Dzogchen Retreat 2015 - Realising our true nature (part 16)

0:21 So I'd like for us to have this time two silent sessions. And what I would suggest for the first one is that you focus on shamatha. And when it comes to shamatha, I often use the word contemplative technology. It's really simply trying to prepare to refine the mind, but it's not specifically aimed at some particular insight. It's not really aimed at realizing substrate consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 0:21 Highlight the passage at 0:21

0:45 It really is about preparing the mind, refining the mind, bringing about these qualities of ease, stillness, clarity, and so on. So when it comes to shamatha, the criterion by which to appraise how your practice is going, are you doing well, it's entirely pragmatic. Report an error in the passage at 0:45 Highlight the passage at 0:45

1:02 It's not worthwhile to think, well, am I following a Hinayana practice, or is this a Mahāyāna, or is it a Golopa practice, or is this a Vajrayana practice? All of it is kind of neither here nor there. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't matter what you call it. And if it does work, then it doesn't matter what you call it either. It's really finding what works. Report an error in the passage at 1:02 Highlight the passage at 1:02

1:19 It's a simple thing. It's like medicine. It either heals or it doesn't heal. If it doesn't heal, then it doesn't matter whether it costs a thousand dollars a pill. It still doesn't work. And so take a purely pragmatic approach, and I mean in every way. We know the classic instructions, seven-point postural vadochana. Excellent, if that works for you. But if it doesn't, then find another posture. Report an error in the passage at 1:19 Highlight the passage at 1:19

1:39 So it goes for posture, it goes for method as well. So mindfulness of breathing, the classic, you know, like Theravāda approach focusing here. If that is what works best for you, bringing about the very transparent, how do you say, point of the practice, and you know what it is, I mean, really, right there, the stillness, the clarity, rooted in relaxation, then go for that. Report an error in the passage at 1:39 Highlight the passage at 1:39

2:01 So what I'd like to suggest for the first one is to focus on this cultivation of shamatha, preparing mind. Preparing the mind and adopting whatever posture and method you find most effective. You might consider trying just to experiment, see for yourself. Roughly the first half, applying yourself to the mindfulness of breathing with a primary emphasis on really establishing your foundation in ease and that stillness, that inner composure. Report an error in the passage at 2:01 Highlight the passage at 2:01

2:28 Mindful breathing is really good for that. And then for the latter half, if you like to do the combination plate, then in the latter half, then move into the shamatha, focused on the mind. And that just naturally is a bit more challenging, it's subtler, and therefore it naturally arouses or makes it, yeah, it really gives you a really good opportunity to enhance the vividness, the acuity, clarity, sharpness of your attention. Report an error in the passage at 2:28 Highlight the passage at 2:28

2:52 So if you're first, for the first 12 minutes, short, have you really cultivated the ground of relaxation and the stillness, then during the latter half, then you can go into observing the thoughts, which do get subtler and subtler. Other kind of movements of the mind, even the space of the mind is something to attend to. So that would be for the first. So guide yourself. And for the second, maybe give you a little bit of instruction because you haven't had much, but then we'll go into Vipassanā. Report an error in the passage at 2:52 Highlight the passage at 2:52

3:20 And Vipassanā is not simply technology. It's not simply trying to cultivate this quality or that quality of the mind. It really is aimed at making discovery. If it's not discovery, it's not Vipassanā. And so discovering what? We're really discovering what is the mode of existence, the mode of existence of mind. We're not asking, just like the Buddha isn't asking, do you exist or not? Report an error in the passage at 3:20 Highlight the passage at 3:20

3:46 It's kind of a silly question. It's no less silly than asking whether chariots exist. People do things. And the Buddha often used the word I, take no external refuge, take refuge within yourself. He used these terms. He didn't say take refuge in bhagabani. Or the truth fairy. He wouldn't take refuge in something that doesn't exist at all. And so he does use that first person pronoun clearly in a meaningful way. Report an error in the passage at 3:46 Highlight the passage at 3:46

4:16 So the question isn't whether we exist or whether the mind exists, but how does it exist? And that's what Vipassanā is for. So there are truths to be known here. The mode of existence of the mind fundamentally right at its core. How does the mind exist? In what fashion? Does it inherently exist? Does it possibly not exist at all? Or is it something else? So it is after truth. Report an error in the passage at 4:16 Highlight the passage at 4:16

4:40 It's after discovery. But it's not simply discovery like, for example, a nice discovery, discovering that Jupiter has moons. That was an interesting discovery. I don't think it liberated anybody. We haven't made any colonies there. It's interesting. But it wasn't one of those truths that make you free. Report an error in the passage at 4:40 Highlight the passage at 4:40

4:59 Or purify your mind or subdue your mental afflictions. It's kind of like, that's cool. The kind of truth we're aiming at here within this very, very short life, this life of leisure and opportunity, we're being very, very selective. And we're really aiming for the truths that do in fact make us free. It's just that simple. And to know how your mind exists, the mode of existence of your own mind, and to see that it's not what you thought. Report an error in the passage at 4:59 Highlight the passage at 4:59

5:28 That is this reification of the mind, this twofold reification of the mind and the grasping onto the mind as mine. Those two things. Report an error in the passage at 5:28 Highlight the passage at 5:28

5:38 Shamatha loosens up the grasping onto the mind as mine. Helps, just like no longer grasping to the cell phone as mine, as anything other than purely nominal, which then doesn't hurt. Just a word, a way of phrasing. And so the shamatha really loosens the grip. Not irreversibly, but it really does do that. It loosens the grip of grasping and, frankly, altogether, just generally, shamatha loosens the tentacles, the tendrils of grasping. Report an error in the passage at 5:38 Highlight the passage at 5:38

