GESHE TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE

Twenty-One Nails
Summary of the Teachings

(Part 4) in 2018

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Content

Preface ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Beginning of the retreat ............................................................................................................. 4

Concerning the practice ~ Reviewing the 9 Points of the First Nail ......................................... 12

Fourteenth Nail ~ Pointing Out Singleness ............................................................................. 16

Fifteenth Nail – Profound Certainty, [The Unification of] Mother and Son ................................. 28

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Preface

The “Twenty-One Nails” is a very important cycle of Dzogchen teachings from the Zhang Zhung
Nyan Gyud, one of the most important Dzogchen texts in the Bön tradition.

The teachings of the Twenty-One Nails are a direct expression of enlightenment—our natural
mind. Each Nail describes this natural state from a different point of view. The views are called
Nails because they stabilize the experiential understanding of the natural state. These teachings
are said to have come directly from the primordial Buddha, Küntu Zangpo, passed by mind-to-
mind transmission to eight successive Buddhas, and then transmitted orally to 24 human Bön
lineage holders, all of whom were yogis and siddhas. It was first written down by Yangton
Sherap Gyaltsen in the 11th century. These teachings have been transmitted in an unbroken
succession down to our teachers of the present day: Yongdzin Sangye Tenzin, His Holiness
Lungtok Tenpai Nyima, Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.

At the summer retreat 2015 in Buchenau Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche started the cycle of the
Twenty-One Nails with teachings on the first five Nails, continued in 2016 with teachings up to
the Tenth Nail, and in 2017 up to the Thirteenth Nail. This handout summarizes Rinpoche’s
teachings on the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Nail based on transcripts of recordings of the retreat
in 2018 in Buchenau.

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 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Twenty-One Nails
Summary of the Teachings (Part 4), Summer Retreat Buchenau 2018

Beginning of the retreat

Welcome everybody. I am looking forward to this week. This is the continuation of the Twenty-
One Nails teaching, and we’re going deeper into our practices and into ourselves. So, I’m happy
to be here. Does everybody have the same text? We will start with singing the Guru Yoga one
time and then the Invocation of Tapihritsa. We will do each one time in Tibetan and one time in
German.

[Guru Yoga; Invocation of Tapihritsa]

How many people are here for the first time? How many people here are practicing meditation
maybe not for the first time but maybe are very new? So welcome. We’ve been doing retreats
here for many, many years. And we are not necessarily more enlightened or realized, but
definitely we have been trying for many years.

I think it would be nice for those who are new to give some special attention to the Nine
Breathings and the Tsa Lung. It will be good to organize that. And also, I want to share a little bit
about what we’ve been doing in the Twenty-One Nails teachings, so I will just say a few opening
things.

First, I want to speak a little bit about the teaching and our stories. Sometimes my feeling is that
there are these beautiful teachings, thousands of years old teachings, and if we don’t
understand them, it’s not the problem with the teachings, it’s our problem. And we need to help
each other to keep connected to these teachings and not lose the effort necessary to
understand them simply because they are foreign or because we don’t understand the
concepts. Some people might feel it does not really speak to me. But the whole point is to try to
understand these teachings, because there is a very clear sense of being lost as a society. It’s
like trying to talk with somebody who only understands what they want to understand from you.
They don’t try to understand you. Do you know people or friends like that? Even in very close
relationships when you have been living with somebody for years and you are trying to say
something to your partner, they will hear it in their own way. In order to grow, in order to change,
you have to hear it; you have to feel it; you have to live it. And then the real change comes.

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With the teachings I sometimes I feel a bit like that. We hear them, but then at the end of the
day we just interpret them in our own way, or we don’t interpret them at all but just keep on
doing what we do. Sometimes I understand the challenge of understanding. I go through the
same thing. Every single day of my life I try to understand the teachings in a simpler way. Every
single day of my life when I’m trying to communicate this, I also try to communicate in a simpler
way without losing the point. Sometimes, there’s a danger in the West that we lose the point.
Everything is interpreted in a very individualistic and materialistic way. Rather than being free,
this is another way of getting trapped. So, I think just to make one point—and I’m not saying
who is doing this or who is not doing that as it is not my place to judge—I’m saying this is a
vibration in the air that I feel. So, I just want to address that, and particularly address it on a
collective level. So that’s one point.

Another point, which is also very important, is that sometimes in the Tibetan tradition or with
epistemology or logic, patterns are repeated, and are not necessarily a cause for awakening or
applying in life. In the East we personalize very little. This is taught and we learn it, but we do
not personalize what we learn and there is a challenge there. And in the West, everything is too
personalized. Even when you learn something that is depersonalizing, you personalize it. So,
this is a very strange kind of problem.

We all have these beautiful little booklets with the lines. Some of the lines make sense and
some of them don’t. Some of them are supposed to make great and deep sense but don’t make
any sense. But hold onto these books. Of the 24 Masters, many held onto only a few lines for an
entire lifetime. They didn’t have a library of books, only a few lines in their heart. So, treasure
these little booklets. I mean not the booklets, but the lines in the booklet. Tibetan people
sometimes write by hand with gold, so the lines are beautifully made, and they will even wear
those lines as a protection.

Now as far as coming to the teachings, I think every spiritual tradition, every religion, every
doctrine in Tibetan Buddhism is about self-realization or the transformation of self. I know
people are not necessarily coming to this retreat to become a rainbow body or coming to
become a Buddha, or maybe not even to self-transform. Maybe some are coming because they
need some help from suffering or are lost. Maybe in a deep sense you are coming to self-
realize, to self-transform, and because it’s the self who is suffering, you can only overcome
suffering if you transform that self. You don’t know what you are coming for, but that’s what you
are coming for. I’m just making it clear, right? You can think, I want to become a buddha; I want
to become a yidam, a deity. You can think whatever, but it all means the same thing.

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So, if we look at this notion of self-transformation, it comes down to a few simple things in
ourselves. When you think about yourself, who are you? What is the base of your identity? I just
posted a poem yesterday; unfortunately, it is only in Tibetan, but the whole point is about self-
grasping. Sometimes you see people posting something on Facebook on in social media, which
is fine, I mean, people share their joy and everything, but sometimes one person will share ten
photos of ten different poses, and it makes me wonder, what’s going on with you? Do you know
what I’m saying? It’s the same face, so why do you have to show us this same face ten times? I
don’t know why, but let’s not worry about it.

The point to make here is that our self-identity is based on our body, speech, and mind. And
self-transformation means letting go of the old body, letting go of the old speech, letting go of
the old mind, and finding a new body or new sense of self, a new sense of speech or voice, and
a new sense of creativity and action. That is transformation. Of course, there are
transformations into yidams and buddhas and such, and these are fancier and higher
discussions. But at least on our ordinary level we definitely have to see something change.

So, we’ve been coming to these retreats for something like 15 years and to general retreats for
the last 20 or 25 years. I know some of you and been with me for a long time. So we have to
ask, has it changed anything? Externally we can see that we have changed a lot. We definitely
used to look different 20 years ago, and we moved differently as well. We definitely have
changed. The body is changing; the level of energy is changing, but internally have you felt any
change? Have you payed close attention to the changes? So, regarding the inner body—or in
enlightened terms it’s called the eternal body, or we say the realization of dharmakaya—have
we achieved that body? It’s a good question, right?

So, it’s not about whether you think you have changed or not. Our thinking could be right or
could be wrong. But what is the change? What is the change that we are looking for? Or what is
the change pointed to in these teachings? What are they trying to say? What should the change
be? What is the change that we are looking for when referring to self-transformation?

There are two core principles here that appear in the Tapihritsa Invocation: the two-fold qualities
of wisdom and skillful means or wisdom and compassion. Is there more wisdom in you than 20
years ago? Or 15 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago, one year ago? That’s a good question.
What does that mean in simple terms? Are you more open? Is that difficult to understand? No.
Because I think openness is very similar to wisdom. We use the word openness a lot. I think it’s
a good word if you understand the full meaning of it. Because usually we think about openness
as necessary in order to dissolve a problem or in order to make something more efficient or
more fruitful. Openness is not only about that. In relation to wisdom it is more about the self

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becoming more flexible or freer or more fearless. That’s the more important meaning of
openness.

So, to repeat the question: Are you more open? You see humanity facing these two challenges
all the time in religion, in politics, in the family, even in very deep intimate relationships. Humans
face these two challenges all the time. When you are too open you are careless, you don’t care
about the environment, nature, education, art, humanity, and you see that also in the world
politically. You need to conserve, to be a little conservative and to protect things. Or the other
way around, you can be too protective, too closed. Another word, a negative word meaning to
be protective is being too closed, so closed that you don’t even breathe well or live well. You’re
fearful in every step of your life. You are in a totally protective mood. And you have no idea what
you’re trying to protect. You’re just closed. So, either we are too open or too closed. A balance
is challenging.

I think you can see this in the political parties in the U.S. where there are two main parties, the
method and wisdom parties. Maybe these words are too good to describe these parties, but at
least there are certain qualities present in them. Even in an intimate relationship it’s the same.
Too open with no compassion or too much compassion with too much attachment and no
openness.

So, the question we should ask ourselves is: Am I more open? At the same time, am I also
more aware, compassionate, skillful, caring? It’s the same thing in spiritual groups. We love to
form groups within groups, which is not good. The whole idea in forming a spiritual group is to
not have that kind of group, a group that lacks openness. And I can see some aspects of the
need to be more protective. There is some value in that, but then ultimately just closing, just
needing to be protective is not a solution, but an obstacle. Every time you’re open, somebody is
testing you. And when somebody is testing you, you don’t like that person, and you try to
exclude that person. It’s probably not difficult to exclude somebody for some time, but that’s not
the point. The point is, to open up and to be more inclusive and at the same time to be more
protective.

Geshela and I were talking about a friend of mine, who does not like technology. I asked him to
please download WhatsApp. I mean this is a very simple but good example. But he does not
like social media and those things. And he really does not like to see many people and things
like that. So, I said just download WhatsApp. He said that it costs him, I don’t know, like 40
Euros or so because of the tax. I said, what are you worrying about? If you use WhatsApp you
don’t pay, whereas now I have to pay every time I contact you. So clearly you see him in a
protective mood. I don’t want people ask me to do things. I don’t want people asking me for help

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all the time. But I pointed out that it’s really the opposite, that you can help people, but you can
also get help from people. It is just very simple—are you open or not. You know it’s not about
WhatsApp; it’s about this idea of being open, fearlessly open. There’s beauty in it. There’s a
resource in it. There’s usefulness in it. At least if you don’t want to use it, don’t be fearful about
it, because your fear is using you. You can say, I don`t want to download WhatsApp; I don’t
want to use it; I don’t want to talk with anybody; I don’t want to download another app! So do the
Nine Breathings, don’t talk to anybody, don’t call anybody, download the app, breathe out,
download the app, breathe out… (Rinpoche is joking and laughing).

The point I’m trying to make here is about the transformation of body, speech, and mind. This is
what this retreat will be about. As far as the practice is concerned, we are trying to transform our
self, trying to find a new sense of you—a whole new you, a fresh person. And that fresh person
has a new body. That means, maybe, hopefully, there’s some shift in the physical body, and
definitely a new sense of identity that has much more openness.

And from that openness you find a new voice, a voice where you don’t have to talk so much,
where you discover the power of silence, or a voice were you really find your power and are
able to express yourself without harming others and with a beneficial outcome. Or you are
heard, or find the value of trying to hear another, because if you want to be heard, you also
need to learn how to hear. That’s just simple logic. So, value that, exercise that knowledge
through our speech.

And the third part is our mind. Mind means creativity, creations, visions for example, which are
much more open. A new vision means not being stuck in the same old patterns, having new
ideas, making new decisions, taking new actions. From idea to decision to action, these steps
are necessary, because sometimes there are people who have a lot of visions but make no
decisions. And there are also a lot of people who make a lot of decisions—like not to smoke—
and they keep smoking, so action is lacking. These are all mind. So, when we say mind, don’t
think just the thinking mind, but mind is vision, creativity, the ability to see things clearly, the
ability to make decisions, and the ability to act on decisions. These are the power of mind.
When the transformation of mind happens, that’s what we want.

Ok, so that is the transformation of body, speech, and mind, I think it makes some sense. We
will come back to it, but this is an introduction. So how we do transform? According to the sutric
teachings, we purify for countless lifetimes and we accumulate merit for countless lifetimes and
then we transform. That’s very discouraging. At least in the dzogchen tradition it says
transformation can occur in one lifetime. There is no guarantee, but at least it is a possibility that
some transformation can take place.

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In the First Nail, remember, we have these nine points of practice. And I think it is good to do
this. The main point of this nine-point exercise is to clearly distinguish between mind and the
nature of mind. In another words, in the nature of mind there is no problem; in the mind there
are a lot of problems. So, it is important to distinguish when you are in the mind that has no
problems or you are in the mind that has problems, where even no problem is a problem. So,
this chapter is very important.

The first point of nine says: The three resting or restraining vows—more like controlling or
restraining—help to overcome distracted actions. Let’s keep it simple. Think about this: Look in
your life and look at your stories. Do you have stories? Of course, we have so many stories,
right? But I’m not talking about every story. I’m talking about stories that interfere with your
breakfast, that wake you in the middle of the night, and every now and then you’re talking and
then you drift away and get lost. And when you’re trying to make a decision, the story influences
your decision-making ability. Negative stories; painful stories are there. Sometimes they are
more active and sometimes less active. Sometimes they are very clearly affecting you, while
other times they are subtly affecting your life. Here it’s saying: offer an open invitation—I want to
know you; I want to see you; I want to feel you. I want to see my stories.

First of all, there’s the famous word for wisdom: openness. Offer openness to your stories, but in
a very different way than you’re used to doing. This is a joyful invitation—no rejection, no
criticism, no judgment—an open invitation. That’s very important. In one word it says:
recognition; recognizing your stories. If there is no recognition, there is no realization.
Remember, we are all doing the same thing here, so we are supporting each other. You are not
the only one.

