The Essence of Dharma
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu
I am sure many of you already follow Dharma teachings, so this evening I would like to go more into the essence of Dharma. Why? Because already everyone's life is very busy. First of all, we don't have much time to learn very Dharma in a very detailed way. Secondly, even if we learn something, it is not so easy to apply. If we do not apply or practice it has no benefit. Dharma is something like medicine. We need medicine because we have problems; physical problems. So when we have medicine, what do we do? We must take the medicine and we follow the advice of a doctor. Otherwise even if we have good medicine, there is no benefit. The same thing with Dharma; we can learn. Dharma is also something useful for living this life. Of course, if we believe there is some continuation of our life then Dharma is still more useful. Even then, Dharma becomes something useful only if we know how to apply it, how to integrate into our condition, particularly in daily life. For that purpose we need to understand the essence. What is the real essence of Dharma? It is not only understanding the different kinds of traditions; different traditions are secondary. Within the essence of all traditions - all traditions which follow Dharma teaching, the teaching of Buddha - there is no difference. We have many kinds of traditions within the teaching of Buddha. We have these different traditions because there are many different kinds of people with different kinds of capacities and different kinds of judgments. Even if one teacher is giving a teaching, then later, for example, ten students have ten different ideas and ten different ways of understanding. Maybe not all ten students create ten different schools, but some are created. Someone who is more active creates a school, a tradition, and many different kinds of traditions arise. But the essence must be same. This doesn't mean that we should go after multiplying traditions; actually we can do the reverse. We can try to understand the essence of what Buddha taught, why Buddha taught, and which kind of benefit we have if we follow the teaching. I think these things are really very, very important. I want to give you a little idea about this from my experience. Because I have studied the Dharma for many years - Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen - I have my experience. When we study or follow a teaching, why are we following the teaching? We study in order to have knowledge, to discover the real sense, how we can integrate, and how we can have a kind of realization. That is the purpose. So when we learn or follow a teaching for all of our lives, in the end we arrive, more or less. Sometimes we arrive very late. We are always judging, thinking, creating, so many things. Sometimes we can arrive a little earlier, if we are fortunate, meeting teachers who really give the essence of the teaching. Or we know how we should go on the path and learn; sometimes we have that possibility. I will give you an example of myself. When I was small child I entered the monastery and received an education, a monastic education, learning many things like how we do prayers in the monastery. Later, when I was nine years old, I entered college. Finally we studied some real Dharma. Even if we study Sutra, we are trying to understand what the path is, what it is for, etc. After five years I studied in college, mainly Sutra teaching, and then I felt, "Now I know everything". Really, I felt that way. I finished my college, and went to another college, two different colleges, for comparing studies, etc. and it seemed that I learned very well. I never thought, "I don't know Dharma". Or, that I was not being in the sense of Dharma. Later, when I was seventeen or eighteen years old, I met one of my teachers, a Dzogchen teacher, and received Dzogchen teachings from him. I had received teachings many times before, I had met many Dzogchen teachers, but had received that teaching in a more traditional way. They gave initiations, empowerments, some instructions through some books, etc., and we learned and thought, "Now I know that, I am an expert of that". Finally I discovered I was not really being in the knowledge of the teaching but I believed I knew everything. Also, my teacher, when we talked, before I received the essence of the teaching, he told me many times, "Your mouth is Madhyamika and your nose is Logic". I always thought he said that because he didn't go to college. He didn't study for many years like me. I thought, "He is good practitioner, but he is not scholar". This was my idea. Then later, when he really transmitted the essence of the Dzogchen teaching, I discovered I had really built my idea of knowledge, something like building a castle of my idea of study, knowledge, understanding, and I was living in that. So of course, when my teacher transmitted, I discovered that and my construction of the castle collapsed. Finally I understood how we should learn the teaching and how we should be in the teaching, so this is my experience.
