Enlightenment Button

 

Enlightenment Button

I listened to the first few minutes (up to 9 minutes) of this Guru Viking podcast where meditation/mindfulness and neuroscientists discuss some called "enlightenment button".

In the beginning Dr Jay Sanguinetti defines enlightenment button as, "neurotechnologies that make mindfulness faster... that could be a device that you put on your head and push a button..."

I like that some people make these efforts trying to come up with technological inventions that would enable deeper meditation or mindfulness practice but at the same I would like to point out that this button has already been invented long ago, and there are practitioners, though a minority, who keep pushing this button in their daily practices. I have talked and written a great deal of this over the years but I'll repeat the key points.

Quietive Methods

All buddhist meditation, as well as secular mindfulness methods are based on using and developing mindful attention to calm down the mind and its many movements. This is the basic view in the vast majority of all meditation methods in the whole world.

The immediate difficulty and great challenge with this approach is that it is very demanding and difficult to pursue for the simple fact that you have the endlessly restless self-based mind that you try to tame by cultivation of mindfulness. To my delight, Shinzen Young goes further to discuss nondualistic experience, that is, awakening or enlightenment, in relation to this but I see obvious problems in this equation.

It is possible to experience calmness and tame the mind with typical mindfulness exercises but it takes lots of time and effort to do it. When I say lots, it means hundreds or thousands of hours. To have that much time for practice is possible only to very few so this isn't a reliable way for most people who have limited time for practice. The reason why this is so is because these methods are derived from monastic traditions. Monastics don't have much else to do with their time than sit in meditation. Anyone who has ever given a try to the these practices, know how difficult and consequentially time consuming they are.

However, there are different types of practices and paradigms that come from a long tradition of lay practitioners and work in very different way. These practices are now just beginning to arrive to popular awareness. I'm talking about dynamic practices that are types of concentration exercises but are not quietive. These practices are thousand times easier than quietive mindfulness practices. They are also easy and quick to learn, and to apply.

I have taught Dynamic Concentration both as a buddhist teacher as well as a secular mindfulness teacher for years now. I have also founded a mindfulness method, Master Mindfulness, that teaches this in secular non-religious setting. See: https://mastermindfulness.fi/mindfulness-2-0/

Dynamic Concentration

From my book, What's Next? On Post-Awakening Practice, p 22:

"Being concentrated means that ones attention is concentrated, focused one-pointedly on a single object of focus. This object of focus can be the movement of the breath on some particular location in the body, such as the lower belly or the bridge of the nose, it can be a mantra consisting of a single syllable or many syllables, a visualisation and so on.

Concentration practices are commonly taught with low intensity. For example, when mindfulness of the movement of the breath (p. anapanasati, skt. prana apana smriti) is taught, the student is instructed to keep his attention gently on the breath and return the attention back to the object when distracted. In a similar way, when mantras are recited, they are always recited with gentle concentration, never with high intensity, with stronger or even explosive focus. This light or gentle focus can be compared to a volume knob of a stereo system. In this example light focus is analoguous to low level which produces low but still audible volume of music. This would equal perhaps 5-10% of the total volume output. However, the volume knob can be turned higher. It goes up to 30%, 60%, 90% and with each level we hear a corresponding change in the volume. Turning the volume high has an immediate effect...

Dynamic focus greatly changes the effect of the concentration practice. With light focus, as in commonly known shamatha, with constant distractions it takes time to calm the monkey mind. Whether an exercise of light focus ever cuts through the layers of the subconscious and substrate minds is rightly questionable. It takes years of long hours of daily training to build the muscle of concentration to get the benefits of shamatha meditation (tib. shine)...

Concentration can be momentarily heigthened, like turning the volume knob high suddenly to create a short (0.3-2 seconds) explosion-like, momentary peak. This creates a quick punch of sorts, like an explosion that can be controlled. This punch hits through all of samsaric mind and reveals the natural state in a very short period of time. We are discussing an exercise that indirectly has been used in Buddhism and many other yoga and dharma teachings for centuries through meditation, recitation, religious art and yogic exercise and yet very few schools have realised the immense value of dynamic concentration to give it a central place in their teachings...

Dynamic concentration can be adapted to fit the view and practices of any yogic approach. It can be adapted and practiced by secular buddhists, mahayana buddhists of all schools such as Zen or Pure Land, tantrics of all sorts and those who prioritise the recognition of nature of mind, namely Zen, Mahamudra and Dzogchen. It is very easy for anyone to test whether dynamic concentration really works. All you need is a few minutes of time and a comfortable place to try it.”

For a more thorough introduction to Dynamic Concentration, I recommend reading my above book (free on the website). If you wish to go directly into practice, we have many recordings on Pemako Buddhism YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1djVj0O7r4&list=PLqTm9fV9DGhtYrtz_kro465trHll4fBP8

Non-dual Perspective

I am glad to see that Young, Fasano and Sanguinetti also discuss awakening and enlightenment in their discussion about mindfulness because most prominent figures in the secular mindfulness scene, don't. Young discusses ”kensho”, which is a Japanese word for recognition of one's untarnished nature, in the podcast. It is here that we enter a bit more serious field of discussion that still is foreign to the larger mindfulness crowd.

However, even Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of MBSR, has stated:

“ MBSR is really meant to be from the non-dual perspective, but grounded in real people and real life.”

(Source: Husgafvel, 2019, p.302)

It is wonderful that nondualism is finally being brought and discussed in the context of mindfulness but then, like in sutric buddhism, which is where the foundation fo secular mindfulness is, has the same dilemma: how can we make this work faster and more efficiently? In the history of buddhism of 2500 years most branches of sutrayana, namely various schools of theravada and mahayana buddhism, have had exactly the same problem that to this day remain unsolved. It is precisely these schools of thought and practice that have spread throughout the world within the last 100 years.

As I stated above, there are basic problems in the paradigm in quietive methods that are absent in dynamic methods. And this is the "enlightenment button" that has already been invented.

