Maitripa's Songs Of Realization

Dharma teachings from 24th ~ 27th June 2008 in Singapore
- transcribed and edited by Venerable Aneja.

Jun 24, 2008

Dohas are songs of realization composed by great pandits and siddhas. There are hundreds of dohas by Indian siddhas that contain the ultimate meaning, which can be practiced to lead us to enlightenment within one lifetime. These days, we imitate dohas by singing in melodious tones without truly understanding them. We can spend weeks and months to prepare and practice them but we can’t sing them well. Unlike us, the great Indian and Tibetan masters sing them spontaneously (based on their spiritual attainments) therefore these dohas can benefit sentient beings.

Most of us do not know how many dohas existed. Hence we regard them as songs and sing them during festivals in the name of fun, not bearing in mind that these were composed by realized beings whom we supplicate. If you study, contemplate, meditate or try to experience what is taught in these dohas, you’ll know that they serve to give us encouragement, that we are no different from the realized pandits such as Saraha, Naropa and Milarepa. This shows that the true nature that they have realized is within each and every one of us.

Buddhist practitioners start their practice by taking refuge in the Triple Gems, studying the Four Noble Truths, then proceeding to the Mahayana practice. All these different levels of teaching lead to the practice and achievement of the Mahamudra. We cannot moderate the Dharma and make it fun for ordinary people, making them laugh to enable them to think that the Dharma is great. The Buddha has already moderated the Dharma according to the level of sentient beings. The Buddha always taught bearing in mind the capacity of sentient beings. Therefore, we cannot moderate the Dharma more than what the Buddha has already done.

The instructions from the great masters are all great; the problem lies in us always saying that we are too busy to practice. These realized beings had gone through hardship not for themselves but for us such that they could even sacrifice their lives. They have given us very precious instructions and all we need to do is to follow these instructions but we are hindered by the lack of time.

As Buddhist practitioners, we all look forward to profound teachings and practices such as the Mahamudra, high Tantra and we hope to achieve enlightenment in one lifetime. Yet, when you look at how much time you spend on your handphone, laptops, family, shopping centers, you would realize that you are not skilful at all. You want something, yet you don’t want it. If you just spend 15 to 20 minutes a day to practice and meditate, you’ll see how much delusions you have in your mind and how much negative karma you have accumulated. The 20 minutes accumulated daily to study and meditate will enable you to progress towards the real Dharma.

You may think that ordinary people cannot apply the instructions from the dohas. Actually the instructions in the dohas are not special or extraordinary. They are in fact very simple and focus on how to improve the quality of the mind and are explained according to the different individual’s capacity. The realized beings can see that each individual has the natural quality within them. However, we cannot see this quality because we are deluded and obscured by afflictive emotions.

There are three doors to our experience – body (physical), speech (verbal), mind (mental). Out of these three, the most powerful is the mind which dominates the other two. Therefore, dohas serve to clarify and enable us to recognize what the mind is, hence giving space to engage or train our mind.

When we visit the temples, we pay respect to the Buddha’s image, do prostration physically, chant prayers verbally and supplicate mentally. Our misconception lies in thinking that we are receiving blessings from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas but not realizing that we can be like them in the future. You have the Buddha’s quality within you all the time but you ignore your unseen quality and have not identified it. Instead, you are always looking for blessings and lack the confidence or pride that you are no different from the Buddha.

As long as you cannot comprehend this point, you will always see yourself as a practitioner who emphasizes on doing what is right, refraining from what is wrong. You focus on morality and discipline without understanding what the true purpose for these practices is. Therefore, you are always delaying and degrading yourself and you may even give up Buddhism eventually. This is all due to not being on the right path.

The practice of the Dharma is not simply to train the body or speech. More importantly, it is the training of the mind. Therefore, we have to meditate. Meditation sounds like a big word to many people leading them to think of the meditative posture that is to be maintained, the long hours that one has to sit and the possibility of one eventually dosing off. Actually meditation is to be practiced in all our daily activities and awareness should be maintained awareness at all time. Otherwise, we simply cling and attach to the name of practices such as Mahamudra, pursuing them without an aim, eventually becoming confused!

When tragedy happens to us, we do not know how to deal with them and feel hopeless. For example, if a doctor tells you that you are suffering from an incurable ailment, you will start to feel sad, thinking that you have to part with your family and your balance in the bank accounts. Dohas teach you how to help yourself without relying on someone else.

Therefore the Buddha repeatedly mentioned that you are your own guide and that no one else will direct you. How then, can you be a guide for yourself? By realizing the true nature of the mind!

The above explanation is a general introduction to doha. Some of you may be new to doha, so you may be wondering, “What are dohas? Are we going to sing them tonight, or is Rinpoche going to sing?” No, I’m not going to sing, but I will teach briefly from them. Tonight I’ve chosen a doha composed by Maitripa. This doha explains the correct view, meditative concentration, conduct and fruition. Maitripa is a great master who had realized the true nature of the mind (Mahamudra) and taught this doha to his close disciples. This doha is a summary of the ocean of his teachings.

I received this teaching from the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and received blessings from him. I will have to read the doha to you in Tibetan just as how Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche read it to me previously. This Tibetan recitation is important because Maitripa did not speak English. This teaching is probably recorded in Sanskrit or Pali and the translators who translated them into Tibetan were not ordinary beings but bodhisattvas.

