Knowledge and Religion

The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

On this Independence Day I wanted to reprint this particular blog with a few comments. Human liberation is a matter of discovering what is truly independent. 

For instance, the body is dependent on food and air. The condition of the mind seems to depend on the condition of the body. The condition of the world and of the economy depends on many factors including the amount of compassion and love that the people have.

So what can possibly be independent. It is the most overlooked thing in human experience, and yet it is what you are. You know this thing in a different way, you know it by being it. You do not know it as a separate thing. If you set out to discover this thing, you will be declaring real independence. This is freedom from all limitation and it will not die, even when the body dies.

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Making Your Wisdom Come Alive is like a novel where you are the main character. It takes many surprising twist and turns, and in the end you find yourself standing in the place of wisdom and joy, where you always are,and always will be.

For more information go to:
Amazon.com

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Step beyond the limitations of words

This verse, The Names Given to The Mind, is very important. What Padma is saying here is don’t get stuck on the words, look to where they point. Here is a Buddhist illustration that will make this clear:

I point to the thin sliver of a new moon in the sky but you don’t see it. So I point to a tall redwood and say, “Follow that tree to the top. Then follow that line into the sky and see that it points right to the moon.” However, if you just look at my finger or at the tree you will miss the moon.

In the same way, if you just look at these words and the beautiful poetry that Padma writes, you will miss where he points. So why get trapped by the words, when you can know the reality behind the whole universe and more. That’s what Padma really points to.

Your Mind is perfection!

You can know the Ultimate Perfection by direct experience. That’s because perfection comes from what you are; not from what you see, do, or think. However when you assume that limitation is true, you appear to be limited. Since limitation is too small for you, it becomes irritating like a festering sore on your foot. And that’s the beginning of suffering.

The weapon that destroys limitation
But you should know that you have the power to destroy the beliefs that seem to keep you stuck in limitation. The weapon you need is the willingness to question: What is my mind anyway? Am I limited to the objects that I see? How come I become uncomfortable on dates, or when I have to meet my boss?

The energy that you need for liberation is the willingness to question all that seems normal. Just remember that suffering is not the normal state, only undying perfection that has no limits. You cannot obtain this state. The only thing you can do is let go of limitation. What is left is what you are even now and you just overlooked it.

Is the world just in your mind?

You may wonder how the whole world can be nothing more than your mind. When we show you some of the meanings of the following verses from, The Tibetan Book of Great Liberation, we will give you the opportunity to turn your experience right on its head. However, when you do this, you will discover what you actually experienced the whole time and just overlooked.

A few Buddhist terms
Here are a few terms to help you understand the following verses:

Sangsara is a Sanskrit name for the world. It means that which is in perfect motion.

Nirvana is endless stillness or peace. It is another name for Enlightenment.

If the world and enlightenment seem to be different, just note that they are both contained in the One Mind. Now let’s see what Padma says about duality:

The Transcendent At-One-Ment
There being really no duality, pluralism is untrue.

Until duality is transcended and at-one-ment realized, Enlightenment cannot be attained.
 
The whole of Sangsara and Nirvana, as an inseparable unity, are one’s mind.
The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation
By Padma-Sambhava
Translated by Evans-Wentz
Oxford University Press

Is your view of your mind too small?

If your aim is to experience God or spirituality the trick is to reexamine what you take to be true. The thing that keeps us stuck in limitation is the unwillingness to look anew at what we assume is normal. Thus we go plodding along living in the same limitations.

But the problem with limitation is that it’s too small for us. It is like a shoe that doesn’t fit. This is the beginning of suffering. Then we look every which way to get out of the irritating feeling of limitation. We never notice that the very nature of the one who seems to be suffering is the one that we are looking for.

A fresh look at your mind
Padma, in The Tibetan Book Of Great Liberation, gives us the opportunity to take a fresh look at our mind. You will see that the thing you call mind is much larger than you think. The thoughts in your head make up only a tiny portion of this mind. In fact our mind is so large that there is no room for a second. That’s why he calls it the One Mind.

Although it is large, it is here that we find our true home; it is here, centered in the One Mind, that we can truly find peace. By the end of The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation you will know that this is more than just a theory. If you look in the direction that Padma points, you will see that this One Mind is your direct experience. Indeed by the end of this series of blogs you will wake up.

The Importance of Knowing Your Mind

Here we are continuing with Padma’s, The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation. It is a book that calls out the experience of your own Mind. If you go into a book store and look in the spiritual book section you will find hundreds of books with millions of pages. But you will find very little on the secret nature of your Mind.

And yet if you could see your Mind for what it really is, you will have found the essence of every spiritual tradition. You will not know this essence as an intellectual study in a comparative religion class. Rather you will know this by your own direct and immediate experience.

