Spontaneity

'Form is emptiness and emptiness is form'. Our previous discussion

explored this fundamental principle but how can we begin to
approach an existential understanding of this? Openness is essential.
Openness enables us to awaken opportunities to enter the experience
in which form and emptiness are undivided. Openness allows us to let
go of referentiality, as gak'chang !inpoche says"
#$e release the tendency of referring everything we experience back
to ourselves as the central head%uarters of individuated
omnipresence.#
&harma provides a limitless array of methods and opportunities to
open our view. 'he (ama unlocks the door to these methods and
opportunities and represents an unbiased mirror to our experience. $e
cannot manipulate, distort, or control the (ama. 'he mirror of the
(ama's view reflects 'as it is'. $e can see these reflections if we
decide to look with open)hearted simplicity. gakak'chang !inpoche
says on this point"
#'he (ama is reflective because the (ama knows the non)dual state.#
*f the (ama knows the non)dual state then he or she knows the
student. 'he (ama does not have to be ac%uainted with the history of
students to know exactly who they are, because who they are, is
evident both as non)dual display and the display of their dualistic
distortions. 'he vital factor is that the (ama sees the nondual nature of
the student sparkling through their neuroses and this makes their
neuroses wonderfully workable.
'he +utrayana practitioner cultivates the view that everything is
inherently empty as a preliminary approach to the principle of form
and emptiness being undivided. ,a-rayana practitioners base their
practice in the experience of emptiness, and discover that form and
emptiness are undivided through engagement with the energy of
empty)form. 'he &.ogchen view is that each moment is primordially
as it is, in its non)dual display of emptiness and form.
yingma practitioners who prioritise &.ogchen refer to +utra, 'antra,
and &.ogchen rather than +utrayana and ,a-rayana, because from the
&.ogchen perspective there are the three yanas which accord with the
three kayas. +utra originates with irmanakaya the sphere of
realised manifestation/ 'antra originates with +ambhogakaya the
sphere of realised appearances/ and &.ogchen originates with
&harmakaya the sphere of unconditioned potentiality.
'hose who prioritise &.ogchen, practise +utric and 'antric methods
as a means to return to the base of &.ogchen, and invite the possibility
of &.ogchen view. Fom the perspective of &.ogchen all methods are
available as constituents of the toolbox of practice. 'hey understand
that all teaching can be understood from &.ogchen view. 'he aim of
this book is to present the 'four thoughts that turn the mind to practice'
from the perspective of ,a-rayana with reference to &.ogchen view,
so it is important to say something in more detail about &.ogchen
view.
0s the path of spontaneity, the methods of &.ogchen are fantastically
subtle. 'he opportunity to embrace experience from the &.ogchen
perspective is ever)present, but those who have received &.ogchen
teaching recognise that they are not always at the base of &.ogchen
view. 'he base of this view is non)duality the experience of the non)
duality of emptiness and form in the moment. 'o be ever)present at
this base, would mean we are also both fully engaged with the path,
and realising the fruit of the practice in the moment. 'his is realisation
and we must acknowledge that we are not always present in the base,
path, and fruit of &.ogchen. 1ence practitioners of lineages based in
&.ogchen also practice 'antra and +utra. From the perspective of
&.ogchen, 'antra and +utra are not seen as lesser vehicles it is a
%uestion of pragmatics and being genuine about the view one is able
to live at any moment in time. 'he most efficacious practice is always
that which enables one to return to openness, and to the possibility of
the direct experience of the non)duality of emptiness and form.
One method we can employ is an examination of the three spheres of
being. *t is useful to look at the three spheres, as an expression of the
way in which we exist. $e can tease apart recognisable aspects of
ourselves in order to understand how we can engage with these
aspects in practice.
'he three spheres of being are ch2)ku 3chos sKu &harmakaya4,
long)ku 3longs sKu +ambhogakaya4 and tr5l)ku 3sPrul sKu
irmanakaya4, which can also be referred to as emptiness, energy and
form, or mind, speech and body. 6ind vast empty potential of mind
+ky 6ind not busy conceptual cloud mind is empty potential,
which is not conditioned by any limitation of form. Form can arise in
any manner, but it does not colour +ky 6ind in any permanent or
definitive way. 'his is ch2)ku.
