Life and Teachings Of Guru Padmasambhava
The life and teaching of Padmasambhava is an extremely difficult subject, for to discuss it is to attempt to understand the inconceivable manifestation in Vajrayana Buddhism of enlightenment and enlightened body. The ground, or basis, from which to truly appreciate and understand the principle of Padmasambhava, the life of Padmasambhava and the teachings of Padmasambhava, very much depends on two basic principles: faith or
confidence in an inconceivable truth, and the genuine heart of openness, of devotion.
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by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche |
The Path of Fruition
The great master Padmakara, or Padmasambhava, is not just an individual being. His whole existence is in the nature of Vajrayana teaching. And the Vajrayana teaching is very much in the nature of Padmasambhava, which cuts through all our ego-clinging, all our spiritual materialism, and brings us to the genuine path that leads to the state of complete
enlightenment. For that reason, the path that Padmasambhava manifests is the path of fruition. There are different ways of looking at the path. We have a more general understanding, which sees path as something that leads to a certain stage of fruition in the future. Whereas, in the particular aspect of Padmasambhava's manifestation as path, as footprints for us to follow, Padmasambhava manifests in the nature of path which is fruition. Three Natures of the Path: Spaciousness, Compassion and Skillful Means The nature of that path has three characteristic qualities: spaciousness, compassion and skillful means.
Generally speaking, the path is a journey, and that journey involves a certain degree of effort, as well as a tremendous quality of prajna and compassion. This general notion of path conveys a sense of a living continuity. Sometimes when we say path it seems so stuck, so still and static, in some sense. But we should not consider path as something totally still. Path has the natural quality of a fluid journey. There is tremendous, living power within this path, and
that living quality of the journey begins with spaciousness. If there is no sense of spaciousness, there is no way we can take a journey. We must have the fullness of space in front of us and the fullness of space around us. There is a fundamental sense of freedom within that notion of journey. Because of that basic freedom, we are able to take such a journey and are in the situation that makes it possible. There is a tremendous quality of possibility within that space. So the first quality
of this journey, the living quality of the journey of the path, is spaciousness, freedom. This freedom is the primordial nature. That basic space, which has tremendous possibilities, is the fundamental quality of our path. Within that possibility, within the space quality of the path, we have the second aspect of the path, which is compassion. Compassion manifests in the nature of clarity. When we have a strong sense of space, a great sense of freedom and the path
in front of us, if there is no light, if there is no clarity, then we do not know where to walk, or where to go. Freedom gives us no guidance. Freedom has no direction. The sense of direction, which makes it possible for freedom to totally manifest, comes from having true vision. With such vision and sight, we can exercise the full power of our liberty and freedom. The full power to exercise our freedom and this innate sense of liberty only becomes possible with the light of compassion.
So the second essential quality of the path is compassion. When we have the possibility of manifesting our freedom, the basic space, in the light of compassion, then the third aspect of the path is knowing how to direct our compassion, how to manifest this light in union with the space. Tremendous expertise, or skillful means, is needed in order to unite the primordial space with the light of compassion, and manifest this freedom in that unification. This involves tremendous
skill. That skill is the child, so to speak, of space and luminosity and comes out of the primordial space and the total light of compassion. These three aspects or elements of the path are the true manifestation of Guru Padmasambhava. This is an excerpt from the full text of the article published in Bodhi 4. |
