augmented illusions

Being present. A multitude of thin threads connecting us to the people in our life. Nodes in a net, radiant diamonds, a fabric that stretches across time, that is all now, parallels coexisting in their nowness. A dream in which we live as we play out the brief moment we have, each time, to be present. To realise that we can be present. This moment that becomes an entire lifetime in our mind. Its nowness only realized by entirely letting go.

My heart does its best, “against all opposition”, to keep me alive. It’s received a good deal of punishment from treatment that was meant to be life prolonging. I knew intuitively that I had to retain some balance, that what I was receiving was pushing my body over the edge. D. and I have already been placing bets on the more likely cause of death, but the fact is, it’s still early days and I can do a lot to make sure the situation doesn’t worsen too much. I’m on a tightrope: each new step requires more balancing, more care, to make sure the pendulum has come to rest before taking the next step. Someone told me that many buddhist teachers died of heart related conditions. I often wondered what it would be like to teach the thousands of students these teachers taught. Open the heart, because that is where the Teacher is. Reveal everything, keep nothing hidden: everything is perfect, so nothing need be disparaged. The demons are that which I don’t accept. Everything presents itself to me: the signs of dissolving, hardly noticeable as yet if you don’t look for them, but always present, the transience of this, it’s a shimmering flow. In a dream a voice tells me: the rainbow body is not the perfect state, it is this dissolve, stay with that. The practice of the heart: taking on the suffering of others, returning to them the heart’s courage that keeps us alive, enables us to reach out and connect . At the heart of the heart of the wisdom sutras I am urged to go fully beyond.

At the age of fourty-one, Machig Labdron stayed in a retreat cave in Chipug which was blessed for practice. On the fourth day of the last month of spring, in the middle of the night, the majestic Lady Tara appeared, surrounded by numerous dakinis. She bestowed on Machig the four initiations of the five primordial Buddhas according to the Udumvara Tantra…

Thereupon Machig composed a hymn of praise to each of the five Buddha families and later improvised another one in twenty-one stanzas to Tara herself. She then addressed Tara as follows: “You have shown me great kindness and given me the most extraordinary power of initiation and blessing. Yet I don’t know if a woman like me, not particularly bright, and of feeble capacities, will be able to accomplish the benefit of beings…”

Tara smiled, then after a quick glance at the dakinis of her entourage, she said: “Yogini, do not feel discouraged! In the course of previous lives you have studied and mastered the meaning of the scriptures of Sutra and Tantra. So today it is sufficient for me to reveal this meaning to you through mere symbols. You are a mind emanation of the Great Mother Yum Chenmo: we are inseparable. You are the wisdom dakini, the sovereign of the Vajradhatu and the source of the liberation of all phenomena. Don’t lose heart. Keep your determination.”

But Machig replied: “How could I possibly be an emanation of the Great Mother, inseparable from you? And in what way am I the source of the liberation of all phenomena? And where is the residence of the Great Mother?”

Tara answered, “Yogini, although in your innermost heart there is clear knowledge about the past, listen carefully and I’ll explain it to you. The one known as the primordial Mother Yum Chenmo is the ultimate nature of all phenomena, emptiness, the essence of reality, free from the two veils. She is the pure expanse of emptiness, the knowledge of the non-self. She is the matrix which gives birth to all the Buddhas of the three times.

“However, so as to enable all sentient beings to accumulate merit, the Great Mother appears as an object of veneration through my aspirations and prayers for the sake of all beings. And so, through the power of my wishes and compassion, from the dharmata there appears bright light in the shape of an orange-colored bindu marked with the syllable MUM, ablaze with light. In turn this transforms into the Great Mother Yum Chenmo, golden in color, with one face and four hands, sitting in the vajra posture, her body beautiful with all the major and minor marks of a Buddha. Surrounded by her princely sons, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions, Yum Chenmo resides in the Gandavyuha sphere of the celestial pure land of Akanistha, in a marvelous celestial palace.