6:09 The more one taps into, this is purely pragmatic, and it is an observation based on experience, the more you start really drinking from the well of the shamatha. What that means, drinking from the well of your own awareness. You know, tapping into these beams of light, of luminosity, of sense of well-being, of bliss, of serenity, of non-conceptuality, kind of these light beams flowing right out of your own source. Report an error in the passage at 6:09 Highlight the passage at 6:09

6:31 The more you experience that, you taste that. Not getting there by logical argumentation or simply faith or allegiance to some authority. You're just tasting it. The more you taste that and see this is really yours, this is not something you acquired, it's already there, it's on tap, you just need to keep on going deeper and discover it more deeply, then the attachment to everything else naturally diminishes. Report an error in the passage at 6:31 Highlight the passage at 6:31

7:00 If you have a beat-up VW Bug and a beat-up Toyota and somebody gives you a brand new, let's say Mercedes, then you'll be probably much less attached to the beat-up VW Bug and the Toyota. You have a much nicer drive, wouldn't that be just natural? Now you'll probably be attached to Mercedes now, and then you have to get over that. So there it is. The shamatha really loosens the tentacles of grasping, clinging to all kinds of things that we think will make us happy, or we think are making us unhappy. Report an error in the passage at 7:00 Highlight the passage at 7:00

7:29 So it loosens up that grasping onto mind, but it's that razor sharp edge of vipassanā that cuts through the deeply ingrained conate, that is we're born with it, conate tendency of reification. Report an error in the passage at 7:29 Highlight the passage at 7:29

7:43 And that really opens the way for freedom. I'll give one more analogy because that's just a powerful one. In a dream, in a non-lucid dream, an ordinary dream, especially a very vivid one, really feels lifelike. Yeah, we've all had those, yeah? Well, you know anything can make you suffer. A mosquito in the dream can make you suffer, right? Somebody flipping you the bird, I don't know what you call it in Australia, but you know, giving you an obscene gesture in a dream. Report an error in the passage at 7:43 Highlight the passage at 7:43

8:11 You can get very upset. That's rude. Blah, blah, blah, blah. A finger gesture in a dream can make you unhappy, right? That's kind of silly, but you can suffer from anything. And why? Well, the bottom line is you're reifying everything. You're taking everything seriously, grasping onto everything inherently real. So, you know, somebody just... Report an error in the passage at 8:11 Highlight the passage at 8:11

8:33 I'm trying to figure out that photo. Is he... He really is sticking out his tongue, isn't it? Is he sticking out his tongue? That's what I thought. Yeah. You know, in the gun. Report an error in the passage at 8:33 Highlight the passage at 8:33

8:41 I haven't seen that one before. I'm not going to stick my tongue out back, just being a bit playful himself, yeah? Yeah, I thought so. Okay, I just want to make sure. Why did that come up? Report an error in the passage at 8:41 Highlight the passage at 8:41

9:01 So, I mean, some people might be upset at that. Oh, cool. You know, I wonder if he was imitating Albert Einstein in his famous photo. You remember that? Crazy hair. Report an error in the passage at 9:01 Highlight the passage at 9:01

9:15 Very famous photo. In any case, it's very charming. So, back to this one really easily, though. A mosquito, a finger gesture, somebody going, hmm, like that. It could really piss you off in a dream, right? Because you reify it. You think there's something behind it that's insulting, that's degrading, that's diminishing, demeaning and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 9:15 Highlight the passage at 9:15

9:34 It kind of pisses you off, right? And, of course, it's your own dream. It's like looking into your reflection in a pond and going like, And then getting upset when he did. How dare you? I mean, it's really crazy, but that's exactly what's happening in a dream, because what else is that except for a reflection of your own mind, right? Report an error in the passage at 9:34 Highlight the passage at 9:34

9:56 And so something so simple as a tongue coming out in somebody else doing it to you could upset you in a dream. Whereas if you, within the dream, now this is important, within the dream, if you start really probing in, you start getting curious. Report an error in the passage at 9:56 Highlight the passage at 9:56

10:16 Inquisitive, within your non-lucid dream, and you start investigating, and you're seeing the oddnesses. You're not lucid, but you're seeing some oddnesses here in the dream. There are a lot of anomalies in dreams, right? Quite a few. And you start investigating those. You may, in the midst of that non-lucid dream, it may start to dawn on you. Report an error in the passage at 10:16 Highlight the passage at 10:16

10:36 Nothing's really there from its own side. There are a lot of indicators of that in a dream, right? And also you may start to recognize there's nothing really over here from your own side. And as that begins to dawn on you more and more deeply, then already you're going to start suffering less. Report an error in the passage at 10:36 Highlight the passage at 10:36

11:00 If there's no real, I mean, it's like, you know, like gazing at a reflection in a pool and then reckon, oh. That was silly. Or, give this one example also, going into a canyon and shouting some obscenity, like, you know, phooey on you. How about that one? Phooey on you! And then, phooey on you! And they're getting really upset. Who do you think you're talking to? So, you know, when you see that it's just an echo, then the suffering goes way down. Report an error in the passage at 11:00 Highlight the passage at 11:00

