Meditations of a Yogin
23.04.202520:17
Practice According to Your Own Capacity
"For the most part, what we practice and how much we practice are determined by our capacity, work and family situation, and how much time we have available—all perfectly valid criteria, as they were sanctioned by the Buddha himself, for example in the story of the village butcher. During the Buddha’s lifetime he permitted a butcher to take a vow not to kill animals at night, although he continued to kill them during the day in order to make a living. As a result, the butcher was born into an ephemeral hell where he suffered excruciating agonies during the daytime and at night his pleasures knew no bounds.
In this story Buddha is telling us that although this man earned his living by murdering animals, his profession did not bar him, and those like him, from also becoming spiritual practitioners. Yet one of the most widely held misconceptions about students of Buddhadharma is that we have to be either solitary yogis, like Milarepa—who practised all day, every day, for years on end—or celibate monks. If butchers can become practitioners, so can soldiers, fishermen and prostitutes. In fact anyone can be a Buddhist practitioner, because whatever your situation in life and regardless of your lifestyle, there is nothing to stop you from also practicing Buddhadharma. And although most people are unable to do everything recommended in the teachings, adopting one or two activities or attitudes will make a big difference to your life. Therefore, does a person have to become a monk, a nun or a yogi in order to be a Buddhist? Absolutely not!
Perhaps one aspect of the story about the butcher needs some clarification. It would be a mistake to assume that the Buddha was sanctioning murder when he asked the butcher not to kill during the night. That was not the case at all. Taking a vow was simply a stepping-stone that would eventually lead the butcher to a situation in which he no longer had to kill to earn a living. In fact, all Buddhist practices are like stepping-stones along the path to enlightenment, not an end in themselves. For example, the Buddha taught his monks a meditation on ugliness that reduces women to their fundamental physical constituents of pus, blood, meat, piss and shit, not as a way of sanctioning the denigratation of all women but to help monks detach themselves from their desire. He was certainly not trying to turn his monks into misogynists.
Buddhadharma is generally very permissive, and of course, as you take your first tentative steps along the Buddhist path, it goes without saying that you will do as much or as little as your situation allows. This is how it should be. It would be such a shame if those attracted to Buddhism were immediately put off because they felt compelled to become a monk or take hundreds of vows."
- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
(From the book "Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-Called Preliminary Practices")
"For the most part, what we practice and how much we practice are determined by our capacity, work and family situation, and how much time we have available—all perfectly valid criteria, as they were sanctioned by the Buddha himself, for example in the story of the village butcher. During the Buddha’s lifetime he permitted a butcher to take a vow not to kill animals at night, although he continued to kill them during the day in order to make a living. As a result, the butcher was born into an ephemeral hell where he suffered excruciating agonies during the daytime and at night his pleasures knew no bounds.
In this story Buddha is telling us that although this man earned his living by murdering animals, his profession did not bar him, and those like him, from also becoming spiritual practitioners. Yet one of the most widely held misconceptions about students of Buddhadharma is that we have to be either solitary yogis, like Milarepa—who practised all day, every day, for years on end—or celibate monks. If butchers can become practitioners, so can soldiers, fishermen and prostitutes. In fact anyone can be a Buddhist practitioner, because whatever your situation in life and regardless of your lifestyle, there is nothing to stop you from also practicing Buddhadharma. And although most people are unable to do everything recommended in the teachings, adopting one or two activities or attitudes will make a big difference to your life. Therefore, does a person have to become a monk, a nun or a yogi in order to be a Buddhist? Absolutely not!
Perhaps one aspect of the story about the butcher needs some clarification. It would be a mistake to assume that the Buddha was sanctioning murder when he asked the butcher not to kill during the night. That was not the case at all. Taking a vow was simply a stepping-stone that would eventually lead the butcher to a situation in which he no longer had to kill to earn a living. In fact, all Buddhist practices are like stepping-stones along the path to enlightenment, not an end in themselves. For example, the Buddha taught his monks a meditation on ugliness that reduces women to their fundamental physical constituents of pus, blood, meat, piss and shit, not as a way of sanctioning the denigratation of all women but to help monks detach themselves from their desire. He was certainly not trying to turn his monks into misogynists.