-Kim, 7.5.2021

• Guru Viking, ep 94: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVrXHm2Y5wE
• Master Mindfulness: https://mastermindfulness.fi/mindfulness-2-0/ 
• Master Mindfulness at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindfulness.fi
  
• Dynamic Concentration at Pemako Buddhism YouTube:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1djVj0O7r4&list=PLqTm9fV9DGhtYrtz_kro465trHll4fBP8

Harvest Is At Hand

 

Harvest Is At Hand

All beings have buddhanature. All humans have buddhanature and of course, all practitioners have buddhanature. However, despite of this basic fact it is uncommon for practitioners to truly come to know themselves as perfectly fresh beings devoid of any delusion, abound with love and compassion.

It is a simple fact that very few people out of tens of millions of practitioners worldwide become graduates, fully enlightened buddhas, in a single lifetime. It means that from the methods that many people follow, most get small benefits while only few get great benefits. Instead of the majority of sanghas becoming fully enlightened buddhas or awakened to a mature degree, there arise one or two people who become to be considered as outstanding practitioners who are then seen as special. Yet, at the same time more than one or two people have a deep yearning to become enlightened.

This means that there is a gap between the innate potential and revealing it. This question has been burning in my mind since I became disillusioned about old, traditional, ”timetested” methods of yoga and meditation that actually didn't work well despite of backbreaking efforts. I know many who have had the same problem.

First of all, if you want to get true benefits of your practice (through recognising yourself as a buddha), you need to keep asking questions. This is something most people don't do because they trust those timetested methods along others. Practices, when practiced correctly, need and are required to deliver glimpses and insights of recognition on continual basis from the very beginning of practice until the final goal of buddhahood. As long as practice is continued, there should be no plateuing but if practice is continued and plateuing still happens, there is something very wrong with the practice! This is common sense.

Pragmatic Dharma

I teach and practice pragmatic dharma (See Vince Horn's article Core Features of Pragmatic Dharma). This means that in Pemako Buddhist Sangha we discuss openly and publicly about our meditative and spiritual experiences, incl. awakening experiences and enlightenment. Dr Daniel Brown, who has made public statements about the advancement of his students, incl. that two people in their sangha have attained buddhahood, is also an example of this. This is out of the norm in buddhist culture, though it has been done historically as well. We do this for the simple reason that it is highly beneficial for the whole community, and hopefully as beneficial to dharma culture in general.

For many years myself and our practitioners have talked and given written accounts of their awakening experiences, or technically bhumi openings and bhumi perfections. If I remember correctly, I started announcing awakenings (1st bhumi opening) of my students in the Spring of 2014 which is exactly 7 years ago. Since then I've kept giving brief monthly or bi-monthly reports about the advancement of our sangha members in Facebook. We do this in more detail in our closed Facebook group that is only for sangha members. 

 

We have a strong sangha of 70 people worldwide most of who attend several retreats each year, on top of their daily home practice. I began this post by discussing the gap between the innate potential of buddhanature and lack of knowhow to access it, so perhaps I'll say a bit more about that.

The Pemako method has several unique features. Not only is our method pragmatic, that alone gives a very different feel to it in comparison to secretive methods, we do practices that no one else in the whole world does, literally. I have discussed all of this on regular basis for many years so I won't repeat what I have said before but I'll remind that we haven't invented anything new, just reshaped and refreshed the form of our practice. It is the way how the foundational principles are formulated into exercises and how these exercises are understood and practiced, what makes the difference.

When people write me and tell about their training in other styles and then Pemako, one of the things they often communicate is their frustration of not getting anywhere. This stuck happens because people are not taught the basics well, in a simple language that they could easily understand. Then a whole new world opens for them when they meet Pemako teachings and learn the basics of tantra and dzogchen, taught in simple and no-nonsense manner. Opening of a new world means repeated recognitions of oneself as a buddha.

So, without exact knowhow the distance between the potential and lived experience of it, becomes impossible to catch up. Also from this basic problem many other problems germinate which is how yogas turn into religions. Vice versa, when the method allows recognition from the start many positive features come from it, such as harmony in the sangha (which is a rarity) and the journey from unawakened state to fully enlightened state becomes swift.

Fruition

Last month I wrote a blog about Long Cessations: How Buddhahood is Actually Attained. For context, please read it if you haven't.

In few years time I will be able to give detailed statistics on this, based on 8-10 cases, but at the moment it looks like earnest Pemako practitioners attain buddhahood, perfection of 1-10 bhumis, in 6-8 years on average. Soon and during this year, I will probably be able to break news of a handful of practitioners who have reached full fruition in their practice, including some personal details. Due to the uncommon nature of this information, the accounts will be anonymous for the public but as openly celebrated as any other awakening experiences within our sangha. Harvest is at hand.

May you be filled with the grace of the buddha within,

-Kim, 9.4.2021

What is Awakening on the path to Enlightenment? - Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche

 

What is Awakening on the path to Enlightenment?

I just found this lovely elaboration on Awakening by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. The only part that I respectfully disagree with is the notion that seeing through the self takes a long time. With the most effective instructions like the Two-Part Formula (www.twopartformula.com) and the proper determination, Awakening can be achieved within days or weeks. - Ugi

»Although this is called the Sravaka stage because it represents the heart of the Sravaka vehicle, one should not assume that it is unimportant in the other vehicles of Buddhism. Milarepa, the great Vajrayana master, taught his disciple, the shepherd boy, the Sravaka meditation on not-self after the boy had shown signs of having great natural meditation ability. It is said that on being told to meditate on a small image of the Buddha he went straight into meditative absorbtion (samadhi) for a week without noticing the time. When he came out of samadhi it seemed to him he had only been meditating a few seconds.

At this stage one does not consider the emptiness of all phenomena but only the emptiness or lack of self in the person. The importance of this is that it is the clinging to the idea that one has a single, permanent, independent, truly existing self that is the root cause of all one's suffering. One does not need to have an explicit or clearly formulated idea of self in order to act as if one had one. 'Self here means the implied self which might also be regarded as implied in the behaviour of animals. Animals, just like us, identify themselves with their bodies and minds and are constantly seeking physical and mental comfort as they try to avoid discomfort and assuage pain. Both animals and humans act as if they have a self to protect and preserve and one regards this behaviour as automatic and instinctive as well as normal. When pain or discomfort arise the automatic response is to try to remove it. It is extraneous to the self and the implication is that the self would naturally be happy if all pain and suffering were removed.

