International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Volume 20 | Issue 1 Article 6

1-1-2001 The eM aning of Self-Liberation and Some Loops From The ourS ce of Danger Is Fear Elías Capriles University of the Andes

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Recommended Citation Capriles, E. (2001). Capriles, E. (2001). The meaning of self-liberation and some loops from The ours ce of danger is fear. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 20(1), 53–66.. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 20 (1). http://dx.doi.org/10.24972/ ijts.2001.20.1.53

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Elias Capriles University of the Andes Merida, Venezuela

Self-liberation does not mean that a self is liberated from delusorily valued thoughts or delusory experiences; what it means is that such thoughts and experiences liberate themselves spontaneously. Their liberation may take place in three main ways. The paradoxical, inverted dynamics of samsara manifest as countless ''laces" in which we tie ourselves up; understanding the functionality of these "laces" is one of the preconditions for them to self-liberate, the others being direct introduction and knowledge of the "treasure of instructions."

I. The Base, Path and Fruit in the undeluded primordial cognitiveness nor the Teachings and the True incompleteness and self-encumbering inherent in Meaning of Self-Liberation delusion. It is when samsara has manifested that we need HE DZOGCHEN teachings of Tibetan Dzogchen as Path, which consists of the repeated speak of Dzogchen as Base self-liberation of delusion in the unveiling of T (Tibetan: zhi (gzhi]), Dzogchen as Path Dzogchen as Base, and which, if carried on (Tibetan: lam [lam]) and Dzogchen as Fruit (Tibetan: thoroughly and uninterruptedly until its fmal drebu [>bras-bu]). 1 Dzogchen as Base is our original consequences, will result in the manifestation of condition of total (chenpo [chen-po])2 plenitude and Dzogchen as Fruit (which ultimately will imply the perfection (dzogpa [rdzogs-pa])3 -which, in samsara manifestation of one of the typically Dzogchen just as well as in , is the true condition of types of consummation of the physical organism).4 both the subject and the object, of both mind and In short, Dzogchen as Path and Dzogchen as Fruit matter, and in general of all entities. are but the direct unveiling of Dzogchen as Base In any given individual, this original condition - the difference between them being that the first may manifest three different ways of functioning: is transient, whereas the latter is definitive.5 (1) samsara, wherein a deluded consciousness fails Now we can explain why it is misleading to to apprehend the said condition as it is, and only speak of "self-liberation from delusorily valued perceives its own dualistic, substantialist fictions; thought," "self-liberation from delusory (2) nirvana, wherein the condition in question is experiences," and so forth. It so happens that "self­ apprehended as it is and thus experience is liberation" means that, rather than being liberated characterized by total plenitude, while actions are by an intentional action carried out by the mental marked by total perfection; and (3) a condition subject, delusorily valued thoughts and delusory called ''base of all" or kunzhi (kun-gzhi), wherein experiences liberate spontaneously, of their own neither samsara nor nirvana are manifest-so that accord. Moreover, when self-liberation occurs, the there is neither the perfect freedom inherent in illusion that there is a separate mental subject

The International journal ofTranspersonal Studies, 2001, Vol. 20, 53-66 53

© 2001 by Panigada Press perceiving an object, or acting upon it, and so on, subject's intentional acts or spontaneous reactions. dissolves like a feather entering fire: The self­ Self-liberation being spontaneous liberation, its liberation of delusorily valued thoughts, delusory occurrence shows most clearly that the subject experiences and so on, involves the instant cannot cause it, and that the obstinate attempt to disappearance of the illusory mental subject. Any do so does but increase the force and intensity of attempt by the illusory mental subject to liberate delusion. However, even this attempt will not such thought or experience would confirm and prevent self-liberation, as the increase of the force sustain the illusion that there is a mental subject and intensity of delusion may lead it to a threshold separate from the flow of experience and from the level at which, its reductio ad absurdum having myriad potential objects. Since this is a most been achieved, its spontaneous liberation becomes essential aspect ofthe essential delusion at the root possible. In turn, this increase of delusion to a of samsara, it would bar self-liberation and sustain threshold level and its subsequent self-liberation samsara. Thus the phrase "self-liberation from will demonstrate even more clearly that the thoughts" is misleading insofar as it seems to imply subject's intentional actions or automatic reactions that there is an inherently existing self, soul or may not cause liberation. mental subject that, as a result of its own The following lines may illustrate the first type/ intentional action, is liberated from delusory capacity of self-liberation: thoughts, experiences, and so forth. Such a As I look into the thought in order to misunderstanding is likely to give rise to the apprehend its essence attempt by the illusory mental subject to liberate suddenly there is no one to look and nothing a delusorily valued thought, a delusory experience to be seen, and so on-which, as noted above, would bar self­ as subject and object instantly, spontaneously liberation. 6 dissolve The above explanation has to be made more independently of their will, like feathers entering fire: precise, as there is not one kind of self-liberation, Thought disappears on the spot and there only but a whole range, divided into three main types, remains corresponding to three principal capacities. the patency of inherently self-liberating Whereas the first type/capacity of self-liberation primordial cognitiveness.8 depends on a previous intentional movement of attention that intends to apprehend the true In turn, the second type/capacity of self­ essence of a thought that is already established as liberation may be poetically described in terms of an object, the second type/capacity of self-liberation the following lines: depends on an instant automatic reaction as the Like snakes delusorily valued thought begins to arise. The third tensions appear and dance in my breast; type/capacity of self-liberation does not involve like snakes either an intentional movement of attention toward they uncoil and free themselves on the spot a thought that is already established as object, or in the radiant, limitless, unborn a spontaneous reaction as the delusorily valued and empty expanse. thought begins to arise. In this last type of self­ To conclude, the third type/capacity of self- liberation, as the thought arises, it self-liberates, liberation may be poetically expressed as follows: like a drawing on water: thought is not delusorily valued even for an instant; therefore, it never veils Silence roars and darkness shines the "essence" or ngowo (ngo-bo) aspect of the Base, in the sparkling fullness of the void­ and if a thought arises which is voidness (shunyata, tongpanyi [stong-pa­ it is void 7 nyid], wu, mu). and therefore does not veil Though the first type of self-liberation is the roar of silence preceded by an intentional movement of attention in the fullness of the void. towards the thought that is already established as object, and the second type is preceded by an Since there is no longer an apparent distance instant automatic reaction of attention as the between a subject and an object, (we) cannot follow delusorily valued thought begins to arise, in neither patterns "down the river" as subjects who look of them is self-liberation produced by the illusory toward an object, but simply "remain in the

