Conscious citizens of the world.

What does it mean to be a conscious citizen in an increasingly complex world?

What are the qualities and characteristics of a conscious citizen? How would they see the world, what does their posture look like?

As a conscious citizen, I am aware of my own body, mind, feelings and perceptions. I know my own beliefs, knowledge, philosophical views, and opinions are true, but partial. I am conscious of my own perspective, but recognize that perspective is inherently limited and thus not the entire story. 

As a conscious citizen, I am aware of the body, mind, feelings and perceptions of others. I recognize that the beliefs, knowledge, philosophical views, and opinions of others are true, but partial. I am conscious of my own perspective and understand that others will not likely share my perspective or even be able to appreciate it. Having a deep understanding of my self and my own perspective, I can be more tolerant and accepting of others, even those with divergent or rigid views. Just as I would not hate a child for holding irrational views, I understand that we all act irrationally and from a limited perspective. 

As a conscious citizen, I am aware of my own culture and the culture of others. I appreciate diversity, celebrate differences, and recognize the basic human needs of safety, belonging and the yearning to gain control over our own lives. Not conforming to the worlds ways of division and manipulation, I value different perspectives and encourage connection and inclusion. 

As a conscious citizen, I am aware of the way in which systems, organizations and politics support and create the cultures in which we live. I appreciate the individual and collective are inseparable and recognize the consequences of participating in and contributing to the systems that shape our world. I work to inspire, empower and connect individuals to live authentically and contribute meaningfully to the world around them. I have the wisdom to see through the perspectives of the status quo and encourage connections across a variety of views so that others can gain an appreciation that their position is also true, but partial. 

As a conscious citizen, I am aware of my own constructs, though not stuck on them. I have a willingness to step forward in a healthy and meaningful way to benefit others. When I am authentically present, I can acknowledge my current reality and remain deeply grounded, both in good times and bad. I recognize my own limits and the scope of my life, acknowledging that giving ourselves boundaries empowers us to occupy the world in which we find ourselves. Cultivating authentic presence opens the doorway to deeply personal, intimate relationships and a willingness and receptivity to extend kindness to all. 

Recognizing that I am simultaneously a leader and a follower, I dedicate my life to remaining open, available and responsive. Again and again, I aspire to return to the ground of clarity and truth. I acknowledge the hard choices that we all have to make and hope to inspire a willingness to move forward towards a better future for all. 

Two perspectives on mind.

I've been playing with two perspectives on mind that are interesting to think about and examine. One is an inside-out perspective (which you will probably recognize to some extent) and the other is outside-in.

Both of these are modeled after the Buddha's understanding of the development of mind. Some of these concepts might be new, but they are all easily recognized once you get used to the layout.

First, let's consider the inside-out perspective.

We start with the (1) nature of mind, non-dual awareness and emptiness, luminous emptiness, the very ground of all. Not recognizing the empty aspect of the nature of mind, we mistake the apparent aspect as the ground of being (alaya), thus establishing the (2) alaya consciousness, or the foundational consciousness in which we conceive of a subjective self. This foundational consciousness becomes the stream of our mental continuum, in which the seeds of all our actions are planted. The alaya consciousness is accompanied by the five universal mental factors that operate in every mind (contact, sensation, perception, intention, attention).

From this alaya consciousness, we start to complete the development of the (3) eight consciousnesses. From the alaya consciousness develops the narrative or afflicted consciousness, which orients everything around 'me' and 'mine', consciousness becoming the narrator of its own experience. From this narrative consciousness comes the development of the mental thinking consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch). This marks the complete development of the mind, with its division into the eight consciousnesses (alaya, narrative, mental, and five sense).

From the development of consciousness, we have the development of the (4) five skandhas or aggregates of the self. The aggregate of consciousness gives rise to the aggregate of feeling, interpreting the contact between consciousness and its object as either pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. From the feeling skandha we have the aggregate of perception, discerning the qualities of the object. From perception we have the aggregate of mental formations, involving our particular concepts, beliefs, or philosophical views about the object. Finally, we have the aggregate of form, what we see, hear and experience appearing to us through the filter of our own consciousness and all of the layers that we have added on through our processing of that experience.

It is important to understand that the five skandhas or aggregates of the self are the way that we experience the world. Our everyday experience of interacting with the world is through consciousness, feeling, perception, mental formations and forms. This is the reality that we take to exist day in and day out.

