A madhyamaka analysis of:
Dzogchen Introduction
Zoom 31.03.2021
James Low
(Dzogchen and Buddhist Teachings)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf51n8V8vII

[0. Introduction: ‘Reality as it is’ = Union of the self-arisen unchanging permanent open pristine empty Ground / Basis / Source / U2T <==> and its natural unceasing spontaneous impermanent empty display / manifestations / appearances / fabrications / movements.]

Good evening everyone!

So we have a short time this evening to look at some of the general principles of this path called Dzogchen. And then do a little bit of practice at the end.

Dzogchen means the great completion, or the great inclusion. When the word ‘great’ is used in this context, it means empty or open. It means it's not about some special entity, some god, or divine being, or fundamental reality. It's pointing to the mysterious process by which we manifest moment by moment (display of the Ground / T1) out of an ungraspable openness (Ground / T2). And this state, which is our own state, is complete in as much as all the experiences with that we have, arising and passing, arising and passing, are immediately present [T1], and then gone [T2]. So we live on the cusp of this wave which never breaks. We're just on this opening, and opening, and opening.

So I'll say something about this in terms of the traditional categories of
View, Meditation, Conduct, and Result.

(i.e. The View is usually a conceptual introduction to the indescriptible, inconceivable, true nature & dynamic of the Ground / Basis / Source and its natural inseparable spontaneous display, to our true nature & dynamic, to the naked primordial pristine awareness, to the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now … as pointed by concepts like: the three marks of existence (dukkha, impermanence, no-self), the 12 links of dependent origination (both ways), the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] (dependent co-origination & emptiness of inherent existence), the Union of the three spheres [U3S] (subject, relation / action, object), the Union of opposites [Uopp] (ex. something & nothing), the primordial equality / purity / perfection / divinity of everything (in the non-dual sense of those terms), the Ground and its three inseparable qualities (essence, nature, dynamism / compassionate energy), the Middle Way free from all extremes & middle, free from all conceptual proliferations, free from all conditioning / karma.

Similes: there are many analogies used to point toward the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of the Ground: like a mirror (because it remains the same, unstained by the reflections), like the sky / space (because it is self-arisen / unborn, unchanging / eternal, all-encompassing, pure, open, indivisible, limitless, incorruptible, unalterable, the basis of everything), like the sun (because it is also luminous), like a primordial mind (because it is also cognizant, self-luminous), etc. All of those analogies have their benefits and limits. Ultimately: “It (Ground) cannot be shown through analogy by anyone, and it cannot be expressed in words. (it is inconceivable)” “Let go even of the idea of emptiness, of openness, of space.” “If a person is not earth, not water, Not fire, not wind, not space, Not consciousness / awareness, and not all of them, What person is there other than these?” -- Nagarjuna

The Path consists of using more and more subtle adapted skillful means (truths, methods, goals), temporary imperfect antidotes / medicines, etc., that are more and more in accord with the View & Result, with our inconceivable true nature & dynamic, with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now. Thus the Path consists of using gradual virtuous truths, methods & goals <==> combined with more and more wisdom / emptiness. The Path consists of two inseparable parts: meditation and conduct.

Meditation is, as much as possible, personally non-conceptually non-dualistically directly perceiving / realising / abiding in our inconceivable true nature & dynamic, in primordial naked pristine non-dual awareness, in the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now. And then getting more and more familiar with it, gaining more and more confidence / certainty about it. Technically, Meditation is the Union of Shamatha / calm abiding <==> and Vipashyana / insight meditation.

Conduct is acting more and more in accord with our inconceivable true nature & dynamic, with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now. It is the Middle Way in everything: nothing to accept / affirm / seek / do / add in absolute terms, nothing to reject / negate / abandon / not-do / subtract in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively if it helps someone to get closer to the inconceivable liberating Truth. It is the middle Way free from all extremes & middle, free from all conceptual proliferations, free from all conditioning / karma.

The Result is the perfection of the Path (Meditation & Conduct). Ex. It is the Union of immeasurable compassion <==> and wisdom / emptiness. It is directly realising that everything is primordially the inseparable three kayas / trikaya.

Rigpa is being continuously aware of this in all of our normal spontaneous activities.
Marigpa is ignoring this, and being slaves to our own conditioned conditioning illusory fabrications / conditioning / karma.)

[1. View: Viewing without viewing. The Ground and its display, the Union of the Two Truths [U2T], the Union of the three spheres [U3S], the Union of opposites [Uopp], the Middle Way free from all extremes & middle.]

So the View is that from the very beginning, our own mind as it is (i.e. the Ground), has been pure. Pure here means uncontaminated by anything.

(i.e. This Ground / Basis / Source / primordial awareness ... is inconceivable, self-arisen, unfabricated / unconditioned / uncontaminated / naked / pure / open / pristine, empty of inherent existence, timeless, spaceless, limitless, lawless, ungraspable. It is the indescribable, inconceivable, true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now.)

(i.e. The Ground: Our true nature / primordial awareness, the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, the Ground / Basis / Source / U2T, is the only thing that is really unborn, unfabricated, unproduced, unconditioned, unchanging, timeless, spaceless, limitless. Everything else is fabricated, ever-changing, impermanent, no-self. From a certain point of view, this is called our primordial self-arisen unchanging timeless spaceless limitless pristine awareness, because, although it is empty of inherent existence, it is still functional / cognizant / self-illuminating.)

(i.e. For some Buddhists, the Ground is ‘emptiness’, but they immediately have to say that it is not ‘mere emptiness’, that there is clarity / luminosity / functionality / cognizance / manifestations / appearances / etc. In other words it is not just emptiness / T2, but the inseparability of the Two Truths, the Union of the Two Truths / U2T about all dharmas, about the three spheres -- subject / self, relation / action, object / phenomena / world --.)

(i.e. Dzogchen / Great Completion means: From the very beginning, everything, good or bad, is complete in the sense of being inseparable from the Ground. No need to add or subtract anything. Byond all dualities. There is no separation, no fragmentation, and no conflict between opposites. The Ground encompasses everything; it is the same Ground for everything. Everything partakes of the qualities of the Ground. By comparison, for most physicists, the ground of Reality is a limited set of types of irreducible subatomic particles like quarks, leptons, bosons, and some universal laws & constants.)

(i.e. The mystery of the mind / open awareness: This ‘ideal’ Ground, like space …, is said to be inconceivable, uncompounded / uncaused / unfabricated / unassembled, independent, unconditioned, open, self-arising, not the result of doing something or not-doing something, not contextual, not coming and going, not arising & dissolving, always present as is, unchanging, indestructible / vajra-like, colorless, shapeless, infinite in nature, space & time, immeasurable, limitless & centerless, encompassing, not merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised by the mind, has no history / story; not existent, not non-existent, not both together, not neither; relatively functional / clarity / cognizance / luminosity <==> but empty of inherent existence; … like a mirror & its inseparable reflections, like the sky & its inseparable clouds, like space & its inseparable things in it, like the sun and its inseparable rays, like the ocean & its inseparable waves, like a mind & its inseparable thoughts, like a Great Circle, like the Union of functionality / clarity / cognizance / luminosity / appearances <==> and emptiness, like the Union of the Two Truths [U2T], like the Union of the three spheres [U3S], like the Union of opposites [Uopp], etc. In the sense of not different / separate / many / dual, not identical / united / one / non-dual, not both together, not neither. -- See the Video ‘How to find your mind. [EN-PL] Warsaw 09.2018 -- James Low’ in two parts.)

(i.e. It seems like to understand what is the Ground we need to understand ‘what is not the ground, what we think is the ground, our true permanent self’, its apparent nature & dynamic. Then the Ground is the Union of ‘that’ [T1] <==> and emptiness of inherent existence [T2] of that. This way we define the Ground by describing what it is not.)

So we're used to having thoughts, feelings, sensations, hopes, and fears. Our moods expand and contract. There's all kinds of movement (impermanent fabrications / appearances)
which we take to be our [permanent] selves.

(i.e. The Display / manifestations / appearances: There are all kinds of fabricated, conditioned, ever-changing, impermanent fabrications of the body / physical, speech / conceptual, and mind / mental -- our 5 aggregates -- that we mistakenly take to be our permanent identity / self. We identify with them, are fooled by them, grasp at them, get attached to them, become slaves to them.)

We maintain the sense of [permanent] self-identity through our selective attention and our editing. We highlight the features which seem to confirm our sense of ‘who we are’, and diminish the impact or intensity of the factors which don't confirm our sense of ‘who we are’ (our permanent nature / identity / self).

When we become aware of that, we start to see that
we are in a process of constant construction [T1].

