8/10/2019 Med Strayings

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EightStrayingsfromMahamudra

OralcommentarybyKenMcLeod

June

2007

LampofMahamudra

by

Tse

leNa

tsok

Rang

dro

l

ClarifyingtheNaturalState

by

Da

kpo

Tas

hiNamgya

l

basic

straying

Clingingtoemptine

ss.

Notunderstandingthatthemind-

essenceistheunityofa

ppearanceand

emptinessendowedwiththesupreme

ofallaspects,theunobstructed

interdependenceofcauseandeffect,

youslipintofocusingonthe

emptyaspect.

Insteadofrecognizingtheessential

pointofthetrain

ingtobetheindivisible

unityofperceptionandemptiness,to

disregardgooda

ndevilbythinkingit

isanunrealemp

tystateinwhichfaults

andqualitiesare

totallyinconsequential.

STRAYING

FROM

THEESSENCE

Hav

inga

little

experienceo

f

emp

tiness,

regard

ing

appearancesasa

pro

blem,

or

jus

ttalking

abou

temp

tiness.

t

emporary

straying

Treatingemptiness

asa

thingratherthan

experiencingit.

Althoughyoumayhave

intellectually

understoodthemeaning

ofthenatural

state,experiencehasno

tarisenin

yourself.Or,forgetting

understanding

whichhasarisen,themeaningisnot

presentwithinyourbeing,although

youmightbeabletoexplainthewords

toothers.

Althoughoneha

sunderstoodtheexact

meaningofthee

ssentialtrainingandis

abletoexplainit,thetemporary

strayingistofailtobringitinto

personalexperie

nce.

basic

straying

Regardingthepath

as

somethingoutsideo

f

presentexperience,

you

wantsomethingoth

erthan

whatyoureexperie

ncing.

Whilewhatisneededatpresentisthe

pathitself,youdesireto

attainsome

otherresultlateron.

Insteadofrecognizingthatthetraining

istheindivisible

unityofpathand

fruitionandthat

thisfruitionispresent

asanaturalposs

ession,onebelieves

thepathisthetraining,whilethe

fruitionwillbea

ttainedatanotherpoint.

STRAYING

FROM

THEPATH

an

tic

ipa

ting

the

resu

ltso

fprac

tice

t

emporary

straying

Doingthepracticeinthe

presentisntenough,one

graspsforcertainm

ental

statesratherthanor

dinary

wakefulness.

Toregardthesustainingofthe

ordinarywakefulessofyourmindas

insufficientwhileyoud

esirea

magnificentmind-made

meditation

andthensearchforitelsewhere.

Althoughonepo

ssessestheexact

training,todistrustitandseekit

elsewhere,hopin

gforsomething

superior,ortom

editatewhileadding

somethingbetter.

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EightStrayingsfromMahamudra(continued)

basic

straying

Tryingtofixemotions,

oneusesvarioustechniques

ratherthanjustknowing

theessenceofemotions.

Whensomethingsucha

sadisturbing

emotionarises,nottoknowhowto

takeitsessenceasthep

athandinstead

tomeditateonsomeoth

ertechnique.

Insteadofrecognizingthetrainingas

theindivisibleunityofdiscardand

remedy,andthatbyknowingyour

naturalfacethediscardbecomesits

ownremedy,toregardtheemotionto

bediscardedand

thetrainingas

separate,andso

tousethetrainingas

aremedyagainsttheemotion.

STRAYING

FROM

THEREMEDY

try

ing

tofixemo

tions

t

emporary

straying

Suppressingorbloc

king

emotionstogetrid

of

disturbancebefore

meditating.

Notknowinghowtotakewhatever

arises,suchasathought,asthepath,

buttoblockoffthatinstance,orhaving

todestroyitbeforerestingin

meditation.

Wheneverathoughtmovesorwhen

encounteringad

ifficultsituation,to

believeonecanonlybecomposedin

meditationafter

thedifficultyhasbeen

overcome.

basic

straying

Thinkingaboutdescriptions

ofemptinessrather

than

experiencingit.Usingthe

universalcop-outof

everythingisempty

asawayofdismissing

whatarises.

Notunderstandingthatthenaturalstate

ofthemind-essenceisp

rimordially

emptyandrootless,and

fabricating

suchthoughtsasItdoe

snotpossessa

self-nature!orItisem

ptiness!or

Itisjusttemporarilyempty!

Insteadofrecognizingthatthetraining

istheindivisible

unityofmeansand

knowledgeandthatallphenomenaare

theessenceitself,togeneralizewith

conceptualfocusthatphenomenaare

devoidofself-nature.

STRAYING

INTO

GENERALIZATION

dropp

ingou

to

f

experience

byconcep

tua

liz

ing

t

emporary

straying

Thinkingabouthow

nice

yourmeditationis;thinking

thatthinkingaboutresting

isthesameasrestin

g.

Thinking,FormerlyIw

asdistracted

followingafterthoughts,butnowIam

meditatingnicely!and

thenremaining

inthestateofperpetuatingthat

thought,orthinkingyouhave

mindfulnesswhenyoudonot.

Ratherthanputtingthetrainingtouse,

togeneralizeby

wantingtorecreatea

pastexperience,

ortobelievethat

meditationshouldinterruptthoughts:

Iamdissatisfiedwiththepresentstate.

Imustcreateab

etterone!