Transform Your Mind & Change Your Life Retreat - 7-Point Mind Training from Atisha (part 30)

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0:30 So we go to the next aphorism, in great speed here. Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

0:37 And so this is about the non-inherent nature of all phenomena, that's the outline heading. This aphorism I'm going to, as usual, interpret from the perspective of Dzogchen, because to me it calls for that. And the English translation reads, even the remedy itself is free right where it is. Report an error in the passage at 0:37 Highlight the passage at 0:37

1:03 It's a very close translation. So what is the remedy? What is the remedy? Well, the remedy is Rigpa. It's pristine awareness. Buddha mind. That is the remedy. For all ills, what is the remedy for all mental afflictions? For all obscurations of the mind? What dispels and what balances and what heals? Well, it's Rigpa. Now, in Tibetan, it's often seen Rangirigpa, your own pristine awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:03 Highlight the passage at 1:03

1:29 It comes up a lot, your own pristine awareness, right? As if, like your own nikah. Or your own house, something that distinguishes that from other people. And while you have your own mind, of course, your own unique mind, and you have your own substrate consciousness, nobody else has yours, it has you, because it had you in the past life, in the past life, in the past life. Report an error in the passage at 1:29 Highlight the passage at 1:29

1:50 But it's uniquely of that continuum, nobody else has it. So that's quite true, but when it comes to Rigpa, you may recall that Rigpa, pristine awareness, primordial consciousness, these are all used interchangeably. That this dimension of awareness, it transcends all conceptual categories. We have a name for it, but the name is pointing to something beyond what can be captured by words or concepts. Report an error in the passage at 1:50 Highlight the passage at 1:50

2:15 And so in speaking of concepts, very specifically it's said that this rip of pristine awareness transcends even the constructs of existence and non-existence. So these are two boxes created by the conceptual mind. To be or not to be, does it exist or not exist, transcends that. It just does not compute, right? And then the arising and passing transcends that. It doesn't arise, doesn't pass, beyond that. Report an error in the passage at 2:15 Highlight the passage at 2:15

2:41 It does not register. Coming and going never does. Because the Rinpoche is in the fourth time, and the fourth time is beyond past, present and future. The access to it is by way of the present. But it's not located in this very narrow, slender little groove between the past and the future. That's the access to it. But then when you slip into Rigpa, you're on the fourth time. And that's a time that transcends it three times, but also permeates or pervades it three times. Report an error in the passage at 2:41 Highlight the passage at 2:41

3:15 So that being the case, since it's not in time and it's not in space either, then there's no coming and going. It's beyond the very notion of coming and going. So existence, non-existence. Birth and death, or birth and perishing, and then coming and going. And then the final one, and this is what really relates to Rangi Rigpa, your own pristine awareness, is that it's beyond the very categories of one and many, or one and more than one. Report an error in the passage at 3:15 Highlight the passage at 3:15

3:42 Chittan Duma, Duma means just more than one. So is Rigpa one, or is it more than one? Or we can put this in a historical setting. The last Buddha. Who is fully manifesting enlightenment with all the marks and so forth of the Buddha, turning in the wheel of Dharma from the beginning, Buddha Shakyamuni. But the next Buddha who will manifest in that way, with all the major and minor marks and everything, will be Buddha Maitreya. Report an error in the passage at 3:42 Highlight the passage at 3:42

4:09 Very widely accepted in all schools of Buddhism, Buddha Maitreya. So then we can ask, okay, the Buddha mind of Shakyamuni, the historical one, and the mind, Buddha mind of Maitreya, are they the same? Are they different? That's a perfectly reasonable question. And the answer is unanswerable. Because wherever you go, they're the same? Wrong. They're different? Wrong. Report an error in the passage at 4:09 Highlight the passage at 4:09

4:31 Are they one or are they more than one? Does not compute. So then why does it say your own pristine awareness, pristine awareness? I think a major reason for that is that prior to Dzogchen, prior to Dzogchen, if you're practicing Shravakayana, You're practicing this path of your own individual liberation. You identify yourself, of course, as a sentient being, and you'd like to get out of saṃsāra, right? Report an error in the passage at 4:31 Highlight the passage at 4:31

4:56 To transcend and enter nirvāṇa and never come back. So baseline, that's what you find in the Pāli Canon. Then who is the Buddha? Who is the Buddha? The Buddha is a historical character. And if you could meet him directly at that time, that would be terrific. Otherwise, you get him indirectly by way of the Dharma, by way of the Saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 4:56 Highlight the passage at 4:56

5:15 But the Buddha is somebody else. He is achieved enlightenment, and I'll say for myself, he has achieved enlightenment. I haven't. He has achieved nirvāṇa. I haven't. But I take refuge in the Buddha, any someone else. Report an error in the passage at 5:15 Highlight the passage at 5:15

5:27 And then in the Mahāyāna, as you're practicing the bodhisattva path, and you're aspiring, may I achieve enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings? Who wants to achieve enlightenment as a sentient being? And then when you're taking refuge, you invoke an image of the Buddha Shakyamuni himself, right? Or Maitreya, Thala, Majushri. Report an error in the passage at 5:27 Highlight the passage at 5:27

5:46 But then you're attending to and you're making offerings. Think of the bodhic avatar, the guide to the Buddha's upper way of life. And the taking refuge, the offering of the bath, offering of multiple offerings, making confession and so forth and so on. Clearly there's someone there who's not you to whom you're making this and you offer your worship, your reverence and so forth, aspiring that one day I will arise to that level and I myself will be an object of refuge. Report an error in the passage at 5:46 Highlight the passage at 5:46

6:13 I myself will be perfectly enlightened, but until then, Namo, you know, I take, you know, so I'll mention, I'll mention. Report an error in the passage at 6:13 Highlight the passage at 6:13

6:24 And even when we get to Vajrayana, Vajrayana, where you're taking the fruition as the path to the best of your ability, your best facsimile, and you imagine, for example, being, let's say, Avalokiteshvara, the embodiment, and of course it doesn't make any difference whether you're a man or a woman. You can practice Avalokiteshvara, or you can practice Tara, feminine embodiment, man or woman, makes no difference. Report an error in the passage at 6:24 Highlight the passage at 6:24

6:45 But let's say Avalokiteshvara, and you are then engaging in the Vajrayana practice, stage of generation, of identifying yourself as Avalokiteshvara. Report an error in the passage at 6:45 Highlight the passage at 6:45

