Milarepa has taught that, in actuality, mindful awareness and mental afflictions – one’s own awareness and mental afflictions – are not separate, because mental afflictions and concepts are in the nature of emptiness. If one realizes this through meditation, then one realizes that actually wisdom and mental afflictions are non-distinct.

We talk about the five types of primordial awareness, such as the individually discriminating awareness and so forth, but they all have one essential meaning, which is mindful awareness. This mindful awareness is similar to fire, and the five mental afflictions are like fuel for the fire, the wood. When wood is burned up by the fire, then the wood itself becomes fire, and the fire gets ever stronger. Therefore the mental afflictions are not separate from one’s primordial awareness. They are primordial awareness; this is the view of mahamudra.

Garchen Rinpoche

translated by Ina Bieler


source: https://www.facebook.com/garcheninstitute/posts/429145737134870


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