11:31 And then in the midst of that... A non-lucid dream where you're really starting to sense, this is just all conceptually designated. These are appearances, but the appearances are totally empty. There's nothing behind them. It's just an appearance. That already starts to really dampen the degree of vulnerability that you experience while in the dream. Report an error in the passage at 11:31 Highlight the passage at 11:31

11:51 You're not lucid yet, but boy, you're close, right? And also, if you're seeing that nothing there is inherently existent, then the craving for, oh, she's going to make me happy, he makes me unhappy, I hope I get that, I hope that doesn't happen, that's starting to really taper off because it's empty, it's empty. Report an error in the passage at 11:51 Highlight the passage at 11:51

12:08 You know, nothing out there is really a source of misery and nothing out there, out there in the dream, is really a source of your pleasure, happiness, fulfillment. When you see that, then suffering goes down, a craving and hostility goes down, and then... As happened to one of my students in Mexico. He was Mexican, he came to a retreat in Phuket. He was in his non-lucid dream and been practicing a lot. Report an error in the passage at 12:08 Highlight the passage at 12:08

12:33 And then in his non-lucid dream, somebody, he didn't say who, somebody showed up in his dream and said, you know this is a dream? And he became lucid. That was his pointing out instruction. You know this is a dream? And then he was lucid. And then when you cross that threshold, you see it's not the same. Report an error in the passage at 12:33 Highlight the passage at 12:33

12:52 You could, within a non-lucid dream, realize the non-inherent nature, really kind of get it, that these appearances are just empty appearances, without quite shifting the axis to viewing the dream from the perspective of being awake, which is what a lucid dream is. You're very close, but you're not quite there yet. But it really primes you, so much so that something so light as, do you know this is a dream? Report an error in the passage at 12:52 Highlight the passage at 12:52

13:16 And then kind of like, yeah, but it's not an intellectual conclusion. It's kind of like, and suddenly you're viewing everything from a different perspective. When you view it, the dream, from the perspective of being awake, then you know all the more vividly, probingly, deeply, that since this is a dream, now you really know it, right? Report an error in the passage at 13:16 Highlight the passage at 13:16

13:40 You become lucid. Since this is a dream, therefore nothing here can possibly be existing by its own side. Why? Because it's a dream, right? So you could have that insight into emptiness but not be lucid yet. But if you're lucid, by the very sheer fact that you're lucid, that you know this is a dream, then that immediately, necessarily implies, well, nothing can be read out there, it's a dream. Report an error in the passage at 13:40 Highlight the passage at 13:40

14:03 And whoever I think I am in the dream, this also is just an apparition, a purely empty apparition. Why? Because it's a dream. So there's the sequence there. It's a very short path, not complicated. It's shamatha. Vipassanā, soften everything up. Soften everything up with a Vipassanā so you're not so tenaciously reifying everything. Even if you don't have full realization, soften it up a bit. Report an error in the passage at 14:03 Highlight the passage at 14:03

14:31 Soften it up. And then get the pointing out instructions. Pointing out instructions to your own pristine awareness. And that's exactly like the person saying, do you know this is a dream? It's just a pointing out instruction that suddenly the whole perspective shifts. Report an error in the passage at 14:31 Highlight the passage at 14:31

14:50 That's a strategy. It's a real simple strategy. One, two, three. Ta-da! Okay. So, first session, silent. Shamatha. Find whatever is helpful. Second session, I'll give a little bit of guidance, but hopefully not to overwhelm you. I don't want to just bog you down in my own verbiage. So please find a comfortable posture and we will begin. Report an error in the passage at 14:50 Highlight the passage at 14:50

· · · silence, 28 minutes

43:28 Having settled your body, speech and mind in the natural state, then let your eyes be at least partially open, your gaze vacant, resting in the space in front of you. Report an error in the passage at 43:28 Highlight the passage at 43:28

43:39 Do not anchor. Don't focus on any visual object and do not even focus on space. Simply rest your gaze vacantly in the space in front of you and direct your mental awareness to the space of the mind, to whatever thoughts and images arise there. So Report an error in the passage at 43:39 Highlight the passage at 43:39

· · · silence, 1 minute

45:07 the first challenge is to relax so deeply, to let your awareness be so loose that the tentacles of identification, identification with, are withdrawn. Report an error in the passage at 45:07 Highlight the passage at 45:07

45:23 Simply observing the thoughts, images and whatever else arises within the space of the mind, but without grasping to them as mind, simply seeing them for what they are, there's the first step. Report an error in the passage at 45:23 Highlight the passage at 45:23

45:38 You rest in stillness and let the mind move, as it will, without interference, without control. Report an error in the passage at 45:38 Highlight the passage at 45:38

· · · silence, 1 minute

46:48 Simply directing your attention to the space of the mind and simply observing whatever arises there is a shamatha practice. It's not vipassanā. Report an error in the passage at 46:48 Highlight the passage at 46:48

46:59 But then we step across the threshold from retreat to expedition by introducing an element of inquiry, a question. Report an error in the passage at 46:59 Highlight the passage at 46:59

47:17 For whatever you observe or note arising within the space of the mind, examine closely now. Where does it come from? Report an error in the passage at 47:17 Highlight the passage at 47:17

47:31 Did something turn into it, like a seed turning into a sprout? And Report an error in the passage at 47:31 Highlight the passage at 47:31

47:41 if so, what is that in Report an error in the passage at 47:41 Highlight the passage at 47:41

47:46 the thought, the image or whatever else arises within the mind? Report an error in the passage at 47:46 Highlight the passage at 47:46

