Saturday, August 9, 2014

View and Conduct

Marta Wrona
June 10

Dudjom Rinpoche : Counsels From My Heart : The Great Perfection

The manner in which we, devoted yogis and yoginis, should practice the teaching of the Great Perfection has been taught by Guru Rinpoche, the Precious Master.

He said that while our view should be that of the Great Perfection, our actions should not get lost in the view. What did he mean?

The view is normally understood as the certainty that all phenomena, both of samsara and of nirvana, are empty. This, however, is something that we practitioners are not yet able to realize directly, and until we do, the fact is that we experience benefit and harm, virtue and nonvirtue, and the so-called karmic process of cause and effect. All this exists for us.

So if, while still in our present condition, we go around saying, “Everything is empty. It’s all one. There’s no such thing as virtue, no such thing as sin,” and if we do anything and everything we like, this is called “losing one’s actions in the view.” If this happens to us, it will be as Guru Rinpoche himself said. We will fall into the evil view of demons.

The view, then, refers to great emptiness. If we have a correct understanding of the ultimate status of phenomena, and if we are able to maintain and assimilate this through meditation, we will find in due course that dualistic perception will fall apart all by itself.

There will come a moment when there is no such thing as benefit or harm, no such thing as happiness or sadness. It is then and only then that we will really have mastered the view. Guru Rinpoche said, “My view is higher than the sky, but my attention to actions and their results is finer than flour.”

We may well have an intellectual understanding of the view, the ultimate state of emptiness, but with regard to the practice, it is important to preserve this ultimate state continually, until our dualistic perceptions completely collapse.

On the other hand, Guru Rinpoche also said that we should not “lose our view in our actions.” What did he mean here? Simply understanding and saying that things are empty does not make them empty. Our bodies and minds, and all the things that stimulate our thoughts, will stay just as they were; they won’t just vanish! As a result, we may lose confidence in the view and concentrate exclusively on physical and verbal activities, dismissing the view as unimportant.

If this happens, a clear realization of the view will never come to us. The teachings say therefore that we should avoid one-sided attitudes regarding the view and action. Like eagles soaring in space, we should be clearly convinced of the view, but at the same time we should heed the karmic principle of cause and effect, as finely as if we were sifting flour.

As Buddhists, we rely on the teachings of the Buddha, and must therefore have heartfelt confidence in the supreme Dharma. Whoever we are, we need to have a good heart, sincere and without deceit. At all times and on all occasions, we must maintain an irreversible trust in the sacred Dharma, we must maintain an irreversible trust in the sacred Dharma, and our minds must be steady and constant.

These three things are our firm foundation: steady faith, sincere devotion, and constancy.

Furthermore, whatever the Dharma contains, it is all Buddha’s teaching. We must therefore have pure perception and an appreciation of all Dharma traditions, those of others as much as our own. We must respect them all.

Finally, we must nourish within ourselves a constant, uninterrupted affection for our Dharma brothers and sisters.
Dudjom Rinpoche : Counsels From My Heart : The Great Perfection The manner in which we, devoted yogis and yoginis, should practice the teaching of the Great Perfection has been taught by Guru Rinpoche, the Precious Master. He said that while our view should be that of the Great Perfection, our actions should not get lost in the view. What did he mean? The view is normally understood as the certainty that all phenomena, both of samsara and of nirvana, are empty. This, however, is something that we practitioners are not yet able to realize directly, and until we do, the fact is that we experience benefit and harm, virtue and nonvirtue, and the so-called karmic process of cause and effect. All this exists for us. So if, while still in our present condition, we go around saying, “Everything is empty. It’s all one. There’s no such thing as virtue, no such thing as sin,” and if we do anything and everything we like, this is called “losing one’s actions in the view.” If this happens to us, it will be as Guru Rinpoche himself said. We will fall into the evil view of demons. The view, then, refers to great emptiness. If we have a correct understanding of the ultimate status of phenomena, and if we are able to maintain and assimilate this through meditation, we will find in due course that dualistic perception will fall apart all by itself. There will come a moment when there is no such thing as benefit or harm, no such thing as happiness or sadness. It is then and only then that we will really have mastered the view. Guru Rinpoche said, “My view is higher than the sky, but my attention to actions and their results is finer than flour.” We may well have an intellectual understanding of the view, the ultimate state of emptiness, but with regard to the practice, it is important to preserve this ultimate state continually, until our dualistic perceptions completely collapse. On the other hand, Guru Rinpoche also said that we should not “lose our view in our actions.” What did he mean here? Simply understanding and saying that things are empty does not make them empty. Our bodies and minds, and all the things that stimulate our thoughts, will stay just as they were; they won’t just vanish! As a result, we may lose confidence in the view and concentrate exclusively on physical and verbal activities, dismissing the view as unimportant. If this happens, a clear realization of the view will never come to us. The teachings say therefore that we should avoid one-sided attitudes regarding the view and action. Like eagles soaring in space, we should be clearly convinced of the view, but at the same time we should heed the karmic principle of cause and effect, as finely as if we were sifting flour. As Buddhists, we rely on the teachings of the Buddha, and must therefore have heartfelt confidence in the supreme Dharma. Whoever we are, we need to have a good heart, sincere and without deceit. At all times and on all occasions, we must maintain an irreversible trust in the sacred Dharma, we must maintain an irreversible trust in the sacred Dharma, and our minds must be steady and constant. These three things are our firm foundation: steady faith, sincere devotion, and constancy. Furthermore, whatever the Dharma contains, it is all Buddha’s teaching. We must therefore have pure perception and an appreciation of all Dharma traditions, those of others as much as our own. We must respect them all. Finally, we must nourish within ourselves a constant, uninterrupted affection for our Dharma brothers and sisters.
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    Albert Hong "Finally, we must nourish within ourselves a constant, uninterrupted affection for our Dharma brothers and sisters."

    Contemplate this prior to posting anything on fb, speaking to others, any action we do.
    June 10 at 1:08am · Unlike · 9

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