Tilopa had a vision of the Buddha Vajrahara the ultimate primordial Buddha or Adi Buddha
From SM's lecture:
Spontaneous friendship that never ends.
Naropa was a great scholar "Maha Siddha Naropa"
"spiritually ignited" people think that speaking about spirituality is to be avoided, but words and symbols are not in opposition they cannot.
wiki reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilopa
everything arising n having form and shape - everything arising out of consciousness
when consciousness perceives itself within itself phenomenon appear
everything changes, nothing is the same moment-to moment
can take even deeper - (jw - creation is occurring in this moment, flowing, recreated, never still, arising spontaneously, nothing that appears stays the same)
sm- the whole universe is in this flow and flux
people are constantly trying to grab a trophy - "I have it" but it is impossible to determine what something is at its root
jw- this is the experience of the unknown, that nothing can be truly known
sm - u r already enlightened (u r awareness) - u will recognize -
T -luminosity of awareness T - this limitless radiance cannot be contained in a language or system
jw - we are bumping up against the limit of the minds ability to grasp...beyond that limit is the wordless- cognitive framing, trying to assemble words in the finest possible way - the joy of it, the potential for service
Buddha - assertions, the first word, are not true and erroneous (Lankavatara)
sm - all of life exists within this awareness, this consciousness - nothing u can say, u simply perceive
humans dont like change but everything changes
jw - humans dont like the unknown because it threatens the idea of change
sm - watch breath, move in and out with conscious awareness, acquire a peaceful mind (giving as an exercise (Mahamudra, way of being, clarity, doesnt like "understanding")
jw - thoughts cease momentarily at the end of the relaxed breath - during the pause- my repeated experience from observing breath
T-sm - the obsessive use of meditative disciplines or perennial study of scriptures and philosophy will never bring about this wonderful realization, this truth -
sm - Mahayana and Theravada Buddhisms - scholars - keep all the scriptures, know them etc but they are not what brings realization- the brilliant awareness is central and permeating all experiences
T - abandon even the desire to be free from desires
Nis - it is the last desire to go
jw - the looking back is a final unknowable desire??
sm - the experiencer himself is the brilliance of awareness. We want to fight with our thinking - if sm has a rare neg thought arises, "I dont want to think about that" and it flows away...
T the one who never dwells in distraction (analysis) and who never divides or separates
sm - a disciple had a strong satori and attempted to grab it and put it into categories and it closed the insight. Very important to not analyze.
jw - his heart was not sufficiently opened - the great heart is the source of analysis and must be recognized - it drives the insight (it has been my major failing on my spiritual journey) or he had opening to emptiness, or the ego grabbing raised a sense of superiority (intellectual egomaniac)
sm - whatever we speak about is an arrow pointing, is incomprehensible and undefinable
T-one who abandons craving for authority and definition - sm -that what you are is beyond knowledge. It is perceiving and recognizing - the perceiver and perceiving as being seamless.
T - perceives the authentic meaning hidden in the ancient scriptures. sm - I am not on a side other than your own - not right or wrong but something needs to be seen for what it is.
T - neg viewpoints and their instincts are burned out...like camphor.
sm - just consider just being open in the mind jw - interesting sm doesnt mention the heart so much, when she is the great heart (is it assumed?)
SM - T is singing from his love to Naropa and is giving the gift of this song
trying to ignore or reject or grasp awareness...most masters would say you have to have a master
you must cultivate the friendship of a Mahamudra, a master...your guru must be able to show you, but you must go, must cultivate the gracious friendship...sm - hasnt met one? who has - there are some who have deepened the relationship w her as she deepened the relationship maharajji...he was coming from a broader space, a deeper awareness than her...sm cannot say there are no disciples of hers that havent gone deep into the relationship w her. You personally know how deep have moved into a gracious friendship with me. sm told him "I want to be exactly like you" saw in the first minute she met him. she has indeed seen people enter their limitless mind through their relationship with her. Whenever she has a rough edge in a relationship, someone is being selfish. That's the only problem she has with anyone. "They're not willing to go deep or maybe they come for the energy. They apply the solution with limited motivation. She has a hard time with students who wont move beyond it. If it continues she doesn't want to be with them. There is some other reason they are there" (jw - THE HEART - because i experienced it directly bigger than life!!). when she says incomprehensible she means it is beyond ability to analyze it...open your mind to the grand mystery (jw - heart again?? I am in the way of the heart??) sm - "I don't know who I am, i just am"
T trust only the approach that is utterly vast and profound. This nobility and gentleness...is the traceless path of the Buddhas...sm - either you perceive it or you don't. sm -There is no system that brings you to enlightenment because you have never left.