· · · silence, 2 minutes

49:27 Or as you seek out the origins of thoughts, do they come from nothing? But how can nothing transform into something? Examine closely the origins from which thoughts arise. Once Report an error in the passage at 49:27 Highlight the passage at 49:27

· · · silence, 1 minute

50:55 thoughts have arisen, then examine exactly where are they? Are they inside your head, outside, in front of you, above you? Report an error in the passage at 50:55 Highlight the passage at 50:55

51:06 And in terms of all of those possibilities, this all implies that you know where you are, where is the observer. That too may be called the mind, that which observes thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 51:06 Highlight the passage at 51:06

51:18 So where are any of these located? Examine closely. Report an error in the passage at 51:18 Highlight the passage at 51:18

· · · silence, 2 minutes

53:12 Begin seeing for yourself, the stronger your shamatha, the more incisive your vipassanā. Keep coming back to that stillness of awareness. Still, clear, cognizant. Hold your own ground in the luminosity and cognizance of your awareness. And Report an error in the passage at 53:12 Highlight the passage at 53:12

53:35 from that stable vantage point, like a well-mounted telescope, then examine closely the events arising in the space of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 53:35 Highlight the passage at 53:35

53:49 Examining where are they nearby? Are they close? Are they far? And Report an error in the passage at 53:49 Highlight the passage at 53:49

· · · silence, 6 minutes

59:47 finally, when thoughts do depart, images fade away. Examine closely, not just intellectually, but observe closely. Where do they go? Do they go someplace else? Do they just fade out? Do they get smaller and smaller, disappear into a spot and vanish? Report an error in the passage at 59:47 Highlight the passage at 59:47

1:00:11 How do they go and where do they go? Examine closely. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:11 Highlight the passage at 1:00:11

· · · silence, 8 minutes

1:08:11 Let's return to the text. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:11 Highlight the passage at 1:08:11

1:08:20 Meditation is just that. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:20 Highlight the passage at 1:08:20

1:08:28 This follows what we just did, investigating the origin from which this mind arose. And bear in mind the term mind can be imputed upon thoughts, memories. It can be imputed upon that which is observing. We say we observe thoughts with our minds. So anything there is within that domain. Including the very space of the mind when we say thoughts occur in the mind. We just look for the way we use the word mind in English and all of these suitable, sensible ways in which we use the word. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:28 Highlight the passage at 1:08:28

1:09:02 Thoughts occur in the mind. I'm observing this with my mind and so forth. All of those then are valid. And then we're looking for the referent of this word that we're familiar with according to our usage. And then we ask, okay, where does it come from? Where is it? And where does it go? So that was the meditation. And he said, meditation is just that. That's the really quintessential core of Vipassanā on the nature of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:02 Highlight the passage at 1:09:02

1:09:28 And it really is fundamental to both the Mahamudra and the Dzogchen traditions. And the point there, the reason why it's so strongly emphasized is that, number one, these two traditions are all about fathoming the nature of the mind, the nature of awareness, going right down to the very ground awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:28 Highlight the passage at 1:09:28

1:09:46 The innate mind of clear light, that the one, how do you say, project, the one purpose, overriding purpose of these whole traditions, so that would be a good enough reason, but also this one, and that is that if you fathom the empty nature of the mind, when you see the mind itself is simply designated, and it sounds strange, because what would be designating the mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:46 Highlight the passage at 1:09:46

1:10:14 What designates the mind? Randa can put you on the spot again. What designates the mind? Your mind. Yeah, exactly. I mean, your mind isn't designated because I'm doing it. So your mind is being designated by your mind, which is kind of odd. But then there's nothing paradoxical, there's nothing illogical about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:14 Highlight the passage at 1:10:14

1:10:36 Because it's said all the way through that something may be empty of inherent nature, but that doesn't mean it's not there at all, and it doesn't mean it has no causal efficacy. Dreams, events in a dream, somebody saying hi or smiling at you or sticking their tongue out at you in a dream, they're not there, and yet that has causal efficacy. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:36 Highlight the passage at 1:10:36

1:10:55 Or my favorite one is just looking into a reflection, like a reflection in a pond of water, and there are those images. Way down below, I've talked about this many times in the past, the images of, let's say, the trees on the far side of the pond, maybe they're 50 feet away and you're looking down into the pond and there, way down beneath the surface of the pond, are the reflections of the trees, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:55 Highlight the passage at 1:10:55

1:11:20 And your camera lens will tell you exactly where they are, let's say 60 feet away or whatever, they're right down there and you can photograph them. The image that's way down there, you can photograph it and you can crank your lens so it's at 60 feet, then they come in focus. It's still weird. I've said this many, many times, but it's still weird. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:20 Highlight the passage at 1:11:20

1:11:40 That's where the images are. The camera lens, your lens here in your eyeballs will tell you that's where they're in focus, that's where the image is, and moreover you can look at it and say, oh how beautiful, what a beautiful image, what a beautiful reflection. It gives rise to a response and so forth. You can even photograph it, it must be there, and of course it's not there. There's nothing down there, there's no image down there. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:40 Highlight the passage at 1:11:40

1:12:02 If there is, then go down and pick it up with some tweezers, you know, whatever. And the same goes for rainbows. There they are, causal efficacy. If it's definitely there, they come right into focus. If it's really there, you should be able to go up and look at it really close. Or from the side. I've never seen a rainbow from the side. Or from the back side. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:02 Highlight the passage at 1:12:02

