The Special Characteristics of the Nyingmapa School

CW27:No.19

Yogi C. M. Chen

To correct misunderstandings and misconceptions about the Nyingmapa School, I must first write a Rectification. To offer my readers a correct perspective of the profound Dharma guided by the highest attainment of Buddhahood by the Guru Padmasambhava, I must secondly write an Introduction. To show the particular characteristics of a Nyingmapa follower, I have lastly to point out the unique qualifications of the followers of this school, namely the Right View of Dsogpa Chanpo, which has been neglected even by famous Lamas of this school.

I. The Rectification

There are four kinds of misunderstandings: outer, inner, secret and most secret.

A. The outward mistake is made by those foolish people who have never studied the history of the Nyingmapa School and the biography of Padmasambhava. These are the Chinese exoteric Buddhists, the Japanese exoteric Buddhists, most of the Buddhists of the Southern tradition, and some of those of the Northern tradition. They mistake Padmsambhavas use of supernatural powers for black magic, when in fact he showed these powers in Tibet for the sake of subduing demons and establishing the Tantric monastery. By studying the history of Tibetan Buddhism and the biography of Padmasambhava together with the next chapter of this booklet, one may correct this misunderstanding.

B. The inward mistake is made by those learned scholars who blindly follow gurus of schools other than the Nyingmapa. In their sectarianism they treat the Great Guru Padmasambhava as a Hindu outsider. They are not able to study his profound teachings, but can only follow their own superficial doctrines and remote practices. It is said that in Berkeley there is a certain Sakyapa Lama who forbids his students to say the Vajra Guru Mantra!

C. The secret mistake is made by those who do not have a firm understanding of the third Tantric Initiation. They do not understand why the Guru Padmasambhava had two wives or why most of his followers have married. They emphasize only the Hinayana doctrine whose serious practitioners do not marry, and blame the Nyingmapa School as a school without any Vinaya. They do not know the Anuttarayoga which enables the practitioner to obtain Full Enlightenment in this lifetime if he practices Vajra Love with its special Vinaya. In no case should this be practiced without its Tantric Vinaya.

D. The most secret mistake is made by those who do not themselves have the wisdom to accept the Immediate Doctrine, Dzogchen, and can only follow the exoteric Paramitayana, using empty theoretical ideas in arguments, talking, and reading. They cannot practice the oral instructions of the Guru, which are too profound for them to understand. After reading the last chapter of this booklet they will perhaps more or less recognize a partial truth and repent for their misunderstandings.

II. The Introduction: Some Characteristics

A. The First Special Characteristic: The Source of the Holy Personality of the Founder Padmasambhava

In as much as there are different editions of the biography, I prefer the earlier one which was imparted orally by my Root Guru Rona Rimpoche rather than the one which was edited by my late friend Dr. W. Y. Evans-Wentz in the book called The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation. When I was in Kalimpong I heard that a new translation from another source was being done, whose quantity of material was said to be much greater than that of the old translation. Whether old or new, they are all reliable histories, unlike the Krishna of the Bhagavad-Gita which is a myth rather than real history.

According to the oral teachings of my Guru, Padmasambhava was an incarnation of three holy personalities: Gautama Buddha was his body, Amitabha Buddha his speech, and the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara his mind. The same material is described in a different way in the edition of Evans-Wentz. Although it says that Padmasambhava was an incarnation of Amitabha only, it also mentions the reason why Gautama also incarnated in his holy body and why Avalokitesvara joined the trinity of incarnations. On the one hand, we read that when Gautama Buddha was about to enter Nirvana and his disciples were weeping at his bedside, he told them that a new incarnation of himself would come to teach the Tantric doctrine. He was Padmasambhava. On the other hand, Amitabha was informed by the merciful Avalokitesvara that King Indrabodhi, having prayed to the Buddhas with deep devotion and enthusiasm for a son and been unsuccessful, was so angry as to destroy all the Buddha images and monasteries. Amitabha accepted this information and incarnated himself as Padmasambhavas speech, and Avalokitesvara incarnated himself as his mind.

