Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

GESHE TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE
Twenty-One Nails
Summary of the Teachings (Part 1-3)
2015 – 2017
European Summer Retreat
2015 – 2016 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019

Preparation Material for Summercourse 2019
Content
Content .................................................................................................................................................... 2
Preface..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Beginning of the Retreat 2015 ................................................................................................................ 4
First Nail - Recognizing the Base of All .................................................................................................... 7
Second Nail - Thoroughly Investigating Delusion .................................................................................. 15
Third Nail - The Space of the Nature of Bön.......................................................................................... 19
Fourth Nail - The Primordial Wisdom of the Mind’s Nature ................................................................. 21
Fifth Nail - The Tson Gang, the Body of Bön ......................................................................................... 25
Beginning of the Retreat 2016 .............................................................................................................. 28
Sixth Nail - The Body of Perfect Union .................................................................................................. 34
Seventh Nail - The Unbiased Emanation Body ...................................................................................... 45
Eighth Nail - Symbolic Examples............................................................................................................ 50
Ninth Nail - Innate Self-Awareness that Emerges from within ............................................................. 55
Tenth Nail - The Path without Deviation ............................................................................................... 59
Beginning of the Retreat 2017 .............................................................................................................. 67
Eleventh Nail: The Lamp that Dispels the Darkness .............................................................................. 76
Twelfth Nail: Pointing Out the Three Vital Points ................................................................................. 88
Thirteenth Nail: Pointing Out the Mandala ......................................................................................... 102
Summerretreat 2015&2016 Summary: 21 Nails, Part 1&2: Preface
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 on the 2nd five Nails
and Nails 11 – 13 in 2017. This handout will give a short summary and overview of the teachings in
2015 to 2017 for newcomers to the retreat 2019, who couldn’t participate last years.
This Summary is based on transcripts of audio recordings of the retreat 2015 - 2017 in Buchenau and
contains, selected by the editor, a compilation of direct quotations from Rinpoche’s teachings if not
marked differently.
The mentioned booklet is a paper for participants, which will be handed out at Buchenau. Each
participant gets this booklet only once. Newcomers receive their booklet in August 2019, former
participants bring their booklet, they have received last year.
© 2019 Ligmincha Deutschland

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Summer Retreat 2015 Summary: 21 Nails, Part 1: Beginning of the Retreat 2015
Beginning of the Retreat 2015
This summer we will start the cycle of Twenty-one Nails. This 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. For me personally to look at the text, to read the text, reflect on the text, I feel a great
blessing, and also to teach, and to share the text with others is a great joy.
So this is the opportunity for everybody to deepen some understanding, to deepen one’s practices, and
then to find tools to coping with life and managing life better and then maybe ultimately hope for
enlightenment.
So as you have the booklet here [relates to the handout that participants received at the beginning of the
retreat], there are a few prayers I just want to introduce briefly.
First we have the Guru Yoga Prayer. The principle is very simple. The principle is that there are
beings, there are masters, there are yogis, there are lineage holders, and there are enlightened beings,
there are entities who have more capacities than oneself. So basically the Guru Yoga Prayer will say, if
there is anybody with more capacity than me, then help me. The help that we ask for is very simple in
the dzogchen teaching: Help me to recognize myself.
Then we have the Inner Refuge Prayer of body, speech, and mind. Inner refuge is basically our own
true essence. And the prayer means the same thing as in the Guru Yoga prayer. In the Guru Yoga
prayer we say, help me to recognize myself, here it says, help me to recognize my inner refuge. One’s
true self and inner refuge means the same.
And then we have the Invocation of Tapihritsa. Tapihritsa is the main principle master in the Zhang
Zhung Nyan Gyud dzogchen teachings. This is a very important invocation. Tapihritsa is the external
manifestation, but all the explanations in this invocation are about the internal aspect. Internally it’s
your state, externally it’s Tapihritsa, and they are a union. When you don’t have full self-realization
then you have this connection to Tapihritsa as someone asking for help, and when you fully realize,
when you’re merged and integrated, that outer one becomes inner, inner one becomes outer, there is no
separation, they are a union. That’s like ultimate Guru Yoga.
Tapihritsa is historical, but he represents also our true essence beyond history. That’s the reason why
he is in a naked form, because our own true essence is beyond conceptual, beyond obscurations,
beyond all the conceptual elaborations. But he is also one of the lineage masters, and in that sense we
pray as you can see in the text: Help me to remove obstacles and so on. We’re asking the master who
is present, whose energy is alive, and whose energy is committed to help sentient beings. So we’re
asking: Help me, I need your help, help me, whatever help is needed. But at the same time you know,

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you can only really help when you realize yourself, which is not separate from the essence of
Tapihritsa.
So internally you go inside to find that inner refuge from where you can handle problems and
challenges much better and manifest the positive side of yourself, and externally you invoke
Tapihritsa. That’s what we do in our tradition. Invoking is helpful, but going inside is also helpful.
They do not contradict each other, they support each other.
Try to develop a sense of openness, devotion, and trust to Tapihritsa, who represents the union of all
masters, which means, all the masters that you feel trust or feel connection to. All these masters are in
this one single image of Tapihritsa. It’s Tapihritsa, but also all the other masters.
So the prayer is still the same: Help me to recognize myself. Help me to find that sacred space in me,
which is the greatest protection: nothing can destroy that, death cannot destroy that, sickness cannot
destroy that, ignorance cannot obscure that. Help me to find pure awareness, no darkness can obscure
it. Help me to find that warmth and bliss of who I am. No pain can obscure it. That’s the prayer.
If you look page 14 all the way down there are 21 Homages to the 21 Nails. 21 Homages to 21 Nails
mean basically 21 different ways of paying homage to the same essence, to the inner refuge, to your
true self. So there are 21 different ways to pay homage to just one thing. What it really tells - I think
it’s important to understand this, that in us there is Buddhahood, the essence of Buddha is in us. That
is something of high value. But normally we don’t feel that, we’re not conscious of that. We think a
church is important, a temple is important; do you think you are important in the same way? We don’t
think that way. But we carry something very sacred; we have a very special precious jewel in us. That
sense of looking at yourself I think is very important. Here in the 21 Nails we have 21 ways of paying
homage and value that essence in us.
One can say there are 21 different reasons to be very grateful, to feel very blessed. For example, the
first homage says: I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the manifestation of innate self-awareness. Küntu
Zangpo means all good. Küntu Zangpo, how do you say it in German? Alles gut, right?
So there is that sense of all good, Küntu Zangpo. When the connection to the essence is there, it’s all
good. It’s all good, because it’s there. The problem is there too, and if I only pay attention to that, then
it’s not all good. But when my inner refuge is manifested and I have access to it, then it’s all good. The
problem is here and it’s all good. To that access to all good I pay homage. I prostrate to this all good
available self-manifesting essence. That’s what it’s saying in the first homage. If you look at each of
these homages like that, you see each one is unique and another good reason to know it’s all good.
The second homage says: I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo who is primordially free of delusion. So in any
given moment no matter how much delusion you’re experiencing, that undeluded essence is always
there. If you feel the access to it, you say, it’s all good. It’s very important to feel grateful that it is

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there. Especially here in the West you kind of count every possible problem that you had, that you
have now, and the one you are going to have in the future and you don’t see this “all good”. So you
have to remember not to go into these problems. Remember this valuable thing is in us. The second
homage is saying, this undeluded aspect is there, and you have access to it. That is valuable.
Pay close attention to each of the 21 Homages. There are very clearly 21 different qualities or states
which are present in you, which are worth doing prostration and paying homage to. And having access
to that inner refuge is all good. So we pray, may I always have access to it, may I remember it.

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Summer Retreat 2015 Summary: 21 Nails, Part 1: 1st Nail
First Nail - Recognizing the Base of All
The First Nail is known as the “Base of All, Kunzhi”. “Recognizing the Base-of-All”, that’s the title of
the first chapter. And the homage - this morning we talked about the homages. It is:
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the manifestation of innate awareness.” Innate awareness, Küntu
Zangpo, the base of all, they all are referring to the same. In a way, in every spiritual path and all the
teachings in the Tibetan tradition, particularly in the Bön tradition, the main principal is trying to
understand the base of all, the Kunzhi. This is the main purpose. And the way I’ve been teaching the
last few years I’m referring to it as the inner refuge, particularly the first one which is the unbounded
space. The base of all is also the same as our true nature, our true essence, our true self; it’s referring
to the same thing.
So the question is, how does any individual get interested or get closer or pursues it to realize that?
How we will get interested to pursue that? One can say, for example, I’m exploring to understand the
truth or I’m interested to understand the causes of suffering or I want a more meaningful life. There
are so many things you can say how we get interested in it. In some sense everybody is interested, it’s
a question about you knowing if you are interested or not, but we are all interested in it.
And here in this text of the 21 Nails, it’s saying: An individual who has fear of birth and death gets
interested. In Tibetan tradition we talk about fear of birth. It seems, fear of birth doesn’t make much
sense here in the West, but it’s supposed to be also a big shocking experience for a child to be born as
much as or similar to the experience of death. So in a way it says a person who has fear of birth and
death, pursues the spiritual path. He goes to a peaceful environment like in a retreat place, where there
is naturally more peace and harmony, and then exploring or investigating internally to find what the
base of all is. I mentioned many times in my teachings when we talked about preparation for death or
overcoming any kind of fear, that when one has more confidence and experience with the base of all or
the unbounded space then it clearly feels like a direct antidote for that. Because in good meditation
what happens is, that one feels indestructible like the space that you are witnessing and experiencing.
In that moment you feel like all is good, because you are beyond these conceptual conditions.
The text continues: “The king of innate awareness of intrinsically born is profound and subtle. It is
hard to know and hard to realize. And therefore these distinctive teachings are taught here to
recognize it.” Basically it’s saying that the king of innate awareness is within us, and the whole
purpose here is to recognize it.
Discriminating between mind and the nature of mind is the most important part here. What is mind,
and what is the nature of mind? The nature of mind is the first Nail, the base of all, but mind is not the

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base of all, that is different. It’s important to discriminate that. Realization of the nature of mind is
realization of the inner refuge. In order to realize the inner refuge, one has to know how to deal or
work with the mind first. When the mind is going crazy or when the body, speech and mind are
disturbed, then the connection is difficult.
So the text says: Work with your body, work with your speech, work with your mind to find out the
distinction between the mind and the nature of mind.
− Restrain or calm down the body

− control the horse of the wind
− let the mind be open and resting
There is some advice for the mind:
Your mind should not be going out and analyzing all the time. So don’t follow something, don’t do
that, at least not during the meditation. If your work requires doing that and you are paied to do that,
then you have to do that, but during meditation it is not necessary.
Also internally you can get lost, you have a thought, you have a thought of a thought, you continue
this way, and you don’t even know you’re having all these chains of thoughts. It’s affecting you, but
you’re not conscious that it’s happening to you. Don’t do it during the meditation, and not during the
retreat.
Do not go into past and future trips too much, try to be in the moment.
During meditation all the impure dissolves and the pure naturally arises. The less the thoughts become,
the more the thoughtless wisdom arises; like water, if you don’t shake it, but leave it as it is, then
leaves will go up and stones will go down, and the water itself become crystal-clear. The mind is like
that. All the clouds of thoughts dissolve and then the awareness arises like a clear sky.
Here we are talking about distinguishing between the mind and the nature of mind. So all these
movements are related with the mind, when the mind dissolves there is pure awareness which is
referring to the nature of mind. You’re working with the mind to discover the nature of mind. You
work with the mind only to discover the nature of mind.
To find the base of all, the inner refuge, thinking more is not helpful, because thinking is the mind, not
the nature of mind.
Focusing on the stillness, silence, spaciousness is the way not to think. It’s good to get tired of
thinking. And if you’re really tired of thinking, what do you do? You meditate. You focus on the
stillness, silence, spaciousness.

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This teaching here gives four characteristics of the mind and the nature of mind.
What is the nature of mind, the essence of mind? Four things:
− free of thoughts (dogpa mepa)

− becoming the base of all
− neutral – not virtue or non-virtue, it’s a neutral phenomena
− infinite potentiality is there
The base of all is an important part of the creativity process. Many times we have a lot of ideas, and
sometimes we are lucky that the idea that we have is very close to what is supposed to happen in that
moment, that’s the most efficient and effective way. Most of the time it seems like the idea is wrong.
How do you find wrong and right? Most of the time, whatever we’re trying to do, is based on
weakness and conditions rather than what is necessary in that moment.
Often many things that we do are not really necessary to do. And many times what we think is
absolutely not necessary to think. If something is absolutely necessary it will happen by itself.
Constantly we have the idea we should be in control of things. Are we really in control? No, we are
not in control. We have no idea what’s going to happen in the next moment. But we think we are in
control. And that way somehow is a block, because we don’t really see what we really need in our life
and in this moment of our life. How do we know clearly? If you are in that space then you more likely
will know what is right. If you are in your thoughts and conditions, weakness and pain, the more likely
you will not know, because whatever you think is based on those weaknesses and pain and conflicts.
At least try to make sure to go back to the inner refuge, to go back to that base, that potential base, and
try to see, it’s coming from that place. On that we have to watch in our life.
Again:
− thought free
− base of all
− neutral
− anything can arise, everything arises from there, the potentiality
These are the four characteristics of the base.
What is mind?
- Mind is like the ability to recollect, to remember, the ability to remember and see; like in a
hospital when people want to see if your mind functions or not, they ask: Do you remember your

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name? They are just trying to make sure, you remember who you are, if that awareness is there or
not. That's the mind.
- Mind is able to arise anything. Do you laugh sometimes about some thoughts you have? Do
you get surprised sometimes about crazy thoughts you have? Mind is like that, it's infinite,
limitless thoughts.
- But it's also amazing, when you leave it, it dissolves. That's why my teacher Yongdzin
Rinpoche always says: Leave it as it is. This is the mantra. Of course it is not easy to leave it as it
is, but when you are able to leave it as it is, what happens? It dissolves. It has no power. What do
we do usually? We are suffering and we have pain. And we say, I don't want the pain, but then
what are we doing? We talk to the pain about all the possible things that can happen, and
continuously we think. And the way you're thinking looks like you want the pain and you're
producing it constantly more. If you really don't want it, then you leave it as it is for a moment,
and the moment you leave it, it dissolves. We are creating it. That's important to know that we are
creating it.
When we say in the beginner exercises to pay attention to the stillness, silence, spaciousness, that
is the way to leave the thought as it is. For example, I'm worrying about something, I'm having
thoughts, I'm feeling a little bit tensed, so in that moment I recognize that, and then instead of
paying attention to my thought, I pay attention to the stillness of the body, instead of paying
attention to those voices in my head, I listen to the silence, instead of feeling blocked, contracted,
I'm paying attention to the spaciousness. So these three attentions are the way of getting helped
by leaving them and letting them go. So if I'm able to bring attention to these three places or three
pills [Rinpoche uses this term because stillness, silence, spaciousness are like the medicine against the
problems and pains that mind causes] then these three things dissolve by themselves. If I’m not able
to pay attention to these three pills, then I’m going back and they continue, continue, and
continue. So my ability to focus on the three precious pills will define the dissolution of the three
activities of what we call the pain body, speech and mind.
So the fourth one:
- If you leave it, it melts, it dissolves into the base. So it becomes one. Like bubbles arise, if you
leave it, it dissolves back to the water, back to the ocean, back to the lake. So thoughts arise, if
you leave it, it dissolve back to the base. The base where it came from, it goes back to that. That’s
the fourth character of the mind. After big waves in the ocean, when the waves go back, what do
you see? You see the ocean. But before what do you see? You’re paying attention to the waves.
So in the same way usually we pay attention to the thoughts and conflicts and pain, but if you’re
able to leave it, it dissolves back, and then what do you see? You see the base. So when you see
the base that is meant when we say, I take inner refuge; it means, I have a connection to the base.

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Leaving it [as it is] is the reason for allowing it to dissolve; the reason why it needs to dissolve is,
because then you will see the base. Then it’s like refuge, then you will see your true self. That’s
the purpose.
In conclusion the text says the four characters of the mind are:
− recollection and awareness

− able to arise anything whatsoever
− liberated when released
− if allowed to settle it mixes with the base of all
These are the four characteristics of the mind.
Now here in the first Nail there are nine very basic simple exercises to distinguish between the mind
and the nature of mind.
So the first one says: Renouncing distracted actions through the three restraining vows. It is like
what we do with the three precious pills: Being still, that’s the body, restraining the body; being silent,
that’s the restraining of the speech; being spacious, that’s the restraining of the mind. Generally in a
dzogchen practice you don’t need a restraining, but as a method in the beginning it’s saying you need
to restrain. When the movement is interfering you need to be still, when the movement is enriching
you need to move. When a good dancer moves with all these incredible movements, that’s like being
still, it’s happening from that place of stillness that magical movement. Like a big concert, an opera or
something like that, a few times when I saw it, I felt I was more in the sound of silence than the sound.
The silence was so strong, the sound intensified the silence more, and the sound became so beautiful
because of the silence, too. So the restraining part is necessary, that’s what the text is saying. Be still
and be aware of the stillness, be silent and be aware of the silence, be spacious and be aware of the
spaciousness. You don’t have to do that all the time, you have to do it in the beginning.
The second thing is: Resting the body, resting the speech, resting the mind through the three
relaxations. These three, all the time has to do with body, speech and mind. So you’re being still and
then relaxing, being quiet and then relaxing to that silence, being spacious and then relaxing into that
spaciousness. You’re not restraining continuously, once you’re being there you can relax. Sometimes
when people meditate, they restrain and they never relax. So the text is saying, restrain, and then the
second three methods are to relax; relax your body, relax your speech, relax your mind.
Third. Hold the ground of innate awareness through the three methods of settling. Settling means, it’s
kind of similar as before, but allowing your body to relax deeper, let your body settle down, let your
speech settle down, and your mind; so there is no movement, no restraining, let it be, let it settle. The
three methods of settling down: settling the body, settling the speech, settling the mind.

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And then four: Once you settled your body, settled your speech, settled your mind, then whatever
experience arises you’re not following, not following your body, not following your speech, not
following your mind; the three not followings cut the thread of karmic traces. So your mind says
something and you don’t have to listen to it. Like a child, a child asks for three ice creams, but you can
give one ice cream. You don’t give everything that the child asks. You don’t have to do what the mind
is asking. So you don’t follow your mind. It’s okay to have that thought, but don’t follow it.
So first I’m trying to be still, silent, spacious - some time for some controlling; and then with the
second method trying to relax my body, relax my speech, relax my mind; and then not only relaxing,
but deep settling down into that state, three settlings, body settling down, speech settling down, mind
settling down. Once when it’s settled down, when the thought arises I don’t have to follow it; I don’t
have to follow my body, I don’t have to follow my speech, I don’t have to follow my mind. I don’t
have to follow, they can come, but I don’t have to follow.
Five. Continuously sustain familiarity with innate awareness through the three cords. So I'm sitting
there, I'm not following, I feel that stillness deep, very settled, I feel the silence very deep, very settled,
I feel the spaciousness very deep, very settled, I'm not following anything, but every now and then
there is a tendency to follow. A tendency to follow, but I'm not following, that means, the cord is
there, the thread is continuing. Instead of ending the meditation in 5 minutes I continue to 10 minutes,
then 12 minutes, 15 minutes, so each minute is like cord of sustaining that. That's called a cord, the
three cords, cord of the body, speech and mind.
Number six. Protecting the experience of the cord, enables you to continue through the three hidings.
Three hidings means basically, these experiences are very personal, something very deep, so you just
keep it for yourself, the ability to do that, the ability to continue to do that. These are the three hidings:
Hiding the experiences of the body, hiding the experiences of the speech, hiding the experiences of the
mind.
Number seven. The process at number seven is kind of different from the process of one to six. Now at
number seven it is like coming out. Coming out basically means: exercising. You’re allowing
whatever sensation in the body, movements in the body, feelings of the body to arise. You allow the
three arising experiences of the body, speech and mind, and exercise with them. Exercise with them
means, allow it, but watch. So no control. In the beginning there was a little bit more controlling,
protecting, hiding, but here we let the experiences come out. The exercise part here is very important.
For example, those of you who have experiences like love and joy, at some point you feel they’re
arising, but you are not necessarily able to exercise with them. You can say, I had a wonderful
meditation experience, I felt so much joy. So you felt joy, but maybe joy can interfere with this
connection to the mother, maybe joy can enrich the connection to the mother, maybe joy can manifest
out and become action like you will do something in your life or you will say something to somebody,

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you will change something in your life, it becomes an action. In that sense it’s good to look forward to
exercising that. Exercise should manifest, otherwise it can be a mental experience and after the session
it dissolves and means nothing in your life. I accept in a good meditation nice feelings, but then
nothing changes. But if you exercise them, it can affect your own and other people’s life. There was an
experience in the meditation, but now the question is, will you do that? In the next telephone call, the
next text message or the next time when you meet that person, are you able to do that? That would
define how much you exercise, not just stopping there, but exercising it.
Number eight. Whatever arises in the body, whatever arises in the speech, whatever arises in the mind,
that all will dissolve. The text says: Release into non-duality through the three liberations: liberation
of the body, liberation of the speech, liberation of the mind. So whatever experiences arise in the body,
speech, and mind, they will all dissolve or liberate in the base.
So the last one, number nine. The text says: At that point no experience will obscure your body, your
speech, and your mind. The result is through the three non-obscurations. Experiences of the body
will not obscure the stillness, experiences of the speech will not obscure the silence, experiences of the
thoughts and feelings and emotions will not obscure the nature of the mind. So it means basically you
can do anything, you are free. Whatever happens, it will not change anything. Sometimes when people
have some really good experiences in their spiritual practices, they will say something like, “Oh my
life is really difficult, but everything is okay.” There is some sense of I’m sad, but still I’m joyful. You
are able to experience the presence of joy in the midst of sadness. So sadness did not totally obscure
the joy. I have heard that many times from students, and that’s a good sign. No matter what they are
going through, but still the light is there, still joy is there, still hope is there, still some sense of
presence is there, it’s still difficult, but they are not lost. But this level of realization is like a big
enlightened mess, a big mess, but it’s enlightened. It’s like your apartment is a big mess and you’re
trying to clean it, and it doesn’t work and then you say, it’s okay, it’s fine, I enjoy the mess. You’re
not trying to control everything. Or you can have a very clean apartment and worry about getting a
mess and not enjoy it anymore. In the end, the self-controlling part you let go off that, and everything
is okay, everything is good. All good, then all is good. Don’t control yourself, don’t control others.
So the nine exercises to distinguish between the mind and the nature of mind are:
1. Renounce distracting actions through the three restraining vows.
2. Rest the mind through the three relaxations.
3. Hold the ground of innate awareness through the three methods of settling.
4. Cut through karmic tendencies through the three non-followings.
5. Continuously sustain familiarity with innate awareness through the three cords.

