Mahayana Buddhism have the same result in mind or have the same goal in the two aspects of Buddhahood, that is, the formless omniscience of the omniscient mind of Buddhahood and the formal. communicative aspect of Buddhahood. Now Buddhahood, like everything else in existence, is the result of causes and conditions. It's the result of right causes and right conditions. In Exoteric Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, these six paramitas, or these six spiritual perfections, giving, moral conduct, etc., were enjoined as the right causes, enabling one to obtain the result of Buddhahood.

[01:18]

Buddhahood or enlightenment is the product of the accumulation of a sufficient amount of merit and of wisdom or insight. Merit is the result of... of... wholesome actions. And insight is the result of... either analysis or... application of the mind in the various stages of meditation.

[02:29]

So these two accumulations of merit and wisdom are the essentials which the bodhisattva seeks to develop through his training in these six perfections. it said that the first three and the fifth perfections, that is, of giving, of moral conduct, of patience and of meditation, are all our perfections which, produce merit, whereas the sixth and final parameter of perfection, the perfection of wisdom, produces insight.

[03:33]

perfection, diligence is required in both, in the development of both merit and wisdom. So it attends, attends the bodhisattva, the mental effort, attends the mental efforts of the bodhisattva in developing either merit or wisdom. As a result of with sufficient accumulation of merit, one obtains in enlightenment formal body of Buddhahood, that is, that aspect of Buddhahood which enables one to communicate with unenlightened beings, to appear among beings in countless ways and to promote their liberation also. It is the result of one's efforts for others

[04:41]

One's perfection of wisdom results in enlightenment in one's attaining the Buddha's body of reality or the omniscience of an enlightened being. This is the... This is the result of one's training in the sixth paramita, the perfection of wisdom, and it is the culmination or the result of one's efforts for oneself. One seeks enlightenment not only for oneself but for others. For oneself one obtains the... For others, one obtains the ability to communicate one's transcendent knowledge or wisdom to other beings.

[05:52]

So these two essentials then merit in wisdom. are developed in Vajrayana Buddhism, these same perfections are present. They are the same essentials of merit and wisdom are also thought, the only difference is in the speed with which these perfections are accomplished through resorting to tantric methods.

[06:57]

If for these reasons Vajrayana Buddhism is a superior approach to one's spiritual goal, then one should undertake to receive Vajrayana initiation, which is a preliminary to to all tantric practice. There are, however, a number of considerations that one should bring to mind before one seeks initiation. One should have adequate knowledge about the transmission of the meditation or the practice, system of practice into which one seeks initiation.

[08:11]

One should also make effort to become thoroughly satisfied about the qualifications of the teacher from whom one receives initiation. one must oneself be endowed with the requisite qualifications in order to receive initiation and so forth. It is of utmost importance the meditation or the practice of tantric meditation into which one obtains initiation have been transmitted through an unbroken, uninterrupted line directly from the Buddha.

[09:17]

If this line of transmission has been broken, then one will not receive the benefits or the blessings that have been transmitted from one generation of masters to the next. Secondly, one should be very careful and thoughtful in requesting a teacher for initiation. One should study a teacher well to determine whether that person is truly qualified to bestow initiation or not. Apart from having himself become well versed in tantric

[10:25]

literature, tantric instructions in the tantric knowledge thoroughly well-versed, he must also have accomplished the minimum attainments through his own tantric practice. in that particular meditation. In other words, he must have obtained some degree of expertise in the meditation, some spiritual attainments to that practice before he would be able to transmit anything. And it's not enough merely to have been able to accomplish a retreat, for a requisite period, but must also be clearly endowed with the qualities of moral conduct, purity in motive, one who must also be compassionate,

[11:38]

toward beings, and that compassion should be his motive in transmitting the initiation. And so forth. If one has found such a teacher, then only should one request such a teacher for initiation. If these qualities are not present, one should not seek teachings there. If one has found such a qualified, compassionate, moral teacher, then one should request initiation, not just once but many times. In the process of initiation, one will receive the transmission of the four bodies of Buddhahood.

