The Great Secret of Mind

may be, one is happy when praised and angry when criticized. Khen Rinpoche
was not like that. Even if one were to say to him, “Everyone praises your excellent
qualities!” he would act deeply offended and say, “If they see excellent qualities in
me, why can’t they be like me? I have no need of praise. I know what I’m like. I
have no need of criticism. I know who I am.” When he would speak like that, I
would feel like a debater sitting in front of the lord Nagarjuna—I had no idea what
to say and could only sit and watch.
During that period, “perceiving the lama as buddha,” as taught in the oral
instructions and so on, came about naturally without any effort on my part, and
tears would come to my eyes. I came to understand that his scolding of Khen
Rinpoche Dawai Wozer was a skillful means to cut through my own pride.
In short, merely through his actions and way of living, I was also able to come to
understand that samsara has no essence and that one needs only to cast aside self-
grasping and the eight worldly obsessions. Sometimes when he gave oral
instructions to students, he would look at a student’s conduct and show anger and
other emotions; it was clear that at all times he was never separate from
Dzogchen’s four modes of freely resting, abiding with the three doors naturally
wide open, carefree and at ease.
While receiving The Way of Entering the Mahayana, it was, due to the text itself
being a tremendous blessing and the teacher being highly skilled in explaining
dharma, as if I had arrived in a totally new world. Previously, the assertions of the
different systems of dogma and the various different explanations of the great
scholars had seemed contradictory to me, and I had struggled a lot. But due to the
teaching and great kindness and compassion of this teacher, it was as if I had been
relieved of an illness, and I felt a great comfort.
From then on, I understood that all the teaching of sutra and mantra (the tantra
class) is contained within Dzogchen above them and also that all the nine
approaches are devolutions below Dzogchen. Having understood that, unbiased
faith unlike anything I had felt before naturally arose in me toward the ocean of
texts of sutra, mantra, and the tantra class.
I came to understand that everything is a means to lead us to the path of
Dzogchen—the teaching was not just dry words to which I had to pay lip service, as
I had thought before, but actually brings us to realization. I also came to
understand that all approaches are contained within Dzogchen, and I realized why
the crucial points of all practices just come down to Dzogchen.
As a result, a deep-rooted certainty arose within me, and I developed unshakable
faith in the teaching and teacher. Sometimes, all of a sudden, the understanding of
these present appearances as being unreal and illusory would arise in my
mindstream.
While we were studying the fifth chapter of The Way of Entering the Mahayana,
at one point Khen Rinpoche’s personal experience blazed forth, and, when asking
questions, I arrived at a state of naked pure presence unlike anything I had
experienced before. Afterward I gained a mountainlike certainty that, beyond this,
there is nothing more to resolve and nothing new to understand.