If everybody is having a little rainbow light around their head and if you see only one person
who does not have it, and it’s you, then that’s a little problem. Everybody starts to talk about the
one with no rainbow around their head. So, it’s not like that; we are all the same here. So in that
way we feel we’re supporting each other.

So, recognize your story, and then do the first three vows, the first exercise. Because you see,
when you try to bring your story up, it immediately takes you away—your body takes you away,
your voice is going zzzz; your mind is going away. So, you’re restraining it with a little force, a
little effort [Rinpoche shows a forced expression in the face]. Restraining your body, your
speech, your mind. That means, bring your attention to the body in stillness, to the speech in
silence, to your mind in spaciousness; restrain with a little bit effort, if you need to. It depends on
the person. If you need more, have more, if you need less, have less.

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Then, number two, through three relaxations, rest the mind in composure. So, once you’re
restrained, you don’t continue to restrain; at some point you relax. This [gesture of holding,
contracting] is the idea of protecting, and this [relaxing and opening chest and breath] is the
idea of letting go. Because when you feel protected, you feel now you’re stable, and then you let
go.

And then it says, number three, hold the ground of innate awareness through the three methods
of settling: Settling into the inner stillness of body, settling into the inner silence of speech,
settling into the inner spaciousness of mind. Through the three settlings you’ll be grounded in
innate awareness.

Each of these nine points is about self-transformation, and the beginning part of these points is
more about resting.

When we are talking about recognizing your stories, how do you let go of the stories? You
recognize them without judging them, are present with them, and then rest into your body, rest
into your speech by resting into silence, resting deeper, deeper, grounding into the inner
awareness, and then once you’re deeply grounded in awareness, the stories are gone. That is
the method. That’s important; I will repeat it again. The way you dissolve stories is by resting
into the inner body, speech, and mind with the presence of openness and awareness without
judging or analyzing. It’s very simple.

Ok, let’s reflect and do a short meditation.

Bring your attention here and now. And be aware if you were not here and now; and be aware,
now we are here and now.

We will do the Nine Breathings of Purification. Just try to clear your three channels in the center
of your body.

[Nine Breathings of Purification]

Now for a moment bring your attention to what we call restraining your body, speech, and mind.

Maintain awareness of your body. Maintain awareness of the stillness in your body and fully
rest.

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Your mind is fully connected to your body, and your body is helping your mind to not get
distracted. Your mind’s open attention is nourishing the body. Like the pure presence of the love
of a mother towards her child when she holds her child, your awareness is like the mother and
your body is like the needy child.

Feel that there is a beautiful healing in this connection of your body and mind when they are
together, nourishing each other.

Recognize your stories, your pain body stories, are dissolving into this stillness and particularly
the inner stillness, like bubbles and waves in the ocean or like clouds in the sky, and you feel
the sky, the body of the sky.

We will sing the three syllables A OM HUNG. For those who are not familiar with the mantra,
A is related with the body and with the stillness; OM is related with the speech, the silence;
HUNG is related with the mind and the spaciousness. When we sing, imagine from infinite
space white light, red light, and blue light comes as a form of blessing and empowerment and
enters into your body, speech, and mind, helping you to find or develop a new body, speech,
and mind.

Ground deeper, connect more clearly, and allow more to manifest.

A OM HUNG…

Continuously feel more space and feel more clearing of your stories. And as far as A is
concerned, A is clearing and gaining access to the openness. And when we sing OM, it’s
speech and awareness. That means, with OM we are more aware because we are more open,
which means we are discovering our potentiality. And when we sing HUNG, it’s the mind and
heart, which means decisions and actions. So, in a simple way, may I more fully clear my
stories; may I more fully see my life; may I more fully act from that awareness. That’s what A
OM HUNG is.

[Dedication]

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 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Twenty-One Nails
Summary of the Teachings (Part 4), Summer Retreat Buchenau 2018

Concerning the practice ~ Reviewing the 9 Points of the First Nail

Let’s talk about what we’re doing and what we will be doing. Tomorrow morning, I will begin with
the 14th Nail. All the Nails are about the same point. The Twenty-One Nails are essentially only
one. I think that’s important to understand. And the 14th Nail says: This completes the Nail of
pointing out singleness. There are so many of you, yet there is only one essence. So that’s why
there are many Nails.

As far as the practice is concerned, we will continue doing exactly what we have done. The
main point in this practice, to use one word, is resting. It is clear that there are so many
confused people out there, so many confused actions out there, so many bad decisions out
there, just simply due to the condition that people are not getting enough rest. They are driven
to find themselves, but each time they search they go further away. They are not going in the
right direction. Resting is really the key. And of course, it’s not just resting, but a very particular
way of resting. It’s not that we are coming here to sleep for the whole week. That’s one way of
resting, but there’s a lack of awareness there. Maybe the body does need sleep, which does
lack awareness, but the mind needs to rest with the presence of awareness, and some sense of
trust—trusting the need to rest and the benefit of resting

We are very action driven. It is as if only when we act, we know that we exist, and when we stop
doing things we die. During this last guided meditation, we were paying very close attention to
the body, bringing full awareness and attention there. And as we did this, the mind is like a
mother and the body is like a child, with the mother bringing caring attention to the child.
Attention, awareness, connection—you can call it by different names, but the body absolutely
needs this. It’s healing for the body. Maybe your body is sick or becoming sick. Perhaps there’s
pain, or a loss of energy because of the disconnectedness from the mother. So, then the
question is: How often in one year, how many times you do rest in this way? It’s shocking. We
don’t do this enough. So, this is the opportunity for us.

We are being fully present there, and then, in that presence, we find the subtle presence of
stories. I’m not simply talking about stories, but the subtle presence of blockages, stories, pain,
discomfort. Scanning through your body you will feel this somewhere. And then, when you feel
this, you bring your presence of awareness there and warm it up, loosen it up, let it dissolve. Let
the body dissolve its story.
You repeat this again and again until you have a deep experience of what I call inner stillness.
Inner stillness is so directly linked with the body, and through this you experience the stillness of

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your being. Then you have access to the eternal body. A new sense of “I” awakens from there.
These are not theories; these are direct experiences.

Then you pay closer attention to your breath or speech or voice. Your story comes alive. You
contract and your breath becomes shorter. Or maybe sometimes you go the opposite way and
your ego becomes inflated. I am something, whatever that is. The breath changes, the energy in
the body changes. Just be aware. Be aware of the subtle stories in your breath. And then
breathe it out. And do what? Rest more deeply.

Rest more and more deeply, that’s the mantra. Through three doors we discover three different
ways of resting. During the guided meditation when we do the Nine Breathings of Purification
and I speak of the three channels as clear, you might be thinking, Oh the three channels are
clear, but what does the three channels mean? But when I say, the center of your body is clear,
it’s simple to understand. It does make a big difference when I say: Bring the light of awareness
to the sacred space in the center of your body. In this line each word is important, because it’s
talking about the story. When I use the word clear that refers to clearing the story. I am talking
about the practice, about the fruit of the practice, about bringing it to light. So, I am talking about
both cause and fruit.

With the mind we have the same thing. There are different layers, like an onion. And when one
is truly able to restrain—the first of the nine points of the First Nail—and then rest, then one is
connecting to the source. So basically, we are restraining, relaxing, and settling. These are the
first three points. Just remember three things:

Restraining to not be distracted.

Relaxing to experience restful connection.
Settling to hold the ground of innate awareness.

Hold is not the best word, but I think in some sense what it’s saying is to be aware rather than
just relaxing with no focus. Be aware and hold awareness in order to settle.

So, as we repeat this again and again and again, the point is, the stories will dissolve. Not every
story will dissolve. Forget about that; we have too many, and some of them we are not even
conscious of at all. But some of them are just waking up in the middle of the night to engage us.
And those are the stories we are talking about. We have held onto the same stories for the last
15 years, 20 years, 30 years. There is a saying regarding someone who has been engaged in
dharma for a long time: The one who is in Dharma for such a long time, even if you hit their
head with an ax they would not be cut, they are so stubborn. What is the symptom that would let

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you know if you are like that or not? When I’m talking about these things, you say, Oh, yes, I
heard about that. That is the symptom right there; and then you yawn. And when I’m saying it is
time for lunch, you say, Oh, what is for lunch? Those are the symptoms. Because you think you
have heard, but you have not heard. People who truly hear this don’t behave like that. They may
not be completely transformed, but they are very moved.

This dissolving part is important. Look at family stories. This is a good story place. How many
people here have family stories that you want to dissolve? And of course, we can have stories in
our communities, in the sangha. Probably the story of the family might reflect to the story of the
sangha too; you are the same person, so maybe you’re bringing the same kind of story in that
different place in a nicer, more elegant way.

So, resting, trusting the power of presence, and dissolving. And then, through the mantra
finding.
If you look at the exercise, number seven is the arising—the arising of a new body, new speech,
and new mind. If there is no dissolving, nothing arises; if it arises, it will be the same one. It may
be dressed differently, but it’s the same story. Of course, sometimes it helps, a nice appearance
helps. If you are dressed nicely, you’re more likely to gain access to a nice restaurant; if you’re
dressed improperly, you’re out. But essentially you know there’s no change there.

I want to focus on a few points:

Recognition
Dissolution
Connection
Arising
Engaging a new direction

Look at the nine points. We will have it. Wolfgang is going to work on it, right? Also, I just want
to say a few words, because while some people here are old, we have new people here as well.
So, when we pray to Tapihritsa, it may be a new thing for you, and perhaps you don’t
understand it and don’t feel comfortable not understanding it. Why do I have to pray to
somebody I don’t know? I have never seen Tapihritsa before. Or for some of you, who have
been praying to Tapihritsa for the last 15 years, maybe you are ineffectively used to it. Maybe
you don’t even have this energy or charge—What is it? Is it true?—like new people have. You
don’t have even that energy. Whatever it is, the main point is again: Recognize where you stand
in terms of your faith, in terms of your trust, in terms of your ability to see.

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When I was growing up in the monastery, we studied epistemology, so I was very rational and
very logical. Of course, we prayed, but the praying part was not a big part for me. I was always
trying to see some logical reason why prayer works or why it should work. But over the years I
feel there’s clearly a power to prayer—the power of simple intention. During a meditation I say:
May I be helpful to others today. It is just as simple as that. Of course, I’m teaching here and
trying to be helpful, not just doing my job, but in my heart saying, Today, may I be helpful. And I
am also open to receiving help. It goes both ways. I think it is very important to value that.

So what I’m saying here, when we pray, of course we are all in different places and we evolve
and we grow, but with the idea of moving forward are we willing to seek help or ask for help? I
feel this is important, because when you don’t do that you can clearly see why you don’t do that.
Why do I have to ask for help? Even simply because of that you have to do it. Maybe nobody
exists out there, but still you have to do it.

When I’m doing the practice, I feel it’s important to say: Bring your awareness here and now.
And then I also say: If it’s not here, be aware of that, too. That’s an important part. And if it’s not
coming, be aware of that too; if you’re struggling, be aware of that too. That’s the magic of
awareness. It seems wherever you bring it, it changes. Wherever it is absent, it stays dark.
That’s the beauty of light. So aware, aware, aware. If it’s not working to be aware, especially be
aware!

So, I have one last question: Are you ready for a new body, speech, and mind?
Students respond: Yes!
And now how are you doing with recognizing the old one? We are beginning, right? And maybe
it’s an important thing, you know, because the approaches are very different in the dzogchen
teachings. The approach of dzogchen is quite special in that way. It’s not saying, put more effort
and suffer more. It’s saying: Rest. Don’t you recognize how beautiful this is? It’s not saying,
suffer more because you’re not working hard enough. Work harder, punish yourself! No, it’s not
saying any of that. It’s saying: Hey, you really need a rest. Let it rest. Let it heal. That’s the
beauty of this approach.

[Dedication]

15
 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Twenty-One Nails
Summary of the Teachings (Part 4), Summer Retreat Buchenau 2018

Fourteenth Nail ~ Pointing Out Singleness

We’re doing the Twenty-One Nails. The Twenty-One Nails are actual teachings, and then there
are some exercises as in Nail One, with nine steps. The purpose of the teaching and the
practice is self-transformation. In our dedication we say:

Ku sum dzok pé sang gyé nyur thop shok

May we swiftly achieve the complete buddhahood of the three bodies.

The complete buddhahood of the three bodies means dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and
nirmanakaya, but it can also mean the complete realization of body, speech, and mind. It’s
interesting to think about changes in life. Our body is changing constantly. As we said
yesterday, we’re now very different than we were 15 years ago, and we didn’t have to work hard
to change our body! Our body is changing quite fast on its own. But there are other things
changing like the view—world view or way of life or value of life or purpose of life. Some of
these views need to be changed, but often we don’t change. We carry the same view in so
many different places, and change is very difficult. Nevertheless, the whole idea of changing my
body/identity, changing my connection/potentiality, and changing manifestation, is important,
interesting, and fun to work on.

So, one goal of this retreat on an individual level will be to recognize your stories and work on
them, and not by working hard on them, but through resting. Avoid everything that usually
activates the stories and makes them stronger or sustains ego pain. Just let them go; let them
rest; rest. When you rest deeply enough then you feel something shift inside.

So, you clear these limited, painful stories, but you want to find new stories, enlightened stories,
conscious stories, compassionate stories, fun stories, humorous and playful stories. These
stories you want to find, and that changes your life.

So, what I’m saying here is not just about getting rid of stories, but finding yourself, finding a
new body, new speech, and new mind. It’s not like trying to get rid of and old body, speech, and
mind, but more important is to find a new body, new speech, and new mind. That’s important.

What makes the transition easier? Recognize the old stories are so meaningless and such a
waste of time and energy. They are not a fun place to be. But then you look at your new body,

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new sense of self, new possibilities, and you get excited. Probably you will not fall asleep, but
for different reasons. That’s what we want. That’s the goal of this retreat.

