Quotes by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche
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All quotes taken from http://www.shenpen-osel.org/issue7.pdf.
Following Quotes by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche
"The perceptions of the five sense consciousnesses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—are pure and unobscured, which means that they are free of any form of conceptuality. But unenlightened sentient beings do not experience that non-conceptual purity. Every moment of direct non-conceptual sense consciousness is followed instantly by a moment of direct non-conceptual mental consciousness, which is then instantly followed by a mental replica or image of that particular direct mental consciousness, which is not a direct experience, but has been called a vague approximation. We would probably call this vague approximation a projection, as in, “You are projecting.” It is this vague approximation or projection that forms the basis of the subsequent conceptuality that recognizes it as such and such, or good or bad and so on, which immediately ensues. In the words of Thrangu Rinpoche, this “. . . sixth consciousness . . . recognizes things, it brings concepts to bear upon experience and thereby confuses the experiences with the concepts about those experiences, including the confusion of a present experience with a past experience of something similar or apparently the same. So the sixth consciousness, which is conceptual, not only experiences the present, but brings the concepts of the past and the future to bear upon this present experience.”
The consequence of this process is devastating. It means that we are never experiencing accurately what is happening; we are always involved in some degree of conceptual misperception. And therefore our reactions and responses to what we experience are always going to be, even in the most ideal of circumstances, somewhat skewed. In less than ideal circumstances, our reactions can be catastrophic.
The whole purpose of dharma study and practice is “the abandoning of this activity,” which results in our recognition of the true nature of things, the dharmata. When we recognize the true nature of things, our responses to life are accurate, helpful, intelligent, and compassionate. But this recognition is not easy to come by. One must, in fact, deconstruct one’s experience piece by piece. This process begins first by coming to understand the dilemma we are in. Once we have come to understand that our problems, and indeed the world’s problems, result from ego-clinging, the next step is to develop the wisdom and the courage to recognize that there is no other purpose in life that even approaches in importance the deconstructing of ego and ego-clinging. Once one has developed that courage, one can gradually eliminate distractions and simplify one’s life sufficiently to make the practice of dharma one’s main concern.
The deconstruction of ego proceeds in stages. First we must let go of acting out our emotional reactions to events; which is to say, we must purify the veil of karma, the push-button reactivity of our behavior. In order to do so we practice ngöndro. Next, we must allow the emotional confusion of our minds to subside, which means we must practice shamatha or the meditation of calm abiding. Next we must develop the clear seeing, or the superior seeing of vipashyana; we must come to see the true nature of our experience for what it is, and then we must meditate, resting in that state until all confusion and roots of confusion have been eliminated. Seeing through confusion is to see through the process of conceptualizing and superimposing our conceptual version of things onto our experience and then taking that as real. Truly knowing the truth of this process sets one free from it, and instantaneously “phenomena’s lack of self-essence is known.” The true nature of things, the dharmata, is known. The dharmadhatu, primordial awareness, the clear light nature of mind, is known. Knowing this, we meditate on the dharmadhatu, and this meditation leads directly to the full realization of buddhahood.
The conceptuality that we superimpose upon our experience like plastic overlays in an anatomy text are better understood when we understand that there are four types of thoughts: the thought of “I,” the thought of “mine,” the thought that names, and the thought that attributes characteristics to what is named. It is our clinging to these that is the source of our problems. If we have a row with a friend, part of our suffering comes from the identification or naming of the person as our friend, and the expectations that this person will manifest the characteristics that we attribute to friends. Friends love you, they share your interests, and are supportive of you. Our anger with our friend during our row arises from the fact that their behavior is not consonant with these characteristics. If we did not think of the person as “friend,” their behavior would not be so distressing to us.
Deeper even than this level of conceptual designation is that we have identified this person as “our” friend,” “my” friend. If someone else is having a row with “their” friend, it may not bother us at all; in fact it may even become a source of amusement and delight. If “our” children misbehave, we suffer; if someone else’s children misbehave, we may think it regrettable and be mildly sorry for it and concerned, but we will not suffer in the same way. If a salesperson drops an expensive Rolex watch on the floor, we will probably not suffer. But if we drop the same watch after having bought it, then we are likely to suffer considerably. Yet the watch is the same watch, the children and our friend are just people. The source of our suffering with respect to all of these objects is the fact that we think of them as “mine.” If we hear that a school bus has gone off the road and several children have been killed, one of which might be our own, we suffer tremendously. But the instant we discover that not our children, but someone else’s children have been killed, the greater part of our suffering is over. The identification of things as “mine” sets us up for suffering.
