The
talk below was given on 3/20/95 at the regular Monday night
Dzogchen sitting
group in Cambridge, MA.
This practice that we just
did- this is what we call in Tibetan the
"Chenrezig Sadhana," or
practice of Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva,
or Buddha of Compassion, of love,
of loving kindness. My own
teacher, the late and extremely great Himalayan
meditation master
Kalu Rinpoche, always used to teach this, all over the
world, and he
always used to say this mantra, chant this mantra himself, day
and
night. If you ever saw Kalu Rinpoche, I'm sure you know that you
never saw him without beads in his left hand and saying this
mantra: Om mani
padme hung, the Mantra of Great Compassion. But
even more importantly, the
Mantra of Compassion was always circling
in his own heart, as it were, like
a prayer wheel, like every breath
as a mantra, as compassion, as a loving
concern for others.
So I've always been inspired
by this practice and this kind of
practice. Although in Buddhism, as we experience
it in the West, we
often hear about very mental aspects like wisdom, clarity,
enlightenment, realization, illumination and so on... higher
consciousness,
awareness.... I don't think that the Buddha's
teaching is really meant for
the eyebrows up. The Buddha's teaching
and the teachings of enlightenment
more importantly... even in the
Buddhist teaching, the true, authentic teachings
of enlightenment,
if one could say such a thing, are, if nothing else, about
the
heart, opening the heart and mind, not just about the mind and
thought
and clarity. But they're about warmth, kindness and love.
Unconditional love,
"divine love," so-called. True love, warmth, to
speak English.
Not cold detachment, but a very warm, spiritual
equanimity, equal to all-detachment,
which can help us to treat
others as we ourselves would be treated. Actually,
a training in
how to do that, not just a rule that we should do that......
recognizing our intrinsic connection, our total
interconnectedness.
Even more, even more scary, not just interconnected
like train cars
coupled by a small piece of iron at the ends, but totally
interpenetrative and inseparable. Totally interpenetrative and
inseparable
from each other and all those around us and the entire
mandala of being or
holograph, cosmic web of being, imaged in Mahayana
sutras as Indra's net.
Each node of the net is a luminous
diamond or pearl, like a mirror-like jewel
that reflects and contains
all the others. Think about that. That's what mandala
means, or a
holograph. Indra's net, where each of us is like a luminous
jewel that reflects and therefore contains all the others.
So
when we practice, we really, if we can, we really could settle
back into
that completeness. That's the completeness, the
wholeness, that's the Innate
Great Perfection, or Dzogchen, which
the teachings refer to. That's why we
often talk about clear light,
luminosity or transparency or clarity. Seeing
through the illusion
or seeing through the contracted ego of self, we experience
the
interpenetrativeness with all. Seeing through the seer, we become
seers, sages, who know everyone, as it were.
Since
we are infinitely connected, infinitely deep, not just looking
out into infinitely
deep space, we can also look "in". It is also
infinitely deep,
infinitely rich and profound, infinitely
mysterious, if you like, and unfathomable,
and yet at the same time,
totally coherent, fitting together, everything
in its own place.
Perfectly. It's like the ultimate chaos theory. Everything
is
coherent when you broaden the frame enough. Then you see it's
actually
a perfect pattern, everything fits, it's a perfect mandala
or hologram. Everything
fits, everything's perfect in its own way,
in its own place. Shit belongs,
as well as gold and pearls and
rainbows. Also, shit, schmaltz and everything
else. Neurosis,
whatever.
And not only that,
even more radically, we belong. Of all people,
yes even oneself, imagine
that, fits and belongs. That's what these
teachings, I hate to say "reveal"
- it's not a secret. That's what
they highlight, underline. It is there on
every line, but maybe
needs to be highlighted a little bit so it's not lost
in an entire
thicket of words, concepts. It is so evident that we overlook
it.
It's so close, right under our own noses, that we never notice.
Everything is that. There's nothing missing and nothing extra to
get rid
of in the Great Perfection.
So when we meditate through
clear seeing, or the openness and
awareness practice, we are entering into
the wisdom side, the
infinite, open side of the heart and mind. This we call
the
"absolute bodhi-mind." And when we practice, we generate out
of
that compassion, loving kindness, joy, empathy... excuse all the
words, but no one word can hold them all. With a cluster, we get
more of
a feeling what it is all about. Not just compassion or pity.
Think
about the Third World with empathy, putting ourselves in their
shoes, "walking
a mile in their moccasins," as the Native Americans say.
Then we'll know
where they are coming from, where others are coming
from, where each other
are coming from. Then we can treat others as we
would be treated. Then we
can equalize ourselves and others. As it
says in the Mahayana: mind training
or attitude transformation, to
treat others as yourself. To equalize oneself
and others. To know
where others are coming from, that others want and need
the same as we
do.
The wisdom of unselfishness
or selflessness reveals that real heart
of interconnectedness, interpenetrativeness,
and love. Then we would
treat everyone like we like to treat our children
or our beloved ones.
Equalizing ourselves with others, or even more radically,
putting them
first. That's what the Dalai Lama says, that's the way to train:
put
others first. Like, perhaps, in your best moments, you put your
children
first or would die for your children. If we see ourselves as
one person on
one side and all the beings in this world on the other
side, we might one
day do a little advanced calculus and say "Which side
is really more
important?"
Of course, that's a big stretch,
but we just say it that way to
exaggerate. But it's "me, me, me,"
or the world. Think about it: three
- me, myself, and I- or 6 billion? And
that's only the people! What
about all the others, creatures great and small,
seen an unseen? Hard to
count them.
So, when we
really put things in perspective, we can, by continuous
reflection and contemplation,
start to not just conclude or jump to
a conclusion or make some kind of exaggerated
point that the many
are more important than any one of us, but we might start
to really
transform our attitude. Erode or loosen a little bit of our
selfishness, of our self-cherishing, our egotism, whatever you want
to call
it...relinquish our grasping, attachment, and demandingness.
That's
the way to peace. World peace and also inner peace. We're
not just talking
about mystical doctrines like no-self, shunyata,
anakima, no self, no one
home. But how about just a little more
generosity and less grasping and demanding?
Let's start anywhere, anything will do. Just being
a little nicer
to each other or when we drive around or whatever. Let's start
anywhere, I dare you!
No, I'm sure you are doing better
than me in that regard. But never
mind. I think this is a real challenge for
all of us to really live up
to these marvelous, glittering truths that we
all bandy about, subscribe
to, read and write about, and even worse, teach.
How hard to really
walk our talk, to live in an enlightened way, to embody
the way, to
model impeccable living for the benefit of one and all. That is
the
great challenge, to embody and enact wisdom of compassion in action. To
show that it is possible, it must show up in ourselves first of all. We
must
act as if it's possible-since it is. Let's make believe and go
into it.
We
can work from the outside in. We can act as if it's possible to
be sane, to
be loving, to live an enlightened way, to make believe from
the outside in,
as well as transforming from the inside out - bit by
bit, because it does
seem to take a while, this infinite journey.
surya@kei.com