May 2021 Managing Editor: Matthew Dawson Essence of Mahamudra INSIDE THIS ISSUE Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche • Essence of Mahamudra, by Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX • Poetry: Memorial Tribute by Ekai Roshi • Interview with Do Tulku Rinpoche of the Sakya tradition • Interview with Dr Kathleen Gregory • Deep Ecology, Martin Heidegger and Buddhism by Peter Oldmeadows • News from Shogam Publications • News from E-Vam Institute, Melbourne • News from Maitripa Centre, Healesville • News from Nyima Tashi This is the 2nd in a series of 4 talks on Mahamudra Meditation in Sydney in 2009. The next two Buddhist Centre New talks will feature in consecutive E-Vam newsletters. Zealand • News from E-Vam n the first talk, I gave some history about different teachings and practices including Buddhist Institute U.S. how many of the tantric teachings were Mahamudra. brought to Tibet after King Langdarma’s Mahamudra teachings are quite different • News from Akshara I Bookshop time. Dzogchen from the Nyingma school from standard tantric practices or teachings came to Tibet first, roughly around the which emphasise the notion of • E-Vam Institute 2021 beginning of the 9th century. After King transformation – where one visualises oneself Winter Teaching Program Langdarma’s demise, a new wave of teachings as a deity and establishes an intimate came to Tibet. The teachings on Mahamudra relationship with the deity, one’s personal are similar to Dzogchen but are actually deity. associated with this new wave of Tantric There is tension in the tantric system in teachings, the newer form of Buddhism that terms of two different kinds of approaches. was introduced to Tibet. One is the aspect of relationship with the There was also political unrest in India at deity. The other one is about going deeper the time. North-western India was always into oneself, and the aspect of dissolution. vulnerable to invasion. At that time, many That is, the dissolution of different elements, Indian masters found safe refuge in Nepal working with the psychophysical energy and Tibet and surrounding areas. Nalanda centres and pathways. and many other Buddhist universities that So where is the tension? The tension is housed thousands of students were there because when you are doing the first destroyed. These newer forms of Tantricism practice, you are working with the idea of that were brought to Tibet contained many energy extending outside of oneself. This is The Wheel of Times • 1 imagined and experienced through the transmission is very important, both in idea is that where we are now is flawed. use of thoughts – creating more thoughts, Tantricism and in the Mahamudra Our human condition is seen as images, and emotions. The second aspect lineage. So there is that element of corrupted, polluted, imperfect, is withdrawing or drawing inwards. The centrifugal and centripetal movement. contaminated, and stained in some way. first part of the practice is spreading, going In contrast to these types of tantric Where we want to go, what we need to out; the second part of the practice is practices, Mahamudra practice involves attain, is radically different to where we about drawing in. In Tantricism, one is shamatha – tranquility meditation and are now; it is something perfect, and generating these two aspect all the time, vipashyana – analytical meditation. These stands in stark contrast to our present doing both. are associated with standard Buddhist state of being. practice. However the notion of Teachings like Mahamudra say OUTWARD ENERGY transmission is still important. something different while not ignoring In the first, you visualise deities and Transmission, as I mentioned in the first the fact that we are flawed individuals: we mandalas and associated entourage and talk, is also important in Zen Buddhism. have many problems, each one of us. other symbolic details associated with the Many people in the west think of Zen as According to Buddhism, we are main diety. It is a sort of psychic being very iconoclastic but in fact it still wandering in the samsara, the cyclic state. centrifugal - moving away from the centre; emphasises the notion of transmission. We are pushed and pulled by varieties of and centripetal – moving toward the The same is true in Mahamudra teachings arising influences and forces including centre – idea. One is the idea of expanding and practices. deluded thoughts, confused emotions, and in order to do this, one generates more thoughts. In Tantricism everything is used for one’s transformation including “Accepting ourselves with a deep sense of self- thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Even if worth, and self-worthiness comes from accepting you don’t have many thoughts, you endeavour to create them. One