T - The universe exists in a deep illusive way that can never be grasped or frozen. (sm - you cant grasp or hold it) into the great mountain wilderness - the wide open mahamudra. When you receive the mahamudra all sense of rank and attainment will disappear. sm - this is important! you are immeasurable, no one is greater or lesser, it is incomprehensible to be above anyone, particularly spiritually. One who clings to mental processes cannot awaken to the brilliance of the mind. sm - not against processes, sometimes it takes time - gets a little wider, we go a little deeper, so on. Clinging to process to get some insight she feels strongly about. It is outdated. sm - doesn't hold an out of character thought, lets it be, becomes thinner and thinner.
sm - every moment is new and fresh. jw - the moment arising from the unknown where anything is possible, whatever arises is a surprise.
sm - when the yogi learns every moment is new...he can change it...anything you want to shift and change can be done easily, any shift in attitude...be aware of everything being put out here. "Like dreams without solid substance they can never become rigid or binding." Whatever is not really there can never bind you. It just looks like it is. Its going to be your pathway and teaching, all the things that come from relationships, your neighbors, your family, the whole world is one family- wonderfuly to realize it. "Remain with out any compulsion in the landscape of freedom" sm - be free of conclusion. eg sometimes people don't see the changes we made, who we are now instead of 10 years ago. Its our responsibility to see in the moment also, don't hold the person in an opinion or view. Every moment is fresh and new. Mind is boundless radiance, intelligence is non-local. Mind is everywhere. How many times do you need to hear it before you can utilize or apply it to your life. Don't you think its really important to move along? We cling to mental processes because its comfortable. "I have never really understood long processes. If somebody tells me 'I can change my mind' ... I can change my mind (examples) all the time the mind is changing...better to say why we don't change our mind in important times, is beyond me. " examples of people who are with her for many years with deep devotion but...they don't seem to move along. she likes to push and experiment and ...like a conductor...the people who are with her are skilled, intelligent, creative -- likes -- she wonders why the resistance? One who clings to mental processes cannot awaken to the brilliance of the mind. sm - give up the idea of worthiness. When you attempt to hand someone a lump of gold and the resistance comes up - feel like they want to stay in whiny place...
(sm is making a big case about students resisting and being stuck. She says Naropa didn't need to hear that about being stuck, Tilopa was spouting a great beauty, a gift to Naropa.
T - Strenuously seeking truth by investigation and concentration will never appreciate the unthinkable simplicity and bliss that abide at the core. sm - this is to recognize ... everything is incredible mysterious and incomprehensible. To push your mind to try to understand. (she also said you can learn, the mind can learn!). She read the dictionary def of incomprehensible. Leaves your mind a blank, etc.
T - You need not expend great effort nor store up extensive spiritual power remain in the flow of pure awareness. sm - relax deeply, feel that peace from within your being. You dont need to store up extensive...
T- Mahamudra neither accepts or rejects any current of energy either internal or external.
sm - is sees you abusing yourself with substance or rigidity, etc will point it out. Wine, tobacco, love affair - 1st feels you are your own authority...etc. The mahamudra doesn't accept or reject any of it. When you get into that awareness you dont have to weigh anything out just see it for what it is. Be open. For looking onto others and deciding what they re doing - kind of a judgment.
T- cut the root of the vine that chokes the tree ands its clinging tendrils wither away entirely.. ...sever the conventionally grasping mind..
sm - in most people's lives ...somebody in the circle said...before i reach the joy what do i have to let go of?" they started naming things to let go of...the answer is NO just go to the joy and all bondage will go away..what u r conscious of is consciousness itself...you cannot add or subtract from what is not already here (JW nothing is missing and nothing is here that isn't supposed to be here)
sm - i have often said it doesn't matter of u believe or don't, accept or reject...see it or blind - it is itself pristine, unobstructed and unstained, it is always true in everything that is or is not. Bubbles of experience don't do anything to the water. Water is always water. When u perceive, accept and are in awe, the appearances of division disappear into reality. When u r so open that u see that thoughts arise and disappear, time...cultures...stars...arise and disappear. Consciousness is always consciousness (jw - consciousness is unity appearing as many-ness, the nature of many-ness)
T - supreme knowing knows no separate subject or object sm - the seat of wisdom is unknowing (jw - exploring the root of knowing find the mind, arising from the great heart, arising from the unknown (the unformed potential of the present moment - supreme moment - from which all form arises).
sm - don't attain anything - it is a recognition, an acknowledgment, what is true in oneself plays itself out by itself - doesn't look into the past - doesn't look to the future when things are "better" nor even the present. the present is also very slippery (jw - present awareness v a moment in time).
