The practice of meditation is not designed to develop pleasure, but to understand the truth of suffering; and in order to understand the truth of suffering, one also has to understand the truth of awareness. When true awareness takes place, suffering does not exist. Through awareness, suffering is somewhat changed in its perspective. It is not necessarily that you do not suffer, but the haunting quality that fundamentally you are in trouble is removed. It is like removing a splinter. It might hurt, and you might still feel pain, but the basic cause of that pain, the ego, has been removed.
From THE TRUTH OF SUFFERING: AND THE PATH OF LIBERATION, forthcoming from Shambhala Publications in April, 2009. Published in association with Vajradhatu Publications. Based on teachings given at the Vajradhatu Seminaries by Chogyam Trungpa. Edited by Judith Lief.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.
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Saturday, June 28, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
DEATH IS REAL
Student: What should we try to communicate to a dying person?
Chogyam Trungpa: You see, death is a very real experience. Usually, we do not connect with a sense of reality. If we have an accident -- or whatever happens in our lives -- we do not regard it as a real experience, even though it may hurt us. It is real to us as far as pain and physical damages are concerned, but still it's not real for us because we immediately look at it in terms of how it could be otherwise. There's always the idea of first aid or some other redeeming aspect of the situation. If you are talking to a dying friend or relative, you should transmit the idea that death is a real experience, rather than that it's just a joke and the person could get better. Often people tell the dying person things like, "Life is really a joke altogether. The great saints say it's not real. Life is unreal. What is death, anyway?" When we try to take this kind of approach, we become jumpy ourselves, and that jumpiness is what we end up communicating to the dying person. We should help them to understand that death is real.
From "Death and the Sense of Experience," in CRAZY WISDOM, page 138.
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Chogyam Trungpa: You see, death is a very real experience. Usually, we do not connect with a sense of reality. If we have an accident -- or whatever happens in our lives -- we do not regard it as a real experience, even though it may hurt us. It is real to us as far as pain and physical damages are concerned, but still it's not real for us because we immediately look at it in terms of how it could be otherwise. There's always the idea of first aid or some other redeeming aspect of the situation. If you are talking to a dying friend or relative, you should transmit the idea that death is a real experience, rather than that it's just a joke and the person could get better. Often people tell the dying person things like, "Life is really a joke altogether. The great saints say it's not real. Life is unreal. What is death, anyway?" When we try to take this kind of approach, we become jumpy ourselves, and that jumpiness is what we end up communicating to the dying person. We should help them to understand that death is real.
From "Death and the Sense of Experience," in CRAZY WISDOM, page 138.
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Sunday, June 22, 2008
LET ANGER BE IN ITS OWN PLACE
Student: If I'm angry, instead of either expressing or suppressing my anger, how can I just relate to it? Should I stop the anger and just relate to the thought process?
Chogyam Trungpa: You don't stop the anger, you just are the anger. Anger just hangs out as it is. That is relating with the anger. Then the anger becomes vivid and directionless, and it diffuses into energy. The idea of relating with the emotion has nothing to do with expressing yourself to the other person. The Tibetan expression for that is rang sar shak, which means "leave it in its own place." Let anger be in its own place.
From "Death and the Sense of Experience" in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 137 to 138.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.
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Chogyam Trungpa: You don't stop the anger, you just are the anger. Anger just hangs out as it is. That is relating with the anger. Then the anger becomes vivid and directionless, and it diffuses into energy. The idea of relating with the emotion has nothing to do with expressing yourself to the other person. The Tibetan expression for that is rang sar shak, which means "leave it in its own place." Let anger be in its own place.
From "Death and the Sense of Experience" in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 137 to 138.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.
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Saturday, June 21, 2008
Training the Mind
At the beginner's level, there is what is called, "training the mind."
The mind is like a crazy monkey, which leaps about and never stays in
one place...
The training, or the meditation practice, is a way to catch this
monkey to begin with. That is the starting point.
Traditionally, this training is called shamatha in Sanskrit, or shi-
ne in Tibetan, which means simply "the development of peace."
When we talk about the development of peace, we are not talking about
cultivating a peaceful state, as such, but about simplicity...
The practice of of the development of peace is one of imitating
stillness.
You are pretending to be still, although the mind is of course,
constantly jumping and relentless.
