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List of Talks and WritingsWhat are the Cultural Implications and Authenticity of Celtic Buddhism? - Thom KiltsPainting the Path - Bill Burns
One Mind, Many Minds, No Mind - Seonaidh PerksMessage to all sentient beings - Peg JungeWhat are the Cultural Implications and Authenticity of Celtic Buddhism?by Thom Kilts (2008) I have one of those good friends that for some reason can provide great
comfort at time and great irritation at others. The particular friend
I am referring to is one that basically put my face right into the question
of the cultural implications of this whole Celtic Buddhism thing. You
have to understand that through many years before I became ordained
into this lineage I looked at it from afar with great amounts of skepticism
and misinformed judgment. So in that light you could say I was ripe
for a good push into the realm of insecurity with little effort. Each one of us has our own story as to why we feel connected to Celtic Buddhism and why we feel its important to do our part to further it along. As a lifetime practitioner of Buddhist teachings, I have spent a good portion in the study of texts and luckily in meditation practice. When I decided to not take the monastic path and pursue chaplaincy it was a long journey of self discovery and in that journey I hope I benefited many beings in their suffering. At some point in my journey what was given to me and taught to me was no longer enough. The wisdom teachings of the Buddha always prevailed but it was the limitation of culture that I felt was holding me back. In my day to day work as a chaplain and educator I felt that the lineage I was upholding was pushing me forward while the communities I was a part of made me feel as though I was participating in some sort of historical society exercise in the preservation of Tibetan culture. I never shun nor put down my fellow Sangha members that did this or continue to do this, but it wasn't right for me. For me the cultural elements of what we know to be Celtic culture seem to integrate into my own understanding of how the Buddhist teachings work in chaplaincy and in this modern world. It has asked me to challenge my own sense of self hatred as a westerner, as a Euro-American and made me realize that the continuation of the teachings of Buddha were not meant only for a select culture. I will admit there is something essentially silly about Celtic Buddhism but that silliness is no different than any other type of silliness out there (meaning in my view religion in general). As a chaplain I see the best and the worst of religion in practice. I have seen it devastate a family and I have seen it provide tremendous comfort and guidance during hopeless times. There is something profoundly prophetic in that Celtic Buddhism challenges us to own our own enlightenment as in my belief every Buddhist tradition should. It challenges us to see Buddhas everywhere and not only in golden statues atop massive Asian mountains. Celtic Buddhism asks us to think about how we integrate all the elements of our lives onto the path. I would hate for there to ever be a war in the name of Celtic Buddhism or a discourse on its supremacy to other forms of western styles of practicing Buddha's teachings. I think it should be taken seriously however and not be considered a joke or some new age attempt to "soften up" the teachings of Buddha either. I always tell my students that if their religion is not challenging them down deep into their core, then they should find something different. I think Celtic Buddhism should pose a challenge to us, not as a "new" tradition and lineage that needs to be defended but one that works to make us more open to inviting enlightened activity into the world. It is true like my story of being in the pub and being laughed at about the absurdity of Celtic Buddhism that we as Celtic Buddhists will have to take our share of ridicule and at times laughter. I urge you to remember that the Buddha was quite unpopular in his day and that anything prophetic is truly supposed to antagonize and confront accepted "norms." I have had to learn to laugh with those who think this whole thing is inauthentic and just another new age tinkering. I personally would never want to be a part of something that doesn't hold up to scrutiny at all times. For those of us moving ahead with the lineage of Celtic Buddhism, we will impact the "culture" that it will be and will become. While I sat there in the pub not only nursing my Guinness, but nursing my wounds of insecurity I was quickly reminded of the hospitality that was offered to me while spending time with Seonaidh. I remember feeling how much I wish I could be that generous, giving, inviting and open to serving others (and I'm a long time hospital chaplain!). In my time spent with Seonaidh, I was blessed to be served by him as if I were Trungpa himself or as if I was one of many Buddhas out there. I was treated to an immense sense of honesty, humor and ordinariness. When I was in that little cottage out in beautiful Donegal, I felt my spirit lifting and felt as though I could actually be part of something. I don't think in any other Buddhist arena had I experienced the immense importance of community over and above everything else. In Celtic culture there is pride in one's ability to provide others
with great hospitality. There is a desire to be more grounded in the
earth and really talk about these Buddhist teachings around a kitchen
table with a hot cup of tea and an openness to be skeptical, pissed
off or whatever. The core of Celtic culture is that everything is interlaced
and interconnected. This is not a teaching that one learns at a retreat
or reads in a book about shunyata but a cultural reality that has been
preserved for many centuries. Each of us will be drawn to a different
aspect of Buddha's teachings and Celtic culture and some things will
be of immense importance to some and not to others. There is nothing
wrong with questioning over and over again if this is authentic and
right, because that process in and of itself is the practice, is the
culture of Celtic Buddhism. The Celts as far as we know had an openness
to integration that is worthy of dzogchen. Many times in my view throughout
history, this openness was used against them, but what stayed true and
needed prevailed, because of the people. For some of us those people
are our literal ancestors and for others they are our spiritual ancestors. In one of my many restless nights where I envisioned myself being harassed
by the little folk, I asked myself for the thirtieth time what this
whole Celtic Buddhist thing was about. I had a vision of the Buddha
and was instantly reminded of one of the most important mudras in the
Buddhist world. When the Buddha achieved enlightenment, it is said that
he was challenged by Mara to prove it. Just like our friends out there
who laugh at us and say prove that this whole Celtic Buddhist gibberish
is authentic. The Buddha simply touched the earth and stated that the
earth was his witness. That mudra of the Buddha sitting in enlightenment
with his right hand touching the earth about sums up Celtic Buddhism
to me. The earth is the witness and the test of authenticity of practice,
faith and the power of any spiritual lineage. When studying Celtic Christianity
and asking some Celtic Christians what makes it Celtic, the responses
all come back as being related to the earth as a way to follow the teachings
of Christ in a more grounded way. It's quite beautiful to me really,
and don't worry those Celtic Christians get about as much flack if not
worse than us Celtic Buddhists. To me, the Buddha confirms the lineage
of Celtic Buddhism as a lineage rooted and interlaced with the earth.
