Reflections on Maitripa - Essential Mahamudra Verses
To innermost bliss, I pay homage!
Were I to explain Mahamudra, I would say—
All phenomena? Your own mind!
If you look outside for meaning, you'll get confused.
Phenomena are like a dream, empty of true nature,
And mind is merely the flux of awareness,
No self nature: just energy flow.
No true nature: just like the sky.
All phenomena are alike, sky-like.
That's Mahamudra, as we call it.
It doesn't have an identity to show;
For that reason, the nature of mind
Is itself the very state of Mahamudra
(Which is not made up, and does not change).
If you realize this basic reality
You recognize all that comes up, all that goes on,
as Mahamudra,
The all-pervading dharma-body.
Rest in the true nature, free of fabrication.
Meditate without searching for dharma-body—
It is devoid of thought.
If your mind searches, your meditation will be confused.
Because it's like space, or like a magical show,
There is neither meditation or non-meditation,
How could you be separate or inseparable?
That's how a yogi sees it!
Then, aware of all good and bad stuff as the basic reality,
You become liberated.
Neurotic emotions are great awareness,
They're to a yogi as trees are to a fire—FUEL!
What are notions of going or staying?
Or, for that matter, "meditating" in solitude?
If you don't get this,
You free yourself only on the surface.
But if you do get it, what can ever fetter you?
Abide in an undistracted state.
Trying to adjust body and mind won't produce meditation.
Trying to apply techniques won't produce meditation either.
See, nothing is ultimately established.
Know what appears to have no intrinsic nature.
Appearances perceived: reality's realm, self-liberated.
Thought that perceives: spacious awareness, self-liberated.
Non-duality, sameness [of perceiver and perceived]: the dharma-body.
Like a wide stream flowing non-stop,
Whatever the phase, it has meaning
And is forever the awakened state—
Great bliss without samsaric reference.
All phenomena are empty of intrinsic nature
And the mind that clings to emptiness dissolves in its own ground.
Freedom from conceptual activity
Is the path of all the Buddhas.
I've put together these lines
That they may last for aeons to come.
By this virtue, may all beings without exception
Abide in the great state of Mahamudra.
Colophon
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This was Maitripa's Essential Mahamudra Instruction (in Tibetan: Phyag rgya chen po tshig bsdus pa), received from Maitripa himself and translated by the Tibetan translator Marpa Chökyi Lodrö.
© Nicole Riggs 1999.
Originally posted by Taoman"If you look outside for meaning, you'll get confused."
Reflections on Maitripa - Essential Mahamudra Verses
To innermost bliss, I pay homage!
Were I to explain Mahamudra, I would say—
All phenomena? Your own mind!
If you look outside for meaning, you'll get confused.
Phenomena are like a dream, empty of true nature,
And mind is merely the flux of awareness,
No self nature: just energy flow.
No true na ...[text shortened]... translated by the Tibetan translator Marpa Chökyi Lodrö.
© Nicole Riggs 1999.
On the contrary. I'm not the least bit confused.
I looked outside myself and saw Jesus. Now I am whole.
Originally posted by josephwI 'm not sure I understand you.
[b]"If you look outside for meaning, you'll get confused."
On the contrary. I'm not the least bit confused.
I looked outside myself and saw Jesus. Now I am whole.[/b]
Do you mean that you are "whole" herenow because you and Jesus are the same?
šµ
Originally posted by black beetleNo. I do not mean that Jesus and I are the same. That would be insane.
I 'm not sure I understand you.
Do you mean that you are "whole" herenow because you and Jesus are the same?
šµ
I mean like this.
Colossians 2:7-10a Read it slowly.
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him,..
Originally posted by josephwIf you lack of the ability for transmission outside of the confusion of scriptural exegesis, methinks you lack of the ability of transmission in full; studying your scripture enables you merely to collect preaching material, however you still have to express yourself genuinely
No. I do not mean that Jesus and I are the same. That would be insane.
I mean like this.
Colossians 2:7-10a Read it slowly.
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rud ...[text shortened]... For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. [b]And ye are complete in him,..[/b]
šµ
Originally posted by black beetleAre you confused by the scriptures beetle?
If you lack of the ability for transmission outside of the confusion of scriptural exegesis, methinks you lack of the ability of transmission in full; studying your scripture enables you merely to collect preaching material, however you still have to express yourself genuinely
šµ
I had selected a line from Taoman's post above, and I simply addressed its assertion that looking outside for meaning would make one confused. I said that on the contrary I wasn't confused at all, that by looking outside my self I saw Jesus, and as a result I am whole. It's not all that complicated.
What is complicated is Maitripa's Essential Mahamudra Instruction. It's all about ones' self. It's about looking inwardly and discarding all thought and meaning. That is confusion. The entire instruction reeks of mental annihilation. Each line is devoid of substance or meaning while trying to deny the very existence of substance or meaning.
Adherence to this "philosophy" is nothing short of mental suicide.
