16th Karmapa's Stage

16^th Karmapa's Stage

From Mingyur Rinpoche's In Love with the World, about 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje:

”The Karmapa reported that he could maintain his awareness throughout the entire day, and track the dissolutions [of the senses] right up to almost falling asleep. Once he was asleep, he would again recognize his awareness. But there were a few moments each night, just before slipping into sleep, when he lost his recognition of awareness, and he sought help on how to eliminate this interruption.”

Happy fool! About Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche

Happy fool!

I first heard of Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche from the documentary Yogis of Tibet. I felt in an instant that this would someone I would like to follow but unfortunately by then he had left his body. Here is someone's brief account of this magnificient yogi. Copied from here.

”I met him and have an old friend that was his student. His style of teaching in public was very simple, unsophistacted. The one I was present at he was talking about the benefits of reciting the Mani mantra. Then suddenly he sung a song going something like "I rather have a mani than a cow" and so on. I heard that when he was in Nepal up in the mountains people had a lot of faith in him a offered him big stacks of money. When it got cold in the evening he just throw them on the fire. My friend say that he talked with the protectors and asked them questions like they where present in the room. It was quite difficult to get proper teachings from him I remembered my friend said.

I also participated in a group interview that I thought was quite interesting. We presented ourself and he asked if we had any questions.
Long time practitioner: "Rinpoche, could you explain how to rest in the natural state during everyday activity?"
Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche: "I can't tell you that. First you have to find a genuine master. Then you have to apply the teaching he give you step by step. If you go around asking teachers this kind of questions, one will tell you "do like this" and an other will tell you something else and you will just get really confused and have no idea what to do." 

 

Bodily Dissolution in Dzogchen by Fr. Francis Tiso

Bodily Dissolution in Dzogchen

by Fr. Francis Tiso, from Rainbow Body and Resurrection

(click the picture)

See also: God took Him With Body, https://openheartopenheart.blogspot.com/2019/10/god-took-him-with-body-by-lama-ivo.html

No Reifications of a Metaphysical God by John Tan

No Reifications of a Metaphysical God

by John Tan, Buddhist philosopher and practitioner.

See Awakening to Reality-blog.

”What is presence now? Everything... Taste saliva, smell, think, what is that? Snap of a finger, sing. All ordinary activity, zero effort therefore nothing attained. Yet is full accomplishment. In esoteric terms, eat God, taste God, see God, hear God...lol. That is the first thing I told Mr. Jax few years back when he first messaged me If a mirror is there, this is not possible. If clarity isn't empty, this isn't possible. Not even slightest effort is needed. Do you feel it? Grabbing of my legs as if I am grabbing presence! Do you have this experience already? When there is no mirror, then entire existence is just lights-sounds-sensations as single presence. Presence is grabbing presence. The movement to grab legs is Presence.. the sensation of grabbing legs is Presence.. For me even typing or blinking my eyes. For fear that it is misunderstood, don't talk about it. Right understanding is no presence, for every single sense of knowingness is different. Otherwise Mr. Jax will say nonsense... lol. When there is a mirror, this is not possible. Think I wrote to Longchen (Sim Pern Chong) about 10 years ago.”

“After realization… Just eat God, breathe God, smell God and see God… Lastly be fully unestablished and liberate God.”

Soh Wei Yu: "Lest readers misinterpret that John is affirming a substantialist notion of a ‘God’, it should be noted that by the phase of Anatta realization, there is simply no more reifications or conceivings of a metaphysical ‘God’ or ‘Creator’ of any kind, and John was simply using the lingo of Mr. Jax to convey the complete absence of a background substratum of Presence and the total luminosity of Presencing-as-manifestation to Mr. Jax using his ‘esoteric lingo’. Even the word ‘Presence’ is not referring to some static entity here - ‘Presencing’ is perhaps a better term, for as James M. Corrigan wrote, “...Awareness is not something other than the “presencing” (i.e. naturing) of appearances. It is not a thing. It is not part of a thing. It is not an “aspect” of a process… ...it is the process—not some aspect of it”

