Milarepas Initial Realizations I have understood this body of mine to be the product of ignorance, composed of flesh and blood and lit up by the perceptive power of consciousness. To those fortunate ones who long for emancipation it may be the great vessel by which they may procure Freedom. But to the unfortunates who only sin, it may be the guide to lower and miserable states of existence. This, our life, is the boundary mark whence one may take an upward or downward path. Our present time is a most precious time, wherein each of us must decide, in one way or other, for lasting good or lasting ill. One who aims only at their own individual peace and happiness adopts the lower path (Hinayana), but they who devote the merits of his love and compassion to the cause of others belongs to the higher path (Mahayana). In meditating on the Final Goal, one has to discover the non-existence of the personal Ego, and therefore the fallacy that it exists (i.e. because everything in the universe with name and form is basically illusory in nature) To realize the state of non-existence of the personal ego, the mind must be kept in quiescence. In that state, thoughts, ideas, and cognition cease and the mind (awareness) passes into a state of perfect tranquility so that days, months, and years may pass without the person perceiving it; thus the passage of time has to be marked for them by others. The visions of the forms of the Deities which appear in meditation are merely signs attending the perseverance in meditation. They have no intrinsic worth or value in themselves. All the efforts put forth during this path must be made in a spirit of compassion with the aim of dedicating the merit of ones efforts to the Universal Good. There is a need of mentally praying and wishing for blessings on others so earnestly that ones mind processes also transcend thought. Just as the mere name of food does not satisfy the appetite of a hungry person but they must eat food, so also a person who would learn about the Voidness (i.e. Universal Awareness) must meditate so as to realize it, not just learn of its definition.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 11:38:13 +0000