But without “I” there can be no “mine,” and without the fundamental misperception that splits our experience into two poles, a perceiver and a perceived, and the subsequent identification of the subjective pole of our experience as being of paramount importance, there can be no “I,” and thus no clinging to “I.” Without clinging to “I” there is utterly no suffering. Without clinging to our conceptual versions of perceiver and perceived, there is no misperception, and where there is no misperception, there is the clear light nature of mind and reality; there is happiness and all positive qualities.
The benefits to an individual of letting go of the activity of conceptualizing and superimposing are apparent. But the benefits to society at large are also immense. Where there is no conceptual overlay, where there is no conceptual confusion and no ego-clinging, the confused energies of karma and klesha are transformed naturally, spontaneously, and effortlessly into the energies of wisdom, which radiate outward as warmth and light and blessing to all sentient beings. In the words of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, where there is no ego-fixation and no conceptual misperception, there is “radiation without a radiator.” This radiation of blessing, which is sometimes called the power of compassion, pacifies emotional affliction, enriches the minds and experience of sentient beings, magnifies their attention so that they can be taught the path to peace, and destroys their obstacles. This radiation strikes beings deep in their hearts and inspires them to drop their small-mindedness and to concern themselves with the benefit of others. For those who have been involved in social movements and politics and still aspire to bring peace, harmony, freedom, prosperity, and happiness to the world, the profoundest political act is, there- fore, to meditate upon and realize the dharmadhatu. For in the words of Lao Tsu, “The wise person accomplishes everything by ‘doing nothing,’ and the people think that they did it themselves.” Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche
"There are three causes of samsara. The first is karma, defiled action; the second are the kleshas, the mental afflictions; the third is conceptual mental activity, conceptuality. The basis or the ground in which these three are purified is the dharmadhatu, which is primordial awareness, inherent awareness, originally present wisdom. The path of practicing the dharma is what purifies these three causes. It clears away all of the adventitious, fleeting stains that obscure the true nature of the mind but are not part of its true nature. When these adventitious stains are cleared away, what remains is pure primordial awareness. This is given the name nirvana. It is also given the name dharmakaya. This also tells us what the dharmadhatu is.
In short, what is the dharmadhatu? It is the very essence of our present mind, the very essence of this present moment of mind, which essence is radiant clarity. It is completely free of any flaw; it is naturally perfect just as it is. Therefore, the true nature of mind is the ultimate thing to realize; it is the ultimate object of meditation. When purified of stains, it is nirvana.
Form and the other five outer sources of consciousness, making six altogether, do not appear to conceptual consciousness as they really exist. If we examine the outer sources of consciousness down to the smallest atom, we cannot find anything. For example, if we examine an eye in very fine detail, in atomic and subatomic detail, we cannot find even an atom that truly exists.
The eye that perceives is not made of anything; it is just a mere appearance. Similarly, the form that appears to the eye sense consciousness is also not made out of any [truly existent] atoms; there is nothing substantially there at all. When these two things which are not composed of anything, which are just mere appearances, come together, then the eye sense consciousness that perceives form does so in a way that is non-conceptual. When the eye sense consciousness perceives a form, it is an experience of perfect clarity that is unmediated by concepts, that is not polluted by any concepts about what is there; it is just a pure experience of clarity, of vision. At that time, the appearance is not arisen truly, nor does it ever cease, and this appearance-emptiness, this appearance which is empty of arising and empty of ceasing, which is empty of any existent matter at all, this appearance-emptiness undifferentiable is the dharmadhatu. Later, when thoughts arise, we think, “Oh, this is form; and this is a nice looking form or this is an unpleasant looking form,” or whatever thought might want to impute to the nature of that form. But its actual nature is appearance-emptiness.
Based on the coming together of sound and the ear, an experience of consciousness that is mere clarity, that is the mere experience of hearing the sound, occurs. This consciousness is pure. The reason why it is pure is that there is no conceptuality, there are no thoughts happening, and so the consciousness is pure. In the Tibetan it literally says it is pure of thoughts. So it is pure because there are no thoughts happening. It is a pure experience. At that time, this consciousness, to which this appearance is appearing so clearly, together with its object, are only the dharmadhatu and nothing else. They have no other characteristics; they have only the characteristics of awareness and emptiness undifferentiable, because no other characteristics exist. Later, when the thought process kicks in, we can think, “Oh, I just heard a sound.” But that only comes after the actual experience and is not connected with it. It is only a label that thoughts put on it after it happens.
The sound, which is not composed of any atoms, is not made of anything. The ear sense faculty is not composed of any “truly existent” atoms. And the ear sense consciousness is mere clarity that is not corrupted by any thoughts; it is not stained by any thoughts. And the coming together of these three is just like their coming together in a dream. There is no difference. Their nature is the dharmadhatu. They have no characteristics [that exist] from their own side [independent of conditions from the “other” side]. They have only the characteristics of the dharmadhatu. But because we do not recognize what the dharmadhatu is, then thoughts arise and we think, “Oh, that was a sound.” So thoughts prevent us from knowing what the true nature of that experience was. Our obscuring thoughts prevent us from seeing that it is actually the dharmadhatu and confuse us by labeling it as a sound, and then further labeling it is a “good” sound, a “bad” sound, or whatever.
When we hear something in a dream—before we conceptualize what it is that we are hearing— the sound and the sense faculty that perceives the sound are appearance and emptiness undifferentiable from each other. The sense consciousness that perceives it is clarity-emptiness undifferentiable, and it is all just the dharmadhatu. But then, because we do not recognize the dharmadhatu, we have a thought, “Oh, that is a sound”; and then we think, just as we do during the daytime, “That was a good sound, that was a bad sound,” and we start to take action in response to that [conceptualized version of the] sound. We either try to do something to get more of that type of sound or to avoid that type of sound, all based upon this conceptual confusion."
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Nice article, thanks for sharing!
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Very good article. Thanks.
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Dependent Arising of Consciousness
An important passage by Nagarjuna explaining that all manifestation are in essence Dharmadhatu or Buddha-Nature. It explains Dharmadhatu and Consciousness as the very manifestation that dependently originates and is empty.
Arya Nagarjuna:
38. When eye and form assume their right relation,
Appearances appear without a blur.
Since these neither arise nor cease,
They are the dharmadhatu, though they are imagined to be otherwise.
39. When sound and ear assume their right relation,
A consciousness free of thought occurs.
These three are in essence the dharmadhatu, free of other characteristics,
But they become "hearing" when thought of conceptually.
40. Dependent upon the nose and an odor, one smells.
And as with the example of form there is neither arising nor cessation,
But in dependence upon the nose-consciousness’s experience,
The dharmadhatu is thought to be smell.
41. The tongue’s nature is emptiness.
The sphere of taste is voidness as well.
These are in essence the dharmadhatu
And are not the causes of the taste consciousness.
42. The pure body’s essence,
The characteristics of the object touched,
The tactile consciousness free of conditions—
These are called the dharmadhatu.
43. The phenomena that appear to the mental consciousness, the chief of them all,
Are conceptualized and then superimposed.
When this activity is abandoned, phenomena’s lack of self-essence is known.
Knowing this, meditate on the dharmadhatu.
44. And so is all that is seen or heard or smelled,
Tasted, touched, and imagined,
When yogis [and yoginis]* understand these in this manner,
All their wonderful qualities are brought to consummation.
45. Perception’s doors in eyes and ears and nose,
In tongue and body and the mental gate—
All these six are utterly pure.
These consciousnesses’ purity itself is suchness’ defining characteristic. -
I forgot to mention that your post is very timely as just today someone in a facebook group posted about a nagarjuna text about the dependent arising of consciousness and i quoted this and the commentary you just shared.
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�　Self-Liberation of Contact Through Recollection　】
The “self-liberation of contact through recollection” is an important Mahamudra practice in which one recalls again and again that the apparent meeting of consciousness and object is not a real occurrence; it is a mere appearance, the union of appearance and emptiness. The five sense consciousnesses are nonconceptual—they are free from any thoughts that things truly exist. The conceptual aspect of the mental consciousness, however, follows this direct valid cognition of the sense consciousness and conceives of the sense consciousnesses’ experiences as being real. By following this thought of sense perception being real with the recollection that the sense perception is appearance-emptiness, one practices self-liberation of contact through recollection, the remedy for that mistaken belief in the sense perceptions’ true existence.
Milarepa sang of this practice in several of his songs. It is an important practice because we have to realize the transcendence of the meeting of the object, faculty, and consciousness if we are to realize the genuine nature of reality. If we still believe that the meeting of object, faculty, and consciousness is real, it is a sign that our certainty in emptiness is not stable yet.
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, The Sun of Wisdom, Chapter 14,
An Examination of Contact, P.89-90, Translated by Ari Goldfield
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LIVING AN APPEARANCE-EMPTINESS LIFE
You know the supreme path that is free from coming and going,
And you teach the true nature of all phenomena,
While never leaving a single being out of your compassion’s embrace,
Great mother, noble Tara, I bow at your feet.