[12:58]

The first of these is the... The first initiation is that of the... The first initiation is that of the body or the empowerment of the mandala of psychic channels within the body. The second initiation is that The second initiation is that of the mandala of sacred letters within the body.

[14:32]

That is the location within the psychic channels within the body of certain sacred syllables or letters. The third initiation is that of the mandala of Third initiation is that of the mandala of the elements, elements within the body. And in particular, this refers to the transmutation of the sexual energy, the play of sexual energy within the body.

[15:40]

The fourth initiation is that of the the mandala of transcendent wisdom, which comes about through the effect of the psychic air or prana upon the central psychic channel within the body. So these four of mandalas are the basis for the four complete tantric initiations. So then the human body of these four mandalas are make the human body extremely valuable in one's quest for liberation.

[17:04]

Through the wise use of these elements within the human body, one can, as we have described, very quickly and effectively obtain the liberation one's and the perfection of good of it one seeks. Because of the presence within the body of these mandalas, psychic air, psychic centers, channels, nerves and elements, one can appreciate why the Vajrayana finds immediate answers for us in the quest for enlightenment. So Rinpoche would like to ask you to just spend a few minutes in meditation.

[18:15]

Relaxation, he would like you to sit and perhaps sit in meditation, sit quietly. You can practice any kind of quiet thing in meditation you would like. Relationship. of these various components within the body that we mentioned, the mandala, the various mandalas or psychic centers, the psychic airs, nerves, channels, and elements are are the source of our experience of this world. All are the appearances that appear to us external, real, our relationship to objects. In short, everything that we experience is due to the relationship of these various components of the human body.

[19:29]

When experienced in a deluded state, that is, when one is not aware of their relationship, when these energies are not channeled toward enlightenment, their experience, the experience that we have is one of delusion, that is, our deluded, impure perceptions of the ordinary world. When these same elements, components, are experienced as a result of tantric meditation, one's experience is of the pure land or the Buddha realms, that is, the pure perception of things as they really are. So these methods are, as we indicated, extremely effective.

[20:38]

They are also dangerous. If one meditates improperly, with poor instruction, with wrong motive, carelessly and without observing the Vajrayana vows that attend tantric initiation, then one will not only fail to obtain the spiritual goal you seek of liberation and enlightenment, but you will also be sorry. You will experience various difficulties and other unwanted results from your practice.

[21:44]

Our discussion of the Vajrayana vows will be taken up tomorrow morning. In exoteric Mahayana Buddhism, we hear much of the two levels of reality, that is, the conventional reality of unenlightened beings, that is, the acceptance or the perception and acceptance of things as they appear to be, as they are taken or mistaken to be by ordinary human minds. and the second level of reality, the level of ultimate reality, that is, the perception of things as they really are when perceived by an enlightened, purified mind.

[22:46]

In Vajrayana Buddhism, One speaks instead of the two processes of meditation or two stages of meditation, first being the process of creation, the second the process of completion or perfection. In this first stage of tantric meditation, that is the process of creation, one undertakes to purify, from us being all of those deluded impulses and habits,

[23:50]

conceptualizations that involve the mind into delusion. And as we said last week, this process of deluded becoming, of worldly existence. All of these impulses are and habits are purified and re-channeled. All that mental energy is re-channeled in this stage, directed towards the... and is used instead in... in coming to recognize the true nature. Coming to recognize one's... the true nature of mind, that is to say its Buddha nature, this is done through meditations upon so-called deities, deities which serve as objects of meditation.

[25:11]

beauties that are not accepted as real in themselves but as an embodiment or representation of various aspects of enlightenment, such as the compassion or wisdom or power of an enlightened mind. All of these are represented for the sake of... ease in meditation in the form of tantric deities. And by training the mind to identify with these spiritual ideals or these aspects of the enlightened state, rather than with the ego principle, all of those impulses, habits and delusions that attend the ego-making process are purified and that energy becomes a part of the process of attaining enlightenment.

