Living with pain, not in pain.

Chronic pain is a very common and often debilitating condition that affects young and old alike. Western medicine struggles with pain management, we encourage modalities like physical therapy, massage, accupuncture, exercise, but often end up turning to opioids and other medications to manage chronic pain. Meditation has made its way into the treatment of pain, but even that has mixed results. 

Meditation seems to be touted as a cure-all these days, recommended for everything from treating hypertension, to mental illness, chronic pain, and improving overall well-being. There is a lot of good data supporting the practice of meditation for these purposes, but I think it is important to recognize that meditation is not a cure-all, but rather manages to make everything workable. 

This is a rather minor but significant shift. Meditation won't solve all your problems, but it will help make all your problems workable. Problems of all kinds are solved when we see them as workable. When we know that we can experiment, play around with things, try something new in a maybe slightly different way, we can solve problems. Maybe the problem goes away, maybe it just becomes less of a threat. 

Most of the power that problems have, and this is especially true of chronic pain, is that they seem inescapable. The pain doesn't go away, and it doesn't seem likely that it is going to go away tomorrow. This persistent experience in our lives is exhausting and drains a lot of our attention and energy. When we fight our pain, it always wins, because it gains power when we resist it. Try to escape its presence by using drugs and alcohol, and we just find it again on the other side of our stupor. Escape seems hopeless, we seem powerless, and it is very easy for depression to set it. 

The solution that meditation provides is to find some space with the pain. In meditation, we find that we can experience pain, but not be overwhelmed by the pain. The pain is there, dancing, doing its thing, but it is also a little distant from 'us'. We find that we don't need to identify with the pain, that we can live with the pain, rather than in pain. Pain in this sense becomes like a companion with us on the journey of life. Sure, it is often a nagging companion that we don't really want to hang out with, but alas, here we are. If they are going to join you on this journey, you might as well figure out how this relationship is going to work. 

If you are feeling stuck with a chronic problem like pain, start by trying to find a space where you can be present amidst the pain. Set out to discover a sense of peace and calm, a solid ground to stand (or sit), amidst the experience of pain. This ground is the basis of exploring and understanding your relationship with pain. When you start to realize that you can experience pain but not be dominated by its presence, then you have made the problem workable. Gradually, your presence overpowers the presence of pain. Sit with that, your presence overwhelms the presence of pain, rather than the other way around (the old way of our relationship with pain).

Then, like the Buddha said, our pain becomes like a teaspoon for salt in a large body of water, rather than a small cup. The salts still there, but not as distasteful.  

My last thought on the use of meditation for working with pain. Often, we are asked by the doctor how much pain we are in, 0-10. If the pain is held as a constant level of experience, what if we change our relationship to that pain. How can we move from a 7 to a 5? Or even a two? That's what meditation can do, I'm confident of that. 

What holds Buddhas back?

A fundamental principle in the Buddha's teachings is that all beings have buddhanature. This buddhanature is the nature of our own mind, and though it is always fully evident it often goes unrecognized. Instead of embracing the path of becoming buddhas, or being buddha (which really means the path of waking up, or being awake), we find ourselves entangled in the mess of life with all of our problems. As the Buddha says:

Noble child, all beings, though they find themselves with all sorts of afflictions,
Have a tathagata-garbha that is eternally unsullied, 

and that is replete with virtues no different from my own.

Tathagatagarbha Sutra

If the tathagatagarbha, or buddhanature, is our fundamental nature of mind, why does it go unrecognized and why we do lack fulfillment?

There are four obscuring factors that keep us entangled in the afflictions: cognitive obscurations, emotional obscurations, habitual tendencies and karma. The work of the path of waking up and actualizing our buddhanature is to untie these ropes and release ourselves from bondage. The path of liberation is the path of freeing ourselves from these shackles and actualizing the resultant state, which is our innate buddhanature and natural awakened mind.

Cognitive obscurations are obscuring factors of our understanding and view of who we are and the nature of the world around us. All of us have bias, views we hold to as true, and cultural associations that go unquestioned. The work of untying the knots of cognitive obscurations is to shine a light on the way we actually think and perceive the world around us and our place in it. 