Strangely, however, when we try to analyse our behaviour in relation to this self, we realize that we are very unclear as to what this self really is. Non-Buddhist thinkers have defined the self variously as resting in the brain, blood or heart and having such qualities as true or transcendental existence in or outside of the mind or body. To have any meaning such a self has to be lasting, for if it perished every moment one would not be so concerned about what was going to happen to it the next moment; it would not be one's 'self anymore. Again it has to be single. If one had no separate identity why should one worry about what happened to one's 'self any more than one worried about anyone else's. It has to be independent or there would be no sense in saying 'I did this' or 'I have that'. If one had no independent existence there would be no-one to claim the actions and experiences as its own.

We all act as if we had lasting, separate, independent selves that it is our constant pre-occupation to protect and foster. It is an unthinking habit that most of us would normally be most unlikely to question or explain. However, all our suffering is associated with this pre-occupation. All loss and gain, pleasure and pain arise because we identify so closely with this vague feeling of selfness that we have. We are so emotionally involved with and attached to this 'self that we take it for granted.

The meditator does not speculate about this 'self. He does not have theories about whether it does or does not exist. Instead he just trains himself to watch dispassionately how his mind clings to the idea of self and 'mine' and how all his sufferings arise from this attachment. At the same time he looks carefully for that self. He tries to isolate it from all his other experiences. Since it is the culprit as far as all his suffering is concerned, he wants to find it and identify it. The irony is that however much he tries, he does not find anything that corresponds to the self.

Westerners often confuse self in this context with person, ego or personality. They argue that they do not think of the person, ego or personality as a lasting, single, independent entity. This is to miss the point. The person, personality or ego as such are not a problem. One can analyse them quite rationally into their constituent parts. The Western tradition has all sorts of ways of doing this. The Buddhist way is to talk of the five skandhas, the eighteen dhatus or the twelve gates of consciousness. The question is not whether or not the person, personality or ego is a changing, composite train of events conditioned by many complex factors. Any rational analysis shows us that this is the case. The question is why then do we behave emotionally as if it were lasting, single and independent. Thus, when looking for the self it is very important to remember it is an emotional response that one is examining. When one responds to events as if one had a self, for example when one feels very hurt or offended, one should ask oneself who or what exactly is feeling hurt or offended.

If you are not convinced that you behave emotionally as if you had a lasting, single and independent self, then it is important to address yourself to this issue before moving on to consider the doctrine of not-self. Think carefully about pain and suffering and ask yourself who or what it is that is suffering. Who is afraid of what will happen; who feels bad about what has happened; why does death seem such a threat when the present disappears every moment, scarcely having had a chance to arise? You will find that your thinking is full of contradictions, inconsistencies and irresolvable paradoxes. This is normal. Everyone (exce'pt, perhaps, the insane) have a common sense notion of what or who they are which works (more or less) and enables them to function as normal human beings.

However, when the meditator addresses himself to what or who this self is, he cannot find it. Then gradually, very gradually, it dawns on him that the reason he cannot find it is that it is not there and never was. There is tremendous emotional resistance to this realization so it takes a long time to break through, but when it does there is an immediate release of tension and suffering. The cause of it has gone. The cause of it was a mental attachment to something that was not there.

Sometimes the resistance to the realization takes the form of irritation. One is used to being able to explain things to oneself rationally. Experience of the 'self is so direct and in a sense so obvious, there seems to be no reason to include it in one's rational explanation of things. On the other hand, when one does try to explain it to oneself, the whole thing is so irritatingly subjective it seems one could never reach any satisfactory conclusion. Instead of letting the mind rest in the actual experience of that paradox, one gets frustrated and irritated at not being able to form a water-tight explanation of what the 'self is. It is important to notice that and be aware of it. If one tries to just push that irritation out of one's mind, one will never have a deep realization of not-self.

Clinging to the idea o( self is like clinging to the idea that a piece of rope in the dark is a snake. When the light is turned on and one sees that there is no snake there, one's fear and suffering that arose from clinging to it as real dissolve. The snake never existed in the· first place, so it was simply one's clinging to that idea that caused the suffering and nothing "else. The wisdom that realizes not-self is like the light that revealed the rope was not a snake.

Clearly, in order to end one's own suffering, there is nothing more important than to realize that when one acts as if the body and mind constituted a lasting, separate, independent self, one unthinkingly attributes to them qualities which they simply do not have.

Nothing in the whole stream of mental and physical phenomena that constitute one's experience of body and mind has the quality of separate, independent, lasting existence. It is all change and impermanence, moment by moment and so none of it can be 'self and it is one's persistent effort to treat it as if it were, that makes it a constant stream of suffering (duhkha).

Realizing not-self is the first step to realizing the empty nature of all phenomena. That is why the first teachings of the Buddha concern the Three Marks of Existence i.e. suffering, impermanence, and not-self.

THE DREAM EXAMPLE

The Buddha often used the example of a dream to illustrate his teachings on emptiness and this example can be applied with increasing subtlety at each stage of the meditation progression on Emptiness. It is a good example for showing how the two truths, relative and absolute, work together. In a dream there is a sense of being a person with a body and mind living in a world of things to which one feels attracted or averse depending on how they appear. As long as one does not realize it is just a dream, one takes all these things as real and one feels happy or"sad on account of them.

For example, one may dream of being eaten by a tiger or being burnt in a fire. In the absolute truth no-one is being eaten or burnt, but still in terms of the dream one might really suffer as if one had been. The suffering arises simply by virtue of the fact that one identifies oneself with the person in the dream. As soon as one becomes aware that it is only a dream, even if the dream does not stop, one is nonetheless free to think, 'It does not matter; it is only a dream. It is not really happening to me.' The person that was suffering in the dream only arose as a temporary manifestation dependent on the condition of one's not being aware that it was only a dream. It had no separate, independent, lasting 'self of its own.

