Dzogchen’s three divisions and the All Basis Wisdom
By request, from a talk by t.k. on Dzogche’s basis: I have a few minutes so I can swiftly give you a bit of an outline in answer to your question on traditional Mahamudra and Dzogchen sources for understanding this topic.
Here, in this wisdom that is AwarenessAppearance as a single word – this AppearanceLove as a single word, Mind’s own nature reveals itself to itself through the play-filled manifestation of itself. It also falls ino confusion … about what? About itself! How? Through misunderstanding Itself – its own radiant non-dual play as knower and known, apprehender and apprehended ………. Nothing strays from the way of abiding of great wholeness. If we KNOW this and not just the words then the end of suffering is experienced and ones actions become the aimless great love that intentionlessly works to benefit illusory samsaric beings.
There are several ways to look at the question of what is the saltshaker, from a more fleshed out Nyingmapa vision than this metaphor allows. The two major ways one can understand this question are according to a system that admits of an “all basis wisdom” or one that does not. Systems such as Dzogchen and Mahamudra do admit of an all basis wisdom but other systems admit only of an all basis consciousness. In my opinion the best exposition of this is to be found in 3rd Karmapa’s Profound Inner Reality within the sections on Nature and Manifestation of Mind and How Delusion Occurs and also Longchenpa’s cpmmentary on Guyagharba.
Part I the all basis wisdom - First lets consider for a moment the sublime Nyingmapa Dzogpa Chenpo view – the King of All Paths:
In Reciting the Names of Manjushri it says “The Transcendent dharmata of consciousness/ Holds wisdom in a non dual manner.” Here the Sugatagharba is understood as the all basis wisdom … again Saraha says “the mind, which is like a wish fulfilling jewel” When we look at how appearances arise from the point of view of Dzogchen we speak of the Semde, Longde and Mengnakde views. According to Semde appearances are the Rolpa Tsal – the creative protean energy of awareness itself. Appearances are the luminous wisdom rays of Mind’s own potency. From the Longde vision appearances are like planets and stars in the sky. Semde view is like the body and longde’s view is like the heart. Longde’s view is more profound than Semde.
Within Semde view one regards all outer appearances like a dream. The inner sense faculties are like those of a non-existent person and in between these the seeming arising, ceasing, and remaining are without any true basis or root. Outer appearances are nothing other than mind’s potency, inner mind’s perceiving is simply radiant clarity and the six consciousnesses are like space. Appearances are simply the play of mind. Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche has written – perceiving is the deity, the mind that perceives is sunyata and the display of appearances is the mandala of the wisdom deity. (I believe this is close to correct quote I think it can be found around page 10 of White Sail)
Now, in Longde view Samantabhadri, the great non-dual dimension of reality, pervades every appearances and being – the external container and the contents (beings). Nothing ever moves even the tiniest bit from this sphere of totality. Ever! Planets float in space never moving from space. The intrinsic way of abiding of all phenomena is never separated from the All Good (Kuntuzangp0 – Kuntu – always – zang – good) The unchangeable Dharmakaya and sambhogakaya are always all good – always already good, pure, perfect. The changeable Nirmanakaya depends on the liberated or unliberated vision of so called beings. The view of Longde is the splendid great freedom beyond the trap of is and is not”. It is a freedom from all angles of view, all-partial views, freedom from all “sides”. This profound view is like a lion wandering free. It enjoys objects releasing everything, and every thing, in the natural great expanse.
The view of Trekchö is beyond all boundary and explanation – it is the originally pure wisdom free from ignorance and all thoughts. It is the natural purity, kadag, and the spontaneously present self-radiant emptiness clarity. Its energy is the responsiveness of compassion intentionless display. This view transcends reason’s manipulations and requires the direct pointing out from master to disciple. Within this pointing out one comes to a decisive conclusion about the inseparability of awareness emptiness, clarity emptiness and compassion display. This wisdom beyond all categories is not an object of cognition; it is not a consideration for the conceptually bounded mind and beyond existing or not existing.
In all of these views intellectual consideration is beneficial only to establish confidence in the view. Then one must receive transmission and instruction from a qualified master and engage the meditation and conduct related to the particular view one practices. In regard to your question –
Form the point of view of Dzogchen appearances are the protean energy of awareness. They are the self-manifesting luminosity of awareness. If the self-cognizing aspect of awareness recognizes the luminous display as its own inherent play then this is self-recognizing and self-liberating great awareness and there is no other Buddha than this. If the self-glow of awareness does not recognize its own glow as objects, the real nature of objectivity, and its own cognizance as the real nature of subjectivity then it rigpa is dulled down and becomes marigpa (delusion). Recognition of the actual nature of awareness and appearance is the only factor and determines whether one is a sentient being or a Buddha.
