The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness

by Chogyam Trungpa

  THE PROBLEM OF MERCHANDISE MENTALITY

  When you begin to study the vajrayana, shamatha practice becomes more profound and brilliant than you expected. You begin to appreciate the earlier yanas much more as the foundation of everything, and you begin to realize how important they are for understanding the vajrayana. That is a great discovery. That is precisely what vajrayana is supposed to do.

  But nowadays everybody is a merchant; everybody is making business deals all over the place. In talking about the dharma, I have heard students talk about which merchandise is more valuable: “Should we stick with silver, should we stick with gold, should we stick with rubies, or should we stick with diamonds?” For a long time, people have been talking about the dharma as if it were merchandise. If you talk about maha ati, they say, “Ah, that’s the best!” If you talk about mahamudra, they say, “Oh, that’s good!” But if you talk about shamatha, they just shrug. In the twentieth-century democratic educational system, when you study at universities or colleges everything is evaluated as merchandise. The idea is that you get what you bargain for.

  But that mentality is problematic. In the Tibetan tradition, we do not regard things in that way. There is no greater or lesser value placed on any of the yanas. Obviously, there are skills connected with each of the yanas, but “value” and “skill” are different. Value is related to how expensive things are and how much of a good deal you are getting out of the whole thing. Skill is what you acquire through basic training. If you first learn how to turn on the stove, you can then learn how to cook your food and how to put in spices and condiments. You do not start by putting condiments on your food and eating it without first cooking it. So the whole thing hangs together: the hinayana, mahayana, and vajrayana work together.

  A twist of logic happens when people talk about what value they are getting out of the teachings. It is a somewhat revolting game of one-upmanship. People who have received mahamudra transmission think that, because of this transmission, they do not have to relate with shamatha-vipashyana. It is like somebody buying an expensive car and thinking that they could just sail through the universe without using roads. That kind of stupidity and merchandise mentality is problematic. We have to overcome that approach and come back to basics.

  SACRED OUTLOOK AND HIERARCHY

  In this discussion of the vajrayana, you are not getting a cultural presentation of how Tibetans think, or for that matter, how Japanese or Chinese people think. What I am presenting is sacred outlook, or tagnang. Tag means “pure” or “sacred,” and nang means “perception” or “outlook”; so tangang means “pure perception,” which we have translated as “sacred outlook.”

  The sacred and the ordinary are two types of hierarchy. Particularly in vajrayana situations, it is very important for you to know that there is the concept of hierarchy. My apologies for presenting such a case in a very democratic world, but we have to face that fact. When I am teaching, I have to sit on a platform in order to see all of my students and in order for them to see me. That is automatically a form of hierarchy. It is not necessarily my choice. I would not mind mingling with my students. Nonetheless, I have been put on a pedestal, which is fine as far as I am concerned. So in the vajrayana, we have a notion of hierarchy.

  Vajrayana hierarchy is based on sacredness, and all the forms used in the vajrayana are connected with the idea of sacred outlook. The experience of sacred outlook is like placing a diamond in a ring: in order to express that stone’s a diamond quality, you need a ring to set it in. Likewise, you might notice sacred outlook more clearly in a dharmic space or in the presence of your vajra master, as opposed to when you are in your own home. So when you are in your own home, you could think of your teacher.

  It is good to lose your sacred outlook sometimes, for when you have lost it, you might rediscover it. That is fine; it is how beginners begin at the beginning. From a vajrayana point of view, the kleshas are also sacred; they are referred to as the five wisdoms. It is a question of how you perceive them.

  Once you have gone beyond your pettiness, beyond your own territory, you naturally begin to perceive a greater world. Among the kleshas, passion is regarded as one of the most workable emotions, because it is accepting of the other, as opposed to aggression, which rejects the other. But all emotions are regarded as some kind of impulse toward communication.

  1. The Sanskrit term maha ati was most likely coined by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche as a Sanskrit rendering of the Tibetan term dzokchen. To the knowledge of the Nalanda Translation Committee, this term is not found in any texts. Most scholars seem to translate the Tibetan term dzokchen as the Sanskrit term mahasandhi. Atiyoga is more properly translated into Tibetan as shintu naljor, shintu meaning “very,” “extremely,” or “utterly,” and naljor meaning “yoga.” But atiyoga can also be referred to as dzokchen, which is usually translated as “great perfection.”

  2. As an example, Karmapa Rangjung Dorje is said to have received maha ati transmissions from Longchenpa (Longchen Rabjam). Both Rangjung Dorje (Kagyü) and Longchenpa (Nyingma) were students of Kumaraja, who was well-versed in both maha ati and mahamudra, and it is said that Rangjung Dorje and Longchenpa also received transmissions from one another as well.

  3. For a discussion of this slogan from the mahayana perspective, see volume 2 of the Profound Treasury, chapter 40, “Point Five: Evaluation of Mind Training.”

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  Atiyoga: Primordial Enlightenment

  The nature of maha ati has to do with its view of enlightenment. In maha ati, enlightenment is not seen as something to be attained, but as something that has been completely attained from the beginning. In maha ati, we speak of primordial enlightenment.