7nergetic form manifests intangibly. *n +ky 6ind there is movement
of thought, emotion, sensation, ideation/ and this movement has the
nature of energy. 'his sphere is communicative and encompasses
speech and visualisation, sound and light. 'his is long)ku.
$e can become aware of the sphere of tangible form through contact
with the sense fields. *n this sphere of being we touch, hear, taste, see,
and smell. 'his is the sphere which communicates at the level of body.
'his is tr5l)ku
8

8
'r5l)ku is a word with which may be familiar, as applied to particular
individuals. *n this sense it refers to an individual recognised as having
demonstrated the ability to guide the movement of their disembodied
consciousness during the process of death towards a particular new
incarnation, and to retain awareness of their previous incarnation.
!ealisation and transformation can be actively cultivated in all three
spheres. 'he spheres of being are in fact all spontaneously present and
inseparable, as aspects of what we are, but we talk about them
individually to facilitate understanding. $hen we talk of the three
spheres as a unified experience they are called ngo)wo)nyid ku or
dor-e ku 3ngo bo nyid sKu svabhavikakaya/ rDo rJe sKu
vajrakaya. go)wo)nyid ku or dor-e ku are referred to using the
contracted form 'ngo)wo ku' in this text.4
,iew and practice encompass engagement in all three spheres of being
so that we can discover the experience of ngo)wo ku. ,iew is the core
of practice. *ntention and motivation arise out of view and manifest in
tangible form in our lives. *f our view is based in non)duality then
everything that arises from view will be congruent with that realised
perspective. 'he landscape of our lives will be coloured by the nature
of view. *t is through view that we can directly experience the nature
of our beginningless enlightenment. on)dual view is recognition of
the non)duality of emptiness and form.
'he sphere of intangible appearance or vision, long)ku, communicates
view. $e may not even be aware that we communicate at the subtle
level of the energy of our being, but the resonance of our intention to
remain in realised view is communicative. $hen we develop
confidence in view and learn to relax into direct recognition of non)
duality, speech, thought, sensation, emotion, and ideation become of
the nature of meditation. 'he energy of our being is spiritual practice.
$hen view is open and clear, and the energy of our being is the
energy of practice, activity naturally arises that is congruent with the
realisation of non)duality. 'he manifestations of who we are in terms
of our behaviour in the world and our relationship with our
environment, create themselves out of the view of non)duality, out of
the experience of the indivisibility of emptiness and form. 1ence our
practice affects the nature of tangible manifestation, and the nature of
our physicality also becomes a manifestation of view. $e
communicate view by our presence in the world as practitioners. Our
demeanour speaks to others of practice.
1owever, for the beginner, such potentiality is mere aspiration. 'o
begin with we are only practising view, irrespective of which yana we
base our practice in it has not become our natural state. $e are still
sub-ect to our neurotic patterning and the familiar emotions of
stubbornness, aggression, compulsion, paranoia, and depression.
'hese patterns of distortion override their potential as e%uanimity,
clarity, indiscriminate compassion, unimpeded activity, and
ubi%uitous intelligence through our habitual splitting of emptiness and
form
9
. $e have a genuine intention of maintaining &harma view in
our communication and behaviour, so that we maintain a harmonious
attitude within the environment of those whose lives we touch, but in
all honesty we are still at the mercy of the pattern of our emotions. $e
still find that our lives offer many opportunities to lose touch with
&harma view. 1owever as we try and avoid the continual return to our
neurotic patterning, gradually our meditation practice does enable
such patterns to become a little clearer to us and less automatically
stimulated. $e begin to become more transparent to ourselves.
9
*t may have been noticed that several times * have given a five)fold list of
distorted emotion or realised emotion. 'his refers to teachings based on the
elements. For a full and inspiring explanation of the method of exploring our
neurotic response, and the possibility of liberated response, refer to
:+pectrum of 7cstasy;, gakpa <h2gyam and =handro &>chen, +hambhala
9??@.
