As you know, in Buddhism, every person who teaches dharma and also every person who receives the dharma has their own responsibility. That is very simple. The pureness and the authentic future of the lineage depend totally on the people who have the lineage of transmission, and by my teaching this to you, you are going to have the transmission of this particular teaching and lineage. ^[1]

 

At the beginning, it is necessary to give you the definition of Mahamudra. Mahamudra, both the term and the teaching itself, is actually derived from the essence of the teachings of Lord Buddha. The sources of the Mahamudra teachings in the Tibetan language are called gyu, kajung, and mengak. Gyu means tantra, and those are the direct words of Lord Buddha himself. Kajung refers to the texts written by the great masters of India, originally written in Sanskrit, which were subsequently translated into the Tibetan language. Mengak are direct instructions from master to disciple, given according to the particular disciple’s maturity and level of understanding with the sole purpose of improving the wisdom, the compassion, the devotion, and the realization of the disciple. These latter are usually not written. Sometimes they are handwritten, but definitely not printed. But I must tell you that some of these mengak texts have been translated into English and printed, and you can buy them in bookstores these days. Maybe I can call that a blessing in disguise.

 

Gyu, the original source of the Mahamudra teachings, are actually the highest tantras, such as Chakrasamvara, Hevajra, Mahamaya, Kalachakra, and so on. The essence of these teachings is Mahamudra. Another source of the mahamudra teachings is the kajung, the texts written by the great Indian masters, such as Nagarjuna, and the teachings of the great Indian mahasiddhas, such as the eighty-four mahasiddhas and the thirty great female enlightened masters. Those teachings and those texts are the kajung and are a source of the Mahamudra teachings. And mengaks are texts such as The Ninth Gyalwa Karmapa's Ocean of Certainty, Ngedön Gyamtso. This is one perfect example of mengak. These are the sources of the Mahamudra teachings.

 

The definition of the term Mahamudra, if we make it very simple, is this: Every single relative reality, inclusive of everything and not excluding anything, is the manifestation of the ever-present, incorruptible, unchanged ultimate. That is the definition of Mahamudra in general. Now, technically, this means that if we are able to do anything properly we can attain enlightenment through that particular vehicle. And, in principle, that means anything. I will give you a simple example: drinking this water. If I know how to drink this water properly, I will get enlightened. Okay, you wait. [Rinpoche drinks water] I’m not enlightened. Why? I don’t know how to do it. In principle, by doing anything correctly, we can attain liberation.

 

That is the Mahamudra in general, according to its basic definition. But why did I not attain enlightenment by drinking this glass of water? Number one, I don’t know how to do it properly; and, number two, I don’t have the lineage that teaches how to attain enlightenment through drinking water. Do you see?