âFrom: The Teacup and The SkullcupâChogyam Trungpa On Zen and
Tantra, Pg. 72, Shambhala Publications
The mind is like a crazy monkey, which leaps about and never stays in
one place...
The training, or the meditation practice, is a way to catch this
monkey to begin with. That is the starting point.
Traditionally, this training is called shamatha in Sanskrit, or shi-
ne in Tibetan, which means simply "the development of peace."
When we talk about the development of peace, we are not talking about
cultivating a peaceful state, as such, but about simplicity...
The practice of of the development of peace is one of imitating
stillness.
You are pretending to be still, although the mind is of course,
constantly jumping and relentless.
âFrom: The Teacup and The SkullcupâChogyam Trungpa On Zen and
Tantra, Pg. 72, Shambhala Publications
Friday, June 20, 2008
THE WISDOM OF FEAR
The crazy wisdom approach to fear is not regarding it as a hangup alone, but realizing it is intelligent. It has a message of its own. Fear is worth respecting. If we dismiss fear as an obstacle and ignore it, then we might end up with accidents. In other words, fear is a very wise message....The point is, you can't con fear or frighten fear. You have to respect fear. You might try to tell yourself that it's not real, that it's just false, but that kind of approach is very questionable. It is better to develop some kind of respect, realizing that neurosis also is a message, rather than garbage that you should just throw away. That's the whole starting point -- the idea of samsara and nirvana, confusion and enlightenment, being one. Samsara is not regarded as a nuisance alone, but it has its own potent message that is worthy of respect.
From "Fearlessness" in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 124 to 125.
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From "Fearlessness" in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 124 to 125.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.
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Monday, June 16, 2008
CONSTANT REJUVENATION
The main focus of crazy wisdom is the youthfulness of the enlightened
state of being. This youthfulness is the immediacy of experience, the
exploratory quality of it. "But wouldn't exploring age us, make us
old?" we might ask. We have to put so much energy into exploring. Do
we not become like a traveler who grows old through traveling? From
the point of view of crazy wisdom, this is not the case. Exploring is
no strain. You might have to do the same thing again and again, but
each time you discover new facets of it, which makes you younger.
Discovery is related with energy that feeds you constantly.
It brings your life to a very full, healthy state. So each time you
explore, you gain new health. You constantly come back to a sense of
being up to date in your experience of the world, of your life. So
the whole thing becomes constant rejuvenation.
From "Fearlessness" in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 118 to 119.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.
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Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
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state of being. This youthfulness is the immediacy of experience, the
exploratory quality of it. "But wouldn't exploring age us, make us
old?" we might ask. We have to put so much energy into exploring. Do
we not become like a traveler who grows old through traveling? From
the point of view of crazy wisdom, this is not the case. Exploring is
no strain. You might have to do the same thing again and again, but
each time you discover new facets of it, which makes you younger.
Discovery is related with energy that feeds you constantly.
It brings your life to a very full, healthy state. So each time you
explore, you gain new health. You constantly come back to a sense of
being up to date in your experience of the world, of your life. So
the whole thing becomes constant rejuvenation.
From "Fearlessness" in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 118 to 119.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.
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his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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Friday, June 13, 2008
JUST THERE
Being open means being free to do whatever is called for in a given
situation. Because you do not want anything from the situation, you
are free to act in the way genuinely appropriate to it. And
similarly, if other people want something from you, that may be their
problem. You do not have to try to ingratiate yourself with anyone.
Openness means "being what you are." If you are comfortable being
yourself, then an environment of openness and communication arises
automatically and naturally.
It is like the idea of the moon shining on one hundred bowls
of water, so that there are one hundred moons, one in each bowl. This
is not the moon's design nor was it designed by anyone else. But for
some strange reason there happen to be one hundred moons reflected in
one hundred bowls of water. Openness means this kind of absolute
trust and self-confidence. If the bowls are there, they will reflect
your "moon-ness." If they are not there, they will not. Or if they
are only half there, then they will reflect only half a moon. It is
up to them. You are just there, the moon, open, and the bowls may
reflect you or not. You neither care nor do you not care. You are just there.
From "The Open Way," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, pages
10102, 103 to 104.
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by permission.