Teaching through Experience
Later, many years ago in Italy, when I started to teach, I thought the best way to teach was through my experience. I knew that people who were interested were not really interested in learning only in a traditional way, but wanted to have knowledge and realization; some benefit for themselves. I knew how they could have benefit. If we really know the essence of the teaching, then we can have benefit. We can also integrate in our existence. Of course, sometimes when I give some kinds of lectures, particularly like seminars of Buddhist philosophy at a university, for example, I do it in a more traditional way. Otherwise they believe I don't know Madhyamika; I don't know this or that thing. But when I am teaching people so they can have benefit, then I go very much with my experience. For that reason I want to inform you a little about this and maybe you can have benefit. When we are following Dharma, any kind of Dharma - Sutra, Tantra - most important is that first of all we know our condition, not Dharma. We are following Dharma; Dharma is for us, we are not for Dharma. That is important. If Dharma is for us, we must understand our condition. In our condition as a human being we have three existences, which in Tibetan are called "go sum." "Go" means "door", like a gate from which we enter and from where we go outside. "Sum" means three. Everybody has three gates or three doors. What are these three gates? Our body, speech and mind. Body means the physical body and is easy to understand. Speech or voice means more on the energy level; the physical body has energy. Then there is mind and mind is the main thing in individual existence. These three are what we call the three gates. Why do we call them the three gates? If we want to go to visit something inside a place, for example, a museum or somewhere, we must go through a door or a gate. Sometimes we also need to buy tickets. Otherwise we couldn't go in. When we arrive inside, if we go regularly, we discover everything, which is inside. If we don't go through the door, we can't get inside. If we don't go inside we can't discover what is there. It is the same thing if we want knowledge and understanding of Dharma, what the essence Dharma is, or the teaching of Buddha, then we should go through our three gates. That means with our body, speech and mind. If we are already in our existence then we know our three gates and if we want to go outside, for example, we are now in samsara and we want to get outside of samsara, maybe liberating from samsara, in which way can we have liberation? We should go through three gates. Learning the teaching, path, applying, with our energy, physical body, etc., we can then have realization. The three gates are indispensable. The three gates are not only learning and getting in the knowledge, but everything. The teaching, methods, all existence, if we observe well, everything is related with the three gates. There is nothing not related. In this case the three gates become a kind of key for the teaching and for the path. Why do we call it speech instead of energy? Because when we say speech, speech is related with our breathing and with breathing we produce speech. Breathing is related with our energy, our vital energy. Prana. Breathing is our life. If we are alive it means we are inhaling and exhaling. If we interrupt inhaling or exhaling, there is no more life. Life is breathing. This is one reason. Another reason is that when we speak of our real condition, in the Sutra teaching, we say our real condition or nature is emptiness, shunyata. Emptiness has infinite potentiality; energy manifestation. If there is no manifestation or energy, then shunyata, emptiness, has no sense. That is our real condition. How does everything manifest from emptiness? Through our energy. Something like the sky. When we say sky we know the sky is empty. There is nothing concrete in the sky. But in this emptiness everything manifests. In a very simple way, for example, sometimes we have very nice blue sky, a nice day, and then we observe clouds manifesting suddenly. They are not coming from anywhere, but they manifest and become bigger. That is an example. From emptiness, there is manifestation. So the way of manifestation, particularly in a teaching like Dzogchen, is explained through the development of sound. Sound is the source of all manifestation. From emptiness manifests sound, from sound manifests lights, and then lights develop rays, the different colors of the five elements, and then all manifests, like pure and impure vision, which we speak of in Tantric teaching. When we speak of sound we must not think only of ordinary sound. We immediately have that idea. Sound. But sound has different kinds of sounds. The teaching explains outer, inner, and secret sound. Outer sound is what we hear in the ear; good or bad, nice or ugly, for example, everything, which we hear. Inner sound we don't hear in the ear. We discover and feel it through vibrations. Secret sound can't be discovered through vibration. If we have such knowledge and understanding then we discover that; that potentiality, the root potentiality. For that reason, speech is sound. Voice is sound. We are producing that sound through our breathing. That is one reason it has a much larger sense than if we only say energy. For example, in Tantric teaching, sometimes we say Vajrayana, the vehicle of Vajra, and sometimes we say Tantrayana, the vehicle of Tantra, but many times we say Mantrayana, which is a very general name. Mantra means sound. Sound is related to the base of energy; this is the reason why we call it speech. These three - body, speech, and mind - are the three gates. When we say body it doesn't mean only our physical body, but everything related with the physical body, everything on the material level. Subject, object, everything is part of our body. If we think of a person, the condition of a person, number one is mind, then energy, and then the physical body. The physical body is related to the physical dimension in which we live; the subject, object, and everything. The teachings also go in that way.