B. The Second Special Characteristic: The Miraculous Lotus-Birth of Guru Padmasambhava

Generally speaking, all the devoted followers of the Pure Land School who deserve rebirth in Sukhavati will be invited there by one of three sages, viz. Amitabha, Avalokitesvara, and Vajrapani, if by the practice of a lifetime they achieve complete renunciation, the deep impression of visualization, and the profound philosophy of Non-Ego. Those devotees whose renunciation and realization are not enough to obtain a holy lotus-birth immediately in Sukhavati sometimes stay in the lotus for a long time until their time comes. Then their lotuses open and they obtain the lotus-born personality there. Nevertheless our Guru Rimpoche Padmasambhava obtained lotus birth in this Saha world, a birth so rare and noble as hardly to be believed. This is a solid fact and goes to prove that lotus birth in Sukhavati is possible and reliable for the practitioner.

In this Saha world our Gautama Buddha was born from the right side of his Holy Mother. My school-mate the Urchin Tulku Rimpoche was born in the same manner. Some founders of other religions were incarnations of gods but born like other human beings, as Mary bore Jesus.

The lotus symbolizes the truth that even in a dirty place a beautiful flower may grow without defilement of mud. It encourages human beings living in the Five Dirts of the Saha world to believe that they can become Buddhas through the practice of Non-Ego and Great Compassion. Our great Guru Lotus-Born (in Sanskrit, Padma means lotus, Sambhava means born) has so nice a name, and it is nothing less than true historical fact. His story is not a myth, as are other religions, which are made up by their own devotees. His biography is a solid fact proved by his own personality, which appeared not only in India but also in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim. To have faith in him is to have the same faith in the Three Holy Persons, viz. Gautama Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, and the Great Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

C. The Third Special Characteristic: The Holy Teachings which the Guru Obtained Directly from the Adi Buddha and Other Divinities

Our great Guru flew to the Og-Min Heaven and met the Adi Buddha, from whom he received the main doctrine of the Nyingmapa School, the Great Perfection or Dsogpa Chenpo. In addition he was received by a Dakini who gave him a Body Initiation which also proved that his body was the result of three holy incarnations, viz. the Buddha Gautama, the Buddha Amitabha, and the Great Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, as indicated by the HUM as it traveled through the three situations. First the HUM sound was uttered outside, which made possible the appearance of the forty-two Peaceful Deities, and in these deities Gautama Buddha was included. Secondly, when the HUM rested on the Dakinis lips, she conferred upon it Amitabhas blessing; thus proving that the incarnation of speech is Amitabha. When she swallowed the HUM and the Guru was inside her body, he received the initiation of Avalokitesvara, which proved that his mind incarnation is Avalokitesvara.

Further, he obtained the fourth initiation of Great Perfection from Sri Singha, who was the true Manjusri. Sri Singha pointed up to the sky and said, "I have accomplished Buddhahood without any other teaching but only this sky. Since then my mind has never been disturbed." After saying this Sri Singha flew to the Five-Peaked Mountain of China where, as foretold by Gautama Buddha, was the holy place of Manjusri. Besides these, our Guru also obtained blessings and teachings from Bhaisajyaguru Vaiduryaprabha Tathagata, the Buddha of Medicine, and Avalokitesvara directed him to learn astrology from Manjusri. Hence one who joins the Nyingmapa School and learns all the doctrines from our Guru is learning directly from all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

D. The Fourth Special Characteristic: The SalvationPowers which Benefit Every Kind of Sentient Beings

He is not only a savior of human beings but also of nagas, gods, ghosts, animals, and insects, not only in the living state but also in the dying state and in the Bardo state. Below I present a few examples of his Holy Salvation Activities quoted from Evans-Wentzs edition of the biography:

"?he went to Bodh-Gaya?and there he sat in meditation. By uttering the?mantra, Padma resucitated all the evil spirits, nagas, and demons he had slain, taught them the Dharma, initiated them, and made them to serve the cause of religion."
"?he preached the Dharma, both exoterically and esoterically, to the dakini, especially to the four chief dakini at the Dhanakosha Lake where he was born. VajraVahari, together with these dakini, made submission to him. He likewise taught the gods of the Eight Planets."
"Transforming himself into the King of Wrathful Deities, Padma, while sitting in meditation, subjugated the gnomes. In the same manner he brought under his control all women who had broken solemn vows, and destroying their bodies, sent their consciousness-principles to the heavens of the Buddha. Now he was called "The Subjugator of Gnomes."
"Assuming the forms of other deities, he subjugated various kinds of demons, such as those causing epidemics, diseases, hindrances, hail, and famine. In the guise of the Red Manjusri, Padma brought all the gods inhabiting the heavens presided over by Brahma under his control, by uttering their mantras. And, in other guises, Padma conquered all the most furious and fearful evil spirits, and 21,000 devils, male and female."
Eventually, "Padma dominated the Nine Planets, the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu, and Khetu, and all things under their influence? Similarly, Padma conquered Pe-har, the King of the Three Realms of Existence, subdued all haughtiness, gained ascendency over Mahadeva, Pashupati, and other deities of the Brahmins, and also over the chief deities of the Jains. And the god Mahakala, and the goddesses Remati and Ekadzati, appeared before Padma and praised him for thus having conquered all evils and all deities."