54 The InternationaL journaL ofTranspersonal Studies, 2001, Vc>l. 20 source" beyond the subject-object duality. Like and the consequent enlargement of the endlessly moving ripples in a spring, thoughts individual's space/time/knowledge may activate leave no traces and there is no mind to seek them: the process of reductio ad absurdum, just as the The "mirror" of primordial cognitiveness reflects introduction to the state of and the whatever appears at any moment, but no imprint knowledge of the methods outlined in the second is ever left on its surface, as there is no observer part of each section may create the conditions for to look into the mirror. Thus, there is no longer the system's self-liberation- or, in other words, any "meditation," but authentic, true self­ for the "lace" to undo itself spontaneously. liberation. In this paper I shall not reproduce the second part of each section, but only the first one, that II. The Source of Danger is Fear is, the one describing the "lace" in which we tie ourselves up. The reason for this is that the '71rE SoURCE ofDanger is Fear is a manuscript instructions contained in the second part are not 1 consisting of successive sections, the materials to be publicly/indiscriminately broadcast, but only of which came to me while I was in retreat in the transmitted individually to authorized, capable higher Himalayas practicing Dzogchen between practitioners, by an authorized, capable Master 1977 and December, 1982. Each section of the (which certainly I am not). original manuscript has two parts: the first describes a "lace" in which we frequently tie Time ourselves up, and the second provides instructions 9 We miss the now and its inherent bliss for the practice of the Dzogchen Upadesha which and experience uneasiness and discomfort may create the conditions for the "lace" described as we run after thoughts which project a in the first part to undo itself spontaneously. The "better" future, condition for this possibly to occur is that we have evoke a "better" past or imagine a "better" already been introduced to the state of absolute, present, and thereby indulge in longing or nostalgia. nondual, undeluded Awareness10 that the Dzogchen teachings call rigpa (though even in this case the lace cannot be untied by means of a The now is supreme bliss, which we miss, contrived action). It so happens that this text was as we concentrate on thoughts about the future written in the tradition of the Upadesha series of or the past the Dzogchen teachings, which provides or on countless miscellaneous thoughts instructions allowing us to remain in the state of because we miss the now's supreme bliss absolute, nondual, undeludedAwareness to which as we concentrate on thoughts about the future or the past we have already been introduced. or on countless miscellaneous thoughts It must be noted that some of the "laces" because the now's supreme bliss eludes us described are auto-catalytic systems-that is, as we concentrate on thoughts ... systems involving positive feedback loops that da capo sine fine ... cause them to grow exponentially from their own Pleasure and pain feedback. They are prevented from doing so by the effective work of repression (in case we prefer We fail to obtain lasting pleasure 11 to use Freud's explanation ), or bad faith (in case and constantly reap pain 12 we prefer to use Sartre's ). This depends on a low as a result of our obstinate attempt bioenergetic input13 and the concomitant state of to attain lasting pleasure and avoid all pain. small space/time/knowledge, 14 and it can curb the system's tendency to increase its intensity toward We wish to obtain lasting pleasure a threshold level at which, having achieved its and elude the pain produced reductio ad absurdum, the system becomes by our attempt to obtain lasting pleasure liable to self-liberation. Contrariwise, the and to elude the pain produced understanding of the functional structure of the by our attempt to obtain lasting pleasure "lace" described in the first part of any given and to elude the pain produced ... da capo sine fine ... section and the increase of the bioenergetic input

The Meaning ofSelf-Liberation and Some Loops From The Source of Danger Is Fear 55 Boredom and experience the dissatisfaction and A frustration When we are in repose of being away from the now. and experience no novelty or change we project on our experience the concept of Fear, insecurity, suffering, and "boredom" and, as a result of the subtle rejection of our We are constantly searching for security experience because we are fearful. produced by the delusorily valued projection of a We are fearful because we search for security "negative" concept, instead of giving ourselves up to the insecurity we experience the uneasiness and discomfort that life is: called "boredom." if we gave ourselves up to insecurity we would However, in order to forbear our daily toil and feel secure, hardships for we would have no fear of insecurity. we need the incentive of aspiring to repose Escaping insecurity, instead, implies and and therefore we tell ourselves that we cannot begets fear: enjoy repose at present the more we escape, the more we affirm that because in order to do so first we must resolve there is something to fear; some problems, the more we affirm there is something to fear, and thus we engage in struggle the more we fear. in order to win the repose Thus, we search for security because we fear that we imagine will provide us with pleasure and we fear because we search for security. and satisfaction. However, when we "win" our repose and experience no novelty or change We fear the terrible sensation that fear is again we project on our experience the concept but the fear of the sensation of fear of"boredom" begets the sensation of fear that we fear. and thus experience uneasiness and discomfort, We try to elude our fear by taking refuge in and so again we tell ourselves that we cannot objects: enjoy the repose friends, lovers, groups, beliefs, identities, because first we must resolve some problems, positions. and therefore again we engage in struggle Since these objects are breakable and unstable in order to win the repose by taking refuge in them we condemn that we imagine will provide us with pleasure ourselves to the fear oflosing our refuge: and satisfaction ... we take refuge because we fear losing the da capo sine fine ... refuge that we take because we fear losing the refuge that we take Desire because we fear ... A da capo sine fine ... By hungrily looking toward a supposed future pleasure to be obtained from a supposedly substantial We fear that others discover our fear object but our fear that our fear may be discovered we miss the total bliss of nowness. is fear that may be discovered by others: Then, when the desired future arrives we fear that they may discover the fear that we are so possessed by the attitude they may discover of looking toward the future and away from the fear that they may discover the fear that .. . the present da capo sine fine .. . that we cannot at all enjoy the experience we had yearned for. Tension Then we elude awareness of our frustration ~ and of the emptiness15 we have discovered, The delusory valuation of thought at the root by imagining that pleasure will be found in of the belief in a self the future is sustained by neuromuscular tensions, when we obtain another object. vibrations, contractions and reverberations Thus, the great bliss and plenitude of nowness which, continues to be hidden as we look and rush insofar as attention is occupied with thoughts/ toward the future objects other than the tensions, vibrations,

