The chain of delusion on a train of thought
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Source: Rinpoche, Sogyal (1992)
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying;
Rider; ISBN 0 7126 7139 0

The pervasive, peaceful state of your meditation is the Rigpa itself, and all thoughts and emotions that arise are none other than this Rigpa’s self radiance. This is the heart and basis of practice.

  • The Ground is this fundamental, primordial state, our absolute nature, which is already perfect and always present.
  • The Path involves following the teachings and practices so as to expose our intrinsic nature
  • The Fruition is to realise our original nature and to attain complete liberation and become a Buddha.

The Path comprises View, Meditation and Action

  • To see directly the absolute state, the Ground of our being, is the View
  • The way of stabilising that View and making it an unbroken experience is Meditation
  • Integrating the View into our entire reality and life, is what is meant by Action
"Action is being truly observant of your own thoughts, good or bad, looking in to the true nature of whatever thoughts may arise, neither tracing the past nor inviting the future, neither allowing any clinging to experiences of joy, nor being overcome by a sad situation. In so doing you try to reach and remain in this state of great equilibrium, where all good and bad, peace and distress, are devoid of true identity." (Dudjom Rinpoche p 163-4)

To stabilise the View in meditation:

  1. amidst the distractions and busyness of the world, however much you meditate, true experience will not be born in your mind - so accomplish this practice in a special environment of retreat, where all the favourable conditions are present
  2. you will not be able to integrate the wisdom of meditation into your daily life until you have found true stability through doing the practice in proper sessions
  3. even when you practice, you might be able to abide by the continual flow of Rigpa with the confidence of the View, but if you are unable to continue that flow at all times and in all situations, mixing your practice with everyday life, it will not serve as a remedy when unfavourable circumstances arise, and you will be led astray into delusion by thoughts and emotions.

Four states that are not proper meditation:
  1. you drift into a no man's land of the mind, where there are no thoughts or memories; it is a dark, dull, indifferent state, where you are plunged into the ground of the ordinary mind
  2. there is some stillness and slight clarity, but the state of stillness is a stagnant one, still buried in the ordinary mind
  3. you experience an absence of thoughts, but are 'spaced out' in a vacant state of wonder
  4. your mind wanders away, hankering after thoughts and projections

The essence of Meditation practice in four points:

  1. When one past thought has ceased and a future thought has not yet risen, in that gap, in between, isn’t there a consciousness of the present moment; fresh, virgin, unaltered by even a hair’s breadth of concept, a luminous, naked, awareness? Well that is what Rigpa is!
  2. Yet it doesn’t stay in that state forever, because another thought suddenly arises, doesn’t it? This is the self radiance of that Rigpa.
  3. However if you do not recognise this thought for what it really is, the very instant that it arises, then it will turn in to just another ordinary thought, as before. This is called the "chain of delusion", and is the root of suffering.
  4. It you are able to recognise the true nature of the thought as soon as it arises, and leave it alone without any follow up, then whatever thoughts that arise all automatically dissolve back into the vast expanse of Rigpa and are liberated
The chain of delusion on a train of thought

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