17.12.17

Short Words on Chan Teachings

Everything Has Buddha-nature

Emptiness means no doer, no perceiver, there are only the mere appearance of conditioned phenomena. In other words: everything is absolutely determined by mechanical causality and we are all just robots.

Genuine Arising In Pure Mind

When it is directly perceived that appearances do not appear from anywhere, do not stay anywhere, and do not go anywhere, then there is nowhere to abide, hence the mind is realised as always ordinary.

Genuine Significance of Emptiness

Impermanence is a perfect entry. That there has never an experience arisen or disappeared, that is when the lack of an exit is seen.

Essentials of Sudden Enlightenment

Keeping an eye on something is only tiresome. Forcing a thought to stay is an impossible task. Eat, drink, sleep - the real duties of life. Asking for more or hoping for less is truly foolish.

No Mind, No Things, No Action, No Effort

There are already minds conceiving things, hence acting with effort. The peace and rest of the Buddha lies only within this endless struggle of life. Effortlessness is not the cessation of effort, only the immediate realisation that actions never had any value, as meanings are arbitrary concepts without basis. That is why Zhaozhou never wanted to hear the word "Buddha", and Yunmen had rather murdered Shakyamuni at his infancy than let him trouble beings with lies.

Dry Wood Putting Forth Blossoms

Chasing the sweet, running from the bitter, taste buds cannot be killed, food cannot be avoided. Neither eternal enjoyment nor permanent apathy can be forced on oneself. The mind never stays, feelings are always untamed. The wild flowers are blown by the winds until they wither, still you don't hear them cursing heaven and earth. It is not a matter of forbearance or inner strength, only knowing that honey and beer are both yellow.

Patient-Rest in True Suchness  

Look at sights, sounds, feelings, and thoughts:
There is none that stays even for a moment.
One may look for that patient rest for ten kalpas,
But there will be no solid point found anywhere. 


Deliverance by Chan Dharma Which Is Like a Flower in the Sky

Deluded thoughts let go of themselves, that is the mind's original purity. Attachment is the deluded attempt at repeating the past, so just consider where last night's dream is now. Do not try to be free, liberty is the natural state. It is not that you can do what you want, it is that desire itself is conditioned. Automatically this body is the emanation of primordial compassion the moment one recognises there is nothing to turn around to.

25.11.17

The Written Word

"Those who grasp at emptiness slander the Sutras by maintaining that written words have no use. Since they maintain they have no need of written words, they should not speak either, because written words are merely the marks of spoken language. They also maintain that the direct way cannot be established by written words, and yet these two words, ‘not established’ are themselves written."
(Platform Sutra, ch 10,, p 383-384, tr BTTS)

"Wherever this sutra is taught, read, recited, copied, or wherever it is to be found, one should build a seven-jeweled stupa of great height and width and richly ornamented. There is no need to put a relic inside. Why is this? Because the Tathāgata is already in it."
...
"The bodhisattvas are exactly like this. If they have not yet heard, understood, or been able to practice this Lotus Sutra, they should be known as people who are still far away from highest, complete enlightenment. If they hear, understand, contemplate, and are able to practice it, they realize that they are certainly nearing highest, complete enlightenment. Why is this? Because the highest, complete enlightenment of all the bodhisattvas is within this sutra. This sutra opens the gate of skillful means and reveals the marks of the truth."
(Lotus Sutra, ch 10, BDK ed, p 161, 162)

Mañjuśrī said: “In the ocean I always expounded only the Lotus Sutra.”
Then Prajñākūṭa questioned Mañjuśrī, saying: “This sutra is profound and subtle. It is a jewel among sutras and rare in the world. If sentient beings diligently strive to practice this sutra, will they immediately become buddhas or not?”
Mañjuśrī answered: “Yes, they will.”
(ch 12, p 183)