T - when maturity is reached the river flows smoothly and patiently with the powerful sweep of the Ganges. sm -in my view, (my view) there is never a time when you don't have some challenge before you. Overbids life is like that but it takes maturity to just move into the joy. (jw - maturity is resting, balanced, comfortable in the unknowable and no longer supported by the mind).
T- emptying into the ocean of the mahamudra the water becomes ever expanding light which pours into a great light without direction, without destination... sm - not sure if likes the word state - ((jw - seems to put limit on it) sm - the heart is a very good place to go because it is the doorway to the one, and the one is a portal to the totality.
Song sung by T to Naropa, his enlightened disciple.
Story re Maharajji and Bubba. M sitting w B. B said Hansseraj isnt this a beautiful night (it was afternoon) M said look at those stars and isnt the moon beautiful...B said it is raining look at rainbow...M said y i see it very well...B said but M my lips are parched and it is hot, M said Ill get us some water...talk about evening, clouds, sunset, etc. (jw - disciple is following Matser absolutely, and they are basking in the humor of the illusion).
JW IMPRESSIONS FROM S OF T:
LIKE A TONE POEM, A SINGLE ORCHESTRAL PIECE, EPIC AND MAJESTIC. REVEALS THE INADEQUACY OF WORDS AT THE SAME TIME SHOWS INCREDIBLE MASTERY OF THEM. A GIFT TO HONOR THE DEVOTION AND SUPREME AWARENESS OF NAROPA. A TEACHING ABOUT THE WAY OF MAHAMUDRA, THE NATURE OF MIND, AND THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DEEP SPIRITUAL CONCEPTUALIZATIONS WITH ONE ANOTHER. MATEAPHORS ARE INSPIRING POINTERS TO THE UNDEFINABILITY AND ABSOLUTENESS OF REALITY. DESCRIBES CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED BY A PERSON TO OPEN AND GO THROUGH THE DOOR TO MAHAMUDRA, PERHAPS UNSURPASSED REFERENCES TO LIGHT, AND ALSO THE QUALITIES ASCRIBED TO AWARENESS ITSELF.
LIKE A TONE POEM, A SINGLE ORCHESTRAL PIECE, EPIC AND MAJESTIC. REVEALS THE INADEQUACY OF WORDS AT THE SAME TIME SHOWS INCREDIBLE MASTERY OF THEM. A GIFT TO HONOR THE DEVOTION AND SUPREME AWARENESS OF NAROPA. A TEACHING ABOUT THE WAY OF MAHAMUDRA, THE NATURE OF MIND, AND THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DEEP SPIRITUAL CONCEPTUALIZATIONS WITH ONE ANOTHER. MATEAPHORS ARE INSPIRING POINTERS TO THE UNDEFINABILITY AND ABSOLUTENESS OF REALITY. DESCRIBES CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED BY A PERSON TO OPEN AND GO THROUGH THE DOOR TO MAHAMUDRA, PERHAPS UNSURPASSED REFERENCES TO LIGHT, AND ALSO THE QUALITIES ASCRIBED TO AWARENESS ITSELF.
Tilopa's Song to Naropa
from Mother of the Buddhas by Lex Hixon)
Mahamudra, the royal way, is free from every word and sacred symbol. For you alone, beloved Naropa, this wonderful song springs forth from Tilopa as spontaneous friendship that never ends.The completely open nature of all dimensions and events
is a rainbow always occurring yet never grasped.
The way of Mahamudra creates no closure.
No strenuous mental effort can encounter this wide open way.
The effortless freedom of awareness moves naturally along it.
As space is always freshly appearing and never filled,
so the mind is without limits and ever aware.
Gazing with sheer awareness into sheer awareness,
habitual, abstract structures melt into the fruitful springtime of Buddhahood. White clouds that drift through blue sky,
changing shape constantly, have no root, no foundation, no dwelling;
nor do changing patterns of thought that float through the sky of mind. When the formless expanse of awareness
comes clearly into view, obsession with thought forms
ceases easily and naturally. As within the openness of universal space
shapes and colors are spontaneously forming, although space has no color or form, so within the expanse of awareness realms, relations and values are arising, although awareness possesses
no positive or negative characteristics. As the darkness of night,
even were it to last a thousand years, could not conceal the rising sun,
so countless ages of conflict and suffering cannot conceal the innate radiance of Mind. Although philosophers explain the transparent openness of appearances as empty of permanent characteristics
and completely indeterminable, this universal indeterminacy
can itself never be determined. Although sages report
the nature of awareness to be luminosity, this limitless radiance cannot be contained within any language or sacramental system.