  ENLIGHTENMENT ON THE SPOT

  Maha ati is the yana of complete transcendence. If you have transcended all the yanas, you might think you have nothing to say. Quite possibly you might ask, “Why bother to say anything at all? Why not drop dead on the spot?” The response is that this yana is a tantric yana, so we have lots to say. Unlike the yogacharan approach of the Zen tradition, we do not just say no, or mu. We also do not proclaim that everything is a complete riddle, as in Zen word games. Maha ati is very real and very definite. After all, this is the imperial yana, the ultimate yana, the king of all the yanas.

  The maha ati approach to enlightenment is that wisdom has never begun, and therefore, there is no end. Since that is the case, one can experience the primeval enlightened state on the spot without accepting or rejecting, and without hope or fear. That seems to be the definition of atiyoga or maha ati. It is actually very simple and straightforward.

  BUILDING ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

  I think that a lot of the philosophy of maha ati has been built on very personal experiences. Things happen: We bump into each other, or we find ourselves mistakenly stepping on a raw egg. We knock over our cup of coffee on a beautiful tablecloth. We find ourselves saying the wrong things to our friends or to our landlord. According to the social norm—and even according to the intelligent bodhisattva norm, the Buddhist norm, or the maha ati norm—we tend to make mistakes. We say all kinds of things. But underneath all those mistakes, very concrete and pragmatic things take place all the time.

  Somebody might frighten you. They might walk up behind you and say “Boo!”—so you jump. That is the most pragmatic remark you could ever make. The idea is that the world is the only ground on which to celebrate nothingness or nonexistence. It is the only ground for pursuing further worlds beyond this one. Once you are able to be at that level and to experience such confidence, the world is not particularly being explored, but it is being enjoyed thoroughly and properly. You are actually able to see the world as it is, in its fullest sense. At that point, you are ready for the various maha ati practices.

  DEALING WITH REALITY

  Three essential qualities for dealing with reality are naturalness, great joy, and simplicity.

  Naturalness

  In dealing with reality, you should be somewhat re
laxed, if you can; and at the same time, you should be awake. That particular reference point is completely neutral. Reality does not have to be confirmed by anyone, no one whatsoever. It is just a state of being, and even that is not particularly the question in mind.

  You do not have to be anywhere in order to experience reality, but reality is as it is. When we talk about reality, we usually mean reality that is based on perception, or reality that is based on a sense of being, or reality from somebody else’s point of view, or for that matter, from your own point of view. But you could leave reality as it is. It does not have to be confirmed or preconceived as things as they are. In fact, even the idea of “things as they are” is arbitrary.

  The colors you see in the room around you could be a reference point, but even that reference point does not exist anymore. Whether you are in the room or not, the room somewhat fulfills its own fulfillmanship by the fact that nobody is there. Therefore, reality remains by itself, without sound, without sight, without perception—natural.

  The question to ask about reality is: Who said such a thing? Reality does not have to be on its own or not be on its own. It is a natural state of being. This is quite hard to understand from many people’s reference point. When people say reality, that usually means: What reality—this or that? But total reality, if you could call it that, is just a natural sense of being. It is nonverbal and nonconceptual.

  Reality that is confirmed on its own without a reference point is the reality, the true reality. Do you see what I mean? Things do not have to be confirmed; they just are as they are. That seems to be the fundamental point of reality. We are talking about a larger perspective than “Mummy, do you love me?” or “Daddy, do you love me?” In other words, we have nothing to gain and nothing to lose.

  Great Joy

  Dealing with reality in this way brings great joy, or mahasukha. Such joy is free from transforming one thing into another. This does not mean that you are stuck with something. It means that generally things are subject to discrimination, and to changing from one thing into another; but reality, so to speak, is free from transforming itself into other realities. For example, if you change the outfit you are wearing today to tomorrow’s outfit, it does not mean that you are no longer subject to pain or misery.

  In talking about mahasukha, we are not talking in terms of fundamental ecstasy or in terms of reality being so refreshing, but we are speaking about losing one’s attachment. We are simply saying that things could be left on their own. Self-existing things as they are would be beyond the eight states of consciousness, beyond the five skandhas: beyond, and beyond, and beyond. This is not a metaphysical concept; you just happen to bump into things. For instance, if you step outside to see whether it is drizzling or not, you do not have to ask anybody if it is drizzling—you will experience it for yourself.

  In the vajrayana, you do not have to be constantly bothered with the laundry. Instead, you could keep on your birthday suit, which is the best laundry of all. In the vajrayana, and particularly in the maha ati tradition, that is considered to be great joy. But we do not mean “great” as opposed to “lesser.” You could just be as you are.

  The basic point of mahasukha is that you disconnect from that and this; you lose the concept of that and this. Therefore, any logistical or metaphysical theory becomes like a blind person looking at the sun: a blind person cannot perceive that kind of brightness or brilliance. So the point we are concerned with here is that you cannot be aware of your own perception of phenomena.

