Knowledge and Religion

Step beyond the limitations of words

This verse, The Names Given to The Mind, is very important. What Padma is saying here is don’t get stuck on the words, look to where they point. Here is a Buddhist illustration that will make this clear:

I point to the thin sliver of a new moon in the sky but you don’t see it. So I point to a tall redwood and say, “Follow that tree to the top. Then follow that line into the sky and see that it points right to the moon.” However, if you just look at my finger or at the tree you will miss the moon.

In the same way, if you just look at these words and the beautiful poetry that Padma writes, you will miss where he points. So why get trapped by the words, when you can know the reality behind the whole universe and more. That’s what Padma really points to.

Your Mind is perfection!

You can know the Ultimate Perfection by direct experience. That’s because perfection comes from what you are; not from what you see, do, or think. However when you assume that limitation is true, you appear to be limited. Since limitation is too small for you, it becomes irritating like a festering sore on your foot. And that’s the beginning of suffering.

The weapon that destroys limitation
But you should know that you have the power to destroy the beliefs that seem to keep you stuck in limitation. The weapon you need is the willingness to question: What is my mind anyway? Am I limited to the objects that I see? How come I become uncomfortable on dates, or when I have to meet my boss?

The energy that you need for liberation is the willingness to question all that seems normal. Just remember that suffering is not the normal state, only undying perfection that has no limits. You cannot obtain this state. The only thing you can do is let go of limitation. What is left is what you are even now and you just overlooked it.

Is the world just in your mind?

You may wonder how the whole world can be nothing more than your mind. When we show you some of the meanings of the following verses from, The Tibetan Book of Great Liberation, we will give you the opportunity to turn your experience right on its head. However, when you do this, you will discover what you actually experienced the whole time and just overlooked.

A few Buddhist terms
Here are a few terms to help you understand the following verses:

Sangsara is a Sanskrit name for the world. It means that which is in perfect motion.

Nirvana is endless stillness or peace. It is another name for Enlightenment.

If the world and enlightenment seem to be different, just note that they are both contained in the One Mind. Now let’s see what Padma says about duality:

The Transcendent At-One-Ment
There being really no duality, pluralism is untrue.

Until duality is transcended and at-one-ment realized, Enlightenment cannot be attained.
 
The whole of Sangsara and Nirvana, as an inseparable unity, are one’s mind.
The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation
By Padma-Sambhava
Translated by Evans-Wentz
Oxford University Press

Is your view of your mind too small?

If your aim is to experience God or spirituality the trick is to reexamine what you take to be true. The thing that keeps us stuck in limitation is the unwillingness to look anew at what we assume is normal. Thus we go plodding along living in the same limitations.

But the problem with limitation is that it’s too small for us. It is like a shoe that doesn’t fit. This is the beginning of suffering. Then we look every which way to get out of the irritating feeling of limitation. We never notice that the very nature of the one who seems to be suffering is the one that we are looking for.

A fresh look at your mind
Padma, in The Tibetan Book Of Great Liberation, gives us the opportunity to take a fresh look at our mind. You will see that the thing you call mind is much larger than you think. The thoughts in your head make up only a tiny portion of this mind. In fact our mind is so large that there is no room for a second. That’s why he calls it the One Mind.

Although it is large, it is here that we find our true home; it is here, centered in the One Mind, that we can truly find peace. By the end of The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation you will know that this is more than just a theory. If you look in the direction that Padma points, you will see that this One Mind is your direct experience. Indeed by the end of this series of blogs you will wake up.