E. The Fifth Special Characteristic: His Treasure of Extramundane Benevolence with Any Kind of Conditions Whether Good or Bad

It is said that when he taught in Tisong Detsens palace there was one minister who envied him and accused him as a black magician. For this evil Karma the minister fell into hell. Our Gurus wife Yeshey Tsogyal knew of this punishment and said to our Guru, "I know that you have a Treasure of Extramundane Benevolence which can help everyone who has any condition connecting him with you, whether its quality is good or bad. Now the minister has already fallen into hell; and although it is punishment for the evils he has done to you, nevertheless, since he has conditions connecting him with you, therefore, may I go there in place of you to save him from the pains of hell?" Our Greatly Compassionate Guru allowed her to do so and the great Dakini Yeshey Tsogyal immediately went there. Not only did she save the minister but also all the inhabitants of hell, since they all had the noble condition of meeting the benevolence of the Guru and his Dakini. All were totally saved from hell.

It is also said by every Guru of the Nyingmapa School that every follower who prays to the Guru Padmasambhava will obtain his benevolence sooner or later. He also promised to come on the tenth day of every lunar month. Here all my readers are advised to pray to him and repeat his mantra: OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM.

F. The Sixth Special Characteristic: His Numberless Hidden Dharma Treasures

Special Dharmas to be imparted at special Dharma times were not taught by the Guru himself when he was in Tibet, but were hidden for the future by him and by his Dakini Yeshey Tsogyal. In Evans-Wentzs edition of the biography we find these Dharmas concerning these Hidden Treasures: "Many of these hidden texts were written on tala-Palm leaves, on silk, and on blue paper in ink of gold, silver, copper, iron and malachite, and enclosed in gold-lined boxes, earthen pots, stone receptacles, skulls, and precious stones... Padma placed the hidden texts under the guardianship of the Dakinis and Wisdom-Holders; and he blessed the texts so that none of them should fall into the hands of one who, lacking the merit born of good deeds done in past incarnation, was undeserving. Thus there could be no diminution of the Doctrine, nor of initiation, nor of priestly succession through reincarnation, nor of the practice of religion."

"Between the Khang-kar-te-say Mountains and Tri-shi-trik in China, Padma hid 108 large works, 125 important images, five very rare essences, the sacred books of Buddhism and of the Bonpos, and books on medicine, astrology, arts, and crafts. Similar caches were made by Padma in Nepalese caves and temples. Along with the texts, he buried such worldly treasures, magical weapons, and food as would afford support to the tertons who should take out the texts and give them to the world. Altogether, Padma is credited with having hidden away texts and accessory objects to the number of ten million... Whenever a terton is born, the udumbara will appear. If the birth be among the kshatriya, the blossoms color will be white; if among the brahmins, the blossoms will be red; if among the vaishyas, it will be yellow; and if among shudras, blue?only one terton incarnates at a time... attached to property will not have this power."

Many foolish people of other schools have no faith in the Hidden Treasures, their only reason being that the source of the Dharma should supposedly be India alone and no other place.

In my own personal experience, I still remember when Maoist expansion brought about a border conflict between India and China in 1962. At that time I was living in a hermitage at Kalimpong only forty miles from the Chinese border, where each weekend I lectured to the famous English Bhikshus Sangharakshita and Khantipalo. The two Bhikshus were worried about the possible arrival of Maos robbers, telling me that many Rinpoches and Tulkus had left Kalimpong. I meditated several times on a Hidden Treasure Dharma called Vajra Guru and obtained a vision in a meditative light, in which the Tiger which carries our Guru Wrathful flew into the sky and drove away a small cat. In Chinese "Mao" and "cat" both have the same sound. I knew that this meant that Maos (cat) robbers would return to their own country, and told the Bhikshus, "Please stay calm and continue listening to my lecture. The Maoist robbers will never come here to disturb us." After some days this proved to be the case.

But this Dorje Telru ritual which I used was not imparted from India, nor was it imparted by our Guru Padmasambhava himself when he was in Tibet. It was hidden by him and discovered later by a Terton (a Lama who is able to discover Hidden Treasures).