Now you look at Nail 14 and repeat after me:

Kün tu zang po rang jung nyak chik ku la chak tsel lo.

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the self-arising single body.

So it’s that sense of singleness, tiglé nyak chik, which is referring to you, your essence.
Singleness is referring to you.

And then, look at these six lines here:

All appearances are the play of body.

All sounds are the play of speech.
All recollections are the play of mind.
All events are the play of positive qualities.
All activities are the play of enlightened actions.
All is complete in the single sphere.

These lines refer to the play of body, speech, mind, quality, and action, and we know these five
points from the warrior seed syllables practice. The five points are: body, speech, mind, quality,
and action. What does that mean? Ok, let me go back few lines before.

According to the text:

The mind’s nature is the essence of mind.

The sky is the reflected radiance of the mind.

So maybe it’s important to understand these two: mind and the nature of mind. When I look at
some other traditions’ descriptions of mind, there’s a lot of discussion about consciousness, and
this also appears in the dialog between science and spirituality. When they talk about
consciousness it seems quite different than what we are presenting here. In some cases, it’s a
matter of language. It seems that they use the word consciousness as rigpa. For us here, rigpa
is some sense beyond mind, and then there is mind, which refers to a different function. In the
First Nail, the nine-point exercises make a distinction between these two terms or
experienced—mind and nature of mind. Through mind you discover the nature of mind.

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So, we say that the nature of mind is like Küntu Zangpo. Küntu Zangpo is a nice word; it’s used
frequently here, and literally it means all good, alles gut. It means basically, innately all is good;
nothing is wrong, nothing is bad. Negativity manifests when you lose connection to that basic
goodness. In the invocation of Tapihritsa we say kün zang tuk trül, which means the emanation
of the heart of Küntu Zangpo. Tapihritsa is the emanation of Küntu Zangpo’s heart. What does
that mean? That basically means Tapihritsa has no personality but is a pure manifestation—a
being who is the pure manifestation of awareness. There is no personality, which is wonderful.
Tapihritsa is awareness appearing as a human being—a naked luminous being—because we
want to see someone who looks like us. Otherwise, it would not appear, and then, if Tapihritsa
doesn’t appear, we would conclude that nothing is there.

Another simple example: Sometimes in our life we encounter someone who is so open. Their
view is so open, the way they see, and connect, and act is open; and when they talk to you, you
feel there is so much space. When they do something, you can feel so much space represented
in their action. So, their action is a full manifestation of Küntu Zangpo; their qualities are a full
manifestation of Küntu Zangpo; their imagination is connected with Küntu Zangpo; their speech
is connected with Küntu Zangpo; and it feels as if they are Küntu Zangpo. So, there are body,
speech, mind, quality, action; and even though there are five, in principle there are not five,
there is only Küntu Zangpo appearing in different forms. That is the singleness. You’re doing
something good or you’re saying something good and it is goodness. It’s not what appears; it is
simply the presence of goodness. That is the meaning of Nail 14.

So, when it says this word: All appearances are the play of body, play of speech, play of mind,
play of qualities, play of actions—what does it mean? Play of means that all these appearances
are Küntu Zangpo.

Perhaps an example is when people are in love—not when people are in love the fifth time, but
the first time. I think there is quite a difference between first one and the fifth one. Probably you
remember yours. When you see people like that, they are cute, right? You see they are really
beyond time and space. It doesn’t matter whether it is raining or the sun is shining; it doesn’t
matter whether the food is good or bad; it doesn’t matter whether it is morning or night; it doesn’t
matter if they caught the train or missed the train—they are just so happy. They hold hands—
that action is the play of Küntu Zangpo. And when they say a few words to each other, that is
the play of Küntu Zangpo. When they look at each other, that’s the look of the play of Küntu
Zangpo. If you look at them as a third person you think, what’s the big deal? But for them it’s
pure vision. You are in your impure vision, and they have a moment of pure vision experience.

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So, they are experiencing their body, their speech, their mind, their quality, their action, all as a
play of their in-love goodness. So, it’s a little bit like that, it’s like you’re in love with Küntu
Zangpo within you. When you sing the SA LE Ö mantra, when you go deep, when you feel that
closeness to that vast space, tears come, joy comes, it’s like I’m in love with you, like I’m in love
with myself or with that big self. In the body—that sense of boundlessness—you feel everything
is possible. And most important, you feel free from the stories. It’s very much like that. So, in
some sense you are in love with your essence.

In the West we have a tradition of sending flowers. When you feel the flowers come out of that
place, those flowers are really sacred flowers because they represent someone’s openness,
someone’s warmth, someone’s love for you. That is what makes these flowers unique and
valuable to you. The price of the flowers changes immediately, and whether they were cheap,
reasonable, or expensive, the flowers now become priceless. You see the energy that is there.
So, I think this idea of manifesting your inner essence through your new body, speech, and
mind is very important. Because sometimes we can be focused on letting go and not
emphasizing enough finding new. There has to be a good balance. And in the beginning some
people need to emphasize a little bit more on letting go, because they have a hard time with
that. So, when they are freer, then they are coming in the middle, and then they have to
emphasize finding new. Then they get really excited about life. It’s like moving from a horrible
city to the most beautiful city in the world. If you have that transition, who will have a hard time?
Does it make sense? The transition is the important part.

So, you don’t have the actual text, you have only the names of the Nails and only the Küntu
Zangpo lines, right? That’s fine. But there is a root text and a commentary, two parts, and in the
root text, the main point is that all appearances are the play of body, speech, mind, quality, and
action as in the A OM HUNG RAM DZA that many people understand. And then is the line: All is
complete in the single sphere. That singleness, that single sphere is tiglé nyak chik. That’s all in
the root text.

For example let’s look at different groups of people. Some people really identify with their pain in
such a way that they feel that they are pain. If you ever felt somebody was your pain, you
should have a compassion, because they are also their pain. So they are like a display of their
pain, and unfortunately, they see the world in that way. When they speak, they speak that way;
when they live, they live with that pain; when they act, they act with that pain. Even when they
are trying to be nice to you, they will be painfully nice to you. So, their body, speech, mind,
quality and action all are a full circle of pain. I personally don’t have too many problems with
those people, because I feel they are genuine.

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But then there is another group of people who have pain, but they appear to be joyful. They are
mean, but they appear to be kind. They manipulate these five cycles.

Then there is another group of people, who struggle and recognize—practitioners like us. You
know, we are here, we are trying, we know better. I mean, I don’t want to judge everybody here,
but I would put myself into that category. Although, it is possible there are some enlightened
beings here. I don’t know.

Another example will be to look at your life, and look at somebody you admire, and look at
somebody you think is stupid or somebody you feel is a little bit crazy. So, you have somebody
who is much worse than you, somebody who is much better than you, and you are in the
middle. Can you see that? Now you look at these three places in terms of these five things.
First, their body, not their physical body, but their view, their sense of them themselves. You can
see this one person, who you feel is much better than you, is much more open than you. They
see that way. Their level of sensitivity is expanded. They see more space to grow, and they feel
that they have a lot of space. Just to keep it simple, if you look at that person, they live in a
different world. One simple word will be, everything in their life looks like a support for them.
One word: support. If I use only one word, everything in their life is a support for them, an
ornament for them, an opportunity for them, a resource for them. And they truly make good use
of whatever is present in their life. It benefits and enriches their life. It benefits and enriches
others’ lives. It creates a different society, a different field—open, transparent, long-lasting.

Now look at the one who is worse than you. It is as if they are living in another world, not open
at all. What do you see in that person? You see fear in that person—fear of exposure, fear of
connecting, fear of doing, fear of speaking. And maybe even simply a fear of being. They have a
hard time just being themselves. They feel that they have to be different and they suffer. And it
is possible that many times it’s their own projection that they feel they have to be somebody
else. They can really create stories to fit their story into a collective story.

Ok, what is the conclusion? What am I trying to say here? There are stories that are good to
change even though you may love your story, and even though you think you don’t have a
story. If you think you don’t have a story, the direct introduction will be: That is your story! If you
think you don’t have to change your story, that is your story. When you recognize this, the
method of changing is very different, and I think this is important to understand. Immediately you
think: Yes, that sounds great. When my pain manifests, I want to change it. Or you see your
story came up and you think: I’m going to change it. I think I’ll do better than other people. Or I
don’t think I can do it; these people look like advanced meditators here. So, you just created
another story in order to clear a story! Don’t get into those games.

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Rest, rest in your body. Find your body; connect with your body. Silence. It’s so beautiful, so full.
It’s so important to either go into stillness or silence. This is what we are emphasizing here—to
be these two days in silence. I know, some of you might be thinking that the last 15 years was
so much fun without silence; you could talk, socialize, drink. That is a story we have to try to
change. We don’t have to do the same story again and again. Repeated stories are boring. No
matter how good they are, they are still boring. You know in our retreats in the US we have
been doing this for a number of years. We were not able to do the entire retreat, but we were
able to do at least two days or something like that. And also we started this in Poland this year.
It was a little bit hard because of the short days. You know, when people are doing 10 days 21
days or something like that then you have plenty of time, but when it’s two days in the middle of
a week, and we just see each other one time and want to say hi and talk, well, I see that, but I
still think there is beauty in connecting from silence.

And silence can be a different silence. I remember long ago, I met someone while jogging at a
retreat center. I saw he were supposed to be in silence, but the silence was so heavy that it was
scary. I realized, wow, it’s really important to be aware of the right silence—clear silence, restful
silence, illuminated silence, joyful silence, silence full of light, silence with connection to yourself
and to those around you, to somebody with their presence or without their presence. It’s an
opportunity to connect, because noise interferes with connection. And through silence you allow
yourself to discover and to mature your own speech, your own voice, your own inner strength.
Silence allows it to arise. The three arisings. So, this is an opportunity for us to do it here at this
retreat.

Of course, there are no police here, so if you don’t want to do it, don’t do it. But at least be
respectful of others who are maintaining silence. If you are in the more public spaces, where
people are doing it, it’s just a natural and respectful thing to not talk there. And if you are a
family or a couple, go into your room to talk. And if you have to talk on the phone, go
somewhere that nobody can hear you. You know, we are free. Ok, I hope you really enjoy the
silence. It’s beautiful and sacred.

----------------
Nail 14 ~ Continued

Say after me:

Kün tu zang po - rang jung - nyak chik ku la - chak tsel lo (3x)

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the self-arising single body.

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In this 14th Nail we prostrate and pay homage to Küntu Zangpo, which is again referring to our
own inner essence. Externally it is referring to the manifestation of Küntu Zangpo, in this case
Tapihritsa. So self-arising has the meaning of effortlessness. The single body means there are
no five things as we have been talking about with the play of body, play of speech, play of mind,
play of quality, play of action. So here there are not five things, and even though it appears
through these five things, they all are the single body, they all are just pure awareness. All
appearances are the play of the body, and the body refers to that pure body. So, they are the
play of that pure body, they are not separate from it.

When I talk about the stories, as you know, sometimes I use different words, and this time I’m
using the word stories. It seems like the right thing to say somehow. Stories, memories, energy,
fields of energy, thoughts, emotions—they all are there in this word stories. Also, when I use the
word body I am referring not to only to the physical body, but to our identity, our sense of “I.”

When people look at a movie, or are looking at a piece of art, everybody is looking at a different
movie or piece of art. You are all at the same movie, but you display out your body into the
movie, you display out your body into that piece of art, you display out of your identity, your pain
identity into that relationship. So your stories display out, but in truth it’s not what you’re
displaying out, you are just seeing your stories, projecting your stories, and what truth is, is that
pure body. It’s all a play of that pure body. And do you recognize your real body, not your
projected body? Do you realize your real story, not what you’re projecting? That’s what these
lines are trying to say.

There are many places where the Virgin Mary has manifested. I don’t know how many places
there are where people say the Virgin Mary manifests. And she is manifesting for Christians, so
they are seeing her image in whatever appears.

Nang tse ku’i rol pa

Maybe individually or collectively a pure part of their body is displaying out as Virgin Mary onto a
particular bridge. But in a way, the Virgin Mary can manifest everywhere not only at one bridge,
but in all bridges without limit. Maybe the truth is, everything is the play of the Virgin Mary. You
can look at it in that way. But your ability to see is only in some places. That’s the limitation that
you have not a limitation of the nature of mind.

You feel that aspect very strongly when you go to Tibet. It’s so strong. I remember when we
were traveling to the Kongpo Bön Ri, which is a sacred mountain for Tibetans. I started every
night having dreams. And everything, every stone is something sacred. That stone is

22
something, that spring is something. It is incredible how people display their inner qualities out
into nature. And for Westerners, at first there was something exciting: Wow! Wow! And then
they are going: My god, I’m going crazy; it’s a little too much! In the beginning it was very
devotional, very exciting: Wow this is beautiful and pure. And then they begin to think: This is a
projection; this is going a little bit too far. For centuries, for Tibetans, that’s how their heart is. It’s
amazing how they see and feel. It’s hard to understand, but it’s amazing to feel that devotion,
that purity. Not everything is translated into a pain self. In the West, every time we see
something, we ask: What does this have to do with me? There’s a very strong sense of the
individual, and therefore pain is very strong. Even though we say: Yes, there is pain here, but
it’s not me; I’m fine; I’m Küntu Zangpo, we love to get trapped into our collective pain stories.

So, at least what we are saying here is “play of.” Dissolve the stories, find a new space—the
eternal body—and then whatever you see out there, try to see it as the manifestation of that
eternal body. Then you see some good in things.

So, here it’s saying again: body, speech, mind, quality, and action are the play of that single
sphere, Küntu Zangpo. That means, whatever you see or hear in actions, whatever qualities
that you perceive, they all are the play of Küntu Zangpo. Can you see the light in them? Can
you see Küntu Zangpo in them? Can you see something good about them? Can you see not
everything is bad about them? Can you see it’s not about you? Can you see their place in the
world as it is? These are all the things we can see or are trying to see. Or maybe it’s hard to
see.