These verses point to the most valuable thing in the universe
Hidden in the piles of books is this one book, The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation that points directly to the essence of all religions. Hardly anybody knows about these teachings, but when they find them and begin to experience the place that they point to, they are amazed by how simple and direct spirituality really is. These verses are saying, “Don’t overlook these verses; they point to the most valuable thing in the universe.”

Here are a few words that will make these verses clearer:

The Three Times are past, present, and future.

‘The Door of the Dharma’, is the place of entry into your direct experience of The Nature of Mind. For some people the word Dharma is confusing. That’s because in Hinduism the word dharma means your purpose in life or profession, which is based on the profession of your parents. In Buddhism however, Dharma still means your purpose in life, but the Buddhist feel that your purpose is to wake up to the truth of your own existence by finding the nature of your own Mind. So that’s why they spell Dharma with a capital ‘D’.

The Conquerors are the ones who conquered limitation and woke up to the nature of their own Mind. With this introduction, let’s get onto the next verses in Padma’s The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation.
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Step by step, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive points you to the source
of timeless Wisdom, the place of enlightenment; this is Bliss that does
not depend on what you do or what you think; it is your natural freedom.

For more information go to:
http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html

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These teachings supplement those of the Buddhas
These teachings are for the purpose of enabling one to know this Mind.

All that has been taught heretofore by the Buddhas of the Three Times, in virtue of Their having known this Mind, as recorded in ‘The Door of the Dharma’, consisting of the Eighty-Four Thousand Verses, and elsewhere, remains incomprehensible.

The Conquerors have not elsewhere taught anything concerning the One Mind.

Although as vast as the illimitable sky, the Sacred Scriptures contain but a few words relating to knowledge of the Mind.

This, the true explanation of these eternal teachings of the Conquerors, constitutes the correct method of their practical application.

The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation
By Padma-Sambhava
Translated by Evans-Wentz
Oxford University Press

Beyond old age, disease, and death
Did you know that in this lifetime you can discover something so vast that it has no birth and no death; that is not affected by old age and disease; that it swallows you up as a limited thing and leaves you as you really are, the reality behind the whole universe, The One Mind?

If you carefully read and reflect on the verses that follow in the next blogs, you will have the opportunity to find that which was always hidden right inside of you. You will not find another mental state. Rather you will find your natural state which, while supporting all mental states, is free of them all. You find this by looking to the essence of your thoughts. So stay tuned until next week.

Feel free to ask questions
Please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friend

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

What is your mind anyway

Right before your eyes there is a beauty that you can easily overlook. That’s because you do not see it in the normal way. The One Mind is on this side of sight. It is from here that you see your senses. There is however, no way for your senses to look back and see the One Mind.

And so you have to know the One Mind in a different way. And that’s by being. You do not know the One Mind as a separate thing. If you can find the place that Padma-Sambhava points to in The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation you will stand in awe. That’s because you will know the reality behind the entire universe.

Your mind is much larger than just thought
You will also discover that your mind is much lager than a few thoughts in your head. Your mind is so large that it contains the whole universe. And it’s even bigger than that. From here you will see that there were never really separate selves with separate minds. There was only the One Mind. Standing here, you will never be able to complain about a few thoughts in your mind again.

In the verse below Sangsara refers to the whole universe, everything that is in motion and is constantly changing; that is being born, growing old and dying. Nirvana is the bliss that transcends the motion of the universe.
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Step by step, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive points you to the source
of timeless Wisdom, the place of enlightenment; this is Bliss that does
not depend on what you do or what you think; it is your natural freedom.

For more information go to:
http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html

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Now let’s let Padma describe the nature of the One Mind, which is your mind:

Salutation To The One Mind
All hail to the One Mind that embraces the whole Sangsara and Nirvana,
That eternally is as it is, yet is unknown,
That although ever clear and ever existing is not visible,
That, although radiant and unobscured, is not recognized.

The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation
By Padma-Sambhava
Translated by Evans-Wentz
Oxford University Press

Padma said that the One Mind is unknown, not visible, and not recognized, because you cannot know it with your senses or thoughts. It is closer then that. You know it by being; you know it in your heart. Trying to know the one mind with thoughts is like trying to see the sun with a candle. Like the sun, the One Mind shines by its own light without the need for a separate light.

If it seems like you will never understand the verse above, take heart. In the verses that follow Padma will give you some simple experiments that you can try yourself. If you try these experiments, you will be amazed how easy it is the have the direct experience of that which confounds the experts.

