Experience
Tulku Urgyen Ripoche
“As it is, Vol I”

The essential practice is about nothing other than realizing your mind. It is only your mind which experiences; there is nothing other in this world that can experience. The five outer and inner elements, comprising the world and your body, don't experience anything. Neither do the five sense organs. Thus, it's this mind that we need to be one hundred percent clear about.

Mind is empty in essence and cognizant by nature. It is not a blank and empty state like the sky. Empty space cannot become enlightened, nor does it experience happiness and suffering. The Buddha has said that mind is like space, but it's not exactly the same as space. Even though our mind is empty like space, we can cognize. The knower needs to recognize his own mind. We then see that there isn't even a hairtip of something to see. It is as the Heart Sutra said: "No form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind." That absence of any concrete substance whatsoever is called dharmakaya. Is there anything more precious in this entire world than dharmakaya?

In the moment of seeing that, there is no 'thing' to see. In this moment that fact or experience is an obvious actuality. The cognizant quality that sees that there is no thing to see is called the sambhogakaya aspect of the awakened state. The mind's absence of any concrete thing, and its ability to know that it is no thing, are indivisible, like water and wetness, fire and heat, sugar and sweetness. That indivisible unity of these two aspects – being empty and cognizant – is called the nirmanakaya. At the moment of recognizing you see that these three are inseparable. Recognizing this fact is the essential point of all practice.

Every time we recognize the three kayas, not in a conceptual way, but being face to face with them, the three poisons are not merely pushed to the background; they are totally dissolved. It is like a hair that cannot stay in the fire, or the darkness that disperses the moment the sun rises. Conceptual thinking is temporary. In the perfectly clear sky, there are no clouds. Temporary clouds obscure the sun. This sky is an example for the basic space of our nature, while the sun in the sky represents the indivisibility of basic space and wakefulness. The moment the cloud cover vanishes, the indivisible space and wakefulness that is the natural state of the three kayas is immediately an actuality. Clouds can temporarily cover the sun shining in the sky, but sunshine is always indivisible from the sky. So this sunlit space is an analogy for basic space and original wakefulness, which are and always have been indivisible.

We continue in samsara because we've fallen under the power of conceptual thinking. Recognizing mind nature does away with thoughts. In the moment of recognizing, thoughts disappear. If thoughts were substantial or solid, we would not be able to do away with them, but they are merely empty movements, not stable in themselves. Dharmakaya, like the sun, is inherent to our mind nature. Thoughts are like the light of dharmakaya, its expression, just as light rays are the expression of the sun. Remember the essential point concerning mind nature: that it is the three kayas of the buddha.

The most essential training of Dharma practice is to recognize and be face to face with the three kayas not merely once, but to grow fully used to that. Every time there is a recognition of the three kayas, the three poisons are absent. They totally dissolve at that point. In addition, the intrinsic qualities of basic wakefulness, the wisdom qualities that are fully present at the moment of recognition, will start to unfold further and further.

Phenomena manifest in both pure and impure forms. Impure phenomena is what is experienced in this world. Pure phenomena is when there is no dualistic grasping. It is becoming accustomed to the inseparable, unobstructed, undeluded dharmakaya, in which all phenomena appearing have no selfnature. If you practice diligently in this way, eventually the buddhafields with all the inconceivable qualities will be known, and your own innate wisdom qualities will manifest. Only confused thinking deludes us and prevents us from pure perception. Impure phenomena is thus the manifestation of our own deluded thinking. Impure phenomena – unaware perceptions – are the same as dream phenomena. Once we wake up from the delusion of sleep, they disappear.

The three kayas of the buddhas, the densely arrayed buddhafields, are profusely decorated with all the different manifestations of enlightened qualities. Right now these are obscured by our impure perceptions. Just like dreams, however, these impure perceptions don't exist once we wake up. They vanish completely; they are finished. This is the understanding you need to gain.

The moment of recognizing mind essence is the instant that impure experience, the habit of fixating on all things as solid reality, disperses into basic space. What is left is pure experience, pure phenomena. Out of that, all the inconceivable great qualities of enlightenment begin to manifest. The great perspective of the three kayas of buddhahood is a natural outcome of pure experience. Experiencing these qualities in actuality is not the same as simply imagining them. Actually being those qualities is not like when you think of deities, their mantras and virtues, all of which are still objects of dualistic thoughts. When we begin to grow more stable in the absence of impure experience and the manifestations of pure experience, all these qualities of deities, as well as all the aspects of wisdom, start to become an actuality.