Understanding this intellectually is not enough to free oneself from the strongly ingrained habit of clinging to one's mind and body as a separate, independent, lasting self. One has to examine the stream of one's mental and physical experience again and again, reflecting on what one does or does not find until one reaches total conviction and certainty. Having become convinced of what is the case, one then has to meditate, resting the mind in this new-found knowledge until the veils caused by one's habitual patterns of thought have finally dissolved. At this point direct, unmistakable realization of not-self arises and it is this genuine experience that actually liberates one from suffering.«

-Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche

21st Century City Buddhas

 

21^st Century City Buddhas

The most difficult thing about awareness practice is to accept pain. Accepting means not having a problem staying with self-based pain but that is very hard and difficult because it is precisely the sense of me-ness that we both identity with and instinctually want to get rid of. There in the midst of all this is where buddhist recognition practice happens or doesn't happen. It is important to accept that the nature of dharma practice is that of willingly accepting pain and discomfort. Understanding this can save us lifetimes.

There is purity and perfection in everyone of us. This is the view that we should remind ourselves of because it both gives us direction and empowers us. We are, even if we suffer tremendously and are deluded, rich and complete wakeful beings.

When we are dealing with dirt, it is very important to sit as much as one's daily time allows. Yogis are meditators which means sitting in one's place of meditation. There you have your sacred spot, with the image of gurus, flowers, statues of buddhas, incense and your seat that gathers pure vibrations and helps you out of the internal mess. You might also have drinkable water or oil blessed by a teacher or guru to do the same. These are simple and very useful technologies. As is guru yoga.

Our aim is to realise buddhahood in this life. This means that we are playing in the top league. This means that our practice is not just one hour on the cushion but at all times. This also means that as the intensity of the training is high, there also needs to be sufficient rest and recovery time. You can't just keep going and doing too many things, without balancing it with rest and leisure. In order to keep going in an ideal manner, we need to find time in our daily life to rest and recuperate. In this way, we can do our practice effectively the next day.

There is no ready-set and tested model for 21st century city yogis and buddhas so we have to find it ourselves. By doing that is a great service to mankind.

Kim, 31.3.2021

Pemako – The First School of Western of Vajrayana Buddhism

 

Pemako – The First School of

Western of Vajrayana Buddhism

I went to take a look at the pemakobuddhism.com-website, as I haven't done that in a while. I've been low key with writing and other computer projects for a while so I was surprised to see all these things, like 2PF, bhumi model, few books, RBY, long list of tantric deities, dzogchen metta, trauma therapy, pure land meditations, ceremonies and vows, list of preliminaries etc... so many things!

How in the heck have I done all that!? And when!? It feels weird to think that I've done all that. And there's an international sangha of 70 people from all corners of the world, monthly retreats and so on. Bonkers!

It's been a long road, I can tell you that. It hasn't been easy but when I die, I'll die a happy man without regrets. Since my karma ripened and I connected with dharma practice at the age of 23, I've put everything into it, not holding back, and it has carried me well, like a mother carries her baby. At some point I was asked to teach by my gurus and people who wanted to learn so I started teaching full time in 2008. That's over 12 years ago and I don't know... few hundred courses and retreats ago. It's been a long haul, a long god damn haul... That's what it took to get the first school of Western vajrayana buddhism up and running... That's not too bad.

All this sends me back down the memory lane... All the people I've met, all the silly mistakes I've made, all the childish ideas I had about enlightenment, 3½ years of burnout, thousands and thousands of working hours without pay, all the abuse and ridicule aimed at me, all the laughter and tears with my beloved dharma friends and students, all the heartache and pain, all the release, all those hundreds and hundreds of opened and perfected bhumis! What a ride... What a thunder!

But I fucking did it! I did exactly what was planned before I took voluntary rebirth into this body. I remember the time before my mind attached to the fetus inside my mother's womb. I remember leaving the world of the mahasiddhas, pure lands and subtle planes, where mahasiddhas wished me a good journey. That was 43 years ago. I just turned 42. Oh god, how I miss my home, those pure lands and planes of many eternal friends, masters of the mahasiddha family. Oh, and Mahasiddha Family! That's on the website too!

Earth is a samsaric realm, a war planet as some yogi called it. It's a hell of a place. A ruthless grinder! But I feel proud to say that I've done this work with so many people to give samsara a hell of a fight! That is what we have done and that is what we keep doing at Pemako! I won't have it any other way.

Now, I feel as if I have started my retirement. No doubt, it will be easier, a smooth and enjoyable ride from now on.

Oh, may the perfume of wild rose dharma caress the noses of all sentient beings... May the blessings of the buddha within strike all beings like thousand thunderbolts!

A Ba Hu Mani Peme Hung Hrih

Kim

About Empowerments and Practice of Tantra

 

About Empowerments and

Practice of Tantra

Question: May I ask about empowerments; I was listening to one teaching from Garchen Rinpoche a while back, it was an Yamantaka empowerment. Is the general idea that its not recommended to take empowerments from other teachers than Pemako let alone to practise that/those deities? Thank you

Kim: Your question concerns *tantric* teachings and empowerments.

You can take all the empowerments you want from anyone you like and practice what you wish but few things you need to know.

1) for someone who is still a beginner, having more than one teacher will make one's head spin, i.e. one can loose clarity regarding direction because it is like trying to travel on two boats at the same time and 2) due to slight differences in subtle energy between lineages, if one does practices from more than one teacher/lineage on regular basis, there might be some subtle friction, sort of like food that digests poorly, in the system. I speak from my own experience and remember Sivakami telling me of some of her students who started making good progress with her teachings that then deflated when starting second practice at the same time. The nervous system is simple in the sense that it cannot be tuned into more than one musical key at once.

Point number one I've seen quite a few times in my teaching career, that beginners minds get confused about direction when they try to follow two (or more) teachers at once. There is an old saying about digging wells, that to find water one should dig deep in one spot rather than dig many shallow holes. Same thing with practice. I think that especially in the US where there is a lot of selection, people dig shallow holes and consequentially don't make much progress.

There are some good teachers out there, such as Garchen Lama, so I see no problem in joining teachings and *receiving* empowerments as much as you like. However, keep in mind my second point. Whether some teachings from separate lineages match or not, you just have to test yourself.