Although the very essence of Mind is to be void of either subjects or objects, it tenderly embraces all life within its womb.
To realize this inexpressible truth, do not manipulate mind or body
but simply open into transparency with relaxed, natural grace
intellect at ease in silence, limbs at rest in stillness
like hollow bamboos. Neither breathing in nor breathing out
with the breath of habitual thinking, allow the mind to be at peace
in brilliant wakefulness. This is the royal wealth of Mahamudra,
no common coin of any realm. Beloved Naropa, this treasure of Buddhahood belongs to you and to all beings. Obsessive use of meditative disciplines or perennial study of scripture and philosophy
will never bring forth this wonderful realization, this truth which is natural to awareness, because the mind that desperately desires
to reach another realm or level of experience inadvertently ignores the basic light that constitutes all experience. The one who fabricates
any division in consciousness betrays the friendship of Mahamudra.
Cease all activity that separates, abandon even the desire to be free from desires and allow the thinking process to rise and fall smoothly as waves on a shoreless ocean. The one who never dwells in abstraction
and whose only principle is never to divide or separate upholds the trust of Mahamudra. The one who abandons craving for authority and definition, and never becomes one-sided in argument or understanding, alone perceives the authentic meaning hidden in the ancient scriptures. In the blissful embrace of Mahamudra, negative viewpoints and their instincts are burned without remainder, like camphor. Through the open door of Mahamudra, the deluded state of self-imprisonment is easily left behind forever. Mahamudra is the torch of supreme liberty shining forth through all conscious beings. Those beings constituted by awareness who try to ignore, reject or grasp awareness inflict sorrow and confusion upon themselves like those who are insane. To be awakened from this madness, cultivate the gracious friendship of a sublime sage of Mahamudra, who may appear to the world as mad. When the limited mind enters blessed companionship
with limitless Mind, indescribable freedom dawns. Selfish or limited motivations create the illusory sense of imprisonment and scatter seeds of further delusion. Even genuine religious teaching can generate narrowness of vision. Trust only the approach that is utterly vast and profound. The noble way of Mahamudra never engages in the drama of imprisonment and release. The sage of Mahamudra has absolutely no distractions, because no war against distractions has ever been declared. This nobility and gentleness alone, this nonviolence of thought and action, is the traceless path of all Buddhas.
To walk this all-embracing way is the bliss of Buddhahood. Phenomena on every plane of being are constantly arising and disappearing. Thus they are forever fresh, always new and inexhaustible. Like dreams without solid substance, they can never become rigid or binding.
The universe exists in a deep, elusive way that can never be grasped or frozen. Why feel obsessive desire or hatred for it, thereby creating illusory bonds? Renounce arbitrary, habitual views. Go forth courageously to meditate in the real mountain wilderness, the wide open Mahamudra. Transcend boundaries of kinship by embracing all living beings as one family of consciousness. Remain without any compulsion in the landscape of natural freedom: spontaneous, generous, joyful. When you receive the crown of Mahamudra,
all sense of rank or attainment will quietly disappear. Cut the root of the vine that chokes the tree, and its clinging tendrils wither away entirely. Sever the conventionally grasping mind, and all bondage and desperation dissolve. The illumination from an oil lamp lights the room instantly, even if it has been dark for aeons. Mind is boundless radiance. How can the slightest darkness remain in the room of daily perception? But one who clings to mental processes cannot awaken to the radiance of Mind. Strenuously seeking truth by investigation and concentration, one will never appreciate the unthinkable simplicity and bliss that abide at the core. To uncover this fertile ground, cut through the roots of complexity with the sharp gaze of naked awareness,
remaining entirely at peace, transparent and content. You need not expend great effort nor store up extensive spirtual power. Remain in the flow of sheer awareness. Mahamudra neither accepts nor rejects
any current of energy, internal or external. Since the ground consciousness is never born into any realm of being, nothing can add to or subtract from it. Nothing can obstruct or stain it. When awareness rests here, the appearance of division and conflict
disappears into original reality. The twin emotions of anxiety and arrogance vanish into the void from which they came. Supreme knowing knows no separate subject or object. Supreme action acts resourcefully without any array of instruments. Supreme attainment attains the goal without past, future or present. The dedicated practitioner experiences the spiritual way as a turbulent mountain stream, tumbling dangerously among boulders. When maturity is reached, the river flows smoothly and patiently with the powerful sweep of the Ganges. Emptying into the ocean of Mahamudra,
the water becomes ever-expanding light that pours into great Clear Light without direction, destination, division, distinction or description.
No comments:
Post a Comment