Luminous Mind: The Way of the Buddha
 


Synopsis: Teacher to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, major force in the migration of Buddhism to the West, and great meditation master, Kalu Rinpoche is without doubt one of the most well-loved contemporary Buddhist masters. Here, he elucidates the fundamentals of spiritual understanding in Tibetan Buddhism--from the most basic ways to regard our fortunate but transitory human condition to the development of the open, wise, and compassionate mind of enlightenment. Filled with illustrative stories and anecdotes, this book will delight all who are spiritually inclined. (Amazon.com)

From the Back Cover: Comparing Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche with Milarepa, the greatest mediation master Tibet has ever known, His Holiness the Dalai Lama extols the author of Luminous Mind as a "beacon of inspiration" for spiritual practitioners of all traditions. Noting that "there have been few like him before or since," His Holiness urges us to delve into this remarkable anthology of the late Kalu Rinpoche's essential instructions so that we may encounter "the full range of Buddhist practice from the basic analysis of the nature of the mind up to its ultimate refinement in the teachings of Mahamudra." Drawn from both his lucid writings and his eloquent oral presentations, this unprecedented book lays bare the full grandeur of Kalu Rinpoche's legacy. At the same time, the gentle words and playful stories of this master of meditation are filled with a depth of clarity and warmth that could only arise from a profound realization of both wisdom and compassion."

About the Author: Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche (1904-1989) was widely acclaimed as one of the greatest living examplars of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of meditative contemplation. A leader of the Shangpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, Kalu Rinpoche traveled extensively throughout Tibet, Bhutan, India, and the West, instructing countless disciples in the esoteric traditions of Dzogchen and Mahamudra.

For the benefit of all fellow Spiritual Practitioners, a humble compilation of quotations included in the beginning of each chapter of the book is included:


GI.1. The Spirit of All Traditions (Pg 3),
H.H. Dalai Lama, Ocean of Wisdom

Every major religion of the world - Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism - has similar ideals of love, the same goal of benefiting humanity through spiritual practice, and the same effect of making their followers into better human beings.

GI.2. The Basic Unity of All Traditions (Pg 5), Kyabje Kalu Riponche

"All spiritual traditions, whether Buddhist or non-Buddhist, differ in their forms in order to adapt to the abilities and faculties of all different kinds of people. All of them, however, work toward establishing beings on the path of well-being and liberation. Since they all derive from perfectly enlightened activity, without exception they merit our trust."

Several hundred religious traditions have manifested into this world. All of them issue from enlightened spiritual activity arising from the complete realization of the nature of mind. Every tradition works for the welfare of beings, according to their particular needs.

Certain religious traditions allow us to regain birth in the first stages of a higher realms. Others in the divine realms of the world of pure form, or in the formless realms. Finally, some lead to the ultimate spiritual realization. But all of them teach us the necessary practices to prevent us from falling into lower realms of existence and to rise towards higher realms. All traditions offer spiritual strength and transformative power. In this sense, I have faith in all of them.
 

GI.3. Buddhadharma (Pg 7), Buddha Sakyamuni

Not to do any hard,
To perfectly effect what is beneficial
To completely discipline one's mind:
That is the teaching of the Buddha.

1.1.1. What Is Mind? (Pg 15), Jamgon Kongtrul Londro Thaye, The Outline of Essential Points

Just realizing the meaning of mind
Encompasses all understanding;
Whereas knowing everything,
Without realizing the meaning of mind
is the worst (ignorance).
 

1.1.2. One Mind, Two States (Pg 19), The Third Karmapa, Mahamudra: Boundless Joy and Freedom

As long as this is not recognized, the wheel of existence turns. When this is understood, the state of Buddha is nothing other than that. There is nothing that can be described as either existing or not existing. May the nature of reality, the true nature of the Buddha mind, be recognized.
 

1.1.3. The Nature of Mind (Pg 21), The Third Karmapa, Wishes of Mahamudra

All phenomena are projects of the mind.
Mind is not "a" mind; the mind is empty in essence.
Although empty, everything constantly arises in it.
Through the deepest examination of the mind may we find its innermost root.