Unfortunately the followers of the Nyingmapa School are not yet very accomplished in the Hidden Treasures. If Guru Padmasambhava were still here he would send Maos consciousness to Amitabhas Sukhavati with one blow, even though Maos heavy accumulation of sins makes him unworthy to be sent there!

Hippies used to read The Tibetan Book of the Dead when they took L.S.D. This book is also a Hidden Treasure. Some Gelugpas reject it, but its value has been generally appreciated. It is my hope that more Hidden Treasures will be continuously discovered in order to save human beings in this painful world of Samsara.

III. The Qualification of the Nyingmapa Follower

The qualification of the Nyingmapa follower is not by birth in a Nyingma family or as a Nyingma Tulku; nor by the tradition imparted by a Nyingma Lama; nor by a famous Nyingma Guru; nor is it by ones repetition of Nyingma rituals or residence in a Nyingma monastery; nor by the meditation of Great Perfection. Even though you have never attained even a partial realization of the Great Ultimate Perfection, yet if your mind, thoughts, consciousness, or conceptions completely and accurately recognize the Right View, to which you have deep devotion and earnest enthusiasm without any doubt, devotion and enthusiasm unmovable by any other ideas even if they are taught by Majusri, or Gautama Buddha, you are a Nyingmapa. Even though you meet seven big Tibetan dogs which close in around you and bite you, even though you meet seven cruel robbers, or seven oceans of bloody water washing your brain; even though you meet a hundred Russian and American hydrogen bombs all falling on your head, your Right View of the Great Ultimate Perfection will not be moved or changed. This is the qualification of the follower of the Nyingmapa School.

Nevertheless the conditions making possible the right view of the Great Ultimate Perfection are not common and have never been prepared by the ancient Nyingmapa Gurus. Most of these famous Gurus themselves have not yet determined these conditions. Those who have no practical experience of the Right View and therefore have no real qualification in the matter usually say that the Prajna Paramita, Sunyata, the Great Symbol, and the Great Perfection are all the same. Most of their teachings are confused, and confusion cannot clearly and correctly describe the particular character of the Right View of the Great Perfection. They have made many mistakes and I have criticized them in my Chinese work published in Formosa.

For this reason I must point out their errors. When all the errors have been rectified, the true, correct, and Right View of the exact face of the Great Perfection may appear to all my wise readers. This is the special purpose of this book.

A. Mistakes Concerning "Mind"

The term "mind" is used in two different senses which must be carefully distinguished. "Mind" can mean the ordinary everyday consciousness: this is called the psychical mind. Also, "mind" can be used to stand for the philosophic truth itself, which is in reality neither mind nor matter. It is extremely important to understand that this "mind" (truth itself) is not the "soul" or "High Self" or "God" of other religions. Other religions regard this "soul" as the highest being of the same nature as God. But although this is higher than the ego, it is still a part of the ordinary mind and therefore not the real truth. Some passages from my Booklet New No. 7 "The Pollution of Human Thought" may be helpful here:

"?every human being has the eighth consciousness in which are gathered and stored the pollutions from many past lives. As this consciousness has no changing characteristics and always exists, it has been presumed by the seventh consciousness to be the "self" and called by Jains and Hindus the "soul" or "High Self" or the "Atman"... Where any self appears, pollution is there. This "soul" is the subtlest and greatest veil obscuring the final Truth... no matter how much good Karmas you have accumulated, ... no matter how deep or profound your knowledge is, or how wonderful and skillful your supernatural power or your meditation are, before you have purified the eighth consciousnesses you will still remain in the cycle of transmigration? The root sorrow, the spring of evil, and the foundations of ignorance are all based upon the seventh consciousness holding the eighth consciousness as his "self."

Therefore when our great Guru Padmasambhava uses the word "mind" in its higher sense, he means the philosophical truth of Non-Ego itself; when he uses the word in its lower sense, he means the psychical mind, which includes both the ego and the "soul" or "God" (i.e. both the seventh and the eighth consciousness). Some Gelugpas and others fail to understand this, and believe that Padmasambhavas use of the word "mind" in the higher sense means the eighth consciousness. This is why they believe that Padmasambhava was essentially a Hindu!

Now my readers should examine these passages from the great Gurus treatise in The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation, distinguishing carefully between the two different senses of the word "mind."