[26:27]

So, in this way, the... In this way, the... process of creation is the essential first stage of tantric meditation. We had said that ignorance, ignorance of the nature of one's own mind, and therefore ignorance of one's innate Buddha nature, was the root of all negative mental states and experiences of pain, suffering, bondage, etc. In Vajrayana Buddhism this primordial ignorance is removed through

[27:42]

meditations which employ one's knowledge of the... the five chakras within the body, the three psychic channels, the 72,000 psychic nerves, etc., within the body to purify this ignorance and to transmute that ignorance of one's own being, that the components of one's own being into wisdom. This also purifies all of the impulses, habits and conceptualizations deluded conceptualizations that keep us bound up in the deluded process of decay, death and dying, and re-channels all of that energy that we ordinarily put into decaying and dying into the purification of this... the purification of...

[29:09]

of delusion and therefore the attainment of wisdom. So this is the basis for all of the various... or process of completion practices, whether it be the six doctrines or dharmas of Naropa, of the Kagyu tradition, of the six doctrines of of Nigo in the Shambhaka tradition or the six doctrines of the Lamdre in the Sakya tradition to which Rinpoche himself belongs. All of these have identical practices based on this premise that ignorance can be

[30:20]

transmuted into wisdom. These six principles of the tokrim or process of completion meditations are the heat yoga or tummo as it's known in Tibetan, the dream yoga, The illusory body. Clear light. Bardo. Basically the transference of consciousness.

[31:41]

Yes. It's extremely important that one who undertakes tantric practice understand these two processes of creation and completion thoroughly and well, that one understand the purpose of these meditations, of these stages of meditation, and that one obtain thorough, precise, clear guidance in their practice from a qualified teacher.

[32:50]

The purpose of this process of creation, for example, is to help us overcome the tendency of mind to be egocentric, to identify with the deluded concepts, deluded habits, based on this belief in an ego and its... They want to believe in the ego. So for that reason we meditate, we're asked to meditate on tantric deities. These tantric deities are, one should understand, are ciphers or are symbols of the true nature of our own mind. not to be reified or thought of as real in themselves, nor even though we're encouraged in our visualization of ourself as the deity.

[34:07]

This practice has as its intent the purification, the re-channeling of all of that ego-making energy into freeing us from that whole habit of mind that builds egos, and to help us to come learn to identify instead with the true nature of mind, which is what the deities represent. This should be understood as the basis for practice. while we are identifying with the deity, we think of we cling to this concept of deity as real. We cling to our visualization of ourselves as the deity, as real and solid. If we're just substituting flesh and blood visualization, our visualization of ourself as a flesh and blood deity for our present self-image, then

[35:17]

this will be very harmful to us in our career, because, as it has always been stressed, that one should not cling to views, one should not be attached to ordinary worldly objects, much less to the objects of the path. if one reifies all of these visualizations of self as deity. without understanding either their meaning or their true nature, one can create other karmically harmful patterns within one's mind. There are tales told of well-known meditators who meditated on wrathful deities and were reborn in that shape as demons, or of

[36:25]

of people who meditated on the major tantras who through carelessness in practice, who didn't take the trouble to understand the teachings or the intent of the practices or the way to practice carefully, who didn't practice with pure compassion, they experienced instead of liberation, they experienced downpour. They, as a teacher, the great Pandita teacher who introduced so many of the new tantras into Tibet. From India it's said that these major tantras practiced wrongly are are a quick way to get reborn in hell. So if, for these reasons, one should, if one should keep in mind that these teachings are priceless because they enable one to attain enlightenment and the benefit of the world and oneself,

[37:38]

very effectively. If one's motive is pure and one takes the trouble to apply oneself intelligently to practice, there is nothing to fear. One will obtain that result if one goes about it with poor intent and practices carelessly and foolishly. I think one has only... one has accomplished nothing but trouble for oneself. Therefore, one should keep these things in mind whenever one applies oneself to tantric meditations. Could I trouble you to translate the part about the shuja? The what? She made an analogy saying that the tomb was like, I mean, he said that it was, or she said it was, you know, it had to be something. He went on to, I don't know, she said it was her body.

[38:46]

And he went on to go on. Well, he mentioned it. He did go into it. And he also said that these are not a topic of discussion. I'm sorry about that. He just missed a bit. He said it's all right. All right, have any other questions? Yes, you mentioned that Vajra is there as a script. Yes, the head Vajra. Is that written in English? Is there an English translation of that? There has been a translation of one reduction by David Snowgrove, What's that? Yeah, I've heard that. It's available, but it's really to be wordless. Any other questions? Yes, Josephine. All right.

