What is the pure view, and how can we achieve it?
It’s actually very simple. The pure view means seeing everything as fantastic just because it can happen. Usually, we have a discriminating consciousness. We think “smart” or “dumb,” “like it” or “don’t like it,” etc. The pure view means that one doesn’t forget the mirror itself amid all the reflections in the mirror, that one always remembers that what is looking through our eyes and listening through our ears—awareness itself—is joy, fearlessness and love. One looks more at what is between the thoughts, behind the thoughts, at what perceives the thoughts and feelings—this infinite space-clarity present in everything.
If, for example, we experience something that is “unpleasant,” that “hurts,” it’s actually exciting that there is somebody able to experience this. Pain in itself is a very exciting feeling, and it’s interesting to find out how we ourselves react and how others react. It is important not to cling to the images in the mirror but to always be aware of the mirror itself. In this way, that which perceives and experiences is always present through the ups and downs in the mind. If you keep this view, then everything happening is the free play of mind, the surplus of mind, the power of mind, the abilities of mind, the light of mind, and so forth.
Seen through the pure view, thoughts reflect the Truth State of mind. That they can occur at all is because there is something that experiences these things. If we experience thoughts this way, there is no more clinging to good experiences and pushing away bad ones. We see everything that happens as exciting, as interesting, as a possibility to learn, without being caught by it. Everything shows what is possible.
I can tell you, even if a Mafioso came in here throwing a handful of grenades, even the blood and the bits of us scattered all over the walls, even that would express the Truth State. It would be the perfect expression of the explosive charge in connection with the human body under these circumstances—everything is truth! OK, if you are in the situation and think, “I am my body, and I want to live for a long time,” then this is clearly painful. Everybody knows that level of experience. I’m speaking of seeing it in a transpersonal way, beyond thinking that one is one’s body. I’m talking about a higher level, where everything is fantastic just because it happens, whether it is being born or passing away. On this level, one is the clear light that perceives all things. Here, there is no moralism in favor of this or that.
If two thugs try to steal an old lady’s purse, I would stop them. Of course, I would do that. But I wouldn’t be moralistic about it because it’s possible that in her last life, she also snatched something from them, creating this connection. So one should help indeed, but without all the moralistic pressure, without judging others. People are stupid, not evil. They are seeking happiness and trying to avoid suffering. They just always stick their hands into the nettles instead of the flowers.
The pure view also means that you know that highest truth means highest joy. You know that you’re in a pure land, that all people are Buddhas who just don’t know it yet, and that the more you can see things as elevated and pure, the closer you are to the truth.
In your everyday experience, you might think of it like this: A man walks in, and his face looks as if it’s been rolled over by a freight train. But his hands are beautiful, so you look at his hands. Or maybe the hands and face aren’t so nice, but the shoes are good, or he has a nice car. You try to see all beings and everything that happens as new, fresh, and exciting and to experience the most beautiful and pure aspects of the situation. If you succeed in seeing something new and beautiful in every being and every face, whatever it may be, then you gradually come to where any experience will be an aha moment. This means that you will see the mirror beyond the pretty or ugly reflections, the perceiver beyond what is perceived.
If you have many unpleasant experiences, then you will always stay on the surface and try to cover up, defend, or run away from things. That is to say, from a bad dream, you can’t easily wake up to recognize the dreamer behind the dream. But instead, if you always choose to see the best, the most beautiful, the most meaningful in people, then you will identify more directly with the experiencer itself.
It is much easier to wake up from a good dream than a bad one. That’s why we work with building up the most beautiful dream possible, to see beings and things on the highest possible level. Experience shows that one can easily open up on that level and go on from there into true purity, into true meaning. But if one is caught in some lousy dream, there is no impetus. Everything is sticky and half-wet, half-cold—it’s not much fun. If you experience yourself and all beings as potential buddhas; the whole of space as a pure land—everything in itself as sparkling, radiant, and meaningful—then the rest is a gift.