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6. Protect the experiences through the three hidings.
7. Exercise the dynamic energies of innate awareness through the three arisings.
8. Release into non-duality through the three liberations.
9. Maintain the result through the three non-obscurations.
This completes the nail of recognizing the base of all.

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Summer Retreat 2015 Summary: 21 Nails, Part 1: 2nd Nail
Second Nail - Thoroughly Investigating Delusion
The Second Nail has the title “Thoroughly Investigating Delusion”, and the chapter starts again with a
homage: “I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo who is primordially free of delusion.”
Twenty-one times we’re doing prostrations, paying homage, and it’s referring to Küntu Zangpo. But
it’s not referring to any individual, it’s not any person, it’s to that state.
The state, which is free of delusion, is within us; knowing it’s within us, I pay homage. I pay respect to
myself, because that free of delusion state is in me, it’s something very special in me. I feel in the
West it’s very important to cultivate that sense, that a valuable precious thing is present in you.
The starting point here is: What causes the delusion?
This is the investigation, what causes the delusion? In dzogchen teaching it says, the cause of delusion
is sound, light, and rays. Probably you heard that many times, sound, light, and rays. Sound is sound,
when you hear, it’s clear; light, when you see it, it’s clear; rays is referring to something manifesting
out of the light, a formation of the light, that, I think, is referring to the rays. So in dream, in sleep, in
the bardo we have these experiences, seeing the light, hearing the sound, rays like that, they become
the cause of delusion. If you recognize them (as sound, light, and rays) you achieve realization, if you
don’t recognize them, then you are wandering back in the samsara of the bardo, that’s what it’s saying.
And our everyday life is also very similar. Whatever we perceive that makes you feel good, makes you
suffer, if you perceive something very dangerous, something very good, all these experiences that you
are having is simply a reflection of light, it is the way that light is perceived, the way the light is
interpreted by you. So it’s saying that is delusion. But if you do not allow the mind, then you just see
the light as light. And if you hear a sound, it’s not good or bad. There is some sense of direct relation
to the light, direct relation to the sound, direct relation to the rays. That is the way of achieving
realization. It’s referring to that.
The reason why all this is discussed is because the final examination or test that we have is in the
bardo. When we die, we see visions, we hear sounds, we see light, we see rays; out of this we hear
many, many different sounds, we see many, many different images, deities, we see that. When we see
them, at that very moment, when we perceive the sound, light, and rays, do you recognize it? When
you recognize that as a self-manifestation, at that moment you liberate. Then you passed the test. If
you don’t recognize that, maybe the first reaction is: What is that? The moment you say, “What is
that?”, it’s a doubt. And then immediately these sound, light, and rays they form according to your
perceptions. So if you are fearful they became demons or something like that, if you are hopeful, they
are becoming something more positive or protective. They immediately change to what your karmic
conditions are. So that’s the final test.

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Before we get to the final test, what are we doing? Here it’s saying we can do practices like the dark
retreat in the Dzogchen tradition. People go into the dark room, or practicing with the sun, practicing
with the sky, what they are doing is exercising visions, exercising sound, light, and rays. They
encourage these experiences to arise. When they arise they are trying to see, can I abide in the nature
of mind while I’m seeing this light, can I abide in the nature of mind while I’m hearing the sound, can
I keep the connection, when I see these images. It’s a test. So going to the dark retreat is like preparing
to die, preparing for the final test.
Even in your everyday life it’s a little bit hard to understand, if you say, when your lunch comes in
front of you, your lunch is like sound, light, and rays. But in truth it’s sound, light and rays. You can
have a bad relation to that plate or you can have kind of very neutral relationship or very positive with
so much space, so much gratitude, so much joy, but that plate is clearly sound, light and rays. So either
it’s a plate full of food or a dream in the night or vision in the bardo or in meditation, in a way they are
all similar. In the end it’s about how much you are connected to the nature of mind or how much you
lose the connection because of these appearances. They are all appearances.
If you look at Yeshe Walmo there (at the thangka), as we said, she’s an action deity, fire is around, a
sword is there, she is the emergency phone call number, she is ready. Some people might think, oh
wow, who is that, because she’s scary, right? Each one of us, look at her, we probably have different
experiences. She has specific appearances on which we are trying to define something. But if you are
looking close from magnifying glasses, a macro lens, go closer, closer, closer, and in the end there are
pixels of light.
The further out you go, you’re able to project better. The closer you go, you have less and less
opportunity to project. When you become one with that light, there’s no possibility for projection.
Sometimes I don’t see anything than light, I just see light. I look at people, I just see light, I look at the
sky, I just see light, I look at the tree, I just see light. In a way there is only light there and somehow
I’m in a good state of mind and I’m seeing it. Another time –I see one person in this room, occupying
the whole gompa. No light - there’s only one person needed. We know that, this is a real experience of
life, you don’t see anything, you see the famous person, you see your enemy, you see your fear. You
don’t see anything, you see fear, constantly. That’s not reality there, but you are seeing it. So this is
what it’s saying, in the end there’s sound, light, and rays. And many of these ancient practices like
going to the dark, sky, sun, moon all are exercising to achieve full realization. There’s nothing more
like the pure sound, that’s what it is.
So sound, light, and rays are the causes of delusion. And all the practices of dark retreat, sky gazing,
sun gazing, togal, all the different practices develop two things: One is stability and speed of visions,
the other thing is like the fullness or full definition of our visions. That means, in the vision in the

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beginning there is almost no color, then partial colors, then there are more colors, more colors, full
colors, pure color, and then these lights are fully developed. Like developing a photo in a way you go
into the dark room to develop yourself. You appear from the negative to a pure image of highly
defined colors.
The second thing is speed and stability. Speed and stability has something to do with the ability to stay
grounded and connected with the base when you move or speak or when you plan something or you
are being creative. For that observing, the groundedness in the base is very important, because many
times movement loses the connection to the base. That has something to do with the speed and
stability. Every action, every decision, every speech should come out from that place of the base, then
the practice has stability. These things will develop through the practices of darkness and light and sun
and sky. The Second Nail is the root of all those practices.
In these visions during the dark retreat and also when you’re looking in the sky you see these tigles,
spheres of light, chains of light, they are moving, they are moving really fast, almost like insects of
light. Many, many things you see, they all are manifestations of inner light, inner awareness, they
move very fast for ordinary people. So when you look at those lights, they are moving and you gaze at
them very strong and suddenly your eyes are moving and following. You think that you are following
these lights, and then you are moving, but it’s not that this light is moving, it’s your moving. So this is
the aspect of the speed, your speed.
The text here talks about five different stages of speed in the visions:
1. First, the example is like a waterfall, very fast.
2. Second, when the practice is developing a little bit better, the water is moving on the field.
3. Third, the example is a hawk searching for prey.
4. Fourth, a turtle placed in a box. When a turtle is placed in a box, it’s not moving, but still it’s solid.
5. And the fifth, they say, when the elements like lot of rain comes and suddenly it calms down and all
the elements are dissolved, there is crystal clear sky. When there’s dissolution of elements,
exhaustion of elements, there’s not nothing, there’s not like in the turtle example substance, but it is
clear, and no movement at all.
So these are five examples of the stages, and these examples are based on visions you see. So as you
develop, there’s more stability, you will be more and more stable. And when you’re fully developed
you’re like a crystal clear sky like in the Tapihritsa explanation, no movement, you’re totally
connected to that unchanging base, the crystal clear sky.

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In your meditation you can be aware and witness in which of the five stages your visions are moving.
In experience what we need to learn is in any given moment, as frequently as possible, just trying to
connect to the base. Develop stability and openness, and then you see more of the truth.

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Summer Retreat 2015 Summary: 21 Nails, Part 1: 3rd Nail
Third Nail - The Space of the Nature of Bön
You can see in the Twenty-one Nails all these different teachings. Like in the First Nail there are these
nine steps to distinguish between mind and the nature of mind, in the Second Nail there are the five
metaphors. There are many, many endless exercises like that, but don’t think that everything is a
different practice. It’s not a different practice, there’s only one practice which has different aspects.
Whatever is helpful to you, you work on that, sometimes even if there’s not anything to do, just be
conscious of these stages. So don’t think of another practice, there’s only one practice. On the
contrary, the practice is only one, but we create more practices. If you never get angry, you don’t have
to practice love. If do you get angry then you have to practice love. If you get jealous then you have to
practice openness. So each time we create more practices. If you are conditioned by certain things or
limitations, conditions, or blocked by certain things, then some of these exercises will make sense to
you; if not then abide in the nature of mind. It’s simple.
The Third Nail
“I pay homage to Küntu Zangpo which is unbiased, equally pervasive, equally connected to
everything.” So while you are in the inner refuge - inner refuge is that Küntu Zangpo - feel that sacred
space that it’s completely unbiased and pervaded everywhere equally. Try to feel that taste, that
experience. The text says I prostrate to the all-pervasive Küntu Zangpo, encompassing all without
differentiation. That sacred space is all good, and all good without bias. And that means, all good is
not, when you’re good it’s there, when you’re bad it’s not there, when you’re weak it’s not there, when
you’re strong it’s there, it’s not like that, it’s always there, always good. Try to realize that, feel that.
When you feel it, when you realize it, pay homage, pay respect to that essence within you.
The Third Nail is known as bön essence, bön nyid gyi dbyings, The Space of the Nature of Bön,
because it has the qualities of space, the nine different characteristics of space.
1. Space is without edges or corners. As you rest in that space just be aware, there is no edge, like the
infinite space, no edge. So in your meditation you don’t have to do anything. It is like that, can you
be aware during the meditation? It’s a unique awareness to arise, no edge.
2. Expansiveness. Allow the arising of the experience of expansion or pervasiveness; a sense of flow,
movement, endless moving, that sense.
3. Allow the arising of the experience of unconditional, unboundedness. Not falling into any particular
characteristic, it’s again like a sense of limitlessness.
4. There is no top or bottom or center. Allow to arise the experience of: there is no top or bottom or
center.

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Summer Retreat 2015 Summary: 21 Nails, Part 1: 3rd Nail
5. It’s ungraspable, unconceivable with the conceptual mind. Often we’re trying to have experiences or
we’re trying ourselves to force to have experiences, but in this way you will never have
experiences. It’s unconceivable with the conceptual mind. When the conceptual mind rests,
experiences arise. So that’s what it’s saying here, allow to arise the experience of the
inconceivable, unperceivable, and unknowable by the conceptual mind.
6. There is no experience like claustrophobic or contraction or lack of space, it’s not like that, it’s the
opposite: Allow the experience of not being contracted, of being open or clear or being free or
flowing, that kind of experience. Particularly, those who feel a lack of space in life, in meditation,
in a relationship, at work, allow the experience of being free of that. It’s just so open.
7. Expansiveness. Allow the experience of great vastness; restfulness and great vastness.
8. Ceaselessness. Allow the experience of ceaselessness or endlessness or nothing is finishing, it’s

always full and complete and perfect. Everything is continuing, continuously present, fully present,
and perfectly present.
9. Finally, changelessness. Allow the experience of changelessness; nothing is going to change in the
essence. Things might change in your life, but there is changelessness in yourself. Things might
change in your relationship, but you’re experiencing changelessness in yourself. Changes might
happen in your health in your body, but there’s changelessness in your consciousness, in your
essence. Just fully allow the experience of changelessness and feel a deep sense of confidence
through that. No matter what happens around you, nothing does happen to the essence in you. Just
feel that. Be aware of that, allow yourself to awake that.
So these are the nine characteristics of space, which are known as the bön essence, bön nyid gyi
dbyings.

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Summer Retreat 2015 Summary: 21 Nails, Part 1: 4th Nail
Fourth Nail - The Primordial Wisdom of the Mind’s Nature
The Fourth Nail has the title “The Primordial Wisdom of the Mind’s Nature”, and it starts with the
homage: “I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the unobscured innate self-awareness.”
So the Fourth Nail is emphasizing the awareness, which is in our refuge practice the second practice.
The second refuge practice is the awareness.
We all have the sacred space always in us, but not necessarily tasting it. That’s a difference.
Sometimes I give the example of possessing chocolate and tasting chocolate. We all know the
difference. Tasting is important.
The homage of the Fourth Nail says I prostrate to that innate awareness, not the base, not the mother,
but the awareness, the one who knows it. So value that awareness. In the second refuge prayer we also
refer to it as “I take refuge in the body of light.” The awareness is the light.
It’s important to be able to make clear distinctions, what makes the difference between presence of
awareness and absence of awareness. Often when we think about knowing something we’re referring
to the intellectual and conceptual, but in this case it’s not at all like that.
For example, when people say, I want to visit somebody, like children visiting parents, relatives,
friends, the visitalways has to be planned with a lot of activity, it has to have a lot of actions. The idea
of visiting somebody and not necessarily doing anything, not necessarily speaking anything, not
necessarily thinking about anything, but just being present with somebody seems to be a little bit
difficult to understand what that means or how to value that.
The sense of presence we don’t understand very well. Even in the meditation we say, I’m trying to
connect, I want to connect with space or specific aspects like changelessness. You have to think, you
have talk to yourself to direct your attention, but you don’t understand just being, and the power of
being, the power of presence. The awareness that we are talking about here, this awareness is presence
as awareness.
But you cannot make awareness. Have you ever made any awareness? You create circumstances in
which awareness arises, but you don’t make awareness. Otherwise, I would guide the practice
differently. I would say when we sing the second refuge: Make the awareness. Then you say, “Okay,
I’m making it, I made it.” But it doesn’t work like that.
What do we do instead? We say, feel the silence. Immediately, when you bring the awareness to the
sense of the silence, immediately you feel it, right. You feel the silence.

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And then I say, those who don’t hear it, listen. I give a little extra work only to those who don’t hear it.
I’m not giving the work to those hearing it. Listening doesn’t make any sense when you hear it.
Then I say, be aware of the inner silence. Inner silence is beyond condition and circumstances. It’s the
nature itself. That means in experience, I’m not trying to listen to anything, not trying to hear
anything, I’m just trying to fully be. In that being there is a silence. When I feel that, when I
experience that, then I say, in there is a sense of presence, not this or that, but there is a sense of
presence. And that sense of presence is awareness. Nobody is listening, nobody is hearing, everything
is quiet, calm, but there is a presence. That condition allows awareness to become very visible, very
present.
So the purpose of this Fourth Nail is to witness that awareness. When there is no noise, you hear the
silence. When you really hear the inner silence, noise cannot impact you.
And as to the main point, this Fourth Nail talks about the Five Wisdoms. For sure you heard about
them many times; in Sutra and in particular in Tantra and Dzogchen they are talking about the Five
Wisdoms. And you need to be aware that each of these Five Wisdoms is one single unique awareness
in the same base. In a way they all have some unique purpose.
In this Fourth Nail it’s also important to just simply trying to understand the role of knowing
something or not being aware of something (because of not knowing). How many feel “I wish I knew
all the things that I know now twenty years ago?” You clearly understand that you know a lot more
today. All the things that you know now, they were already there before, but you did not know. So
what you know and what you don’t know makes a big difference in life. But what you know is nothing
comparing to what you can know or what there is to know. Just imagine there’s a lot more, there is so
much more to know, which we don’t know. The reason why I’m saying that is, at least keep open.
In Dzogchen teaching it says: ter tog ma tog gye par she. That is a famous line, which means, knowing
and not knowing that’s a big difference.
Every time when we are meditating, we’re trying to apply our knowing; knowing that we are able to
host, knowing that we are able to recharge. And knowing does not mean intellectually knowing, as I
said before, there’s some sense of value in the presence. If I’m looking at this cup for example, if I’m
just seeing it, I contact this knowing, my eye knowing the sight. There is a value in this contact rather
than to think about the object, you don’t have to think all the time, just the contact and being present
has value. I think it will be helpful to exercise that in our practice and in life.
So wisdom is knowing. In the first refuge when we say unbounded space, space is not wisdom. The
mother is not wisdom. So what is wisdom? Wisdom is the one which knows something, the child
which knows the mother, in that sense the child is the wisdom. The knowing part is the wisdom.

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So in the knowing part the teaching says there are five characteristics of wisdom, and they are
commonly known as:
- the wisdom of emptiness
- mirror-like wisdom
- discriminating wisdom
- wisdom of equanimity
- all accomplishing wisdom
About the wisdom of emptiness I was talking already a little bit and we can relate to what we’ve been
learning in the way we are practicing: When you are aware of that unbounded space, that awareness is
the wisdom of emptiness. That is wisdom. When you’re aware of the mother, when the child is aware
of the mother, that is wisdom of emptiness. Why is that the wisdom of emptiness? It is because the
awareness is aware of that unbounded empty space.
So in the meditation if you’re aware and if you’re able to clear your thoughts and pain, then as a result
of that you feel the space. The wisdom of emptiness arises. When that arises, then also the wisdom of
clarity, the mirror-like wisdom, the reflective quality of consciousness arises and all the qualities are
present. It is clear enough to feel love, clear enough to feel warmth, all the qualities; you can see the
qualities much better when the wisdom of emptiness is there.
When we talk in the inner refuge practice about retrieving qualities, we retrieve from mirror-like
wisdom. Your ability to retrieve from mirror-like wisdom is there, if the wisdom of emptiness is there,
because you are clear [of the wrong sense] of self. So when the mirror is not clean, with the wisdom of
emptiness you clean the mirror, once the mirror is clean then you look at the mirror and what do you
see? You see everything is reflecting very clearly. When you’re aware of that, it is the mirror-like
wisdom awareness. And it’s not only clear, but it’s distinctively clear.
That means, when I look at the mirror, my nose is in the place of the nose not somewhere else. My
eyes are in the right place, my nose is in the right place, every piece is in the right place. Everything is
distinctively clearly reflected. That distinctively clear part is called discriminating wisdom. But you
did not make that clear, it is clear like that from itself. You just see that distinctive clearness. And that
seeing of that distinctive clearness itself is called discriminating wisdom. Not what is, but knowing
what is, that’s called wisdom. That’s the third, discriminating wisdom.
And the fourth wisdom is the wisdom of equanimity, nyam nyid yeshe. That means, when you see
something in the mirror, it’s very, very clear in terms of the shape, colors, definition; everything is
distinctive clear, but can you grasp it? You cannot grasp it, you cannot catch it. But if you cannot catch

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it, it doesn’t mean it’s not there. It’s there, but you cannot catch it. In a way it’s not there, but it’s fully
there. So wisdom of equanimity means, it’s empty, it’s clear; it’s clear, it’s empty. That’s called the
wisdom of equanimity. Usually when we say it’s there, then we want to grasp it. That you cannot do.
But we’re trying to do it, that’s how we suffer. Every time when you look for happiness by grasping
something, in the end the outcome is pain, always, not sometimes. But if you’re not trying to grasp it,
you can have the experiences as fully as possible. So that’s the sense in the Dawa Gyaltsen practice of
the fivefold teaching, when we say: Vision is mind, mind is empty, emptiness is clear light – that is
union. It’s empty-it’s clear; it’s clear-it’s empty, that’s the equanimity. Knowing that, that’s the
wisdom. Not what is, but knowing what is.
The last wisdom is the wisdom of all-accomplishing. Maybe a simple way to understand this wisdom
will be, if you are in the inner refuge there is a knowing of yourself and then there is a sense of
completeness. That sense of completeness means, everything that you need is there, is perfected there,
and realizing that, knowing that, is the wisdom of all-accomplishing. In contrast to that experience we
leave ourselves and go out elsewhere trying to find and fulfill our human needs like joy, satisfaction,
gratitude, and whatever. And that trip never fulfills that. So during our meditation we can find it within
us, we find love, joy, confidence; whatever we are working on in our practice we find it there. That
means it’s already there. It’s perfected there. You don’t have to make it, but you have to realize that
perfectness in yourself. That’s why we pray and say: Help me to recognize all the perfection qualities
within myself, help me to recognize it. I know I have it, help me to recognize it. That’s the prayer,
that’s the practice.
Knowing these five aspects of the awareness is known as the Five Wisdoms, and these Five Wisdoms
are very important, very sacred, and we all have it, every sentient being has it equally.

