Someone having a substantialist view of Mind quoted Longchenpa,

“Buddha Mind is empty of afflictions but is not empty of the Buddha qualities”


I responded:

That’s besides the point, it is empty of intrinsic existence. The Buddha qualities like compassion etc do not belong to an inherently existing entity but are naturally manifest as Buddha nature “without ground or agent”. Just like there is no redness of a rose and yet red patches manifesting as a display of the five lights without belonging to subject or object.



"And so we carefully investigate the arising, abiding, and vanishing of our own mind. Next, we look into whether it is produced or ceases. We do this to the point where we have no doubt whatsoever. We want to be utterly clear about the status of our own mind, absolutely certain that it does not in any way truly exist. Once we come to that conclusion, we see that our mind is without existence or nonexistence: it is not characterized by permanence or annihilation: it has neither edge nor center.

Until we fully abandon doubt regarding this, we cannot get to the actual Dzogchen view. So long as we harbor doubt, we cannot leave behind all bias toward permanence and impermanence. So you must gain certainty that the basis of all qualities is neither existent nor nonexistent, neither eternal nor annihilated, nor associated with any boundary or core.

Until you settle this well and digest it deeply, you will not find it possible to enter the self-settled, self-liberated state. You will not know the natural, spontaneous quality of your own mind, or its self-piloting and naturally settled nature. And you will not have the correct Dzogchen view."

"Our recognition that neither sheer awareness nor the afflictions obstructing it are truly established is special seeing. This seer is naked, clear, and empty. The special seeing that knows this is itself a clear emptiness, a nakedness of mind. Seen and seer are not separate, for both are clear and both are empty. They are not different. And it is special seeing's place to understand that they are not separate. This is how special seeing and serene abiding are unified. This is how we can carry afflictions to the path."

- Strands of Jewels, Khetsun Sangpo
0 Responses