10/9/23
Awakening to the depth of karmic complexity, one also see the utter senselessness and pain of it all and is moved to both neutralize and ameliorate one’s basic situation. According to both Buddha and Nagarjuna this means following the Eightfold Noble Path—gateway to becoming Enlightened.
Dodrupchen Rinpoche taught that both animals and humans have different strengths and abilities over each other and that this is just a sign of karmic patterning. Essentially, it’s meaningless other than a source of pride, competition—the thrill of victory and the pain of defeat. Worse, it’s also survival of the fittest. When one can see this karmic patterning, really see it, then one is elevated above its suffering altogether. Thus, the unsatisfactory nature of existence is ameliorated by the knowledge of dependent origination—karmic patterning and ‘no selves’ to ‘own’ or take pride in anything. This is the very wisdom of Emptiness, whether arrived at through logical analysis, father and mother yogatantra methods, effortless mind transmission, or mind treasure discovery.
Of Emptiness, Nagarjuna said this:
28.
If whatever is deceptive is false,
What deceives?
The Victorious Conqueror has said about this That emptiness is completely true.
29.
If there were even a trifle nonempty, Emptiness itself would be but a trifle. But not even a trifle is nonempty, How could emptiness be an entity?
30.
The victorious ones have said
That emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. For whomever emptiness is a view,
That one will accomplish nothing.
(Mulamadhyamakakarika By Nagarjuna,
Translated by Jay L. Garfield.)
All accomplishments outside the Dharma are similarly ‘nothing’ and never reaches completion. Conventional existence is harried. Not able to secure everything at once, we focus on gathering single items, hoping eventually we will have enough to satisfy our lack. But that lacking is the opposite of possession. It’s negative ownership—the ultimate possession is found in emptiness’s heart gesture of giving. Desire is the discriminating of parts in need of a whole—a whole of dependently arising phenomena, empty of an ultimate nature, free of a cause, result, or any of the eight worldly dharmas or preoccupations: “hope for happiness and fear of suffering, hope for fame and fear of insignificance, hope for praise and fear of blame, hope for gain and fear of loss; basically attachment and aversion.” (Rigpa Shedra) Bliss is going beyond hope and fear.
12/9
We often make friends to ally ourselves with ease, people to practice rituals with, everything from a Sunday brunch to a tenth lunar day sok, offering to Guru Rinpoche or Vajrayogini. What I observe is that we’re either going in with people, going out, or going past each in all forms of communication. The supreme communion unites us all into a wholeness transcendent of our entities. Some of the best partnerships are silent. The best marriages are sometimes the ones where nothing is ‘worked out’ verbally. Perceptions transcending the five skandhas, especially when it comes to people, are nature of all communication. Secret relationships, trysts, romantic fascinations, day dream lingerings about others, overt sexual fantasies, are subpar of transactual normative behavior and looked upon negatively. But transactual norms are ground zero for entangling karmic formations. Not a hair width of true happiness ever coming from them. Therefore, spiritual communion with others is true certain route and one should not be shy with others who offer an inner yoking of their bodily constituents with yours. This doesn’t necessarily mean ‘swapping body fluids.’ But rather practice soks, torma with nectars offerings, and union consecrations with a relaxed view about one’s body and others. Considerations of a fastidious nature should be let go and naturalness embraced. In the seventies depth psychologist Norman O. Brown wrote about the restrictions of erogenous zones and embraced the notion we can return to an unrestrictive pre-psychosexual developmental stage, that of infancy, and recover all the blissful nature of that ‘love’s body.’ The Buddhas are often referred to as Sugatas—those gone to bliss. In our dependencies upon others, prizing social interactions and entanglements, we might want to consider the trade off of losing our bliss. If one’s socializing is bliss-producing, as in the above mentioned communions of soks and other Dharmic unions, then please continue and I hope to meet you there—beyond the sense’s domain.
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