cannot our true state of being within which we find our generate an image of a deity if one is not fullest capacity and greatest perfection as human thinking. It is not to just visualise the deity beings. Then we have true self-acceptance.” without any feelings. One should also generate the appropriate feelings GROUND, PATH, AND and uncontrolled, unrestrained feelings. associated with that particular deity. FRUITION MAHAMUDRA While that is true enough, nevertheless, Mahamudra teachings say we should not Depending on the qualities of the deity, if When we come to Mahamudra put all our focus on such influences the deity looks very wrathful, seductive, teachings themselves, we have to think of because fundamentally, we are not flawed. or compassionate, one brings these Mahamudra in relation to what we call We have problems and disturbing feelings and emotions to the fore. That is Ground, Path, and Fruition emotions and are confused about varieties one aspect of the process of generating Mahamudra – Gzhi lam dre bu is the of things in life but that does not mean energy to expand outward. shortened version in Tibetan. Gzhi means that we are evil or that actually, in terms the ground; lam means the path; dre bu WITHDRAWING of our true condition, our own real nature, means the fruition. The early lineage The other aspect is the idea of there is something wrong with us. masters passed on these teachings of withdrawing, which you do with the That is how we begin with the idea of Ground Mahamudra, Path Mahamudra, practice of chakras, the psychophysical developing some understanding of and Fruition Mahamudra - from Tilopa energy centres; nadi, the psychophysical Ground Mahamudra. Understanding to Naropa, Naropa to Marpa, Marpa to energy pathways; prana, being ourselves in that way is to understand Milarepa, and so on. psychophysical energy; and bindu, which Ground Mahamudra. If we think like I refer to as “life essence.” These are some GROUND MAHAMUDRA that, then when we meditate, we will have of the standard aspects of tantric teachings Ground Mahamudra refers to our state more confidence in ourselves. When we and practices brought to Tibet after King of being, the way we are now. Human meditate and disturbing thoughts and Langdarma’s death. Teachings based on beings are always thinking about where we emotions and so on arise, we would not be Guhyasamaja-tantra, for example, and are now and where we want to be in the thinking: “Oh, here I go again. I’m such a Kalachakra, Chakrasamvara and so on. future. When we embark on the spiritual stupid person. I’m such an emotional They all have this same idea and approach. path, these ideas still come into play wreck. I’m this, I’m that.” Self-chastising The teachings on Mahamudra were also because we still want to know how to and beating ourselves up can be like using brought there by the same people. In our become whatever it is we are aspiring to, meditation as an exercise in self- lineage, we say that Marpa went to India in relation to who we are, what we are, and punishment. several times and received the teachings so on. Equally one doesn’t have to think that from Naropa. Naropa had received them In most religious and spiritual “I’m this wonderful person.” We do not from Tilopa and so forth. The notion of traditions, even mystical traditions, the need to see ourselves as perfect either; 2 • The Wheel of Times neither perfect nor hopeless. Usually, most depression, fear, anxiety, worry, and other Not only would other human beings not of us go from one extreme to the other. such experiences. It will not be seen as find us acceptable, but that even God Some people always think they are the defining you. would judge us harshly. worst person on the planet and others The point is when we have some kind of The Mahamudra ground or view is a think they are God’s gift to humanity, but genuine sense of self-acceptance, very balanced way of looking at our whole most of us just swing from one to the acceptance of our authentic state of being situation. It is not saying that human other. Some days when things are going which comes from understanding Ground nature is good; or that human beings are well, we think: “I’m good, I’m great.” Mahamudra, then what we find just good by nature. That’s a very idealistic When things are going badly, we can start unmanageable can become manageable. way of looking at things because if human thinking: “I’m the worst. I’m no good.” They are not so overwhelming then. If we beings were very good by nature, then we This happens even in meditation. When do not have that fundamental sense of wouldn’t be where we are. We would be we feel good, our meditation goes living in peace and harmony well and we feel good, even and everybody would be getting thinking: “Oh, at least I must along.