So, this idea, this notion of taking things personally we know very well. Whether people take
things very personally or not has something to do with their sensitivity. In a collective love story,
a collective family story where people are connected, we tend to take things more personally.
This means, whatever they are doing, whatever they are saying, whatever they are thinking,
however they are acting looks like it’s against you. And we know clearly some people take
things less personally while other people take things more personally. I don’t know where you
fit. Maybe a family member is doing it intentionally, but when the observer is very strong even
then they will not take it personally. They go like this (Rinpoche shrugs his shoulders). My family
member needs a lot of help. So instead of taking it personally, your compassion is invited into
the situation. It becomes an invitation for your strength not your weakness or your anger. So
maybe you really don’t take anything personally no matter how crazy the other person is. And
the crazier a person is, the more compassion you feel. In a way, that’s how it should be,
because they are suffering. Their craziness is an invitation for your wisdom when you don’t take
it personally, when you see it as a display of that inner goodness, wholeness, Küntu Zangpo. I
know it’s hard, but we know that it’s also very good. That experience is very nice.

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And sometimes we know how crazy we are, we think it’s about me and we suffer. So internally
you’re suffering, you’re fearful, you’re angry or you’re agitated that something is happening and
it’s about you. But it’s not really about you. Still you’re thinking it’s about you, thinking it’s about
you, thinking it’s about you, and you keep going a little bit crazier, but then you also sometimes
realize maybe you are really going crazy. It doesn’t look like it’s really about me, but I’m going
little crazy here.

So basically, it’s this single sphere, single sphere of light, or singleness, tiglé nyak chik; it’s
everywhere in everything. So, you are that. You’re not that pain. You are Küntu Zangpo. You
are not confusion. You are Küntu Zangpo. You are not bad. You are Küntu Zangpo.

So, new body means this arising of new sense of that. The sign is when you feel that more
inside you and you begin to see that more outside as well. So, your role is this play of Küntu
Zangpo. What you see is this play of Küntu Zangpo. What you speak is this play of Küntu
Zangpo, and what you hear is this play of Küntu Zangpo. Because when you speak out of your
pain, you hear more pain of others or it invites more pain of others. When you display your
openness, other people display their openness.

There is a simple experiment. Geshela and I were walking along the road, and I’ve been doing
this exercise for many years now. Yesterday we walked 10 miles or so. We went back and forth
two times. So, every time we see somebody in the morning or in the evening, we wave, not to
all, but many times. We wave to bikers and cars and everybody. Some look at us strangely.
That’s one response. Some greet us back in a very shy way. That’s another response. Some
were frozen, but they turned their head back to look after we passed. That’s another response.
And then some smile and wave their hands—a full response. And you can see that each
response has its own speed of manifestation, arising of quality, because it depends on how
deeply they are stuck in their stories. It takes a little bit more time to get a hand up. But we can
send out the invitation. Even if they look mad, you can still send the invitation. The impact is
there for sure, even if they are not happy, even if they did not like you, even if they would think:
What are these immigrants doing here? And Geshela is in more trouble. I look like a Chinese
businessman with money.

So basically, what I’m saying here is, what you display, the universe will display back to you. It
might be with a little delay, but even the internet has delays. A little delay is always there. As I
was telling Geshela this morning, when you say hi to somebody, how else they will respond
except to say hi? It might be difficult for some people to say hi; they are forced to try a little bit.
Sometimes you can see that some people have a really difficult time opening. You can see

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suffering in their face, anger in their face, loss in their face. As long as you don’t take their face
personally, you have a chance to make them smile, at least smile secretly by themselves
afterwards if not in front of you. They might have been a little bit mean, but at least they might
recognize Hey, I am being a bit mean. The person seems quite nice. At least that doubt is a
teaching. Because some of these people never doubt their sadness or their meanness or their
anger.

So being that Küntu Zangpo, seeing that Küntu Zangpo, displaying that Küntu Zangpo, is
beautiful. Let me see, I wrote something (Rinpoche searches for something on his cellphone).
It’s ok. (He doesn’t find what he is looking for).

So, are there any questions or comments? Does anyone want to share something? If it’s a
practice related question, you can ask. If there is some sense of you are listening, then you can
ask also, if you want to. You don’t have to; if you want to keep it, keep it.

What I was seeking I can see now on the cellphone:

Ignorance sees vision as darkness.

Pain identity sees life as miserable.

Fear sees all support as a threat. Like for example, if you’re trying to help some family
members, and they have difficulty trusting that, they see it as something that is not good for
them. It’s a support; we can call it an ornament, but for them they see it as a threat or a
challenge.

So, these are all eyes:

Eye of ignorance sees darkness.

Eye of pain sees life is suffering.
Eye of fear sees resources as obstacles, a door as an obstacle.
Eye of anger sees a loved one as an enemy.

These are different eyes we wear. There are so many eyes that one has that are obscured by
darkness. Through these eyes it’s really hard to see anything. These eyes cannot see the
magical display of the universe. These eyes cannot make you full of laughter from your heart.
But the one single eye can—the eye of boundlessness, the single eye, the single sphere of
light—tiglé nyak chik—and only one eye, not two eyes, and usually the third eye.

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This boundless eye sees the treasure or door of the treasure all the time. In this treasure there
is a flame or a spark of the joy of the body. This melody of silence is also in this treasure; the
music is all there. The lake of peace is also in this treasure. So basically, in this treasure, which
I can see through this eye of the single sphere of light, I see everything right there. All friends
are there. All supports are there. All ornaments are there. Peace is there. Love is there.
Everything I need to evolve myself in this moment in my life is right in that treasure, which I can
see with the single sphere of light. And when I uncover the other eyes of pain, I can see it.
That’s what it’s saying.
So, this is an uncomplete poem that I was working on today.

Participant: Does it mean it’s a pure vision?

TWR: Pure vision, yes, you can say that. Any experience, any vision they all have a start with
body, identity. So, identity is the core, nang dzin nga, in Tibetan we say nang dzin nga.

Participant: But why we do pray to please help me to let go off this grasping I. What is this “I”
and what is this identity, who perceives?
TWR: We pray because we hope for the solution. We pray because we know something can
change. That’s the important role of praying. And there are people who deep inside have lost
hope. With prayer, at least somebody is hoping. With prayer, at least someone is reaching out.
Because here [Rinpoche touches his heart area] there is a pain in ego; there nothing else you
can feel but this pain, so you are seeking out there. At least prayer is not getting totally lost in
this pain. That’s what I think prayer is. If you self-realize, there is no need to pray. But if you’re
lost, it is important to know that you’re lost. Not everybody knows that they are lost. Some
people identify with being lost. I am the party of lost. And they are doubly lost. Sometimes I feel
this is true of society in general today. I feel there is a very strong sense of being lost and not
knowing that they are lost. Lost, and the means through which they can find themselves also
becomes a means of getting further lost. So, it’s very, very difficult.

We were talking yesterday about a rock that can stay thousands of years under the ocean, and
when you break it, open it, it’s dry inside. No matter how long you hang out in the water, the
moisture did not reach inside. No matter how long you hang out in dharma, it does not reach
inside. Whether dressed as a lama or teacher or king or powerful authority, no matter how you
change your external dress, if there is no change in the inner “I,” the sense of “I,” then all these
appearances are just tricks. They are nothing more than appearances. This is the essence of
my poem that I posted few days ago on my Facebook page. (Rinpoche speaks in Tibetan.)
When the doctor does not know what the sickness is, and tries to give medicine, or the doctor
does not know the medicine, but tries to treat the sickness, either case will not work well,
because you need to know. (Rinpoche speaks more Tibetan.) Not ripening your sense of self

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but being attached to a higher view. Many people think: Yes, I want to have the higher view; I
want to have the dzogchen teachings; I want to have the direct introduction. Sometimes people
come to me asking me to give them the direct introduction. I don’t know what that means. Are
they asking for a one-to-one air drop, I don’t know, a tiglé drop? It’s like not knowing yourself
and trying to practice dharma. That’s like not knowing the sickness and trying to treat it. What
I’m saying here is that I’ve seen so many practitioners practicing dharma, sometimes very
diligently, in a very disciplined way, but they have no clue about themselves. That’s why in this
teaching we say that your stories are the way to know yourself. Somebody has got to be
interested in your story. You know that other people are not interested in your story, right? Have
you noticed sometimes people are not really interested in you? You’re trying to make it
interesting, but you can kind of see it, they are trying to be nice, but deep inside you really don’t
know if they are really interested. But somebody has got to be interested in your story. Your
story tells you about you. It tells you about your patterns. It tells you about your comfort zone. It
tells you about your limitations. It tells you about what you need to do. And it also tells about
when to speed up. It tells you a lot of things, and somebody has got to know these things. And
that somebody should be you. That would be helpful. That’s why I encourage you to reflect on
your stories. And of course, I see sometimes there is resistance in looking at the stories. It’s
very silly to resist. Your stories are right in front of you, looking at you 24 hours a day (Rinpoche
looks with a strong and rigid gaze), while you are going like this (Rinpoche looks off to the side)!

And looking away is a lot of work; it drains you; it takes a lot of energy. Instead, just taking a
bunch of the three precious pills (Rinpoche sitting in meditation posture) and then you will
realize: My god, I have drained myself so much all these years trying to avoid this. And this is a
fun thing. How I can avoid this; this is me. This is part of my little me. This is the only way I can
grow. I have wasted so much time not looking at that. And it’s really fun.

Have you noticed some people look like they are really not good? They appear to be not good;
they look like kind of negative; they look judgmental; but then when you open up to them and
begin to know them, they are some of the most enjoyable and fun people. Knowing yourself is
like that. So, don’t do that (Rinpoche looks away, off to the side). That‘s fine.

Let’s sing the A OM HUNG a few times. Just sing fully from that silence to energize yourself.

A OM HUNG
[Dedication]

27
 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Twenty-One Nails
Summary of the Teachings (Part 4), Summer Retreat Buchenau 2018

Fifteenth Nail – Profound Certainty, [The Unification of] Mother and Son

[Rinpoche begins with short, guided practice and the SA LE Ö mantra.]

A meditation like this is like a journey to the source, a journey to that stillness of the body, but
not by doing; a journey to the silence of the speech, but not by speaking; and a journey to that
openness of the heart, but not by imagining. This is a journey through resting. When you listen
to the SA LE Ö, to very beautiful music like this, you basically allow yourself fully to rest and
merge. And then after a while you feel you are there—you are connected to the source.

Nail15; Profound Certainty, [the Unification of] Mother and Son. Read after me:

Kün tu zang po – bak chak – drip pa – me la - chak tsel lo (3x)

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, who is without obscurations or karmic tendencies.

So basically, it’s the same Küntu Zangpo—internally our essence, externally the pure
manifestation of Küntu Zangpo, Tapihritsa, who is without obscurations or karmic tendencies.
Obscuration and karmic tendencies are activities of our ego, our pain identity, and all its
activities through body, speech, and mind. Nail 15 talks about the space, the sky, the outer sky.
That’s one space. And then it talks about our activities, our actions related to the body. And of
course, again it’s about body, speech, and mind, so it talks about our speech. So, sky, and
action, speech, our conceptual thoughts and our emotions, and then all the visions of sound,
light, and rays. So, this is the whole 15th Nail. I’ll give an overview first.

Without obscuration or karmic tendency: Do you remember that we were speaking of body,
speech, mind, quality, and action, those five things? We have these five, and they are active,
and maybe they are not necessarily active from the source, but can be active from the pain
identity.

Before I go into detail, let’s talk a little bit about that. I feel, in our life sometimes we need to pay
attention to our sense of self. What you feel, who you are, and what you want to be; or what you
have difficulty being, or what you are expected to be and you don’t want to be it. So, this is a
sense of identity, which is a miserable thing to have. And I think one of the good healthy
processes of society is not to pressure anybody to be who they are not. I think good relations in
a family are that everybody is allowed to be anybody—whoever they are. There is room to be
crazy. If you are crazy, you are just allowed to be crazy. Somebody in the family has a little

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wisdom, somebody in the family has no wisdom, and whatever it is, it is allowed. Have a space
for everybody, because they are already there. So, why take space from somebody?

And also, in terms of actions we say ja wa, the text here says: actionless primordial wisdom is
the base. Actionless primordial wisdom is the base. Actions are there, activities are there. Let’s
reflect in a simple way: How much do you do? This is a very simple question for each one of
you. Ask: How much do I do? How much did I do yesterday? How much did I do last week? Last
month? Last year? Last five years? Ten years? Reflect until you remember what you have been
doing. Think about doing things in life. How many things do you do that nobody asks you to do,
that are useless to do, or meaningless to do, or exhausting to do, not even fun to do, but you
still do it? It is very important to be aware of this.

Of course there are things that need to be done in order to make something happen. Something
is expected. You have to pay your bills. You have to feed your stomach—the basic necessities.
But there are so many things we don’t need to do. I think it is a skill, an art to discover all those
things and stop doing them. Don’t do them, and do not ask other people to do these things in
life because they are not necessary. Sometimes there are people who come and say, I will do it
for you; I will do it, let me do it. Be careful. There are people who just want to fulfil your wish, it’s
another way to fulfil their wish. These people are not necessarily strong; sometimes there are
weak people like that. Don’t take advantage of them. Just don’t need, so there’s not much that
needs to be done. Now there are some things that need to be done. The distinction is a very
important distinction. I don’t know, maybe even sometimes it’s not even about a relationship
with other people, it’s within your own life. I know this in my own life.

This summer retreat I fasted for ten days, and that was great. I didn’t have to cook; I didn’t have
to ask somebody to clean; I didn’t have to show up at the dining table. So much time opened up;
I was amazed. One of the most amazing things was, how much time you gain when you don’t
eat.
And there are some specific things I feel that are more important than eating, like walking.
Because I think I will never have a problem eating; I will always find a way to eat. So, every
summer retreat I take all the Lamas on a walk with me. Some of them really don’t want to come,
but they enjoy it afterward. But Geshela and I enjoy walking. We walked ten miles yesterday; we
walked ten miles the day before. I feel walking is something necessary, even more than food.
So what I’m saying is to make a distinction between what you need to do and what you don’t
need to do, I think that you can have a clearer distinction.

