spontaneously arisen vision because the inner light of the central pathway that
hits the eye is not adulterated by delusion. On the path of the four lamps (the lamp
of pure spaciousness, the lamp of empty seed-essence, the lamp of intrinsic
wisdom, and the lamp of continual pure presence), if we take the fructified
trikaya, the three dimensions of being, as the path, there is no doubt that we will
attain the mature body of light that is the rainbow body. Pure presence and the
radiance of pure presence are just like fire and its heat or the sun and its light,
which cannot be separated at all.
These distinctions of Cutting Through [trekcho] and Direct Crossing [togel] are
resolved in intrinsic awareness, which is their sole root, so it is crucially important
at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end to realize that we abide therein.
When unconditioned intrinsic awareness exists in the mindstream of all sentient
beings, how can defilements and obscurations arise? We may think that we need
the power of the sun or a lamp or electricity to remove darkness, but actually that
is not true. A wolf does not need light to see in the dark. And, actually, nothing
need be abandoned as nothing has substantial existence. The sky is completely
clear and primordially free of dark and light. If we know that darkness is not an
object of rejection, since it is the nature of the clear light of the sky, there is no
need to eliminate anything. When primal awareness is revealed, there is not the
slightest thing called “defilement” or “obscuration” that is to be rejected!
We will be released by the realization that everything is the intrinsic creativity of
pure presence. When we fail in this understanding, holding object and subject as
two, we wander in samsara where we need to depend upon antidotes and gradual
progress on a path of cultivating the good and rejecting the bad. Applying
ourselves to a process with the impure delusions of the vision of ordinary beings,
or with the pure or impure vision of yogins or yoginis, as the case may be, or even
with the Buddha’s pure vision, there is no way to avoid the distinctions inherent in
the rejection of some sensory appearances, the acceptance of antidotes, the
graduation of stages and paths, and the difference between karmic cause and
effect.
In the ultimate analysis, the stages and paths and the categories of what to
cultivate and what to reject have never existed as an ordered structure in the sky’s
nature.
1.31 WHEN WE ABIDE IN UNCHANGEABLE MIND, THERE IS ENORMOUS INSTANT ADVANTAGE
Whether we are concerned about this life or the next, we need to become familiar
with the unchangeable aspect of mind. If we do not remain constantly in that
unchangeable mind, even mundane work, let alone worship, will never be
finished in this lifetime, whether it is trade, farming, politics, and so forth. No
matter what our endeavor, given that the plan is deemed doable by the experts, if
we work resolutely and with constancy, then one day it will be completed. Fickle-
minded people, even if knowledgeable, may fail to first investigate the project
properly, and if they do investigate it, the investigation may be incomplete. When
difficulties arise and the work is postponed, it will not be finished. Later such