The-Tibetan-Book-of-Living-and-Dying

THE NATURE OF MIND 55
Our true nature and the nature of all beings is not something
extraordinary. The irony is that it is our so-called ordinary
world that is extraordinary, a fantastic, elaborate hallucination
of the deluded vision of samsara. It is this "extraordinary"
vision that blinds us to the "ordinary," natural, inherent nature
of mind. Imagine if the buddhas were looking down at us
now: How they would marvel sadly at the lethal ingenuity
and intricacy of our confusion!
Sometimes, because we are so unnecessarily complicated,
when the nature of mind is introduced by a master, it is just
too simple for us to believe. Our ordinary mind tells us this
cannot be, there must be something more to it than this. It
must surely be more "glorious," with lights blazing in space
around us, angels with flowing golden hair swooping down to
meet us, and a deep Wizard of Oz voice announcing, "Now
you have been introduced to the nature of your mind." There
is no such drama.
Because in our culture we overvalue the intellect, we imagine
that to become enlightened demands extraordinary intelligence.
In fact many kinds of cleverness are just further
obscurations. There is a Tibetan saying that goes, "If you are
too clever, you could miss the point entirely." Patrul Rinpoche
said: "The logical mind seems interesting, but it is the seed of
delusion." People can become obsessed with their own theories
and miss the point of everything. In Tibet we say: "Theories
are like patches on a coat, one day they just wear off." Let
me tell you an encouraging story:
One great master in the last century had a disciple who
was very thick-headed. The master had taught him again and
again, trying to introduce him to the nature of his mind. Still
he did not get it. Finally, the master became furious and told
him, "Look, I want you to carry this bag full of barley up to
the top of that mountain over there. But you mustn't stop and
rest. Just keep on going until you reach the top." The disciple
was a simple man, but he had unshakable devotion and trust
in his master, and he did exactly what he had been told. The
bag was heavy. He picked it up and started up the slope of
the mountain, not daring to stop. He just walked and walked.
And the bag got heavier and heavier. It took him a long time.
At last, when he reached the top, he dropped the bag. He
slumped to the ground, overcome with exhaustion but deeply
relaxed. He felt the fresh mountain air on his face. All his
resistance had dissolved and, with it, his ordinary mind. Everything
just seemed to stop. At that instant, he suddenly realized