I really recommend that everybody—and we talked yesterday about body, speech, mind,
quality, and action—in each of these areas try to see how much you are doing that is

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unnecessary and that you can cut. Just try to be a little bit aware; cut down and you will have
more time. It’s not only about finding more time, which is wonderful, but it’s more about
recognizing patterns of exhausting yourself unnecessarily. Pain is forcing you to do things that
you even don’t care to do. Even within families also, sometimes you’re trying to give too much
advice to your children; they have enough advice from you. When you give too much advice, the
day they really need advice, you have already built a relationship such that they don’t listen to
your advice anymore.

On the other hand, in terms of these activities I think it’s good to have a minimum of activity.
Live a very clear, simple life with very specific activities. If you feel your identity with the light
and space, space is your identity; if you feel a little light, that’s your strength. Create a minimum
of clear speech, that’s your strength. Do a minimum of activities that are very clearly connected
with the virtues. So that’s your activity to fill up what is the absolutely necessary manifestation of
that space and light. That is lacking in many people that I see. That is lacking. Why do people
get depressed? I think, that’s why people get depressed. Why do people get lost? That’s why
people get lost. Because they don’t feel a real purpose. The real purpose is being confused with
so much activity of their pain. You have to clear. What will those activities be? One simple
positive action a day. On one of the last Facebook Live sessions I was talking about doing
something nine or doing something five. Doing something every day that purely comes out of
that space. Make sure that action has nothing to do with you. You do not try to get anything out
of it. You’re not trying to benefit from anything. You are doing it for the sake of what is needed at
that moment, at that time, for those people, in that situation. That’s all. Simply act like that. A
number of simple acts like that will make you feel the worthiness of your life.

So, in Nail 14 we talked about five things. Maybe in a simple way we can say we talked about
three things—body, speech, and mind. So, to have clear sense of self and action of that self,
that’s what we were talking yesterday, action of that self. And minimizing actions is what I’m
saying. There are so many things. How do you minimize actions? You have to recognize you’re
doing things that are absolutely not necessary to do. Somebody has got to recognize it.
Otherwise we are very good at keeping busy for no reason. Do you know anybody who says, I
don’t know how to be busy? No. I have seen people individually, and seen different
communities, and businesses, regardless what they are able to make, they are busy. You don’t
see any result that they have accomplished, but they are still busy.

So I am emphasizing a clear sense of self and minimum actions from that place, so these
actions are more connected with the space. Action is necessary. I mean, everybody who is an
active person knows that action is necessary, right? But you don’t have to get stuck in one
action no matter how great that is. Because if you get stuck in one action, that means, you lost

30
the root connection to the space, to the infinite possibilities and boundlessness. Does it make
sense? Do you know, what I’m talking about? Because some of these actions not only obscure
your space or exhaust you, but also create problems.

It is the same thing with speech. It says here in the text:

Speechless primordial wisdom is the base.

Varieties of speech are the dynamic energy.
Chasing after them is the way you are deluded.
Viewing them as something wrong is mistaken.
Leaving them as they are is the method.
Freeing them into the vastness is the path.
And non-duality is the realization.
Manifesting is the result.

So, these lines are only related to speech. My simpler explanation of this is: talk less. Have
fewer meetings, and only have efficient ones, ones that are absolutely necessary. Less talking.
But if you need to talk, you have to recognize that you have a need to talk. It’s not even the
need to communicate something; it is just I want to talk! One friend of mine said to her friend,
just let me talk, please. Really, some people feel this urge to talk. Sometimes nobody listens
and it doesn’t matter as long as they can talk. So, recognize that. Silence is beautiful.

There’s a funny story. There’s one woman who is a Buddhist practitioner who went on a silent
retreat. During her retreat someone knocked at her door, a member of this particular Christian
group who brings their holy book and tells stories—Jehovah’s Witnesses. So this person came
in, and as she was in retreat and in a compassionate mood, she was very open to simply listen.
She was in silence; she couldn’t talk, so she listened and listened, and this person went on
talking and talking. He completed his talk and then he cried and said that she was the first
person who let him completely talk.

The text says:

Actionless primordial wisdom is the base.

Varieties of action are the dynamic energy.
Of course, this is when they are connected to the awareness in the base. So,
when they are not connected, then what happens?
Chasing after them is the way you are deluded.

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 So, many times pain actions, repeated pain actions. Repeatedly doing things has
something to do with pain.
Viewing them as deficient is the error or viewing them as something wrong is the error.
So, the experience when you’re doing something letting them dissolve.
Leaving them as they are is the method.
Freeing them into the vastness is the path.
Non-duality is the realization.
Manifesting is the result.

Same theory in all of this. So to make it simple, what we can learn from this is:

Not lose connection with the base. See what is manifesting as dynamic energy rather than
judging it. Not chasing after them. Leaving them as they are. In these practices, we’re allowing
to rest, rest, rest. Resting is the leaving them as they are. And then they dissolve.That space is
the path, or the awareness of that space is the path. When you’re aware of that space, that
awareness is the path. Through that you achieve non-duality. But that is not the result. The
result is: Manifesting is the result. A healthy universe, a healthy planet is the result of sky,
space. Manifesting your potentiality, your higher quality, your higher self is the result, not
retreating from the world. You retreat when it’s necessary to retreat, but retreat is not the final
result. You’re retreating to recover, to find. And then the result comes when you manifest your
higher self.

Does it make sense? I think more or less the principles are the same (in the text). So, in the sky
it’s the same thing. And nature is the same. Look at all the beauty of nature. We human beings
are trying to fix it so much over the years, and our fixing is our way of destroying it. So, we don’t
know the idea of leave it as it is. That’s kind of strange. Perhaps here you don’t see this, but in
California in one neighborhood, I saw fake grass. I mean they need a big sign saying: leave it as
it is. You know, there were rocks and bushes and it was fine, but they cut out all of those things
and put in plastic grass. It’s a delusion. When we were in Tibet, the beauty was seeing nature
that was untouched by humans. You could feel the elemental power in that.

So next time when you spend a holiday with the family, don’t have a plan apart from the holiday
itself. It’s very nice. I spent a couple of weeks with my wife and her brother before this retreat
started, and we did not have any plan. No plan. Of course, there were little moments of let’s go
somewhere. I watched that in my mind, let’s go somewhere. But we didn’t go anywhere, we just
stayed at home. Being together was the value. And if you are doing something, do something
out of being together, rather than doing things in order to not be together. Sometimes it looks
like some relationships are like that; they are afraid of each other; they have to keep busy so

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they do not really have to talk to each other, look at each other. Let’s keep busy; let’s talk with
somebody else. So can we appreciate the presence of our body, appreciate the presence of
awareness of our body, and appreciate the presence of somebody, not what this presence does
or plans to do. Just presence.

It seems like there are conclusions here. If you are by yourself, do less, do only necessary
things. Speak less, speak only necessary things. Think less, think only necessary things. Act
less, act only necessary things. And enjoy this beautiful sacred space illuminated with
awareness.

If you are with somebody else like an organization, or particularly like a family or a relationship,
apply the same thing: Be together more. Do less together. Talk less. When your partner really
loves to talk, then maybe you can listen more. It’s ok. In my case, that’s the case. The good
thing is, that I can listen; because usually I talk a lot, so when I’m home, I’m fully listening. I’m
not forced to talk, and that’s good. So, speak less and rest. Connect more through silence;
connect more through stillness; connect more through openness, And in the planning of
holidays, plan fewer activities. And if you have children, less activity for them too, because I
think nowadays children suffer a lot because of too many activities for them. I don’t know why.
Why we need so many unnecessary activities?

There is a little contradiction here. Manifesting is the result, but don’t follow. You might say, if I
don’t follow, how do I manifest? It’s confusing for the ego, right? Leave everything as it is, but
manifest. Of course, there are a number of these questions and this is a good question to ask.
How do we do, or manifest?

Kati: In German we have a word in terms of terminology which is used very often, it means:
intentionless action, action without intention.

TWR: I think intentionless action is good, but not the best either, because ego can have
intention also. Here in the text it is talking about the discovery of space. Basically, it’s saying, let
go of yourself and be in that moment. What the moment requires, be more conscious of that. If
you are more with the moment, the moment will tell you. If you are more with the ego, the ego
will tell you.

How many people feel that sometimes ego is telling you something, but the moment is telling
you something different, and you are aware of both? And then what happens? That’s a good
question, right? But that’s the thing. In those moments if you are more strongly present, you say,
ok, ego is telling me this, but the moment is telling me this. Am I flexible? If I feel more open, I

33
see the real need to go more with the moment. Yes of course the moment is trying to teach me
something, show me something that ego does not know, so of course I will go with the moment.
So that is when you are feeling strong. But when you are feeling week, you think: Yes, that
sounds interesting, but I have been working on this project for one month, painfully. So I do not
want to hurt me more by destroying my painful, joyful, good intentional effort.

Ok, let’s take a break now.

---------------

So, to continue with Nail 15, let’s read this homage one time:

Kun tu zang po bak chak drip pa me la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, who is without obscurations or karmic tendencies.

For a moment just contemplate that line. Without obscurations or karmic tendencies. Küntu
Zangpo is you. You are all good. I am good. Or if you don’t feel that, then maybe you can say:
Goodness is in me. The best will be: I am good, I’m Küntu Zangpo, but if you don’t feel like that,
if you feel I’m not sure about that, then, Küntu Zangpo is in me. It’s the same way when people
say, I have a problem, and then sometimes secretly you feel, you are a problem. This is similar.

So here we’re talking about dissolving samsaric stories. Sometimes we have this feeling of
being lost in stories—lost in horrible stories, lost in beautiful stories, lost in spiritual stories, lost
in love stories. There are all kind of stories, but there is clearly a sense of being lost. So, we’re
trying to find ourselves.

In this 15th Nail are six different points. I will just briefly say them.

The first is referring to nature. Sky, deep space, the universe and all the planets, or earth, space
and this earth. So, earth is one story of that space. And sometimes it feels like our story is
bigger than the earth. But our story is really nothing, so don’t make it one. Dissolving stories
means connecting back to the space, the sacred sky.

Second is action or activities related with the body. So why are we lost in the stories of our
activities? Because we’re disconnected with the source of actionless primordial wisdom.
Actionless primordial wisdom is inner stillness. Beautiful. Much better than doing things is being
aware of that. But we do things and we identify with doing things. And most importantly we do
more than necessary. If you do more than necessary, what’s happening? You’re wasting

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biological, psychological, and spiritual energies. That’s how we get sick faster. So, that’s the
second one, actions.

Third, it says: jö me ye she zhi. Speechless primordial wisdom is the base. I am using the word
silence. Silence is the base. And more precisely, the awareness of silence, not only silence.
That’s very different. Whether you’re simply quiet or you’re aware of being quiet is a big
difference, because awareness is alive, is living, it’s light and a source of energy. When you’re
just quiet it simply means there is no activity. That’s all that it means. So, this beautiful silence
and beautiful awareness of the silence is totally occupied by noises of pain, pain speech.
Silence is there and awareness of silence is there and is ready to give you energy, because you
need it. But you allow noise to take your energy rather than allowing the awareness of silence to
give you energy. Then you say, oh, I don’t have energy, I’m losing my energy. So, in order to
dissolve the stories of pain speech, the way to do it is to rest into the silence so that you
discover—the speechless primordial wisdom of the base. You discover that base. That’s how
things can change.

After each section of lines, it says: Manifesting is the result. So, manifesting your creativity is a
result of clearing the story of your pain body and connecting with your potentiality. That’s the
result. Retreating is not a result. Running away is not a result. So, in a way my last book
Spontaneous Creativity; Manifesting your Positive Qualities is basically like the last line of Nail
15: Manifesting is the result. Manifesting, but in a very special way. Not with the same pain way
of doing things, manifesting totally differently. That’s the result. Not manifesting from pain
identity, pain story, but manifesting from that space, that silence, because you feel a lot of
energy there, clean energy, pure energy, fearless energy and are manifesting from there.

We were talking this morning about depression, and I have heard stories from some of my
students who experienced some difficult moments of depression. It made me wonder about it. I
mean, I know there are many therapists and doctors here, and probably you know a lot about it.
This morning it made me think creatively to understand a bit more at least from this point of
view. What’s happening? A few thoughts came. One came in relation to this teaching:
Depression is the pain stories that we have. We are circling in pain stories again and again and
never getting out of them, and that’s definitely causing depression. Because at some point it
becomes hopeless; it just circles around. It’s like you close the windows and doors, and no fresh
air comes in, and no light comes in. To not have inner light and inner air, and to sit with
obsessive and hopeless thoughts—what do you expect comes from that? Joy, dancing, music?
No. Depression. And this is probably exactly what is happening. So, we are clearing the stories
here. We’re clearing more and more pain stories with these beautiful practices.

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The other thing is, when people feel a lot of depression, they don’t manifest. Sometimes some
groups or some people look like they manifest, but they are manifesting their pain. It looks nice,
they have a very good way of doing it, but they are manifesting their pain. They are not
manifesting their wisdom or clarity; it is still their pain. The beautiful pain manifestation will also
lead to depression, because it does not regenerate energy, it just takes energy. I don’t know if it
takes a little less or depletes you more slowly, but it takes it.

So, when you’re in love, not for the fifth time, but the first time, do you feel it takes energy? Oh
my god, it’s so hard to fall in love, who am I, where am I, who is this person? Probably you don’t
know who that person is, but you aren’t asking those questions. Love gives, it feeds you. When
you’re happy, I don’t know, happy while cooking, or happy while walking, or happy while
connecting, when you do cook, walk, or connect, do you feel exhausted? No, you look forward
to it. I mean, everyone should have a few things in life that they really look forward. I look
forward to my cup of coffee in the morning. Whatever it is, look forward to it. Not like [Rinpoche
looks very bored and people laugh]. It seems like a direct introduction—the laughter of
recognition.

