My Samsaric Trance

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: If you are too clever, you 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.

One of the greatest Buddhist traditions calls the nature of mind the wisdom of ordinariness.” I cannot say it enough: 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 on us now: How they would marvel sadly at the lethal ingenuity and intricacy of our confusion! ~ Unknown

Wild roses plucked from fields

full of croaking frogs

float them in your wine 

and enjoy every minute! ~ Ryokan (1758-1831)