Dharma Quote of the Week
The famous nineteenth-century dzogchen master Paltrul Rinpoche explained self-liberation concretely and precisely:
"The practitioner of self-liberation is like an ordinary person as
far as the way in which the thoughts of pleasure and pain, hope and
fear, manifest themselves as creative energy. However, the ordinary
person, taking these really seriously and judging them as acceptable or
rejecting them, continues to get caught up in situations and becomes
conditioned by attachment and aversion.
"Not doing this, a
practitioner, when such thoughts arise, experiences freedom: initially,
by recognizing the thought for what it is, it is freed just like meeting
a previous acquaintance; then it is freed in and of itself, like a
snake shedding its skin; and finally, thought is freed in being unable
to be of benefit or harm, like a thief entering an empty house."
...Freeing or liberating thought does not mean ignoring, letting go
of, being indifferent to, observing, or even not having thoughts. It
means being present in hope and fear, pain and pleasure, not as objects
before us, but as the radiant clarity of our natural state. Thus anger,
for example, when experienced dualistically, is an irritation which we
may indulge in or reject, depending on our conditioning. Either way we
are caught up in it and act out of it. But when aware of anger as a
manifestation of clarity, its energy is a very fresh awareness of the
particulars of the situation. However, these particulars are no longer
irritating.(p.77)
--from
You Are the Eyes of the World
by Longchenpa, translated by Kennard Lipman and Merrill Peterson,
introduction by Namkhai Norbu, published by Snow Lion Publications
You Are the Eyes of the World • Now at 5O% off!
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