In terms of acclimatising to the undefined dimension of existence – it should be understood that: imagination relies on empty perception; paintings rely on empty planes; sculptures rely on empty space; music relies on silent time; and, literature relies on empty conceptuality. If the art of freedom is to be realised—if creative potential is to be discovered—reliance on the experience of intrinsic emptiness is the only precursor.
The practice of shi-nè therefore, is the gateway to the art of freedom.
Dzogchen sem-dé moves beyond emptiness and that which arises from emptiness into the sphere in which there is simply naked nature of perception – rigpa.
p28, Shock Amazement : The four naljors and four ting-ngé’dzin from the Dzogchen series of the nature of Mind.
Khandro Déchen and Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books Worldwide, 2018, ISBN 978-1-898185-45-1
Day dreaming is not conducive to discovering mind without thought, and the nature of this empty state may be misunderstood through believing that day dreaming is meditation. In Letting Go we are not aiming for a dampened down, thought suppressed state. Mind without thought is a vibrant, creative state of awareness. It is vivid with an electric sense of being awake in the present moment. Even momentary glimpses of this vibrant state will begin to open our experience of ourselves.
p139, Relaxing into Meditation Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books Worldwide, 2010, ISBN 978-1-898185-17-8
For anyone who wants access to the teachings of wisdom eccentrics – it’s found within the world we know. Trying to find it in a Land of Snows you may never see is impractical. Even to look to India for wisdom eccentrics is no longer as possible as it was in the 1970s. Those days are more or less gone. The non-dual inspiration however, remains – often in unexpected places.
The wisdom eccentrics of these lays discovered the nature of Mind as human beings.
Rinpoche instructed me to “Tell these stories to your students. Make a book – but tell the stories in the language of the West – so that people will enjoy them and understand them. These are not just stories from the past – they are stories for practitioners everywhere in all times”.
p8, Wisdom Eccentrics : Rumours of realisation as told by Künzang Dorje Rinpoche with additional tales of the unexpected.
Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9653948-6-4
By letting go of thought we can discover the space of mind without thought. Through Letting Go the arising and dissolving of conceptual mind can be revealed as a wave that surges and breaks on the surface of the deep, still ocean of fundamental mind. Through discovering the quietness of fundamental mind we can gain direct experience of who we are, what we are and where we are, rather than trying to discover this through the ebb and flow of concept.
p134, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books Worldwide, 2010, ISBN 978-1-898185-17-8
