21 Beyond the Four Greats: An Extraordinary Resolve to Free All Sentient Beings

Olaso. Walking over here it just occurred to me we should have another kind of aphorism in English anyway as quiet, you’ll enjoy this Christie, As quiet as a rock quarry on Sunday. [ laughter] It’s really quiet. You look at the trucks and they’re like pieces of sculpture. Like, they just sit there, that’s what they do. Empty of sound. Quite refreshing hey?

[00:36] Olaso. Well we’re following what I think is a very, to use a hackneyed term - organic, but a very smooth flow, a transformation, evolution through The Four Immeasurables, we’ve now touched lightly on each of The Four Greats, there’s a little bit more to come. And in this sequence the very, the very natural one, it’s just kind of like inevitable, the next step is in Tibetan called [lhag tsam- Tibetan], it’s beyond The Four Greats and as I’ve interpreted it, it’s my own interpretation, but I don’t think it’s you know, going to be misleading anybody. But my way of interpreting out of whimsy or whatever, The Fourth of the Greats, this great equanimity, great equanimity is looking in that perfect balance of a bodhisattva on the final ground, just poised, like right on the edge of the cliff. And whether you fall, you fall, and whether you stay, you stay. Just falling into bliss, into dharmadhatu, into into the ultimate. Or you remain right there on the edge of samsara and either way fearless and without preference. It’s quite, quite extraordinary [isn’t it]? And wishing that all beings might abide in such equanimity, such equal purity. But then there’s a step beyond that and that is and it’s not quite a bodhichitta. It looks we’ll get to bodhichitta tomorrow. But it’s called in Tibetan [?2:06 Lhagsam Tibetan].

[02:08] And it struck me that among the Four Immeasurables, I’ve known the Sanskrit, Pali, for a really long time, everybody knows bodhichitta, and I’ve known [Lhagsam?2:15 Tibetan] for a very long time, the Tibetan, I mean when I checked out the Sanskrit, it was just like, you may as well fill it in. And it’s [? 02:25 phrase repeated twice] in Sanskrit. It’s, [Lhagsam or ? in Sanskrit 2:29 ] it’s an extraordinary resolve, that’s my general translation. An extraordinary resolve, [Lhag ? 2:35 word] means something superior, exceptional outstanding, fantastic, over the top and [Samba ?2:42 word] is an intention, a resolve, pretty much that’s it. It’s an extraordinary, kind of like a fantastic, a fantastic resolve, something like that. [? 02:58 Sanskrit phrase repeated twice] And what that is, now that we’ve already had these Four Greats, we’ve seen a lot of momentum building up, we’ve seen I shall, I shall, I shall. So we see the depths of it that it’s gone way beyond psychology this is, you know, it’s going cosmic. And this then if there is something even beyond these Four Greats then that’s going to have also be on this cosmic level. And it is. And it is a resolve. It’s a pledge, an intention, a promise to free all sentient beings from all suffering and its causes and to bring each one to their complete and perfect fulfilment. So it’s not quite bodhichitta, but there’s a little bit, it’s another step beyond each of the Four Greats. And again it’s a resolve to free each sentient being, every sentient being from suffering, all suffering and its causes and irreversibly and to bring each one to their perfect fulfilment and perfect awakening. So that is an extraordinary resolve. But again from the perspective of buddha nature, it’s kind of like Yeah, that would make sense. You know, not from any other perspective, that would sound silly. And not from any perspective, you know,any notion that kind of consciousness terminates at death, then forget this , this is completely ridiculous, utterly hilarious. But if that’s not the case, then time is on our side, you know. That well in due time, as again Shantideva, His Holiness would say For as long as space remains, for as long as sentient beings remain, sentient beings remain so long shall I remain to alleviate the suffering of the world.

[04:37] So that’s it. But as we go into the meditation it would be very easy now to go kind of like a space cadet, you know, like oh, very lofty, very abstract, very spacious, but also kind of lifting out of and I mean disconnected with where we actually live and people we actually know and what’s actually happening on the planet. But then we come back because I’d like to always keep engaged with our lives as they are. As Padmasambhava summed this up, he said, While my conduct is as precise, my conduct, my way of engaging with reality, my behavior is as precise as individual grains of barley flour, my view is as vast as space. So this actually, I’m rambling a little bit here but this is a really crucial point, we find it crops up, centrally, of enormous importance in Dzogchen. So I’m going to leap ahead a little bit into Dzogchen. It cannot be overemphasized. And that is -[ Tibetan 5:37 tawa and chupa], the view and your way of life. And the theme that I’ve seen again and again, and it just strikes me as monumentally important, I’ve built it up enough right? - View and conduct, view and way of life. And the theme here is don’t let your view overwhelm your way of life. And don’t let your way of life, your concerns of your way of life, don’t let those overwhelm your view. Now the view is viewing reality from the perspective of rigpa. That’s the Dzogchen view, that’s the view of the Great Perfection, is viewing the whole of reality, samsara and nirvana from the perspective of rigpa. Well, that’s transcended, it’s beyond all dualities, beyond all demarcations of good and evil, it’s inconceivable, as vast as space, that’s exactly what we’re aiming for. Is to view reality from the deepest dimension of our own awareness. So way beyond mind, way beyond substrate consciousness, from the very ground pristine awareness and we are viewing reality from that perspective. Yeah, so there’s the view.

[06:32] But then there’s the conduct and the conduct is ever fresh, ever attentive to what’s happening here and now in this space, in this time. What needs to be done, what needs to be done. It’s precise and seeing that our conduct is completely in accordance with our highest ideals. Basic principles of ethics, of nonviolence and benevolence. That it’s very easy for one to overshadow the other. That is we get caught up in, in America a lot of people are very concerned about the you know, the presidential elections, [you know], what’s happening there. So that can really get, get us locked into, you know this kind of business, where we’re reifying things and we’re you know struggling, very much caught in dualities, lots of dualities there.

[07:15] Or just the concerns of everyday life, let alone the national scene, but just the concerns of loved ones and this and that and that and it’s very easy for the concerns of everyday life to completely overwhelm the view. That we’re caught, we’re enmeshed in the entanglements, the details working out the problems of samsara. It’s very easy for the way of life to overwhelm the view, it just becomes something like a luxury. You know, that we get to on retreats or when we have a bit of quiet, oh yeah now it’s time for Dzogchen. But now I have to get real again, you know. It’s very easy to do that. That’s where the way of life overwhelms the view. And if the view overwhelms the way of life, we get so caught up in that that we’re not engaged with the person in front of us. And the situation in front of us. And what’s actually happening in the world that we know. And are we bringing to this reality the very best possible that we can? So it’s that balance. It’s a marvelous balance, hmmm, it’s one of those sacred tensions. There is a tension there, but it’s a sacred tension.

[08:18] So I’d like to go to the meditation quickly, I would like to really start moving ahead in our text and not go too slowly there. But I’d like to make this practical. On the one hand we have this, okay, the view. I mean for as long as space remains, okay that’s a big view, for as long as sentient beings remain, that’s a big view. So that’s big view. But in the meantime there’s this - in our lives, individually, people listening by podcast, everybody here - in our own lives. There is that mandala of people, of individuals that we know personally, we’ve engaged with or we know of by way of media, by way of history and so forth. And our awareness of everyone we know or know of. Whatever comes to mind when we think of them, remember them, imagine them, see them, listen to them, engage with them. Whatever comes to mind whenever we engage directly or indirectly with any sentient being, it’s s always by way of our own appearances. We never leap the fence to get to that person in and of their own inherent nature, as they exist in and of themselves. We never leap the faith, we never leap the fence, to see them as they actually are and no individual leaps the fence to see themselves as they actually are because each of us is seeing ourselves through our own prism. It’s not of course absolute objectivity. So this means that we are, we are artists. Bad artists, good artists, but we are artists, and we are painting the canvas of everyone we know. We are novelists, we’re artists, we’re sculptors and everyone we know or know of, how they arise to our minds is certainly it’s like one of those movies that’s inspired by real events. It’s inspired by the people’s behavior, this is not solipsism, we’re not making people up. We’re not making up history out of just sheer fiction, but nevertheless whatever comes to mind - it’s painted, it’s crafted, with the colors of our own minds. So there’s just an empirical truth - that it’s always relational. I never see the other person in and of him/herself, I see them always relative to my framework, my perspective, the colors, the palate of my own mind, of my own experience.

