and spontaneous presence, which we call the unity of Trekchö and Tögal. Trekchö and Tögal correspond to the two aspects known as the “path of liberation” and the “path of means.”
The essence and its displays are not our creation; we do not fabricate them by practicing. In both Trekchö and Tögal, you do not create anything with your imagination but merely rest in the natural state. To express it slightly differently, Trekchö is recognizing that our natural state or basic essence is primordially pure. Tögal is recognizing that the natural displays of this primordial purity are spontaneously present.
I would like to stress again that Tögal is not a matter of imagining or meditating upon anything; the displays that appear are the expressions of natural purity.
The deities in Tögal are the same ones that will appear in the bardo. So, if the complete mandala has manifested during your life, no second mandala needs to appear in the bardo state—it doesn’t manifest twice. This is why many Dzogchen teachings emphasize the mandala of the peaceful and wrathful deities.
You can also base your Dzogchen practice on the guru principle, since the enlightened…
The first experiences we will have at the moment of death are the sounds, colors, and lights; however, these will not be vague, feeble, or limited, as they are now, but intense and overwhelming. The colors then are iridescent hues, while the lights are sharp like needle points, similar to looking directly into the sun. The colors indicate enlightened body, the sounds indicate enlightened speech, and the lights indicate enlightened mind. That is why The Tibetan Book of the Dead reminds the dying person, “Do not be afraid of these lights. Do not fear the sounds. Do not be terrified by the colors.” In the bardo, yogis who grew somewhat familiar with Tögal practice during their lives can remain unafraid, free of terror or dread, because they know that the colors, sounds, and lights are their own manifestations—the natural displays of their buddha-nature’s body, speech, and mind. These initial manifestations are a prelude to the rest of the bardo. Ordinary people, however, become totally overwhelmed by the immensity of the displays. The sounds in the bardo are not small noises—they roar like 100,000 simultaneous thunderclaps—and the lights and colors shine with the brilliance of 100,000 suns. Later, when the deities begin to appear, the largest are the size of Mount Sumeru, while the smallest are no bigger than a mustard seed. The deities are vibrantly…
That is why The Tibetan Book of the Dead reminds the dying person, “Do not be afraid of these lights. Do not fear the sounds. Do not be terrified by the colors.” In the bardo, yogis who grew somewhat familiar with Tögal practice during their lives can remain unafraid, free of terror or dread, because they know that the colors, sounds, and lights are their own manifestations—the natural displays of their buddha-nature’s body, speech, and mind. These initial manifestations are a prelude to the rest of the bardo. Ordinary people, however, become totally overwhelmed by the immensity of the displays. The sounds in the bardo are not small noises—they roar like 100,000 simultaneous thunderclaps—and the lights and colors shine with the brilliance of 100,000 suns. Later, when the deities begin to appear, the largest are the size of Mount Sumeru, while the smallest are no bigger than a mustard seed. The deities are vibrantly alive and dance about. Faced with this spectacle, you have two options: either you panic with fright or you recognize them as your natural displays. This is why it is incredibly beneficial to practice in this life, so you grow familiar with your natural displays. Otherwise, facing them in the bardo will result in deep confusion and bewilderment.
You can’t debate with these deities; you can’t explain them away. But if you follow the Vajrayana path and grow familiar with the unified path of development and completion, you will surely recognize all this to be your own manifestation—which will be of real benefit. That is why The Tibetan Book of the Dead emphasizes, “Do not be afraid of your own displays.” There is no…
Trekchö is recognizing that the dharmata of mind and the colors and lights are all dharmata’s natural displays and that the sounds are the self-resounding of dharmata. We must recognize that these manifestations, visible yet insubstantial, come from nowhere else.…
The bardo experiences don’t care what you think. They appear to everyone. Avoid the sorry fate of most people, who get completely overwhelmed believing the displays of their own buddha-nature to be devils coming to torture…
Background Tulku Urgyen…
One day I asked Dzongsar Khyentse what teaching I should practice. “The Great Perfection will blaze like a wildfire during this coming age,” he replied, paraphrasing the famous prophesy, “When the flames of the Dark Age rage rampantly, the teachings of Vajrayana will blaze like wildfire.”
Intent: To Recognize Mind’s Nature Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Kunzang Tuktig belongs to the Great Perfection, and, therefore, its exclusive focus is on recognizing mind-essence. That is the entire intent. The sadhana involving the one hundred peaceful and wrathful sugatas is a very precious and profound support for that. The mandala of peaceful and wrathful deities includes any possible yidam, the Three Jewels, the Three Roots, the deities of the three kayas, and so forth, in myriad ways.
In other words, through this practice and training, we realize the various aspects of our basic nature.
to do the sadhana at least once a day for your entire life and to do a certain number of recitations in that session. This is such a profound support, because it contains all the different aspects of Vajrayana practice.
That is the perspective of Ati Yoga, but all of that is included within one sadhana text, and the sadhana text is embodied in one’s personal application. To practice a sadhana text such as Kunzang Tuktig as a daily sadhana accumulates immense merit and will purify a vast amount of obscurations. It is a great fortune.
Only the Vajrayana has two main aspects, called the outer and inner tantras. The outer tantras—Kriya, Upa, and Yoga—do not give the complete teaching either.
In the inner tantras, the perspective is radically different. From the very onset, everything is all-encompassing purity. In other words, this body in itself is a mandala of the victorious ones, in the sense that the five aggregates, in their pure nature, are the five male buddhas. The five elements are the five female buddhas.
The fact that everything perceived, all sights, are of divine nature, is called all appearances are the deity; whatever is heard, all sounds have the nature of mantra; and all activity of mind has the nature of awakened state, samadhi. Bringing this to mind, reminding oneself of this, is to acknowledge things to be as they are.
Internally, we focus on the main training of recognizing the undivided empty cognizance, which is in fact the three kayas of the awakened state.