“From my heart there radiates a greenish-black ray of light marked with the syllable HUNG and it enters into the Mother’s heart, awaking her. Then it radiates out again gathering the power of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and it dissolves agiain into the Mother’s heart. Instantly, she transforms into a sky-blue dakini with one face and four hands. She is the sovereign of Vajhradhatu. From her body, speech, mind, qualities and activity appear innumerable manifestations. Among these, the mind emanation is the bluish-black Vajra Lady with one face and two hands who subjugates all demons. On the crown of her head is a boar’s head emerging from her hair. Her splendor illuminating the three worlds, she gathers all the dakinis under her power. She sets all demonic forces to work as her servants; she is the source of the liberation of all phenomena.

“Now this Vajra Lady, who subjugates all demons for the sake of all sentient beings, took numberous births in appropriate times and places. She mastered the Pitakas and accomplished tremendous deeds for the sake of living beings. Finally she took birth in Tibet. She is no other than yourself, Shining Light of Lab.”

Source:

Edou, Jerome. Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod. Snow Lion Publications, 1996, pp. 151-152.

When somebody tells you something that really hurts your mind, that is the most beneficial thing for your mind because it goes straight in your heart and touches your ego.

This is what shows you, like a mirror, like a teaching from the Buddha, one’s own mistaken thoughts, especially the ego; it shows that there is ego, and because there is ego, it hurts.

If there is no ego, then it would never hurt. When people say what your mistakes are, or say words which hurt you, that is the real Chöd practice. This is what makes you see your “I,” the emotional “I” – in Western psychological terms – the object of ignorance, the root of samsara, which is holding this “I” as truly existent.

Normally one is not aware of this, but by doing the practice of Chöd, inviting the spirits, they create violence and it makes you see the “I,” the object of ignorance, the object to be refuted – the truly existent “I” – clearly. They show the “I” to you very clearly and then you are able to recognize that it is false, an object of ignorance; you are able to use your reasoning, logical reasoning, that the “I” doesn’t exist because it is a dependant arising, or merely imputed. It is merely imputed relating to the aggregates, the base, etc. There are so many other reasonings you can use. You recognize the object to be refuted at that minute. That it is what doesn’t exist at all; it is totally non-existent.

This is similar to Chöd. When you are in an environment with the conditions of people who use harsh words, or who bring up your mistakes, this is so helpful.

[This is also true] in Iraq and those places where there are many killings and enemies. There are two sides attacking each other and the Americans are supporting one side. The other side is the enemy to the USA, so they are killing this outside enemy. But you see, here, our practice is killing the inner enemy. Those “outside enemies” are sentient beings, the most precious, most kind sentient beings, from whom one receives all past, present, and future happiness, liberation and enlightenment, everything: they are the most precious, most kind ones.

What we should practice is killing the inner enemy, the delusions, and the only way to do that is with dharma practice: to achieve liberation, to achieve ultimate happiness, everlasting happiness, cessation of all the sufferings and no more rebirth, old age, sickness and death, all the sufferings of each of the six realms.

So [we do this] not only to achieve liberation for oneself, but also to achieve enlightenment, great liberation, for the benefit of all sentient beings.

In the world, they are killing so many sentient beings, who are the most kind, most precious ones, the source of one’s own past, present, and future happiness, thinking the enemy is outside and killing them.

What we need to practice is killing the inner enemy – the delusions. We need to make war with the delusions and defeat them.

Chöd, “cutting through” is a symbolic, some say shamanic, practice from Vajrayana Buddhism. Its symbolism is meant to conquer mortal fear and to face the demons in one’s life square-on, cutting through one’s connection to them, to achieve liberation. So “ego” is cut. When identification with the finite mind-body complex is let go of, then the pure awareness is set free to perceive reality as it really is. The whole world becomes potent as a place of blessing power and awareness.

