Read Online Awakening the Luminous Mind: Tibetan Meditation for Inner Peace and Joy by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
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obscured space in which you experience yourself, the space that is obscured by frustration and thoughts and feelings and stories. At these moments, efforts to express love are wasted. Sadly, people can spend years and years of their lives with fruitless effort and end up feeling disconnected from themselves and inauthentic in their expressions.
If you really want to connect with and realize the benefits of openness, it is necessary to recognize the pain identity, the one who puts so much effort into being something other than who you are. Sometimes we feel that if we didn’t make an effort, we would just be a selfish, irritable, or sad person. But often we fail to realize that our effort to push or change ourselves is still an expression of the suffering we experience, and if we bring our attention directly to a moment of effort, something else becomes available—a big shift can take place. When you look directly inward, and nakedly connect with the openness that is always available, a new face will be seen, new qualities will emerge. If the qualities don’t emerge right away, you need to host your pain with arms of light as long as necessary. Only when the pain dissolves and the openness is recognized can you share the positive qualities so abundantly present there. When you discover a connection to a deeper authentic space within, the quality you are seeking will be found. You will find something you could never have produced through any effort imaginable. Effortless positive qualities spontaneously arise when you are open and aware.
The foundation of refuge is trust. Even if you don’t have access to a deep experience of stillness and the body of emptiness in a given moment, you can still trust that it is there. There may be times in your life when you are going through much pain, fear, confusion, and darkness, and you feel there is no light. Rather than saying, “I don’t see or feel it; it is not there,” you could say, “I don’t see any light, but I trust that it is there. I don’t feel it in this moment, but I trust that it is there.” That trust offers protection, even though you have no realization of inner peace at the moment. That trust gives you some strength and direction to contain those difficult experiences better.
Your challenges will not overwhelm you completely, thanks to the power of your trust. There may be moments when you don’t feel still. There is so much agitation and confusion, and so many thoughts and emotions and voices in your head. For you, there is no openness; there is no awareness; there is no bliss. You feel occupied with distractions of all kinds. But still you can trust. “I don’t have the strength to feel stillness or awareness or feel any bliss, but I trust it is here.” Trust that essence. Trust yourself. At those times the refuge poem can comfort you by encouraging and reminding you that there is a place within you that is trustworthy.
CHAPTER THREE
T HE G IFTS OF I NNER R EFUGE
How do we personally benefit from the gift of refuge, and how can it benefit others? The body of emptiness, body of light, and body of great bliss are aspects of our being. We all have these three bodies in ourselves, but our realization of this is obscured. Through the practice of meditation with the three doors—recognizing and resting in stillness of the body, silence of speech, and spaciousness of mind—we release our pain identity and have clear access to space, awareness, and warmth.
When we connect with this clear space of being, it is not a passive process. As we meditate, we are not simply becoming a disinterested observer of our thoughts and feelings as they float by. Rather, we are recognizing the space of our very being itself, and this intimate recognition is a spark, a light that ignites a positive response to the moment. As we draw clear and open attention inward, we are healed and nourished in so doing, and we naturally become generous. When you abide in
If you really want to connect with and realize the benefits of openness, it is necessary to recognize the pain identity, the one who puts so much effort into being something other than who you are. Sometimes we feel that if we didn’t make an effort, we would just be a selfish, irritable, or sad person. But often we fail to realize that our effort to push or change ourselves is still an expression of the suffering we experience, and if we bring our attention directly to a moment of effort, something else becomes available—a big shift can take place. When you look directly inward, and nakedly connect with the openness that is always available, a new face will be seen, new qualities will emerge. If the qualities don’t emerge right away, you need to host your pain with arms of light as long as necessary. Only when the pain dissolves and the openness is recognized can you share the positive qualities so abundantly present there. When you discover a connection to a deeper authentic space within, the quality you are seeking will be found. You will find something you could never have produced through any effort imaginable. Effortless positive qualities spontaneously arise when you are open and aware.
The foundation of refuge is trust. Even if you don’t have access to a deep experience of stillness and the body of emptiness in a given moment, you can still trust that it is there. There may be times in your life when you are going through much pain, fear, confusion, and darkness, and you feel there is no light. Rather than saying, “I don’t see or feel it; it is not there,” you could say, “I don’t see any light, but I trust that it is there. I don’t feel it in this moment, but I trust that it is there.” That trust offers protection, even though you have no realization of inner peace at the moment. That trust gives you some strength and direction to contain those difficult experiences better.
Your challenges will not overwhelm you completely, thanks to the power of your trust. There may be moments when you don’t feel still. There is so much agitation and confusion, and so many thoughts and emotions and voices in your head. For you, there is no openness; there is no awareness; there is no bliss. You feel occupied with distractions of all kinds. But still you can trust. “I don’t have the strength to feel stillness or awareness or feel any bliss, but I trust it is here.” Trust that essence. Trust yourself. At those times the refuge poem can comfort you by encouraging and reminding you that there is a place within you that is trustworthy.
CHAPTER THREE
T HE G IFTS OF I NNER R EFUGE
How do we personally benefit from the gift of refuge, and how can it benefit others? The body of emptiness, body of light, and body of great bliss are aspects of our being. We all have these three bodies in ourselves, but our realization of this is obscured. Through the practice of meditation with the three doors—recognizing and resting in stillness of the body, silence of speech, and spaciousness of mind—we release our pain identity and have clear access to space, awareness, and warmth.
When we connect with this clear space of being, it is not a passive process. As we meditate, we are not simply becoming a disinterested observer of our thoughts and feelings as they float by. Rather, we are recognizing the space of our very being itself, and this intimate recognition is a spark, a light that ignites a positive response to the moment. As we draw clear and open attention inward, we are healed and nourished in so doing, and we naturally become generous. When you abide in
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