[39:48]

The realization of emptiness or the perception of the empty empty nature of all phenomena is a part of the path to enlightenment it is not the result but a part of the path of purification It serves to purify the mind of conceptualizations of things as real, that is, real as we like to think them. And whereas Nirvana is an epithet for the result, the resultant enlightenment that is attained through that path of which emptiness, the meditation of emptiness is a part.

[40:59]

That's right. It's a stage on the path, like Spiva said. It's just, in order to... it's a corrective meditation that remedies our tendency to take things at face value, to think of things as real, as real, as we like to think of them, or we habitually think things real. So this Intanist, this meditation of Eternity corrects that. that wrong perception. But then, as the Buddha always warns, it would be wrong just to substitute the view of emptiness as the right view. That would be even more erroneous. So the real view is that things as they are in reality are neither Real nor unreal, neither empty nor un-empty, but just as they are. That is free to my conceptualizations. Yes, one here. I still have some question regarding what the difference is in practice between concrete and non-concrete practices.

[42:06]

For example, recently I've heard that that a certain meditational practice on Shakyamuni was a non-tantric meditation and therefore could be given by any Lama who had the sutra. Whereas other meditations that have been given by tantric masters, there's still some uncertainty in my mind as to what is the difference? What is tantric meditation? A Tibetan Shakyamuni meditation. That was not that. Yes. I was told it was a sutra. A sutra meditation, therefore... Did it entail visualization? Visualization, yes, in front of me. I don't know much about it. I think I know it. It's probably an image of the Buddha right in front of you. Concentrate on that. I don't do emails. Okay, I'll listen to you. Rinpoche, you're right, there are two such meditations on the Buddha.

[43:08]

In non-tantric, that is, meditations based on sutras or exoteric Mahayana literature, one is encouraged to visualize the Buddha. in the sky in front of one, and then make that an object of one's meditations, whether it be taking refuge, particularly taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, or of developing this sense of rapport with the spiritual ideal and so forth, or confession of sins and so forth. These are exoteric meditations for which no initiation is required. However, visualizations of yourself in the form of Shakyamuni Buddha or any other deity, definitely require tantric and definitely require initiation before they may practice them. Now, is there a difference in whether one visualizes oneself as a manifestation of deity versus just utilizing the deity external to one?

[44:13]

Is that the key difference between a non-conflict meditation? I'm sure there's a lot more to it. I mean, as you know, visualization is just a part of the meditation. But as far as the matter of can you visualize... the Buddha and make that an object to meditation, I would say yes, that's true. Definitely you need an initiation to do the meditations for you to visualize yourself as the Buddha, but not so when it's externally visualized. But I don't think that's the only reason. You know, as you said, there are all sorts of processes, like using all the psychic chakras and so forth, like the eight types of meditation, which initiation authority to use in addition to these specializations. Those who are receptive to these teachings, you're asked to think of Rinpoche himself as being none other than Shakyamuni Buddha, who is

[45:23]

from whose golden body rays of light shine forth to touch the whole of your being, removing there all distractions, delusions and obscurations, to receiving these teachings of the path to enlightenment, and that spontaneously there arises in your mind discerning wisdom and the realization of selflessness. Think of yourselves also as being none other than the bodhisattva of wisdom, Ven. Sri, who tirelessly seeks out all the teachings of dharma for the sake of living beings, And think of our surroundings as being not the ordinary workaday human world, but the pure realm of Dharma, the Buddha land.

[46:39]

And with the mind free from all distraction, from all clinging to concepts, and especially to ordinary concepts, concepts of oneself and the present moment as being ordinary, try to make the mind open to receive these teachings by approximating this moment as it occurs on the level of ultimate reality, that is, as things are truly happening in the pure realm of the Buddhists and not as we experience them from the standpoint of ego. So with this mental preparation, we will resume our discussion today.

