Introduction to Tantra: The Transformation of Desire (11 page)

For instance, if we are examining something to discover if it is as self-existent as it appears, we can remember: “This item was put together by people in a factory; then it was shipped to the market to be sold; then I came along and bought it; and now I am using it.” Looked at in this way, the non-self-existent nature of the thing becomes a bit clearer. We see it as something that grew out of causes, that depends on many things for its existence, that functions this way and that; this understanding will soften the general impression we have that it is something independent and concrete, existing out there as a solid, self-contained object. This approach to understanding interdependence and non-self-existence, or emptiness, is comfortable and direct. Once we are familiar with it we will easily see why many great masters of the past have claimed that interdependence, or dependent arising, is the king of logical reasoning and the best way of understanding the actual condition of things.

From Nagarjuna’s point of view, there are no exceptions to the assertion that all things lack true, independent self-existence. The mind is not an exception; Buddha is not an exception. We cannot say that some unworthy object, like a garbage bin, is empty and non-self-existent, while a highly respected object, such as Shakyamuni Buddha himself, is absolute and truly self-existent. This is not so. From the point of view of their being empty and nondualistic, the ultimate reality of Buddha and the ultimate reality of the garbage bin are identical.

The practical conclusion of all this is to refrain from immediately accepting all our dualistic appearances—this and that, good and bad, and so on—as being ultimately true, and also to refrain from denying them completely.

Instead, we should remain a bit loose, a bit skeptical. We should be aware that because objects now appear to us so concretely as this and that, they have the power to lead us into conflict and confusion. If we are clearly aware of this, we will not allow ourselves to fall so readily under their spell. And if we then train ourselves to contemplate the basic clarity of the mind in which these appearances arise, we will be able to enter an experience of nonduality in which all conflict and confusion ultimately subside.

Cl e a r Spa c iousne ss of Mind

MAKI NG SP ACE TH ROUGH “NOT SEEI NG”

AS WE HAVE DISCUSSED, renunciation, bodhichitta, and the correct view of emptiness are three of the prerequisites for the practice of tantra. This does not mean, however, that our realization of these three has to be complete and perfect before we can start following the tantric path. An approximate understanding is sufficient for us to begin.

Take the realization of emptiness, for example. To gain a perfect understanding of the ultimate nature of all phenomena is a profound accomplishment. If we were to wait until then before we could practice tantra, when would we ever begin? Perhaps never! Fortunately, this is not a problem.

In order to train in the various transformations of tantra, it is enough for us to be able to relax our ordinary sense of ego-identification somewhat. We do not need a perfect realization of our lack of self-existence, but we do need to be able to give ourselves some space from our ordinary, compulsive role-playing.

Tibetan lamas often say: “Not seeing is the perfect seeing.” Strange words, perhaps, but they have a profound meaning. They describe the advanced meditator’s experience of spacious, universal reality, the experience beyond dualism.

In our ordinary experience we are overwhelmed by countless dualistic perceptions and conceptions. Every day we are attracted to pleasurable objects and repulsed by unpleasant ones. Burdened with a narrow idea of who we are, we spend our time running toward this and away from that. As we have already seen, this deeply ingrained habit of viewing things dualistically and believing in our dualistic discriminations leads to nothing but confusion and repeated dissatisfaction. But it is possible to cultivate a completely different view of reality. Fed up with the endless rat-race of our compulsive cyclic existence, we can train in penetrative awareness and cultivate a direct perception of the actual way things exist.

This training proceeds in different stages, some of them highly analytical and conceptual and others more direct and experiential. Eventually, as we become more and more deeply absorbed in the experience of spaciousness, the ordinary, concrete appearances normally crowding our vision begin to dissolve. Like summer clouds disappearing back into the clear blue expanse of the sky, our dualistic visions cease and we are left with nothing but the clear, empty space of nonduality. In this space empty of all concrete discriminations of this and that, our mind feels calm and boundless, free of limitation. No longer occupied with “seeing” and believing in the ultimate reality of ordinary appearances, we enter into the “perfect seeing” of the nonduality experience.

Far from being in a state of sleeplike blank-mindedness, our mind at such a time is awake and alert—rejecting nothing, asserting nothing, yet accepting everything. Instead of feeling trapped and limited, forced to play the same pointless ego games over and over again, we begin to taste the true liberation of unencumbered consciousness. This liberation is possible because the superficial, conventional, fantasy, dualistic mind is not the fundamental nature of human beings. Our fundamental nature is as clean and clear as crystal, and there is no place for the self-pitying imagination. It automatically dissolves. And with it dissolve all our imprisoning limitations.

If we can enter and then remain within the naturally clear state of our own mind, we will have the time and space to see things without confusion. We will even be able to handle the business of everyday life more skillfully. Many people wonder about this. “If I allow my mind to return to its natural, uncomplicated state, how will I be able to function in this complicated world?

How can I get from one place to another? How can I hold down a job? How can I cook a meal? How can I do anything?” But there is no reason to carry on this type of argument with yourself. The fact is that when you are in a clean, clear state of mind you will be free to pay full attention to what you are doing and you will therefore naturally do it well. Problems come when you are not living in a natural state of mind. Then, no matter what you are doing your mind will be on something else. You are supposed to be cleaning your house but your mind is thinking about going to the beach and eating ice cream. That is when you run into difficulties.

