LONGCHENPA
The Great Perfection
Meditations on Awakening — Inspired by Longchenpa
All things appear
Yet have no intrinsic existence
Samsara and Nirvana are like the moon’s reflection in water
Clearly seen
Yet never truly there
They arise without coming
They fade without going
They are neither real nor unreal
Neither existing nor non-existing
When this is understood
Illusion no longer binds you
...
The nature of the mind is like a vast, pure ocean
Within it all, wisdom and enlightened qualities are already present
Like grains of sand in the Ganges
Infinite
Complete
But waves of ignorance stir this ocean
Creating distortions
When the winds of dualistic perception blow
Hallucinatory appearances arise
And beings wander in samsara
Yet in its natural state, awareness is boundless and still
Containing all reflections
Without being disturbed by them
...
Just as stars and planets appear reflected in a clear pool
So do outer and inner phenomena arise within awareness
But the mind mistakes these reflections for reality
Objects seem solid
Separate
Truly existing
Yet they are merely reflections of habitual tendencies
Like the moon appearing on the ocean’s surface
Perceptions arise
Without ever entering the mind itself
...
Forms
Sounds
All sense objects
Are mere appearances
Neither real nor false
Like echoes
Like mirages
Like dreams
They deceive
Yet they are empty
They manifest ceaselessly
Yet are ungraspable
A play of light
Without substance
Without center
To take them as real is delusion
To see their emptiness is liberation
...
The Dharmata
Pure awareness
The enlightened mind
Is also without intrinsic being
It is experienced
Yet it has no fixed nature
Like a reflection of the moon
It appears without existing
Beyond coming and going
Neither inside nor outside
It is inconceivable
Self-arising
Neither vast nor small
Neither high nor low
Simply luminous emptiness
...
If you grasp even slightly at appearances
You remain caught in samsara’s dream
The more you cling
The more suffering arises
Like a silken thread tightening around a moth
Let go of all reference points
Rest in the natural flow of awareness
This is the Great Perfection
Uncontrived
Spontaneous
Beyond effort
...
Meditate like the moon reflected in still water
Let thoughts rise and fall without interference
Do not grasp at emptiness
Do not fabricate meditation
When a state arises free of clinging
It is effortless great bliss
It neither comes nor goes
Yet it embraces all experience
...
The ultimate cannot be grasped by the mind
Trying to analyze it
We lose it
Trying to hold onto it
We distort it
Like space
It cannot be divided
Like a dream
It vanishes when examined
Do not meditate on emptiness
Instead recognize its presence in all things
...
Samsara and Nirvana are already equal
Realization does not come through effort
Simply rest in the uncontrived state
Let go of grasping at appearances
Let go of rejecting appearances
Everything is the same luminous emptiness
...
From the very beginning
There is no path
No ground
No attainment
Awakening is simply the end of seeking
The highest meditation is not meditating at all
The greatest realization is effortless and free
With nothing to gain
Nothing to lose
You have arrived at the shoreless ocean of liberation
...
In waking life and dreams alike
See all things as light
Reflection
Mirage
Let every perception be a doorway to vastness
Do not resist appearances
Simply recognize their nature
When this insight deepens
There is no separation between meditation and daily life
...
As moonlight bathes the world without grasping
So too does awareness embrace all phenomena
The mist of ignorance dissolves
And the white lotus of truth blossoms effortlessly
May all beings awaken to this luminous openness
And reach the shore of perfect freedom
...
Like the moon reflected in water
Everything appears
Yet is empty
Realizing this
May we cross the ocean of illusion
And rest in the luminous sky of Suchness