vipashyana and tonglen—are meant to support a
softer, more gentle approach to the whole show, the
whole catastrophe. We begin to let opposites coexist,
not trying to get rid of anything but just training and
opening our eyes, ears, nostrils, taste buds, hearts,
and minds wider and wider, nurturing the habit of
opening to whatever is occurring, including our shut-
ting down.
We generally interpret the world so heavily in
terms of good and bad, happy and sad, nice and not
nice that the world doesn’t get a chance to speak for
itself. When we say, “Be a child of illusion,” we’re be-
ginning to get at this fresh way of looking when we’re
not caught in our hope and fear. We become mindful,
awake, and gentle with our hope and fear. We see
them clearly with less bias, less judgment, less sense
of a heavy trip. When this happens, the world will
speak for itself.
I heard a story about Trungpa Rinpoche sitting in a
garden with His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.
People were standing around at a distance, close
enough to hear but far enough away to give them pri-
vacy and space. It was a beautiful day. These two gen-
tlemen had been sitting in the garden for a long time,
just sitting there not saying anything. Time went on,
and they just sat in the garden not saying anything
and seeming to enjoy it very much. Then Trungpa
Rinpoche broke the silence and began to laugh. He
said to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, pointing across the
32 Let the World Speak for Itself