Everything we do or say must bear witness to the earth and it will give
us the feedback we seem to want so bad about how authentic this whole
thing is. Tell that to your pub friend, give him another laugh maybe,
and be hospitable by buying him a pint, like I did with my friend. The
whole thing is hysterical when it comes down to it really. We can either
laugh like an asshole with cynicism or laugh like a yogi with the knowledge
of shunyata and the heart essence of Buddha wisdom. Your pub friend
won't know the difference but you will and that's all that truly matters
anyway. Do yourself a favor and don't take yourself too seriously, I
have tried it for many years and it is real bother and not worth much
time. The earth is my witness and carrying that forward is what I believe
is the essence of the cultural implications of Celtic Buddhism. I. Introduction
to Painting the Path "The path is like a busy, broad highway, complete with roadblocks, accidents, construction work and police." (The Myth of Freedom - Trungpa Rinpoche p.105) Celtic Buddhism is not just about being a Buddha in a kilt or finding a Buddha in a kilt, although we have a picture of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche decked out in Scottish military dress on our shrine table. And it's not just about going to some stone circle and blowing conches, beating drums, ringing bells and chanting incantations to elemental gods, local deities, environmental energies and invisible spirit beings, although we have occasion to do that. It is more about embracing the transparencies of our cultural attachments, to see the splendid richness in an exaggerated form. When Seonaidh first talked about the Crazy Heart Lineage of Celtic Buddhism he was discussing the activity of bowing to a large convex traffic mirror we had in the shrine room. He pointed out that we were bowing to the idea of unoriginated, unborn mind - unconditioned space that is beyond conceptual mind existing. "When the Lineage becomes an organization we should keep it open." The whole situation is kept very open so that it doesn't become a mishmash of superstition or spirituality. We continually explore the openness, which becomes the unconditioned mind. Seonaidh often repeated what his own teacher, Trungpa Rinpoche had said that "cultural attachments are the hardest thing to go through and give up." So why go into this? Seonaidh explained this in more detail: "You have to go into yourself so that you have some realization of the personal makeup of your acquired mandala. It is not a question of destroying things but a question of recognizing them or seeing them as they are. In this process we are not denying or chopping things off like our mothers and fathers. We are not attempting to disown their particular hang-ups or sufferings, neurosis or joy. But we are recognizing them for what they are and how we are a part of that and how that is a part of our existing mandala as it now exists for us as live human beings. So the combination of the open approach of Buddhism and the existing mandala of Celticism mixed together is Celtic Buddhism. It is just that the actual passion is there rather than someone having an ethnic connection or a dependency on your grandparent's heritage. It's your own particular passion and that is what we work with, is our passion. ...Crazy is more associated with curiosity- having the courage to be somewhat unconventional, impractical or illogical in our approach, a willingness to investigate even though it seems ridiculous." Making a leap into extraordinariness. The "Heart" aspect allows the experience of thinking through the heart. That is, allowing things to come into our particular mandala through the heart chakra and communicating from the heart. Having a quality of basic goodness, of giving out, radiating and receiving. It is this exaggerated culture or world condition that we feel exploits us that we in turn as practitioners begin to exploit for the purposes of self-liberation. The context that we seem embedded in with the entwined history and mythological, fantastic stories of heroes rising to the level of gods along with the whole parade of tribal raids, prophecies, institutions and oral traditional wisdom is personified through the arts and crafts of its participants. The defeated tribes in Ireland, who receded right into the fabric of the earth are still acknowledged and communicated with as the beauty and power playing and manifesting through the elements. How do we deal with the elements, with the natural world, the whole vision of that relationship of the collective leaning toward harmony and balance? How we are to accomplish and maintain this task still lingers in our ideals. All the disparate movements, group impulses, no matter how distorted and flavored with delusion, still arise from the same basic ground, as does wisdom. Call it the ground of being or the creative source or the undefinable, non-material plenum, it still moves in a fluid, ever-changing, phenomenal display that fashions our beingness, while providing the air and the passion that we thrive on. It is this breath traveling through the spirals and feeding an immense evolution of plurality, dimensions and multitudinous forms, too innumerable to fathom in one glance, that grants us our leave… It is this breath coursing untamed as subtle winds through the subtle channels that is the etheric field of our bodies that furnishes the home movie of our life story. A story line filled with a myriad of environments, conditions, mentally configured and imagined constellations of identities playing out in time and space. In this very instance we can remind ourselves to wake up and manifest as a Buddha. In doing so we are reminding others of their true, original nature. Our conventional mind perpetuates itself by nibbling incessantly on the fodder and scrabble dished up by our educational, media and gossip sources. We are free, but do not realize it, to step out of the reactive process and to be receptive to the wisdom of the whole field of the totality that is present in just this moment. The universal guru is none other than this. You are already the Buddha you are seeking. When you sit on your meditation cushion you are acknowledging that, allowing it to express itself. Your true nature expresses itself, is made known as it is, as self-cognizing wisdom or insight. This is what is being realized. This is what the teacher always reminds you. In Buddhist texts, the perceiver or sense of self may be discussed as an expression of the emptiness aspect of space without definition. The phenomenal world of objects, forms, thoughts and emotions may be discussed as the reflections that appear as expressions of the luminous aspect called clarity. This then is the duality that fuels the further action and reaction of samsaric cyclic existence. The composites or separate aggregates of this relationship that are experienced as identities within their environments and are accompanied by ongoing attitudes, preferences, concepts and interpretations, are not in any way separate from the ground from which they so spontaneously arise. But they are transparent, when seen from the view. The realization of seeing each aggregate as a distinct phenomena and viewed within the context of the arising of a whole unique and integrated moment, seen in relation to the ground of basic space as such, is the development of what Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche called "sacred outlook". Samsaric life is reinforced by repetition and familiarity while basic space is apprehended as lacking any inherent properties that the mind could hold onto or grasp. Thus the enlightened state of awakened mind is seen as something of a threat with no specific outline of characteristics. And from those who are seeking some kind of enlightenment or spiritual awakening this space is projected by the mind as an object, in the hope of grasping it. For the samsaric mind there will never be enough good food, wealth, power, sex, or recognition for personal accomplishment. The methods of meditation which are the devices of liberation are only
effective in a setting where the practitioner maintains an attitude
of continued mindfulness and exertion. In other words, one may lose
the initial realization of the view if it has not become familiar in
the mind stream. When everything is seen as outside the mind as separate
and real, it is easy to get distracted. Our attention gets caught up
in attachments of varioussorts and we lose awareness. The whole is displaced
by the particular. This has always been a consideration in perennial
philosophy. Intellectually, it is difficult to sort out. In Buddhist
practice these dualities have always been taken into consideration and
the many methods that were proposed by the Buddha in the form of sutra
and tantra Today in the Western world we have many excellent and favorable conditions which have evolved in our society which promote the exploration of the spiritual dimension in our lives, and which afford the opportunity to practice meditation. We have a fair chance of being in reasonably good health, with more than an adequate abundance of food, clothing, and living spaces. We have the civil freedoms, educational background and leisure to develop a spiritual path. We have the ability and the capacity to understand subtle metaphysical explanations as well as sophisticated scientific theories like quantum physics. We are well suited to follow the yogic paths from the standpoint of positive karma or merit and to the trends in the present time of a renewed focus on the spiritual to uplift our lives. II. Painting the Celtic Buddha"When are you going to start painting the Celtic