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Fifth Nail - The Tson Gang, the Body of Bön
I think it’s good to be aware that we are very familiar that when we use our conceptual mind we have a
lot of different experiences like feeling happy, feeling stable, feeling complete, and we get some sense
of mental experiential satisfaction as a result. And when we’re trying not to think or when we don’t
think, we also think that no experiences can arise from not thinking; we think for example, non-
conceptual contemplation cannot produce excitement, cannot produce joy, enthusiasm, spontaneous
inspiration, deep confidence. But many, many hundreds and thousands of experiences can be produced
without thinking. But we don’t know that or we don’t have enough experiences of that. What I’m
trying to say is it’s very interesting that we have so many experiences of mind through the conceptual
mind and we have very minimal good experiences of our mind through the non-conceptual mind. But
the thoughtlessness has an equally powerful potential, maybe not equal, but a more powerful potential
than the conceptual mind.
As a practical example let’s say if you have some challenging mental issues, and then you are
meditating and you’re trying to resolve those, but then when you are meditating, in principle, you are
able to restrain, relax, settle, and you know the issue will dissolve by itself and clarity will arise. But
when you enter into the meditation you’re not restraining, relaxing and settling, instead you are
thinking, how should I take care of that issue, and you continue thinking. You see, there’s not much
trust that resting will dissolve it, but you believe more that thinking might dissolve it. That is a habit
that we have, but in this teaching that habit absolutely needs to be changed, at least know it’s
important to change.
The Fifth Nail homage says: “I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the primordially pure, innate self-
awareness.” So Küntu Zangpo which is primordially pure, to that aspect of Küntu Zangpo I prostrate,
I pay homage to the primordially pure aspect, this specific one. In us, in each one of us is Küntu
Zangpo, the primordially pure, which is never obscured and never will be obscured. That state is very
helpful to overcome anything when we feel impure or feeling obscured; awakening that quality will
liberate those issues. Tapihritsa being naked and white represents that primordially pure aspect.
Sometimes it is known as the self-originated king of innate awareness. This self-originated primordial
wisdom abides as the foundation of all, the base of all.
- It is formless; primordial wisdom beyond form, shape and color
- It is inexpressible; it is primordial wisdom beyond letters, words and names; basically it means
it is beyond words
- Words cannot express

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- Thoughts cannot realize
- Intellect cannot perceive
- Effort cannot achieve
And that is known as Shenlha Karpo, the base beyond all where there’s no naming; so Shenlha Karpo
is a way of referring in communication to innate awareness of essential nature. This is called
unimputable Shenlha Karpo.
But from that arises all wisdom and experiences, all the lights, they are not separated, but clear, non-
substantial, not limited in any form, color or shape. It is none of that, but it can appear as anything. It
is known as the Great Appearance, the body of Bön. When something appears you can name it. And
then it’s called imputable Shenlha Karpo.
For example Tapihritsa appears as a full embodiment of that essence, when he appears you can name it
like you say, “Oh, this is Tapihritsa.” When he disappears, when there is no form, color, or shape, you
cannot name it. We call that essential nature. But when something appears you can name it, and that is
called imputable Shenlha Karpo; when there’s no appearance, you cannot name anything; that is the
unimputible Shenlha Karpo.
An example in experience will be when one goes into deep meditation, in that first refuge, we
experience the unbounded sacred space; unbounded means unbounded by letters, words, colors,
shapes, or the conceptual mind. We call it unbounded sacred space, but in a way you cannot call it
anything. But from there arise experiences of light and clarity. Awareness arises, and awareness has
something like eyes, awareness can see. It can distinguish, it can discriminate, it can understand the
full perspective, and it embodies all qualities. But in that case then you can name something like the
Five Wisdoms.
For example, the expression of love. When you express it you can name something, you can call it a
letter, you can call it an e-mail, you can call it a poem, you can call it a song, you can call it a dance,
you can call it a rose, you can call it a party, you can call it anything, but when it’s only awareness and
especially when it’s only space, there is nothing you can call it. You can send a postcard, but not
sacred space. Sacred space you cannot send or arrive to, because it’s already there, always received.
In some sense it’s helpful to know, that the amount of healthy, spiritual, esoteric, human development,
that developmental states of consciousness, which can be experienced in that non-conceptual mind is
far greater than in the analytical, conceptual mind. I think that is the real root. To think in that way
may not do much, but at least it is a new way of looking at it.
These are some more characteristics of the primordially pure, innate self-awareness:

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There is no in and out, it’s transparent.
There is no corner and no center, it’s pervasive.
It is the base of arising of everything, pure no matter what arises in it.
Beyond this there is nothing, before this there’s nothing, there’s no samsara, no nirvana.
This innate king of awareness is the first which arises.
Neither a realized Buddha nor a smart intelligent sentient being creates it.
No cause and condition creates it.
No atoms create it.
No element creates it.
It’s not descendent from the deities or the womb of any being.
In itself there’s no samsara, no suffering, no pain, no impurity.
This innate self-arising wisdom is the base of all.
It’s primordially presence always arises as pure light within us.
It does not decline or increase, or become minimum or maximum.
It does not give birth or die.
No beginning, no end.
This completes the Nail of tshon gang, the body of Bön, the inner light of awareness. It is known as
arising as a light without beginning or end.

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Those who are new here may not be familiar with these prayers [Guru Yoga, Invocation of Tapihritsa],
but I encourage you to try to connect, try to sing, because when you sing, you’re using your voice,
strong enough, loud enough and clear enough so all the cells in your body hear it. So when that
vibrates, which is very specifically connected with the meanings of what practice is about, you add the
body to the mind and voice, which are already participating. So working with all three aspects of body,
speech and mind together makes the practice stronger.
If you look at these lines of the Invocation of Tapihritsa, these lines are exactly what we’re going to
teach. It’s about discovering our true nature, and this is what we are praying for: Help me to recognize
myself. This is the single most important lifetime prayer: and maybe not only this lifetime, but until
we achieve Buddhahood.
Now we'll look at the praises for the 21 Nails [page 14 in the handout booklet for the retreat].
Basically each praise is in the first line of each Nail and talks about the whole Nail. The most
important thing to understand is that each of these lines in this prayer is not about different things; it’s
always about self-realization and self-discovery. Normally in our life when we go to church or to a
temple we might pray for different things, like "may my husband or my wife come back", or "may this
or that conflict dissolve" or "may there be more peace in my work" or whatever; that’s what we do.
But here during this retreat there’s only one prayer: Help me to recognize myself, help me to find
myself. Once we find our self, once we have more self-realization, that single answer answers every
single question you have in your life.
So as we read these lines you have to understand that each of these lines is talking about qualities, a
unique character of the qualities of our nature of mind, which are different from each other. For
example, if you look at your life you truly have a potential to feel complete peace no matter what your
situation is. You have that quality. Deep inside in your nature of mind, when you’re not confused by
circumstances and challenges, you have that possibility. Peace is a little bit different from joy; joy has
a lot more excitement and fire, and you also have the complete possibility to feel full joy. When you
are truly being yourself, being connected to yourself, you truly have that possibility. That is perfected
in you. And you say: May that quality manifest in my life in this moment. It’s a reasonable prayer,
reasonable thing to ask for.

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So no matter what’s happening in your life: confusion, pain, like in winter with bad weather, it's wet,
cold and dark, and you don’t know how long it will go on - when you are in those situations, you also
know there is spring, there is also clear, warm, beautiful weather. Deep inside you it’s also like that.
At that moment you can't access it but you have to remember that it’s there. It’s there for sure, and it
will come sometimes, for sure. The quality is there, the quality of clarity, the quality of spaciousness, a
quality like an inner, illuminated sky, it’s there. So it’s okay to say, may I experience my inner
illuminated clear sky.
I mentioned a few qualities, but there are uncountable such qualities, great and perfect qualities, and
they are all part of you. It’s in you, and it’s okay to say the prayer: I would like to have that; my friend,
help me to get that, Buddhas and bodhisattvas help me, guardians and protectors help me, teachers and
sangha help me, and I will also do my best to get it. So that all works together.
These qualities are there. When you think about “I”, the true sense of "me" (the Self) is not just the "I",
in reality, it’s the source of all these qualities. You are that joy, you are that light, you are that clarity,
you are that peace, you are all of them. No doubt. That’s what you are. Trust this side of yourself.
This teaching is saying: when you recognize yourself you discover those qualities, and not only those
qualities, but also you discover enlightenment. We don’t have to go too much into that right now, now
we'll talk about joy and peace. Okay?
As we sing these lines, think about whatever makes sense to you. Open your heart and in prayer say:
"May I realize what these lines say."
You can see that each of these lines refer to our essence, our self. When you say I, the true sense of I is
Küntu Zangpo. Küntu Zangpo means: “all good”. So, who are you? You are All Good. If you want to
have fun greeting in another language, during this retreat instead of saying "good morning" say "Küntu
Zangpo". And reply by saying "Küntu Zangpo". And remember, deep inside everything is all good.
This is a reminder of this practice through greetings. When you say Küntu Zangpo, you have to
remember the 21 qualities (of the 21 Nails). Any specific day, any specific moment, you should think:
"Küntu Zangpo, Nail 4", or "Nail 5". So you have to remember that one nail has to be activated on that
day, that week, that moment in your life.

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You can see that in each of these lines Küntu Zangpo is very frequently said; also often it says rang
rig, self-awareness. Küntu Zangpo is like the whole aspect [of self-recognition], rang rig is one aspect
of it. So in these praises we are trying to understand and acknowledge and pray; really we are praying
to our self-awareness as Buddha, as a place of refuge, as a place where we can pray to. And that’s
exactly what we’re doing here: I pay homage to self-awareness of this kind, I pay homage to self-
awareness of that kind; to many different illuminating qualities I pay homage.
So every aspect of something wrong happening, any kind of problem and suffering in our life, is due
basically to a lack of self-awareness. When the awareness is there it clears the darkness; if the
darkness is cleared then all those problems are no longer there.
During this week our practice will be very simple: We will do these 2 prayers. And I want to
encourage you to sing fully right from the beginning. Hear your voice, like your voice and feel the
good vibration rather than doing it with doubt, whispering with no voice, no certainty.
And we will do the 9 Breathings of Purification and the 5 Tsa Lung; so basically we are trying to open
up our energy centers, the chakras, and also to open up our channels in the body.
The core part of the practice is to bring your attention to your body and connect with your body. If
awareness is in your body, that’s the wellbeing of your body. If there is no connection between you
and your body and there is no awareness in your body, that’s not good. But the way we bring
awareness into the body is by trying to rest. Rest, not in the sense of falling asleep, not like lying at the
beach and not knowing where you are, but rest with a sense of presence and awareness. After all,
we’re praying to that awareness: we want that to be there. We want that awareness in our body, and we
connect with that.
We also want that awareness in our speech. That means, experiencing deeper silence within us: Really
feeling that, a deep sense of being, tasting that silence, enjoying that silence, loving that silence. That
silence becomes very lively, full, energetic and alive.

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And then finally, our mind; you know, we’re trying to reduce all this rumination of thoughts. How
many negative thoughts do you have? A lot, right? And in a way we always think: It’s okay, as a
human being it’s just impossible to avoid, to not have them. Instead now repeat again and again, like a
mantra: "I don’t want to go on doing that, so I will reduce it."
So basically the point is: Resting your body, resting your speech, resting your mind. From the points
of view of Dzogchen and of mainstream psychology, the method to fix things is completely different.
Of course obviously one should apply whatever works for oneself, but now you are here, so you
should try this. Here it’s giving basically very simple advice: If you rest, everything will be fine,
instead of doing things when you don’t know what to do, saying things when you don’t know what to
say, and thinking when you don’t know what to think about. Do, when you know what you want to do;
say, when you know what you want to say; and think, when you know what you want to think. It will
be simple, clear and short. If you rest, that clarity will come, Küntu Zangpo will come. Küntu Zangpo,
rang rig, self-awareness, will come.
So we’re not trying to manipulate anything: no manipulation and no elaboration. Resting, resting,
resting. It’s not like you’re going to rest, rest, rest until you die, quite the opposite, you rest, you rest,
you rest and at some point you hit bottom and then you become alive, alive, alive: you’re a new
person.
How do you define new person? You have a different body: it looks the same, but it’s different.
Remember what one of the lines says, in the last of the praises of Küntu Zangpo in the twenty-first
Nail: “I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo who manifests the three bodies.” Manifesting three bodies, that’s
exactly what it means. You will have a new body, you will have a new voice, you will have a new
mind. But this new body, new speech, and new mind arise from Küntu Zangpo and from that innate
self-awareness. The opposite: the pain body, pain speech, and pain mind, arise from ignorance,
conflict, pain and fear.
So our approach to the practice will be resting. Of course, those who are new will gradually get more
and more familiar and with time you will rest deeper and deeper, but [at the start, it is important for
you to] generate the right intention [to rest]. For example, you intention will be to just look at your
life, Each one of us has different situations in our lives, so look at your life and think: "There are a lot
of things where I need to rest." In this I cannot help you very much, you have to help yourself, to see

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what your situation is. The line [in the Nail] is very simple: There are lots of things in your life where
you need to rest and clear, get to the end, which is peace; cleared, cleared, cleared, in Samantabhadra.
So maybe it’s a good idea to self-reflect a little bit on that.
The approach is very simple: Be aware of what needs to be cleared. That’s it. Don’t manipulate, just
be aware. And, deep inside, know and trust that when you rest deep in the practice, it will clear them.
Trust that. It's like if you have a torch in your hand and go into a dark room, like a cellar - you’re
going to see so many things, and what you really might see is what you are looking for. And when you
clear, for example, if you need joy in your life, in the time it takes to snap your fingers you see that
joy. The light is there and you see the joy, the joy is there. Or, if you need to see peace, you see peace.
What I am saying is that you will see what you are looking for with that extra awareness. Even though
you see many things that is the thing you notice, that you embody.
So this is the clearing part; right now we are talking about the clearing part. As it begins to clear, clear,
clear, at some point it doesn't remain just empty space, it’s going to become space with greater
potential, a more lively space, and in that potential and lively space you begin to discover a quality
such as what I just talked about: when you begin to use this torch you begin to see something. When
you begin to see something then it’s important to notice it.
Think about one thing, for example, what is the best thing that can happen to you in your life at this
moment? Think about it. Do you see something? How did it happen? Because you noticed something;
you realize something, you connect to something, you go toward it, you accept it. If you did not
notice, then it comes and goes. Also, you can imagine how many things in your life, things like that,
came and went and you did not notice. So, now you’re trying to open your senses a little bit more so
you notice that quality.
You become familiar with that more and more, so it manifests. To understand what I mean by
manifest, for example, think about joy. You can experience joy in meditation, say short or long, but
after your meditation, after your dedication, the joy ends too. And your joy cannot dance, your joy
cannot move, your joy cannot arrive, your joy has no voice, your joy cannot talk, your joy cannot
communicate, your joy cannot reach out, your joy cannot touch somebody, your joy cannot manifest
anything. So you don’t want joy like that, you want joy fully manifesting in your body, your speech,
your creative mind, being of benefit by manifesting externally.

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Ok, my main point, what I’m trying to say, is that the qualities which we don’t yet know we have but
finally find [through this practice] is what we need to nourish. Like a little flower that you found
somewhere, a precious, beautiful flower; bring it home, take care of it, let it grow. So let that quality
manifest fully through your body, through your speech, through your mind.
But don’t express things when they are not real. If you don't really love somebody you don’t have to
say it. In front of the enlightened beings, in front of yourself, in front of somebody, don’t say what you
don’t mean. But when you do mean it, when it's real, don’t be shy. What you feel, voice it, put it into
action, express it in your imagination. That’s the meaning of living life fully. For me that is living
really, expressing those greater qualities of yourself fully, living fully.
Clearing; discovering the quality; manifesting the quality: that’s the conclusion.
What I’m trying to lay out here is what we’re going to do the whole week. Of course we will go
through six or seven Nails, we will cover the Nails, but this will be the focus of our practice. The main
thing is to make this practice your practice. By the end of the week you will feel you have done a lot
of clearing, a lot of discovering, you will feel lot of energy to manifest for rest of the year. Not like
saying "Okay, at the end of the week we finished (only) four Nails". So what if we finished (only) four
Nails?
For example if you look at the Invocation Prayer for Yeshe Walmo, the last line reads: “By dissolving
them into the dimension of the vast expanse of the sky”. That’s exactly what we are talking about.
Then through resting we connect deep inside ourselves everything will dissolve into that space of the
Mother.

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Sixth Nail - The Body of Perfect Union
The title of the Sixth Nail is: “The Body of Perfect Union”
The praise of the Sixth Nail: “kün tu zang po rang rik dzok pé ku la chak tsel lo.”
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the body of perfected, innate self-awareness.”
This Nail is talking about perfection. It’s talking about how everything is perfected in us. This
morning I was saying that when we say “us” or when we say “me” obviously we are not saying “me”
and “I” related with our gender, nationality, name, social security or credit card number, none of those.
So everything is perfected in oneself; and I have said what oneself does not refer to: what it is, is that
sacred space and pure awareness, the union or inseparable state of that sacred space and pure
awareness: that’s who you are. Or: You are Küntu Zangpo. Can you make the shift? You are Küntu
Zangpo, yet you can still have dinner, you can still take a walk.
So the experiences of your life, the values, challenges and everything, the way you relate to these is no
longer like the former you. You’re having an experience, but now it’s not the old you – now you are
Küntu Zangpo. As I said, there are many people who are affected more by negative experiences that
they perceive in their life than by the positive experiences that also exist in their life. I’m sure right
this very moment there are a lot of people running around not noticing the beautiful weather. They are
waiting for the next winter, and then they can complain about the bad weather.
When we follow the text here more in detail maybe it’s a little bit hard to understand, but it is the
sense of what I said this morning about joy, peace, love and compassion. Peace for example, peace is
there. Peace in you has not declined, it is not tiny; nothing’s changed, it’s completely there. You don’t
have to make it, you don’t have to steal peace from somebody, you don’t have to buy it, it’s already
there - but you have to be aware of it. So the only way to be aware of your inner peace is, let your
restless mind rest, like a cloud in the sky, let it rest and dissolve.
You are able to access that peace, which is perfected in you, through these doors, through one of the
three doors. You will find it, you will see it, you will feel it fully, regardless of your present
circumstances. It’s important to remember that: regardless of your present circumstances. A difficult

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moment will not make it harder; an easier life will not make it easier to access. It’s there and perfected.
It’s perfected in that Küntu Zangpo, which is who you are.
If we look at our life, our normal approach, for example of how we look for peace, is like a smaller
scale of how they hold peace conferences. Any given moment there are lots of peace conferences
going on. And many of these peace conferences fail simply for one reason, because many of the
people there are not resting in themselves enough, because they all have one specific, uncompromising
agenda. In the end there is not really peace; you can agree on something, painfully agree on
something; it’s like many deals that are made, even sometimes marriage deals. So there’s no peace
because, as I am saying, there is need to rest. I am saying that the most important thing is to look at
our personal situations. I’m sure each one of you is probably looking at different areas of your life, but
you’re looking for peace, right?
You can ask what this has to do with the Nail 6. It has to do with the Nail 6 because Nail 6 is about
perfection; the qualities are perfected, so peace is perfected, because peace is one of the qualities. In
Tibetan we say zhi wa; zhi wa means peace. Observe what you have been doing to get peace. It’s all
about self-reflection - I think this is our greatest gift as human beings, that we’re able to self-reflect.
Dogs cannot do that – if dogs bark very loud they do not say "Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize you’re
all trying to be silent." But as a human we might do it when you realize what I did was not right – at
least most humans would.
So look at what you’re doing to find that peace. Punishing yourself? Feeling guilty? Trying to
convince somebody? If you cannot do that, then do you try to trick somebody? How are you trying to
do it? Are you looking at yourself? Does anybody want to share what you did last time?
- People share different stories. -
If you look at your own examples you can always see that you want something to happen, some action
to happen, some communication, some thinking to happen, you’re waiting for some action to dissolve
the situation you find. Here in the text it says, "You rest to dissolve it, you don't do something to
dissolve it." This very simple approach, of resting to dissolve instead of doing something to dissolve,
is foreign for most of us. Everything that you have learned, for example mainstream psychology,
everything that we advise each other to do, our own behavior for the last twenty or thirty years on how
to do it - this approach here goes against everything we have learned. We might have a very good

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philosophical argument, saying "If doing doesn’t dissolve it then can not doing dissolve it?" But that is
what we’re trying to do here, trying to witness that and find that inner peace. And you will find it,
completely, fully, and – an important point - regardless of your current circumstances. How many of
you, who have been practicing for a long time, how many of you witness that? The moments you
thought that it was impossible to feel a sense of peace, but when you entered into that space you found
complete peace. You see, enough people agree for you all to feel that it’s possible.
So the main part of Nail 6 concerns this question: When we talk about perfected, where is it perfected
and how is it perfected? Where it’s perfected - as I said earlier – is Samantabhadra or Küntu Zangpo in
you, there it's perfected. But if you expand it, it says: “dong sal dang me kun zhi …”; it says it is
perfected in the space of the base of all, which we also talked a lot about in the previous Nails,
particularly in the First Nail. This is like a continuation of the same discussion, but specifically in a
new way. So one part is kunzhi ying, the space of the base of all. This is the term from the Zhang
Zhung Nyen Gyud from the chapter of the 21 Nails, and very often when I talk about it, I say, the
sacred space: I’m referring to this. Many of you heard this word I use, sacred space; here in the text it
says kunzhi ying, this is what I’m referring to.
“Rang sal dong me ye she tson gang shar …“ The second part is the wisdom of innate awareness,
rigpé yeshe. You remember, we have all these praises in the beginning, each one of them saying: küntu
zangpo rang rig …and then proceeding to something more specific. It means, I prostrate to Küntu
Zangpo, the unobscured innate self-awareness: rigpé yeshe means innate self-awareness.
“künzhi ying, rigpé yeshe”, the space of the base of all, and the innate self-awareness, these two are
where everything is perfected. Those who are familiar with “Awakening the Luminous Mind” and
those who are familiar with this notion of inner refuge, that I’ve been speaking quite a lot about the
last few years, will understand that it’s referring to the first and second refuge.
So “künzhi ying, rigpé yeshe”; - I can see in your faces [the question], “I don’t know what he’s talking
about; the space, the base of all, wisdom of innate self-awareness – it sounds interesting but it’s not
talking about me.” But it is about you. It’s not even about you, it is you.

