The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa: Volume 6 (62 page)

TR:
In some sense. Different people would have different reactions. Some people would like to go back, because it is much easier. They have done it before; it is prerehearsed. Other people feel that it is too much to do it all over again. It depends on the level of one’s intelligence and how much one has already gone sour on it.

Student:
You’re speaking of this basic background as a samsaric approach of some kind. Is that the case?

Trungpa Rinpoche:
It is a sort of feeling of me, this [
places his hand on his chest
] direction, a kind of primordial ego. If we speak of threefold ignorance, this is the first one, the ignorance of being. This relates to the basic state of being, primordial existence. In some sense this is a very refined version of samsara; in some sense it is a very crude one. The reason it is categorized as samsaric is that it is based on the preservation of oneself. Whether it is a refined job or a crude job, it still has to do with the preservation of one’s existence. It is pro-ego, definitely. It may be unconsciously so, but it is still pro-ego. It is connected with building something up rather than letting go. Still, in terms of the path, it is a necessary stepping-stone, a working basis.
¹

TWO

The Birth of the Path

I
N CONTINUING OUR
discussion of the fundamentals of ego experience, I would like to make clear to you that what we are saying here is based on personal experience. We are taking more of an intuitive approach than an intellectual one.

A lot of energy comes along with the primitive ignorance. The basic function of that ignorance is a sense of boredom and familiarity, and that produces a desire for some further excitement, further adventure. That adventure becomes somewhat neurotic, because of our not having surveyed the ground and ourselves. This is the point where duality begins to happen.

At the beginning, duality is just a way of killing boredom; then there is the realization that taking this kind of chance is very dangerous. As we continue on, things become more threatening. We begin to develop various perspectives, various tones of emphasis on various types of styles. At this point, what are known as the five buddha families manifest in five confused styles: an aggressive, intellectual one; an enriching one; a seductive, magnetizing one; a highly active one; and so on. The expressions that tend to come out at this point are ones that have some quality of desperation in relation to the basic ground. The desperation is based on [and takes the form of] the style that one is able to operate in, in order to ignore the basic ignorance.

In other words, all the things that happen in confused mind are fundamentally a way of overcoming boredom and entertaining oneself, on one hand, and a way of taking one’s mind off threats, on the other. The main threat is that if one happened to return to the background, one might see the sense of embarrassing confusion that exists there and the struggle to conceal one’s private parts.

There are various levels of ignorance. The first level of ignorance is connected with having a body. One’s style of life is affected by what kind of body one has. One’s behavior pattern is molded to one’s body. There is a natural body consciousness that takes place. You may be big or small, fat or thin; whatever your bodily makeup is like, you create a way of organizing a smooth operation of behavior in accordance with that. That kind of natural self-consciousness takes place all the time. If you are cold, you never think, “My body is cold,” but rather, “I am cold,” “I am hungry,” and so forth. There is a natural tendency to identify one’s body with one’s state of existence, or being.

So that kind of basic ignorance is constantly there, and whenever there is an area that is uncertain, a slight gap, or something unexpected—if something does not go along with the program one has set up for one’s own behavior—then an element of panic and uncertainty arises which then pushes one to take certain actions. These actions are connected with the five styles. We are not talking about which of the five styles might be our personal style, but about a general, almost haphazard or random type of improvisation that takes place constantly in our lives—trying to fill the gap and trying to entertain.

How does this experience of the five buddha principles relate with the path of buddhadharma? Somehow, within that sense of lost ground, within that continual self-consciousness, there is also at the same time a sense of intelligence. This intelligence actually does not come from anywhere, it does not have an origin. Or perhaps at this point we should say we are uncertain where it comes from. In any case, there is this intelligence that tends to comment on the things that take place. It begins to see the functions of the self-conscious, basic, primordial ego. It sees the basic ego as it is, and it also sees the various trips, so to speak, that we get into to safeguard ourselves from boredom or whatever. So there is this constant commenting that takes place, which is the beginning of the path.

This intelligence is an inborn intelligence of some kind, one that is without origin or birth as such. It is usually awakened with the help of a teacher or by seeing someone else’s example, their approach to life and their wisdom. It is not a simple case of the teacher’s giving birth to that intelligence in one’s being. It is impossible for such a direct transplant to take place, since the intelligence is already part of our being. But quite certainly, this intelligence can be awakened.

The process of awakening that intelligence is basically one of sabotage or of instigating an uprising. It sets chaos into the well-settled programs and policies that develop with ego’s space. The intelligence often works with emotions and also often works along with ego’s tendencies, so it is somewhat transparent [as far as taking sides is concerned]. It does not always act as the saboteur; sometimes it just works as a kind of hired workman who complains heavily to his employer but at the same time goes along with him. It works in both areas. It works with ego, which uses intelligence, but at the same time there is an undercurrent or a kind of percolation happening. This is the birth of the path taking place.

This process exaggerates the neurosis of the five principles further, because a very threatening situation is developing. Things are getting very personal and much, much closer to the heart.

Student:
Are the styles that arise determined karmically—is there a certain sketch that exists in you that you automatically fulfill? Or is there some spontaneous process of intelligence involved?

Trungpa Rinpoche:
The process is natural and extremely organic. There are no particular guidelines. Awareness just approaches the closest thing that is available and does it. But there is obviously some kind of style that is connected with the habitual patterns of the elements—water flows, fire burns, that kind of natural thing. There is no intelligence operating at that level except the partial intelligence that is trying to avoid seeing the original background. That seems to be the only logical or intelligent function that is happening. The rest of it is very sort of animallevel.