[10:39] But the point that really grabbed me this afternoon in my own meditation was that as long as there is anyone out there, for whom there is either craving, as an attachment. Craving, mental affliction. Or there’s aversion as in contempt, disgust, resentment, anger, hostility that whole bandwidth,- the heart is not at rest. The heart is not at rest. And I think of the Buddha’s analogy when he was speaking of the five obscurations, whenever, as long as there is hedonic fixation, remember that, the first of the five obscurations, good to memorize these. Insofar as the mind is still prone to that craving, to the allures of the desire realm. And that includes other people and things and stuff, but I’m focusing right now on people. Attachment to, whether it’s sexual, whether it’s familial, whether it’s business whatever it is. Whenever there’s attachment to someone else, a craving, a clinging, a grasping to someone else - that’s the first of the five obscurations. And does anybody remember what the in terms of the five metaphors when the buddha said, you’re in bad shape. Do you remember what the one was for that? [student responds colored water] No, that’s the water. No. When the buddha said, ending in you’re lost in a desert track. That’s not colored water, that’s another set. You’re quite right. It’s colored water, that’s quite right. [student responds: Sick] It’s sick. You’re sick. You remember? You’re sick. [Alan snaps his fingers] You’re indebted. You’re indebted. Indebted, sick, in bondage, enslaved, and lost in a desert track. This one really strikes me. I mean I’m, I’m, I’m superimposing those five on five, but I think it’s not out of whimsy. But see whether it strikes a bell. And that is if you are still attached to someone else, you still need somebody else for your happiness, whether it’s a person out there who is your guru, that you reified, or a lover, a friend, a child, a relative and so forth, you’re in debt.

[12:39] You’re in [Alan snaps his fingers] debt. That is you’re not whole. You’re not whole. That you fragmented yourself and some part of the source of your own well being, you’ve embedded in somebody else. And they’re somebody else which means they’re not you and which means you can’t control, which means you’re in debt. Isn’t that true? It strikes me as true in my own experience. And then this one actually starts to bring tears to the eyes. If there’s any hostility, contempt, resentment, bad feeling, ill feeling, ill will is just a nice clean word. If there’s any ill will to anybody in my universe, where I wish them ill - I’m sick. I’m sick. I’m not, there’s no way I can call myself well. If there’s anybody in the universe for whom I’m holding ill will, I don’t want you to be happy, you don’t deserve it, you should suffer - I’m sick. That’s just literally true. So, this very lofty, spacious, cosmic notion, I shall free all sentient beings from suffering and bring each one to their fulfilment, it’s the final step of healing ourselves. Where this becomes practical and I will give a bit of guidance in the meditation. It’s not worrying about sentient beings in other galaxies or other star systems and so forth, it leaves this in total vagueness, don’t have a clue. Vast but vague. But when we bring to mind, whether they come to mind or we invite them to mind, the individuals in this constellation of primarily human beings, in our world, primarily, probably you are not holding a lot of resentment for a dog or a cat! Although there might be attachment there, but primarily human beings, you know. [Alan exhales] If, as one after another comes to mind, if for each one sincerely there arises not only the wish, that was way back with the four immeasurables, that’s equanimity, that’s the wish, the aspiration, may you be well, may you be free. But actually attending to each one, and here I think we have a lot of gravitas in the notion that you’re in the centre of your mandala, you are the king, you are the monarch, the Queen, you are the monarch. That’s what it is in Dzogchen, that your mind is the all creating sovereign, the all creating monarch of the universe in which you dwell. That’s the phrase. Gender neutral, there’s no issue there of gender. But if you’re really viewing it from your throne, in the centre of your Mandala and you’re viewing this whole constellation of sentient beings around you, and one comes to mind, another one comes to mind, and another one comes to mind and no matter what they’ve done to you, whether it’s incredibly awful and brutal and mean or greedy and manipulative and exploitative or devious and dishonest and so forth, whatever they have done to you or to anyone else, out of malice, greed or delusion, it pretty much boils down to that. If you can attend to each one and not only wish them well, May you be free of suffering and find happiness, but as you attend to the one as the monarch in the centre of your mandala, and you look them right in the eyes, in your mind’s eye, and you say I shall free you, I take that on, that’s my bond, that’s my pledge, I shall free you. Yeah. That’s healing, that is really healing, because now it has traction, it’s actually engaging with the people in your life, in your history, in your world, and having that unconditional benevolence, that unconditional sense of responsibility, I shall free you, and you, and you. Each one, completely free you from everything you don’t want. And what you don’t want is suffering and the causes of suffering. And what you, I know what you want, I know what you really want, because what you really want is what I really want; I want the highest possible level of happiness and I don’t want it to fade away and be stuck right where where I was before, I don’t want that. I want the highest possible, conceivable, or even inconceivable state of well-being, and I do not want to fall back and I know that other person whoever they are, whoever they are, whatever they’re doing, acts of terrorism or acts of incredible benevolence, that’s what they want, and so that is what I want for you, and I will get it for you.

[17:21] But of course in making that promise then we just have to have the bottom drop out of our ordinary sense of identity, because it is utterly ridiculous there. The bottom drop out of our individual continuum of the substrate consciousness and go right down to the ground. So this strikes me as, I mean, cosmic benevolence, but also ultimate healing. And you won’t be at rest, having made this pledge, like just making a promise, like making a promise. If you have made a promise to someone and you have the ability to carry it out, you are not at rest, until you have fulfilled your promise. I made a promise, it was sincere, I have the ability, then I am not at rest until that promise is fulfilled. And so you make this promise, and this means that you are guaranteeing to yourself that you’ll not be at rest until all sentient beings are free. And then you are stepping into the footsteps of the Dalai Lama, Shantideva and all the Buddhas of the three times, who are not at rest who are not still, who are not utterly, profoundly, primordially, simply at rest, for as long as there is one sentient being who is still suffering, they still manifest . But not as sentient beings; they are at rest and they are in motion simultaneously.

[18:56] So let’s practice, see where this goes. [?18:57 Sanskrit word] [Adjajaya, adjajaya?].

[Sound of students finding a position for meditation].

[19:50] Meditation bell rings three times.

[20:15] But before venturing out on this expedition of cultivating this extraordinary resolve, set your body and speech and mind at rest, loose and relaxed; balanced.

[22:54] Now I invite you to return to the first of the four questions in our original fourfold vision quest. The question being, what is your vision of your highest well-being? And consider now that this really can’t be anything less than complete freedom from suffering and its inner causes and complete fulfilment, complete and perfect awakening. Hold this vision in mind and aspire for it, there’s nothing wrong with this, this is not self-centeredness. This is valid. Aspire for such perfection yourself, however long it may take. And as when you took the bodhisattva vow, go beyond aspiration, go to the pledge, to the promise, the commitment, the resolve, to indeed never forsake this ideal, but commit yourself to your own perfect awakening; the promise to yourself.

[25:00] And then from the centre of your mandala, the centre of your world, each sentient being of course being the centre of his or her own world, cast your awareness outwards, let your awareness illuminate the world of sentient beings around you, out into the vastness of space. And with the awareness that this is the fundamental aspiration, what Tsongkhapa calls the eternal longing of every sentient being which does not let us rest, not even in our own Nirvana. It does not let us rest until it is fulfilled. Attend to the world of sentient beings each one bearing this eternal longing, fundamentally like ourselves.

[26:44] And given the profound, one could say the existential entanglement, of our own lives with all of those around us without exception, all of us arising, in this mutual interdependence, arouse the determination, the resolve, to free each member of this family from all suffering and its causes, and to bring each one to their own fulfilment.

[27:45] And now simply let your awareness rest, rest in its own centre, resting in its own place. And from this vantage point of stillness see who comes to mind, individuals or communities, loved ones, or enemies, or strangers, people you know directly or only by way of the media, or books, history and so on. See who comes to mind.

