Recent Comments
- Scott on Aloneness
- Chodpa on The Place where the Primordial Speaks
- Chodpa on The Cuckoo of Presence
- Afzar on Bodhidharma’s teacher, Prajnatara
- Vajragoni on Audiobook is released
-
Recent Posts
Categories
- A Darkness Visible
- A Docetic Assessment
- A Mystical Odyssey through the Sagathakam
- AI Creations
- Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra
- Akṣhobhya’s Pure Land
- Ālaya-vijñāna
- Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta
- Ariyapariyesanā Sutta
- Ascending the Noble Mountain of Primordial Perfection
- Asceticism
- Ashtavakra Gita in Light of the Unborn
- Audiobook
- Bankei Zen
- Beyond the Ascent
- Beyond the Rainbow Body
- Black Dragon Eye Mandala
- Bodhicitta
- Buddhadharma
- Buddhism’s Black Holes
- Buddhist Anecdotes
- Buddhist Hells
- Buddhist Meditations on the Tarot
- Chuang-Tzu
- Contemporary Musings
- Ḍākiṇī
- Dāsbodh
- Dharmakaya Abbey
- Dharmakaya Stick
- Divine Revelation
- Doctrine of the Void
- Dust Contemplation
- Ekacitta: Advanced Studies in Dark Zen
- Entry into the Dharmadhātu
- Eremitical Dhyani Meditations
- Exploring the Book of Revelation
- Gnostikos
- Hsin Hsin Ming
- Journey to the Center of the Mind
- Karma and Rebirth
- Korean Sŏn
- Kulayarāja Tantra—The Motherly Buddha
- Little Office of Our Lady of the Void
- LSD and Psychedelic Buddhism
- Māṇḍukya Kārikā
- Mañjuśrī Teaches Prajñāpāramitā
- Māra and Satan
- Meister Eckhart
- Mud and Water: Bassui Zen
- Mystagogia
- Nirvana
- Notes from the Iron Stupa
- Nothingness in Nāgārjuna and John of the Cross
- Obscure Religious Cults
- Preparation for the Afterlife
- Primordial Qigong
- Reflections on the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra
- Spirituality
- Springtime with Tozen
- Terma: A Mind Film by Vajragoni
- The Afterglow
- The Awakening of Faith
- The Bhagavad Gita
- The Book of Bodhi
- The Cloud of Unknowing in Light of the Unborn
- The Diamond Sutra
- The Divine Ātman
- The Divine Liturgy of Vajrasattva
- The Doctrine of Awakening
- The Dragon Mind of Zen Tarot
- The Elucidation of Consciousness
- The Experience of No-Self
- The Great Perfection of the Unborn Mind: A Book of Privy Counseling
- The Heart Sutra
- The Hermit's Den
- The Khaggavisāṇa Sutta: A Rhinoceros Horn
- The Lankavatara Sutra
- The Lankavatarian Book of the Dead
- The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā
- The Lotus Sutra
- The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra
- The Naga Chronicles
- The Platform Sutra
- The Ratnagotravibhāgaśāstra
- The School of the Spirit
- The Secret Golden Light of the Unborn
- The Soul
- The Śūrańgama Sūtra
- The Sutra of Primordial Enlightenment
- The Tathāgatagarbhatārā Tantra
- The Udāna
- The Unborn Mind Mythos
- The Unborn Mind Sessions
- The Unborn Odyssey: A Novel
- The Vajrasamādhi Sutra
- The Vimalakirti Sutra
- The Yogasūtras of Patañjali
- The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma
- The Zen Teaching of Instantaneous Awakening
- The Zen Teachings of Huang Po
- Theologia Mystica
- Tozen Teaching
- Tsung-mi: An Intimate Study
- Unborn I Ching
- Unborn Light Reiki
- Uncategorized
- Vasubandhu and the Absolute
- Wisdom from the Masters
- Wordsworth and Zen
- Yoga of the Manomayakāya
- Zen
- Zuowang
Archives
- October 2024
- August 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- June 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- October 2018
- August 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
Meta
Category Archives: The Great Perfection of the Unborn Mind: A Book of Privy Counseling
Unborn Mind Maxims
Do not fall prey to the agitated mind.
It is only in the base that you will find bliss.
This is an actionless affair and well beyond any pretext of acting.
The demon of attachment is near at hand, cut it off!
Throw away any consideration of neti, neti–not this, not that,
As the inseparability of all that is perfected is of one-fruit.
Be a child of the Sugatas, determined yet supple.
Hence, child, look at your Mind again and again!
Allow everything to self-liberate There and nowhere else.
Until you enter the castle of no birth, no death,
You will be forever lost in the courtyard of re-becoming.
Staying thought-free is self-realized Wisdom.
Being in the Unborn is likened to a vast sea without waves.
Your rightful home is in the cloudless vault of the sky,
Where Immaculate wisdom is at your beck and call.
Beloved, all the deities and evil spirits are this very mind of yours.
If you see mind essence, that is the Great Perfection of the Unborn.
Instant karma is hell while intrinsic awareness is the Dharmakaya.
In the essence THAT IS Samantabhadra there is neither hope nor fear.
Unless you feel revulsion towards samsara, liberation is far spent.
Be spontaneously relaxed and thus worry free.
Always be mindful, the authentic teacher is in your own mind.
Slay the Watcher!