CLARI TY AND NONDUALI TY

By contemplating our stream of consciousness in meditation we can be led naturally to this spacious experience of nonduality. As we observe our thoughts carefully we will notice that they arise, abide, and disappear themselves. There is no need to expel thoughts from our mind forcefully; just as each thought arises from the clear nature of our mind, so too does it naturally dissolve back into this clear nature. When thoughts eventually dissolve in this way, we should keep our mind concentrated on the resulting clarity as undistractedly as we can.

We should train ourselves not to become engrossed in any of the thoughts continuously arising in our mind. Our consciousness is like a vast ocean with plenty of space for thoughts and emotions to swim about in, and we should not allow our attention to be distracted by any of them. It does not matter if a certain “fish” is particularly beautiful or repulsive: without being distracted one way or the other we should remain focused on our mind’s basic clarity.

Even if a magnificent vision arises—the kind we have been waiting years to see—we should not engage it in conversation. We should, of course, remain aware of what is going on; the point is not to become so dull-minded that we do not notice anything. However, while remaining aware of thoughts as they arise, we should not become entranced by any of them. Instead, we should remain mindful of the underlying clarity out of which these thoughts arose.

Why is it so important to contemplate the clarity of our consciousness in this way? Because, as we have seen again and again, the source of all our happiness and suffering, the root of both the pains of samsara and the bliss of nirvana, is the mind. And within the mind it is our habitual wrong view—our ignorant, insecure ego-grasping—that holds onto the hallucination of concrete self-existence as if it were reality. The way to break the spell of this hallucination is to see the illusory nature of things and recognize that all phenomena are nothing but fleeting appearances arising in the clear space of our mind. Thus the more we contemplate the clarity of our own consciousness, the less we hold onto any appearance as being concrete and real—and the less we suffer.

By watching our thoughts come and go in this way, we move ever closer to the correct view of emptiness. Seemingly concrete appearances will arise, remain for a while, and then disappear back into the clear nature of our mind.

As each thought disappears in this way, we should train ourselves to feel that this disappearance is even more real than the thought’s original concrete appearance. The more we train in this type of “not seeing,” the more familiar we become with the clear spaciousness of our mind. Then, even when extremely destructive thoughts and emotions such as anger and jealousy arise, we will remain in contact with the underlying purity of our consciousness. This purity is always with us and whatever delusions we may experience are only superficial obscurations that will eventually pass, leaving us with the essentially clear nature of our mind.

When you contemplate your own consciousness with intense awareness, leaving aside all thoughts of good and bad, you are automatically led to the experience of nonduality. How is this possible? Think of it like this: the clean, clear blue sky is like consciousness, while the smoke and pollution pumped into the sky are like the unnatural, artificial concepts manufactured by ego-grasping ignorance. Now, even though we say the pollutants are contaminating the atmosphere, the sky itself never really becomes contaminated by the pollution. The sky and the pollution each retain their own characteristic nature. In other words, on a fundamental level the sky remains unaffected no matter how much toxic energy enters it. The proof of this is that when conditions change the sky can become clear once again. In the same way, no matter how many problems may be created by artificial ego concepts, they never affect the clean clear nature of our consciousness itself. From the relative point of view, our consciousness remains pure because its clear nature never becomes mixed with the nature of confusion.

From an ultimate point of view as well, our consciousness always remains clear and pure. The nondual characteristic of the mind is never damaged by the dualistic concepts that arise in it. In this respect consciousness is pure, always has been pure, and will always remain pure.

“Is the nature of deluded minds such as jealousy and anger also clear?” you may ask. Yes, all minds equally possess this clear, immaterial nature. Whether they are positive or negative, unmistaken or deluded, all minds clearly reflect their own appropriate objects. Just as a mirror has to be clear and uncovered for it to reflect the image of the face before it, whether the face is handsome or ugly, so too must the mind be clear. If any state of mind were not clear, it would not reflect anything, good or bad.

We can compare positive states of mind to water at rest and deluded states of mind to turbulent, boiling water. If we investigate the nature of the boiling water we will discover that, despite the turbulence, each individual droplet is still clear. The same is true of the mind: whether it is calm or boiled into turbulence by the overwhelming complexity of dualistic views, its basic nature remains clear and conscious.

The conclusion, then, is that we all have the capacity to move from the confused, polluted state of ego-conflict to the natural clean and clear state of pure consciousness itself. We should never think that our mind has somehow become irreversibly contaminated. This is impossible. If we can train ourselves to identify and enter into the natural, unaffected state of our consciousness, we will eventually experience the freedom of nondual awareness.

MANI FESTATI ONS OF CONSCI OUSNESS

From the Buddhist point of view, all the circumstances of our life are manifestations of our own consciousness. This is the central understanding of Buddhism. Painful and confusing situations derive from a painful and confused mind, and whatever happiness we experience—from ordinary pleasure to the highest realization of enlightenment—is also rooted in our own mind.

If we look at our life we can easily see how it is completely controlled by our mind, especially by our mind of desirous attachment. We are continually thinking of going here and there, having this and that, and then acting on these desires, in our pursuit of satisfaction.

Not only does our restless mind continuously give birth to new thoughts and ideas, but we tend to follow them wherever they lead us. As a result we are lured from one situation to another by the promise of happiness, yet in the end we experience nothing but fatigue and disappointment. The solution is not to suppress our thoughts and desires, for this would be impossible; it would be like trying to keep a pot of water from boiling by pressing down tightly on the lid. The only sensible approach is to train ourselves to observe our thoughts without following them. This deprives them of their compulsive energy and is therefore like removing the pot of boiling water from the fire. Eventually calmness and clarity will prevail.