{"id":8400,"date":"2024-03-29T09:03:45","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T16:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8400"},"modified":"2024-03-29T09:03:45","modified_gmt":"2024-03-29T16:03:45","slug":"naropa-the-summary-of-mahamudra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/29\/naropa-the-summary-of-mahamudra\/","title":{"rendered":"Naropa – The Summary of Mahamudra"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Summary of Mahamudra
\nby Naropa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and Erik Pema Kunsang<\/font><\/p>\n

Homage to the state of great bliss!
\nConcerning what is called Mahamudra
\nAll things are your own mind.
\nSeeing objects as external is a mistaken concept;
\nLike a dream, they are empty of concreteness.
\nThis mind, as well, is a mere movement of attention
\nThat has no self-nature, being merely a gust of wind.
\nEmpty of identity, like space.
\nAll things, like space, are equal.
\nWhen speaking of \u2018Mahamudra\u2019
\nIt is not an entity that can be shown.
\nThere the mind\u2019s suchness
\nIs itself the state of Mahamudra.
\nIt is neither something to be corrected nor transformed,
\nBut when anyone sees and realizes its nature
\nAll that appears and exists is Mahamudra,
\nThe great all-encompassing Dharmakaya.
\nNaturally and without contriving, allowed simply to be,
\nThis unimagined Dharmakaya,
\nLetting it be without seeking is the meditation training.
\nBut to meditate while seeking is deluded mind.
\nJust as with space and a magical display,
\nWhile neither cultivating nor not cultivating
\nHow can you be separate and not separate!
\nThis is a yogi\u2019s understanding.
\nAll good deeds and harmful actions
\nDissolve by simply knowing this nature.
\nThe emotions are the great wisdom.
\nLike a jungle fire, they are the yogi\u2019s helpers.
\nHow can there be staying or going?
\nWhat meditation is there by fleeing to a hermitage?
\nWithout understanding this, all possible means
\nNever bring more than temporary liberation.
\nWhen understanding this nature, what is there to bind you?
\nWhile being undistracted from its continuity,
\nThere is neither a composed nor an uncomposed state
\nTo be cultivated or corrected with a remedy.
\nIt is not made out of anything
\nExperience self-liberated is dharmadhatu.
\nThinking self-liberated is great wisdom,
\nNon-dual equality is dharmakaya.
\nLike the continuous flow of a great river,
\nWhatever you do is meaningful,
\nThis is the eternal awakened state,
\nThe great bliss, leaving no place for samasara.
\nAll things are empty of their own identities.
\nThis concept fixed on emptiness has dissolved in itself.
\nFree of concept, holding nothing in mind,
\nIs in itself the path of the Buddhas.
\nFor the most fortunate ones,
\nI have made these concise words of heartfelt advice.
\nThrough this, may every single sentient being
\nBe established in Mahamudra.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Songs of Naropa: Commentaries on songs of Realization<\/a>, Translated by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche \/ Translated by Erik Pema Kunsang<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Best Picko<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

Today is Good Friday leading into Easter Sunday in the Christian calendar. We are in the middle of the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims. In the Jewish calendar, Purim was just celebrated and Passover is coming up. For Hindus, colorful Holi was just celebrated. Let us take a moment during this time of the new life and new birth to remember the holiness and wholeness of the world we all share.<\/p>\n

=<\/p>\n

If you have been reading the Poetry Chaikhana emails in recent years, then you know that my wife and I moved back to our childhood home of Eugene, Oregon a little over a year ago. Before that we lived for years in and around Boulder, Colorado.<\/p>\n

My wife and I first moved to Boulder, Colorado in the early 1990s. We were young and felt like adventurous vagabonds, exploring the world by moving from place to place. Several things drew us to the area, including the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains, better work opportunities than in our home state of Oregon, as well as the spirituality, creativity and health-focus of the community. <\/p>\n

One other thing drew us: Naropa University, a school in the area well known for its poetry and psychology programs, combined with classes on meditation and Eastern philosophies. Ironically, we never attended classes there, but we have friends who are graduates, and the school has helped to shape Boulder culture in beautiful ways.<\/p>\n

Yet I don\u2019t think I have ever featured a poem by the great Buddhist master Naropa, until today.<\/p>\n

Concerning what is called Mahamudra<\/i><\/p>\n

Mahamudra literally translates as \u201cthe Great Seal.\u201d This term is rich in meaning, especially within Tibetan Buddhism. We might say that Mahamudra is the clear and enlightened recognition of all levels of reality. <\/p>\n

We can think of it as a \u201cseal\u201d in that it has the stamp of confirmation. This is unfettered awareness of how reality really<\/i> is.<\/p>\n

Mahamudra is both the goal and it is also the practice or the pathway to reach that goal.<\/p>\n

All things are your own mind.
\nSeeing objects as external is a mistaken concept<\/i><\/p>\n

This is a difficult one for most of us reared within the Western mindset that has a primarily materialistic understanding of reality. Even if we hold to religious or spiritual ideals, that relationship to the world around us as a physical and sensory experience is often quite ingrained.<\/p>\n

So what do we make of statements like \u201call things are your own mind\u201d? How can external objects not be external?<\/p>\n