(i.e. That there is no separate, fixed, unchanging, permanent, continuous, inherently existing self / identity. That the only thing unfabricated, unchanging, permanent about us & the Universe, the Ground, is that there is absolutely nothing unfabricated, unchanging, permanent. Absolutely everything is conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent fabrications / appearances [T1], merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised by the mind, interdependent with each other(s) and with everything else <==> thus empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions / reflections / mirages / dreams. Appearing but empty, empty but still appearing. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>). The inseparability of those two aspects, the inconceivable Union of the Two Truths [U2T], is the only thing that is truly unfabricated, unchanging, permanent. That [U2T] is timeless, spaceless, limitless; beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all conceptual proliferations, beyond all discrimination / dualities, beyond all conditioning / karma. That [U2T] is the true Ground / Basis / Source, the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now. This Ground is also called ‘Primordial awareness’, the true nature & dynamic of our own mind, because, ultimately, it is cognizant of its own true nature & dynamic, including of all of its display / manifestations / appearances. It is self-illuminating, self-aware.)

That is like being a child on the edge of the sea, where the sand is very soft and wet. And you have your little bucket, and you fill it with sand, you turn it upside down (appearing - T1), and it just slowly dissolves onto the rest of the sand (dissolving - T2).

(i.e. Union of the Two Truths [U2T] about our 5 aggregates: Everything about us, our 5 aggregates, is fabricated, interdependent, dependently co-arisen, conditioned, ever-changing, impermanent [T1], merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma <==> thus empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, with nothing constant / fixed, nothing left behind. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>). So nothing in our five aggregates can be our true permanent self, the true nature of Reality as it is here & now / Ground / Basis / Source.)

So everything we construct [T1 - fabrications / appearances] in life gradually fades away [T2 - no permanent identity / no continuity / nothing left behind / emptiness of inherent existence]. Whether it's work situations, relationship situations. The shifting patterns of what we experience [T1 - appearance] cannot be frozen [T2 - no permanence or continuity / nothing can be left behind], no matter how hard we try.

So the purity of the mind is the fact that these pulsations or moments of experience are present [T1 - appearances] without leaving a trace [T2 - no permanent identity / no continuity / nothing left behind / emptiness of inherent existence].

(i.e. Union of the Two Truths [U2T] about all dharmas: Everything is interdependent / dependently co-arisen / appearing / ever-changing / impermanent [T1] <==> but still empty of inherent existence [T2]; everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] <==> but still conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances [T1]. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>).)

[The mirror simile:] Traditional example for this is the ‘mirror’. That a mirror on the wing of a car, over a journey, will show hundreds of thousands of reflections and images. And yet it will be fresh at the end of the journey. Everything else in the car will be tired; including the driver. But the mirror stays fresh and open for the next thing that arises. Usually we take on an accretion, we get layered with the stresses of the day, with remnants of conversations we've had with people, with plans, and so on. We get full of stuff.

(i.e. The Ground as a mirror, its display as the reflections: Appearances / reflections in a mirror / displays of the Ground ... are all interdependent, conventionally dependently co-arisen, conditioned, ever changing, impermanent, but the Mirror / Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / Primordial awareness / U2T is more like unfabricated, self-arisen, unchanging, unceasing, permanent / timeless; it remains unconditioned / free / open / available / fresh / pure. So, the Ground, our true nature / primordial awareness, the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, is compared to a ‘mirror’. But don't push this comparison too far, or it will turn into absurdity. The important point is that we should not identify with interdependent fabricated conditioned ever-changing impermanent appearances, but instead with an inconceivable ungraspable self-arisen unchanging timeless spaceless limitless non-dual pristine Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / Primordial awareness / U2T.)

[The sky / space simile:] So the View is that we, the person (subject) who feels that they are full of stuff (objects), is a false identity, or a delusion, which is generated by a lack of clarity as to our own Ground. That our Base is [like] ‘space’. Our Base is ‘ungraspable openness’ (i.e. like the sky / space).

(i.e. The Ground as the sky / space, its display as the clouds: Appearances / clouds in the sky / objects in space / displays of the Ground ... are all interdependent, conventionally dependently co-arisen, conditioned, ever changing, impermanent, but the Sky / Space / Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / Primordial awareness / U2T is more like unfabricated, self-arisen, unchanging, unceasing, permanent / timeless; it remains unconditioned / free / open / available / fresh / pure. So, the Ground, our true nature / primordial awareness, the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, is compared to the ‘sky’ or to ‘space’. But don't push this comparison too far, or it will turn into absurdity. The important point is that we should not identify with fabricated conditioned ever-changing impermanent appearances, but instead with an inconceivable ungraspable self-arisen unchanging timeless spaceless limitless non-dual pristine Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / Primordial awareness / U2T.)
-
(i.e. LIKE SPACE:

Resemblance between dharmadhatu and physical space.

Inconceivable: Unimaginable, inexpressible, free of concepts, non-dual, ungraspable.

Self-arisen: Unconstructed, unborn, spontaneously present from the beginning , that which always is, based on nothing, dependent upon nothing.

Unconditioned: free, unrestricted.

Unchanging: changeless, Remains fundamentally unperturbed by whatever occurs within it. The presence of space makes it possible for the whole universe to be set out within it, and yet this does not alter or condition space in any way. Phenomena adorn emptiness, but never corrupt it.

Pure & perfect: Pure, perfect, indivisible, boundless, spotless, unobscured, primordially pure and spontaneous.

Eternal: Always present, always there, remain forever.

Indivisible: non-dual.

Timeless, spaceless, limitless: Open, limitless, vast, infinite, has no center or edge.

All-pervasive, encompassing. The universe with its different continents all appear in space. Space can accommodate the whole universe.

Emptiness but not a blankness.)

[Marigpa:] But when we are not attentive to that, when we don't relax, and open into that, we tend to fixate on stuff (i.e. to reify them, to oppose them, to grasp / fear them, to identify with them, to want to control them, to get attached to them, to become slaves to them). And then we select the stuff, and build up pictures of ‘who we are’, how we think we should be, other people's expectations of who we should be. And that keeps us very very busy.

[The self-conditioning / karmic cycle:] And not only is there the busyness of the moment, but as we find ourselves repeating patterns, developing habit formations, we find that there is an intensification of our investment in our projects (i.e. we become obsessed by them). And this investment is what is meant by karma. Karma is the belief that things are real (i.e. inherently existing, independently, separately, and in real relation / opposition), that they are important, and that I have to do them (i.e. control them). And this means that when you finish something, because you're so invested in it, there's like a kind of wobble. You've added too much energy into it. And so there's a kind of judder. And that reverberation continues through time. So even if you stop doing something, a habit like smoking cigarettes, if you got a bit drunk at a party, you might find yourself trying to catch a cigarette off someone else. Because that pattern (i.e. conditioning / karma) would remain dormant inside you. You haven't smoked for 10 years, but still you could, because the pathway (i.e. conditioning / karma) hasn't entirely vanished (i.e. hasn’t yet been transcended by realising its true nature & dynamic). (i.e. )

So the View is that, in order to free ourselves from this endless reverberation (i.e. from this self-conditioning / karmic cycle -- samsara based on ignorance of the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now), this ricocheting, and like being stuck in a pinball machine, bouncing off stimuli, creating investments of importance, we don't have to try hard -- this is a fundamental understanding of Dzogchen --, because the mind is pure; it has never ever been marked; or conditioned; or limited by any pattern we have. (i.e. It is not about better discrimination & investments, but about the direct wisdom of realising the true nature & dynamic of the self-conditioning / karmic cycle, of Reality as it is here & now.)

(i.e. Acting without acting: Our true self, the Ground / Basis / Source / Reality as it is here & now / U2T ... is already pure & perfect here & now, beyond all opposition / dualities. There is nothing to accept / affirm / seek / do / add in absolute terms, nothing to reject / negate / abandon / not-do / subtract in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively if it helps someone to get closer to the inconceivable liberating Truth. That is the Middle Way free from all extremes & middle, free from all conceptual proliferations, free from all conditioning / karma.

Logic: So, because everything is fabricated, interdependent, dependently co-arisen, ever-changing, impermanent [T1] ==> then there is no permanent identity, no continuity, nothing left behind ==> then everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] ==> Then everything is beyond all opposition / dualities ==> then everything is primordially pure & perfect & free -- inside, outside and between -- ==> then ‘we don’t have to try hard’, we don’t have to purify anything, we don’t have to accept this while rejecting that, seek this while abandoning that, add this while subtracting that, … our true nature is always pure, perfect, liberated. Everything is primordially the inseparable three kayas of a Buddha.)

[Marigpa:] So we may feel “what, I'm like this, I know me, and my people who know me they'd know I'm like this, therefore this pattern is me (i.e. feeling a sense of continuity)”. For a while. You weren't like that when you were born, nor when you were five years of age, nor when you were 15 (i.e. nothing really exists and is continuous; everything is interdependent, ever-changing, impermanent). Our egoic formation is always deceiving us about our changes. Because the ego is our sense that I am a consistent point of reference (i.e. something continuous / permanent through all changes). “I exist as me. And I have always been me. Things have happened. I met people, been closed broken up and so on.” All kinds of stories. But fundamentally “I am myself”. So this is an obscuration, or a false belief, which we are held enthralled by. You were under the power of it. How did it come about? The traditional teaching says: “It just occurred, it's like a magical formation. It has no meaning. It just happened.“ (i.e. Samsara, the self-conditioning / karmic cycle, has no beginning, no ‘creator’, not first cause, no last effect / result. Meaning the Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / U2T is self-arisen, unchanging, unceasing.)