56 The International journal ofTranspersonal Studies, 2001, WJL 20 contractions and reverberations, Blaming others are not felt to be unpleasant and thus may be conserved. As soon as we experience guilt, fear, distress In turn, insofar as they are conserved, or any other undesired emotion we are compelled to evade them we want to escape. and, thus, to conserve them. We fail to understand that undesired emotions are painful Az only when we regard them as undesirable and There can only be tension when there is want to escape. rejection and, whenever there is tension, consciousness rejects it. Worse still, However, insofar as tension is not the central when, for any reason, we experience guilt, object of attention we try to get rid of it rejection of it is subtle and, therefore, tension by blaming others for the "evil" for which we is slight. feel guilty. Then, as we become aware of tension, our Thus we add to our guilt the guilt of blaming rejection increases others, proportionally to our awareness of it, making our guilt increase and therefore giving making tension increase and become more rise unpleasant. to an even greater need to blame others. The more unpleasant tension becomes, the more we reject it, Hatred making it ever more unpleasant. This autocatalytic system Regarding some aspects of ourselves as may bring the unpleasantness to a threshold abhorrent, level and feeling that a self having such aspects at which the subject-object duality/delusion at would itself be abhorrent, its root may collapse we are compelled to deny them in ourselves, and thus unpleasantness may come to an end. project them on others, and abhor those others. Self-importance Moreover, we can only abhor and hate others AI if we justify our hatred When we anguish about another's anguish and elude guilt for it our anguish feeds the other's anguish by thinking that it is the fully cogent response by confirming the belief in the extreme to the evil-doing and the supposedly evil nature importance of life and pain of the individual whom we hate. which is the deepest root of anguish.

At first, the immediate cause of anguish may We evade awareness of the pain in our heart be an external situation; that hatred is once anguish has manifested, by concentrating on the object of our hatred the immediate cause of anguish may be the and its supposedly evil character. presence of anguish itself. Since we do not realize the pain that hatred implies, we may continue to hate, In the same way, consoling someone confirms perpetuating the pain that hatred is. the belief in the extreme importance ofthat individual, of his or her experience and Contemplation and uptight of his or her grief. Since this belief is the deepest cause of grief, In order to attain the state of Contemplation confirming it may cause grief to increase. -that is, to "rest" in the state of absolute, nondual, undeluded Awareness- By trying to do something about our distress and avoid being drawn away from this state we cause the aversion at the root of distress to by distracting thoughts increase an alert attentiveness is needed. and confirm the illusion of absolute importance However, attention is precisely what which is the deepest cause of distress. Contemplation must dissolve.

The Meaning ofSelf Liberation and Some Loops From The Source of Danger Is Fear 57 Being alert so that distraction will not carry Delusion, distress and here-nowness you away generates tension. However, tension is precisely what The distress inherent in delusion Contemplation must cut. may be taken to be inherent in leisurely here­ nowness If you are not alert, thoughts will carry you and, thus, we may spend our lives evading away leisurely here-nowness, and make you revolve in the wheel of samsara. trying to fill our time with business and However, if you are alert, this will beget distractions tension and aversion and thus generating the aversion to the here­ and sustain the illusory perceiver-doer and-now that gives rise to distress which is the root of samsara. and missing the plenitude, fulfillment and bliss inherent in plain here-nowness. ~ When we begin to meditate16 we keep alert Conceptualizing the now as being boring, we so that thoughts will not carry us away from reject it nowness and thus experience the pain produced by constituting a "chain of delusion" that would rejection, cause us which we believe to be inherent in leisurely to ceaselessly revolve in the "wheel of here-nowness, samsara": and that we reject, giving rise to further pain, we are taught that we must "reCognize" the which we believe to be inherent in leisurely essence of thoughts here-nowness so that they will liberate themselves in the and which we reject, giving rise to further ocean of gnosis- pain ... the state of absolute, nondual, undeluded da capo sine fine ... Awareness.

Trying to do this, we give rise to a delusive And, in general, when we face situations with "uptight mindfulness" little variety or change which is a function of the duality of subject -whether in our daily activity or while sitting and object in meditation- and of the delusory valuation of "the self' and we project the ideas ofboredom, dullness and "its thoughts"- heaviness and which, thus, keeps us revolving in the and thus reject our experience, experiencing "wheel of samsara." the unpleasantness that we call "boredom, dullness and heaviness" Self-consciousness and believing that it is inherent in those situations When we are carrying out an activity in which there is little variety or change. and worry about erring By rejecting both the unpleasantness our worry and self-consciousness interfere with and the situation with which we have our subjectivity, associated it, causing us to blunder. we generate more unpleasantness, that we reject, generating more It is when fearfully we look down toward the unpleasantness ... abyss that we fall. Lacking A When we become the object that others watch We feel empty and try to fill this lack and judge by contacting, acquiring and possessing and thus get self-encumbered, valuable objects. for fear of others and of our painful experience However, by trying to fill our illusory lack we "hide our head in the sand," we affirm it as real and true, trying to minimize suffering by minimizing sustaining it and making it grow in proportion awareness. to the "value" of the objects with which we try This experience of rejection, however, to fill it: will last only insofar as we reject it the more valuable the object, the greater our and evade full awareness of it. lack becomes.