1:12:20 If it's there, all those colors should be able to view it for any perspective. But of course that's not true. So that theme, it keeps on coming up again and again. The Buddha gave ten analogies in this regard. It's not there. It's not actually there from its own side. And yet, it is there, relatively, and it does have causal efficacy. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:20 Highlight the passage at 1:12:20

1:12:40 The mind itself is not there from its own side, by its own inherent nature. But that doesn't mean it's not there at all, and it doesn't mean it doesn't do anything. The mind designates itself. Why not? There's no problem there. And so to fathom that, if you fathom that this all-creating sovereign, that's the term, all-creating monarch, that which is the foundation, as we'll read very shortly, that which is the foundation, the creator of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, this all-powerful phenomenon, If the mind, which does all kinds of stuff, isn't even there by its own nature, inherently existent, then what are the implications for all of the objects of the mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:40 Highlight the passage at 1:12:40

1:13:24 If the mind that reveals and knows all of them is not inherently existent, what are the chances that the objects that are apprehended by the mind, including the objects apprehended by the minds of astronomers and geologists and botanists and artists and musicians, what's the chance that the object they're attending to, that they exist inherently? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:24 Highlight the passage at 1:13:24

1:13:43 So the point there is that if you truly fathom this, the emptiness of your own mind, and then you turn your awareness outwards, then the emptiness of all other phenomena, it just starts falling in place like dominoes. It just flows and flows. And then you realize the emptiness of all phenomena. And then you're very close to becoming lucid. So now we continue. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:43 Highlight the passage at 1:13:43

1:14:06 But meditation is just that. It gives the quintessential... Very, very widely practiced. Vipassanā on the nature of the mind. And so, who was this? It was a Yogan claiming to be the Orgyan Lakeborn Vatra. And again, this is simply one of the eight manifestations of Padmas and Bhava. So an archetypal form. But when we say that, it's very easy to go all psychological. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:06 Highlight the passage at 1:14:06

1:14:29 You know, okay, this is just an artifact. It's just an archetype. It's, you know, personification. That's all very well. I mean, it's true. But it's kind of the same point. Because we kind of get it. Well, it's not really there, right? No, it's not. That Padmasambhava is not really there. It's a dream, it's an apparition, it's a vision, what have you. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:29 Highlight the passage at 1:14:29

1:14:50 At the same time, Padmasambhava is giving him instruction that he didn't know. And it turns out to be extremely effective because he achieved enlightenment himself. And so even though Padmasambhava is not really there, even though that Padmasambhava is not other than your own pristine awareness, Nevertheless, you are receiving instruction, and when you put it into practice, it can bear very good fruit. So it's quite interesting. So in this way, it's, I think, rather important, there's a balance here, that we're not going to a simple kind of religious devotion of reifying God or Buddha or bodhisattvas and so forth, the old-fashioned way. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:50 Highlight the passage at 1:14:50

1:15:27 I mean, many religious people do that. And there's nothing wrong with that, except for it is delusional in the sense of reifying. And for Tibetans as well, it's not just Christians or Muslims or somebody else. Most Tibetans haven't studied Madhyamaka, the vast majority of them. And yet many of them have profound devotion, very deep devotion, deep faith and yet tremendous benefit. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:27 Highlight the passage at 1:15:27

1:15:54 Kandola herself, she'd hardly studied at all. Hardly studied. She commented a couple of times, this amazing Tibetan medium, but above all, she's a self-emergent yogini. When I heard her say this, I was just stunned. She said when she was growing up, she was a young woman by the time she left Tibet. And all the time she was in Tibet, she didn't even know that Tibet had ever been invaded by the Chinese. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:54 Highlight the passage at 1:15:54

1:16:19 She was living out in the boonies, out back, and she might have seen a Chinese soldier, hi, whatever. And so it was only afterwards, I think, when she got to Halasa, they said, oh, actually we've been occupied here, there's been a genocide here, there's been, you know, like so forth. But so she's not coming in with great intellectual sophistication of erudition. I mean, certainly absolutely do not want to imply that she's unintelligent, because she clearly is. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:19 Highlight the passage at 1:16:19

1:16:50 But in terms of our standard kind of scholarly erudition, well, she doesn't have that, or at least she didn't. And yet the purity of her view. And by her own admission, because I heard it myself, I heard she gave in my presence, I was translating for her, one hour of pith instructions that just flowed like a fountain. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:50 Highlight the passage at 1:16:50

1:17:08 And by the time I listened to her for one hour, I took refuge with her. There's no choice, you know. I'd never heard anything like that before. And so this wisdom can simply spontaneously arise in that fashion. In which case the view is coming from inside rather than learning from very erudite masters and taking the view in from outside. So this Report an error in the passage at 1:17:08 Highlight the passage at 1:17:08

1:17:35 approach here, this is for people, you don't have to be highly intelligent. Frankly, to read and understand Tsongkhapa, I think you have to be very bright because he's a subtle thinker. And Sakya Pandita and Chantakirti and so forth, I don't think if you're kind of dull-witted, I don't think you can make much traction there. I don't think so. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:35 Highlight the passage at 1:17:35

1:17:55 It's really subtle. It's very powerful. And if you can rise to that challenge, very powerful. It's proven that to be the case. This approach here, it's not for stupid people. But you don't have to be philosophically astute, really refined thinker and so forth. You certainly don't need to be erudite. But you need to do the hard work of shamatha. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:55 Highlight the passage at 1:17:55