Buddha?" John would ask me from time to time. We had finished printing the prayer flags a few months earlier and there were a few flapping in John's backyard and at our home in Vermont. We were going to attract drala energy and magnetize the environs. John suggested designing the Celtic prayer flags depicting the five buddha families by using celtic iconography. We decided to use different animals to represent the qualities: Heron-Vajra family, Whale-Buddha family, Bear-Ratna family, Wolf-Padma family, and Bee-Karma family. John added some Buddhist phrases and my wife, Peg, arranged them into a format and after printing them on fabric she sewed them and thus we had Celtic Buddhist prayer flags. When John repeated the question of doing a painting of the Celtic Buddha, I would just smile and shrug my shoulders. But the question became more persistent and I believe I had agreed to do a sketch. We had access to books outlining the techniques for painting Tibetan thangkas and we also had books on drawing and constructing the Celtic knots and spiral work that were illuminated in the Book of Kells. While visiting my late mother and sister in Virginia for a week in October 2002 I had the time to make a rough sketch. Using colored pencils, I blocked out the designs and drew in the Buddha sitting on a lotus in the center (Illus. 1). When I returned to Vermont, I eventually decided on a size (?) and bought some canvas and stretchers. The canvas is first stretched, and prepared with a few coats of gesso and finally sanded smooth. Too much texture from the canvas weave will make it more difficult to draw in the fine details of some the designs, Buddhas and deities. In sketching the design on the canvas, regular soft, lead pencils were used. I found it best to use a pencil type that was easy to erase, because after the inking stage, and before the painting stage, all the pencil lines are erased. There was a great deal of erasing and redrawing, especially with the knotwork. This segment of the project took about 7 weeks. Many of the areas were measured and worked out and drawn on paper, then they were traced onto transfer paper and finally were again traced and drawn on the canvas. The transfer paper is taped on the canvas to prevent any movement while tracing. The figure of the Buddha was drawn in accordance with the proportions used in traditional thangka paintings. The Tibetan artists have their own measuring sticks and units for drawing their grids and I merely determined units in terms of my own rulers to match theirs. I studied the various thangkas in books and on the Internet to determine some style elements, techniques and materials. In addition, I researched the Book of Kells which was the combined work of the Irish Christian monks in the late 800 AD and the background from which it was created. I remain fascinated and in awe of the skillful and ingenious Celtic artisans and monks who were masters of the spiral, lace and key patterns with their bold arrangements of elemental design. And I was inspired by the playful use of colors and light-hearted flair that demonstrated their relationship or view of the spiritual dimension. This led into many other forays with Celtic mythology and history as well as the designs used by artists and craftsmen. In selecting the designs I believe some were done out of curiosity to see if I could execute them and some were selected because they seemed to fit into the aesthetic scheme that was developing. Also, my teacher, John, would suggest some figure or personage as for instance, his teacher, Trungpa Rinpoche. Cernunnos and the Flower-faced goddess were also discussed as possibilities.
I cannot recall at what stage I began doing mantras while I worked. Mantras may be used as a spontaneous device to magnetize the whole situation and thus bringing the mind to focus. I sometimes listened to puja tapes where the mantras would be in the background. At times the mantras were distracting and I just found being quiet a better way to work. I believe there was much trepidation in the beginning of the ink drawing phase. I was aware that I couldn't make any mistakes. There are many junctures in the process where anxiety or concerns may arise and one has to have the courage to begin and the courage to go to the next step. We have to remind ourselves that we have nothing to lose. If we listen to the mundane mind of everyday concerns we would never undertake and finish such a project. After a while, I began to relax and just allow the drawing process to continue. It was this allowing of the process to continue that brought the painting to life. The different colored inks were not only taken up and used spontaneously but there was also the thinking about where they would go, as well as deciding in the Art Supply Store which colors were suitable. As it turned out the colored outlines that were inked in determined the colors that were used in the painting phase. This was a rather interesting outcome and this process of outlining was an important step. I had never attempted a painting in this style before. Drawing had
not been my forte and I tended toward abstraction and textured surfaces,
often layering on paints with metal tools, which are used to apply plaster
to walls. The drawing and intricate details were a challenge and required
much laboring on my part. But for many years I had been involved in
and working with the underlying intention to awaken awareness in others
through visual art, music, sculpture, theatre, and the environment by
creating sacred space architecturally and through the arrangement of
stone circle energy, as well. I had touched upon all these areas and
I was familiar with the outcomes of these explorations and thangka painting
is in this same field of exploration. It evokes this same intention. With the feminine image of the flower-faced goddess, I used an interesting photo of a woman as inspiration for the sketch and therefore the sketch had little resemblance to the photo. I did some research into the mythological background of this archetype and her ability to shape-shift into an owl. One of the interesting features was the connection to healing in Europe and the nine plants with their sacred flowers or blossoms. Numerically, there is a relationship to wholeness and completeness and these plants were called the Epiphanies for their healing qualities. And there are other female archetypes that are accompanied by owls, like Athena. There is a very earth connected feel to this deity, much a counterpart of the green man with leaves and vegetation growing out of the faces - a blend of plant world and the human domain. And also this deity came to represent well-being to me. It points to the deva evolution of looking after the plant world that eventually we relate to as health giving or health supporting. She vivifies the budding plants and trees when they are manifesting blossoms and fruit. When we consider the properties of plants and essences made from plants, both as food and medicine as well as the relationship to our senses, this connection and interdependence is often not acknowledged. But it is a factor in our well-being and in our collective evolution. The other theme that was developing was connected to the tree of life. This element is common to both the Tibetan iconography and the Celts. In the case of the painting, the vase from which the tree or vine grows is a cauldron/chalice shape. The tree serves both the purposes of life giving and the connection underlying everything. There is the hint here of "Buddha nature", the underlying reality present in all phenomena. As Gyalwa Jampa Rinpoche has said, "The very force of matter evolving, geometrically, into life is Buddha nature." It also serves the purpose of acknowledging the spark of the divine life force or the creative love aspect that is inherent in the smallest atom (Anu) as well as the human dimension. So the vine grows and it spirals and it has the potential to become anything. It encircles, upholds and touches and enlivens everything. It evolves or emerges from the ground from which all things proceed. In this movement there is an elemental influence, the geometric forces, the forces of sound and color, in other words, the elements. And in the painting there is a hierarchical depiction to acknowledge the unconscious realm, the atomic realm, and the mineral, vegetable, animal, human, buddhaic and deity realms. The Buddha and other realized yogis have related stories of having gone through various incarnations of these realms repeatedly. Also, in the painting, there is the feminine side and the masculine and the interplay of the colors to depict or denote this. In the case of the two figures holding hands with their legs entwined there is a reference to the tantric idea that we are both male and female in nature. Thus they are seen as equal in status and a reminder of the union of bliss and emptiness, wisdom and compassion. There is also the presence of the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space. Through these symbols there is the relationship to the five senses and the five Buddha families. Some of the figures and patterns I modified from the Book of Kells with the help of George Bain's book and some I merely designed as originals. The basic format that is most notably present in the Celtic Buddha painting is the folio: 28v, Portrait of St. Matthew. The Flower-faced goddess, often referred to as Blodwedd in Welsh mythology, was the first to be drawn. It was this feminine influence as starting point and inspiration. Also, both the male and female archetypes, as well as other figures and deities, provided motivation and courage to move forward with the project. Since Trungpa Rinpoche instructed my teacher, John, to develop a Celtic lineage, there is a tribute to his teaching and his relationship to the tiger, lion, garuda and dragon qualities known as the four dignities. These will be found in the thangka and they represent 'meekness', 'perkiness', 'outrageousness' and 'inscrutability'. Trungpa Rinpoche is wearing Scottish military dress, which he actually wore on occasions and it is an example of the Nirmanakaya aspect of the teacher. Trungpa holds a fan with a dot that represents the unconditional dot in space-the dot of basic, primordial goodness or purity, the origin of everything. I happened to take refuge vows from Trungpa Rinpoche in 1974 and this thangka represents an extension of that relationship as well. Our teacher, John, is on the opposite side dressed in robes. He is holding a bow and appears in his hunter or archer aspect. The large double or crossed Vajra resembling a Celtic cross is the Crazy Heart lineage logo. It is encircled by an orange color, which is the same as the Garuda's wings. Vajrayogini, a feminine Budda and a yidam of Tantric practices, is depicted in the circle beside John. In my research I noted that gouache would be a good medium for the
painting. The pigments used in gouache have a luster and brilliance
of color. The drawbacks of using this medium are that it dries fast
and it is not water permanent. Therefore, I experimented with gouache
mixed with acrylic medium and acrylics mixed with different mediums
to achieve transparencies with the colors. I decided that the way to
go for the particular canvas fabric I was using was to apply a new gouache-acrylic
product, which could be mixed with straight acrylic colors. I found
this to be adequate and later in the process I added a retardant to
the paints, which allowed me to take my time. One of the frustrations
of paints drying fast is the challenge to reproduce the same value of
color when a new batch is mixed. On some areas I favored just the straight
acrylic paints. I used a lot of gold mixed in with the colors. Some
of the gold pigments had a glossier finish and some a matte finish.
