So now I will talk about the nature of the mind itself. The very existence of the nature of the mind, is a sense of clarity, sense of knowing, and sense of transparency. These are the three key that are inseparably together. There is a sense of knowing, there’s a transparency, and there’s a clarity.
There’s a sense of knowing, okay? Many people when they think about the nature of the mind, they think that you are a piece of rock that is thrown to the universe and then somehow you got stuck in the universe and forgot to time travel or something. People have this imagination when they are talking about the nature of the mind, and they think that they are a piece of rock in the universe. Little bit stuck in the universe, and then with absolutely no direction whatsoever under any circumstance. They think like that. It’s not like that.
The nature of the mind has the three key. The three key is:
You have a sense of knowing. You have a sense of knowing, but the state of knowing itself has no projection of thoughts. It is simply a state of knowing. Like an example, like when we touch our hand, we feel the skin, but that sense of knowing, is travelling to what is next. But in the nature of the mind, you are in a state of knowing, but you are not travelling into anything else. When you have a projection of mind, when you are projecting something, you imagine something, and then you try to imagine more further, you create something. You are going to the next, what is next. You try to recreate, create, create, something more, more, more, and therefore we call it illusion of the mind. But in the state of the nature of the mind, you have a state of knowing. The state of knowing does not have the projection of mind. It does not have this illusion of the mind. It has no destination, you understand? It has no destination, yet it is still a state of knowing. That’s number one.
Number two, there is the state of the clarity. It’s not like being in the universe, completely dark with no sun. It’s not like that. It’s a state of knowing, a state of clarity. Clarity means clear, not a clear light, but just simply clear and a state of knowing, combined together.
And transparency. Transparency, when I use the word of transparency, it means it doesn’t have a distance. When we are visualizing a deity, even it’s a greater object, or positive object, let’s say “I visualize a Chakrasamvara”, “I visualize Vajrayogini”, “I visualize Six-Armed Mahakala”, right? “I”, there’s an existence of self, there’s a belief of external, and there’s a creation of the deity up there in front of you. There’s a size of the deity, the shape of the deity, color of the deity, syllable of the deity. You have the projection of thoughts that just keep on coming in. So you have this continuously appearance.
In the state of clarity, there’s no movement of different colors or different imagination. There’s a state of knowing, there’s a state of transparency, there’s no blockade, there’s no self or external. There’s simply knowing and transparency and there’s a clarity.
So these three experiences, these three states of mind, inseparably together is called nature of the mind.
In Thangtong Gyalpo’s teaching, I said this many times, in Thangtong Gyalpo’s teaching, he said “All the projection of thought that has been arise, that has been witnessed, that has been seen, is already past”, right? So the next projection of thoughts did not arise yet. In between, there’s a gap, right? So, the gap itself, how does the gap look like? The gap looks like sense of clarity, not a clear light, not anything you imagine. Clear, clarity, number one.
Number two is a state of knowing. Knowing means no destination, but yet, knowing. It’s a little bit like, driving a bus, but without the highway, without the road, but simply present. And then, sense of clarity, sense of knowing, and sense of transparency, as there is no distance. There’s no self that you identify as. “Oh, I am a practitioner. Oh, in front of me, there is a deity.” You don’t have a projection of thoughts like that.
And then you are also not a numb into the emptiness either. You are not into the state where you say “I don’t know nothing, this completely empty, I don’t know where I am going, I don’t know what is next.” That’s not nature of the mind. Therefore, the distinction is there is a state of knowing, state of transparency, and there’s a clarity. It’s not in the darkness, it’s in the light, but not the light that we imagine, number one. There’s a sense of transparency, means there’s no distance between self and external. And there’s a simply state of knowing, knowing means there’s no before and after projection of thoughts, there’s simply presence. So that’s the definition of the nature of the mind.
But in order to reach that, in order to recognize that, you have to have understanding, the whole Buddha teaching, there’s no hierarchy. Some tradition they say “Oh, our nature of the mind is much more important than teaching more”, yeah they can argue whatever they want, but the point is all of the teachings has originated from the Buddha Shakyamuni. That is something that we have to accept, and that is something that we have to understand, that’s number one.
Number two is all the traditions, all the teachings, regardless of any deity, or protector, or practice, you have to treat all these teachings and traditions with utmost respect and equal understanding. Not one practice is more important and other practices are for the beginning. You should not view like that. The more you view hierarchy within the teachings and practice, the more it shows that you have an ego, the more it shows that you are in the denial to meaning of impermanence. You did not examine your emotions, you did not examine your own ego, you did not know where you are going with your practice as well. So it indicates your own definition as a practitioner. So you should not embarrass yourself like that.
So that’s that.
Kalu Rinpoche
FB Livestream – 8 November 2020
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