1:18:18 That you need. And if you've done that, and then you go into this simple probe, origins, location, destination, that can be enough. That could be enough. And it's been said for centuries by Mahamudra and Dzogchen masters. But then I found it very interesting reading this essay by an outstanding Galupa author. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:18 Highlight the passage at 1:18:18

1:18:38 I think he just must have been Galupa. That's why the whole tenor of his writing. He said, yeah, this is sufficient. This is sufficient if you've achieved shamatha. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:38 Highlight the passage at 1:18:38

1:18:48 So there we go. Then on another night in a dream, so then he seemed to dissolve into me, this Padmasambhava. But bear in mind, this was a truly personal relationship. Again, it's important not to over-psychologize this, thinking this was an archetype as just an abstraction and, you know, kind of go overboard on empty of inherent nature. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:48 Highlight the passage at 1:18:48

1:19:10 Whereas if you have children, so are your children empty of inherent nature. That doesn't mean they're just symbols or, you know, just ciphers. And so this was a very personal relationship between Padmas and Baba, the Lakeborn Vajra and the Jumlingba. At the same time, was that Padmasambhava appearing to him? Was he really there, inherently there? No. No. So then he seemed to dissolve into me. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:10 Highlight the passage at 1:19:10

1:19:32 That'd be a good place to dissolve. On another night in a dream, a red yogin, a yogin claiming to be Origen's speech vajra, the manifestation of the speech of Padmasambhava. And by the way, that's none other than Origen Lakeborn vajra. And just by the way, for those interested, Atisha is said to be speech emanation of Padmasambhava. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:32 Highlight the passage at 1:19:32

1:19:54 The Penchen Lamas, speech emanation of Padmasambhava. Big lineage there. And so on another night in a dream, a red yogin, claiming to be Origen's speech vajra, emanation of the speech of Padmasambhava said, Son, focus your mind firmly on me. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:54 Highlight the passage at 1:19:54

1:20:12 So he's offering himself as a shamatha object. Son, focus your mind firmly on me, forcefully cut off all thoughts. As a result of doing this, thoughts flowed forth unimpededly. So I told him my mind wasn't capable. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:12 Highlight the passage at 1:20:12

1:20:29 That's so interesting. The Guru set him up for failure. That's what he did, right? He said, do this. And he said, forcefully. Give it your full shot. His Holiness the Dalai Lama did exactly the same thing to me in 1980 when I was practicing Shama under his guidance. And he gave me a practice. I thought I was kind of progressing well for the first couple of weeks, so he kind of bumped it up a notch. He bumped it up to make it more challenging. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:29 Highlight the passage at 1:20:29

1:21:00 It was a visualization. And he said, okay, try this. I said, okay. I mean, he's the Dalai Lama. I'm going to do exactly what he says. I tried it and I just burned my brains out. I just couldn't do it. I tried for two or three weeks and I really tried. Because I'd love to, you know, like to follow what he said. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:00 Highlight the passage at 1:21:00

1:21:20 What else would you want to do? I just, just like, burned myself out. Couldn't do it. I tried every which way. Couldn't do it. And so just total failure and getting so frustrated. So I can't do it. I can't do it. I don't know how to do it. I can't do it. I can't do it. He was giving me a visualization down in my navel chakra and said, bring your wings down there. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:20 Highlight the passage at 1:21:20

1:21:44 So I'm going, I was trying to think of a great big navel chakra, you know, like, okay, I got a great big belly and I'm inside the belly or like I'm going to go down trying to squeeze myself, squeezing toothpaste back into the tube, you know, I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it because I just felt I'm up here and I'm not down there. Hello, Naval. No, I can't do it. I tried for two weeks, three weeks, just trying so hard. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:44 Highlight the passage at 1:21:44

1:22:13 I came back to him and said, you're holding me. I couldn't do it. He said, oh, okay, then don't do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:13 Highlight the passage at 1:22:13

1:22:23 Oh, Abha Loka Desvada changed his mind. Amazing. Well, Abha Loka Desvada gives you sometimes things you can't do. So you learn from that. And that's what Padmasambhava did to do Jumlingva. How about that? He said, forcefully do this, and forcefully cut off thoughts. What happens? Thoughts just gushed for. Total failure. So if you ever feel you're a failure in meditation, you just say, you know, do drum ring by me. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:23 Highlight the passage at 1:22:23

1:22:49 We're kind of both failures. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:49 Highlight the passage at 1:22:49

1:22:53 So I wasn't capable. But then Padmasambhava, this organ speech vajra, asked him, but he told him, I couldn't do it. He said, are you aware of their outflow? When these thoughts are flowing forth unimpededly, this is a gusher. Are you aware of their outflow? He asked. I am, I replied. Well, such thoughts are called movement, and that which understands them is called awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:53 Highlight the passage at 1:22:53

1:23:19 And remaining in that understanding is called stillness. Never be separated from these three. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:19 Highlight the passage at 1:23:19

1:23:33 So do you have that phrase in Australia? I mean, you've probably seen so much American TV, you've got all of our stuff. But if you can't beat them, join them. You have that one? Yeah, we all do, don't we? So if you can't beat the thoughts, if you can't just get them to shut up, turn them off. You know, forcefully bear down if you can't beat them. And that is just let them flow and see, huh, okay, now the thoughts are flowing. Thoughts are flowing. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:33 Highlight the passage at 1:23:33

1:23:58 Okay, then that'll be my object. My mind is just gushing all over the place. That's motion. But I'm not going to be swept away by the gush and washed downstream. I'm going to stay here like a boulder in the midst of the stream. And I'm observing that movement. I'm aware of that movement. And my awareness of that movement is going to be still. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:58 Highlight the passage at 1:23:58