God Took Him With The Body by Ivo Kalushev

God Took Him With The Body

by Ivo Kalushev

”Nobody "verify" this kind of result in christian mystical tradition. When after death, they discover that the body is missing from the tomb after just couple of days, they just consider that "God took him with the body also", and they consider this as a sign of his great spiritual realization. That's it. You can find a lot of recordings of facts like this in some texts called "teachings of the olders". I remember a story which impressed me, from such a texts of "desert fathers", about a monk, who came suddenly at a monastery in Sinai, become a monk, practiced the contemplative hesychast tradition very seriously in his cell, without talking almost with anybody, and after some years died suddenly, and his body disappeared from the tomb after couple of days. Even the authors if this old texts asked themselves who was this man, what was his real name, what was his history before coming to the monastery.. But they all praised his high spiritual realization, his great humbleness... At the highest stage; the practitioner will experience "the Uncreated Light" continuously, without any break, even in sleep, and here they acquire all kinds of extraordinary power: levitation, extraordinary knowledge, etc. But the essential characteristics of this advanced practitioners/saints is the overwhelming love, and the extraordinary capacity to sacrifice themselves for anybody, (with great joy!), a deep humility, and (the essential aspect) the continuous experience of "Uncreated Light". There are hundreds of example like this in the history of orthodox Christianity. But what impressed me the most is the fact that in the texts which records this facts, there are also a lot of references at a strange phenomenon: sometimes when a great saint like this one died, his body was impossible to be found in the next days. This is a very known phenomenon, and it is considered a clear sign that the realization of that individual was so complete, that "God took him with the body" also.

Tibetan buddhist nun who attained small rainbow body in 2016.

Tibetan buddhist nun who attained small rainbow body in 2016.

In Bulgaria, where I come from, in the Eastern Orthodox tradition there are numerous instances of what appears to be the lesser rainbow body among the early isihast mystics. The body shrinking to the size of an infant is considered a very common sign of spiritual accomplishment and these remains are preserved in many, many monasteries throughout the land to this day. Anyone can go to the Rila Monastery to see one of the most famous remains of St. Ivan Rilski, but the same goes for many other places and for Greece too where many such remains are also kept. On Mt. Athos presumably the isihast practices are even still preserved and practiced, although generally not in the monasteries but only by the hermit community in the caves. The knowledge of these shrunken bodies was very common when I grew up. It was even taught in school as a normal part of the Orthodox tradition and everyone was very comfortable with the idea as everyone had seen these relics as they are all over our monasteries. I have seen them numerous times when I was a kid. Almost every major monastery has one - either a full body or a limb, or fingers, etc. They are all the size of an infant. The isihast tradition was very deep, they practiced only in caves, the teacher-disciple connection was of paramount importance and it was all oral transmission. From what I heard during my childhood they definitely had some thogal-like practices using postures and light."

See also: Bodily Dissolution in Dzogchen, https://openheartopenheart.blogspot.com/2019/10/bodily-dissolution-in-dzogchen-by-fr.html

Bits Missing in Christian Tradition By Reijo Oksanen

Bits Missing in

Christian Tradition

By Reijo Oksanen

”However, as an Orthodox Christian I did find myself in quite a strange situation for exactly 50 years (1961 - 2011). The tradition of the Prayer of the Heart is part of the Orthodox tradition. Who is teaching it? I thought that one should find someone among the priests, but, and this is in spite of meeting many spiritually advanced people, I I did not come across any such priest. Where were those people who could teach me how to pray continuously?

Jesus Christ

From the time I started my 'search for truth' there has been a popular tendency in the western world to look for spiritual teachers (and also teachings) from among the many 'gurus' from the East; earlier more from the Far East (Buddhism, Yoga, Vedanta), and now also from the Middle East (Sufism and Kabbalah). No doubt this tendency is also fully justified as the spiritual teachers in our time in the West have been few and far between. Moreover, is Christianity not also a teaching from the Middle East?

In our time teachers of all sorts can be found also in the West. For example within the Catholic Church there is a strong 'movement' to fetch knowledge and practice from Zen Buddhism, and this seems to continue. It is quite common that instead of a priest, we have a Zen Master whose prior education is Christian theology. Why does a priest not learn what he should learn - like how to pray, and also to teach others in how to pray? This is a confirmation of a sad state of affairs: Christian practice is not taught in the Universities! What are taught are morality, psychology and theory; what are not given and taught are the tools and the ability to be able to apply them into practice.

As the education of the average Christian priests does not include the learning of the 'art of arts' (although Orthodoxy is an exception) it is not possible by any even superhuman efforts for a priest to teach others how to pray; both the knowledge and the ability are lacking. This is why those who are in the position of 'educators' (priests) in the churches need to go to other religions and find their 'gurus' to learn the basics of spiritual practice. In other words they have a need to fetch the 'know how of spiritual life' from outside Christianity.

