After you've received empowerment into the practice of a particular awareness-being, or yidam, the form of this awareness-being will spontaneously arise out of the state of emptiness when you engage in practice. The form of the awareness-being will also arise in your dreams – maybe even in the steam that arises from your cup of coffee. It depends on the intensity of your devotion. There is no process – it simply happens because you have the key; and the key is the Tantric text or the awareness-spell which is sung to instigate this arising. Your experience of emptiness is the oven where the bread of your vision bakes itself. The empty state is the perfect environment for endless vision to arise.
p116, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, ISBN 1-898185-03-4
It is often considered weak-minded not to have an opinion – but, from the perspective of practising emptiness, it might be considered weak-minded to be unable to resist forming an opinion. If the urge to establish an opinion can be resisted, the emptiness of simply not knowing can be formlessly investigated. There are many occasions in life where it might be valuable to recognise that there is insufficient information upon which an opinion could be based. This could be termed ‘the emptiness of open-mindedness’ or ‘the emptiness of having a certain level of information – but being able to resist compulsively establishing concrete conclusions’.
p52, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9653948-3-3
I’m talking about the courage it requires to be alive, and to relate to the world in a real and caring way. To be alive, and to take responsibility for what you feel. By courage, I mean that you have to have a certain level of love, dynamism, and integrity. Really; just to be able to cut out the kvetching, whinging and whining – the ‘poor me’ mode. I’m not talking about feeling sorrow or having to cry; life can be tragic at times – for all of us. I'm talking about acting as if it were unfair and wallowing in that; rather than having a good sob and then turning to face the raw texture of it all again, saying “Right! Let’s have some more!” It’s important not to hide from life. It’s important not to play it safe too much. This could be the last hour of your life. It could be the last day, week, month or year. . .
p239, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, ISBN 1-898185-03-4
You could, occasionally, simply ask yourself: “What decision would I make if I knew that this was the last year of my life?” This could be a practice of looking at your life; especially in terms of major decisions. For certain other decisions you could reduce the time scale to one month. Having the support of your Lama and vajra family, can be really crucial in this. Your vajra brothers and sisters are very important in terms of actualising your own courage when life gets a little too ferocious.
p240, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, ISBN 1-898185-03-4
There’s no reason why the word ‘irrational’ couldn’t have a positive meaning. It obviously can have a positive meaning if you put it into a suitable context; but on it’s own it tends to sound like something you wouldn’t want to be. I think that allowing the irrational into your life is a very exciting idea! People are quite often obsessed with sense-making, even though the sense they make often makes no sense at all from the perspective of realisation. Let’s be irrational now! Let’s practise together!
p244, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, ISBN 1-898185-03-4