All the qualities of the sun are naturally present within it. They don't need to be made. It is only the clouds that obscure the sun. Once these are gone, the qualities of the sun blaze forth. Likewise, the qualities of the three kayas are present as the essence of our mind. It is only conceptual thinking that obscures this, like clouds obscure the sun. The key point here lies in the recognition of mind essence. Knowing, we obtain the state of buddhahood. Not knowing, we fall under the power of conceptual thinking, and samsara unfolds like a dream.

The training in recognizing mind essence is this: short moment repeated many times. There is no other way. A short duration guarantees it is actually the authentic mind essence, by itself. Many times ensures we will grow used to it. Attempting to keep long moments of recognition will simply corrupt the natural experience with a conceptual state of mind. We have gotten into the bad habit of constant involvement in the three poisons, which create further samsara. As long as this mind keeps projecting outwardly, samsara will continue. But if we train in short moments of uncontrived naturalness, we arrive at flawless dharmakaya.

We do not need to make this uncontrived naturalness. Simply give up thinking of the three times. When the past has gone and the future hasn't arrived, your present wakefulness is right here. We all have this cognizant quality – if we don't, we are corpses! Don't investigate or make thoughts about this present wakefulness. Making thoughts is the act of dualistic fixation. Without these thoughts, we are free of the three times.

This unaltered, unfabricated present wakefulness is the buddha nature, totally fresh. Simply leave your present ordinary mind, without either accepting or rejecting anything. Totally free of hope and fear, let your wakefulness be as it is, simply and naturally. Then there is only buddha nature by itself. At that moment, there is nothing other than buddha nature! That is what we need, and we have this right now in our hands. The moment you totally let go, uninvolved in either past, present or future, there is only buddha nature by itself. That is the very core, the very heart, of Dharma practice.

When you start a session, begin by taking refuge three times in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Next, form the bodhisattva resolve with the wish, "I will do this practice for the benefit of all beings." Then imagine yourself in the form of a buddha. It doesn't matter which one it is – whichever one you like best is fine. Think, "I am this particular deity," and chant its mantra. While chanting the mantra, recognize who imagines this deity, what is it that chants this mantra. 'Recognizing' means seeing that there is no thing to see, in actuality. At that moment you don't have to start formulating a philosophy about how emptiness is. Instead, let it be as it naturally is without doing anything to that state at all. Don't get involved in judging. End the session by dedicating the goodness of this to the welfare of all beings. Everything is contained within this simple way of practice.

If you train in this, you could be a cow herder and still be liberated. If you don't train in this, you might be a great scholar and still remain in delusion. When recognizing mind essence, don't do anything to it. Allow it to be as it is; the moment you get distracted, remind yourself again to recognize. When recognizing, leave it in naturalness. When forgetting, remind yourself. That is the training in essence.

By training thoroughly in this way, discursive thinking will gradually grow less and less, and moments of thought free wakefulness will grow longer and longer. When this nonconceptual wakefulness lasts one hour, you have attained the level of an arhat. When it lasts throughout the day, you have attained the level of a bodhisattva. When it is uninterrupted day and night, you have become a fully enlightened buddha. There is nothing more precious than this.

Once you have truly received the pointingout instruction and recognized mind essence, becoming enlightened through training is not out of reach; it is in your own hands. You can remind yourself to recognize your mind essence as often as possible. If you train in this way, you can be liberated even if you spend your entire day doing something as simple as grazing cattle. If not if you know all the words of the Dharma but don't really experience the essential meaning the moment you depart from this life you will just roam about in confusion. This is the essential point.

There is another thing that I would like to say. The Buddha was totally awakened and saw the three times as clearly as if they were held in the palm of his own hand. The teachings are based on this immense clarity. We don't have to speculate about whether the words of the Buddha are true or not. I am not saying this because I am a Buddhist, but because it is really true. It is not the same as certain spiritual systems taught by unenlightened beings who had some partial insight and gave some portion of the truth, but not the complete picture. Because of not being enlightened themselves and not having this completely unimpeded clarity, they were not able to teach in the same way as a fully enlightened buddha. This is something to bear in mind. I am not being prejudiced here, but it is really true that we don't have to judge the words of a fully enlightened being. They have already been checked thoroughly.

Any questions?

Student: How to not be distracted in this practice?