58 The International journal ofTranspmonal Studies, 2001, Vt7l. 20 Thus, by attempting to recover the original conditions us to reject what we are conditioned plenitude we lost to reject as we felt separate from the plenitude of the whenever we meet it. given, Therefore, pride causes samsara's Ferris wheel we make ourselves empty and dissatisfied. to turn: after we ascend, we shall have to descend Others, pride, and value and meet the distress which human beings call A "hell." We may also try to "fill the lack" with value projected on us by others and, becoming the object that they prize, swell The Buddha Shakyamuni declared that, in our heart with pride. samsara, However, instead of granting us plenitude, pleasure is but a momentary relief from pain. this exposes us to the risk of being unrecognized This relief is pleasurable or of being unappreciated, despised or because it allows us to stop rejecting our humiliated: experience by making our heart's fluctuations depend on and accept it, thus experiencing pleasure. the Other's look However, the pleasure thus obtained is we condemn ourselves to anguish and anxiety transient, for it is not possible and, to make acceptance permanent, shunning again and again, we must fall into the hell rejection forever. of self-deprecation, disparagement and humiliation. Looking for pleasure is a source of pain, A swollen heart is easy to puncture yet we cover the embers with so many ashes with the spear of a look or the arrow of a sharp that for a while we cannot feel the burn. phrase. Thus, we consolidate our habit of clinging to The more we strive to obtain a high value the ember through the Other's favorable look, so that sooner or later we shall burn our hand. the more we affirm ourselves to be lacking in Worrying for others value, A and so the more we need to be filled When those who care for us worry about our with the value the Other bestows on us vicissitudes and the more exposed to contempt and the true cause of their worry is not whatever humiliation we become we do -and so the more anguish we shall have to but the fact that they have taken refuge in us experience -who are breakable and changing entities­ and the emptier and more deprived we shall rather than in their own unbreakable and feel. changeless essence. Favorable conditions Nevertheless, they often make us feel that the cause of their sorrows is our behavior - for example, our dedication to the spiritual The esteem and respect of many is a source of quest- pride: and thus feel justified in inflicting themselves when others admire and accept the entity with suffering indicated by our name and feel compelled to make us feel guilty the mental subject establishes a ''link of being" by letting us know that we are the cause of with that entity their sorrows. and, accepting it, it accepts the totality of its If we believe them, we may experience guilt experience and sensations and worry, and thus experiences pleasure: as the Stoics failing to see that they have themselves caused knew well, their own sorrows sensations are pleasurable when we accept just as we are causing ours by inflicting guilt them and worry upon ourselves. and unpleasant when we reject them. Thus, the others' favorable look causes us to If we have any responsibility for both their feel well.17 suffering and ours However, accepting whatever we are it lies in our mistaken refuge and the delusory conditioned to accept, valuation that sustains it.

The Meaning ofSelf-Liberation and Some Loops From The Source of Danger Is Fear 59 Illness and pain the result shall be meaninglessness and Al despair. By obsessively protecting omselves We cannot see that the loss offalse meanings from what we regard as the somces of illness and hopes we may give rise to the bioenergetic is necessary for rediscovering the ineffable, imbalances that beget illness. nonconceptualmeaning Thus, we may give rise precisely to that which inherent in the state of absolute, nondual, we want to avoid. undeluded Awareness.

Only this meaning may make us feel Similarly, it is om rejection of "pain" truly and completely full(filled) and realized. that turns into pain what is but naked sensation: the only pain is the one resulting from the Because we have lost the meaning beyond making of pain a problem, words rejecting it, and despairing about om inability we give rise to conceptual meanings; to bring it to an end. because we cling to conceptual meanings we have no access to the meaning beyond Good and evil words; A because we have no access to the meaning As children, we are taught that, in order to beyond words "be good," we give rise to conceptual meanings ... we have to keep om nature under control and da capo sine fine ... ''behave"18 - which implies that we are inherently evil Moralist teachings and relative and that this evil will manifest if we do not practices control our natme. A Relative teachings and moralist practices Even those of us who were told that we were may help beings of certain capacities "good" to lead a less conflictive existence. were repeatedly made to feel bad However, an exaggerated emphasis on them in order to discourage unwanted behavior may lead us to believe that rules and precepts patterns are absolute and make us try to feel good by adopting the and that their observance is ultimately "positive" identity others offer us19 important, and behaving as they want us to behave. thus increasing the delusory valuation that is the cause of duhkha20 Nevertheless, since the condition of om and making us more intolerant toward others. "goodness" Whatever causes us to rise to heaven is the implantation of a monstrous phantasy later on will be the cause of om falling into (the monster that mother saw us as while hell. punishing us) As stated by Yung-chia Hsiian-chiieh:21 no matter how deep inside we bury this phantasy "Giving (dana) practiced with an aim it will surface again and again may result in the grace of being reborn in soiling om "good works" with "evil." heaven. This, however, is like shooting an arrow Thus, by trying to make us be "good" upwards: "well-meaning" people implant the roots of when the strength propelling the arrow is "evil" in us. exhausted it will return to the ground Meaning and this will be a somce of adverse karma for times to come." When we miss the ineffable, nonconceptual meaning By taking the way of heaven there arises the need to endow our life and we fall deep into hell. tasks with enunciable meanings and to put hopes in worldly aspirations. In a succession of toothaches and ice-creams Then, we fear that if we lose these meanings which does the child want to have first? and fail to realize these aspirations It is better to step down from the wheel

60 The International journal ofTranspersonal Studies, 2001, VciL 20 that carries us up to heaven and then takes self-liberation will disperse the clouds us down to hell. covering the sky and blocking the sunlight.