$e attempt to remain as close as possible to realised view, rather than
indulging in conceptual view. 'his is known as trying to live)the)
view, or remaining in pure view. <onceptual view is a construct of
neurotic patterning, expectation and pro-ection. $hen * dwell in
conceptual view and my energy and activity arises from this source, *
create more causes for dissatisfaction. 'his will be discussed in detail
in the chapter '+parkling Auddles'. !ealising that * do this, there is the
danger of becoming too self)conscious and losing touch with
spontaneity. * may become a little constricted in my behaviour. * may
cramp myself through my awareness of when * stray from realised
view. * forget that spontaneity re%uires relaxation. * may become so
sensitive to my capacity to fail to dwell in realised view, that * lose
confidence that * can relax into it. * feel * must watch myself
continually and guard my actions. * develop a :policeman mind; and
continually watch myself. * develop a cramped and rigid mindfulness
without possibility of openness. +pontaneity, and therefore any
possibility of &.ogchen view, is lost.
$hen such cramping occurs, there is the danger that meditation
becomes mediation. * add an extra layer of complication into my life
because * negotiate between my feeling for realised view and the
actuality of conceptual view. Once meditation becomes mediation,
energy and activity can no longer be spontaneous and congruent,
because * have cramped myself. * lose the capacity to act with
spontaneous kindness and openness because every activity is
examined for its congruency with realised view.
&.ogchen view is attractive. *t is simple and direct. *t is often heralded
as the highest view and many aspire to its practice. 1owever
spontaneity cannot be mediated the words themselves contradict one
another and it is important not to delude ourselves that we are
practising &.ogchen view when in fact our practice is based
somewhere else. 'o blurt out one;s referentiality and -ustify this as
spontaneity is not &.ogchen practice. 'o impose one;s opinion on
others or to be blatantly honest and direct to the point of unkindness,
is not the spontaneous manifestation of wisdom and compassion. On
the other side, to control one; anger and refrain from hurtful words
and actions in an honest attempt to be aware and kind, is appropriate
practice for a &harma practitioner. 1owever we must be clear that this
is not the practice of &.ogchen. *t is not the spontaneous realisation of
the non)duality of the emptiness and form of the emotion. 'o
renounce ones; anger in order to cultivate a less harmful response, is
the practice of +utra. 'o transform the energy of the emotion through
the implementation of symbolic method, is the practice of 'antra.
'hese are valid and valuable practices that are available to the
practitioner who has the courage to be genuine about their relative
condition. 'he continual alignment with kindness and awareness will
encourage the spontaneous manifestation of realisation. Only the
spontaneous experience of the non)dual energy of the emotion is the
practice of &.ogchen.
'hrough saturating myself in practice, and continually immersing
myself in communication with the (ama, * can have moments when *
actually live view, when * discover the spontaneous presence of the
non)duality of emotion, and it can flow as natural energy. 'his can
only be achieved by constantly familiarising myself with view,
through repeatedly discovering presence, and through continually
engaging with opportunities for direct introduction to the state of
spontaneous presence. 'hrough openness and active appreciation,
being spontaneously present in the moment, * can remove the process
of mediation and discover the spontaneous energy of my being.
* once wrote a short article for vision
@
maga.ine entitled :<onceptual
view, mediation, and inaction;, which told a story given from two
perspectives of view. * reproduce this here as a simple example of
how a shift even in mundane view could radically change the same
situation"
@
,ision is published by the <onfederate +anghas of 0ro. *t is a web)based
maga.ine available to :Friends of the 0ro 'radition in the $est;.