[47:41]

Yesterday we had said that Buddhism in general and Buddhahood in particular are a matter of attitude and perspective. refers to the way in which one relates to one's fellow beings. And in Mahayana Buddhism, we have learned that that entails an attitude of great compassion for all beings. Perspective, the matter of perspective, which we will be discussing this morning, concerns an accurate, valid perception of things as they really are. The right view in Buddhism is then a view that

[49:05]

sees the true nature of all phenomena. In Mahayana Buddhism, this true nature or this perception of the true nature of all things is described as one which sees that that reality is a state for which human conceptualizations are inadequate. It is therefore called a state of extremelessness, a state that is away from all extremes of conceptualization

[50:08]

and cannot be adequately, rightly described as being either existent or nonexistent, real or unreal, etc. This insight into the true nature of things is, along with compassion, the principal factor which results in Buddhist liberation or Buddhist salvation. It is the goal of the Mahayana's striving whether that took place on the exoteric paramita path or in the esoteric tantric path.

[51:19]

As the great Sakyapandit rightly said, there is no difference in the view of the ultimate, in the ultimate view of the sutras and the tantras. this direct perception of the state of ultimate reality, the nature of ultimate reality, is known variously by different names among the Buddhist schools. But it remains the same regardless of the name.

[52:21]

In the Sakya tradition to which Rinpoche belongs, it is the saving insight known as the unity of samsara and nirvana, the korda-yamit, the essential oneness of liberation and worldly existence. In the Kagyu tradition, it is known as the great symbol or the Mahamudra in sight. In that school, there are two two kinds of mahamudra practice and perception taught.

[53:26]

One is called the... One belongs to the sutrayana, or the exoteric Mahayana's path. The other belongs to the esoteric tantric path. And in order to undertake this practice, it is required that one receive all the four initiations which were described yesterday afternoon. Yes. In the Sakya tradition to which Lujjana Rinpoche belongs, this view of ultimate reality, known variously as the Mahamudra or the oneness of samsara and nirvana,

[54:46]

is taught extensively after one has received initiation into the Hibashara Tantra and it is taught as one of the essential parts of the vast meditative system known as the lamdre, lamdre system of practice. The philosophical view of the nature of ultimate reality is expounded in four stages.

[56:00]

Firstly, it is established that all appearances have their all appearances, that is, all phenomena, have their origin in the mind itself, that consciousness is central to our experience of the world. Secondly, Mind itself is illusion-like in the sense that it too has no innate self-nature, no innate inherent identity of its own.

[57:06]

The thirdly, it is established that mind, that that mind exists in the way that it does exist through through a concatenation of causes and conditions, that is, through interdependent origination. And finally, it is established that that nature of mind which is non-dually apparent or luminous and empty, at the same time, the nature of that mind is ineffable.

[58:32]

though its nature can be directly, non-dually, intuitively experienced, yet it cannot be described in terms of human concepts. Though ineffable, one can indicate the nature of... the ultimate nature of reality and the experience, that perception of ultimate reality through... by means of simile, similes and examples. Thus, the Landre system enables the unenlightened to understand the... to understand that experience by relating it to examples of experiences available to them.

[60:00]

experiences available to them. Thus, we are taught eight examples to establish that all appearances have their origin in mind itself. Eight examples to establish that that mind is illusion-like. Eight examples to establish that mind exists through interdependent origination. And finally, eight examples to establish that the ultimate nature of reality is

[61:12]

ineffable, inexpressible. So through meditation on these 32 examples, the yogi is brought step by step to attain that direct non-dualistic experience of ultimate reality. We haven't the time today to go into the details of these 32 examples and the instructions for meditation which accompany each.

[62:18]

For those of you who are strongly interested in the teachings of the Lama Dredd Path to Enlightenment, who feel a karmic affinity for this these teachings, Rinpoche says that he will be willing to teach those people who are karmically prepared for this teaching at some future date. Today we will We will, in our discussion of these four essential stages of mahamudra practice, take up another meditation, which, though not a part of the laundry system,

[63:32]

nonetheless contains within it the elements of these four stages of approach to the realization of ultimate reality. Many of you received from Rinpoche two Sundays ago the initiation of Avalokitesvara, the initiation known as the non-duality of Avalokitesvara and Mahamudra. It is this particular meditation which has been Rinpoche's main practice, doing this throughout his lifetime. And though it is a brief initiation, brief meditation, it does, as we say, contain all of the elements of this Mahamudra insight.