Yet the worst with moralism Contrariwise, the idea of an impurity to be is that it may be used by "demonic" purified pseudomasters sooner or later would become the door to hell. as a pretext for murdering truly Enlightened Masters. Opening up In the name of purity, the greatest possible fault is committed. We fear opening up, feeling that this would expose us to evil and Despise the passions? harm Al and, eventually, make us lose ourselves and Let us take the example of anger: ultimately be destroyed. If I despise my anger How little we realize that we can only be I shall give rise to anger against my anger. harmed Since anger against anger is also anger, when, being possessed by delusory valuation, by despising anger I shall produce more of dualism and self-clinging, what I want to uproot. and believing that we are ultimately real and important selves The more my anger grows, the more I shall to be protected and safeguarded, we close despise it; ourselves: the more I despise it, the more it will grow. since the supposedly real and important "I" may always be harmed we are thus condemned to terror, anguish and In general, it is impossible anxiety to despise our passions without despising and provide a target that is vulnerable to ourselves, attack. for we feel responsible for our passions22 (and, when we no longer do so, we are no longer By opening up and attaining Enlightenment, prey to passions). instead, we attain plenitude and stability that cannot So, when we despise our passions we become be harmed a despicable self; and are freed from fear, anguish and anxiety. the more we despise them, the more despicable we become, and the more despicable we become, In the same way, we fear that if we open up the more the passions that we deem despicable an underground monster lurking in our depths grow in us. may possess us. However, the monster of unconscious phantasy Purification is sustained A by our drive to check it and keep it under Ifone tries to "purify oneself' through relative control: practices by supposing that it is our deepest nature, - from the visualization and recitation of we keep it alive, producing unforeseen effects. Vajrasattva23 24 to practices of tsa//thigle - If we applied the instructions and opened up, the assumption that there is an impurity to the illusory monster be purified would dissolve in anoic gnosis27 free of subject will sustain the delusory valuation of thought and object and thus the duality and judgment which and we would be rid of inveterate impulses. constitute the impurity. Thus, our endeavor will be comparable Uneasiness in meditation to cleaning a pristine mirror with a dirty A cloth.25 When we sit in meditation and look at our thoughts If the bioenergetic input is high enough, we may feel uneasy if one is subject to the supreme samaya26 of and think that this uneasiness is inherent in Dzogchen, meditation. and if one possesses the instruction, Actually, it is the uneasiness of delusory

The MeaningofSelfLiberation and Some Loops From The Source of Danger Is Fear 61 valuation and grasping, Too many passions and delusions in which normally we fail to realize as such Contemplation because we are closed and our attention is A preoccupied If, while we "practice" Contemplation, with countless projects and ideas. passions and delusions arise uninterruptedly If this uneasiness becomes evident when we sit to meditate, and we experience anguish or uneasiness we may wrongly associate it with meditation we feel that these are justified and openness by the undesirable flow of passions and and thus be "instinctively" tempted to delusions interrupt our meditation which we believe is their objective cause. and keep clinging to and following overvalued However, in truth our uneasiness springs thoughts, from the delusory valuation of the concept of trying to escape from uneasiness "passions and delusions" by clinging to its very source. and the belief that these are inherently If, instead, (we) "reCognize" the essence of the undesirable. present thought and thus "Enter" the State Profound instructions uneasiness disappears in the plenitude and A bliss of the unborn. When the "two lights"28 shine and, failing to "reCognize" their nonduality, We project the uneasiness of delusory the "light of the son" fights the "Mother Light," valuation or when a tremendous agitation possesses us on openness and Contemplation and we do not manage to cease struggling and and thus keep from the latter despairing, and cling to and follow overvalued thoughts, reaffirming and reinforcing the source of we should apply the "profound instructions" uneasiness. we have received.

Boredom in meditation However, the more we apply these instructions A in order to "resolve" the situation, In Contemplation, plenitude, bliss and the more we affirm ourselves as different from satisfaction are inexhaustible. However, sooner or later, Contemplation is the latter interrupted, and the more value and reality we ascribe we feel separate from the continuum of the to both the situation and ourselves; Base, therefore, the more we affirm and sustain our become obsessed with an object of desire which delusion we imagine and the more conflictive and unbearable we will provide us with plenitude, bliss and make our situation. satisfaction, and, by developing a powerful yearning for it, Our attempt to resolve the situation we maintain the state of illusory duality and reinforces the situation we want to resolve. separation which is lack of plenitude, distress and Peaceful dissatisfaction. Thus, we compulsively run after our own tail A which, no matter how fast we spin, always Our inability to somehow alter the impassivity remains out of reach. of peaceful mandalas - the peaceful, undefiable immutability of the If the conception of an object of desire ground- does not spontaneously liberate itself upon seemingly begets irritation. Actually, the cause appearing of irritation and we fail to apply the instruction which is the inveterate impulses of delusion allows its self-liberation rather than the peaceful mandalas to which the uneasiness of delusory valuation and we are reacting desire will drive us to interrupt our practice in order to run after and which we thus turn into wrathful the object of desire. mandalas.

62 The International journal ofTranspersonal Studies, 2001, VtJl. 20 Wrathful mandalas By trying to destroy death A we have come to the brink of bringing all life If, when (we) are "resting" in the state of to an end. Contemplation and the bioenergetic input is very high, Social change we feel subtly separate from whatever is happening The oppressive structures of society are the experience of the wrathful mandalas may internalized by all of us, take place: molding our psychological and experiential the flow of experience shakes us until the structures. delusion If we set out to transform society of someone who is shaken and something without having transformed our own inner shaking her or him structures dissolves in absolute, nondual, undeluded we unavoidably reproduce those structures in Awareness. the new order of things.