“Our six senses, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind, when they are in contact with external stimuli produce perceptions of two notions – good and bad, beautiful and ugly. Every perception is just a projection of our mind. That means that these perceptions are not separate from the mind, just like the reflection of the sun or moon on the water surface. Likewise, nirvana and samsara are inseparable, they are in oneness. Enlightened beings (Buddhas of the past, present and future) are inseparable from sentient beings just as the how water of the ocean and the waves on the ocean are inseparable.”

Ordinary beings like us are deluded while the beings who have realized true nature are Buddhas. How is it possible that we can be at the same level as the Buddhas? In terms of the essence of the true nature, there is no difference between sentient beings and the Buddhas, because disturbing emotions are temporary, they come and go. If we are able to see the true nature of the mind, these disturbing emotions would not exist.

What confuses us is that we perceive the projection of what we see and hear, as real and solid. This is the start of samsara. This doha tells us that what we see or hear is not separate from our mind, the Dharmakaya. The moment you can train your mind to see that these projections are reflections of the mind, they will dissolve back into the Dharmakaya.

This key point is very important to all Buddhist practices and is not limited to the Mahamudra. We must understand it experientially, not just logically. If you lack this understanding, no matter how much effort you put in, the result is only mediocre. This is because you lack the confidence in your inner quality and strength. Our inherent quality - Buddha nature – is not created through study, contemplation or meditation. It is inside us all the time.

In the Vajrayana practice, our masters may instruct us to do the four foundations as a preliminary practice. This is a lot of hard work and the accumulation for each foundation comes in thousands. You may ask, ”When am I going to be enlightened? Is it after the prostration, Vajrasattva or Mandala offering?” However, what’s important is to know WHY you have to do these preliminary. You need to do these preliminary because you are deluded and you have not seen who you are. If you want to see the true nature of your mind, you would need to transform your delusions into the Dharmakaya. Therefore, you do prostrations. The true understanding of the practice is very important so that you are not doing the practice blindly, but rather meaningfully. Without true understanding, the thousands of prostrations that you do is only a mere torture.

We need to wake up because we are still sleeping. If you compare two people, one is asleep and the other one is awake. The former is having a nightmare in which he was being attacked by fierce beasts and monsters, running away from erupting volcano and falling down in the process. The only difference between these two people is that the former is asleep while the latter is awake. The awakened beings are the Buddhas; the sleeping beings are sentient beings. The quality of the Buddha and sentient beings are the same, the only difference is that the Buddha is awake while we are still sleeping.

How do we wake up? We have to practice and train our mind, meditate diligently and maintain mindfulness at every moment. Meditation does not mean simply sitting in concentration but being mindful of our every engagement in daily life, how we perceive our friends or enemies, the reactions and feelings that we have toward them. In this way, no time is wasted and we can apply our practice in everything that we come into contact with at every moment. This is what we called meditation.

Milarepa said in one of his dohas, “I have not studied thoroughly because I don’t need to.” This means that Milarepa did not go to school or university to do formal study, but samsara has provided him with many instructions. The trees, mountains, buildings, roads all became his instructors by providing him with essential teaching. Thus, he did not need to go through intensive studies or read hundred pages of books. Likewise, when we can apply meditation in daily life, we become just as watchful.

If you are able to approach your practice in this way, external objects will no longer disturb you. At present, we are disturbed by external objects. We are happy when we see or hear pleasant things and are unhappy when we see or hear unpleasant things. External objects can shake our mind. If you train your mind well, all external objects will not affect you but will instead become your friends to support and help you progress in your practice.

This is the end of tonight’s teaching. It is important for us to try and make some notes and remember them. If we simply listen and forget them once we walk out of the center, then tonight’s activity is meaningless. We are simply discussing about what this person had said long ago and that this person had since passed away.

Today we pray, “May I realize the Mahamudra.” 10 or 20 years later, we are still saying the same prayer. When we are about to die, we are still saying the same prayer! This is meaningless because we should not just say prayers in words, but put in effort to practice them. The Dharma needs to be practiced and it is through practice that we will see the results. Others can correct our physically actions but ultimately, we are our own witness and we should correct ourselves. Nobody can show us what the true nature of the mind is; we have to see it ourselves. Training ourselves does not mean the sole training in morality. It means applying meditation in each and every activity. Otherwise, you will die still reciting prayers!


Jun 25, 2008

In order to help sentient beings uproot the causes of samsara and become a Buddha, we must study these dohas. Generating bodhicitta is the crucial point in the Mahayana practice, without which no matter how profound one’s practice is, one cannot reap the benefit of the Mahayana tradition. Therefore the discussion of the dohas of the great pandits in India and Tibet should be propelled by the motivation to benefit sentient beings.

The mind that is free from substantial and non-substantial thoughts, is the mind that we aspire to realize. The true nature of the mind is completely free from substantial and non-substantial thoughts, yet we cannot see that because it is obscured by our dualistic thoughts.

The mind here refers to the Dharmakaya and bears reflection of the two dualistic notions. We need to recognize the mind that differentiates between nirvana and samsara. After recognizing it, we can then know how to approach the true nature of the mind, the Mahamudra.

Maitripa was trying to point out that there is not much difference between samsara and nirvana. When one has not realized that one’s mind is free from substantial and non-substantial thoughts, one experience samsara; when one has realized the true nature of the mind, one experiences nirvana.