Sutra and Tantra
For example, there are Sutra and Tantra teachings; these are very famous in Buddhism. What do Sutra and Tantra mean? Sutra and Tantra are Sanskrit. Sutra means conclusion; the conclusion of an event. For example, when Buddha was in India he gave a teaching every day. There were many students, sometimes important Indian kings, Dharma kings, and they invited Buddha and his students somewhere and the students asked Buddha to give specific teachings or some explanation of something in a specific way. Then, of course, Buddha explained, gave that teaching, and at the end he finished the teaching. When he finished the teaching, the king and all the people present were very happy and thanked the Buddha for receiving this teaching. That's normal, no? Then later, someone like Ananda or another student of Buddha wrote down, "One day Buddha went someplace, like [Rajgur?], for example, and then the King of [Rajgur] asked for this kind of teaching and Buddha taught and explained this way". Buddha taught and explained and when he finished the teaching and everybody was satisfied, they thanked Buddha. That is the end of the Sutra. What was written down, the event of that day, that is one Sutra. Then they were given different titles. For example, "The Sutra of the request of this King", or "The Sutra request of this place", "The Sutra of these people", etc. There are many these kinds of Sutra teaching. Sutra teaching is related more to the physical level. When we say the three gates, it is more on the physical level. Why? Because first of all Buddha, the real Buddha state of the condition of Buddha is not the physical body. It is Dharmakaya. Dharma means all phenomena; kaya means its dimension. The real dimension of all phenomena is emptiness. Dharmakaya is not something we can see or touch. Buddha is in the Dharmakaya and communicates the teaching to beings. How can it be communicated? For communication we need a Buddha, not Dharmakaya, but we need a Buddha, which we can see so we can talk with him. In this case, Buddha manifests a physical body, like a human being. So we can talk to each other; Buddha can talk and we can listen, we can hear, and this is on a physical level. Also the teaching is on a physical level and Buddha taught many of these kinds of teachings on a more physical level. For example, with the explanation of karma - cause and effect - you understand this already and I don't want to explain. I am sure you all know the Four Noble Truths. This the first thing Buddha taught. What is the main point of the Four Noble Truths? To explain cause and effect. Buddha is not explaining the cause first, but the effect. Why? Because people understand effect more easily. If someone gives me a punch, I feel pain. That is the effect. I wouldn't say, "Oh, I don't feel anything". I feel. So Buddha is saying that we have suffering. The noble truth of suffering; all sentient beings have suffering. There is no one who has no suffering and also no one likes to suffer. Everybody agrees with Buddha. No one would discuss or argue with Buddha. Otherwise, if Buddha explained the cause first, maybe many people wouldn't agree. They have a different way of seeing and they argue instead of learn. So Buddha explained suffering and everybody said, "Yes, it is true, we have suffering", and then Buddha asked, "Do you like to have suffering?" Everybody said, "No, we don't like it." So Buddha offered an idea: If you don't want to suffer, then the solution is not that you fight with suffering. In general we act in that way. We live that way. When there are problems we struggle. We make a revolution. Buddha gives a teaching, which is not a solution because suffering is an effect. With the function of the effect you can learn or discover what the cause is. That is all. No struggle. So why do you have suffering? Because there is cause. If you don't want to have suffering, then you discover what the cause is. It is very easy. In the same way when we go to a doctor, you arrive there and the doctor says, "What did you eat yesterday? What did you do, what was your attitude?" etc. Why does he ask this? Because he wants to discover which is the effect and the cause. Then the Buddha taught the second noble truth of karma, the cause, then cause and effect, and then the third noble truth of how we stop this. In this case, the teaching is more related to the physical level because there are many people who have no capacity. Buddha explained: to not have suffering you should do meditation. Many people don't understand what doing meditation means. It is a very simple way to not create negative karma. With your body you don't do these things, for example. With your voice, you don't insult, you don't lie, etc., with your mind, you don't think bad things for others, etc., and so as to not commit negativities he gave vows. There are also different levels of vows. These teachings are characteristically more related to the physical level. When we take these kinds of vows, we take these vows until we die. We don't take this kind of vow until we have total realization. For example, we say we don't kill animals. For killing animals what we could do? We do something, we act with our physical body. We are not only doing something like magic power for killing. Most people in general are acting. If we have no physical body after death, how we can kill animals? Not so easy. That's an example of how everything, like vows, and all these things, are related more to the physical level. Characteristic of this teaching, of how Buddha taught Sutra, is the path of renunciation. Renunciation means renouncing all causes of negative karma. When we know, if I do this, if I apply this, it becomes a cause for creating some cause for negativity. We renounce that. The path of renunciation means more on a physical level. That kind of teaching is related more with our physical level. But it doesn't mean that we don't need our level of energy or voice or mind. Of course, we need all. They go together always. But mainly it is related with the physical level. This is one characteristic of this path of teaching. Another path and characteristic of teaching is Tantrism. In this case, what does Tantra mean? Tantra is Sanskrit and means continuation, without interruption. Something is continuing, mainly our energy. How does it continue? Because through energy we have manifestation. But from where did this manifestation originate? This, of course, is