7:00 You're cultivating two things. And one is pure vision. You're seeking by the power of imagination. This is driven by intuition, by faith, by imagination, basically those. That you're overriding. The ordinary appearances that are arising to us, as in the conversation last night with Judy, that are arising by the power of karma. Report an error in the passage at 7:00 Highlight the passage at 7:00

7:27 And they're strongly conditioned by mental affliction, craving, aversion, delusion, reivocation and so forth. So here are these ordinary appearances of the surrounding environment, other sentient beings, one's own body, one's own mind, one's own identity. And that's it. They're called impure appearances. And there they are, they keep rising up, rising up. But then, In the practice of Adriana, then, number one, you see their emptiness of inherent nature, that there's no one really there. So as I attend to Pema, for example, she appears to me like a nun, a human being, kind of like me, but ordinary, kind of like me, ordinary. Report an error in the passage at 7:27 Highlight the passage at 7:27

8:07 And there it is, and then you get older, you get wrinkly like me, and you get really, really wrinkly like me a little bit later. We're on that trajectory, and that's ordinary appearances. But then... And recognizing that's merely an appearance, like a holographic image, there's nothing really there. Where Pema is, there is not from her own side a truly existent, by her own nature, sentient being. Report an error in the passage at 8:07 Highlight the passage at 8:07

8:31 Conventionally, of course. But is she really there if we point? Are you really there? Is there a sentient being you point your finger at? No, it's empty. The appearances themselves are empty. Report an error in the passage at 8:31 Highlight the passage at 8:31

8:42 New phenomena as if they were dreams. They are empty. If they're empty... Then I'm not violating reality by overriding the ordinary appearance and seeing Pema in pure vision, pure appearance, and viewing her as a Dakini, as Tata, what have you. And that goes for Pema, it goes for men, it goes for anybody here, any woman, but generally we look at women as manifestations of Tata, more likely men as Avalokiteshvara, like His Holiness. Report an error in the passage at 8:42 Highlight the passage at 8:42

9:12 But it's not violating reality, it's not pretending. See, boys and girls are little boys that play cowboys and Indians. They're pretending they're cowboys and Indians. Or girls, what, pretending they're having a tea set. I don't know, that's what I've seen in the cartoons. But you know it's not, but you're pretending. Vajrayana's not pretending. If one is pretending, then you're just goofing around in a very esoteric way. But you must realize the emptiness of inherent nature. Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:41 Of whatever you're attending to and realizing it's emptiness, then it is completely legitimate to imagine a deeper reality that you cannot presently perceive. You're imagining what would Pema or Mel or Simon, because of course this has nothing to do with gender, if a Buddha were attending to any of you here, from a Buddhist perspective, what would the Buddhists be seeing? Report an error in the passage at 9:41 Highlight the passage at 9:41

10:07 Pure vision. See you right to your core. See you as a Buddha. The Buddha attending to you from the Buddha's own perspective. You can see you as a Buddha, pure vision. You can see right through all the veneer. You can see right through your essence, that which we're going like that too. Report an error in the passage at 10:07 Highlight the passage at 10:07

10:24 And so you're not there yet when you're practicing vatrayana. You look and you open your eyes and it's in pure vision. Seeing the emptiness of that, you override that by imagining being a Buddha, drawing that fruition into the present moment and making that your path. And you do that with regards to other beings. Report an error in the passage at 10:24 Highlight the passage at 10:24

10:40 But you do that with regards to yourself, overriding the ordinary appearances, the impure appearances of your own body and mind, seeing they're empty, and then imagining, kind of overwhelming them with pure vision, and imagining your own form as Avalokiteshvada, and imagining your own mind as Dharmakaya, and imagining your own identity as Avalokiteshvada. Report an error in the passage at 10:40 Highlight the passage at 10:40

11:02 And adopting that is called divine pride. Or I think in English, it's a perfectly good translation, but a sense of sacred identity. That your own identity is not other than Avalokiteshvara. But you're doing it by the power of imagination. And if you still think that you're inherently a sentient being, and you inherently have a sentient being's grungy mind and a grungy body, then you're just pretending, and this is kind of all very superficial, it's just kind of goofing around. Report an error in the passage at 11:02 Highlight the passage at 11:02

11:28 But if one has the insight into emptiness, then you engage in Vajrayana practice, and it takes a lot of effort, visualization, and so forth and so on, to take that fruition, and by the power of intuition, imagination, faith, Drawing it into the present and that terrifically empowers the practice. But that's not Dzogchen. It's getting close, but that's not Dzogchen. Report an error in the passage at 11:28 Highlight the passage at 11:28

11:50 Because it's still, if I'm striving, if I'm imagining myself avalukiteshvada, why would I imagine myself avalukiteshvada if I actually am avalukiteshvada? I don't imagine that I'm Alan Wallace. Report an error in the passage at 11:50 Highlight the passage at 11:50

12:08 So I don't need to override anything. just... Report an error in the passage at 12:08 Highlight the passage at 12:08

12:13 The very act that you're striving, that you're imagining, maybe you're reciting mantras and doing all the visualizations and so forth, shows that although you're imagining yourself as avalukta shvada, there's part of you saying, but I forgot, of course I'm not really. Report an error in the passage at 12:13 Highlight the passage at 12:13

12:28 That's why I'm imagining, right? Whereas when it comes to Dzogchen, there is no imagining. There's no imagining at all. Report an error in the passage at 12:28 Highlight the passage at 12:28

12:40 You're simply resting. The idea is to release all striving. Release your sentient beings mind entirely, sentient beings body entirely, and simply rest in what is left, what remains when you've released your body, your mind, your whole sense of identity. What remains? Beyond the scope of conceptualization, what remains? Report an error in the passage at 12:40 Highlight the passage at 12:40

13:01 Well, with all that momentum from the Shravakayana, the Mahāyāna, the Vajrayana, all of that momentum, the Buddha is someone else. We're going like this, Namo to the Buddha, I take refuge in the Buddha. And something, someone comes to mind, right? And so it's very easy to think that when it comes to Dzogchen, well, I'm going to rest in Rigpa, I'm going to take refuge in Rigpa, I'm going to take refuge in Pristina Whereas. Report an error in the passage at 13:01 Highlight the passage at 13:01