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So let’s reflect a little bit on this idea that “it is me”. The sense of “I” is very interesting. Usually we
really don’t know who that is. And you don’t know how it creates, but it does create. You’re trying to
track it down, but you don’t know whom you're trying to locate. It’s so present, so pervasive, so
effective, so powerful, but you don’t know who that is. Just look inside, see "you". Who are you? Who
am I? Of course that’s the number one spiritual question. Everybody loves it, but not everybody knows
what that means. Not everybody dares to go deep enough to fully figure it out; very often it remains on
the level of philosophical and intellectual discussions. Just for a moment think about this, feel this:
Who am I?
When I say, you are Küntu Zangpo, I know and I can see that you don’t fully agree with me. When I
say künzhi ying, the space of the base of all, the wisdom of self-awareness, as it seems that you don’t
agree with what I’m saying, let’s try to figure out how you sense it yourself. Who are you?
Somebody is trying to figure out, "Who am I?" Somebody is asking the question, somebody is
confused, somebody is feeling pain, but who is that person? If somebody is asking that question and
trying to find oneself, clearly that sense of self seems like losing the connection. That’s why I’m
looking, because if I know who I am, then why I should look? Is that you? The one who is looking, is
that you? No, it’s not you. The one who is confused, is that you? No. But you’re identifying with that
you in that way. So whatever you’re identifying yourself with at this moment, clearly it is the source
of all the pain. All the pain and confusion that you are experiencing, you are witnessing in your life,
has to do with that identity, with that sense of self. It’s powerful. Even though it's not the truth, still it’s
powerful, it’s able to affect you. As we said earlier, who you are not is affecting you, and who you are
is not able to affect you.
So how we can turn this around? At least by doing what we’re doing right now. I’m trying to talk and
you’re trying to think a little bit differently, and to see there are some other possibilities than what you
have been doing until now. This is one way to get closer. So during the meditation, as I say, allow
yourself to rest, try to rest all these processes inside you. I don’t know how many things there are to
rest, but with each of them that rests you’re getting closer to you. Every experience produced by the
wrong sense of self that rests weakens the wrong sense of self. And at some point you get to the
bottom, where there’s no wrong self.
In that moment a new space opens up for you. Of course it doesn’t happen as fast as I’m describing it,
but nor is it happening as slow as you think. If you have enough trust in the sense of not doing, it’s

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faster. So once you are in that space, künzhi ying, so much space opens up. Not even feeling the
boundaries of your body, not even remembering which car is yours. That’s a good sign.
So when you feel that sense of space, can you think: "That’s me, it’s me, I have found it. Truly it’s
me." - can you imagine that moment? "I’ve been identifying with this pain for all these years, while it
dissolves I have found something else; that space, it’s me. I’m the sky, I’m this boundless space. I’m
this openness. I’m this openness for you, I’m this openness for myself, I’m this openness for the
world. I am even openness for my ignorance in case it comes back. I am open to my fear, in case it
comes back. I can have peace with it, I can smile to it. I can hold hands with my fear. I am openness."
What can fear do to openness? Fear cannot do anything to openness. Fear can only do something to
someone one who is closed. So "I am not longer this closeness which suffers, I am this openness
which enjoys, which accommodates, which connects."
So gradually you see what it means when we say self-recognize - when we say in the last line of the
Guru Yoga, "Help me to recognize myself": it’s praying "Help me to recognize this space."
In conclusion, can you think about the possibility of shifting your sense of self from pain and being
closed, to one of openness and joy? I can clearly say without any doubt: Yes! How long it takes is
different for everyone. That’s why a lot of support, lot of trust, the right environment, and many
factors are important to make it happen faster. In teachings like these that’s the only thing what we
really expect to happen; we don’t expect anything else. We’re expecting that to happen when we
realize the sixth Nail. So what does that mean, for you to realize the sixth Nail? I think I have said
enough here: Clearing, clearing all the cares that you are carrying: some of it, then most of it,
eventually all of it.
Okay, any questions?
Question: If you say the künzhi is the base of all, should it also be that as confusion is part of
everything in terms of künzhi that is also arising, then it’s not bad per se when it’s simply arising?
TWR: Basically what you’re saying, is that all confusion also arises from the base of all just like our
goodness, right? Yes, according to the teaching that’s how it is. Perfected means, samsara and nirvana
both are perfected. It’s not like good qualities are perfected and bad qualities are not. No, bad qualities
are perfected too.

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We spoke already a little bit about the sense of “I”. Did you get some opportunity to reflect? I’m not
my ignorance, I’m not my thoughts, I’m not who I think I am, I’m not what I do. Again, who is me? Is
what I sense me? Clearly we have the sense of something, but also clearly it’s difficult to imagine
something other than who we think we are. Even sometimes when we are sick, people identify with
being sick. You say that and sometimes feel that. So can we even imagine saying something like, "I
am that sacred space, I am that pure awareness. I am that union of that pure awareness and sacred
space"? I think it’s good to say that. You might feel that doesn’t’ make much sense, but still say it.
Over time when you say it, it’s really a nice feeling, and obviously you don’t only say it: during your
meditation that’s how you are. Every single thing with which you identify, when you feel restless due
to your identities, when finally these rest deeply - movement into stillness, voices into silence,
thoughts into thoughtless space - when they finally rest there, then you see that space and you feel that
space.
People say, "Something really hurts me, I’m really hurt by that." But who is that? Is that really you,
who are hurt? Or is that somebody that feels hurt only the you that you think you are? Of course if you
have some realization that somebody is clearly hurt, but that it’s not really you, that is okay. But be
curious: ask, who is it? You want to know a little bit more about that person. But if at least you’re able
to separate, maybe only conceptually, but better experientially, in both cases you will feel much better,
more free. So in a way in all the teachings in general, but especially in the Dzogchen teachings, at the
end one single word, self-realization, connects to knowing yourself.
And we spoke a little about perfection. Generally, in the teachings very simply it is said that all
samsara and nirvana is perfected there, and all the ten paramitas are perfected there. And during our
meditation, when I give examples like a home for the homeless, wealth for the poor, a mother for the
child, a loving friend for a lonely person, all these are perfected there. Wealth, friends, mother, home,
in a deep sense these are things we are looking for in our life. We look outside for these things, but
you can have a house and not necessarily a home; you can live with somebody, but not necessarily feel
connected; you can have wealth, but still feel poor. Probably we are not really looking for these things,
but we are looking for some greater, deeper meaning, to be a full person.
So the bottom line is: That space and awareness fulfill many of these needs by making that connection.
I know many of you have witnessed that, experienced that; nevertheless, I hope you trust that fully. I
know some of you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about, but at least you hear what I’m saying;

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you may not exactly feel it or relate to it, but you hear it. So I hope you pursue continuously without
stopping until you experience that.
Now here, when it’s saying where it is perfected, it’s talking about the perfection in that sacred space
and innate awareness.
So how is it perfected there? Here [in the text] there are ten answers, but I'll just give a few examples.
For example, it says: “The treasure of great perfection is the union of method and wisdom.” That
means both method and wisdom are perfected in the base. Maybe that doesn’t mean much, it's not
saying much to some of you. So let’s say it this way: In our life there is always a question, for example
people say "I love the space, but I’m afraid of that space, or I don’t know what that space means."
When we think about wisdom, wisdom has much to do with the space, at least probably in terms of the
Dzogchen teachings, like here the Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyud; and probably among all your teachers
you probably hear me talking about space more than anybody else, but I’m talking about this space
because it’s clearly connected to these things, it’s directly related to them. Think about your relation to
space or wisdom. You like it, and you don’t like it. You only like it when you are suffocating and you
cannot breathe. And when you have that, you immediately feel it. You are scared, it's unfamiliar. It
doesn’t feel full, it doesn’t make complete sense. So you have to ornament it, you have to have a story,
images. You have to have experiences, otherwise space doesn’t make sense.
Like in relationships, you only want space when you have a relationship. You want space when you
have a relationship. When you don’t have a relationship, you don’t know you have that space and
you’re looking for a relationship. (These different meanings of 'space' could explained more clearly)
What does that mean? That means space means nothing for you, but that having a relationship is
exciting, [even if sometimes it's] painful. But you can have a relationship with space. You can dance
with that, you can play with that, you can be creative with that, you can take a nap in that space, you
can do so many things with that space. But you think "What do you mean, space? I’m looking for
some specific thing." You’re going to a retreat or going to a bar or anywhere, you’re looking for
something, right? You want to fill that space, because space does not make full sense. That’s how it is.
So wisdom does not make complete sense for people. You have to become familiar with it. “The
treasure of great perfection of wisdom and method, both are inseparable.” Let's take the example of
the experience of love. There is no way to experience love unless you’re open. But when you are only

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open and have no experience of love, you feel something is missing. No love, that’s what you feel.
You don’t recognize the presence of love in that space. In the teaching it says: Ultimate compassion is
wisdom. In the refuge practice remember what we say, what it means to take refuge: When you’re
fully aware of that space and awareness, that’s full refuge, ultimate refuge. When you’re not yet fully
there but you are in the process of being there, then when you worship, when you pray, basically it’s
like an emotional relationship: that’s also refuge, but it’s not the ultimate refuge.
Amazingly, we don’t understand that when in that total sense being and space are connected, there is
liveliness. I don’t know if passion is the right word, but there is liveliness.
The main point of what I’m trying to say is, how can we have more understanding of wisdom and
space? How we can understand better that our being is more than becoming lost in the process of pain?
It can even happen during one single meditation; you’re meditating and you’re thinking: "No thought",
but you’re thinking, "Oh my God, why does that person bother me so much in my life?" You’re
supposed not to think, but you’re thinking. And you’re thinking about the wrong person too.
Focusing on the stillness in the body, it will get better. Focusing strongly on your body, your attention
will not get distracted by thinking about that person. So it’s working, you’re not thinking about that
person anymore, but then suddenly you fall asleep. Why do you fall asleep? Your only purpose in
staying awake in life is that person. If I forget that person, I feel some space, but I don’t know what
that is, and because of that I fall asleep. So the presence of the person is your familiarity and identity:
we live life through these conflicts. That is like the fuel we run on.
Instead of that, as you meditate, when you go deeper, when this person is slowly dissipating like a
cloud in the sky, when the cloud is gone, you can see the clear sky, you can experience that it’s
beautiful, there is so much light, and that makes your body become alive, your mind become alive,
like in good weather. You get to see the sky; you get to see the light. It is the sky and the light make
you feel alive, not that person.
So that familiarity with the sky and the light is what we are talking about here, the wisdom and innate
awareness. Regarding love without wisdom: how do you know whether love has wisdom or not? In a
conventional sense, think about three situations of love in your life.

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(1) You love a person, but with a lot of space: that means, "I love you, you do whatever you want to
do. I fully support you."
(2) In the second case, with less space, that means, "I love you, but you cannot do what you want. You
are mine. We have a contract, unofficially, an emotional contract."
(3) In the third case, you love somebody, but that love is based on always wanting to control them.
They all are love. Love with a lot of wisdom means a lot of space, love with medium wisdom means
with medium space; and there can be love with no space; they all are love.
So the development of love will be from no space to a lot of space, but not, not to have love: love
continues. Of course you all wish to give a person that you love a love with a lot of space. The only
way you can give space to this person is when your identity becomes less and less and dissolves, so
your [sense of your] self dissolves: that’s why you have a lot of space to give to somebody else. If
your self occupies that space, you don’t have space to give anybody any space. So obviously this
notion of wisdom is not only about how much space or how little space, but about space itself, which
is selfless space. It’s not like space in a garage and space somewhere, it’s not like that, it’s about
selfless space. Losing the wrong self does not lose the self. Minimizing the wrong self maximizes the
sense of who you are more fully. That’s important to understand. Don’t think, "I only have this me,
and if I lose this, then what do I have?" No, you‘ll be okay. The transition will be a little bit hard
maybe, but you are fine, you’ll be much better.
“The treasure of great perfection is the union of body and mind.” That is another example of the
perfections, from Nail Six. So basically the question is: Can my body become my access to wisdom?
For sure. During every meditation, like during this morning meditation when I said: If you feel the
stillness of the body and it’s your easier access, do that; if you feel the silence is much easier to access,
do that; if the spaciousness of the mind is your easier access, do that; do any of these three, they all
lead to the same place. It seems like we have a really bad relationship with our body. We have a body,
but we don’t have a good relationship to it, in some cases no relationship at all. When you’re hungry
you just put in some food, but I’m not talking about that kind of relationship. I mean awareness like a
mother who constantly pays attention to her child. Those who are mothers and fathers will know what
I’m talking about. It’s a big job.

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So what I’m saying here, the kind of attention that we bring to our child is not the same attention that
we bring to our body. Think about your body as a child that needs not only food, but loving attention.
Loving attention not only when you are in pain: in pain immediately you bring your attention to your
body. Here I’m talking when you don’t have any pain, just any moment, now and then. Like we do at
the beginning of our meditation: we say, bring your attention to your body, a gentle, caring, focused
attention. When I do that I feel like all the little cells in my body are little babies, little kids. "Mother is
coming back"; they are all jumping, going crazy, "Mama is coming back", smiling big smiles, "Mama
you’ve been away too long, we’re all glad you’re back." Hugging - this moment of hugging between
mother and child is just great joy, peace, familiarity. That same experience you can feel in your own
body when your mind comes back to your body, when mind and body unify.
“Lü sem sung tsel dzog pa chen pé dzö”; the treasure of great perfection is the union of body and
mind. It’s a great, beautiful experience, when you become familiar with that then you really do it
frequently.
If you watch people at a train station, they are waiting for their train; you can see they are looking
around, looking for their train, which is not there yet. In this analogy, your baby is waiting for you but
it’s like you are looking out for your missing train. Or whatever you are looking for, you are looking
for something which is not there; you’re waiting for something which is not there in your life at that
moment. Every minute becomes long. You know the train is going to come, so use that moment, just
look inside, be in your body; you’re having the greatest session of healing, a self-healing session in
your body.
There are many moments in our life and we can use those moments. Instead of not being where you
are or waiting for something you don't have, be in you in your body, have that relationship with your
body. Because probably many qualities that our body needs in terms of health are produced through
this connection. And probably many qualities that we have in our body we lose because of lacking that
connection. Not only health-wise, but also in terms of our spiritual development; I think many
qualities can arise through this connection.
Think about this kind of sense of ultimate rest for the body. During your experience of meditation,
when you do that you can go deeper, deeper, deeper; you do not fall asleep, and at some point you feel
you hit the bottom, you hit the base. That experience, hitting the base, is very important; it is a deep
connection.

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And that restfulness becomes your access to awareness: awareness arises there. When I lead the
meditation, I say: Inner stillness, inner silence, inner spaciousness. So when I say inner, it means it’s
equal to the experience of the nature of mind.
So these are some of the examples of what perfection means, the treasure of perfection of the union.
That’s Nail Six.
Any questions?
Question: What is the Tibetan word for perfection?
TWR: dzog, like in Dzogchen, which means great perfection.
All sense of qualities that you look for in your life are perfected in you. It’s as simple as that. I think
we should really trust that a little bit.
For example, when you’re looking for peace, clearly many people look outside themselves, clearly
many people are looking in the most complicated place to have peace. It's very rare that we go inward
and let these restless things rest, trying to find peace inside. Some people even say, "Yes, I know that,
I’ve been told to do that, I’m doing that, but the person who bothers me is still there, inside. To go
inside, to be still; but it’s very difficult for a moment to forget about somebody who is bothering me,
it’s so hard." But why can't you forget about that person? By not forgetting that person inside you,
you’re not able to fully rest and let go of a sense of yourself which is strongly connected with the outer
person. But it has nothing to do with the outer person, rather it's their identity in you. How many of
you have a person in mind? Do you really think that if that person dissolves right now, in the snap of a
finger, you won’t have that problem any more? Do you really think that is the solution? That then
everything will be fine in your life? No!
But ask that question, because you’re behaving like all your problems have only to do with that
person. So ask that question: Will you truly have no problem without that person? You might create
something else. You’re good at creating problems. You know that. So you can give a little break to
that person. When you give a little break to that person, automatically you get a little break.

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Seventh Nail - The Unbiased Emanation Body
The Seventh Nail has the title: “The Unbiased Emanation Body”
The praise at the beginning is: “kün tu zang po rang rik trül pé ku la chak tsel lo”.
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the emanation body of innate self-awareness.”
You can say this nail is about manifestation. The text is saying here: “nang wé yul dang rig pé ye she
ni …”; it’s talking about the relationship between vision and awareness.
Internally as we meditate, when everything dissolves, dissolves, dissolves, and then there’s space - and
space does not mean nothing, space means presence, it means something - it means there is awareness.
Between that space and awareness is the place where the qualities are born. Manifestation means
manifestation in the union of that space and the light; union of that sacred space and awareness - that’s
where everything manifests. So that union is important, because generally when people dissolve
things, they lose the union and they only fall into the space.
Let’s think about three different images, I think, that might be helpful.
(1) Everybody loves the sunset, like a beautiful beach at sunset. Just imagine - you are driving to the
beach for the sunset in one hour; usually you don’t like to drive, but you are driving because of the
sunset. You are there, and then find a very good place, and what you do you do? You just watch the
sunset.
(2) Let’s imagine a very old couple (like sometimes you see in Facebook); no matter how many
wrinkles they have, how physically they don’t look that good, but the light, the connection, the love
that you feel and see between two people is amazing.
(3) Then let’s look at the third image, the third image will be the person that you really, don’t want in
your life, what I call the “famous person of your life”. Do you have one of those? Feel that person.
Imagine that instead of looking at the beach you’re looking at the picture of that person, and that
picture is exactly the moment he became “famous” for you, whatever he did or said, that moment
that made him become your “famous person”.

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In the first image there is some sense of stillness: just seeing what is, the sunset. You can see that a
good way to watch the sunset will be just totally being. Of course maybe we impute things like, “Oh
this is beautiful”, we can label like that, but nevertheless you have some sense of verily being. That’s
your vision.
In the third image you look at the famous person, the one you really don’t like, and you just meet him
that moment and you look at him. Of course when I say look at your famous person, immediately
you’re all thinking, yes, that’s the famous person. We never think about who is looking - maybe I
better take back never, but sometimes we never do look back. Sometimes I have heard people say,
“That moment I feel I am the famous person, the one who’s looking at that person.” The inner famous
person is meeting the outer famous person. And clearly that’s what it is, and that means that partly it’s
in you.
And the second image, the old couple, you don’t look at the physical dimension, that’s not what is
meaningful, the important part is the connection: it goes beyond physical, beyond the wrinkles. There
is a sense of love that is very lively and it’s beyond many conditions such as the physical conditions.
So what am I trying to say here? What I’m trying to say here is, what [the text] here is saying, is this:
“nang wé yul dang rig pé ye she ni.” It means, vision and awareness, when they encounter, magic
happens in the right way.
So now let’s change the topic. Instead of looking at the old couple, think that you’re looking at the
famous person; looking at your famous person, can you feel the love of the old couple? Or can you
feel a sense of joy and peace of watching the sunset when you’re looking at your famous person? The
simple answer is: Yes; but for you, maybe not now.
Okay, now imagine, just for a meditation: Set up an object in front of you and think, “This is my
famous person, I’m looking at my famous person; horrible, ugly, bad, evil - how long are you going to
be like that?”. That is the initial meditation. It’s happening but I’m not noticing, I feel okay and go on,
but I’m not buying it, I’m listening to this inner voice, but I’m not buying it. I’m interested in my
stillness in the body, I’m interested in connecting more with my inner silence, I’m interested in
connecting more with my inner spaciousness; I’m just resting, connecting, but then that voice comes

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again - “horrible, evil”. I hear you, but I’m still not buying it. I’m aware of my stillness in my body,
and silence in my speech; the more I am aware of the silence in my speech, the less I hear the voice –
that’s my own voice, in case you think it’s him or somebody else. Suddenly I rest fully into that space;
that means, that voice saying “ugly, evil,” dissolves into the silence already in me. It’s my voice, but
that dissolves into my silence. Looking at the body that has been projected and grasped as my “famous
person", it dissolves into stillness. Suddenly I’m seeing a new person; I’m just seeing a person. The
filter is gone. My pain-body is gone, my pain-speech is gone, my pain-mind is gone. I’m not
projecting any more through my pain. I’m just seeing the sight, so it’s a pure vision. And then you can
ask, who is seeing the pure vision? Then maybe you can answer The true me; my awareness, my
awareness of space, my awareness of light, my awareness of union, that is what is seeing somebody.
So when you see in that union of space and awareness, suddenly kindness manifests. “Do you need
something, my famous person?” I want to give a gift to my famous person, send a short e-mail. You
see, what comes out will be totally different, because all the negative ways in which it used to come
out are gone and no longer there. What comes out is from the right place. From the right place no
wrong can come out.
“je pa me pa rang jung tsal du shar”. Not doing anything, without any effort, manifesting.
“nang wé ying la se che dro wa me”. In this vision of sacred space there’s no lack of anything, it says
in the text. Just think about the way things evolve the world, the evolution of technology, of
knowledge, of discoveries in medicine, health; think about all these things, these are so many
incredible manifestations, because there is no lack of anything happening in that sacred space.
Just think even about I-phone, this little thing that now has become part of our life. I know that some
of you think it’s not good, but it doesn’t matter the way you think, it is part of many people’s life
today. What the text is saying is that sacred space has no limit. It’s saying that your life that you’re
living can be much fuller. You haven’t got there yet, because a lot of things prevent it. Many pains are
preventing a fuller life. Go for the fuller life; don’t allow your pain to become an obstacle rather than
your pain becoming a path to a fuller life.
“rig pé ka la sal dang dri ba me”. Nothing can obscure awareness.
This is interesting: Nothing can obscure awareness, but your connection to the awareness can be
obscured by something. It’s not like having an appointment, you go there and nobody is there, that’s
not going to happen. When you’re ready you go there, space is waiting for you, the awareness is

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waiting for you, the enlightened beings and the three kayas are there waiting for you. You will never
have a disappointment with your appointment: if you come to it faster in time they will be there, it will
be there.
Okay, the conclusion of Nail 7: Can you watch everything like a sunset? Maybe let me ask you a
better question: Can you try to watch everything as a sunset? We can, right?
In a way all these practices are interrelated and interconnected. So when we say [in the practice of
Dawa Gyaltsen], “vision is mind”, that’s more or less exactly what we’re trying to do. Imagine you’re
sitting in this huge, universal unlimited space, like in a movie theater, but better than 3D, better than
high definition: you see your famous person fill the whole window. And then you look and
immediately you spring back a little bit. Internally you recognize you’re shocked, and you’re trying to
go to your inner refuge in your place, find that space, find that light, and find that warmth, and then
you look. Maybe you see only light. Imagine a slide show like that. You see this incredible image,
very high definition image, but this image looks maybe like your famous person, maybe this is the
image of your famous person. So you break it down into pixels. What are pixels? They are light. So
you break it down to the point where it’s just a sphere of light. Can you ever get so angry at those
pixels of light? How long will you hate those pixels of light? And make everybody else hate, telling
them, “Do you hate that light?”. And building a whole hate club. That’s what we do. But if you
understand it’s all pixels of light, you laugh. If you combine all this light together, which allows you to
project your karmic pain into an image, then instead you will cry. That’s what we do. I don’t think we
can avoid crying in this world or avoid feeling pain, maybe it’s important to feel some pain and cry a
little, but for sure not as much as we do. Start a new way. That’s what I’m trying to say. That’s the
conclusion of Nail 7.
Question: What about the contradiction of getting blessings from the masters and being in open space
where there’s nothing?
TWR: In the beginning, when we do prayers we ask the master to grant blessings, and once the master
has blessed you, then you do rest.
The ultimate sense of blessing is to unify, to become one with the master. When you become one with
the master then you don’t ask for blessings anymore. Becoming one is the final stage of Guru Yoga, or
integration; this is very important. So at some point rest into being that; like when we’re talking about

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the stillness, first you’re trying to be still, being aware of your body, trying to be stable, and then
eventually you have to become that stillness; the same with the silence, finally you become the
silence; the same with the blessing: you ask for the blessing, at some point you have to become
Samantabhadra, you have to realize you are Küntu Zangpo. There’s no giver, there’s no receiver, you
are it.