This search for the 'know how' is highly necessary.”

Source: http://www.prayerofheart.com/index.html

Daniel Brown: Developing Positive Qualities of Mind

 

Daniel Brown:

Developing Positive Qualities of Mind

”In the essence traditions (tantra, mahamudra and dzogchen) the theory is that this is all about buddhanature and awakening to your true nature. Another thing that came out in essence traditions that is really strong is the appreciation that it's not all about suffering, that the positive qualities of mind are much better to facilitate meditation practice, and much better for mental health than just eradicating suffering. Eradication of suffering doesn't lead to the positive qualities of mind, you have to develop them and it's important. There is a lot of positivity in this Third Turning of the Wheel.” 

- Daniel Brown, Sacred Sundays interview, 47:40

Longchenpa: Accumulation of Merit

Longchenpa: Accumulation of Merit

This message which really opens up one's primordial condition,

Is beyond all foundations or bases; it is the core reality of pure and total presence.

It should be transmitted by those who have fathomed it,

To those who are very trusting, vigorous and committed;

Who are sympathetically compassionate and do not change their minds;

And who would offer their body, offspring, spouse and wealth

Trustingly and joyfully, yet without desire.

Such students are characterized by their trust and commitment.

Thus, being mentally unattached, all wealth should be offered to the teacher. The teacher, to complete the accumulation of merit, accepts without desire what was offered and offers it to the Three Jewels.

-Longchenpa, You Are the Eyes of the World

Longchen Rabjam

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo: First Breakthrough

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo:

First Breakthrough

”The initial realization of the nature of the mind is the first breakthrough. It’s a very important point in all Buddhist schools. At that moment, you cease to be an ordinary person. You become in Buddhist parlance an arya, a noble one. It doesn’t mean you are finished. It doesn’t mean you are a high level bodhisattva. We can fall back from this. But still, this is a big breakthrough. We now understand what is true and what is not true. We don’t have to take it all on faith any more. It is a direct nondual experience. The point is that it is very easy. It’s not difficult, and it’s not something that can only be attained after years and years of practice.”*

”It would be nice if someone would come along and find a method by which people could awaken. Even the Buddha couldn't do that.”**

”I rejoice that Kim is enabling so many practitioners to get awakened in such an approachable manner. May the Dharma flourish for the benefit of all beings!”***

See also: Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and Kim Katami: About Awakening

*Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Reflections on a Mountain Lake, p. 191

**Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (source)

**Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (source)

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

Lama Glenn Mullin: Ordinary People Cannot Practice Dzogchen

Lama Glenn Mullin: Ordinary People Cannot Practice Dzogchen

”Mahamudra I think is easier for the West. Just sitting in meditation and noticing the natural flow of the body and how it has natural joyful quality, play of the universe. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, sitting between those two, can be a way of generating great bliss and so forth. These four mudras (samayamudra, karmamudra, mahamudra, and dharmamudra) often are put in reverse order in terms of who is qualified to practice successfully. In other words, ordinary people don't get much success from, much benefit from mahamudra or dzogchen practice because they're not wangpo rab (have maturity from previous lives). They can't sit between form is emptiness, emptiness is form in a way in a very stable way or conscious way. Once they go into very deep meditation everything just sort of flows into nothingness... like a sleeping marmot. So it's very difficult I think for ordinary people, meaning those who don't come with full trunk of good karmic forces from previous lives to have much success in mahamudra or dzogchen, in my opinion.” 
- Lama Glenn Mullin, Guru Viking Interview, Ep 19, 56:00.

I agree with Lama Glenn that people who might have sincerity, devotion and effort in trying to remain in the natural state, are unable to do that. I've seen it so many times how practitioners and lamas who try to practice dzogchen meditation, are actually unable to remain in the natural flow. Karma plays a part in this but as Open Heart teacher, my view of this is also different to Lama Glenn's. Eleven shifts in perception or bhumi openings, as we call them, enable anyone not only to have a brief recognition of the natural state but to rest in it without time restriction. We accomplish this mainly through Two-Part Formula and Dynamic Concentration, combined with tantra. 30-40% of our sangha has reached this stage. On some retreats where the majority of participants have reached this stage, group practice is like being in Pure Land of buddhas. I have not seen anything like this in any other sangha that I have trained with or visited. I would be curious to see a traditional lama witness our group meditations.



-Kim, 10.10.2019