Ignoring that the agitation that we suffer Therefore, what we mean to be a total is the skillful means of the True Teacher transformation of society we may feel anguished and resist and try to will be but a mere change of masters. escape, thus increasing the agitation: our most precious friend is perceived as our most dreadful enemy. The internalized, aggressive and oppressive elements of society are integrated into the structure of our psyche. III. Social Laces If we project those elements of our psyche on the ruling class Ecology and survival and try to destroy them by destroying the members of that class A our destructive and oppressive actions will Our terror of insecurity and make all the more powerful leads us to invent the negative elements of our psyche which we technological "solutions" in order to eradicate wished to destroy. all risks of death, illness, and all that we Having destroyed the ones on whom we consider to be a problem. projected those elements, Thus, we produce pesticides, chemical the latter's underground presence will be felt fertilizers, antibiotics, again in our own selves drugs and all kinds of "sciences," devices and and thus we shall be compelled to project them machines on new "others" -from nuclear energy to genetic who may also be destroyed as though they were engineering- those aspects. that disrupt the ecological balance on which our lives depend The Enemy both in the so-called "external world" and A "inside our bodies." Fearing that the Enemy may destroy us we have almost achieved the destruction that We try to destroy the "negative" side ofthe coin we fear.29 of existence -the side featuring death, suffering, illness, If we used the most powerful weapons that we discomfort, insecurity, hard work, pain and so on- have developed by constantly putting corrosives on it. we would not only destroy our enemies, but Nowadays, corrosion has worn away so much would destroy ourselves. of the coin Moreover, in building those weapons we have that it is about to reach the side we wished to released preserve so much radioactive pollutants into the -life, joy, health, comfort, security, leisure, environment, pleasure and so on- that even if we do not use them our survival is and thus put an end to human existence. uncertain.

The Meaning ofSelf-Liberation and Some Loops From The Source of Danger Is Fear 63 Notes 1. Throughout this paper, the Tibetan words that are not within square brackets convey an approximate For this issue of the International Journal of pronunciation of the original Tibetan term; the Tibetan Transpersonal Studies, I had originally written a very long words in square brackets provide the Wylie system and conceptually complex philosophical paper titled "The transliteration ofthe vocable, which allows the Tibetologist Meaning of Being: Steps to a Metaexistential to reconstruct the original Tibetan script. Metaphenomenology of Mind." 2. Normally "chenpo" means "big" or "great." However, The first sections of the said paper discussed the Namkhai N orbu has noted that in this and some meaning of"being," both logically and phenomenologically, other cases the term is given an absolute meaning, as it is mainly against the background of the theses drawn by used to indicate something that, being total, cannot be Aristotle, Pyrrho, , Plotinus, Pascal, bigger or less big, greater or less great. In such instances, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre (less the term is to be translated as "total." relevant to the aims of the paper being those produced by 3. When a glass is full to the brim with some liquid, Tibetans Kant, Hegel, Ayer, and others). In particular, those sections say the glass is "dzogpa." When an action is perfectly showed that, in Heidegger's philosophy, being is a accomplished, they also say the action is "dzogpa." In phenomenon that arises upon understanding the word particular, the Base, Path and Fruit of Dzogchen are "being," as well as upon perceiving an entity as being (or characterized by absolute plenitude and perfection; as no longer being, as never having been, etc.). Heidegger's therefore, in the combined word "dzogpa chenpo" being, therefore, is a most basic, delusory phenomenon of (Dzogchen), it is appropriate to translate the term "dzogpa" samsara rather than the true condition of all reality that as "plenitude and perfection," and to render the combined the Dzogchen teachings of and Bon word as "total plenitude and perfection." call the Base or zhi (gzhi). The idea was to make clear the true logical and phenomenological meanings of being, 4. These are: (1) the Rainbow Body (Jalii [dja-lus]); (2) the Body ofLight (Okiku ['od-kyi sku] or Ophung ['od-phung]); show Heidegger's error in identifying Heraclitus' aletheia and (3) the most highly accomplished manifestation of the with his own conception of being, and demonstrate that Body of Light, constituted by the 'Ibtal Transference or Pow a the German philosopher's terminology is inappropriate Chenpo ('pho-ba chen-po). For an explanation see Capriles to translate Dzogchen texts. (2000a). The last sections of th e said paper presented a metaexistential metaphenomenology, according to which the 5. Since both Dzogchen as Path and Dzogchen as Fruit are experiences that existentialism and existential philosophies beyond the experience of normal sentient beings, only in general regard as most authentic-those featuring accomplished Dzogchen practitioners may explain the two anguish, distress and so on- though being indeed more said aspects ofDzogchen: Whoever is not perfectly familiar authentic than the pleasant samsaric experiences produced with self-liberation, upon describing it, explaining it, or by the mechanics of bad faith (self-deceit), are actually the speaking of it will but express fantasies about the nature ofDzogchen as Path and Dzogchen as Fruit. Moreover, since most basic manifestations of essential human delusion beings in samsara fail to correctly apprehend the condition (which the Buddha Shakyamuni called auidya and of Dzogchen as Base, even in explaining the Base, those Heraclitus named lethe). Actually, the state of utter who are not perfectly familiar with self-liberation will but authenticity is that which different Buddhist and non­ express the products of their own imagination. Buddhist Wisdom traditions call Awakening or Enlightenment, which involves the self-liberation both of 6. In a text on the practice of the Dzogchen Menngagde the phenomenon of being and of all experiences of anguish, (man-ngag-sde; Skt.: Upadesha) translated in the mid- distress, and so on. 1970s, the phrase "liberates itself as a snake uncoiling" The main point in the paper in question was that the (which referred to the delusorily valued thought) was ideal translator of Dzogchen texts is one who is perfectly mistranslated as "liberates himselflike a snake uncoiling." familiar with self-liberation. Anyone else will be merely The translator had no experience ofself-liberation and thus rendering personal fantasies about Dzogchen. Only those understood the ambiguous Tibetan syntax as meaning that the skilled meditator liberated himself or herself from the who are familiar with self-liberation (and thus with going thoughts and so on, in a way that is analogous to that in beyond the experience of being that is one of the most basic which a snake whose body has been tied into a knot undoes delusory phenomena of samsara) can understand the the said knot. Dzogchen texts on the basis of what I have called a "metaontological hermeneutics" (Capriles, 1999; related texts 7. For an explanation of the three aspects of the Base see are Capriles, 2000c and Capriles, in press) and thus render Capriles (2000b). For a more detailed explanation see theil: correct meaning into other languages. Therefore, the Capriles (2000a). first condition for correctly translating Dzogchen texts (even 8. Primordial awareness is said to be inherently self­ prior to knowing the Tibetan language), is to actually practice liberating because, when there is no delusory valuation of Dzogchen and thus have a valid experience ofDzogchen as the "triple projection" and therefore the illusory subject­ Path and therefore of self-liberation. object duality does not manifest, all that arises in our However, the original paper was philosophically experience is like the ever-moving ripples in a watersource complex and lengthy and therefore I finally decided to that cannot be followed: rather than being like the more publish the present paper, shorter and poetical, instead. stable ripples that form in a stream and that, as they go