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situation. Because you do not want anything from the situation, you
are free to act in the way genuinely appropriate to it. And
similarly, if other people want something from you, that may be their
problem. You do not have to try to ingratiate yourself with anyone.
Openness means "being what you are." If you are comfortable being
yourself, then an environment of openness and communication arises
automatically and naturally.
It is like the idea of the moon shining on one hundred bowls
of water, so that there are one hundred moons, one in each bowl. This
is not the moon's design nor was it designed by anyone else. But for
some strange reason there happen to be one hundred moons reflected in
one hundred bowls of water. Openness means this kind of absolute
trust and self-confidence. If the bowls are there, they will reflect
your "moon-ness." If they are not there, they will not. Or if they
are only half there, then they will reflect only half a moon. It is
up to them. You are just there, the moon, open, and the bowls may
reflect you or not. You neither care nor do you not care. You are just there.
From "The Open Way," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, pages
10102, 103 to 104.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.
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Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The Records That Count
The basic problem we seem to be facing is that we are too involved
with trying to prove something, which is connected with paranoia and
a feeling of poverty. When you are trying to prove or get something,
you are not open anymore, you have to check everything, and you have
to arrange it "correctly." It is such a paranoid way to live and it
really does not prove anything. One might set records in terms of
numbers and quantities -- that we have built the greatest, the
biggest; we have collected the most, the longest, the most gigantic.
But who is going to remember the record when you are dead? Or in one
hundred years? Or in ten years? Or in ten minutes? The records that
count are those of the given moment, of now -- whether or not
communication and openness are actually taking place now....In the
sacred writings, you never read stories of the bodhisattvas, the
great practitioners of mahayana, receiving medals. And quite rightly
so, because there is no need for them to prove anything. Their action
is spontaneous. It is the open life, open communication, which does
not involve struggle or speed at all.
From "The Open Way," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, pages
102 to 103.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.
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with trying to prove something, which is connected with paranoia and
a feeling of poverty. When you are trying to prove or get something,
you are not open anymore, you have to check everything, and you have
to arrange it "correctly." It is such a paranoid way to live and it
really does not prove anything. One might set records in terms of
numbers and quantities -- that we have built the greatest, the
biggest; we have collected the most, the longest, the most gigantic.
But who is going to remember the record when you are dead? Or in one
hundred years? Or in ten years? Or in ten minutes? The records that
count are those of the given moment, of now -- whether or not
communication and openness are actually taking place now....In the
sacred writings, you never read stories of the bodhisattvas, the
great practitioners of mahayana, receiving medals. And quite rightly
so, because there is no need for them to prove anything. Their action
is spontaneous. It is the open life, open communication, which does
not involve struggle or speed at all.
From "The Open Way," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, pages
102 to 103.
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.
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Sunday, June 01, 2008
LIBERATED FROM CONVENTIONALITY
Giving birth to bodhichitta in one's heart, buddha in one's heart brings freedom. That is the notion of freedom in Buddhism altogether. We are talking about freedom from the constriction of our own capabilities. It is as if we were extraordinary children, possessing all sorts of genius, and we were being undermined by the society around us, which was dying to make us normal people. Whenever we would show any mark of genius, our parents would get embarrassed.
They would try to put the lid on our pot, saying, "Charles, don't say those things. Just be an ordinary person." That is what actually happens to us, with or without our parents. I don't particularly want to blame our parents; we have also been doing this to ourselves. When we see something extraordinary, we are afraid to say so; we are afraid to express ourselves or to relate with such situations. So we put lids on ourselves -- on our potential, our capabilities. But in Buddhism we are liberated from that kind of conventionality.
>From OCEAN OF DHARMA: THE EVERYDAY WISDOM OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA. 365 Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 282.
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They would try to put the lid on our pot, saying, "Charles, don't say those things. Just be an ordinary person." That is what actually happens to us, with or without our parents. I don't particularly want to blame our parents; we have also been doing this to ourselves. When we see something extraordinary, we are afraid to say so; we are afraid to express ourselves or to relate with such situations. So we put lids on ourselves -- on our potential, our capabilities. But in Buddhism we are liberated from that kind of conventionality.
>From OCEAN OF DHARMA: THE EVERYDAY WISDOM OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA. 365 Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 282.
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