* wake up. +eeing a cold cup of tea beside me. * realise that it must be
late. 'here is such a lot to get done today/ * wish they had woken me. *
go into the bathroom. 'he children have obviously been washed, as
there are towels and py-amas all over the floor. *rritated, * pick them
up and tidy them away, wondering why * always have to do it. * go
downstairs. 'hey are all watching <hildren's 'elevision. 'hey ignore
me, so * ignore them. * go and get my breakfast. $hen the programme
has finished they all come in and say good morning, but * am irritable
and snap at them" :Bou left a terrible mess in the bathroom and why
didn;t you wake me when you brought me a cup of tea? Bou know
we;ve got a lot to do today and now it's so late...;
* wake up. +eeing a cold cup of tea beside me, * realise that it must be
late. 'here is such a lot to get done today/ but it was really good of
them to let me sleep in. * go into the bathroom. 'he children have
obviously been washed, as there are towels and py-amas all over the
floor. * pick them up and tidy them away. 1ow kind it was that my
husband did all this while * slept. * go downstairs. 'hey are all
watching <hildren's 'elevision. 'hey do not hear me come down, so *
call out :Cood morningD; and get my breakfast. $hen the programme
finishes they come in and say :Cood morningD; $e all smile at each
other, and * say" :'hank you for washing the children and letting me
sleep in. * really appreciate thatD;
Our perspective colours our response. $e shall look at this in detail in
the chapter :Euelling the storm;. 'o remain in realised view, a sense
of humour is essential. $hen we lack a sense of humour we are not
really human. $hen we lack a sense of humour we are no longer
really practitioners. 7ven in the worst possible scenario a day when
absolutely everything has gone wrong from the moment we wake up
there is still the possibility of appreciating how bi.arre and ludicrous
this is and simply laughing out loud. * remember once sitting in a
traffic -am on the way to a Fuddhist event with ,enerable '5ltrim
Gangmo
H
. $e had sat there for %uite some time, mostly %uiet, but
occasionally chatting to each other. +uddenly we both started to
giggle. $e had both been sei.ed at the same moment by the silliness
of sitting in a metal box completely surrounded by other people sitting
in metal boxes, going absolutely nowhereD
H
,enerable 's5ltrim Gangmo was a $estern nun ordained into the =agy5d
lineage. +he and her mother, who was also ordained, lived at a Fuddhist
centre at the time of this story. 'his <entre which became a C>lug <entre
was my first experience of Fuddhism, and * used to attend regularly to
receive teachings. +he was a warm and inspiring practitioner.
+urely the greatest -oke of all time is that we are all beginninglessly
enlightened, yet we struggle, moment by moment, day by day, to
maintain the illusion that we are not. 'his is cra.y but this is what
we do.
'he path of the ,a-rayana practitioner is a marathon not a sprint. *
have to be willing to sweat, to wear clothing appropriate for the effort
involved, and to leave behind the ties that keep me at the starting line.
* have to be content to let those around me observe, either en-oying or
despairing of my decision to enter the race. * have to accept that they
may not wish to run with me. * have to be confident that there is a
finishing line, that there are people looking after me who know the
route, and that some have completed the course before me. * have to
accept the support and encouragement of the other runners, knowing
that * may be %uicker than some, but are no doubt slower than others. *
have to pace myself, recognising that there will be times of sudden
energy and ease, and times of sudden exhaustion and difficulty.
*t may be that * am attracted to the path of &.ogchen to avoid this
hard work. Aerhaps &.ogchen looks like an easier option a 'get)
enlightened)%uick' opportunity. *f * am attracted to the spontaneity of
&.ogchen view, * may delude myself that realisation will arise %uickly
that the path will be fast. * am likely to become a disillusioned or
self)deluding practitioner. !ealisation indeed arises spontaneously and
immediately in the moment, but our tendency to grasp at the
experience generates an e%ually immediate return to duality in the
next moment.
Our ability to discover the space where &.ogchen view can be
engaged is capricious. +o we have to practice from where we find
ourselves. $e have to also engage in the methods of 'antra and +utra
in order to afford ourselves opportunities to discover &.ogchen view.
'antra and +utra re%uire self)discipline, effort, and application. 'o
allow realised view to penetrate being at the level of mind, energy,
and body, takes considerable time, effort, and commitment. 'o be able
to entertain spontaneity as a base, a path and a fruit of practice,
re%uires fine tuning of being through practices which address the
reality of where we are. $ith regard to &.ogchen this does not
negate the possibility of direct introduction, remaining without doubt,
or continuing in the state it is simply a realistic statement of our
relative condition. +o recognising our relative condition, and realising
that great effort and commitment is re%uired how can we maintain
effort and commitment? 1ow can we maintain effort and commitment
in times between contact with our (amas and sangha? 'he next four
chapters address this %uestion in detail.
'he next four chapters explore the :four thoughts that turn the mind to
practice;
I
. 'hese :four thoughts; offer methods which help us
maintain effort and commitment. 'he :four thoughts that turn the
mind to practice; are"
8. 0ppreciation of the rarity of genuine human experience 3mi)l5
rinpoche mi lus rin po che precious human rebirth4.
9. !ecognition of impermanence and death. 3<hi)wa mi)tagpa chi
ba mi rTag pa4.