"if there are sentient beings who hear this sutra and who devoutly understand, accept and maintain, and read and recite it, they will definitely attain this Dharma, and will not doubt it. How much more so if they cultivate according to its explanation!"
...
"This sutra extensively explains the inconceivable anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi of the buddhas of the past, present, and future. Therefore, heavenly emperor, if good men and women accept and maintain, read and recite, and make offerings to this sutra, that is tantamount to making offerings to the buddhas of the past, present, and future."
(Vimalakirti Sutra, ch 13, BDK ed, p 171-172)

"Sutras of this type should, during the final period after my nirvana, be circulated extensively throughout Jambudvīpa by you and others with your numinous power, so [the Dharma] is not cut off."
...
“If in the future there are good men and women who seek the Mahayana, I will make certain that they get hold of such sutras. Using their power of mindfulness, I will cause them to receive and maintain, read and recite, and extensively explain them for others.
“World-honored One, if in the latter age there are those able to receive, maintain, read, recite, and explain them for others, one should understand that these will all be established by Maitreya’s numinous power.”
(ch 14, p 177, 178)

"Those who study this scripture will gain an opening into the true dharma, becoming excellent physicians themselves. You should understand, however, that those who never study it will be blind, lacking eyes of wisdom, their sight clouded by ignorance."
(Nirvana Sutra, ch 3, BDK ed, p 105)

"To his disciples the Tathagata teaches in succession the ninefold canon of scriptures so that they may become thoroughly familiar with that dharma. It is only after this that he teaches the hidden treasury that is the tathiigatagarbha. expounding the Tathagata' s permanence for his disciples. The Tathagata expounds the Mahayana scripture, the Great Nirvana Sutra in this way for those who have already made their resolution for awakening as well as for those who have not, thereby creating a karmic cause for bodhi in both, with exception of the icchantikas. Thus, good man, this Mahayana scripture, the Great Nirvana Sutra. is immeasurably, innumerably, and inconceivably rare. You should understand it to be the most skilled of all skilled physicians, foremost and superior, the king among sutras."
(p 294)

"If one hears this sutra or retains even one four-line verse of it, that person will then access the stage of the Buddha’s knowledge; one will be able to proselyte sentient beings with appropriate expedients and become the great spiritual mentor (kalyanamitra) of all living things."
(Vajrasamadhi Sutra, ch 1, p 58, tr Buswell)

"If there is a sentient being who keeps this sutra, then in all other sutras he will have nothing more to seek. The dharma of this scripture encodes all dharmas and includes the essentials of all sutras. It is the unifying thread of the dharmas of all these sutras."
(p 302)

Teacher Needed?

You need a teacher for what? If it is information, they are all found in books. If realisation, how can anyone make you realise anything?

As far as the Nikayas go, it is not a teacher (acariya) one needs, but good friendship (kalyanamittata).

"And what is good friendship? Here, in whatever village or town a clansman lives, he associates with householders or their sons—whether young but of mature virtue, or old and of mature virtue—who are accomplished in faith, virtuous behavior, generosity, and wisdom; he converses with them and engages in discussions with them. Insofar as they are accomplished in faith, he emulates them with respect to their accomplishment in faith; insofar as they are accomplished in virtuous behavior, he emulates them with respect to their accomplishment in virtuous behavior; insofar as they are accomplished in generosity, he emulates them with respect to their accomplishment in generosity; insofar as they are accomplished in wisdom, he emulates them with respect to their accomplishment in wisdom. This is called good friendship."
(AN 8.54, tr Bhikkhu Bodhi, tr Narada Thera; see also: Association with the Wise)

As for the Mahayana:

"Bodhisattvas on the beginning level, intent on practising prajna
To seek unsurpassed bodhi, get close to good and wise friends.
How to obtain great wisdom and merit? Should be from prajnaparamita.
That is how all buddhadharma and merit are attained from good friends."
(Ratnagunasamcayagatha 15.1-2, tr from T229p680a28-b2)

"The mind not being intimidated and such,
Those who teach the lack of nature and so on,
And abandoning the antagonistic factors of these
Means being mentored in every way."
(Abhisamayalamkara 1.36, tr Brunnhölzl)

Both the Astasahasrika (PP8K) and the AA commentaries explain that the good friend is the one who teaches prajnaparamita, in particular that all appearances are empty, while the bad friends are those who teach hinayana. See: PP8K 1.2, 15.1, 22.1, 30.1; and Gone Beyond, vol 1, p 282-283;  Groundless Paths, p 123-124, 422.