When the paints were first applied there was a wonderful brilliance
for about ten to twenty minutes, then there would be a gradual fading
of the color. Every new color that was applied would change the balance
of the whole painting and I would often look for other areas to apply
the color once it had been mixed. But one should avoid applying mixed
paint to a canvas in an arbitrary way so as not to waste it. It is not
a good habit, and doesn't serve the project. In terms of redoing a color
or area that did not seem to fit or work, I believe I only repainted
an area on two or three occasions. This condition, of course, had something
to do with trying to mix a color to match one used elsewhere and finding
once it had dried to be slightly the wrong value. This occurred with
a particular yellow. It is interesting to note that when the time came
to paint the Buddha's skin I became overly concerned with getting it
right, and of course, I got it wrong. This sort of apprehension about
it and the way I applied the paint proved to be the only point where
I felt the need to panic. I did some adjustment of the color, but this
did not seem to improve things. There was also the concern of whether
to shade the features to emphasize the form, but that would have been
inconsistent with the rest of the painting. Also, I was beginning to
lose the clarity of the line drawing. I consulted a friend who is a
master portrait painter. I brought the painting into one of her classes
and we discussed what might be done. There was a lot of support from
her and members of her class. I went home and later applied some new
colors to the Buddha and decided to leave it alone. The Buddha didn't
seem to be too concerned by the whole affair. Which brings me to various
ways of deciding matters concerning the whole process of the artwork,
which I find amusing and somewhat shy to disclose. You may ask the Buddha,
or any given deity that you are painting, what he or she would like
to wear or include as silks, garments, ornaments, jewelry, hair styles,
color co-ordinations, etc. Why? Well, why not! It's pertinent to the
process. Another level of that transformative process was the relationship that came out of the identification with the feminine archetype in the painting that we call the Flower-faced goddess. In our sangha we had been discussing and also working with archetypal Celtic deities in our deity yoga practice. When I began to explore the relationship of emptiness to Shila-na-gig, Vajrayogini, and the Lion-headed dakini and other feminine archtypes, there developed a series of visualizations that eventually turned up an owl-headed dakini. I later discovered that this dakini is actually a tramen or a guardian/gate keeper of one the directions in the Vajrayogini mandala. It occurred to me that this embodiment was related to the Flower-faced goddess who shape-shifts into an owl. Cailleach is also associated with the owl-faced goddess. I had been somewhat exploring the wrathful or semi-wrathful aspect of the feminine archetype as a vehicle for transcending the idea of self or the tendency of self-grasping. Thus, the emergence of deity or dakini is consistent with or in resonance with the mind of the practitioner, arising, as it were, out of space. This space or emptiness, termed the dharmata, allows a form that may transmit wisdom to express itself. This form may be visualized or seen as male or female or it may be some other symbolic form or appearance, perhaps idealized or horrendous depending upon the conditions in the mind of the meditator. In many instances, painting the thangkas helped with visualizing the deities in detail. In essence the painting is a crystallized visualization of a mandalic realm. This is why thangkas can be used as supports for meditation. Also, it is my belief that the thangka transmits the teaching of the particular kaya or yana directly, if one knows how to look. This may at least be true for the one who painted it. As with most art, we the viewers look at pictures and paintings through a filter of preference, likes and dislikes, thus making it difficult to see what's there. The thangka may transmit the energy of a particular level of realization - which is represented in the deity - along with the qualities, as well as transcendent insights, directly to the mind. One may indeed realize non-duality while looking at a particular thangka, in the same way one may realize the view while listening to the teacher's oral instructions or during an empowerment. It is the great blessing that the teacher shares with his or her students that flows through lineage, that keeps alive the vibrancy of the Buddha's original teachings of Sutra and Tantra. The outcome of this exploration was the appearance of the Owl-goddess who proceeded to give a teaching based on the practice of offering the body. This teaching contained elements related to traditional Tibetan Chöd. The practice helps the student in the realization of the identitylessness of self, and identitylessness of other, beyond hope and fear. This is prajnaparamita. As in many sadhanas there are phases where one remains in the view of formless meditation. Also, the unique character of the environment had some semblance of a Celtic nature since there was a cauldron in the visualization. The resulting text was somewhat simplified and presented in English along with some mantras. This process was written up as a sadhana and I then practiced it about once a week for a year. During that period it was presented to some members of our sangha. I found the practice to be efficacious and dynamic. Signing the thangka with your name in the corner of the canvas will probably imperil the process, so it's not recommended. The painting practice is in the nature of an offering. Like doing one big, long prostration while holding in one's outstretched arms a golden chalice that contains the whole universe. When the painting is near completion, mantras are drawn or painted on the back of the canvas in their appropriate places. Then a ceremony of consecration is performed to bless the painting, and finally the eyes of the main deity are painted in. III. Why Celtic Buddhism?In one's life, there may appear an instance of "auspicious coincidence" which you regard as important or valid to your particular journey. I had in the years 1965-1969 worked as a teacher/house parent at a private residential school in the Adirondack Mountains, and as a counselor at a summer camp, which were co-directed and founded by John Perks. We worked with children with emotional difficulties and learning problems. Later on, more of our resident students were teenagers with delinquency backgrounds. I enjoyed my years with John, participating in many of his zany shenanigans and mock battles and mountain climbing expeditions with students and staff. And I learned a great deal in the many group meetings that would morph into therapy sessions. John was fond of pageantry and he was always imaginatively creating some activity to bring some rollicking fun into the moment. (In this he has not changed and I suppose it is one the reasons I have walked along with him in this venture of Celtic Buddhism). I saw John on and off during the 70's and by that time John was Trungpa Rinpoche's student and later became his valet or attendant. I went off and started a family and bought a farm, so there was a period of over twenty years when I did not know the whereabouts of John. My family and I moved to Vermont in 1997 after years of living in the Finger Lakes region of New York. I was quite surprised in 1999 to discover that John was living just five miles north of our house on the same road! I had seen a flier mentioning a teaching on "Celtic Buddhism" and the name of a teacher, Seonaidh Perks. It was the first time I'd seen the name Seonaidh. I was pretty sure who the character might be. When we first met together for lunch and traded life stories, as I recall, I said to John, perhaps we could get together and sit. Thus I began attending John's talks along with my wife, Peg, and we both became John's students and Celtic Buddhists by default, I must presume. I had no prior interest in Celtic lore. I liked Celtic music and had been to Scotland in 1995 to attend my niece's wedding, but had only a passing familiarity with the mythology or historic development of the culture. Shortly thereafter, I accompanied John to Ireland, where he had been invited to teach in Dublin. We had an enjoyable trip, meeting Buddhist students and socializing in the pubs. It was my first acquaintance with Ireland, one where I experienced a visit to Uisneach, an ancient royal seat in Meath referred