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Excerpts
From Commentary on
THE GANGES MAHAMUDRA
TILOPA'S TEACHING ON THE GANGES TO NAROPA
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by
The Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
Introduction
to the Ganges Mahamudra
The "Ganges Mahamudra" was taught by Tilopa to Naropa;
Naropa taught it to Marpa, who translated it into Tibetan.
This short instruction is considered the source text of all
Kagyu doctrine in general and especially of our tradition
of Mahamudra.
Mahamudra
is an approach to meditative practice that can be used by
all. It is an approach that engulfs any practitioner with
tremendous splendor and is very effective and easy to implement.
This is especially true in the present time and is also especially
true for people of the West.
What
makes Mahamudra so special? There are extremely profound practices
such as the "Six limbs of the completion stage of the
Kalachakra tantra" and of course the renowned instructions
of Dzogchen ("the great perfection")-and these are
really special; however, for ordinary practitioners, there
seems to be some problem of implementing them. For example,
sometimes people try to practice Dzogchen in the format of
a dark retreat. It is possible, by spending a month or two
in total darkness, to generate uncommon experiences and realization-it
is also quite possible that an ordinary person might go insane.
Or if people practice the more conventional thögal (Tibetan
for "leap-over") using the rays of sunlight as an
external condition, it is possible that, through the profundity
of such a technique, extraordinary and ensuing wisdom might
be generated-but sometimes people who try this practice incorrectly
run in saying that they are going blind. Mahamudra, in contrast
to such techniques, has no such dangers. It is a practice
that does not bring madness, that can be undertaken in a state
of relaxation, in a state of ease. Mahamudra then is an approach
to dharma that embodies great blessing, great splendor through
tremendous skillful means.
I. THE VIEW OF MAHAMUDRA IN SIX POINTS
1.
SPACE AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE ABSENCE OF SOLIDITY
For
example, in space what is resting on what?
In one's mind, Mahamudra; there is nothing to be shown.
Rest relaxed in the natural state without attempting to
alter anything.
The term
"without attempting to alter anything" used here
means that the practice is not an attempt to construct anything;
there is nothing that needs to be fixed or altered. The word
"natural" here means that there is nothing that
needs to be added to make this state complete and that there
is nothing that needs to be removed from this natural state.
This continues:
If
this fetter or bondage of thought is loosened,
there is no doubt that you will be liberated.
Normally
we take what we experience, such as a strong arising of disturbing
emotions, to be solid and real. This incorrect perception
of the aspects of experience as truly existent is what binds
us. If we can let go of and relinquish that, then we will
be liberated
2.
SPACE AS EXAMPLE OF WHEN MAHAMUDRA IS PRACTICED
For
example, it is like looking in the middle of the sky
and not seeing anything.
In the same way, when your mind looks at your mind,
thoughts stop and you attain unsurpassable awakening.
In the
first point, space was used as an image to indicate the emptiness
of Mahamudra. Here space is being used as an experiential
image to communicate the idea of what happens when Mahamudra
is practiced. What happens is that when the mind looks at
itself, the thoughts cease and there is awakening.
When
we look into the middle of the empty sky, we don't see much
of anything at all; nothing arises in our visual perception,
there is no form that is really seen. Whereas when we look
at the ground, we see all sorts of things. This example is
used to indicate what it is like when in the practice of Mahamudra.
It is impossible that our own mind is experienced by our mind
from a logical point of view. It is like assuming that a sword
can cut itself or that we can stand on our own shoulders.
Nevertheless, in actual experience, it is not only possible,
it is not that difficult. The reason is that our mind is very
close; there is nothing between us and our mind. In that sense,
we could say that it is not extremely hard to find because
it is right there all the time-it is the same cognition, the
same awareness, that we always have had.
However,
if this mind were a solid object and had some kind of substantiality,
then when we looked at it, we would see something. Yet, when
we look directly at our mind, we don't see anything. The Third
Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, said in The Aspiration of Mahamudra:
"It is not existent and is not seen even by the Victorious
Ones." This means that we can say from a certain point
of view that there is nothing there. The reason we don't see
anything when we look directly at the mind is not because
it is obscured in some way; it is not that we don't know how
to look, or that we have to overcome the obstructions to see
it directly. That's why Rangjung Dorje said, "Even the
Buddhas do not see it." There is a song by Gampopa in
which he said, "Having certainty that this is the view,
look at your own mind."
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