Buddha is Gradual Opening of Mind

By: Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche

The difference between the impure and the pure mind, the deluded mind and the enlightened mind, is mainly a difference of narrowness and openness. In our present deluded state, our mind is extremely narrow. For example, we live alone and rarely, if ever, consider the infinity of sentient beings. The more constricted and narrow the mind, the more it thinks only of itself, completely disregarding the well-being, happiness and suffering of others. Conversely, the enlightened Buddha is one who considers the infinity of sentient beings, rather than being concerned with his own ego and individuality. Thus the entire path—from an ordinary being to Buddhahood—is the gradual opening of mind. And that is precisely what we call the chang-chub or sem-kye: literally, to grow and develop that enlightened attitude. The concept of “growth” is used here for the passing from a completely narrow attitude, focused principally on oneself, to an open, loving heart whose scope instinctively encompasses the infinity of sentient beings.

From: Natural Great Perfection. Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche (1932-1999) was one of the most eminent Tibetan meditation masters of the 20th Century. He was trained in all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and was renowned as a scholar and teacher. Khenpo Rinpoche was one of the principal lineage holders in the nonsectarian practice lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and his teachings centered on the practice of Dzogchen (pronounced zo-chen). His book Natural Great Perfection is a wonderful expression of the dharma, clear and direct.

Free and Easy: A Spontaneous Vajra Song

By: Venerable Lama Gendun Rinpoche

Happiness cannot be found through great effort and willpower, but is already present, in open relaxation and letting go.

Don’t strain yourself, there is nothing to do or undo. Whatever momentarily arises in the body-mid has no real importance at all, has little reality whatsoever. Why identify with, and become attached to it, passing judgment upon it and ourselves?

Far better to simply let the entire game happen on its own, springing up and falling back like waves—without changing or manipulating anything—and notice how everything vanishes and reappears, magically, again and again, time without end.

Only our searching for happiness prevents us from seeing it. It’s like a vivid rainbow which you pursue without ever catching, or a dog chasing its tail.

Although peace and happiness do not exist as an actual thing or place, it is always available and accompaines you every instant.

Don’t believe in the reality of good and bad experiences; they are like today’s ephemeral weather, like rainbows in the sky.

Wanting to grasp the ungraspable, you exhaust yourself in vain. As soon as you open and relax this tight fist of grasping, infinite space is there—opening, inviting and comfortable.

Make use of this spaciousness, this freedom and natural ease. Don’t search any further: Don’t go into the tangled jungle looking for the great awakened elephant, who is already resing quietly at home in front of your own hearth.

Nothing to do or undo, nothing to force, nothing to want, and nothing missing—

Emaho! Marvelous! Everything happens by itself.

From: Nyoshul, Khenpo, Natural Great Perfection. Gendun Rinpoche (1918–1997) was trained entirely in Tibet and went into exile as a result of the Chinese occupation of belonged. He practiced in the Karma Kagyu tradition and spent over 30 years meditating in closed retreat in Tibet and India. His principal teacher, the 16th Karmapa, compared him to the great 11/12th century Tibetan yogi Milarepa. Later in his life, Gendun Rinpoche taught in Eurrope. He was the abbott and retreat master of Dakpo Kagyu Ling Monaster in Dordogne, France.

Comment: The Vajra is a symbol of indestructibility, strength and clarity of mind. It represents the unyielding, thunderbolt-like nature of enlightenment and the ability to cut through ignorance and delusion. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, great masters would spontaneously create “songs” of enlightenment like this one. As the traditional declaration at the end of the song states: Marvelous!

Genuine Practice

By: Hongzhi Zengjue (translated by Guo Gu)

Genuine practice is to simply sit in stillness and investigate this silence. In its profound depth, there is the realization where, externally, you can no longer be swayed by causes and conditions. Mind being empty, it is all-embracing; its luminosity being wondrous, it is precisely apt and impartial. Internally, there are no thoughts of grasping after things. Vast, solitary—the mind is [orginally] free from dullness. Being alive and potent, you are able to sever all opposition and remain content. Being content has nothing to do with emotions. You must be open and spacious, relying on nothing whatsoever. Splendid and marvelous, [your mind] is full of life and spirit.

Note: This passage is taken from Hongzhi’s Practice Instructions, which are a series of beautiful and evocative pointers to the realization of Silent Illumination, or Buddha-nature. The translation is from Guo Gu’s book Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening. This is just a portion of this particular practice instruction.

The Priceless Pearl

By: Rebecca Li

In the Tathagatagarbha Sutra there is a story of a boy whose parents sewed a priceless pearl inside his coat. Yet, the boy forgot all about it and as he grew older looked for wealth everywhere. Finding none, he could barely survive. All the while he was in possession of a priceless pearl that he could use to benefit all beings. The pearl in the story refers to our buddha-nature—our natural capacity for wisdom and compassion. It is our capacity to see clearly and act with an appropriate response according to conditions, to see the interconnectedness of all beings, and to love them unconditionally as we see clearly that loving others is no different from loving ourselves. In other words, we each have an innate capacity for wisdom and compassion. We are already fully endowed with this capacity; we are each in possession of this priceless pearl. However, our untrained mind is often too confused and agitated to see this fact and instead we keep looking outward, grasping for what we already possess.

From Illumination.

Something In Us Can Teach Us

From Charlotte Selver and Charles Brooks, Reclaiming Vitality and Presence:

In Zen they say, “Buddha is in everybody.” That's not a shallow statement. It means something. Buddha is in everybody. Buddha is in you and in you and in you and in you. Buddha is in all of us. That means something in us knows. Something in us can teach us. Something in us can inform us how it wants to be. So that we can feel whether we are coming in touch with another person in such a way that we can be open for the other person, or whether we are not open for the other. We can feel whether we speak the truth or whether we go a little off the truth. We can feel whether we're putting pressure on something or whether we only give our weight to it. We can feel whether we allow our breathing to function as it wants to function or whether we manipulate it. We can feel whether we're dealing with a person and letting the person have his own way of being or whether we manipulate him. And so on and so on. In other words we have the ability within ourselves--if we become more awake--to feel more clearly what our own nature has to tell us. That's the thing that interests me.