Consciousness Only / Yogacara / Emptiness

A lot of what we seek as spiritual explorers can be satisfied with an understanding of the nature of consciousness. I gather that this is why we question the nature of mind and reality. We seek a level of understanding beyond the mundane. For many of us this becomes a thirst and hunger for esoteric knowledge or jnana (as it is known in Sanskrit).

One of the challenges to realize a deep understanding of the nature of consciousness is to heighten our awareness beyond our senses and beyond our mental and conceptual activity. This is required because reality can be treated as consciousness-only. Reality is perception and mental activity. Once we achieve an awareness not bound by perception and mental activity, we clearly see both the nature of reality and the nature of consciousness. To fully realize this nature we need jnana's perception.

In Tibetan Buddhism, jnana refers to pure awareness that is free of conceptual encumbrances. The Uttaratantra Shastra is a profound teaching on Buddha-nature attributed by the Tibetans to Maitreya, the future Buddha. To realize our Buddha-nature is to gain enlightenment and achieve awareness of the true nature of reality, or Tathatā.

• The Uttaratantra; A Treatise on Buddha-Essence
by Thrangu Rinpoche
Link: http://amzn.com/1877294292 )

From the Uttaratantra by Maitreya, a treatise on Buddha-Essence -

The Sangha - The Third Vajra Point - The Salutation

I bow down to those whose mind is no longer obscured,

the deeply realized who have jnana's perception,

awareness of the total purity present in limitless beings.

As the true nature of mind is lucid clarity,

they see the defilements to be without essence

and truly realize ultimate no-self -- 

peace within all beings. Thus they know

the all-pervading presence of perfect Buddhahood

in each and every one of them.

This salutation to the enlightened Sangha also reveals what might be called the web-like nature of universal love, "truly realize ultimate no-self peace within all beings." It is wonderful how the text provides a definition of unconditional love.

I have studied the nature of mind, consciousness, compassion, love and emptiness since I was a teenager. However, my milestone achievement was when I took the empowerment for the Progressive Stages of Mediation on Emptiness from Khenpo Tsultrum Gyamtso Rinpoche at KTD Monastery in Woodstock, NY. This is in my experience the most profound path of wisdom leading directly to peace, love, happiness and enlightenment.

• Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness 
  by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso
  (Link: http://amzn.com/1877294012) 

In this teaching Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche presents the main schools of Buddhist philosophy with their progressively more subtle and refined views of reality. However, it is not just a teaching on the view but a presentation providing the student the means to realize it through meditation practice. The idea of a series of meditation practices on a particular aspect of the Buddha's teachings is that by beginning with one's first rather coarse commonsense understanding, one progresses through increasingly subtle and more refined stages until one arrives at complete and perfect understanding. Each stage in the process prepares the mind for the next in so far as each step is fully integrated into one's understanding through the meditation process.

Here is another book that is worthy of investigation, but only for the truly dedicated:

• Three Texts on Consciousness Only
  by Vasubandhu
  (Link: http://amzn.com/1886439044)

The Three Texts on Consciousness Only is a commentary on the Indian Buddhist monk Vasubandhu's Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā (Thirty Verses on Consciousness Only) and gives an exposition of the Yogācāra (Mind-Only) school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā was composed in the 4th century CE and became one of the core texts for the Yogācāra school.

In Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness Stage 5, Emptiness-Of-Other (Shengtong Approach) is the same as the Yogacara Mind-Only school as explained in Three Texts on Consciousness Only. In this way, a study of both texts take the seeker on a deep dive into the heart of the Buddhist understanding of the nature of consciousness and the nature of reality.

Please keep in mind that ultimately, it is our attainment of a direct experience of emptiness through the diligent practice of meditation that provides us with jnana's perception. One must put down the books and spend regular intervals of time in meditation to gain progress.

Here is an excerpt from Three Texts on Consciousness Only, Chapter 1: Demonstration of Consciousness Only.

... the ultimate reality that is revealed by emptiness (sunyata)

and absence of self exists, does not exist, both exists and does not

exist, and neither exists nor does not exist. It demolishes the processes

of thought and language and is neither the same as dharmas,

nor different from them, etc. It is the true principle of dharmas,

hence it is called the "true nature of dharmas." It is called "space"

because it is free of all impediments. It is called "cessation resulting

from discrimination" because through the power of discrimination

it ends various impurities and one understands thoroughly.

Or, as a result of being revealed by the absence of conditions, it is

called "cessation resulting from the absence of conditions." Feelings

of pleasure and pain are removed, so it is called "immovable."

It is called "cessation of thought and feeling" (samjna-vedita-nirodha)

because thought and feeling are not active. These five unconditioned

dharmas are provisionally established on the basis of ultimate reality.

But "ultimate reality" itself is merely a provisionally granted name.

To refute the idea that it does not exist, it is said to exist.