Emotional obscurations are the five primary negative emotions: attachment, aversion, confusion, jealousy, and arrogance. Each of these emotions overwhelms our minds and is centered on me and mine. It is not that these emotions are inherently bad or can't be used for good, but that in the presence of these emotions we often go blind and function solely out of reactive, self-centered impulses. The work of untying the knots of emotional obscurations is to find space amidst the emotions, so that we can work and respond to the energy that is coming up rather than becoming overwhelmed by that energy and reacting impulsively. 

Habitual tendencies are subtle and hard to break. So much of our conditioning comes from our childhood and from our culture, so much so that we don't usually know why we do the things we do or care about the things we think we care about. Habitual tendencies are hard to break because they are the rails or ski tracks that our day to day life is built around. It is so hard to break out of the tracks, and even if we manage to escape for a moment, it is also very easy to slip back in. The work of untying the knots of habitual tendencies is to introduce a fresh fall of snow powder over the terrain, and then do the hard work of charting a new course through the fresh powder. 

Karma is our actions and the results of our actions. Karma is also hard to untie because we cannot undo the past. All of our past actions have led us to the present moment, and that is what we have to work with. The good news is that all of our current actions are creating the moments of our future, and so we can give our future self the gift of good actions that we can later enjoy. As long as we operate in this world we always have karmic conditioning and karmic relationships. Karma doesn't need to be a binding force, as we learn to work with karma on the path you can start to recognize how everything is naturally free in its own place, even if things aren't quite the way you would have liked them to be. The present is the only moment you have to work with, so work with it. 

As we loosen the shackles of these four binding forces, gradually our own true nature becomes more and more evident. Much like gold is slowly extracted and refined from its ore, so too our awakened mind is gradually revealed and made fully evident. 

The thing Buddhism gets right.

 Much can be said about the Buddha's teachings, about the importance of meditation, wisdom, compassion, how we are all interconnected. Of course, many other spiritual traditions share these same attributes. Here is what Buddhism really gets right:

The focus of the practice is on our own mind. 

This practice is going to take awhile. 

You are not to jump right to benefitting others and compassionate activity. You should not get lost in working in projects outside yourself. Bring the focus inside, learn to recognize your own needs, your own wounds, your own limitations. 

As you learn to open your own mind, to heal your own heart, you naturally become more open and available to others. 

You can't shortcut this step. There is no escaping this requirement, if you try to avoid it then it will always be a limiting factor in your life. 

You are the limit, and the throttle. 

Siddhearta's Essence of 2020.

I am not going to lie, 2020 was a challenging year. In Buddhist practice we often find this sentiment:

Transform obstacles into the path of awakening. 

Well, 2020 decided to just throw everything at us at once. How do we stay present, generous, receptive and kind amidst a global pandemic, natural disasters, rampant job loss, economic fallout, social unrest, homeschooling, and oh, an election year? Chances are you don't. And that's okay, that's why we call it a practice. You practice being present, practice being kind, practice being generous, practice being receptive. You practice and you fail, a lot. 

This year was particularly challenging for me. I lost my father-in-law and two close friends to non-COVID related deaths. One of my regular practices is to engage in the traditional Buddhist 49 days of practice after someone dies, as a way to show up for them as they transition through the death process into their next life. It allows for a natural way to grieve, while also honoring the connection that you have and still have after someone has passed from this life. At one point in August after I had been doing the practice daily since mid-May, I began to wonder if I would ever stop doing the practice. My father-in-law and two close friends died in successive months, and this was accompanied by the many other people I knew through work or through acquaintances that died due to COVID-19. My 49 day practice ended up coming to a close at the end of August, and yet how many have we lost since then...

2020 forced all of us to reconsider how we show up in the world. We were forced to reshape our lives, change the way we work, learn, interact. Things that we used to do are no longer options, and things we never imagined doing have become normal (wearing a mask at work all day). In one way, we have all come to appreciate what matters most in our lives, and we have all slowed down a bit to take advantage of those things. 