Rinpoche: When distracted, the best thing to do is simply to recognize your essence. In that moment, we don't see any concrete thing whatsoever. There is an immediate knowing that the essence is empty. There is something that cognizes that the mind is empty, and this cognizant quality is indivisible from the emptiness itself. At the moment that this is an actuality, you don't need to do anything more. Simply let be in naturalness, until at a certain point you forget, and it slips away. That doesn't mean we have to keep pressing ourselves to continuously recognize mind essence. It's like switching on a light in a room: you press the switch once and the light comes on to illuminate the room. In order for that brightness and light to stay, you don't have to do anything. If on the other hand you keep pressing the switch, something gets disturbed. If in order to see the mind essence you keep saying, "I want to see it, I want to see it, I want to see it," it becomes a deliberate conceptual act. Instead, just let be, just like letting the light shine. At that point there is no other technique you have to use. This is called “naturalness without technique.” We don't have to try to keep the mind essence. It is seen without fixating.

Mind is empty, we don't have to make it empty. It's not that there is something remaining that is left out or is incomplete at this point. We usually understand empty as meaning "there is no thing." If you come into an empty room, there is nothing in the room. The mind is like that empty room; in actuality, it is not some object of sight, sound, smell, taste or texture. In the moment of recognizing, we see that immediately. "Seen in the moment of looking, freed in the moment of seeing."

Do not hold onto the notion that mind is empty. To hold an idea "Now it is empty; now it is empty,” is a conceptual construct that we keep in mind. That is not necessary. In the moment of recognizing, you see that mind is empty. At that point allow it to be naturally as it is, without applying any technique whatsoever. That is naturalness without technique. That will last for a little while. Your attention will then stray, and you will at some point notice that your attention wandered off. Our mind is not completely beyond us we know when we get distracted. Simply recognize what was distracted. Again, the moment you do so, you see that there is no thing to see; and the moment of seeing that there is nothing to see, it is free of thought. And again leave it in uncontrived naturalness for a short while. The mind of all sentient beings is already empty; it is not something that we have to create.

When a thought moves, simply recognize the thinker. The thinking then dissolves. No matter what the thought is about, the thinking and the thinker are empty. A thought in itself is not made of any concrete substance; it is simply an empty thought movement. By recognizing the empty essence in a thought, it vanishes like a bubble in water. That is how to deal with any particular present thought at hand. Once you know how to let the present thought dissolve, any subsequent thought can be dealt with in exactly the same way, as simply another present thought. But if we get involved in the thought, thinking of what is being thought of, and continue it, then there is no end.

It is our thinking that propels us or forces us into further samsaric existence. As long as we get caught up in our own thinking, samsara doesn't stop. On the other hand, any thought is an empty thought, in that it has no concrete substance to it whatsoever. It is very easy to notice this, because the moment you recognize mind essence, the thought dissolves right there. The thought vanishes into your empty essence, into your basic nature which is emptiness. There is no remnant whatsoever. That is the only way to solve the problem. When recognizing your essence, the thought is executed on the spot; it is totally obliterated.

Samsara is created when we let our mind extrovert through the five senses. We focus on an object through our eyes, or through the ears, or the nose, and make thoughts and emotions about this object. It may seem like we have different consciousnesses through the different senses, but actually it is one mind that alternately grabs at objects through the various senses. The traditional example for this is of a monkey in an empty room with five windows, restlessly jumping around and looking out through one window after the other. An outside observer might think there are a lot of monkeys in that room, but in fact there is only one. If you catch hold of that monkey and tie it up, there is no jumping around anymore. In other words, the way to capture the monkey is by dissolving the thought.

Another example is of a fireplace in the middle of the house, with smoke coming out through all the openings. If you throw a bucket of water in the middle, the flames are extinguished, and the smoke simultaneously disappears in all directions. 'Smoke' is an example for the expression of the essence, just as thoughts are the expression of dharmakaya. They are not dharmakaya itself, but they are a manifestation of our basic nature. Just like our basic nature, this manifestation has no concrete substance to it.

The essential teaching is never to just recognize dualistic mind. That is what all sentient beings are doing all the time noticing their feelings and thoughts, and then acting upon them. The meditation instruction is not to perpetuate that; it is more than simply recognizing dualistic mind, dualistic thinking. Rather, it is to recognize the essence of this mind. That is the crucial difference. Being caught up in one's thoughts and acting upon these feelings is the cause of endless samsara. This is being caught up in the expression and not knowing the essence itself.