When you actually chant it, start with the supplication to the lineage masters, refuge, and bodhichitta all the way down to the mantra, ending with the verse of auspiciousness. Learn how to do the tunes and the traditional application. It is pretty simple.
One may wonder, “What is the use of practicing a sadhana like the Kunzang Tuktig? What is the benefit?” Actually, the words one says aloud are all reminders of the great, naturally existing mandala of deity, mantra, and samadhi. There are no other words than those, and they are all significant. It is an incredibly practical way to embody the intent of the inner tantras as the sadhana application.
Structure of the Kunzang Tuktig Cycle of Teachings Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche THE TEXTS The Kunzang Tuktig terma, itself, consists primarily of three termas: The sadhana, which is called Leyjang; The empowerment texts, including both the general empowerment of the peaceful and wrathful ones and the extraordinary empowerment of ground, path, and fruition; and The Triyig, the guidance manual by the name of Döntri.
“This is a complete sadhana condensed from all the tantras. It is simple to apply, concise, and complete. For the benefit of future generations, may it meet with the destined one.” The destined one refers to Chokgyur Lingpa, who later revealed it. The text also mentions that Yeshe Tsogyal should write it down for this purpose and that the Dzogchen teachings will flourish at the end of the Dark Age.
Train in Indivisibility Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche4 As I have mentioned numerous times, the way to train in the unity of development and completion is to begin any visualization with the samadhi of suchness, recognizing your own nature and remaining in that. In that very moment, you are actually in the state of the primordially pure essence. The samadhi of illumination then occurs as the natural expression of rigpa. Mind-essence is the unity of being empty and cognizant. The empty aspect is the samadhi of suchness, the primordial purity, the dharmakaya. From this, the spontaneously present phenomena manifest, and this is the second, the samadhi of illumination. The unobstructed cognizant aspect is the samadhi of illumination, the sambhogakaya. Thus, emptiness has a compassionate flavor. The expression of the primordially pure essence, the unconstructed nature, is naturally compassionate. These two—emptiness and compassion—are indivisible. That is the vital point.
To repeat, the empty quality is primordial purity, and the manifest aspect is a spontaneous, compassionate presence. This unity of emptiness and compassion is the basis of all dharma practice, and it is this unity that takes the form of the seed syllable. That is the third samadhi, the samadhi of the seed syllable, which is the nirmanakaya. The unity of being empty and compassionate appears as the seed syllable that is the spiritual life force of the deity you are practicing. For example, if you are practicing Guru Rinpoche, his spiritual life force is HRIH. Once the seed syllable appears, it sends out E, which is the seed syllable of space, and then YAM for wind, RAM for fire, KAM for water, LAM for earth, SUM for Mt. Sumeru, and finally BHRUM for the celestial palace at the top of Mt. Sumeru. Next, the syllable HRIH descends like a shooting star, lands on the throne within the celestial palace, and transforms into the deity. All this takes place without having to leave behind the state of mind-essence. Without leaving the…
Without moving away from unchanging primordial purity, the spontaneous presence, the expression of awareness, takes place. This is the indivisibility of primordial purity and spontaneous presence. This is also why development and completion are basically a unity. The developed in development stage refers to “what is formed as an expression of unobstructed awareness.” Thought, on the other hand, can obstruct rigpa. When the expression moves as thought, there is delusion. Ordinary thinking is the process of forming one thought, then thinking of something else, and so on, incessantly. The new thought interrupts the previous one, and the next thought interrupts that one. True…
You are not only definitely allowed to let the development stage unfold from within the completion stage, but also it is perfectly all right and permissible to do so. There is no conflict between the two. As a famous saying goes, “Some say development stage is right. Others say completion stage is right. They pitch development against completion.”
If cognizance and emptiness were not a unity, one of them would occur when thinking and the other when not thinking. Conceptual thought obstructs, and confines; this is how development and completion can be obstructed. However, the expression of awareness is unimpeded. If this were not so, rigpa would not have any capacity.
Dharmakaya is a totally unconstructed state, and sambhogakaya is the great enjoyment, meaning an abundance of perfect qualities. From the empty essence of primordial purity, the spontaneously present nature manifests unobstructedly.
Rainbows give us a very good way to understand this. When a rainbow appears in the sky, it doesn’t damage the empty sky at all, and yet the rainbow is totally visible. It doesn’t change the sky or hurt it in the slightest. It’s exactly the same when recognizing the essence of mind, which has been pointed out as being utterly empty. That is the samadhi of suchness. That recognition doesn’t have to be left behind in order for cognizance, the samadhi of illumination, to be present; it is spontaneously present by nature. That is true compassion.
Applying this approach is not always possible for every practitioner. The next best way is when you think of one detail at a time, like the head of the deity, the arms, the legs, the body, the attributes, and so forth. Every once in a while, you’ll recognize who is visualizing, and again you’ll arrive at the state of original empty wakefulness. Then again think of some visualized details, and again recognize, alternating back and forth between the two. That is called the “next best,” the medium way of practicing. The least, or minimum, requirement is to first think that everything becomes empty. Recite the mantra OM MAHA SUNYATA … and after that say, “From the state of emptiness, such-and-such appears.” In this way, think of one thing at a time, and at the end of the sadhana, again dissolve the whole thing into emptiness. These are three ways to practice development and completion together.
Whatever unfolds out of the samadhi of suchness is like a rainbow. The celestial palace and the deities are all like rainbows.
The authentic way of practicing is to let visualizations of the development state unfold out of the samadhi of suchness. That is the best, foremost way.
In actuality, all of samsara and nirvana unfold from the expanse of the three kayas. This is the example for the unity of development and completion stages.
The five elements are empty yet the cognizant quality knows them. This perceiving quality is the male buddha Samantabhadra, the yab, while the empty quality is the female buddha Samantabhadri, the yum.
Within this type of celestial palace is the pure nature of the five aggregates, the five male buddhas. We are not inventing anything here; this is our basic state as it is.
