Now talking about the Niguma sgyu ma Lam Rim.
First of all, please, do not have a huge expectation when you hear the word of, the path, the progressive path with complete towards the illusion of mind. Lam Rim, sgyu ma Lam Rim, you know, like when we hear the word, the path towards the illusion, you know, the meditation approach, don’t have too much expectation. Because all the teachings of Niguma, like an example in this illusion practice, at the end, of course, the word is attached with illusion, illusion, illusion, illusion, illusion, but all the principle and the foundation is all the same. So don’t try to have a mindset where you say: ‘Oh, this is a Niguma teaching of illusion. So now there’s an emptiness, now there is a nothingness I can accumulate negative karma. I don’t have to care about the good karma. I can let go of my discipline.’… You know, Tsultrim. Tsultrim means the sense of discipline, sense of awareness… ‘I can lose and forget about all of this, because everything is illusion.’ That is the wrong approach. So, I will explain to you in detail a little bit later with the text.
Okay. So, I hope that was enough introduction. And you have to keep in mind that this is not going to be the first and the last. It is going to be the continuation over the months to come. So, I cannot finish the whole teaching in one session. It will take some time. Because first I have to explain, your translator have to explain, and I have to do it slow, I cannot just read it, you know, it is not a transmission. And then I think all of you have to know, of course, I do the Sunday Facebook Live streaming, you know, the open interaction, it’s fine. Like I said before, I like to make some kind of foundation, concrete foundation for practitioner to make a more progressive approach over the time. So, this is the beginning of the progressive approach. And also you have understood more or less about the creation and completion, you have understood more or less about the teachings from the different masters and different traditions and different linage, but this lamrim applies to everything.
Because many of us, when we talk about Tibetan Buddhism, we focus very much into the Tantrayana practice, without any foundation or understanding about the Theravada and Mahayana. We just say, ‘Oh, I’m a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner. So, now I jumped to the conclusion of everything is illusion.’ That is incorrect. So, it is not a hierarchical approach. But it is definitely some sort of progressive approach. So that’s that.
And then, of course there’s many other Niguma’s teaching which I cannot share to the public, but there’s a very short teaching as about the illusion which I can share, so that all of you can understand the teachings of the Niguma as well, so that you don’t have to keep up your expectation only that in a retreat I will receive this and that kind of imagination, you don’t need, okay？
Kalu Rinpoche
Teaching on Stages in the Path of Illusion, Lesson 1, Part 2
7th Aug. 2021
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