"The quintessence of the six classes of beings?is also a mental concept."
"The happiness of gods in heaven-worlds and of men?is another mental concept."
"The three unhappy states of suffering? too, are concepts of the mind."
"Ignorance, miseries, and the Five Poisons?are, likewise, mental concepts? "
"Misfortune caused by demons and evil spirits?is also a concept of mind."
" Gods and good fortune?are also concepts of mind?
"The colour of any objective thing?is also a mental concept?"
"Nothing save mind is conceivable."

These above eight concepts of mind are psychical but not philosophic truth.

"Self-originated Divine Wisdom?is also a concept of the mind."
"The full realization of the passing away into Nirvana?is also a concept of the mind. . ."
"Unconscious one-pointedness?is also a mental concept."
"The Qualityless and Formless?is also a mental concept."
"The One and the Many in at-one-ment?are also concepts of the mind."
"Existence and non-existence? as well as the Non-Created? are concepts of the mind..."
"The state of mind transcendant over all dualities brings liberation..."

These above seven concepts of mind are concepts of philosophic truth which is not mind. This is why it was said that "the seeing of the Radiance, which shines without being perceived, is Buddhahood."

Therefore, every mental concept is delusion, but the Great Perfection is not. This is why it was also said, "In general, all things mentally perceived are concepts." All concepts are delusion and not the truth.

On page 231 of the first edition of Evans-Wentzs version of The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation it says, "Inasmuch as the vacuity of all visible things is to be recognized as merely analogous to the apparent vacuity of the sky, devoid of mind, content, and form, the knowing of the mind does not depend on the sky-symbol."

On Page 211 the philosophic mind which is different from psychical mind has been well-defined. "In its true state, mind is naked, immaculate; not made of anything, being of the Voidness; clear, vacuous, without duality, transparent; timeless, uncompounded, unimpeded, colorless; not realizable as a separate thing, but as the unity of all things, yet not composed of them; of one taste, and transcendent over differentiation." This, the philosophic mind, is not the psychical mind, consciousness, or conception. It is very clear! But as the doctrine uses the same word for the two different meaningsone is of the psychical, delusive avidya system, the other of the vidya system of philosophic truthconsequently all sorts of mistakes arise, even in ancient times, but especially in this Kali Age. Recently many so-called Gurus who teach in America have advised their students to study psychology instead of Buddhist philosophy!

Except for the Mind-Only School (the Vijnanavadins), which contains only a partial truth, there is no Mahayana school which does not take as its basis the Middle Way (Madhyamika) of Nagarjuna who never falls into a one-sided view, but always maintains that the truth can be called neither mind nor matter.

The Great Perfection transcends every dualism and allows nothing to remain outside. If mind is perfection, then what is matter? Should perfection set matter aside and take only mind? This would be neither reasonable nor scientific; it would in fact be no perfection at all. Therefore a Nyingmapa follower should skillfully distinguish these two different meanings of the same term, mind.

B. The Mistake Concerning "Self"

The term "self" has three meanings. First, there is the self of each individual personality, i.e. the ego. Self in this sense is a noun. Second, there is the self of Dharma, i.e. the self-nature or own-being of each thing, whether animate or inanimate, whether a sentient being or an insensate thing. Self in this sense is also a noun. The above two "selves" are fundamentally nonexistent and delusory. Third, the word "self" is used as a reflexive adjective in a word like "self-originated" in the sense of "by itself" "automatically" "without an outside cause" "spontaneously." This kind of "self" has nothing to do with "self" in the first two senses; in fact, it is used to point to the truth of Non-Self as a convenience of language. We can see this third use of the term in the Hidden Treasure called Phagmo Sagya or the Profound Teachings of Vajra-Vahri, in which the Guru Padmasambhava taught the Great Perfection to his noble Dakini Yeshey Tsogyal. I translate part of it below:

"The self-appearance of the Dharma King, which is the non-working great perfection, self-appears, self-manifests in nature, takes nothing, renounces nothing. Self-appearing, self-manifesting, all things appear as the self Tathata King. From Tathata King it appears, from Tathata King itself arising, the right view is the self-appearance. The practice is also self-action. The conduct is the self-appearance; the fruit is also self-realization."

These terms of self in the above stanzas all mean the truth itself, but do not mean that there is a real self. Hence a Nyingmapa follower who cannot distinguish Buddhism from Hinduism is not a real Nyingmapa follower; one who is aware of this, such a one will be qualified as a real Nyingmapa follower!