All phenomena are already, by nature, the unity of experience and emptiness. All experiences, all things in this world and in your life, are already the unity of experience and emptiness. There is nothing that is not empty. The essence of development is the experiencing aspect. The essence of completion is the empty aspect. These two are primordially a unity. There is nothing impure whatsoever. This is how everything already is.
When practicing development and completion stages, you are training yourself in seeing things as they actually are. You are seeing as it is, not as pure fantasy that has no basis whatsoever.
Primordial purity is the empty aspect and spontaneous presence is the experiencing aspect. These are an original unity.
Primordial purity means the “absence,” no concrete thing, the empty quality, whereas spontaneous presence means the “presence.” It is not a case of having “only absence” or “only presence;” they are indivisible. The primordial indivisibility of absence and presence is a very good example.
There is a quote that goes, “All the scriptures say that everything is empty, but the fact that our nature is not empty of the kayas and wisdoms, that is the real tradition of the Buddha.” This is how it really is.
Liberation is only possible through realizing the basic unity of emptiness and experience. Like space, the empty aspect cannot get liberated. All phenomena are the unity of experience and emptiness.
The dharmakaya—free from constructs, like space—is defined as “dissolved yet unobscured.” Dissolved here means “totally free of all disturbing emotions.” At the same time, wisdom, meaning “original wakefulness,” is unobscured. That is the meaning of dissolved yet unobscured. This is also called the “dharmakaya of basic brilliance.” Dharmakaya is not empty or devoid of a cognizant quality.
Dharmakaya is a body of space, free from constructs. Sambhogakaya is a body like a rainbow.
Once again, first there are two kayas: dharmakaya and rupakaya. The rupakaya consists of two types: the sambhogakaya, which is of rainbow light, and the nirmanakaya, which is a material body of flesh and blood possessing the six elements.
The wakefulness knowing the original nature is a type of knowing that does not depend on an object. Thought, on the other hand, cannot stir without depending upon an object. When you say original wakefulness, (yeshe,) or wisdom, by definition it signifies “a knowing that has no object.” When you say thought, (namshey,) it signifies “a knowing that has the structure of subject and object.” Yeshe is a knowing that doesn’t fixate in a dualistic way, whereas our ordinary knowing is dualistic fixation. Dualistic fixation should be destroyed. That is the whole reason why we strive so diligently in meditation and recognize mind-essence. Yeshe is primordial knowing.
The state of realization of all the buddhas, on the other hand, is a primordial knowing that is independent from an object. Trekchö training reveals this state of realization.
But the qualities are primordially present. This original wakefulness, yeshe, is inconceivable. The Dzogchen teachings describe it either as the unity of being empty and cognizant or as the unity of being aware and empty. Of course, the dualistic consciousness is also empty and cognizant, but it is suffused with ignorance, with unknowing. Ignorance means “not knowing rigpa.”
This is simply how it already is, and that is how we train ourselves in seeing things, by means of the development stage. To recognize rigpa is the true way to acknowledge what is, as it is. At that moment, experience, in itself, is already the mandala of the male and female buddhas, without us having to think it is. When we don’t recognize rigpa, then it isn’t, even though, essentially, it is. When we merely think it is, that is only a pretense—even though, based on this pretense, called “ordinary development stage,” we can realize rigpa, in actuality, since whatever appears and exists is already the mandala of the victorious ones. Development stage is a training in what really is. The perceiving quality is the yab and the empty quality is the yum. These two are an indivisible unity.
We need to authentically acknowledge what actually is. Even though our world is a nirmanakaya buddhafield, we need to also know it.
Each of the six realms of samsara is in fact a nirmanakaya buddhafield. Even though this is so, beings don’t know it. We need to know that our nature is an unconfined empty cognizance.
If there is no being confused, how can we use the phrase being liberated? It is impossible, because liberation is totally dependent upon having been confused. Since the awakened state of the buddhas is not confused, you cannot really say that buddhas become liberated either.
However, the self-existing wakefulness of the buddhas, all the infinite qualities, never became confused, like the gold that never became tainted. Even though we possess the same gold, ours fell in the dirt. Not knowing this dirty gold to be intrinsically pure, we fell under the power of confused thinking.
A famous and important quotation describes this, “When the expression moves as thinking, it is confused. When the expression dawns as knowledge, it is liberated.” That doesn’t mean there was ever any difference in the state of the essence, rigpa. The state of rigpa, buddha-nature itself, is never confused and never liberated. The confusion and liberation can only take place in the expression. The state of original enlightenment is the essence itself, where there is no confusion and no liberation. The state of sentient beings is to be constantly absorbed in confused thinking. It is the expression, the thinking that can be liberated again. Yet, all the time, the essence was never different from that of any other buddha. That is the important point: recognize your own essence. That is also the key point in the first samadhi of suchness. Real development stage practice is not possible without the samadhi of suchness, and this suchness is not recognized without first having the nature of mind pointed out.
Lineage Supplication Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Nothing is omitted. The Leyjang is extremely condensed. According to the intent of the instructions, the extensive one is Mahayoga. Anu is more profound, while Ati Yoga is extremely profound.
It starts out with EMA HO, which means “how amazing!” The first three verses in the lineage supplication are linked with the meaning of ground, path, and fruition.
Thus, we pray that impartial pure perception may arise. All have buddha-nature, so there is no basis for impurity and wrong views. One needs pure perception for the path of mantra, in which all forms, sounds, and thoughts are deity, mantra, and samadhi.
Sacred outlook refers to “seeing things as they actually are,” not in the ordinary deluded way, where we think earth is simply solid matter, water is merely water, wind is wind, and so forth.
we are training in seeing things as they truly are. That is not the case in the sutra teachings, where we merely think everything is perfect. The Buddha did not teach pure perception, meaning the “correct outlook” in sutra. He saw that people who gravitated to the sutra teachings would not trust the Vajrayana teachings in the same way.
Bless me to equalize life and practice. In short, there are three indispensable things: to have devotion upward toward the buddhas, to have compassion downward toward all beings, and to be diligent in-between.