We can read a lot of Eastern philosophy and begin to build a conceptual framework that allows a statement like that to seem less absurd, but at best it is a fragile idea that comes under heavy assault when we are confronted with life\u2019s next intense, apparently external challenge. The conceptualizing mind can\u2019t fully encompass this notion, no matter how subtle and refined we think it out.<\/p>\n

The problem for the intellect is that, as our meditation deepens and the mind clears, this is precisely what we perceive. Everything we imagine to be outside of ourselves is actually within ourselves. And everything we think of as tangible, fixed, and \u201creal,\u201d is actually revealed to be merely a surface appearance that is part of a deeper, highly fluid reality.<\/p>\n

Like a dream, they are empty of concreteness.<\/i><\/p>\n

Naturally, we must explore what the mind is. We often imagine that we are the mind, that the mind is the self. Thinking that, we have little or no control over the mind. But the mind isn\u2019t really a lasting \u201cthing\u201d in oneself or outside of oneself. What we think of as the mind only exists when the awareness is in motion.<\/p>\n

This mind, as well, is a mere movement of attention
\nThat has no self-nature, being merely a gust of wind.
\nEmpty of identity, like space.<\/i><\/p>\n

When we bring the awareness to deep stillness, we discover that the mind doesn\u2019t exist at all. Awareness remains, but mind is nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n

It is like the wind: The air is always there, but the wind only exists when the air is disturbed and in motion. Its true nature is wide open, reaching in all directions at once.<\/p>\n

There the mind\u2019s suchness
\nIs itself the state of Mahamudra.<\/i><\/p>\n

In Buddhist writings, we often come across an odd term that is usually rendered as \u201csuchness\u201d or \u201cthusness.\u201d This is a translation of the word Tathata. Tathata is the way a thing truly is beyond the ability of names or concepts to define it. It is the true nature of reality.<\/p>\n

Naropa is affirming that the mind\u2019s true nature, that is, full and open awareness, is nothing less than the full embodiment of reality.<\/p>\n

It is neither something to be corrected nor transformed,<\/i><\/p>\n

So often in spiritual practice we try to bring the mind under control. We work so hard to keep the mind focused on \u201cspiritual\u201d things and away from distractions or fixations. And, yes, that can be important.<\/p>\n

But Naropa is giving us a deeper teaching. The shifting surface focus we call mind is only problematic when we imagine that is all that mind is and all that we are. As we begin to recognize the full awareness, we see that its expanse already encompasses everything, needing nothing added or subtracted, while the phenomenon of \u201cmind\u201d is simply the shifting of currents that settles of its own accord when we let it.<\/p>\n

But when anyone sees and realizes its nature
\nAll that appears and exists is Mahamudra,<\/i><\/p>\n

Another key Buddhist term is then mentioned: Dharmakaya\u2013<\/p>\n

The great all-encompassing Dharmakaya.
\nNaturally and without contriving, allowed simply to be,<\/i><\/p>\n

Dharmakaya literally means \u201ctruth body.\u201d It is one\u2019s true spacious being underlying all appearance or phenomenal experience. It is the foundation ground of self and being experienced by awakened masters.<\/p>\n

Naropa is showing how these important concepts are linked, that their elevated states actually flow into each other and reveal themselves to be the same.<\/p>\n

No-Mind -> Full Awareness -> Inherent Being -> Truth Body<\/p>\n

Letting it be without seeking is the meditation training<\/i><\/p>\n

This, I think, is Naropa\u2019s core statement for the seeker: Don\u2019t seek. Instead, recognize the true nature of things already present. Don\u2019t look to the horizon. Wherever we are, just stop and see. That\u2019s the tricky part. Before we can see, we must first stop. We don\u2019t need to dominate the mind and force it to stop, but we do need to stop being carried away by every little thing caught in the shifting movements of the mind. That\u2019s when the vision clears and we see all around for the first time.<\/p>\n

While neither cultivating nor not cultivating
\nHow can you be separate and not separate!<\/i><\/p>\n

We don\u2019t actually need to change anything about ourselves. Rather, we need to settle into ourselves. We need to be as we are. When we do that, then our outer selves naturally become an expression of the true being we actually are \u2014 no effort required to coax or curtail our actions and energies.<\/p>\n

Like the continuous flow of a great river,
\nWhatever you do is meaningful,<\/i><\/p>\n

Rather than an endless effort of trying to catch and correct every thought and emotion (and the actions that proceed from them), Naropa\u2019s teachings allow us to recognize our destination in this very moment, discovering our true nature in our very selves right now.<\/p>\n

Through this, may every single sentient being
\nBe established in Mahamudra.<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Naropa<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Songs of Naropa: Commentaries on songs of Realization<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nIllusion\u2019s Game: The Life and Teachings of Naropa<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n\"Naropa,<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nNaropa<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

India (1016 \u2013 1100) Timeline<\/a>
\nBuddhist<\/a> : Tibetan<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

More poetry by Naropa<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Summary of Mahamudra by Naropa English version by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and Erik Pema Kunsang Homage to the state of great bliss! Concerning what is called Mahamudra All things are your own mind. Seeing objects as external is a mistaken concept; Like a dream, they are empty of concreteness. This mind, as well, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[40,2226,2225,2224],"class_list":["post-8400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-buddhist-poetry","tag-dharmakaya","tag-mahamudra","tag-naropa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8401,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8400\/revisions\/8401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}