
André Pais's review
Dec 13, 2022
it was amazing
bookshelves: currently-readingReading for the 2nd time. Most recently started December 13, 2022.
Started reading it recently, but I'm impressed with the clarity, sweetness, directness and profundity of the writing. In some sections it reminds me of Tarthang Tulku's writings, which is a big compliment coming from me.
I've flirted with this book in the past, but never actually got around to read it. I'm happy I've finally done it. This book is not a Dharma Jewel - this is a whole Island of Dharma Jewels. The topic is the six bardos, which basically covers all existential states we can find ourselves in, according to Buddhism; and the book lays it out for us what we can do to make good use of those states - if liberation is what we're seeking.
I'll put some excerpts here and in the comments:
(1) creation stage visualization practice and (2) completion stage dissolution practice. Visualization practice brings about a vivid understanding of our wisdom body and wisdom speech, while completion stage practice connects us directly to our wisdom mind.
Creation stage practice can be generally divided into: (1) visualization and (2) mantra recitation. After we establish the visualization of the deities we recite their mantra.
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In Vajrayana, when we visualize our environment and ourselves as enlightened, we’re bringing out our inner, self-born awareness wisdom without being disturbed by duality and habitual patterns. We’re discovering the splendid qualities of our inner primordial wisdom, which
then shines out through our body and speech. Our body becomes primordial wisdom form and our speech becomes primordial wisdom sound. When the sunlight of our inborn nature of primordial wisdom shines through our speech and body, we’re inseparable from Guru Padmasambhava. In fact, we are Guru Padmasambhava. Our nature of self-born wisdom awareness is absolute Guru Padmasambhava.
When our true nature arises, it transforms all external formations into that wisdom state so there is no interference by dualistic habitual patterns or doubt and hesitation. We stand tall and firm in our original nature as absolute Guru Padmasambhava, without becoming timid and making all kinds of different excuses. We’re confident and fearless in bringing out our beauty and nature. Our nature is love. Our nature is compassion. Our nature is intelligence. Our nature is wisdom. Our nature is beautiful, and we’re going to bring that up. This is known as “practice.” Practice means bringing out our inner heart qualities, and this is the essence of visualization.
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Where does this visualization come from? It comes from our self-born primordial wisdom awareness, which is beyond any conceptions or habitual patterns, any rules, regulations, or guidelines. This beautiful, authentic nature and its splendor reside in our heart center. In visualization practice it comes out instantly. Without any hesitation, doubt, or fear, we jump into the ocean of our nature, and swim and play all these beautiful games of practice displays.
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Mantra recitation is the heat of love, compassion, and wisdom that melts the ice of duality. It’s the light that clears away the darkness of ignorance. This indestructible sound is great emptiness. We can see this immediately. The moment right after sound arises, it dissolves and then reappears. It’s an ongoing, spiralling wheel carrying a tremendous magnitude of power, blessings, and abilities through every galaxy. But it doesn’t just start in some local area in our body. Of course it might appear very localized, but actually it’s a vibrating, ripple effect moving through all physical systems— our .channels, winds, and the entire space of our inner body, as well as through the entire universe. All of this begins from the primordial wisdom nature of our mind, the self-born Guru Padmasambhava. The whole universe of sound is transformed into a beautiful vajra sound system. Mantra is not an isolated thing happening once in a while. It’s the ongoing sound system of the mandala. We’re discovering the infinite, continuous, unceasing sound system of the vajra.
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As we continue to practice visualization, we deepen our understanding that the nature of all forms and sounds is emptiness. Body and speech are both the transcendental wisdom rainbow body. Everything is in this wisdom state. When we discover the indestructible nature of our body and speech, and maintain our realization of the empty, transcendental nature of all forms and sounds, this is visualization practice.
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This world is translucent.. . everything is translucent. That's why the second practice is called Illusory Body practice. My body is an illusion body and this world is an illusion world. This doesn’t mean that my body and the world are not useful. It means that everything is naturally translucent like a rainbow. This is how the nature is.
Why don’t we see this? Why do we only see concrete things? Duality makes everything appear substantial and concrete. In reality, everything is translucent, shimmering light.
