The Nature of Things

A few lines from Tilopa:

In space, shapes and colors form,

but neither by black or white is space tinged.

From the self-mind all things emerge.

The mind by virtues and voices is not stained.

The darkness of ages cannot shroud the glowing sun;

the long kalpas of samsara ne’er can hide

the mind’s brilliant light.

Though words are spoken to explain the void,

the void as such can never be expressed.

Though we say, “The mind is bright as light,”

it is beyond all words and symbols.

Although the mind is void in essence,

all things it embraces and contains. 

For the sake of keeping an open mind it is good to acknowledge that our surroundings, the space, shapes and forms we perceive are mostly subjective.

What a cow means to you is not the same as for someone in India. A christmas tree only means a source of shadow for some. A certain action can be considered a serious offense, but from another point of view it can convey compassion. Nothing is black nor white beyond perception. Essential human mind is not stained by virtues, these might be culturally defined; neither by voices saying whatever it is that the monkey chatter box happens to be mumbling about.

Quite ironically is the difficulty to grasp enlightenment, and the fact that it is at reach at any given time. The ignorance of which, restrains your life to live without it. You can be a Joe civilian who enjoys the pleasure of living in light, be it dzogchen or mahamudra, and free from the cycle of suffering (samsara). In one instant of light all of the darkness dissolves. It doesn’t matter if a cave has been in darkness for ages, the moment you turn on a light darkness dispels. It does not matter how long you have lived in darkness, the moment you decide it, you can switch the light on. It is a conscious decision of the mind to opt for certain habits.

This is what I can explain in words, but the mere experience of clear mind is only known by the experiencer. It is a wordless experience. All of the emotions in a flow like fireworks in a sudden burst in perfect synergy. As if the whole existence blended in an instant, making the mind inevitably mute. I can imagine it as the theory of additive (light) color mixing, when the mixing of all the primary colors leads to white light. As if the overwhelmed mind has this same. It bursts and lingers in peace… and returning to the previous state of the mind just seems irrational or foolish. But this explanation might seem irrational or too mystic or metaphysical, until you experience, only then, mind acquires a whole different sense. It is a whole new ball game of living, or more like the same ball game, just played differently.

Though we live in a material world as the song says, and hence it is functional to perceive matters. It is one more paradox for the pile, as mind contains all matters on the surface and in between the unconscious, but it contains nothing deep inside. For the sake of functional enlightenment, your mind is to be used as a tool, and you decide how to perceive a given reality. The key is in the awareness of your mental choices.

Sounds like a statement of Dr. Lorentz to describe Einstein’s general principles to tie down the law of relativity, that says namely, that there must be nothing in observable phenomena, which could be attributed to absolute motion of the observer.

It is your (the observer) experience of reality (observable phenomena).