Buddhadharma is generally very permissive, and of course, as you take your first tentative steps along the Buddhist path, it goes without saying that you will do as much or as little as your situation allows. This is how it should be. It would be such a shame if those attracted to Buddhism were immediately put off because they felt compelled to become a monk or take hundreds of vows."
- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
(From the book "Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-Called Preliminary Practices")
Reposted from:
MahaYog - Yoga 🔱 and Buddhism ☸️
30.03.202506:59
Oral instruction does not mean many books but rather a few words that hit the target and convey the essence of meaning into your mind.
Vision does not mean just a philosophical opinion; it is freedom from the limitations of mental constructs.
Meditation does not mean mental concentration on something; it means that your mind remains steadfast in its natural ability to know, free from mental effort.
Spontaneous action does not mean licentious behavior; it means freedom from the habit of clinging to illusory sensations as reality.
Distinguishing knowledge (prajña) does not refer to the sharp faculties of mistaken thinking; it is the realization that all dharmas are unborn and free from mental constructions.
Guru Padmasambhava
Vision does not mean just a philosophical opinion; it is freedom from the limitations of mental constructs.
Meditation does not mean mental concentration on something; it means that your mind remains steadfast in its natural ability to know, free from mental effort.
Spontaneous action does not mean licentious behavior; it means freedom from the habit of clinging to illusory sensations as reality.
Distinguishing knowledge (prajña) does not refer to the sharp faculties of mistaken thinking; it is the realization that all dharmas are unborn and free from mental constructions.
Guru Padmasambhava
14.02.202517:58
"In general, if one is a realized yogin, one should be like the sky that can accommodate all good and bad, benefits and drawbacks. One should be like the earth that can bear all good and bad, happiness and suffering. One should be like a child who knows how to get along with people of all ages and sizes. One should be like food placed at the bedside of a sick person, having turned away from internal attachment. Compassion should arise spontaneously, like seeing one's only child. All qualities should arise spontaneously, like the earth in summer. Delusion of material grasping should dissolve, like ice melting into water. One should be fearless and confident, like a lion leaping into the snow or an elephant entering a lake. To develop such qualities, mere realization is not enough. One must train in equalizing the taste of experiences. There is no other taste to equalize; one must equalize the taste of the eight worldly concerns."
— Je Gampopa
Garland of Amrita Advice
— Je Gampopa
Garland of Amrita Advice
19.01.202507:17
10.01.202518:41
The Siddha Kokilipa The Complacent Esthete.
Non-action is the secret precept,
Non-attachment is realisation,
Non-referential pleasure is meditation,
And non-attainment is the supreme goal.
The king of Camparna, finding his palace intolerably hot in the summer months, would retire to the shade of his mango grove to enjoy the cool water running nearby, and the various flowers and fruits, the fragrance and rich colours.
He reclined upon silks and satins of his cushions and divans while many young girls attended him, some fondling him, some fanning him, some singing, some dancing, and others strewing flowers about him, tending to his every whim and to the desires of his entourage.
One day while he was wasting his precious human opportunity and the bounty of the kingdom in his orgy of self-gratification, a perfected monk approached the three hundred palace guards to beg for food.
They turned him away, but the king noticed him, and chiding the guards he called the monk to enter, inviting him to share refreshments.
"Which of our two life-styles gives the most joy?" he asked the monk complacently.
"A child would say your style", responded the monk. "But the wise man knows that your way of life is poison to the mind".
"Whatever do you mean?" asked the king.
The monk described the three poisons and continued,
" If you mix temporal power with the three poisons, you end up in a bad state. It is like eating good food and drink mixed with arsenic".
The king was a highly discriminating man, and receptive to this intelligence, and so he took refuge in the monk.
He received the initiation and empowerment of Samvara and was shown the path he should follow. He abdicated in favour of his son, so that he could be totally free of the old dispensation.
Yet, sitting in his mango grove, his mind still clung to the sound of the 'kokila' bird, and he was unable to concentrate.