This inside-out model of the mind leaves us feeling rather stuck. Our ordinary perceptions and experiences seem very concrete and real. The subtle layers of the mind seem very remote and distant compared to the ever present challenges we face day to day. We are in a sense 'caught' at the outer layers of the mind and our experience of the world.

Let's compare this to the outside-in perspective.

The process of development is the same in this perspective, but we are orienting ourselves differently. Here everything is contained within the (1) non-dual nature of mind, luminous emptiness that is the ground of all that appears and exists. Not recognizing the empty aspect of the nature of mind, we mistake the apparent aspect of the nature of mind as the ground of being (alaya), thus establishing the (2) alaya consciousness. From the alaya consciousness develops the narrative or afflicted consciousness, along with the rest of the (3) eight consciousnesses. All of this are included within the nature of mind and are inseparable from it.

From the development of consciousness, we have the development of the (4) five skandhas or aggregates of the self. These five aggregates are all contained within the aggregate of consciousness, such that there is nothing that we experience that is outside of mind. The outer world that we are experiencing is not separate from us, but we are entangled in a web of dependent origination in which interconnected phenomena are mistakenly taken to exist separately and individually. This is not to say that there is no outer reality at all, but that reality does not exist as we think or believe it to exist.

This perspective actually makes a lot of sense. We know that some people in our life have very different perspectives on what they think is real. Which of those perspective is more correct? Is it yours? Are you sure? I think we could all agree that a child's perspective about what is real in the world is probably a little bit mistaken. But are we so much more wise than a child?

The outside-in perspective opens up doorways to fundamentally challenge and change your perspective about who you are and the world in which you live. You are what you think, as is the world. Your view, or vision, shapes your experience of reality. When you start to appreciate that all of this is the expression of the true nature of mind and the very nature of reality, you can also appreciate the potential and capacity this perspective presents.

Contemplate. Meditate. See what you discover.

Dzogchen view and practice.

It is crucial to have a grounded understanding of the four noble truths in order to appreciate the Dzogchen view and practice. The four noble truths teach us to:

Understand the human predicament.
Let go of the arising of attachment, aversion and ignorance.
Actualize the state of cessation.
Practice the path.

In the first turning of the wheel of dharma, the Buddha did not go into great detail on the third noble truth of actualizing or beholding the state of cessation. In the first turning, the Buddha described the state of cessation as what it was free from, namely attachment, aversion and ignorance. He did not go into depth about the actual experience of that state.

In the second turning of the wheel of dharma he made it more clear by introducing the five features of emptiness, but even this is a more conceptual and elaborate way of understanding and recognizing the truth of cessation. By understanding the relative and ultimate truth, we can better understand the nature of the mind and gain clarity about the resultant state of the nature of our own mind.

In the third turning, the Buddha explicitly described the truth of cessation, introducing the tathagatagarbha or buddha heart. By understanding our primordial state as originally pure and ever-present, the resultant state is not something newly acquired but instead something that we come to recognize or reawaken. It is as though we have lost something for a long time, only to find it and at that same moment experience complete resolution and certainty.

The third turning of the wheel of dharma and the teachings on the tathagata-garbha opened the door to the Vajrayana, including practices like Buddhist tantra, Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Tantra introduced the buddha heart as something to purify and transform. It is only in Mahamudra and Dzogchen that we find the completely unelaborate introduction to the nature of the mind itself as the basis of the path. While Mahamudra and Dzogchen are similar in many aspects, they do have critical differences in terms of method of introduction and differences in working with the resultant state of awareness.

Dzogchen, or the Great Perfection, is a direct introduction to our primordial state of authentic presence, our intrinsic awareness or rigpa in Tibetan. However, being introduced to rigpa is not enough, we must engage in the practice of Dzogchen in order to actualize the resultant state of awareness. Garab Dorje introduces the Dzogchen path in this Three Statements that Strike the Vital Point:

One is introduced directly to one's true nature,
Be decisive about this unique state,
Continue directly with confidence in liberation.

The teacher directly introduces the student to their intrinsic awareness, or rigpa, which is the primordial state of authentic presence. There are many methods and teachings which can introduce rigpa, my own teacher Younge Khachab Rinpoche wrote a short mind treasure entitled Drop of Secret Nectar which introduces the primordial state of rigpa. When one has recognized rigpa in their own experience, they can study Longchenpa's Way of Abiding to gain a deeper understanding of that state as the four samayas of Dzogchen.