to as "the eye of Ireland", and to Glendolough, the location of the monastic center founded by St. Kevin, a hermit mystic of the 4th century AD. I had some powerful experiences in both places. The impulse was present to tune into the land and its energy, to be in resonance with all that took place there. There was a mutual radiatory healing taking place and a recapitulation of former teachings and realizations. The dakini level presented itself, in the people whom we met, along with the different sacred circles and stones, in the lakes and ponds, in the herds of cows and the dogs. Because of our Buddha nature, our relationship to the phenomenal world and our actual union with the source of these energies, we all have the innate ability to bestow our blessings on everything in our life situations. This seems to be spontaneous. Since the late sixties I had been naturally drawn to power centers and sacred sites. I discovered along the way that I could feel and locate precisely where conduits of energy were coursing. These are often referred to as ley lines or the Earth's chi, along with their nodal points or portals where the different dimensions of reality may intersect. It is held that the sacred sites correspond to the acupuncture points of the earth and the land. At these vortices of telluric energy there is the opportunity to bask and be healed by this force. And the ancients, we especially find in Ireland and all around the world from at least the past 4,000 years or so, knew and experienced and valued the properties of these places. It may be said that in some cases the site held these energies like a natural wellspring and in other cases for ritual purposes those sites were created and became magnetized by their ritual significance. But both of these alternatives were exploited by the mound builders, the pre-Celts and later, the Celts and Christian Church, in directing, focusing and utilizing the telluric forces that streamed into these areas. They became places with the potential to shift consciousness into another register. It was also during this trip to Ireland that John presented publicly for the first time a sadhana he had written employing Celtic and traditional Indo-Tibetan deities. This was our first introduction to the Celtic mandala and to a more sophisticated visualization practice. In practicing the sadhana, I found it to be a dynamic venture into the involvement with archetypes and their utilization in transforming psychological energies. When John presented this material in Ireland those who had some familiarity with Buddhist doctrine and practice were generally unsettled by this material and more resistant to embracing this form. Some people in the United Kingdom and Ireland are more protective of and sensitive to the Celtic heritage, as would be supposed, and many more are eager to transcend and abandon this heritage, which is also understandable from some point of view. Already, when one hears the term Celtic Buddhism, one wonders, "How will I fit into this paradigm?" Moreover, "how will I apply it in life?" Which leads us to the task of conveying some quality, from our perspective, of this dilemma, being that one need not fit oneself into any paradigm at all and one need not wrap some neat and proper paradigm around Celtic Buddhism. Some people laugh when you mention the term to them as if there is a joke planted there. Actually, we find that those who feel an affinity with things Celtic and those who feel an affinity with some aspect of Buddhist philosophy and meditative practice may be drawn to investigate Celtic Buddhism. But there are many who cannot bring themselves to mix these streams for concern that one will distort or dilute the other. There is a fear of blending. Bodhidharma didn't go directly to Japan and start Zen Buddhism. He was originally from India, under another name, and he was sort of vacationing at the Shou-Lin monastery in China, where he decided to sit down and meditate in front of a wall for a decade or so. Then from that action, the Dharma was enlivened, and it engendered realization and inspiration in others. We thus have the beginnings of the Chan or Zen teachings. Some of our heritage is in fact Celtic, genetically, biologically, but only partially. We are not trying to make a case for our family geneology. It is that our Western culture and collective consciousness derives some structure from the Indo-European influences, of which some are definitely Celtic. Whether some item with a Celtic flavor is found in mythology, children's stories, songs, dance, food, plaid shirts and scarves, or in a leaning toward a belief in fairies, leprechaun fetishes, one finds some affiliation or connection with one's ancestral past. We are impressed by the sacred art and knot-work of the monks of ancient Iona and by the miraculous tales of the Irish saints. The popularity and appeal of the stories of King Arthur, Merlin and the like, who undertake fantastic quests and challenges resonate with us. We are still mystified by the history of the powerful druids and the fabled Tuatha de Danaan. All of these threads, along with the whole pantheon of gods and goddesses of Europe and the British Isles, some of whom may have Sanskrit or Sumerian origins, are attributed to some Celtic affinity. We may honestly say that none are exclusively Celtic, but they ride on the long and sweeping dragon's tail of what has been known in the coursing development of "Celtic". We are told that the Celts favored a view close to a nature mysticism that sees God or some sacred essence in nature. Still, here we are in the 21st century, all fishing for the salmon of knowledge, either sticking our hands into the swirling waters and hoping to come up with "the fish" or casting about in the still pools and estuaries waiting for a bite. A wonderful vision to imagine is catching a wonderful vision. Celtic Buddhism is an intermingling of the open-heartedness of Buddhism and the open-endedness of the spiritual quest with the integration of living the mythic journey. There is a possibility of encountering the goddesses that we imagine as external forces. In Buddhism, these things are no longer separate, they are actual contrivances employed in the transformation of psycho-spiritual energies. I don't ask that anybody join or suddenly jump on the bandwagon as a new movement. It is, for me, a continuation of my earlier philosophical studies, esoteric practices and contacts with yogis, theosophists, J.Krishnamurti, and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. I can not stress enough, as other teachers have done in various lineages, the need for a teacher who points out the view and also cautions one in a sometime painful way of misusing the teachings. It is most important that we find some teachings that resonate with our own spiritual temperament. One should look for a teacher who empowers his or her students to explore further, and at the same time to keep it humorous, light, and free of too much self-importance. I've been fortunate to find such a teacher in Venerable Seonaidh. (In Ireland, John's students call him, Seonaidh, almost rhymes with Johnny). The title of Venerable is used out of respect. We respect John as our teacher, and as such he is someone to be venerated. We value the ceremonies we've shared with him, as well all the meals we've shared that he has cooked for us, and the many glasses of wine we've toasted to our mutual well being. John's approach to ceremony has always been creative, spontaneous and respectful of all the energies participating in the situation. John's teachings emphasize and revolve around the essence of Prajnaparamita; he's always teaching the view, properly and traditionally. Also, we have many practices that are unique to the Celtic Buddhist lineage. John has been very careful in the timing of his teachings and at the same time, very generous. As someone whom I entrust to call my teacher, I have found John to be bold, yet also extremely careful in the way he transmits the Dharma. And he has not allowed his students to worship him as someone on a higher plane. He walks next to them as a spiritual friend and at the same time, a few steps ahead to entice them to go further. In his inspiration or suggestions over the years he has been peerless in his role as pointing the way, suggesting that I paint the Celtic Buddha. Out of that came the Mandala, then Vajradhara and finally Vajrayogini. John had the courage to establish a new lineage, and John's aspiration is to serve, to help mankind awaken. He's more patient than I am in this endeavor and responsibility, and he continues to be creative and open in