The Diamond Sutra gives the following summary of who teaches what:

"The dharmas spoken by the Tathagata cannot be grasped and cannot be spoken. They are neither dharmas nor no dharmas. And why? Unconditioned dharmas distinguish worthy sages."
and
"all Buddhas and all Buddhas’ Dharma of Anuttarasamyaksambodhi come forth from this Sutra. Subhuti, the Buddhadharmas spoken are no Buddhadharmas."
(ch 7 and 8, in Diamond Sutra, p 102, 106)

Huineng explains that like this:

"Good friends, if you wish to enter into the profound dharmadhatu and the samadhi of prajna, you must cultivate the practice of prajna and recite the Diamond Sutra. Thus will you attain seeing the nature. You should realize that the merits of this sutra are immeasurable and unlimited. They are clearly praised within the sutra; I cannot explain them fully here. This teaching is the Supreme Vehicle: it is preached for those of great wisdom, it is preached for those of superior capacities. Those of small capacities and small wisdom who hear it will generate doubt."
(Platform Sutra, ch 2, BDK ed, p 31)

He also says,

"You should each contemplate your minds and each see the fundamental nature. If you do not become enlightened by yourself, then you must seek a great spiritual compatriot, someone who understands the Dharma of the Supreme Vehicle, to indicate directly the correct path for you. This spiritual compatriot will have a great background and will, so to speak, lead you to the attainment of seeing the nature. This is because the spiritual compatriot is able to manifest the causes of all the good dharmas. All the buddhas of the three periods of time and the twelve divisions of the canon are fundamentally and naturally immanent within the natures of people, but if you cannot become enlightened yourself, you must seek a spiritual compatriot’s instructions in order to see [the nature].
If you can become enlightened yourself, don’t rely on external seeking — don’t think I’m saying you can only attain emancipation through [the help of] a spiritual compatriot other than yourself. This is not the case! Why? Within your own minds there is a spiritual compatriot [who will help you] become enlightened by yourself! If you activate the false and deluded, you will become all mixed up with false thoughts. Although some external spiritual compatriots may be teachers, they cannot save you. If you activate the correct and true and contemplate with prajna, in a single instant [all your] false thoughts will be completely eradicated. If you recognize the self-nature, with a single [experience of] enlightenment you will attain the stage of buddhahood."
(Platform Sutra, ch 2, BDK ed, p 33)

There are people who believe that a teacher is needed to point to the nature of mind and transmit the Dharma. However, the nature of mind cannot be shown, nor is there a Dharma that could be transmitted.

"In my view there is no Buddha, no sentient beings, no past, no present. Anything attained was already attained—no time is needed. There is nothing to practice, nothing to realize, nothing to gain, nothing to lose. Throughout all time there is no other dharma than this. ‘If one claims there’s a dharma surpassing this, I say that it’s like a dream, like a phantasm.’ This is all I have to teach."
(Record of Linji, p 12-13, tr Sasaki)

What do teachers give then?

