All the philosophical theories that exist have been created by the mistaken dualistic minds of human beings. In the realm of philosophy, that which today is considered true, may tomorrow be proved to be false. No one can guarantee a philosophy’s validity. Because of this, any intellectual way of seeing whatever is always partial and relative. The fact is that there is no truth to seek or to confirm logically; rather what one needs to do is to discover just how much the mind continually limits itself in a condition of dualism.
Dualism is the real root of our suffering and of all our conflicts. All our concepts and beliefs, no matter how profound they may seem, are like nets which trap us in dualism. When we discover our limits we have to try to overcome them, untying ourselves from whatever type of religious, political or social conviction may condition us. We have to abandon such concepts as ‘enlightenment’, ‘the nature of the mind’, and so on, until we are no longer satisfied by a merely intellectual knowledge, and until we no longer neglect to integrate our knowledge with our actual existence.
Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche
from the book Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State
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Further quotes from the book Dzogchen:
- Dont confuse any culture or tradition with the teachings themselves
- Awareness of our own condition
- Integrating one’s practice with one’s life
- We can’t ignore our reality
- Just another concept
- The supreme path for that person
- A state of total presence
- Observing our conditioning first
- The Six Vajra Verses