the great perfection

8/22/2019 The Great Perfection

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The Great Perfection

Today I would like to comment on a text written by the omniscient

Jigme Lingpa, called Perceiving the Naked State of the Genuine

Reality of the Great Perfection. This text is about revealing the

genuine reality, or nature, of the mind, and is found in the

Nyingmapa School of Tibetan Buddhism and is a well known but

advanced teaching known as the Great Perfection (dzogchen in

Tibetan).

If one asks whether the view of the Great Perfection lies within

nirvanic peace or within samsara, the answer is that it does not liewithin either of these extremes. If one wants to search for the view

of the Great Perfection, one must search within ones own mind.

The view of the Great Perfection is found within the mental

continuum of each and every sentient being. It is endowed with the

qualities of emptiness and luminosity. Yet the Great Perfection is not

something that can be analyzed in terms of how it is constructed; it

is, by its nature, non-constructed. If we were to ask whether we

could discover the Great Perfection by transforming our presentstate of mind into another state of mind, the answer is no. Apart

from our present mind, there is nowhere else we can look to find

the resultant enlightened qualities of the Great Perfection.

Our mind, which is endowed with awareness and intelligence, is

always occupied with all kinds of actions, daily activities such as

working, standing, sleeping and sitting. The term meditation does

not mean to be distracted from the nature of the mind, but to

recognize this nature and try to retain this recognition. By doing

this, one meditating may experience the blissful mind, the clear

mind, and the non-conceptual mind. One must be very skilful to

retain the continuity of the recognition of the nature of the mind,

and one should not exert excessive effort or forcefully try to settle

ones mind into such a state. Rather, in order to sustain the view of

the Great Perfection, one should cultivate relaxation. If one does not

apply a skilful method, one will lose the meditation.


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Let an example illustrate: Somebody who is imprisoned experiences

discomfort, unease and inconvenience due to being confined to a

small cell. Similarly, if we try to seize the true nature of the mind

and forcibly sustain it, tension will arise in the mind of the onemeditating.

When we try to meditate on the view of the Great Perfection we

come across many emotional and conceptual thoughts. For

instance, when we come across a positive thought, we should try

not to cultivate attachment to this thought. Instead of being

overwhelmed by the presence of a positive thought, which we do

easily by only observing the perimeter of the thought, we should

instead look directly at the thoughts very core or essence. This

applies in the same way to negative emotional complications such

as anger and so on. By focusing on the essence of thoughts, the

one meditating will understand that the essence of thoughts is

fundamental awareness and intelligence.

The tradition of the Great Perfection maintains that by looking at

the emotional thoughts in this manner, one will achieve a vision of

the genuine reality (in Sanskrit: dharmadhatu). This suggests thatthe individual should look at the true essence of the emotional

complication, whatever it is, to perceive this genuine reality.

But when it comes to actual practice, we often experience certain

difficulties. It is not as easy as it has been explained. When one

looks at the very essence of emotional or disturbing thoughts, one

should not evaluate them. One should look at the face of the

emotional thoughts in the manner that elderly men look at children

playing. Elderly men will not try to evaluate the childrens play by

saying that it is good or bad; they will be indifferent to what

occupies the children. One should look at ones emotional thoughts

in the same way.

This manner of meditation gives one a very intimate familiarity with

nature of mind. The individuals mind becomes liberated both from

the concept of duality, which tends to grasp onto the superficial

reality of the perceived objective phenomenon, and the perceiving


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phenomenon i.e. the mind. So one is liberated from both grasping

at the reality of the perceived world and the perceiving mind. In

turn, the emotions are set free. The individual becomes capable of

reversing all kinds of grasping onto different forms of wholesomeand unwholesome thought, and not to regard wholesome thoughts

as something to be seized or unwholesome thoughts as something

to be abandoned. At this point, the individual who is meditating

experiences liberation into genuine reality. Emotional or conceptual

thoughts will cause no difficulty at all, whether they are positive or

negative.

The meditating individual who manages to acquire such a

meditative experience has traversed the seven impure bodhisattva

levels. They are called impure because the individual is still

contaminated with a subtle grasping at duality in these spiritual

levels.

