A Lamp to Dispel Darkness

An Instruction that Points Directly to the Very Essence of Mind

In the Tradition of the Old Realized Ones

by Mipham Jampal Dorje

The Homage

Homage to the Lama, inseparable from Majur, the embodiment of wisdom!

Without having to study, contemplate, or train to any great degree,

The Instruction that Cracks Open the Egg-shell of Ignorance

When you leave your mind in a state of natural rest, without thinking any particular thought,
and at the same time maintain some kind of mindfulness, you can experience a state of vacant,
neutral, apathetic indifference, called lungmaten, (a no-mans land), where your
consciousness is dull and blank.

In this, there is not any of the clear insight of vipayan, which discerns things precisely, and
so the masters call it marigpa (non-recognition, ignorance, unknowing). Since you cannot
define it and say This is what its like, or This is it! such a state is called lungmaten
(undecided, indeterminate). And since you cannot say what kind of state it is you are resting
in, or what your mind is thinking, it is also called tha mal tang nyom (an ordinary state of
apathetic indifference). In fact, you are stuck in an ordinary state within the laya.

You need to use such a means of resting the mind, as a stepping stone, so as to give rise to the
non-conceptual state of primordial wisdom. However, if there is not the self-recognition of
primordial wisdom which is our rigpa, then it cannot count as the main (meditation) practice
of Dzogchen. As The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra says:

A blank state, devoid of any thought whatsoever

Therefore, when mind experiences this kind of dull state that lacks any thought or mental
activity, by allowing your attention to turn naturally and gently towards the one who is aware
of this statethe one who is not thinkingyou discover the pure awareness of rigpa, free of
any movement of thought, beyond any notion of outside or inside, unimpeded and open, like
the clear sky.

Although there is no dualistic separation here between an experience and an experiencer, still
the mind is certain about its own true nature, and there is a sense that, There is nothing
whatsoever beyond this. When this occurs, because you can not conceptualize it or express it
in words, it is acceptable to apply such terms as: free from all extremes, beyond
description, the fundamental state of clear light and the pure awareness of rigpa.

As the wisdom of recognizing your own true nature dawns, it clears away the blinding
darkness of confusion, and, just as you can see clearly the inside of your home once the sun
has risen, you gain confident certainty in the true nature of your mind.

This was the instruction (mengak) for cracking open the egg-shell of ignorance (marigpa).

The Instruction for Cutting through the Web of Sasric Existence

When you gain this kind of realization, you understand that this nature of reality has always
been this way, timelessly, that it is not created by any causes or conditions, and that it never
undergoes any kind of transition or change in the past, present or future. At the same time,
you can not find even the tiniest fraction of something called mind that is separate from this
nature.

You could also say that the state of mental blankness we looked at earlier is indescribable, but
it lacks decisiveness, since you are completely unable to describe it in any way. Rigpa, on the
other hand, is in essence indescribable, but at the same time it has a decisive quality that cuts
through any doubt about what is indescribable. So there is a huge difference between these
two kinds of indescribability, like the difference between blindness and perfect vision.

This covers the crucial point of distinguishing between the laya and the dharmakya.

Therefore, because terms like ordinary mind, mental nondoing, inexpressible and so on
are used in two different waysonly one of which is authenticwhen you come to know the
crucial point of how the same words can have a higher level of meaning, you can come to
experience the true meaning of the profound Dharma.

When resting in the essence of mind, some feel that what is to be maintained is a simple
clarity, a simple awareness, and so they settle in a state of ordinary mental consciousness,
thinking, This is clarity. Some focus their attention on the awareness of an absorbing sense
of emptiness, as though their minds had become empty. But, in both cases, there is some
clinging to the dualistic experience of an aspect of ordinary mental consciousness.

When you find yourself in either of these states, look into the innate nature (bab) of that
subtly fixated attentionthe clarity and the one perceiving the clarity, the emptiness and the
one perceiving the emptinessand, by doing so, you will take away the support for the
ordinary consciousness that perceives things dualistically. Then, if you can decisively
recognize the innate nature of your own mind in all its nakednessclear and open, without
any limit or centreand a state of lucid clarity arises, that is what is called, the very essence
of rigpa. With this, as rigpa sheds the covering layer of experiences involving clinging, its
pure and pristine wisdom is laid bare.

This was the instruction for cutting through the web of conditioned existence.

The Instruction for Remaining in the Equalness which is like Space

It is not enough, however, simply to understand the nature of rigpa; you must be able to
remain in that state with some stability through developing familiarity. And so it is very
important that, without becoming distracted, you sustain constant mindfulness, so as to
continue resting in an utterly natural state of awareness.