When Pa Dampa Sangye came to Tibet, he found the people in the county of Tingri, which is near Mt. Everest on the Tibetan side, to be especially amenable to his instruction. He therefore settled in Tingri and established a school of Yoga practice there. A young Tibetan woman named Machig Labdrön (1055-1153) was one of those who became his disciple. Machig and Pa Dampa Sangye are generally viewed as the founders of the Chöd system. However, it would appear that Chöd itself is a blending together of Pa Dampa Sangye’s teachings and Machig’s native inheritance. Fairly soon after her meeting with Pa Dampa Sangye, the Tibetan woman Machig Labdrön went to live in Central Tibet, where she took up residence in a lonely cave and set herself to practice meditation. Chöd is a subtle blend of the Buddhist path to enlightenment (as represented by the Mahamudra-master Dampa Sanggye) brought from India, and an ancient form of Shamanic ritual (introduced by Machig Labdrön) that was native to Tibet. It was the merging of these two streams which resulted in the actual emergence of Chöd as a practice used by yogins today, in their desire to gain Enlightenment by the shortest possible path. Machig herself said:

“My system of Chöd consists of the intrinsic teachings of Mahamudra. This Mahamudra cannot be explained in words. Yet, although it is beyond verbal expression, it may be indicated (by means of the symbolism of Chöd).”

Chöd is a spiritual practice conducted by the yogini (or yogi) alone in the wilderness, where she must learn to face every fear and every bit of ego-clinging within herself. Indeed, to accomplish this, she (or he) is instructed to deliberately go to places that inspire supernatural dread. Traditionally, once the yogini has found a wild and lonely spot, which is supposed to be a place that seems imbued with power or reportedly haunted by spirits, not to mention wild beasts, she sets up a tent. Erecting this tent is not a casual act—it is done ritually, and each of the four tent-pegs is driven into the ground, while mindful of the symbolic act of empowering the four directions: east, south, west and north, each having a specific color and meaning. As night falls, the yogini will begin to sing the ancient melodious chant, signifying the start of the meditation. She must face the spirits of nature, the “elementals,” and the ghosts of the dead, which the ritual evokes, and dominate them; or, failing that, be dominated in turn, which might mean becoming possessed, possibly leading to madness or even death. A good spirit is one which radiates love outwards from itself towards all others with whom it is connected. And the “higher” the type of spirit, the more it is intrinsically connected with all sentient beings. An evil spirit, on the other hand, is one which has become closed upon itself, isolated from the whole, and lives tightly turned inwards on its own neurosis. The tighter and darker becomes the suffering of that spirit, the more demonic its nature. But according to the Adepts of Chöd, nothing is permanent. A spirit lost for a time in one of the hideous “lower realms” of suffering, may always be healed (either through time itself, or by the intervention of the Chödpa) and gradually lifted up into the Light. Thus the work of the Chödpa, as of the saint who prays constantly for the welfare of others, is to transform spirits of darkness into angels of light.

The yogini in her tent calls the various spirits of the land to her. These she then must treat in different ways. The higher beneficial spirits, she may commune with for healing disease, and to do so she will establish a relationship of peace (Tib: zhi-wa, Skt: santika) between herself and those which come within the sphere of her influence. She may establish a similar relationship with the ghosts (preta) of the dead, but the more confused or troubled ghosts of the spirit world she must help to guide and, as it where, “raise their vibration” (Tib: rgyas-pa byed-pa, Skt: paustika) if she is to free them from their suffering. Tormented spirits, and elementals, have to be subdued (Tib: dbang-’dus, Skt: vasya) and directed. The really evil entities she must learn to dominate, exorcise (Tib: drag-shul, Skt: marana) and ultimately liberate. All of this the yogini (or yogi) accomplishes through the means of her Chöd-practice. To accomplish Chöd-practice it is a prerequisite that one develop an unconditional love for all. Such a love cannot be limited only to those we like, or approve of. Unconditional love means especially a love full of compassion for those who we least would want to be intimate with. For if we are going to heal others at all, we shall have to be intimate with them. We will have to share their pain, as also be able to empathically soothe and alleviate their confusion, their suffering, and their active negativity. Chusang Rimpoche made something of a joke of this. “The novice Chödpa,” he said, “is so eager to offer his very own body, to nourish and help the poor misguided evil spirits. But comes along just one mosquito, and then where is his love and compassion for all sentient beings?”