When it comes to realizing the view of the Great Perfection there

are many pitfalls, errors and mistake into which we can fall. We said

in the beginning that the nature of the view of the Great Perfection

is emptiness. Because of this, some individuals grasp at the veryconcept of emptiness. They release the grasping onto the apparent

reality, but instead grasp at the very concept that was meant to

release the grasping. This is a tremendous mistake. It is termed

affirmative negative: one refutes the grasping of the existence of

the reality, but then affirms (grasps onto) this negation or

emptiness.

The Buddha taught the teaching of emptiness to shatter grasping

onto the reality of existence. But if an individual falls into the view

of affirming negative, the Buddha specifically said that there is no

new antidote to cure this spiritual disease for such a person. If the

medicine itself has turned into poison there is no other antidote that

can be applied. The Buddha said that unintelligent people who are

not skilful enough to perceive emptiness will suffer a tremendous

loss.


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One should recognize emptiness as something that is free from

extremes. We can apply this to the true nature of mind in which

awareness and intelligence fundamentally inhere. The true nature of

mind is free from the four extremes; it is not existent, it is not non-existent, it is not both existent and non-existent at the same time,

and neither is it something apart from being existent or non-

existent (in our previous discussion we only covered to first two

extremes). Therefore, there is no origination and no cessation.

There is not something that comes, or something that goes.

The true nature of the mind is not masculine, feminine or neutral.

The nature of mind is empty of characteristics such as shapes,

colors, and so on. Further, the nature of mind belongs neither to the

category of nihilism nor to the category of eternalism. It is

inexpressible and inconceivable.

As an example, we can not say that we have seen empty space. But

we can still talk about space as an idea. In the same way, someone

who has realized the view of the Great Perfection, as many

individuals have done in the past, will try their best to find the most

appropriate examples to express their spiritual experiences for theirdisciples. But despite all their efforts in trying to find suitable

examples, they fail to give an exact expression which communicates

the true nature of mind. Therefore, one should be careful not to err

when it comes to the view of the Great Perfection. One should take

care to sustain recognition of the Great Perfection in all forms of

activities.

In order to implement the view of the Great Perfection, there are

two forms of meditations: shamatha (in Tibetan: shine) and

vipashyana. But these should not be understood as the common

shamatha and vipashyana that we talk about in the context of the

sutra level. Shine, calm abiding meditation, means a pacified mind.

The true nature of our mind is, from the very beginning, completely

undisturbed by the presence of gross and subtle forms of

conceptual complications.


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If you have a glass of muddy water and you let the water come to a

rest, the water will resume its original transparency. But if the water

is disturbed, the transparency will again be lost. Similarly, our

primordial state of mind retains an inner transparency, termedluminosity, and if we learn to leave the mind undisturbed, the mind

will assume its original transparency. Again, if we let the mind be

disturbed by the presence of disturbed thoughts, the mind will lose

its original transparency.

The shamatha meditation of the tantric teachings of Buddhism is

different from the shamatha meditation found in the sutra

approach. In sutra shamatha meditation, the individual meditating

pacifies emotional complications by applying certain antidotes, but

in the shamatha meditation of tantric Buddhism the mind is

perceived as being free from the gross and subtle complications

from the very beginning, and therefore there is nothing to pacify.

Vipashyana meditation in the context of tantric Buddhism is

described as looking at the non-dual state of the mind, experiencing

that the mind is empty of the quality of the perceived and the

perceiving mind. Gaining this experience is termed gaining insightinto to non-duality of the mind.

Again, vipashyana meditation according to tantric Buddhism is not

the same as vipashyana meditation according to the sutra level,

where the one meditating first performs an analytical meditation

and then tries to rest in the discovery that he or she has made. But

according to the vipashyana meditation of tantric Buddhism, one

simply gains insight into the non-duality of the mind which is free

from both the perceived phenomena and the perceiving mind.

Within the Great Perfection meditation there is what is called formal

meditation and informal meditation, or post-meditation. In formal

meditation, the individual tries to sustain recognition of the view by

practicing mindfulness. In post-meditation, the individual brings

with his or hers meditative experiences gained in the formal

mediation into his or hers actions of body, speech and mind.