Both the Mahamudra and Maha Ati repeatedly emphasized that the nature of the mind is no different from the mind that we currently experience. We are helpless in face of our thoughts, which are very powerful and constantly dominating us. When anger arises, we do what anger wants us to do.

Maitripa said that when anger arises, we should look at the essence of anger. What is anger? What are its shape, color and characteristics? How does it exist? We should do investigation thoroughly. Once anger is being recognized, it will be transformed into the Dharmakaya. Therefore, anger is not separate from the Dharmakaya.

The great Tibetan yogi Milarepa says, “The consciousness or mind which is unable to realize its true nature is called illusion.” When you call something nirvana, then something called samsara will exist. It is because of samsara that nirvana exists. Actually, both nirvana and samsara do not exist, as these two notions are created by our consciousness. To yogis like Milarepa who have already recognized the true nature of the mind, nirvana and samsara do not exist because they are just projections of the mind, the reflections of the Dharmakaya.

The Tibetan word for (conventional) wisdom is “sherab” while the Tibetan word for primordial wisdom is “yeshe” and in Sanskrit it is called “jhana”. Primordial wisdom has three levels:

Basic wisdom

· Beings have not realized the true nature of the mind, but they have reflections of good and bad thoughts. These thoughts are not separate from yeshe but beings cannot recognize it.

· Basic wisdom is also called ground wisdom. The Tibetan word for ground or place is “shi”. This is the first level of yeshe. The Buddha already saw and attained this wisdom, so it is meaningful to study, contemplate and meditate to surface it.

· When you receive teachings from a guru, you study and meditate on the teachings. Without the ground wisdom, there is no way to purify negativity, accumulate merits and realize the true nature of the mind. It is from this ground wisdom that all other qualities grow.

· In the Vajrayana teaching, the Buddha emphasized that all sentient beings are essentially pure. Why did the Buddha say that when sentient beings are impure and full of negativity, constantly performing non-virtuous actions and acting under the influence of afflictive emotions? It is because the ground wisdom is present within every individual. The Buddha felt sympathy for beings wandering in samsara, committing negative actions that result in further suffering in samsara. Sentient beings are not separate from the Buddha and have the same excellent true nature, which is free from substantial and non-substantial thoughts. The only difference is that sentient beings lack the diligence to practice and accumulate merits, therefore they remain in the same state.

· This is now the time for us to recognize the true nature of the mind. We have the necessary conditions for practice and meditation, and there are teachers to guide us. Hence, we should be able to discover and realize the ground wisdom.

Path Wisdom

Realized Masters who have spiritual experience can give clear instructions. We know that what they have said is true because it is based on their personal experience. This is the blessing lineage. This lineage is not reliant on using physical objects such as holy objects, blessed water or sweets to give blessings. The blessing comes from the true nature of the mind that the master had realized and transmitted to the student. The student then practiced the way the master had instructed, attained the same realization and then passes on the blessing to the next student. This unbroken transmission is the unbroken lineage.

Wisdom of fruition

This is the enlightenment that comes as a result of the ground and path wisdom. Enlightenment does not mean going to a place where you would not be found by others. It means the recognition of the true nature of the mind to be completely free from substantial and non-substantial thoughts. You do not need to imitate the Buddha’s posture or carry an alms bowl like him to be enlightened.

Milarepa said in his doha, “I myself am enlightened because of the blessings of my guru and lineage. I myself have realized the true nature of my mind. You can call me ‘one who is enlightened’.”

Sentient beings are very attached to the word “Enlightenment”. They think that enlightened beings come in different shapes and sizes. This is not necessarily true. An enlightened person can still be a human being, enjoy life, wear good clothes and eat good food, just like any normal person. But, his inner quality is different from others. He is completely awakened. He is a Buddha.

Maitripa continues in his doha:

“The moment one realizes that the mind is free from substantial and non-substantial thoughts, is like lighting a small lamp which immediately eliminates the darkness of a room. Similarly, realizing the nature of the mind can eliminate samsara’s confusion spontaneously.”

At that moment, the practitioner would realize that substantial and non-substantial thoughts are projections of the Dharmakaya. Hence, samsara’s confusion ceases immediately.

“The Mahamudra, which is the union of emptiness and clarity, is beyond our conception.

We have grasping in our mind. We have concepts that positive things should be achieved and negative things should be abandoned; virtuous things should be obtained and obstacles should be discarded. As long as we abide in such dualistic thoughts, we have not approached the Mahamudra practice.

“The union of emptiness and clarity is the Mahamudra. The Mahamudra is nothing separate from the union of emptiness and clarity. It is vivid (can be seen) and yet non-dual.”

The union of emptiness and clarity pervades all phenomena, not only in the mind. The things we see, the houses, roads, mountains, lakes, elements of nature are inseparable from the clarity of the mind. Therefore, the Mahamudra is pervasive. Likewise, nirvana and samsara are not separate from our own mind, which is inseparable from clarity and emptiness.

The 15th Karmapa said in his teaching, “Samsara or cyclic existence is not separate from nirvana. Our dualistic thoughts are not separate from wisdom.”

What we need to do is to transform the conceptual mind to wisdom. If you have concepts like, “Having thoughts is bad, not having thoughts is good”, this is a hindrance to the realization of the Mahamudra.