The practice of Chöd means that the yogini or yogi meditates in such a way as to become, stage by ever deepening stage, absorbed into the whole process of surrendering and offering one’s body and self. This selfless offering only really occurs when the practitioner is finally absorbed into trance (samadhi) through the use of the ritual, aided in particular by the steady beat of the drum and bell. The adept of Chöd, uttering a secret mantra, then leaves his body, mounting the sky in the aspect of the Secret Gnostic Dakini, and there, in the mind-made-body (manomayadeha) of the Dakini, Who is black as night itself, she severs the metaphysical mind-body complex so as to offer it to the communing spirits (lha-dre), good and bad. What is really given to the spirits to feast on, is the energy used to bind the Ego in the mind-body form. In devouring this, they become liberated, as does the Siddha herself. The “offering up of one’s body” in this fashion is done not in this world, but in the spirit dimension of virtual space. If done properly, it can effect healing, and many a Chödpa has been called in to arrest the course of a plague or epidemic. Chödpas have also been requested to make their offering-of-self on behalf of the dead. Thus, in Tibet, we frequently see Chödpas present on the occasion of a funeral.

What common folk think of as a demon is something very, very big, and colored deep black. Who ever sees one of these is truly terrified and trembles from head to foot,” said Machig Labdrön. “Nevertheless, no such demons really exist apart from the mind!”

The truth of the matter is this: Anything whatsoever that obstructs or limits the attainment of Liberation is a demon. Even our loving and affectionate relatives can become “demons” for us, if they are obstructing our spiritual evolution. Thus the greatest of all “demons” is actually the Demon of Ego, which is your own sense of a permanent, independent self, separate from all others. If you do not slay this clinging to a self, then good and bad spirits (lha-dre) will just keep lifting you up and letting you down.

Machig Labdron defined four types of psychological “demons” that must be exorcised by the practitioner of Chöd.

The first is what she called the Tangible Demon (thogs bcas bdud), which is the error of mistakenly grasping at the objects of sense-perception as if the world were an objective reality separate from consciousness. We have to come to experience the fact that all “outer” appearance takes place within Mind. As long as the neophyte has not realized the holographic and entirely subjective nature of existence, and continues to view phenomena as something other than Mind itself, then reality is a “tangible demon” which must be cut through.

The second of her “four demons” is called the Intangible Demon (thogs med bdud). This is not external, but rather, stands for the positive and negative thoughts, feelings and impulses, which are within ourselves. These reactions and emotions, such as pain, fear, jealousy, greed, dislike of others, and so forth, are an Intangible Demon that has to be slain. The adept who accomplishes overcoming this inner demon is described as fearless.

The third is the Demon of Manic-Inflation (dga’ brod bdud) or of “Exultation”, which can be born from acquiring occult powers or special blisses in the meditation experience. Manic-Inflation is a sense of power, a heightened sense of spiritual worth or supernatural ability. It is the presumption of spiritual superiority. In meditation it is common to be thrilled by the energy and feeling of magnified glory, by the divine grace flooding through all the cells of one’s being. There is nothing wrong with such bliss, but the adept has to become unattached to the experience.

The fourth demon described by Machig Labdrön is the Demon of Pride (snyem byed kyi bdud), the Demon of Ego itself. This latter, she said, is the root of all the other three, for ultimately the Demon which must be killed is our own self. As soon as one cuts off the Demon of Ego, all other demons are simultaneously conquered. Immediately the Demon of Ego is slain, the person becomes Enlightened at once.

Though Chöd may appear on the surface like a shamanic rite, the Yoga of Chöd follows the same process of mystical development as in other systems of Buddhism. Machik Labdrön herself explains this as follows:

“Once the yogini has recognized the non-existence of inner and outer phenomena, after the psychic energy (prana-vayu) has entered and started to rise up the central nervous system (avadhuti), then she will begin to experience extraordinary states of ecstasy and [eventually] the Clear Light itself. Knowledge of the three times, and clairvoyant perception of events near and far, will begin to emerge. Having attained the uncreate Clear Light, then the yogini will acquire an ability of mind to aid vast numbers of sentient beings everywhere… The instruction lineage that explains how to accomplish this is that called the Chöd of Mahamudra.”

To cut the ego off at the root, where it is rooted in the unconsciousness, and likewise to cut off the five root afflictions—greed, hatred, confusion, pride and avarice—is the real meaning of Chöd. For the yogini this means also to cut through hope and fear, all of which possesses and controls ordinary individuals just like good or evil spirits. To be free of that, is to be Liberated. This is the ultimate value of Chöd.