Kalu Rinpoche Podcast – Episode 8 – March 11, 2021 (11 min) – Mahakala Tchadrupa part 2
Hello everyone, this is Kalu Rinpoche’s podcast, and thank you for being here with me again.
And also, I think I will give you another tip. I’m in a mood of giving you tips so I will give you a tip. The difference between your imagination and the vision.
First of all, the vision doesn’t happen all the time. Doesn’t happen all the time. Not because you want to, not because you don’t want to. You don’t have a choice. Vision happens, it happens. You don’t have a choice. You don’t have a desire in that very moment. You don’t have a fear in that very moment. That’s why it is called vision, in the spiritual means, vision. I’m not talking about vision about building construction. A vision about this, this higher level of vision.
In that very moment, you don’t have this imagination or subtle desire of continuity. If there is a beautiful person, whether it is a man or woman, whichever is your preference, and then that person touch your hand, your arm, and then you have this tingling feeling in your mind and say “Oh, I wish this moment continue”. Then that’s an imagination, that’s a grasping, that’s wanting it more.
Similar to that, sometimes when you are in the retreat, or when you are practicing, some beautiful imagination will come. But that is not a vision. If your imagination continues and you become the director of the movie, that is simply a distraction, that is not a vision. It’s like “Oh, I wish like this, I wish like that, I wish like this, I wish like that”, that is not a vision, that is imagination. You call it distraction.
Vision is something that you see it, you hear it, you feel it, and maybe it will last for 10 seconds, it will last for 15 seconds, not longer, sometimes maybe 20 seconds. But in that very moment, there’s no desire that you wish to look more, not even the slightest one. So therefore you have to understand your mind, what is the meaning of the slightest, slightest, slightest, slightest, slightest. If you don’t understand what is the meaning of subtle desire, then you will not understand whether it’s a vision or whether it’s your imagination.
You have to understand your emotion first in the subtle level, in order to understand the vision. If you don’t understand your emotion, whether it’s desire, or anger, or all of this, into the slightest level, in the subconscious level, if you don’t understand that, you will not understand your vision. Because then you cannot make a distinction between the imagination and the vision. In order to understand as a vision, you need to have a very profound depth of understanding, what is the ongoing desire into a very subtle level of mind, whether it’s an anger, whether it’s a jealousy, whether it’s a lust sensation, whether it’s attraction.
So if you understand into a very subtle level, not just a physical sensation, but into a very subtle level that deep down in your mind, you still love that person, you still love this object, you still attach to this thing. And if you still don’t know that, and behaving blindly, you are incapable of seeing any type of vision. So therefore you should not claim that you see some sort of vision before that.
So in order to understand the vision as a vision, you need to understand the very subtle level of emotion. You cannot see a vision without understanding yourself first. You have to understand yourself 360 degrees, in and out. Then you can understand little bit of distinction, what is the true meaning of vision and what is the imagination. Was there a subtle undercurrent of desire that you wish to happen? Or was it due to some other people’s behavior, that somehow subconsciously, you are interacting your mind, that your mind is functioning in that direction? Or simply a shining star from the middle of nowhere that appears.
So the vision has to be something like … like a star that appears from nowhere, due to no circumstance from external influence. If your imagination, or so called vision is due to other person’s behavior, other person’s interaction, or your interaction with them, then whatever you are imagining, is same as you are dreaming in the night.
Whatever interaction you have in the day time, then you tend to hold into that, then you bring it into the night time. If you are alive, you bring it into the death. Or in the state of the bardo. If you are alive, then you are bringing into the state of sleep. Or if it’s not a sleep, then you bring that event, whatever the interaction you had, into your daily busy traffic thoughts in your mind. So these are the three things.
So if you understand these three things very clearly, then seeing some vision is a possibility. So therefore, don’t get excited. But if you see a vision, there will be an absolutely no desire, absolutely no desire of wanting it more, or wanting to continue. It will appear, it will stop by itself. And you will understand fully. That is the meaning of vision.
In order to understand and to reach that level, that is truly a vision, you need to understand all the three stages. And that is, when you are dreaming, is due to our daytime activities that we pollute our mind, that we interact into the state of the dream naturally. And then during the time of death or in the state of the bardo, we accumulate all the lifetime habits, then we use it, we pollute in the state of the bardo, then there’s an endless fear, endless cycle of fear. If it’s not an endless cycle of fear, then it’s not a bardo. Right? So there’s an endless cycle of fear due to accumulation that we have done over the lifetime. Just like in the daytime, if you’re not sleeping, then you’re interacting with somebody, somebody talk good with you, somebody talk bad with you, you interact with something, whether it’s black, white, grey, yellow colors, can also manipulate your mind into a different perception, different imagination, different thoughts. Whether you react to them, or whether you don’t react to them. So you need to understand very subtle level of desire, subtle level of expectation. So then if you’re able to understand fully in and out, then the possibility of understanding and seeing the vision is definite. I think I lost lot of money right there. Because if I make into book, oh my god, I will be rich.
And then when you are in that clear state, right? Then you’ll… if you are good practitioner, even at that stage, continuity being as a practitioner, not being excited “Oh, I see something, I feel something, or anything”. If you continue, then it’s a possibility to receive a transmission over time. Like Shawaripa, like how he received the transmission of the Six Armed Mahakala, how Khyungpo Naljor received the transmission of the Five Jewels of Niguma, and also the rest of the lineage masters as well. Then all these are possibility.
Like an example, many of the Six Armed Mahakala practice is written by Khedrup Je, Gyaltsab Je. They’re the two main students after Je Tsongkhapa. Khedrup Je is very very connected with the Six Armed Mahakala because he was interacting with the Six Armed Mahakala in the daily basis, in his clear state of mind. He was not going bizarre in his mind. He was just being a practitioner. All this Je Tsongkhapa and Khedrup Je, and Gyaltsab Je, they all have a capacity to interact with Manjushri, and then with the Six Armed Mahakala, like having a conversation.
And these are possibility if you are simply a practitioner. Like if you look at all these great masters, nobody gave them the enthronement and saying “You are great master” and this and that. They’re just simply a practitioner and dedicating their life to study Buddhism, and then eventually doing retreat, and practice, and so on, so forth.
And it’s a possibility. It’s not impossible. You don’t bring an excuse between “Oh, I’m not a reincarnation master. I’m not an Asiatic Lama. I’m a foreigner. I don’t have a possibility.” Don’t. All of us, we are human beings. If we can put our mind into something, it’s a possibility.
Because I know how lazy I am. And if I can have a vision, and you can have a vision too. Not because I know how great I am, I know how lazy I am. If I can have a vision, you can have a vision too. So that’s it. It’s very important.
Thank you for listening, bye for now.
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