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Eighth Nail - Symbolic Examples
The title of Nail Eight is: “Symbolic Examples”
“küntu zang po té tsom mün pa sel la chak tsel lo.” That’s the praise.
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, dispeller of the darkness of doubt.” So it’s about clearing the doubt,
clearing the darkness.
The text says: “nang wé yul dang rik pé ye she …“ There are examples, metaphors for the relation of
the object - vision, to the subject - innate awareness.
The text says: It’s like water.
It’s like a crystal.
It’s like fire (the flame of a butter lamp).
It’s like the sun.
The example of water refers to when light is reflected in water. Innate awareness is like water and the
appearances, the visions, are like lights in the water. All the sound, light and rays, which are all vision,
are like light in the water. Imagine you are an ocean and big fish are moving through you, do you feel
afraid or uncomfortable or bothered by the fish? Or let’s say you are like a big ocean, there are ripples,
movements, waves, do you have any problem, do you like ripples better than the waves? Are you
afraid of waves? Do you think waves will destroy you? If you’re an ocean they won’t. If you are the
ocean you will not worry about the waves. You are water.
Your innate awareness is like that ocean, and all the appearances in that awareness are like the waves
and the ripples in the ocean. So your awareness can never be affected by the appearances in it, if you
are aware.
The second example is the crystal. The crystal is like the innate awareness and the reflections of light
in the crystal are the appearances of sound, light and rays. In the text here it says sound, light and rays,
but you can think that it’s the appearances in your life, the visions of your life.

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Third example is the lamp, a butter lamp, or candle. The candle is the innate awareness, the light is the
vision.
The fourth example is the sun. There are just 4 examples, and they all mean the same thing. So no
matter how difficult your vision is, your experiences are, if you are able to rest, not running away but
instead hosting whatever appears, seeing it, being present, and being there with awareness, this will
have a positive effect. That’s mainly what the text is saying. Because what is happening is the
reflection, so if the recognition is there, your vision will dissolve.
Let’s think in a practical sense about what these things mean to us. If you’re trying to help somebody
in a difficult situation, like you’re trying to help somebody who is sick or somebody like your aging
parents, in some way you find it little bit difficult to help them: let’s think in this way. How many
people know that kind of situation? Every challenge, every difficulty that you are facing, you perceive
something very special in that situation, somethings difficult, impossible. You think “I don’t know
how long I want to do that,” and so on. These are the words.
It’s also possible that maybe you are doing too much, things that are not necessary to do. Although
somebody is not asking and the situation does not require it, you’re crazy about doing things.
Maybe also you’re doing things in a way which are not necessarily done in that way, because it needs
less effort. Maybe you’re also talking a lot when maybe it’s not necessary to talk that much. Maybe
also you’re restless in yourself in a situation where you don’t have to be so restless.
So the bottom line of what I’m saying is, if you’re able to be present with somebody with more
stillness, more silence, more spaciousness, a spacious connectedness to the moment, to the person,
probably you are helping much more that person by doing nothing but simply being that.
Genuine presence has discriminating wisdom regarding what to do and what not to do; our inner
intelligence knows better. And when something needs action to be taken, you’ll see that and it
happens. I think it always comes down to that: being more present with somebody, it helps you more

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to connect with somebody. I don’t mean presence with you being like a rock. When something needs
to be said it will come out, but you don’t have to go crazy, you don’t have to say anything, when you
don’t know what to say. People think they have to do something or say something – instead just
presence is beautiful enough.
Then there is a second part in the Nail Eight. The first part is the examples, the second part talks about
four periods, connecting and disconnecting periods; it relates to awareness and visions, when they are
connected, and when they are not connected.
"ne pa ne yid ye ne pi di sor.” Primordially abiding; primordially they are always connected, so it’s
never disconnected in its base. That’s one period. Always there, always connected.
The first period is universal, and the second one is more individual, when awareness and appearences
are taking place in us, in our body, in our mind. That’s the second period. Some sense of connection is
in us, but we don’t necessarily experience it. So during the meditation we witness that connection;
every time we witness that connection it’s like an enlightend experience. But when the ego,
ignorance, arises, we lose the connection. Then suffering arises, but the connection is in us, in our
body and mind.
The third period is the separation [of awareness and vision] like at the moment of death. Separation in
a sense is an individual experience of separation, but in the primordial sense they’re always together.
During that moment, that is called the intermediate state of clear light, tchiké bardo; when you’re in
this first bardo, you need to be more alert, to be aware, because you’re losing your body. Does it make
sense? In some sense it’s difficult to be aware, because our body obscures our awareness, but on the
other hand it supports us also, because there’s more sense of concreteness; like when we draw
attention to our body, the concreteness of the body supports our mind, helps it feel more stable. So
there is a kind of advantage in that sense.
When you lose the body it’s a big loss in terms of the experience of identity. When they lose their job,
people feel like they are lost. When people lose a relationship, they feel lost. But losing our body is a
little bit a bigger deal than losing a relationship. In essence there is no separation, but a sense of loss
and separation is there.

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The last one is delusion. ”trul pa ne sid pé bar do ...” trul pa means the delusion that arises during the
bardo of existence; this specific bardo is called sidpé bardo, the bardo of existence. During that time
delusion arises, because then not only have you lost your body, but also you experience a sense of
being lost.
So there is primordially abiding; uniting in the body; losing during the first bardo; getting deluded
during the second bardo. These are the different periods which happen in different experiences. I know
it’s a little bit difficult to understand, and that’s completely okay.
Probably the main point to learn is: Innate or primordial awareness is always there. It’s there when you
think it’s there, it’s there when you think you are losing it, it’s there when you think it’s lost, it’s there
equaly when you think you found it. Nothing has changed.
Remember the story of the old lady having a lot of gold under her tent. She had a lot of gold, but she
feels poor. The only reason why she feels poor is because she does not know the value of the gold. She
always wanted to be rich, and she’s just trying to be rich, doing all kind of things you can imagine, and
one day she realizes ”This is gold that I have.” In one moment she has become rich in her opinion. So
nothing has changed, but for her it’s like day and night. It’s a little bit like that, we are like that. We
have that gold in us, but we don’t recognize it enough. And we are looking, looking, looking for it
everywhere. Probably we’re looking for it in a few of the main things in our life, but that wealth is
there in us. In the text ”The Seven Mirrors” it says, ”The one who discovers it, it’s like discovering the
treasure of kingdom, you find all what you need.” That’s literally really what it means.
„de dön ne pe kam sa ge ....” That’s what it means. Clear, right? It’s beautiful, I love that line, because
that’s really what it is. For us it’s difficult to fully understand it: You find everything, everything you
need, when you realize yourself, when you know yourself. Maybe rationally it kind of make sense,
right? If you know yourself, then you know what that self needs a little bit more acurate. But if you
don’t know yourself you identify with a wrong person, and whatever the wrong person is, who cares,
but you are running a whole life after the wrong person needing something.

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It’s like you’re trying to help a person, and you really want to help, and you spend whole life trying to
help that person, driving other people crazy, driving yourself crazy, you’re getting exhausted, getting
restless, tired, no sleep, and you’re getting sick, and then finally you realize: You’re not that person
that I thought, ”I’m doing something”? I thought all my life I was doing for you. You’re not that
person? No. You did it for the wrong person. Oh, my god, I spend all my life. The answer is simply,
yes, you did do it to the wrong person entire your life, I’m so sorry. But I’m happy, at least now you
know.

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Ninth Nail - Innate Self-Awareness that Emerges from within
The title of Nail Nine is: “Innate Self-Awareness that Emerges from within.”
And this is the praise of the Ninth Nail: “kün tu zang po rang rik du drel mé la chak tsel lo”.
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, who neither meets with nor departs from innate self-
awareness.”
This idea of “neither meets nor departs from” basically means it never separates from you.
This Küntu Zangpo comes from nowhere and goes nowhere, it is always with you. In the past
it has been with you, in this present moment it’s with you, in the future it will be with you, it
is never separate from you. But the text says it’s not always easy to realize.
“rang rik ye she gab tsing be.” “This innate self-awareness is hidden for us”:
- It’s difficult to understand, that’s why it’s hidden.
- It gets obscured by our thoughts and emotions, that’s why it’s hidden.
- The truth is hidden.
- The truth is hidden in our heart.
- It’s hidden in our body.
When we do the tsa lung, when we open up the chakras and channels, it comes up;
the movements give rise to the energy, but otherwise it’s hidden. A big lunch for
example obscures it, it’s hidden. In terms of the being hidden through food, if you
want to have more access to Küntu Zangpo, take one part solid, one liquid, one
space, not solid, solid, solid.
- It’s like space, the sky, and the ocean.
In the sky during the day all the stars are hidden. So sky is like the base of all,
Kunzhi, and the stars, the sun, the lights are like the awareness; awareness is hidden
in that vast space. “That sacred space is like the ocean”: in this example the innate
awareness is like a turtle, like a turtle hidden in the ocean.
Sometimes when we see visions and lights, the awareness is hidden in those lights
and visions. We talked yesterday about three images: In the image of the beautiful
sunset, maybe you see a little bit more; and in the case of your famous person, your
famous person’s face, your innate awareness is completely hidden in that famous

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person’s face, when you look at it, you cannot see anything, there’s no light there.
It’s there, but it’s hidden from you.
So it’s an interesting way to think. When you say, “This is really difficult”, and you see it that
way, you feel that way, but then you can ask and say ”I’m not seeing it”, but Küntu Zangpo is
there also. Everything that is, is not a problem; it’s what it is, it’s not a problem. But to be
something other than what it is, that is the problem. That’s when our relating comes in, every
time we want something it to be other than what it is. So sometimes it’s a very interesting
experience, personally it’s a very interesting experience even when you’re feeling not good,
feeling pain or something like that, and thinking (instead) “What is, is not a problem. So that
“is-ness” is what I’m trying to understand, I’m trying to connect to. But my relation to it, my
perception to it, that is a problem. The only way to find out what is or the is-ness is, is to
“rest” my relationship.” That’s where the meditation comes in.
“rig pé gyal po kong nge shar”. “The king of innate awareness arises within itself.”
- It arises within that base.
- It arises within those visions.
- It arises within your own body.
And that says a lot. When we are practicing, when we connect with our body with the
attention to the stillness, at some point, what I call the awareness of being arises within the
body, within that stillness itself: that is called arising within itself.
Remember today in the guided meditation I said: The stillness is not wisdom, the awareness
of the stillness is wisdom. Silence is not wisdom, the awareness of the silence is wisdom.
Spaciousness, the sky, is not wisdom, the awareness of the sky is wisdom. Space is not
wisdom, the awareness of the space is wisdom.
Awareness is the wisdom.
So what happens to us is that we lose the awareness, we don’t lose the space. How you can we
lose the space? By losing the awareness of the space.
In the end awareness seems like everything; awareness is the most important thing. I always
give this example: Having a chocolate and tasting a chocolate.
We all have chocolate, but the question is, how many people taste it? If you don’t taste it, it
doesn’t make much difference in your life, but if do you taste it, it makes some difference;
some “chocolate difference”.

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I’m not saying that because I’m crazy about chocolate. Don’t bring me more chocolate! When
I give these examples, I receive a lot of chocolates afterwards, but I don’t know how to deal
with that!
I’ll continue with the last part of Nail Nine.
We talked a little bit about ‘arising within’. Particularly in our own experiences with our
meditation, there will be the arising of wisdom, the wisdom of stillness - awareness of the
stillness is the wisdom - it arises within itself. The silence is not that you’re controlling
speech, you’re not forcing yourself to be quiet, but when you feel being silent and there is an
awareness of that silence, that’s called the wisdom of silence arising within.
The text says here: “rik pa du me bag te drib”. So there are many layers which obscure
wisdom in our life.
Our body, for example, obscures it; our body is a door, but our body can obscure it. That
sacred space and that sacred light are within our body, but the body obscures it; however
when we do meditation practice, our body becomes our access, because the wisdom is hidden
in the body.
It’s like this: Imagine that your body is like a candle in a glass on a table; there is space which
allows the candle to burn, to be present there. So it arises within itself. In Tibetan we say:
“bum pa“: the butter lamp in a vessel (this is the symbolic example). You know, bumpa is a
ritual item, and it’s same thing like a candle glass holding a light.
“go mo med nga tong mi gyur … “. All appearances - generally we say sound, light and rays:
what you perceive in your life, the sound, light and rays are in there, space and the wisdom
are there, but you don’t see it; it’s hidden in or by what you perceive, it’s obscured. So
basically appearances obscure that sacred space and light, like in the face of your famous
person. The good news is, you have few famous persons or you have one famous person, but
some people have many famous persons, or maybe they have only famous person in their life,
or everybody is their famous person. Probably you might know some people like that. So all
appearances are obscuring the light, the way the stars in the sky are hidden during the
daytime.
At the secret level of our mind, our emotions, our thoughts, the dualistic quality of our mind
obscures that sacred space and light. For example, when you’re trying to rest in a deep
meditation, the first thing for you that’s difficult to get rid of can be the image of somebody
coming into your mind. It’s not even your own feeling, but the image of somebody outside,
another person, maybe from another time, say twenty years ago: it can very difficult to get rid
of this. And slowly the image fades; not much of the image remains but still there’s a story, a
story of an interrelationship. Slowly that story goes away, then there is this sense of self, of
“I”, which had originally created that story; the images are gone, the stories are gone, but the
“I” is still there. The “I” is the secret obscuration of that inner sacred space and light. So in the
end the “I” too has to be dissolved, because the “I” is the deepest, the subtlest obscuration of
that light. Probably most of the time we’re willing to dissolve everybody, but when you arrive
at this “I” we say “no, that’s not possible.” That’s why it’s a deeper obscuration. The example

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is like the sun obscured by the clouds, just so the inner awareness is obscured by the clouds of
ego. Clouds of who you are not obscure the sun, which is who you are. Can you repeat that?
The clouds of who you are not obscure the sun, who you are. I think it’s a nice phrase. The
sun is who you are; it’s obscured by clouds who you are not. So when you are meditating you
cannot really feel or see the sun, because somebody is there obscuring it, which is “I”, all the
stories with “I” or me; many, many stories.
Since there are many different kinds of obscurations, many different levels of obscurations,
you need different doors. The text says: “go mo me na tong mi gyur”. “If there’s no door, you
will not see it.”
So you need teachings, externally you need teachings, which will open the door for you to see
the essence of phenomena, the truth of phenomena.
Internally, if you don’t have the functioning of your senses, specially the eyes, you will not
see the light; the eye is like the door to see the light. Your eye is full of light; the eye is the
door to see the light, with eye you receive the light. So the eyes are like the door to the light,
in the internal sense.
Those who are blind will miss this part, but there is still the secret door. So for the blind the
secret door is there. The secret door is the awareness itself.
“sang wa ta rik pé go me nga”. Secretly, if there’s no door of awareness, then you don’t see
the source of Kunzhi. When we go deep inside, the inner awareness arises and is able to see
the base. The internal door of the eyes sees the sky, sees the light, sees the light in the
phenomena, but inner awareness goes deep inside, it sees the inner space and the inner light:
that’s the secret door. That’s what the text is saying.
- So the teachings are opening the door to the treasury of the truth of phenomena.
- The senses, like the eyes, are the door to the treasury of sound, light and rays.
- And secretly the innate awareness is the door of the treasury of the base, as mentioned, like
discovering the source, the treasury, of the kingdom; when you discover the treasure of
kingdom, the inner sacred awareness, that is the main one, more than the outer teachings and
the outer lights, it’s discovering the inner treasure of the base of all, Samantabhadra (Küntu
Zangpo).
That’s how we complete Nail Nine.
So basically the teachings (the outer level), senses like eyes (the inner level), and awareness
(the secret level) are the doorways to discovering the truth of the teaching, to discovering the
truth of phenomena, to discovering the truth of yourself, and this truth is like the inner
treasure of the kingdom: particularly the last one, as I said earlier: when we say it’s like
discovering the treasure of the kingdom it is truly like the sense of the fulfilment of
everything you need; everything is present there.
I know, intellectually we can understand, but to get there is different.

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Tenth Nail - The Path without Deviation
The title of Nail 10 is; “The Path without Deviation“
This is the praise of Küntu Zangpo: “kün tu zang po rang rik yo gel mé la chak tsel lo.”
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the innate self-awareness that is straight and whole.”
It says "straight and whole”, basically it’s the sense of changelessness.
If you look at all these praises, you can see that they all are referring to the nature of mind. That’s clear
to everybody. Basically, Küntu Zangpo in us has all these qualities, and it’s praising each aspect of
these qualities. Obviously it’s not limited to those in the 21 Nails, in fact they are uncountable. If you
simply look that every single human affliction or pain or cause of pain then look at the other side of it,
the quality is perfected there. So the 21 Nails are one way of looking at all the human afflictions,
trying to narrow down the sources of those human afflictions into 21. Basically it’s one version of that:
there are 21 medicines for every ill, so you have thousands of afflictions and you can see that they
belong to these 21 different categories. It takes a bit of work, but somehow they all fit in there. We can
say it’s like a map.
Let’s look at Nail 10. We read the praise of Nail 10. Nail 10 is talking about how our body evolved
into existence, how it came to exist. According to the Dzogchen teaching, our body comes out of light,
the five lights and five elements, and the innate awareness arises through the channels in the body.
So basically there are three main aspects in the Tenth Nail:
- How the body comes to exist through the light and the elements.
- How awareness travels through the channels.
- How you transcend yourself through the central channel. The central channel is the most important
channel for spiritual awakening.
The first point:
So first, from that sacred space the wisdom light manifests, the five pure lights manifest, and then
there are also five impure lights. Then from there the pure elements multiply; if you recognize this
condition, they remain pure, and develop in pure manifestations; if you don’t recognize this, it turns
into impure light and then develops more into the impure manifestations.

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Then the text says, through these 25 elements the body comes to exist. It says:
- Space light, wind light, fire light, water light, earth light: these 5 lights of the elements unite the
body and the mind.
- There is the light and then the atom: it says there’s space-atom, wind-atom, fire-atom, water-atom,
earth-atom, these build the body or support the body.
- Then there are humidity: space-humidity, wind-humidity, fire-humidity, water-humidity, earth-

humidity; these 5 humidity-elements are like glue that bring everything together.
- Then heat: space-heat, wind-heat, fire-heat, water-heat, earth-heat; the warmth and heat of these 5
heat-elements ripen the body.
- Then space: space-wind, wind-wind, fire-wind, water-wind, earth-wind, these 5 winds

discriminate; everything that moves in our body, the blood, and the prana, our cells, every single
movement or communication between cells and brain, these are all the effect of the wind. The way to
understand these winds is that there is a natural intelligence which knows what to do. So every single
cell knows where to go, for example how to become the heart, or how to become the lungs, rather
than saying “I made a mistake, I’m supposed to be a heart cell, not a lung cell.” They don’t make this
kind of mistake. If the human conceptual mind, ignorance and negative emotions and conflicts and
duality do not interfere, they know what to do, but when we interfere, they get confused and go
crazy.
Our body is a sacred body, our body is a magical body, and this body needs a little bit more respect
than we give it. What I mean by respecting this body is, as we said, like a mother looking at her child:
your body is like your child, whenever you bring your attention inside with a sense of gentleness,
caring, kindness, I think your body will do well with that kind of attention. What you do with your
body, how you deal with your body, what you put in your body, if you do it with more awareness and
respect that will be great. You can think, “My body hosts that awareness, body hosts that light, and the
cleaner it is the more likely that light will manifest.”
The second Point:
The text says: How the awareness arises in the channels.
There are both negative and positive energies and a non-dual form of energy moving through these
channels; or you can say, there are dual and non-dual energies. Our channels are in the body, and what
moves upward are these positive energies. When people say they are awakening or alert, or that they
are down or depressed this relates to the flow or movement of energy; when energy is moving up in
the central channel it’s more positive. In the text it says: Moving upward is to nirvana, moving
downward is to samsara.
For example, when we do the last three of the 9 purification breathings, breathing deeply you can
breathe in a lot, but usually we don’t do that, we breathe “flat”, and that brings no “fun”. For sure,
even you think about oxygen, you’re getting so much more oxygen for free: you breathe in and then
you pull it down, then when it moves up - and this moment is very important - the wind comes up and

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shoots up through the central channel, shooting upward [out of the crown] and that moment a sense of
a positive energy manifests from that sense of uplifting: that is very important.
So breathing through the central channel, breathing in the central channel, being in the central channel,
drawing attention to the central channel, is a good way of being.
We have been greeting Küntu Zangpo and now you can also say when you meet somebody, I give you
a hug that is: “Spacious, luminous, warm”. These are three words, but it’s talking about the three
kayas, these three qualities. Space, light and warmth are coming from you. Or instead of saying “I love
you from my heart”, you can say “I love you from my central channel”, because if you love somebody
through the central channel there are less problems. If you love from your heart, you don’t know
where it’s going to go. The reason why the central channel is called central channel is because it
means non-duality. If you don’t love somebody so much you can say, I love you from my right
channel. And when somebody is doing a little bit better in a relationship, you can upgrade it, you can
say, “Now I love you from my left channel”, because in the right channel moves more negative
emotions, and in the left moves more wisdom emotions, more positive emotions, while in the central
moves more non-dual light.
The text continues:
The downward moving winds open the path to samsara. People believe that when somebody is dying,
and when the soul or consciousness is leaving the body, it leaves through a particular part of the body.
If it moves up through the central channel that is the best exit, but if it moves down in the “toilet”
direction, then you know where it’s going to go. That’s what the text says: there are higher doors and
lower doors. In our exercises the wind has an effect, so we have some choices where we shoot or
where we guide the wind/soul.
So basically there are three channels:
- The right is more negative - negative in the sense of conceptual activities, judgements, emotions,
thoughts.
- The left is more positive, like wisdom.
- The central is non-dual, like when we abide in the nature of mind, those winds are central
channel winds.
The winds have different qualities, and the winds affect the mind.
The winds, like right now this afternoon wind, this type of wind puts you to sleep, while in the
morning the fresh wind wakes you up, so different winds will affect you. In your body it’s similar;
these winds inside can move you more energetically. The environment is probably more difficult to
change, but the internal wind you have a chance to change.