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During formal sitting mediation practice we apply the mental faculty

of mindfulness. But the mental faculty of mindfulness should not be

understood as the common mindfulness of which we are well aware.

It is a unique kind of mindfulness. In Buddhism, the commoninterpretation of the term mindfulness is to keep in mind what shall

be cultivated and what shall be abandoned. In the context of the

Great Perfection the term mindfulness should be understood as

there being nothing to cultivate and nothing to abandon.

When one tries to sustain the view of the Great Perfection one

should not worry about being distracted. If one discovers that one is

distracted, one might develop frustration or sadness, but this is not

appropriate. Neither should one apply excessive effort, as this will

only disturb ones mind. In brief, while one is trying to sustain the

very recognition of the formal meditation, one should actually

release ones body, speech and mind from any fabricated effort. If

the individual meditating is able to meditate in the manner, then the

technical term non-meditation is applicable.

In meditation one can therefore reach the state of non-meditation.

But the terms meditation and non-meditation is a dualism, and theactual state of the mediation of the Great Perfection is free from

both meditation and non-meditation. In the view of the Great

Perfection the individual will neither grasp onto meditation nor non-

meditation.

By meditating in this manner, the individual meditating might

experience three kinds of meditative experiences: ecstasy, clarity,

and non-conceptuality. The experience of ecstasy occurs when the

mind becomes completely free from the three levels of suffering and

simply mingles with the fundamental state of the mind,

experiencing tremendous bliss. The experience of clarity occurs

when the mind becomes tremendously clear, without any

contamination of dullness, agitation or undercurrent thoughts. (The

term clarity should not be understood as a visual clarity with regard

to visual sensory experiences. The clarity that is generated during

meditative absorption and the clarity we might experience when we

are not meditating do not correspond at all.) The third meditative


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quality that might be experienced is termed non-conceptuality.

When we are beginners in meditation, many conceptual thoughts

will occupy our minds. But as we progress in the meditation, the

meditation will culminate in the experience of non-conceptuality.Then, ones mind is no longer beleaguered by conceptual

complications.

If one has beautiful experiences there is always the danger of

developing attachment or grasping, but one should not develop a

sense of attachment to these three meditative experiences. If an

individual develops attachment to the first meditative experience of

ecstasy, it is said that the he or she will take rebirth in the desirous

god realm. If an individual attaches himself to clarity, he or she

might end up in the form god realm. If he or she clings to non-

conceptuality, then he or she will end up being born in the formless

god realm. Clinging is therefore not regarded as being beneficial.

One should therefore not try to meditate with the goal of achieving

these three beautiful experiences, because the goal-oriented mind

will spoil the mediation.

If ones meditation on the generating phase is not embraced bymediation on the completion or dissolving phase, the mere

generating phase of the practice of tantric Buddhism will not cause

attainment of Buddha-nature. To the contrary, it is said that such

meditation causes the individual to be reborn as a very evil-minded

being.

Since the genuine view of the Great Perfection is simplicity free

from mental constructs, it is always possible to confuse this form of

meditation with other similar experiences.

Present mind, or present awareness, is primordial awareness in its

ultimate mode of existence. This primordial awareness should be

embraced by a view of non-reference. If one tries to meditate in the

correct manner outlined, one will eventually reach a culmination

where there remains no agent, no action and no object to meditate

on. The duality of the subject and object simply disappears and

becomes a non-dual experience.


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Generally, individuals feel that they know what existence is and

what non-existence is, but nothing beyond this. They claim that, if it

exists, it cannot be non-existent. Similarly, if it is non-existent, it

cannot exist. Our perception is based on the perception of existenceand non-existence: nihilism and eternalism; if it is nihilism it cannot

be eternalism, if it is eternalism it cant be nihilism. An analogy

might involve one individual who knows two other individuals, who

comes to the house of these two, and who states that he or she

meets either this person or that person. The scope of our present

mind is very narrow; therefore we are not able to embrace a state

of mind that is free from all extreme complications. Our present

deluded state of mind is therefore transient, and true nature of our

mind is primordially liberated.