1.1.4. Mind's Veils (Pg 27), The Third Karmapa, Mahamudra: Boundless Joy and Freedom

Self-manifestation, which has never existed as such, is erroneously seen as an object.
Through ignorance, self-awareness is mistakenly experienced as an "I."
Through attachment to this duality we are caught in the conditioned world.
May the root of confusion be found.
 

1.1.5. The Game of Illusion (Pg 31), Mahakarunapundarikasutra

Samsara is created by karma.
It is a projection of karma
Beings are created by karma
Karma is their cause and what differentiates them.

1.1.6. The Six Realms (Pg 37), Santideva, Bodhicaryavatara

By whom and how were the weapons of hell created?
Who made its blazing floors?
And from where are its flames?
Sakyamuni taught
"All these are born of the deluded mind."

1.1.7. Two Truths (Pg 41), Nagarjuna, Mahyamakakarika, Ch. 24, Vs. 8-10

The Buddha's teaching rests on two truths;
Conventional truth and ultimate truth
Those who do not understand the distinction between them
Do not understand Buddha's profound truth.
Ultimate truth cannot be taught without basis on relative truth;
Without realization of the meaning of ultimate truth
Enlightenment cannot be attained.
 

1.2.1. Mind After Death (Pg 47), Samyuttanikaya

If I say there is a self,
you will think its permanent.
If I say there isn't a self,
you will think that at death
it disappears completely.

1.2.2. Birth and Death: Continuity of Illusion (Pg 49), Samyuttanikaya

A collection of parts
produces the concept of vehicle.
Likewise, the collection of heaps
gives rise to the notion of person.

1.2.3. From Life to Life: Transitions and the Bardo (Pg 53), Padmasambhava, The Tibetan Book of the Dead

May I recognize all the manifestations
that appear to me in the bardo
as being my own projections;
emanations of my own mind.

 

1.2.4. The Bardo of the Moment of Death (Pg 55), Padmasambhava, The Tibetan Book of the Dead

When the bardo of the moment of death appears
may I abandon attachments and mental fixations,
and engage without distraction in the
path which the instructions make clear.
Mind projected into the sphere of uncreated space,
separated from body, from flesh and blood,
I will know that which is impermanence and illusion.
 

1.2.5. The Bardo of Emptiness (Pg 59), Padmasambhava, The Tibetan Book of the Dead

When the moment is upon me
May I not be frightened
By the collection of peaceful and wrathful aspects:
Emanations of my own mind.

1.2.6. The Bardo of Becoming (Pg 61), Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, Text of Surcho

The beings of the irreversible bardo
wander in an unstable mental body,
Which looks like their previous carnal body,
They have all their faculties and senses
and the projection powers of karma,
Their bodies are not hindered by any obstacle.

1.2.7. The Bardo of Birth to Death (Pg 65), Padmasambhava, The Tibetan Book of the Dead

When I am in the bardo of birth till death,
May I waste no time;
Abandoning laziness, may I engage without distraction
In the study, assimilation of,
And meditation on the teachings,
May I practice, integrating on the path
Appearance and mind.
 

1.2.8. The Eight Consciousnesses and the Five Principal Elements (Pg 67), Lankavatarasutra

Buddha nature is accompanied by seven consciousnesses, which we grasp at, resulting in duality.
When that is recognized it will stop spreading.

 

1.2.9. The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination (Pg 71), Salistambhasutra

Monks, when this is, that comes.
When this is born, that appears.
And so it is from "ignorance causing the (formative) factors" to "birth causing old age and death."

1.2.10. Practices at the Moment of Death (Pg 73), Padmasambhava, The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Without thinking that death will come,
I am absorbed in plans for the future.
After having done the many and futile activities of this life
I will leave utterly empty-handed
What a blunder;
as I will certainly need an understanding of the excellent Dharma.
So why not practice now?
 