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Think about this: we change our perception a little bit in our practice. Many of you have been doing
the tsa lung practice for a very long time, so think: why are you doing tsa lung practice? People say
sometimes “Because I feel great, that’s why I’m doing it”. That does make sense, to do it if it makes
you feel great. So think about it, why do tsa lung practice?
(Different answers:
- Getting in contact with subtle energies.
- Getting more energy, getting rid of negative energy, opening chakras.
- Dissolving emotions, problems; opening.
- Dissolving inner confusion.
- Feeling awake and clear.
- Feeling openness.
- Helping being aware.
- Meditation is deeper and clearer afterwards.
- Washing the center and feeling cleared and open.)
Rinpoche: It’s like washing or cleaning out with wind. What you hear from everybody, “open and
clear”, that’s exactly what it is. Even the words we choose are interesting: open and clear. What does
that mean? It means space and awareness. It opens and clears, you are aware of that.
You have this body; you need to use this body a little bit more than just putting food in and out. The
body embodies that light. The sacredness is hidden in this body, this flesh body. The body of light is
within this body of flesh. To access that is to open and to be more aware, and each channel and each
chakra are responsible for that. You, as a human being, have many qualities. You have certain
qualities in your speech: speech is a big part of you. You have a heart: all the emotions are a big part
of you. So each time you open one channel or chakra, it gives access to this knowledge, to these
qualities. You become more open, you become more clear. That’s why we say, I become more open, I
feel more clear.
So do more tsa lung and eat less - but I’m not saying don’t eat.
Just understand the value of tsa lung. It’s a great practice and it’s not so complicated. You don’t need
to get up from your bed to do it; you can also do it in bed. You can wear clothes, but you don’t have to
wear clothes to do it either. Sometimes you say “I cannot walk because I don’t have the right shoes”,
you find always an excuse not to move this body. But for doing tsa lung there’s no excuse: all you
need is space. It’s such a great practice, energetically, physically, and obviously ultimately spiritually;
tsa lung is a lifetime practice. Practice it every day before meditation, if you can.

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Doing it for the first time, I recommend the book Awakening the Sacred Body. If you want to do tsa
lung continuously I recommend this book.
To continue with the 10th Nail, it says, arising from the right channel, left channel and central channel.
The central channel is non-dual, not negative, not positive, there’s the arising of non-dual wisdom.
“rig pé gyal po lam le shar.” rig pé gyal po, The king of innate awareness arises through the path. So
what is that path?
- externally it’s the central channel; external means more physical; in our body the central channel
is more outward, physical. So the king of awareness arises in the central channel externally.
- Internally it arises in the 5 pure lights; basically one can say that the king of awareness arises in
vision. In vision means when you see something, like appreciating the teacher, the sangha, your
partner, or whatever vision or appearances you meet you that you are familiar with, suddenly you
see a pure being in somebody, in something, you basically are seeing the light arising in those
appearances for you. So it says here the light is arising in appearances internally.
- Secretly means the king of awareness arises in the base of all. The base of all is not particularly
the central channel; the central channel helps you get there, but it’s not particularly like the
appearances, that are all your relationships with things, rather it’s the base. Base means when you
are practicing and going deeper and deeper, like when I say reach the ground, when you reach that
space, it arises in that space. You take journey to that space not only to clear everything, you take
journey to that space to clear and awaken fully. Awakening fully is the arising of that king of innate
awareness. That’s the secret arising place.
The three aspects of the path are:
Outer - central channel
Inner - appearances
Secret - the base of all, Kunzhi
Don’t worry if now you don’t understand yet. You see, I have explained how you lose all these
qualities: that’s the problem part.

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So if you look at the appearance of a glass on a table, if you look at it with sunglasses it will look
different. But if you light a torch on the glass, what do you see? This is the king of innate awareness:
awareness is looking.
And if you say this is the central channel, but it’s not illuminated yet, you can see the illuminated
central channel by lighting the torch inside of the glass. What does that mean? That means, when you
bring your attention, even simple attention - remember I always say, open clear attention - that is like a
very important medicine. People sometimes say “Bare attention”, but attention is not necessarily
always good, it depends on what kind.
So if you bring your open attention to the central channel or in the central channel, then what is
happening right now is like lighting the torch into the glass. It equally illuminates your central channel
as you see here. Now you don’t see it, now you see it. When you lose that open attention, it’s still
there but it’s not illuminated. So you may be meditating, sitting properly, but your meditation state is
like the light being out. But then sometimes the light goes on. Sometimes this state stays longer,
sometimes shorter. Remember it’s not ok if you are not aware of which state you are in. If you are
distracted it’s ok as long as you notice that you are not aware, then the light comes back on again.
That’s what happens. It’s ok not to be connected, but it’s not ok not to notice that. When you stay
illuminated longer, then it ripens.
Remember also, if you imagine there is a flower and your awareness is like the light of a torch. If you
look at the flower, it is only light. So the awareness is looking at the flower and suddenly I have
discovered a little joy, and then I’m also aware of my little joy: this is the key to growing this little joy.
As long as I’m aware every day, it gets a little bigger, brighter, because this one light is not a single
light, this is the light of the 5 wisdoms, the 5 pure lights. It looks like one, but it’s 5 pure lights; it has
earth, water, air, fire, space, it’s giving everything to enable growth. This is literal, it’s not a metaphor.
To understand how everything works, we shouldn’t try to understand every single thing, I don’t think
we can ever fully understand everything, but it’s enough to trust, enough to feel we can go with that.
That’s all. Don’t try to figure everything out, unless you want to stress yourself out again.
So the text says: The central channel is the most important channel, and in this channel your mind is
like a person and the wind is like a horse. Your mind is riding the horse of wind travelling through the
path of central channel, arriving at the top of the crown of bliss, in the pure dimension. When you
exercise your breath, breath is the horse, the transporter; but usually when you breathe, nobody is
riding on it. The horse is getting exhausted uselessly. But with your awareness the mind is riding all
the way down through the side channels, then the force comes into the central channel, shooting up
very powerfully. When it’s moving through the central channel it is opening the central channel, it’s
opening the path to arrive at the crown, the final destination. When you arrive there it means you open
the whole central channel, the whole path. The reason to do it is this is the only channel where you can
reach the inner refuge, the pure state of three kayas, during meditation and particularly and most
importantly, at the moment when you die. That is the purpose.
Think about breath in a very simple way. You can say, breath is like a medicine or breath can be like a
poison. We breathe all the time and we can say when we breathe in the pollution of the environment

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we know, it has negative impact. Probably in the western world we’re very aware of that, we try to
avoid it, but it’s very difficult with all the industries and everything. But we don’t think about our own
breath, what kind of breathing we do, we think it is only linked with the environment. (?) Here we are
saying we have positive breath, we have negative breath, and we have non-dual breath where all the
qualities arise. What breathing are you doing right now? Do you have control of it? Your breath may
not be more important but at least it’s equally important to breathing the air of the environment. So for
things that you can control, you should take full responsibility; for things you don’t control, try to do
your best.
Just one example, during a good session in meditation, when you stay in that space, when you feel
these beautiful qualities, can you imagine bringing these experiences into everyday life? When you’re
walking in a park; or driving to work, instead of racing other cars and judging other drivers; or another
example, when you’re waiting in a long line in the post office or bank, in many of these waiting
moments, when you’re doing nothing but waiting, (waiting can be powerful, it changes perception of
time, it makes short time seem very long) - in all those moments you can be clearly sitting in that right
space. If you’re sitting in the right space, you’re breathing the right air, and if you’re breathing the
right air, it’s not just air, air changes things, air moves things, air invites things.
In conclusion: I think we damage ourselves more than anybody else damages us. So try to do less
damage to yourselves.
Q: Is reaching the crown and the pure dimension with the breath at the end of central channel like the
explanation of the first line in the Guru Yoga prayer?
T: Yes, you’re placing the master in that space. That place is the nicest place to be, so you bring the
master into the nicest place in yourself. The chakra of the crown is the bliss chakra. You bring the
master there by doing Guru Yoga, and when the master leaves you, you go there and sit there. You sit
more time in that beautiful place; the master will come and go, but you can sit there all the time. When
the master comes you can say, please sit here.
“rig pé gyal po cher pur shar …”. This is the last part of Nail 10. We spoke about the right channel,
left channel and central channel. I think it’s a very good example to just imagine a long glass as the
central channel, and then turning on a torch light and seeing it illuminated all the way down. So when
you bring attention to the central channel, open clear attention, the central channel is illuminated. And
remember what I sometimes say: Be aware of the beam of light, feel the beam of light. Actually the
best thing is not to create a beam of light but to be aware of the central channel and then it is a beam of
light. If you have no idea what that means, then imagine a beam of light, or at least bring a crystal here
to your chest, or light a candle and hold it there, and then it makes some sense.
If you draw attention to the kitchen, you have one experience; if you draw attention to the bedroom,
you have another experience, if you draw attention to your workplace - each attention produces a
different experience.

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In the same way if you draw attention to the right channel, you get one experience, if you draw
attention to the left channel, another experience, and if you draw attention in the central channel,
naturally effortlessly innate awareness arises. The location of the channel is thus important, that’s why
we clear and clear, and when you have cleared it, when you bring your attention there, effortlessly you
have that experience, which you never had before, you’re having it quite effortlessly, because you’re
bringing your attention to the right place. That’s all, it’s simple.
And the last line says: “ku sum rang shar gya … “. “The three kayas naturally manifest for the welfare
of all sentient beings.”
What does that mean? Three kayas naturally manifest means that space, that openness, that inner light
and that awareness, that warmth, that fire, all manifest; when it manifests it naturally manifests for the
welfare of other beings. In our practice we say, “may that enrich my own life and benefit others”.
Enrich your own life and benefit others, because these three qualities are manifesting. There’s not just
space, there’s space for something; there’s not just awareness, there’s awareness of something; there’s
not just warmth, there’s warmth for something or somebody; so they manifest naturally and
effortlessly for the welfare of others. These are called enlightened activities. They are called
enlightened activities because they are coming out of enlightened state, which is the three kayas.
That’s the Tenth Nail.
Question: In which periods in the process of dying and after death does the sense of being dissolve or
does it dissolve at all?
Rinpoche: The wrong sense of being dissolves. The right sense of being does not dissolve. When the
wrong sense of being dissolves into that space then the true sense of being is just there. In the bardo
prayer we say: “May I become free from my possessions”, because people are attached to their
possessions, so may I overcome that; “may I overcome my attachment to my loved ones”, because
people are attached to their loved ones; then eventually “may I overcome my own identity”, that’s the
last one. So become free of my belongings, my loved ones and myself. But most of the time we say:
Belongings - yes; loved ones- maybe; me - no. The core one is me. These (belongings, loved ones, me)
are significant, these are pieces of that wrong identity, but ultimately it’s NOT (?Is this what you
mean?) you.
So when you clearly let go then you have this true sense of freedom of being: pure awareness is there,
it’s much more fun. That’s the first bardo, the bardo of clear light. There everything dissolves and it’s
so clear but you cannot recognize it, because when something is okay, you don’t recognize it, because
there’s no reflected place; you need a reflection, you need a mirror, there’s no mirror. It’s difficult to
recognize. You have the possibility to recognize, but it’s very difficult, much more difficult than now.
If you’re familiar with it now, you have more chances to recognize in the bardo.

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I’ve been coming here to Germany for 27 years. Time passed really fast, but one thing is clear: this
kind of commitment – that I’ve been coming every year to Germany and Austria – has been a very
long time. A number of you were here from the beginning and also myself; this commitment is
amazing. We have learned so much about ourselves. We have learned so much depth in the teachings.
We have gone through ups and downs –some people have left us, some people still continue, some
people have passed away – but the journey still continues. It is always in some sense evolving,
growing, and deepening. So, I’m happy to be here again, a familiar place and familiar faces.
The last few years we were teaching on the 21 Nails. Probably some of you have already received it
before. These teachings are a continuously evolving thing. I have told people that I have nothing more
to teach; I will teach the same thing no matter how many years you follow me. The whole idea about
this teaching is not about changing things, it’s about realizing and going deeper. Every moment, if you
are fresh with what you are learning with your life, you never get bored with the same topic. But when
you are not connected with what you are learning about yourself, every new topic becomes boring
right away. It becomes boring because there is no connection. It becomes not boring because it
changes, evolves, and never loses the connection.
If you think about the whole teaching of Buddha, there is only one purpose: to self-liberate, that’s the
only topic. If you look at all the cycles of teachings of dzogchen, the great perfection, the only one
topic is to self-realize. There are not many self-realizations, there is only one self-realization. That is
the topic that we are not trying to change.
In the last two years we finished the 10th of the 21 Nails, so it looks like we will finish five Nails this
year and then we will complete next year. If you look at page 32/33 in our booklet there is one mantra
– A OM HUNG A A KAR SA LE Ö A YANG OM DU – that I want also to introduce and emphasize and
sing during this retreat. I created this melody in the last year. During the break we will play this music,
you will listen to it, you will get used to the melody, and then we will sing together.
When you’re singing sacred mantras you use your voice, vibrations in your body, your attention,
concentration to those energies. It seems like a powerful way of changing and transformation, rather
than trying to put a lot of effort into understanding and figuring things out conceptually.
When you look at page 32/33 you can see the meaning of each syllable, which is very important to
understand. When you look what each syllable means, it’s important that you don’t look like: Oh, A
means space. Not like that. But what does that mean, when you sing A? Experiencing the space. That’s
what you need to understand, not like: Oh, A means space and has nothing to do with me. Understand,
experience, realize, integrate. Most of the time people are trying to understand, and then they don’t

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experience, or they get the experience and get too attached to the experience, and they always seek
experience – it's not like that. You experience, and then you also will go beyond experience, more like
realization, more like being. In being in that state, you do not necessarily have experiences. Sometime
you might have experiences; experiences are an outcome of realization. Realization is more important
than experiences. Very often as human beings we seek more experiences than realization.
Maybe the difference is that experiences are a little bit more feeling and emotion, related to conditions,
and realization is more a state of awakening. For example, if you feel open, it’s like a state of openness
itself, not necessarily so much feeling about opening or feeling about clearing something, releasing
something, feeling free of something, from something – these are experiences. The realization itself
can be just a state of awakening of space. I’m not saying that one is not good, but I’m saying there is a
difference.
You can look at this mantra as representing all 21 Nails; you can think that the whole cycle of the 21
Nails is there in one single mantra. All of the 10 Nails we taught already you see in this mantra. All
the rest of the Nails that I will teach are also in this mantra. I encourage people to sing the mantra. For
people who love to sing it’s great. For people who have not sung for a long time, this is your
opportunity. For sure you might surprise yourself with singing, that’s a good surprise. Definitely it will
be a good practice.
Just briefly about the context of this teaching, “The 21 Nails.” This is one specific chapter from the
Zhang Zhung Nyan Gyud, which is one cycle of teaching from the Bön tradition. Probably the “Zhang
Zhung Nyan Gyud” is the most important text or volume, at least for me, in the Bön tradition. Among
one of the most important chapters is this particular chapter called “The 21 Nails.”
It’s always a question about your ability to relate to it, your ability to understand, your ability to value
it. It's very important how you do that, but the teaching itself is very important. We have some kind of
booklet of the last 10 Nails, so I recommend you to learn from it.
Again, no matter how many Nails are there, it’s always about you. Don’t worry how many Nails you
have finished or not finished; it’s just about you. What makes this teaching very unique, very special,
very high, is that it talks about you in a sense of your higher self, who truly you are; it’s not about all
the elaborations about you. I think it’s important to understand that. It’s not like you are trying to learn
architecture or natural science; it’s not something outside. It’s just you. In a way, that hopefully makes
it easier. If you’re trying to study dolphins or something, of course there’s so much to study about
dolphins. You can spend your whole life trying to learn about dolphins or monkeys, like Jane Goodall.
She’s spending her whole life studying chimpanzees.

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This is all about you. That means when we are learning these teachings, it’s important to understand
that it’s not like looking at something outside. It’s not like this, it’s like: Oh, what does that mean?
First Nail, what is it saying? Recognizing the base of all. What does that mean to me, in me, about
me? That’s the way to look at. It’s a very important attitude, the way you listen to this cycle of
teaching and how you reflect on this cycle of teaching. That’s very important because normally there’s
the tendency, when we listen to something, to disconnect ourselves from what we hear, to try to keep
separate and try to analyze as a separate topic or entity. That’s a totally mistaken approach of
connecting with the teaching here. So you want to watch that yourself.
On page 14 in our booklet you see the list of the first 10 Nails. Again, I want recommend that
everybody look closely, since we have this beautiful text here. Look at it closely, at least trying to
make some sense.
First Nail: Recognizing the Base of All
This Nail is talking about the space, the sense of being. Sense of being, space, ground, foundation,
essence. It’s there all the time, but we lose the connection to it. When you observe other people, it’s
easy to recognize when they lose it, but it’s harder to recognize yourself when you lose it.
Yesterday as I was coming here from Berlin, I was a little bit early at the train station so I had a cup of
coffee and was just observing, watching people. There was a couple, and of course I don’t know
anything about this couple, but I have my imagination. They were in their thirties, a new relationship,
they were on their holiday, and you could see they are in love. The guy goes into the supermarket in
the train station to buy some food. She was sitting there with a coffee, and every time somebody came
out of the supermarket she thought it was him. You could see within 10 minutes’ time the situation
was different for her: He’s not coming, why does it take so long to get a few things; he’s always late,
he’s lazy. I think it was basically insecurity, whatever it was, but it was amazing. I could not help
noticing. Every time someone moved she looked, but it was not him. Then after maybe 6 or 7 times of
that, you could see the expression on her face getting agitated. Before, she was just looking like it
might be him with some sense of joy, then It’s not him again. You could see her face was changing,
her eyes were changing, like pain coming out, and I was kind of worried what would happen.
Fortunately, nothing happened.
Of course, when I was doing that, I was not aware of the base, but I was very aware what she was
doing. I could clearly see she was not aware of that base. This happened for about 10 minutes. We live
our life like that, which is scary, waiting for somebody or something to happen. What I’m saying is
you lose the connection to the base; this is what I’m saying here.

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Second Nail: Thoroughly Investigating Delusion
When you are losing contact [with the base], like in that example, somebody has to be aware and self-
reflect on it, somebody needs to know it. When I’m observing her, that doesn’t help her. I should
observe myself.
If she realizes that she has lost contact, there’s a good chance she will not repeat herself after the first
time. Or, she will succeed after half of it, or at least the next time she will be better prepared not to do
that. But it looks she did not realize, which means she was not even conscious what happened during
these 10 or 15 minutes. That’s a pattern of life she lives. Energetically it’s a quite draining 10, 15
minutes – not being able to enjoy a cup of coffee; she had to turn her head all the time to the one side
to face the door. You can see there’s no base, there is no connection, there’s no resting, there’s no
trust. There is constantly ungrounded, disconnected, fearful, anxious, stress she was in during that 15
minutes, and she’s not conscious. There is an impact of living life like that; you have to pay the
consequences for that. It’s not a good thing.
So, recognizing the delusion, investigating the delusion – are you interested in your delusion? When
somebody asks you, Are you interested in your delusion? Maybe there’s a good chance that you say,
What do you mean? Me? A delusion?
Third Nail: The Space of the Nature of Bön
Once you’re interested in your delusion, once you recognize the delusion, then you have the chance to
enter into the nature of Bön. Nature of Bön refers to the truth of phenomena and referring back to that
space. You will find yourself in that true space within you. That’s the Third Nail.
What I’m trying to say here, going through the Nails briefly, is that they all are connected with you.
The question will be, of course, are you interested in your delusion? You don’t have to answer loudly,
but be curious about the answer. Are you interested in your delusion? Are you interested in your
weakness? I mean to know about these things.
There’s a good chance, since we are sitting here in this gompa and we are trying to learn and meditate,
that everybody is very open and says: Yes, I’m interested. But if you have a conflict with somebody
you have a relationship with, and that person tells you that you need to realize your delusion, then you
will say: No, me? I don’t need to, you need to, or at least, we need to. You don’t like the idea when
you’re in a relationship that somebody is telling you that you need to realize the delusion. Immediately
you can feel like that, right? You know what I’m talking about. The closeness to recognizing the
delusion in different circumstances is different. But I think as a practitioner we need to be really open,
saying: Yes, I’m really interested. I’m genuinely, truly interested in understanding my delusion. That’s
the only way.