@. Jnderstanding the mechanism of perception and response 3l>)gy5
dr> las rGyu bras or cause and effect karma4.
H. <ontemplation of the unsatisfactory nature of self)defeating cyclic
experience
K
3&ug)ngal la)-> su thogpa;i sh>pa sDug bsNgal la
rJes su rTogs pai shes pa or khorwa4.
I
'hun)mong chi;i ngondro 3thun mong phyii sNgon gro4.
K
;khorwa 3khor ba samsara4.
'hese four offer a method of opening view, in order that we are
encouraged to practice and embrace &harma, and in order that we can
exist in the world in a manner that is congruent with view.
'he manner in which this teaching was first presented to me, seemed
to be attempting to frighten me into practice, and as such it could
easily have acted as a detriment rather than an incentive. * was
brought up within a <hristian approach to spirituality, and was
familiar with the approach of :you really should be good or things will
get bad for you later;. &iscovering a similar approach in &harma
proved unattractive, and it was fortunate that * came into contact with
&.ogchen view before * had abandoned this path. 1owever this
frightening approach, * now realise, is inevitable from the perspective
that enlightenment or salvation is a totally separate state to the one in
which * find myself. 1ence with my first experience of these
teachings, given from the perspective of the +utric path of
renunciation, * felt that * was being taught that there was something
wrong with me and my circumstances. +utric view can be
misunderstood as declaring that there is something actually wrong
with the :form; of our lives the physical circumstances and ob-ects
with which we make contact. *n fact the path of renunciation is stating
that the problem is addiction to, and grasping of, form, not the form
itself
L
. * had the same misunderstanding and confusion about the
+utric view of myself. * interpreted the need to change my view and
behaviour as stating that there was something inherently wrong with
me. * did not understand that it was my view of myself that was the
problem. * received the renunciate message as stating that * was a
sinner and had fallen from grace/ that my natural tendency was to be a
bad person and that * had to be constantly vigilant of controlling the
evil within me/ that good people were exceptional and may endure
great suffering for their spiritual practice/ that there are wonderful
pure lands or a heaven awaiting the good/ that terrible hells await the
bad and that * would dwell there indefinitely with little hope of
redemption if * fell into them/ that spirituality re%uires a faith that
must at times deny logic and reason.
L
0s stated in the 1itchhikers Cuide to the Calaxy, :...most of the people
living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. 6any solutions were
suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the
movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the
whole it wasn;t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.;
'he +utric path of renunciation, renounces attachment to form, rather
than renouncing form itself this is a detail which is often lost or
misinterpreted and was certainly misunderstood by me initially.
*nevitably, when we discover &harma we tend to bring cultural and
educational baggage with us. $e may approach &harma with a fixed
mind)set and interpret its teachings through the filter of our religious
and cultural background. * saw &harma as a paternalistic, autocratic
structure that stated that it knew better than me. <onse%uently
teachings that were presented from the perspective of stressing the
urgency to practice now, tended to produce a negative reaction in me.
* felt that * was being indoctrinated to :do what these sacred texts tell
you to do or else...; 'his interpretation will not be helpful for truly
engaging in the path of &harma whatever yana practice is based
within. 'his approach produced depression, lack of energy and a
feeling of hopelessness in me, rather than inspiration and a fire for
practice. *t could have turned me away from spiritual practice
altogether, if the teachers * encountered had not been so inspiring of
themselves. *t was my confidence in them as kind, gentle, and
exceptional human beings that kept me interested. &harma methods
offer the opportunity to find out for ourselves whether practice is
pragmatic and efficacious, and discover the reality of view ourselves,
if we can stay with practice long enough.
'he four thoughts offer an opportunity to directly discover realised
view. *f we open ourselves to these teachings, and actually engage in
practice, we will discover the extraordinarily skilful capacity of this
and other methods. *t will become clear that &harma functions.