You may have heard this famous statement by the vajraholders of the Kagyü lineage: "Intrinsic mind essence is dharmakaya; intrinsic experience is the radiance of dharmakaya." Experiences and thoughts are not dharmakaya itself, the same way that the smoke from the flames is not the flames, but is the expression or manifestation of the flames. Caught up in noticing the smoke, you forget the flames themselves. The principle in the practice here is not to be occupied with the smoke, meaning recognize the essence and don't be caught up in the expression. Recognize that this expression doesn't come from any other place than the essence itself.

Caught up in thinking, we focus on the false, the unreal. Yet the real, the indivisibility of the three kayas, is already spontaneously present as our own nature. The choice simply lies in either not recognizing, which is samsara, or recognizing, which is nirvana. If you don't recognize mind nature, you stray again into the three realms of samsara. Recognizing selfexisting wakefulness is the very essence of nirvana. At that very moment of recognition, nothing is concealed in any way at all – your nature is laid utterly bare.

The statement that 'not recognizing is samsara' means that the moment you link your mind up with some object of experience, the immediate reaction is one of the three poisons. Either you like something, or you don't like it, or you remain indifferent. Caught up in these three emotions, people might still claim, "I create no negative karma." But how can there be any negative karma besides the three poisons? The three poisons are exactly what creates the three realms of samsara. Attachment creates the realms of desire. Aversion creates the realms of form. Indifference creates the realms of formlessness. Not recognizing one's own essence and being caught up in the three poisons perpetuates nothing other than the three realms of samsara. It is unavoidable.

If you simply recognize your essence, you are immediately face with the three kayas. It is so simple that it's actually incredibly easy. There is no way you could miss it. The problem, in fact, is that it’s too easy! It’s too close to oneself. Some great masters have said that the fault lies in not that it is complicated, but that it is too simple. People don’t trust it. They think, “This is just my present state of being awake, so what use is it? It's not very special. I want something astounding, something totally different. Something that is far superior to this present state of wakefulness. Something with amazing lights and great splendor." And they ignore their present natural state of mind and hope that something extraordinary will happen, maybe coming down from above. They are right: this present state is not that special. But by sitting and hoping like that, they turn their backs to the innate three kayas. If you recognize your own mind, on the other hand, in the moment of seeing, there is freedom. You are liberated from any thought involvement at that time. That itself is the essence of nirvana. If however, we ignore that fact and chase after something else – some kind of altered state we believe to be superior to the present nature of mind – it is going to very difficult to ever find the buddha mind.

Right now, the difference between samsara and nirvana lies in recognizing or not recognizing mind essence; that should be clear. The moment you recognize mind essence, the present thought involvement dissolves, vanishes without leaving a trace. You are left with the intrinsic three kayas. It is not that we need to create the three kayas or achieve them. You are recognizing what is already there. On the other hand, if you are caught up in what is thought of, samsara goes on endlessly. In the moment of thinking, recognize the identity of that which thinks, and the thought dissolves. That is so easy!

Recognizing is not the problem. Anyone who is taught to recognize their own mind essence will see that it is 'no thing'; they can identify mind essence. The problem lies in our habitual tendencies from innumerable past lives. Just because we recognize once doesn't mean that recognition stays. There is no stability there; it just slips away again. We have the bad habit or the negative pattern of always graspingtowards objects. For so many lifetimes, life after life after life as well as in the bardos between, we have been reinforcing the habit of looking away from mind essence itself. We keep recreating samsara, again and again. Every time you get caught up again, the training is therefore simply to recognize and dissolve the thought.

Our habit of thinking extrovertedly, focusing only on external objects, is what propels us day and night, life after life, and in the bardo state in between. We have this habit in the dream state as well: our body runs around and does things in our dreams, even though it is not a real body, but a body created out of habitual tendencies. In dreams, we experience loss and gain, enemies and friends, and all different types of pleasure, pain, and so forth. But at the moment we wake up, where are all these entities? They are gone without a trace, not to be found any place at all. The dream state is created by our own thoughts. Likewise, in the waking state, these same thoughts create this whole drama of life. In the bardo state there is no physical body, but due to habit we still believe that we have a physical body with the five senses. Of course there is no real body there; this physical body definitely doesn't go through the bardo. Neither does it go to the hell realms, the buddha-realms and so on. Our present body is a just a temporary dwelling place, like a hotel.

The man living in this hotel right now is the mind. It's he, rather than the body, who will experience all the different effects of various karmic actions. This body won't feel a thing, because as soon as it dies it is gone – there is nothing there. But the mind continues in these patterns, and it will continue to experience. Still, all this experience is no more real than the dream you had last night. It is the dreamlike thinking that goes on experiencing the hell realms, it is only more thinking. The bardo is also just more thinking. And when we eventually enter into a new physical body at the end of the bardo, it is more thinking again, day after day, life after life.

