Blessings of Light

2022, December, Issue 25

In Tibetan Buddhism, as well as various Yogic Traditions, there is a way that people generate heat in the core of their body, their heart center.  This sounds like it is some sort of fantasy to people who are not familiar with such Spiritual Practices; however, it can be measured, and has been measured, by science, or even just through simple observation.  Great Buddhist masters have been known to live in caves, up high on mountains in the Himalayas, in small caves generating their own yogic energy to keep warm.  People would visit them in the Winter, only to be amazed that their caves were toasty, with only the heat of their Spiritual Practice to keep them warm.

This should not be amazing to us.  We are naturally beings of light.  This light is freely available to us all.  We can all utilize unlimited energy anytime we choose.  This is the energy of who we really are.  It is the unlimited brightness people talk about when they describe the Source that we encounter in death.  We can open our heart and mind completely to this; and, none of it should be even slightly surprising to us.  We can limit our own astonishment by being very serious with our own Spiritual Practice.

This is not to say that we must learn to generate yogic energy, it is to say that we must become familiar with who we really are.  So much in this world tries to prevent us from discovering reality that we can easily become confused or misled.  Looking within, learning to trust our own intuition, we start to see what is.  We naturally begin to tap into our own power, which is the power we all share, which is the light of Dharmakaya.  We begin to live in a way that has unlimited potentiality.

What did I want to tell people when I was coming back from the death bardo?  It’s very simple—awaken.  You don’t need to do anything other than that.  Just awaken.  Awaken.

To awaken is to do nothing whatsoever.  It’s so subtle that we can’t do it without practice.  We need to gather all the meditative teachings that we can find, and practice.  Practice every moment of every day, until it is completely effortless to practice.  Then practice some more, until nothing will distract or prevent you from being completely awake in every moment of day and night.

Numerous people have asked me why I still meditate, after having such profound experiences in the death bardo, after becoming the Dharmakaya for an eternity, after meditating for a hundred years in the Sambhogakaya dimension.  Well, the answer’s very simple, I’m not fully enlightened as this appearance that people see.  I returned, not to be seen as fully enlightened, but to be seen as something recognizable, something familiar to that old self, something with a sense of humor and honesty, in order to help all beings.  My flawed self was constructed purposefully.

I feel that I need more practice, not less practice.  This statement helps people, so that they don’t give up.  This is my example to you, to give you more encouragement.  I sit in contemplation in the cold, generating yogic heat.  I sit before an altar that has all the symbols necessary, the mirror, the crystal, the AH syllable, etc.  This takes no effort whatsoever.  It is effortless practice that is not dependent upon visualization.  It is Spiritual Practice that is simply present, observing mind and the Nature of Mind, practicing awareness itself.  The Spiritual Path is not about discovering some answer to a question, it is about discovering who you are.  This is knowledge beyond concept and belief.  It must be realized directly.

Whatever you do, be careful not to blunder into thinking that you can simply not practice meditation.  This notion is a misinterpretation of what some great masters have said.  Effortless, in this case, does not mean doing nothing.  It means remaining effortlessly present in the realization of the Nature of Mind, no matter what you do.  If you have not realized the Nature of Mind yet, then effort is called for.  If you have realized the Nature of Mind, then effortless practice becomes a 24/7 endeavor, reliant only on our own realization, getting used to that by remaining in that knowledge, that awareness.

During this season where the days are increasing in brightness in the northern hemisphere, pay attention to your own brightness.  Look within for all that you need.  Your heart center contains unlimited potentiality.  Just look at who you really are.  Don’t imagine you are something.  Don’t believe you are something.  Don’t judge that you are something.  Simply gaze inwardly, in a natural way, accepting what you discover, as it is.

Learn to open your heart and mind to what is, as it is.

Awaken in this way, either suddenly or gradually, it doesn’t matter which way it is done.  Simply gaze at mind until you discover the Nature of Mind.  Then, all you need do is to become accustomed to your natural condition in light, as light, receiving unlimited blessings.

Awaken.

Blessings of Light,

Bob