Q: So this “fixation” and then this practice of “illusory body” which involve this imagination, visualization, they are connected. And so “fixation” is it like grasping? Is it the same sort of thing like sometimes we hear in Buddhism this grasping? Is “fixation” similar to this grasping?
A: I think that interpretation depends on the individual, it can mean different things for each of them. How they relate to it in their own day to day basis, what kind of word they use in order to relate to all the challenges they go through.
I would say that the first is, you know, there is a fixation, there is an attachment and then there is grasping. All these are related to each other, one way or another.
Attachment exists due to the illusory mind and the body and that we have not overcome that, we tend to be fixated and therefore there is the existence of the attachment. Then there is grasping, there is a grasping for love, there is a grasping for pride, there is a grasping for recognition, there is a grasping for acknowledgment.
Grasping doesn’t have to be always negative. Grasping doesn’t have to be miserable, sadness all the time. Grasping can be somewhere there. But that very sensation of the grasping can become the obstacle in the long run. It may not be the obstacle in the beginning because it’s so subtle that you don’t recognize it. Then you say “yeh, it seems to be okay, isn’t it? It’s not harming anybody, is it?” You even justify the very existence of the grasping. But then eventually, as you progress further, then you can understand that the very sensation of the grasping, the very projection of the grasping tends to be one of the obstacle in your spiritual dharmic growth.
But that acknowledgment, that true acknowledgment, that even that fixation, even that grasping has to abandoned. That has to come along with your quality of your mind. It is not a method or the mindset that you need to apply in the beginning. What you need to apply in the beginning is something that you can relate to, with the compassion, kindness.
Our fixation is a little bit like a glue to our mind. Before we see the true nature of mind, we need to see the actual true nature of anger and the actual true nature of illusion. Without seeing that and just jumping into the idea of emptiness and the nature of the mind is something that, it’s very funny. It’s very funny, it is not really very wise choice.
So therefore it’s very important for us to reflect with the kindness and compassion in the beginning. But then eventually we have to realize that even the sensation of the grasping has to abandoned. So once you overcome that, aligning with the “illusory body and mind” visualization practice, then you tend to get a fruitful result at that stage. But it is not a practical method to apply in the beginning.
Does it make sense?
Wisdom Dharma Chat | Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche – April 2024 (6′ 35”)
During this Wisdom Dharma Chat host Daniel Aitken and Rinpoche discuss his Wisdom Academy course Illusory Body and Mind, along with his new and upcoming Wisdom Academy course on Niguma’s dream yoga, and much more.
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