Despite all of the challenges of this year, there were still opportunities that came to light. Our Sangha has transformed into a thriving online community, though we no doubt look forward to the chance to reconnect again for retreats in person. We also started the Dharma Conversations Podcast this year and have published over a dozen episodes so far. I also finished up editing a book for my teacher, Younge Khachab Rinpoche, expected to be released this spring. Stay tuned for more details. 

As I look back at this past year, I realize how fortunate me and my family have been and I am grateful that I have such a supportive network of family and friends. It is hard to imagine having to navigate the uncertainty of this year without those connections. Much was lost this year and it is easier to appreciate just how precious and fragile this life really is. I am also tired and weary and would like a break, and I am sure you would too. Hang in there, find some time for yourself, recognize your own needs amidst all of the chaos. Give yourself the needed break of putting aside all the media, the worrisome thoughts and stories. Don't punish yourself with unnecessary expectations. It is enough to be present amidst uncertainty,  without a clear handle of how things are going to work out or when this is all going to be over. 

Here are some of my better posts from this year:

For your practice: 

Spacious Awareness
A metaphor for timeless awareness.
The Royal Seat of Akanishtha.
The journey to the center of it all. 
Carry on.
Exploring mind and its nature. 
Two pespectives on mind. 
Fulfillment, found. 

Pandemic contemplations:

In search of the normal day.
Last chance to share thanks. 
Not doing is hard work. 

Conscious Leadership and institutional racism

"I am not a leader."
I am a contribution. 
#BlackLivesMatter. *Conditional terms apply
Conscious citizens of the world
Model of conscious leadership
Five elements of conscious leadership

Online Meditation this Sunday

Join us this Sunday August 30 from 9-10am PDT for an online meditation session. 

Learn how to meditate, ask questions, engage in dialogue with other practitioners. Learn the foundational practices for calming your mind, recognizing your own nature, and cultivating your own personal practice.

No prior meditation experience necessary, all students welcome.

• Be introduced to the key points of meditation
  
• Learn how to bring the mind to rest using various techniques
  
• Learn how recognize the innate qualities of the nature of mind
  
• Understand how we stray in the practice and how to eliminate errors in our meditation

Zoom login

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5965263632

Where is your seat?

Where do you sit? Where do you commit to doing your practice?

Be precise. What room? Where is the seat or cushion? What materials do you need? Which direction are you facing? 

You need a place to return to again and again. It doesn't need to be the perfect place but it needs to be somewhere clear in your mind. It might be your bedroom, a spare room, your basement or living room. It doesn't matter where it is, so much that you know where to go when it is time to practice. 

You need a place to start. A place you can commit to. 

With time you can include more places and new places. The park, the beach, during your commute. Integration happens once you have something to integrate. First, you need a place to start. A place you can develop trust in yourself and cultivate a willingness to show up for yourself. 

No one needs to know where you sit, but you need to know. 

Model of conscious leadership.

As a dharma practitioner on the path we can often times struggle to integrate our meditation with our daily life. Training in mind and awareness cultivates a state of preparedness and responsiveness on the cushion that we slowly learn how to bring out into our daily activities. As we learn to work with this sense of preparedness, we need to learn how to live authentically and contribute meaningfully to the world around us. 

The five elements of conscious leadership create a framework to integrate your practice with your daily life. By working with each of these elements you encounter resistance and limits in your own body, mind and emotions. Pay attention to that resistance and hesitation. As you become familiar with each of these elements, you will see where you are grasping to aspects of your experience or shutting down. Acknowledging these obstacles and perceived barriers gives you something tangible to work with in your meditation. In this way, our meditation supports our daily life and our daily activities fuel our meditation.

The result of a practice that integrates both meditation and your daily life is a willingness to have an grounded, fluid and truthful connection with the world around us. We awaken to the very presence that dwells in the heart of the human condition. All of these elements are included within the single sphere of unborn bodhicitta, our ever-present primordial state of authentic presence that is open, available and responsive. 

Upcoming Online teachings

We have some online events coming up in the next few days and weeks.

Waking Up Humanity: Online teachings by Younge Khachab Rinpoche
April 11 at 8am PDT
Rinpoche will be offering practical advice for Dharma practitioners during these difficult times.