Ok, I’m coming back to manifesting is the result, and I’m talking about depression. I think it
seems so important for all of us to have few things that you do, act, manifest that you’re not
doing for yourself. And make sure about that, because we do a lot, but most of the things we do,
one way or another, we do for ourselves. And from the point of view of ego, feels good, but
there is no comparison when you do things selflessly. So, actions done from stillness, selfless
little things, will help you not to get depressed. For example, if you really think about it, no
matter how much you are in pain, you’re still capable of caring about other people. But do you
ever think, I feel so much pain, but I care about these people? Can that thought take place,
even when you are suffering? If yes, you have a hope. But if you are only thinking about
yourself, then it’s difficult.

What I’m saying here is stop doing your pain activities. That’s one. But not only stop doing but
stop trying to do. Since we cannot do a totally nirmanakaya manifestation, an enlightened
manifestation, at least we can try to do a little bit better. And whatever that better is, each
person needs to witness, each person needs to be aware, each person needs to more forward
looking. That’s all. But if you’re repeating the same story again and again, it’s miserable, and
soon it will destroy you. So, before it happens, be aware and wake up, give your life to yourself.

It’s not that we need to do more things, we already do a lot of things for our families, our friends,
our sangha. We do a lot of things already, but maybe the point is doing things from a different
place. If you do from more space and more awareness, what you’re doing has much more

36
impact. When there is more space and more awareness there is more fruit. It’s not saying doing
always like that, but it’s doing differently. Find a love within yourself in that Küntu Zangpo, and
find the power of love within Küntu Zangpo, and love somebody else from that place, rather than
losing the connection to the source of power, feeling weak, and from weakness loving
somebody. That’s what many people do. It’s a different love story.

Everybody has a story about love, right? When you find something in yourself and you are
radiating that love out to somebody, it’s a different story. It’s like kun tu zang tuk tu, the
manifestation of the heart essence of Samantabhadra. So, when you really have love for
somebody, that manifestation is love within you. But sometimes we don’t find love inside
ourselves, and what we find is our story of pain, loneliness, and out of that we try to find love,
we try to find our love in somebody else, and particularly some mean person, so then you are in
trouble.

Help others out of your strength not weakness. Many times we feel we are weak, and needing
to help is the way of helping others, or something like that. Or at least sometimes it looks like
you want to be familiar with the pain stories of others. I have told the story about an old friend of
mine who, when he asks the question how are you doing, he asks it in special way: How are
you doing? [Rinpoche speaks it very softly.] And you say: I’m fine, I’m fine. Then he says: Are
you sure? Are you really sure? How are you really doing? So, when you hear that, he’s not
interested in a good answer. He has his own pain and feels like it is not enough to identify with
that, he wants to identify with my pain.

The fourth one is about the conceptual mind and our thoughts.

Thought-free primordial wisdom is the base.

The varieties of thoughts are dynamic energies.
Chasing after them is the way you are deluded.
Viewing them as something wrong is mistaken.
Leaving them as they are is the method.
Freeing them into vastness is the path. That’s the dissolution of the stories.
Non-duality is the realization.
Manifesting is the result.

Manifesting means manifesting your creativity, because this means concept interferes with true
manifestation from the heart. So, true manifestation is the result. It looks interesting, right? If you
think about your life, when you think over your day-to-day life, you wake up and your day is right
in front of you. A vast day is open in front of you, and you say, how am I going to make the best

37
out of my day today? How you can make the best out of your day is, if you’re open to it, if you’re
flexible to it, if you work with the circumstances. If you have a plan to go to hiking or something,
and there’s stormy weather, but your pain has planned to walk, to hike, and now the weather is
not allowing you to do that, now you fight against the weather. That’s not fun, but people do that
in life all the time. They want to stick with their plan no matter how many circumstances become
an obstacle. They simply cannot dance with the elements.

Within a group, when you’re trying to be creative, person one has an idea and person two has
another idea, then person three has a third idea—everyone has their ideas of what should be
done. How can these people be in harmony? That’s a very good question, right? Their collective
vision is the same, they agreed on it. But they have a hard time accomplishing their mission.
What is needed to clean this space, when everybody has a different idea? One says: Oh, that’s
interesting, but I don’t think it will work. Maybe if truly you feel it’s not working, then it’s okay, but
very often people go into conflict simply because while your idea looks good, it’s not my idea.
Even though we have never agreed that it has to be my idea; we have agreed that we need to
accomplish a mission. So forget about you and me; we have a collective goal. And forget about
your limited view; we have a collective wisdom. Collective wisdom has so much more worth
than an individual one.

What I’m trying to say by telling this story is that when you do that, it’s great to recognize it. Oh, I
like your idea, but I feel like it’s not my idea, but it should not be a problem. I will do my nine
breathings and let you do it. So, that’s what happens in a good group, and when that can
happen, so many things happen, because everybody is interested in a collective goal, and
nobody is caught up in that it has to be mine. So, number one rule is, not to make it mine,
because every time you go that way it is not so much fun, especially among people who don’t
respect each other. Sometimes there is somebody they respect, then it works, but very often it
hardly works.

So anyway, number one was the sky, universe, nature, and numbers two, three, and four are
basically body, speech, and mind--actions, speech, and pain mind. Number five and six is the
medicine, which is the base and awareness; another way of saying it is space and awareness.

So, it says:

Self-arising primordial wisdom is the base. This is referring to space.

The five poisonous disturbing emotions are the dynamic energy.
Following them is how you get deluded.
Looking at them as an error is mistaken.

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 So, it’s saying, don’t follow, but don’t look at them as bad either. I’m angry at myself
because I’m angry. I feel more depressed because I’m depressed. So, in some
sense, in being critical towards the natural expression of emotions, you’re not letting
them breathe. They are trying to breathe. Anytime you feel something—and this is a
very good way to look at it—you look at it. It’s breathing, it’s living, it’s healing. If you
have a positive view like that, then I think it’s better rather than seeing some
negative problems.
Leaving them as they are is the method.
Freeing these five poison stories into vastness is the path.
Non-duality is the realization.
And manifesting is the result.

So, in all these six collections of lines it’s the same: Non-duality is the realization. Manifesting is
the result. But each of these six has a different manifestation. Like with nature, we know that we
interfere so much. It manifests by itself, but we interfere so much, then what is supposed to
manifest is not manifesting. We do so much, but out of pain, not out of joy. We speak so often
from pain and not from that silence. We think so often from that pain mind, but not from that
spaciousness of mind.

So here the five wisdoms will manifest. Manifesting is the result means the manifestation of the
five wisdoms when the stories of the five poisons are dissolved. Space is not that you do much,
you have to be aware of it, but it’s not that you are trying to do much. And the last one is the
wisdom, and it says:

The primordial wisdom of innate self-awareness is the base.

So, there are six different bases.
Sound, light, and rays are the dynamic energy.
Grasping them as real things is the way you are deluded.
And viewing them as superior is the error.
Maybe in a deep meditation you see sound, light, and rays, and you say: Wow, I’m
getting to be enlightened now! And maybe you were until you said that. For sure you are
not now.
Profound certainty is the method.
So, the pattern is changing a little bit. Before it says: Leaving them as they are is the
method. It’s here not a method, because it’s not a manifestation, wisdom is not a
particular manifestation. You need to have certainty in the wisdom. Awareness needs
certainty.
Freeing them into your own appearance is the path.

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 They don’t have their own inherent existence, realizing that, that’s like realization.
Arising as dynamic energy is the result.

I know, it’s a lot of things to think about. We will come back tomorrow morning. Just to conclude,
it’s a little bit this idea of allowing to rest our pain body, speech, mind; allowing to rest our
samsaric stories. That, I think is a simple way to look. You cannot create a new story when you
have old stories.

One time I met this Indian guy, he seems very active on Facebook. He’s somebody in our
community that we know. So, I met him for the first time in Delhi, and he was very Indian, you
know, talkative. So, he said, I’m looking for love. And I said, that’s good, I’m sure you will find
one. Then he was talking here, talking there, talking with too many people, and he probably met
a few people also. So, he showed me a lot of photos. He said, look, what do you think about
her? What do you think about her? Then I said that until you delete all these photos from your
phone, you’re not going to find one. Have a fresh new start from a new space!

So, it’s a little bit like that here. In order to find a new body, speech, and mind, it means we
really have to let go of the old one. How many people are having fun with your old body? Or
your getting older body? We know we are having less and less fun with that. There is not so
much we can do about it. But we can do something about our internal body. If you don’t want to
get old, that’s the way to do it. That’s why it’s called the eternal body. It is eternally youthful,
joyful, playful. There is a way to do it.

So, bring the awareness, attention, inward to have a new start. A new start does not necessary
mean doing something completely new, but a new start means you continue with what you do,
but with so much more space, so much more awareness, so much more connection, so much
more impact too, because your space, your awareness will define the level of impact.

There are people, who are trying to accomplish things by closing, and there are people who are
trying to accomplish things by opening. There’s a difference. For me it’s very clear—you
accomplish by opening, not closing. Opening does have challenges of its own, a short time
challenge, but in the long run, it’s a flourish of beauty.

So, one last word. I use this word “open” so much, I know, opening and openness. The last two
points of this 15th Nail is what this is referring to. When it’s saying primordial wisdom is the base
and rang rig yeshe, primordial innate awareness is the wisdom, these two are what it’s talking
about. So, it’s not just a very colloquial sense of being open, opening. No, it’s not. It’s just
connected here, right here (in this text). For me that’s my strength. It’s the power of this, right

40
here (in this text). What I’m talking about is right here. That’s why I said in the beginning, don’t
underestimate these little booklets.
---------------

Nail 15 continued.

In the first Nail, the Nail of the base, there are these nine points; remember? In number 7 it
says:
shar wa sum gyi rig pi tsal jang
Exercising the dynamic energies of innate awareness through the three arisings.

In that Nail there are nine points of meditation, nine practices or exercises. In the beginning,
restraining; then relaxing; settling; non-following; extending the cords; hiding; and then
exercising.

Restraining first, just to focus and not get distracted.

And then relaxing into, not forcing.
Then settling.
Then once you’re settled, non-following—not following body, speech, and mind.
Not only not following, but extending the cord of being pure, non-elaborated.
Like joy, like the warmth of experiences of resting, the so-called cord, extending
experiences.
Then if it’s necessary, hiding, but not hiding forever.
Then number seven, this is the point that I’m trying to make. It just became a little long to
make in context. After the six exercises, then you arise. Of course, six exercises don’t
mean five minutes each, it could be five years each. It could mean five years; it could
mean three years. Hopefully there is an arrival on number seven. Once you arrive you
exercise arising.
Then liberation. Liberation means, what you exercise, you’re free from. That means, you
are free from your activity; you are free from your speech; you are free from your
mind. That means, you feel liberation; you’re free. Whatever you are doing, whatever
you are saying, whatever you are imagining—you are free from that. Because many
times we become victims of our own pain body, speech, and mind. It destroys us. We
think other people do it; no, other people don’t do it. Even if sometimes other people
do it, we go there to ask for it.
And then the last one, number nine: Maintaining the result through the three non-
obscurations. Because your own activity, your own speech, and particularly your own
mind are not affecting you, you are free from them, which means they don’t obscure

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 you. Non-obscuration is the fruit of what you have achieved. The point is something
needs to be maintained; that is fruition; that is a result you have to maintain.

Does that make sense? I mean, all the teachings of the 21 Nails are beautiful, but then it also
has to be practical. Like: Just tell me what to do. This is beautiful; every explanation is nice and
beautiful, but give me some number one, two, and three steps. I think these nine points are very
important. I hope to work on this in the future to elaborate more and to build some practices
based on this.

So, one simple way to look at these nine points is basically they are referring to three, three,
and three, which means body, speech, and mind; body, speech and mind—we know that. But
let’s look at one; let’s look at our mind, which seems the craziest one. We do a lot of things,
sometimes we mess things up by doing things. But the good thing is, we don’t do everything
that our mind tells us to do. So, we don’t mess up that much. So, in that way, the body’s
limitation works well for us, and the hidden aspect of the mind also works well for us, because
nobody can read it. But on the other hand, we know that our mind is crazy. Do you agree with
that?

So, if you look at the nine points, there are so many thoughts and emotions, personalized
thoughts and personalized emotions, right? Think about one topic you are worried about now.
The good thing is you are not worried in the same way with every other possible topic. You can,
but you are not. You’re lucky. If you are able to not worry about so many topics, which
potentially you can, that also means, the one you worry about it, you also don’t have to worry
about. That’s good logic to think about. You can say, if I’m not worried about all these things on
the one hand, why do I have to worry about that one thing? E MA HO! You’re free now. Now
you can relax. Now you can enjoy your day. But sometimes it’s a little bit hard. Sometimes it
works, sometimes it’s hard.

So, that’s what it means by three obscurations. At least in the mind we can clearly see—you
have one thought, and then it obscures your whole being. A big cloud is coming, coming,
coming, coming, and suddenly the whole area becomes dark. Obscuration. But you can be
aware of it, you can clear it, you can protect yourself from it, you can liberate it, and then you
can find a new sky, new space, new light, and you can exercise to manifest. That’s possible.
That’s what we are talking about.

Okay, then when we’re talking about the Nail 15, it seems to be the same thing. In all the six
points every last line is: Manifesting is the result. That is important to remember. For each one
of us, a good question yourself is: Are you ready to manifest? Manifesting is the result. Is there

42
any result? A little result? Medium result? A big result? That’ the question to ask oneself. Is it
clear? Manifesting the sky, the universe, let’s forget about it. What we have to remember is
body, speech, mind, quality, and actions—these five things. A OM HUNG RAM DZA, right? For
now focus here.

