Chandrakirtis entrance to the middle way (28)

dents push this teacher in order to guard this teacher’s health? For instance, maybe some doctors want to treat this precious teacher in a certain way and the teacher does not really believe in Western medicine, unless it is a total emergency Given that the students want to their very best to prolong the life and teachings of this person, how far should they push? Rinpoche: You can insist a little bit but not too much Look, for example, at Milarepa’s life story When he was sick, his students wanted him to take medicine and to long life rituals They insisted a little bit, but they let it go after awhile They did not push it It is possible that someone can get well naturally, and if that is the case, then there is no need to insist It is also the case that you might take the medicine and die anyway If that were to happen, then insisting would have been of no benefit It is much better for the lama to pass slowly away in his or her own residence or in his or her own shrine room It would be good for you to read about Milarepa’s passing into nirvana in his life story understand selflessness and you have to be able to meditate on the progressive stages of emptiness In order to give rise to greater compassion, we need to work on developing [this view of emptiness and the ability to maintain it]; we need to consciously cultivate it For example, there is a line from Karma Chagmay’s Aspiration Prayer for the Pure Land of Dewachen, in which he says, “Friends and relatives, wealth and animals are all illusory, so may I have the compassion for those beings to whom I feel close that is free from attachment to them as being real.” If we have this view of the practice of emptiness and compassion in union, then we will be of great benefit to our friends and loved ones We will not take them to be real, so we will not regard them in a confused way, and at the same time we will have [unconfused] compassion for them, which will benefit them That is why the practice of emptiness and compassion in union is so important The practice of emptiness and compassion in union is so important Question: Going back a moment to hope and fear about dying and the fears of death, I find, both in myself and with the people that I work with, that there is a lowering of the fear of death itself, but that what comes up for dying people is an enormous sadness or grief or difficulty over the fact that death will separate them from their loved ones And similarly, the grief and the sadness and the pain of the loved ones are that they will be separated from the dying person Would Rinpoche please give us some way to help with that particular fear and affliction? Rinpoche: Relatives need to have love for the one who is going to pass away, but love that is free of taking the whole situation to be real, love that knows that it is just like a dream In order to understand that it is not real, you have to Question: Rinpoche, thank you for your teachings This is a much more basic question If the confused appearance and the confused perception of self and others as truly existent [are in error, and self and other not truly exist but exist only as mere appearances in dependence upon one another], then it would seem that confused perception and confused appearances not truly exist either If that is the case, is awareness a mere conceptualization that is not truly existent, and if so, or if not, or if neither, would Rinpoche please comment? Translator: By awareness you mean the awareness that transcends mundane mental activity—primordial wisdom—or just awareness in everyday life? Question: The awareness that transcends Rinpoche: It is correct to understand that appearances of perceived objects and perceiving SHENPEN ÖSEL 141 subjects are confused appearances, but it is also correct to understand that confusion itself does not really exist either Therefore, our understanding of appearances has to transcend both the notion that they are real and the notion that they are confused Their true nature goes beyond confusion or the lack of it With regard to awareness transcending this ordinary way in which we perceive things, there is an imputed or imagined aspect of it, a conceptually fabricated aspect of it—which is when we think awareness that transcends ordinary mental activity—that is relative, that is a phenomenon of relative or apparent reality But the actual nature of the awareness itself—which is not the subject of our thought—is inexpressible and beyond all notion of what it might be When we think, “awareness transcending ordinary mental activity,” that is a name; the basis to which we give this name is the genuine nature of reality, wisdom beyond conceptual fabrication When we think that the name and the object to which we give the name are the same thing, then that is the imaginary aspect of our experience The thought that conceives of this awareness transcending ordinary mental activity is the dependent nature (or aspect of our experience) And the essence of that thought is the perfectly existent aspect of our experience The perfectly existent nature is the wisdom beyond conceptual fabrication itself In order to understand the shentong presentation properly, we have to see how these three aspects of experience, these three natures, apply to every single phenomena It is the same with the middle way consequence school’s presentation The prasangika madhyamika, the