64 The International journal ofTranspersonal Studies, 2001, Vol. 20 down, may be followed by an observer standing on the 16. When I use the noun "meditation" or the verb "to banks of the river, that which arises in our experience is meditate," I am referring to a function of mind-that is, of always changing and there is no separate observer to delusion-which involves mindfulness, attention and the follow it. The point is that, since the ripples change so subject-object duality. When I use the word rapidly and since there is no (illusory) separate observer "Contemplation," I am referring to a state in which mind­ who may follow their change through successive moments, that is, delusion-as well as mindfulness, attention, and it is impossible to establish that they constitute a stable the subject-object duality have disappeared and the state form and thus to delusorily perceive them as a substance. of absolute, nondual, undeluded Awareness is Thus, when the reCognition of the essence (ngowo [ngo ­ uninterruptedly manifest for a given period of time. bo]) of thoughts results in the manifestation of the 17. Naturally, ifwe are ashamed of pride, the first moment Dharmakaya (the so-called "Mind" aspect of of acceptance will be followed by a second moment of Enlightenment), and thus the illusory subject-object rejection, which being rejection of sensation results in an duality dissolves like feathers entering fire, the ensuing unpleasant experience. nondual state, wherein primordial cognitiveness is fully patent, naturally liberates all would-be delusorily-valued 18. That is, to ''be-having-ourselves," which implies that thoughts. For example, if the illusion of a separate subject the inner observer, that has assumed the values of society, begins to arise, it spontaneously dissolves on the spot. has to check and govern us as objects. 9. Upadesha is a word, whereas Dzogchen (rDzogs­ 19. This will be so provided that our parents or educators chen) is a Tibetan word. In Tibetan, upadesha is menngag allow us to embody the kind of identity that they and society (man-ngag), and the corresponding series of Dzogchen deem "positive." If they do not allow us to embody a teachings is menngagde (man-ngag-sde) or menngaggyide "positive" identity, we shall have to assume an identity (man-ngag gyi-sde). I have used the Sanskrit term because, socially regarded as negative and, therefore, we shall have to obtain from people generally regarded as evil the being the term used by Rinpoche, it is approval and admiration that we need in order to function. best known to members of the Dzogchen Community. The This, however, does not mean that we become "good" or word Upadesha means "secret oral instructions"; however, "evil" due solely to the influence of others during childhood; since many instructions of the Upadesha have become genetic propensities may partly explain why the same written, almost public instructions, I shall translate the parents react differently to each of their children, helping term simply as "instructions." them adopt a specific role in life. Thus, there is a determining influence of karma from "previous lifetimes." 10. I use the word "Awareness" because ofits Anglo-Saxon For a briefexplanation, see my paper "Beyond Mind: Steps etymological meaning, which is "being true." to a Metatranspersonal Psychology" (Capriles, 2000b); for 11. According to Freud, repression is the action of a more detailed explanation, see my books Que somos y subconscious mechanisms which keep ego-dystonic ad6nde vamos (1986) and The Direct Path (1976). contents (i.e., contents which are incompatible with one's 20. Duhkha: dissatisfaction, lack of plenitude, missing the self-image) out ofthe focus of conscious awareness. point, recurrent suffering. This is how the Schools characterize samsara. 12. According to Sartre, bad faith is a self-deceit which the conscious mind carries out knowingly and 21. See Yoka Daishi (Yung-chia Hstian-chtieh)/Taisen intentionally and which involves, in the same operation, Deshimaru [1981]). deceiving itself about its own deceit, so that once the self­ deceit is accomplished there is no conscious awareness 22. Often-and even more so when we are ­ that there was any deceit. Sartre uses the concept of bad practitioners-we may feel that the passions are alien forces faith to explain many phenomena which Freud explains trying to possess us, and thus we fight against them through the concept of repression. (begetting further passions). Since while we fight against the passions we experience them as alien forces, we neither 13. Sanskrit: kundalini; Tibetan: thigle (thig-le). It must feel responsible for them nor identify with them. However, be noted that the Tibetan term thigle translates both the once we fall prey to the passions, we feel responsible, at Sanslu-it word bindu (sometimes translated, in the context least for having yielded to them, and we identify with them, of Tantrism, as "seminal seed") and the Sanslu-it vocable for we are acting them out. kundalini. Tibetans chose to translate both Sanskrit words 23. In Tantric and Dzogchen Buddhism, Vajrasattva, the for a single Tibetan term because in Tantrism kundalini ''vajra being" (i.e., the "immutable/indestructible being"), depends on bindu to such an extent that actually they is the embodiment and symbol of the Sambhogakaya, may be regarded as being exactly the same thing. containing all zhitro (zhi-khro) or "peaceful-wrathful" 14. For an explanation of this concept see Tarthang deities. In the outer or lower , the figure of (1977). Vajrasattva is used in combination with the famous Hundred-Syllable as a most important 15. This emptiness is not the voidness sought by the purification practice. In the inner or higher Tantras, Buddhists, but the uncomfortable emptiness of the lack Vajrasattva is the pivot of the visualization­ of wholeness and fulfillment inherent in the illusion of transformation version of the practice ofzhitro, as all the separateness. relevant deities are contained in him. In the Dzogchen