Student:
If the neurotic styles are based on one’s body type, what would the five enlightened styles be based on?

Trungpa Rinpoche:
Well, that is just an analogy. I suppose one does [base one’s behavior pattern on one’s body], but I don’t think that has anything to do with one’s particular neurosis or reality. That’s just a way of functioning—if you have a body, you have to behave in a certain way. But there are no particular guidelines.

Student:
Is there any reason that one person would fall into one style rather than another? Is there something in one’s personal makeup?

Trungpa Rinpoche:
I think it is a question of the different forms of irritation that come up in relating with the background of ego, irritations connected with how you want to go about covering up or ignoring. There are a lot of aspects of that which can be dealt with in different ways.

S:
Would this carry over from one lifetime to another?

TR:
Not necessarily. It is simply a day-to-day kind of thing.

Student:
It seems that we are working through the eight levels of consciousness.
¹
We talked earlier about the alaya, and then you started talking about the basic notion of duality coming into the nyön yi [the seventh consciousness]. How does this apply to the other states of consciousness? As we extend into the other six consciousnesses, does that simply further the confusion?

Trungpa Rinpoche:
Theoretically, what we are talking about here happens at the level of the sixth consciousness, which is mind, the mental faculty, which then relates with the sense perceptions. But I think this could also cover a lot of areas other than consciousness, for instance, feeling, perception, impulse—those other skandhas.
²
This is a very early stage; nothing is really properly fixed. This is just the level of groping around and trying to develop a system. No rules and regulations or styles have been developed; there is just a groping. It’s the level of feeling, the second skandha.

Student:
When you were talking about how these styles are motivated, you said that one aspect of the motive was avoiding boredom. Then you mentioned avoiding the threat that one might fade into the background. I am confused. You mentioned those two things, and I don’t see how they fit together.

Trungpa Rinpoche:
In fact, there seem to be [not just those two, but] a lot of motivations. Those are just random choices. There are hundreds of other possibilities connected with all kinds of areas of irritation and uncertainty. There are hundreds of areas of irritation and uncertainty—lots of them. And then there is just roaming around in animal stupidity and having things just happen to coincide with one situation or another, which is another type of approach. Traditionally, motivation here is divided into three sections connected with passion, aggression, and ignorance. But within that framework, there are lots of descriptions. Supposedly, there are 84,000 variations.

Student:
You seemed to talk about a blockage in connection with ignorance and confusion. Is this a blockage that prevents us from exploring the whole question of whether we exist or not, the whole question of existence and nonexistence?

Trungpa Rinpoche:
Somehow the whole idea of existence and nonexistence never came up. But there is the possibility of its coming up. Once that idea has been heard, then there is the possibility of nonexistence—of intelligence looking back at oneself and finding and cutting through various trips. Until the idea of nonexistence has been heard, this possibility never comes up. So hearing the teachings can be very shocking. Until the teachings have been heard, things are seemingly smooth. There is a sort of gentleman’s agreement that one never talks about those things, or in this case, even thinks about them.

Student:
Was Naropa’s jumping off roofs and going into sandalwood fires symbolic of his exploring this whole question of existence and nonexistence and somehow breaking through the blockages?

Trungpa Rinpoche:
I think we find all kinds of connections in his life with that. He marries the king’s daughter and then the kingdom disappears, and all kinds of other things of that nature happen. All those things are very much connected with that. There is a reality of some kind, but it is a very painful reality. Then, after you have experienced the painful reality and feel that you have done a good job in relating with it, then somehow you realize the whole thing doesn’t exist. This is also very painful, because you thought that at least you had achieved something. You thought you had broken the ice, and then suddenly no ice exists to be broken. That is the kind of thing that makes up the nature of the path.

Student:
Does the fact that there are 84,000 styles mean that it is not possible to go through the human condition in a way that is not conditioned by one of them? Or is there another kind of humanity that is free of that?

Trungpa Rinpoche:
It is not limited to 84,000, but there are hundreds of thousands of them. In other words, you cannot have a complete manual of what the human condition might be. You cannot follow all the details; you can only look at an aerial view of the situation. You can see where those styles are derived from and where they are heading (which would be the same thing). It’s like the analogy of all rivers flowing into the ocean. You can predict that much, even though you can’t name all the rivers in the world. There are some overall conclusions that you can draw. In this case, the basic point is trying to exist, trying to live through one’s life without being hurt, hurt in any way, even slightly hurt; trying just to have complete freedom and pleasure. And in some sense the teachings represent the opposite of that. They say that that is not particularly the way. Not only can you not achieve survival, you cannot actually exist, let alone survive. Survival is the opposite [of the right approach]. You know, you have the wrong end of the stick. So then we are back to square one.

Student:
I thought the previous question was whether it was possible to avoid those styles and just have an open experience of humanity without being conditioned by them.

Trungpa Rinpoche:
Those styles are the contents. It isn’t possible, I can’t imagine it.

S:
How does the multiplicity and variety of the styles come out of that one basic energy?

TR:
If there is one basic energy or one basic approach, that does not have to produce another
one
, but it could produce many. If you have one big bad weather, there are hundreds of raindrops. It is possible, it is conceivable, and it happens. It like the blind men’s version of the elephant—you have different versions. From the very fact that everybody agrees together that they are blind comes a lot of other conclusions.