13:26 Now there's the ultimate refuge. But there's bound to be some lingering sense out of all that momentum that I'm taking refuge in somebody else's rikpa. Buddha Shakyamuni, Padmasambhava, Dalai Lama. Somebody. Because I'm ordinary. So it's very easy to think, yeah, I want to realize rikpa. But rikpa is something other than myself. Report an error in the passage at 13:26 Highlight the passage at 13:26

13:52 Because, you know, I'm tired of being myself. That's the whole idea. I want to transcend myself. And that's exactly what's being countered with this little tiny rang, your own. And that is you're taking refuge in, you're resting in, you're identifying your own Rigpa. It doesn't mean your own Rigpa versus the Dalai Lama's Rigpa or Brenton's Rigpa, Shukhi's Rigpa. Report an error in the passage at 13:52 Highlight the passage at 13:52

14:13 It doesn't mean that at all. Because then we're right back to it's more than one. It's neither one nor is it more than one. But the point of your own is do not look outside yourself for the Buddha. That's what it is. Not as your own personal possession. Right? So that's that. Report an error in the passage at 14:13 Highlight the passage at 14:13

14:34 So, the antidote itself is free right where it is. Report an error in the passage at 14:34 Highlight the passage at 14:34

14:41 As we simply seek happiness in the pursuit of hedonic pleasure, for example, then we're pursuing that from the vantage point of feeling that I'm a human being, or I'm an American, I'm a man, and this or that. But we lock ourselves in. We know we're operating from. We know our basis of operation. And it's as a, we probably wouldn't even say, sent you being. Report an error in the passage at 14:41 Highlight the passage at 14:41

15:03 I'm a man, I'm a human being, I'm an American, I'm this or that. We lock in and now let's get on with it. We might even say, I have this degree of education, I have this skill, I've done this profession. We might kind of embroider a little bit. Who do we think you are? Who is setting out to find happiness? And you operate from that vantage point, right? And similarly, when we set out in seeking to practice Dharma, cultivating Dharma, practicing Dharma, then again, the natural thing to do would be... Report an error in the passage at 15:03 Highlight the passage at 15:03

15:31 To set out from the vantage point, well, I'm one of those sentient beings that the Buddha has compassion for. And I'm trying to transcend to my status as sentient being and therefore strive diligently. Report an error in the passage at 15:31 Highlight the passage at 15:31

15:44 And so you're not free. You're not free. If your mind is still subject to, on occasion dominated by mental addictions, then why call that free? If you're still suffering and sowing the seeds of suffering, then you're not free. That defines not free. And even if you're setting out on the bodhisattva path. Report an error in the passage at 15:44 Highlight the passage at 15:44

16:02 And even a cultivated bodhicitta, and you are a bodhisattva, you're still striving along the five paths, the ten Arya Bodhisattva Bhumis, the grounds culminating in enlightenment, which means you're becoming freer, but you don't yet have the freedom of a Buddha, which is gender neutral, the Buddha himself, herself. Report an error in the passage at 16:02 Highlight the passage at 16:02

16:20 You don't yet have that degree of freedom, but you're a lot more free than you used to be. But when it comes to Dzogchen, then we ask, is there a dimension of our being right now? Where chukit is, right where chukit is, is there within that field, within that domain of chukitness, in this person here, where you are, who you are, in that domain, is there any dimension of your existence that is already free, that's already awake, that doesn't need to be liberated? Report an error in the passage at 16:20 Highlight the passage at 16:20

16:54 And of course the answer is, sure, that's Rigpa. The remedy itself, the remedy for all your... For all your woes, all your challenges, all your problems, the remedy is your own Buddha nature. That's the remedy. And that remedy is free right where it is. It is already where it is. It's not going anywhere. And it's already free. It's never been unfree. And there's nothing to do to modify it, to improve it, to liberate it and so forth, because it's already free. Report an error in the passage at 16:54 Highlight the passage at 16:54

17:25 And so this Dzogchen path is really overwhelming, like 100%, in the nature of discovering that dimension of your being that is already free. Rather than operating from a platform of not being free and trying to achieve something you don't have. So the orientation is complementary. But it's also, say, 180 degrees. Rather than, here's one way of phrasing it. If you're identifying yourself as a sentient being, seeking your own liberation or seeking enlightenment with the sake of all sentient beings, then we would say from that platform that you have a Buddha nature. Report an error in the passage at 17:25 Highlight the passage at 17:25

17:59 That's what we say. You have a Buddha nature, right? And what is that Buddha nature? Ask any good galupa? And they'll tell you very straightforwardly, you have a Buddha nature, that means you have the potential to become perfectly awakened as a Buddha. And all you need to do is bring the causes and conditions together, and that potential, that superposition state, will become actualized as a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 17:59 Highlight the passage at 17:59

18:20 And then you will be a Buddha. But you have all that you need there inwardly, and all you need to do is apply the, you know, find the authentic teacher, the practices, and so forth and so on, bring it together, and boom, there it comes. You have a Buddha nature, right? Are you a Buddha? No, but you have a Buddha nature. That's second best, right? From the Dzogchen perspective, you don't have a Buddha nature. You are a Buddha nature. Report an error in the passage at 18:20 Highlight the passage at 18:20

18:44 And you have the illusion of thinking you're a human being. You have the illusion of thinking you're a sentient being. And you do have that. But the one who has that is a Buddha. So it's kind of strange. And so this then is all about accessing, identifying, seeing your own face is a phrase that comes up. Report an error in the passage at 18:44 Highlight the passage at 18:44

19:04 Seeing your own face as Dharmakaya. Seeing your own face, like looking into a mirror, and seeing your own face as Dharmakaya. Seeing your own face as your own pristine awareness. Now when it says the remedy itself is free right where it is, I'd like to come back really, really briefly to mindfulness of reading. Report an error in the passage at 19:04 Highlight the passage at 19:04

19:26 Because something I didn't say about this particular method or range of methods, because there are different approaches to it. I didn't mention it in this retreat because it's not a shamatha retreat per se, is that that particular practice where you're giving your full mindfulness, but so clear, so soft, attentive, not grasping, attending to the flow and allowing the respiration to flow effortlessly, naturally, but with full mindfulness, not just passing out and having the breathing go in its natural state, in deep sleep, but mindfully aware of that. Report an error in the passage at 19:26 Highlight the passage at 19:26