our real condition, emptiness. So in Tantrism, these two are called emptiness and clarity. From emptiness manifests clarity. How we can understand that? It is very easy. For example, if we observe ourselves, our thoughts, our minds, how does our mind manifest? The mind manifests with thoughts. When we are observing thoughts they disappear. We look, where is thought, how is thought? From where did this thought originate? Where did this thought disappear? We can do research, but we can't find anything. What we find always is emptiness. Why do we always find emptiness? Because the source of all this manifestation is emptiness. We are getting there. Even if we can't find anything, it doesn't mean that now all thoughts disappear. Immediately another thought arrives. We are thinking, "Oh, I can't find anything."; that is thought. You observe it, and that disappears, and you can't find anything. But the thought immediately arises. This is our real nature. Our real condition. In Sutra teaching, there is not much emptiness and clarity. Only emptiness. Why? Because Sutra is more related to the physical level, so its nature is emptiness. It has nothing very much to do with energy or dealing with energy. In Tantrism, the main point of the path is the energy level. So that is how the teaching developed, how Buddha taught, how he communicated. Originally through manifestations; not like Sutra teaching. In the Sutra teaching, one day Buddha is going somewhere and teaching and people are listening. Tantrism is not like that. Who followed Tantrism from the beginning? People who already had such kind of realization. For example, we say in India, in ancient history, there were many kinds of Mahasiddhas. Mahasiddhas mean people who are realized. So Mahasiddhas receive this kind of teaching through their vision, but when Mahasiddhas receive a teaching through vision, it doesn't mean that all people at that place can receive that teaching. They couldn't see it because manifestations are not on a physical level. Manifestations are the nature of elements and we can't see the nature of elements. We do not have that capacity, in general. If we can see, it means we have such realization or have developed our clarity. So the teaching comes transmitted that way. Many principal teachings of Tantrism came through manifestations, not always by Buddha explaining something; not through oral teaching. Just by manifestation, with manifestation, the knowledge and understanding were received through clarity. So with this characteristic teaching, later when realized beings like Mahasiddhas transmitted to ordinary people, they listened to the teacher, received that empowerment with visualization, and entered in the pure dimension with this idea. That is called entering into a transformation method. It is not an ordinary way. Being in the transformation state, for example, our being, our existence, is not in the ordinary way, but we manifest how some enlightened being manifested, like Hevajra, Kalachakra, some these kinds of manifestations. Also the individual has then many different kinds of functions like five elements, five emotions, etc., and they all have movement and actions. So all this manifests like deities in personified form. And our dimension, not our ordinary impure dimension, manifests as a pure dimension and that is called a mandala. So when we are learning Tantrism, through the figures of deities and mandalas is how we enter. For example, how do we enter into a state of transformation? When the teacher gives initiation it means they introduce that, bring that in because we can't directly have contact with enlightened beings like Hevajra or Buddha. We do so through manifestations. So we go slowly, slowly and enter with this method. That means that the people who follow this kind of teaching have a little more capacity than the ordinary person, because ordinary people do not so easily understand what it means to enter into transformation, or transforming, or working with our energy. Our energy level is more complicated than the physical body. The physical body we can see, we can touch, we can have contact with concretely. For example, if someone is coming, immediately we can understand and recognize who that person is. How can we recognize? Because we see the physical body, not because we see the energy of that person. If that person has no physical body, only an energy level, and they come here and present themselves in front of us, we couldn't see them. So you see, for seeing or discovering that, we need that capacity. That is why Sutra and Tantra are different. Tantrism is called the path of transformation. Transformation means that we have mainly five emotions and when we include the five emotions, we include three root emotions. These three emotions then transform into wisdom, three wisdoms. Which way do they transform? For that reason there are manifestations like deities, wrathful manifestations, peaceful manifestations, and joyful manifestations. Three kinds. Why do we need three kinds? Because we have three different emotions: attachment, anger and ignorance. Ignorance doesn't mean that we have no education, but ignorance means we are ignorant of our real nature, we do not know it. That means we are missing clarity. So there are three kinds of manifestations to transform these three emotions. It is not sufficient that we only know that that method exists and we can transform. For having the capacity to transform, firstly we receive initiation, introduction on the path, we apply and become really familiar with these methods, and then maybe we can transform. For example, when we are angry with someone, if we increase that anger in an ordinary way; that is the cause of samsara, the cause of suffering. It can create so many problems. But we can transform it, transform it by manifesting the wrathful form of Vajrapani, for example. If we are familiar with that when we feel really angry, instead of impure vision, thinking I am here, he is there, he makes me angry, now I am angry, we can transform. Immediately we transform into pure vision, pure dimension and then we manifest wrathful Vajrapani. So once we have changed our physical body and energy, we can continue. We can have more benefit now from transforming anger. When we are very peaceful, we don't have any problems, we pretend to be very angry and manifest as wrathful, but we don't feel really very much. When we are really angry we can feel it.