Ok – Part II – the all basis consciousness.
If mind’s own great self-liberation is missed then the nature of mind devolves into the mind’s endless functioning according to the delusion of duality. In this case the single wholeness of awareness appearance becomes the mandala of what is fixated upon and the mandala of grasping. One becomes lost in the ceaseless play of apprehender and referent. Let me explain briefly.
The appearing aspect of mind’s nature becomes the red drop (here I am also using the language of the tsa lung tiglé (nadi, prana, bindu) and all appearances – the mandala of that which mind fixates upon. The mind’s cognizant aspect becomes the white drop – the subjective entity – the mandala of that which grasps. Now one might think that since red/female/ is related to emptiness why does the red aspect becomes seeming objects and appearances? This is because the TRUE nature of all appearances is great emptiness. This truth can even be found in second turning’s Prajnapramita sutras and is well explicated in the profound works of Longchenpa and 3rd Karmapa.
Once this duality has happened then the explanations according to the 8 consciousness schools becomes very useful. Here there are the five sense consciousnesses, the sixth mental consciousness, the seventh the afflicted mind and the all basis consciousness.
3rd Karmapa says that it is from the unimpeded playfulness of Mind itself – the nature of mind – that everything arises unimpeded. The essence of all arising always remains unborn emptiness and , according to secret mantrayana, all appearances are always the unity of co emergent great bliss emptiness. BUT…… when mind is ignorant of itself then something else seems to happen.
Mind becomes ignorant of itself because it fails to recognize seeming external appearances (salt shaker) as its own radiant playfulness. Instead it takes the cognizing aspect to be a apprehending subject and the luminous empty appearance to be an actually existent external object – a referent.
How does this happen? The mind’s radiant moving aspect stirs the habit patterns within the all basis consciousness-giving rise to the habitual four afflictions. 1. The sense of a subjective entity (an “I”) 2. Attachment to this sense of self 3. Concepts considering the collections of sense and sense object and 4. Ignorance.
The seventh mind is the movement which can be pure or impure depending on recognition and it is this mind that places the traces from the other consciousness within the alaya – all basis consciousness.
It is the humorous fact that mind is ignorant of itself due to itself. Mind fails to recognize its own luminous appearances as itself and mistakes perception to imply the duality of apprehender and referent.
To put this in terms of Vajrayana’s inner methods: The great single wholeness – the ground luminosity – is stirred by the movement of radiance and (in non recognition) the seventh mind moves like waves on the water. Due to this what is not two – awareness and appearance – appears as two. Because the mind’s radiance moves outward luminosity seems to become appearances separate from mind’s essence and this gives rise to the six gatherings – the meeting of sense consciousness and sense object.
Because of this root delusion realms and beings come into play. Each realm and beings I a pattern of action and response rooted in delusion – the mistaken perception of duality. The patterns are variations on the basic ignorance of attraction, aversion and indifference to seeming subject and object.
First mind, as subject, connects to seeming external object – appearances arise in this moment and increase with the responses to the connection. When the mind begins to generate concepts about objects then the objects are “attained” The way in which appearance, increase and attainment happen and the way in which these are dissolved in the completion phase – dissolved back into luminosity – is the essence of the profound methods of secret mantra.
So to recap –
There is no appearance that is extrinsic. There is no anything! Ever. From the view of yagacara it is only minds habits – only mind. From the view of Rangtong it is only emptiness. From the view of Dzogchen it is mind’s own radiant playfulness. (rolpa tsal)
Mind itself creates the appearance from its playfulness and either does or does not recognize it has done this. In Dzogchen this truth is pointed out and one practices according to the differing cycles in order to remove doubts and remain stable in the definitive conclusion about appearances that one has attained through direct introduction. In Vajrayana one removes the stain of impure view through 1. generation phase which clarifies gross misconceptions about appearances and 2. completion phase that removes subtle dualisms.
Here, in this AwarenessAppearance as a single word – this AppearanceLove as a single word, Mind’s own nature reveals itself to itself through the play-filled manifestation of itself. It also falls ino confusion … about what? About itself! How? Through misunderstanding Itself – its own radiant non-dual play as knower and known, apprehender and apprehended ………. Nothing strays from the way of abiding of great wholeness. If we KNOW this and not just the words then the end of suffering is experienced and ones actions become the aimless great love that intentionlessly works to benefit illusory samsaric beings.
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