In the last blog, I promised that I would delve into some of the Buddhists texts. I love Buddhism because it is direct and experiential. If you have not yet done so, it is worth reading the last blog, A study of the Buddhist approach. It is a perfect introduction to Padma’s, The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation.
Most people know Padma for his work The Tibetan Book of The Dead, a book on how to navigate the Bardo after death. But The Great Liberation puts an end to the need to travel from life to life, and points you to your eternal home.
A deep look into what you are experiencing
As we discussed before, this is the source of the wisdom and bliss that you experience even now. Indeed, this wisdom is a deep look into your actual experience. But when you discover the meaning of these words, this wisdom makes a tremendous difference. It is then that you get to see life afresh like a newborn baby. So it is worth paying attention to these words and endeavoring to see where they point.
Padma wrote The Great Liberation for the people of the future. So there is very little jargon and a lot of direct knowledge. Occasionally however, there will be a word like Tri-Kaya that’s unique to Buddhism. I will take a minute to explain these words so you won’t see them as a stumbling block in you attempt to understand this wisdom.
Tri Kaya means three bodies: the one that manifests as a body in a physical world, the one that manifests as pure enjoyment, and the one that manifests as boundless enlightenment. In the end of course, when you know the nature of your mind, these three bodies become one.
Enough of this, now let’s get started with the introductory verses.
The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation
The Foreword
This treatise appertains to The Profound Doctrine of Self-Liberation by Meditating upon the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities.
It expounds the Yoga of Knowing the Mind, the Seeing of Reality, Self-Liberation.
By this method, one’s mind is understood.
Padma-Sambhava’s Charge to his disciples
O blessed disciples, ponder these teachings deeply.
The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation
By Padma-Sambhava
Translated by Evans-Wentz
Oxford University Press
Our commentary
You discover liberation when you look into the nature of your mind with a new set of eyes, which lacks the usual assumptions and judgments. After all where do you experience embodiment and the world anyway? Yes on first blush the world appears to be out there. But a deeper look shows that you don’t experience the world over there; you experience it right here where you are.
When you look to see where here is, you find only your mind. Did you know that the world that you thought was out there really plays out in your mind? No matter how you divide things up into three bodies etc. the divine ones know that the substance of all their experience is just the Mind.
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Step by step, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive points you to the source
of
timeless Wisdom, the place of enlightenment; this is Bliss that does
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http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html
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Liberation is not a state of mind
Moreover whether the mind seems peaceful or wrathful, when you know what the mind is, you stand free. That’s why liberation is not a matter of obtaining a certain state of mind. Rather it is a direct experiential understanding of the nature of Mind. With this knowledge you stand as the fabric of the universe. How can you possibly be thrown out of kilter by a few thoughts.
If you don’t quite understand this now, with The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation we will explore the nature of your mind, so in the end you will fully know what it is. You will then experience your mind and the universe in a way that you never would have thought possible. Why settle for boredom when you can experience a life that is fresh and new. So next week we will continue with verses from the Great Liberation.
Feel free to ask questions
Please
feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your
reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path
of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows
you to abide in your natural freedom.
If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friend
Best Wishes,
Michael Gluckman