[28:34] And as each one comes to mind, note whether the valence of our awareness of them is coloured by attachment, by aversion or by indifference. And then as you arouse, you reinvigorate this extraordinary resolve, attending to each one, not looking at mental images, attending to sentient beings, arouse this resolve, I shall free you, I take it upon myself, this is my promise, I shall free you and I shall bring you to your own fulfilment. However they appear as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Homogeneously, evenly cut through all these barriers and arouse this resolve evenly. Do so with every out breath once again as we have done before, activating, stirring, bringing forth the light from your own Buddha nature and as you breathe out let your light convey this loving and compassionate resolve, this altruistic resolve. As if the light is carrying a message and imagine the message being received at some level; message received.

[33:51] Make good on the bodhisattvas promise that even if other people have a negative connection with you, they have treated you badly, and they may wish to do so again, let that connection be transformed into benefit for them, the connection that’s been made, and let your response be the promise to free them, from all that afflicts them. Now of course any promise when made sincerely must be backed up with a plan, a strategy by which to carry through with the promise, otherwise it’s empty, it’s vacuous, it’s an empty ritual. So without placing any time constraints on this pledge which would be very unreasonable, unrealistic, taking in the big picture, the vastness of space, the openness of time, think now as one individual after another comes to mind; what is your strategy? What can you do given enough time to effectively lead this person on the path? A path of their own freedom, a path of their own fulfilment. What can you do? What’s your strategy? What is your plan? How can you carry through?

[36:17] As a point of sheer practicality or common sense, if we promise to guide others on the path to their own freedom, and their own awakening, this isn’t very realistic, if we haven’t traversed that path ourselves, for ourselves; it’s difficult to guide someone where we have never been. So bring to mind now your own path. What is your vision of how you may free yourself of your own limitations and endow yourself, with all the necessary abilities, that you will find the effective means for each sentient being, to skilfully lead them out of suffering and the causes of their own suffering, and skilfully lead them on the path of their ever increasing fulfilment, their joy, their awakening. What is your path that will enable you to lead others on their paths?

[38:21] To carry through with all of this you will need great blessings, great momentum. With each in breath imagine inviting and drawing in, the blessings of all the awakened ones, converging in upon yourself, and with every out breath, breathe out your resolve to each sentient being, every sentient being.

[42:57] Then release all appearances, all imaginings and all aspirations, release all doing and simply rest in being aware of being aware.

[43:41] Meditation ends, bell rings three times.

[44:50] When we’ve experienced conflict with someone, an individual or more and the conflict is not resolved, I think it’s quite common for people to think that there’s no closure, there’s no closure and we don’t feel at rest. We feel ill at ease until some resolution has been made. That we see eye to eye, that everything’s okay. And that it has to be reciprocal. Good luck with that, you know. (students chuckle) The person may be dead. And how, how’s it going to be reciprocal, they’re off in another life? They don’t even know who you are. You won’t recognize them when you see them, not likely. And so I think it’s unrealistic expectation which can give rise simply to the sense of dissatisfaction, useless. That such peace, such reconciliation, such peace of mind, such release can come, but it doesn’t have to be reciprocal. It’s enough from our own side to release all resentment, all holding on, all grudge, all contempt, all mental afflictions, that’s enough. There’s only benevolence, only kindness for the other person, they don’t have to reciprocate, they may, that would be wonderful, but we have no control over that. So there’s no reason to give up our power to something beyond our power. That I can’t be at peace until we see eye to eye. I can’t be at peace until you and I we’re seeing everything’s okay. That we’re okay, we’re okay. That may not happen. This is enough. And if the other person is still holding resentment, well they’re in the center of their mandala, it’s their affliction. And if we can help them of course we may resolve to help them, but we can’t set any timeline on it. So now let’s make tracks.

[46:59] Let’s go back to the text. And where I’m in the text is also Dampa. This is Padampa Sangye. Also Padampa Sangye says. So try to find that. I’m dealing with the, my digitized version, which I’ve been editing all over the place. And I’ve gone quite a bit ahead because I’d like really to be able to cover this text but also return to this wonderful text - Naked Awareness. So, fasten your seatbelt, we’re going to make some tracks now. So also, so you can see the context, I’m not going to go back and contextualize it, it’s right in front of you. So As Dampa Sangye says, When you are carried by the guru you arrive at your desired destination, oh people of Dimri, with admiration and reverence. It’s [?47:50 in Tibetan] *** with admiration and reverence make offerings at the gurus feet.*** So this is obviously highlighting the profound blessing, the empowering of your practice through the guru yoga, when it’s done skillfully, wisely, intelligently. When it goes badly, it can go really really badly.

[48:15] The exalted Mila, as in Milarepa says, When you’ve departed he’s addressing his teacher, his lama, When you’ve departed for Dbus is central Tibet, so why not say Central Tibet? When you’ve departed for Central Tibet oh teacher, a vision of the guru sometimes arises. When a vision of the guru arises I appeal to you, I supplicate you, inseparably at my crown, without forgetting, I contemplate you at my heart chakra. So these are two of the very common visualizations in the guru yoga practice. One is visualizing the guru indivisible from your yidam, or personal deity on the crown of your head. The other one is at your heart. Another one I’ve heard, which I kind of like also, is on your right shoulder. [laughter] So you’re always circumambulating. It’s like going around a stupa and the stupa is always on your right. Wherever you’re walking your guru’s on the right so you’re always circumambulating the guru even when you’re walking in a straight line. [chuckles] But anyway of course all of these are lovely images, but the point of this is to be living constantly in the presence of the enlightened awareness of your guru. Great blessing there.

[49:27] So now we move on to the main practice. In the main practice of Mahamudra there are many modes of explanation, but they are divisible into two, Sutra and Mantra. Mantra is a contraction of mantrayana which is synonymous with vajrayana. So that’s from the root text. And so now we see there are two approaches two whole venues of Mahamudra in the sutrayana context and the vajrayana context. So Panchen Rinpoche continues here, There are many ways of explaining the main practice of Mahamudra. The conqueror, the victorious one, [Dikunpa], great Kagyupa master, explicating the perspective this is [ Gonpa ? 50:06 Tibetan], and I checked with one marvelous lama, very knowledgeable, the Tibetan term is [ Gonpa?Tibetan]. And I’m, I was for years together with a lot of other translators feeling kind of uneasy, well, does it mean intention, does it mean thought? Those are the two, and I asked [? 50:31 Ganden Dudjom] Rinpoche from Bhutan, he’s really the premier Nyingma lama from Bhutan, I said what does [ Gonpa ?Tibetan] mean? What does [ Gompa?Tibetan] mean? Does it mean and I’m speaking in Tibetan, does it mean more intention or does it mean more thought. Because [Gompa?Tibetan] is honorific of [?Gompa Tibetan], it could be either way. And he said neither one. It means tawa, it means view, it means view. It means the enlightened view or viewpoint or perspective. That’s what gomba means and that’s certainly - ah! . Then I looked at all the cases where I’ve seen [ Gompa?Tibetan word repeated three times] and it works every single time. It means view, viewpoint, or perspective. So that’s how I’ve translated it here. the conqueror, [Digompa?Tibetan name], explicating the perspective of [? 51:12 Rinpoche], arranged Mahamudra according to the three vehicles and the four seals.

[51:11] So he’s going to unpack this, I’m going to do this right now. But we’re not going to tarry here, we can really go so slowly that we won’t even finish this text in the next six weeks, let alone get back to Naked Awareness. So I’m going to be moving rather briskly through.

[51:25] So here’s what he says, here’s what [Digompa?Tibetan name] says, In his discussion of the four profound seals Now bear in mind mudra literally means seal, just like a seal on a letter, something sealed. So In his discussion of the four profound seals the eminent Dogen clearly taught that the four seals of the path are methods of achieving the three aspects of awakening. or modalities of awakening. The four seals of the path are characterized in terms of the three vows this will become clear as we read on. So here’s the first of the, here’s the first of the three. Sravaka the person intent on seeking his or her own, individual liberation. The sravakas physical, verbal, and mental inseparability from morality is the action seal. So we’re going to find four types of seals, action seal, dharma seal, pledge seal and then the great seal or karmamudra, karmamudra - action seal, dharma seal - dharma mudra, samaya mudra, and then mahamudra. Okay so those are the four seals. But they’re going to have a different meaning in each of these different contexts. It’s very brilliant really. So the sravaka, so in terms of the sravaka’s homogeneously ethical behavior, nonviolent, benevolent behavior by way of body speech and mind, the inseparability of the sravakas conduct by way of body speech and mind from the principles of ethics - of nonviolence and benevolence, that’s the karmamudra, the action seal.