Yaoshan hadn't been to the lecture hall for a long time. 
The temple supervisor said, "We've all been looking forward to your giving us a lecture." 
Yasohan said, "Ring the bell." 
As soon as the monks had gathered for the lecture, Yaoshan got up from his seat and went back to the abbot's quarters. The supervisor followed and asked why he didn't say anything, since he had agreed to speak to the monks. 
Yaoshan said, "They have teachers to teach them sutras and they have teachers to teach Abidhamma, so what is there left for me to do?"
(Record of Yaoshan, in Soto Zen Ancestors in China, p 63)

So Yunmen made it clear:

Having entered the Dharma Hall for a formal instruction, the Master said:
“All of you who come and go for no reason: What are you looking for in [this monastery] here? I only know h ow to eat and drink and shit. What else would I be good for?
“You’re making pilgrimages all over the place, studying Chan and asking about the Dao. Let me ask you: What have you managed to learn in all those places? Try presenting that!”
Again, he said: “In the meantime, you cheat the Master in your own house. Is that all right? When you manage to find a little slime on my ass, you lick it off, take it to be your own self, and say: ‘I understand Chan, I understand the Dao!’ Even if you manage to read the whole Buddhist canon— so what?!”
(Record of Yunmen, p 154, tr App)

And Huanglong explained further:

Huanglong addressed the monks, saying, “Before I came up here to speak there was nothing in my mind. But now that I’ve come up here there are a lot of questions. I dare to ask you whether the great vehicle of our school is found in such questions and answers. If it were to be found in such speech, then doesn’t the scriptural canon have questions and answers? Yet it is said that [the way of Zen] is transmitted outside of the scriptural teachings. It is transmitted to individuals who are great Dharma vessels. If it can’t be found in words, then even if you ask all sorts of excellent questions, what, after all, is the point of doing so? ... If you want to talk about it, then you can say that it can’t be realized through mystical perception or self-perfection. Nor may it be said to be a result of some all-encompassing understanding. The buddhas of the three worlds have only said you must know yourself. In the entire canon of scripture this can’t be explained. ... Those who leave home must have heroic resolve, cut off the two heads, and practice in seclusion in the house of the self. Afterward they must throw open the door, get rid of the possessions of that self, and then receive and meet whatever comes, giving aid to any in need. In this way the deep compassion of Buddha can be in some small measure repaid. Aside from acting in this manner, there is nothing else.”
Huanglong then struck the meditation platform with his whisk and left the hall.
(Zen's Chinese Heritage, p 403-404)

The story of Dongshan is a good example:

Once, when Yün-yen was making some straw sandals,  Tung-shan approached him and said, "I would like to have the Master's eyes."
Yün-yen said, "Where have yours gone?"
"Liang-chieh has never had them," replied Tung-shan.
Yün-yen said, "Supposing you did have them, where would you put them?"
Tung-shan said nothing. Yün-yen said, "Isn't it the eye that desires eyes?"
"It is not my eye," replied Tung-shan.
"Get out!" thundered Yün-yen.
(Record of Dongshan, p 26-27, tr Powell)

And later when asked about Yunyan:

Because the Master was conducting a memorial feast for Yün-yen, a monk asked, "What teaching did you receive while you were at Yün-yen's place?"
The Master said, "Although I was there, I didn't receive any teaching."
"Since you didn't actually receive any teaching, why are you conducting this memorial?" asked the monk.
"Why should I turn my back on him?" replied the Master.
"If you began by meeting Nan-ch'üan, why do you now conduct a memorial feast for Yün-yen?" asked the monk.
"It is not my former master's virtue or Buddha Dharma that I esteem, only that he did not make exhaustive explanations for me," replied the Master.
(p 28)

6.11.17

Body-Mind Problem in Buddhism

This relationship between body and mind is what falls under the so called unanswered questions regarding the identity of sarira (body) and jiva (soul). The short answer is that Buddhism has an experiential view, as shown in the teachings on the five aggregates and six sensory domains, where physical and mental phenomena are not substantially differentiated.

"If there is the view, 'The soul and the body are the same,' there is no living of the holy life; and if there is the view, 'The soul is one thing, the body is another,' there is no living of the holy life. Without veering towards either of these extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma by the middle: 'With birth as condition, aging-and-death.'"
(SN 12.35)

"Bhikkhus, when what exists, by clinging to what, by adhering to what, does such a view as this arise: 'The soul and the body are the same'?"
...
"Bhikkhus, when what exists, by clinging to what, by adhering to what, does such a view as this arise: 'The soul is one thing, the body another'?"
...
"But without clinging to what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, could such a view as that arise?"
"No, venerable sir."