Your mind is a creature of habit. It builds up habits and makes them ever stronger. That’s why you should be cautious in situations where you think, “There I always fall into the water,” “There I always get problems,” “There I always see things in a skewed way.” Try to do what generates useful thoughts, speech and actions in an easy and natural way, and keep yourself away from bad company and situations that lead to bad habits. You go on working with view and practice together until one day you sit there, and everything is beautiful and exciting. It takes a bit of view and a lot of work.
It’s very important on this path to understand that there is no ordinary level of truth with some black and gray depressions beneath and some rosy dreams above. This image of reality is not true. If we look for something true and real, there is only one point where everything comes together: highest joy, love, strength, courage, meaning, confidence, surplus, wisdom, compassion, and so on. Where all positive qualities unfold is highest joy and highest truth.
How can we maintain the pure view?
Imagine your mind is a cigar factory. You are only producing cigars for millionaires, twenty dollars apiece. You check their color and smell; you check the sound they make when you squeeze them. If they are good enough, you accept them; if not, you send them off to be processed into cigarettes or loose tobacco.
That is exactly what it’s about—only accepting the best thoughts and feelings. One could also say that there should be something pure in everything that has to do with you. On the highest level, samsara and nirvana are one. Every atom vibrates with joy and is held together by love. Every thought and feeling, even the most stupid, is fantastic on the absolute level just because it can happen.
If you make sure to feel good, you will experience the world as beautiful—everything as wonderful and meaningful. Remember that everybody has innate Buddhanature. Decide to experience everything as fresh and new and to see the beauty in all that happens.
It is important to understand that highest truth means highest joy. My mind works in a very simple way: I have an automatic function, a discarding function. If there is something that feels bad or strange, my mind tells me, “You don’t have to worry about that; there is no truth in it. It must be a mistake in today’s manufacturing process or some kind of contaminant.” But if there is something that feels beautiful and pleasant, my mind says, “Oh, you seem to be approaching something true!” And then my mind goes in that direction.
It functions automatically, and I always have a good time. I just connect truth with joy and untruth with a lower level of functioning. Highest joy is highest truth. There is no separation.
It is important to have a feeling of surplus. If you have that, you will generally do good things. If your motivation is right, you don’t have to check every word. Every action will be well-rounded and benefit others. But if you have a sour feeling, for example, then even if you watch every word you say, you will still make mistakes. People will get angry with you because they’ll feel your vibration and reflect it back to you.
So it’s better to develop the ability to see things on the highest possible level. If you can do that, you will automatically become compassionate, loving, and beyond personal, and you will do nothing wrong.
So, the closer to the head you catch the snake, the less it will be able to disturb you. Just try to go into the world with a good feeling. Make sure you are doing well, and wish everybody something good. If you then do, think, or say anything harmful, five red warning lights will flash up at once.
Of course, one cannot grasp at holding the highest view in the same way one cannot grasp at meditation. On the outer level, we can avoid doing things that will certainly pull us down. On the inner level, we should also make sure that compassion and wisdom are present, and on the highest level, we maintain the view. But, actually, the experience of the highest view appears spontaneously and effortlessly by itself; one cannot force it.
You can only make sure that you always identify more truth with more joy. And in this way you can develop a very fine inner sense for knowing whether you are moving away from or getting closer to your inner light, whether you are doing something honest and well-rounded or are becoming a bit distant and unclear.
The mind develops many subtle bells and red lights that help one be aware in everything that happens.
If I see everything on a pure level, then I won’t experience the suffering of others as real. How can I feel compassion for them in that case?
I can tell you about an experience I had that may help give an answer. It was in 1976 at Mount Ararat in Turkey, close to the border with Iran. We were driving a bus with fifty or sixty friends through the Middle East, then on to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, when we had to stop all of a sudden because there was a dead man lying in the road.
I went over to him to help, and it was a completely naked experience, pure and radiant! It happened on several levels of consciousness simultaneously. On the one hand, there was the bright blue sky and an impressive mountain with perennial snow in the background; and at the same time, there was this dead man lying there with people standing around, all of them malnourished, with stubbly beards, and completely shocked. The man lay there with open eyes, his mouth full of blood, and right beside him was a piece of his hipbone that had been broken off.