To refute the idea that it does exist, it is said to be empty.

But it must not be thought to be empty and illusory, so it is

said to be real. Because this principle is not false or erroneous, it is

said to be the ultimate nature of everything. It is also called the 

"ultimate nature of everything" because it is not the same as the

real, eternal dharma called "ultimate nature of everything" apart

from form, mind, etc., of other schools. Thus none of the above

unconditioned dharmas really exists.

Dharmas grasped by non-Buddhist schools and other schools

of Buddhism do not really exist apart from mind and mental

activities, because they are grasped in the same way that mind and

mental activities are grasped by mind itself. The apprehension

that grasps them does not have them as objects, because it grasps,

like the apprehension that takes as an object this same intellect.

Also, because mind and its activities arise in mutual dependence,

they do not really exist, just as magical illusions do not. In order to

refute the false attachment to a really existing realm exterior to

mind and its activities, we teach that there is nothing but

consciousness (vijñaptimātratā). But if one believes that consciousness

only really exists, this is no different from attachment to external

objects, and it remains attachment to dharmas.

This is one page from this 450 page book. Definitely not light reading, however from this one page you can perhaps obtain a glimpse of jnana's perception of the true nature of reality, dharmatā, suchness, thusness, or Tathatā.

Thusly and Lovingly,

http://www.Karmatetra.com 

Wearing the Sun Mask: Giving and Receiving Meditation

A friend recently shared with me difficulties with working in the family business. It felt futile to try to make improvements in order to achieve prosperity. The chaotic family dynamics present  a seemingly insurmountable challenge. How is it possible to attain the focus required to rise above the situation? The tendency to fall into negative patterns constantly inhibits the ability to move forward and achieve the dream of prosperity.

The quest for prosperity is fickle even under the best circumstances. Sometimes it appears very possible, other times it seems impossible. Accepting the chaos is not easy. Even after achieving acceptance, learning how to effectively live within the chaos is more difficult still.

This story reminded me of the "Theater of the Absurd", the existentialist plays and poetry. Have you read some of the plays by Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett and Jean-Paul Sartre? The genre embraces tragic (but somehow comical) studies of characters stuck in chaotic life situations; stuck in samsara. The play "No Exit" epitomizes the condition of suffering. 

The satirists do not provide the instruction on how to exit chaos. It is Buddhism that teaches us that the only escape from samsara is enlightenment.

When we are stuck in chaotic circumstances we feel weighed down by the gravity of our situation. Gravity is all embracing. It is a type of nostalgia for becoming spherical; returning to the womb. But we do not see it as spherical, we perceive it as horizontal. Life is two-dimensional. We are flatlanders and cannot see beyond the horizon.

Succumbing to gravity is a condition of cycling, orbiting and localization. We can think of it as being stuck in a pattern of cyclic existence. The Buddhists call this samsara. We feel as if there is movement, and there is, but there is a lot of going around in circles. We cannot escape from the surface.

Escaping gravity is to be radiant and expand beyond the surface of our situation. It is not easy to rise above and escape the pull of flatland thinking. We must look to the heavens. Our intention must be to focus upward and outward from the surface.

Bucky Fuller said, "Horizontal is to die, vertical is to live."

Rising above the horizontal gravitation-ally challenged existence requires building up a great deal of potential energy. Like a rocket that requires a tremendous fuel supply to reach escape velocity, we must find a source of energy and fuel ourselves for this great vertical journey. 

So we meditate and gather our strength and store up the fuel in our tanks. We do nothing other than sit and breathe; watching our breath go in and out.

Meditation is a subversive method of planning our escape. I say "subversive" in a good way. We subvert our tendency to move sideways, scuttling around the surface like a nervous crab. Instead, we connect with the emptiness of our efforts to find prosperity in this flatland, within samsara. Once we realize the truth of this emptiness we can sit perfectly still and put our mind at rest, abandoning our quest for prosperity.

What, did I say? Abandon our quest for prosperity? This is indeed a subversive thought. However, there is great joy in abandoning prosperity. Through meditation we embrace the simple, profound truth of finding ultimate meaning in the simple act of sitting up straight, breathing in and out. The joy and boundless energy of the cosmos washes over us. We are free of gravity and become a source of radiant energy ourselves. Focused on the single task of breathing in and out we discover an infinite store of radiant energy.

This is the essence of the meditation practice of "Tonglen", the Tibetan Buddhist practice of "Giving and Receiving". We breath in and receive the suffering of all beings trapped in samsara. We breath out and transmit radiant joy and happiness to all beings with the intent to alleviate their suffering. 

Breath in and feel the gravity of all beings' situation. Use the gravity to pull in all the suffering of all beings into a critical mass in the center of your heart. Like our Sun pulls in all surrounding matter and fuses the very atoms together releasing profound life-giving radiant energy, we convert this mass of suffering into boundless joy and radiate positive energy throughout the surrounding universe.