Remember, nirvana refers to the body, speech, and mind of all the awakened ones. Body is the abiding essence, speech is the vividly present nature, and mind is the radiant capacity. These three, the body, speech, and mind of all buddhas, are also known as the three vajras. This buddha-nature is present just as the shining sun is present in the sky. It is indivisible from the three vajras of the awakened state, which do not perish or change. Vajra body is the unchanging quality; vajra speech is the unceasing quality; and vajra mind is the undeluded, unmistaken quality.
The ordinary body, speech, and mind of sentient beings temporarily arose from the expression of the qualities of enlightened body, speech, and mind.
Sentient beings confine themselves to their own limited little area of samsara, through their own attitude and thinking. It is said that the difference between buddhas and sentient beings is like the difference between the narrowness and 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. It is said, “When the mother, the basic space of dharmadhatu, does not stray from her awareness child, have no doubt that they are forever indivisible.”
The Great Perfection is totally beyond any kind of pigeonholing, in any way whatsoever. It is to be utterly open, beyond categories, limitations, and the confines of assumptions and beliefs. All other ways of describing things are confined by categories and limitations.
the intention of the Buddha is to use the word emptiness rather than empty. This is a very important point. For instance, in the Prajnaparamita scriptures, you find the statements, “Outer things are emptiness, inner things are emptiness, emptiness is emptiness, the vast is emptiness, the ultimate is emptiness, the conditioned is emptiness, the unconditioned is emptiness …” Emptiness here should be understood as “empty cognizance.” Please understand this. The suffix -ness implies the “cognizant quality.” We need to understand this word in its correct connotation.
It has no form, no sound, no color, no taste, and no texture; it is simply experience—an empty cognizance.
An appearance can only exist if there is a mind that beholds it. The beholding of that appearance is nothing other than experience; that is what actually takes place.
Perceptions are experienced by mind; they are not experienced by water or earth. All the elements are vividly distinguished as long as the mind fixates on them. Yet they are…
What else is there to experience? Mind means “individual experience.” All experience is individual, personal. For instance, the fact that one yogi’s delusion dissolves doesn’t mean everyone else’s delusion vanishes as well. When someone gets enlightened, that person is enlightened, not everyone else. When a yogi transcends fixation, only the deluded individual experience of that one person dissolves. Please think about this. There is, however, another aspect called “other’s experience” or the “general experience” of sentient beings. In all of this seemingly solid reality (Rinpoche knocks on the wood of his bed), there is not a single thing that is indestructible. Whatever is material in this world will be destroyed in fire at the end of the kalpa; there is no exception. This fire then vanishes by itself. (Rinpoche chuckles.) Try to spend some time on Nangjang training,5 and you will discover that all of reality is insubstantial and unreal. By…
What is ultimate cannot possibly be made out of causes and conditions. Only the authentic state of samadhi can purify or clear up this self-created confusion. More appearances and further fixating will not destroy this. This profound state is present in all individuals, if only they would know it! The ultimate nature is already fully present. We give it names like dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya. Our deluded state hides this from us, but this is what destroys the delusion. Isn’t this really amazing! (Rinpoche chuckles.) Once we attain stability in samadhi, delusion is destroyed, since samadhi dismantles the entire drama of delusion. In other words, this mind has basically created the delusion, but by recognizing the nature of this mind, we clear up our delusion, since, at that moment, no delusion can be recreated. If everyone could just understand this! This is amazing! (Rinpoche laughs.) It is the mind, itself, that creates this whole delusion, but it is also the mind, itself, that can let the whole delusion collapse. (Rinpoche laughs again.) Besides buddha-nature, what else is there to be free from delusion?…
Delusion dissolves the very moment you recognize the identity of what is deluded. Delusion is like becoming possessed by a spirit during a seance, when someone starts to suddenly hop around and do all kinds of crazy things. This is exactly what has happened to all of us. Sentient beings are possessed by the “spirit” of ignorance and the 84,000 disturbing emotions, and they are all dancing around doing incredible things. They have undergone all different kinds of pain and misery for so long, aeons upon aeons. But it is a self-created possession. It is not really something from outside. Buddha-nature has lost track of itself and created samsara, but buddha-nature, recognizing itself, also clears up the delusion of…
The moment of recognition is like the spirit leaving. All of a sudden the possession vanishes. We can’t even say where it went. This is…
While possessed, this mind thinks and acts in delusion, but the very moment you recognize the nature of this mind—rigpa—the possession immediately vanishes. (Rinpoche laughs.) This may sound like…
It is not necessary to depend on any external technique or remedy, because recognition of the essence destroys the expression. I am without delusion means the buddha-nature is speaking, but…
From the Beginning Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche When we begin any practice, the main thing is our motivation (kun slong). All dharmas depend on our motivation, our attitude. There are two kinds of attitudes, the Mahayana attitude and the Secret Mantra attitude. They are called the “vast” and the “profound.” The vast is the sutra aspect, and the profound is the mantra aspect. The chief point of the sutra aspect is the motivation through compassion, where we consider that every single sentient being in the three realms of samsara has been our parent. There is merely a slight difference in terms of the distance from our present parents. All of these parent sentient beings want only happiness. However, their application produces the cause of suffering; thus, they have wandered in endless samsara. By means of the profound development and completion stages, for the sake of enabling all the infinite sentient beings to attain the omniscient and perfect enlightenment, I will practice the profound Dharma. This is the attitude according to sutra.
Emptiness is the path of knowledge (prajna), and compassion is the path of means (upaya).
Begin practice in the morning, starting with guru yoga or the Three Roots, which, in the mantra teachings, are the support for our practice. The root of blessing is the guru and the root of the siddhis is the yidam. The dakinis and dharmapalas, together, are the root of activities. If you can do the practice of the Three Roots as your “back support,” you will not fall under the power of obstacles on the paths and bhumis. The main hindrances for attaining the state of perfect enlightenment are the obstacles. Some people only hold onto emptiness for pacifying obstacles, thinking, “I will just practice emptiness.” That alone will not clear away the obstacles, because upaya and prajna are not combined.