Everything was there in the same moment: compassion for the man, who certainly had fifteen kids who would now have to work in the salt mines; compassion for his wife and for the people who were just standing there, unable to understand or do anything; the fantastic mountain; the glistening blood on this bone and in his mouth. In some way, it was pure—merely because it happened. It was completely beyond liking or disliking. It was an experience of nakedly, directly seeing what was happening.
And when those experiences come, one thinks, “Where has my compassion gone?” and “You should have done something!” But, in fact, despite those thoughts, one has reacted five times better and more authentically than if one had approached the situation with all kinds of sentimental feelings and fixed ideas about compassion. Since I was able to see the situation on a pure level in the moment, I could react well. That way, we do our best—a lot better than with fixed ideas.
I always lose the pure view as soon as I have to deal with other people. I immediately have thoughts like, “That backside is too fat,” or “That nose is too long,” and so on. What can I do?
I think compassion is the most helpful. Wish people all the best so that everything else becomes secondary—whether they have a weird hair color, are too skinny or fat, or whatever else. You just direct the good trip you’re on toward your fellow beings and consciously wish them all the best so that it rubs off on them. Then everything else is OK anyway.
The way they are is their kind of wisdom, their peculiarity. One can also use wisdom, for example, by imagining what karmic causes have led to their present look or behavior. But I think compassion is best.
Does the mind need a body to become enlightened?
To become enlightened, it is better to have a body. In the pure lands, where one only imagines one has a body, reaching enlightenment is certain, but it happens much more slowly. To have a body means to experience desires, attachment, pride, and many other states. If the huge power contained in these feelings is transformed, it brings radiant enlightenment very quickly indeed. That is the advantage of having a body. If we properly use all the desires, attachments, expectations, etc., that we currently experience, then we are on the fastest path to enlightenment.
The body is also useful because we can hold the mind with it. Since the mind is bound to the body, one can, for example, use body posture during meditation to calm the mind down and focus it on one point. We can also work with sense impressions and our identification with them.
What actually keeps the mind tied to the body?
Habit! At this very moment, you are connected to all energies and places everywhere. What keeps you in your body is an ego illusion. There is actually no difference at all between the vibration in your skin and the vibration everywhere. And you don’t have to leave the body to become enlightened. What keeps you tied to your body now is habit. And, again, habit is what will try to hold you back while dying. This will continue until the ego illusion falls away.
Why does the unenlightened mind always seek out a body again?
Our actions, thoughts, and words from former lives—our karma—work like a kind of glue, like something that makes things crystallize out of the possibilities of space. We then find parents when they make love, and we tether ourselves to the fertilized egg and are born. And what binds us here is cause and effect and our ignorance in thinking that we are limited. We are bound here because the conditions are there because a hook and a ring came together because we aren’t able to see mind as clear light but instead identify with the body.
If we think we are our body, we are deluding ourselves. Rather, we have a body. The body is something through which we can work, but our true nature is clear light. As long as this is not recognized, we believe that we are our body and experience old age, sickness, death, and all the difficulties that go along with these concepts. Buddha shows us the experience that we really are clear light. This is the goal. The body is our tool to use for the benefit of all—without experiencing ups and downs, without having expectations and fears, but simply because it feels so right.
How can we make our body more disciplined, with a greater capacity to work?
The best method in Diamond Way Buddhism is the 111,111 prostrations. If you have forced yourself through this practice, then everything in life is easy. Once you work your way through this intensive treatment, then the body isn’t a difficult master anymore but rather a good servant. Then you can use it for what you want to do, and it won’t be all crooked and obstructed anymore. After the prostrations, your body will be completely different.
I would give everybody this advice: use the prostrations to push out all the drugs, all the laziness, all the compromises, all the things you have constrained yourself with—forcefully blow all this out of yourself with the help of the prostrations and then move on.