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Our body is lucid, the tangible world is lucid, sound is lucid, and mind is lucid. In other words, mind is transparent, sound is transparent, and form is transparent. Bring up this realization.
The nature is not only translucent—it’s translucent with blissfulness and clarity. Everything is beautiful and magical. Objects aren’t just structurally concrete. According to the Vajrayana and Mahayana teachings, every moment is translucent, transforming, manifesting, and emanating, which is why all these changes happen. We tend to only see the big changes due to our dualistic habitual patterns. On the subtle level, the nature is continuously multiplying as different emanations. This is the known as the “retinue of the absolute Guru Padmasambhava.” Absolute Guru Padmasambhava remains the same—great bliss-emptiness and clarity—but he’s always surrounded by these magical, displays of beauty. These retinues and their source are not really different, even though they appear as different forms.
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Everything is translucent clear light. That’s what we’re talking about when we discuss the mind. But it’s not only mind— everything is a beautiful display of absolute Guru Padmasambhava, the blissful, transcendental wisdom rainbow state of the nature. Again, the nature of absolute Guru Padmasambhava and his retinue of dynamic appearances are the same.
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Everything is like a dream. There’s no difference between our waking experiences during the daytime and our sleeping dreams at nighttime. When we’re not hindered by duality, we see that everything is a dream. We could also say that everything is real. It’s not that dreams are unreal and this is real. Whichever word we want to use, whether it’s ‘dream’ or ‘reality,’ if everything is real, everything is real. If everything is a dream, everything is a dream. Their nature is the same. There’s no difference. That’s what the Buddha and Guru Padmasambhava taught, and to some degree we can experience this.
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When we look at all those changes in the past, they’re really just dreams. What’s the difference between my dream last night and everything that happened in the past? Really, what's the difference? This gathering is also a dream. We’re in another stage of the dream, exploring and analyzing the beautiful qualities of dreams. But it’s a dream. Bring up this realization vividly as it is, and touch the nature itself without being dislocated by the power of duality, the power of our misunderstanding. Now we’re relocating and reorganizing our understanding based on our clear knowledge of absolute Guru Padmasambhava. This is Dream Yoga practice. We bring up our realization of the nature exactly as it is. All these dynamic displays and surroundings are the dream retinues of the absolute Guru Padmasambhava.
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In general, on the absolute level, following exactly in the footsteps of the absolute Guru Padmasambhava means to liberate all dualities as dynamic wisdom displays. When you have this determination, courage, and confidence, and you embrace everything beautifully without grasping and clinging on to it, then what comes? Blessing.
“Blessing” is when you discover the nature of bliss-emptiness and its splendid, magnificent qualities exactly and completely as they are without being disturbed or obscured by any mundane habitual patterns. This is the ultimate blessing.
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Buddhism is a teaching of non-violence, kindness, and compassion, as well as respect and appreciation for all living beings. Being harmonious and peaceful with everything that exists is the foundation of the entire teaching of Buddha Shakyamuni.
The great teacher Buddha Shakyamuni said that this is our nature—these qualities are not new ideas or dogma that you bring into your life only when you practice Buddhism. Love, kindness, and compassion are the basic nature of every living being. When we connect with this nature, it is so soothing; we feel more calm and peaceful, as well as more joy and satisfaction. Therefore, as we practice and reflect on life, death, and dying, the Buddha always emphasized that we should ignite our basic goodness qualities of love, kindness, and compassion, which in Buddhism are known as “bodhichitta,” or the “mind of enlightenment.” This will help us better understand the meaning of the natural rhythm and process of life and death.
The entire universe, including ourselves, is based on this nature. We never go out of the nature. Actually, we can't go outside of the nature, and we’ve never been apart from it. Everyone has this same basic nature—every tiny movement and everything in general moves according to the nature's rhythm and is a part of the natural process. In this way, life is natural, death is natural, and even the period after death is natural. These are all ongoing processes of the same nature. We should try to continually embrace all of the ways that nature manifests itself without fear. When we accept the nature with confidence and joy, everything is seen as a beautiful process.
This entire natural system moves in cycles. We can see this when we look at the movements of day and night. If there is day, then definitely there will be twilight and nightfall. If there is night, there will be dawn, morning, and daylight. This process continues, day after day and night after night, like a spiral. Similarly, winter, spring, summer, and autumn continually rotate into one another. When you look at all the cycles, from galaxies to our own bodies, every natural system is continually spiralling, breathing in and out and then pausing, before breathing in and out again. That is how the process of everything works.