consequence school, explains that the true nature of reality is beyond all conceptual fabrications There is not a single fabrication or notion that exists in the true nature of reality, but when we think this thought of freedom from fabrication, then it becomes relative; even though the true nature of reality transcends all fabrications, the thought of the freedom from fabrications is a relative phenomena The true nature of reality is inexpressible, but as soon as we say that, what we are thinking of becomes a relative phenomenon Right? Similarly, the true nature of reality transcends the intellect and concepts, but as soon as we conceive of it, that concept is relative And that is why the consequence school teaches that the true nature of reality is inexpressible; it is without any reference point; it is beyond all ideas of what it might be, and so the way to meditate on it is just to let go and relax within that inexpressibility, within that freedom from fixations and reference points Just let go and relax Similarly, if we think “awareness transcending ordinary mental activity,” then that becomes the imaginary aspect If we express it in speech it becomes imaginary So, we not conceive of it in meditation; we just let go and relax within it Therefore, within awareness transcending ordinary mental fabrications, ordinary mental activity, just rest naturally; just rest in its own essence naturally without any notion of there being something to rest in or someone resting Transcend that As Milarepa describes it, “When you know the true nature of everything to be known, then wisdom that is aware of the true nature is like a cloud-free sky.” That likening of wisdom to a cloud-free sky is teaching from the perspective of emptiness or the aspect of emptiness In the next verse he sings, “When the mud settles down and mind’s river is crystal clear, self-arisen awareness is like a polished mirror’s shine.” In this verse, he teaches about the clarity, the luminosity aspect of wisdom In fact, the true nature of this wisdom is clarity and emptiness undifferentiable from each other, inseparable from each other That is how it is; yet as soon as we express that, it becomes relative It is not the Our understanding of appearances has to transcend both the notion that they are real and the notion that they are confused 142 SHENPEN ÖSEL genuine nature anymore; it is a relative concept The true nature of mind is awareness and emptiness undifferentiable, but if that is explained to us at the beginning, then we have to question what is awareness and what is emptiness Therefore, first the rangtong [school of prasangika madhyamika] explains what emptiness is, and then the shentong [school of prasangika madhyamika] explains what awareness is Then we can understand that, inseparable from each other, they are the nature of reality To say that they are undifferentiable means that they are not two things; there is not awareness on the one hand, and emptiness on the other There is no separating them out When we separate them, when we engage in thinking about awareness or emptiness separately, then we are just focusing on a conceptual isolate; we are just isolating one quality conceptually But that is not the nature of reality that to take place, such as dharma protectors? Or our aspirations themselves cause such things to happen? Or is it just completely a way of looking at your mind? Rinpoche: With regard to tonglen practice, in fact, there are individuals who are able actually to have it work, [who are actually able to exchange their happiness for others’ suffering.] When they become realized beings, they can actually it, and even some ordinary beings can actually it just through the power of their aspiration prayers With regard to this prayer, “If it is better for me to be sick, may I be sick; if it is better for me to die, may I die,” and so forth, you are praying to the three rare and supreme ones (buddha, dharma, and sangha) When we ask the question, “Are they going to make it happen,” we have to remember that there are no real three rare and supreme ones to make anything happen Right? Everything is just the coming together of causes and conditions, like in a dream If also you say, “Well it is not the three jewels that makes it happen; it is my aspiration prayer that makes it happen,” again, we have to remember that the aspiration prayer is not real and we are not real; they are all just the coming together of causes and conditions There is no assertion here of any truly existent result If we spent a great deal of time making this aspiration prayer to free ourselves from hope and fear of death, and then, finally, at the point when we are about to die, we get frightened, then that is the way of dummies Question: When we practice reverse meditation in conjunction with tonglen, we take all the suffering from all these sentient beings and are overjoyed that they are relieved of their sufferings, but at the same time we also take joy in that We think “Oh, I have all this sickness and pain, which will be good for my meditation practice; it will inspire me to practice dharma.” Is that joy in the sickness and pain then sent back out? Rinpoche: Yes, that is good You can send the happiness out twice Question: When we make aspirations that embody freedom from hope and fear—such as, if it is better for me to be sick, may I be sick—is there actually a force or some forces that cause Question: So