19:59 What this practice is famous for, and I've been doing it for a long time and I've attended to many other people who are guiding other people, listening to other people doing this practice, is that particular practice of mindfulness of breathing in different varieties. There's not just one right technique. That is a technique that turns out, or a mode of mindfulness that turns out to be really one of the most beneficial for restoring the energetic balance, the health, the flow of prāṇa, Just balancing the body, where there can be a lot of imbalances and blockages and so forth, and a lot of highly intelligent methods, from yoga, from tai chi, from qi qi gong, to nutritious diet, to exercise, and many, many other practices that can help bring in and help balance the body. Report an error in the passage at 19:59 Highlight the passage at 19:59

20:48 Here you're doing nothing at all, except for maybe lying on your back and allowing the breath to flow naturally. And then a healing takes place. The body starts battling itself out by way of the respiration, which is working out its kinks. So there's not the right one. That is, if you sit down and do this practice and you think, Alan said, where this is going is breathing in short, breathing out short, and that's 15 cycles per minute. Report an error in the passage at 20:48 Highlight the passage at 20:48

21:14 So why don't you just start doing that? Let's get the timer out. Okay, here we go. This should do it. That's not it, you know. There are pranayama techniques, and if you have an extremely good teacher, that can be very helpful. But I'm not teaching pranayama. You have to have a lot of trust in your teacher for that, because you can really screw yourself up with Pranayama, improperly practiced. And a teacher who doesn't know really what he or she is doing can really screw up the students as well. Report an error in the passage at 21:14 Highlight the passage at 21:14

21:42 So it's very delicate. Do it well, it can really help you. Do it poorly, it can really damage you. This practice of just mindfully, gently, softly, attentively, discerningly allowing the breath to flow in and out of its own cord without messing with it, just allowing it, Can you see? Would that be dangerous? If it is, then falling deep asleep should be very, very dangerous. Because every time you go deep, deep asleep, the body just, you know, it works out its own natural rhythm and then slips into that flow. Report an error in the passage at 21:42 Highlight the passage at 21:42

22:14 So I'll be gone in a couple of days, in a few days, and I'm leaving with these practices and I'm walking away from the table, right? But I'm walking away with a great sense of ease because I literally cannot imagine. How you're mindfully breathing in and out and simply letting the breath flow, how that's going to damage you. I've never heard of it damaging anybody. But what it can do is there is a healing process, a balance process, a loosening of blockages and so forth that occurs by way of the respiration. Report an error in the passage at 22:14 Highlight the passage at 22:14

22:45 And as it's working out its kinks, sometimes it'd be deep, deep, deep, deep, and then shallow, shallow, deep, deep, shallow, shallow, shallow, long in breath, long pause after the out breath. All kinds of permutations. And you just let it be. Sometimes you might breathe out and it could be 30-40 seconds before the next breath comes in. You just relax. Report an error in the passage at 22:45 Highlight the passage at 22:45

23:06 When the breath flows in, it flows in. Or maybe it's rhythmic, but this is in the earlier phases. This is the respiration working itself out. Naturally, unimpededly. And I've seen this in so many cases, really heal sometimes very calming things. Especially on the energetic level. There are many other things that this will not be sufficient. Report an error in the passage at 23:06 Highlight the passage at 23:06

23:27 So then we can ask, okay, there's clearly some healing that's taking place, some balancing, opening up blockages and so forth. What's the healing agent? Is it the air? Is it your lungs? And I would suggest that which is truly healing when you go right down to the source, it's your Buddha nature. It's pristine awareness manifesting in your body, manifesting in the flow of the breath, unimpeded, and just allowing then your own pristine awareness to balance. Report an error in the passage at 23:27 Highlight the passage at 23:27

23:59 Even the body, let alone the mind. We shift over to the practice of settling the mind in its natural state as a shamatha method, right? So if you're practicing mindfulness, the breathing thoughts come up, you release them. I'm letting you go, letting you go. But when we come to the settling the mind where we're observing the space of the mind and whatever arises there, then we're letting be, letting be. Report an error in the passage at 23:59 Highlight the passage at 23:59

24:22 And what this practice is famous for, really for centuries upon centuries, It's bringing that quality of awareness that's very present, very discerning, very attentive, but not judgmental, not manipulative, not censoring, not editing, not identifying, not grasping, just letting it be that you actually observe your mind heal itself out. Report an error in the passage at 24:22 Highlight the passage at 24:22

24:44 The emotional blockages, all kinds of blockages, imbalances, the distortions of the mind that are called kleshas, unraveling themselves. They sometimes said like a snake that's wrapped in knots and then it just... It just unravels itself. Until the mind, as you just watch it, unwinding, unwinding, unwinding, then the mind loosens up of all the blockages and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 24:44 Highlight the passage at 24:44

25:08 Then the mind dissolves. When it's totally loose, then it just dissolves into the substrate consciousness. And so then what is it that is healing the mind? Because that's clearly what's happening. Healing, balancing, soothing, calming, purifying the mind. And what is it that's doing that? It's Rigpa. Report an error in the passage at 25:08 Highlight the passage at 25:08

25:26 It's pristine awareness again. That is the agent that is really healing. So that heals your body, that heals your mind. But it itself doesn't need any healing, because it's already free. Now this is on the mind and body that we're very familiar with right now. But once you've dissolved the mind, you've achieved shamatha. Well bear in mind, Padmasambhava says that if that's all you've achieved, remember, you've not moved one hair spread along the path to awakening. Report an error in the passage at 25:26 Highlight the passage at 25:26

25:54 If all you've achieved is shamatha, you've simply dissolved your mind into its base. The substrate consciousness, that's great, blissful, luminous, non-conceptual, but you've not moved one hair's breadth on the path to awakening. You're just extremely primed to do so, but you do need to take another step. Report an error in the passage at 25:54 Highlight the passage at 25:54

26:10 And you can see that even when you're resting there, there's something to be done. If that's where you're resting, and that's where you're kind of identifying yourself, is now you are this flow, identifying with this flow of clear, pure, luminous. Flow of consciousness, this primal flow of consciousness that you're experiencing as blissful, luminous and non-conceptual. It's very easy to identify with that. Report an error in the passage at 26:10 Highlight the passage at 26:10