We have to gather all the plane parts, the nature of upaya; when we also know how to put them together, through prajna, then the plane will be able to fly.
Emptiness, unembraced by compassion, is not the perfect path—our dharma will stray onto the wrong track of self-interest.
When realizing the perfect view, the nature, or cognizance aspect, will arise as compassion. After attaining enlightenment, the buddhas never leave sentient beings behind. This is because of the power of compassion; the link between buddhas and beings is made out of compassion. After enlightenment, the buddhas do not have even a hair tip of self-interest. They only accomplish the benefit of others, the benefit of the beings in endless samsara.
When the abiding in the ground manifests in the ground, then the development stage unfolds.
In the early morning, practice guru yoga, and during the daytime, practice a yidam sadhana. In the evening, practice the dakini and dharma protectors. As I mentioned before, the guru is the root of blessings; the yidam is the root of siddhis; and the dakinis and dharmapalas are the root of activities.
Otherwise, the guru is included within Kunzang Tuktig, as there is no guru superior to Samantabhadra and the five buddhas.
As I mentioned previously, Khyentse Rinpoche told me the Kunzang Tuktig is an extremely profound teaching—the most extraordinary teaching. Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro said, “The Chetsün Nyingtig and the Kunzang Tuktig of Chokgyur Lingpa are extremely profound teachings. When practicing Dzogchen, they are most excellent.” The opening point we should understand is that everything, all world systems and all beings—whatever appears and exists, meaning the perceived and the perceiver—everything takes place in the sphere of the three kayas.
With the right perspective, Vajrayana practice is not superimposing or imagining something to be what it is not. It is not like trying to convince ourselves that a piece of wood is actually pure gold. It’s not like that at all. It’s actually the other way around. We first visualize and then acknowledge that pure gold is, indeed, pure gold. Temporarily, we see things as being like a piece of wood; but, in fact, from the very beginning, they have always been, always are, and always will be all-encompassing purity.
All sadhanas have a main structure that resembles the way everything evolves, remains, and vanishes.
In the same way, the development stage is a likeness, or imitation, of the real thing. But, it is not false, because it is an exercise in seeing things as they actually are. It is not seeing them as something other. In actuality, the completion stage is the real thing, the natural state.
This is called “identifying the deity to be accomplished.” This is the most important point before beginning a sadhana practice; otherwise, everything becomes imagination. First, you sit and imagine there is nothing whatsoever—everything is emptiness. Next, you try to imagine there being a place for the mandala, and then you try to build the mandala, step by step, through your imagination. This becomes a lot of hard work, like laying bricks. Therefore, it is essential to begin by identifying the deity to be accomplished and by understanding that the indivisible unity of primordial purity and spontaneous presence is what we call “deity.” This is always the intent of any sadhana practice.
Some deities are as huge as Mt. Sumeru, while others are as tiny as mustard seeds. What occurs is the manifestation of our body, speech, and mind—body refers to the bodily forms and speech refers to the natural sounds of the vowels and consonants, which are sometimes as loud as 100,000 simultaneous thundercracks. The manifestations of mind are the dazzling, radiant, swirling beams of light, which are totally overpowering and confusing for someone in an unstable state of mind.
In the bardo state, two types of light appear simultaneously: the overwhelming radiance, which is the unfailing, and the soft, seductive lights of the six realms, which fool us. Sentient beings are again and again attracted to the comforting dim lights of the six realms and take another rebirth. The wisdom deities are radiant, with a light resembling the equivalent of 100,000 suns. Beings unfamiliar with the one hundred peaceful and wrathful deities are overwhelmed with terror. Therefore, they seek shelter in the soft, petty light of the six realms, and thus drag themselves through another rebirth. This is another reason for the deep significance of a practice like this.
An unprepared person, who is totally unfamiliar with development and completion stage meditation practice, will be completely overcome with fright and panic. If 100,000 thundercracks strike simultaneously, how will that person feel? He or she will faint from terror. It is the same with the light-rays and the intensity of colors, which resemble 100,000 suns shining simultaneously. For most, this is unbearable.
since we train the mind in insubstantiality. Then, when the different visions occur, we will no longer fear being chopped, diced, or disintegrated, because we won’t hold onto a solid form. So, even just training in the development stage is of great benefit. For example, consider a hillbilly from the mountains out here who has never even heard of the concept of a movie or film. If he is taken to a movie theater with a big screen and shown a movie of the Second World War, or an imaginary Third World War, he will be terrified, because he doesn’t understand it is just a film. He will see people fighting and shooting and so forth. He will probably sit quaking or perhaps even run away; whereas, perhaps the movie director himself may be present in the same room. He will just laugh, because he knows the whole display is an illusion to begin with. Nothing that appears in the film ever really took place. In the same way, the experiences of the after-death state will definitely occur. That’s irrefutable, but how much reality we attach to it depends on how much training we, as practitioners, have had in the development and completion stages. So, there is definitely great benefit in this practice.
Preliminaries Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
In exactly the same way, the practice of Dzogchen must have the solid foundation of the preliminaries.
The first aspect of the preliminaries is taking refuge. In all Tibetan teachings, we always begin by first taking refuge. In any case, we practice the three yanas in the very same sitting. The ultimate intent of taking refuge embodies all the Hinayana teachings. In this way, we first take refuge. We should never act pretentious and say, “I’m a Dzogchen practitioner. I don’t need to take refuge.” We never find Dzogchen teachings that omit refuge taking. The objects of refuge are: outwardly, the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; inwardly, the guru, yidam, and dakini; and innermost, the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya. Together, these are called the “ninefold objects of refuge”, which include all objects of refuge.
What are we taking refuge in here? First of all, the empty essence of mind, which is, in itself, dharmakaya; then, in mind’s cognizant nature, which is sambhogakaya; and in the capacity of mind, which is nirmanakaya. We take refuge in these three aspects, meaning in all the deities and buddhas who represent these three. We take refuge until enlightenment.