Tsa Lung Course
April 12 - May 3, 2020
Tsa Lung is a Tibetan healing yoga and pranayama used to purify the body. Rinpoche has advised all of his students practice Tsa Lung to strengthen our immune systems and to promote a calm and stable mind during these challenging times. This four week online course will teach you the Tsa Lung yogas and provide foundational materials for understanding the practice.

Distancing yourself.

You've followed the advice of self-distancing. You have your store of rations for another week or so. You are working from home, homeschooling, calling your friends and family from afar.

Now you are stuck with these thoughts and emotions that consume your attention.

The impulse to check the news is compelling. What are the new numbers? What is the latest advisory? What are those common symptoms again?

These thoughts are all-consuming and when we are full we are left with an unsettled feeling. Know that it is perfectly normal to have these thoughts and emotions, but that we don't need to give them all of our attention. Just like an annoying coworker, we need to continue to work with them day in and day out, but we don't need to give them all of our attention.

I've found my daily practice an undeceiving refuge in these times. Retreat from the headlines. Isolate yourself from the all consuming thoughts and the attendant anxiety.

Just sit. Connect with the natural peacefulness of the present, even amidst all the tumult.

If you cannot simply rest in equanimity, it is helpful to have something to do. I've been practicing the Iron Hook of Compassion every day. Singing the melody and mantra have a way of opening up the heart and throat at a time when it is easy to shut down and close ourselves off. Afterwards, rest in a sense of openness and ease for as long as you can.

Build these moments into your day. As many as you need. Learning to be present when you are alone is a great gift to yourself during times such as these.

March Meditation Workshop

Meditation Workshop:
Distinguishing Mind and Awareness 

***Remember this Sunday March 8 is also Daylight Savings Time***

Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:  Sunday, March 8, 2020 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM (PDT) Wise Orchid Taijiquan & Qigong 2002 East Union Street Seattle, WA 98122 View Map

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Join us for a weekend workshop on the foundations of the Dzogchen view and meditation. Dzogchen, or the Great Perfection, is the heart essence of all of the Buddha's teachings. These teachings reveal our own true nature in a simple but direct way. Be introduced to the unique Dzogchen view Learn how to recognize and rest in the nature of mind Learn how the practice of resting unfolds to reveal awareness Understand how we stray in the practice and how to eliminate errors in our meditation Share this event on Facebook and Twitter. See you on the cushion!

February Meditation Workshop

Meditation Workshop:
Tibetan Healing Yoga and Pranayama

Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:  Sunday, February 9, 2020 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM (PST)  Wise Orchid Taijiquan & Qigong 2002 East Union Street Seattle, WA 98122 View Map

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Tsa Lung is a Tibetan healing yoga that works with the subtle body of the channels and winds using breathing techniques and physical movements. Learn the fundamentals of the practice, how the channels and winds affect the mind, and experience how the practice calms the mind and induces a natural meditative equipoise. No prior meditation experience necessary, advanced students welcome. Learn about the relationship between breath and mind Practice the physical yogas of Tsa Lung Learn how to work with subtle objects of meditation Learn how to recognize and rest in the nature of the mind

Upcoming Meditation Workshop

Meditation Workshop:
Exploring the Mind

Event to be held at the following time, date, and location: Sunday, January 12, 2020 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM (PST)  Wise Orchid Taijiquan & Qigong 2002 East Union Street Seattle, WA 98122 View Map

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Join us for a weekend workshop on the practice of vipashyana or insight. Learn how to meditate, ask questions, engage in dialogue with other practitioners. Learn the foundational practices for exploring the inner landscape of your mind, recognizing your own true nature, and setting yourself on a journey of self-discovery and awakening. No prior meditation experience necessary, all students welcome. Be introduced to the key points of exploring the nature of mind Learn how to explore the nature of mind using various techniques Learn how recognize the innate qualities of the nature of mind Understand how we stray in the practice and how to eliminate errors in our meditation Share this event on Facebook and Twitter. See you on the cushion!

Spacious awareness.