[53:04] The sravakas realization, the sravakas realization, of the lack of self of persons, or personal identitylessness, the lack of the inherent nature of an individual, the self, the ego. Their realization of the lack of self of persons, not that people don’t exist, but they don’t have an inherent identity in and of themselves this is taught as the dharma seal. okay so there’s their realization.

[53:36] Their freedom from afflictions it really is klesha, it doesn’t mean defilement [? Zakche 53:41Tibetan] means defilement, but this is klesha. So mental afflictions, afflictions, mental afflictions, their freedom from mental afflictions is the pledge or samaya seal and nirvana, their nirvana without remaining aggregates is the great seal, mahamudra. Now the nirvana without remaining aggregates is classic teachings in the Pali canon, the Theravada interpretation and that is when the sravaka arhat, achieves, becomes an arhat, becomes, so achieves nirvana and then passes away. The continuum of all of the five aggregates, including the aggregate of consciousness and within consciousness including the aggregate of mental consciousness. All of these conditioned by prior mental afflictions and karma, severed, terminated. So that’s without remaining aggregates. You leave all your baggage behind and nothing carries through. None of the five aggregates carry through. That’s very clear, unequivocally stated by the Buddha. This is the great seal, this is the sravakayana great seal. This is their mahamudra, is final, total, irreversible freedom without ever coming back, and not bringing anything of samsara with you. So there’s one, there’s sravaka.

[55:04] And now we go to the bodhisattva. The inseparability of the bodhisattva’s three doors body speech and mind, from the six perfections in other words all other activity by way of body speech and mind is never divorced or separated from the six perfections of - generosity, ethics, patience, enthusiasm, meditation, and wisdom. That inseparability, that’s their action, this is their action seal, the karmamudra. Their freedom from illusion is again the word [?55:36 tibetan] it means illusion so there’s no other reason to translate it as anything else. Their freedom from illusion and conceptual elaborations is the dharma seal. They’ve seen through the illusions, they’ve seen reality as it is and they’ve seen it in a way that is devoid of conceptual elaborations. This is the projection that I talked about at some length this morning. They’re seeing reality as it is, they’re seeing the illusion as an illusion which means they are no longer deceived by it. They’re not being tainted by the stain of self interest. Now this of course means self interest in the afflictive sense, self interest in the sense of - me first. Self centeredness. My well being first. And it’s just ubiquitous throughout samsara. It’s sometimes subtle and sometimes incredibly gross, but it’s that quiet insistence, if it’s between you and me, and you’re not one of mine, me first. That just should go without saying. Me first, that’s the stain of self interest, or self centeredness, but the term here, I’m translating literally, self interest.

[56:48] They’re not being tainted by the stain of self interest because of their bodhichitta - is the pledge seal, the samaya sattva. And the equal taste of emptiness and compassion is the great seal, Mahamudra. The equal taste of emptiness and compassion, that’s a very very rich phrase. When one first ventures into the teachings, trying to understand, trying to cultivate them, meditate on emptiness it’s very very easy, as one steps across that threshold to find that compassion is evaporating. For the very simple reason- the teachings on emptiness there is no one out there existing from their own side. That’s what it says. There is no one out there, existing by their, from their own side, by their own nature. Whereas the Dalai Lama often says, it’s classic teaching also, it’s in Tibetan [?57:40 phrase] is what you’re pointing your finger at. Like that, something really practical. That sense that there is someone over there where I’m pointing my, jabbing my finger, there’s just somebody over there, that is what I’m pointing at ,and they’re really there from their own side. That’s exactly what’s being refuted. And of course equally, it’s not like I’m the only one in the universe, there is no one there either. There is no one from my side, exists from my own side, by my own nature, totally empty of. But if that’s the case then when one starts to go down that rabbit hole, then compassion seems to evaporate, well then there’s no problem. [chuckles] Nobody’s there, nobody’s here, nobody’s anywhere. [makes whistling sound] So that equally kind of overwhelms, remember the theme, view and conduct. The emptiness can easily overwhelm compassion. But then we come back and we read the news and ninety five people died just in India because they had a whole bunch of fireworks, they didn’t go off one by one, they all went off at the same time. Killed ninety five people and they were there for a celebration. Of course, ninety five people, you read that, it breaks your heart. Or you see, well you know almost all the news is bad. And so you see that what is actually happening or it’s in your own life. A loved one, a friend, and so forth and you see all the, you see the very real struggles they’re going through, the miseries, the conflicts they’re going through and as soon as we start taking that seriously, as of course we should. It’s called empathy, it’s called compassion, then emptiness fades right out. Because they’re really there, I have to do something. They’re really there, they need me, they need me. And it’s - I’m really here, and they’re really there and I’m going to leap to the rescue and I need to do something. Emptiness is now just completely history, it’s nowhere in sight.

[59:27] Seeing the two, that in fact the deeper your realization of emptiness, the stronger the compassion, the stronger your compassion realizing the nature of dependent origination, the stronger insight into emptiness, when you’re there, whoa, then as Tsongkhapa said in his Three Principles of the Path, Okay now you’ve found the middle way. Now you’ve found it. He phrases it a tiny bit differently, but the same theme. As you really comprehend the reality of causality, dependent origination, if that insight itself empowers, strengthens, sharpens your insight into emptiness and as you probe into the very nature of emptiness of inherent nature, if this empowers your appreciation, your awareness, your understanding of dependent origination, then you’ve found the middle way. But otherwise when you tend to causality, it seems to be real, when we tend to emptiness - causality seems to fade away.

[1:00:22] Olaso. So, The equal taste of these are completely non dual. Of course this refers to ultimate and relative bodhichitta. So there’s the bodhisattva, there’s the second. And now we’ll go to the third.

[1:00:33] According to the path of secret mantra the secret mantra of course this is the contraction of secret mantrayana, which of course refers to vajrayana. According to the path of secret mantra, devotion to the messenger interesting phrase devotion to the messenger is the action seal. Now the messenger can be clearly understood, it’s [Ponya1:00:54 in Tibetan] is messenger, and the action seal is the karmamudra. This can refer to the consort in very mature, fully qualified stage of completion practice within highest yoga tantra, that can refer to an actual consort. So there’s one. And you notice the word is devotion not utilisation. You’re not using somebody. If you are, you’re totally missing the point entirely. The inseparable joining of the vital winds, the pranas and mind is the dharma seal. Good indication of prana mind. [?lung sem Tibetan] prana mind, energy mind, union of these, they’re going through the central channel and so forth that’s the dharma seal. The non degeneration of vows all of your primary and secondary bodhisattva precepts, or if this a bodhisattva then you have of course your samayas and your vows, your vajrayana samayas and vows. The non degeneration of vows and samayas is the samaya seal. That makes really good sense.

[1:01:54] And the manifestation of connate gnosis connate again is [?1:01:60 Tibetan] which literally means - born with - and that’s what connate means, born with, born together. The manifestation of connate gnosis is the great seal of Mahamudra. Connate, primordial consciousness, I’m sticking with gnosis because it’s a good translation, my preference is primordial consciousness. But the connate means it’s already there. Just like rigpa is already there, you don’t acquire it. And it’s already there and it’s already knowing, otherwise it wouldn’t be rigpa, which means knowing. And likewise primordial consciousness is primordial, it doesn’t have a beginning so it’s already there, but is it manifest or not? Hmm well that’s the question. And the manifestation, the full experience, the identification of this connate primordial consciousness is the great seal. That defines it right there. That’s the definition of Mahamudra within this kagyu tradition. So again you see, he’s very clearly, explicitly and repeatedly drawing on the kagyu tradition which does suggest in fact he’s uniting the gelug with the kagyu.