What does it mean to use the body as a tool?
Using the body as a tool means protecting others and giving them what they need—whether material things or love. It means bringing others happiness and supporting them in uncovering their strength and qualities.
Since the body is an important tool, we should take our needs seriously and take good care of our body, right?
Yes, of course!
But as a human, one is subject to old age, sickness and death. Therefore, it pays off to take as much money out of the bank with low interest rates and put it into the one with higher rates. This means elevating all physical attachments and ideas of a solid, sensually conditioned world to the level of freshness, freedom and great joy. It is a question of what values we trust in and commit ourselves to. And here it is worthwhile to be interested in values that can’t break and that are really reliable.
We are currently on the relative level, but we hear there is an absolute level of full enlightenment. A part of us can understand this, while other parts still cannot. But first, we hear about this highest level and look into the mirror. Then we meditate, and through the power of the teachings and the blessing they contain, attachments and limitations will loosen very quickly. And in the end, everything we had been fighting for earlier we now experience as a gift. Moreover, we see things on a level where nothing can be lost or disappear. It is a “both-and” view. On the one hand, what we have now gets better, more relaxed, and easier, and on top we achieve the absolute level that we don’t know yet.
Is it true that an enlightened person is reborn in a human body again and again?
Enlightened beings are reborn only if they wish to be. They have free choice. The Bodhisattva Loving Eyes (Skt. Avalokiteshvara, Tib. Chenrezig) took rebirth multiple times among birds because, apparently, they are able to learn certain things. And all of space is truth. Wherever an openness for truth arises in us, this truth will manifest in such a way that we can connect with it, learn, and develop.
Is it really true that my actions in this life determine what kind of body I will be reborn with in my next life?
Yes! The body we have now is a consequence of karma. What we do in this life has four results. First, it determines the experiences we will have when we die—which subconscious impressions come up and whether we experience happiness or suffering. Second, if we are reborn as humans, it governs what kind of body and genetic constitution we get. Third, it determines the country we are born in—a pleasant or unpleasant one, a rich or poor one, and so on. And, finally, what we do in this life molds the attitudes we develop when we’re reborn—whether we are basically friendly, like people, and want to help them, or whether we are generally difficult and bring people suffering and problems.
These are the four results of previous thoughts, words, and actions. One can say that the body is the solidified state of consciousness; it reflects the impressions that lie in the mind. And thus one can influence the mind through the body and the body through the mind.
How important is a healthy body in working with our mind? That depends on one’s level of meditation. On the highest level, you can meditate on everything—on diseases, on suffering and difficulties, on tiredness, and so on. Everything can be transformed and used as raw material for meditation. Most of our rinpoches are in a bad state of health. They eat the wrong things and don’t really take care of their bodies because, from a certain level of meditation, everything is pleasant—sickness, pain, everything is enjoyable because no matter what happens, one just sits there and experiences joy.
What is spiritual pride?
Spiritual pride arises if you don’t face up to things and you always start something new as soon as you get deep in one area and have to work with yourself. This way, you don’t develop, but rather you always think you know better because you’ve already tried everything.
I’ll give an example. It was in Copenhagen, the only time I have ever been to a Theosophical Society. On the way to the lecture rooms, I couldn’t even see the wallpaper because there were books everywhere. Almost all of them were secret books, and I thought, “Whoever reads so many secret things in a mixed-up way will certainly get confused.” And “Who is actually printing those books if they are so secret?”
I explained what Buddhism is: that we don’t want suppression and holy wars; that we don’t have a creator god who punishes and judges; that, instead, karma—the law of cause and effect—is working in our lives; that Buddhism is not a religion of belief; that we don’t have any gods; and so on. Then, after the lecture, one lady said with joy and devotion, “Ah, again, we see that everything is from God and that everything is the same.”
But when they got old and the time to die arrived, many Theosophists came to me. They were totally confused and had no clarity. Everything was mixed up with a bit of sugar-coating to make it feel good. I was very happy that I could help some of them.