(SN 24.13, 14)

"Master Gotama, what is the cause and reason why these various speculative views arise in the world: ... 'The soul and the body are the same' or 'The soul is one thing, the body is another'..."
"It is, Vaccha, because of not knowing form/feeling/perception/volitional formations/consciousness, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation that those various speculative views arise in the world"

(SN 33.1-5)

"As to the various views that arise in the world, householder, 'The world is eternal' '" -these as well as the sixty-two speculative views mentioned in the Brahmajala: when there is identity view, these views come to be; when there is no identity view, these views do not come to be."
(SN 41.3)

"Vaccha, wanderers of other sects regard the eye thus: 'This is mine, this I am, this is my self.' They regard the ear . . . the nose . . . the tongue . . . the body . . . the mind thus: 'This is mine, this I am, this is my self.' Therefore, when the wanderers of other sects are asked such questions, they give such answers as: 'The world is eternal' . . . or 'The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.' But, Vaccha, the Tathagata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One, regards the eye thus: 'This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.' He regards the ear . . . the mind thus: 'This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.' Therefore, when the Tathagata is asked such questions, he does not give such answers."
(SN 44.7)

2.11.17

Principle of Zen According to Eisai

Question: What is the characteristic of this school?
Answer: The Zen school has the Diamond Sutra and the Vimalakirti Sutra as its main references. Its principle is that the mind is nothing other than the Buddha. A mind freed from clinging to anything constitutes its religious act. Its purpose is [to cause people to realize] that everything that has its own characteristics is empty of self-nature. Since the Buddha handed down the robe and bowl to Kasyapa, transmission from master to disciple has not changed. Details are known from the records.
(A Treatise on Letting Zen Flourish, in Zen Texts, BDK ed, p 101)

Just abiding in the “perfect rank” (yuanwei; en’i), practicing the “perfect and immediate” awakening (yuandun; endon), and externally practicing the precepts of restraint to prevent wrongs while internally benefiting others out of compassion—this is called the principle of the Zen school; it is called the Buddha-Dharma.
(p 115-116)

Question: As for this Zen school in relation to sila, samadhi, and prajñå, what would you say it is?
Answer: Its principle is the Tathågata’s dhyåna, which does not set up words out of which to make any dogma. Positively expressed, it is common to all the Mahayana schools. Negatively stated, it is free from mind, ego consciousness, and perceptive consciousnesses; it is free from verbal expression.
(p 122)

The principle of this Zen school does not set up any words out of which to make dogma. It has been specially transmitted outside of scriptural teachings. It does not cling to passages taught; it only transmits the seal of the mind. It is free from letters, being without words. Through directly pointing to the source of the mind, it has one attain awakening.
(p 137)

