Stability
2025, November, Issue 176
Stability . . .
Impossible, you say!
In this world
where everything is in motion,
electrons here and gone,
atoms spinning, molecules
clumping together and dispersing,
busy people everywhere,
wind blowing, planets
flying through space and time,
galaxies exploding, universes
plunging through quantum enigmas,
the depths of all and beyond belief,
beyond our wildest imagination . . .
Where is this stability you talk about?
When is this stability supposed to happen?
How is this stability you mention even possible?!
Listen!
Weary traveler,
I tell you now, that
stability is beyond time and space,
it is not some fabrication of mind,
it cannot be grasped
by the mind of a seeker
or just some curious wanderer
who happens to be sitting still
on a cushion, or peacefully
staring at a mirror,
reflections in glass or
by some pristine lake
on a quiet cold morning;
Stability
can only be discovered
by those who have entered
this reflection,
fully knowing
that this great enigma
resides in the All-Good,
as the All-Good
Mind entering the Nature of Mind,
as Source,
as reflection and appearance,
perfect from the beginning,
spontaneously
energetically
beyond what can be
fathomed by ordinary mind,
within, as it is,
Timeless Luminosity.
A poem by Robert Aho © 2025
From my own personal experiences, not from what I have been taught or learned from sacred texts, I can tell you with all confidence that stability is achievable; though, it is certainly not automatically realized, even after realizing the Nature of Mind. In my own Spiritual Practice, I went through several months of extreme turbulence, even after realizing our true nature. It was very disconcerting; however, I had enough presence of mind to be able to remain at ease in this extreme condition of instability. Only after receiving direct transmission from Namkhai Norbu was I able to remain present, or to find stability in my Spiritual Practice.
Of course, you will also be able to find teachings from great masters, both in person and through texts that will say something similar. You will also hear many people say that there is no such thing as stability. Me, personally, I agree with them both. If we have some realization of our true condition, knowing how to remain at ease within Timeless Luminosity, then it is very obviously something we could refer to as stability. If, however, we are approaching this subject from a relative position, that is by utilizing only mind, which is conceptually based, grasping at belief, then there is no such thing as stability. That is also quite obvious.
People think that the whole point of meditation is to find a moment or two of peace, thinking that they need some stability in their lives. Their yearning for peace and stability is really based upon something that we all feel inside, something more akin to intuition or Buddha Nature. We’ve all experienced this pristine state of clarity from time to time, which is really enlightenment mind coming forth; however, we don’t really know what that is until we recognize our Real Nature for what that is, which is our primordial condition beyond time and space.
This takes quite a bit of Spiritual Practice, or we will simply shrug it off as something we don’t understand, going on to the next busy thing in our endlessly restless series of thoughts and emotions, which is a state of perpetual turbulence. Conceptually, there is no way to discover stability. Our mind is naturally unstable. From my perspective, the whole world is insane, extremely unstable, with virtually no hope of ever finding liberation from that tremendously painful affliction we call cyclic existence.
And, don’t think of cyclic existence as something that only exists in the big picture of birth, living life, dying and getting reborn. Cyclic existence happens from one moment to the next, thousands of times per second. You can observe and investigate the moments as they pass by, and you will begin to notice how everything becomes deconstructed and constructed by mind once more. People cling to this notion that everything is permanent and solid; however, when we don’t cling to it, we “lose our grip”, suddenly seeing how fleeting each moment really is, realizing how everything is really empty of inherent existence. We let go and we find ourselves seeing the world quite differently; and, not surprisingly, the world cannot fathom how we see it.
When you go through the death bardo, your entire experience will be quite unstable, unless you are able to realize the Nature of Mind, finding stability within that realization. I’m not saying that this must happen prior to death, even though that was my experience, I’m saying that this realization must take place or the death bardo will really freak you out. There will be nothing whatsoever that resembles stability, even if we may have moments of peacefulness.
Once again, this brings us back to the subject of building a strong foundation of Bodhicitta, which is our compassionate aspiration to awaken. Without Bodhicitta, absolutely nothing else in our Spiritual Practice will be possible. Even this sense of peacefulness that we experience with Peaceful Abiding Meditation or Shamatha, will be rather unsatisfactory. To master peaceful abiding, we must cultivate Bodhicitta. This leads us to true stability.
Blessings in Light,
Robert Aho