1.2.11. Human Life and Its Problems (Pg 81), Togme Sangpo, Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas

The joys of samsara,
Like dew on a blade of grass,
Disappear in a flash
To aspire toward
Supreme and changeless liberation
Is the practice of bodhisattvas.
 

1.2.12. Human Life: Using It Well (Pg 85), Togme Sangpo, Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas

Right now I have this precious vessel, Human life.
For the benefit of all beings, as well as myself,
Without distraction, day and night, I will practice,
Study, reflect, and mediate on the teachings.
That is the way of bodhisattvas.

1.2.13. On the Urgency of Practice (Pg 87), Milarepa, One Hundred Thousand Songs.

You, young men and women here,
Don't think that death will come little by little;
It comes fast as lightning.

2.1.1. The Three Turnings of the Teaching (Pg 93), Lankavatarasutra

I taught a unique vehicle;
there's no need to distinguish others.
It is to guide students well that I taught different approaches.

2.1.2. The Three Vehicles: Complementarity and Unity (Pg 97), rdo rje theg pa'i mtha gnyis sel ba of Jnanasri

The cycle of the causal vehicle, or Paramitayana,
was set in motion for those who aspire to teachings on the basis of causality.
The fruition vehicle, the Vajrayana, was then taught as a short-cut.
 

2.2.1. The Path of Discipline (Pg 103), Dhammapada

Vigilance is the path of immortal royalty,
Negligence, the path that leads to death.
Those who are vigilant do not die
Those who are negligent are already dead.

2.2.2. Refuge and the Three Jewels (Pg 105), Mahamoksasutra

In essence refuge is unique.
In means it is threefold.

2.2.3. Karma and Outer Discipline (Pg 109), Smaller Smrtipratyupasthana Sutra

Positive acts bring joy, Negative acts bring suffering.
Thus virtuous actions, nonvirtuous actions, and their results are clearly revealed.
 

2.2.4. The Components and Results of Actions (Pg 117), Karmasatakasutra

The varieties of karma create the diversity of beings.

2.2.5. The Karma of Meditation (Pg 121), Nagajuma. Ratnavali

The limitless and formless meditative states cause one to experience Brahma's bliss and other divine states.

2.3.1. Bodhicitta and the Bodhisattva Vow (Pg 127), Bhadracaryapranidhana

When we have attained the limits of space,
When sentient beings are all enlightened,
When karma and the afflictions have all been exhausted, Thus emptied, my vows will have come to an end.

2.3.2. Compassion (Pg 131), Santideva, Bodhicaryavatara

Just as the earth and the other elements abundantly and perpetually provide the needs of beings in myriad ways,
May I too, in as many ways as possible,
Provide for the beings that fill space until all of them have attained nirvana.
 

2.3.3. Emptiness, Heart of Compassion (Pg 137), Atisha, Bodhipathapradipa

Scriptures say that both wisdom lacking means
and means lacking wisdom are bondage.
Therefore do not abandon either.

2.3.4. The Two Accumulations (Pg 141), Atisha, Bodhipathapradipa

The accumulations of merit and wisdom are the perfect causes of enlightenment.

2.3.5. The Six Perfections (Pg 143), Subahupariprcchasutra

Subahu, in order to attain perfect enlightenment quickly, a bodhisattva mahasattva should always and continuously practice the six perfections.
What are they?
Generosity, discipline, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom.
 

2.3.6. Samatha-Vipasyana (Pg 151), Pengar Jamphel Sangpo, Short Invocation of Vajrahara

The state of nondistraction is the body of meditation;
teach yourself thus.
The essence of every thought that arises is pristine awareness.
In the meditator who abides in uncontrived simplicity,
Inspire a meditation free from intellection!
 

2.3.7. The Stages of Realization (Pg 163), Gampopa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation

The person who turns towards enlightenment, and practices diligently the different disciplines, traverses the stages of bodhisattva that lead to enlightenment.

2.3.8. Enlightenment and the Three Bodies of the Buddha (Pg 167), Asanga, Mahayanasutralankara

Buddhahood is not existent because it has as a characteristic non-existence of the self and phenomena.
Neither is it nonexistent because it exists as suchness.