After one has been introduced to rigpa and recognized that primordial state of being, you need to be decisive about this unique state. This can only be resolved through the practice of meditation, in which you work with and resolve all that appears and exists. As you learn to work with the unceasing display of the primordial state, you move through the practices of trekchod to come to a decisive experience of one's own nature as the unborn awakened mind, or ultimate bodhicitta. Longchenpa's masterpiece on coming to the decisive experience of awakened mind can be found in the first nine chapters of the Choying Dzod, the Treasury of the Basic Space of Phenomena. 

Having come to a decisive experience of rigpa, our own primordial state of authentic presence, one perfects the practice of trekchod and the practice of thogal naturally unfolds as one continues with confidence in liberation. Much can be said about the practice of thogal, and of course their are books to read, but by the time you get to this state in your practice you recognize that you already have all the teachings you need. You have been decisive after all, haven't you?


The easiest part of Dzogchen is the introduction. You can get introduced to your own awareness as the primordial state of being. You can be introduced to the result, the truth of cessation, directly, in your own experience. Many do, and then they leave it at that. Off to the next thing. Just like meeting a person and then later forgetting their name, the introduction itself it not enough.

The hardest part of Dzogchen is to be decisive about this unique state. That second point of Garab Dorje's.  Padmasambhava, the "Guru Rinpoche" who brought the Vajrayana to Tibet, spent twelve years contemplating Dzogchen in the charnel grounds of India after he was introduced to his primordial state by Shri Singha. Twelve years for one of the greatest Dzogchen masters. If you want to practice Dzogchen, much less realize the natural Great Perfection, you need to meditate. Demand clarity in your practice. Demand confidence in your realization. Be decisive. Then you continue with confidence in liberation, which connects back to the fourth noble truth. Practice the path.

An important aside: it is probably going to help if you have a good teacher and some supporting companions on this journey. You know where to find us.

The limits of perception.

Vipasyana is the practice of looking. It is a practice of seeing directly, gaining firsthand experience. But isn't all perception relative? Doesn't the mere act of seeing mean that others may see things differently?

All perception is limited by our thoughts and ideas about what we are seeing. Concepts define what we experience. Our own bias and value judgements color and shape our perception of the world and what we hold to be true. So if vipasyana is the practice of looking, can we ever see truly or are we simply seeing within the cage of our own confusion?

Vipasyana is preceded by the practice of shamatha because in shamatha we learn to let go of grasping to thoughts and following after trains of thought. The practice of shamatha gives us the skills and familiarity to recognize the limits of thoughts and ideas. Thoughts and ideas are not the thing itself. Concepts are not real. When we recognize this crucial flaw of concepts, we stop investing in them. We loosen the tight knots of limiting beliefs and perceptions.

Our view influences our meditation, and our view is largely formed by concepts and cultural influences that we have rarely examined fully if at all. Coming to a right view is an important first step to approaching meditation, but even more important is learning to engage in a practice that recognizes the futility of thoughts and ideas about the way things are. When we learn to simply look, free from mental elaboration and speculation, then we can start to appreciate what is right in front of us. Then we can start to explore the limits of perception and what is really true.

Buddha eye.

The practice of shamatha leads to the development of a mind that is calm, clear and luminous. Our mind is naturally settled in a state of cognitive knowing that is free from the proliferation of thoughts. It is a mind that is like an unstirred candle, it is steady and calm, yet luminous and bright.

What do we do with this newly discovered awareness? We simply use it to look.

The practice of shamatha or calm abiding leads to the practice of vipasyana, or vivid seeing. In the practice of vipasyana, we use this mind that is focused and steady to look at phenomena, self and our own mind. This awareness is like a sharp weapon that we can use to dissect and cut through layer after layer of confused perception and bias. We can peel back layers of habitual grasping and fixation, layers of imputation and exaggeration.

The practice of insight is a continual process of digging deeper, moving from gross to subtle, moving from one to many and many to one. It is a practice of learning to ask better questions, not being content with the answers that you have before you.