Buddha Shakyamuni said this throughout his teaching, and it was also taught by Guru Padmasambhava and all the other great practitioners and masters. Every system is a part of the nature. There is nothing outside of the nature. Everything exists within this frame, and we ourselves are also a part of that. It is not that the nature is on one side, and we are on another side. We are part of the nature itself.
When we look at the external world, we see that everything goes through a similar process of birth, growth, and eventually comes to an end. But that is not the final end of the process. If the perfect causes and conditions meet, new, rejuvenated qualities emerge from what has fallen apart, and the process continues. This happens with the seasons and plants and everything. Nothing ever actually ends. When something passes, it continues into the beginning of a new cycle.
Our life is the same. We take birth, grow up, and then die. According to Buddhism, death is not the end of life. In a way, death is the beginning of another era or chapter of life—we continue the process of life and death. Nothing ever really stops. As long as the right causes and conditions exist, everything continues—the light continues to spark without end In Buddhism, this is known as “karma.” Karma never ends. In a way, karma is a continual chain reaction. The first moment is the cause and condition, and the next moment becomes the result. That very result becomes the cause and condition for the following moment. Each moment ignites and rejuvenates itself in a continual process that never ends. This is how we continually go through life after life. In brief, this is the general view of the process of life and death in Buddhism
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Loving-kindness and compassion are really so important. They are not important because religion says so. According to the Buddha, these have nothing to do with religion—they are simply the nature of the mind. Everybody appreciates love and compassion because they are natural qualities. Religion may talk about or emphasize these qualities a little more, but aside from that, love and compassion are really just the nature of the mind. Therefore we should always connect our mind with its nature of love and compassion. When we connect to these qualities, we feel a sense of genuineness in our hearts and minds. We feel more relaxed, more calm, and peaceful. We also feel more satisfaction and joy. A very deep joy fills our hearts and minds when we have thoughts of love, compassion, and kindness. We can see this for ourselves.
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As we move closer to our nature of acceptance, openness, freedom, love, and compassion—if we allow ourselves to be filled up with our nature’s beauty as it is, then everything in this life and after this life becomes a beautiful show of the natures rhythm. There is really nothing to be scared of, nothing that is alien or strange. It’s all a part of the display of the nature itself.
This beautiful nature is the nature of everything, including our mind. Our mind is naturally filled with love, compassion, and wisdom. These qualities are completely united. They are inseparable from one another. Love is emptiness, and emptiness is love. Compassion is emptiness, and emptiness is compassion. There is really no separation at all. Buddhism talks a lot about “emptiness.” Emptiness is not a vague, blank negation state of mind. Emptiness is total freedom, infinity, and fullness. It is beyond all territories, limitations, and boundaries. It’s not some icy, cold, hollow state. Emptiness is bursting with total freedom. Therefore, the Buddha taught that emptiness is loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is emptiness. Compassion is emptiness, and emptiness is compassion.
The bardos don’t exist outside of us. They are the context of our experience. This is very important to understand. Don’t think that you are only in the bardo at certain times. The entire universe of samsara and nirvana happens within the bardos. From the onset of our dreams until we completely wake up is all bardo territory. As long as we are trapped by ego-clinging and attachment, we're in the bardo.
Even highly realized beings and great practitioners arise within this process, but they are already awake so they don’t make false distinctions between the bardo and pristine awareness. They understand that everything that appears is a display of primordial wisdom.
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In order to awaken sentient beings of various capacities, Buddha Shakyamuni offered many levels of instruction that have been categorized into nine yanas, or levels of study and practice. The Zhitro, which is translated as the “peaceful and wrathful deities,” is considered part of the Inner Tantras. It is actually a condensed teaching based on the essential meaning of the Guhyagarbha Tantra, combined with the views expressed in the Anuyoga and Atiyoga teachings. Many great masters have said that the Zhitro teachings are the “Inner Tantra of the Inner Tantras.” In this case, we’re not making distinctions among the various Inner Tantras, nor between the creation and completion stages, but joining them all together. This is the union of rigpa and emptiness, the oneness of birth, death, and life experiences. There is no basis for discriminating because all are aspects of one true nature. Nothing is rejected or exclusively accepted. This teaching is known as the one that unifies everything into a single state.