When it comes to the primordial awareness, we cannot talk about

union and non-union. The view of the Great Perfection is free from

all kinds of sectarianism, bias, and partial attitudes. The view of the

Great Perfection is also free from denigration and exaggeration. So

the view of the Great Perfection is free from mental activity. It is

inaction. It is the pinnacle of all views, meditations, and conducts.

So therefore, the individual meditating is capable of realizing thegenuine view of the Great Perfection while sleeping comfortably on

the bed (Rinpoche jokes and the audience laughs). The view of the

Great Perfection is free from expression; nevertheless I am

expressing something. There is nothing to understand, but at least

you understand at some level.

This form of meditation can sometimes create difficulty if it renders

ones mind into total confusion. It is therefore important to sustain

the continuity of the awareness. Awareness is not something one

needs to cultivate. The quality of awareness inheres in the very

nature of ones mind, as stated before. It is simple to recognize it

and then sustain this recognition.

In the past, many individuals evolved into very spiritual beings by

being spiritually crazy. They were called the holders of crazy

wisdom, or the holders of the lineage of crazy wisdom. If you like,

you can also participate in this spiritual community of mad people


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(all are laughing), but you must be genuinely spiritually mad. Not

just pretending, or psychologically mad. I myself would like to enter

into this mandala of mad enlightened people, but to do so is quite

difficult.

When you meditate on the Great Perfection, you should not worry if

emotional or conceptual complications pop up. It is good when

many emotions and thoughts arise. If you let these thoughts arise

without trying to abandon or suppress them, they will exhaust

themselves.

Hope and fear should not interrupt ones meditation on the view of

the Great Perfection. If they do, they bind and interrupt themeditation. One should not fear the presence of emotional

complications and conceptual thoughts. Just let them vanish on

their own.

I am not somebody who has genuinely realized the view of the

Great Perfection, but I have tried my best to explain this view to

you. Do you have any questions?

Q: You said in the beginning that the shine (shamatha) meditation

of the Great Perfection is different from that of the sutra texts.

Should one work on shine in terms of sutra first, and then go on to

vajrayana?

Rinpoche: Yes, one should proceed in a gradual manner through the

yanas. As you say, one should practice shamatha as it is presented

on the sutric level and then proceed to practice on the shamatha

and vipashyana that is presented one the tantric level. Sutrateachings act like a stepping stone toward tantric practice.

Q: Can you give me a definition of emotion and thought? I see

emotion as something I feel, and thought as something that is in

my mind.

Rinpoche: Actually, in Tibetan, it is the same word for both thought

and emotion. It is namtok. Nam refers to the object that induces


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the emotion or thought in the individual, tokrefers to the emotional

state of mind. Can you give me some examples of emotions?

Person: Anger.

Rinpoche: And thought?

Person: Fantasizing about the future and thinking about the past.

Rinpoche: This is also the answer to your question.

Q: Arent these emotional thoughts connected with desire? As long

as you have a desire you produce thoughts?

Rinpoche: Yes, the presence of desire gives rise to further thought

patterns and emotional complications, which again give rise to

further karmic implications. Namtokmeans that you cannot have a

thought without having a stimulant nam. Without the stimulant,

emotional complications will not arise. This is due to the law of

interdependency cause and effect.

Q: There will be no anger either?

Rinpoche: Right, because everything arises due to the coming

together of causes and conditions. Prior to being enlightened, you

can say conventionally that the emotional state of mind exists.

When the individual enters the meditation of the Great Perfection

and experiences a genuine meditative experience, then his or her

mind is completely absent of emotional complications and

conceptual thoughts. But when the individual leaves the meditation

and enters into post meditation, then these emotions begin to come

back.

Q: Can you say a little bit more about how to look into the essence

of thoughts?

Rinpoche: One should not try to prevent oneself from giving rise to

emotional and conceptual thoughts. If they pop up, let them pop

up, but then try to look directly at the essence of the thoughts

without evaluating or judging them; just simply look at them.