26:37 And not only to identify with it, but to cling to, to prefer, to grasp onto those three qualities, as I mentioned before, bliss, luminosity and non-conceptuality. So again, Padmasambhava, by way of Dujjum Lingva says, well, this is the big temptation here. You're identifying with the substrate consciousness. This is where you're resting. This is where your very identity lies. And it's much better than what you had up there where you live. Report an error in the passage at 26:37 Highlight the passage at 26:37

27:03 That man or woman up there. Dissolve, melt it into this. But then he says, among these three qualities, if you kind of gravitate to the bliss, you kind of prefer that. You hold on to that. You can spend the rest of your life doing that and then there will be karma from that. Now this is a very virtuous state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 27:03 Highlight the passage at 27:03

27:24 But you are grasping to something, but it's not nasty, it's not mean, it's not non-virtuous, but it is grasping. And if that's what you do while you're resting in Samatha, and it's grasping onto the bliss, then the karma of that will propel you to some very nice abode, like in Deva realm, in the desire realm. Report an error in the passage at 27:24 Highlight the passage at 27:24

27:42 That's what you get out of it. Instead of realizing Rigpa, or achieving awakening, you just get to be a Deva. So look out what you wish for. If among those three qualities, that which you gravitate to, you hold on to, you don't want to let go of, if it's luminosity, the brightness, that intensity, the vividness, the extreme wakefulness, the high of that, and if that's what you cling to, that karma will propel you into the form realm. Report an error in the passage at 27:42 Highlight the passage at 27:42

28:09 And if, on the other hand, category number three, you've already figured it out, if that which you really gravitate to, hold to, do not want to be separated from, If the serenity, the non-conceptuality, the stillness, like an ocean unmoved by waves, if that's what does it for you, that karma will propel you to form this realm. Report an error in the passage at 28:09 Highlight the passage at 28:09

28:29 In which case, it's just propelling you to more of the same, just within samsana. Which means you've not taken one air's breath of progress or movement towards awakening. So even there, when you're resting there, there's still something to be done. There's something to be done. And this is what you need to break through, or texture, cut through. Report an error in the passage at 28:29 Highlight the passage at 28:29

28:48 Cut through to realize Rigpa. And how do you do it? If you're resting in that flow, kind of resting in your very identity, resting in the flow of the substrate consciousness and experiencing the bliss, luminosity, non-conspirality that you really like, then how do you cut through and not just remain in this very pleasant substrate of saṃsāra? Report an error in the passage at 28:48 Highlight the passage at 28:48

29:11 And it is to release. It's more releasing. It's releasing your identification with the substrate consciousness. And the next part is really difficult. Releasing all preference for bliss over not bliss. Luminosity over not luminosity. Serenity or stillness over not. Releasing even the preference. And if that's released, the grasping onto your own substrate consciousness, the reification, the grasping onto the true existence of your substrate consciousness, if you release that, then you cut through. Report an error in the passage at 29:11 Highlight the passage at 29:11

29:51 And what's left, once you've cut through, released that, of course, is Rigpa. And then you see, you identify, you identify your own pristine awareness. And you recognize that it was already there. Now, having said that, it sounds like, okay, then we have these three levels. We have that up there, is my mind with all of my very familiar thoughts related to my identity, my history, my anticipations, hopes for the future and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 29:51 Highlight the passage at 29:51

30:16 So that's where I live. But then, you know, through shamatha, I melt that and I come down into this lovely, kind of a subterranean current of pure water, you know, of this substrate consciousness. But then if I cut through that, then way down yonder, down way in the orb, in the center, the ground, then there's this boundless, boundless, so pristine awareness, primordial consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 30:16 Highlight the passage at 30:16

30:41 And it sounds like it's like a three-tiered hotel, you know. But that's not it. Because... Your substrate consciousness is nothing other than a crystallization of Rigpa. It's not something separate, not something different. It's a crystallization of Rigpa. And when it comes to your thoughts, your emotions, desires, including getting irritated, getting a bit greedy, anxious, jealous and so forth, even the grungy thoughts, even these are nothing other than displays of Rigpa. Report an error in the passage at 30:41 Highlight the passage at 30:41

31:19 Let alone virtuous thoughts, compassion, wisdom and so forth. But the whole range, all of them equally. Quite weird. But even the nastiest thoughts and the most sublime of thoughts and aspirations, they are equally expressions of pristine awareness. Up on this level, these are very toxic and these are very helpful. But if viewed from the perspective of Rigpa, then you'll see they're all equally displays of Rigpa. Report an error in the passage at 31:19 Highlight the passage at 31:19

31:50 View it from the perspective of Rigpa, there's nothing that's toxic. From that perspective, there is nothing that's toxic. View the same things from the perspective up here of a sentient being, human being. This is totally toxic. This will kill you. And this is totally benevolent and good, and this will nurture you and everybody else. So, this is a crucial point that your own Rigpa, your own pristine awareness, is not other than your ordinary thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 31:50 Highlight the passage at 31:50

32:17 Or it's often said, and I think it's one of the quotes by Padmasambhava here, that he refers to Rigpa, pristine awareness, as Thameveshepa in Tibetan. Ordinary consciousness. That your ordinary consciousness, that you can rest in, like, let's do it for five seconds, just rest in awareness, five seconds. Report an error in the passage at 32:17 Highlight the passage at 32:17

32:46 That's not other than Rigpa. That ordinary consciousness is Rigpa. But if viewed from the perspective of a sentient being, then it's just ordinary consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 32:46 Highlight the passage at 32:46

32:58 But view that same ordinary consciousness from the perspective of Rigpa. It is Rigpa. It's in a fortune, it's a display, a manifestation of Rigpa. So that's kind of the meaning of the remedy itself, Buddha nature itself is free right where it is. Report an error in the passage at 32:58 Highlight the passage at 32:58

33:16 And I've quoted at length here one of my favorite parables from the entire Buddhist tradition. And I'm not going to read it, I'm going to just paraphrase it. Report an error in the passage at 33:16 Highlight the passage at 33:16

33:28 Yeah, it's here on page 19. And so you can read it at your leisure. This is from the book, I translated it, called Naked Awareness. And it has this long, I think it's actually the first chapter, it's all on parables. And this is, to my mind, it's just my total favorite. So I'm going to paraphrase it. It's the Buddhist parable of the prodigal son. Report an error in the passage at 33:28 Highlight the passage at 33:28