his approach to interested students and in the way the teachings evolve. John has a natural gift for encouraging one to take one's experiences as the path. This integration is unique and not formulaic. Again, it's John's natural gift and insight. It is even a bit of luck for a teacher to find even one worthy vessel to pour the teaching into. We hope Venerable Perks is fortunate to find many students who will benefit supremely from his compassionate energy. Many meditative minds have the capacity to be imitative, but few have developed insight or intuition. It is not that such individuals lack diligence or devotion, but perhaps spontaneity and the willingness to be unknowing: to be without certainty. Such people rely on knowledge and demonstrate their knowledge of the practice but not the realization. They become experts and gather round them many bedazzled students, but it is no guarantee that these students will receive any genuine transmission. A true teacher transmits wisdom from the wisdom mind. It is therefore enlightening and unattached to any outcome. It holds the seeds of true liberation, which may or may not be recognized by another. In most cases, it is not felt or detected and the teacher is treated as ordinary. This scenario has repeated itself throughout the development of lineage in the wisdom traditions. Those who rise up in the ranks of organizations often become dogmatic and become rule makers and enforcers. Occasionally, one of their ranks will experience genuine, authentic realization and may pass it on to one or several students. This case has been more rare than common. We often find some authentic, independent teachers being discredited by those who consider themselves to be the organizational knowledge holders. They make proclamations and deem that another teacher has no abilities to transmit the Dharma. They do this by some manner of authority, which they extend to themselves and that other people take to heart. They make those who might have a heart connection to the authentic teacher feel frightened or condemned. Excommunicated comes to mind. It is only natural to feel that the teachings will be corrupted and distorted, and one can understand the inclination to be protective of the teachings. When all has been said and argued, one has to consider it good fortune to fine a genuine teacher in this world of confusion and misconception. We have and always will be manifesting our most heartfelt aspirations, the ones we repeat to ourselves automatically. Our commitments to what we want to manifest and realize become refined over time. That seems to be part of the journey aspect. The objectives and focus that we may foster on behalf of our heart's desire is tied to the way our passion moves and operates in the world. With the presence and blessing of the Teacher there is a sense of lineage with the Buddhas, enlightened beings in an unboken lineage back to the historical Buddha and with the league of awakened ones who compassionately aid mankind and those who seek liberation from the cycle of samsara. These spiritual allies include the Bodhisattvas, who endeavor to practice and teach for the purpose of benefiting others. In the path of the Bodhisattvas there is the renewal of aspiration from lifetime to lifetime, and the recapitulation of abilities, merits and realizations that have accumulated as part of the journey. The influence of the teacher, as antagonist, as encourager, guide, one who suggests what to address as a path, is important because this person has walked on the path and has an accessibility to and familiarity with its features. When people work on themselves, they may address their emotions, life interests, habits, at an intensifying and ridiculous level. Side by side, this investigation includes the mundane flatness, dullness, or solidity of everyday situations, which we often find unbearably heavy and monotonous. We may remind ourselves that the blessing of the teacher is foremost in all of this. The transmission or empowerment from the teacher brings one around to a state of meditation. This crossing over may happen in intimate or casual everyday relationships or in more formal ceremonial settings, as well as during practice. The notion of incarnation may be believed or not believed. Some repository of consciousness, the seed instincts of the skandha process, transmigrates and then ripens under the right conditions. The potency of these seed instincts is underestimated, (tiny specks, the residue of unlimited mind, expand into mandalas of world situations). These karmic accumulations increase and as seeds, given the right conditions, mature and create life experiences. And more importantly, so does the merit derived from good works and good intentions, meditation, service to others, and the representation of our virtue. Also, out of this is produced the situations where we meet teachers, hear the dharma, have enough leisure to meditate, have good health, education, etc. The propensity of past merit flowers or is triggered when one reads a line in a book, watches a movie, or sees a teacher, icon, enters a sacred site, power center, stone circle, pyramid, mound tomb, monastery, or perhaps just by meditating. One begins to recapitulate the initiations and teachings that have been the stepping stones of one's spiritual path and unfoldment. When this begins to occur, it follows that various influences come into play and one's life may be shifted. Virtue opens up and common sense manifests. If one had spent time in a former life meditating in a cave, one may have an urge to do so. One may feel impulsed to venture into new territory, like go to a different section in a bookstore and buy an occult book, or one on mysticism. Common sense allows one to step through the bars of one's personal and collective self-imposed imprisonment and limitations and to see how to change life. One could just put down his rifle and walk away from the battle; one sees the absurdity and suddenly the stupidity of the actions of men in the world. This is dangerous ground; it is innocent ground, with the implication of a world shattering action, greater than any missile launched in the name of peace keeping. Inherent in the recapitulation process one may find latent stories, initiations, undertakings, vows and heroic adventures, which have been moving humanity to create an environment where Buddhas may be born. That is to say, when a being takes form here on Earth, that being is a Buddha. He or she doesn't have to seek out a path to attain this, one is a Buddha to begin with and thus dwells in this sphere in some form which is experienced by another Buddha. This created environment in this dimension which may sound like an ideal, however, it is as actual as any other ongoing reality we may be experiencing. In talking about recapitulation, we are reminded of the notion that when we go to certain places around the world -the Hill of Tara, Maeve's Cairn, Lough Crew, Glendolough (St. Kevin's monastery), Iona (St. Columba's monastery). Jerusalem, Bodh Gaya, caves in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet - we recapitulate certain teachings and initiations that took place there. That's basically what the Tulku does when he or she is discovered as a little kid living among nomadic people in the high plateaus. The child is brought to the monastery, he recapitulates, he has his belongings there, amongst them various ritual things he liked and used. He recapitulates merit - his ability to heal, to transmit Dharma to awaken others. So everybody has that. When we go to the pyramids, or Delphi in Greece, to Stonehenge, a Kiva in the southwest - we reinstitute, we reignite the blessings and realizations of another time. This occurs when we read a text or practice a sadhana. In the case of Tusim Khyenpa, the first Karmapa and first recognized tulku, it is said it took him a short time to realize the attainments of Naropa's twelve years with Tilopa. We already have the ability to heal oneself and others. These abilities are triggered by meeting someone, going to a particular place, meditating in a holy cave, reading an idea in a book or intuit in meditation. Virtue begins to express itself and old habits of body and mind fall away. We renew the wish to help others, to heal others, to create an atmosphere in which everyone on the planet, all beings everywhere for that matter, begin to share in the awakened state. The karmic accumulations in the system experienced as afflictive emotional states obscure the natural radiance of mind as the source of compassion. These are not permanent or unchangeable. The psychic imprints of these karmic