[1:02:54] On the path of freedom the pith instruction this is the [? Tibetan] a pith instruction is the best translation, the pith instruction [? Sanskrit] the pith instruction on inner fire that’s the translation here for Tummo You all know Tummo, I think. the pith instruction on inner fire focus on this is physical exercises, the Tum Chor doesn’t mean magical circle, it’s the [ Tum Chor? Tibetan] because I’ve been trained in them. The [? adisara] they’re called in sanskrit. These, if anybody’s been trained in the six yogas of Naropa and in their physical exercises involving breathing exercises, physical exercises for arousing tummo, the Tum Chor are the physical exercises including pranayama and actual physical exercises. If you want to see them, you want to see what they look like from the outside, watch the movie Yogis of Tibet. Unbelievable, the yogi jumping up about four feet into the air, going into full lotus and then landing in full lotus, that’s just for starters. What you don’t see is what he’s doing with his mind and his breath. This makes the outer display look like, yeah whatever. The inner is quite incredible. And all of that is designed to get those pranas going into the central, arouse the tummo and then manifest, I’ve been using the word innate, innate mind of clear light. Innate mind of clear light. Roger Jackson our translator here is using primordial and I looked at it and I went to a Tibetan dictionary, I looked at the different meaning of the Tibetan [? 1:04:27] and I have to say I’m shifting now, he’s won me over. Instead of saying innate mind of clear light, I’m going to be saying from now on primordial mind of clear light, because this is exactly what it meant. Innate is not wrong, it’s not a mistake, but it has that quality of it’s always been there, primordial. So from now on I’m going to call it primordial mind of clear light. [?Tibetan] has always been there, means exactly - primordial, so good translation. So I’m going back to his translation. Olaso. So focus on physical exercises, the manipulation of the vital winds I call them vital energies is the action seal. That’s where you’re with the power of your breathing, your visualizations and so forth, your exercises. You’re drawing the vital energies into the central channel, into the heart chakra, into the indestructible bindhu at your heart. That’s the action seal.

[1:05:21] And the arising of blissful gnosis is said to be the dharma seal. And dispassion this is simply non attachment, dispassion, it’s a good word. non attachment is the pledge seal. And spontaneous actualization that’s [flungdupa? Tibetan 1:05:37] flung means spontaneous and dupa means to actualize. And so I’m homogeneously translating flungdupa as spontaneous actualization. Something may be already there but not actualized, not made manifest but when it’s spontaneously is actualized that’s flungdupa and so the spontaneous actualization of the realization of rigpa, that’s the great seal. And that’s Mahamudra. okay, so we just went through the three yanas, or four. We have the, if we distinguish between the vajrayana and then the path of freedom, the culmination, then there’s four. And then four seals. Or what did he call it? He called it the three vehicles. So it is - sravaka, bodhisattva, and vajrayana and then the four seals, you’re familiar with now. So that does that.

[1:06:30] Then we move right on. The great guru [Lo Chenpo ?1:06:36 Tibetan name] so for those of you who don’t have a background in Buddhism, he’s called Panchen Rinpoche for a reason. Panchen means Pandita Chenpo, which means great maha pandit. He’s truly a maha pandit, he’s incredible in his erudition, that’s why they called him Panchen Rinpoche. And so he has this vast learning and he’s explaining some it here. So it may be more than you need right now but I promised to give the oral transmission and commentary so we’ll go through this but we won’t linger. But he’s giving you the big picture. The big picture of Mahamudra as it’s manifested in the vajrayana context and the sutra. The great guru [? Lo chenpo Genopel?] explains the non conceptual gnosis that ascertains emptiness this is mahamudra, so you’re finding different definitions, they’re all in the same cluster. And then At the very I’ve changed the next one, I think it was an incorrect translation, At the very beginning of his, At the very beginning of his chapter on mahamudra, in his blue annals it’s a great, very famous dharma history, he explains. Now I will speak of Mahamudra which seals all practices and attainments from the pratimoksha vows these are vows of individual liberation, the lay precept, the novice precept, precepts of full ordination , from the pratimoksha vows that are the basis of the Buddha’s teachings right up to the Sri Guhyasamaja Often known as the king of tantras, so the culmination of vajrayana. It covers the whole spectrum. Okay, it seals all practices and attainments from the most basic to the most sublime, therefore - Mahamudra. So he’s giving you the meaning so there would be no ambiguity, or vagueness, or uncertainty, what does Mahamudra mean? This is what it means. And the translation as great seal is a good translation.

[1:08:24] Thus although there are various modes of explanation in short since Mahamudra is divided into sutra and mantra it is two fold. Two approaches, sutrayana, vajrayana. Of these I will explain the former rather extensively here because I will say less about the latter, I will explain it first. So between the two he’s going to go into much more detail on the sutrayana approach to Mahamudra but he’s going to take care of, fairly rapidly, the brief overview of the vajrayana approach, the mantra approach. Okay. So he’s going to do one very briefly and the other one more elaborately. So the first one is going to be really kind of a fly over, like kind of a simply an overview and he’s going to do it pretty concisely and we will go through it concisely. Because here again you’re not as a scholarly seminar we’re not, it’s not a degree program and so forth, this is all for practice. So if it gets a little bit, how do you say, a little bit distant from our practice here and now, I’m going to go a bit more, a bit more briefly, yeah, a bit more quickly. So, Mantra Mahamudra, so this is where he’s going to give a brief exposition but it’s going to be pretty intense, Mahamudra according to vajrayana, couched within the context of vajrayana practice. So the latter, and the latter is the vajrayana approach, the latter here we go to the root text.

[1:09:50] The latter is the great bliss-clear light Roger translated it as luminosity which of course is not incorrect but it’s [1:10:15 ?osel, osel] and most people are translating it literally [?osel], clear light, so I’m going to do that as well. Because you’ve heard the term so many times and luminosity - there’s nothing wrong with it, but I’m sticking with clear light. The latter is the great bliss-clear light [?1:10:15 Tibetan] the great bliss-clear light mind arising from skill in the methods of penetrating the vital points in the vajra body, the vital points are the chakras, the nadis and so forth. So this is couched within vajrayana. The mahamudra of Saraha and Nagarjuna Pada Nagarjuna of Naro as in Naropa and Maitri as in Maitripa, Naropa and Maitripa being two of the great mahasiddhas of India and then Saraha another great siddha and so was Nagarjuna, for that matter. The mahamudra of this lineage Saraha, Nagarjuna Pada, Naropa, Maitripa is taught in the Seven Attainment texts and the Essential Trilogy and is the quintessence of the unexcelled tantras, highest yoga tantra, anuttarayoga tantra. So he’s going to go through some detail here of texts and we’re just going to go right through it like a hot knife through butter.

[1:11:12] And why is it called the great seal? [phyag rgya chen po in Tibetan] According to the Drapa Mahamudra so this is text of course, according to this text, [phyag rgya] is the Tibetan, mudra, and so [phyag within rgya, phyag rgya, the first syllable phyag] is the gnosis of emptiness, the primordial consciousness of emptiness. So this is a real scholars delight here. [Rgya], the second syllable refers to freedom from samsaric phenomena, dharma just means phenomena so we might as well just say phenomena, rather than keeping it in Sanskrit. Chen po which means great, is union. So we took mudra in Tibetan broke it into two pieces, and then maha is chen po means here, great means union. This expresses the meaning of saying great seal. Okay. So this is a scholarly exposition and etymology of mahamudra. As for the mahamudra of the mantra system, having received a minor preference, having received the four empowerments, and guarded your vows and pledges properly, stabilize your familiarity with the generation stage. So you receive the empowerment, you receive the vows and pledges and you keep them, and then you venture into the first two of the major venues or genres of practice within highest yoga tantra, stage of generation, and you stabilize your familiarity with them, okay. So you get into them, you really get into the groove you become expert, you become adept in the stage of generation practices. So there’s stage of generation and then you penetrate the vital points of the vajra body through skill and various internal and external methods to make the winds that is the pranas, enter, abide, and dissolve into the central channel. He just summed up the stage of generation and completion in looks like one sentence. That’s it.

[1:13:13] The gnosis of connate great bliss that arises from that that arises from that. The gnosis of great bliss, of connate great bliss that arises from that, from that, from enabling the vital energies to abide, enter, abide and dissolve into the central channel, dissolve into the indestructible bindu at your heart. I know this is very technical, I’m moving through it quickly, the commentary will take about five years I think. The gnosis of great bliss that arises from that realizes emptiness by way of its generic idea. That’s my translation of [ Dun chi ], I think generic idea is a very close translation. So you’re realizing emptiness but your realization of emptiness is filtered through some, an idea, a general idea, so it’s not unmediated, it’s not absolutely non conceptual, but it is a realization, but it’s a filtered realization. Okay, that’s the first phase of your realization of emptiness.