33:56 We probably know that, you know, Christianity, you know, the parable of the prodigal son and the teachings of Jesus. This is Buddhist version, so it's not the same, but I think it's close enough. We can still call it prodigal son. So here's the story. It's a parable, of course. And that is, there was once a great king, and he had his son, the crown prince, his son. He was a teenager, he was youthful. But he was quite foolish, quite foolish young prince. Report an error in the passage at 33:56 Highlight the passage at 33:56

34:22 And one day, kind of a goof off, you know. And so one day this prince went off to the marketplace, because an illusionist had come to town. Report an error in the passage at 34:22 Highlight the passage at 34:22

34:31 This is not a David Copperfield with five million dollars of technology and doing all this stuff with, you know, that. In classical India, the illusionists, they needed three elements to create their illusions, which you would see very much like the illusions that you see in Las Vegas or whatever, with these fantastic illusions created by, you know, these people with fantastic technology. Report an error in the passage at 34:31 Highlight the passage at 34:31

34:54 But the illusionists of classical India, this is Hindus, Buddhists, Pretty much it was known in traditions where there was a very deep tradition of samādhi. You need three elements. Number one, you have to have deep samādhi. No samādhi, nothing else works. So you have to have very deep samādhi for the illusionist. And then secondly, you need some substance, some physical substance. Report an error in the passage at 34:54 Highlight the passage at 34:54

35:19 And I asked Gantanturma today, this Bhutanese Lama, I said, what kind of substance? Does it indeed be some kind of magical substance or a crystal? Something really special. He said, no, it can be a piece of wood. It doesn't have to be anything. But you need a little prop. But not high-tech. A pebble. Report an error in the passage at 35:19 Highlight the passage at 35:19

35:35 Some kind of basis. Some substance. Quite ordinary. And then, the ngak. Mantra. Mantra. And it's the combination of these three elements. The power of your samādhi, which is like turning on the laser. And then the substance and the mantra that runs the program for the holographic displays you're creating with your mind. Then the illusionist can create these elaborate three-dimensional appearances that look for all the world like they're totally real, they're totally there. Report an error in the passage at 35:35 Highlight the passage at 35:35

36:07 But they're not. And so it's entertainment. It's entertainment, that's what it is. Just like David Copperfield, I'm sure they're more recent illusionists. And so this illusionist came to town and was... Going to have a performance, and this young teenage prince was very keen to go watch the show. So the parable goes on that he then, he went there and he got, he just got totally, just entranced. Report an error in the passage at 36:07 Highlight the passage at 36:07

36:32 It was such a fantastic show. Three-dimensional, who knows what about all this imagery in 3D and so forth, and so lifelike. And he just lost himself in it. He was mesmerized by it, entranced by it. He lost himself in it. And then after some time, the show was over. Illusion has packed up his little pebble, whatever, set on in his way. But the prince had become so completely lost in that wonderful spectacle that when the show was over, he'd forgotten who he was, slipped into total amnesia. Report an error in the passage at 36:32 Highlight the passage at 36:32

37:09 And he looked around, there was nobody around him, I don't know what happened to his aunt, he must have had an aunt or she, maybe he slipped off by himself, who knows. But he looked around, he didn't see anybody that he knows. And the illusion is gone. He sees his clothes. He's just clueless. He doesn't have any idea who he is, where he came from, how he got here. Total amnesia. So the poor fellow is just kind of completely bewildered. Report an error in the passage at 37:09 Highlight the passage at 37:09

37:33 And after a while he gets hungry. And princes don't carry money on them. They don't need any money. It's all taken care of. But he's getting really hungry. And so he sees a group of beggars, wandering beggars. And they're getting some food. And he doesn't have any money. He can't buy anything. So he wanders over to the beggars and said, Hey guys. Report an error in the passage at 37:33 Highlight the passage at 37:33

37:53 Can I join you? I'm really hungry. And I'm imagining they said, give us your clothes and we'll let you join our band because he's wearing princely clothes. So let's imagine he did that. So now he's dressed in beggar's rags. But they then teach him the trade. How do you beg? How do you score? As you're going from individual to house to house and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 37:53 Highlight the passage at 37:53

38:16 And so he learns and he gets some, you know, some old bread and he gets some, you know, whatever it is. And then after a while the days go by, he still doesn't remember who he is, but he's kind of getting the hang of it. This is not such a terrible bad life, you know, get a bit of food here, a bit there. And so he's wearing these beggars robes and he's making friends with the other beggars and they're wandering around. Report an error in the passage at 38:16 Highlight the passage at 38:16

38:35 He's just getting better and better at it. So after a while he's figured out who he is. He's a beggar. And he's quite good at it. Report an error in the passage at 38:35 Highlight the passage at 38:35

38:43 He's so good at it, eventually he sets off on his own. He can be now a freelance beggar. So he's wandering around. The weeks go by and months go by. Well, in the meantime, of course, the royal palace, his king, freaking out. What's happened to our prince? What's going to happen to the kingdom? There's nobody to fill the throne and so forth. So they're panic-stricken. They're looking all over the place for the prince. Report an error in the passage at 38:43 Highlight the passage at 38:43

39:05 Of course, they wouldn't see this wandering beggar, grubby and rags and all of that. Never saw him. So, you know, the palace is forlorn, wondering what's to become, what's to become of the kingdom. The prince is gone, maybe kidnapped, who knows what. But over the course of weeks, months, then the prince is in his peregrination, just wandering around from house to house, being quite good at what he does. He comes to some quite majestic, very stately home, and he's asked, boy, that could really score big here. Report an error in the passage at 39:05 Highlight the passage at 39:05

39:36 And so he knocks on the front door, and he's got his routine. And a very dignified man comes. He's not the butler. A very dignified man comes to the door. And so he does his spiel. He says, oh, master, could you just... And he gives it to you. Spare a little bit of bread. Spare, I'm just a poor man. Whatever he's saying. The man who came to the door was the chief minister of the king. Report an error in the passage at 39:36 Highlight the passage at 39:36

40:01 Chief minister of the king. And he looks at this grubby, grubby beggar. He recognizes him instantly. That this is the crown prince. Dirty, grubby, wearing robes, acting as a beggar. But he sees through that veneer immediately. And he takes one look at him, cuts off the spiel and says, Oh, Rinus, welcome home. Report an error in the passage at 40:01 Highlight the passage at 40:01