  Simplicity

  Maha ati is free of false beliefs about reality. It brings the fruition of intellect. But this does not mean “intellect” from the point of view of intellectualization. Rather, it is a general wakefulness in regard to things as they are. In maha ati, things should be perceived literally. So maha ati is self-existing simplicity. You do not have any more preconceptions, but you just look at things very directly and suddenly. In turn, you begin to appreciate things as they are, without a watcher. That is why the experience of cosmic orgasm plays an important part in maha ati.

  You should keep things natural and basic. You do not have to jazz things up or make them into anything more than necessary, or turn them into anything spiritual. Things are on their own, very simply. Maha ati is ultimate or final. It is very basic. As you become more basic, your way of thinking does not have to be hampered by current politics or economics or spiritualism, so your approach begins to become very realistic and natural. The ultimate notion of bliss is that you do not have to come up with something other than bliss; bliss is just things as they are. Therefore, the highest bliss you could think of is simply to be natural as what you are.

  What makes me nervous about teaching maha ati is that it sounds too simple. Because it sounds very simpleminded, the problem might be that there is no respect. You might feel that maha ati is just something that happens organically, and you do not have to put any effort into it. There could be the problem of being somewhat bored with maha ati or disappointed with it.

  THE MAHA ATI VIEW OF ENLIGHTENMENT

  The nature of maha ati has to do with its view of enlightenment. In maha ati, enlightenment is not seen as something to be attained, but rather as something that has been completely attained from the beginning. In maha ati, we speak of primordial enlightenment. Having confidence in that understanding or concept, you transcend hope and fear, and you transcend collecting and rejecting. Becoming buddha is a big heroic trip, like becoming a king or queen. But maha ati transcends the notion of buddha; it transcends the notion of dharmakaya and of any kind of attainment. Maha ati does so because it is approaching experience from the back door. It is coming downward rather than going up, so there is no attempt at heroism.

  Since the concepts of all the previous yanas are completely transcended, maha ati has a fresh and direct quality. There is a prime or supreme quality to the whole thing. It is primordial and fresh. This yana is referred to as the imperial yana, for instead of searching for spirituality as though climbing from below, you receive the inspiration as something coming down from above. So it is an umbrella notion. Maha ati is like relating with the raindrops falling, rather than with the plant growing—it is a sudden and direct experience.

  EXPERIENCE AND ATTITUDE

  People experience maha ati according to their basic nature, or buddha-family; nevertheless, they are sharing the same world. It is like different people experiencing the same kind of weather. When people of five different buddha-families go out to a Saturday picnic, they see the same sunshine and the same rainfall and they eat the same food. So their experience is basically the same, although they have different perspectives as to the subtleties of the whole thing.

  Likewise, at the maha ati level, although we are different individuals, our experience would be pretty much the same. What makes us individual is our hang-ups, our little trips; but at this point, all of those things are gone. Everything is completely gone, so it is completely unified. It is like parachuting: when a group of people parachutes out of a plane, they share the same space, particularly if their parachutes break!

  When you come to the realization of maha ati, there will still be the same pattern of problems you have had all your life, such as in your relationships with people. Your problems will be absolutely the same, but your attitude will be different. Maha ati does not mean that you are going to be saved from all those things, or that you will have no more problems. Maha ati could be a problem, too.

  So experience does not change, but in a sense it does. Because your attitude is different, the feedback you get is also different. But this does not mean that, as a maha ati practitioner, you are suddenly going to get rich, your marriage is going to become completely tidy, and you are going to have no problems in dealing with your neighbors. All of those things are still going to be happening. Nevertheless, your attitude toward them will be different, and your attitude might have been a large factor in creating those problems in the first place. Attitudes such as te
rritoriality and the feeling of being threatened have been sorted out already, so situations like not having money are not problematic. They can be handled, because you are more daring and more open.

  MAHA ATI AND THE TWO TRUTHS

  The maha ati attitude toward kündzop and töndam is to regard relative and absolute truth as very basic and ordinary. Töndam is regarded simply as a situation without any hold, without any fixation, without any place to fix your mind. And as for kündzop, it is phenomenal play. Kündzop is not particularly profound; it is just ordinary phenomenal profundity on a very direct level.

  For instance, if a maha ati person happened to see a cup of tea, they would not interpret the cup of tea as an expression of the mandala or some kind of mystical symbol; they would see that the mandala is just the cup of tea itself. The töndam approach to the cup of tea would be that the cup of tea came from nowhere, and therefore it goes nowhere: it is simply a cup of tea.

  A SPIRITUAL EXPLOSION

  Maha ati experience is that the space outside of your individual existence is vast, so you can begin to relate with that space properly and thoroughly. Having understood that the space outside of your existence is vast and open enough to relate with, your inner space begins to yearn toward it. So there is a sympathetic space within your own practice and understanding, and there is a reciprocal sympathetic space that exists outside your body and outside your little world, an outer space that has nothing to do with a particular personality.