Forwarded from Jackson Peterson - Dzogchen and Advaita 😃
What Becomes Liberated?
0nce we cognitively separate Awareness (rigpa) from all types of experiences or phenomenal features of experience, Awareness is known to be uninfluenced, not conditioned, not defiled, not altered nor improved by any mental, emotional, perceptual, egoic, or physical phenomena.
This is much like seeing how no type of reflection affects the clear glass of a mirror.
When a thought or mental state occurs, what is aware of the thought or mental state?
When a memory occurs, what is aware of the memory?
When an emotion or emotional state occurs, what is aware of the emotion or mental state?
When a perception occurs, what is aware of the perception?
When a feeling occurs, what is aware of the feeling?
When the sense of personal identity occurs as the inner feeling of “me” or “I”, what is aware of the that feeling of “self”?
When a physical or sensory experience occurs, what is aware of the physical sensation?
When the feeling “I am this body” occurs, what is aware of the thought of being the body?
When the thought occurs, “I am my mind”, what is aware of that thought?
Working through the above queries, a clear perception of what an “appearing experience” is, as opposed to the awareness which is aware OF the experience.
Your actual true nature is the unchanging “Awareness”, not the changing phenomena. This can be known with perfect certainty.
Ultimately, it’s known that the universe itself is a phenomenal appearance experienced by Awareness; but having no affect upon Awareness, like empty space.
It’s necessary to differentiate Awareness from all experiences or “occurrences” of mental or perceptual events. If the thought occurs “I would like to be free of my suffering”, that thought is itself just an “occurrence” appearing in Awareness.
Or if the thought, “I would like to become enlightened” occurs, that thought too, is just an “occurrence” appearing in unchanging Awareness.
If the thought “I feel depressed” occurs, that too is just another “occurrence” appearing in what you actually always are as unchanging Awareness.
You are not the body, nor the mind, nor the self nor any experience or occurrence; you are simply the always unchanging Awareness in which all “occurrences” or experiences appear and disappear.
But we are left with the mystery of not having the same certainty regarding what the true nature of the phenomena of the universe being experienced, is.
Some possible options:
In the Buddhist system of Mahamudra, it’s taught that Awareness (Dharmakaya) itself appears AS thoughts, emotions, perceptions, egoic identifications and physical phenomena; like the ocean appears AS its own waves. Further, it teaches that what one sees as an external world, self and mental states, is a karmic vision based on one’s own karmic seeds blossoming as current experiences.
This view is very similar to the view of Advaita Vedanta where all phenomena are Brahman or Consciousness; again like water and waves but experienced according to one’s own ignorance and vasanas or karmic seeds from prior actions.
Tibetan Dzogchen teaches that each individual generates and projects its own world or mandala of experience as energetic tsal and rolpa, as its own creative energies arising from within one’s own creative potentials. This follows the model of Mahayoga in Vajrayana where one imagines or visualizes oneself in the center of a mandala of deities. One then ultimately realizes the outer (karmic) world of apparent people, is actually a divine dimension of Buddhas, Dakinis and Bodhisattvas. One further realizes that one’s physical or karmic body, is actually a Body of pure Light. Vajrayana is the vehicle of “transformation” and includes Dzogchen in later Nying Thig teachings in the tripartite Maha, Anu and Ati yogas. One is required to exhaust and release all prior karmic propensities via trekchod and thogal practice.
0nce we cognitively separate Awareness (rigpa) from all types of experiences or phenomenal features of experience, Awareness is known to be uninfluenced, not conditioned, not defiled, not altered nor improved by any mental, emotional, perceptual, egoic, or physical phenomena.
This is much like seeing how no type of reflection affects the clear glass of a mirror.
When a thought or mental state occurs, what is aware of the thought or mental state?
When a memory occurs, what is aware of the memory?
When an emotion or emotional state occurs, what is aware of the emotion or mental state?
When a perception occurs, what is aware of the perception?
When a feeling occurs, what is aware of the feeling?
When the sense of personal identity occurs as the inner feeling of “me” or “I”, what is aware of the that feeling of “self”?
When a physical or sensory experience occurs, what is aware of the physical sensation?
When the feeling “I am this body” occurs, what is aware of the thought of being the body?
When the thought occurs, “I am my mind”, what is aware of that thought?
Working through the above queries, a clear perception of what an “appearing experience” is, as opposed to the awareness which is aware OF the experience.
Your actual true nature is the unchanging “Awareness”, not the changing phenomena. This can be known with perfect certainty.
Ultimately, it’s known that the universe itself is a phenomenal appearance experienced by Awareness; but having no affect upon Awareness, like empty space.
It’s necessary to differentiate Awareness from all experiences or “occurrences” of mental or perceptual events. If the thought occurs “I would like to be free of my suffering”, that thought is itself just an “occurrence” appearing in Awareness.
Or if the thought, “I would like to become enlightened” occurs, that thought too, is just an “occurrence” appearing in unchanging Awareness.
If the thought “I feel depressed” occurs, that too is just another “occurrence” appearing in what you actually always are as unchanging Awareness.
You are not the body, nor the mind, nor the self nor any experience or occurrence; you are simply the always unchanging Awareness in which all “occurrences” or experiences appear and disappear.
But we are left with the mystery of not having the same certainty regarding what the true nature of the phenomena of the universe being experienced, is.
Some possible options:
In the Buddhist system of Mahamudra, it’s taught that Awareness (Dharmakaya) itself appears AS thoughts, emotions, perceptions, egoic identifications and physical phenomena; like the ocean appears AS its own waves. Further, it teaches that what one sees as an external world, self and mental states, is a karmic vision based on one’s own karmic seeds blossoming as current experiences.
This view is very similar to the view of Advaita Vedanta where all phenomena are Brahman or Consciousness; again like water and waves but experienced according to one’s own ignorance and vasanas or karmic seeds from prior actions.
Tibetan Dzogchen teaches that each individual generates and projects its own world or mandala of experience as energetic tsal and rolpa, as its own creative energies arising from within one’s own creative potentials. This follows the model of Mahayoga in Vajrayana where one imagines or visualizes oneself in the center of a mandala of deities. One then ultimately realizes the outer (karmic) world of apparent people, is actually a divine dimension of Buddhas, Dakinis and Bodhisattvas. One further realizes that one’s physical or karmic body, is actually a Body of pure Light. Vajrayana is the vehicle of “transformation” and includes Dzogchen in later Nying Thig teachings in the tripartite Maha, Anu and Ati yogas. One is required to exhaust and release all prior karmic propensities via trekchod and thogal practice.
🤩3