0s mentioned in the first chapter, fundamental teachings normally
associated with +utrayana open out into great depth and subtlety when
presented from the perspective of &.ogchen. 'he four thoughts that
turn the mind to practice are found in the Ulukhamukha Upadesha
Dakini utra of =hyungchen 0ro (ingma's &.ogchen cycle of
g'>rma. $hen viewed from the perspective of &.ogchen the four
thoughts become a source of -oy and celebration. 'hey become the
seed of great energy and commitment. 'hey become engagement with
the path. 'he warning of the danger of failing to engage in spiritual
practice is still apparent, but the emphasis is on the celebration of the
simple and direct reality of their declaration. 'he emphasis is on the
four thoughts as a method to approach 'form is emptiness and
emptiness is form'. 'he four thoughts that turn the mind to practice are
one example of the macrocosm of Fuddhism presented in a
microcosm. 'o truly grasp the principle and function of these four
thoughts, is to have entered the path of &harma in a deep and
meaningful way. 'o fully engage with realisation of the four thoughts,
is to be spontaneously present in the actuality of the path.
Euestioner" * have heard that at a Fuddhist conference in *ndia it was
said that people who hold &.ogchen view tend to be a little cold. *
find it disconcerting that &.ogchen is a :higher; view, but seems to
lose the warmth of practices such as developing loving kindness that
are found in +utrayana.
gakma or;d.in" * would say that this has nothing to do with
&.ogchen or with any of the vehicles. 'his has to do with people.
'here is nothing inherent in &.ogchen view which would lead to
coldness only the misunderstanding of &.ogchen view. 0ll the
vehicles can be misunderstood" +utrayana can be misunderstood as
being life and body negative/ ,a-rayana can be misunderstood as
exotic or erotic. $ith regard to &.ogchen, it certainly wasn;t a cold
intellectual approach that attracted gak;chang !inpoche and
=handro &>chen * think such an idea would amuse them. *n fact it
was their warmth and kindness that attracted me, and their patient
willingness to answer my %uestions in terms * could understand. * find
that remarks such as the one you have %uoted to be somewhat
%uestionable as are many generalisations. *t has been my experience
that coldness afflicts many who would call themselves Fuddhist, and
that coldness can be found among the people who follow any religion.
*t is important that a yingma practitioner does not lose sight of the
primary motivation of practice. 'his primary motivation is the wish to
realise non)duality in order to benefit all sentient beings. 'his
motivation Fodhicitta remains as a fundamental ground of
intention. $e do not let go of the motivation of :lower; yanas when
we are introduced to &.ogchen practice. 'he &.ogchen perspective
can be misunderstood as dispassionate and divorced from concern for
others but only by people who see &.ogchen from the point of view
of :personal growth;. 'his is actually a ew 0ge distortion. 0nyone
approaching &.ogchen for their own realisation alone, is like an ill
disciplined follower of Araty>kabuddhayana 3solitary realiser4, who
will therefore not achieve the goal of the Araty>kabuddhayana.
&.ogchen view is expansive, embracing the motivation of the other
yanas in the spontaneous realisation of all motivation and intent as
instantaneously present. 'hus we hold to the view that our own
neuroses are illusions and not to be taken seriously, whilst treating
other beings; problems and unhappiness as real. 'his is a great source
of compassion. 'hrough holding to view, we try not to let ourselves
continually spew our sub-ective emotional responses on those around
us because we know they are incongruent. $e try to help others as
much as possible within the limitations of our capacity.
'o a yingma practitioner, +utra, 'antra, and &.ogchen remain
available and undivided as the texture of view, meditation and action.
*f we find ourselves in a situation where awareness is absent, we can
still be kind. $e generally know what is kind and what is unkind. *t
may be the more difficult choice, the more challenging action, but we
know what is kind.
E" $hen * stop feeling anger, is there an in)between phase when *
experience something that is neutral before * am able to experience
liberated energy? &oes emotion change when we start practising?
" 7motion does not disappear when we start to practice but our
relationship with our emotions changes. Bou see, we have a word for
anger because that is what we habitually name a particular type of
experience in fact there are many words under the umbrella of
:anger;" irritation, frustration, edginess, stress, touchiness, rage, fury,
exasperation and many more. 0nger is our reaction in a particular
situation while we exist in duality. 1owever the essential energy of
anger is simply that" energy. *t does not need to be defined or limited
via referentiality and the conceptual scaffolding we erect. $e can
allow this conceptual scaffolding to dissolve. Once dissolved the
energy of anger becomes what it is" clarity. <larity is the non)dual
wisdom which distorts into anger when we manufacture duality from
the non)dual ground of being.