1:24:20 Okay, that's enough. You don't have to get the mind to calm down. Let your awareness calm down. Never be separated from these three. So he brought him right back to Samatha. It's interesting, once again, and this happens repeatedly, he brings him into Vipassanā. The Lake Van Vajra brought him into Vipassanā, this core incisive Vipassanā into the emptiness of origins, emptiness of location, emptiness of destination, of thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:20 Highlight the passage at 1:24:20

1:24:49 Kind of softens it up with the Vipassanā and then comes right back to Samatha, he's done it like two or three times now, keeps on coming back to Samatha, right? So never be separated from these three. This is your baseline. Samatha is the basis for Vipassanā. With these words he poured ambrosia from a skull cup and said, with this secret empowerment, your speech has matured into the speech, Vajra, and then he seemed to dissolve into me. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:49 Highlight the passage at 1:24:49

1:25:18 So he received the Vasa empowerment pertaining to the body, pertaining to Numanakaya. And bear in mind, this is no visualization. This is just straight Samatha Vipassanā and he's getting the empowerment. So the first one, the body empowerment, the Vasa empowerment, corresponding to Numanakaya, now he receives by this Samatha instruction from Padmasambhava. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:18 Highlight the passage at 1:25:18

1:25:40 He receives the secret empowerment relating to the speech Vajra. The speech of a Buddha, and that of course relates to Sambhogakaya, and then he seemed to dissolve into me. So it's interesting to watch the flow here. He softened things up with Vipassanā, and then he's brought right back to the Samatha practice of taking appearances and awareness as the path, called by all these names, the ones we've been doing. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:40 Highlight the passage at 1:25:40

1:26:10 He's given that, and then after three years had passed. So he really had some time to practice it. Three years passed and he said never be separated. So presumably for three years he's doing this and really following exactly the instructions, never being separated. So on the cushion, off the cushion, on the cushion, off the cushion, just trying to maintain that ongoing flow, not impeding, not blocking, not trying to alter or fix or modify the flow of thoughts and so forth, but sustaining as continuously as possible that stillness. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:10 Highlight the passage at 1:26:10

1:26:47 Which is clear, alert, aware of the movements of the mind. He did it for three years. So good, so time had really passed. Three years, once you have a contemplative observatory up here, down here, wherever you are, Australia, wherever it's located, three years would be a reasonable period. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:47 Highlight the passage at 1:26:47

1:27:10 Once a conducive environment is set up, and you have cabins that are really suitable for this type of true research. Everything's set up. You have the food, you don't have to worry about it. Everything's set up. And you have access to a teacher, one or more. Then three years, that would be reasonable. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:10 Highlight the passage at 1:27:10

1:27:30 And then what you would do there, of course, you don't just be kind of a shamatha zombie. Just take one method and say, okay, now it's all shamatha, shamatha, shamatha. That'd be a mistake. At the same time, the other, it's not an extreme, but it's simply then not a shamatha retreat. And I know a number of people doing this. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:30 Highlight the passage at 1:27:30

1:27:47 They'll be doing, you know, four hours of shamatha and they'll be doing some of this and listening to Dharma talks and going out once in a while to hear more Dharma talks and then coming back and doing prostrations and doing some vajrasattva and doing this. And that's all good. That's all good. But you probably won't achieve shamatha that way. So what Gyanalam Rinpoche, this real yogi yogi, what he told these 12 people, 20, what was that now? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:47 Highlight the passage at 1:27:47

1:28:09 27? 27 years ago? Yeah, 27 years ago? 1988? What he told them when everybody knew, they'd come to this quite conducive retreat center. We took it over for a year. Actually, they built it for us. He told them, okay, you've come for a shamat retreat. And it was very reasonable. It cost them $5,000 for the whole year. Again, Lama Rinpoche's salary was $250 a month. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:09 Highlight the passage at 1:28:09

1:28:38 And so everything was really very reasonable, very accessible. And what Gyan Lam Rimba told these people, all of them sincere, well prepared, was, alright, if you come for a shamatha practice, a shamatha retreat, with the idea, go as far along the path as you can in one year, which is what everybody came, with their motivation. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:38 Highlight the passage at 1:28:38

1:28:58 He said, okay, for this year, here's what you should do. He gave them one week of instruction on shamatha, which is his book, Call Me in the Mind. And he said, during this year, let this be your primary practice. And all of the commitments you have, because these are Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, all of the commitments, of course you keep them, but you do them at a minimal level. Minimal level. Don't do the elaborate ones. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:58 Highlight the passage at 1:28:58

1:29:20 Keep it all minimal. So that you must keep, but do the minimum amount that is still fine, covers your commitment. But now in terms of the rest of the day, really focus on shamatha and anything you add. Whether it's lojong, whether it's guru yoga, whether it's bodhicitta, whatever it may be, four thoughts that turn the mind, whatever practices you add to this, let it all be to support your shamatha. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:20 Highlight the passage at 1:29:20

1:29:46 And don't do anything more than that. And as much as you can just do the shamatha and it's inspired, it's juicy, it's really moving, then just focus on that. But anything that helps you with that, then go ahead and augment that way. So I think that was really sage advice from a person who had already spent about 25 years. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:46 Highlight the passage at 1:29:46