On page 222 of the first edition of The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation, it says "Without meditating, without going astray, look into the True State, wherein self-cognition, self-knowledge, self-illumination shine resplendently." These three "selfs" only point to the True State; they do not mean that in the True State there is any self of the practitioner or any self-substance or self-nature. Self-knowledge, for instance, does not mean "knowledge of ones self" but rather knowledge which spontaneously arises. Most readers, however, mistake this "self" firstly for ones own ego, and secondly for the High Self of Hinduism. Thus they take the No-Self doctrine of Buddhism and turn it into the High-Self of Hinduism and other religions. A Nyingmapa follower who cannot distinguish Buddhism from Hinduism is not really a Nyingmapa follower. Only if one is aware of this distinction will he qualify.

C. Mistaking the Negative and Being Apart from the Positive

In the same place we read: "There being nothing upon which to meditate, no meditation is there whatsoever." One who misunderstands this negation remains apart from the Great Perfection which is always in Samadhi without disturbance. To know that it is a natural Samadhi is not enough; one must really attain such a stage of non-stage, a Samadhi of non-Samadhi but with all vastness, happiness, quietude, brightness, and clear light always there, vividly, without cessation, confusion, or obscuration.

The state of "three times in at-one-ment and endless continuity" is not simply negative in the sense that there is therein no past, no present, and no future. On the aforementioned page we read: "The yoga concerning past and future not being practiced, memory of the past remains latent."

"The future, not being welcomed, is completely severed by the mind from the present."

"The present not being fixable, remains in the state of the Voidness ."

One should not only comprehend the negation of the three periods, past, present, and future, not only know that today is the tomorrow of yesterday and that today is also the yesterday of tomorrow; not only should one have the feeling of being unaware of the date and time and even forget whether it is morning or afternoon; not only have the feeling that living twenty-five years in a hermitage is the same as living one week; one should also live in the state of Voidness, which makes the three periods into one totality which is visible and touchable. In this true state of Samadhi one will still recognize the date and the hour, and what each individual of every realm is feeling at any time, very clearly and without any confusion, and be able to save them in their due time. Such a Samadhi is not abstract but concrete. With this realization of the real perfection of time, one enjoys ones non-death yoga. One controls the three periods and can make the sun stop in its course and prolong the lives of his students.

One may be skillful in the negative method in argument (the Madhyamika dialectic), but if one is without the positive realization one is only cheating oneself and is not a real Nyingmapa follower or practitioner. Even if you do not realize it completely, you should know that there is such a side of positivity connected with the negative side.

One page 220 we are taught that there is no teaching, no meditation, no practice and no fruit. It is written as follows:

"This teaching without error, this Great Path, is of the Clear Wisdom here set forth, which, being clear and unerring, is called the Path."

"This meditation upon this unerring Great Path, is of the Clear Wisdom here set forth, which, being clear and unerring, is called the Path."

"This practice relating to this unerring Great Path is of the Clear Wisdom here set forth, which, being clear and unerring, is called the Path."

"The fruit of this unerring Great Path is of the Clear Wisdom here set forth, which, being clear and unerring, is called the Path."

One should not only know the negative side, i.e. non-teaching, non-meditation, non-practice, and non-fruit, but also the positive realization which is clear and concrete, by means of which one can see, act, function, reach attainments, and save others.

If one recognizes only the negative side, and sets teaching, meditation, and so on, aside, he will remain interested only in worldly money and love practices, he will not have the Great Perfection but will be tangled in worldly jobs and sorrows; he will not have the meditation of Great Perfection but will indulge in worldly knowledge and literature. When the non-fruit is not obtained, and the fruit of good and bad action is obtained within the unceasing realm of transmigration, one passes by the Nyingmapa Dharma in vain.

Therefore a qualified Nyingmapa follower should hold the right view of the Great Perfection. Though he has no teaching, he must also have no worldly ideas or perceptions. Though he has no meditation, he must also have no disturbance by any good conditions or bad circumstances. Though he has no practice, he must also have no worldly conducts whether good or evil. Though he pursues no fruit, he must always enjoy his brightness, his vastness, his non-death, his clear light, and his Great Happiness. Here I will end with my poem called "My Infinite Joy," which I composed while practicing walking meditation on the Great Perfection.

Do not think that happiness has a limit
Out from my heart breaks the great almighty!
Although most vast is the Dharmakaya,
Yet it is not possible to contain it!

There is another poem of mine which may be advisable for all my readers to read:

Happy, healthy & high,
Nowhere can you buy!
Try to learn Buddhism,
Learn Buddhism & try!

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