Not allowing mind to abide in a naturally relaxed status only binds and imprisons one in mental fixations. These rigid obscurations only induce karmic traces to linger and take root. Even if you were to meditate for a thousand kalpas there will be no severance from illusions and thus nirvanic freedom is forever lost. If such episodes self-subside, any former karmic influences will be purified. So slay the delusional watcher! In doing so forestalls anticipation in watching for any further and unwarranted movement. Simply stay still and relax in the dolemen of the mind.
Instant Premier Stature
In the ineffable final equation that is minus all thought and substance, IT shines through clearly and without distraction. This natural clarity of the Self-luminous Mind is Samantabhadra, one’s instant premier stature. That IS the Dharmakaya; apart from this realization there can be no enlightenment. You question this still? Look again! If some semblance of shape and color appears, that is not the Dharmakaya. Devoid of that busyness, there is nothing but the void playing on the top of a thimble. That is the fundamental base-essence, without a smidgen to spare.
Further Reflections on the Bardo
After the Bardo of the moment before death, the Bardo of Dharmatā appears on the mind’s horizon; it can be likened to an after-death experience when emptiness floods into the plane of Mind after consciousness exits the body. For ordinary sentient beings this is experienced as a form of blackout when one’s vital energies (or commonly known as vital signs) cease to function altogether. Once again, consciousness itself is expelled from the formal body and hence the [intrinsic awareness] is liberated into space–it’s here that the Bardo of the Clear Light of the Dharmakaya arises. It’s also here that one experiences union (Pure Illuminative Beingness) with the Unborn Absolute as no other imagery is manifested. Abject failure is always nearby as the troubled imagery reignites itself in the forms of passing visions in the Bardo of Re-becoming. It’s here that the deceased consciousness reemerges as karmic visions of the past and future whirl by as if in the grip of a cyclone.
Preparing for the Bardo
When death draws nigh the naked splendor of the Unborn appears as the natural-elements begin to dissolve-away into empty space. What is left is the Clear-Light of the natural unbornness. This is a golden opportunity to share in the natural ambiance of the Dharmakaya—Seeing Eye to eye with the self-same face before one is born. If all goes well then the recognition dawns with the acceptance of one’s original nature. At this junction it is the prior *gnosis that is the determining factor whether or not liberation is won or experiences abject failure in severing the cycle of samsara.
The Mighty Five
It is with non-meditation that the Dharmakaya arises.
Never seek for anything for in so doing you will be gaining everything.
Neither Birth Nor Death
The Natural poise of the Unborn Mind knows neither birth nor death. Between the two of them, it makes no difference as the Unborn Self-nature will remain the same–deathless. This Great Perfection cannot be altered nor shaped since It is immeasurable and boundless. Where’ere It may be It leaves no trail behind bearing distinguishing marks. Movement It has none yet It appears to be moving towards no direction in particular. It never dominates yet is dominant in all situations. Of darkness and light It knows not yet It is a living flame illuminating the darkness of its own dominion. Just be present to these realizations and eventually become stabilized in It. That is the only qualifiable form of meditation. Don’t expect anything–this is the best way of avoiding trouble. Only This and No-Way else.
Dark Contemplation
Contemplation in the Great Perfection of the Unborn Mind entails simply resting in the Natural Primordial Order. This has nothing to do with any form of meditation that is induced through any mental activities of the carnal mind. To the contrary, it is the total abeyance of discursive thought movement by being at one with the Unborn thus stilling all former cognitive operations. It needs to be stated unequivocally that this contemplation is as different from meditation as chalk is to cheese. This includes bypassing the ascension of even the highest dhyana that still entails a one-pointed concentration that is forever interlocked with normal cognitive functions. Dark Contemplation is totally beyond all these mechanisms, even beyond the vaunted [being] “prior-to” all phenomena since this “priorness” is still mind-initiated–an intensive and intentional [action.] Dark Contemplation is far and removed from these mentalized trifles, beyond any sequences of cause and effect, beyond time-bracketed functionality itself. At the same instance, the Unborn remains the source and very matrix of all phenomenal associations.
Black Star Dharmakaya
Laura Iverson
Be attuned with the transmission of the essential non-practice, the Black Star Dharmakaya, who is the teacher in eternity. Self-originated and Unborn, the teachings of this Black Star can never be exhausted or diminished since It is not subjected to substantiality. Just remain non-fixated far and removed from any causal matters or conditioned responses to any secondary dharmatas that can never lift a finger before the eternal flame of the Unborn. This is the ultimate in being Self-sufficient, beyond all discourse with no need for any shallow understanding or inadequate rumblings from the hollow mind. Sitting for long sessions in meditation are redundant and can even be a distraction away from the natural disposition (Dark-contemplation) that is best suited for simply remaining in the Natural Primordial Order. Without further much ado about nothing, you will soon gain the insight that everything has but just a single-taste.
Get On With It!
The Great Perfection of the Unborn Mind is the highest expression of the Spiritual Life. This actualization empowers one to Realize that all-there-is emanates from an invisible, yet transcendentally abundant origination. The Great Perfection is, above all else, the Intrinsic Awareness behind this Self-originating Principle. As such It is primordially present within the mind-stream of all sentitalia AS the Self-Nature of Buddha Dharmakaya. At the same time there is nothing special here to be grasped or apprehended, but only Self-Actualized. Get on with It!