His Guru showed him "the sudden dissolution of whatever constructs arise in the mind":
Like thunderclouds gathering in an empty sky
Pouring down rain upon fruit trees and crops,
After the Kokila's thunder in your empty ear
Clouds of conceptual thought- consciousness gather,
Constantly precipitating poisonous emotion
To generate a harvest of lust and hatred.
This is the way of the fool .
Out of the empty space of mind's nature
Inseparable sound and emptiness thunder,
With gathering clouds of inexhaustible pleasure
Sending sweet rain of self-radiant reality
To ripen a harvest of fivefold awareness.
That is the wise man's miracle.
The king followed this instruction and within six months he had reached his goal. He was called Kokilipa after the birds whose song he meditated upon. He worked indefatigably for others before attaining the Dakini's Paradise.
~
From the book :
Masters Of Mahamudra.
Songs and Histories of the Eighty-Four Buddhist Siddhas.
By Keith Dowman.
Non-action is the secret precept,
Non-attachment is realisation,
Non-referential pleasure is meditation,
And non-attainment is the supreme goal.
The king of Camparna, finding his palace intolerably hot in the summer months, would retire to the shade of his mango grove to enjoy the cool water running nearby, and the various flowers and fruits, the fragrance and rich colours.
He reclined upon silks and satins of his cushions and divans while many young girls attended him, some fondling him, some fanning him, some singing, some dancing, and others strewing flowers about him, tending to his every whim and to the desires of his entourage.
One day while he was wasting his precious human opportunity and the bounty of the kingdom in his orgy of self-gratification, a perfected monk approached the three hundred palace guards to beg for food.
They turned him away, but the king noticed him, and chiding the guards he called the monk to enter, inviting him to share refreshments.
"Which of our two life-styles gives the most joy?" he asked the monk complacently.
"A child would say your style", responded the monk. "But the wise man knows that your way of life is poison to the mind".
"Whatever do you mean?" asked the king.
The monk described the three poisons and continued,
" If you mix temporal power with the three poisons, you end up in a bad state. It is like eating good food and drink mixed with arsenic".
The king was a highly discriminating man, and receptive to this intelligence, and so he took refuge in the monk.
He received the initiation and empowerment of Samvara and was shown the path he should follow. He abdicated in favour of his son, so that he could be totally free of the old dispensation.
Yet, sitting in his mango grove, his mind still clung to the sound of the 'kokila' bird, and he was unable to concentrate.
His Guru showed him "the sudden dissolution of whatever constructs arise in the mind":
Like thunderclouds gathering in an empty sky
Pouring down rain upon fruit trees and crops,
After the Kokila's thunder in your empty ear
Clouds of conceptual thought- consciousness gather,
Constantly precipitating poisonous emotion
To generate a harvest of lust and hatred.
This is the way of the fool .
Out of the empty space of mind's nature
Inseparable sound and emptiness thunder,
With gathering clouds of inexhaustible pleasure
Sending sweet rain of self-radiant reality
To ripen a harvest of fivefold awareness.
That is the wise man's miracle.
The king followed this instruction and within six months he had reached his goal. He was called Kokilipa after the birds whose song he meditated upon. He worked indefatigably for others before attaining the Dakini's Paradise.
~
From the book :
Masters Of Mahamudra.
Songs and Histories of the Eighty-Four Buddhist Siddhas.
By Keith Dowman.
23.04.202520:17
16.04.202506:18
25.03.202509:24
Longchenpa said in his work, A Treasure of Wish-Fulfilling Jewels, regarding yogins that confuse the experience of Rigpa with what it is not:
Not knowing how the two truths are united, they come to blank vacuity.
They say that from both “is” and “is not” they are free,
But of the ground of such a freedom they are ignorant,
And have a view that takes them to the zenith of existence. (The formless realms or the arūpa-loka)
Such teaching is not Buddhadharma.
They say they have a space-like mind.
But let them rather daub themselves with ashes. (I.e. behave like a sadhu. Their view, in other words, resembles that of the Hindu schools.)
Not knowing how the two truths are united, they come to blank vacuity.