I have joined many teachings over the years both live and online but I have purposefully avoided receiving empowerments from lamas who I didn't feel a click with. Empowerment also creates a karmic link with the teacher so I haven't wanted to create otherwise unnecessary karmic connections with lamas who I am not excited about, and also because most vajrayana teachings/empowerments come with rules and regulations aka samaya, that usually is strict. Because of these reasons I have not taken that many empowerments from living lamas. I have of course received hundreds of them from dead lamas 　

As a teacher of this sangha, I highly recommend all to do some reading on whatever you wish to read and if you wish to join whatever buddhist/spiritual/psychological events/retreats you might be interested in, go ahead. But please understand my motive in saying that. I don't wish our sangha to be close minded or attached to Pemako. I don't wish our practitioners to become cultish even in the slightest. At the same time, joining other teachings, you will probably see yourself why I have critisized the established methods so much, so you will understand Pemako and my style of teaching better.

Finally, like I've said, if you find a better teacher and method that bears fruit more effectively than this one, choose that one. This is common sensical.

Bhumis and Siddhis by Tsele Natsok Rangdrol

 

Bhumis and Siddhis

by Tsele Natsok Rangdrol

»Thus all ten levels and five paths taught in the common vehicles are perfectly complete and distinct within the mahāmudrā, the pinnacle of all the vehicles. Naturally, someone who truly manifests the four yogas will gradually—or immediately—complete every quality of the paths and levels. However, it is a special quality of the secret, swift Mantrayāna path that some don’t reveal these qualities as actually perceivable characteristics on the apparent level. For example, most beings, such as birds and wild beasts, are born from their mothers’ wombs and don’t become fully developed for a while. The gradualists are like that. However, the garuda, who is the lord of birds, and the lion, who is the king of wild beasts, already have their complete powers inside the egg or mother’s womb. At that time they can’t be seen, but as soon as they’re born, their three powers are fully developed so that they can accomplish all activities, such as flying in the sky with their mother. In the same way, some yogins do not have actually visible signs while they are still confined within their material bodies, but on being freed from the traps that are their bodies, the result simultaneously ripens as the fully developed power of their qualities. There are also numerous individuals who, having accomplished the path that unites method and wisdom, visibly manifest the signs of that path, such as miraculous powers and clairvoyance, in that very life.«

- Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, The Bright Torch, in: Mind of Mahamudra

Nagarjuna Describes Going Through Bhumis

 

Nagarjuna Describes Going

Through Bhumis

From Dharmadhātustava by Nagarjuna

Just as a lamp that’s sitting in a vase

Does not illuminate at all,

While dwelling in the vase of the afflictions,

The dharmadhātu is not seen.

From whichever of its sides

You punch some holes into this vase,

From just these various places then,

Its light rays will beam forth.

Once the vajra of samādhi

Has completely smashed this vase,

To the very limits of all space,

It will shine just everywhere.

. . .

Just as when the waxing moon

Is seen more in every moment,

Those who’ve entered on the bhūmis,

See its increase step by step.

On the fifteenth day of waxing,

Eventually, the moon is full.

Just so, when the bhūmis’ end is reached,

The dharmakāya’s full and clear.

Buddhahood! Will We Ever Get There!?!?

 

Buddhahood!

Will We Ever Get There!?!?

I took a long break of bhumi readings and therefore it seems discussion about bhumis has been very little during the past year or so. Let's bring it back! Nevertheless, people have been practicing diligently and making excellent progress. We have a number of sangha members who have opened all their bhumis and made significant progress in perfections which is also unique. One of the reasons why I took that break is that I wanted to have unoccupied time and space for my own practice to better understand the process of karmic purification in terms of the 13 bhumi model. Based on this, I gave specific instructions for perfection stage practice of Rainbow Body Yoga that are now available to all sangha members.

I cannot convey to you the joy and satisfaction I feel for being able to do this because what we are looking here are very precise and detailed instructions for purification of the whole karmic body, one layer or one bhumi after the other, until it is entirely dealt with. Together with genuine concern for the liberation of all sentient beings (bodhicitta), this is a purely mechanical and logical procession of tantric vipashyana leading to full enlightenment or buddhahood. I could not have done it without my gurus so my gratitude goes out to them again and again and again!

The thought of *our sangha members* attaining buddhahood is something that I've intentionally brought up many times in my talks since 1-2 years ago. Last time I did this was on the last retreat when I read a bit from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, who said that in his lifetime he met "many men and women" who had attained buddhahood, that it is "not a fable or a fairytale" and that it is possible indeed for people "world over". These words can be found from his book Repeating the Words of the Buddha.

By talking and discussing this topic among our sangha I've wanted to bring the big, bad, great and unreachable "buddhahood" closer to us, to pop some of the imaginary bubbles we might have about it. There is so much fluff about it that I think this kind of demystifying discussion is very necessary. Just like we have absorbed values and views from christianity that we might not even be aware of, in the same way, and I think I can speak for all those who have been exposed to buddhist culture, we have absorbed ideas and limitations from it. The most harmful of them being the subconscious idea that buddhahood cannot *actually* be attained by any of us little people and that buddhahood is the property of only the most excellent practitioners living in the holy caves of the East. Even if masters such as Tulku Urgyen repeatedly tell to us that it is indeed possible, I don't think I've ever met anyone who would have really taken this seriously. Oh gosh... This brings back (limiting and absurd) memories! It's time to put an end to false views and ineffective and unsuitable practices.

So... We have the exact knowhow of purfying each karmic layer after the other... When will we get there then!?

Sivakami, who passed away 10 years ago this month, taught me many useful things and one of those was couple of different kinds of divination. I've used, should I call it perhaps "mahasiddha divination" many times over my career of practice on various things. I have for example used it for finding out when I or my students would reach a certain stage of practice. For example, when my first bhumi opened in 11/2011, I did a divination the same day finding out when the 6th would open. The result of the divination was July of 2013, about 2½ years after the first opening. It turned out correct 2½ years later.

Earlier this week I sent instruction of this type of divination to 11 sangha members who are in the process of perfecting bhumis. The nature of this exercise is to get an answer when one would reach buddhahood, coming up with a date for it. Half of the people haven't yet replied to me and couple of the answers I didn't feel were correct. However, 5 of them did. Based on this it looks like there will be 5 people reaching buddhahood during the next 5½ years, until the Summer of 2026. Three of those before the end of 2022.

One saying that I like is, "This life is not a rehearsal". To put it in this context, our practice is not a rehearsal. It is inevitable that all this stabilising of the natural state, that has been happening since 4 years ago, and quick progress of purification results in complete purification.

I guess we'll see when the time arrives.

May the sun of dharma shine on you, for the sake of all sentient beings.