The uniqueness of the Buddha's tradition lies in the practice of vipasyana. There are many forms of shamatha meditation, and many similarities among the various traditions as to how to calm the mind and rest in a peaceful state. The wisdom of the Buddha's teachings are what distinguishes it from the other forms of meditation. It is the Buddha's insight into the true nature of the self, how all things are interconnected, and how we can use this wisdom to benefit ourselves and others that makes it truly transformative.

The Buddha taught that your view is important. What you think about things influences your reality and your experience. Our perception binds us, it limits us and our abilities. Our ignorance causes us suffering, we just don't recognize that fact.

Vipasyana is the practice of seeing truly, and coming to the direct experience of that wisdom of the Buddha. It is the practice of developing the Buddha eye.

Feeding concepts.

When was the last time someone told you something that influenced and shaped your experience?

Do you find yourself being aware of this as it plays itself out?

Probably not.

We often think of ourselves as rationale coherent beings, experiencing the world through our lens of truth. We trust in our thoughts and emotions, believe that our perception is unerring, and value our discernment and judgement.

What we don't know is that much of what shapes our experience and perception is concepts that were planted long, long ago. Most of which we didn't even know were being planted.

Take my two year old as an example. My wife said she didn't like chicken pot pie. My daughter parroted her taste preferences, yet she has never had chicken pot pie. We have yet to find out how long this biased perception lasts.

Chicken pot pie isn't much of a big deal. It doesn't really matter if you like mustard or not, or if you prefer skim over whole milk.

But what about your concepts about race, sexual orientation and religion? What about your views about money, politics and human rights?

Most of what we call our ideas, opinions and preferences have been fed to us. Most often, we don't dissect and analyze those preferences too much, we think we came to them through our own merits.

Part of waking up means no longer trusting your own biased perception. You need to recognize that your perception is biased, that is a starting point. Your view isn't to be held onto. Your position isn't to be fortified. All of that is confusion.  We are confused.

Once you know that we are confused, then you can start the process of right view, right intention, right discernment. First, you need to be honest with yourself. Then you can start to be honest with others, and things get better.  

What are you looking for?

We are all constantly moving, shifting position, adrift in a sea of change. We find ourselves chasing, over reaching, holding back, leaning a bit too far.

Amidst that dynamic play, what are you looking for?

Are you looking for the right position? Are you only looking at what others are doing? Do you find yourself taking a particular stance, drawing lines in the sand of with me or against me? What if no one validates your position, are you okay with that?

Your view is important. Not your views, not your opinions or ideas.  Your view, what you are looking for, your outlook. 

Your view allows you to navigate change, or to constantly be fighting it. Your view allows you to reconnect with your center, or to be strung out and off balance. Your view can create harmony and balance, or it can create division and discord. 

Your practice should continually try to refine and clarify your view. Really dig in, what are you looking for?  Have you found it? 

When you think you have found it, be brave enough to ask the next question- does this view assist me in navigating change and adversity, or do I find myself caught up in the storm?

A matter of perspective.

You have two eyes with a field of view of about 200 degrees.  Even with those two eyes, you know how much each eyes perception varies.  Close your right eye and you lose some perception, your depth perception changes, your ability to process and respond becomes impaired. 

What would happen if we had four eyes? Or a hundred? 

The lens through which we see the world is shaped by our sensory faculties.  Would we react differently if we had a 360 degree view?  If we could see up and down, right and left?

We see the world through our own eyes, but what if we could start to see the world from others perspective?  Would we be more compassionate and understanding if we could appreciate others point of view?  If our perception wasn't so limited, would we be more responsive and available to others? 

Breaking down barriers and obscurations to our view is an important step in developing wisdom.  No matter how much we meditate, if we always see the world the same then nothing will change.  We need to change our view, shift our perspective.  

Essay: Actualizing the Profound View of the Middle Way

            In the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, the Buddha gave teachings on the Four Noble Truths, laying a foundation and framework by which all of his teachings could be understood.  In the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha identified ignorance as the root of all suffering.  Ignorance is a state of confusion about how the self exists.  We perceive of an independent, autonomous self, one that is the basis for all experience and continues from moment to moment.  Through the teachings on the skandhas, ayatanas and dhatus, the Buddha broke down the self, revealing the wisdom of selflessness as well as the path to the cessation of suffering. 

            The teachings of the Second Turning of the Wheel of Dharma don’t depart from the teachings of the First Turning.  The understanding of the truth of origin and the abiding reality of the truth of cessation become more subtle and profound in the Second Turning. 