Are you ready to manifest your body, which primarily means, a new self, a new identity? You will
get a new ID card with A in the middle and a rainbow around, with no photo of you, or maybe an
image of Küntu Zangpo. That also means not only a new sense of self, but also new actions.
Primarily body refers more to identity, to a new sense of self. Who you are is beyond your
degree, beyond what you do, and it’s even beyond what you think. Who you are is beyond all of
that. Who you are is beyond your role, beyond even what you feel. Who you are is beyond what
you think, and beyond what others project on you. In a way, who you are is beyond all that is
identifiable. You know, everybody can say something about you and that’s not who you are. Or
you are beyond thinkable, any time you have some thinking involved in who you are, it’s not
you. So that is why it is kind of difficult to find yourself. I guess that’s why people have a problem
finding themselves. And that’s why these teachings are beautiful: They don’t encourage you to
search; they encourage you to stop searching. There are more chances to find, when you stop
searching than when you are searching.

So, that’s the body. Are you ready to open and find a new self? I think, sometimes when we are
talking like this it’s helpful, I feel it’s helpful. We might not find it, but at least we get a little bit
energized. And also, we might find it, if we are energized. But definitely it will require a few
essential points. Points like the recognition of your old patterns and the willingness to let go of
them; finding a new space; strengthening your presence in the new space; illuminating that new
space; bringing your awareness into that space; bringing some action into that space, simple
actions that you are familiar with. Then there is a chance.

With the body, usually I give the example of a distorted family who feels obligated to come
together for Christmas dinner and they are sitting together. So you’re sitting together and you
really have a problem with one other family member, the one who is sitting opposite you at the
table. Then see how you feel. That’s your pain body. Your pain body is charged by some of your
family members. It could be the same when you are working with a group of people in a
company or in an organization. You have what I call your famous person. He’s sitting there, and
you’re sitting very tense. That sense of self—what do you feel? That’s a pain identity. You don’t
have to feel that, but you do. So, are you ready to be free from that pain body? I know, you have
been trying to be free from that person for very long time, but are you ready to free from your
own pain body? That’s the important question.

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And also, are you ready to change what you do? Or are you ready to change the way you do
what you do? Sometimes we have to change. Maybe what you do might be very good, but you
can still expand. I mean, it always depends on how you define how good it is. In the end, a true
definition of what good is, is the goodness of your wellbeing. Good is not an accomplishment,
not a success, not an amount of money—it has nothing to do with that. As His Holiness says:
We need more kind people, not more successful people. There are too many successful people.
If you have a good job, if you have a good family, if you have a good friend, if you have a good
partner, with all these good things that you have, did it help to change you for the better? Or did
they all help you to stay where you are and get stuck there? That’s a good question, because
many times goodness does not necessarily mean it transcends conditions. It can also be a very
comfort zone not to move from there, which is not good either. The circumstances are good
except for you. Because growth, all of these ideas of a new sense of self, and new actions have
something to do with the sense of self. Again, it goes back to that. So, it’s always the question:
are you willing to open more? I think, practically speaking, that’s what it means. I think, here are
all these explanations, but practically speaking, are you ready to be more open? That is a
simpler way of understanding. Are you willing to open your life more?

Another simple way will be to consider that all the things that you wish for, and all the things that
you are trying to do in your life, there is a much easier way to do it. Are you ready to open and
to do it in an easier way, or do you still want to do it in a hard, painful, and suffering way
continuously? And many people say, I love my old way of doing things. And when you meet
people like that, you don’t know what to say. I mean, it is the same thing. You can do it easily,
not draining yourself, not losing energy or losing, fun, but you say, no, I love my way, I love my
old way, I love my painful way. I don’t know, but I love my old way that produces pain, so I
guess I love both of them. And then you say something like, Ok, so, if I look closely, I guess my
old way is destroying my health; I am not very well, and not getting younger, and my old way is
speeding up my health being bad. But, yeah, kind of, I guess, I’m not sure about it, I’ll have to
think about it, because now I like my old way. Or with your old way, which you like, you are on
the way to losing your job, or you are on your way to losing your business, or you are on your
way to losing this beautiful relationship you have now, because the old way is not supporting the
new environment anymore. Now you still think, not everything is my fault; it’s these people,
these situations, this samsara, all these problems. I’m just a decent person living a normal life.
That means, you just kind of see it, feel it, and yet you’re not willing to change. So anyway, I
think that’s good. If you get it, I think you should get it by now. I know you might be thinking, yes,
I get it, but, you know…

The reason why I am saying these different things is because some of you are in relationships,
some of you are in a kind of self-destructive mood, some of you are maybe really working on a

44
business, but not in a really good way. That’s why we choose different topics. So, it covers
everybody, hopefully.

So, in short, if you are able to manifest what you want, what you wish in much easier way, then
why not choose the easier way rather than the hard way. I think that’s what it is, really. There is
an easier way and you need to be open to it. And then maybe you are thinking, or I’m thinking
that you might be thinking, what is that goal that can be easier, which I am making harder? Of
course, there are pretty many, but a few examples I can say: One person might say, I’m really
interested to achieve enlightenment in this lifetime or in a few lifetimes, to be truly free from
suffering. I’m interested in ku sum dzok pé sang gyé nyur thop shok, the last line of the
dedication, May we swiftly achieve the complete Buddhahood of the three bodies. Basically, it
means, may I achieve the three enlightened bodies. I don’t know how many of you are in this
group, but at least I am not excluding anybody. There are some. So, for sure there is an easier
way to achieve enlightenment than the way we are trying.

And then another one will be regarding happiness. We say that everybody has the right to
pursue happiness. That seems very universal. I know and I hope that we are all in that together.
Is there anybody here who really doesn’t want to be happy? No? Okay, good. That’s good
news. So, there is a much easier way to find happiness in life than probably the way we’re
pursuing happiness right now. Pain body finds pain; pain speech finds pain; pain mind finds
pain. Pain is activating these three things, and pain only finds pain stories. So, it’s not the way.
It’s about resting them, being free from them, discovering new space, new awareness, new
action.
Then maybe the last one group of people, who might say, happiness, yes, I want to be happy,
but also, I want to make money. I do not only want to just be happy, a poor happy person. How
many people feel like that? If you have a choice between rich happiness and poor happiness,
what would you choose? I mean, the truth is probably it doesn’t matter, but maybe you think a
rich happiness is a little better. In Tibet we say, having a problem with yak or having a problem
with no yak. As far as a problem is concerned, both are officially called problem. So, it’s not that
one is not a problem, but it’s a question of preference. Which problem do you prefer? And we
know, which one you choose.

So, also in terms of success and business, business is like that also, there are many easier
ways. If you are struggling in your business, that struggle exhausts your creativity. Definitely for
sure there are easier ways to get what you are trying to get than the way you are trying. Maybe
in some sense you don’t see how open or how closed you are, how many options you have. It
seems as if people do not like knowing options.

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So, in the end it really comes down to a simple word—openness. If you are not conditioned by
pain body, speech, and mind and seeing through pain eyes, what you see is so much more.
Without conditions you see more, and you want to see more. Suffering is when you feel you
don’t have an option. When you feel you don’t have an option, that means, your space is not
wide enough; you’re not open enough. When you are open, your obstacle becomes your
support. Even an obstacle—I’m not talking about non-obstacle—is your support. Your blockages
become a door of energy. During the meditation yesterday, when we brought our attention to a
particular location in our body, breathing in, bringing the light of awareness there, breathing from
there, bringing the vitality of energy there, you can see that blockages are like a doorway to
open to the new. Usually we totally ignore this doorway; we separate from it; we disconnect
from it.

So, are you ready to manifest your speech? Are you ready to talk? Are you ready to reconnect?
I mean, think about this in families, how many family members do you have that you haven’t
spoken to for a long time? Sometimes I feel once I have a lot of time, I would like to visit all my
old friends. And Jan is one of the people, who is not lost. You know he has some health issues;
I sent an email yesterday. I was hoping that he was here. The point that I’m trying to say here is,
are you ready to reconnect? Because you’re connected with so many people in your life, and so
many people who have been so kind to you, generous to you, and you felt so close to them. But
for one reason or another reason—some people have died, some people have gotten sick,
some people are just lost friends, whatever, but the memory is always there—it is important to
reconnect and to talk again, or to express appreciation, or at least to say, I’m thinking of you.
That is at least far more important than trying to make new friends. I don’t mind new friends, but
I think, I prefer to keep old friends.

You know, it’s always nice. When I came to Italy for the first time, I stayed with Ciacomella and
Andreas, these friends of mine. So, we were all very young, and her son Jampal, was six years
old then, and we used to play soccer in their little house. Now Jampal is thirty-four or five, a
professor in the university in Amsterdam. So, he comes to visit every year and spends a month
or two in our home. It’s like a cycle return. When I was homeless, I stayed in their house for two
years. I was a very long-staying guest! I was thinking back, how did that happen? Two years
seems very long without previous planning. But then, of course, I remember, it was not that I
was just staying there and not going out of the house. But I remember, that when I finally left,
they were really mad at me. They said, why are you leaving home? I was twenty-eight, twenty-
nine or something like that, and I said, I have spent my life growing up with my parents and then
in the monastery and I feel that I need to have my own space. And they were also my family,
they were my family too. So anyway, what I’m saying is, they were unhappy, and I was happy
when I left.

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So basically, the question is, are you ready to reconnect with people in your life that you kind of
forgot. It’s important. Your new body and new speech should be willing to do that. Or are you
still in your old body and your old speech, which are so busy trying to disconnect with people
you don’t like. That might be true also. But my recommendation will be, if you reconnect with
people you love, you don’t have to disconnect with people you don’t love. They will dissolve into
the base of all, into Samantabhadra.

_____________

Nail 15 continued.

This sense of new being—new person, new body, new speech, new mind—is nice, no? We
probably cannot make our body new, but we can make our mind new. I mean, mind is new, so
we have to recognize that.

What defines old and new? There should be some changes. If there are no changes, then there
is nothing new. Ego can like the idea of new, while doing the same old thing. There is nothing
new about old patterns. There needs to be some sense of willingness, openness to look at
one’s story and recognize them. And in order to do that it seems important to rest. During
meditation, when we rest deeply into the meditation without losing the interest to look, when you
look, you see something more than you have ever seen before. That is the beauty of not giving
up being honest and being willing to see, but we are looking from different place, a clearer
place. That is what makes it different. Otherwise sometimes we look, but we are not successful.

And this transformation is stated clearly in the dedication.

ku sum dzok pé sang gyé nyur thop shok

We are basically saying: May I fully manifest the three kayas; may I fully manifest the three
bodies; may I fully manifest my life; may I fully live my life. It’s all about fullness and perfection,
not running away and retreating. That is important to recognize.

So, a very simple question is: What is your relation to stillness, silence, and spaciousness, the
three precious pills? For some people it’s scary, scary to not do things, because our ego, our
pain identity loves doing, because it identifies with doing. It exists, it’s alive, it recognizes itself
through doing. Or with pain speech, when in an argument, when fighting, struggling,
complaining, our pain identity feels alive. And so ego wants to do that. And pain mind also
wants to activate. But when you’re trying to keep still, silent, and spacious, it’s scary. It means

47
that you do not exist. There is a term which translates as fear of emptiness. But the truth is, it’s
not like that. It is full. But you need a special eye to see it. At least you need to have a special
interest to find a special eye to see it.

Think about a room. Imagine this beautiful space here. Now imagine if Klaus were to bring all
the stuff from the basement and the garage and all the other rooms and hiding places into this
room. Would you like it? Not very much, right? Or imagine if this room had no window at all and
there was no light and the room was totally dark. D you like that? Unless we are doing group
dark retreat, you would not. Or maybe having some sense of warmth, like the warmth of the
shrine, the warmth of the ornaments, the warmth of our presence, the warmth that we bring in
here—imagine the absence of that. Just empty space is also not fun. We know that in every
household the dining area is fun. Regardless of how small it is, that’s where people want to
gather; that’s where people want to talk; that’s where people want to connect and eat and drink.
There is warmth there, apart from the food.

So the action of pain is less lively than the presence in the stillness! Please repeat this again:
The action of pain is less lively than presence in stillness!

In our everyday life that’s not how we experience it. We feel our pain actions are more lively
than our presence in stillness, because we really don’t have the experience of the liveliness of
stillness the sense to feel it, the eyes to see it. We don’t have it. The actions of pain, the effort to
accomplish something or find something which cannot be found, can be found in the presence
of stillness. In that stillness, in that space what we are seeking can be found. These lines are my
spontaneous wisdom here. I did not plan what I was going to say at all. I did not even think of it
a second ago, but it just came out, and I think and feel these are important lines.

Let’s look at Nail 15 closely:

gyer me ye shé zhi

Actionless primordial wisdom is the base.

There are two things to pay close attention to in these lines. One is gyer wa me pa, which
means actionless or stillness. And the second word is: zhi, the base. So, is action the base or is
actionless the base? Actionless is the base. Stillness is the base. I’m trying to use the word
actionless, because that’s how it is translated; that is the literal translation. But the word that I
usually use is stillness. It’s simple.

Then the second line reads:

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 gya wa na tso tsal
Varieties of action are the dynamic energy.

Basically, this means that whatever experiences you are having are dynamic energies. You
don’t judge experiences as good or bad; they are dynamic energies. Every single human
experience is good; it’s never bad until you label it as such. Birthday is a label. You don’t give
presents on “death day” and have a party, because the ego interprets that day differently. In
essence what is the difference? There is no difference. It’s an experience. It’s a circle. They are
connected to each other. Sometimes I say, if you don’t want to die, you should never have been
born. If you made a mistake by being born—boom, it comes up—oops, now I have to deal with
death.

And then the third line reads:

dze su teng wa trul luk

Chasing after them is the way you are deluded.

So, either we chase after them or we run away from them. Some experiences we chase and
some experiences we run away from. And that’s the way of being deluded.