It is similar with Hindu groups—for example, with Bhagwan (a guru called Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh or Osho). Also, today in the New Age movement, people get fascinated by crystals and such things, which are totally heartwarming but don’t point to one’s own mind. None of these things point to mind itself. Various facts are mixed in a way that feels good, but there is no clarity. Thus, one doesn’t hold anything in one’s hands at the moment of death. When people get sick and old and start looking for lasting values, they have nothing.
Only three feelings are real: fearlessness, joy, and love. They are real because their cause does not change—namely, that mind is space. And this space is radiantly clear and limitless. If you experience these feelings, if this grows inside you, then you are approaching the radiant power of your mind. All other feelings are conditioned, put together, and impermanent.
Can a big ego be useful?
Yes, if one transforms it. Normally it only blocks communication and is our worst enemy. But if one transforms the ego from thinking “How great I am!” to thinking “How great we all are!”—then one’s experience goes straight from hell to paradise.
If you think, “I am so great and so much smarter than everyone else,” you are always lonely and in bad company. But if, instead, you think how great everyone else is and what they are capable of, then you’re always in good company and can learn something from everybody. You can give something to everyone, and the world becomes more and more beautiful.
If a teacher stands in front of his class and thinks, “What are those thirty gorillas doing here?” he might as well leave immediately because you can’t teach gorillas anything. But if he thinks, “What are those thirty Einsteins doing in my class?” then suddenly it is fun because the students can learn a lot.
Heaven and hell happen between your own ears or ribs, depending on where you imagine the mind to be. If you see people and everything in the world as great—this is heaven. If you see dangers, difficulties, and pain everywhere, then you are in hell.
How can one get rid of the ego?
You outsmart it by its own means. Buddhism is a method of constantly outsmarting the ego. You have to use the energy of the ego—the illusory, non-existent ego—in order to get to where it is no longer there. So you use this idea of a self to purify the veils until there is no more ego-illusion.
The ego is very strong, but it is also stupid. There are some great teachers in the history of the Karma Kagyu lineage who worked directly against the ego. The story of Milarepa and his teacher, Marpa, is particularly well known—that was still a really tough school. But most of the time, one has to give people something sweet at first. The ego then thinks, “Ah, not only am I a good guy, but now I’m also getting spiritual.” One then keeps this good feeling as long as possible.
Later, the ego slowly discovers that it gets a lot of bread and potatoes but little meat and vegetables. One now belongs to a noble family. Especially with me as a teacher, it is clear that I like a “stiff upper lip” and good style and that I don’t like to see drama and weakness. Suddenly, the ego can’t play all the games it used to. It can’t build itself up anymore through powerful feelings like, “I hate him,” “I am the best,” “I am the worst,” and so on.
Seeing that it’s not doing so well, the ego then tries to protect itself by all means. For example, it projects feelings, a sore back, or thoughts like, “I am constantly getting worse!”—which is not true at all. It’s just that one can suddenly see how one has always been. In this difficult situation, we throw another piece of meat to the ego—for example, the bodhisattva attitude. We tell it, “You are here to help all beings.” At first, the ego thinks we’ve noticed how good it is and all the things it can do, but actually, the bodhisattva attitude is a complete poison for it. First, we have to think of others all the time and therefore have no more time to think of ourselves; and second, we always get those teachings on emptiness, which say that we don’t exist at all.
This is really fatal for the ego. Now it has already become so weak that it has only one place left to entrench itself. That’s when it starts to see what others are doing wrong. It has already given up trying to protect itself since it knows that everything is actually an illusion. Now instead, it tries to find faults in others: “He does this, and she says that,” and so on. How do we conquer this final bastion? How do we make the ego smolder and finally snuff it out completely? Through the pure view! We think, “Even my doubt is my Buddhanature. Even my most evil thoughts are spontaneous wisdom. My biggest problem is my best way out.” Then we’ve made it.
When I am resting in open space during meditation, after a very short time, my ego disrupts the experience. Is there an antidote against this?
