Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [148]
MAINTAINING THE VIEW: REMEMBERING THE BIGGER PICTURE
The Innate Great Perfection combines enlightened view, meditation, and action.
With view as vast and open as the infinite luminous sky;
Meditation as unshakable as a stately mountain;
Action as spontaneously free and unhindered as the ocean’s waves;
The result is realizing the Natural Mind—the Innate Great Perfection.
—A SONG OF YOGIC JOY, FROM THE DZOGCHEN ORAL TRADITION
When Dzogchen masters talk about staying in the view, what they mean is recognizing the natural state of mind—Buddha-nature—and resting in that lucid awareness. This implies spontaneous immediacy and choiceless awareness. This vast view or outlook means being able to see things as they are, with total clarity. This view or higher vision is beyond distortion. It is totally open and without judgment. When we remain in the view, we don’t try to manipulate or change the truth of what is. A mirror doesn’t pick and choose what it wants to reflect. Similarly, as things arise in our minds, they simply appear, without distortion or editing, in clear mirror-like awareness.
With this kind of view, we keep sight of the bigger picture—Dzogchen, the natural perfection of things just as they are. In basic meditation we practice mindfulness of breathing. Dzogchen training is more advanced; it teaches us how to be vividly wakeful and one with what is. In Dzogchen practice, we carry this choiceless awareness with us wherever we go, so that every moment becomes a moment of mindfulness, a moment of reality, and hence a moment of freedom and enlightenment. As a Zen master said, “Eternity is one instant, and this instant is right now. Wake up to it!”
Although this may sound esoteric, it’s actually a very practical, here-and-now teaching. My younger students sometimes describe it in slang: “Stay in the view, Lou.” “Keep your head, Fred.” “Go with the flow, Jo.” All you have to do is remain in the view.
This teaching introduces a way to keep the bigger perspective in mind and go with the greater current in the river of reality, without becoming caught up in life’s little whirlpools. Whether you are practicing formal meditation or shampooing the family dog, preserve your natural mind; remain mindful and awake rather than being carried away by thoughts and projections. They are all mere illusory appearances. If you can maintain this view, then meditation in action develops spontaneously, and there is less distinction between formal religious practice and the mundane acts of daily life.
We live in illusion
And the appearance of things.
There is a reality.
We are that reality.
When you understand this,
You see that you are nothing.
And being nothing,
You are everything.
That is all.
—KALU RINPOCHE
Finding the Natural Mini-meditations
in Your Own Life
Each day we all have dozens of opportunities for short, homegrown, natural meditations to help bring us in closer contact with reality and insight into the truth of what is. This is one such simple, natural meditation. You don’t really need a beach chair for the following mini-meditation. You can do it anywhere.
BEACH CHAIR MEDITATION
Lean back in a comfy beach chair
or chaise longue, with legs outstretched,
and totally relax.
Let go of body and mind;
let go, and let goodness
do it.
At poolside, or on your patio or porch;
in a garden
or on the beach;
raise your gaze,
open your eyes and heart and mind.
Elevate the scope of global,
three-hundred-and-sixty-degree panoramic awareness.
Simply relax
and watch the rolling waves
of sea or river,
or the clouds pass by
while the mind unfurls,
as the soul unfolds
and the infinite sky opens up
revealing the joy of meditation.
In your own life, try to find more of these organic little meditations that you already know how to do, but have not yet thought of as meditation per se. Enjoy them daily.
MAINTAINING THE VIEW