Knowledge that is not contained by thoughts
The secret is that this knowledge comes before your thoughts. It is not contained in your thoughts. So just be open that you can experience this knowledge in a way that’s different than you think. Be open for a few surprises and you will get right to the heart of life itself.

Once a week we will publish more verses from the The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation. So stay tuned and be ready to experience things that you never thought possible.

Feel free to ask questions
Please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friend

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

The Great Liberation

In the last blog, I promised that I would delve into some of the Buddhists texts. I love Buddhism because it is direct and experiential. If you have not yet done so, it is worth reading the last blog, A study of the Buddhist approach. It is a perfect introduction to Padma’s, The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation.

Most people know Padma for his work The Tibetan Book of The Dead, a book on how to navigate the Bardo after death. But The Great Liberation puts an end to the need to travel from life to life, and points you to your eternal home.

A deep look into what you are experiencing
As we discussed before, this is the source of the wisdom and bliss that you experience even now. Indeed, this wisdom is a deep look into your actual experience. But when you discover the meaning of these words, this wisdom makes a tremendous difference. It is then that you get to see life afresh like a newborn baby. So it is worth paying attention to these words and endeavoring to see where they point.

Padma wrote The Great Liberation for the people of the future. So there is very little jargon and a lot of direct knowledge. Occasionally however, there will be a word like Tri-Kaya that’s unique to Buddhism. I will take a minute to explain these words so you won’t see them as a stumbling block in you attempt to understand this wisdom.

Tri Kaya means three bodies: the one that manifests as a body in a physical world, the one that manifests as pure enjoyment, and the one that manifests as boundless enlightenment. In the end of course, when you know the nature of your mind, these three bodies become one.

Enough of this, now let’s get started with the introductory verses.

The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation

To the Divine Ones, the Tri-Kaya, Who are the Embodiment of the All-Enlightened Mind Itself, obeisance.

The Foreword

This treatise appertains to The Profound Doctrine of Self-Liberation by Meditating upon the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities.

It expounds the Yoga of Knowing the Mind, the Seeing of Reality, Self-Liberation.

By this method, one’s mind is understood.

Padma-Sambhava’s Charge to his disciples

O blessed disciples, ponder these teachings deeply.

The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation
By Padma-Sambhava
Translated by Evans-Wentz
Oxford University Press

Our commentary
You discover liberation when you look into the nature of your mind with a new set of eyes, which lacks the usual assumptions and judgments. After all where do you experience embodiment and the world anyway? Yes on first blush the world appears to be out there. But a deeper look shows that you don’t experience the world over there; you experience it right here where you are.

When you look to see where here is, you find only your mind. Did you know that the world that you thought was out there really plays out in your mind? No matter how you divide things up into three bodies etc. the divine ones know that the substance of all their experience is just the Mind.
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Step by step, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive points you to the source
of timeless Wisdom, the place of enlightenment; this is Bliss that does
not depend on what you do or what you think; it is your natural freedom.

For more information go to:
http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html

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Liberation is not a state of mind
Moreover whether the mind seems peaceful or wrathful, when you know what the mind is, you stand free. That’s why liberation is not a matter of obtaining a certain state of mind. Rather it is a direct experiential understanding of the nature of Mind. With this knowledge you stand as the fabric of the universe. How can you possibly be thrown out of kilter by a few thoughts.

If you don’t quite understand this now, with The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation we will explore the nature of your mind, so in the end you will fully know what it is. You will then experience your mind and the universe in a way that you never would have thought possible. Why settle for boredom when you can experience a life that is fresh and new. So next week we will continue with verses from the Great Liberation.

Feel free to ask questions
Please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friend

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

A study of the Buddhist approach

The mind is the Buddha... Beyond this mind you will never find another Buddha. To search for enlightenment or nirvana beyond this mind is impossible.

Bodhidharma
From the Zen teachings of Bodhidharma
Translated by Red Pine

If you want to obtain your innate freedom or Nirvana, Buddhism has a unique and direct approach. It is taking a look at what you actually experience, as opposed to what you’re supposed to experience. This is looking at the nature of your mind and yourself in a new light based on your direct experience.

If you follow through in this practice, you will open up vistas in your life that you never thought possible. Once again life will become new and exciting. This does not happen by discovering something new to fill you up. After all if it is new it will eventually become old. Then you will again have to find something new to bring back that excitement. This is the same old treadmill that people are on now.

Stepping off the repetitive treadmill that most people call life
Rather Buddhism is about stepping off this treadmill so that you can really rest in peace. All it takes to step out of suffering is a deep recognition of what you experience even now.