First, by teaching I mean various teachings. People of not very brilliant capacity will first examine the admirable ideas of various teachings and schools. When they learn the essentials of Zen, those teachings will serve as the means for cultivating themselves to enter Zen. The Collection of Records from the Ancestral Mirrors quotes sixty sutras and sastras, collects the excellent purports of the three schools, and comments on the expressions of more than three hundred authorities. It does so in order to expound the essentials of the Chan school.
Second, by Zen I mean the Buddha’s dhyåna. It is not adhering to words, not being bound by mind or thought. Therefore, one penetrates this by getting free from mind, ego consciousness, and perceptive consciousnesses. One learns this by transcending the paths of the unawakened and the awakened. In this way Zen concerns people of superb brilliance.
Third, by the general aspect I mean what follows. The so-called teachings and so-called Zen are nothing but names. To say “penetrating” and “learning” are also provisional matters. “I,” “others,” “living beings,” “awakening” (bodhi), and “nirvana” are all names, too. They don’t substantially exist. The teachings expounded by the Buddha are also names; there is nothing expounded. Therefore, the Zen principle is free from the characteristics of words, free from those objects of the mind. It is beyond thought and deliberation and ultimately unobtainable. Concerning the Buddha-Dharma (lit., “the Buddha’s awakened truth”), what has no Dharma to be expounded is called the Buddha-Dharma. What I now call Zen is an expression of that characteristic.
Since the three aspects mentioned above are provisional names, if anyone insists that the Buddha’s dhyåna has letters and words, he is blaming the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Therefore, the patriarch [Bodhidharma] did not set up words out of which to make any dogma but, by directly pointing to the human mind, causes one to see one’s self-nature [as no-mind] and attain awakening. This was the so-called Chan (Zen) gate.
He who takes hold of names and letters misses the Dharma. He who clings to characteristics and appearances is also perverted. Originally there being no moving and nothing to be obtained is called the Buddha-Dharma,130 the Buddha’s truth. The Buddha-Dharma lies just in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. Adding even a bit to it is impossible, whereas taking away just a bit is also impossible. Realizing this, you will not waste even the slightest energy. As soon as you estimate it by deliberation to be something marvelous and mysterious, you already have nothing to do with it. Therefore, if you move, you will be arousing the base of birth and death. If you stay quiet, you will be getting drunk in the area that is dark and heavy. If you forget both movement and quietude, you will squander your Buddha-nature. When nothing like this is available, what will you do?
(p 144-145)

Therefore, through first gaining confidence in a few words of one’s master, one enters the dhyåna sea of the Buddha-Dharma. One can enter all the Buddha’s teachings only through one’s confidence in them.
(p 157)

Basically, the Buddha-Dharma does not itself speak out; it assumes scriptural expressions to manifest its teachings. Originally dhyana has no intent to introduce itself; it actualizes itself only through our self-concentration (samadhi). Therefore, the expressions by which people characterize Zen, such as “the hair of a tortoise” or “the horns of a hare,” naturally reveal the living principle that is hard to be manifested, whereas the awakened truth of mind that is free from mind (wuxin; mushin) or from thought (wunian; munen), profoundly accords with the One Mind, the innermost shrine.
(p 186)

1.11.17

What are Blessings in Vajrayana?

Blessing is a positive change in relation to one's progress on the path to liberation. It is a specific case of receiving merit transference that comes from the appreciation of enlightened beings, while the generic meaning of receiving merit is the agreeing with any wholesome act, and that is a beneficial form of shared karma.

On the one hand, it can be said that it's all in one's mind, particularly for two reasons: all perceptions are mental fabrication, and karma is strictly individual. On the other hand, it is an inspiration originating from others, because without awareness of enlightened beings, no appreciation can occur, and without appreciation there can be no blessing.

"So when you supplicate them, even though, like your root guru, they cannot hand you attainment. or fruition; yet, like your root guru, they can influence and help you. It is not panicularly that by supplicating them they are pleased and therefore decide to share their spiritual wealth with you. It is rather that the devotion you generate in your supplication causes this blessing simply to occur.
...
"Supplication produces blessing, and although the blessing is understood as something given to you, something that somehow engulfs you from outside, in fact blessing really isn't given to you at all. When you supplicate, you generate faith and devotion. That faith and devotion cause the appearance of what we call blessing.
...
"To say that the blessing of Dharma enters into you does not mean that through receiving an empowerment you can immediately fly in the sky, or that you become intoxicated with some kind of mysterious spiritual drunkenness. It means simply that having received the empowerment, something changes. There will be at least a little increase in your faith and devotion, at least a little increase in your diligence. These changes in you are the principal blessing or benefit of the empowerment process. For example, many people have told me that they were previo·usly unable to understand or settle on the validity of Buddhism, but then, for one reason or another, they received the Kalachakra empowerment from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and thereafter have been intensely involved in practice. That is an instance of the blessing of empowerment. It is not necessarily that they are practicing Kalachakra, but that, because of that empowerment, they are practicing Dharma."
(Khenchen Thrangu: Creation and Completion, p 114, 117, 151)

