Khenpo Tsultrim RinpocheWhen we rub two sticks together that produces a fire that will eventually cease. However, the fire doesn’t come from anywhere when it starts to burn the sticks, and it doesn’t go anywhere when it dies out. Fire is empty of coming and going.
Similarly, ignorance – clinging to the belief in a self, the mental afflictions, or suffering – does not come from anywhere and does not go anywhere.
We can apply this to our dreams: whatever appears in dreams, be it happiness or suffering, does not come from anywhere and it does not go anywhere.
All phenomena are empty of coming and going.
Tag Archives: dream
Not a buddha yet ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheAs Buddha said in the Prajnaparamita Sutra, all phenomena are like a dream and an illusion, even enlightenment is like a dream and an illusion. And if there is anything greater or grander than enlightenment, that, too, is like a dream and an illusion. His disciple, the great Nagarjuna, wrote that the Lord Buddha has not stated that after abandoning samsara there exists nirvana. The nonexistence of samsara is nirvana. A knife becomes sharp as the result of two exhaustions — the exhaustion of the whetstone and the exhaustion of the metal. In the same way, enlightenment is the result of the exhaustion of defilements and the exhaustion of the antidote of the defilements. Ultimately one must abandon the path to enlightenment. If you still define yourself as a Buddhist, you are not a buddha yet.
Dreamlike world ~ Nagarjuna
NagarjunaThe object of knowledge in dream is not seen when one awakes. Similarly the world disappears to him who is awakened from the darkness of ignorance.
The eight similes of illusion ~ Patrul Rinpoche
Patrul RinpocheAs in a dream, all the external objects perceived with the five senses are not there, but appear through delusion.
As in a magic show, things are made to appear by a temporary conjunction of causes, circumstances and connections.
As in a visual aberration, things appear to be there, yet there is nothing.
As in a mirage, things appear but are not real.
As in an echo, things can be perceived but there is nothing there, either outside or inside.
As in a city of gandharvas, there is neither a dwelling nor anyone to dwell.
As in a reflection, things appear but have no reality of their own.
As in a city created by magic, there are all sorts of appearances but they are not really there.
Mere appearance ~ Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche
Khenpo Tsultrim RinpocheIn a dream there’s nothing substantial but there is the mere appearance of something substantial. Thus, its true nature transcends both existence and nonexistence. Its true nature is not something we can describe with these kinds of terms, because it is beyond any type of thing we might be able to think up about it. And so, just like a flower that appears in a dream, all phenomena that appear, wherever they appear, are the same. They all appear in terms of being a mere appearance. There is nothing substantial to them, and their true nature transcends both existence and nonexistence and any other idea. All phenomena that appear to us in this life are exactly the same.
Know that mind is the unity of clarity and emptiness ~ Mipham Rinpoche
Mipham RinpocheThe manifold mind, like a dream and an illusion,
Has no nature when analyzed;
All perceptions have the nature of the moon reflected in water.
Know that mind is the unity of clarity and emptiness.When this is not merely conceptually determined, but
Comes to be understood within self-awareness, then
The wisdom body of all the buddhas –
The essential nature of the Dharma, the innate mind, and
The definitive meaning of the youthful Manjushri –
Is directly seen by nonconceptual awareness.
The union of appearance and emptiness ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpocheWhen you dream of an elephant, does an elephant appear to your mind? Indeed it appears very clearly. Is there an elephant there? No. This appearance of an elephant in your dream is a union of appearance and emptiness. It appears, yet it does not exist – yet it appears. It is the same with all external phenomena. If we understand the example of the appearance of something in a dream, it is easier to understand how the mind appears yet does not exist, and does not exist yet appears.
Seen no more ~ Shantideva
ShantidevaAll that I possess and use
Is like the fleeting vision of a dream.
It fades into the realms of memory;
And fading, will be seen no more.