Kim Rinpoche, 22.11.2020

Pemako Buddhism

www.pemakobuddhism.com

Sailing the Seas of Samsara

Sailing the Seas of Samsara

Hi all!

I hope you're all doing fine and practicing well during this time of global hardship. Coronavirus has taken us all by surprise but really there is nothing new in it as a samsaric occurrence. It is good time to contemplate transitoriness of life and to re-kindle our motivation for mahayana buddhist practice. Hardships like this can be great catalysators for dharma practice because when samsara becomes concrete, veils of illusion drop like drops of water from ducks feathers. The good in hardship like this is that our lazyness, distractedness and nonsensical excuses disappear like mist in the sun. So, please do make use of the opportunity and think about these occurrences in the light of dharma. Without dharma, we'd all be drowning. With dharma we can keep our noses above the water and learn to swim.

When we feel and take into our hearts the confusion and disorientation of people and all beings (really palpable these days!), we become bodhisattvas and things start going click in our mind. Layer after layer, click, click, click, calcified views of our self and existence burst open. That's the bhumis opening and perfecting, indications of correct practice, the ultimate medicine in action. So, please remember that the vow, literally, the *vow* of a mahayana bodhisattva is to personally "I vow to liberate, all sentient beings". Without deeply feeling this motivation, one will not attain the mahayana path to buddhahood and is not likely to have indications of correct practice either. When the course of a boat is right, it is easy to go ahead and sail the seas but if the course is wrong, sailing becomes difficult and you just keep hitting the reef. Bodhisattvas, even though they take a serious and compelling vow, travel with light feet. Bodhisattvas learn to sing and dance on the fields of fire and turmoil. 

 

This world of human beings and animals, by definition, is a samsaric realm. There is never a time when all beings on this planet do not have a need for support. However, during times like this this need is even greater. People are drowning in this ocean of suffering, scared and confused, and yet so many do not have the ripeness and fortunate karma to meet with dharma in one form or the other. But again, our own contemplation, developing of compassion - bodhicitta - and dedicating merits of our practice for all beings is what increases readiness for others. The more we feel the vow of a bodhisattva, the more it gets personal and emotionally binding, the more our practice helps others. Without emotional energy of love, care and devotion our practice becomes reduced to lifeless words and forms. This loving emotion keeps us nourished along the way.

Finally, our gurus, Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal, are fully enlightened and magnificient beings. They are beyond samsara. They have fulfilled their bodhisattva vows and became buddhas. They have done it like we are doing now. They have open invitation for everyone. "Here, grab my hand, I'll pull you to the shore. Just grab it!". When we turn to them for help, we find a safe place in all of samsara. We find a refuge, a safe place where we can come to understand what the heck is going on here. Day and night, we can grab their hand: Namo Guru Rinpoche, Namo Yeshe Tsogyal Ye, Namo Guru Rinpoche, Namo Yeshe Tsogyal Ye, Namo Guru Rinpoche, Namo Yeshe Tsogyal Ye. Spin that mantra with love, for the sake of all sentient beings, and especially for the sake of those around us who are now in deep trouble. Take refuge and share it. Keep taking refuge and keep sharing it!

May all beings be free!

-Kim Katami

Pemako Buddhist teacher,

www.pemakobuddhism.com

A MESSAGE TO PEOPLE THE WORLD OVER By Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

A MESSAGE TO

PEOPLE THE WORLD

OVER

By Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

Foremost I would like to tell you that an enlightened essence is present in everyone. It is present in every state, both samsara and nirvana, and in all sentient beings; there is no exception. Experience your buddha nature, make it your constant practice, and you will reach enlightenment. In my lifetime I have known many, many people who attained such an enlightened state, both male and female. Awakening to enlightenment is not an ancient fable. It is not mythology. It actually does happen. Bring the oral instructions into your own practical experience and enlightenment is indeed possible; it is not just a fairy tale.

From ”Repeating the Words of The Buddha”

When One Sun of Dharma Goes Down, Another Comes up

When One Sun of Dharma Goes Down, Another Comes up

"We are in an age when anger, craving, ambition, stupidity, pride, and jealousy are the rule of the day. It is an age when the sun of Dharma is already sinking behind the shoulders of the western mountains, when most of the great teachers have left for other realms, when practitioners go astray in their meditation, and when neither lay people nor the ordained act according to the Dharma." - Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

What Dilgo Rinpoche says in the first paragraph above, is precisely why our method has been brought out. It is alarming, to use the correct word, what the state of vajra dharma is.

Within few short decades the strong flame of Tibetan vajrayana has almost gone out. For example, Dilgo-la himself, did the whole tantric ngondro for 17 times, on top of many other practices and turned into a buddha because of his great efforts, just like many many others in the old Tibet. The moment Tibet was forcefully taken over, it started going downhill incredibly fast. Numerous great yoginis and yogis were killed and died because of the Chinese occupation. It is unimaginable how this stronghold of dharma was destroyed in such a short time, and in such a devastating manner.

Now, just 60 years after the occupation, it is nearly impossible to find a real yogi in the Tibetan vajrayana community. When there used to be hundreds if not thousands of men and women who spent decades in retreat, mastering their practices and becoming mahasiddhas, now there is just one or two who have done and accomplished that. Comparing Tibetan buddhism in Tibet to Tibetan buddhism in the West, is like comparing alive person to a dead corpse. I can't say how sad and heartbroken I am to say this.

It is precisely as Dilgo Rinpoche says it is. For this very reason, we have our terma.

-Kim Orgyen Pema, 15.12.2019

www.pemakobuddhism.com

Buddhahood In This Life

Buddhahood In This Life

All sentient beings have buddhanature or potential of freedom, in both psychological and existential sense. The purpose of spirituality or dharma is very simple: to know and become familiar with this potential. Tantric buddhism takes it further and states that it is possible within one lifetime to familiarize with this buddhanature to the extent that all karmic bubbling of the mind becomes extinguished. In this way one can become a living buddha, like thousands of women and men throughout the history have. The beauty of it is that it still keeps happening. To some, buddhism is museum practice where the potential is seen to belong to the great practitioners of the past in distant lands but actually, according to Guru Padmasambhava (can't remember the exact quote), this time of great chaos and confusion has even more potential for spiritual realisation than peaceful times and places. Ha! Him being a wrathful guru, it is a very typical thing for him to say, but of course, it is true.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

The core message and meaning of the path is easily lost. Before we know it, we have gotten distracted by externals. Do yourself a favour and don't get lost in forms and rituals. Avoid getting enchanted by foreign cultures, languages, clothing or names. Also never read more than you practice meditation. Actually, if you read 10% and practice 90% of your study time, then the scales are right. Make sure you sit in meditation and do your practice as much in your daily life as you can. If you stick to these points, you manage to avoid some pitfalls but even then it's not like you'd have any shortage of obstacles.