"The Tibetan is jin gyi lab pa and means to be transformed through a certain environment and influence. This is the meaning of “blessing” from the Buddhist point of view. It denotes a total transformation from the core of our being, which is induced by different things happening around us. Empowerment, in its actual sense, should lead us to receive this blessing and to undergo a genuine and complete transformation."
(Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness, p 133)

"Such an infusion of blessing can take place without any difficulty. It comes through invocation originating from one’s faith and veneration. A devotee with deep faith receives a powerful blessing. One with medium faith receives a medium blessing.One with lesser faith receives the lesser blessing. It is the nature of things that one cannot receive spiritual blessing without faith. For those practitioners who have failed to gain deep understanding, there is no other way except that of worshiping the guru with faith, and through meditation invoking his blessings. Even those who have gained understanding should continue to have faith in their guru as a means of strengthening and perfecting their inner development."
(Gampopa quoted in Mahamudra the Moonlight, p 136-137)

"Our capacity to receive the compassion and blessings of the teacher and the Three Jewels, therefore, depends entirely on devotion and faith.
Once, a disciple called out to the master Jowo Atisa, "Jowo, give me your blessing!"
"Lax disciple," Atisa replied, "give me your devotion ... "
So absolute unwavering trust, arising from extraordinary faith and devotion, is indispensable. It opens the door to taking refuge."
(Words of My Perfect Teacher, p 176)

"The guru's blessings are always present, day and night. The buddhas and bodhisattvas, all the masters of the lineage, and your personal root guru are always full of blessings, continuously, throughout the three times. But how do these blessings saturate our own mind-stream to bring us to maturation? This happens when the concepts of me and mine have melted away in the state of devotion. It is this ego that prevents blessings from ripening our stream-of-being. The concept of self melts away in the atmosphere of devotion. This is when the warmth of blessings permeates you completely."
(Tsoknyi rinpoche, in Dzogchen Essentials, p 13)

"Devotion is the root of blessings, the basis for receiving blessings. Blessings definitely do exist, so we should know what they are and what the role of devotion is in receiving blessings. Otherwise, there is not much point in devotion.
Blessings are contagious, so to speak, and are transmitted in a fashion that is rather like catching a cold. If somebody has a cold and you are too close, you catch a cold too. Likewise, if you get close to a master who has blessings, they can be transmitted to you. Blessings here mean the sense of some power of realization or power of samadhi, some kind of atmosphere of realization that is naturally present, You move close to him, in the sense of opening yourself up through devotion and making sincere, heartfelt supplications. In other words, you lower your defenses, whatever doubts and suspicions that prevent you from being "infected" with the blessings. The moment you do that, you catch a cold as well. Devotion is a very deeply felt and sincere emotion, which comes from the bottom of one's heart. It is partly a sense of really rejoicing, rejoicing in the qualities that are embodied in the teacher. At the same time, there is a sense of gratitude for the teacher's incredible kindness. This combination of rejoicing and gratitude is what opens us up, what generates devotion.
Devotion can be toward the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, in terms of truly rejoicing in and appreciating their amazing qualities, of knowledge and compassion, and so forth. To be open toward that and rejoice in those qualities is one aspect of devotion. At the same time, when we understand how it benefits ourselves to train in the recognition of our basic nature, we feel gratitude, an appreciation of the kindness.
Otherwise, there could be many kinds of devotion. There is the devotion that is simply love, love generated by the thought, "He was nice to me, so I like him." There is devotion that is an admiration, in that you feel in awe of a person or thing. Then there is devotion inspired by some kind of longing to emulate someone-you want to be like that as well. However, in the beginning, devotion is some kind of fabrication. We are trying to feel in a certain way, trying to open up. It is artificial, but it makes us grow closer to understanding the view, in the sense that devotion opens us up to realize emptiness, makes it easier. When some authentic experience of emptiness strengthens devotion even further, at that point it is no longer artificial or contrived. We may begin by trying to feel devotion, and then, later on, actual experience allows it to become totally uncontrived. Uncontrived devotion springs out of the experience of the view. Because when there is some seeing in actuality of what is called rigpa or ordinary mind, the natural mind that really solves or liberates disturbing emotions-when the conceptual frame of mind is  opened up. by this recognition-then we have a personal taste of the value and the worth of the practice. It is that real appreciation that is uncontrived devotion. In this way, devotion and the view of emptiness mutually strengthen one another."
(Tsoknyi rinpoche, in Dzogchen Primer, p 163-164)