[The apparent duality subject / mind vs. objects / phenomena / world -- the three spheres:] On the basis of it happening, one first thought, the thought of substance (i.e. 1st thought: the idea of an inherently existing something -- ‘me’ -- 1st erroneous basis assumption), something. From something we have (i.e. 2nd thought: its relation / opposition / duality with something else -- ‘not-me’ -- 2nd erroneous basic assumption, ex:) subject and object. An experiencer (subject) of the something, and there's something (object) which is experienced (relation / action). And subject and objects start to vibrate together (i.e. The three spheres -- subject, relation / action, object -- are interdependent, co-emerge, co-condition each other, co-evolve together -- that is the karmic cycle when there is ignorance of their true nature & dynamic) -- like a damaru, like a two-headed drum. And this sends off all kinds of patterns of interest, and evolution. And we end up experiencing our complex world (i.e. as a world of objects separate & opposed to the subject / us; as something to control).

(i.e. Union of the three spheres [U3S] -- ex. 1. subject / mind / actor / perceiver / knower, ii. relation / action / perception / cognition, iii. objects / phenomena / result / perceived / known --: The three spheres of any type of relation / activity, like the opposites of any duality / triad / quads / etc., are not really separate, independent, inherently existing and in real opposition / relation. They are more like a Union of being conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances [T1], merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised / categorised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma, interdependent with each other(s) and with everything else <==> and being empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>). They are more like inseparable, interdependent co-defined, co-relative, co-dependent, co-emergent, co-evolving, co-ceasing / co-transcended, in harmony, equal / non-dual / one -- in the non-dual sense of those terms: ex. not existent, not non-existent, not both together, not neither; not different, not identical, not both together, not neither; not separate, not united, not both together, not neither; not multiple, not one, not both together, not neither; not dual, not non-dual, not both together, not neither; not permanent, not impermanent, not both together, not neither; not continuous, not discontinuous, not both together, not neither; not eternal, not annihilated, not both together, not neither; not pure, not impure, not both together, not neither; not perfect, not imperfect, not both together, not neither, not this, not non-this, not both together, not neither. Meaning their true nature & relation are beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all conceptual proliferations, beyond all conditioning / karma. It has to be directly perceived / realised / experienced. So it is not about accepting one side and rejecting the other(s), not about vice versa, not about accepting all sides, not about rejecting all sides. It is about being able to use them as possible adapted skillful means, temporary antidotes, while being fully aware of their true nature & dynamic.)

(i.e. Note: James Low calls the “three spheres” -- subject, action, object -- the “three wheels”.)

[Marigpa:] The fundamental basis of it is our reification. That we experience entities (as inherently existing and with inherently existing characteristics / properties / qualities / oppositions / relations). We (subject) look around our world (objects), and we see the walls in the room we're in, decorations, carpets, cups and so on. Each of these we perceive as something (i.e. as inherently existing objects, separate, independent, in opposition / relation with each other and with the subject). “I see what is there. I know who I am, and I know where I live, and I know what I have in my house, my possessions. I am a knower of things.” There's a certain power to that (i.e. from the very limited conventional / relative truths point of view, to know something is to be able to control it, at least partially). But of course there are many many things we don't know (i.e. and cannot control). So we're like a little glow worm with a small arena of illumination and surrounded by a vast darkness. But this light, the light of [conventional / relative] knowledge, is like one of these torches that you have to keep squeezing in order to keep the light going. You have to work at it all the time (i.e. we have to work to keep the illusions alive). That's why at night you fall asleep, you go unconscious, and it's as if there's nothing at all (i.e. we are no more entertaining the illusions), till you wake up, maybe with some dreams in the middle. (i.e. )

[Our mind simile:] So the View is to just to give us the sense: our mind is like the sky [U2T]: infinite, open [T2], and bright [T1].

(i.e. Comparing the Ground / Basis / Source to a naked primordial awareness / mind, to our mind. And saying it is ‘our mind”. But it is non-dual, inconceivable. We will directly experience it in meditation as the Merging / Union of subject & object, the Union of the Two Truths about the three spheres. This is called self-illumination or self-cognizance, when, apparently through us, the Ground becomes directly aware of its true nature & dynamic as it is here & now. The main point here, is that our true nature, our primordial awareness (Ground), is empty of inherent existence [T2] -- like the sky / space <==> but still relatively functional, luminous, cognizant [T1]. Appearing & functional but empty, empty but still appearing & functional. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>).)

(Note: The reason why Dzogchen put some much emphasis on this ‘our mind simile’: Because ‘our mind’ is the only thing that is directly accessible / perceivable / experienceable -- without the need for concepts & dualities, without making it a ‘something’. And by directly discovering / perceiving / experiencing the true nature & dynamic of our own mind as it is here & now, we directly discover / perceive / experience the true nature & dynamic of everything, of Reality as it is here & now, the Ground / Basis / Source / U2T of everything, all of its inseparable natural display / manifestations / appearances. We directly discover the indivisible Great Circle. The true nature & dynamic of one thing, is the true nature & dynamic of everything. That is why it is important to spend some time looking for our true self, our true permanent mind -- as if there was such a thing --; more precisely to look for the true nature & dynamic of our own mind here & now, as if it was the Ground / Basis / Source of everything. It is a manifestation of the Ground, like everything else; inseparable from the Ground, partaking the qualities of the Ground.)

[The sun simile:] The sun rises in the sky, the rays of the sun spread out; and we have this infinite illumination.

(i.e. The Ground as the sun, its display as the radiance of the sun: Appearances / sun’s rays / displays of the Ground ... are all interdependent, conventionally dependently co-arisen, conditioned, ever changing, impermanent, but the Sky / Sun / Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / Primordial awareness / U2T is more like unfabricated, self-arisen, unchanging, unceasing, permanent / timeless; it remains unconditioned / free / open / available / fresh / pure. So, the Ground, our true nature / primordial awareness, the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, is compared to the ‘sky’ or to ‘sun’. But don't push this comparison too far, or it will turn into absurdity. The important point is that we should not identify with fabricated conditioned ever-changing impermanent appearances, but with an inconceivable ungraspable self-arisen unchanging timeless spaceless limitless non-dual pristine Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / Primordial awareness / U2T. Another important point is that the Sky / Sun / Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / Primordial awareness / U2T and its clouds / rays / display / manifestations / appearances are inseparable, in Union. Union Ground <==> display / manifestations / appearances.)

Inside that, we have a bubble of self-identification. And this bubble keeps turning. And that's our life, our individual existence. What's inside the bubble of our self is space. Because when we have a thought, it arises in the space of the mind. When we have a sensation it arises in the space of the body. There are many many different spaces. And they're all like theater stages. They are arenas on which experience arises.

(i.e. Meaning all appearances / manifestations of the Ground / displays of the Ground are inseparable with the Ground; they are the Ground; and share all the qualities of the Ground. They are the indivisible Ground.)

(i.e. Union of the Ground / Basis / Source and its display / manifestations / appearances: The Ground & its display, or primordial awareness and thoughts, are not really separate, independent, inherently existing and in opposition / relation. They are more like a Union of being conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances [T1], merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised / categorised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma, interdependent with each other(s) and with everything else <==> and being empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>). They are more like inseparable, interdependent co-defined, co-relative, co-dependent, co-emergent, co-evolving, co-ceasing / co-transcended, in harmony, equal / non-dual / one -- in the non-dual sense of those terms: ex. not existent, not non-existent, not both together, not neither; not different, not identical, not both together, not neither; not separate, not united, not both together, not neither; not multiple, not one, not both together, not neither; not dual, not non-dual, not both together, not neither; not permanent, not impermanent, not both together, not neither; not continuous, not discontinuous, not both together, not neither; not eternal, not annihilated, not both together, not neither; not pure, not impure, not both together, not neither; not perfect, not imperfect, not both together, not neither, not this, not non-this, not both together, not neither. Meaning their true nature & relation are beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all conceptual proliferations, beyond all conditioning / karma. It has to be directly perceived / realised / experienced. So it is not about accepting one side and rejecting the other(s), not about vice versa, not about accepting all sides, not about rejecting all sides. It is about being able to use them as possible adapted skillful means, temporary antidotes, while being fully aware of their true nature & dynamic.)

All experiences arise and pass [T1], almost instantaneously [T2 - no permanent identity / no continuity / nothing left behind / emptiness of inherent existence]. Nobody (subject / cause) is causing (relation / action / causality) them (object / effect) to arise (i.e. origination). Nobody is removing (i.e. cessation) them. There is no creator god (i.e. first / self-arisen cause). And there is no final purpose (i.e. final effect / goal) that we have to strive for (ex. enlightenment). When we have a sense of purpose (goal), [it] means subject focused on object (i.e. it means we are entertaining the duality subject / me / cause vs. object / not-me / effect). “I will go to the shops before they close. I will make sure to set my alarm clock for the morning.” There is an aim (object / effect) and an achiever (subject / cause) of the aim. The ego self is an agent (i.e. an illusory permanent subject / first cause).