Relative View

Our own mind is what makes us deluded, unhappy, lost and confused. We are mislead by our perception which is skewed due to our innumerable preferences acquired in the past. We suffer because we are convinced that we exist as independent entities. All buddhism sets out to accomplish is to deconstruct this sense of entityness or me-ness through different means. What I have said here is according to the gradual path where it is acknowledged that there are opposites, such as delusion and wisdom, or confusion (samsara) and liberation (nirvana). This is a relative way of seeing things and accordingly one applies the practices of concentration (shamatha/shine) or emptiness insight (vipashyana/lhaktong).

Absolute View

In the tantric vehicle or vajrayana, there is also a non-gradual way of looking at things, where by recognising our true condition, the duality of confusion and liberation, and in fact any other type of duality, is transcended. If there is no confusion, why would there be liberation of it? If there is no need to become free, confusion can't possibly have ever existed.

The undisputed royalty among all yogic methods is atiyoga, literally primordial yoga. To practice atiyoga means to remain in the recognition of knowing oneself as a buddha or as someone who doesn't have the slightest idea about attaining liberation and whose mind functioning doesn't have the slightest mark of sense of self. To someone like that everyday notions such as me or you, us or them, up or down, far or wide, here or now, focused or distracted, wise or stoopid, wholesome or unwholesome simply do not arise, like they do in the samsaric mind. This, in my understanding, is the so called non-abiding nirvana. As there is no one who abides and no location or state where the abiding takes place, it is called liberation or freedom of non-abiding. Not abiding anywhere, just being free. To practice atiyoga means to know one's reality. In Tibetan, atiyoga is known as dzogchen. The term rigpa or knowing is closely associated with it.

If we take a look around, we can only see human beings whose minds are samsaric. All we see is people who chase after happiness and avoid misfortune in any way possible. This is even the case with practitioners of yoga, who by definition are samsaric and have not yet completed their dharmic paths. Because samsaric beings are so convinced that they are beings who really exist in time and space, they are unable to recognise their real condition. In other words, they cannot sustain knowing awareness or rigpa effortlessly.

In fact, even dedicated practitioners of dzogchen approach spend decades actualising the view. Actualising the view is just a way of saying familiarising with knowing that one is completely free already. Those who feel attracted to mostly practice dzogchen, get pointed out by their lama what the secret meaning of buddhanature is and then they spend their time doing practices such as rushen and semdzins, like chanting of A or shouts of Phet-syllable.

In my experience, and the reader is asked to remember that my association with the dzogchen-teachings from Tibetan vajrayana is limited, atiyoga practices are simple and concise. They are not like tantra where there sometimes is complex visualisations or long mantras and prayers. Dzogchen-practices are all about getting to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.

I am sure there are practitioners out there who have the ripeness and capacity to practice dzogchen without the support of sutra and tantra but I am not one of those. I feel fortunate that my body is strong and heavily built because my mind is so restless and suffers of outstanding stupidity, i.e. delusion. Because of my miserable condition and yet fortunate karma that has lead me to Guru Rinpoche and his teachings, I feel like sharing my positive experience about tantra and especially tantric guru yoga, that have enabled me to gain understanding of my predicament, confidence in the dharma, confidence about my potential and finally, confidence that attaining buddhahood in one lifetime is indeed be realistic.

Tantric Guru Yoga

There is no adept of dzogchen to be found who does not give praise to her or his lama and the lineage. Guru is praised and celebrated because she or he is the person who can show buddhanature to a sentient being. Because there is no samsaric being who is able to do is, is the reason why all adepts of atiyoga acknowledge the importance of transmission from a guru who represents a valid lineage of vajrayana. It is important to understand that dzogchen transmission is not like any other transmission. For more on transmission see: Transmission – Heart of All Buddhism.

Buddhism discusses three bodies or kayas of buddhanature. In my understanding, these are: 1. physical body (nirmanakaya), 2. energetic body (sambhogakaya) and 3. body of transparent empty awareness (dharmakaya). Like everything else, including me and you, also mahasiddha gurus, such as Guru Padmasambhava, have these three aspects.

Lama Karl Eikrem has written in his short terma (see full text here),

”The outer meaning of Guru refers to the revealer of the teachings, the head of the lineage. The inner meaning of Guru refers to the energetic presence and blessings of Guru Rinpoche, the master. The absolute meaning of Guru refers to Self-Arising Awareness itself.”

The meaning of guru yoga in dzogchen, is to access and recognise ”Self-Arising Awareness” or rigpa. This enables one to see the needlessness of liberation by enabling one to see that all things are already empty.

In tantra, the meaning of guru yoga is to ask blessings from the guru, chant her or his mantra and to visualise her or his form. By doing this, one receives the blessings or energetic charge of the guru which over time loosens the dualistic views which then allow the vision of reality or vision of pureness of emptiness, to arise. From here then, the yogini or yogi is able to comprehend the view of atiyoga. Tantra to atiyoga is what cane is to a cripple. I feel that correct practice of tantric guru yoga is an idiot proof way of seeing the reality, that is, a certain way to attain buddhahood or non-abiding nirvana. When the presence of the mahasiddha guru fills all of one's body cells there is no option for missing it.

Since atiyoga is the absolute path that offers no relative footholds or handles of support, the inner path of tantra comes at handy to assist those who despite of samsaric faults, take seriously the promise of attaining buddhahood in this life. We should never ever forget that it is possible and we should never let anyone convince us that we couldn't tap our potential. In fact because of the fact that we can acknowledge our confusion, is the very proof that we can attain buddhahood in this life.