Maybe it’s more important to emphasize the liveliness of the stillness or the actionless, the
liveliness of the speechless or silence, the liveliness of the spaciousness or thought-free-ness.
Liveliness is an important part of it. When we refer to these as the bases, that means the base
to arise, the base to heal, the base to discover, the base to mature, the base to manifest. They
are the bases only when you are aware. Awareness brings liveliness. Most of the time many,
many, many people miss that point, and it becomes only the absence of action or the absence
of sound rather than the presence of something. And that’s a big error.

In experience yesterday you asked about space, I think, right? (Rinpoche relates to a question
from somebody). What was the question?

Kati: She said that she experienced how much time she had during the two days of silence, and
then this fear came of how to fill this time.
TWR: Whether it’s the time or it’s the space, there is a lot of space, which is what we really
want, but when it’s there, fear comes. Fear is a lack of recognition of what that space really is,
what that time really is. If there is recognition, confidence will arise, because the recognition of
space is the greatest confidence. Space can never be destroyed. Everything you find in that

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space as matter can be destroyed, can be taken away. So, recognizing space is a very different
experience.
---------------

Let’s continue to explore this sense of new body, speech, and mind. This idea is not
psychological or anything like that. I think it would be nice to do a little bit more, not research,
but more explore the actual structure of body, speech, and mind. In the sutric tradition they call
tong lu, which means the body of emptiness. In tantra they use the term gyu lü, referring to the
illusory body. In dzogchen it’s called ö lü, the body of light. So, the idea here is, actually
something is happening in the body. That’s why awareness in the body is important. It’s very
much question about our health, our mood, our emotions, our cognitive abilities. Even though so
much happens in the mind, it all has so much to do with our body—whether or not our body
supports our realization. And that has to do with our mind’s connection to the body. In general,
we say that all matter is 99.999% space. We are like space, but after lunch it doesn’t feel like
that. The body has so much to do with what space feels like. The idea of light—the body of
light—is hard to feel. And our mood, our emotions, have so much to do with our body. I don’t
know how much, but so much.

So, when we say actionless is the base, speechless is the base, and all these bases, that’s like
a base body, and that’s the space, not actions or movement. When you say “new person,” you
have a body, idea of body, speech, mind, and its quality, which is like the software, and then its
function. So you have the hardware, software, and functions. And actually, we describe our
body as being in the crown where the brain is, so in terms of identity, it seems like this body has
so much to do with our identity. I don’t know when we’ll figure out all these things, perhaps
never or perhaps in the near future, I don’t know. I mean, this text describes everything that is
supposed to be happening. But I don’t think, even with all these years of Tibetan tradition,
anyone really payed close attention to this. I mean, people payed lot of close attention, but not
in this way, I don’t know how to say, maybe not in a materialistic way. In the West we look at
everything from a materialistic or dualistic way: How is this actually going to happen?

So at the crown and the throat, for example, is the upward-moving wind. At the crown and
throat, body and the speech, the stories of body and the speech, when they are dissolving, how
are they dissolving? One, when you bring it to consciousness, when you are aware of
something, the process starts. And then energetically when you’re able to bring the wind, the
upward moving wind in the particular location in the crown and in the throat where these kinds
of stories are supposed to be, are theoretically, stored, and when you are pumping (Rinpoche
shows movements like pumping air into a ball), then you’re just washing it out. You are washing
it out here and washing it out here (Rinpoche makes a washing movement with his hands at the

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crown and at the throat), cleaning these energy centers through the wind with awareness. And
when this process is done, in the area of the crown and throat there is more empty space. As I
said during the meditation, it feels like this area is breathing. Now the window is open, the light
is coming in, the energy, the seeds are growing. Something is growing here. What is growing
here? So-called tiglés or qualities. What kind of qualities? Qualities of the space. There are
many different qualities of the space. There are many different qualities of the crown. These are
the bases of the development of new “I,” a new sense of self, a new sense of space.

So, what I’m saying here is, it really seems like energetically something happens. It’s difficult to
prove it exactly, but theoretically you can really make a structure of what’s supposed to be
happening in mental images as a process. That would be very interesting. Does it make sense?
It seems that lunch seems powerful here.

Then we come to the heart. Body, speech, and the mind. When you think about the heart, the
life-force tsa lung, and clearing stories with that particular life-force wind, and feeling more
space in the heart, that makes the heart breathe more. I mean, physically that’s true. They say
this is probably a very good heart cardio exercise. You can feel that. And after you do this three
times a day or something like that, you really feel like you’re getting good cardio exercise,
because it’s an inside out kind of exercise, not just movement. And then when you feel more
space, that space is not just any space, but a space where new winds are coming, new
awareness is coming, and this new wind and new awareness produces new emotions like the
immeasurable joy, love, compassion, and equanimity. These emotions are produced. That is
your new heart. That is your new mind. But they are arising because space is created, and
awareness is present. So physically, energetically, emotionally things are shifting. It is important
to understand that. So, new space, new awareness, new energy, and new functions or actions
come when these changes are happening.

So, how everybody is doing?

Participant: Is the wind that is moving in us what you call in the books the lung? Or what is the
difference of this and rigpa? I am confused about this wind. You talk always about that the
winds are moving internally in the three channels. But what is the difference between this
moving wind and rigpa?
TWR: Rigpa is a state of awareness. The wind is the energy of movement. Our breath is wind.
When you hold your breath here in the heart area, what you’re holding here is wind. So whether
five winds, 25 winds, hundreds of winds, they are characterizes differently by how they move
and they all are wind. What moves is wind. If you think about electricity, what is moving is the
wind, the pipe doesn’t move. Energy, even the water is not part of it. There’s movement, energy

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itself, the movement—that’s the wind. Some energy carries light, some carries water, some
carries energy upward, some carries energy downward. So what makes it move is the wind.
That’s why we do tsa lung, because each of these tsa lung exercises moves things, which gives
birth to different psychological states, the purpose of doing it. Like for example when you do the
tsa lung here in the heart area, this is the life-force tsa lung. So you’re doing it, then suddenly
(Rinpoche breathes out), and energetically you feel (Rinpoche stays open), if you feel a state of
awake, that’s rigpa. And that is supported by this wind.

Participant: I find that this constant repetition of the mantras, when we sing, I feel that through
the mantras we get in touch with the space itself and we stay in touch with the space itself, at
least I feel this. And through this loud singing, really using the voice in a very loud way to me it
seems that space itself is actually talking to us or we are through singing making space not
visible, but hearable, audible. We can make space audible. So, through singing A OM HUNG
when this sinks in deeper and deeper, I found for me, this was a new experience, that this is
actually enabling or inducing the new qualities to unfold.

TWR: Yes, that’s how it is. Sometimes you pray or wish something or engage with just sound,
but I don’t think it’s only that, as actual sound has different vibrations. When you sing A A A…,
that is space; the sound has an opening quality. In Tibetan they say that A is the soul of all of
the letters in the alphabet. We have thirty letters. We say:

KA KHA GA NGA
CA CHA JA NYA
TA THA DA NA
PA PHA BA MA
TSA TSHA DZA WA
ZHA ZA A YA
RA LA SHA SA
HA A

You see A, A, A, A is in every letter, in each of them. It’s said to be the soul of all the sounds.
So, when you’re singing it definitely has that quality. By contrast, OM has a different quality, it
has a more retreating, introverting, cultivating quality to it. Then HUNG has a spreading quality,
manifesting quality. So the actual sounds themselves, the vibrations have different qualities.
Some send or receive or accumulate those qualities.

It’s international, everybody says: A for the sound of knowing. And while a “not knowing” state of
mind occupies the space, a knowing mind does not occupy the space but frees the space.

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When knowing frees the space we say A. The sound comes saying, I’m free. It means that now
I know. Now my space is not occupied with doubt anymore. That’s what it means. Probably it
means a lot of things and we don’t know all that it means.

Participant: I still want to clarify this term lung. My impression is that the energies actually get
into flow through activity, so they start flowing though activity. Not only through activity, but even
if you’re, for instance, interacting with other people or meeting other people, the energy starts to
flow through this kind of connection. So, what is the meaning of lung?
TWR: You explained it, and then you asked me what it is!
Participant: Actually, I’m a technician, and I know a lot about these things, and of course there is
a certain force, this inducive energy, which makes electricity go, which induces electricity to
move. And so the question is: What is behind this power? What is behind the lung? What is the
base of the lung or where does lung come from?
TWR: Lung comes from all these bases described here in the 15th Nail. Remember yesterday
when we were talking about the 15th Nail, and we were talking about the universe, it seems like
space and these elemental atoms produce everything. If you look at our actions, our
movements, the stillness or the inner stillness space is the source from which these winds are
arise. In a way they come from nowhere, but in a way, this “nowhere” is full of energy, full of
information.

Even with speech, when we’re thinking about silence, we think we do not communicate when
we are silent. But no, in silence there is so much communication happening. Probably more
communication happens in silence than when we speak, especially nowadays.

So, these are bases of those winds. And there are different winds—wind in the universe, wind in
our body, wind in our speech, wind in our heart. Therefore, these winds are called by different
names. The wind in our navel is a different wind. All of our digestive power comes from the wind
called fire-like wind in a particular space, this area around the navel. So when we clear this
area, then this area is breathing, and that produces the fire-like wind. Then we are digesting
fully and this wind is bringing nutrition to the rest of the body. You’re becoming healthy, because
this is a very health-oriented wind exercise. So the winds have these bases.

So, one way to look at these 5 tsa lung exercises is that they clear these energy centers, like
clearing your garbage, just clearing. Second is, because you cleared it this way, five different
kinds of wind are produced. They are called lung rinpoche, which means precious winds. And
these precious winds are medicine. So when the medicine is there, it helps to build a new body,
new speech, new mind, new qualities, and new actions. These medicines are helping. It’s good
to look at it that way.

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Just generally lung is wind. I was at the Rice University for many, many years and one guy there
said to me: You’ve been talking about the wind for so many years, I still don’t get it. In a way it’s
very simple. For example, if I sit like this (Rinpoche leans back, fully relaxed against the
backrest), after ten or fifteen minutes I’m producing a wind of dullness. And that wind has the
power to put me to sleep, if my posture is corresponding with my mind, that is, unless my mind
is following thoughts all over the place, and my body is only pretending to be relaxing. Now, if I
change my mind and I sit in something called five-point-posture, that’s very different. Sit like this
for five, ten minutes, and my body has produced a different wind. In fact, the five-point posture
means that each point produces a different kind of wind. That’s why I do the posture, to produce
different winds. Sitting cross-legged I contain the wind, rather than if I sit like this, with one leg
stretched out to one side. In that position I lose the wind. It’s different. And sitting upright, I allow
the flow of the wind moving up. And rather than moving my head around, I’m keeping my chin
down in a controlled position. This wind helps to minimize thoughts. Just this shift, from head
upward to chin down is supposed to minimize your thoughts. Just this. Amazing, right! So, if
you’re sitting and trying to stop your thoughts effortfully thinking, I want to stop thinking while
turning your head from side to side, well that’s what we usually do. So, don’t do that. You don’t
talk, you just sit straight and bring your chin down. There is seriousness there. So, that’s the
wind.

How many styles of chair exist in the West? And basically, each chair is based on different
winds. Each chair produces a different wind, that’s why they are designed differently. We
understand a lot about wind, but we don’t know that we do. We have a particular chair in the
office, and we have a sofa by the fireplace, which produces a totally different wind. There is
more fire in the office through straight and upright position of the chair, and a more relaxing
shape by the fireplace. It’s according to the wind. Or you go to the bathroom, and what you have
to do? You have to follow a certain posture. You cannot stand up, well, you can, but it is much
better if you sit in the right posture. and of course, in India there is a different posture than in the
West. And then from the posture, you are aware to push down to activate the downward-moving
prana. Actually, it is downward-moving prana, because downward-moving prana helps to do a
better job. If you have a problem with the downward-moving prana, you have a problem at the
toilet. So, you sit there, and nothing happens. We all know what to do; we are pressing
downward.

Ok, if you don’t know what wind means, that is wind. It’s just sending different things out.
Healthwise that’s very important, but consciousness-wise upward-moving wind is more
important than downward-moving wind. But we do the same thing here. (Rinpoche shows a

54
strong release with the breath and gaze upward). We send it up; we clear in the upward
direction. So, these are all winds. And there are so many different kinds.

Participant: If I want to manifest a tiglé with the quality of clarity, to make it physically more
concrete, how do I precisely utilize the syllable HUNG?
TWR: So, if we think about the five syllables, the syllable HUNG is in the heart. The syllable
HUNG is a sound, a vibration connected with manifestation. So, manifesting in the heart will be
qualities like the Four Immeasurables. There are many qualities, but the Four Immeasurables
are the basic ones. Let’s choose joy. If you clear the energy of sadness or the wind of sadness
in your heart, it creates a space. That is like a new body. And in that space, there is a wind.
When there is more awareness in that space, it produces joy. Actual joy. So, you sense a
feeling of joy. When joy matures, it finds its place, and it is expressing all the time. But when it’s
not mature enough then we invite it. This is when we say, have a place, a time, a place and
some sense of confirmation. When you want to do something, you express it to somebody, or
you write it down and you give it a deadline. By this date and time, I will do something. These
are ways of making it concrete.
Participant: So, it means, work with this place here in the heart area. It’s not like spell HUNG or
imagine blue HUNG letters of light or something like that. It’s just to work with this heart area. Is
this all?
TWR: No, you also work with the color or that sound or the letter, because these are different
aspects of HUNG. We’ve been doing this, right? When we sing HUNG, we are singing HUNG,
and that’s when we are doing one thing. When we are saying you imagine the blue light is
coming and entering your body, we are doing it another way. And when we’re doing exercise,
like sometimes we touch this heart area with are hands, we are doing it another way. So, it’s
kind of different aspects of it that we are doing it. But in the end, it’s not about the HUNG, HUNG
is the method. In the end it’s about manifesting the qualities of your heart. That’s the purpose of
it. HUNG is the means to do it. Then it gets you into a very technical part.

Ok, so let’s sing the SA LE Ö mantra. Sing it fully.

A OM HUNG A A KAR SA LE Ö A YANG OM DU

[Dedication]

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