--- In [email protected], akasha_108 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Lama Ole Site > http://www.lama-ole-nydahl.org/olesite/pages/dway/dway_set.html > > > The most effective method, if one can do it, is the constant > identification with one's own Buddha nature, and the experience of > always being in a Pure Land, both of which are taught in the Diamond > Way. When the oneness of the seer, what is seen and the act of seeing > is unbroken, in and between the times of meditation, the goal, > Mahamudra is reached.
more excerpts: some particularly relevant to yogis and gurus What are "Liberation" and "Enlightenment"? In the process of becoming liberated, one first discovers that body, thoughts, and feelings are in a constant state of flux. There is therefore no basis for a real existing ego or 'self.' One stops feeling like a target, taking one's suffering personally. When one thinks, "there is suffering" instead of "I suffer," one becomes invulnerable and free. Enlightenment is the second and ultimate step. Here, the clear light of mind radiates through every experience. Past, present, and future, "here" or "there," all are expressions of mind's timeless richness. In enlightenment, mind naturally expresses fearlessness, joy, and compassion and remains effortless and spontaneous in whatever happens. What are the differences between Buddhist schools? The Buddha worked to benefit three kinds of people. Whoever wanted to avoid suffering received the instructions about cause and effect called Theravada or the "Small Way." Those who wanted to do more for others were given the Mahayana or the "Great Way," the teachings on wisdom and compassion. To people having strong confidence in their own Buddha nature, Buddha taught the Vajrayana or the "Diamond Way." Here, he manifested as forms of energy and light or directly transmitted his enlightened view as a flow of awareness. On this highest level the aim is the complete development of mind, the spontaneous effortlessness of Mahamudra. The basis, way, and goal of this highest view are transmitted under varying names by Tibet's three old Buddhist transmissions, the Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyu Schools. What can Buddhism offer to Westerners? The Karma Kagyu school offers practical teachings applicable to everyday life. It gives a wealth of methods for lay people and yogis to develop mind's inherent richness and clarity both through meditation and in one's daily activities. The roof of the self liberating Mahamudra is supported by three pillars which are: verifiable non-dogmatic teachings, meditation, and the means to solidify the levels of awareness which have been attained. The Diamond Way opens the most skillful methods of the Buddha to the modern world. It helps us discover and develop our inner richness for the benefit of all beings as well as ourselves. What is Buddhism? The Buddha gave methods by which full enlightenment may be attained. He made clear which teachings relate to ultimate or conditional truth. The Buddha showed his students in practical and understandable ways how to use all experiences in life as steps toward enlightenment, giving methods that lead to deep and lasting happiness. He encouraged his students to be skeptical, inviting them to thoroughly check for themselves, whether his teachings were dogmatic or truly liberating. Buddhist meditation methods can generate powerful inner change enabling experiences to be integrated directly towards enriching our lives. These skillful methods allow the levels of consciousness already reached through meditation to become anchored in a way that they are never again lost. The highest teaching known as Chag Chen or Dzogchen, as Mahamudra or Maha Ati, allows us to open to the experience of total non-separation between subject, object and action. The Vajrayana or Diamond Way Buddhism, however, could never be recreated from non-living sources. It is beyond the realm of linear thought patterns or conditioned 'rational' feelings. The more advanced the Buddha's teachings, the subtler and more total are the methods employed and the more essential becomes the total transmission of experience from a teacher. ---- There was also a third group of people whom the Buddha taught, the yogis. Living beyond conventions and holding the highest view of the purity of all phenomena, their function was to kick the chairs from under the pillars of societies when they became too dualistic, moralistic or dense. Being the holders of vision and constantly testing the boundaries of existence, they were supposed to constantly see everything as naturally fresh and full of potential. Experiencing the world as radiant and sparkling, there was always space for new solutions. ---- Inside the three levels of monk/ nun, layperson, and yogi the rules of the teacher were thus clear and on the village level, where most lived, people could see if they were adhered to or not. If the monks and nuns became proud, made politics, had sex or did not stay in their monasteries, they had lost it. If the layman's family strayed, or he brought friends into trouble through cheating or bad deals, he lost respect and a yogi who looked like a drowned cat and could neither inspire himself nor others was no yogi at all. People knew exactly what everybody had to do. In the closely knit traditional Buddhist societies, the cases of gurus leading their students astray are not frequent for the simple reason that everybody was busily checking everybody else's behavior. When Buddhism came to the West, however, it entered societies that are quick-moving, idealistic, open and free, and where