            The basis for the Second Turning of the Wheel of Dharma are the Prajnaparamita Sutras.  The 8000 verse Prajnaparamita Sutra is the earliest known sutra from around 100 BCE.  This was later expanded into the 10,000, 18,000, 25,000 and 100,000 verse sutras, which bear close resemblance to the 8,000 verse sutra but expand on abbreviated sections and enumerate lists.  The shorter Prajnaparamita Sutras include the Heart Sutra, also called the 25 verse sutra, as well as the Diamond Sutra, also called the 300 verse sutra. 

            We can see in the Heart Sutra how the understanding of the truth of origin becomes more subtle and profound in the Second Turning.  Remember, in the First Turning we use the skandhas, ayatanas and dhatus to deconstruct self-grasping and realize the wisdom of selflessness.  In the Second Turning we find Avalokiteshvara exploring this even futher in the Heart Sutra:

At that time, the Blessed One entered the meditative absorption on the varieties of phenomena called the appearance of the profound.  At that time as well, the noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva, the great being, clearly beheld the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom itself and saw that even the five aggregates are empty of intrinsic existence.

            The Heart Sutra starts by stating that the Buddha entered into meditative absorption called the appearance of the profound.  Profound here is emptiness, the appearance of emptiness.  It is profound because it is not easily realized, that it is beyond concepts and ideas about how things exist.  In the First Turning, we used the five skandhas to uproot self-grasping, but here Avalokiteshvara is saying that even the five skandhas or aggregates are empty of intrinsic existence.  The teachings of the Second Turning examine not only the selflessness of the person, but also of all phenomena. In order for bodhisattvas who aspire to realize this perfection of wisdom Shariputra and Avalokiteshvara engage in discussion on how to practice the perfection of wisdom.  Avalokiteshvara expands on the practice saying bodhisattvas should see clearly in this way:

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form;

Emptiness is not other than form, form too is not other than emptiness.

            This famous verse describes the Middle Way free from extremes.  We should analyze that form is empty of inherent existence, eliminating the extreme of eternalism or existence.  We should also analyze that emptiness is form, eliminating the extreme of nihilism or non-existence.  The last two verses reiterate this union of appearance and emptiness. 

            In order to clarify the view of emptiness as presented in the Prajnaparamita Sutras, Nagarjuna wrote his famous Mula-Madhyamakakarika, or the Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way.  In it, he presents the teachings on the two truths, conventional and ultimate truth, so that we can eliminate doubt and uncertainty about the view of emptiness.  In Nagarjuna’s Mula-madhyamakakarika:

The Buddha’s teaching of the Dharma

Is based on two truths:

A truth of worldly convention,

And an ultimate truth.  XXIV.8

Those who do not understand

The distinction between these two truths

Do not understand

The Buddha’s profound teaching.  XXIV.9

Without depending on the conventional truth,

The meaning of the ultimate cannot be taught.

Without understanding the meaning of the ultimate,

Nirvana is not achieved.  XXIV.10

            Nagarjuna’s presentation of the two truths reveal our confusion about the way that things appear versus the way that they actually exist.  Things appear very solid, concrete and independent.  We appear as independent autonomous selves.  But if you examine the nature of the self or of phenomena, you find that self is actually dynamic, connected and interdependent. 

            Traditionally there are Four Great Arguments of the Madhayamaka or Middle Way that logically establish all phenomena as being empty of inherent existence.

1.     Vajra Splinters, investigating the cause.

2.     Investigation of the result.

3.     Chariot argument, being neither one nor many.

4.     Great Interdependence.

            Nagarjuna’s famous tetralemma forms the basis for the Vajra Splinter argument and refutes production or arising from any of the four alternatives:

Neither from itself, nor from another,

Nor from both,

Nor without a cause,

Does anything anywhere, ever arise. I.1

            For our purposes, the easiest and perhaps best method of establishing emptiness is the Argument of Great Interdependence.  This king of reasonings includes all of the other logical arguments because it examines the seemingly real appearances of dependent origination.  According to the Middle Way as presented by Nagarjuna, all the illusory appearances of dependent origination and emptiness arise as the union of the conventional and ultimate truths.  In the Mula-Madhyamakakarika:

That which is dependent origination

Is explained to be emptiness.

That, being a dependent designation,

Is itself the middle way.  XXIV.18

There does not exist anything

That is not dependently arisen.