Originally posted by josephwI, also, enjoy misinterpreting things.
What is complicated is Maitripa's Essential Mahamudra Instruction. It's all about ones' [b]self. It's about looking inwardly and discarding all thought and meaning.[/b]
Edit: As a person, this is a hard thing to prevent. Constantly filtering things through our own perceptions and biases, things are essentially prone to misinterpretation. We're all really just throwing around abstract words and meanings- a jumbled mess. Somehow, all these letters arranged in this fashion comes up with thing as opposed to that. Sand castles are all made from the same sand. It's because it gets washed away from oncoming waves and reverted back that we can enjoy it while it lasts. It's because I look in and see no thing different from looking out that I'm free to see our universal manifestations- branches from the same blissful tree.
Originally posted by ua41"Constantly filtering things through our own perceptions and biases, things are essentially prone to misinterpretation."
I, also, enjoy misinterpreting things.
Edit: As a person, this is a hard thing to prevent. Constantly filtering things through our own perceptions and biases, things are essentially prone to misinterpretation. We're all really just throwing around abstract words and meanings- a jumbled mess. Somehow, all these letters arranged in this fashion comes up with t ...[text shortened]... out that I'm free to see our universal manifestations- branches from the same blissful tree.
True.
That's why I try to see things God's way.
Originally posted by josephwI am not confused by the scriptures; since the verse you offered is merely the mapping of a certain experience (let's call it "Jesus experience"š, methinks you had to assimilate this experience in full the same way, say, an athlete of martial arts assimilates in full the techniques of his art, or the same way a racer assimilates in full the experience of racing his racing vehicle, or the same way an author assimilates in full his concepts and writes a fine book etc etc. So I was expecting a genuine explanation regarding your personal "Jesus experience";
Are you confused by the scriptures beetle?
I had selected a line from Taoman's post above, and I simply addressed its assertion that looking outside for meaning would make one confused. I said that on the contrary I wasn't confused at all, that by looking outside my self I saw Jesus, and as a result I am whole. It's not all that complicated.
What is co ...[text shortened]... tance or meaning.
Adherence to this "philosophy" is nothing short of mental suicide.
On the other hand, since "self" in the Mahamudra context lacks of intrinsic nature whilst at the same time the nature of the individual is merely the nature of her/ his mind, which it is also empty of intrinsic nature, whatever it is established as a phenomenon perceived by the mind it is also empty. According to this approach, when "you looked outside" and you saw Jesus, you merely saw a mind-dependent empty phenomenon: therefore, this "Jesus experience" of yours can become assimilated by you in full solely when you and Jesus will become One. Therefore, since in my opinion an individual cannot feel "whole" in relation with a given experience when s/he is separated from this experience (in our case the Jesus experience) due to the fact that Jesus remains "outside", I asked you my question, which still begs for a reply.
Finally, regarding Maitripa's thesis, kindly please feel free to debunk it
šµ
Originally posted by josephw"What is complicated is Maitripa's Essential Mahamudra Instruction. It's all about ones' self. It's about looking inwardly and discarding all thought and meaning. That is confusion. The entire instruction reeks of mental annihilation. Each line is devoid of substance or meaning while trying to deny the very existence of substance or meaning.
Are you confused by the scriptures beetle?
I had selected a line from Taoman's post above, and I simply addressed its assertion that looking outside for meaning would make one confused. I said that on the contrary I wasn't confused at all, that by looking outside my self I saw Jesus, and as a result I am whole. It's not all that complicated.
What is co ...[text shortened]... tance or meaning.
Adherence to this "philosophy" is nothing short of mental suicide.
Adherence to this "philosophy" is nothing short of mental suicide."
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Maitripa is seeking to free us from our dependent mind-constructed "self" that in the second verse he states quite clearly does NOT really exist as a fully independent entity.
He indeed seeks your "mental suicide", the final and utter annihiliation of any solid concepy of a "self". And by so allowing this "death of "self" ( a theme not unheard of in the Christian faith) a liberation into the Light of the Non-Dual.
The Mahamudra means the "Great Seal", the final "Great Seal" and the document is utterly empty!
Thus indeed in shocking confusion a question arises in the mind - ????
What does this mean?
It means You are the Great Seal, You, this moment are the dharma-body, the embodied truth of all existence - right now. 'Letting go ('nirvana'š of' means letting go of any opinion or clinging that you have a totally independently existing "self or soul". You are a part of the definition of everything and everyone around you; and they are undeniably part of what your constructed self is.
As such "Jesus" and your mind's view of him (as well as others) is an aspect of your current "self". And that's ok too. But Maitripa invites to see the full picture and to do so you must let go of the finality of clingingly needing to define everything, including yourself and Jesus. "You" are, but in a very conditioned dependent way.
Who or what are "you" when all those conditioned defining supports are taken away?
You, and "Jesus" (which portrayed Jesus are we talking about?) are much, much more than your limited definings.
Was it not this Jesus that said " Die unto yourself that you may live"?