(i.e. Union of the three spheres about causality [U3S-causality] -- i. subject / cause, ii. relation / action / causality, iii. objects / effect --: The three spheres of causality, like the opposites of any duality / triad / quads / etc., are not really separate, independent, inherently existing and in opposition. They are more like a Union of being conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances [T1], merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised / categorised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma, interdependent with each other(s) and with everything else <==> and being empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>). They are more like inseparable, interdependent co-defined, co-relative, co-dependent, co-emergent, co-evolving, co-ceasing / co-transcended, in harmony, equal / non-dual / one -- in the non-dual sense of those terms: ex. not existent, not non-existent, not both together, not neither; not different, not identical, not both together, not neither; not separate, not united, not both together, not neither; not multiple, not one, not both together, not neither; not dual, not non-dual, not both together, not neither; not permanent, not impermanent, not both together, not neither; not continuous, not discontinuous, not both together, not neither; not eternal, not annihilated, not both together, not neither; not pure, not impure, not both together, not neither; not perfect, not imperfect, not both together, not neither, not this, not non-this, not both together, not neither. Meaning their true nature & relation are beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all conceptual proliferations, beyond all conditioning / karma. It has to be directly perceived / realised / experienced. So it is not about accepting one side and rejecting the other(s), not about vice versa, not about accepting all sides, not about rejecting all sides. It is about being able to use them as possible adapted skillful means, temporary antidotes, while being fully aware of their true nature & dynamic.)

[2. Meditation: Meditating without meditating. Union of Shamatha <==> and Vipashyana.]

Now, the Meditation that we do is very very simple. It's simply to sit. As I believe from the little conversation I had with Geo, that this is how you sit. You just sit in a very open way. And whatever comes comes, whatever goes goes. (i.e. The Middle Way: just let it be, perceiving with equanimity and openness: not accepting, not rejecting whatever arises.)

So we experience thoughts, feelings, arising. They seem to be arising in our territory. So we can claim them to be our thoughts. That feeling that “this is arising in my mind” somehow brings a proprietorial sense that “I must be the owner of this thought. And if I'm the owner I should make sure I have quite nice thoughts.” And so there's always a tendency to tidy them up, to edit them, to direct them in some way.

[The mind simile:] So the View of the open unborn, skylight mind is a pure awareness, which is not resting on anything, and which is free of any inherent need to have an intention.

(i.e. The Ground as pure awareness, its display as thoughts, feelings ...: Appearances / thoughts / displays of the Ground ... are all interdependent, conventionally dependently co-arisen, conditioned, ever changing, impermanent, but the Primordial naked pristine non-dual awareness / Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / U2T is more like unfabricated, self-arisen, unchanging, unceasing, permanent / timeless; it remains unconditioned / free / open / available / fresh / pure. So, the Ground, our true nature, the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, is compared to ‘a primordial non-dual awareness’. But don't push this comparison too far, or it will turn into absurdity. The important point is that we should not identify with fabricated conditioned ever-changing impermanent appearances, but with an inconceivable ungraspable self-arisen unchanging timeless spaceless limitless non-dual pristine Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / Primordial awareness / U2T. Another important point is that the Awareness / Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / U2T and its thoughts / display / manifestations / appearances are inseparable, in Union. Union Ground <==> display / manifestations / appearances.)

It is not a doer (subject / cause); it's not about something (inherently existing, separate, independent, and in opposition / relation). It's pure illumination. [Just noting:] There is this, and this, and this, and this.

(i.e. Meditating without meditating: It is not like a subject perceiving something separate. It is more and more like pure, unconditioned unconditioning, non-dualistic action / perception / cognition / experience / awareness. It is the Ground / Primordial awareness self-illuminating itself, aware of itself here & now.
Just observing with equanimity whatever arises. Observing without any conceptualisation, discrimination, duality, judgment, grasping, attachment, desire, fear, acceptation or rejection … Free from all conditioning / karma, without leaving a trace / conditioning / karma.)

When we think “this (object) is happening (action) to me (subject)”, or “I (subject) need to do (action) that (object)”, then you have subject and object running round and round and round, like two baby squirrels chasing each other. This goes on, and on, and on.

So in the practice (Meditation) you want to relax, and allow whatever is arising to come. Usually for this kind of practice we have our eyes open, we rest our gaze in space. Whether it's a huge space outside in the summertime, or it's a small space. Space is space. Letting the gaze rest in space. And then, doing nothing. “The one who does (subject)” is a form of the energy of the mind. The energy of the mind is like the wind blowing through the sky. The wind is also almost ungraspable. You see it not directly but indirectly when it moves the clouds or ruffles the leaves in the tree. So from the sky you have the wind, and then the wind leads to fire, to water, and then to earth. And most of the time, we conceptualize our experience in terms of earth (i.e. as something concrete). “This happens. I want this. I don't want that. And this.” And that carries a density which is not actually inherent to them; it is projected from our longings, our beliefs, our values.

When we have a project at work, it becomes important for us, we put a lot of time and energy into it. If you were to take it out and go into a shop and say “how much money will you give me for my report?”. I said “yeah why would I give you any money! Nothing. What is it? It's rubbish.” For you it's very precious; for them it's just pieces of paper with writing on it.

When we see this again and again, we realize that the brightness of the world, the shining quality of the world (i.e. all appearances), is our own projection (i.e. objects co-dependent with the subject).

(i.e. Merely labelled / imputed: All appearances -- physical, conceptual, mental, including the three spheres, including all opposites, with no exception at all -- are co-dependent, merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma [T1] <==> and because of that they are all empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions / reflections / mirage / dreams. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>). With ignorance of their true nature & dynamic, the world / objects / appearances, the mind / subject, and their relations / actions (the three spheres) are interdependent / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving, and need to be co-transcended. This ‘co-dependence / co-evolution of the three spheres’ is the self-conditioning / karmic cycle, or samsara. With the direct wisdom of being fully aware of the true nature & dynamic of this karmic cycle, then samsara is directly transmuted into nirvana here & now, everything is self-illuminated / self-purified / self-liberated.)

But, because we have selective attention, because we have bias, because we go to the world not in a fresh open way, the patterning of our ignoring, or attending, brings a topology to the world: peaks and valleys (ie. opposites / dualities), bright patches, and things which are seemingly forever in the dark. And so we lack a panoramic vision. (i.e. We are ignorant of the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, of the Ground / Basis / Source.)

Now, when we sit in Meditation, we experience that. (i.e. We become aware of that.) Some thoughts and feelings, some sensations, really seem to grasp us, and others we don't really care about. Why is this? Because of how we have become conditioned to allocate value (i.e. to discriminate in absolute terms, as if things were existing separately, independently, inherently with inherently existing characteristics / properties / qualities, and in opposition / relation). We don't see the intrinsic value (i.e. the permanent Ground); we see the pattern of our own artificial contrived constructive value (the ever-changing impermanent displays / manifestations / illusory appearances). And this creates a kind of echo chamber in which our thoughts are returned to us as if they were valid. And of course we are human beings, certainly in this life, we talk to each other, and in language we generate this web of confirmation of the truth of how we are.

(i.e. Except for very few exceptions, we are all subject to this self-conditioning / karmic cycle, this co-dependence / co-emergence / co-evolution of the three spheres. So everybody confirms / supports this illusion. It is a collective dream.)

So the difficulty of Meditation is to allow ourselves to do nothing (i.e. not chasing after, or running from, illusions / reflection / mirages), to become irrelevant (i.e. letting go of the self), to become redundant (i.e. merging subject & object).

This can bring up a kind of basic anxiety, as if it's going to be a nihilistic passage into annihilation. “I'll be nothing at all. I'm going to vanish into some great space of nowhereness. I got to hang on to my existence.” This fear arises because the ego-self (subject) holds itself apart from the field of experience (objects, relations / actions).

Although we breathe in, moment by moment, we need to eat and drink, we are participating through our belonging, our metabolic, our organ organismic belonging, to this environment, our conceptualization sets us as something apart from it. (i.e. the illusion of a self / subject separate from the objects / world.)

So if you dissolve (i.e. transcend / purify / self-liberate) the ego (self / illusory independent subject), you're still here in the world (i.e. not completely non-existent).

[The U3S simile:] But you start to see that your belonging in the world is not me and the world (i.e. subject vs. objects), but me-&-world arising together in non-duality (i.e. Union). Non-duality means not one and not two. It's both-and. There is a togetherness which is not a homogenization (i.e. not an identity / sameness / oneness).

