noble ones have no choice but to remain in samsara, much less the rest of us.
Without the profound secret instruction of the lama, an individual trying to
establish the sutric view by study is left only with the intellect to ponder the
meaning of reality. Despite his or her study, his or her thought, even if straight and
clear, will not go beyond the parameters of discursive reasoning. Is it possible that
such an individual can gain introduction to the authentic mind—which is reality
free of propositions, pure presence itself—by means of direct indication by the
lama? Without accumulation of merit and without overcoming difficulties, due to
doubts regarding direct perception of pure presence, it is not possible to gain such
confidence in one’s own mind. It is possible that through an innate understanding
of the oceanlike teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha and the power of practice one
person in a hundred might enter the ultimate arena of the five places of pure
presence and attain buddha through direct perception. For that reason it is said
that the meaning is not understood because of its difficulty.
In this short life of ours, because we have not finished our study of the broad
exposition and innumerable transmissions, we think that we are unable to
understand the dharmakaya’s voice of logic, and we cannot encounter the rigzin-
lama’s blessings or his direct introduction to pure presence. We are like the dung
sweeper who cannot believe that he could ever find a piece of gold in the dung. In
that way the easiness of attainment cannot be believed and its difficulty cannot be
plumbed. In The Essential Heruka Tantra, it is said,
The fool depends on faith
And comes close to siddhi;
The brilliant scholar with wisdom
Attains supreme accomplishment.The root lama with realized wisdom, able to transmit the various kinds of
blessing, is the single form of all the buddhas. With faith and trust in him, seeing
him as a real buddha, we should contemplate single-pointedly what he introduces
to our mind. By the power of that lama’s blessing, together with our faith, we will
gradually realize pure presence itself; we will thus gain confidence, optimize our
creativity, and attain continuity in nonmeditation. In the tantra The Discourse of
the General Assembly, it is said,
Without serving a teacher
Buddha will never be accomplished;
I have never seen it happen otherwise;
If it happens, it contradicts prophecy.By serving a rigzin-lama and keeping the realization in our mindstream,
obscurations are purified by themselves, and in one lifetime, we will attain the
domain of Samantabhadra. Even if we fail in that attainment, without doubt
within three or seven lifetimes we will reach the palace of Samantabhadra.
In The Three Incisive Precepts, Patrul Rinpoche says,