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Every recognition of your delusion, either in you or in relation with somebody, is a great help to you.
You agree with that? So, get more interested, more open to it. The ability of how fast you can
transform is a different story, but acknowledging it is already good enough. Better to be in the right
place and going slowly than in the wrong place with a fast speed.
Fourth Nail: The Primordial Wisdom of the Mind's Nature
This is saying there is a wisdom that you need to recognize. Wisdom is not the conceptual mind. There
is wisdom in each one of us, there is a wisdom in which one needs to be interested. This is the topic.
I’m just trying to make it very short, very simple. Wisdom is the recognition of that Bön essence, the
recognition of the truth. And cutting the delusion helps to have that wisdom. The first Nail,
Recognizing the Base of All, helps to recognize the wisdom.
Fifth Nail: The Tshon Gang, the Body of Bön
It’s referring to that union, that wisdom and space as a union; they are all together, space and
awareness together.
Sixth Nail: The Body of Perfect Union
Perfect union. Maybe an experiential example is like being open and not being disconnected. If you
look into an individual life, or even if you look at the political climate today, it’s similar. When people
are facing a problem, the perfection of union is not there. Either you go one direction right or too
much left. Right and left, there’s no union; too closed or too open. Sometimes you close for too long,
and then at some point you get tired of it. Then the opposite party, maybe more liberal, has a whole
opportunity to open their wings. Sometimes you’re open too long; then you become afraid and feel
threatened and you see all these problems, like immigration, and so on. Then you go the other
direction. It’s method and wisdom – they always are having a problem of union. We know there’s
always a problem, even in politics.
If you look at your life in very general sense, are you open toward life? Or are you afraid of life? Or
are you in a protective mood? That’s a good question. Let’s forget about politics; the principle is
always the same. You can see that manifesting in every part. It’s interesting, everywhere you see the
same story.
Look at your life. Basically, are you open toward your life? What we mean by that is your interest,
your curiosity – like in the example with these two people at the train station. Are you curious about
people? Are you curious about someone’s conversation? Are you curious about somebody’s life? Are
you curious about art, music, poetry, or I don’t know? Are you curious with your eyes open to
everything, to many things? Are you curious about your neighbor? Are you curious about deepening

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your relationship with a person that you’re been living with for many years? There is no boundary for
curiosity.
Or are you in a protective mood? You have to protect you, you have to protect, you have to protect;
don’t spend money; don’t go to the internet; don’t go on Facebook; don’t talk to the neighbor; don’t
use your credit card; protect your credit card number. There are incredible possibilities of protecting
from somebody. I’m not saying you should not protect. You should protect, but in some way there is
something more which has nothing to do with protection. It’s a disease. It’s closedness. It’s bounded.
It’s a lack of connection to that base of all, that space of Bön; lack of connection to that.
This is a good question. I think this is important. For sure, if we look in our life we get into these two
different positions. Sometimes we are too protective. I know clearly sometimes when I’m very open,
people take advantage of me. Then I’m questioning: Okay, maybe that much openness is not necessary
and I need to protect myself. But then I think about that, that’s not right. The openness comes with
some challenges. And that’s the whole point: you have to overcome those challenges. You don’t
expect openness to be easy. That’s mistaken. You expect that challenge. In the end, as a dharma
practitioner, the one who is interested in ultimate liberation, we don’t have an option. You've got to be
open regardless of whatever it is. You can slow down, you can take a break, but you have no option to
change that unless you’re not interested in liberation. If that is the commitment you have no option.
So, forget about it!
There is no option not to be open to yourself. To do that well is to understand how closed you are.
Before anybody tells you how closed you are, just figure it out yourself. It’s too late if somebody tells
you that. There’s no option to be closed with somebody you live with. Relationship is better as time
passes when you are more open to somebody. That just means to be curious about them. That’s the
whole purpose of living with somebody, right, if you think about relationship. If the relationship
serves as a path of spiritual development, the only thing that makes the relationship spiritual is because
it contains those two things, the openness and connection. Personally for me, it is a little bit eye-
opening when I feel there is no option. There is no option – these are important words for me; you
don’t have an option. It’s very easy, when someone takes advantage of you, to feel like: Okay I need to
close, I need to redirect myself. And it’s easier to do it. That means basically what you are trying to do
is to shut up. And people do that, people shut down their life. They shut down: they shut down their
smile, they shut down their joy, they shut down their playfulness, they shut down their new
relationship, they shut down new intimacy and depth of relationship, they shut down their happiness,
they shut down the potentiality of successes, they shut down everything just because they are in
protective mood. That’s not growth, that’s not growing; that’s suffering, that’s prison. So that’s not an
option, even you think you’re protecting yourself. This is a miserable protection. No fun.

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Let’s say this way: It’s more fun to lose something that you’re protecting when you are open, rather
than having something, protecting something, when you are closed. It’s not fun, it’s suffering. We
have to realize that. It’s better to lose something that you possess and find yourself rather than finding
something and losing yourself; that’s not fun. And it’s important to make this distinction, because
that’s where we all are trapped. I think this notion of openness and closedness is a very important
point and directly related to the teachings of the base and awareness.
Seventh Nail: The Unbiased Emanation Body
Basically this Nail is saying the manifestation from that space and awareness is infinite, unlimited,
boundless. Another simple way to say this will be, your joy, your happiness can be infinite
manifestations in your life. You don’t need any reason to be happy; you can be happy with every
stupid reason or you will not be happy with any great reason. There’s no logic from the source.
A good friend of mine had a number of different businesses and was struggling a lot. One failed,
another failed, another failed, a lot of struggles, and he kept trying to make it work. I knew him for
about 30 years, and the happiest I saw him was the moment when he accepted the failure of his
business work. In a way it looks little bit strange when you give up; it doesn’t sound like happiness.
But for him I could see his posture, I could see his smile, I could see his breathing, I could see I’m
free. I’m free of what? This business, which never worked, I have been struggling with for all these
years. The only thing is, I wish he had not started the business, because I know some people are meant
to do business, other people are meant not to do business. You just have to recognize what you are
meant to do. My point is the recognition that what makes you happy is not necessarily success – or, at
least, whatever that means.
Last year we talked about Küntu Zangpo, you remember? What is Küntu Zangpo? All good. That’s an
important part here. Every Nail starts with the line: I pay homage to Küntu Zangpo, with a specific
quality of who we are. But Küntu Zangpo is always there. It’s always good.
Nail Seven says: Unbiasedly enlightened quality is manifesting in every situation. The question is, is it
true for us, is Küntu Zangpo in our life right now? Is there all good right now? This is the question, is
it all good? Is it all good in your life? Just think about it for a moment.
Look at one thing which you feel is challenging. Look at the same thing and observe how you observe
it, how you’re looking at it, who’s looking at it. Maybe your doubt is looking at it; your fear is looking
at it; a sense of hopelessness is looking at it. Recognize that – investigating delusion; recognizing
one’s delusion.

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Just slowly open up yourself toward this challenge, this situation. Ask this question: What is the good
thing about it? What I can learn from it? How I can grow from it? Of course those are important
questions. Even if growth, realization, doesn’t make much sense, at least you can think about maybe:
How can you use it the best? Use it. What is it trying to offer you? When you’re not looking through
the pain, when you’re looking through the openness, you will see it. And it’s possible that it’s offering
more than what you fear losing. Just reflect for a moment.
Maybe you have glimpse of experiences of enlightened energy, enlightened qualities, that are also
unbiasedly manifesting in this situation.
Eighth Nail: Symbolic Examples
I want everybody to continue these reflections. This is one of the main things for the rest of the week
I’m going to continue. There’s always this notion of being open – being open toward yourself, being
open toward your life, being open toward somebody you are with. Your approach, even though it’s
difficult, is not changed.
One sense of openness will be that we are in service of others' joy. I’m happy to see my discomfort is
making somebody feel strong. That’s a way of looking, a perspective. It’s not about you all the time.
Sometimes you can think it’s about somebody else. When you play with your children, you don’t try
to win all the time. You’re trying to lose the game so the children can win and will be happy. You see
happiness, you see the joy of losing the game, you see the joy of your child smiling. It’s the same
thing. Think about the whole world as your children. They want to win and sometimes if you are in a
position where you can give them a victory, that’s your success, not your failure. If you can see that
with your openness with your child, why can’t you see that with somebody else? So that is the
direction. I know it’s easy to say that; it’s harder to get there, but the direction has to be right. Children
are a good example, right? With children you can do that. You feel if they are happy then you’re okay.
In some sense you are able to let them go beyond you. It’s quite amazing, that feeling. They matter
more than you, but you think you cannot do treat other people the same way. But you can, that’s the
whole point. That’s how you reduce suffering.
With most of your problems you think it’s always about you. Even some news that is happening, you
think it’s about you. If somebody says something, it’s about you. If I say something, you think: Maybe
he’s talking about me. If somebody is talking in the dining room, you think it’s about you. It’s not
about you. Why does it have to be about you all the time? That’s the problem. So you have to go to
that space. There’s so much space. Even if they are talking about you, you don’t care, because in a
way they are really talking about themselves. They are not talking about you. You are an excuse for
them. And at least you’re also helping them by letting them talk about you; it is good for you –
welcome.

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So, it’s not about you. It is interesting that these words have been coming to my mind. People take so
much personally, everything seems like so much – they think – is personal, but it’s not. Like death. It’s
not a personal problem. Aging is not a personal problem. Sickness is not a personal problem. It’s
universal. It happens to everybody. Don’t think it’s just about you; no, when it’s for everybody, then
it’s fine. There are lots of things we take so personally.
[At this point the teaching session was over and the last two Nails of the first 10 were not included in this short
commentary by Rinpoche.
To complete the first 10 Nails, the last two are just mentioned here:
Ninth Nail: Innate Self-Awareness that Emerges from Within
Tenth Nail: The Path without Deviation]

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Eleventh Nail: The Lamp that Dispels the Darkness
Nail Eleven: The Lamp that Dispels the Darkness
The praise of the Eleventh Nail: “kün tu zang po ma rik mün pa sel la chak tsel lo.”
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, dispeller of the darkness of ignorance.”
This is Nail Eleven. Küntu Zangpo - again, this is referring to our essence; it is who we are. Basically,
it’s not referring to anything. It’s referring to you, to us. In its nature it is primordially pure,
spontaneously perfected, ceaseless enlightened manifestation, but of course it gets obscured by our
ignorance. This Nail basically is saying Küntu Zangpo, our essence, is the dispeller of that ignorance.
In some sense it says, I prostrate, I pay homage, to one’s pure essence, to one’s pure self. In a way it’s
like the best meaning of self-respect.
Think about self-respect. What does self-respect mean? Respecting your ego? Respecting your desire?
Respecting your weakness? No. Self-respect refers to our true self – respecting, honoring, paying
homage to our true self.
To dispel the darkness. Darkness is what obscures the true self, not giving access to it. To dispel the
darkness is to clear that to have access to it.
The text says here: 5 sense doors are the doors to see it. Basically it’s saying:
• through eyes you see it

• through your ears you hear it
• through your body you can feel it
• through smell
• through taste
through all these five sense consciousnesses you can see that truth.
And it says particularly through the eye senses you can see it.
We see so much through these eyes. We fall in love with these eyes, but sometimes we also see so
many negativities through these eyes. In today’s world we know clearly, like in the social medias you
see incredible things. It’s like a totally open door. I mean, you look at the same thing and see totally
different things. You live in the same place, in the same conditions, and have totally different
experiences.

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For example, I shared some photos on Facebook - I was in Croatia for the first time for holiday, so I
took some of these beautiful local photos, just local people, and I shared some photos, and here was
one comment. One person wrote a negative comment, because in one of the photos there was a guy
smoking. It is just life in those kind of villages. I also wrote some poems which this person did not
understand, so the comment was: “What is the point of showing a guy smoking a cigarette? It’s
disgusting.” Of course, it’s not about smoking, but I think this person was seeing only one negative
thing in this chain of number of photos. That was very interesting to see - you have this beautiful life
that people are living in different positions, postures, as a photograph and as a kind of art, and
somebody can see only one thing: “it’s disgusting.”
The point that I’m trying to make is: With the eye sense you see light, you see images, you see stories,
you see life, you see pain, you see everything. We have infinite possibilities to see through these eyes.
And when I saw the comment of this person I felt sad, because if you’re living life like that you’re
torturing yourself. It’s your self-critic, negative self-critic. You’re not allowing yourself to see
something more or you’re not noticing how limited are the things you’re seeing through your senses. I
feel that’s an important point here.
Each one of our lives we have this infinite possibility of looking. The big question is, how do you see
your life? Do you see something disgusting or do you see this infinite possibility, space, warmth, joy,
love. What do you see?
I’m not saying one should not be critical, should not have perspective, but I think it’s a little bit more
than perspective when you really get into your pain, not seeing the space, not seeing the light, not
seeing the warmth, not seeing what are called the three pure dimensions. That is kind of problem, and
the only way to overcome it is to recognize that. Recognize that there is a little bit more than what you
see in your life. So this experience is lacking the space of openness.
This morning we were talking about the look at one challenge of your life or something that is your
disgusting photo that you’ve seen in your life – photo or person or situation that is horrible; whatever
that is. All of us has one. There is lack of space, lack of connection, lack of creativity of warmth. You
can still have an opinion, but you don’t have to be like that.
The eye allows you to have infinite possible ways to look at things. That’s true magic. Of course, we
will do practice, we will go through the Nails, but one thing is important, that you want to personalize
your focus during this week. You definitely want to feel some degree of shift from where you are now
to the end of the retreat. Like what you thought was a problem, you recognize as your friend. Or what
you thought was your enemy, you recognize as your friend. What you thought was impossible, you
recognize it’s possible. What you thought it was an obstacle, you recognize as a support. What you
thought it was lost, actually it was a discovery. And that’s the idea here, when we say Küntu Zangpo,

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when we say everything is good, we need to seek goodness in everything; a basic goodness. I mean,
you can appreciate anybody, enjoy anybody.
I’m telling you all my travelling stories. I get up early and go to the gym, and on my way back home I
like to get a cup of coffee. In Berlin, I realized unlike like in the US where the coffee shops open at 5
o’clock in the morning, they don’t open until 8.30 - 9.00am. The only place to get a cup of coffee is to
go to those bars which are open 24 hours. I went to this little bar and you can imagine at 7.30 in the
morning people are drinking beer there. There were only 2 guys there, they were drinking, and I asked
for a cup of coffee, but then that was so nice. That was nice, I mean instead of getting into this mood
of judgment - oh, drinking beer in the morning - just forget about everything. I just saw the persons,
and it was just so nice to know somebody like that.
Of course, sometimes I get into this: My god, early in the morning drinking beer. But when you look
at yourself, I don’t have to get it, I don’t have to understand. Why do I have to understand why
somebody is drinking beer in the morning? Why is it about me? Why do I have to judge somebody?
You can look at yourself as a little gift, like a connection or joy to wake in anybody’s life. Anywhere
in any situation, it serves something. You can say, well I can be of use there, or I can connect
somebody there; there’s a goodness in everything, that’s what I’m trying to say. There’s a goodness in
everything.
In our life with people of our family or other people we are close with, we say sometimes, I still don’t
get it, I still don’t understand somebody. Why you think you have to understand? You don’t have to
understand. I say I don’t need to understand, what do I have to understand? Unless you want to have a
problem, don't try to understand that which is not understandable.
Okay, we go back to the eye. Somehow in the ancient knowledge of the Dzogchen teachings the eye
sense seems very important, because this is that through which lights come up. We create all the
illusions, perceptions through the lights. Even though there is only 99.9 percent space and light we
create all the stories through this. So that’s probably why it’s saying why it’s important.
It talks about four lamps or four lights; light which clears the darkness:
(1) The first lamp is talking about the eye, jiam jia dshü to ma (?). So as I already said, this eye sense
clears the environmental darkness, the sight. The darkness is clear, you have experiences unlike being
blind.
(2) And the second one, lhag ton rang dö to ma (?), is like insight, it’s referring to visionary
perceptions, like you’re going into the dark retreat, for example, and you see tögel visions. When you
go to the dark retreat, when you gaze the sky, sun, moon, when you practice with the light, when you
see these visions of lights, that awareness is the second lamp.

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Traditionally when people who are in the dark retreat have these experiences, we call what they see
tögel visions. But on the other hand you can imagine during the meditation this morning, when we say
connecting with your body, speech and silence, when you connect deep enough in the stillness, when
you feel the space, suddenly the image of the sky comes, that’s also just one example; or you see a
flash of light or you go deep into inner silence - silence, silence, quiet, peaceful - suddenly you begin
to hear music or something like that. These are those experiences. Or you go deep inside opening your
heart more and more at some point suddenly you see joy, bursting joy, enormous spontaneous joy.
That’s also called inside vision. Where is it coming from? It’s coming from the openness. The
experience of joy, you see as an image, you see some animal you love, a person that you love, a flower
that you like; images appear. So these appearing images are sights, visions, called tögel visions; and
the reason why you have these tögel visions is, because you experience deep connection to its sources
like the space or the silence. They are sources.
When you have these experiences, they are like a lamp, because you never have that kind of joy. You
have maybe the joy of owning a new toy, new car, but you never have a joy of having nothing. So
some sense of experience of joy from that space is light, is insight, is like awakening. That’s called
also a lamp, it’s called lhagton. The second lamp is referring to here.
The lamp or the light and the darkness. The experience of darkness is, for example, when you’re
cultivating stillness. You’re still, still, still – the idea of being paralyzed, it’s not like that; or silence,
when you stop talking and then you become like a mute, or you paralyze your mind, it’s not like that,
that’s the darkness. So sometimes there is a chance people who retreat, they go into denial,
disconnection, lack of energy, creativity, depression. There’s a tendency to go there. The single light is
to illuminate that and re-experience the manifestation. That’s called insight, lhagton. You see it, you
see that joy, you hear that music, your voice changes, your clarity changes or your creativity changes,
your confidence changes, you feel these lights are kind of manifesting as a result of going in that
source rather than being paralyzed in the source.
(3) The third one is the lamp of wisdom of innate awareness. All those who are familiar with the term
rigpa, rang rig, the innate awareness is referring to that. That innate awareness is a lamp because it
clears the darkness of ignorance. Each of these lamps clears a different darkness, a different dimension
of darkness.
Of course, it’s saying, this is in us already, it’s not something we are making it up, this is in us, but it’s
obscured; that’s why these teachings are about discovering that.
Yesterday we had the example story about the train station, the girl who is looking in ten, fifteen
minutes so many times at anybody who’s coming out of the shop - is it my partner? Imagine the state
of body, the state of energy, the state of mind, imagine that. If she’s aware of that, first of all she could
say: Okay, that’s not a good place to be. So being aware of that she could connect to the base; if it’s

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more in the body, then she will try to be more still, if there are more voices, she will try to have more
connection to the silence, if there’s more imagination, she will try to be more aware of the space. So as
she does that, that is like an access, the door, and eventually then she will see more the inner sense of
this lamp, the inner lamp, the innate awareness.
(4) And the last one, kunzhi ying gyi tön ma (?), the lamp of the space which is the base of all, so
basically the lamp of the unbounded space will be the right description. Lamp basically means
awareness; lamp does not mean the light of electricity. It means knowing something, knowing, being
aware, being conscious. So knowing that unbounded space is this lamp, and this lamp clears all the
bias, all the divisions. This is what we talked this morning all the divisions, bias, conditions; this lamp
overcomes the darkness of bias. Again, if we think about politics, this year went through the darkness
of bias, fear of bias, but let’s not talk about that. We can talk about it in your own life if you are going
through difficult moments. You are looking through this biased view, conditioned view, so you have
to have the lamp of the spacious base of all, that opens up and clears. It opens up. I think sometimes
it’s important in life also for people who, in the name of a journey or search or exploring get into
prison themselves. Does it make sense?
Okay, let’s keep it simple. The fourth lamp says: all the doctrines, like different religions, different
beliefs, different political groups, different casts, all these inner-outer biases, we suffer through these
biases. We suffer by judging all the time, not being able not to judge. We suffer. So it’s clearly this
sense of bias, divisions. Here it’s talking about religion like different doctrines, different traditions,
and it clearly sees that. Within the same tradition, within the same family, you have preference of your
children, your favorite kid. We do, right? Immediately when you look at people you have preference.
It’s neither good for you, nor good for somebody else.
This lamp, the last lamp, kunzhi ying gyi tön ma (?), is talking about the discovery of inner
boundlessness is the light, is the lamp, to overcome all those biases. All those biases are darkness,
that’s what it’s saying. It’s not difficult to understand the concept; it’s difficult to change the personal
experiences of that. A good practitioner always works on the personal level. Then you are able to
make some changes. Imagine the whole societal approach with that principle. In a way, in democracy
the freedom of speech and all those things are kind of these principles, and sometimes I think there’s a
kind of misuse of those freedoms, and it becomes a problem.
All these years we have been talking about stillness, silence, spaciousness. The reason why I
continuously talk about this practice all the time is that it seems, probably for most of the people,
that’s the only way to have some glimpse of experience of these lamps. It’s not theory, because in
theory I know it makes sense, but do I experience it or not? But how you will experience it? Looking
for it, wanting it, desiring and going crazy about it, reading about it - no, that’s not going to help. I
mean, it might be helpful, but it’s not really giving you experience. What will give you experience is

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when you go deep enough to that source, as I said. Go deep enough in that space. From that space
awakens that light to experience the joy. That joy is that lamp.
Being able to be free from judging somebody or being able to forgive somebody. It’s difficult to
forgive somebody and not feeling free from the hurt, things like that. A good question is: Is it really
truly possible? Of course, it’s possible. I mean, if you think about forgiving somebody, is it possible,
think about somebody you think is difficult to forgive, think about somebody where it’s difficult to
have a positive image of somebody, think, is it possible? Of course, it’s possible. How it is possible?
It’s only possible by being able to go deep enough in that spacious awareness. Only! Not
conceptualizing and analyzing; not getting rid of things; not trying to not remember; not trying to stop
e-mails or trying to unfriend in your Facebook; not like that, but going deep enough in that spacious
awareness, that awareness is a lamp. And if that lamp is illuminated all those darknesses will be gone.
All the other things do not work, so don’t try even.
How many of you have cut a relationship in your life? You think they are out? Actually, they are
deeper in. There is no out. It’s just a game. In order to be out you have to illuminate them, not isolate
them. That’s what it is.
So the 4 lamps:
• light of the eye senses

• light of the tögel visions
• light of innate awareness, rigpa
• light of base of all
They all are referring to lights.
Just a few questions.
Q: How can I come into this deepness? I want to be open, but how do I get there?
TWR: This is whole thing that we’ve been talking this morning, the whole practice was about that, but
I’m going to talk right now only to you. We said: After you’re going deep into your body, connecting
with your body, connecting with your speech, connecting with your mind, we talked about resting,
resting, resting, resting enough, and at some point we said, “reflect what is challenging”, what
probably you have in your mind, look at that. If you go deep enough, when you come out you look
from that space, you see differently, looking from that awareness, you see differently, looking from
that place of silence, you see differently. But you go deep enough, then you look, then you look until
your perception changes or until perception is changing or it feels already different. That’s how it
works. Again, it’s going more inward, but going inward by not avoiding it. While going inward in the
beginning there is some little avoiding, but then coming out and facing it. That’s the important part,
because most of the time we deny, we don’t confront.