It seems difficult to understand at this point in time, but if you have a good teacher and practice well, you would know that it is true. One gains enlightenment through this understanding. Teachings like Madhyamaka provide different ways that lead to the same destination.

The Mahamudra teachings always talk about the mind. Our habits are deeply rooted and our afflictive emotions have been with us for a very long time. When our habits and thoughts arise, do not react with aversion. You would not be able to win them by force. Instead, try to make friends with them and observe how they function. Mahamudra teaches this technique of making friends with your thoughts. When you know the real tricks of your mind and realized the essence of afflictive emotions, they can no longer disturb you.

All qualities of the Mahayana practice such as compassion and loving kindness arise from the union of emptiness and clarity. Once you have recognized the true nature of your mind, all these qualities will arise endlessly, spontaneously and the number of beings you can benefit will be limitless.

The doha continues, “It (union of emptiness and clarity) is pervasive and vast, containing loving kindness.”

Bodhisattvas repeatedly say that we need to benefit sentient beings. How do we benefit them? We are at present very limited in the scope which we can help sentient beings. When we help others, there is some form of expectation causing us to feel tired at times. When you can be free from expectation of returns from others and sincerely wish to benefit sentient beings, the benefit that you can provide spontaneously becomes profound, vast and limitless. It is through understanding the true nature of the mind that we can free ourselves from expectation in order to truly benefit sentient beings.

“You don’t need to discourage yourself by thinking that you may not gain enlightenment, or you may not be able to help sentient beings. This is a disturbing attitude and an obstacle to your practice.”

Our mind was not deluded initially. It is pure and free from expectation, fear, doubt and stains. Verbally, we cannot explain the Mahamudra but we can experience it through our understanding and practice. It is like a mute who is experiencing a drink. He may be able to make some expression to tell you how it taste, but he is not able to explain it. Likewise, people who realize the true nature of the mind will know it through their own experience.

We need less communication but words with more meaning. It is through meditating and experiencing the true nature of the mind that we transmit wisdom to our students. Verbal communication cannot give the full meaning of Mahamudra. Even if you write a book of 100 pages, you still cannot fully explain what Mahamudra is. Anyone can say the words, “Mahamudra”, “Madhyamaka” and “Maha Ati” but not everyone can recognize the true nature of the mind. You need to spend some time to meditate daily. Meditation does not simply mean maintaining a certain posture for a period of time, but rather maintaining mindfulness of every engagement, every minute of the day. Whether you are in solitude or a crowd, you watch your mind every moment, observing if it behaves the way that is mentioned by the teacher or in the book. Each and every moment, you are very mindful of the activities of the mind. In this way, you will gradually gain some familiarity and get closer to the true nature of the mind.

The true nature of the mind is also observing you and will become friendlier as you progress in your practice. It does not take long to see the true nature of the mind. If you practice diligently, it is possible to realize the Mahamudra in this very life.

To be free from substantial and non-substantial thoughts is not sufficient. At our level, we are disturbed by our thoughts. When you meditate, you may feel that more thoughts are arising and you should pay attention to these thoughts.

In the Mahamudra text, it repeatedly says that, the more thoughts you have, the more you can realize the true nature of the mind. If there are no thoughts, there is no way to realize the true nature of the mind.

When anger arises, pay attention to it. What is anger? What are its shape, color and characteristics? How does it exist? Where does it go? Investigate it thoroughly. From here, one can find out what the clear mind is. The clear mind is something that gives you bliss. Bliss encompasses clarity, openness and happiness.

To achieve true understanding of the mind, you need thoughts. When thoughts come, do not run away but welcome them. In the text, it says to “rest” when thoughts arise. “Rest” doesn’t mean falling asleep, but rather resting in the thought, seeing it vividly.


Jun 26, 2008

“The experience of the clear mind and emptiness is immeasurable or limitless because the qualities of the innate wisdom is immeasurable. Once the individual has recognized the inner experience, all noble qualities will arise endlessly.”

We use the words “great bliss” to describe this experience. The true nature of the mind is innate wisdom. Once it is being realized, unfabricated bliss will arise. Why is this nature unfabricated? The worldly bliss experienced by the body and mind is fabricated, but the true nature of the mind is unfabricated. It’s like the sun and the moon. The light and heat from the sun pervades everywhere. Likewise, the projection that we see is inseparable from the Dharmakaya, which pervades nirvana and samsara.

The sun and moon shines boundlessly. Likewise, the Mahamudra and Maha Ati practitioners truly experience the innate wisdom and are able to transform the suffering of body and mind into Mahamudra. There is no suffering of the body and mind that cannot be transformed to the Mahamudra because they are all projections. Phenomena, whether they are big or small, high or low, beautiful or ugly, are just notions. All these can be transformed into the Mahamudra or Dharmakaya.

When you read the life story of great masters like Milarepa, Tilopa and Naropa, there are accounts that these great yogis could fly in the air like birds, swim in the oceans like fish and move through mountains and rocks as if their bodies were formless. These are what we call miracles but these are actually true facts. The deluded mind cannot see these facts because of our obscuration, dualistic thoughts and fixation to what is good vs bad, virtuous vs non-virtuous. These miracles are natural qualities of the mind, which can be experienced. Therefore, yogis can display such miracles freely without attachment.