[64:40]

So we will make that the basis for our description of these four stages this morning. Rinpoche denies that he himself has any personal insight into these into this view of ultimate reality expounded in the Landre literature and by the masters of the Sakyat tradition. However, though he himself denies that he has any insight, he does have He has had, he says, the benefit of receiving the teachings on a number of occasions from Masters who had attained the Pula Mahamudra insight. In particular, he received the Pula Landre teachings, the Pula teachings of the Landre system, some four times from his own personal teacher, the great master of the Sakya tradition, Gautama Lavan Lekpa Rinpoche, and also from another great Sakya sage, Jamyankinsi Rinpoche of Dzong Tsar.

[66:03]

And from these two great teachers who were blessed by their meditation of Sakyapandit and by the Bodhisattva wisdom, he does feel that he while not qualified to speak from personal insight, nonetheless is familiar enough with the teachings to be able to bring to mind the teachings of his teachers and of the Landre literature. So in this context, we will turn to our discussion of the four stages of Mahamudra insight. The great Sakyapa master, Morchen Kondrundup, summarized these

[67:21]

Four Stages of Mahamudra Meditation, in the following verse, which runs, Of happiness and sorrow, of samsara and nirvana, of all phenomena, mind is the substratum. If mind itself be examined, we see it has neither color nor shape. and hence is neither a single entity nor manifold. Because of its emptiness, it never arises nor dwells or ceases. Nonetheless, its nature of luminosity is never stopped, is never checked.

[68:37]

That The peaceful mind itself, away from all extremes, is the great ultimate. At the center of our individual worlds of experience is consciousness. that all our experience of sense data, our concepts of inner, outer, of internal, external, time, space, all the elements of our experience have as their center

[69:48]

as their substratum, the fact of consciousness. It is therefore a tenet of this Landre system of practice that Mind is the substratum of all phenomena, whether it be the bliss of liberation or the pains of worldly deluded existence. All of these depend upon the fact of our individual consciousness. Our experience then of all sense data and our reactions to those responses to sense data, our experience of everything has its origin therefore in mind, in our individual minds.

[71:10]

Just as, to give an example, in a dream we experience various, we have various experiences, painful, pleasurable. And though while dreaming we believe those dream events to be taking place and we respond in dreams, we respond to those events believing them to be real. We are frightened when threatened by tigers and the like, and respond in dreams with fear. But upon awakening, we realize clearly that none of those dream events had taken place outside the mind. those dream tigers were never any threat to our security.

[72:14]

Our responses of fear were totally inappropriate because there was no real cause for fear. All of these, all that had happened had taken place within the mind. So when one through meditation awakens to... is likened to awakening from this... this dream of worldly existence, where we mistake things to be real as they appear to be real from our ego, point of view. And all of our responses to stimuli are based on this premise that things are real as they appear.

[73:21]

So the first step then is to understand, to realize that all the components of our experience have their origin in our mind alone, then turning to that mind which is the source of all things, we seek to learn its nature. Yet when we search for the mind, Whether within the body or without or anywhere in between or in any other place, we can find no thing which corresponds to our concept of mind.

[74:25]

We know that we are endowed with consciousness. We all take to granted the presence of mind, and yet When we search for anything which corresponds to our concept of mind, we discover that it is not easy. If mind were a thing as we like to think of it, it should have at least location, dimension, qualities such as color, shape, etc. And yet, upon examination, we discover that mind has none of these. Mind also is Mind also is momentary.

[75:36]

Mind consists of discrete instants or moments, flashes of cognition. beyond these moments of cognition which have only a momentary duration. we can find nothing which corresponds to our concept of mind. Mind, even those moments of cognition, have no qualities, no location, no attributes whatsoever, apart from the very fact that consciousness or cognition

[76:46]

the mental energy we call cognition, is taking place. So the first step is to learn that mind cannot be considered, cannot be dealt with in terms of things, of entities. It is not a thing that, like other objects, have an origin. It is not something that comes into being and, having endured for a while, passes away. The mind is not a thing like other things. Mind is a no-thing. It is nothing. It has no independent existence in itself whatsoever. Yet, even though we see the nothingness, or as we say, the emptiness of mind, still we cannot say that it is simply the absence of anything like blank, empty space.

