Vajrayana Teachings of Buddhism

I've had the privilege of reading up on some Tibetan Masters - acknowledged Masters in their tradition. Some who are the founding Teachers.

I'll use this tradition to share their teachings, for anyone so interested. It's a privilege to get re-acquainted and I want to thank this forum and all its members for getting me back to a point where I am reading again.



JL

1. Longchenpa



Longchen Rabjampa, Drimé Özer, commonly abbreviated to Longchenpa, was a major teacher in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. He systematized the Nyingma teachings in his ‘Seven Treasures’ and wrote extensively on Dzogchen. He transmitted the Longchen Nyingtik cycle of teachings and practice to Jikmé Lingpa, and it has since become one of the most widely practised of traditions.

Dzogchen, or the "Great Perfection," is considered by many to be the apex of Tibetan Buddhism, and Longchen Rabjam is the most celebrated of all the saints of this tradition.

Sources:
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan...ngchen-rabjam/
http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Budd...wel%20Ship.htm
https://www.simonandschuster.com/boo.../9780861716401

A Mirror Revealing the Crucial Points: Advice on the Ultimate Meaning
by Longchen Rabjam

Single embodiment of the compassion, power and activity
Of the infinite mandalas of victorious buddhas, beyond measure,
Glorious lama, supreme sovereign lord of a hundred buddha families,
At your feet, now and forever, I pay homage!

Ema! Fortunate yogins, listen now:

We have gained a perfect human form with its freedoms and advantages, we have met the precious teachings of the Mahāyāna, and we have the freedom to practice the sacred Dharma authentically. So, at this time, let us not waste our lives in meaningless pursuits, but work towards the genuine, lasting goal.

There are infinite categories of teaching and countless are the ways to enter the vehicles. Explanations can involve a great many words and expressions. Unless we can take to heart the essence of the genuine meaning, then even committing many hundreds of thousands of volumes to memory will not decidedly bring benefit at the moment of death.

Seemingly, we might have boundless knowledge, all derived from study and reflection, but if our fundamental character is not attuned to the Dharma, we will not tame the enemy, the destructive emotions.

Unless we limit our desires from within by adopting an attitude of not needing anything at all, then even mastery over a thousand worlds will bring no real satisfaction.

Should we fail to prepare for the uncertainty of the time of death, we will not accomplish the great purpose, that which we will surely need when we die.

If we don’t overcome our own faults and train in impartial pure perception, then having attachment and aversion will prevent us entering the ranks of the Mahāyāna.

Unless we make pure prayers of aspiration with unceasing compassion and bodhicitta, in the knowledge that there is not a single being among the three realms or the six classes who has not been our mother or father in the past, we will not unlock the treasury of altruism.

Unless we have such devotion for our kind teachers that we consider them as greater than the Buddha, we will not receive even a single portion of their blessings.

Without genuinely receiving blessings, the tender shoots of experience and realization will not grow.

If realization does not dawn from within, dry explanations and theoretical understanding will not bring the fruit of awakening.

To put it simply, unless we blend our own mind with the Dharma, it is pointless merely to adopt the guise of a practitioner.

Restricting ourselves to only basic sustenance and shelter, let us regard everything else as unnecessary.

Practice guru yoga, pray with single-minded attention, and direct all virtuous actions to the benefit of all beings, your very own parents.

Whatever you encounter—be it happiness or sorrow, good or bad—regard it as the kindness of the lama.

In the expanse in which self-knowing rigpa arises spontaneously, free of all grasping, rest and relax, without contrivance or fabrication. Whatever thoughts arise, recognizing their essence, allow them all to be liberated as the display of your own intrinsic nature.

Without the slightest trace of anything to cultivate or focus upon in meditation, don’t allow yourself to drift even for a single instant into ordinary confusion. Instead, remain aware and undistracted during all activities, and train to recognize all sights and sounds and sensory experience as the play of illusion. In so doing, you will gain experience for the bardo state.

In short, at all times and in all situations, let whatever you do accord with the sacred Dharma and dedicate all virtue towards enlightenment. If you do so, you will fulfill the vision of your lamas and be of service to the teachings. You will repay the kindness of your parents and spontaneously benefit yourself and others. Please keep this in mind.

Even if we were to meet in person, I would have no greater instruction to give you than this. So take it to heart, all the time, and in any situation.