E" Bes *;ve noticed that two people may do exactly the same thing in
front of me and with one of them it would be fine, but it would irritate
me like mad in the other one.
" Bes, absolutely. 'here is no neutral stage with emotion. $e
experience the energy of an emotion but how we experience
depends on our referential interpretation of our situation. $hen we are
able to let go of reference points, we experience energy nakedly and
directly.
E" *sn;t it important to keep the 'watcher' so that we are aware when
we are moving away from &harma view?
" 6indfulness is important, but in terms of &.ogchen, in terms of
spontaneity, we have to let the watcher go. Bou cannot watch yourself
be spontaneous. $e are not going to be able to watch ourselves
become enlightened even though this is the greatest desire of most
of us. 'his may sound silly, but that is exactly what we want to do.
7ventually we simply have to relax, and allow ourselves the
opportunity to enter the experience of non)duality through the mere
indication, implicit instruction, or pointing)out instructions of our
(ama.
E" $hen we realise that we cannot stay aligned with pure view, is
there the danger that we simply suppress our responses because we
worry about hurting people?
" *ndeed there is.
E" +o how can we avoid this?
" 'hrough the regular practice of meditation techni%ues that enable
us to discover '+ky 6ind' and let go of 'cloud)only mind'. 'his will
gradually enable us to develop a sufficient sense of spaciousness that
we can begin to recognise our habitual responses. 'hen we have the
choice of responding in a direction that will lead towards realisation
rather than away from it.
E" 0 part of many practices is 'the dedication of merit'. * find
accumulating merit a strange idea it feels like collecting the opposite
of sin. * didn;t think &harma included these sorts of concepts.
" 'he 'ibetan word that roughly e%uates with :sin; is dig)pa 3sDig!
pa4. *nterestingly this is the same as the word for scorpion.
gak'chang !inpoche once told me a story about a scorpion that you
might find helpful with regard to the word digpa. 0 scorpion sits by
the side of a river wanting to get across. *t spies a frog and asks the
frog most politely" M&ear Frog would you be so kind as to carry me
across the river on your back?N 'he frog aghast at the proposition
replies" M&ear meD no you're a scorpion you'd sting me and *
would die.N 'he scorpion then points out the logical problem with
this" M&ear Frog it would not be in my best interests to sting you
for if * did * would drown.N 'he frog being an eminently logical
creature saw the sense of this and agreed to let the scorpion climb on
its back. 'he frog started out across river, but no sooner had the frog
reached the middle of the current than the scorpion arched its tail and
stung the frog. $ith its dying breath, the frog asked" M$hy?N to which
the scorpion replied in a resigned tone" M* do regret it dear Frog, but *
couldn't help it. *t;s is my nature, you see.N 'he concept of digpa is
not encumbered by connotations of guilt or penance. &igpa is, as
gak;chang !inpoche describes it, :dualistic derangement; rather
than badness or evil. 7ven deliberate badness is regarded as confusion
rather than an act perpetrated in the full knowledge of non)dual
reality. Overcoming digpa involves the simple recognition that it is
not possible to hurt others without hurting yourself.
E. 0nd merit?
" 6erit accumulation is a +utrayana approach and based on the
idea that the path to enlightenment is a long and difficult task. +kilful
action action that moves in the direction of enlightenment is
continually developed, while unskilful action action that moves
away from enlightenment is continually renounced. !ecognition of
skill, and celebration of skilful actions, strengthens the view of
renunciation.
E" On retreats and at other times we meet with other practitioners, are
we attempting to live the view in a more complete manner?
" Bes. +angha
O
is so important. *t provides a radically different
social context. *deally this is the social context of pure view which is a
powerful opportunity for undermining dualism. 1ere we can try to
view each other as people who practice pure view and bask in the
appreciation of that.
O
+angha 3+anskrit4" the community of practitioners. 3'ib" gend5n, dCe;dun4
E" Bes, even though *'m a practitioner, there are still periods of time
when *'m not aware when *'m on automatic pilot or something. 'hen
* come out of it and realise * have been like that. * notice and realise
that the for the last three hours *'ve been unaware.
" Bes but every time you notice is a success. * assume that you
are not speaking of rigpa when you use the word awareness?
E" o. * -ust mean being present and fully conscious.