They say that from both “is” and “is not” they are free,
But of the ground of such a freedom they are ignorant,
And have a view that takes them to the zenith of existence. (The formless realms or the arūpa-loka)
Such teaching is not Buddhadharma.
They say they have a space-like mind.
But let them rather daub themselves with ashes. (I.e. behave like a sadhu. Their view, in other words, resembles that of the Hindu schools.)
03.02.202515:52
For the sake of world peace, the esteemed leaders of the Nyingma tradition, representatives of Guru Rinpoche, initiated and continue to conduct the annual Nyingma Monlam Chenmo (World Peace Ceremony) in Bodhgaya. This sacred event is held every year from the 1st to the 10th day of the 12th month in the Tibetan calendar.
This year marks the 36th Nyingma Monlam Chenmo, with 215 monasteries registered to participate in the event. The gathering includes over ten thousand participants, including monks, nuns, yogis, and devoted practitioners from various regions.
This year marks the 36th Nyingma Monlam Chenmo, with 215 monasteries registered to participate in the event. The gathering includes over ten thousand participants, including monks, nuns, yogis, and devoted practitioners from various regions.
18.01.202518:20
"All phenomena are like magical illusions," said the Buddhas.
But these days the illusions are more illusory than ever, Trickeries conjured up by devious illusionists - Beware of the illusions of this degenerate age's ways. All the infinite phenomena of samsara and nirvana are like magical illusions. Nowhere in the whole universe is there a single permanent, intrinsically existent entity to be found. There has never been a king who kept his kingdom forever; never someone born who did not die; never a crowd that did not disperse. Everything is like a drama in which actors play out wars, passions, and death. Everything is like a dream, sometimes good and sometimes a nightmare.
But it is in this degenerate age that we have reached the peak of illusion. People have long forgotten the purity of the golden age. They disregard their future lives and are preoccupied only by immediate gratification; unreliable and capricious, they bury the Dharma under a great heap of harmful and negative actions.
The world and beings change direction every moment like stalks of wheat swaying to and from in the wind, and what was true this morning is untrue by this evening.
Untimely rain, snow, hail, heat, and cold upset the natural course of the seasons.
Seeing all this, we must understand that there is no point in being excessively glad when something good happens to us, as it may well turn into its opposite at any time; and we must understand that there is no point in being too depressed by bad circumstances, as our difficulties are minute compared to those endured by countless beings in the lower realms."
"The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones", Collected Works Vol II, pages 259-60
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
But these days the illusions are more illusory than ever, Trickeries conjured up by devious illusionists - Beware of the illusions of this degenerate age's ways. All the infinite phenomena of samsara and nirvana are like magical illusions. Nowhere in the whole universe is there a single permanent, intrinsically existent entity to be found. There has never been a king who kept his kingdom forever; never someone born who did not die; never a crowd that did not disperse. Everything is like a drama in which actors play out wars, passions, and death. Everything is like a dream, sometimes good and sometimes a nightmare.
But it is in this degenerate age that we have reached the peak of illusion. People have long forgotten the purity of the golden age. They disregard their future lives and are preoccupied only by immediate gratification; unreliable and capricious, they bury the Dharma under a great heap of harmful and negative actions.
The world and beings change direction every moment like stalks of wheat swaying to and from in the wind, and what was true this morning is untrue by this evening.
Untimely rain, snow, hail, heat, and cold upset the natural course of the seasons.
Seeing all this, we must understand that there is no point in being excessively glad when something good happens to us, as it may well turn into its opposite at any time; and we must understand that there is no point in being too depressed by bad circumstances, as our difficulties are minute compared to those endured by countless beings in the lower realms."
"The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones", Collected Works Vol II, pages 259-60
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
10.01.202518:41
22.04.202507:31
The stainless expanse of the mind’s true nature ~ Asanga
Space, whose nature is free of concepts;
Encompasses everything;
Likewise, the stainless expanse of the mind’s true nature
Permeates all beings.
Space, whose nature is free of concepts;
Encompasses everything;
Likewise, the stainless expanse of the mind’s true nature
Permeates all beings.