May Guru Rinpoche's blessings shower on you,

Thank you for reading,

-Kim Orgyen Pema, 14.12.2019

www.pemakobuddhism.com/

How I Had Sex with Hookers, Broke My Vows and Hurt Everyone's Feelings

How I Had Sex with Hookers,

Broke My Vows and

Hurt Everyone's Feelings

Related reading published previously in this blog:

Culadasa John Yates: Sutrayana ”doesn't go far enough”.

The following piece of dialogue is copied from DharmaOverground-forum.

*

Kim: Recently, I've been wondering how this case is developing. I have wondered how Culadasa is holding up, whether anyone is still studying with him and whether anyone is reading his book anymore. His book was like the Bible in these circles until the allegations came out but now no one mentions it anymore.

Linda: He has started to do youtube videos again, at least, and he has viewers and people asking him questions.

Kim: He makes an interesting comment, at 12:18, here about recent events, particularly, having been very disappointed to his long term students recently.

https://youtu.be/YfRp9cMPSNk?t=662

Him saying that his long term students were immature + what we know of the whole thing, have given me the impression that this case doesn't fall under the category of "misconduct". It might be the case that he is still preparing a statement, possibly with a lawyer, or that he won't make public comments beyond that. I hope he would for cleaning the air but as I said it never seemed to me that it was such a big deal and that firing him seemed hasty of the group/board. I guess Culadasa refers to the immaturity of his old students because they weren't able to accept and see the events plainly. Also, having seen almost no enthusiasm about The Mind Illuminated in the internet since the news broke out, to me, seems another sign of immaturity of the larger community. Also, he seems to have lost weight and in overall doesn't look too healthy. These must have been very stressful times for him and those closely associated, incl. Nancy Yates.

It's a lot of guesses, impressions and if's but despite of everything I wish everyone involved much peace and clarity.

Linda: Oh, that's an entirely different interpretation. Interesting.

Personally I wouldn't want to work closely to someone who is completely unwilling to be compassionate about other people's perspectives. It doesn't matter how accomplished they are and how helpful their teachings are. I mean, I can still read their work and listen to their teachings selectively, but I wouldn't want them as my personal teacher. Obviously he is not the only one who is disappointed. He didn't mention that other side of the coin with one single word, but positioned himself as the victim. I don't know the exact circumstances about what happened, and sure, some reactions from some people who weren't directly concerned were probably over the top, but if he is concerned about seeing things plainly it might be a good idea for him to just accept that actions have consequences even for advanced meditators. And maybe, just maybe, people aren't immaturely losing faith in the dharma, but are in fact realizing that they just don't like dealing closely with people who lie to their close ones and then feel sorry for themselves and go all martyr about it when shit hits the fan. 

Kim: Culadasa has apologized for the harm so he is not without compassion or unable to understand other's feelings. He barely mentioned the topic very briefly in passing. This is not a comprehensive statement in any way, so I don't find it problematic at all that he didn't mention others more than he did. You know Linda, we still don't know the specs and we may never will but from what we know, I don't see erratic, abusive behaviour anywhere. Yet, he was kicked out from his position etc etc. I don't know any of these people and even if Daniel Ingram vouched (or something like that) for the board or some key memebers of the community, maybe they interpreted the situation in black and white fashion, lost larger perspective and crushed him. Considering what he has done for them, I can understand why he would feel like a victim.

I am a teacher myself and head teacher of the sangha that I have founded. I talk openly about sex, sexuality, sexual desire, porn, addiction and related things because they are part of everyone's life. I even make erotic art (among calligraphy and abstract expressionistic painting) and display it in the internet. By doing so I hope to disperse some really stubborn and harmful taboos that exist in dharma. I also teach tantric deity-related practices to transform sexual desire and possible addicitons (of any kind). I do not know if Culadasa has spoken about sexuality related matters as openly as I have. If he hasn't, like most dharma teachers, all this sex-stuff explodes on everyone's face in uncomfortable manner. Talking about "desire" and overcoming them in overall manner is not good enough.

(Imagined prospect starts)

If I put myself in Culadasa's place, how I imagine what might have happened, I find myself sexually very frustrated due to lack of sexual activity in marriage. Also, I've had much hardship due to long lasting illness which takes away joy in life. For people who have never been properly ill, they can't understand how it is to live without joy. Also, I am still virile enough to have and enjoy sex (possibly without opportunity to do it with my wife). In that case, like him, I would seek the company of professionals. I understand that it might hurt my spouse but what can I do? I am not celibate, nor wish to abstain from sex for the years I have left. Am I going to watch porn and masturbate until I keel over? No, after this long illness and long life lived, that doesn't seem like an option that would make me feel good about my life. So, I find prostitutes, pay for their services and get at least some sexual satisfaction, even if it isn't intimate and emotionally connected.

Some time after I've gone to prostitutes, even made friends with them and gave money to support them, my students and wife finds out I've been doing this. Maybe they can't see my actions from my perspective and are unable to see my actions from the human perspective. I am accused of adultery, suspicious use of money and having broken my buddhist vows. I am seen as immoral and immature as a practitioner. People who I have helped, supported and guided, even provided, now condemn and excommunicate me. OK... I just wanted to enjoy life and have sex, and now this has happened. I understand people feel hurt and cheated but I am a human being, with human biology, needs and desires, that despite of life long practice I have not been able to overcome. People who I know well and who I have loved, reject me, and I am left alone by people close to me.

(Imagined prospect ends)

Now, if I really did that and was condemded for these actions, being the person and teacher who I am, knowing how much I have done for my students, I would tear them new assholes. If my humanity as a teacher was ignored due to spiritual fantasies and ideals, I would let my critisizers know exactly where they belong. From this point of view, based on my imagination, I can appreciate Culadasa's moderate comment how he has been treated. His demeanor reveals as much as his words do. I can assure you, my comment wouldn't have been as moderate.

However, as I said, I've talked about these things openly and because of this I doubt my students would treat me the way Culadasa's students have treated him. I have made it perfectly clear that despite of spiritual advancement, I am still a samsaric being and me, like all samsaric beings, make mistakes and are not perfect. Also, in Open Heart-style of dharma practice, we don't have vows other than Bodhisattva Vows. We are tantrics, not sutrics, and view and do things differently.

*

Open Heart Sangha,

www.en.openheart.fi