The more we feel at home in the world [U3S], [the more] we are more tolerant of how things are, because it's just disappearance, and just disappearance [T1]. And we have hopes, and fears, and thoughts, and worries. They come, and they go [T1]. And when we see there is no actually, no individual self [T2] that they're referring to, then the impact of good days and bad days thins, and thins, and thins. And so we become more spacious, more at ease in ourselves.

This experience is known as clarity. (i.e. Clearly perceiving the true nature of Reality as it is here & now while living the ordinary life.) Which means that nothing has changed, the world functions, you get up, you clean your teeth, and so on [T1]. Who is the one who is cleaning their teeth [T2]? That's not a question to be solved by some kind of cognition [U2T].

(i.e. The Union of the Two Truths [U2T], our true nature & dynamic, primordial awareness, the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, the Ground / Basis / Source … is indescribable, inconceivable for our flawed conditioned conceptual dualistic ever-changing impermanent mind(s) based on two erroneous basic assumptions: i. inherently existing entities & characteristics / properties / qualities, and ii. inherently existing relations / oppositions / actions.)

(i.e. Union of the Two Truths about the two truths themselves [U2T-2T]: The two truths themselves, like the opposites of any duality / triad / quads / etc., are not really separate, independent, inherently existing and in opposition / relation. They are more like a Union of being conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances [T1], merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised / categorised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma, interdependent with each other(s) and with everything else <==> and being empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>). They are more like inseparable, interdependent co-defined, co-relative, co-dependent, co-emergent, co-evolving, co-ceasing / co-transcended, in harmony, equal / non-dual / one -- in the non-dual sense of those terms: ex. not existent, not non-existent, not both together, not neither; not different, not identical, not both together, not neither; not separate, not united, not both together, not neither; not multiple, not one, not both together, not neither; not dual, not non-dual, not both together, not neither; not permanent, not impermanent, not both together, not neither; not continuous, not discontinuous, not both together, not neither; not eternal, not annihilated, not both together, not neither; not pure, not impure, not both together, not neither; not perfect, not imperfect, not both together, not neither, not this, not non-this, not both together, not neither. Meaning their true nature & relation are beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all conceptual proliferations, beyond all conditioning / karma. It has to be directly perceived / realised / experienced. So it is not about accepting one side and rejecting the other(s), not about vice versa, not about accepting all sides, not about rejecting all sides. It is about being able to use them as possible adapted skillful means, temporary antidotes, while being fully aware of their true nature & dynamic.)

When you're cleaning your teeth, teeth and cleaning are arising together. (i.e. Union of the three spheres, Union of the Two truths about the three spheres.) When you put your shoes on, your hands, your body, your spine arches to put the shoes on. And you find that each moment has an internal coherence as things arrive in the right place at the right time. This is the spontaneous completion, the intuitive completion of ourselves.

(i.e. Directly perceiving / experiencing our true nature & dynamic here & now while living the ordinary life. This is experienced as our Interdependence / Co-dependence / Harmony / Union with the world, U3S / U2T-3S / Uopp-3S.)

Instead of having to work hard to make things happen (i.e. trying to control a separate world), we find that, because we are not so preoccupied (i.e. less stress), we have more attention to phenomena (i.e. more presence & efficiency). And so we can work with circumstances, with what's arising. If you have less of a menu in your mind, if you've got less of an agenda, and lesser fixed ways of doing things (i.e. if we are temporarily less unconsciously slaves to our conditioning / karma; if we are more present, equanimous and open), then the freshness of the moment [T2 - the essence of the Ground / purity & openness / emptiness of inherent existence] is the potential [U2T / the source of the dynamism or compassionate energy of the Ground) of all that can be utilized to bring forward and manifest, bring forward and manifest, whatever that would be [T1 - the nature of the Ground / spontaneous presence / dependent co-origination & relative functionality of appearances].

(i.e. These are the three inseparable qualities of the Ground: Union of essence of the Ground / purity / openness / emptiness of inherent existence / T2 <==> nature of the Ground / spontaneous presence / conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances / T1 <==> and compassionate energy of the Ground / its dynamism / the inseparability of the two first aspects of the Ground / U2T. One quality implies the others (<==>).)

[The sun simile:] So in that way, [with training in Meditation, all experiences like:] thoughts, sensations, and feelings, become in the service of illumination. (i.e. They are occasions to directly confirm what we are directly learning about their true nature & dynamic. That is:) They are the blossoming, or the rays of energy (display), arising out of the infinite spaciousness of the mind (Ground). (i.e. Union of the Ground <==> and its display / manifestations / appearances -- good or bad.) (i.e. )

[The mirror simile:] And we start to see my mind is like the mirror [Ground / U2T]: empty of self content [T2] and yet always showing radiant display [T1]. The mirror keeps showing, and showing, all kinds of different patterns [T1].

(i.e. Note: The Ground / Basis / Source is usually compared to a mirror, the sky / space, the sun, a primordial awareness / mind, the ocean, etc. And after a while, it is the mind that is compared to the mirror, the sky / space, the sun … That means the simile of the mind (as our primordial awareness) is being reified / grasped as something real. And that is hiding the true nature of the Ground, which is more like ‘one GREAT CIRCLE, one great bubble of light’ / Union of the three spheres / Union of the Two Truths, Union of opposites. That is the Middle Way free from all extremes & middle, from all conceptual proliferations, from all conditioning / karma. So the Ground is not just a primordial awareness, not just our mind, but the dance of dependent origination and emptiness, of subject & object / world. Just to become fully aware of this, with total conviction, is enough to transmute the whole samsara into Nirvana here & now.)

And in the mirror of awareness [Ground], [display / manifestations / appearances like] self [subject] and other [object] arise together [Uopp, U2T-opp, U3S-opp].

What I call “I, me, myself” (subject), what I take my seemingly separate self to be, is one reflection in the mirror arising together with other reflections (objects & relations / actions). Whether I'm sitting, or cooking, or walking, or talking, it's never just me. It's always me-and.

(i.e. Our true nature, the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, is not subject/mind-only, not objects/phenomena-only, not process/karma-only, not subject vs. object vs. process, not none of them; but more like the inconceivable Union of the three spheres [U3S], or Union of the Two Truths about the three spheres [U2T-3S], Union of opposites [Uopp-3S], the Middle Way free from all extremes & middle.)

Because the environment (objects, relations / actions) and the individual (subject) [co-]arise [T1 - nature of the Ground / conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances, ex. the three spheres], and have the same nature [T2 - essence of the Ground / emptiness of inherent existence of all appearances, ex. of the three spheres], they are the revelation [display] of the potential [dynamism / compassionate energy] of the mind [Ground / Basis / Source / U2T], which arises with particular patterns [appearances that are not different / separate / many / dual, not identical / united / one / non-dual, not both together, not neither].

[Relativity of perception -- the six realms:] For us as human beings, the world patterns in a particular way (i.e. in dependence of our acquired conditioning / karma -- body / physical, speech / conceptual, mind / mental fabrications; individual, collective, cosmic --). When we look outside, and we see the birds in the garden; the world is patterning for them in a completely different way (i.e. in dependence of their acquired conditioning / karma -- body / physical, speech / conceptual, mind / mental fabrications; individual, collective, cosmic --). Many of the things which are figural for a robin are not figural for a pigeon. The pigeon has a big heavy stupid body, and the robin has a very light friendly little body. So what they see, what they can find, is very different. (i.e. their respective perceived world / objects are different) In the back garden here, there is a little food feeder, with some seeds in it, and the robin arrives, and he eats seeds, and the big fat pigeon sits underneath the feeder like a beggar, waiting for some drops to fall from the table. It would look like the pigeon is the fat king of the world, but they can't get in.

[Result:] So when you see the world, you see “oh everything is just exactly as it is”. Not fixed [T2 - no permanent identity / no continuity / nothing left behind / emptiness of inherent existence] but in display, patterns of luminous display arising from causes and conditions [T1]. Each of which is arising from causes and conditions [T1 - conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances]. And all of them are this ceaseless unfolding [display / nature of the Ground] of the potential [compassionate energy] of the Ground. The open empty [T2] mind [Ground] shows itself in infinite ways [T1].

(i.e. Union of the Two Truths [U2T] about all dharmas: Appearances are not really separate, independent, inherently existing and in opposition / relation. They are more like a Union of being conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances [T1], merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised / categorised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma, interdependent with each other(s) and with everything else <==> and being empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>). They are more like inseparable, interdependent co-defined, co-relative, co-dependent, co-emergent, co-evolving, co-ceasing / co-transcended, in harmony, equal / non-dual / one -- in the non-dual sense of those terms: ex. not existent, not non-existent, not both together, not neither; not different, not identical, not both together, not neither; not separate, not united, not both together, not neither; not multiple, not one, not both together, not neither; not dual, not non-dual, not both together, not neither; not permanent, not impermanent, not both together, not neither; not continuous, not discontinuous, not both together, not neither; not eternal, not annihilated, not both together, not neither; not pure, not impure, not both together, not neither; not perfect, not imperfect, not both together, not neither, not this, not non-this, not both together, not neither. Meaning their true nature & relation are beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all conceptual proliferations, beyond all conditioning / karma. It has to be directly perceived / realised / experienced. So it is not about accepting one side and rejecting the other(s), not about vice versa, not about accepting all sides, not about rejecting all sides. It is about being able to use them as possible adapted skillful means, temporary antidotes, while being fully aware of their true nature & dynamic.)