15.04.202501:39
"Anuyoga uses the transformation method, however, it explains how our real nature is. There is no difference between Anuyoga and Dzogchen. Anuyoga explains how our real nature is the three primordial wisdoms: essence, nature and energy. What is essence? It is emptiness, kadag. What is nature? Clarity. What is energy? Without interruption. When we explain about energy we talk about three primordial potentialities: sound and light and rays. Since the beginning all sentient beings have these perfected potentialities. But even though we have these potentialities from the beginning, we are ignorant of having that knowledge and because of this ignorance, there is no benefit. We are always in samsara."
- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
https://melong.com/anuyoga-system-dzogchen-guruyoga/
- Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
https://melong.com/anuyoga-system-dzogchen-guruyoga/
22.03.202508:10
In the Nyingma tradition, the peak known as Blazing Meteoritic Mount Malaya (Wyl. ri bo ma la ya gnam lcags 'bar ba Skt. malayagiri) is the most important sacred place for Vajrayana practitioners. Vajrayana teachings originated in our world when Vajrapani, the Lord of Secrets and of the yakshas, taught the Nyingma Mahayoga and Anuyoga tantras. He expounded the teachings to five noble beings: the god Yashasvi Varapala, the naga king Takshaka, the yaksha Ulkamukha, the rakshasa Matyaupayika, and a human, the Licchavi Vimalakirti.
According to Khenpo Namdrol Rinpoche, Vimalakirti then transmitted the teachings to King Dza and to Nyak Jñanakumara (one of the 25 disciples of Guru Rinpoche).
It is also the place where the Buddha descended from heaven and taught the Lankavatara Sutra.
Situated in present day Sri Lanka, it is known as Adam's Peak or Shripada.
According to Khenpo Namdrol Rinpoche, Vimalakirti then transmitted the teachings to King Dza and to Nyak Jñanakumara (one of the 25 disciples of Guru Rinpoche).
It is also the place where the Buddha descended from heaven and taught the Lankavatara Sutra.
Situated in present day Sri Lanka, it is known as Adam's Peak or Shripada.
03.02.202515:52
18.01.202518:20
08.01.202523:20
16.04.202515:18
"The real Buddha is the nature of our mind.
Right now, our Buddha nature is covered by obscurations that we need to purify.
We also need to gather the two accumulations of merit and wisdom.
A practice in which we think that the Buddha is outside of ourselves, while ignoring the Buddha within, will, by itself, never bring complete enlightenment.
If we expect an external Buddha up there in the sky to give us all the common and supreme accomplishments, we are merely placing our hopes on an external object.
The ultimate deity is within our own mind.
We attain enlightenment by recognising our true nature and training in that recognition."
~
- Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Vajra Speech: A Commentary on the Quintessence of Spiritual Practice, the Direct Instructions of the Great Compassionate One
Right now, our Buddha nature is covered by obscurations that we need to purify.
We also need to gather the two accumulations of merit and wisdom.
A practice in which we think that the Buddha is outside of ourselves, while ignoring the Buddha within, will, by itself, never bring complete enlightenment.
If we expect an external Buddha up there in the sky to give us all the common and supreme accomplishments, we are merely placing our hopes on an external object.
The ultimate deity is within our own mind.
We attain enlightenment by recognising our true nature and training in that recognition."
~
- Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Vajra Speech: A Commentary on the Quintessence of Spiritual Practice, the Direct Instructions of the Great Compassionate One
Reposted from:MahaYog - Yoga 🔱 and Buddhism ☸️
06.04.202507:08
Guru is the nature of our mind. If we have realized the nature of mind, there is no need for an external guru. If comprehension of [the nature of] the mind is maintained in and out of meditation, then the guru is beyond meeting and parting.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
06.03.202505:40
Tibetans’ growing sense of their geographic importance could only have been strengthened by the decline of Buddhism in India. Already in the late twelfth century, Tibetans were beginning to report on the Muslim depredations in northern India.
The Kagyupa master Jigten Gönpo (1143 - 1217) included the following lines in a prayer for the success of the Buddhist teachings: “In this world, a great devastation has arisen. Enemies of the teachings have come. As the power of the Turks has increased, they have conquered the eastern Indian [regions] of Magadha, destroying the outward and inward sacred objects."
