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“Heart to Heart”

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche responds to a student's question -

An edited excerpt from oral teachings given by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche during Ligmincha Institute's Winter Retreat, 2002.

Student:

How does one know for sure that one is abiding in the nature of mind when one is practicing?

Rinpoche:

How do you know anything? How do you know today is December 30th? How do you know anything - the wall, Tapihritsa? It is like anything else. When you know, you know.

More practice and more learning might help one come to know. Not thinking about it too much, about what's going to happen might help. Not asking "How will I know? How won't I know?" might help.

How do you know you're happy? When you are happy, are you sure you're happy? In that moment, you can ask that question: "I feel happy, but am I really happy?" You can ask that and there might not be a particular answer. If you ask it a second time, you get no answer. If you ask a third time, then maybe your answer is, "Not so happy." Then if you ask a fifth or even a tenth time, now you have become unhappy! [laughs] So actually asking those questions is a way that you can make yourself unhappy when you are happy.

In the same way, when you realize something, by asking too many questions then it isn't really a realization. When you ask the same question more and more and more, then you will not realize it. In the moment of realization, the question does not exist. After realization, then the intellectual mind can look at it.

What is the role of the intellectual mind? What is the role of hearing the teachings? What is the role of reflecting on the teachings? What is the role of trying to make distinctions between each of these points? Of course, the role of all of these is to put all the circumstances together. That's all they can really do. It's like the launching of a rocket. All the scientists can do is put all the pieces together to enable the rocket to launch. The rocket does the rest. So in the same way, all this work we do now is preparing for that very moment. When that moment comes, there is no force that can stop it. It launches. Everything that you are doing here is preparing the proper causes and conditions. It's not that your intellectual mind becomes clearer and clearer and clearer and smarter and smarter and better and better. And then it finally realizes the nature of mind. No! That's the greatest disagreement between dzogchen and sutra. That mind never realizes. But it can help.

In one's spiritual journey, one can see that there are so many things in one's life that can be very beneficial and helpful: teachings, teacher, friends, practice, parents, place, food, heating, sky, window, light, books, photocopies. Just imagine! So many things can be helpful but none of them is about the nature of mind. In the end, it is just you who realizes. The photocopy or the tapes or the friends who are supporting you or the building you live in - they don't become illuminated - it's you. In the end, rigpa realizes it, not anything else. And rigpa never asks these questions that you are asking. That's why it's called rigpa. Rigpa means aware. It is aware of it. When it's aware of it, the question doesn't exist.

To give a more compassionate way of answering the question, even though it is still only verbalizing it, would be to say that it is like the experiences when you are completely in the presence without the experiencer. Not when one is saying, "Yes, this is the one. This is it. I got it and I will not let it go." Not that way. That mind is not there at all. This is important because sometimes when we are teaching we are using a lot of words and some are less important and others more important and maybe there are skips in between. There's a saying, "Abiding in a space in the absence of observer and observed." Just if you hear that, that is what it is. If that is where you are, that is the rigpa. If that is not where you are, that is not rigpa.