The Meaning ofSelf-Liberation and Some Loops From T he Source of Danger Is Fear 65 Upadesha, the zhitro-which in this case does not involve nyingthik (snying-thig) and especially in the yangthik visualization or transformation-is a means to catalyze (yang-thig) practices of the Dzogchen Menngagde (man­ the process of self-liberation of delusion, so that samsara ngag-sde; Skt., Upadesha), as the patent manifestation and the propensities for it to manifest are most rapidly of dualistic delusion. The apparently separate, delusory neutralized without any effort whatsoever on the part of mental subject is associated with the "light of the son"; the practitioner. when the illusory subject in question dissolves upon reCognition of the single Nature, so that only the so-called 24. rTsa I rlungI thig-le. "Mother Light" remains, it is said that the "light of the 25. This is the point in the story about the poems by the son" has "integrated into the Mother Light" (though Ch'an Buddhist Masters Hui-neng and Shen-hsiu when the actually nothing integrates into anything, as the point is 5th Patriarch, Master Hung-jen, was to name a successor. that the illusion that there is a "second light" simply disappears). This is the type of integration that is 26. Samaya means "commitment." Hinayana Buddhism characteristic of the thi:igel and yangthik practices of the is based on keeping vows that are lost at death. Dzogchen Upadesha. Buddhism is based on the training of bodhichitta, which requires the practitioner to go beyond all limits (including 29. Actually, we have done so not only because offear that vows as well as the drive to protect his or her own the enemy may destroy us, but because we want our social individual existence) if this is necessary to benefit beings or racial group and our nation to be privileged and become and lead them to Enlightenment. Tantric Buddhism is the masters of the world. Of course, most of us refuse to based on samaya or commitment, which involves a series accept that we want this and thus we justify our own of duties that vary according to the Tantric vehicle country's massive construction of weapons and its involved, but which in general require that the disciple aggressive policies with arguments about the danger has a pure vision of the Teacher (the uajra Master or represented by an aggressive enemy. Citizens of what used Vajracharya) and fellow students (uajra brothers and to be "the two superpowers" did this, and so do those of sisters). Dzogchen also has a samaya, but in this case the the other, less powerful States. samaya does not involve keeping specific precepts, as it may be subsumed in the four "mepas" (med-pa) or "there References isn't," which are the negation of the four main points of the samaya of the inner or higher Tantras- for the samaya Capriles, E. (1976). The direct path: Providing a background of Dzogchen may be expressed succintly in terms of the for appmaching the practice o{rDzogs-chen. Kathmandu, teaching gave on the banks of the Ganges Nepal: Publishing. and that was codified as the Mahamudra Upadesha: "The Capriles, E. (1986). Que somos y ad6nde vamos [What are we highest samaya is broken by thinking in terms of and where are we going). Caracas, Venezuela: Uuidad de precepts." Extension de la Facultad de Humanidades y Educaci6n, Universidad Central de Venezuela. The point is that trying to keep precepts necessarily Capriles, E. (1999). Pasos hacia una hermeneutica involves the delusory valuation ofthoughts that establish metaontol6gica [Steps to a metaontological hermeneutics]. what is permitted and what is forbidden, as well as an Paper read in November 1999 at the 5th National activity of the apparently separate observer that is to keep Congress of Philosophy in Caracas, Venezuela. (To be the precepts. The Dzogchen teachings do not permit or published in the Proceedings of the Congress) forbid any particular actions: they just require the Capriles, E. (2000a). Bztdismo y dzogchen [Buddhism and practitioner to be beyond delusory valuation, transcending Dzogchen]. Vitoria, Spain: Ediciones La Llave. the apparently separate observer in the continuity of the Capriles, E. (2000b). Beyond mind: Steps to a inherently self-liberating state, and thus being beyond metatranspersonal psychology. International Journal of the acceptance and rejection that are necessary in order Transpersonal Studies, 19, 163-183. to keep precepts. Capriles, E. (2000c). Estetica primordial y arte uisionario [Primordial aesthetics and visionary art). Merida, 27. (a) I call this gnosis because it is a function of Venezuela, Ediciones GIEAA/CDCHT-ULA. cognitiveness/awareness and because certain Gnostic Capriles, E. (in press). Aletheia: Heniclito vs. Heidegger. trends called gnosis the cognition of the absolute; (b) I Madrid, Spain: Proceedings of the First Conference on add the adjective anoic because in the unveiling of such Ibero-American Philosophy. gnosis the mind (noia)-implying the noetic-noematic Tarthang Tulku. (1977). Time, space and knowledge: A new (subject-object) duality, delusory valuation, and other vision of reality. Emeryville, CA: Dharma Publishing. experience-shaping, delusory mechanisms-is Yoka Daishi (Yung-chia Hsiian-chiieh)/Taisen Deshimaru. disconnected. (1981). Canto del inmediato satori [Song of instantaneous satori]. Barcelona, Spain: Visi6n Libros. 28. The "two lights" are the one called "Mother Light" and the so-called "light of the son" referred to in the following line of the "lace." They manifest as a seeming duality in some yogic experiences of thogel (thod-rgal), or of the indivisibility of thi:igel and tekcho (khregs-chod) in the

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