- From "The Taming of the Demons" Chapter Six, Buddhist Warfare
The Kagyupa master Jigten Gönpo (1143 - 1217) included the following lines in a prayer for the success of the Buddhist teachings: “In this world, a great devastation has arisen. Enemies of the teachings have come. As the power of the Turks has increased, they have conquered the eastern Indian [regions] of Magadha, destroying the outward and inward sacred objects."
- From "The Taming of the Demons" Chapter Six, Buddhist Warfare
19.01.202507:18
Meditate - Familiarize Yourself with the Dharma Practice
"It is not enough simply to look at food: you need to eat it.
It is not enough simply to hear the teachings: you must meditate."
ཟས་མཐོང་བས་མི་ཆོག་ཟ་དགོས་པར་འདུག །
ཆོས་གོ་བས་མི་ཆོག་སྒོམ་དགོས་པར་འདུག །
Naldjorpa Wangchug Milarepa
Note: On the first glance, this quote of Tibet's Great Yogi simply states 'Meditate! - not just hear about dharma teachings.' Moreover, the whole of buddhist learning is structured around the threefold training in listening, reflecting and meditating, tö sam gom sum (thos bsam sgom gsum/śruta cintā bhāvanā). However, the term gom (sgom), 'meditate' or 'contemplate', means also 'to train', 'to familiarize yourself with', 'become familiar, 'have real knowledge of', and so on. In this respect Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso states.
"While Buddhist scholars concentrate on studying or listening to the Buddha’s doctrine, the logicians study valid means of knowing and reasoning, the tools with which one reflects and is able to discern what is true and false. This corresponds to the stage of reflection. The yogins or meditators are those who have established through listening and reflection what must be the case and who are now engaged in training themselves in the art of abandoning their delusions. It is one thing to decide through reasoning what must be true and another actually to see the world in that way."
"It is not enough simply to look at food: you need to eat it.
It is not enough simply to hear the teachings: you must meditate."
ཟས་མཐོང་བས་མི་ཆོག་ཟ་དགོས་པར་འདུག །
ཆོས་གོ་བས་མི་ཆོག་སྒོམ་དགོས་པར་འདུག །
Naldjorpa Wangchug Milarepa
Note: On the first glance, this quote of Tibet's Great Yogi simply states 'Meditate! - not just hear about dharma teachings.' Moreover, the whole of buddhist learning is structured around the threefold training in listening, reflecting and meditating, tö sam gom sum (thos bsam sgom gsum/śruta cintā bhāvanā). However, the term gom (sgom), 'meditate' or 'contemplate', means also 'to train', 'to familiarize yourself with', 'become familiar, 'have real knowledge of', and so on. In this respect Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso states.
"While Buddhist scholars concentrate on studying or listening to the Buddha’s doctrine, the logicians study valid means of knowing and reasoning, the tools with which one reflects and is able to discern what is true and false. This corresponds to the stage of reflection. The yogins or meditators are those who have established through listening and reflection what must be the case and who are now engaged in training themselves in the art of abandoning their delusions. It is one thing to decide through reasoning what must be true and another actually to see the world in that way."
Reposted from:
Meditations of a Yogin
12.01.202519:43
The Incomparable Gampopa
“At the beginning, gain knowledge of Dharma, be like a starving man before a good meal; in the middle, gain understanding of mind like one finding a precious jewel; in the end, develop an understanding of nonduality like the collapse of the charlatan’s greatest deception.”
Photo: An illustration of a young Gampopa practicing control over prana, dispelling a heap of ashes through wind charged from his finger tips...... under the tutorial-ship of Milarepa.
“At the beginning, gain knowledge of Dharma, be like a starving man before a good meal; in the middle, gain understanding of mind like one finding a precious jewel; in the end, develop an understanding of nonduality like the collapse of the charlatan’s greatest deception.”
Photo: An illustration of a young Gampopa practicing control over prana, dispelling a heap of ashes through wind charged from his finger tips...... under the tutorial-ship of Milarepa.
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