Mimnd in nature...

[Guest guest]

..

Mind is naturally pure, clear, radiant and complete in itself,

even if we fall into delusion. The basic nature of being

does not fall into delusion. What is it that is delusion?

 

When the intrinsic nature of being is not recognized, then there is the

occurrence of ignorance. Based on this fundamental ignorance, there arise

different sorts of feelings and emotions such as desire, aggression, dullness,

pride, jealousy and the other 84,000 negative emotions.

 

These are the erroneous thoughts

which are the content of delusion.

 

The intrinsic nature of being in

its own purity is coextensive with wisdom, but even though it be intrinsically

pure, yet we are not aware of that intrinsic purity.

 

The basic problem in us is that we do not recognize intrinsic

purity. Though we are a part of Great Completeness in its

intrinsic purity, yet we do not recognize it.

 

Every living being has mind, even an ant. Mind is capable

of conceiving all things. It can conceive good thing and bad things.

It can have desire and aggression, it is unstable and from

moment to moment, differing notions are occurring in mind.

 

From our own experience, we discover we have mind. However,

we only get a general feeling about it. If you were to say absolutely what mind

is, one would not be able

to do it. No one has managed to give us a definitive definition

of mind.

 

The Buddha has told us that all our experience is a delusion.

 

This delusion occurs from the simple fact that we do not

intuit our own being. Because we do not intuit our own being, we all into basic

delusion and think there is all this " stuff " . For instance, a mentally deranged

person

might see all manner of things. The things they see might be somewhat ephemeral

and change rather rapidly. Because their mental faculties were not functioning

properly they might see things which otherwise were not apparent

to anyone else and these might change and disappear again.

 

Mahamudra, Dzogchen and Madhyamika are all taught so we can understand the

nature of mind. This is something we can and really must understand. If we do

not understand

the purity and intrinsic clarity of mind, we fall into dualities

of self and other and consequence interrelationship.

 

We will like certain circumstances and people, we will dislike other

circumstances and people and basically live our lives in this

confusion.

 

There was a teacher called Khenpo Ngawang Palzang. He said,

" If you want to show a star to someone and you point your finger

at it, the person will never get beyong your finger. They will

keep looking at your finger. "  When people are taught about

Dzogchen, they get the impression it must be something really

far out, really different and unusual. This is not so. Dzogchen

is about mind, and  mind is something we experience every day.

 

Dzogchen is just about the simple way we are. We all have mind.

We all are mind. We experience it all the time. This is what

Dzogchen is about.

 

We are not rocks. We are not metal. We are not wood. Mind

is not a particular fixed thing. Mind adapts to input. If you focus

on becoming a good and positive person, you will become

this person. If you focus on negative activity and negative

mind states you will become a negative person.

 

Mind adapts to its habits. Mind is malleable and changes and so mind

can learn to intuit. After all, if we take a rock and hit it long enough, it

will break. Even something solid and resistent like a rock will change if its

conditioned somewhat let alone something as malleable as mind.

 

So meditation is about mind, and this mind is not something which

is stable, it keeps moving around to the hills, mountains and so

forth wandering about the town.

 

So the Buddha has said, and

when he said it he meant it to be the very root if all the six

million four hundred thousand volumes of his teaching, when he

taught " Get a hold of your own mind! " Once you have hold

of your own mind, you have to figure out what it is.

 

In olden times people had to voyage on foot from Tibet all the way to India,

which was a very strange land for them. They carried everything they needed for

their journey on their backs,

walking for weeks to find the teachings. They fell ill from heat and the

difficulty of the journey.

 

They were prey to bandits. The

difficulties to seek dharma in those days were tremendous, but they undertook

such difficulties and they found teachers. They understood the teachings and

they attained realizations despite all the obstacles. Not only did they benefit

themselves, but the

difficulties they undertook established the Dharma in a way

that we are still able to understand and to practice today.

 

It is because of the great difficulties that they underwent over a thousand

years ago that we are still able to practice Dharma

today, so great is the effect of their efforts.

 

-Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

 

~~~~~

Joyce