PACIFIC WORLD - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

352Pacific Worldneither has to grasp or reject, but can simply “enjoy all phenomena”without discrimination. 191 Second, by identifying all standard Buddhistterms for the Absolute (buddhahood, dharmakåya, dharmatå, etc.) withone’s own mind or experience, the Dzogchen view functions to constantlyredirect attention back to the here and now. Holding the view of oneself asalready a buddha, one does not stray from immediacy. And this “nonstraying”(or non-duality) is buddhahood. As Longchenpa explains, “Byfirst having the certainty that one’s Mind is spontaneously the real Buddhafrom primordial time, later one realizes that there is no need of aspirationfor Buddhahood from any other source. At that very time one dwells inBuddhahood.” 192The practice of “letting be” has a pacifying and purifying effect onconsciousness (another apparent paradox); if one simply allows thoughts(neither accepting or rejecting them), thoughts are “liberated.” Again, viewplays a central role in this process. According to Longchenpa, “by sayingthat this present mind is the buddha itself [contemplating the view], and byattending to its intrinsic clarity, incidental conceptualizations are clarifiedin the dimension of mind as-it-is, just as we clear up muddy water” (i.e., bydoing nothing but letting the water sit). 193 A mind that has developed somefamiliarity with the state of immediate presence (supported by the Dzogchenview) remains undistracted. 194 In this state of presence, “allowing” underminesthe dualistic and conditional framework that generates thought.And so “without having to be eliminated, [thought] is released. Remainingwith that state of contemplation, the thoughts release themselves rightaway like a drawing on water.” 195 The “stains” of mentation (Tib. sems)being removed, the Ultimate is then automatically realized. 196 This meditativeapproach contrasts with the more conventional attempt to suppressthoughts, which some Dzogchen sources claim has exactly the opposite ofits intended effect. As Shabkar Lama explains, “Trapped by the thought ofdesiring thoughtlessness, conflicting thoughts multiply, and in mountingfrenzy you run aimlessly hither and thither.” To quiet the mind, one mustinstead relax, and “merge into the primal space of knowledge…. Cut looseand just let it be.” 197The element of “calming” that can be found in these types of practicesechoes standard Ωamathå practices, and Germano asks if there is anysignificant difference between the two approaches. 198 As he points out, theGreat Perfection argues that there is a difference, in that “its [own] meditationsare not fixated or exclusionary as calming practices generally are—instead they allow a vibrant and ceaselessly active type of awareness tocome to the fore, which is then integrated into everyday life.” 199 ThoughΩamathå and certain Dzogchen practices appear similar in some respects,Dzogchen’s “‘formless’ contemplations cultivate not only an alert, vigilant,eyes-open awareness, but are also shaped in [distinctively Dzogchen]styles of psychological inquiry by poetic thematization.” 200 Guenther also