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The Eight States of Consciousness and the Trikaya Principle
According to the vajrayana tradition, every journey that we make throughout the entire path is based on the trikaya. It is based on the achievement of the perfect trikaya principle: the basic physical state, or nirmanakaya; manifestation, or sambhogakaya; and finally, the fundamental nonfixation and nonduality of “I” and “other” altogether, or dharmakaya.
THE TRIKAYA PRINCIPLE AS THE BASIS FOR VAJRAYANA PRACTICE
Having discussed the play of space and form, we could look into the trikaya principle as the basis for vajrayana practice. Tri means “three,” and kaya means “form” or “body”; so trikaya means “three bodies.” Basically, the three kayas are the different subtleties of enlightenment. First, there is the vacant state of dharmakaya; then there is the energy level of sambhogakaya; and finally there is the practical level of nirmanakaya. So basic egolessness is dharmakaya, and out of that basic egolessness comes sambhogakaya, and out of the sambhogakaya comes the functional, pragmatic world of the nirmanakaya.
Dharmakaya: Mind without Fixation
The first kaya is dharmakaya, or in Tibetan, chöku. Mind plays a very important part in dharmakaya, because mind is the cognitive means for perceiving things as they are. All our thought processes and all forms of discursive mind are regarded as dharmakaya. The dharmakaya is related with the idea of mind, with or without thinking. With no praise and no blame, we accept and realize our thought process as it is—but with a touch of nonfixation and without holding on to thoughts.
When your mind is completely with your breath, that is dharmakaya at the shamatha level; breath flows, and mind occurs. Between the breath and the mind, between your perception of body and mind, there is no dichotomy; there is no other thought at all. You are completely synchronized with your mind and body, and your mind and breath are together. At that point, mind is nonmind. That is the state of dharmakaya; it is as simple as that.
When you are not mindful, you do not experience dharmakaya. And when you are lost in a daydream, although the nature of thoughts is said to be dharmakaya, you are not experiencing dharmakaya. You are not on the path; you are just on the ground. But whenever a flash of mindfulness takes place, there is no wavering; there is just the occurrence of mind and mindfulness at the same time. Mindfulness does not mean looking at your mind, but rather it means that you are being mind-ed. You are minding yourself on the spot. At that point, there are no kleshas and no thoughts. It is a one-shot deal all the time. For instance, if you hear a sudden boom! you do not even think “boom,” but booming and hearing are one: your mind has joined them together. At that point, there is dharmakaya. It is very immediate and precise.
Sambhogakaya: Clear Perception of the Phenomenal World
Out of that state of being without fixation and not holding on to your thoughts, there arises a clear perception of the phenomenal world. There is the kaya of manifestation, or sambhogakaya. In Tibetan, sambhogakaya is longku. Long means “enjoyment,” and ku means “body”; so longku is “enjoyment body.” The sambhogakaya is called the “body of enjoyment” not so much in pleasure-oriented terms, but simply because when you exist as what you are, you thrive on being alive.
The sambhogakaya is connected with speech and the interchange between oneself and others. Whatever we see (reds, blues, yellows, pinks, purples, and greens); whatever we taste (Roquefort cheese or blue cheese); whatever we feel (silk or cotton or polyester); whatever we hear (classical music or rock music or the sounds of nature); whatever we smell (expensive perfume or the smell of sewage)—whatever passes through our sense perceptions is all regarded as one. It is all the expression of the nonthought of dharmakaya. Therefore, in terms of both discursive thoughts and our personal experience of things as they are, we find that there is no conflict, none whatsoever. That is the sambhogakaya.
Nirmanakaya: Natural Existence
Beyond that, we have the nirmanakaya. This is the kaya that can be perceived by our individual reference point. It is created existence or manifested existence. The Sanskrit term nirmanakaya (or tülku in Tibetan) also refers to individuals who have created their own manifestation in the world, such as Shakyamuni Buddha himself. The nirmanakaya is a more earthbound situation, in which communication with others becomes very natural and extraordinarily ordinary.
You have already had training in sending and taking. You are tireless, and you practice tremendous exertion, dedication, and generosity in relating with others. You are highly disciplined. Beyond that, as a product of realizing and experiencing the trikaya principle, there is a general sense of being tamed as a Buddhist.
Buddhists walk softly, they talk softly, they behave gently, they turn around slowly, they reach for things with respect. That is the mark of being a true Buddhist. The way Buddhists wear clothes is dignified, even if they are wearing rags. When they wear little pieces of jewelry, they look elegant. When they gaze at the sun and the moon, their gaze is sure and profound; they are not just dreaming in the setting-sun style. You have that Buddhist outlook, and the principles of Buddhism have seeped into your system, so you conduct yourself magnificently, precisely, and so beautifully. You are an elegant Buddhist.
OBSCURATIONS VEILING THE TRIKAYA
Generally, we are bound by being unable to see the three kayas as they are, properly and thoroughly. We are veiled by obscurations or anxieties, which are known in Tibetan as drippa, which means “obscuration.” It is like having cataracts in your eyes, which shadow your vision. We are bound by the kleshas, or nyönmong in Tibetan. A nyönmong is a nuisance and a pain; it is a nuisance-pain. The term literally implies the quality of unnecessariness.
