Without thinking, without practicing, in reality
From thought itself, primal awareness is born.Dudjom Rinpoche has said in his Calling the Lama from Afar,
Whatever arises as the dharmakaya’s creativity
Is neither good nor bad:
Present knowledge is direct buddha.In short, in direct, ordinary perception of the here and now, free of the
adulteration of dualistic perception, straight, just as it is, without the slightest
modification, kept in its normal state, we settle into the natural state of being, and
intrinsic awareness, timelessly present, reveals the true face of Samantabhadra.
The victorious, perfect Buddha Bhagawan’s principal message, foremost in all
approaches to buddha, is that all phenomena are inherently insubstantial
emptiness, mere nominal imputation.
1.13 ILLUSTRATING THE SIMILARITY OF THE WORLD AND MAGICAL ILLUSION
All knowledge may be no more than a bunch of conceptual labels, and there is
nothing concrete or predictable anywhere. But what about our knowledge of the
good we can do to benefit sentient beings and the harm that we can avoid? What
about knowledge of the universal benefits of medicine and the effects of poison?
Such knowledge is garnered by indisputable common sense or inductive thinking.
To take the example of plant or vegetable growth: depending upon seven
interrelated causes (seeds, shoots, stem, leaf, sprout, flower, and fruit) and the six
interconnected conditions (earth, water, fire, air, space, and time), the plant grows
in congruence with its seed. That we know by direct observation. Or take the
example of the stages of life of sentient beings: they develop according to the
twelve links of interdependent origination starting with ignorance and ending in
old age and death, as taught in the texts.
What should we do with such conventional information? The answer is that so
long as we are saddled with the delusions of dualistic perception, like a shaman
under the influence of the psychedelic dhatura [thorn apple, jimson weed, used in
Shaiva yoga and American Indian shamanism], whenever appearances arise—and
they arise unceasingly—we take the world of labeled phenomena as a given. Then,
depending upon those conceptual imputations and making analyses based on the
notional-conceptual world, we have no other recourse than to accept and endure.
Once there was a great king, and one day he asked a great magician for a
demonstration of magic. The magician inquired whether the king minded some
embarrassment, and the king assured him that he could tolerate it. So the
magician began. Just then, an attendant approached with tea, and while it was
being poured, the king heard a neighing, and looking out of the window, he saw a
beautiful pasture with many flowers and gently flowing streams. In the pasture
the king also saw a beautiful light blue horse running here and there. The king,