I would always praise the ego until it completely loses its footing. I would say, “Fantastic, what wisdom! You already know that you are losing control if you play along, if you allow for space. Very smart how you are doing this!” Or you can think, “Oh, this is the ego. It always comes around here. Take a cup of tea, ego; I’m meditating!” We simply continue one-pointedly. And one day, we’ve made it. At some point, the ego finally dissolves.
But don’t turn the pet into a predator. There can be reasons why the ego is resisting. It could be that in the beginning, the perfect experience of emptiness is too strong; it might throw you out of balance. You may first have to build up even more good impressions in the store consciousness before you can allow all this. It is also possible that one area—for example, intellectual understanding—is already very developed, while another area—like emotional maturity—isn’t so developed yet. Then one has to give the development some time.
So don’t get mad at the ego. Think instead, “Aha, that surely has its meaning!” or “That clearly makes sense!” or “That will definitely help me with something!” and then simply go on. I wouldn’t fight it wildly. That just puts energy into ego games, which will only get stronger this way. Just continue until it dissolves by itself from its lack of strength.
What can I do when my thoughts start racing?
In general, thoughts are always there. A thought arises, and if one observes it, one realizes that it just continues to flow like a stream, like waves that come and go. It is interesting when they are there; it is also good when they are not there.
You shouldn’t take thoughts too seriously. Thoughts, concepts, and ideas are useful if you have to learn something or apply your intelligence. Whenever you aren’t engaged in work that requires full concentration, you can disconnect the stream of thoughts from the immediate actions.
For example, while riding a bicycle, one doesn’t think, “Now, first, I have to move one foot here and the other foot there, and at the same time, I have to hold the handlebar and shift into the right gear,” and so on. Instead, one just sits on the bike, trusts the wisdom of the body, and rides it. If one does what lies in front of one’s nose and the thoughts continue in parallel, then the actions become more spontaneous, effortless, and useful.
Body, speech, and mind contain a great amount of spontaneous, intuitive wisdom and energy. You are a Buddha; you have everything in you; you are connected with everything.
Thoughts are very good if you can switch them on and off as you like. Then you think what you want and turn them off again when you have thought enough—you are spontaneous and effortless. The best teachers for this are the surfers on the coasts of California, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. They lie on their boards in the water. For a long time, there are no waves. Then a wave appears that would bring them only halfway to the shore, and another comes that would break the board. Then, finally, the right wave appears, and the happy surfer gets up and rides in. He doesn’t hate one wave and isn’t attached to another, but instead, he simply does what’s possible. And when we live in this way, the abilities and powers inside us come to the fore. I also learn a lot in this way about patience.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to turn off the thoughts when they become too many. But there is a good method that Milarepa also used centuries ago. He spoke the syllable PEI. In the very moment one says PEI aloud or inwardly, the thoughts diffuse and are gone.
Another way to free yourself from thoughts is to imagine the lama on top of your head. The lama appears as if made of water, and you let this water flow into yourself. This way, you become the lama himself, who, in our case, is always the Karmapa. Imagine that you yourself are Karmapa and try to hold this perception and feeling as well as possible.
If important thoughts come up that distract you from what you have to concentrate on, then you can write them down. Since we Westerners react strongly to written things, it is very helpful to use notes to keep from being distracted from what is important in the moment.
What is the best way to integrate Buddhist practice into everyday life?
Here it’s about doing a mix of formal and intuitive practice whenever possible. I would try to spontaneously intersperse short periods of meditation throughout the day whenever the situation permits. It is also good to have fixed meditation sessions during the day as the basis. For example, after the last embrace in the morning, I would sit down with my partner and take refuge together for five minutes or concentrate on the three lights from the Karmapa meditation.
One can also use any break during the day to let Karmapa arise in space and concentrate on the lights. One can try as much as possible to see everything as pure and beautiful. On your way to work on the bus or train, you can imagine the Buddha or Karmapa sitting on a board above the heads of everyone. Then in your mind, you pull the boards away and let the Buddha or Karmapa fall down into their hearts and start to shine.