That is why the long or “sphere of the three kayas” is the ultimate refuge.
At the end of this verse, imagine that the field of refuge emanates rays of light toward all sentient beings, including you. Then the field of refuge dissolves into light that is absorbed into you. That was the refuge section.
Student: You’d say, “Excuse me.” What is the bodhisattva resolve exactly aimed at here? It’s aimed at the infinite number of sentient beings, who are like space in number. Why is space used as an example, where it says, equal to the sky? Because wherever there is space, there are sentient beings. Wherever there are sentient beings, there are disturbing emotions and karma. Wherever there are disturbing emotions, there is also buddha-nature. In this way, just as space is all-encompassing, so is buddha-nature. This is the reference of the bodhisattva resolve. The word space means “that which has no center, no edge, no limit and is not confined in any direction.” Space, meaning “all-pervasiveness,”
The world we presently reside in is situated on the thirteenth lotus flower, which is exactly at the level of Buddha Immense Ocean’s heart. Among the thousands times trillions of nirmanakaya realms, we are just one realm, within which one thousand buddhas will appear in this aeon. The sphere of simultaneous activity of one nirmanakaya buddha is sometimes referred to as one billion, or one hundred times one hundred times one billion, or a trillion worlds. There is an infinite amount. As a reminder, from this angle, we should consider ourselves as being in a nirmanakaya buddhafield right now, since buddhas do appear here and influence beings in the world we occupy. This is the framework from the Vajrayana perspective.
Then, within the vast kapala of space, the five meats dissolve into nectar-light, which is the samaya substance of the five buddha families, and so forth. The nature of amrita, rakta, and torma are the purified nature of the three poisons. Imagine them as being like a huge ocean of nectar, with an immense torma endowed with the perfect qualities of the five sense pleasures. We offer this, while saying the offering mantra that accompanies it.
Answers Question: What about the preliminaries for each session—how do I begin a session? Rinpoche: It is mentioned that there are two types of ngöndro—a preliminary for the session and a preliminary for instructions. The preliminary for the session is what you practice at the outset of each session. For example, if you do three or four sessions a day, then repeat the preliminary three or four times a day, at the beginning of each session. The preliminary for the instruction is the contemplation of the “four mind-changings.” Regarding the preliminary for the session, Karma Khenpo says, In a quiet place, sit on a comfortable seat, straighten the body posture, and leave your mind in naturalness. Exhale the stale breath three times and imagine that all your misdeeds, obscurations, moral faults, and downfalls are purified. Then, form the thought, For the sake of all sentient beings, filling the sky, I will practice this profound path. Imagine your root guru above the crown of your head and chant the six-line supplication called Düsum Sangye from the core of your heart as many times as you can.
First, we reflect upon the support for dharma practice, called the “precious human body,” which we have already obtained. Second, we reflect on the fact that we will not live forever—we will someday face death. Third, at the time of death, it is not like a candle being extinguished. Mind does not die and the ripening of karma, habitual tendencies, and so forth still occur in the mind after death. Fourth, we reflect on the negative aspects of samsaric existence, especially in the three lower realms, where there is not even a hair-tip of happiness. Even in the higher realms, there is no true happiness to be found anywhere. These four contemplations are called the “general preliminaries.”
Training ourselves in virtuous actions takes effort, but engaging in evil requires no effort at all. It is spontaneous. Killing others, stealing, lying, and so forth require almost no effort at all. We need not teach insects how to kill each other. It’s quite spontaneous. No sentient being needs training in the three negative karmic actions of the body, carried out on the physical plane. By nature, we engage in them. Animals need not be taught how to kill or steal.
In the same way, we need not learn how to engage in negative actions. Carrying out negative actions is called “being under the power of karma.” But sometimes we give rise to faith in the teachings. We feel good-hearted, compassionate, devout, and so forth; yet this is very rare. That is why it is said, “Those who don’t practice are as abundant as the stars at night. Those who do practice are as scarce as morning stars.” This is due to karma. For those with good karma, it is different. Many great Kagyü masters later sang, “Even in my mother’s womb, my spiritual aspirations were awakened, and I had the desire to practice. At the age of eight, I remained in equanimity.” That’s an example of good karma ripening. No matter where we take rebirth next time throughout the six realms, we are still like a fly trapped in a bottle. We fly around, up and down, but never outside of the container. We are trapped inside, and everywhere in the six realms is a painful state. It is said that, although you may have a very high view, you should still have a very refined meditation. Here refined means we should pay close attention to and remember impermanence and mortality—even while having a high view. However, as soon as you reach the point of recognizing mind-essence and not being distracted from that, it is not so important to worry about impermanence. If something is impermanent, let it be impermanent; if it is not, then it is not. We need not think about impermanence, but this is only the case when there is no distraction whatsoever.
Until we reach the point of nondistraction, this means not sleeping at night; not falling into delusion during the dream state; recognizing dreams as dreams; and maintaining one long stretch of luminosity during deep sleep. At that point, we won’t need to dwell on impermanence anymore.
Lord of All Siddhis, Great Bliss refers to the inner approach to sadhana, called Sampa Lhündrub, Fulfillment of All Wishes. Wrathful Slayer of Mara refers to the innermost way of accomplishing the guru, called Guru Drakpa Tsal.
should chant it slowly, with heart, so that it really transforms our experience and devotion blazes forth. Chant it one-pointedly. There is a nice tune that goes with it. There is also a special prayer written by Chokgyur Lingpa himself. As is constantly taught, to realize the view of the Great Perfection, the dharmakaya itself, we must rely upon methods for purifying obscurations and gathering the accumulations and upon receiving the blessings of a realized master.