Lord of the victorious ones, Longchen Rabjam Zangpo, wrote this on the slopes of Gangri Tökar. May virtue abound!

A Guide to Locations for Cultivating Samādhi

by Longchen Rabjam

On mountaintops, in secluded forests and on islands and the like,
Places which are agreeable to the mind and well suited to the season,
Cultivate tranquil samādhi, which is single-pointed and unwavering—
Clear light, which is free from the slightest conceptual elaboration.
This is achieved naturally when three pure factors come together:
The ideal location, individual and Dharma to be practised.
..

Clear and inspired, helping us to achieve the union of śamatha and vipaśyanā.

To put it simply, any region or actual dwelling place for retreat,
In which renunciation and disenchantment arise, attention is well focused,
And samādhi grows in strength—any such place of virtuous activity—
Is said to be the equal of the sacred site of the heart of awakening.
Whereas any place in which virtues decline, mental afflictions increase,
And one is overcome by distractions and the affairs of this life,
Is a demonic haunt of evil actions, only to be avoided by the wise.
Since these points were taught by Padmasambhava,
They should be learned by all who wish for liberation.

This concludes the first section, being an explanation of the locations for cultivating samādhi, from ‘Finding Comfort and Ease in Meditation on the Great Perfection’.

Establishing the Nature of Reality

First, devote yourself to understanding the nature of reality.
Although it takes many forms, depending on the Vehicle,
The definitive essence is the indivisible reality
Which is the secret treasury of all Buddhas.

It is the natural transparency intuition
Beginninglessly peaceful, free from perplexity.
Like sun and sky, spontaneous and uncreated.
Since its natural great purity is primally present,
It is vision and voidness inseparable,
Free of proof and rejection, going and coming.

Beyond the realm of superficial determinations and distinctions,
Its indivisible reality is neither proven nor unproven,
Experientially vision an voidness are nondual;
This reality is called "indivisible."

The changeless nature of ultimate reality
Is transparency, the Bliss Lord of essence, spontaneity,
Natural indivisible awareness of clarity-void.

This is the mandala of natural spontaneity
Primal natural perfection, essence of enlightenment,
Purity, unfabricated, free from partiality,
Profound peace, body and wisdom inseparable.


Though you possess natural enlightenment,
It is hidden by the earth of body, speech, and eightfold mind,
So you stay poor, impoverished by the ills of life.
Just as a clairvoyant person can see
And find a way to take out the treasure
To perfect the wealth of self and other,
So the holy ones teach that reality
And show how enlightenment can be found within,
The wish-granting gem that fulfills both aims.

Just as a lamp in a vase might be bright
But cannot illuminate, blocked by the vase,
So the essential Truth Body abides within
Yet does not show, blocked by the vase of obscuration.

But it does show when the vase is broken,
Just as the world lamp illumines all lands,
When all obscurations are removed.


When the petals open, it is clear,
There is great liberation from the lotus of duality.
The three Buddha Bodies become naturally evident.

Thus please understand the reality
That ultimate-realm translucency
Exists within yourself!

This reality has names of many different kinds.
It is "the realm that transcends life and liberation
And the primally present "natural spontaneity,"
As the "essential realm" obscured by defilements,
As the "ultimate truth," the condition of reality,
As the originally pure "stainless translucency,"
As the "central reality" that dispels extremisms,
As the "transcendent wisdom" beyond fabrications,
As the "indivisible reality" clear-void-purity,
As the "Suchness" reality free of death transitions.

Such names are accepted by the clear-seeing wise.

Not understanding this, one adopts a nihilistic voidness,
Though claiming to avoid extremes of being and nothing,
Since one does not know the ground of freedom
And longs to escape to the peak of existence,
One falls outside this profound teaching,
Sits empty-minded, fit to rub with dust!

The Teacher taught the treasury of Dharma,
The path of the pinnacle, clear light, essence of all,
The "reality of the ground spontaneity."
Understanding this ultimate profound view,
Liberates one from resistance and obscuration,
frees from all absolutism and nihilism.

One's practice is fruitful, one soon becomes enlightened,,
One gains the eye to see all Sutras and Tantras.
Therefore be sure to realize the reality of clear light!

http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Budd...%20Reality.htm