In the life story of Marpa Lotsawa, when he went to India to see the great pandit Naropa, he brought with him a huge amount of gold from Tibet. He felt that when he meets his guru, he must offer something precious in order to receive blessings. Gold is very expensive and hard to find, yet Marpa brought them all the way from Tibet to India to offer them to Naropa. When Marpa offered the gold to the Naropa, Naropa refused to accept it, saying that he did not like gold. Marpa offered a second time and beseeched Naropa to accept it. This time, Naropa accepted the gold, took it from Marpa’s hands, but immediately threw it away into a nearby forest.

Marpa was shocked! He thought, ”This gold is very precious and I had painstakingly brought them here from Tibet. Now it’s all thrown away and wasted!”

Naropa read Marpa’s thoughts and said, “If you still want your gold, I still have it.” Naropa opened his palm and revealed the gold that Marpa had given him.

This may sound something magical, but these are actually projections of the mind. We have the concept that gold is expensive and become attached to them. In contrast, we think that stones are worthless. However realized beings like Naropa had surpassed such notions of good or bad, expensive or cheap, knowing that all these are projections and illusions. Therefore, he could show the gold to Marpa even though he had already thrown it away. These are signs of the realization of the Mahamudra or Dharmakaya.

“How wonderful! The true nature of Mahamudra exists naturally within the yogi’s mind.”

This expression of “how wonderful” describes the noble quality within each individual, which is not created through study, contemplation, meditation or lineage blessing. We cannot see our noble quality because we lack diligence and wisdom. It exists within each individual since beginningless time. Our delusions remain and we are still unrealized sentient beings because we did not have a proper teacher and had not developed the proper practice. If you practice diligently, this noble quality can be seen easily.

The Maha Ati tradition often uses the word, “Samantabhadra”. In Tibetan, Samantabhadra is “Kun Tu Sang Po”. “Kun Tu” (samanta) means time, “sang po”(bhadra) means perfect. Together, they mean, “perfect all the time”.

Although sentient beings are full of afflictive emotions, yet they are pure in essence at all time. Afflictive emotions are momentary and are not always present. They exist because we ignore our qualities and do not pay attention to our suffering. If you pay attention with perfect wisdom, you will know that these suffering and delusions are baseless and fruitless and can be eradicated. They do not truly exist. Therefore, we are in essence Kun Tu Sang Po, perfect all the time.

In one of the Samantabhadra text composed by the great Nyingmapa master Longchenpa, he explained that, “Birth and death is Samantabhadra; happiness and unhappiness is Samantabhadra. In the state of Samantabhadra, there is no birth, death, happiness or unhappiness.” This means that birth and death are projections; therefore it’s a reflection of Samantabhadra and is not separate from Samantabhadra.

If you recognize the true essence of birth and death, you will realize that it is inseparable from Samantabhadra. In Mahamudra, this means that nirvana and samsara are inseparable from the innate wisdom, therefore Maitripa uttered, “How wonderful!”

Now that we realize our mistaken view and how deluded we are, we would know how to approach the Mahamudra because we are no different from the realized beings. We have the same noble qualities within each of us.

You can find similar meaning in the Heart Sutra, “Likewise all phenomena are empty, there is no characteristic, no birth, no cessation, no fabrication, no unfabrication.” This is emptiness. This notion of emptiness is different from the notions like, “the cup is empty, the room is empty etc.” This emptiness is the unification of appearance and emptiness. It is empty yet we can see; it is empty yet we can hear, smell and touch. Why? If it is not empty, then there will be no changes in our everyday life, there will be no arising of new things. Each day, we see different things because of emptiness. The phenomenon that is unborn and unfabricated is the clear mind which is never deluded and always pure.

The “Textbook of Yoga” explains the yoga of conduct, food and sleep. This means that although you may appear to be sleeping like ordinary beings, you are actually sleeping in the Dharmakaya. You appear to be in a deep sleep but you are still in control and are able to maintained clarity of the mind. Though you appear to be asleep, you have already woken up! The yoga of conduct includes all movement of the body, from walking, sitting, standing to talking with people; all these are performed in the Dharmakaya. This means you are never deluded.

When one is not awake, one is dominated by the afflictive emotions, which renders one powerless. If you have the clarity of mind, even though afflictive emotions may arise, you can control them. The practice of yoga teaches you how to control them.

Sometimes, you may find yogis in the society, dressing in weird clothes, behaving in weird manners and they may even smell bad because they do not bathe. Some of these yogis even eat shit, because they do not have notions of what is pleasant and what is unpleasant. To us, shit is something that we deem to be ugly, disgusting and should only be found in the toilet. However, to these yogis, notions of ugly, sweet, delicious, clean and disgusting are just thoughts and projections. They do not truly exist. If you observe young children, you would see that they could engage in their playing without having notions of what is dirty or clean, good or bad. Such notions are taught by parents and become habitual tendencies over time. Hence, these children will grow to know that when they need to shit, they need to go to the toilet, which does not smell nice. The yogis are completely aware and truly realized and hence are beyond all these notions and concepts.

The Tibetan word for the term “yoga” is “narl-jor”. “narl” means unfabricated, natural and fresh. “jor” means reach, as in arriving at a particular destination or attain a certain state. When the mind is deluded and fabricated, we have not reached the fresh or natural state of mind. Once you reach the natural state of the mind, it is narl-jor. No matter where you are, whether you are amongst people in the city or alone in solitude retreat, your mind is unshakable by noise, interruptions and disturbances. The stabilized mind is always calm and peaceful.