instincts can be dissolved and liberated. This is certainly possible, and the imprints may accurately be called illusion. In meditation practice, one develops the insight that brings about the transformation of all the processes of Consciousness and makes clear the underlying mechanism of karma-creating activity. When this process is seen clearly, one is relieved of the continual self-imprisonment by self-delusion. The particular is still regarded as precious but it seen from a more spacious and unfettered state. Liberation does not happen according to what the mind knows or has read about liberation, so hitch your wagon to shunyata. If we are lucky, from lifetime to lifetime we are reminded of our aspiration. When we wish for all beings to be awakened completely, to realize their Buddha nature, we are creating an environment where all beings may be born as Buddhas. If you want to include war and pestilence in your aspiration, then so be it, but who or what is making this assessment? Some minds look at Celtic Buddhism and feel there's a need to fit two disparate systems into a neat interlocking whole. However, consciousness is already a moving continuum- a whole. This larger sphere of knowingness accommodates many collective and individual changing states of consciousness. Celtic Buddhism is just one of these movements that acknowledges and reminds beings of the wholeness aspect or the complete openness aspect. Many people are just interested in finding an historic link between Celtism and Buddhism. Although one may find information to derive and establish such a conclusion, for me, this is not the crux of the attraction to the path. Those who are only fascinated with historical validations will probably not be inclined to look deeper or from another perspective. Karmic associations already abound and one may spend too much time in speculation considering if a viable spiritual path indeed exists. Although it is good advice to be skeptical and consider these ideas carefully, it resembles scientific parties convening to determine whether there is global warming or not. One has to decide sooner than later, because the phenomenal world is rearranging itself. WHEN ONE CONSIDERS ONE'S LIFE AND THE CURRENT WORLD CONDITION, THERE IS AN URGENCY TO AWAKEN. One already has this Indo-European cultural background so it need not be manufactured. One just has to immerse oneself in the Buddha's teachings and purify or transmute the kleshas and attachments and allow the awakened state to manifest. There is basically nothing new in that. By virtue of skillful means, out of the mandala of the teacher, will arise teachings that will effectively address the different spiritual instructions or approaches that will inspire and liberate the minds of the students. That is the theme of this discussion. One Mind, Many Minds, No Mind and the Union of Nirvana and SamsaraTalk given by Seonaidh Perks - 3/7/2004 This morning I wanted to talk about the practice of non-duality and how to practice that in your everyday life, which is the union of nirvana and samsara. According to the dictionary when that has taken root in your mindstream, then you are a realized person. We could say enlightened but that is somewhat pretentious because it comes and goes. Realization is a better word, until it eventually gets there and won't go away. Then we could call it enlightenment, I suppose. The prerequisite of union of nirvana and samsara is the realization of the illusionary self, that the self is illusion. The practice is that one sees everything as dream, both in the sleeping and waking state. The reason we do this is that illusions of all kinds are predominant in our minds, from fantasies to illusions, more fantasies and more illusions. If one went to the movies for four days straight, from movie to movie, one would get kind of an idea of what the illusionary nature is. What would happen is you would see a happy comedy and you would laugh, then you would see a tragedy and you would cry, then you would see an inspiring movie and you would be inspired, and all the way down the line. Well we know all that. What is in our minds, what comes into our minds is, at the best, not too permanent and not reality. Reality seems to be very simple. River is river, grass is green, leaves are leaves. That is the point of view of the union of samsara and nirvana. They just are. For instance, I am now, for the benefit of this talk, holding up an item. What is this? Student -That's "that". Well, the thing is of course, if you say onion then you box it in the onion box. Or if you say sweet potato you put it in the sweet potato box. So at some point the "illusionary-ness" of the boxes and their separateness meets the quality of one mind, or many minds, or no mind. There are three aspects. One mind, many minds or no mind. This is the transition. First of all there is one mind concentrated, then the onion starts to peel, kind of like peeling away the layers of the onion. It is interesting that when you peel onions people cry because of the nature of impermanence. The nature of impermanence makes one cry because one would really like to hold on to things, oneself and others. And as you peel further then maybe the crying starts to stop. Anyhow we don't really know what it is (referring to the onion). And the same with this person (the sweet potato) we don't really know what it is. For realization of the illusionary self one actually has to practice, and we have talked about this a lot. We've talked about regular shamatha vipashyana, doing tonglen and doing deity yoga. Implicit in deity yoga is that you become the onion and then you don't become the onion. And then you become the onion and you don't become the onion. So it goes back and forth, back and forth into the quality aspect of the Buddha (which is the onion) and the aspect of your self, which is also Buddha, but unrealized. So somewhere in between the two, the realization of the illusion of the whole thing occurs to you. You just get it. You may get it slowly over a period of time or you may get it in a rush while you are sitting on the toilet, or something like that. The reason that people get realized sitting on the toilet is because you ingest the deity and it goes through your system and then you are eliminating it. So you actually have the feeling of the whole thing occurring and you feel that just maybe you are not you, but just a tube that breathes in, breathes out, eliminates, and has all these funny little things that go off in its activity center. This talk is what we call an atmospheric talk. So from some point of view it doesn't make any sense at all! The practice for the union of nirvana and samsara could also be based on the very simple practice of seeing everything as Buddha. One sees everything as an aspect of Buddha. So the practice is one of not making a judgment between this and this. (Again holding up the vegies). So you eat this onion and this sweet potato and it's just the flavor of this person and it's just the flavor of that person. But in the beginning you don't say, "Oh I really do like this" or "Oh, I really don't like that." So you actually start to be introduced to the real world, you actually experience the total quality of this person. Like if you were to eat it raw you would cry, but you would get some kind of real feeling for it. The "it-ness" of it. So at that point it doesn't become onion, it becomes "it". You experience a relationship, even beyond relationship, because relationship means having a situation with it. There is nothing with it. It is just "it". It is the experience. I don't like this word but we have to use something, so we say experiencing "it-ness." The it-ness of "it". Then we bite this (the sweet potato) and we experience the quality of "it". And we don't say this is better than this. But we experience continually the quality of the it-ness of it. So how do we do that if we are really lazy and we don't practice and
we don't do what the teacher says? Well, we could still do it somehow
in our daily lives. If we are driving in our motorcar and things are
coming into our minds and they are going from goody to baddy, goody,
baddy, goody, baddy, goody, baddy. We could stop and come back to some
reference point of non-duality. We could actually bring our minds back
and have the small realization that there is no goody and there is no
baddy, but the illusionary self has proclaimed it as such. So we unseat
the illusionary quality that continually does that and undermine it
in any way that we can. We know that purification practices can help
as well. You could actually see things as they are. This is all it is.