[3. Conduct: Acting without acting. The Middle Way free from all extremes & middle: nothing to accept, nothing to reject in absolute terms, just conventionally.]

So that our Conduct in the world, how we proceed, is through conversation, through communication, through allowing ourselves (subject) to be touched and moved by (in Harmony / Union with) the events of the world (objects). (i.e. More and more in accord with the Union of the three spheres [U3S], or Union of the Two Truths about the three spheres [U2T-3S], or Union of opposites [Uopp], or Middle Way free from all extremes & middle.)

(i.e. Conduct: Proper conduct is acting without acting. Acting with more presence, equanimity, openness, availability, freshness, freedom, wisdom. Less and less conditioned by our karma, creating less and less new karma. That is acting more and more in accord with, in harmony with, our true nature / primordial awareness, the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, the Ground / Basis / Source, as pointed by concepts like: the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] (dependent co-origination & emptiness of inherent existence), the Union of the three spheres [U3S] (subject, relation / action, object), the Union of opposites [Uopp] (ex. something & nothing), the primordial equality / purity / perfection / divinity of everything (in the non-dual sense of those terms), the Ground and its three inseparable qualities (essence, nature, dynamism / compassionate energy), the Middle Way free from all extremes & middle, free from all conceptual proliferations, free from all conditioning / karma.)

It's not about becoming a solitary yogi in a cave.

(i.e. It is not about rejecting the world, objects, appearances -- body / physical, speech / conceptual, mind / mental fabrications; individual, collective, cosmic --, thoughts, feelings, activities …. Nor about accepting them as they appear to be.)

If you watch the news, and you see the state of the children, palestinian children, or in Yemen, or in many african countries, you're weep. It's so sad when you see the protesters in Myanmar being shot. You weep. It's sad. It's awful. And then something else comes, and something else comes. If you're fully present in the awful moment, you have full compassion and you can respond.

The key point is: something else happens, and something else happens. If you are going to be open and fresh to the moment, the enemy is preoccupation. If you hang on to something, and brood about it, and go over it again and again, you're living in a mental tunnel. You're neither deeply relaxed in yourself, nor are you freely participating in the world. (i.e. In Harmony with the true nature of Reality as it is here & now as pointed by the concept of the Union of the three spheres [U3S].) But you're just going in this labyrinth of recollection, and plans, and hopes, and fears.

So our Conduct is to release ourselves from that, and to be present, moment by moment, in the fresh co-emergence of our body (subject) moving (action) with that of other people (object) (i.e. in Harmony with the true nature of Reality as it is here & now), doing whatever we do. There is no fixed agenda. We are already here, in life, as it is.

The openness of the mind [T2 - essence of the Ground], the bright shining clarity of the mind [T1 - nature of the Ground], and the unique moment by moment participation that we embody [U2T - dynamism / compassionate energy of the Ground], these three are inseparable.

So however your body emerges, that is the display [T1] of the open [T2] Ground [U2T]. So rather than trying to correct ourselves, in order to become a better kind of person … Which is a kind of strange notion. If I'm going to make myself a better kind of person, I am the builder of myself. And as we know all constructions have a limited endurance; they fall apart again. So self-construction is a way of hiding ourselves from ourselves. The very desire to better ourselves, to better the world, becomes a way of not seeing the actuality of how experience (display) emerges from the Ground.

So the path is luminosity. The path is to say stay close to the light of the Ground as it presents with all the phenomena (display) which are revealed to us.

Our eyes can only see light. The eye cannot see motor cars and trees. The mind interprets light as things. Our ears can only hear sound. But we interpret the sound as music, or people having a fight, or whatever.

(i.e. Merely labelled / imputed: All appearances -- physical, conceptual, mental, including the three spheres, including all opposites, with no exception at all -- are co-dependent, merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma [T1] <==> and because of that they are all empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions / reflections / mirage / dreams. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>). With ignorance of their true nature & dynamic, the world / objects / appearances, the mind / subject, and their relations / actions (the three spheres) are co-dependent / co-emergent, co-evolving, and need to be co-transcended. This ‘co-dependence / co-evolution of the three spheres’ is the self-conditioning / karmic cycle, or samsara. With the direct wisdom of being fully aware of the true nature & dynamic of this karmic cycle, then samsara is directly transmuted into nirvana here & now, everything is self-illuminated / self-purified / self-liberated.)

So when we start to see the naked fresh potential of the world is being cooked according to the recipe book of my cultural fixations, my neurotic fixations, my egoic fixations, (i.e. my conditioning / karma -- individual, collective, cosmic) we can put down the cookbook for a while, and just stay present with the revelation, with what is received. I don't have to be so busy (i.e. no need to be obsessed about controlling the world). Life will continue without me. And I don't have to wait till I'm dead to find that out. The less I do, the more I receive. And when we receive more, [benefits:] we find that we are being energized, and resourced by each moment.

So this is the basic orientation in Dzogchen: that what we need is already here through our open fresh participation.

(i.e. There is nothing to do / add or not-do / subtract in absolute terms. Everything is already equal / pure / perfect / divine here & now, beyond all relations / actions / oppositions / dualities. So, just let it be. Relax. Enjoy the magical show. And participate in the cosmic dance.)

[4. Result: Enlightenment without enlightenment. Bringing everything into one Great Circle / Ground / U2T. Union compassion <==> wisdom / emptiness.]

And the Result of that is that we stop driving ourselves (i.e. stop trying to control everything). It doesn't mean that you can't work hard, or if you have projects you want to fulfill. You can do them, but in the manner of a dream (i.e. not grasping at anything, not becoming attached, not becoming slaves to appearances / illusions / reflections / mirages).

What is effort? Effort is a mobilization of energy, but it doesn't have to be serious. Seriousness is a kind of overburdened heaviness, in which true value and true meaning has been put into something, which actually will fade. Seriousness, as we see in the world politics all the time, makes for an over investment in limited projects, which leads to the identification of those who don't agree with my project as being my enemy, and quickly leads to war. There are so many sites of violence in the world today. Because people know these other people are my enemy. “They are trying to undermine me, and kill me.” Why would they do that? Because very very few people live in a shared world. They start with number one “I, me, myself”, and then in the series of concentric circles going out, my lovers, my family, and so on. Until we reach those ‘I don't know’, and those ‘I don't want to know’, and ‘I'd be quite happy if they were dead’. And so ... fairly skilled at annihilating people.

So Dzogchen pa chen po, the great inclusion, brings everything into one Great Circle, one great bubble of light. And then we see : “oh, all these divisions that I make, friend, enemy, desirable, undesirable, this is just rippling moments of the energy of the mind”. Here and gone. What I love in this moment, not so interesting in the next moment. I am fickle! So, if I am fickle, I should not pretend to be serious. Very helpful to be fickle, because then you are labile. You are moving, and moving, and moving. And since you were born you were moving. When you were in your mother's womb you were moving. We are movement [T1 - conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances]. And movement is not solid [T2 - no permanent identity / no continuity / nothing left behind / emptiness of inherent existence]. [i.e. Our true nature, the Ground / Basis / Source, is the Union of the Two Truths, the Union of the three spheres, the Union of opposites. It is like the mirror, like the sky / space, like the sun, like the ocean, like a primordial mind, like an emptiness, but not exactly. It is more subtle than anything we can imagine.] And it's not serious either [i.e. The Middle Way free from all extremes & middle: nothing to accept nothing to reject …].

(i.e. Union of opposites [Uopp] -- ex. stillness & movement, something & nothing, subject & object & action, body & speech & mind, the two truths, ground & display: Apparent opposites of any duality / triad / quads / etc., are not really separate, independent, inherently existing and in real opposition / relation. They are more like a Union of being conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances [T1], merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised / categorised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma, interdependent with each other(s) and with everything else <==> and being empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>). They are more like inseparable, interdependent co-defined, co-relative, co-dependent, co-emergent, co-evolving, co-ceasing / co-transcended, in harmony, equal / non-dual / one -- in the non-dual sense of those terms: ex. not existent, not non-existent, not both together, not neither; not different, not identical, not both together, not neither; not separate, not united, not both together, not neither; not multiple, not one, not both together, not neither; not dual, not non-dual, not both together, not neither; not permanent, not impermanent, not both together, not neither; not continuous, not discontinuous, not both together, not neither; not eternal, not annihilated, not both together, not neither; not pure, not impure, not both together, not neither; not perfect, not imperfect, not both together, not neither, not this, not non-this, not both together, not neither. Meaning their true nature & relation are beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all conceptual proliferations, beyond all conditioning / karma. It has to be directly perceived / realised / experienced. So it is not about accepting one side and rejecting the other(s), not about vice versa, not about accepting all sides, not about rejecting all sides. It is about being able to use them as possible adapted skillful means, temporary antidotes, while being fully aware of their true nature & dynamic.)