Therefore there does not exist anything

That is not empty.  XXIV.19

            Nagarjuna makes it clear that whatever is dependently originated is empty of inherent existence, form is emptiness.  To be dependently originated and to have some kind of independent existence are logical contradictions that cannot be maintained once they are revealed.  The wisdom of the two truths illuminates our confusion about how phenomena exist versus how they appear to us.  This simple insight that all phenomena arise dependently based on causes and conditions reveals the nature of suffering, how that suffering arises and whether we are able to eliminate it, as well as the actual path to be free from suffering.  As Nagarjuna states in his Mula-Madhyamakakarika:

Whoever sees dependent arising

Also sees suffering,

And its origin,

And its cessation, as well as the path.  XXIV.40

For whom emptiness makes sense,

Everything makes sense.

For whom emptiness does not make sense,

Nothing makes sense.  XXIV.14

            The correct view of emptiness is not that complicated.  Logically we can see that it is relatively easy to establish that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence.  But to fully appreciate this profound wisdom we have to move beyond a simple intellectual understanding, beyond mere logic and conceptual analysis.  We need to apply this view of emptiness to our own mind and our own experience.  Like the Buddha in the Heart Sutra, we need to meditate on the appearance of the profound.

            In the Heart Advice, Younge Khachab Rinpoche encourages us to apply the two truths to our own mind and experience, for this is truly the doorway to the Middle Way.  It is not necessary to undergo extensive philosophical and logical analysis, we simply need to carry a direct understanding of the union of dependent origination and emptiness, or appearance and emptiness, into our own meditation. 

            Focusing on our own mind, Rinpoche teaches the view of emptiness with five features- profound, peaceful, free of elaboration, luminous clarity, and uncompounded.  By recognizing this view of emptiness with five features in our own meditation and relying on the union of shamatha and vipassana, we can enter into absorption on the appearance of the profound and realize the perfection of wisdom, the essence of the Middle Way.

A complete practice.

As a practitioner, we all struggle to integrate our practice with our daily life.  We struggle to carry our daily practice off the cushion and into the world.  We struggle with trying to figure out how to act in the world after we no longer buy into the rat race of money, status and power.

These are problems that we try to solve as practitioners.

In order to relieve the tension we often feel between our practice and our daily life, we need to develop a complete practice.  A complete practice isn't just what you do on the cushion.  It starts with how you see the world, includes your meditation, your activity in the world and the result of your practice.

View.  Meditation. Conduct. Result.

View.  How do you see the world?  Is it possible to transform your vision?  What is your outlook and your intention?  Is your view informed by wisdom or by biased perception?  Your view can be like standing on the top of a mountain in which you can see everything below very clearly.  It can be like a vast expanse of space without border or limit.

Meditation.  Your view leads to meditation.  If you see how all things are dependently arisen, you will see subtle connections in meditation.  If you appreciate the impermanence of all phenomena you won't fixate on meditation experiences.  Meditation deepens your appreciation of the view and cuts through conceptual constraints.  Meditation is a vehicle.  It elicits your buddhanature in all its fullness- originally pure and naturally present.  As we gain confidence with this unique state, we awaken to timeless freedom and great compassion.

Conduct.  How do you carry your view and meditation into your daily life?  What does that look like?  What do you do with the freedom that you have gained?  We engage in the conduct of the bodhisattvas- we share generously, know how to work with our emotions, have patience to work through resistance and problems, and joyously persevere with a focused mind.  We carry wisdom into our homes, communities, work, life. 

Result.  Your life is your spiritual practice, the result is the path.  Every step you take.  

Never finished, yet never bound; such is the complete practice of the bodhisattvas. 

The 3 Nails.

Namo Samantabhadra.

1. The nail of perfect determination.
2. The nail of great confidence.
3. The nail of remaining with the result.

Persevere in your meditation, through it will come a pure and perfect experience free from all doubt.  Recognize the view, meditation and realization all have the same nature.  When you are free of all doubt, you will realize there is no nail to drive and nothing to drive into.  Awareness is groundless, completely transparent.

If you meditate, everything becomes a reflection of awareness.  If not, your experience will be bound by concepts and elaboration.

Remaining with the result is the union of transparent awareness and unobstructed wisdom.

This upadesha of the Three Nails was given by Younge Khachab Rinpoche in February 2010. 