[1:14:14] And so, so When such gnosis so, The connate great bliss that arises from that, realizes emptiness by way of its generic idea and that connate great bliss is the semblant clear light. [?1:14:31 Tibetan] means similar to, facsimile of, a near miss, close to but not quite the real deal. And this is semblant - a kind of an area of translation but it’s a good one. [?Tibetan] or semblant that is the facsimile of the clear light, a close approximation.

[1:14:48] When such gnosis realizes emptiness directly without any mediation by any idea any conceptualization, it is the actual clear light. So we have the facsimile clear light and then the actual clear light, the semblant and the actual. That mind that is of the essential nature of the two kinds of clear light, the semblant and the actual, is given such names as - the core of the definitive meaning, the indestructible drop or bindu, the uncontrived mind, ordinary consciousness, and I see I patched in something here wrong. What’s the term, what’s the modifier before mind in yours?

[several students respond] Alan: The one right after that, the next one. Students respond Alan: primordial mind is good.

And so forth. Okay, that’s the innate mind of clear light, primordial mind is good. And so it’s called by different names, it’s very common.

[1:15:56] The great adepts these are the great mahasiddhas of the arya land you know that’s India. the splendid guardian Mahasukha this is not, this Mahasukha is the name of one of the great siddhas, the splendid guardian Mahasukha or Saroruhavajra and some of you will know of him, Lake Born Vajra, the Lake Born Vajra Tsokye Dorje, very very central to the whole Dudjom lineage. So The great adepts of the arya land, the splendid guardian Maha-sukha or Saroruhavajra that’s Padmasambhava, the great adept, the great siddha the mahasiddhi Saraha, Nagarjuna, Lord Shavari, Tilo (as in Tilopa), Naro (as in Naropa), Maitri (as in Maitripa) these are all the great mahasiddhas in the Dzogchen or Mahamudra lineages. and others as well as the early Kagyu masters, including Marpa, Mila (Milarepa), Gampopa Phagmo Drupa who was a disciple, principal disciple of Gampopa and others So he just gave the constellation of the great adepts of India in this lineage. They all explain the ultimate mahamudra as the clear light of great bliss arising from having made the winds the pranas, enter, abide, and dissolve in (or into) the central channel. the avadhuti. Okay. Within vajrayana context that’s it. When the vital energies have completely dissolved into the central channel, into the heart chakra and into the indestructible bindu such that the primordial mind of clear light manifests, that’s Mahamudra. They’re all in agreement on this, there is no controversy.

[1:17:36] That is the principal topic of The Seven Attainment Texts and the Essential Trilogy. so this is the, you know, the primary textual source and is the innermost essence of the unexcelled yoga tantras vast as the ocean. Unexcelled yoga tantras, again the anuttarayoga tantras. Now again just quickly this is a scholar’s delight. If you read Tibetan or Sanskrit then you know here’s the ocean to plunge into if you’d like to get all the background information. The seven attainment texts The guardian Mahasukha so again one of the great adepts of India, composed the Secret Attainment this is a commentary on the main meaning of the Guhyasamaja Root Tantra. Mahasukha expresses the greatness of the Guhyasamaja by such statements as there is no tantra greater than the Sri Guhyasamaja, it is a jewel unique in all the worlds. He then explains the Guhyasamaja generation stage a little and teaches in particular the direct meaning of the root tantra, the powerful path of the inseparable bliss emptiness - when one practices on the lofty completion stage. The secret attainment this text became like the grandmother of all the other attainment texts and The Essential Trilogy. Mahasukha’s disciple Ananga Vastra[sounds like Varja?] composed Attaining Ascertainment of Wisdom and Means *** as in skillful means ***and then Ananga Vastra disciple Indrabhuti composed the Attainment of Gnosis. Indrabhuti’s lady or his consort Lakshmikara, composed the Attainment of Non Duality and Dombi Heruka again a famous mahasiddha from India composed The Attainment of the Connate, Attainment of the Connate and Darikapa composed The Attainment of the Principal of the Great Secret and Yogini Chenta a woman author here, Yogini Chenta composed The Attainment of the Principle that Follows the Elimination of Entities. So I don’t expect you to memorize that. [laughter]

[1:19:35] The Essential Trilogy moving right on The Essential Trilogy so that was the, those attainment texts, there are seven of them and now The Essential Trilogy. This is just showing okay here’s background if you’d like to really research this, you’re fluent in Tibetan, there you go. And then get the oral transmissions and so forth and you can spend ten fifteen years on that. So that will keep you busy. The Essential Trilogy with respect to the three doha these dohas are the Songs of Realization especially contributed to Saraha, with respect to The Three Dohas, collections of Saraha some masters as the omniscient [?Bhutan] a great Tibetan master, teach that the people’s dohas, one of the three, are purely Saraha’s composition he wrote them, While the other two are spurious. So he says only one of these are authentic the other two are you know, written by somebody else. Also some say that it cannot be accepted that there is no difference between the dohas way of teaching and the guardian Nagarjuna Pada’s way of teaching The five Stages of the Completion Path. So this goes hyper technical. The Five Stages of the Completion Path if you’d like to drench yourself in marvelous erudition in a superb translation look at Gavin Kilty’s translation of Tsongkhapa’s Great Commentary on the Five Stages of of Guhyasamaja Completion. It’s a masterpiece, Gavin did an outstanding job of translating and I stand in awe. He’s an excellent translator. That goes into all the detail you could ever imagine but it’s it’s extremely complex and very high. You have to be a really quite an extraordinary scholar to even understand it. You have to be a great adept to really get it. But he’s talking about this, there are these lineages of Saraha and Nagarjuna and the ways of explicating these five stages which are way up on the path of enlightenment, just before become a buddha. Are they completely the same or are there some discrepancies between the two? There’s some debate about that. Enough for the time being.

[1:21:35] Some say that passages from the dohas such as and here’s a quote from the dohas of Saraha; As Brahmins spin the sacred thread, the yogi puts his consciousness at ease. This very mind that’s bound by worldly cares when loosed will be free. No doubt So there’s a phrase, classic phrase, very quintessentially Mahamudra type of phrase. So There are some who say that, some say that passages such as the one I just read and the fresh uncontrived mind is best. that phrase the fresh uncontrived mind, the fresh uncontrived mind is the mind that’s not doing anything. It’s not engaged in analysis, investigation, conceptualization, it’s simply - rest, at rest in its own nature. Some say there’s a phrase from the doha’s the fresh uncontrived mind is best. And from Maitripa’s Ten Stanzas on Reality here’s another pithy statement non investigation is the mind of the supreme guru. So what these statements are suggesting is that Mahamudra really transcends all the activation of the mind, investigation, analysis and so forth, that it’s just beyond that. Okay, these are very classic statements, very typical statements that you do encounter in the Mahamudra tradition.

[1:22:56] So There are those who say that these statements are written for the purpose of explaining that if from the beginning you settle without analysis and block mentation, then you’ll be free. Some people say that. If you want to go from Mahamudra Dzogchen, good, just don’t do any investigation or analysis at all, just sit in open presence. Choiceless awareness. Open monitoring. Bare attention, etc, and that will be enough. In other words all that hassle of vipashyana and the teachings on Madhyamika and so forth and the teachings on The four Seals and the Satipatthana Sutta and so forth, all that, who needs that? Just whoa, settle down in marmot’s ville(?) and just hang out you know and that will be free. Some people say that.

[1:23:51] This and similar mistakes regarding the Seven Attainment Texts and The Essential Trilogy, occur. But if they are true and he said even if they are true I’m going to put that in, even if they’re true, even if they’re true, then they are not in accordance with the omniscient Je statement and this is Tsongkhapa, even if they’re true then, if they’re true well they’re just not compatible with Tsongkhapa’s teaching, at all. they’re not in accordance with the omniscient Je statement Tsongkhapa’s statement In the Illuminating Lamp and elsewhere. But the sayings of the dohas and so forth are to be practiced on the high mantra path. What he’s doing is contextualizing this. Is there a point in the stage, in the Vajrayana, specifically in Vajrayana, on stage of completion, within stage of completion, on the high level of realization in the stage of completion, among those five stages, is there a point at which the supreme method is resting with no investigation and no analysis? The answer’s yes. If you do it prematurely, you’re a marmot. Do it then and you’re well on your way to enlightenment, you’re almost finished. So this is Tsongkhapa’s views and I’ve seen this many places else as well.