It is sometimes good to go to the top of a hill or mountain and, with a beautiful melody, slowly chant the supplication to the lineage gurus. Afterward, stand up and slowly dance around, moving the arms and leaving awareness totally without focus. This enhances our comprehension of the view tremendously. There is a tradition that recommends practicing this way. It both dispels hindrances and brings forth enhancement, simultaneously. Hindrances for the view are dullness and drowsiness. This method dispels these hindrances, while bringing forth enhancement of the view. Question: Do we have to visualize anything at the time of reciting refuge? Rinpoche: It is good if you can. Imagine that the place where you are is the dharmadhatu realm of Akanishtha, which is free from all unpleasant things as
well as the coarse elements of earth, water, fire, and wind. Here, in the sky before you, dwell the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, as well as the Three Roots and three kayas. Imagine them as stars filling the sky.
: When the people in foreign countries were asked whether mind is unformed or unconditioned, they answered that it is unconditioned. That proves it is empty, right? Emptiness is unconditioned. Everyone resolved it to be unconditioned. Whatever is conditioned must have material substance. Whatever is unconditioned must be substanceless. Substanceless means there is nothing for the eyes to see, for the ears to hear, and for the hands to hold. As it is said, “This substancelessness is the empty essence, the dharmakaya.”
I take refuge until enlightenment means we take refuge until we attain the level of mahabodhisattva, until we reach the state of buddhahood. There are two: bodhisattva and mahabodhisattva. The mahabodhisattva has defeated the four maras. Until then, the bodhisattva is not free from the dangerous path of the four maras, but the mahabodhisattva is. For the perfectly enlightened one, there is not
even the name four maras. Therefore, it is said, I take refuge until enlightenment. That is the measure for refuge, the ultimate refuge. The goal is the state of perfect enlightenment: As it is said, “As long as I am not enlightened, I take refuge.” When taking refuge, first supplicate. Then rays of light stream forth from the object of refuge, purifying your evil deeds and obscurations. Imagine this. After that, imagine that the deities of the object of refuge and you have become inseparable.
Like that. So, when you recognize that everything is actually pure nature—body, speech, and mind of all the buddhas—how can there be any obstacles to catch?
Rinpoche: Since the Kunzang Tuktig sadhana is the Maha of Ati, there is something to visualize. Just simply follow the text exactly as it is, line by line, and then imagine whenever we recite. It is linking the meaning with the words, so whenever we say a word, we imagine what it means, step by step. But that doesn’t mean the ultimate mandala is something we imagine. The ultimate mandala is not created by thought. It is the spontaneously present primordial mandala, as it is. That’s what it means when we have realized it, but have we? Have we already realized this, or are we not under the power of deluded thought and ignorance?
Question: What about samayas? Rinpoche: Concerning samayas, the first-class samaya, the best, is not to be moved or steered away from the practice. This is the “nonkeeping great keeping of the samaya”—referring to when there is nothing to keep. Constantly remaining in the practice, all the samayas of body, speech, and mind are contained therein.
These offerings are for the purpose of emptying the causes for samsara, and the basic causes for samsara are the white and the red elements. The white element is the nectar, the amrita. The red element for samsara is the rakta, blood. We transform the whole three realms into rakta, so the attachment or passion is all gathered together.
The Main Practice Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche Now we come to the main part, which also has five points, known as the five samadhis, arranged in five sections. In the first section, we erect the framework, or basic structure, of the three samadhis: the samadhi of suchness, which is the intent of primordial purity; the samadhi of illumination, which is the intent of spontaneous presence; and the samadhi of the seed syllable, which is the nirmanakaya, the indivisibility of primordial purity and spontaneous presence. The remaining two samadhis are the samadhi of the celestial palace and the samadhi of the deities.
First, the syllable HUNG is the seed syllable of the enlightened mind of all the buddhas. As the second line states, dharmakaya is the primordial state of emptiness. There’s a big difference between empty and emptiness. Empty just means “void,” like space, but emptiness means “like space suffused with sunlight.” Dharmakaya is primordial emptiness, with an all-pervading wisdom nature. Its essence, nature, and capacity have a single identity. The essence is empty, but the nature of this emptiness is wisdom that is all-pervading, just like sunlight. The unborn awareness, which manifests as the syllable AH, is the unity of emptiness and cognizance—the empty essence and its cognizant nature, indivisible.
When we visualize the letter AH, or the seed samadhi, we should imagine that it radiates five-colored light that purifies the world and all beings. It sends out rays of light of the five elements, E YAM RAM LAM BAM, and then of the seed syllable SUM, for Mt. Sumeru. In this way, the five elements are purified into the lights of the five wisdoms.
We have arrogance, don’t we? That is the deva muni, Indra. We have envy, don’t we? That is the teacher Thaksang, in the realm of the asuras. The tamer of beings in the human realm is Shakyamuni. The muni of the animals is Senge Rabten.
The innermost offering is the primordially pure space of great bliss. This refers to indivisible wisdom and space. The actual secret offering is joining and liberating. Liberating refers to the demon of ignorance. All enemies who harm the doctrine are the outer enemy. The inner enemy is the three poisons, and the secret enemy is ignorance. The act of doing away with them, annihilating them, is called the liberation offering. The union offering is the union of yab and yum in the space of great bliss. Externally, the yab and yum join in bliss; internally, all the dakas and dakinis dwelling in the nadis are pleased by the great bliss. The secret offering is the “emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects” and the “unchanging great bliss”—emptiness and great bliss, which primordially is the nature of tathagatagarbha. The great calm is bliss, right?
Rinpoche: In Kunzang Tuktig, it is possible to remain in unwavering awareness while meditating on the development stage. If you have grown accustomed to awareness, then remain in the continuity of awareness and let the projection and dissolution of thoughts arise as the development stage, like waves moving on the surface of water. When the meditation manifests spontaneously within unmoving awareness, the expression of awareness arises as the development stage. In that way, the meditation is first-class; then, as a matter of fact, development and completion stages are not separated. Remaining in awareness as the completion stage and letting the awareness-expression arise as the development stage is the perfection of the development and completion stages as a unity.