In Dzogchen, our true nature is introduced as rigpa, or awareness. When we receive the pointing out instructions, rigpa is what is pointed out in our own experience. Awareness is not such a great translation of rigpa, because we already have a constructed meaning for awareness. That is why in Dzogchen texts you often find rigpa (Tib. rig-pa) translated as intrinsic awareness, open presence, or simply left as rigpa.

Put a cup in front of you. Notice the experience of ordinary awareness. It's something like, "I, Greg, am aware of the cup." It's very dualistic, separate, distinct. There is the subjective awareness observing a perceptually real external object. This is not what we mean by awareness or rigpa.

Rigpa is not dualistic. Take another look at the cup. This time shift your attention to the space between you and the cup, around the cup, in the cup, the three dimensional space in which the cup is suspended. Mingle your awareness with that space.

Now look up and observe the room around. Mingle your awareness with the space in the room, such that your awareness and the space are inseparable. Rest in that state. Familiarize yourself with that state of open presence.

This is closer to the experience of rigpa. Not quite rigpa because you still have reference points, borders and limits, but you're quite close. As you gain stability resting in open presence and learn how to cut through fixation and grasping, eventually ever-present unobstructed awareness (rigpa) becomes fully evident.

In Dzogchen texts, you often find rigpa referenced as ying-rig. Ying (Tib. dbyings) means basic space, objective sphere, dimension, or field of reality. Rig means rigpa or awareness. So ying-rig means the inseparability of basic space and awareness, or the union of the objective sphere and awareness.

As Longchenpa states in the ninth chapter of the Choying Dzod:

Within the single expanse, supremely spacious by nature, awakened mind equal to space is pivotal.
Focus on this key point and distill it to its vital essence;
it is the greatest of the great- wholly positive and spacious enlightened mind. 
In its very essence, it thoroughly shatters the outer confines of reality. 
Within this single vast expanse, there is no duality of realization versus its lack, 
or freedom versus its lack, but a supreme state of equalness. 

Initially, it is hard to maintain this state of unobstructed awareness because we are easily ensnared by mind. Playing a game with a red dot can be an effective call to presence throughout your day, use it to mingle basic space and awareness. Eventually, everything in the phenomenal world becomes an ornament of awareness- whatever you think, see, hear, smell, taste, feel - as basic space and awareness mingle and become inseparable in a single non-dual expanse. 

Mingle your meditation with your daily life. Familiarize yourself with authentic presence on the cushion, and then skillfully carry it out into the world. 

Siddhearta's Essence of 2019.

2019 has been a bit of a bridge year for me. I completed a lot of projects that I have been working on for the past few years and find myself in a new territory, a vast unexplored world with infinite possibility. Even now as I write this I acknowledge that I don't know what comes next. It's the end of the decade, and a wonderful ten years it has been.

To think that ten years ago, I didn't think of myself as a teacher, didn't write, hadn't done any ten day or longer retreats. I had just gotten married, couldn't have imagined how much I enjoy being a father, and had never conceived leading a Buddhist non-profit. What world awaits me in the next ten years?

I appreciate your support and encouragement over this past year. Your questions, curiosity and insight continue to inspire and motivate me. Thank you for your commitment to your own practice and having the courage to carry it into your daily life in the form of generosity, kindness and compassion.

Here are some of this years highlights. I hope you'll find one or two that connect with your own practice and share them with others. 

Understanding what is beyond expression.

Let go.

Give yourself the gift of your practice.

Dzogchen view and practice.

Forging the path ahead.

How does wisdom lead to love?

Mirror of the mind.

Unborn and unceasing.

Conception of identity

3 marks of existence.

Changing the human predicament.

Each and every thing.

Lifting each other up.

A first glimpse at the ground of being.

Heal yourself before healing others.

Imminent revelation.

Student-teacher relationship.

The ground of generosity.

I wish you all a wonderful New Year!
May you enjoy health and a peaceful mind!
May you focus on your practice,
generously share love and kindness,
and may you accomplish the aims of yourself and others!

100 day ngondro practice intensive.

I'll be leading a 100 day practice intensive for the YDL Sangha starting January 1st. YDL offers numerous Sangha led courses each year and every January we practice ngondro together.