Kleshas are organized and developed through the eight states of consciousness, up to the level of the storehouse consciousness, or alayavijnana.
The Eight States of Consciousness
Altogether there are eight states of consciousness: the five sense consciousnesses, the mind consciousness, the klesha consciousness, and the alaya consciousness.
THE FIVE SENSE CONSCIOUSNESSES. To begin with, we become fixated on and fascinated by our five senses. We are fascinated by seeing things; by hearing words, music, and other sounds; by smelling our environment; by tasting our food; and by feeling various physical sensations of touch, temperature, and so on. Those five senses are the first five states of consciousness. They are natural animal instincts, and they seem to be very basic.
The eyes of a vulture see a corpse from a great distance, and automatically the vulture knows that it should fly to the corpse and eat it. The ears of a jackal hear a rustling in the jungle, and automatically the jackal knows that it should pursue that rustling, that there is something to prey on. The nose of a dog sniffs out the presence of food, so automatically the dog knows to look for food. The tongue of a shark tastes through the medium of water, so automatically it knows that there is something in the ocean it should pursue. The bodies of all animals that pursue their prey tell the animals if there is an environmental problem, or if they can go along with their pleasure-seeking process. For example, in Colorado we see a lot of moose coming down to the highway in the springtime in order to experience the luxury of fresh green grass and warm weather. And when we take the saddles off horses and mules, they roll around on the ground, experiencing their environment.
MIND CONSCIOUSNESS. The sixth consciousness is what is known as the mind consciousness, which seems to be connected with human beings alone. It is that which dictates our policy toward sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Mind asks: Are these sense perceptions temporarily good? And if they are temporarily good, are they fundamentally good? So the mental faculty, or the sixth state of consciousness, edits the first five. But it does not necessarily do so from the point of view of love and hate. At this point, it is purely a survival principle that we develop.
KLESHA CONSCIOUSNESS. It is the seventh consciousness, the klesha consciousness, that actually does the final editorial job and d
eclares that this is good and that is bad. It says, “We should stick with the pleasurable, and we should stay away from pain.” It is a final sorting-out process that relates with all the previous six consciousnesses. It is an editorial situation, and because of that editorial process, kleshas are manifested. But the term klesha as it is used in the seventh consciousness is not necessarily a reference to the primary kleshas. Klesha consciousness simply makes reference points. It acts as a spokesperson, as the intelligence that knows how to sort things out.
ALAYA CONSCIOUSNESS. After that sorting-out process, the information is stored in alayavijnana, the last of the eight consciousnesses. The alayavijnana becomes the bank of memory, the bank of habitual patterns. You remember that you used to like this, therefore you should pursue it, and you remember that you used to dislike that, therefore you should not pursue it. In that way, you keep referring back all the time to your alayavijnana.
Your mind begins to develop its own bank account, or we could say that it develops its own library. Probably the word library is much more accurate. This library consists of index cards of all kinds. That is what is called alaya consciousness, or alayavijnana. In the alaya library, you collect information on what is good, what is bad, what should be cultivated, and what should not be cultivated. You see ugly sights, which give you problems or interfere with your pleasure, and you see good sights. You experience good smells and bad smells, good tastes and bad tastes, good feelings and bad feelings. All of those are collected in a kind of library. We could say it is almost like a computer system. It is a collection of all the discoveries that you have made because you have sight and all the other senses.
That combination of eight consciousnesses is what supports the workings of kleshas, or nyönmong, altogether.
TRANSCENDING THE EIGHT CONSCIOUSNESSES
Absolute bodhichitta and künshi ngangluk kyi gewa, the basic goodness of alaya, transcend those reference points. They are beyond memory, beyond the alayavijnana. The alaya that is beyond memory is somewhat naive; it does not care for securing or not securing.1 It is just cognitive mind, which is very close to the nature of sugatagarbha. Sugatagarbha, which is also beyond memory, allows us to make a connection with our root guru and with the oral instructions of our guru. When we connect with the root guru in this way, when we hear the guru’s name or see them, we say, “Wow! Wonderful! How excellent to see such a person, whose state of mind is so different from ours.”
That state of mind beyond memory is the connection that allows you to discover the possibility of trikaya. You cannot just say that synchronizing the past, present, and future is a problem. You have to be quite careful and precise. You know that the past occurred because of memory, that the present exists because of uncertainty, and that the future is reflected because of fear or aggression or wanting. So you see past, present, and future, and you see the possibilities in all of them, and you do not panic and you do not make them into an exciting game. You just cut your thoughts and try to relate with absolute bodhichitta.
REALIZING THE TRIKAYA
According to the vajrayana tradition, every journey that we make throughout the entire path is based on the trikaya. It is based on the achievement of the perfect trikaya principle: the basic physical state, or nirmanakaya; the manifestation, or sambhogakaya; and finally, the fundamental nonfixation and nonduality of “I” and “other” altogether, or dharmakaya.