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When the birthplace bardo is dawning upon me, There is no spare time in this life; abandoning laziness...5
We can never be sure how long we will be in the bardo of the living. No one can say. When and where we will die is always uncertain. It is completely unpredictable. No matter how rich or clever you are, you can never know how much longer you have to live. Since we’re not sure how long this life will last, Guru Padmasambhava advises us to abandon laziness.
Now is the time to increase appreciation and gratitude for our life situation, to arouse ourselves, and make a joyful effort to realize great results. We should develop confidence and be happy in our endeavors. Don’t just assume that you’re worthless and incapable. Don’t let this opportunity slip by and be a cause for regret Learn to work effectively, happily, and with firm commitment. The biggest obstacle to spiritual progress is laziness. There are many forms of laziness, but they all share the feeling that there is plenty of time. “I won’t bother with this today. I’ll do it later.” When we think like this again and again, we miss many important opportunities and lose sight of our goal. That is the worst thing about laziness.
One type of laziness is based on doubt: “How could I ever do this?” You put yourself down, and even feel special in considering yourself so low and incapable. To overcome this requires courage. Discover your natural dignity. Feel the preciousness of this moment: how amazing it is to be alive! If you understand the truth of this, there’s nothing that you can’t accomplish. That’s exactly what the Buddha and many other great masters did. They worked on the basis of this inspiration. Since we all have buddha-nature and inherent wisdom, why can’t we do as they did? We need to apply ourselves diligently and engage in our practice fearlessly.
Another type of laziness has to do with attaching to lesser interests and missing the greater opportunity. You know that the practice is special, you have some awareness that this is a very unique moment, and you are inspired by this beautiful opening, but you still waste time and cling to meaningless, worldly involvements. You’re like a cat who is always trying to catch another mouse. Guru Padmasambhava taught that this kind of activity is as endless as waves on the ocean. Just when you think you’re going to finish, the next wave arrives, and then another. There is always something else to do or acquire. This form of laziness involves staying distracted with coundess things to achieve and do. There will never come a time when we’ve completed everything. These preoccupations never cease. Unaware of the cause of this unsettledness, we habitually cling to external things and are subject to an endless procession of wandering thoughts and impulsive actions. This happens all the time when we’re attached to external things.
If we start looking inwardly, we will discover the source of all these restless feelings. We will also find joy, tranquility, and thoughts that bring peace and harmony.
Don’t believe this just because Guru Padmasambhava said it. Look into the history of renowned people, warriors, kings, or those with great artistic talent. All of them died with dreams and projects unfulfilled. Everyone leaves this world with unfinished business. Investigate this for yourself. You’ll find that this is really true.
When we see laziness in ourselves, what should we do? Respond immediately and with vigor. Don’t fall for, “I will do it later.” You don’t have to be patient with laziness. Guru Padmasambhava said that when you observe laziness in yourself, act like a timid person who has just discovered that a snake has crawled up into his lap. You would not just sit there to see what the snake does next. You’d get right up, throw it off, and run away! Guru Padmasambhava also said that to overcome laziness you must act immediately, like a beautiful lady whose hair has just caught on fire. These are very clear examples about how to respond to laziness.
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Meditation is the fruit of study and contemplation. In this context, meditation doesn’t mean merely sitting calmly and focusing the mind on an external object; here we are resting our mind in the true nature. Since the true nature pervades everything both internally and externally, meditating on it clarifies our view and helps us to fully understand both subjective and objective phenomena. The focus in meditation should be on the nature of the mind itself. This will reveal everything.
Meditation on the true nature yields a lucid clarity and profound openness that is very mysterious. Abiding continuously in that state will cause beautiful qualities like compassion and wisdom to arise and shine naturally. At first, thoughts will become less interesting or insistent. As you learn to abide in deep meditation for longer periods, dualistic conceptions will be completely pacified. When you become freely established in the radiance of the primordial nature, thoughts will become like servants. At that point, you will have a greater capacity to take responsibility for your mental events.