When you are maintaining that state, at times you might experience a vague and dull state
with no thoughts, while at other times you might experience an unobstructed state (zang thal)
with no thoughts that has the clarity of vipayan. At times, you might experience states of
bliss on which you fixate, while at other times you might experience states of bliss free of
such fixation. At times, you might have various experiences of clarity with grasping, while at
other times you might experience a vivid clarity that is unsullied and free of grasping. At
times, you might have unpleasant and disturbing experiences, while at other times you might
have pleasant and soothing experiences. And at times, you might experience an extreme
turbulence of thoughts which carries your mind away, causing you to lose your meditation;
while at other times, you might experience unclear states of mind because of a failure to
distinguish between mental dullness and vivid clarity.

These and other experiences come about unpredictably and to an extent you can not measure,
like various waves produced by the winds of karma and habitual thoughts, which you have
cultivated throughout beginningless time. It is as though you are on a long journey, during
which you visit all sorts of different placessome of them pleasant, some fraught with danger
but whatever happens, you do not allow it to deter you, and continue on your own path.

In particular, when you are not yet familiar with this practice, and you have the experience of
movement, as all manner of thoughts stir in your mind, like a blazing fire, dont become
discouraged. Maintain the flow of your practice without letting it slip away, and find the right
balance, so that you are neither too tense nor too relaxed. In this way, the more advanced
meditative experiences, such as attainment,[1] will occur one after another.

At this point, investigate the distinction between the recognition and nonrecognition of rigpa,
between laya and dharmakya, and between ordinary awareness and wisdom. Through the
masters pith instructions, and on the basis of your own personal experience, have confidence
in the direct introduction you receive. While you are maintaining this, just as water clears by
itself if you do not stir it, your ordinary awareness will settle in its own nature. So you need to
focus mainly on the instructions which clearly show how the true nature of this awareness is
naturally arising wisdom. Dont analyze with a view to adopting one state and abandoning
another, thinking, What is this that I am cultivating in meditation? Is it ordinary awareness or
wisdom? Nor should you entertain all kinds of speculations based on the understanding you
have gained from books, because doing will only serve to obstruct both amatha and
vipayan.

At some point, the aspect of familiarity or amathawhich here means settling in an utterly
natural way with stable and continuous mindfulnessand vipayanwhich here means the
awareness that knows its own nature by itselfwill merge together automatically. When this
happens, and you gain some stable familiarity with it, you come to understand how the
amatha and vipayan that are the primordial stillness of the natural state and the clear light
of your own nature have always been inseparable, and the naturally arising wisdom that is the
wisdom mind of Dzogpachenpo dawns.

That was the instruction for remaining in the equalness which is like space.

The glorious Saraha said:

Having gone beyond thinker and thinking,

This is the way to be. He also said:

Focus on the masters words and apply great effort

Then, if you have received the masters instructions introducing you to your rigpa:

There is no doubt that your inherent nature will arise.

As he says, the naturally arising wisdom that is minds inherent nature, and which has always
accompanied your ordinary mind from time immemorial, will dawn. This is no different from
the inherent nature of everything, and so it is also called the genuine clear light of the
fundamental nature (nyukma dn gyi sal).

Therefore, this approach of resting in a completely natural state and maintaining the
recognition of your own nature, or rigpa, the very essence of mind, or the nature of
phenomena, is the pith instruction that brings together a hundred crucial points in one. This
is also what you are to maintain continuously.

The true measure of your familiarity with this is the ability to maintain the state of clear light
during sleep. The signs that you are on the right track can be known through your own
experience: your faith, compassion and wisdom will increase automatically, so that realization
will come easily, and you will experience few difficulties. You can be certain about how
profound and swift this approach is if you compare the realization it brings with the
realization gained only through great effort in other approaches.

As a result of cultivating your minds own natural clear light, the obscurations of ordinary
thinking and the habits it creates will be naturally cleared away (sang), and the two aspects of
omniscient wisdom will effortlessly unfold (gy). With this, as you seize the stronghold of
your own primordial nature, the three kyas will be spontaneously accomplished.

Profound! Guhya! Samaya!

This profound instruction was written by Mipham Jampal Dorje on the twelfth day of the
second month, in the Fire Horse year (1906), for the benefit of village yogis and others, who,
while not able to exert themselves too much in study and contemplation, still wish to take the
very essence of mind into experience through practice. It has been set out in language that is
easy to understand, in accordance with the experiential guidance of a great many old realized
masters. Virtue! Mangalam!

| Adam Pearcey, 2005.