Surrender of will/ reminds me of Pema

[Guest guest]

Maha Ati Pith Instructions on the

Great Perfection

 

His Holiness

Dilgo Kyhentse Rinpoche

 

The everyday practice is simply to

develop a complete acceptance and

openness to all situations and

emotions, and to all people,

experiencing everything totally

without mental reservations and

blockages, so that one never withdraws

or centralizes into oneself.

 

This produces a tremendous energy

which usually is locked up in the

process of mental evasion and a general

running away from life experiences.

 

Clarity of awareness may, in its

initial stages, be unpleasant or fear-inspiring; if so, then one

should open oneself completely to

the pain or the fear and welcome it.

 

In this way the barriers created by

one's own habitual emotional

reactions and prejudices are broken down

 

When performing the meditation

practice one should develop the

feeling of opening oneself completely

to the whole universe with absolute

simplicity and nakedness of mind,

ridding oneself of all protecting

barriers.

 

Don't mentally split into two when meditating, one part of the mind

watching the other like a cat

watching a mouse.

 

One should realize that one does

not meditate to go deeply within

oneself and withdraw into the world.

 

In buddhist yoga, even when

meditating on chakras there is no introspection concentration: complete

openness of mind is the essential

point.

 

The ground of samsara and nirvana

is the alaya, the beginning and

the end of confusion and realization,

the nature of universal shunyata and

of all apparent phenomena. It is

even more fundamental than the

trikaya and is free from bias toward

enlightenment. It is sometimes

called the "pure" or "original" mind.

 

Although prajna (wisdom) see in it

no basis for such concepts as

different aspects, the fundamental

aspects of complete openness, natural

perfection, and absolute spontaneity

are distinguished by upaya (skillful

means) as useful devices.

 

All aspects of every phenomenon are completely clear and lucid. The whole

universe is open and unobstructed, everything mutually interpenetrating

 

Seeing all things nakedly, clear

and free from obscurations, there

is nothing to attain or realize.

 

The nature of things naturally

appears and is naturally present in

time-transcending awareness; this

is complete openness.

 

Everything is perfect just as it is,

completely pure and undefiled. All

phenomena naturally appear in their

uniquely correct modes and situations

forming ever-changing patterns full

of meaning and significance, like

participants in a great dance.

 

Everything is a symbol, yet there

is no difference between the symbol

and the truth symbolized. With no

effort of practice whatsoever,

liberation, enlightenment, and

buddhahood are already fully developed

and perfected.

 

This is natural perfection.

The everyday practice is just

ordinary is life itself. Since the

underdeveloped state does not exist

there is no need to behave in any

special way or try to attain or

practice anything.

 

There should be no need of striving

to reach some exalted goal or

higher state; this simply produces

something conditional or artificial

that will act as an obstruction to

the free flow of the mind.

 

One should never think of oneself

as "sinful" or worthless, but as

naturally pure and perfect, lacking

nothing.

 

When performing meditation practice

one should think of it as just a

natural function of everyday living,

like eating or breathing, not as a

special, formal event to be

undertaken with great seriousness

and solemnity. One must realize that

to meditate is to pass beyond

effort, beyond practice, beyond

aims and goals, and beyond the

dualism of bondage and liberation.

 

Meditation is always perfect, so

there is no need to correct anything

Since Everything that arises is

simply the play of the mind, there

are no "bad" meditation session

and no need to judge thoughts as

good or evil. Therefore one should

not sit down to meditate with

various hopes or fears about the

outcome: one just does it with no self-conscious feeling of "I am

meditating" and without attempting

to control or force the mind, and

without trying to become peaceful.

 

If one finds that one is going astray

in any of these ways, one should

stop meditating and simply rest and

relax for awhile before resuming.

 

If, either during or after meditation

one has experiences that one

interprets as results, they should

not be made into anything special;

recognize that they are just

phenomena and simply observe them.

 

Above all, do not attempt to

recreate them as this opposes the

natural spontaneity of the mind.

 

All phenomena are completely new

and fresh and absolutely unique,

entirely free from all concepts

of past, present, and future– as

if experienced in another dimension

of time; this is absolute spontaneity

 

The continual stream of new discovery

and fresh revelation and inspiration

that arises at every moment is the manifestation of the eternal youth

of the living dharma and its wonders; splendor and spontaneity is the play

or dance aspect of the universe as guru.

 

One should learn to see everyday

life as a mandala in which one is

at the center, and be free of the

bias and prejudice of past conditioning

present desires, and hopes and

expectations about the future.

 

The figures of the mandala are the

day-to-day objects of one's life

experiences moving in the great

dance of the play of the universe,

the symbolism by which the guru

reveals profound and ultimate

meaning and significance.

 

Therefore, be natural and

spontaneous; accept and learn from everything.

 

See the comical, amusing side of

initiating situations. In meditation,

see through the illusion of past,

present, and future. The past is

but a present memory or condition,

the future but a present projection,

and the present itself vanishes

before it can be grasped.

 

One should put an end to conceptions

about meditation and free oneself

from memories of the past. Each

moment of meditation is completely

unique and full of potentiality of

new discovery so one is incapable of

judging meditation by past experience

or by theory.

 

Simply plunge straight into

meditation at this very moment

with your whole mind, and be free

from hesitation, boredom, or excitement

 

When meditating it is traditional

and best, if possible, to sit cross

-legged with the back erect but not

rigid. However, it is most important

to feel comfortable, so it is better

to sit in a chair if sitting cross-

legged is painful.

 

One's mental attitude should be

inspired by the three fundamental

aspects, whether the meditation is

with or without form, and it may

often prove desirable, if not

essential, to precede a period of

formless meditation by a period of

meditation with form.

 

To provide for this eventuality

many classes of preliminary meditation

practices have been developed over

centuries of buddhist practice,

the most important being meditations

on breathing, mantra recitation, and

visualization techniques.

 

To engage in the second and third

of these classes, personal

instruction from one's guru is

required, but a few words on the

first would not be out of place

here as the method used varies

little from person to person.

 

First, let the mind follow the

movement of the breath, in and out

until it becomes calm and tranquil.

 

Then increasingly rest the mind on

the breath until one's whole being

seems identified with it.

 

Finally become aware of the breath

leaving the body and going out

into space, and gradually transfer

the attention from the breath to

the sensation of spaciousness and

expansion.

 

By letting this final sensation

merge into complete openness, one

moves into the sphere of formless

meditation.

 

In all probability the above

description of the three fundamental

aspects will seem vague and inadequate.

 

This is inevitable since they attempt

to describe what is not only beyond

words but beyond thought as well.

 

They invite practice of what it is, essentially, a state of being.

The words are simply a form a upaya,

skillful means, a hint which if

acted upon, will enable one's innate

wisdom and naturally perfect action

to arise spontaneously.

 

Sometimes in meditation one may

experience a gap in one's normal consciousness, a sudden and complete openn=

ess. This experience arises

only when one has ceased to think

in terms of meditation and the

object of meditation. It is a

glimpse of reality, a sudden flash

that occurs infrequently at first,

and then, with continued practice,

more and more frequently. It may

not be a particularly shattering or

explosive experience at all, just

a moment of great simplicity.

 

Do not make the mistake of

deliberately trying to force these

experiences to recur, for to do

so is to betray the naturalness

and spontaneity of reality

 

<http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/pema/perfection.html>

 

Love, Karta

 

this is interesting

 

> Vernon Kitabu Turner voices 'surrendering

the will to the unknown'. He seems

> Rich