40:23 Welcome home. The prince will be so overjoyed. You've come. The crown prince has come. And the beggar hears this and he says, Oh, jeez, give me a break. I just wanted some food. The last thing I need is sarcasm. Prince, yeah, come on. If you don't want to give me food, just say you don't want me to give me food, but don't rub it in. Oh, your majesty, what sarcasm, who needs that? So the prince wouldn't believe him. Report an error in the passage at 40:23 Highlight the passage at 40:23

40:50 Didn't believe him for a second. He said, you know, give me some food, give me a break. One of the two, but I don't need this. I'm not a prince. Report an error in the passage at 40:50 Highlight the passage at 40:50

41:00 So what's the minister to do? Because the fellow is in complete denial. He doesn't have any idea that there's any truth in that statement. And as far as the beggar prince is concerned, there's no evidence whatsoever. That there's any truth in the minister's statement. He looks at himself, he looks at his skills, he looks at his mind. There's nothing, not one iota of princeliness in any aspect of his being. Report an error in the passage at 41:00 Highlight the passage at 41:00

41:24 And so it doesn't have to be told, you are the prince, you're the crown prince. Well, it just doesn't wash. Like me telling you, you're a gopher, you're a gopher. You say, well, I don't think so. Where's the evidence? I'm not a gopher. But not a gopher, you know, crown prince. So the story goes on, but I'm going to make a little now, as I do, I'm going to mess with it a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 41:24 Highlight the passage at 41:24

41:46 But at least I'm telling you, this is full disclosure. Because you can read this story without my messing with it. But let's imagine that the minister is a very accomplished Vajrayana master, knowing everything about the state regeneration, pure vision, divine pride. He's totally master of that. And he sees this prince just not knowing at all that he's in fact the prince. And so, as a Vajrayana master, He says, ah, then he does some fancy folk work and steps back and says, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be sarcastic. However, sir, I think you have a lot of potential. Report an error in the passage at 41:46 Highlight the passage at 41:46

42:29 So the answer is yes, I will give you some food. But I'd like to advise you to come in, because I think you have a lot of potential. And I would like to, you might know, by the way, that we've lost our crown prince. And I think you have a lot of potential. And so would you please come on in. However... Report an error in the passage at 42:29 Highlight the passage at 42:29

42:46 I would like to teach you the ways of the palace. And I'm going to give you good food, by the way, so don't worry about it. But I'd like to dress you in the royal garb. And I'd like to teach you how does a prince behave. And I'd like to kind of fit you for that. But I'd give you some training. And I know you're not a prince. Okay, yeah, I got it. But I'd like you to go with me on this. Report an error in the passage at 42:46 Highlight the passage at 42:46

43:06 And learn the ways of a prince. And act like a prince. And dress like a prince. And I'll teach you. I'll show you how. And we will need to do that. And yes, I will feed you. And the beggar said, well, that's what I got to lose. Sure. And so the beggar is still very confident that he's a beggar. He puts on the garb, he learns how to speak, how to use silverware and all that kind of stuff. And he just totally gets into it. Until anybody looking at him now, all clean, wearing his fine robes and acting perfectly, anybody looking at him and saying, well, this is the prince. Report an error in the passage at 43:06 Highlight the passage at 43:06

43:43 Until finally, it dawns on the prince one day, the beggar, That he's now so assumed all the outward aspects, his clothing, mannerisms, even way of thinking, that then it breaks through his amnesia. Report an error in the passage at 43:43 Highlight the passage at 43:43

44:00 And then he recognizes. And then he's enthroned. So that's a Vajrayana technique. And that's a Vajrayana technique. But that's not what it says here. Because this is Dzogchen. This is beyond Vajrayana, beyond that. Imagination, divine pride, it's beyond that. This is just straight Dzogchen. So we go back to the story, and I think we'll take a break pretty shortly. Report an error in the passage at 44:00 Highlight the passage at 44:00

44:24 Go back to the story. What does the minister say? He says, oh, there's a fellow to say, I'm not a prince, I'm not a prince. So the minister then responds, oh, I see, you're a beggar, aren't you? Now, okay, I'm sorry, you're a beggar. Good, since you're a beggar, please tell me, where were you born? Where were you brought up? Who are your parents? Report an error in the passage at 44:24 Highlight the passage at 44:24

44:44 What's your hometown? Tell me some of your experiences as you were a child. These are very reasonable questions, right, to anybody. Where did you come from? Report an error in the passage at 44:44 Highlight the passage at 44:44

44:57 Simple question. Anybody should be able to answer them. And then the beggar, when he turned, because he thought, well, if that's all I have to answer to get some food, sure. And then he turns his awareness inwards. I, the beggar, where was I born? Who are my beggar mom and dads? Who are my beggar brothers and sisters? Report an error in the passage at 44:57 Highlight the passage at 44:57

45:18 What kind of beggar village or neighborhood did I grow up in? What kind of beggar experiences did I have as a child? Report an error in the passage at 45:18 Highlight the passage at 45:18

45:27 And he knows he should be able to remember something. There should be something there. And he's coming in with a total absence. Report an error in the passage at 45:27 Highlight the passage at 45:27

45:37 And in that recognition of a total absence of his ever having become a beggar, he cuts through this false fabricated identity of himself as being a beggar and cuts immediately right through to as being a prince. And so in that instant, he recognizes that he is a prince. The minister recognizes that the prince has recognized he is a prince. And in an instant, he's brought to the royal chamber and enthroned the next king. Report an error in the passage at 45:37 Highlight the passage at 45:37

46:05 So that's the metaphor. That's the metaphor. And so we, sentient beings, Aussies and Americans, we're wandering around, beggars in saṃsāra, and we're whining and complaining, oh I'm not making much progress, I'm all stuck in laxity and I'm hitting a ceiling, it's really a bummer, what can I do? I've heard that, it's good, good question. And I feel so disappointed, I've been practicing for 45 years and it's kind of like, it's embarrassing that it's been so slow. Report an error in the passage at 46:05 Highlight the passage at 46:05

46:39 It's so slow. I should be so embarrassed, I just go off in the solitude and kind of lick my wounds. And we were just such losers, Report an error in the passage at 46:39 Highlight the passage at 46:39