is that coming together of causes and conditions actually affected in that direction by doing that? Rinpoche: Yes And if you get the result of your prayer—if you pray, “If it is better for me to die, may I die,” and you get that result, then be happy to get it If we spent a great deal of time making this aspiration prayer to free ourselves SHENPEN ÖSEL 143 from hope and fear of death, saying, “If it is better for me to die, may I die,” and then, finally at the point when we are about to die, we get frightened by that, then that is the way of dummies Since all phenomena are of the nature of emptiness and are therefore just mere dependently arisen appearances, there is no need to be afraid of a single one of them Nevertheless, we should aspire to continue to cultivate compassion and to benefit others If we are going to be afraid of anything, it should be that we will be free of compassion So it is like that So if we sing the song, Three Kinds of Confidence in Genuine Reality, we will understand it In the genuine nature of reality there is no birth; there is no death; happiness and suffering are undifferentiable; samsara and nirvana are undifferentiable [Students sing the song, while shouting at the end of each verse, with a shout different from but having the same kind of exuberance as a cowboy yell during roundup or a mariachi yell See page 116.] Shouting like that is a method to enable us to rest free from concepts The view of the three kinds of confidence is the view that one would have if one dreamed and knew that one was dreaming It would be good for all of us to sing this song, The Eight Cases of Basic Goodness, many times Especially when we get sick, it is very important to sing it again and again By singing it again and again, by thinking about it again and again, by cultivating the view and meditation again and again, it will become more and more powerful for us As a parting aspiration, by cultivating and practicing what is taught in The Seven Delights (See page 145.) and The Eight Cases of Basic Goodness Not to Be Shunned, may you perfect this practice, and through it, be of great benefit to all the limitless number of beings who are sick Now let’s make an aspiration prayer for all sentient beings with whom we have either a good or a bad connection If we are going to be afraid of anything, it should be that we will be free of compassion All you sentient beings I have a good or bad connection with As soon as you have left this confused dimension May you be born in the West in Sukavati And once you’re born there, complete the bhumis and the paths Sarva Mangalam! 144 SHENPEN ÖSEL Seven Delights Namo Ratna Guru When thoughts that there is something perceived and a perceiver Lure my mind away and distract, I don’t close my senses’ gateways to meditate without them But plunge straight into their essential point They’re like clouds in the sky, there’s this shimmer where they fly; Thoughts that rise, for me sheer delight! When kleshas get me going and their heat has got me burning, I try no antidote to set them right; Like an alchemistic potion turning metal into gold, What lies in kleshas’ power to bestow Is bliss without contagion, completely undefiled; Kleshas coming up, sheer delight! When I’m plagued by god-like forces or demonic interference, I not drive them out with rites and spells; The thing to chase away is the egoistic thinking Built up on the idea of a self This will turn those ranks of maras into your own special forces; When obstacles arise, sheer delight! When my body has succumbed to attacks of painful illness, I not count on medical relief But take that very illness as a path and by its power Remove the obscurations blocking me, And use it to encourage the qualities worthwhile; When illness rears its head, sheer delight! When it’s time to leave this body, this illusionary tangle, Don’t cause yourself anxiety and grief; The thing that you should train in and clear up for yourself is— There’s no such thing as dying to be done It’s just clear light, the mother, and child clear light uniting; When mind forsakes the body, sheer delight! When the whole thing’s just not working, everything’s lined up against you, Don’t try to find some way to change it all; Here the point to make your practice is reverse the way you see it, Don’t try to make it stop or to improve Adverse conditions happen, when they it’s so delightful— They make a little song of sheer delight! Composed by the Lord Götsangpa, translated by Jim Scott/Anne Buchardi, August 2, 1996, Karme Chöling, Barnet, Vermont When samsara with its anguish has me writhing in its torments, Instead of wallowing in misery, I take the greater burden down the greater path to travel And let compassion set me up To take upon myself the sufferings of others; When karmic consequences bloom, delight! SHENPEN ÖSEL 145 ... each other, they are the nature of reality To say that they are undifferentiable means that they are not two things; there is not awareness on the one hand, and emptiness on the other There is... mind away and distract, I don’t close my senses’ gateways to meditate without them But plunge straight into their essential point They’re like clouds in the sky, there’s this shimmer where they... understand the shentong presentation properly, we have to see how these three aspects of experience, these three natures, apply to every single phenomena It is the same with the middle way consequence