[77:59]

Though it is empty like space, still mind is equipped with, endowed with, a nature of knowingness. It is consciousness. This is the insight into the non-dual emptiness and luminosity of mind. Though empty, It cognizes, though it cognizes it is empty, just as fire and heat cannot be separated. So mind has this non-duality of emptiness and luminosity. As all things have their origin in mind, so appearances, the appearances that we experience in this world, have their origin in this luminous aspect of mind.

[79:22]

Yet their nature, though they appear, they are by their very nature empty in themselves. this emptiness of dharmas, of phenomena, has their origin in this empty aspect of mind. That the non-duality, the realization of this non-duality of mind, which is the source of all phenomena, is called the mahamudra insight. And though it can be directly experienced, it cannot be communicated to others adequately through words.

[80:24]

Therefore, as the sutras speak of it, it is It is inexpressible, ineffable, the perfection of wisdom, unarisen, undwelling, and unceasing. It has the very nature of space. It is the realm of self-cognizing insight, that is, mind cognizing its own true nature.

[81:28]

And this insight is the mother of all the enlightened ones. This insight into the true nature of mind is the saving insight which the Buddhas obtain. It is their perception of the ultimate nature of mind. Now, this ultimate nature of mind is away from all extremes. As we said, one can experience it, one cannot communicate it, one cannot describe it. But because human concepts are inadequate to describe it, it is away from all the extremes.

[82:32]

One cannot say of it that it either exists or does not exist, or both or neither. It is these human concepts of being and non-being simply do not suffice to describe that state correctly. Though it is profound and subtle, still this insight, this saving insight of the true nature of mind may be attained, and it is attained through right meditation. It is only attainable through right meditation. Its attainment leads instantaneously to enlightenment, to Buddhahood.

[83:41]

failure to recognize this true nature of mind results in continued worldly, that is to say, deluded existence on the round of birth and death. The key to approaching this realization is to receive valid instructions from a qualified teacher and to train one's own mind in this meditation on the true nature of mind. Practice is the key to its attainment.

[84:44]

As the great Indian master Padampasange said when he visited Tibet, he said, the trouble with Tibetans is not that they don't know the Dharma, it's that they don't practice the Dharma. They all know the teachings of Buddhism. They all know and recite Aumāni-kemiṭṭhū, but they don't practice. So this is true also with us. It is not enough to know about these meditations. One must practice them. Your sessions of meditation on this Mahamudra, nature of mind,

[85:50]

First of all, put aside all distractions. Turn the mind within. Focus the mind upon mind itself. Not upon the contents of your mind, but upon the nature of that mind from which these thoughts, your mind's contents, arise. It doesn't matter what the contents of your mind are, but upon the nature of your mind. And there, focus not upon the past moments of thought or future moments of thought, but upon the very present moment of consciousness. And by observing that, present moment of consciousness, try to discern there its nature of non-dual emptiness and luminosity.

[87:05]

Since that is always its nature, whether we recognize it or not, one need not pretend to see its nature. You need not You need not be artificial in your practice. There is nothing to add or subtract to the line, nothing to add or subtract to your practice or to... There is no need for artifice at all. You need not strain in this meditation. Just be mindful, aware, alert and observant. to see what you discover about the nature of your own mind. It is... The best way to meditate is to relax. First, you should seat yourself in the correct posture of meditation. One should... be seated correctly and...

[88:15]

apply discipline in putting your mind into meditation. But once in meditation, relax. Don't grasp at a view. Don't grasp at a nature of mind. It's there to be discerned, that this discernment can only grow when the mind, when one's meditative practice is clear, and attentive. So for a few minutes then we'll join Rinpoche in an observation of our minds. Just we'll sit for a few minutes in silent meditation and try to discover there the nature of your mind. All right.

[89:21]

So, make yourselves comfortable in some sort of cross-legged posture.

[89:27]

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