2.4.1. The Path of Transmutation (Pg 173), Jamgon Kongtrul Londro Thaye, The Outline of Essential Points

In the Mantra approach, with its many methods and few austerities,
a person of sharp faculties and high intelligence
may gather the two accumulations during all activities
and never do even a trace of anything meaningless.

2.4.2. The Guide and Spiritual Direction (Pg 177), Patrul Rinpoche, The Way of Great Perfection

No sutra, tantra, or sastra speaks of any being ever attaining perfect buddhahood without having followed a spiritual teacher.
We can see for ourselves that nobody has ever developed all the accomplishments of the stages and paths by relying on their own efforts and abilities alone.
 

2.4.3. Transmission and Blessing (Pg 183), Patrul Rinpoche, The Way of Great Perfection

First you followed a supreme Master and obeyed him;
Then you practised, undertaking great hardships;
Finally, your mind and your teacher's became one,
And you inherited the lineage.
Peerless teacher, at your feet I bow.
 

2.4.4. The Three Roots (Pg 189), Patrul Rinpoche, The Way of Great Perfection

Crowned with the Three Jewels of the outer refuge,
You have truly realized the Three Roots, the inner refuge,
You have made manifest the three kayas, the ultimate refuge.
Peerless teacher, at your feet I bow.
 

2.4.5. Progression in Vajrayana (Pg 193), Tilopa, Mahamudra of the Ganges

One single torch can dissipate the accumulated darkness of a thousand eons.
Likewise, one single instant of clear light in mind eliminates the ignorance and obscurations accumulated over kalpas.

2.4.6. The Common Preliminary Practices (Pg 197), Kyabje Kalu Riponche, The Essential Bindu

If our mind has not assimilated the four ideas reversing thought, Were we to meditate for years,
We would most likely just become more rigid and more attached.
In this way they are indispensible as a basis for practice.
 

2.4.7. The Ngondro (Pg 203), Jamgon Kongtrul Londro Thaye, The Torch of Certainty

Don't rush into mahamudra meditation;
First prepare the ground with the preliminaries
By planting positive qualities.

2.4.8. Deity Yoga (Pg 209), Jamgon Kongtrul Londro Thaye, The Outline of Essential Points

The basis of purification is the eternal, non-composite realm of reality that fully permeates all beings as the buddha nature.
Sentient beings thus also possess the qualities of the Body of Reality, such as the marks and signs, that exists as an integral aspect of awareness:
this is the basis for purification.
 

2.4.9. The Subsequent Practices (Pg 213), Niguma, Diamond Verses

Ripened by the four initiations,
Those endowed with faith and energy,
If they first understand impermanence, renunciation,
And the unstatisfactory nature of conditioned existence, And exert effort in this supreme path,
Whoever they may be, Within six months, a year, or this life, They will attain enlightenment.
 

2.5.1. Mahamudra and Dzogchen (Pg 221), The Third Karmapa, Mahamudra: Boundless Joy and Freedom

Being without intellectual concepts, it is called the Great Sign, or Mahamudra.
Being without extremes, it is called the Great Middle Way, or Madhyamika.
As it embraces everything, it is called the Great Perfection, or Maha-Ati.
May we have the confidence that the experience of one is the experience of the meaning of all.
 

2.5.2. Transmission and Qualification (Pg 225), Gampopa, Precious Garland of the Sublime Way

Whether we are of greater, middling, or lesser abilities, the best signs of success are a decrease of self-centeredness and the easing of mental afflictions.

 

2.5.3. Ngotro: Introducing Mind (Pg 229), The Third Karmapa, Mahamudra: Boundless Joy and Freedom

If again and again we examine the mind,
which cannot be examined,
We see that which cannot be seen,
with total clarity, just as it is.
May the faultless mind,
freed from all doubts about being and not being, recognize itself.
 

