Living the View

Our advice is to deliberately name everything which moves you to smiles, laughter, or tears as Padmasambhava or Yeshé Tsogyel—because this is precisely what these experiences are.

Living the View is the most important practice. If you try to live the view (i.e., hold the view nonconceptually—and remain poised—on the verge of seeing the world completely in terms of the view) then whatever you do will be valuable. Other than this – orientation, attitude, and motivation are everything. Lack of passion in our view and practice leads to distortion of the spacious quality of being. Spaciousness then becomes vagueness; apathy; spurious ultimatism; undiscriminating tolerance (which has nothing to do with tolerance, because real tolerance actually sees differences and dissimilarity); directionlessness; lack of motivation; confusion; lack of impetus; and conflicting priorities. Lack of spaciousness in our view and practice leads to distortion of the passionate quality of being. Passionate energy then becomes dogmatism; sectarianism; intolerance; narrow-mindedness; bigotry; distorted fervour; disdain; and contempt for others.

We need a clear idea of why we are engaged with Vajrayana. There needs to be a fire burning in us—a dynamic life-spark of enthusiasm which characterises us as members of this tradition. We hope that the ethos we are attempting to establish will become vested in the sinew, bone, muscle, blood, and space of being. We have to find the razor’s edge of immediacy—and rest there, in both view and practice. The development of greater passion does not mean that we have to engage in lengthier formal practice—there is only so much time in our lives—but we could live in the fire of Vajrayana with greater alacrity. This is crucial. Inspiration surrounds us continually: in passages of great music; in the natural uncontrived beauty of the elements; in the beauty of the kindness which can flow out of human beings; in the unexpected, spontaneous, and surprising elements of our experience of existence.

In order to establish a connection with the tradition and the lineage, a heart sensation for Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel is indispensable—just as form and emptiness are indispensable in our practice. Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel exist as trülku (form/emanation), longku (energy/appearance), and chöku (space/essence). As trülku they are the form and emptiness of Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel. As longku they are the vision and empty nature of our inner experience which we receive through transmission or pure vision. As chöku they are rigpa and kadag—pure and total awareness, and the ground of being in which it is self-luminous. It is in this understanding that the views of Dzogchen and Tantra dissolve into each other and permeate the fabric of our experience.

Our advice is the same as ’Khordong gTérchen Chhi’mèd Rig’dzin Rinpoche’s advice. His advice was to deliberately name everything which moves you to smiles, laughter, or tears as Padmasambhava or Yeshé Tsogyel – because this is precisely what these experiences are for Nyingma practitioners. As you enter more into the vibrant stream of the tradition, you will learn to associate this heart sensation with the symbolic form of Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel. If this seems difficult, do not worry – you do have the connection. If you did not have the connection, you would not be reading these words. Simply practise and allow the experience of the empowerment to emerge. We all have to start from different points. We can only start from wherever we happen to find ourselves. We should not feel disheartened about that (or over-confident). To have made a vital connection with this lineage is wonderful—it is a rare opportunity.

What has always been important to us is not so much the ferocity of your practice now, but rather whether you maintain this connection up to the point of your death. Tantra means continuity, and this is our advice to you: continue. Continue to hold the living quality of the view of Vajrayana within the fabric of your lives. It is not always possible to ‘practise’ every day—but it is always possible to maintain the feeling of yourselves as being primarily involved with practice. We are not advocating pretence, but rather the feeling that there is a continuity of involvement threaded through the sequence of events which constitute your lives. This feeling will lead to an acceptance of yourselves as intrinsically good people—people with infinite potential. Do not indulge in judging yourselves in terms of the fleeting phenomena of moods and personal crises. Do not identify yourselves with personal histories or characteristic limitations—rather, identify with Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel as being your real nature.

We are not just our problems and anxieties. Even when we are totally identified with these distortions we need to remember that their intrinsic nature is the Mind of Padmasambhava or Yeshé Tsogyel. This is a strong aspect of what is meant by the term ‘vajra pride’. Vajra pride means identification with the continuum of beginningless non-dual state rather than with the continuum of frustration. When life seems most difficult—simply remember that your Mind is of the same nature as Padmasambhava and Yeshé Tsogyel. Remember that this is a passing moment. There will be another passing moment—in several moments, days, weeks, months, or years—when the personality of what we seem to be will be different. Remember that although we are this pain, frustration, joy, or contentment—we are also not these things. We are form and emptiness—emptiness and form.