The experience of emptiness.

Appearance is emptiness.
Emptiness is appearance.
Appearance is not other than emptiness.
Emptiness is not other than appearance. 

Liberation upon arising.

Our coarse experience of the world is the variety of appearances and experiences we encounter with the mind as the subject.

The subtle experience of appearances is recognizing them as the expression of awareness.

Realizing the nature of rigpa you eliminate all grasping without having to apply any antidotes.  Fixation is immediately cut through and you directly perceive the true nature of reality.
Realizing this self-arising wisdom from your own experience, all objects and mind are cut through at the root.  All that appears from this state is the expression of awareness, liberated upon arising.

Contemplation of the second nail of Shri Singha's Seven Nails.

You need to dissolve grasping.

The nature of mind and the nature of awareness are the same.
The nature of mind is subtle-
it is clear and calm, free from thoughts and feelings.
It is completely unobstructed, transparent emptiness.
Appearances arise from this transparent state as the expression of awareness.

The difference is that appearances of the nature of mind obscure the true nature of reality,
the appearances of awareness do not.
You need to dissolve grasping to ordinary appearances in order to see rigpa.

Single sphere of rigpa.

Awareness and basic space are inseparable.
This single sphere is the basis for samsara and nirvana.
If we don't understand confused appearances as the potency of awareness,
we get stuck in the experience of samsara.

Awareness is transparent.  Basic space is transparent.
To the Dzogchen yogi, all phenomena are clear appearances.
All that appears and exists within samsara and nirvana is the originally pure single sphere.
Driving the nail of one's own experience of this transparent wisdom into the ultimate sphere of samsara and nirvana, one gains certainty free from all doubts.

Contemplation on the first nail of Shri Singha's Seven Nails

Essence of the Madhyamaka.

Everything that appears and exists is dependently arisen.
Not realizing this true nature, we grasp at phenomena as real.
This confusion ties us to the churning of samsara.

Confused mind and appearances have not an atom of true existence,
they are but relative phenomena.
Mind is the creator of all appearances, the basis for all things arising.
All that appears and exists is merely mentally established!

Without realizing the primordial emptiness of whatever arises,
we remain trapped in a web of confusion.
Realizing the true nature of phenomena,
all phenomena are naturally liberated in their own place!

Form is not other than emptiness-
confused appearances are not other than the emptiness of our own mind.
Emptiness is not other than form-
The emptiness of our own mind is not other than the nature of confused appearances.
Our confused mind is naturally liberated in its own place!

This is the essence of the Madhyamaka.
This is the stepping stone to the Dzogchen view.

First, settle into the nature of the mind.

First, introduce the nature of the mind,
then you will be able to be introduced to rigpa.

Initially, you introduce the nature and fixation of ordinary mind.  If you recognize the nature of ordinary appearances and grasping, you can recognize the basis which is the nature of the mind.  Once you have a glimpse, you need to get rid of agitation and dullness in order to stabilize the experience of the nature of mind. 

After settling into the nature of mind, you enter into unwavering meditation to realize rigpa.  By dissolving all appearances into basic space, attachment and aversion dissolve and you enjoy the one taste that is the natural radiance of rigpa. 

Upadesha from Younge Khachab Rinpoche June 2007

Buddhism in a nutshell.

How do you orient to your practice? 

A lot of times we think of our practice as being one part of our day, like when we are meditating or doing yoga.  Practice in that sense is rather isolated and we can struggle with how to bring that practice into the rest of our day. 

Buddhist's tend to think of their practice in terms of view, meditation and conduct.

View.

Your view is how you see the world.  What is your relationship to the world?  How do you understand yourself and the world around you?  How does your perception influence your experience?  Is your view based on the truth or is it based on assumptions and bias?

Meditation.

Meditation is based on the view.  We stabilize our understanding and experience of the view.  We familiarize ourselves to seeing clearly and eliminate distortion in our lens.  We cultivate mental states that are beneficial like compassion, and learn to let go of mental states like anger and anxiety that bring us suffering.

Conduct.

Conduct is how we bring the view that we have cultivated in meditation into the world.  What posture do these teachings embody?  How do we walk through our day?  How does our view and meditation benefit our family and community?  What does your view look like in action?