Unless we now bring an end to this thinking by dissolving it, samsara is not going to end by itself. It will go on and on indefinitely, as it has through beginningless lifetimes until now. All the while the essence of enlightenment the fully awakened state, has been with us always; it has never been separate from us for even an instant. The moment you recognize your nature, you are face to face with the three kayas. These three kayas, intrinsic to our buddha nature, were never lost at any point whatsoever.

The Buddha sees that all sentient beings are dreaming: they are dreaming the six realms, they are dreaming the four places of rebirth, they are dreaming all their joys and sorrows. When we are on the bodhisattva bhumis, we are just about to wake up from the dream. Only the fully enlightened Buddha is totally awakened. Buddhas see that beings are ignorant. Sleep is only a subsidiary of ignorance; the real stupidity is not knowing our own awareness wisdom. Buddhist training is all about first recognizing this basic nature, then training in the strength of recognition, and finally attaining complete stability. That is the only way to awaken from this dream state.

A famous phrase goes: "As long as duality does not become oneness, there is no enlightenment." When recognizing, this duality is dissolved into oneness.

Any questions?

Student: Can you explain a little more about our experience in dreams and the bardo state?

Rinpoche: In the bardo state, you believe you have eyes that see. However, everything is merely experience, whether it is the bardo or the hell realms or any other place. It is all your personal experience. Just because one believes one has eyes and can therefore see does not change the fact that what one is experiencing is basically mind experience. When you dream at night you see all sort of different things. Are those things seen with the eyes? You believe you have eye in the dream, don’t you? You walk around and look all over, yet in reality your eyes are closed and you're in bed.

Please understand that all your experience is your personal experience rather than somebody else's. It is your experience, and thus is different from the personal experience of others. While we are unenlightened, there is an element of shared or general experience. The mountains, the city, the roads, the sky, the five elements, all seem to unenlightened beings to be as they appear. Right now we have what is called impure experience, which means we are constantly solidifying the content of experience into a solid reality. That is the definition of 'impure.' But it doesn't have to remain like that.

When we are training in this practice of recognizing rigpa and becoming great yogis, everything experienced is to be seen as 'the eight analogies of illusion.' These eight are reflections in a mirror, the moon in water, echoes, rainbows, dreams, city of Gandharvas, mirages, and the magical illusions created by a magician. In other words, we are comparing our experiences and perceptions to something that seems to really be there but in reality isn't. Once that illusory nature is seen in actuality, then the solid character that we have attached to what we experience simply vanishes. That is how a great yogi can move freely through what other people see as solid matter. It is not that he somehow becomes really strong and can force his way through solid matter. Rather, it's due to realizing the unreality or insubstantiality of all things.

This doesn't change how other beings experience. For them, 'reality' still seems solid. The way to reach the yogi's realization is by recognizing rigpa. Once we do that, we have hold of one end of the 'rope.' It is like a huge, heavy 100meter thick rope that's lying in a lake: there is no way you can lift it out all at once. But if you catch hold of one end of the rope, you can slowly pull in the rest. The 'one end of the rope' is the recognition of rigpa we can get right now from a qualified master. At the other end of the rope lies the state of complete realization.

Who experiences all this experience? For who or for what does all this exists? It is only for mind. Besides mind, there is nothing else that experiences. Thus, everything is a personal experience for the mind which experiences, and all experience is nothing other than that.

We cannot really say at this point that everything is empty, because when we touch something that we experience, it seems solid. You can't move your hand through a wall like Milarepa. In The Rain of Wisdom, Gyalwa Gotsangpa sings about how all appearances are deceptive. "Everything is like a great magical illusion, trickery. The rock behind my back is transparent." Then he leaned back and made an imprint of his back in the rock. To not only consider matter transparent but be able to transverse it as well, is possible for someone who truly attaches no solidity to what is experienced.

A single yogi's realization doesn't remove the solid feeling that all other beings have. When your personal experience is realized to be insubstantial, it doesn't really change it for other beings. For them, the walls and the mountains are still there. Once we fully realize the state of rigpa by training again and again, the five elements are realized to be as they truly are in essence the five female buddhas. The five aggregates, the five skandhas, are in their natural state the five male buddhas. At this point, you can truly declare that everything is allencompassing purity.