1.41 UNTIL DISCURSIVE THOUGHT DISSOLVES IN SPACIOUSNESS, KARMIC REPERCUSSIONS MUST
BE CONSIDERED
Until our pure presence is a constant, until we attain fearless confidence, we must
attend to karmic causality, vows and samayas, accumulation of merit, abstention
from vice, and so forth. As Padmasambhava famously said, quoted in The
Chronicles of Padmasambhava, which were revealed by Orgyen Lingpa,
My view is higher than the sky;
My karma is finer than barley flour.Pay attention to karmically effected events with the same care we reserve for
protection of the eyes. But at the same time, such events should not be seen as real
and true. Quoted in The Samye Chronicles, Padmasambhava again says,
Maharaj! In my tantra it is the view that leads; but don’t let your conduct bend
toward the view. If you do let it stray, you take the black demonic sophistic
view that may justify any wicked action by “emptiness.” But on the other
hand, don’t let the view tend toward conduct because if you do, trapped by
notions of concrete materialism and specific attributes, the occasion for
liberation will never arise.Due to his misconception of karmic cause and effect, Tarpa Nakpo was born in
hell and then reborn as Rudra. For further details of this story, browse through the
tantra The Discourse of the General Assembly. Tarpa Nakpo’s fate was determined
by his contempt for karmic repercussion in his confusion about the causal process.
As Jowoje Atisha said in The Lamp of the Path,
Until concepts are exhausted, there is karma;
Believe in the repercussions of karma!1.42 THE BENEFITS OF HEARING DZOGCHEN PRECEPTS
Dzogchen yogins and yoginis appear to be normal ordinary people, but inwardly
their mind is buddha. In The Tantra of Perfect Creativity, it is said,
Whoever abides in nonaction,
Even though he has a demon’s body,
His mind is buddha.If we can walk the Dzogchen path, we can gain enormous merit. We have received
a human body, which is very rarely obtained. We have encountered a rigzin-lama,
which is a very rare occurrence. We have met the Dzogchen teaching, which is
extremely fortunate. It is as if a blind beggar found a jewel in the garbage. For
countless lifetimes, we have wasted our time in trifling matters, yet this present
human body has not emerged from nowhere without causes and conditions. It was