" 'hen every moment we become present and fully conscious is
the success of re)emerging presence. 7very moment of presence
enables and encourages another moment, that enables us to awaken
into presence more often. 7very three hours is actually astonishing if
you consider there are so many who spend their entire lives partially
unconscious.
E" Bes, the time * spend with the sangha gives me the ability to be
more awake, and in touch with practice. 'his decreases if *'m away
from my sangha for too long.
E9" !etreats can be like a battery charge.
" Bes but it is valuable to be able to take that experience into
everyday life. *t would be a shame if you became entirely dependant
on the presence of sangha. *t would be valuable to observe to what
extent you can bring a greater sense of awakeness into your every day
life. 'his should increase over the years or else you would have to
%uestion the nature of the awakeness on retreats.
E" <ould you say something about maintaining commitment and
energy out of the context of sangha?
" $ell . . . it can be hard in the early years of practice to maintain
commitment and energy in a country where you cannot practice so
openly/ where practice is not part of the culture. *t is important for
younger practitioners to meet with sangha to practice to do things
together which bring us back to an understanding of ourselves as
practitioners. gala ;2)&.in told me how as a child, he and his brother
would be especially reprimanded for arguing on a +unday afternoon.
'his was because 'they had -ust come back from church'. *t would be
permissible by 6onday or 'uesday 3laughter4, but -ust after church
they should be better behaved because they should still be under the
good influence of church. $e don't have the opportunity to be :church
on +unday; &harma practitioners in Fritain, so it's important to meet
and share practice experience with sangha as often as we can.
7ventually the awareness of being a practitioner is always with us.
E" * thought that +utra had to be practised for %uite a while before you
could move into 'antra?
" $ell this is a particular view, and it is not that you leave +utra to
enter the practice of 'antra. 'here are (amas who say that +utra has to
be practised for a substantial period before 'antra, and from that point
of view 'antra is approached in the language of +utra. From the
perspective of &.ogchen however, +utra, 'antra, and &.ogchen are
complete paths in themselves. 7ach vehicle can be approached
directly if one meets the (ama who offers the teaching. *n terms of
'antra the experience of wisdom and compassion provided by +utra,
is replicated in the 'antric sphere as inspiration or devotion.
E" 'here is a 'antric ng2ndro to bring us to the base of 'antra * think?
" Bes. 'he four practices of 'antric ng2ndro
P
enable the
practitioner to experience emptiness. 'he non)referential %uality of
these practices enables us to let go of our ordinary view. 'hrowing
yourself on the floor over and over again, or piling grains of rice onto
a disk surmounted by subse%uent rings, are activities which do not
make immediate sense. $e are therefore pushed into an empty
position. $e have to let go of the idea that we :perform these practices
in order to get to the good stuff;) the :higher; practices of 'antra. 'he
flavour of each aspect of the 'antric ng2ndro reflects the flavour of
'antra. *f we do not value the ng2ndro, then we are unlikely to
successfully engage in the practice of 'antra.
P
'antric ng2ndro re%uires the accumulation of 8??,??? repetitions of four
practices. 8. Cu chag)tsal wa 3gus phyag tshal ba4 prostrations with
recitation of refuge and bodhicitta4/ 9. =yil;khor 3mandala offering4/ @. &or-e
+empa 3rDo rJe sems dPa ,a-rasattva mantra4/ H. (ama;i al-or 3b"a mai
rNal byor guru yoga4. &uring his visit in 9??H, (op2n Qgyen 'en;d.in
!inpoche explained that in his tradition refuge and Fodhicitta are engaged
with as separate practices, so that the 'antric ng2ndro has five parts and a
completion re%uires I??,??? repetitions of practice" kyab)dro 3skyabsgro4,
+em)kye 3ems bskyed4, =yil;khor 3mandala4, &orsem)Com)de 3rdor sems
sGom slas4, (ama;i al-or 3bla mai rnal jor4.
E" *s there a ng2ndro for &.ogchen?
" Bes there is the Four al-ors of &.ogchen +em)d>" shi!n#$
lhatong$ nyim#d and lhundr%p
8?
.
8?
0ro;i al-or Ghi g2ndro 3& roi rNal byor b'hi sNon gro4. +ee :!oaring
+ilence; by gakpa <h2gyam and =handro &>chen +hambhala 9??9.