[5. Conclusion: We are part of the Great Circle, the Union of the Ground / Basis / Source / Reality <==> and its unceasing display / manifestations / appearances -- beyond any opposition / duality.]

So this is the basis of our Dzogchen practice.

So we sit, probably as you do in a very simple way, but just not as an intention, not as a direction, but as a kind of mood. We have the sense of space. We open to space. Space is our home. Let's say this space of the spaciousness [T2] of potential [U2T] from which we emerge in different ways [T1].

[We cannot control the world, we can only dance with it:] For each of us, when we awoke in the morning, we could in no way have given an accurate account of our day: How we would have been walking; who we would have met on the street; who we would have been talking to if you had a zoom conference; how the conversation would have gone; what the conclusions would have been. We don't know. Our life was revealed to us. Our life is always revealed to us. So we participate in the shared field of revelation (i.e. in Harmony with the world), rather than being an individual agent (subject) who has to push, an elbow, and get our little space in the sun (i.e. trying to control a world / objects in opposition to the self / subject).

[The space simile:] Space (i.e. the Ground / Basis / Source) is the mother. Space is our Basis [Ground / Source]. We have space. It's just that we're not so sure how to recognize space (i.e. the Ground / Basis / Source), to awaken to space (i.e. the Ground / Basis / Source), to be part of the space (i.e. the Ground / Basis / Source). We are the blossoming [Display] of space [the Ground] moment by moment.

(i.e. The Ground as the sky / space, its display as the clouds: Appearances / clouds in the sky / displays of the Ground ... are all interdependent, conventionally dependently co-arisen, conditioned, ever changing, impermanent, but the Sky / Space / Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / Primordial awareness / U2T is more like unfabricated, self-arisen, unchanging, unceasing, permanent / timeless; it remains unconditioned / free / open / available / fresh / pure. So, the Ground, our true nature / primordial awareness, the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, is compared to the ‘sky’ or to ‘space’. But don't push this comparison too far, or it will turn into absurdity. The important point is that we should not identify with fabricated conditioned ever-changing impermanent appearances, but instead with an inconceivable ungraspable self-arisen unchanging timeless spaceless limitless non-dual pristine Ground / Basis / Source / Reality / Primordial awareness / U2T.)

[32:00] So when we do the practice, relax, open, and allow whatever comes to come with our eyes open. So the senses are not blocked, we're not wanting to make a big barrier between inside and outside. So that we can see that outside (objects / world) and inside (subject) are simply patterning in the field of revelation [Ground].

There is a Circle of revelation, which is always there, whether we turn to the right, or the left, or up, or down, there is just this, and just this. And that, this, includes me (subject). We are always within.

So, maybe we can just do a little sitting just now. There are lots of extra bits you can learn about the practice (ex. the Union of samatha <==> and vipashyana), but the most important is: release the energy which vibrates as the impulse and the need to do something. So whenever you find yourself being busy in the practice, release yourself in a long slow out breath. And there you are. And “what you take yourself to be” will show itself as unreliable, ever-changing [T1 - conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances]. Our formation is momentary. [T2 - no permanent identity / no continuity / nothing left behind / emptiness of inherent existence] [i.e. Our true nature, the Ground, is the Union of the Two Truths.]

This is the Middle Way (i.e. Middle Way free from all extremes & middle). It's not that we don't have formation. It's not just nothing at all. But the formation, or the pattern, which arises [T1 - conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances] is just here for an instant. [T2 - no permanent identity / no continuity / nothing left behind / emptiness of inherent existence] [i.e. Our true nature, the Ground / Basis / Source, is the Union of the Two Truths, the Union of the three spheres, the Union of opposites. It is like the mirror, like the sky / space, like the sun, like the ocean, like a primordial mind, like an emptiness, but not exactly. It is more subtle than anything we can imagine.]

So we are always moving in this wonderful limpet sea of disclosure, and disclosure, self arising, and self-liberating.
So that's what we sit with.

So maybe we sit a little bit just now. (10 minutes meditation)

Okay. So one of the things we attend to is to have the transition between sitting practice and getting up, and moving around, and being with other people, to have that transition as simple as possible. We sit in open clarity [aware of the U2T], and we move in open clarity [aware of the U2T]. When we find ourselves re-centering into our body as “I am this person”, we want to just be aware “oh, I am falling under the power of a thought. I am identifying myself on the basis of a linked series of concepts. I exist. I have a body. I am not you.” We hold on to these concepts. They generate a little cocoon around us, which gradually separates us from what's around. So simply seeing ‘the thought which defines me’ has already gone, ‘the feeling which defines me’ has already gone. We don't need to block what is arising; but just to avoid grasping, and building, and constructing. So that whatever occurs is self-arising [T1], and self-liberating [T2]. And then we have the seamless movement of sitting, and moving, and talking. And life moves on within this luminous sea of light.

So that's all I have to say today. I hope I wish you well with your practice. You've been meeting together for quite a long time, Geo was telling me. So I hope you're really enjoying it and get some good benefit to make your lives easier.

So I say goodbye

Quotes

The Ground - Rigpa Wiki

The ground of Dzogchen is the fundamental, primordial state, our absolute nature, which is already perfect and always present. (https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Ground )

It is described as being endowed with three qualities:

its essence -- the first quality is that its essence is empty (of inherent existence),
being primordial purity or kadak;
(i.e. T2: One self-arisen unchanging permanent aspect of the Ground: the emptiness of inherent existence of all manifestations / appearances)
its nature -- the second quality is that its nature is cognizant (relatively functional),
being spontaneous presence or lhundrup;
(i.e. T1: One self-arisen unchanging permanent aspect of the Ground: all manifestations are conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances)

“While the essence of mind is empty, like the sky, its nature is cognizant and clear, like the light of the sun.
But when we compare the nature of mind to the sky, it has something the sky does not have, that is its clarity and cognizance. We are aware, we can see, we can hear and we can feel. That is the cognizant nature.
Everything appears and manifests out of this cognizant nature, which is sometimes also referred to as ‘luminosity’ or ‘Clear Light’.”

its compassionate energy -- the third quality of the Ground is its compassionate energy / dynamism;
(i.e. U2T: One self-arisen unchanging permanent aspect of the Ground: the inseparability / harmony / Union of the two first aspects: Union of the Two Truths. Everything arises because of this inseparability / harmony / Union of the Two Truths.)

This unceasing compassionate energy is described as:

unconfined,
unobstructed, and
all-pervasive.

It too possesses three wonderful qualities:

the wisdom that knows,
the compassion that is loving and caring, and
the power that is able to liberate, protect, and benefit beings and fulfil the enlightened activity of the buddhas.

Although conceptually we make distinctions between them, these three qualities of the ground of being are united. (i.e. Ground = Union of essence / emptiness <==> nature / dependent co-origination <==> compassionate energy / dynamism / Inseparability of these two aspects.)

The Dzogchen texts, including Longchen Rabjam's Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle and Treasury of Word and Meaning, sometimes mention seven assertions with regard to the Ground.

The ground is spontaneously present; (self-arisen)
The ground is indeterminate or uncertain;
The ground is fixed or determined in a particular way;
The ground is capable of transforming into anything at all; (i.e. openness)
The ground can be defined in any possible way;
The ground is manifold;
The ground is primordial purity.

In Treasury of Words and Meaning, Longchenpa says that each of the first six views entails logical flaws, while the seventh is correct. Yet in the Treasury of Supreme Vehicle, he explains that the seventh view is also incomplete, and that the correct interpretation of the Ground is that it combines both primordial purity and spontaneous presence, or, put in another way, it is the union of the essence, nature and compassion. Jamgön Kongtrul, in his Treasury of Knowledge, follows the former approach, stating that the seventh interpretation is correct.

=======================

Beyond all analogies

[Our true nature, Reality as it is here & now, the Ground / Basis / Source is like a mirror, like space, like a consciousness / awareness / mind, like an emptiness ... but it is not exactly that. It is inconceivable. So, we may use those concept-pointers, but never grasp at them as if independent / universal / absolute truths.]

“If a person is not earth, not water,

Not fire, not wind, not 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲,

Not consciousness [𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀], and not all of them,

What person is there other than these?”

-- Nagarjuna

"It cannot be shown through analogy by anyone,

And it cannot be expressed in words."

-- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye

" Let go even of the idea of emptiness, of openness, of space…"

-- Pema Chödron

All quotes from: Just Dharma Quotes

=======================

From Q&A session #9. Zoom 04.2021 - James Low

Then the next question is: In Dzogchen,
what is the meaning of the unchanging nature of our mind (Ground)?

https://youtu.be/1iHDa0mmRoA?t=2352

[A. The Ground is indescribable / inconceivable, but we can use words to point to it: ex. the mind, the sky / space, the mirror … the Union of the Two Truths [U2T]]

The unchanging nature of the mind is that it is beyond thought.
(i.e. free of thought, or free from thought, free with thought)

And that's a little sneaky kind of answer.
Because thoughts are always moving. (i.e. there is no mind / subject without thought / object).

