“When we recognize that the seemingly object nature of reality is nothing different than the subject nature of mind, which is rigpa, it is called enlightenment.”–Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Penetrating Wisdom–The Aspiration of Samantabhadra.
Category: enlightenment
How Amazing! by Lama Shabkar
(This pretty much says it all).
HOW AMAZING!
by Lama Shabkar
Eh ma ho! How amazing!
In both samsara and nirvana, the renown of the awakened state
Is heard everywhere, like thunder throughout the sky.
This awakened state is always within the minds of all beings.
How amazing that one is never separate from it for even an instant!
Not knowing that the awakened state is within oneself,
How amazing that one searches for it elsewhere!
Although it is as clearly manifest as the brilliance of the sun,
How amazing that so few see it!
Having no father and mother, one’s mind is the true Buddha.
How amazing that it was never born, so never dies!
No matter how much happiness and sorrow is experienced,
How amazing that it is never impaired or improved even in the slightest!
How amazing that the mind’s nature is primordially pure, unborn
And spontaneously present!
This self-knowing was naturally free from the very first.
How amazing it is to be liberated just by resting
At ease in whatever happens!
(adapted from “Flight of the Garuda”)
You Are the Whole–Part 3
In this third and final talk in a series on the Upanishadic “great statement,” or Mahāvākya, tat tvam asi– “You are that” or “You are the whole”–the meaning of asi, “are,” or being, is discussed. “Asi” is the limitless being that is common to both you, on the one hand, and the whole of reality, including both ultimate reality and the entirety of manifestation, on the other hand. Through understanding “asi” we know that we and the whole of reality are one.
The following talk was given at Real Dharma on October 8, 2013.
Listen online:
or download or listen by clicking here.
You Are the Whole–Part 2
In this second talk on the Upanishadic “great statement,” or Mahāvākya, tat tvam asi– “You are that” or “You are the whole”–the meaning of tat, “that,” is discussed. “That” refers both to brahman, the ultimate reality which is limitless nondual consciousness and being, and to the whole of reality, including both ultimate reality and the entirety of manifestation.
The following talk was given at Real Dharma on October 1, 2013.
Listen online:
or download or listen by clicking here.
Seeing Sameness
One way to recognize intrinsic awareness–the original wisdom we were born with–is to see if there is something that is always the same. The sameness that is being pointed to does not exclude difference or change. It is a nonconceptual awareness that transcends the opposites of permanence and impermanence, of difference and sameness. It is a sameness that is seen in difference, a permanence seen right within this world of impermanence, a stable presence that pervades all states of consciousness whether peaceful or disturbed, happy or sad.
Seeing this sameness is a doorway to the simple recognition of one’s own awareness as primordial wisdom.
In this short meditative talk (about 20 minutes long), Hal points to the possibility of recognizing innate nonconceptual sameness. This talk was given at Real Dharma Sangha on May 1, 2012. To listen, use the flashplayer, below:
or download or listen by clicking here.
Special Event: An Evening With Kenny Johnson ~ Tuesday, January 24
SPECIAL EVENT
Tuesday, January 24, 7:30 p.m.
Real Dharma is honored to present an evening with Kenny Johnson, author of The Last Hustle.
THE LAST HUSTLE
AN EVENING WITH KENNY JOHNSON
Tuesday, January 24, 7:30 p.m.
The Common Well
85 Bolinas Rd., Suite 8
Fairfax, CA 94930
Hustler, pimp, thief. Kenny Johnson was a career criminal who spent 20 years in prison, when he was transformed by a profound spiritual experience. Now he proclaims the availability of grace, redemption and liberation for all. Kenny is the author of The Last Hustle, his story of crime and spiritual liberation, and is the founder of This Sacred Space, a program for currently and previously incarcerated individuals.
Mahasiddhas, Mahamudra and Awakening in the West
The Mahasiddhas were unclassifiable and often eccentric yogis of medieval India and Tibet who pointed out ultimate reality in direct and unconventional ways. Non-monastic, and not depending on dogma or ritual, their approach toward Mahamudra and Dzogchen teaching may hold the key to the transmission of genuine awakening to the West.
Hal Blacker gave the following talk on Mahamudra, the Mahasiddhas and their inspiring example and potential significance for the modern West at Real Dharma on November 29, 2011. To listen, use the flash driver:
or download or listen by clicking here.
The 3 fierce mantras of Tsangpa Gyare
“Whatever has to happen, let it happen!”
“Whatever the situation is, it’s fine!”
“I really don’t need anything!”
~Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje (1161-1211)
Like a lion coursing through the snow: The Song of Lama Jungne Yeshe
When Padampa Sangye asked him to express his realization, Lama Jungne Yeshe sang:
Like a fatally ill ascetic,
Seek to remember your own death!
Like a lone man struck with leprosy,
Seek realization of disillusionment!
Like a stone thrown into the sea,
Seek realization of irreversibility!
Like a bird seeking worms,
Seek realization of undistractedness!
Like meeting your only child,
Seek realization of recognition!
Like a lion coursing through the snow,
Seek realization beyond fear!
Demolishing the Ridge Pole
Soon after his enlightenment, the Buddha described his discovery of no-self like this:
Seeking but not finding the house builder, I traveled through the round of countless births. Oh painful is birth ever and again! House builder, you have now been seen. You shall not build the house again. Your rafters have been broken down; your ridge pole is demolished too. My mind has now attained the unformed nibbana and reached the end of every kind of craving. ~ Dhammapada, 153-154
In the following talk, I suggest that this demolishing of the “ridge pole” of the illusion of self may occur as a natural falling away when one discovers and rests in one’s true nature as consciousness, rather than as a result of an unnatural assault on the notion of self, using concepts or artificial practices. This is a healing process of going through the fundamental sense of being a conscious being–rather than trying to destroy it.
To listen to the talk, given at the Real Dharma group on October 18, 2011, use the flash driver below
If you are unable to use the flash player, listen or download here.
Real Dharma 