Sun mask sculpture, "Tamanuitera" by James Webster,
a Maori multimedia artist working with wood sculpture,
stone, bone, painting and mural creations.
He comments that his work is
"Art as a passion in life and a journey of discovery."
Pasted from <http://www.carving.co.nz/webster.php> 

We become a living-breathing Sun God. We put on the Sun Mask and shine our light throughout the world. The Sun is the ultimate victor over gravity, using gravity to fuse cold, dark, life-less matter into radiant life-giving energy, the source of fuel for all life in the cosmos. 

Would you like to know how the Sun performs this miracle of giving and receiving? Breath in and breath out, give and receive.

Synergetics Geometry Studio

MISSION STATEMENT 
A STUDIO where positive IN-tention and pure, unstained action of body, speech and mind, occurs spontaneously IN the moment, aligning effortlessly with the natural rhythmic cycling of the IN-wardly spiraling, self-IN-terfering, associative material energies, and the OUT-wardly spiraling, radially expanding, dis-associative, light energies, provided by Earth, Sun, Moon, planets, stars and galaxies, IN harmony with the most subtle vibrations of cosmic consciousness, universal law, truth, beauty, symmetry and awareness of the IN-terconnectedness of self and all other beings.

A STUDIO where such positively intended vectors of body, speech and mind, forming a minimum, triangular, right-hand spiral unite with a minimum, triangular left-hand spiral comprised of the vectors of truth, beauty and symmetry to form a Synergetic abstract tetrahedral minimum system, which being the IN-tuitive, IN-tellectual heart of the STUDIO, divides the entire universe at this locus into three consideration sets:

1. The micro-cosmic volume of un-manifest no-thing-ness and all beings taking refuge IN-side the STUDIO
2. An integrated, holistic, creative-living system comprised of structural, architectural, mechanical and elemental valving sub-systems of the STUDIO itself
3. The macro-cosmic other-ness of all energies and beings, both positive and negative, OUT-side the STUDIO.

A STUDIO where the micro-cosmic volume of un-manifest no-thing-ness IN-side the STUDIO resonates with the positively IN-tended right-hand spiraling vectors of body, speech and mind of the beings IN-habiting the STUDIO, resulting in un-IN-hibited and IN-spired re-structuring of material and energetic natural resources with-IN the STUDIO, thus re-forming the resources IN-to ART-SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY physical artifacts that re-flect the left-hand spiraling vectors of truth, beauty and symmetry, which ultimately re-IN-forces the abstract tetrahedral minimum system at the heart of the STUDIO.

A STUDIO where such positively IN-tended right-hand spiraling vectors of body, speech and mind of the beings STUDIO IN-habitants spontaneously, and safely IN-teract with material and energetic natural resources with-IN the STUDIO to creatively form spiral-orbital re-structurings of these resources, thereby un-knotting the self-IN-terfering, associative physical structures of the material resources through the controlled application of sacred spiral radiating, dis-associative energies, ultimately forming artifacts that re-flect truth, beauty and symmetry which may then be propagated and distributed OUT-side the STUDIO to benefit unlimited numbers of beings.

A STUDIO where the creative activities of STUDIO IN-habitants are supported by the structural, architectural, mechanical and elemental valving sub-systems of the STUDIO, which itself is an IN-spired artifact (tool for creative living), IN harmony with IN-habitants' physical and meta-physical requirements, thereby forming a REFUGE that both protects and nurtures while simultaneously enabling the safe and un-IN-hibited manipulation of material and energetic resources for the purpose of positively IN-tended artifact development.

A STUDIO where the macro-cosmic other-ness of all energies and beings, both positive and negative, OUT-side the STUDIO are brought IN-to the compassionate awareness and creative consideration of STUDIO IN-habitants, and because the STUDIO IN-habitants' physical and meta-physical positive growth requirements are met elegantly and efficiently IN harmony with the planet's regenerative systems, the STUDIO IN-habitants spontaneously, with wisdom, IN-telligence and skillful means, safely leverage the un-bounded, IN-spiraling associative and OUT-spiralling dis-associative cosmic energies, carefully applied to physical and energetic resources, empowered by the structural, architectural, mechanical and elemental valving sub-systems of the STUDIO, to form ART-SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY physical artifacts to be distributed to beings OUT-side the STUDIO, in a manner which reflects the axioms of truth, beauty and symmetry at the abstract of heart of the STUDIO, forming a sacred bond of realized IN-terconnectedness with those beings receiving the artifacts OUT-side the STUDIO, ultimately expanding the STUDIO's positive vibrations at the most subtle level of cosmic consciousness, following planetary lines of energy, causing sympathetic vibrational modes in all planetary GREAT CIRCLE wave lines, thereby healing planetary dis-harmony, resulting in planet-wide peace and happiness.

30 Transcendent Virtues
by Tom Greenbaum