[1:25:08] Let us explain the meaning and examples of The Treasury of Dohas , just a little. okay so these are Saraha’s, his primary, how do you say, gift of these dohas he’s famous for. Okay, and it’s quintessential pith instruction in Mahamudra, absolutely authoritative for the lineage. And he writes Saraha says - whoever enters emptiness bereft of compassion will not reach the supreme path. So there’s that, so there’s just no question about that. If you’re just sitting there, no mentation, no investigation, no analysis and there’s no cultivation of emptiness, there’s no compassion I should say, no compassion, then you’re just sitting there, you’re not going to reach anything. And if you cultivate only compassion again this word [ Gong pa? 1:26:00 Tibetan word] often it’s just uniformly translated as meditate, meditate but it doesn’t mean you’re meditate on, meditating on compassion. If you’re meditating on compassion, the object of your attention is compassion. But that’s not what you’re doing, you’re cultivating compassion and the object of your attention is sentient beings. So the word [ Gonpa? 1:26:17 Tibetan] means meditate, you’re meditating on emptiness and you’re cultivating compassion. But it’s the same verb, and sometime it has to do with your referent you’re meditating on impermanence, suffering, non self, emptiness, but you’re cultivating loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, patience, enthusiasm and so on. So this should much be better, if you cultivate only compassion, if that’s all you do, you’ll remain here in samsara and not obtain liberation. That’s a universal truth.

[1:26:48] Whoever’s able to conjoin the two to integrate the two will not abide in samsara because you have the realization of emptiness and you will not abide in nirvana because of your ongoing experience of compassion, non abiding nirvana or enlightenment, non abiding enlightenment. Thus it is necessary to join the subject, the subjective awareness of compassion which is connate great bliss. So we have, nominally speaking, conventionally speaking, even in the highest states of realization they still use words to refer to them. The awareness you’re bringing to this experience is suffused with compassion and it is connate great bliss and what you’re aware of is emptiness. The object of your awareness is emptiness. But of course when you’re resting in that there’s complete nonduality of your compassion which is of the very nature of connate great bliss and the emptiness of which you are non conceptually and non dually aware. But nominally speaking we can still say well here’s the object, here’s the subject. Okay this is all very fast. But you can always play it back at a slower speed.

[1:28:01] If you have realization then all things are that. That is - we just summarized everything. If you really understand it then that was it, no one knows anything other than that. When it comes to mahamudra that was complete. Reading is that. What’s the point of reading, to get to this point, apprehension, meditation are also that. It’s all about this. Holding the treatises in one’s heart is also that. memorizing them, bearing them in mind, it’s that. There is no view not indicated by that. It all comes down to that which was just explained but it depends on the words of the guru, alone. So to get it, to really get it, is not going to be enough to read books, or get a PhD, or write a great thesis, or write a hundred books, there’s something about it that you need that living current, of the words, the guidance, the blessing of the guru, it turns out to be true.

[1:28:59] When the gurus words, when the gurus words are taken to heart, When the gurus words are taken to heart it’s quite a literal translation, this is like seeing a treasure in the palm of your hand. The primordial nature goes unnoticed by the fool. The fool is deceived by confusion. So says Saraha. So the primordial nature is just exactly that, that indivisibility of connate, great bliss of connate gnosis and emptiness. And of course that goes unnoticed. It’s one of those things where it’s obscured. It’s obscured by reification, by all the obscurations of the mind, so the fool doesn’t see it. It’s right there, he doesn’t see it. And why? Because the fool doesn’t see it because the fool is deceived by confusion. That’s fundamentally here. The confusion of reification, grasping onto one’s own inherent nature, inherent nature of everything else. And the parallel with a non lucid dream is extremely close, okay.

[1:30:19] This says I’m going to read a little bit more. This says that when yogis directly experience and realize the primordial mind, then all phenomena are the emanations of that primordial, of that primordial nature well they already are but then you actually see that, so I would put in square brackets then all phenomena are [seen] I’m going to put that in right now. are [seen] as. This says that when yogis directly experience and realize the primordial mind then all phenomena are [seen] as emanations of that primordial nature. No person knows anything that is not an expression of that primordial nature. That’s classic Dzogchen teachings as well. That direct realization of the primordial mind is also a direct realization of the essence of reading the whole point, the essence of reading, apprehension and meditation and it is also the main purpose of bearing the treatises in mind. You’ve studied them and all that, good. Have you beared them in mind? Are they becoming integrated into your mindstream? It’s the whole point.

[1:31:40] There is no other view superior to the view indicated by that essence. This is the Mahamudra, this is the Dzogchen, The Great Perfection. However, the direct experience of that essence is by the power of meditation that depends on instruction from the mouth of the holy guru who is part of an uninterrupted lineage of holy beings beginning from Vajradhara, primordial Buddha. When the words of the guru who has such instructions and experience, enters one’s heart, if one settles upon and meditates in single pointed equipoise on the essence emptiness then one will directly see the meaning of emptiness as if it were a treasure in the palm of one’s hand. Not directly seeing the primordial nature, fools ordinary individuals are deceived by the confusion of clinging to “true” existence. that’s reification they’re deceived by the confusion of clinging to “true” existence. So says the archer Saraha. And we will pause there.

[1:33:13] Olaso. So very dense, but it’s good at times I’ve received many many teachings from my various lamas I remember quite a number of lamas where they would go through material, Zong Rinpoche, great Gelugpa lama and adept, he’s a siddha, he came to Tharpa Choeling Monastery in Switzerland once. I translated for him and in about a week he taught us all of The Six Yogas of Naropa. And it was just like on a super compact, you know microdot, he just poured it in, and of course he was an incredible scholar. I translated for him on a number of occasions, enormous erudition, but also a profound realization. He made it quite evident and in one week I think it was, Geshe Rabten asked him - please teach the students there. There weren’t many of us, I think maybe twenty or thirty of us, teach all of The Six Yogas of Naropa. There are no more profound teachings in the whole Kagyu tradition. And this was the Gelugpa lineage of that, taught by Tsongkhapa himself. So he taught it and I was translating for him, I was a pretty good translator back then, I’m rusty now, like an old knife that has been lying in salt water. But when it was all finished I went to Geshe Rabten and phew that was incredible, shall we, shall I devote myself to those practices? He said no, you’re no way ready for that. [laughter from the class] And of course he was completely right. Then I said well then what did you bring me here for? That was six, seven days of pretty intense work and I didn’t ask him that, I was always polite with him. [more laughing] Like - what’s up with that, you know. I don’t do that to my lama. But the point was perfectly clear, a teacher, a lama of the caliber of Zong Rinpoche is very rare. It was rare then, it’s rare now. They’re really, I mean, shall I say it again, they’re really rare. That level of erudition, that level of direct realization, he just glistened with it. I mean it was kind of obvious with him. And if you have an opportunity to receive teachings from such a being, you may as well not ask for little baby stuff down where you live, because this person, this is like a shooting star, he just comes through and he’s gone.

[1:35:33] You know, he passed away. I’ve heard his incarnation is quite wonderful. I’ve not met him, but I’ve heard he’s quite extraordinary, I’m delighted to hear that. But in any case Geshe Rabten said - no this is for the future. I’ve asked him here to give these teachings, the seeds are planted, they will germinate all in good time. In the meantime get back to work. In the practices that are aware for you right now, they really address your issues right now. But this is the long term investment, this is the seeds stored for the future. And so that’s what we’re doing here. This is not going to be terribly practical, you know all these seven texts and the blah blah blah and like that. But this is a transmission, I’m passing it on, the oral commentary, not a whole lot, but I think sufficient for the time being. This is in your deep storage. This will be there. We’re going to get back to the practice pretty quickly. But this is your long term investment. Right. And it’s stored there in the substrate consciousness. So sooner or later those seeds will germinate. Okey dokey. It’s an incredibly beautiful day so let’s enjoy it. Podcast people, wherever you are, enjoy your day. And I will see you tomorrow.