Using this triad of view, meditation and conduct, you can develop a complete practice that includes all aspects of your life.  You can clarify your view through study, contemplation and seeking out teachings.  You can deepen your practice of meditation by receiving further instruction or going on meditation retreats.  You can share the fruits of your practice in the communities in which you live and work. 

Clarify your view.
Deepen your meditation.
Share the fruit.

That's the practice of the Buddha's teachings in a nutshell. 

Hey Pup, what's your view?

"Hey Pup."

"Hey Dog."

"Listen, Pup, I've been wondering why you don't play with any pugs?"

"No one in my pack plays with pugs."

"Why not?"

"Because, everyone knows that if you play with pugs you are likely to get hurt and that they can even ruin your whole pack."

"What?  That's not true, I've played with pugs my whole life and I've never had a problem.  Actually one of my best friends is a pug."

"Well you better be careful.  My pack refuses to acknowledge all the barking about how great pugs are these days.  My great granddog's pack nearly broke apart after they found out one of the new dogs had played with a pug.  It was only after he admitted that he wrong and promised to never do it again that the pack stayed together."

"Pup, I've seen you play with mutts and pit bulls, even jump into a river with a golden, but one pug comes around and you get all tied up in knots and refuse to play.  Don't you think you're just tormenting yourself worrying about these pugs."

"No, you don't joke around with pugs.  We just don't do it."

"Is there a chance that you are generalizing, that maybe there were certain situations that happened in the past and it just happened to be a pug.  Maybe it was the dog park or the type of game that was being played."

"What's your point?  Why are you attacking me and my pack just because we don't like pugs."

"I'm not attacking you, Pup.  I just want to know your view.  It seems to me that your view really affects your day to day reality and not necessarily in a good way.  The way you perceive pugs not only affects your actions, but you won't even play with other dogs if there is a pug around.  I'm not attacking you, Pup, I just think your view is a source of bondage for you."

"I appreciate your concern, Dog.  I do.  But this is the way its always been for my pack, we don't know any different and who wants to take a chance when there are all these others dogs we can play with anyways.  It's actually pretty easy to avoid pugs if you keep your eye out for them."

"That's the thing, Pup, your mind is preoccupied with pugs and you don't even recognize it.  All these other dogs play with pugs all the time and they have never had a problem.  There is so much of the dog park that you don't see because there might be a pug around.  This is all about fear and protecting yourself from pain, yet the fear itself torments you and you experience emotional pain and anxiety anyways."

"So what do you want me to do, just leave my pack behind and everyone I love to go play with some pugs.  I'm not going to do it Dog."

"I'm not asking you to leave your pack behind, maybe just get to know a pug and see what they are like.  Honestly, most of them are really nice and friendly just like all the other dogs here."

"My pack won't like this, I might get kicked out for even associating with a pug.  I can't believe I am even talking to you about this right now."

"I tell you what, just think about it.  You don't need to change today or even tomorrow.  Just watch from a distance, think about your view and how it affects your actions.  Does your view promote your happiness or does it promote suffering?  Does it promote the health and happiness of your pack and all the other dogs here or does it cause more division and judgement?  Just think about it Pup, that's all I ask."

"Alright, Dog, I'll think about it.  But don't tell anyone, I don't want to be known as the heretic."

"Your not a heretic for thinking about what is truly beneficial for your life and your pack, Pup, you might even strengthen your faith and do what is really important for them and all the other dogs here."

"Thanks Dog, I appreciate that."

Middle Way between extremes

Can you rest between extremes?

Between
existence and non-existence,
eternalism and nihilism,
acceptance and rejection,
affirmation and denial,
real and unreal,
hope and fear,
right and wrong,
good and bad,
beginning and end,
something and nothing.

Where is the middle between
'I got it' and 'I don't have it',
'This is it' and 'this is not it',
'This is good' and 'this is bad',
'Yes' and 'No'.

The Buddha taught that any fixed position that we take is the result of ignorance and the cause of future suffering.  Whenever you establish a ground, you are forced to defend that ground.  The need to defend yourself, your views, identity, culture, lifestyle; your very existence- creates a lot of problems.  The short list is fear, uncertainty, doubt and guilt; on the flip side arrogance, anger, power, manipulation and exploitation.

The middle way between extremes is the practice of groundlessness.  You could compare it to learning how to surf or float on water.  At first it might seem impossible, but with practice you discover that groundlessness can effortlessly carry much more weight and without all of the friction and stress of having a ground.