46:55 such beggars. In fact, when I first met His Holiness, Dalai Lama, first one-on-one, it was so similar, wasn't it? You know the story extremely well. So similar. Because I was feeling a bit of pride coming up. I've been pride. I've been in the arms out over maybe two or three months. Report an error in the passage at 46:55 Highlight the passage at 46:55

47:16 But studying a lot. And then when I met Westerners who were just dropping in for the first time, sometimes they knew I was staying in the Dalai Lama's physician's home and so forth, and sometimes they asked me questions about Dharma, because I'd been there for about two or three months. I'm an expert. And I found whatever question they asked me, I could answer, because they're completely basic questions. But then I had this sense of, hmm, I know more than you do. Report an error in the passage at 47:16 Highlight the passage at 47:16

47:42 And I'm not acquiring knowledge, I'm trying to cultivate virtue, purify my mind. Maybe a little bit is happening. And so I thought, hmm, I've been here for two or three months and now I'm a little bit better than you are. And I know a bit better and I'm a bit kinder, a bit more patient. I'm better than you are. A little bit coming in the back of mind. Like, oh, now I'm better. Report an error in the passage at 47:42 Highlight the passage at 47:42

48:07 And I looked at that and I thought, how is this going to turn out? Because I wasn't completely insane. I knew I'd been there for two months. And I'm already feeling two months worth of arrogance. But I already knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life, and I wanted to just do nothing else. And I thought, if this is what it's like after two months, what's it going to be like after five years? Report an error in the passage at 48:07 Highlight the passage at 48:07

48:29 And then after 40 years, I can't even see you little ants down there from here, Mount Wallace. You're so far below. And that means anticipating that if following the path is going to be more and more feeling superior, arrogant and so forth, then I'm in the wrong... trajectory here, because that's just screwed. That's kind of like, that's not going to work out at all. And I was told prior to this revelation that I could, in fact, have a Manam on audience with this Holiness. Report an error in the passage at 48:29 Highlight the passage at 48:29

48:59 And I just didn't want to just go there for pleasantry as a kind of a gesture, like, hi, Holiness, I'm I didn't want to just, you know, something empty. I wanted to have a question that was really very meaningful to me and for which I could really seek his guidance. So I had my audience, and that's the first thing I asked him. Report an error in the passage at 48:59 Highlight the passage at 48:59

49:17 This is my problem. I can already see arrogance as a superior coming up. But I'm here to cultivate virtues that are noble and positive and good. And I want to cultivate them more and more and more. So if I'm becoming a better and better person, I mean, after all, that's the idea. Less angry, less greedy, less selfish, more compassionate, more and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 49:17 Highlight the passage at 49:17

49:38 I mean, that's the idea. So how do you become a better person and not feel you're better than other people who are not practicing Dharma? Because it seems like that's a real conundrum. How do you become better and not think I'm better? With false humility? Aw, shucks, little Mihai, you know, we don't want to be phoning. Report an error in the passage at 49:38 Highlight the passage at 49:38

49:56 So I thought, I don't know the answer to that question. So I posed this to His Holiness. Back then I was 36 years old. So young. So wise. And so then he gave me this analogy. It relates here. Report an error in the passage at 49:56 Highlight the passage at 49:56

50:16 And he said, okay. Imagine. Imagine you're a beggar. of the story. Report an error in the passage at 50:16 Highlight the passage at 50:16

50:24 He didn't say, imagine you're a prince, or you are a prince, oh, Tuku Alan, welcome home, I'm going to enthrone you. He didn't say that at all. Where have you been, my son? He didn't say that at all. He said, imagine you're a beggar. Okay, I think I can do that. And imagine you're a beggar, and you come to some home that is, you know, very affluent, and you come knocking on the door, and you say, please, could you give me a bit of food? Report an error in the passage at 50:24 Highlight the passage at 50:24

50:52 This is his story. And they invite you in, but they not only invite you in and give you a scrap of leftovers or something, but they invite you in at lunchtime, and there's a sumptuous feast, and they invite you in, and you sit at the table, and they treat you like family. Report an error in the passage at 50:52 Highlight the passage at 50:52

51:08 And you sit down, and you just, like family, you just eat to your heart's content, until you just say, I can't eat anymore, I'm stuck. But it was a fantastic meal. So everything, dessert, everything, or what do you call it? Report an error in the passage at 51:08 Highlight the passage at 51:08

51:23 Pudding. The British call it pudding. Do you say pudding or dessert in Australia? Dessert? You've been Americanized. But in any case, this full delicious meal. So the Dalai Lama asked me, you've had this full meal, been treated like family, you've eaten to your heart's content. When you finish the meal, do you feel proud? I said, no. No, I don't. That's right. Report an error in the passage at 51:23 Highlight the passage at 51:23

51:49 You don't feel proud. And you're the beggar. And you've come to Makal Ganj, where a feast is being served every day by the most magnificent lamas you can imagine. I mean, there's so many of them. There's so many chefs. And you come and ask for teachings and they give them all for free. As if you're family. And you're a foreigner. You're just a foreigner. That's all I'm just a foreigner. Report an error in the passage at 51:49 Highlight the passage at 51:49

52:12 But you're treated like family and you're given all you can possibly eat. So once you receive all this Dalai and you've eaten it, you've digested it, then it doesn't make any sense to feel pretty, does it? Report an error in the passage at 52:12 Highlight the passage at 52:12

52:24 And he said, no it doesn't. Report an error in the passage at 52:24 Highlight the passage at 52:24

52:29 And then he added, oh by the way, the more understanding you have, the more responsibility you have. Report an error in the passage at 52:29 Highlight the passage at 52:29

52:38 I found that enormously helpful. So I'm not the I'm not the prince who thought he was a beggar. I'm a beggar who thought he was a prince. So that's this wonderful metaphor. And that's the commentary on even the remedy itself. It's free right where it is. And the whole point of the practice then is to discover this dimension of your being that has always been free. Report an error in the passage at 52:38 Highlight the passage at 52:38

53:09 And on that note, we have just two more that will cover this. One, two more, three, two more. Looks like only two more. Yep. Two more aphorisms to cover ultimate bodhicitta. And we'll cover those after the break. But right now let's take a break at 10.30 and come back at 10.50. Report an error in the passage at 53:09 Highlight the passage at 53:09