“When this fresh, natural mind is not fabricated, this is the Dharmakaya. When there are fabrications in the mind, you would not realize that the true nature of the mind is the Dharmakaya.”

The Dharmakaya is always within the individual, the key lies in whether we recognize it or not. The Buddha said in the scriptures that, “The mind does not exist.” Why did the Buddha say that? The mind is clear but we are unable to see the mind directly. However, we can see it through fabrication and delusions. Although these disturbing emotions arise, you can see that the nature of these disturbing emotions is the Dharmakaya. There is no need to abandon these thoughts or delusions. You can realize the Dharmakaya through the essence of disturbing emotions.

“Therefore, rest in the inseparability nature of bliss and emptiness.”

The word “rest” is the only English word that we can find to describe this situation. However, the English word “rest” often mislead people to think of lying down and falling asleep. The Tibetan word used to describe the above instruction is very clear and precise such that no misunderstanding would arise. The word “rest” refers to simply looking at the essence of the disturbing emotions but not following it, not being shaken by it. Therefore, when disturbing emotions arise, you will be more peaceful. If you do not rest in disturbing emotions, you mind will become unstable and restless, finding fault with almost everything, even virtuous things. The purpose of yoga is to reveal the unfabricated mind. If you rest, it means that you look directly at the essence of your mind. You do not lose the recognition of your mind whether you are alone, with friends or walking along the noisy streets. When the natural quality of yoga arises, disturbing emotions do not affect you. At present, our mind is not at rest and it is not stable. If someone says something good about you, you would feel happy and think, “This is my friend.” If someone says something bad about you, you would feel unhappy and think, “This is my enemy.”

Q: When we are try to be constantly aware of the “I”, does it inflate the “I” and ego?

A: Candrakirti said in his text Madhyamakāvatāra that even though the Buddha had gone beyond the “I”, he still used words like, “This is my bowl, my robe, my sangha…” The usage of such words does not inflate one’s ego. When we say, “I’m thirsty, I need water. I’m hungry, I need food.” This is not the “I” that Madhyamaka tries to eliminate. The “I” that causes problem is something deep in the heart that experiences happiness, unhappiness and other disturbing emotions. Actually the “I” do not cause problems, it’s the clinging on to the “I” that causes problem.


Jun 27, 2008

Dear Dharma brothers and sisters, I now request you to generate the enlightened mind of bodhicitta in order to help all sentient beings to uproot suffering and causes of suffering. Through the listening, contemplation and meditation of the Mahamudra, may we be able to lead all sentient beings to realize the state of Mahamudra.

Here, the great master Maitripa continued by repeating, “How wonderful!”

He said this partly because he had seen the clarity of mind and partly as an encouragement to us that such clarity truly exists. What we lack is diligence. If you put in effort to practice diligently under the proper guidance of a teacher, you will see that such realization existed there all the time. It is not far away from you and is within each and every individual. However the achievement of this clarity or the essence of mind needs your cooperation, without which it cannot surface even if it exists within. If you just pay attention and practice diligently, you would see that such quality exist in every individual.

The next line is, “Relax, yet meditate” or you can say, “Meditate, yet relax”.

If you fix a particular time to meditate, this means that you are not meditating for the rest of the time, but are deluded by fixation to objects. Your mind is unstable when you see and hear things that are good or bad. Under such instability, you are unable to see the true nature of the mind. Thus, Maitripa said, “Relax, yet meditate”. These two activities do not contradict each other.

You may think that relaxing means lying down and falling asleep. However, if you can recognize the true nature of the mind, whether you are sleeping or walking, these activities do not contradict one another. This is the truth of Mahamudra. “Relax” means you do not exert force to be free from thoughts and desire, instead you can even enjoy them. This does not mean that you do not have to eradicate desire or attachment, which we often see as disturbances. Rather, when you are able to see the true nature of your mind as inseparable from the Mahamudra, you can transform these thoughts into your practice.

When we gather together for Dharma teachings, we are very impressed by big topics like Mahamudra or Maha Ati. After the teaching, you may have expectation that you can be enlightened without giving up your desires and disturbing emotions. The Buddha gave different teachings according to the individual’s capacity.

The Buddha did not say, “I am the master, I will teach you all the high tantras, Mahamudra, Maha Ati, Madhyamaka.” Instead, he would examine and teach according to the individual’s capacity. “Mahamudra” and “Maha Ati” are just unimportant terms. However, we become attached to them and discriminate the teachings. Given a choice, we may choose to realize the Mahamudra rather than the Four Noble Truths. This discrimination is due to our attachment and desire and is a great hindrance to our practice. Thus, I do not use such terms but instead I talk about the true nature of the mind. True nature is unfabricated, you have not seen it but yet it is there. Thus we try to find it through studying, contemplation, meditation and following reliable instructions from a proper teacher. This will enable the true nature to surface.

This is how the yogi Saraha and other great master practiced to be free of thoughts, yet not abandoning them. Our dualistic thoughts of good and bad; positive and negative; samsara and nirvana are disturbing thoughts, which we need to overcome. Instead of abandoning them, you bring them into your practice by seeing the nature of the mind. Once you see its true essence, you would realize that they are inseparable from the true nature of your mind which could be found within every individual. Milarepa says,

“Rest your mind. The true nature of the mind arises unceasingly but you are unable to recognize it. When you rest your mind and pay attention to it, you will see it endlessly arising true nature.”

