Where Is Your Mind Running Today?

Where is your mind running today?

You have to watch your mind like you are watching your child.

- Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

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Give up all distractions, all the many spreading delusions, and for an instant look at absolute reality as it is.

When the root of duality - dualistic clinging, dualistic perceptions, deluded perceptions - is severed, all the leaves, the branches, and even the tree trunk of samsara and nirvana naturally wither on their own and topple in their own time. Then this great spreading tree of samsara and nirvana, of duality, of worldliness, of conditioned being, does not need to be chopped down: it is already as if dead. We can relax; done is what had to be done, as the Buddha sang.

This is the whole point of the dharma, of spiritual awakening, of buddhahood; this is its ultimate evolution or unfolding. If we aspire to experience such an awakening, there is nothing else to do except recognize the true nature of our primordial awareness, our own essential being, our own birthright, which is within. This is the intrinsic nature of our own heart-mind, also known as bodhicitta or bodhi-mind. It is our own being, our own nature, this renowned buddha-nature. It is not a buddha anywhere else.

-Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

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Don’t Stray From What You Truly Are

I offer these short pieces of advice, mostly to remind myself of what is important….

Bodhisattvas don’t go around the universe looking for beings to save - the stars of compassion simply shine brightly and their light continues to illuminate long after their lives have been extinguished.

Since all appearances are inseparable from mind - it would be irrational to imbue your mind with anything less than the seamless light of natural love and heartfelt compassion, and then - do not forgo the highest of practices:

Pristine Mindfulness means to always remember the ultimate Guru, the intrinsic nature of awareness, because it is quite literally is all that really is - the intricate majestic fabric which reveals and unfolds itself as the perfect presence of every moment.

Because there is nothing separate from mind, it would be both unconscious and irrational to harm a wholly imagined other, therefore non-violence in thought, speech and action is the conduct of the realized and awakened.

Do not disturb your teacher’s mind, and your teacher is reality itself - therefore there is no point in demanding that things be different then they really are.

Do not seek extraordinary circumstances and spiritual visions. Remain as you are, humbly experience the extraordinary ordinariness just as it is - relax and peer into the divinity of detail - the grandeur that is encompassed in every moment.

As marks of realization - surrender ambition, and always offer the victory to others. Remain non-attached, patient and generous to no end.

Whatever calamity life offers you, do not negotiate, accept it as a gift with a calm mind, and no matter the circumstance - you will rob every perceived misfortune of both its burden and its power.

It’s never too late to discover: Your true path and purpose is within you, not in the fantasy of external worlds. Do not be complicated and become obsessed with what you are not, find the courage to walk away from what is harmful and untrue: you are not these imaginary outer identities and inner personas - there is a sovereign that is conscious of your every mask, your true nature - it is primordial awareness.

From this day forward become increasingly aware of the influential capacity of the stories you tell yourself - it is imperative that you recognize the difference between the dramas of the mind and the direct experience of this moment - the distinction couldn’t be any more stark: one is to live unnecessarily in the depths of unconscious darkness, and the other is to joyously smile drenched in the utter simplicity of being.

When you finally decide to walk away from the mindless chatter and insubstantial pettiness of the egoistic self, then change the conception of yourself to mirror the natural state of your divinity - you will then have no choice but to experience the pure realm and the mandala of heaven in this very life, perhaps even now in this very moment.

When you are ready to lay down the tiresome burden, when you are ready to discover the peaceful quietude of your true nature - then softly see that all of reality is the reflection of your innermost vision, and it is this very light that shines so exquisitely upon this inseparable world.

No matter the circumstance, don’t stray from what you truly are….

When we talk about source, we immediately represent some kind of primary event, at first. But what does "the beginning" mean? For us, the beginning is related to time, suggesting that time exists and that this is the beginning of time.

But if we find ourselves outside the limits of time, what then does the "beginning" mean? Does not make any sense. The "beginning" is just the moment when we enter into duality. But when we are beyond that, the beginning does not exist. So we're never going to be able to illustrate all this in some scheme.

When we say, "initial," Samantabhadra and so on, many have the same idea that Christians have about God: God created the world, first was Samantabadhra, and then we were.

But by the word "initial" I don't mean this. "Initial" is a true condition. And our true state is timeless. However, those who want to connect everything with time and establish when everything began, must understand that the source, the beginning is when we have entered duality. The source, the beginning of a reflection, is the moment when an object appears in front of a mirror. But the beginning of a reflection is not the beginning of a mirror or the beginning of an object. This is what duality is.

~ Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

[id: a photo of Toni Morison, with her quote across it, which reads “it’s not possible to constantly hold onto crisis. You have to have the love and you have to have the magic. That’s also life.” End id]

They wouldn’t be trying so hard to keep us from our joy if joy were not liberation.