The three kayas are persons we can actually communicate with, or begin to learn how to communicate with; they are persons we can begin to experience. Such communication is not theoretical, like relating with a god principle; it is communicating with things that you actually possess. The teachings are being taught to us by those three kayas, those three buddha-like natures, which we also happen to be in tune with ourselves. So relating with the three kayas is not a matter of somebody telling us how to relate with something alien or outside of ourselves, but it is a natural phenomenon that takes place within us. In the same way that if we are hungry we are attracted to food, if we are thirsty we are attracted to drink, and if we are cold we are attracted to warm clothes, perceiving the three kayas is very natural. Because they arise within our existence, we do not have to strain ourselves in order to relate to the buddhadharma in that way.
The vajrayana is an organic process; it is not alien to us. Vajrayana teachings are connected with our intrinsic outlook, our intrinsic being. They are self-existent, not superstitious hoo-ha. In relation to this, there are concepts like rangdröl, which means “self-liberated.” Rangdröl means that liberation is self-liberated by itself, rather than by our imposing anything extra on ourselves. It is quite a relief for us to know that this is the case. In the vajrayana, liberation is intrinsic, which raises the possibility of maintaining ourselves at that level.
As we practice the best alaya, the virtuous alaya, the naive alaya, we begin to see that there are possibilities of realizing the trikaya. We see that we can go beyond the neurosis of our eight states of consciousness. First, we begin to hamper the schemes and products of the eighth consciousness, or alayavijnana—we go beyond the alaya consciousness, the storehouse of reference point. Then we realize that the seventh consciousness, the mind that edits, can also be overcome. And because we can overcome the mind that edits, we also begin to touch our sixth consciousness, or sense-consciousness mind, which acts as a spokesperson for the remaining five consciousnesses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and feeling. We begin to overcome their fixations, their neuroses, and their grasping quality altogether.
When we go back through all eight consciousnesses in that way, it does not mean that we cease to see, hear, smell, taste, or feel. In fact, all those capabilities—our vision, our hearing, our sense of smell, and the rest—become doubled or tripled. They are a hundred times sharper because there is no messenger running back and forth trying to see: “Is this good? Is this bad?” That messenger no longer exists, so our perceptions become very direct, as if our pupils were dilated. We begin to see true color and hear true sounds, properly and fully. Thus we begin to appreciate the vividness of the phenomenal world.
Because we are not involved in defending our territory, we begin to like our phenomenal world; we begin to develop maitri and compassion. We develop a loose heart, an open heart, a naked heart. We also begin to appreciate our root guru much more, because the root guru has shown us this vivid world completely.
Because of that, we are able to see that the dharma is not an alien teaching, but a real teaching. We can actually perceive the dharmic world altogether. Therefore, we are able to see all thought patterns as dharmakaya, free from preconceptions of any kind. We begin to have a clear understanding, a precise and very real one. And obviously, needless to say, there is no kidding involved. That experience of clear understanding is what is known as transmission. In transmission, the mind of the teacher is transmitted to the student properly and without any further obstacles.
THE MEETING OF MINDS
The idea of the eight states of consciousness may seem somewhat complicated and even theoretical, but once you understand the case history of the eight states of consciousness—how they evolve, how they become fixated, how they begin to be solidified, and how you can undo them step-by-step by going back through them—this idea will become more real. Once you have a basic understanding of the concept of kleshas and of anxiety, which is referred to in the hinayana tradition as the duhkha principle, or the truth of suffering—once you realize what duhkha is made out of, why it arises, and how it functions—you will then begin to realize that this state of mind can be altered and worked with. You see that although there may be habitual patterns happening all along, those habitual patterns can be raided and punctured. You begin to be able to see beyond the world of your kleshas. At that point, transmission is possible.
The Tibetan word for transmission is ngotrö. Ngo means “face,” and trö means “introducing” or “synchronizing”; so ngotrö means “introducing the face.” Transmission is showing you th
e absolute possibility that when you begin to open yourself through shamatha-vipashyana training and lojong practice, you can actually transcend unnecessary pain and anxiety. You can step forward—or backward, however you would like to look at it—and achieve the precision of the best of alaya. And through that, you can meet the transcendent, awake, and joyful mind of the root guru or vajra master. Then, to your surprise, you realize that your mind and the vajra master’s mind are the same.
The first stage of the process of transmission is obviously the awareness of “I” and “other,” “I” being the student and “other” being the teacher. You realize that the teacher is going to show you their mind, and you and the guru begin to meet. In the second stage, the next flash, you realize that “I” and “other” are one, that they are not two. That is the definition of transmission. And out of that, you can begin to practice vajrayana disciplines of all kinds.
1. Trungpa Rinpoche is contrasting alayavijnana, or alaya consciousness, with alaya, which is the fundamental ground giving rise to both samsara and nirvana.
Part Five
COMPLETE COMMITMENT
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Samaya: Making a Commitment
In the hinayana, in taking the refuge vow, you are bound to the dharma for your lifetime. . . . In the mahayana, in taking the bodhisattva vow, you are bound together with mahayana teachings, commitments, and the kalyanamitra until the attainment of enlightenment. . . . Vajrayana is entirely different. With the samaya vow, the bondage lasts until ultimate sanity is completely achieved.
The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness Page 26