This view is not a Mahamudra or Maha Ati view but a Mahayana view, which had been more emphasized in Mahamudra and Maha Ati.

“How wonderful is it, this practice of the yogi’s meditation. My body is like a mountain.”

This is the mind of a yogi. If you rest in meditation without distraction and focus on your faculties (e.g. eye faculty), your meditation will go well. Some people think that Singapore is not a conducive place for retreat. They have to leave their family for a few months to go to somewhere else more conducive such as India to do their retreat. The above line teaches that you need not run away from your home to go somewhere else. You are inseparable from your body and you carry it with you everywhere. Therefore, your body is the best place for retreat, there’s no need to go anywhere else. If you are able to settle down, your mind, faculties and consciousness are all your friends who will support your retreat and practice.

“It is not necessary to reject these thoughts when you realize that your mind is distracted. Simply watch the essential nature of your mind when thoughts arise. Do not force your mind while you meditate. Simply meditate and relax.”

You do not have to abandon distractions; they are the projections of your mind. Once you are able to realize the true nature of your mind, these distractions become your friends. The more thoughts you have, the better your progress and the greater your realization. Yogis need thoughts and distractions. We use the term “distractions” but they are not really distractions. Distractions disturb the stability of the mind of beginners, but yogis have overcome these problems and remain undisturbed.

Thus, Maitripa said that distractions need not be abandoned. The sights that you see, the sounds that you hear, the fragrance you smell, the things that you taste, the objects that you touch, the thoughts that you have had all become the yidam or deity practice of the Vajrayana. In this context, the deity does not refer to the peaceful and wrathful deities. A wrathful deity may hold a knife in his right hand and a skull in his right looking terrifying. These are just symbols reflecting the true nature of our mind. As beginners cannot see true nature of mind, such dynamic symbols are needed to convey forms, colors, shapes and characteristics. Each symbol is an indication of the absolute meaning. If you can see each object in its true nature, that is the true yidam practice and there is no need to visualize any wrathful or peaceful deities.

In the Vajrayana practice, you are taught visualization and dissolution of the deities. These two practices are the key to the Vajrayana practice. However, the visualization in the generation stage is just a method, not the true practice. Our mind is deluded each and every day. Whatever that arise are negative thoughts associated with our destructive emotions which we are unable to control. It is not a healthy practice to suppress them.

In the Mahayana practice, there is no teaching that advocates the suppression of thoughts. In the calm abiding practice, one is taught to calm and pacify the mind, but not to stop the thoughts. Instead, we learn to transform negative thoughts by doing visualization of form and colors or by concentrating on the sound of mantra. While this is not the true practice of Vajrayana, these practices serve to protect us from hindrances.

The true practice focuses on the mind.

Hence, what Maitripa said above is true. Once you recognize the true nature of your mind, there is no need to visualize any deities.

Yidam practice is none other than realizing the true nature of your mind. All phenomena are reflections of the true nature of your mind. Once you have realized or identified the true nature of your mind, that is the best yidam practice.

“What if the thoughts continue to arise in meditation, what should the yogi do?”

Maitripa said it does not matter, simply leave it like leaving a piece of wool. Likewise, when thoughts arise, you do not have to abandon the thoughts, neither do you follow them. Thoughts are like drawings in the water that disappear as soon as they are being drawn. As long as you are able to relax and rest in the natural state of your mind, even if thoughts arise, they will also rest in the true nature of the mind. Thus thoughts do not disturb the yogis, but become their best friends and help the yogi progress in meditation. It is true that if you are able to rest in the true nature of your mind, the thoughts just disappear. The more thoughts arise, the better your practice will be and the greater your progress is.

“But a beginner in meditation needs to sit down and spend more time in meditation.”

You cannot think, “I have meditated on the Mahamudra for one month, now my thoughts have become my friends.” You need proper guidance, explanation and discussion from time to time. On one hand, meditation is very simple, but on the other hand, it can be very complicated and you can make many mistakes. The impact from a serious mistake can be very devastating and difficult to rectify. Hence Maitripa said that a beginner in meditation would need proper training. It is not as simple as what you read from the text, or what others claim to be. You may buy books on the Mahamudra from bookshops but do not think that after reading them, you do not need a teacher. It is not that simple. Training needs time and the training of one month, three years or even ten years, is not enough. What is written in the book remains as a philosophy or logical concept until you experience it in your own practice. When you have experienced it directly, the realization is forever and you can guide others to the right path.

“Watch your mind all the time. If you find any fixation or attachment, that is the demon.”

We are very scared of demons. Sometimes you hear of people going to the lama or Rinpoche telling them that they hear noises underneath their beds at night or their kitchen is very noisy and they suspect that there must be some ghosts in the house. Sometimes what they say may even scare the lama! This kind of irritation is not good for your mind.

In Buddhism, particularly in the Mahayana tradition, we always say that we should cultivate compassion and loving kindness. The more problems, difficulties and enemies you have, the more compassion and loving kindness you should cultivate. If that is the case, why do you run away upon hearing that there are ghosts? Is the ghost not a sentient being that deserves your compassion? Thus, you do not have to ask the lama or Rinpoche for protection. The obscuration or disturbing emotions in your mind during meditation is the real demon. The demon in your house is not scary, what is scary is the demon during meditation. Therefore, you should do meditate more and watch your mind.