17.8.17

Change is Peace

Not abiding in anything is neither attained nor cultivated. Things are already without abiding, there is merely a fictitious present imagined by taking ephemeral concepts to have real meaning. Once you follow through what change as the universal characteristic of everything implies, it becomes clear logically and experientially that every instance of craving and hating are unestablished. They are unestablished because there is nothing one can ever gain or lose, nor is there any state of mind that remains even for a moment, so both object and subject are originally peaceful.

19.5.17

Nirvana Cannot Be Experienced

Experiences are what occur in the six sensory areas. Delusion is clinging to them, liberation is not clinging. It is called delusion, because experiences are already empty, without anything that could be clung to. Recognising the delusion of substantiality as unfounded means seeing that there is nothing to see, like when one assumes one's hat is very valuable but turns out to be worthless. Is that recognition an experience? Sounds like one, but isn't, because it means simply the end of an incorrect thought. And to make it a little bit more complicated (sky-flowers, dreams), even that incorrect thought of a self has never been anything else but empty. To take a different approach, experiences have always been pure and the end of delusion means arriving to what has always been there, so it's nothing new, but the original nature of phenomena. So it is not an experience in the sense of something that occurs, also because something occurring is ordinarily conceived as an independent object one can hold on to, while the whole point is that such occurrences have never existed in the first place.

"What is ignorance? Good sons, all sentient beings fall into various inverted views without beginning. Just like a disoriented person who confuses the four directions, they mistakenly take the Four Elements as the attributes of their bodies and the conditioned shadows of the Six Objects as the attributes of their mind. It is just like when our eyes are diseased and we see flowers in the sky, or a second moon. Good sons, the sky actually has no flowers—they are the false attachment of the diseased person. And because of this false attachment, not only are we confused about the self-nature of the sky; we are also mixed up about the place where real flowers come from. From this there is the falsely existent transmigration through life and death. Therefore it is called "ignorance."
Good sons, this 'ignorance' actually lacks substance. It is like a man who is dreaming. At the time of the dream, there is no non-existence. But when he awakens he finds that there is nothing for him to hold on to. Similarly, when the sky-flowers disappear from the sky, you cannot say that there is a definite point of their disappearance. Why? Because there is no point from which they arose. All sentient beings falsely perceive arising and ceasing within the unarisen. Therefore they say that there is 'transmigration through life-and-death.' "

(The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, ch 1)

31.3.17

Why Practise without Gain?

Why practise if there's nothing to attain?

There is nothing to attain means that all states, all thoughts, all feelings, all experiences exist for less then a moment, that no matter what, everything is extremely transitory. Not seeing that, falling into ideological and emotional identities is when one falsely assumes there is something to gain and something to lose. Furthermore, it's not enough to know that there is nothing to attain, one has to overcome the habit of seeing in terms of gain and loss, hence the practice that takes the ultimate realisation as its view.

27.1.17

Form, Emptiness, Zazen

Form, the first aggregate, stands for physical experiences, the body. What is called the body is actually a concept of the body, and not any real thing. If you look at your present experience, do you find the body anywhere? Since there is no body found, it is absent, it is empty. Because it is empty, there is nothing to be attached to, nothing to grasp. When you do not grasp the body, the body is dropped. Same with the other four aggregates that constitute the mind, hence mind is dropped. Body and mind dropped is zazen.