Transcribed by Kriss Kringle Sprinkle

Revised by Cheri Langston

Final Revision by Rafael Carlos Giusti

Special thanks to Jon Mitchell for contribution of partial transcripts

Lesson #21 text.

As Padampa Sangye says, When you are carried by the guru you arrive at your desired destination Oh people of Dimri, with admiration and reverence make offerings at the gurus feet.

The exalted Mila says, When you’ve departed for Central Tibet Oh teacher, a vision of the guru sometimes arises. When a vision of the guru arises I appeal to you, I supplicate you and inseparably at my crown, without forgetting, I contemplate you at my heart chakra.

In the main practice of Mahamudra there are many modes of explanation, but they are divisible into two, Sutra and Mantra. There are many ways of explaining the main practice of Mahamudra. The conqueror, the victorious one [?Dekumpa], explicating the perspective of Dogen Rinpoche arranged the Mahamudra according to the three vehicles and the four seals.

In his discussion of the four profound seals the eminent Dogen clearly taught that the four seals of the path are the methods of achieving the three aspects of awakening. The four seals of the path are characterized in terms of the three vows.

The sravakas physical, verbal, and mental inseparability from morality is the action seal.

The sravakas realization of the lack of self of persons, or personal identitylessness, for the lack of the inherent nature of an individual, this is taught as the dharma seal.

Their freedom from mental afflictions is the pledge or samaya seal.

And the nirvana without remaining aggregates is the great seal, mahamudra.

The continuum of all of the five aggregates including the aggregate of consciousness and within consciousness including the aggregate of mental consciousness.

The inseparability of the bodhisattva’s three doors from the six perfections is their action seal, the karmamudra.

Their freedom from illusion and conceptual elaborations is the dharma seal.

They’re not being tainted by the stain of self interest because of their bodhicitta is the pledge seal, the samaya sattva.

And the equal taste of emptiness and compassion is the great seal, Mahamudra.

The equal taste of these is completely non dual.

According to the path of the secret mantra devotion to the messenger is the action seal.

The inseparable joining of the vital winds, karmas and mind is the dharma seal.

The non degeneration of vows and samayas is the samaya seal.

And the manifestation of connate gnosis is the great seal of Mahamudra.

On the path of freedom the pith instruction on inner fire focus on physical exercises, the manipulation of the vital winds is the action seal.

And the arising of blissful gnosis is said to be the dharma seal.

And dispassion, non attachment is the pledge seal.

And spontaneous actualization of the realization of rigpa, that’s the great seal, that’s Mahamudra.

The great guru Lochen Genopel explains the non conceptual gnosis that ascertains emptiness. At the very beginning of his chapter on mahamudra, in his blue annals he explains. Now I will speak of Mahamudra which seals all practices and attainments from the pratimoksha vows that are the basis of the Buddha’s teachings right up to the Sri Gayshamagya. Thus although there are various modes of explanation in short since Mahamudra is divided into sutra and mantra it is two fold. Of these I will explain the former rather extensively here. Because I will say less about the latter, I will explain it first.

The latter is the great bliss-clear light mind arising from skill in the methods of penetrating the vital points in the vajra body. The mahamudra of Saraha, and Nagarjuna Pada, of Naro, and Maitri is taught in the seven attainment texts and essential trilogy and is the quintessence of the unexcelled tantras, highest yoga tantra, anuttarayoga tantra.

And why is it called the great seal? According to the Drapa Mahamudra, as for the mahamudra of the mantra system having received the four empowerments and guarded your vows and pledges properly, stabilize your familiarity with the generation stage. Then you penetrate the vital points of the vajra body through various internal and external methods to make the winds enter, abide, and dissolve into the central channel.

The gnosis of connate great bliss that arises from that dissolve into the indestructible bindu at your heart. The gnosis of great bliss that arises from that realizes emptiness by way of its generic idea.

When such gnosis realizes emptiness directly without any mediation by any idea it is the actual clear light. That mind that is of the essential nature of the two kinds of clear light, the semblant and the actual, is given such names as the core of the definitive meaning, the indestructible drop, the uncontrived mind, ordinary consciousness and primordial mind.

The great adepts of the arya land, the splendid guardian Maha-sukha or Sahajavajra, the great adept, the great siddha, mahasiddha Saraha, Nagarjuna, Lord Shavari, Tilo, Naro, Maitri and others as well as the early Kagyu masters including Marpa, Mila, Gampopa, Drupa and others they all explain the ultimate mahamudra as the clear light of great bliss arising from having made the winds enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel.

That is the principal topic of the seven attainment texts and the essential trilogy and is the innermost essence of the unexcelled yoga tantras vast as the ocean. The guardian Mahasukha composed the secret attainment. Mahasukha expresses the greatness of the Guhyasamaja by such statements as there is no tantra greater than the Sri Guhyasamaja, it is a jewel unique in all the worlds. He then explains the Sri Guhyasamaja stage of generation a little and teaches in particular the direct meaning of the root tantra, the powerful path of the inseparable bliss emptiness when one practices on the lofty completion stage. The secret attainment became like the grandmother of all the other attainment texts and the essential trilogy. Mahasukha’s disciple Ananga Vajstra composed Attaining Ascertainment of Wisdom and Means and then Ananga Vajstra disciple Indrabhuti composed the Attainment of Gnosis. Indrabhuti’s lady Lakshmikara, composed the Attainment of Non Duality and Dombi Heruka composed the Attainment of the Connate, Attainment of the Connate and Darikapa composed the Principal of the Great Secret and Yogini Chenta composed the Attainment of the Principle That Follows the Elimination of Entities.

The essential trilogy with respect to the three doha, collections of Saraha, some masters as the the omniscient Bhutan teach that the people’s dohas, one of the three, are purely Saraha’s composition. While the other two are spurious. Also some say that it cannot be accepted that there is no difference between the dohas way of teaching and the guardian Nagarjuna Pada’s way of teaching the five stages of the completion path.

Some say that passages from the dohas such as, As Brahmins spin the sacred thread the yogi puts his consciousness at ease. This very mind that’s bound by worldly cares when loosed will be free. No doubt. There are some who say that passages as the one I just read and the fresh uncontrived mind is best. And from Maitripa ten stanzas on reality non investigation is the mind of the supreme guru.

There are those who say that these statements are written for the purpose of explaining that if from the beginning you settle without analysis and block mentation then you will be free. This and similar mistakes regarding the seven attainment texts and the essential trilogy occur. Even if they are true, then they are not in accordance with the omniscient Jay statement In the Illuminating Lamp and elsewhere. But the sayings of the dohas and so forth are to be practiced on the high mantra path. Let us explain the meaning and examples of the treasury of the dohas just a little. Saraha says whoever enters emptiness bereft of compassion will not reach the supreme path. Whoever’s able to conjoin the two will not abide in samsara and you will not abide in nirvana. Thus it is necessary to join the subjective awareness of compassion which is conate great bliss.

If you have realization then all things are that. If you really understand it then that was it. No one knows anything other than that. Reading is that. What’s the point of reading, to get to this point, apprehension, meditation are also that. It’s all about this. Holding the treatises in one’s heart is also that. There is no view not indicated by that, but it depends on the words of the guru alone.

When the gurus words are taken to heart the primordial nature goes unnoticed by the fool. The fool is deceived by confusion. So says Saraha.

This says that whenever yogis directly experience and realize the primordial mind then all phenomena are [seen] as emanations of that primordial nature. No person knows anything that is not an expression of that primordial nature. But that direct realization of the primordial mind is also a direct realization of the essence of reading the whole point, the essence of reading, apprehension, meditation and it is also the purpose of bearing the treatises in mind.

There is no other view superior to the view indicated by that essence. This is the Mahamudra, this is the Dzogchen, the great perfection. However, the direct experience of that essence is by the power of meditation that depends on instruction from the mouth of the holy guru who is part of an uninterrupted lineage of holy beings beginning from Vajradhara, primordial Buddha. When the words of the guru who has such instructions and experience enters one heart, if one settles upon and meditates in single pointed equipoise on the essence emptiness then one will directly see the meaning of emptiness as if it were a treasure in the palm of one’s hand. Not directly seeing the primordial nature fools are deceived by the confusion of clinging to true existence. So says the archer Saraha.

Discussion

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