The above explanation is on right view. Now we continue with the explanation on meditation.

"The root of all thoughts is the mind.”

Through examination during meditation, you will realize that neither the thought nor mind exists. Meditation is based on the thinking and non-thinking. When you are examining the fresh mind (in Tibetan, the fresh mind is called “nyuk ma”, which means “untouched”), thoughts have not arisen yet. The thoughts were dissolved into the Mahamudra. “Dissolve” here does not mean that it originally existed and subsequently disappeared. Rather it means that it is inseparable from Dharmakaya. Once you recognize, it becomes oneness or suchness. This is what we meant by “dissolve”.

The result of meditation is enlightenment.

Why do we meditate? Because we want to be liberated!

Why do you watch your mind? Because you want to be enlightened!

However, Maitripa said the opposite. He said that as long as you have the desire to be liberated, your meditation would not be good. In this essential practice, even the desire to achieve liberation needs to be cut off. You should overcome the desire to obtain liberation, as this is an obstacle to attain enlightenment.

In the Mahamudra practice, you’ll find four yogas or four stages in which the final stage is non-meditation. We do meditation to obtain non-meditation. When there is nothing to meditate on, it is called non-meditation or the true meditation of Mahamudra.

If you have true understanding or knowledge of meditation, then your daily life can also be integrated with meditation. In this way, you can maintain your practice for hours. Every activity is carried out in meditation, be it sleeping, waking up, eating or walking. This is a vital point in the essential teaching.

“Meditate without expectation.”

Maitripa emphasized that expectation is a hindrance in meditation. Both the expectation in this life and next life are hindrances. Thus, Maitripa taught that we should be without expectation like a child in an art gallery. When you are at the art gallery, you may have concepts of the art pieces saying, “This is beautiful, that one is not that good. This is from Italy and that is from France.” In this way, you create many labels and concepts. In contrast, a child at the art gallery just hangs around and he may even feel bored because he has no idea what an art gallery is.

“Practice without fixation like a bee collecting pollen from flower to flower.”

After collecting pollen from a flower, the bee flies away to another flower without any expectation. The bee does not think, “Where is the yellow flower that I just collected pollen from?” When it is collecting pollen, the bee may not necessarily go back to the same flower.

Likewise, it is very important to be without fixation to the meditation, its qualities, the instructions, and the meditation cave and retreat places. Fixation is the greatest hindrance to meditation.

“Meditate without fear like a lion, moving fearlessly in the forest.”

You should be free from fear, suspicion and anxiety when you meditate. These are hindrances to your meditation. Instead, you should be like a lion that lives and moves fearlessly in the forest.

“The beginner needs to examine his/her mind in the following aspects – inner, outer and in between.”

The beginner needs to do more examination. You know from the teaching that the mind is clear and inseparable from emptiness. However, until you can identify it correctly, you still need to examine your mind thoroughly in its various aspects – inner, outer and in between.

“The supreme conduct is without attachment or rejection, like a madman without fear and shame. This essence of mind perceives the multitude of perception. Do not get distracted with thoughts but watch its essential nature.”

Now we come to the third part, which is related to conduct. If you do not grasp onto perceptions, you can attain enlightenment. The emergence of the outer and inner mind is the sacred attainment of Mahamudra.

“You need to rest your mind in a non-conceptual state like the water of a lake.”

When you are free from thoughts and thinking, that is the path of meditation. The result of Mahamudra is free from hope and fear. The result of meditation is not external to us but to be found within us.

If thought arises, its nature is temporal, like clouds arising in the sky. There may be many clouds in the sky but they only obscure the sun, moon and stars temporarily and do not change their quality. Once the strong wind blows, the clouds drift away to reveal the sun in its unaltered quality. Similarly, no matter how much and how long the disturbing emotions obscure the mind of sentient beings, the natural state of the mind is not changed.

Therefore we still have the opportunity to attain enlightenment through practice.

“Meditators should realize that thoughts are naturally empty and have no concrete existence. Rely on the emergence of view, meditation and conduct. The result of enlightenment is the realization of the non-dual state.”

We always get rid of thoughts thinking that they are not good. We think that good meditators should not have thoughts. Hence we become fearful of thoughts.

However, according to this teaching, thoughts are reflections of the Mahamudra and the true nature of the mind. Each and every thought carries the ultimate meaning of the mind. You can realize the true nature of the mind through thoughts. Without thoughts, you are unable to see the true nature of the mind. The only catch is, if you are not alert and do not recognize the thoughts when they arise, they can lead you away. This is where samsara and cyclic existence start. If you could catch the thought and see its true nature, you will realize that it is just a reflection of the Mahamudra, Maha Ati, the true nature of the mind or emptiness, or whatever terms you may use. Thoughts are not disturbing; what is disturbing is your clinging and attachment to these thoughts. We are not practicing Mahamudra or Madhyamaka to suppress or prevent thoughts from arising, but to recognize their true nature. In this way, we are able to recognize the Mahamudra and gain enlightenment.

Thus, we need to use thoughts skillfully to make them helpful for our practice. This is the teaching of the great pandit, Maitripa.