Continued From Page One
This view of samaya dovetails perfectly with what Laozi suggests in verse 38 of his Daode Jing: “The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self,” and that it is only when “Tao is lost” -- i.e. that we have forgotten that we already are the Truth or Reality which we seek -- that “one must learn the rules of virtue.” To perceive all appearances as inseparable from emptiness -- what both Chokyi Nyima and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche suggest in the passage and poem above -- is in Taoism referred to as perceiving the ten-thousand-things (i.e.
all phenomena) as the “dance of Tao.”
To actualize this understanding is typically a three-step process. The first step is to come to a conceptual understanding, which gives rise to commitment at the level of mind. The second step is to realize directly what we have understood conceptually, so that our commitment flows spontaneously out of experience. The third step is to embody more and more fully our understanding, in every aspect of our lives: to express our understanding and realization, through our thoughts and words and actions, moment by moment -- which tends to look, incidentally, very similar to what is suggested by the various Buddhist or Taoist precepts. In other words, by keeping this deepest level of samaya -- i.e. by taking our stand, again and again, in and as Truth, as (transpersonal, timeless, luminously-awake, nondual) Reality itself -- our seemingly “personal” actions will quite naturally arise in alignment with conventional codes of conduct, and be perceived as “virtuous.”
Just a few examples here of how specifically Taoist practices can support us in maintaining what our Tibetan Buddhist friends have identified as the deepest level of samaya:
* To experience our seemingly solid body as a matrix of flowing energy, i.e. as qi/chi, is a step in the direction of actualizing bliss-emptiness, and of seeing the physical body in alignment with appearance-emptiness.
* To engage our vision in the way suggested in the flower-gazing practice is a step in the direction of actualizing appearance-emptiness and, to the extent that the practice generates various physical sensations, which can then be released into the surrounding space, of actualizing bliss-emptiness.
* To notice the dissolving of the sounds utilized in the Healing Sounds practices into the space of the various organs, is a step in the direction of actualizing sound-emptiness.
All of the above can be very interesting ways of exploring the dream-like, mirage-like, illusory quality of the phenomenal world -- and in gently challenging any materialist assumptions that may be lingering, and preventing us from honoring fully our commitment to Truth. Eventually, the kind of perception facilitated by these exercises will arise naturally, at which point it will no longer be necessary to engage in them formally, unless it’s simply for our own enjoyment.
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Samaya & The Taoist Understanding Of Virtue
This view of samaya dovetails perfectly with what Laozi suggests in verse 38 of his Daode Jing: “The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self,” and that it is only when “Tao is lost” -- i.e. that we have forgotten that we already are the Truth or Reality which we seek -- that “one must learn the rules of virtue.” To perceive all appearances as inseparable from emptiness -- what both Chokyi Nyima and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche suggest in the passage and poem above -- is in Taoism referred to as perceiving the ten-thousand-things (i.e.
all phenomena) as the “dance of Tao.”
Three Steps To Actualizing Our Deepest Commitment
To actualize this understanding is typically a three-step process. The first step is to come to a conceptual understanding, which gives rise to commitment at the level of mind. The second step is to realize directly what we have understood conceptually, so that our commitment flows spontaneously out of experience. The third step is to embody more and more fully our understanding, in every aspect of our lives: to express our understanding and realization, through our thoughts and words and actions, moment by moment -- which tends to look, incidentally, very similar to what is suggested by the various Buddhist or Taoist precepts. In other words, by keeping this deepest level of samaya -- i.e. by taking our stand, again and again, in and as Truth, as (transpersonal, timeless, luminously-awake, nondual) Reality itself -- our seemingly “personal” actions will quite naturally arise in alignment with conventional codes of conduct, and be perceived as “virtuous.”
The Samayas Of Taoist Practice
Just a few examples here of how specifically Taoist practices can support us in maintaining what our Tibetan Buddhist friends have identified as the deepest level of samaya:
* To experience our seemingly solid body as a matrix of flowing energy, i.e. as qi/chi, is a step in the direction of actualizing bliss-emptiness, and of seeing the physical body in alignment with appearance-emptiness.
* To engage our vision in the way suggested in the flower-gazing practice is a step in the direction of actualizing appearance-emptiness and, to the extent that the practice generates various physical sensations, which can then be released into the surrounding space, of actualizing bliss-emptiness.
* To notice the dissolving of the sounds utilized in the Healing Sounds practices into the space of the various organs, is a step in the direction of actualizing sound-emptiness.
All of the above can be very interesting ways of exploring the dream-like, mirage-like, illusory quality of the phenomenal world -- and in gently challenging any materialist assumptions that may be lingering, and preventing us from honoring fully our commitment to Truth. Eventually, the kind of perception facilitated by these exercises will arise naturally, at which point it will no longer be necessary to engage in them formally, unless it’s simply for our own enjoyment.
*
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