Wonders of the Natural Mind: The Essense of Dzogchen in the Native Bon Tradition of Tibet by Tenzin Wangyal & Dalai Lama

Author:Tenzin Wangyal & Dalai Lama
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Snow Lion
Published: 1994-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

In the case of the average practitioner, the arising of passion is compared to frost that needs heat to melt it. The heat is the observer in the mind that melts the passion, so some effort is needed for the observation and recognition of the passion as it arises and dissolves. There is effort involved. It is not sufficient just to say, "This is selfliberation" because that doesn't work: we have to do something.

In the case of the inferior practitioner, I have devised an example in addition to the one found in the original text: this is an illustration of how elements of the teachings can change with changing circumstances. In fun-fairs (and also in gambling casinos) in the United States there is a game that consists in hitting with a hammer targets that appear in the form of heads. If you're fast, there is enough time to hit all the heads as soon they come up. When I played this game, I found it a good analogy for the arising of thoughts. If we are not able to continue in the state of contemplation or to integrate the passions when they arise in everyday life, then we must try to notice them and somehow deal with them after they have arisen, so we "hit the passions." The more traditional example in the text says that we must come to an agreement between ourselves and our thoughts and passions. For example, if a passion like jealousy arises, we talk with the jealousy and ask, "Why are you so excited? There is no need to arise in this excited state and disturb me!" We try to observe and communicate with the passion and prove that it has no reason to come and disturb us. In this way we come to an agreement with it, with ourselves, and with useless or unnecessary thoughts that disturb our life and practice. If we are not capable of integrating in the superior or the average way, then we must succeed in coming to an agreement with our thoughts in order to have a good base as practitioners, and also as human beings.

As regards the three ways of self-liberation of the passions, if we are inferior practitioners, we must not think that every time a passion like anger arises there is the self-liberation of anger because we have listened to many Dzogchen teachings about integration and the self-liberation of the passions and because we consider ourselves Dzogchen practitioners. We have to find and apply a precise practice suitable to our capacity and situation in order to liberate and integrate the passions, otherwise we are merely fooling ourselves. However, if self-liberation does not work for us, this does not mean that it is not valid: it is valid for the superior practitioner. It does not work for us because we have not yet developed that capacity, because we make dualistic judgments and are conditioned by circumstances too much.

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