This year we are going to be practicing a new ngondro text that Younge Khachab Rinpoche wrote recently and taught at the last summer Dzogchen retreat, titled “The Secret Path of Supreme Accomplishment: Instructions on the Foundations of Meditation”. Rinpoche strongly encourages all of his students to participate in this practice as it forms the foundation for Mahamudra and Dzogchen.

This practice intensive is a group of practitioners who are committed to practicing the path as it has been presented by Khachab Rinpoche. We will have weekly readings, group discussions and senior student led Dharma talks. We welcome new students who are looking to start practicing a genuine path, and experienced students who are committed to their practice and have insight to share.

Practice daily at home and at your own pace. There are weekly group video discussions on Sundays at 6pm CST via Zoom. This will be a practice focused course, with ample opportunity for questions and discussion about the practice.

If you're interested in deepening your practice in an authentic practice lineage, here is a great opportunity to get started.

100 Day Practice Intensive Registration

Upcoming Meditation Workshop: New Location!

Meditation Workshop:
Bringing the Mind to Rest

Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:  Sunday, November 24, 2019 from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM (PST)  Phinney Neighborhood Center Brick Building- Room 32 (Third floor) 6532 Phinney Ave N Seattle, WA 98103 View Map

Attend Event

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Join us for a weekend workshop on the stages of meditation. Learn how to meditate, ask questions, engage in dialogue with other practitioners. Learn the foundational practices for calming your mind, recognizing your own nature, and cultivating your own personal practice.

No prior meditation experience necessary, all students welcome.

• Be introduced to the key points of meditation
• Learn how to bring the mind to rest using various techniques
• Learn how recognize the innate qualities of the nature of mind
• Understand how we stray in the practice and how to eliminate errors in our meditation
  

Location details for Phinney Neighborhood Center

We are located in the lower Brick building at the Phinney Neigborhood Center. Parking is available for free onsite in both the upper lot by the Blue building, and in the lower lot by the Brick building. Meditation cushions and chairs will be available for use.

Hallmark of the Buddha's teachings.

There are many benefits to meditation- increased attention and self-awareness, decreased reactivity to negative thoughts and emotions, the ability to manage and self-regulate strong emotions, and the ability to work with difficult situations in our life. Each of these benefits is significant and important for developing a healthy mind and for being self-reliant in a challenging world.

The Buddha's teachings rely heavily on meditation, but it is insight into the true nature of your mind that is really the hallmark of the wisdom of the Buddha. The Buddha saw that the key to changing our minds and living a life of great purpose was tied to realizing emptiness or selflessness, or the interconnectedness of all things. This insight into selflessness fundamentally changes our perspective of who we are and the nature of the world around us.

The experience of emptiness or selflessness is not one of loss. It is not a blank void. It is not an experience of aloneness or meaninglessness. The realization of emptiness is also the realization of interconnectedness, which is the experience of fullness. There are many signs that we may experience upon realizing this wisdom of emptiness, such as awe, connection, love, openness, oneness, ineffability. There wisdom itself is utterly beyond description because it is beyond the confines of 'this' or 'that', and 'it is' or 'it is not'.

Even a glimpse of selflessness gives rise to more openness and empathy. Openness encompasses appreciation and receptivity, creativity and imagination, as well as tolerance of others opinions and values. That openness gives rise to more empathy and compassion for others. It engenders kindness, generosity and love for others as we move about our day.

The benefit of realizing the wisdom of selflessness is that it awakens our heart and mind and gives our life a sense of direction and purpose. We can navigate the world with a broader perspective and find space for reconciliation and resolution. All of the problems in the world, all of the conflict, opposition, contradictions; they all arise from taking rigid and confined positions based on our own perspective. Selflessness opens the door to a more inclusive and integrated understanding of the world around us and our place in it. 

There are many benefits to meditation, but the benefits of insight and wisdom into our true nature are even more significant and impactful. They bring benefit not only to our own life, but to the communities and neighborhoods in which we live.