2.5.4. The Practice of Mahamudra (Pg 233), Nagarjuna, as cited by Gampopa in The Jewel Ornament of Liberation

Do not think, nor conceive.
Abide in the natural relaxed state, without contrivance;
With the absence of all projections is the innate nature attained.
Such is the Way followed by all the Victors of the three times.
 

2.5.5. Experience and Realization (Pg 239), Tilopa, The Mahamudra of the Ganges

Sovereign is vision that transcends all dualistic grasping.
Sovereign, meditation free of distraction.
Sovereign, action of nonaction.
When there is no more fear and hope,
The goal is won.
 

2.5.1. Living Dharma in Daily Life (Pg 245), Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, Mind Training in Seven Points

One who thinks and acts to achieve his own ends is a worldly being,
One who thinks and works for others' welfare alone is a Dharma practitioner.

2.6.2. The Study and Practice of Dharma (Pg 251), Gampopa, Precious Garland of the Sublime Way

At the beginning, gain knowledge of Dharma,
Be like a starving man before a good meal;
In the middle, gain understanding of mind like one finding a precious jewel;
In the end, develop an understanding of nonduality
Like the collapse of the charlatan's greatest deception.
 


Epilogue: The Great Ship of Liberation

Immense wishes linked to the cycle of teachings of the glorious Shangpa-Kagyu, composed by Kyabye Kalu Rinpoche.

I. INVOCATION

Vajradhara and the two dakinis of innate wisdom,
Kyungpo Neljor, root and lineage lamas,
Caskasamvara, Hevajra, Guhyasamaja, Mahamaya,
Vajrabhairava, Hayagriva, and the other yidams,

Dakinis of the five classes, Mahakala and Remati,
Four lieutenants and myriad oath-bound ones,
May the Three Jewels and the Three Roots, all refuges,
Look upon me from the realm of the invisble.

By the power of the truth of your compassionate love,
And by the power of all the good done throughout the three times,
Please fulfill all these wishes quickly in this life and those to come.

II. THE COMMON PRELIMINARIES

This precious human life, endowed with leisure and fortune, and so hard to obtain,
May I not waste it but extract its essence.

Knowing that it is subject to change ---
Impermanent and unstable,
May I stay centered on the present and not waste any time.

Convinced of the results of all actions,
Good or bad, great or small,
May I keep the discipline of karmic law.

Perceiving the suffering
Of the three conditioned worlds,
May I have no attachment for the things of samsara.

III. REFUGE

Now, in future lives, and in the bardo,
May I always be under the protection of the
Three Jewels and the Three Roots.

IV. BODHICITTA

Towards all mother beings of the six realms,
As many in number as space as vast,
May I, from the depths of my being,
Awaken love and compassion.

V. FAVORABLE CONDITIONS

Having gathered all favorable conditions,
May I practice undistracted in a hermitage
And attain the goal of experiences and realization.

In all my lives may I be guided
By sublime lamas endowed with all good qualities.

And towards my root lama,
Living manifestation of all buddhas,
May I from the depth of my heart,
Generate genuine devotion.

VI. GENERATION STAGE

May the innate, ever-present
Mandala of the deity be recognized;
May its luminous appearance be stable.

VII. THE FIVE GOLDEN TEACHINGS

By the yoga of tummo,
May bliss and fierce heat blaze within the body
And the meditation of bliss and emptiness
Be stable in the mind.

By the yoga of illusory body,
May illusion be uprooted,
Which grasps as real
The dreams and hallucinations
That are all phenomena.

In dream yoga, at night, without effort,
Within the lucid dream,
May I practice training, multiplication,
Projection, transmutation,
And uncovering objective appearance.

By the yoga of clear light,
In the darkness of sleep's ignorance,
May I recognize the superficial and profound clear lights.

May I master the yogas of transferring consciousness:
dharmakaya, lama, yidam, clear light, and celestial realms.

And by the yoga of the bardo,
And the practices of the three bodies' spontaneous appearance
Of nonmigration and such,
May I achieve the three bodies in the intermediate state.

The four obstacles self-liberated;
The four bodies, spontaneously present,
May the essential state of mahamudra be thus realized in this life.