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Encounters with thoughts should be embraced with a profound

sense of confidence and certainty. This is important.

The look and content of emotional thoughts can differ, but when the

one meditating penetrates into the core of any thought or emotion,

there is no difference between good and bad thoughts. On the inner

level, both good and bad thoughts share the same essence of clarity

and intelligence. Therefore, one should not try to cultivate the good

emotions and abandon bad emotions. This principle applies to the

formal sitting meditation.

Q: What is the purpose of these observations? What is the ultimate

goal?

Rinpoche: The ultimate goal is to be emotional liberated, to merely

observe the essence of the thought, so that one will not become a

victim of either positive or negative emotion. If we experience

emotional thoughts such as attachment, aggression or aversion, we

will end up creating certain karmas. Creating these karmas creates

certain misery and pain within us. To prevent this, we must prevent

the karmic complications, and to prevent these we must prevent

emotional complications. In order to prevent emotional

complications we must look at the nature of the emotion. The

emotion will then simply liberate in its own place.

Nor is the individual able to experience serenity if the mind is

constantly affected by the presence of conceptual thoughts and

emotions. I know a woman in Taiwan who told me that she loves

her husband and wants him to look nice. But if he does look nice,

she becomes afraid of losing him to some other woman. Therefore,she sometimes chooses not to iron his clothes, so that he will not

look gentlemanly. But when she sees that he is in a bad shape, she

experiences a dilemma. Like the dilemma of Shakespeare to be or

not to be: to iron or not to iron. Laughter. It is not good to

entertain so many contradictory thoughts. It is best to come to a

decisive conclusion either by ironing or not ironing. Laughter.

Q: You said that when the mind experiences ecstasy it becomes free

of the three levels of suffering. Were you referring to the suffering


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of suffering, the suffering of change, and the all-pervasive

suffering?

Rinpoche: Yes, that is what I meant. The suffering of suffering is

what we experience when we become injured or ill. The suffering of

change is the fact that even pleasant experiences will end as

suffering, and the all-pervasive suffering is caused from the fact

that on a subtle level all phenomena are subjected to subtle change

and degeneration.

Q: Is being born in the desire god realm or the formless god realm

to be regarded as a spiritual progression?

Rinpoche: It is not necessarily good to be born in the god realms. In

order to have the best prospects for spiritual development it is best

to be born a human being. The reason there are many levels in the

god realms is that the mind of the individual develops further and

further. When the individual has reached the fourth level of the

formless god realm, the individual has reached the peak of the

samsaric mind. In total, the god realms consist of 17 levels. But the

god realm has certain disadvantages in terms of being a foundation

of spiritual practice.

Q: If you were brought to the peak of the samsaric mind, what can

you do with it? Can you make other people happy?

Rinpoche: Someone who reaches this level of mind is free from the

first to levels of suffering, but the mind of such an evolved being

still experiences the all-pervasive suffering. But if that mind is

embraced by the altruistic state of mind called bodhicitta, then thathighly evolved mind can be utilized in order to benefit oneself as

well as others. The goal of the meditating Buddhist is not to reach

the top of the samsaric mind, but rather to transcend it, to

experience total liberation from the vicious circle of samsara.

Q: When you take the bodhisattva vow, you say that you will not

attain enlightenment before other beings have attained

enlightenment. That will never happen. Laughter.


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Rinpoche: The reason for taking the bodhisattva vow is that when

one becomes enlightened, and you will be, one remains neither in

the extreme of nirvana nor the extreme of samsara. If you can

genuinely and honestly do this, then the tremendous scope of thismind will hasten your enlightenment. So you dont need to worry.

If an individual claims that he or she will create well-being one the

whole face of the earth, then his or her mind is genuinely embraced

by an altruistic attitude. This individual will experience a

tremendous ease and comfort within himself or herself. The inner

serenity of such an individual will benefit everybody he or she

comes in contact with. Not only that, the scope of this mind has

become so big that there remain no exclusions; it becomes an all

inclusive mind.

Translated by Lama Changchub at Karma Tashi Ling Buddhist Centre,

Norway
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