Renunciation, Transformation and Self Liberation
So that is the way. That means in Tantrism when we feel angry we do not stop it, we do not block it, but continue in pure vision, not impure vision. Not that we manifest Vajrapani to fight with him or her. That is impure vision. So this is more or less characteristic of the path of Tantrism; transformation. I have told you already, Tantra means without interruption, continuation. Continuation, clarity, and emptiness, that is our nature. We discover that. We know that, and then by being in that state we can get in the real knowledge through clarity or emptiness. So these are the two paths related with body, the aspect of body, and aspect more of the energy level of speech. Then we have the path mainly related with our mind. That is the kind of teaching like Dzogchen. What is Dzogchen? Dzogchen is not Tantra or Sutra. Dzogchen is a method which goes directly to the level of mind; through mind to nature of mind. So the characteristic of the path also is not transformation, not renunciation, but is called self-liberation. What does that mean, self-liberation? Self-liberation means, for example, in Sutra, if we have some problem, to overcome that problem we need some kind of antidote. For example, when we are angry, then we try to do a visualization, or apply something, like compassion. This is the antidote. If there is a fire, the antidote is water. We need water. If we put water on fire, then there are less problems. That is an example. This is characteristic of Sutra. In Tantra, we transform. For example, when we are angry, we do not look for an antidote, but we transform. What is the difference? When we say transform, transforming means transforming emotions or passions, something in general we consider negative, but its nature is the same nature as wisdom. There are not two different natures, they only manifest in different ways, two aspects, the pure and impure aspect. The pure aspect manifestation manifests like wisdom. Impure, in this case, become emotions, passions. But the nature is the same. For that reason, in Tantrism they use the example of gold. Gold has value; gold is considered a very precious object. So we can take an ornament of gold, like a statue of gold, and make a statue of Buddha, a golden Buddha, and then everyone thinks there is a very nice golden statue of Buddha. Particularly people who follow Buddhism, they have devotion and think this is a very nice golden Buddha, and bring flowers, incense, offer something, and pray, etc. We do this. But then, this statue of Buddha can be transformed one day because someone doesn't like having a statue of Buddha but they like gold. They can transform it and make another ornament or something; they can make an ashtray, a golden ashtray. Very elegant. The nature of gold does not change, it is always the same gold, but now the aspect has changed. In this case, no one is going to pray, or offer flowers or incense, but now they throw cigarettes or something dirty inside. That is an example. This is a very important example in Tantrism to make an understanding of what transformation means. The nature has not changed. There is not this explanation in Sutra. We say, for example, Buddha seed, Buddha nature. Everybody has it. But it doesn't mean that it is related with our energy level. This is a Tantric aspect. So in the Sutra teaching, if we have emotions we consider that negative. We throw them away. and they have no value. We do not think they have the same nature as wisdom. So you see, the point of view is different. When we apply Tantrism, transformation becomes very important, to transform into pure vision; like the mandala, deities, five wisdoms, etc. In this case it is very important that the practitioner has an idea of pure and impure vision, since they are transforming. In Dzogchen, when we say self-liberation, we don't need that. In Dzogchen, we know very well we are in samsara. Samsara is impure condition. But we don't need to consider, "Oh, this is impure vision, now we need to transform into pure vision." This is a Tantric point of view. In Dzogchen, pure or impure vision, there is no difference. It is the same.
Public Talk, Berkeley California, May 1, 2001
Transcribed by Anastasia McGhee Edited by Naomi Zeitz
Bron: http://www.dhost.info/atiyoga/dzogchen/essence.htm