Thus, solely pursuing the development stage, if you are visualizing with attachment to substance and solidity, you should dissolve the visualization methodically in the end: the palace dissolves into the deity, the deity dissolves into the seed syllable, and the syllable dissolves into the nada, and then into emptiness. Thinking, at last, “This is unborn and empty,” you complete the practice with emptiness. In such a case, that process of dissolving the visualization is called the completion stage. Actually, first cultivate the development stage, then look at who is meditating. The recognition of the nature of the meditator is itself the completion stage.
When you truly recognize awareness, the development stage practices do not interfere with awareness at all. What harm can be done to the state of awareness? All thinking is empty, empty movement. The emptiness moves. How can there be any harm to the emptiness? It is like a child at play.
Thought activity as mind is awareness, untainted by defects, empty of both grasping and fixating. Untainted by outer grasping, uncorrupted by inner fixation, it is self-contained. Thus, thought activity is the vajra mind.
When awareness is recognized, then the thinking mind is self-abandoned. Mind is changing, and awareness is unchanging. In this way, the two are differentiated. Look at the sky, which is unchanging, and the clouds, which are changeable; clouds are like the thinking mind and the space is like rigpa, awareness. The clouds change again and again, but space never changes. Awareness is both unceasing and unchanging.
Question: How do we deal with the dull state of indifference? Rinpoche: To counteract indifference, you need to arouse sharpness, clarity. When feeling indifferent, you should invigorate awareness, sharpen it. You need clarity, wakefulness. Question: What should we do when there is agitation? Rinpoche: That does no harm at all. The more wild the thoughts are, the better, right? The more agitated the thought activity becomes, the sharper the awareness needs to be. Thoughts are like the bubbles in water; they arise within the water and dissolve in the water—when they are not grasped. Really, there is no harm, no matter how much the thoughts move wildly. The state without any thought movement, the indifferent state, is more of an enemy.
Therefore, I think there is no great danger in movement. Whereas, there is some harm in the mere abiding state.
There are some people who have so much thought activity that only development stage is useful and completion stage is of no benefit. They think, “What is the use! There is nothing to see, nobody to see also. It would be better to have something to think of.” There are many who think like that. The thoughts are quite difficult. When there are many thoughts, the disturbing emotions (kleshas) accumulate karma. If instead you can think of the celestial palace, the deity, and so forth, then thoughts are utilized without gathering karma and evil deeds. That is the actual purpose.
Rinpoche: It is sufficient to imagine just once, when beginning. After that, it is all right to let go and remain free from representation. When beginning, visualize the whole thing once, vividly, and after that rest in the nonconceptual state. To alternate, sometimes keeping representation and sometimes not, does no harm,
but you don’t need to do this. Thought occurrence is the expression of rigpa, so when it arises as the visualization it is all right, which explains why it does no harm. This is when you have attained some stability. Without stability, the expression becomes too forceful and the essence seems to get lost in that state. When the essence is “out of sight” that fault will cause development to increase discursive thoughts.
When practicing the development stage, we need to first begin with the suchness samadhi. That is Samantabhadra. The all-illuminating samadhi is the five buddhas, and the seed samadhi is nirmanakaya. When practicing these, again, we expand the samadhi by sending out the seed syllables of E YAM RAM LAM BAM, and so forth. We have to unfold the four elements. All these come out, expanded from Samantabhadra. There is no practice of development stage without the suchness samadhi. If there were no space, could the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind be created or not? Could they be destroyed? No, they couldn’t. It is like that. In this way, Samantabhadra is like the foundation. It is not the case that we say Samantabhadra is the foundation for the pure and not for the impure. It is only because of not recognizing that there is impurity. In actuality, there is not even a sesame seed of impurity. It is our own perceptions that are deluded, none other than that.
After this, emanate the liberator (ging) from your heart center, who destroys, or kills, all the savage demons within, which are ego-clinging and conceptual thoughts. They present the offering of primordial purity. When thoughts are liberated, there is primordial purity. After this, they all dissolve into your heart-center again. These are the purposes for all the offering goddesses and the (ging), and so forth. First, they are sent out from your heart center, and after having performed the activities, they dissolve back again.
It is not an absent-minded or thoughtless state that is blanked-out or like being hit on the head with a stick. That is the nonthought state of mind (rtog med), the ordinary mind’s absent-minded state, where thoughts have ceased. That is the seed of stupidity. Here, concerning awareness (rigpa), the cessation of ordinary thoughts means that it is the functioning of nonconceptual wisdom, cognizant space.
When mindfulness with effort has become self-sustained, there is vivid, wakeful, effortless mindfulness, without any need for force or struggle, without any tenseness, just naturally alert. When you have become accustomed to that, there is only undistracted rigpa.
Most people make what is self-existing into temporarily existing. They try to make what is primordially known (yeshe) into something that has to be newly understood, or re-known. What does not need to be contrived, they make artificial. What does not need to be held, they try to catch. That is called “conceptual delusion, being deluded by thoughts.” This is what has happened life after life, lifetime after lifetime. It is said, “It is free from being fettered and beyond being freed also.” This is very significant. If something were fettered, we would have to
To eliminate the tendency toward eternalism, the permanence of all things, as well as the tendency toward nihilism, the idea that nothing exists, we again manifest as the single form of the deity and then carry out daily activities.
According to the Nyingma system, there is a way whereby, through the magic of one’s state of samadhi, the self-visualization, the front visualization, and the vase visualization—all three—are perfected in a single instant, as automatically as a reflection appearing in a clear mirror. But, if you don’t possess this power of samadhi, here is how to go about it: Use the liturgy to imagine that in the heart-center of the chief deity—in this case it is yourself—there is the letter AH standing on a moon disc and lotus flower. The flower has one hundred petals, and upon each petal is one syllable of the Hundred Syllable mantra. Each syllable resounds with its own sound. The letter AH has emanated all these surrounding one hundred syllables. Then they are transformed into the bodily forms of the one hundred peaceful and wrathful deities, each sitting on one petal. They all radiate light.