40 Stage of Generation of Avalokiteshvara & Samsara’s Game

B. Alan Wallace, 22 Aug 2015

Alan starts by emphasising that in the stage of generation, knowing the emptiness of self and of phenomena is indispensable, and yet there have been many stories where simple tibetans, with hardly any understanding of madhyamaka but having deep faith, have visions of Tara, Chenrezig, etc., and get blessings from them. Alan continues by discussing an essay he is translating on madhyamaka, dzogchen and mahamudra. He then emphasises that how we are conceptually designating right now is up to us. We can stop objectifying and rest in the mere appearances arising in the six sense doors. We don’t need to play the game of samsara. With the mantra “Om svabhava shuddha sarva dharma svabhava shuddo aham”, we can dissolve samsara into emptiness & dharmakaya. It’s a decision we can make, we dissolve all impure appearances into emptiness. And then out of the indivisibility of the dharmakaya and dharmadhatu, we choose to operate from a platform of pure appearances. We now move from a realm of actuality to a realm of possibility. Possibilities exist as much as anything else. If we do the sadhana with deep faith and insight into emptiness, then we get all the benefits.

Meditation is on the Stage of Generation of Avalokiteshvara (with chanting)

After meditation, Alan makes some comments on the way certain terms are translated from Tibetan into Indoeuropean languages, making a critique of how the mind is treated within a materialistic framework. He also touches on what is natural vs. supernatural in Buddhism and in 20th century materialism. He then starts addressing the topic of rigpa. What is rigpa? It’s in the fourth time, it’s beyond the matrix of causality and transcends all the eight conceptual elaborations (existence vs. non existence, one vs. many, etc.). Alan also suggests a couple of wonderful books: 1. “Fearless in Tibet,” the biography of Lerab Lingpa and 2. “Blazing Splendor” by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. The stories narrated in these two books can shatter many materialistic assumptions. Alan then continues his commentary on the shamatha section of the text, from page 78.

The meditation starts at 20:50.


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