So the unchanging nature of the mind has to be free of thought.
Thought changes, moves, interacts, develops, declines, and so on.

(i.e. What is self-arisen, unfabricated, unconditioned, unchanging, ever-present, timeless, spaceless, limitless, unalterable (vajra), pristine ... in the mind, and in everything, is the fact that everything is interdependent, dependently co-arisen, ever-changing [T1], merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised / categorised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma <==> thus empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams. That is the inconceivable Union of the Two Truths [U2T] about all dharmas; no exception at all. That is the ‘unchanging nature of the mind’, and of everything else, inside, outside and between. This is called the self-arisen unchanging unceasing limitless pristine Ground / Basis / Source. It is the true nature & dynamic of the mind and of everything else, the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now / Suchness / Buddha-nature / Genuine-emptiness. It is non-dual, not individual, not just ‘our true nature’, or just ‘the unchanging nature of our mind’. It is one Indivisible Great Circle that encompasses everything.

The Ground / Basis / Source, the true nature of Reality as it is here & now, is beyond all description / conceptualisation or non-description / non-conceptualisation, discrimination / duality & non-discrimination / non-duality, causality / production / activity & non-causality / non-production / non-activity, form / matter-energy & non-energy / non-form, space & time; beyond thought & non-thought, beyond all extremes & middle; beyond all conceptual proliferations,; beyond all conditioning / karma. So, in a sense, it is beyond thought, but not necessarily without thought -- as if thoughts were inherently ‘bad’ --. It encompasses all physical, conceptual & mental fabrications, including thoughts & concepts. It is the Ground of everything.)

[B. The self-arisen unchanging permanent pristine Ground is open, empty, ungraspable:]

So the unchanging nature of the mind is the [inconceivable] Base, or the Ground (of everything),
which is open, and empty, and ungraspable.

[C. The Ground / Basis / Source and its display / manifestations / appearances are inseparable, in Union. That includes thoughts & concepts, everything good or bad.]

And this [Ground] is inseparable from awareness, which is the illuminating [cognizance] capacity of the ground to reveal the spaciousness within which the clarity of experience arises.

And this is inseparable from the phantom-like movement [appearances], the apparitional movement of how we are moment by moment, moving in in the sea of experience. (i.e. there is no mind / subject without thought / object)

[D. The Ground / Basis / Source is pointed by the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] about all dharmas: the fact that everything is like a Union of being conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances [T1], merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised by the mind <==> and being empty of inherent existence [T2], like illusions / reflections / mirages / dreams. Appearing but empty, empty of inherent existence but still conventionally dependently co-appearing & relatively functional. One aspect / truth implies the other (<==>).]

[Ultimately] Each of us has never been born [T2]. Clearly this sounds stupid.
[But, conventionally / relatively] We have been born [T1]. We may have in our bag some place our birth certificate. We were born into the world, and into society, so our birth is registered. We are officially existing people. But this is like our persona. Like a mask. It's like a calling card. This is the shape, the presentational shape of ourselves.

[E. The Ground / Basis / Source is pointed by the Union of the three spheres [U3S]: Union subject / actor / self <==> relations / actions <==> objects / phenomena / world.]

But when you stay gently present, with all of you, you see how your body pulses and moves with the environment. The body (subject) is part of the world (objects). The ingredients of our body are what is found in the world. The different chemicals and so on. The world (object) is showing itself as us (subject).

(i.e. We can never consider the subject, or any object, on its own, independently, separately from the rest of the world / universe. Everything is interdependent, co-dependent, co-evolving, in harmony. Especially subject <==> and object.)

[F. All appearances are merely labelled / imputed / conceptualised by the mind in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma [T1] <==> thus empty of inherent existence [T2]. There is no real origination / birth, duration / existence / change, cessation / death of anything -- just conventionally.]

And from the Dzogchen point of view, this world is the field of experience.
It's the field of disclosure of display of the clarity.
This field of emergence (display) is inseparable from the open empty Ground.
Emptiness [T2] <==> shows as light; and within light there is movement [T1].

So in this Dzogchen teaching itself, light arises as rays, but also as blocks of light [T1].

So if I look out the window, I see the color of the different cars, and the trees, and gardens, and so on. That is an aspect of light, which is actually inseparable from the rays of light that are coming from the sun. So this body is an emergence moment by moment.

In the text, particularly in tantric texts, they describe our world as unborn [T2] <==> [unchanging] <==> and unceasing [T1]. So from that point of view, I am unborn. That is to say I have never been a thing [T2]. <==> When my parents had sex, and the impregnation occurred, immediately complex processes were occurring. This continued for nine months in my mother's body. Then I came out [T1], and new processes started: breathing air, umbilical cord cut, and starting to learn many many different things.

So, ‘James’ is a term which is applied to an undefinable ungraspable process [T2] <==> which is nonetheless showing itself [T1]. So in that sense, James is unceasing [T1] (i.e. still appearing) and yet unborn [T2] (i.e. never been a thing). And the more you look at this process of the many millions of James moments [T1] <==> the truth of this is emptiness [T2].

(i.e. Union of the Two Truths about James: James is empty of inherent existence [T2] <==> because/thus conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearance, interdependent with everything else [T1]. That is the self-arisen unchanging eternal true nature & dynamic of James, and of everything else.)

[G. Conclusion: What is self-arisen, unchanging, eternal, timeless, spaceless, limitless ... is the fact that everything is the Union of the Two Truths [U2T], the Union of the three spheres [U3S], the Union of opposites [Uopp]; that is the Ground / Basis / Source. What did you think it was all about?]

Because the light of the movement of my body, that you might see at this moment, is already vanishing [T1].<==> And because it hasn't become something [T2], in a sense it never changes.

(i.e. Because everything is U2T (empty of inherent existence because dependently co-arisen, ever-changing) <==> then everything is unborn, unchanging, unceasing; there is no real continuity or discontinuity.)

[U2T] This becomes that [T1].<==> But if there is no this, what will that be? [T2]

It is our dualistic conceptualization which gives birth to the entities of the world. [U3S / U2T-3S]

=======================

It has never been about a still, thoughtless, mind.

"Stillness and movement are relative.

There is no absolute stillness.

So stop chasing after a still naked primordial awareness."

The dharmakaya is inseparable from rupakaya.

The three kayas are inseparable.

The body, speech & mind of a Buddha are inseparable;

the same for ordinary beings.

The Buddha, Dharma & Sangha are inseparable.

From: https://www.gilehtblog.com/2021/04/stillness-and-movement.html

=======================

How to find your mind. [EN-PL] Warsaw 09.2018 - 2 parts - James Low

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXGDouJ7HZw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGX2zKa749o

=======================

The mind and what arises for the mind. Zoom 04.2020 - James Low

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8W80mCBTTM

=======================

Our existence is co-created with the environment we inhabit. [EN-DE] Public talk Freiburg 06.2011 - James Low

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj3NL1JqYNA

=======================

Ground, path and result in dzogchen. Zoom 10.2020 - James Low

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgx1XzIHp6Q

=======================

Middle Way Buddhism (Madhyamaka) Gileht's Blog

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Madhyamaka Analysis of Dzogchen Introduction - James Low - 129

[0. Introduction: ‘Reality as it is’ = Union of the self-arisen unchanging permanent open pristine empty Ground / Basis / Source / U2T <==> and its natural unceasing spontaneous impermanent empty display / manifestations / appearances / fabrications / movements.]

[1. View: Viewing without viewing. The Ground and its display, the Union of the Two Truths [U2T], the Union of the three spheres [U3S], the Union of opposites [Uopp], the Middle Way free from all extremes & middle.]

[2. Meditation: Meditating without meditating. Union of Shamatha <==> and Vipashyana.]

[3. Conduct: Acting without acting. The Middle Way free from all extremes & middle: nothing to accept, nothing to reject in absolute terms, just conventionally.]

[4. Result: Enlightenment without enlightenment. Bringing everything into one Great Circle / Ground / U2T. Union compassion <==> wisdom / emptiness.]

[5. Conclusion: We are part of the Great Circle, the Union of the Ground / Basis / Source / Reality <==> and its unceasing display / manifestations / appearances -- beyond any opposition / duality.]

Quotes

The Ground - Rigpa Wiki

Beyond all analogies

From Q&A session #9. Zoom 04.2021 - James Low

It has never been about a still, thoughtless, mind.

How to find your mind. [EN-PL] Warsaw 09.2018 - 2 parts - James Low

The mind and what arises for the mind. Zoom 04.2020 - James Low

Our existence is co-created with the environment we inhabit. [EN-DE] Public talk Freiburg 06.2011 - James Low

Ground, path and result in dzogchen. Zoom 10.2020 - James Low