I have a special fondness for the Buddhist approach because it brings back my first spiritual experience. It happened in, of all places, my high school science class. My unsuspecting master was my science teacher. As a child I was very curious and used to ask lots of questions. Finally my exasperated teacher said, “Michael, your mind moves too fast.”
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Step by step, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive points you to the source
of timeless Wisdom, the place of enlightenment; this is Bliss that does
not depend on what you do or what you think; it is your natural freedom.

For more information go to:
http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html

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Is your mind really there?
Of course I looked to see if my mind was moving too fast. And you know what happened? I couldn’t even find my mind. The only thing there was a depth that I couldn’t even grasp. Although it was profound it didn’t fit into any of my words or concepts. And being curious I wondered, “What was that?”

It took me most of my lifetime to find out. But in your case I hope you will find this place of peace and freedom much faster than I did. That’s because I want to save you all the useless running around that I did, so that you can take a direct look into the nature of your mind and wake up on the spot.

In the next series of blogs I will quote various Buddhist masters with some commentary to help you see what they are pointing to. But I think you will see that their message is very clear and will need very little help from me.

The path for the curious
I hope that you are curious too. This is a perfect path for those of you with lots of questions about the nature of your mind, your thoughts and the nature of the world, etc. The battle cry of liberation is: "never get complacent." Continue to ask lot of questions where you really don’t know the answer. Ask questions like this and you will surely wake up to that which is really important, right in this lifetime. And I will interrupt this series of blogs just to answer your questions so, like the Buddha, you can fully see the nature of your mind.

Feel free to ask questions
Please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friend

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

How to stop fighting with your mind

Lakwan has a question about destroying the ego. If you can find the answer to his question you will surely wake up to your eternal nature, the source of bliss. He asked:

How are you today? You speak destroying the ego by always staying in the point that makes u feel one with god. I feel i have a deeper inner voice a wisdom like no other but when i speak i speak like kid in school. I’ve been trying to get closer and find my mission with the lord but i am stuck fighting the "i". I get excited and bam it seems like he is the life of the party and i can hear my mind in the background saying what happened to humble meekness u had a minute ago when u felt one with god.

This usually only occurs when i have lack of food for the day and i am reading something spiritual. But once i eat he's back i cant find my self constantly starving my self to keep him under. He is me but isn't me i noticed how he works and i get sick by his very nature, he begs for attention, and i don’t give it attention hard and i feel like there’s a ceasefire between my mind and ego, instead of a constant battle for freedom.

Hi Lakwan,

Thank you for your question. First you are right; you do not have to starve yourself to find God. Now I have a question for you. Which self are you anyway? Are you the I that has deep inner wisdom, or the I who’s like a kid in school, or the I who is fighting the I, or the I who wonders where the humble, meek Lakwan went to? Are you the I who starves himself, or the I who begs for attention, or the I who is disturbed by his mind?

You do not feel like many Lakwans, do you? You feel like one. The key to discovering your true nature, which is God, is to notice where you are standing. That means see what you are taking to be you. If you think there are many “I’s”, it will seem as thought one part of you is struggling with the other, like the mind with God, or the mind with the ego etc.

Notice where you stand
So when you notice a disturbance that seems to rip you away from God, also notice where you take your stand. This is the fascinating thing about Self Inquiry. Yes, you are aware of the problem that you are going though, like the boisterous mind looking for attention, but you are also aware of the character going through this problem.

Do you know what this means? The I who seems to be the life of the party, and the I who is struggling with his mind are not really you. Like any other objects that you see, you are aware of these characters. This means that you are Awareness and not any of the disparate characters that you see.

You should also know that the I attached to your good experience is not really you either. In the midst of your experience of God you didn’t stand apart from your experience to know it like an object. When the thought, “I am having a great experience,” starts to appear you may be on the verge of identifying with the limited I thought. This would be the end of your experience. But when you recognize that the thought I is just a limited thought and not your identity, you will return to your original state.

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Step by step, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive points you to the source of timeless Wisdom, the place of enlightenment; this is Bliss that does not depend on what you do or what you think; it is your natural freedom.

For more information go to:
http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html

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You are Awareness, not an object
Remember, Awareness shines by its own light without the need for any other light. That means that you cannot stand apart from Awareness and see it like an object. You know Awareness because that’s what you are. Awareness is not a thought or mental state. It is the light by which you see thoughts, including those characters that you call I or ego.

So in self inquiry you don’t restrict or discipline the mind or body. It is rather a matter of not taking the impostor, I thought, to be you. It is just returning to your real home, which is Consciousness and Bliss, and resting there.

So try meditating on these words and see if you can discover the place where they point. See if this will help you to step out of your struggles and into peace. If you have more questions or need clarification please feel free to ask.

Feel free to ask questions
Please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friend

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman