Self-Immolation

“One can impute emptiness logically when an independent reality of the self or of other phenomena is sought and not found. One also experiences it directly through meditation when the mind abides without ideas of existence or non-existence or both or neither. Meditators experience emptiness as a kind of fullness.

Emptiness allows for the unimpeded radiance of intrinsic awareness. In the experiential sense, then, it is not only a lack of something, but also a quality of knowing, or pristine cognition, a luminous quality that is the actual nature of the mind that can be experienced once the veils of concepts and emotions have been cleared away.

This experience is often referred to as clear light or radiance and also as "compassion." It is not something other than emptiness, for without emptiness it could not occur. It is the radiance-awareness that is the primordially pure basis of all manifestation and perception, the buddha nature.

This very nature of mind was always already there and is never corrupted or damaged, but only covered up by confusion. As such, it is the basis of spiritual practice, and also the goal or result. Buddha is not found anywhere outside of the intrinsic state of one's own mind. In the traditional breakdown, then, of ground, path, and fruition, the ground is one's own true nature, the fruition is the discovery of that, and the path is whatever it takes to make the discovery.

Kongtrul describes the identity of ground (basis) and fruition when he says:

The basis of purification is the eternal, noncomposite realm of reality that fully permeates all beings as the buddha nature.”

Sarah Harding

“What is the benefit of peacefully abiding, allowing the mind to remain still, in a natural state which is motionless? Until you are able to develop quiescence, you will not be able to control or suppress deluded mental afflictions. They will continue to arise and control the mind. The only way to get a handle on that and put an end to it is to accomplish quiescence. Once that is accomplished, all other spiritual qualities will arise from that basis, such as super knowledge, clair­voyance, the ability to see into the minds of others, to recall the past, and so forth.

These are mundane qualities that arise on the path but are developed only after the mind can abide peacefully. Qualities such as heightened awareness and clairvoyance must be de­veloped, because it is through them that one is able to understand and realize the fundamental nature of the mind.

As it says in the Bodhicharyavatara, one of the most important mahayana texts, "Having developed enthusiasm in this way, I should place my mind in concentration; for one whose mind is distracted dwells between the fangs of mental afflictions."

An individual who has been able to accomplish quiescence will no longer be overpowered by attach­ment to ordinary activities and contact with worldly people. The mind automatically turns from attach­ment and attraction to cyclic existence, because quies­cence is the experience of mental contentment and bliss which is far more sublime than ordinary attrac­tions that arise from confused perception.

When the mind is at peace, it can then be directed to concentrate undistractedly for indefinite periods of time. Quies­cence destroys delusion because mental afflictions do not arise when one is experiencing the equipoise of single-pointed concentration. People who have achieved quiescence naturally experience compassion as they view the predicament in which other living beings are ensnared. Pure com­passion arises as they begin to clearly perceive the nature of emptiness in all aspects of reality.

These are only a few of many qualities as taught by the Buddha which are the direct result of accomplishing quies­cence. Quiescence is the preparation and basis for the main practice which is the cultivation of the primor­dial wisdom of insight. These two meditations are complimentary.

The success that one has in develop­ing insight is dependent on the success that one has with developing quiescence. If you are able to de­velop quiescence only to a certain degree, then your experience of insight will be limited. However, if you are able to fully accomplish quiescence, then you will be able to fully perfect insight as well. If that is the case, then that is as good as saying perfect enlighten­ment will be realized.”

Gyatrul Rinpoche

“All animate and inanimate phenomena, including oneself and others, and things that are designated and characterized as obstacles, demons and hindrances, seem to be truly existent. However, apart from the deceptive appearances of one's own mind, there is nothing whatever that exists in reality. Things do indeed appear, but they are not real. Regard these as illusory hallucinations, like the appearances of a dream which do not, in fact, exist, and see them simply as random, unconnected appearances.”

Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje

“The view is to believe in and understand the buddha nature, the essence of all the buddhas. If one knows the buddha nature, then that is to know the unchanging essence which is free from any limitation, the original primordial nature of the mind as it is. This is not like a light bulb that suddenly comes on or something that is newly acquired. It is the nature as it has always been and always will be: primordially perfect. To recognize the buddha nature is the view.

To fail to recognize the buddha nature is to deviate into confusion. If you recognize your buddha nature, this is the same as having an audience with all the buddhas. You will meet face to face with all your root teachers.

Where is it? How can you see it? Why don't you see it? You are in a state of obscurity which is only temporary, like a suddenly-arising condition such as the clouds that obscure the sun. You know the sun is there, as it always is; but you cannot see it, because it is temporarily covered by clouds. That does not mean the sun is no longer there. Like that, while you are in this sudden condition of habituation with karmic afflictions and obscurations, you must train on the path to remove them.

The path is practiced only to remove obscurations and to accumulate merit, so that you can realize your own nature. When the wind comes along and blows the clouds away, the sun is then revealed. Such is the potency of the path through which the obscurations dissolve. The buddha nature is revealed.”

Gyatrul Rinpoche

“Those who are wise see that all experiences of adversity and felicity depend upon the mind. They seek happiness that arises from within the mind. They realize then that all the causes for happiness come from within themselves, and no longer need to be dependent upon external circumstances.

They achieve what is called personal freedom or self-control. They're not afflicted by the harms of other sentient beings. If you have personal power or freedom, then this will be something that holds true even at the time of death. You are always free, because you are free.

Without accomplishing this, you are like the foolish whose minds never become steady. There will be an endless flood of obstacles that seem to be plaguing you which go on and on. The foolish then go running after external objects in their pursuit of happiness. Whatever happiness they achieve is something that leads to yet more suffering. There arises an inability to be satisfied because, whenever you think happiness arises due to external events, this will be endless.”

Gyatrul Rinpoche

“Suffering is very kind to you. If you don't have suffering, you will not turn from attraction to cyclic existence, which means you will never be free. It's as simple as that. Sometimes it's very difficult to take a foul-tasting medicine, for instance Chinese medicinal tea. You take it because you know that it will benefit you. How difficult is it to undergo surgery, yet you know that there's a chance that your illness may be cured. Just like that, it's extremely difficult to accomplish dharma.

How could it be otherwise? Yet, if you understand that this suffering, although severe, is something agreeable to what your goal is and, in fact, can be endured quite easily by facing adversity with a sense of good cheer, your inability to endure physical pain will be overcome. Because one has a sense of mental well-being, which means mental strength, the mind becomes strong and begins to feel peaceful or happy about the practice. That alone makes the physical pain seem like something imperceptible. Then the inability for physical pain to afflict the mind is achieved. This is something that is a prerequisite for someone who is going to go deeper into dharma practice, particularly the ability to overcome illness by means of inner strength.

This indicates that one is able to overcome physical pain through one's sense of mental well­ being, suggesting that this is also the same way to overcome enemies, demonic force possession, and on and on.

What is also being brought out here is that revers­ing this attitude of aversion towards adversity is the basis for causing adversity to arise as the spiritual path. As long as your mind is still troubled with anxiety and despair, it's impossible for adversity to be brought onto the path. If the mind is troubled and you're trying to force yourself to endure suffering, that's not going to work. The only way that it will work is if you are able to consider the points of this training, to apply them to each experience, and to train gradually.

Initially you must practice with some minor adver­sity. Thaťs a very important point. Gradually it will become easier, until finally you will be able to practice in the face of great adversity. You must never try to practice in the face of great adversity as a beginner.

As you develop each virtue on the path, it's just like developing patience. First, you learn to be patient with yourself. Once you've been able to see some effective positive results and unprecedented benefits, then you can practice patience with your spouse, family, friends, and so forth. Once you see benefits there, you can practice patience with other objects that are more difficult to practice with. Training in generosity may begin with something as simple as giving something from the right hand to the left hand and back to the right hand, then giving it to the hand of another, like your spouse or your child, and then to the hand of a friend, and eventually to the hand of a stranger. Like this, minor moves to major.”

Gyatrul Rinpoche

“Whenever you are afflicted by another being or by anything at all, if you habituate your mind to dwell­ing on suffering only, then even the most insignifi­cant, tiny circumstance will bring forth great distress.

This occurs because you always want to accomplish your own needs and fulfill your own desires, which are primarily the eight worldly concerns, leading to non-virtue. This is your habituation. Since your mind is habituated to dwelling on negativity, if some small thing happens, some small affliction, then you imme­diately grasp onto this, shaping it into something very, very big. Even though initially it's something very insignificant, you allow it to bring you a huge amount of distress.

This happens because, whatever attitude is being cultivated towards happiness or adversity, by nature it will grow stronger. This is something that you become accustomed to. For instance, most habits are considered to be some­what harmful. Perhaps you like to eat hot chili, be­cause you have cultivated an attitude to partake of hot chili. But in fact it burns your tongue; it makes you sweat; it burns holes in your stomach; and on and on. Nevertheless, it is your habit, so you keep eating it.

Perhaps you like to drink liquor or have another habit such as this, which may actually be shortening your life, but in fact you keep on partaking of it, all the while knowing that it's really harming you. Because you are so attracted to it, you think it's something good. The desire is stronger than knowing what the result will be, which is suffering. Because the habit or desire is so strong, the suffering is not considered to be great.

The strength of the mind can never be underestimated; it is the single most powerful force in existence. Any habituation will continue to increase, depending upon which direction it is headed. Even­tually everything will lead to that. Keeping this in mind, as the gradual habituation increases in the case of suffering, virtually everything that appears will eventually lead to misery.

Even the most insignificant event will be the cause for much greater misery. Eventually there will be no possibility for happiness at all. This is something important to bear in mind in terms of your close relationships and family situations. If you don't recognize that this is due to your own mental habits, you will blame it on external circum­stances.

Eventually the flames of hatred, non-virtue, and suffering will spread on endlessly, because you continue to believe that the problem arises from exter­nal circumstances.”

Gyatrul Rinpoche

“To sum up: In order not only to prevent all unfavor­able circumstances and adversity from afflicting your mind, but to cause them to elicit a sense of good cheer, you should put a stop to experiences of aversion toward both inner and outer obstacles - illness as well as enemies, spirits, vicious gossip, etc. Practice seeing everything solely in an agreeable way. For that to happen, you should stop seeing those harmful situa­tions as something wrong, but give all your effort to seeing them as valuable. For it is the way our minds apprehend situations that makes them agreeable or disagreeable. For example, those who reflect at length on the faults of worldly amusements become increas­ingly perturbed the more they are surrounded by admiring people and enjoyments; whereas those who regard worldly amusements as beneficial aspire to increase them.

By training in this way, you will become gentle-minded, easy-going, and courageous; there will be no obstacles to your spiritual practice; all unfavorable circumstances will arise as splendid and auspicious; and your mind will continually be content with the joy of serenity. To follow a spiritual path in a degen­erate era, such armor as this is indispensable.

Then, since you are free of the suffering of anxiety, other types of misery also vanish, like weapons falling from the hands of soldiers; and even illnesses, etc. tend to disappear of their own accord. We can learn from the saints of the past who say, "By not becoming distressed at anything and not succumbing to unhap­piness, your mind will not become troubled; since it is undisturbed, your nervous system will not become disturbed; due to that, the other elements of your body will not come into disequilibrium; as a result, your mind will not become m troubled, etc., and the wheel of well-being spins on."

They also say, "Just as birds find horses and don­ keys with sores on their backs easy prey, so do ma­levolent spirits find an easy target in people with fearful dispositions, but it is hard for them to over­ come people of steady character."

Therefore, the wise see that all adversity and felic­ity depends on the mind, and they seek happiness within the mind. Since they have the complete causes of happiness within them, they do not rely on exter­nals. They are not afflicted by the harms of sentient beings or anything else, and this remains true even at the time of death. They are always free.”

Jigme Tenpe Nyima

“Whenever you are afflicted by sentient beings or anything else, if you habituate your mind to dwelling on suffering only, even the most insignificant circum­stance will bring forth great distress. This is because whatever attitude you cultivate towards felicity and adversity will, by nature, grow stronger. Thus, as the power of gradual habituation increases, eventually virtually everything that appears will lead to misery, and there will be no possibility of happiness.

By not recognizing that this is due to your own mental habits, you blame this on external circum­stances, and eventually the flames of hatred, evil actions, suffering and so on spread endlessly. Thus, appearances arise as enemies. The reason why sen­tient beings of this corrupt era are afflicted by suffer­ing stems from our interior powers of discrimination; so this calls for precise understanding.

Recognize again and again the pointlessness and great detriment of all the miserable anxiety you expe­rience through regarding adversity as being purely unfavorable. And thoroughly accustom yourself to the powerful anticipation, "From now on, whatever kind of adversity arises, I shall not quail." In this way practice cultivating great courage. If adversity can be corrected, there is no need to be despondent; and, if it cannot be remedied, there is no benefit even if one becomes unhappy.

If you do not react with anxiety, due to the strength of your mind, it will be easy to experience and handle even great adversity as if it were as light and flimsy as cotton wool. On the other hand, if you react with anxiety, you will become unbearably oppressed with overwhelming misery in the face of even minor adversity. For example, while thinking about a gorgeous woman (or man), even if you try to stop desire, you just wear yourself out.

Likewise, by engrossing your­self in the miserable aspects of some adverse situa­tion, you will be unable to develop any sense of fortitude. Thus, as in the instructions on guarding the doors of the senses, in the event of adversity you should not become engrossed in its characteristics; rather, get used to placing your mind in its natural state and let it apprehend its own nature.”

Jigme Tenpe Nyima