Thu, 13 May 2010
Ignorance Is Not Bliss
It's been a while since I've posted. I've been busy bringing back The Gampopa Center website. But I have a little time tonight to discuss the next verse in Lama Phurbu Tashi's poem.
Ignorance is not a closed darkness thing
It is simply not being aware of the true nature
The suchness is always there with oneself,
But our mental projections obstructs to see it.
The first verse said that wisdom is always there, but because of our ignorance, we do not see it, just as a blind person does not see the sun. So what is this wisdom, which is called here "nature of mind" and "true nature?" It is simply our mind as it really is. Because it is reality, it is always with us, no matter how we are or what we do. And what is the ignorance that obstructs it? It is nothing more than our misapprehension of reality. Our mind is one thing, but we think it is something else. We think we have a self, which as different times is thought of as the body (I am tall), the mind (I am thinking of you), thoughts and emotions (I am angry), or the owner of all these (I could not control myself). Because this self has no existence at all other than a thought in our heads, it is a mental projection. But because we hold onto this false idea of who we are, we do not see the truth.