November Meditation Workshop

Meditation Workshop:
Bringing the Mind to Rest

Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:  Sunday, November 24, 2019 from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM (PST)  Phinney Neighborhood Center Brick Building- Room 32 6532 Phinney Ave N Seattle, WA 98103 View Map

Attend Event

Share this event:

Join us for a weekend workshop on the stages of meditation. Learn how to meditate, ask questions, engage in dialogue with other practitioners. Learn the foundational practices for calming your mind, recognizing your own nature, and cultivating your own personal practice. No prior meditation experience necessary, all students welcome. Be introduced to the key points of meditation Learn how to bring the mind to rest using various techniques Learn how recognize the innate qualities of the nature of mind Understand how we stray in the practice and how to eliminate errors in our meditation Location details for Phinney Neighborhood Center We are located in the lower Brick building at the Phinney Neigborhood Center. Parking is available for free onsite in both the upper lot by the Blue building, and in the lower lot by the Brick building. Meditation cushions and chairs will be available for use.

Revealing lucid clarity.

རང་གསལ་
Tibetan: rang-sal
English: natural clarity, innate lucidity, self-luminous

The final state of resting in the natural state is rang-sal, or revealing the sharp lucidity of the nature of mind. Recalling our metaphor of a dirty glass of water, if we let it rest naturally and maintain that state of rest, naturally the obscurations of dirt settle out revealing the natural clarity of the water. Similarly, in our meditation, if we rest naturally, rang-bab and maintain that continuity, rang-nay, then the natural clarity of awareness becomes fully evident.

During the second state of maintaining the continuity of the natural state, rang-nay, we familiarized ourselves with recognizing the illusory play of mind and appearances. Initially, these appearances are gross phenomena, and eventually they become more subtle.

A key point for actualizing the natural clarity of awareness is to recognize when we are fixating on the natural clarity of the mind and straying into appearances. The nature of mind is luminous emptiness, so as we settle into the natural state we are going to encounter the luminosity of the mind. How we work with that luminosity becomes crucially important.

Any searching or striving binds us and causes a deviation into mind and mental states. Identifying with, reaching for, or holding onto the luminosity display of appearances in all their variety constitutes an obscuring factor and results in the diminished presence of confusion.

Conversely, in this state we also risk of settling into the foundational consciousnessness, or the alaya, in which there is a stable, peaceful meditation state but no clarity or lucidity. Recognize that subtle dullness and interrupt that meditation experience, again letting go and settling into the natural state.

The instruction for working with the natural clarity of the nature of mind in order to recognize awareness or rigpa is to recognize the illusory play of empty appearances as liberated upon arising, or shardrol. When there is no deviating or fixating on the illusory play of appearances, which represent the clarity aspect of the mind, then the sharp lucidity of awareness can be revealed, like space free from reference points. Free of all thought, completely transparent and pristine like an alpine lake, this is the unceasing luminosity of the ground of awareness.

From this state in our meditation, the teacher can point out rigpa directly. Having made fully evident the groundless, transparent awareness and eliminated the error of trying to hold onto anything, naked awareness is directly revealed as your own innate buddhanature, the state of the natural great perfection.

Having gained a direct introduction to your own true nature, next you need to be decisive about this unique state and eliminate doubt and uncertainty. That would be Garab Dorje's second key point.

Cut through the experience.

One meditation instruction from my teacher Younge Khachab Rinpoche that was really useful and had a profound impact on my meditation was to intentionally interrupt positive experiences of meditation.

This might seem counterintuitive, because we are trying to accomplish something in meditation after all, aren't we?

The instruction applies to the state of naturally abiding, or rang-nay. When we start to really feel like we have it, and maybe we are having some kind of positive experience, then we intentionally slightly interrupt that meditation. Shift your posture. Maybe circle your head, or shift your gaze. Then, settle right back into the natural state. Let go, rang-bab.

This subtle instruction breaks us from the bondage of clinging to positive experiences, and it also gives you more agility to seamlessly relax into the natural state. It is not a big, dramatic interruption. Keep it small, a few seconds really. Then rang-bab, settle into the natural state again.

You don't need to always apply this technique. Use it skillfully. Especially if you ever find yourself with your great and unmatched wisdom saying, "Ah, yes. This is it." Interrupt that grasping.