This is it. So you get to be introduced to the quality of that, that,
that, that, that, that. If you want a reference point you could use one of being a tube worm on a particular plane somewhere in the universe. The quality of the tube worm is that it doesn't hold onto anything, things just go through it. In some sense it's eating and breathing the universe, so it's not separate from it, but it also has not identified itself as being a tube worm. It is just "it". The tube thing is interesting because the tube has to experience just the 'tubeness' and no quality of liking this or that, but everything just going through. So you send your mind out and you bring it back, you send it out and you bring it back, but without any quality of "you-ness". That's a purification ceremony. It's also good to have a sense of humor. Student - I was working through your statement in your book (referring to The Mahasiddha and His Idiot Servant) about taking refuge in confusion and trying to understand it. Seonaidh -Well, basically what happened was that Trungpa Rinpoche continually presented me with situations in which there were possibilities to cut through whatever fantasies I had accumulated. As is obvious from the beginning of the book, those fantasies were based on being British, being a male, being self-sufficient, being un-self-sufficient, being a hunter, being a non-hunter. So every time the illusory quality of self was shown, one took refuge in self because of the real reality of sunyata (empty of self). The real reality of that is extremely "panic-attacking". Not only does one feel cutoff from one's conception of self, but even worse, that one has made the whole thing up. It was more comfortable to go back and take refuge in the confusion of oneself than to be in the situation where there is no reference point. When we first read "form is emptiness and emptiness is no other than form" it is somewhat puzzling. But the real reality of this in our visceral life is extremely anxiety producing. Even if we try to fabricate the idea that we know what it means, then it's the idea that we run back to and try to rest in. We say, "Oh I get it", but actually you don't get it. As soon as you have said "I've got it" you haven't got it because somewhere in between that is a state that is "ungotten"-completely, which is very difficult in the beginning. One has small experiences of it and then larger experiences. Some of the arhats, for instance, had heart attacks when they saw it. They had heart attacks because they saw the ordinariness of it and the illusion of self come together at the same time, which created fireworks, an explosion. Student - When you were talking about one mind, many minds, no mind I don't think I quite understood what this meant. Seonaidh -Well, one mind is the quality of believing you have one mind; that you know what to do, you know how to do it, and you know how to arrange your life. You also know about your relationships and you know what makes you happy and sad and you know how to make choices. And from that point of view how to strategize, what to say to get what you want. Then it might occur to you, "Where is mind?" So you may notice: "When I am anxious the people around me are anxious. When airplanes go into the two towers, lots of people get anxious." So is there one mind or are there many minds? And the quality of the fishes that all turn at the same time. Where is mind? So that becomes the question. "Is the mind in the heart? Maybe we should think through the heart as in tonglen." You try to shift the quality of your reality. In deity yoga you become the onion and you become un-onion. You become one, you become two, you become the deity, then you become you. Then at some point you get the illusory quality of the self. Generally it is talked about as ego. So that is the quality of many minds-in action. The quality of no-mind is the union of samsara and nirvana. Because the illusionary nature of self has been seen through, we also see that the self has created good things and bad things and we are confused about that. But then it is possible actually to experience or have reality about the non-quality of mind attaching itself to that. So when that happens, when there is no quality that 'this is this', then 'this' can be experienced as 'that'. Whew! (laughs) We are talking about "form is emptiness and emptiness is form" and you can always come back to that if you get confused.
"Since the Bodhisattvas have no attainment, they abide by means of Prajnaparamita." The mythology and the figures of her (indicating the deities on the shrine table) are reference points that show it. At the same time they don't show it. In deity yoga you take on the nature of the deity and then you become the deity, but if one were to hang on to it, or become the deity as a solid thing, you would be missing the point. All these deities, on some level, exist as that kind of energy, like a dust devil in the desert, but it is in the quality of "form is emptiness". That is why Padmasambhava was able to go to Tibet and subjugate all the local demons and deities. He was able to show them as form is emptiness, emptiness is no other than form. Added by Seonaidh after reviewing this printed transcript: Please remember to quote Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche from his book As It
Is. Message to all sentient beingswritten by Peg Junge We are not alone in our attempts to see the unknown, to feel what has not yet been felt, to help where we have never thought to venture. Seeing this we could all group together to move further on our intentions. The veils separating us from 'all that is' are very thin and we all have had glimpses of the unspeakable infinite. What is to say those glimpses could not turn into stabilized circumstance? The quick twist that moves open awareness to rejection or grasping strikes faster than an adder. Let us all use our patience, will and discipline to slow that routine. Let us breathe space and 'no time' into every every situation so that we can crane our necks in all directions with curiousity and wonder. See the tentacles go out and watch them retract in disgust or glue on needfully. We sentient beings are all the same and we can remind each other to do this. We can encourage each other to restrain the reaction long enough to see it happening. In this way we can enjoy the pulling toward and pushing away as motions of the universe. There is nothing outside and nothing inside. Knowing this we can flow or remain stationary without doubt and hesitation. Thoughts of "this is not enough" or "this is too much" will cease to arise. The freedom of this state is unimaginable to the conditioned mind. Our Buddha ancestors through the ages have explained well and completely the incremental steps sentient beings take in walling themselves in. It sounds completely natural, even like an unavoidable evolution. Knowing this we can unravel the snarl and return to the unfettered, uncontrived state. It is not unimaginable that we sentient beings could do this, even though we don't know how. If we knew how it wouldn't be how. If we knew what to do, in which order, it wouldn't be that either. We need only to relax into our natural state. The unraveling is as manifest as the enwrapping. Because of this we can be unreasonably, even irrationally optimistic about our complete enlightenment. Let those who think it impossible speak all they want. We can hear their voice as our voice and let our enlightenment be their enlightenment. |
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