By the practices of integration, based on the devotion to the lama,
On forms as deities and sounds as mantra,
And on appearances as illusions and dreams,
May all situations become part of the path.

With the venerable dakinis, who enjoy the space
That is bliss and voidness,
May I, in the realization of utpatti and sampanna,
Travel in celestial enjoyment.

Seeing that in itself body is inanimate
And mind is free of birth and death,
May I realize the fruit of the path:
The state that is deathless and beyond migration.

VIII. THE PROTECTOR'S ACTIVITY

From the perfect vision of the face of the lama protector,
May the supreme accomplishment
Of the four activities be attained.

Through the activities of pacifying,
May all beings abandon every suffering
And become buddhas.

Through the activities of magnification,
May all qualities,
Long life, blessings, powers, experiences,
Realizations, and the others well up like summer floods.

By the activities of power,
May all the forces of the triple world and triple existence
Be gathered for the sublime good
Of the teachings and of beings.

By the activities of destruction,
May the powers of wrathful mantra blaze up
To free the enemy who accumulates the ten misdeeds.

IX. THE SIX PERFECTIONS

May all bad actions that we have done be purified,
Both those that go against the natural discipline
And those that are against vows.

By giving material goods, Dharma, or protection,
May I establish all beings in happiness.

May I always be able to keep all my vows;
Those of personal liberation, bodhisattva vows,
And the commitments of Vajrayana.

With patience, may I be able to bear
My body's being cut up into a thousand pieces
Even for a hundred eons, to benefit a single being.

With enthusiasm equal to Buddha Sakyamuni,
May I practice for the sake of all
The sublime path of liberation.

Through the meditations of smatha and vipasyana,
May the experience of dharmakaya,
The mind in itself, the clear light,
Free of all concept, be firm and immutable.

And, may I, like Manjusri, with transcendent wisdom,
Perfectly know all the phenomena of samsara and nirvana.

May I reach the very end of the instructions I practice:
Whether sutra or tantra, whether old or new traditions.

X. WISHES FOR BODHISATTVA ACTIVITY

May I always have a beautiful body and voice,
Long life, fame, power, and wealth.

By the grace of the Buddha's teachings in general,
And those of the Shangpa lineage,
May I be like the six ornaments of the world
And the founders of the eight vehicles of practice.

When I die, may I, without interruption of the essential,
Guide beings with rainbow lights and precious relic pills.

On leaving this world,
May I be reborn in Sukhavati
In the presence of Khyungpo and his children,
And all at once obtain the ten bhumis,
Reaching perfect, unsurpassable enlightenment.

Not remaining in the extremes of becoming or abiding,
May I, for the good of beings, become the equal
Of all the victorious ones and their children.

And whoever might have had a connection with me,
Through seeing, hearing, thinking, contact, nourishment, or Dharma,
May they form my first circle of disciples.

May I cause a shower of Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings to rain on them.
May my very being finally establish all beings
In the state of buddhahood.

As long as we are not yet established in that state,
May there be no obstacle, for even a moment,
To our Dharma practice.

May the beings of the six realms
Have all my goodness and virtue,
And having obtained them,
May they forever be happy.

May all the suffering, negative actions,
And obscurations of beings melt into me,
That I might experience their pain.

And by the powers that result from this,
May none among them ever experience any more suffering.

XI. DEDICATION

By the grace of the Three Jewels and the Three Roots,
By the power of the dakinis, dharmapalas, and the other protectors,
By the immutable truth of the ultimate,
And by the power of infallible dependent arising,
May all the wishes be realized quickly according to their thoughts.

May all their virtues be bestowed upon my mothers of old, as numerous as space is vast.
Free of all suffering, endowed with supreme bliss,
May all of us together attain the state of buddhahood.

This prayer was given in the year of the male earth dragon, 1928, by he who is at the end of the glorious Shangpa lineage: Karma Rangjung Kunkhyab

May it result in great benefit for beings --- Mangalam.

Created on July 31 2007. Last Revised on February 27, 2014
Back