1:30:03 In solitary, full-time practice. So finding the conducive environment, finding the conducive land, that's the first step, and on the conducive land, then creating the conducive cabins. And for long-term retreats, you really want individual cabins. Even if it's a couple. It's really great if a couple are going to retreat. But they should have their own cabins, separately, individually. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:03 Highlight the passage at 1:30:03

1:30:27 So my very, very strong conviction in this regard, you can see how important it is. You just spent three years doing it. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:27 Highlight the passage at 1:30:27

1:30:36 Is that it's not going to be enough just to have this in one place. Like put all of our effort into Tuscany or all the effort in the world to Australia or to Santa Barbara where I live. But rather a network. And it's all grassroots. That's my strong feeling. Because I'm not trying to start a shamatha empire here. In case you wondered. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:36 Highlight the passage at 1:30:36

1:30:56 Emperor Alan with my network, you know, globe. It has just no interest whatsoever. Zero. I have all I need in my little cabin already constructed and already ready. I mean, I've already used it in Santa Barbara. But network, network of grass, you know, grass, you know, what do you call it? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:56 Highlight the passage at 1:30:56

1:31:14 Grassroots. Grassroots. People creating it because they would like to create it, not to please somebody else, but because they see for their own sake, for their own community, their whole society, this would be really valuable, tremendously valuable. And then the network. And I can tell you, land has been offered, I've been asked to be involved in such a central contemplative observatory in Mongolia. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:14 Highlight the passage at 1:31:14

1:31:39 The land is already purchased, there's a benefactor, asked me to take kind of like a, you know, seminal role. I just came down from Singapore. I was teaching at the largest monastery in all of Singapore, impressive place. And the abbot there is just fantastic, youngish man, so full of energy and he's just... Report an error in the passage at 1:31:39 Highlight the passage at 1:31:39

1:32:00 He's the perfect man for the job. On the Sunday, they consecrated a brand new Buddhist college there for 150 monks from all over Asia, from the PRC, from Burma, from Sri Lanka, from Cambodia, Laos, and so it's really a Buddhist college. They just finished building that, and now that that's finished, it's a five-story, enormous building, beautiful, really beautifully done. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:00 Highlight the passage at 1:32:00

1:32:30 He told me, next job, next priority, a retreat center for 200 people, including individual cabins for people going for long-term, not cabins, but rooms, for people going into individual retreat. And it's well-funded. It's well-funded. So there could very easily be, you know, a branch there in Singapore, one in Mongolia. Land is already purchased. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:30 Highlight the passage at 1:32:30

1:32:52 Movement is ahead to create one in Brazil. Already one is up and running in Mexico. I hope sooner or later we'll have one in America. Not right now, it's just too expensive, the lands that we've been looking at. Tuscany I mentioned before, but something down here in the Asia-Pacific region, down here, fantastic. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:52 Highlight the passage at 1:32:52

1:33:10 And then the network, then the network, with absolutely no hierarchy. There's no headquarters, there's no hierarchy. It's just Dharma friends getting together with the help of teachers, not just one, and seeing how we can work together to really find out what's true. Find out what's true. But not only what's true, like does Jupiter have moons or not, which is kind of cool to know, but I don't really care that much. I have no plan to visit. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:10 Highlight the passage at 1:33:10

1:33:38 What is true and what it liberates. What's true and bring forth the full potential of the mind. I can't imagine, frankly, any more important research than that. And it's just not even expensive. So I am perplexed sometimes why it's taking so long, but maybe because it's so important. Because it really is. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:38 Highlight the passage at 1:33:38

1:33:57 To my mind, that's beyond dispute. I'm not going to try to defend that position. So, there we go. We'll do a little bit more. After three years had passed in a dream, a young woman placed 13 white mustard seeds on a bright, clear mirror and said, Son, hold this mirror to your heart. These mustard seeds are an omen and portent, indicating that in the future your disciples will become Vidyadharas. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:57 Highlight the passage at 1:33:57

1:34:26 And placing it on my heart, she sang this song. So those 13, that's the theme that comes up repeatedly, 13 of his disciples became not only Vidyadharas, but achieved rainbow body and manifested that. So when they passed, their bodies just dissolved into rainbow light. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:26 Highlight the passage at 1:34:26

1:34:47 And then the bigger prophecy, and Sogyarambhache reminded me of that when he wrote his marvelous long foreword to the... Publication of the translations of all these five Dzogchen works of Dujum Lingba. He said the background, that's in the foreground, and the background prophecy is that 100 disciples of Dujum Lingba, not direct disciples, but over time, over generations, 100 people following his teachings in that current, that flow, that lineage, 100 would achieve great transference rainbow body. And that was astonishing. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:47 Highlight the passage at 1:34:47

1:35:25 That was astonishing. I'm not going to elaborate right now. But it suggests, if one takes it seriously, and you can tell, obviously I do, that there's just an enormous charge here, incredible charge, that I have a very strong conviction, for this lineage, the best is yet to come. Thirteen disciples achieving rainbow body, that's pretty extravagant, that's pretty amazing. But the sense of it is the best is yet to come here. That when he said that... Report an error in the passage at 1:35:25 Highlight the passage at 1:35:25

1:35:52 When Dujum Lingme himself received the prophecy, your Dzogchen teachings are going to be of great benefit to people living in the cities of the West. That hasn't happened yet. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:52 Highlight the passage at 1:35:52

1:36:05 So, Aussies, you're in the West. In case you're wondering, you're in the West. So let's take a break and let's come back at five minutes past the hour. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:05 Highlight the passage at 1:36:05