I would always concentrate on space and bliss as inseparable. Try to see space as that which contains all things and not as what separates them. That means not just directing your consciousness forward—habitually following your nose and eyes—but being aware of the space all around yourself as well.
It’s about experiencing consciousness as something similar to space, as something that expands in every direction. This point is really important, so I often emphasize it. If one experiences that meter of distance between oneself and others not as separation but instead as space—a container that encompasses us all—one will experience more and more joy. By developing this view, by always focusing on what unites and brings us together, experiences and abilities that go beyond what we’re used to will arise quite naturally. Suddenly, we know who is calling before the phone rings, or we think of a friend, and then a short time later, we get a letter from him. This happens because mind, in its joyful, relaxed state, expresses all its wisdom and abilities.
When we arrive at work, we can now see something exciting and meaningful in every situation. To the ladies, I would point out their beauty and wisdom, and to the gentlemen their power and joy. This way, their attention will be directed towards their strengths, and they will be in closer contact with their potential. At work, we then think, “I don’t just have a duty here; I have a mission. Through what I do today, I can touch many beings and maybe give them something useful that brings them joy.”
In moments when there is nothing to do, and nobody is demanding your attention, you can completely relax for a short while, absorb the three lights, and give away the good impressions to all beings afterward. If you have a more physical job in which you don’t need to think so much, you can keep repeating a mantra the whole time.
We really can look at everything on the highest level. For example, we can even see machines as an expression of the intelligence of inventors who created something that functions so well. During the morning break or lunch, again, we can interact with people in the most meaningful ways, seeing the freshest and most beautiful aspects of all that happens. While eating, we can also give everything as a gift to Karmapa in our minds.
Maybe at work, you have a boss who is an impossible guy, but you just think, “How wonderful. Without difficult people, there’s no patience, and without patience, there’s no enlightenment. Many thanks!” So no matter what’s going on, one makes the best possible use of one’s time, always seeing the best in people and learning from whatever happens. On the way home, we can then let Karmapa fall into the hearts of everyone on the bus again.
Those who couldn’t do any prostrations in the morning should definitely do them after work. The reason is that repeatedly “throwing down” your body will align your own energies. Your energy level will rise so much that you can subtract an hour of sleep time for every hour of prostrations you do. They also give tremendous strength, and we become more able to do something for others.
When there is nothing thrilling on TV, you can also meditate on Diamond Mind to purify all negative impressions accumulated over countless lifetimes. Or you can do your current personal practice. And finally, in the evening, you can take your loved one to bed and practice the union of bliss and emptiness, the meeting of wisdom and compassion.
When the time to sleep comes, sitting in bed, we can do a final meditation on the emptiness-clarity of mind, the Clear Light Meditation. Afterward, we lie down and remain in a state of limitless light all night. The next morning, the light shines back into us, we emerge out of space as the buddha aspect of our choice, and we take refuge and go out again into the world. This way, one makes full use of the twenty-four hours in the day.
How can we keep the level of development we have reached?
On the level of cause and effect, we simply decide not to kill anymore, not to abuse others sexually, not to steal, not to lie, not to get “stupid drunk,” and so on. We find out where we made mistakes in the past and say to ourselves, “I am not going to do that anymore.”
On the second level, which is more psychological, disturbing feelings are dealt with. Here we try to remove our anger, attachment, jealousy, pride, and confusion. We recognize that those feelings don’t bring any benefit but only destroy a lot.
The third level is all about insight. It’s a matter of knowing that a higher level of joy means a higher level of truth and that enlightenment is the full unfolding of mind. This is a well-rounded state, at rest in itself and beyond hope and fear. We cannot grasp at or produce this state of mind, but only give space for it to appear.
There is a good joke about this. Enlightenment is like meeting a beautiful lady. If you chase her, she’ll call the police. Instead, you have to park your Porsche in front of her door, put your checkbook on top, and wait until she comes. So, we can create the outer conditions for enlightenment, but we cannot grasp at it.
