Already Here

2023, September, Issue 63

“Dzogchen means our Real Nature . . . We are Dzogchen.”

~Chögyal Namkhai Norbu~

To really discover who we are, first, we need to be realistic.  If we are shopping around for some fantasy that we can believe in, or delving into great intellectual and philosophical explanations, we will never discover who we really are.  I can’t help anyone who is looking for something to believe in.  As I’ve said before, and I’m really reiterating what my Root Master has said as well, belief is completely useless.  We discover who we are through direct experience, just as what I described in my books or when I’ve spoken about my direct experience with our natural condition, while I was in the death bardo.  That’s what discovering reality looks like.  It doesn’t look like a eureka moment, when we have another idea rattling around in our heads.

Even though my books seem quite fantastical, I’m not peddling any sort of belief or fantasy.  I’m endeavoring to help people discover reality for themselves.  Shopping around for something to believe in doesn’t make any sense, if we are looking for reality.  What does make sense is working with your own mind, in order to discover for yourself.

When I became the light of Dharmakaya for an eternity, I discovered with certainty something that I already had discovered through my meditative practices, though I wasn’t certain of it until I had died.  The death bardo is a great place to awaken, because we are completely exposed to everything and beyond.  In that condition, our attachments to life and the fantasies we carry are also exposed.  When we encounter Ultimate Truth, it can be very upsetting, because all of that nonsense becomes completely apparent.  We wanted our beliefs confirmed, but all we got was reality.

I don’t think that I can help anyone who is shopping around for some sort of fantasy that they can believe in.  When I discuss the light of Dharmakaya, I will often mention that we are already that light, we just don’t know it yet.  This is not to be accepted as a belief, it is meant to give you a simple pointing-out that will help you to discover for yourself, so that you can awaken.

We need to awaken.  That’s something that is very strong, behind much of the poetry in Timeless Luminosity, this notion that we have nowhere to go, we’re already there in the light—we are that condition of Dzogchen.  We simply need to see that.  We need to realize that our Real Nature has been perfect from the beginning, we’ve only found ways to pretend that we don’t already know.  We let our own defense of belief become our downfall.  We avoid reality that way.

When I died, I would mention that I became the light of Dharmakaya for an eternity; however, I also think that it is not a big deal.  We’ve always been that condition beyond time and space, far beyond this fabricated and greatly limited idea of self that we have created for our life on Earth.  We work very hard to create ego, to let ourselves become poisoned by ignorance, attraction and aversion. 

Thinking, judging, conceptualizing, keeping all that straight, defending this notion of self and identity, it’s a lot of hard work.  We try to hide who we really are, and then we try to hide many of the things we have done and our thoughts.  We don’t want people to see this inner person behind the ego, behind these fictional characters who change, depending upon which crowd we enter.  It’s hard to keep the lies straight, these lies we call belief.  If we belong to many groups or identify with many things, then this self is always changing according to the fantasy of that.  Our discovery of who we really are is prevented by what and who we allow to dissuade us from making this discovery, and remaining in that knowledge.

This is, perhaps, why this amazingly intense and all-pervasive light appears as just a flicker for some, just before they are propelled into another life.  As the heart and mind open, consciousness snaps it back shut, due to not wanting to be completely exposed to reality.  This is when a person becomes overwhelmed by its own regrets and delusions.  When this happens, the karmic winds propel us into the next lifetime, or possibly back into this lifetime.  It’s a lot of work to maintain a closed heart and mind, which is what we do when we are ordinary sentient beings, trapped by our own delusions.

If we wish to awaken, then we need to know where this is leading.  It’s leading to the Ultimate Reality that we have missed for all eternity, not just another fantasy.  This requires an enormous commitment.  It’s not something that we can ever take a break from, once we have stepped upon this Path of Liberation.  If we discard this precious gem, then we discard who we are, our Natural Condition in Light.

So, once you know that all can and will be revealed, that nothing can ever be hidden, we have found reason to start cultivating good karma. Decide, once and for all that you must awaken.  You will awaken.

Blessings in Light,

Robert Aho