Since all phenomena, outer and inner, are dependently existent mere appearances,
They have no inherent nature, they are just appearance-emptiness.
If you know how they resemble dreams and illusions,
All comings and goings will be open and relaxed.
Since appearances of friends and enemies are dependently existent,
Both are appearance-emptiness, like rainbows, and if you know this,
That is called, “meditation on illusion.”
Within openness you will achieve inner peace.
A planet and a particle are equal,
An aeon and an instant are equal, the Buddha taught.
If you gain uncontrived certainty in this,
Within spaciousness, any work you do will come out alright.
When you are expert at studying your own mind
All that appears becomes your guru,
And even your enemies become friends of your Dharma practice—
E ma! What a wonderful miracle!Verses composed for a student, June 24, 1998.Translated by Ari Goldfield -
pace and Awareness, Inseparable
The true nature of the mind is luminosity. This is also emptiness. At first,
it is difficult to recognize this inseparability of clarity and emptiness.
Therefore, when you are introduced to the true nature of the mind, you
are often first given the instructions for recognizing the mind's true nature
as luminosity, or clarity. Later, you are given the instructions for recognizing
it as emptiness. In actuality, the true nature of the mind is the inseparability
of luminosity and emptiness. They are not different. But to facilitate
recognition, different pointing-out instructions-the instructions introducing
you to the nature of your mind-are given separately. Though you may be first
given the instructions concerning luminosity and the instructions concerning
the emptiness of the mind, in essence they are one. The only reason for doing
this is that it is difficult for people to recognize this inseparability of clarity
and emptiness, or luminosity and emptiness, at the beginning.
In the rangtong tradition [the empty-of-itself or empty-of-self tradition], the
pointing-out instructions in regard to emptiness are mainly given. In the
shentongtradition [the empty-of-other tradition], the instructions in regard to
luminosityare mainly given. But ultimately, these two are inseparable. This
can be called the inseparability of space and awareness....The sixteenth
Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rikpe Dorje, said the ultimate view or the ultimate
realization is the inseparability of space and awareness. Conventionally,
the terms space and awareness are used. These are different aspects, but in
essence they are inseparable.-From Mahamudra Shamatha and Vipashyana, Rocky Mountain
Shambhala Center, 1991, p.154-5. Translated by Elizabeth Callahan -
Fresh, Not Frozen
We should examine how our discriminations have changed progressively
since we were children. The things we enjoyed as a child are probably not
the same things we appreciate as an adult. If we contemplate this based on
our own experience, then we can clearly see how our discriminating thoughts
are continually shifting. When we stop fixating on our discriminations as
being the self, we can relax.Understanding this can help us in our relationships with other people.
When someone does something we dislike, we attribute certain characteristics
to them,such as "greedy" or "selfish." That event and those labels become
fused with the person in our mind. The next time we see them we remember
those characteristics rather than seeing them as they are in this new moment.
The person recalled by our mind seems more real than the person standing in
front of us. We do not even notice what this person is doing in this present
moment because we are recalling the last time we saw them, and all those
strong feelings come back to us, including even anger. In this way we keep
our relationship frozen in our limiting labels rather than being open to
changing circumstances.--From "Heart of the Definitive Meaning" in Stars of Wisdom: Analytical
Meditation, Songs of Yogic Joy, and Prayers of Aspiration, page 27,translated
by Rose Taylor -
Effort and Relaxation
Sometimes you need to put a lot of effort into practice and sometimes you
need to take it easy, so both are important. Beginners need to put in effort, in
the middle you relax a bit, and at the end you are perfectly relaxed. But
again, if you are too attached to relaxation, then you become tight. So do not
be attached to relaxation, either.It is just like when you first learn to drive a car. When you first learn to drive
a car, you are very, very conscientious. You have to be, otherwise you will
not know what to do. Cnce you have learned how to drive, you can be
relaxed and drive naturally. But if you are too relaxed while driving a car,
that can be a problem too. That is why it the meditation instructions are: "Let
go and relax, and straighten up and be alert." So, it has both qualities. The
same two notions can be found in the three classic Mahamudra instructions,
which are: No distraction, no meditation, let go and relax. Relax but do not
be attached to relaxation. It is like that.-From a teaching given at Vajra Vidya Thrangu House, Oxford, United
Kingdom, 2000. Translated by Ari Goldfield.