people lack those checks. We just do not have rules for monks, lay people and yogis. People live far apart and nobody really examines what gurus do, at least in their inner circles. Everybody wants an emotional respite from having to be critical in politics and jobs and hardly anybody knows the boundaries of their teachers disciplines. Thus people with suggestive power, with words and organizations capable of catching the spirit of the time and evoking strong feelings, came into completely uncharted waters. Being from the East, nobody expected solidarity, democracy or other European values from them and in this way they entered a vacuum where for years they could do almost anything. ---- Thus, outwardly, the teacher should be relevant and unafraid. At the same time, he should keep a running check of himself and make sure that he is not developing egotism, strange behavior, false sweetness or pride. Frequent questions should be asked, "Am I thinking of the benefit my students may bring my organization or myself or am I thinking of their development? Am I making them dependent or teaching them to find their inborn strength?" While enjoying the potential richness of his or her students, a teacher should always be aware that they were born alone, experience unwanted situations in life, and will probably feel alone when they die. The thing to do right now is therefore to make them so self-reliant, independent and strong that they can handle any event coming up. ----- It is therefore not glorious to put one's students into power structures or dupe them with mannerisms from cultures they cannot evaluate or dress them in clothes which cut them off from the stream of society. Organizations are not there to make teachers famous but to give them the means for sharing their insights with many. As it is unavoidable that this position will surround one with both friends and groupies, who will protect one and present also one's possible weaknesses in the best light, the teacher has to check himself on the most daily of levels, "Do I still carry my own luggage? Am I still thankful? Am I talking straight to people or talking down to them? Do I see their Buddha-nature and uniqueness? Am I feeling more important than them?" This is vital, because pride easily sneaks in. It gets one from a corner one wouldn't expect and suddenly one has become luxurious, soft and scheming. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is always true. The teacher should develop and not get stuck with his present limits. Instead, he should keep aware of mind's space and identify with its total potential, with solutions and the ultimate goal. If one does that, there will be ever less mistakes. If one sweats oneself hard enough, there will be no doubt or second thoughts. There will not be any room for scheming, no idea of giving good teachings to donors and medium ones to less interesting people. It just won't happen. One will be naked and true, a real yogi. ---- This was the teachers' side. Now you will want to know what the students should do. The first condition is that they be willing to learn and work hard. This opens a space beyond ego and concepts, where many kinds of receptivity are set free and the transformative effect of the meeting depends on the confidence invested. Here it is essential that the students get involved in an intelligent, conscious way. Though it is difficult not to be swayed by one's wishes for quick perfection, still they should examine the teacher as well as they can. They must evaluate him and decide how he is, for example, if they would buy a used car from him. As they will surely absorb many of his qualities within the next years, they must first be critical. If they don't ask the necessary questions and the teacher is not solid, their development will surely be derailed, at least till they find a better one. Of course it is difficult to fully open up to another being, especially when he is in a position of strength. It always means losing some aspects of one's fairy land. One will have things taken away, thoughts that one cherishes and feelings and experiences that one wants to retain. Preconceived ideas must leave to create space for real insights, so the student has to be hard-nosed and unsentimental enough to put up with that. On one's way from the relative and conditioned to the absolute and lasting, one must be willing to let go of the most spiritual of ideas, the finest of concepts, the sweetest of feelings. One should make that sacrifice, however, and not let a unique opportunity slip by. Only lifetimes of gathering good impressions make evident that the experiencer is immensely more meaningful than any picture or piece of imagination it may manifest, and this conviction may easily be lost again. We thus have nothing more precious than that, and liberation and Enlightenment happen only when the students place their confidence in mind's essence, in the here and now. Faster than any complicated method, basic trust in a dependable teacher may bring forth that radiant consciousness which the student always has, and the rate of development depends on one's openness. If one sees the teacher as a Buddha, one receives a Buddha's blessing. If one sees him as a Bodhisattva, one gets a blessing of that magnitude, and if one should experience the Buddha as an ordinary being, one would probably get nothing but a headache! Behind the games of ego lies nothing but radiant wisdom and mind's joyful radiance will always be there. When such confidence has been installed, mind's veils will fall gradually and by themselves. ---- ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