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For example, think about a person that you feel is a very difficult person, just think of one, what I call
your “famous person”; everyone has a famous person, right? Everybody knows what a famous person
is: A person who is born to create problems for you, and he is successfully doing it right now. Look at
that person. Can you look at that person not from same place? Instead of this pain body looking at this
person - I’m not encouraging that you do that - can you come down? Can you find your body? Can
you find that stillness in your body? Can you rest in that stillness in your body? Can you feel the
healing in your body? Can you feel completely rested? Now from there can you look again at the same
person? That’s what you do. Or you always are talking about that person? Any time you have the
opportunity to talk with somebody, you talk about that person. That person did not become that
person, you have contributed to it. There’s a good chance you have contributed more in that situation
than the person did. But it’s not a question about judging that, it’s your question about healing what
you’re feeling. So you look at your speech, pain speech. In order to heal that, you need to have a
relationship to your speech. You bring your attention to your throat, feel the silence, listen to the
silence. Just listen to the silence, a clear break from that pain speech in relation to that person. Go deep
enough, then you feel like a deep sense of peaceful silence in you. This is what we call the second
lamp. The light of the silence is strong enough to illuminate the darkness of any noise. Then you look
at the person, you might feel already different. If not, you will.
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In these teachings a lot of emphasis is about resting. Resting, being, that’s the emphasis. Very often
when we are kind of lost, when we are frustrated, when we are seeking for a change, we are in the
mood to say: What should I do? So this idea of “rest and be” somehow it keeps away from our mind,
it’s like, what I should do? Our mind is always in this mood of doing something. But then when you
are in that mood, the one who desperately wants to do something, does not know what to do, and he
will not do the right thing, it will mess up more. And that cycle of doing - not knowing what to do, and
doing it anyway and getting messed up again, and wanting to do more to not to do it - people are living
in that kind of cycle. It’s a spontaneous pain reaction. You didn’t even think what you’re going to do,
you do it anyway. You did not even think what to say, you say it anyway. You did not choose the
terms and the vocabulary, it chooses you. That’s the life of many people. They want to do it better, but
they have no idea what that “better” means.
The idea of finding what to do, what to say, how to live life, it’s something that does not come out of
frustration. It’s not about seeking more, it’s more about a different way to seek than the way you have
been seeking, which you haven’t found for all these years, which comes down to a very simple place:
It’s just a sense of trusting the sense of resting; trusting in the place of resting in oneself.

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I always give the example of the experience at the airport with my computer, you remember? I repeat
this. I’m in this resting area in the airport, a lady is sitting in front of me with her computer and I’m
with my computer. She looks at my computer and she says, Is that the old version? A direct attack to
my computer! I don’t even know her, we don’t even say hi to each other. And I thought like: What?
Who are you? What you have said? And of course I was a little bit surprised. My thoughts were
boiling, and I recognized my thoughts were boiling, and I chose to remain silent, rest in silence. I rest
in silence, but still thoughts were coming, I rest in silence, thoughts were coming, then I rest in silence
and got spacious enough and I felt more playful. There was a comfortable space enough to be okay
with the silence, but some sense of little bit of creativity was there. Of course, I wanted to not say
anything, but if I do say something, what I would say to her? Then I came up to say: “Are you feeling
better now?” But I did not say that. I knew it will not make her feel better. The point is that I don’t
have to engage with her. If I wanted to engage with her, it will be more if I can be any help to her in
that moment, which, I think, in a way I did it, giving her space to say that. That’s a free session of
therapy for her; all this space.
We don’t have to engage with other’s negativity. It’s not your thing, it’s their thing, and you can give
space. You can be kind, you can be compassionate, you can give space, if it’s possible. If it’s a little
bit challenging, at least you can be a little bit creative like thinking about the right words to choose;
it’s like writing a poem. Clearly, it’s more fun that very moment to listen to the silence.
When you hear talking about the lamp or the light, this is what it means: My awareness of silence –
that’s light. My frustration with negative words or actual expression with negative words, that feeling
is like darkness. You have a choice between choosing the darkness or choosing the light, a clear
choice.
Sometimes people are in the mood of teaching people, fixing people – oh, I should say something to
her so that she will learn something. She has learned from my silence, and that’s a better teaching for
her than learning from my negative speech; she has already enough. You don’t have to go in this mood
of making people better or the world better. Your silence will help the world be better more than your
pain speech.
How many of you here are ready to send a mean e-mail to somebody or text to somebody or phone
call to somebody, and upset somebody? Your writing is not finished yet and you are in the mood of
anger? It’s okay to write, but don’t press the send button. And when one version is finished, at the end
you rest in silence. Okay, express, express, express, but don’t send. Be careful with the send button.
Sit back, do the 9 breathings and rest into the silence.

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Hear the pain speech accommodate in silence, and the pain speech will dissolve into the silence, and
you rest continuously in silence. That’s the power of the silence. The silence will change your pain
speech and you will find a different vocabulary, you’ll find a different voice for sure.
That is the second lamp where it’s talking about insight, that’s what insight means. When you discover
a new voice in you after clearing that pain voice, that is insight. You find a completely new sense of
yourself or a new sense of your voice or a new sense of capacity for what you want to say. There’s an
arising of new sense, new voice. That is insight, that’s like a tögel vision in some sense. These are
appearances from the inside.
In that very moment, trust that silence more than your pain speech, that’s my point. How many people
in everyday life do that? Or how often you remember to do that? That’s an important part.
Q: To do what?
TWR: I have to repeat the whole thing again? Okay, that’s fine. We have to be clear. So now you all
listen to me.
My point what I’m trying to say is, the general sense of trusting to that stillness, silence, spaciousness
is very important; we don’t trust enough. We are more influenced by our pain body, pain speech and
pain mind; we live life through that. Like in the example of the lady at the airport, I’m sure she did not
plan: tomorrow at the airport I’m going to meet this Asian guy with a not upgraded computer, and I’m
going to directly attack the edition of his computer. She did not plan that. She was probably surprised
by herself, hopefully. So my silence has helped her more to hear herself than my noise. My noise
might become a little bit louder than hers, and then she wouldn’t hear her noise. As a practitioner, in
that moment, one side of me was ready to attack her, I knew exactly what to say, but that moment I
tried to trust my silence, tried to remember my silence, and tried to remember this noise in my head
has no place, has no meaning to it. It would not help her, it would not help me, and so I would remain
in silence. So I just did my meditation. That silence gives me more space to have more options, more
air to be more flexible, more fire to be more playful, more vocabulary, more choices, it gives me a lot
of options, because of the silence. The silence is very powerful when you trust and connect like that.
My question to all of you is: Would you apply the same method of what I did at the airport if you are
ready to send a mean e-mail, text, or phone call to somebody? Is there a kind of avoiding in your
head? I would encourage you to do that more.
Then this other thing of getting into the mood of fixing people, teaching people, giving a lesson to
people, that mood, that’s also a kind of fail, because the truth is, people will learn more from
compassion, people will learn more from giving space to somebody. Like that lady at the airport, my
silence has an echo in her. Silence definitely helps.

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The last part of the Nail 11. The text says: The insight has six eyes.
It’s interesting, this teaching talks about different eyes and the lamps. All these notions of lamps, light,
eyes are always about seeing something, something different, something new, something you never
saw.
It seems very interesting as a human being, we are always waiting for the next moment, next event,
just waiting for something. There is this sense of waiting, right? Even in that example of the e-mail
text we were talking about, there is this sense of waiting for something. You’re going to press the send
button because you’re waiting for something to happen, some release, some healing, some response,
some gratitude - you’re waiting for something. We do crazy things when we wait. We check Facebook
or check texts or check messages; even if no message was there 5 minutes ago, you’re checking if
there is another new message. We do it as if there is something missing in this moment. For
experience, that’s for sure there is something missing, because there’s something that you do not see,
something you think you will see or experience if you push the send button or if you do some crazy
things, then you will see something.
What you are waiting for in your life? That’s the question. For sure for something. Some exciting
things are waiting for you, some exciting things to have. Just think about this. This notion of waiting is
a very interesting view; you observe yourself, that’s important.
The context to this teaching of six eyes is: six eyes is something that you are not seeing in the moment.
(1) The first eye says: The eye of wisdom. The innate awareness is unobscured. The innate awareness
arises without obscuration, when you see it, that’s called eye of the wisdom, but that is in this moment;
you don’t have to wait for the next moment to happen. Eye of wisdom. For example, in experience
when you say something like, “I’m confused”, maybe it’s a better statement than saying “I’m confused
about something”, like I said this morning. “I felt a little confused by my decision,” instead of, “I am
confused about myself”. But usually we don’t say “I have confusion in me”, you say confusion of
something.
I think it’s okay, we leave it there.
(2) Second, rigpé je, The eye of innate awareness. So rigpa means seeing, seeing without dullness. If
something is unobscured, not necessarily we’ll see clearly without dullness. So when you see without
dullness, but with alertness, with sharpness, then it’s called the eye of innate awareness, rigpé je. For
example, instead of saying, “I don’t see it”, “I see it”, but “I see with clarity”; so it’s a different seeing,
a different ability to see. Or maybe I see it clearly, but nothing is happening.

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(3) The third one is called tug ji je, the eye of compassion. Compassion means abundant manifestation,
arising manifestation. So things are happening unceasingly. Sometimes it seems people feel like: I’m
meditating, I’m resting in the space, but nothing’s happening. Or how is anything going to change by
just simply resting in the space? Good question, but that’s the whole point. We’ve been talking about
trusting the resting in the space and it will give birth to the quality, what you need to evolve and grow.
So that’s the eye of compassion. It’s called eye of compassion, unceasing manifestation, will be there.
(4) And the fourth one is the eye of knowledge, which is saying: non-conceptually arising. When the
experiences arise non-conceptually and when you experience that or when you see that, it’s called eye
of knowledge. Like for example this question about waiting, you’re waiting for something to happen;
you’re waiting for somebody to look at you, somebody to talk to you, somebody to acknowledge you,
somebody to forgive you, you’re waiting. And if somebody does something like that then you feel
maybe: then I feel peace, I feel okay. As if your okay-ness is completely dependent on somebody
else’s action, which is very much ego’s opinion, a conceptual understanding, rather resting in that
unconditional space and experiencing that kind of spontaneous arising of peace or joy or love. If
you’re able to see that, it’s called eye of the knowledge. So basically, what you are waiting for is there
already.
(5) And then it says: The eye of manifestation, nirmanakaya. In some sense it’s this question about
what spontaneously arises as experience in that sacred space, is it what I really need? I think that’s
maybe the question. The text says: It’s a distinct, unscattered quality what arises, which is what the
moment needs. So in some sense you can trust what that inner intelligence is giving you, rather than
trusting your ego’s weakness and what it wants. So that is the distinction here.
For example, if you are trusting the inner sacred space and you are able to rest there, you rest and you
feel this deep connection to yourself in that space. Then maybe, suddenly, you feel a kind of opening,
you feel a sadness or tears coming, or a sense of being close, touched, like some recognition or
something like that, and maybe the point is that maybe the sadness is releasing.
If you think about sadness maybe you say sadness is not good, I’m supposed to be excited, why I’m
sad? Well, that’s what’s supposed to happen. Even in order to feel the sadness, it’s not easy to feel the
sadness. In that way of open sadness, it’s a beautiful experience. That’s the kind of experience you can
trust, that’s what you need that moment, because you did not make the decision, it made the decision
for you. Maybe the next moment when you rest in that space, maybe a spontaneous joy will come. The
reason why spontaneous joy will come is maybe because you have released the sadness. But for you,
the one who is releasing the sadness, releasing sadness is far more important than experiencing the joy.
Accept that, value that, because joy will come. But for you, that moment clearing the sadness is far
more important. And that is like a distinctive, unscattered, inner intelligence plan for you.

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(6) Last one, the sixth one is the eye of the mind essence, sems nyid, essence of mind, which says: the
experience arises unfabricated; unfabricated experience arises. When you see these unfabricated
experiences, the one who sees it, or is aware of it, is the eye of the essence of mind, sems nyid.
Okay, that’s fine. Clear? Not clear?
Q: What’s the difference between the fifth eye and the sixth eye?
TWR: The fifth eye is the manifestation; manifestations are distinctive, unscattered, so it’s like
discriminating wisdom. Whatever experiences arise, they are distinctive, they are unique, and maybe
they are unique that moment for you.
The sixth one is more related with the minds essence, it’s not like manifestation, it’s more talking
about the space. Space is uncontrived; space can never be changed - for example, if you look at the
space of the houses here, nobody can ever change the space. A new building can come, old castle can
come, new people will come and go, but this space will never be affected by any events which are
happening around there. Space itself you cannot fabricate, you cannot change, you cannot destroy. Our
mind essence is like that. Mind essence you cannot change. It’s evolved.
I know it’s not very clear, it’s clear for me, so let’s not worry about it. Let’s look at this way, simple
way, experiential way: This notion of waiting for the next moment, that’s clear, right? Now look at
your experience, waiting for the next moment. - What are you waiting for? To overcome the fear of
death, are you waiting for that? Or to have peace with death? Are you waiting for somebody’s okay?
Are you waiting for something to be cleared? Are you waiting to be happy? Are you waiting to have
some sense of peace? Are you waiting to have some clarity? You’re waiting, right? And the waiting is
not a new thing that you’re doing. You’re been waiting since you remember for different things. And I
guarantee you, you will be waiting continuously. So waiting is a problem, the root problem, as if there
is something missing in this present moment. Maybe there’s nothing missing in the present moment,
the only thing that is missing is eyes to see that everything is there. The six eyes are like that, like
wearing glasses. You wear glasses: Oh, the book is there, oh the letters are there, the lines are there,
the lines are clear, the message is clear, I get it, I understand it. You take off the glasses - you don’t see
it, but it’s there; which is really kind of interesting and goes into the next Nail, Nail 12.

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Twelfth Nail: Pointing Out the Three Vital Points
Nail Twelve: Pointing Out the Three Vital Points
And the praise: “kün tu zang po ku sum du drel mé la chak tsel lo.”
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the inseparability of the three bodies.”
What it’s saying here is Küntu Zangpo, the “all good”, all perfection, which is “ku sum,” which is the
three kayas – dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya – is already here. What you are waiting for –
fruition, result, illumination – is already here.
To bring it in our personal experience as a human, again I’m going to go back to this notion of
waiting. You are waiting, right? I know you are not waiting for the three kayas, but on the other hand
you are waiting for the three kayas, you just don't know you’re waiting for the three kayas. You’re
calling it different things. You’re saying something like, Oh, I want to open myself; I want to open for
somebody; I want to open for life; I want to open to creativity; I want to open. Is it true or not? How
many people want to feel like they want to open? What do you want to open for? You want to open for
a new business, new creativity, a new person, new art, new learning to somebody, you want to open,
right?
Open, unbounded space, that’s called dharmakaya. You have a smaller version of that. You say, It’s
really important for me. Why is it so important? Because it’s for me. I am attached to this. That’s
okay, that’s completely okay. For me as a teacher, I accept completely. I’m not too attached with the
words and names. I’m getting to the point.
And why do you want to be open? Maybe you say, I want to be open because I want to feel energy,
fire, creativity. Or maybe I want to be open, because I want to love somebody or I want to be loved by
somebody. Or I want to know what it means to really feel connection with somebody. I want to know
what it means to give somebody something or receive something. The experience of connection from
that openness, that’s what I want. You can call it love, you can call it joy, you can call it satisfaction
of life, fulfillment, I don’t know, whatever you want to call it. That is like the sambhogakaya, it’s
called the perfection body, body of perfection. And it’s also here already.
Then nirmanakaya, that is like the fruition, the result. If I feel joy, a spontaneous joy, unconditional
joy or less conditioned joy, it’s fruition. That joy is fruition because it is caused by connection,
genuine connection, and the connection is caused by genuine openness.

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There is dharmakaya, samboghakaya, and nirmanakaya; that’s how it goes. In some sense I’m aware I
was talking more about a causal relationship, space, connection, joy, but in principle the text here is
saying it’s not like that, all of them are right here in this very moment together. That’s the most
fascinating part. It’s already here.
Let’s talk a little bit about personal examples, experiences. The question goes back to, you are waiting
for something obviously. What you are waiting for? The next question is, the teaching says it’s already
here. What you wish is here completely. You just don’t have the eyes to see it. You don’t have the
eyes, but you have the fruition here. Peace is here. Otherwise, as we talked this morning, we go to war
to have peace. The e-mail that you’re preparing, fortunately, hopefully, you have not pressed the send
button yet. What you’re really seeking is peace, which is already here; by sending your e-mail you
might lose it. It’s here, peace is here.
It seems like really strange sometimes that people say something like, I want somebody to apologize
to me. I know some people feel very much like that. Somebody did something wrong and they want
them to apologize. I want them to apologize to me, I want them to apologize publicly, I want them to
apologize in writing, in those terms, and then I will have peace. If peace was not there, those letters not
going to do anything. Peace was there already, and you just choose the complicated way to get it. And
some people choose impossible ways to get it. I know some people – I will not say they never have
peace with certain things, but very likely 90 percent they will not have peace, because the conditions
they’re asking are almost impossible.
Peace is already there. It’s about that sense of trusting, trusting that by being able to go inward, able to
rest, able to trust that space. That’s why these teachings here say it’s very, very important. I know,
maybe some things are difficult, but at least I think it’s good to reflect this way; it’s a kind of right
direction at least. According to this teaching this is the approach. The approach is we are trying to stay
close to the principle, then we might get it sooner than later. We might take a little time, but at least
we’re in the right direction.
It talks about these three kayas. There are five different levels. Don’t worry about it. I know these
things are kind of complicated, but it’s good to touch on all.
(1) The first one is called: zhi, lam, and dre bu (?), base, path, and fruition; base like a foundation, and
the path, and the fruition. This is what it’s saying. In other traditions they talk about this like a gradual
path, but here it’s saying it’s a nongradual path. That means base, path, and fruition, all of them are
right here.
What is the foundation? What is the base? It says: “rang rig ye she ka dag …” This primordially pure
innate awareness, which is within us, this is the base. You already have the base. Thank god that you
can never mess this up, because it’s untouchable. If not, you would have messed it up for sure. So

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that’s why it’s called base, it’s primordially pure. It is pure now. It’s in you. Culturally we are
different, like all of your backgrounds are different. This kind of knowledge is not talking about your
upbringing. For you to say something like this primordially pure innate awareness is within you, it’s
like a goddess within you, that kind of approach is maybe not very familiar, but that’s the thing here,
to understand that the foundation, the base, is within you, which is what the base is.
(2) Second, the body of perfection, dzog ku. It says: “lu sem tsel bo long …” The union of the body
and your mind is the body of perfection. There is so much beauty, benefit, and qualities in this union
of body and mind. All enlightened qualities are perfected in this union of body and mind regardless of
whether you understand or not. It doesn’t depend on that, but that you can mess it up. My first kind of
experience is, like when we bring attention to the stillness in the body, in every meditation, when you
bring attention to your body, your mind brings attention to your body. It’s a beautiful experience,
especially if you haven’t done that for a few years. Imagine a child who has been ignored for few
years by the parents, suddenly the parents show up, the mother shows up and goes toward the child
and connects and touches and holds the child. Imagine the experience of the child, that recognition,
connection. It’s a powerful connection. It doesn’t have to be child and parents; it could be any of those
kind of connections – when you lack the connection from somebody, after not having that, when you
receive it, how do you feel? The same, and body also feels like that. When your mind brings attention
to the body, the body is so happy. Every cell in the body is like these little kids, jumping and being
excited, every cell smiles.
If something – like this union of the body and the mind – is abandoned for a long time, there might be
some unfamiliar situation, but if something has not been abandoned and has a lot of familiarity, there’s
a lot of joy. Whatever level of experience of connection or disconnection you have, it’s okay;
everyone has a different level. But what is important is to reconnect, whatever it takes.
(3) The third one is saying “cha wa che pa na tsog …” The nirmanakaya, the body of emanation,
manifestation, comes from that union. When the body and mind are well balanced, united, connected,
then the actions, events, experiences that arise from there are healthier, more enlightened.
Nirmanakaya is there already.
Okay, these three kayas are perfected in us. What does that mean for our normal mind? This goes back
to this idea of waiting maybe. The pure spacious body is within us, the union is within us, even the
events, the manifestation and experiences, are also within us. That means basically, our experiences
have the space and the awareness. We sometimes label our experiences very negatively. We talked
about crying, sadness is bad, we judge our experiences rather than respecting them. Even death we
think it a failure. It’s just an event of life. Whatever is happening, it’s an event of life. We just
categorize too much, and the cultures which categorize more, they suffer more; people who categorize
more, they suffer more. If you look around clearly, you see there is wisdom in appearance itself. There

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is space, there is light, there is warmth; then you don’t feel you have to change so much. Maybe you’re
able to discover something within it. Maybe that’s the bottom line, what it’s really trying to say to us,
at least for now. Otherwise you don’t understand dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya.
Just for a moment forget about everything I said and let’s think about this notion of waiting. A nice
exercise will be, you observe yourself. Self-observation is very important. Do you agree with that? I
think it’s a beautiful capacity that we have as humans, in some sense unique. Like when the dogs bark,
they don’t wonder about that; they bark with confidence. We have the ability to self-reflect. So
whenever you are waiting, just be aware.
You go with your partner, husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, and your partner doesn’t seem very
happy, and you’re waiting for this person to smile – you’re waiting, but your face looks more
depressed than the other person’s. You’re like a dog right that moment, you’re lost, the self-reflective
quality is gone. But maybe because of the help of this teaching you recognize, I’m waiting. I’m
waiting for my partner to smile so that I can be happy. If you want to think a little bit more, you might
say, Maybe it’s possible that he or she is not smiling, because I am not smiling, I’m waiting. Just come
into yourself, feel that, let the energy of waiting go. Breathe it out, clear it with awareness. Don’t wait.
Rest. Rest as long as you want to rest until you forget about somebody else’s smile and you begin to
feel your smile. That’s it, joy is there. Just don’t wait.
If somebody really calculates hours, you will be very surprised how much we are waiting. I’m not
talking about waiting in the line in the airport and so on, I’m not talking about that, just waiting for
something to happen and not being in that moment there. If you do not realize the value of being
present, at least you realize the disadvantage of waiting. It’s not fun to wait. And especially it’s no fun
when you don’t know you are waiting.
That would be really like a homework or practice or challenge, this ability to discover that what you’re
waiting for is in you in this moment without waiting; that would be really the greatest homework.
Does it make sense? Are you all alert enough?
This question about the e-mail text, remember? Can you see that situation and person as a door, a
support, an opportunity, opportunity to be helpful, a drop of light in that darkness? Can you be a drop
of light in the darkness? Do you see that’s your opportunity? Do you see that’s your strength, not your
weakness? Do you see that’s your success, not failure? For sure, if you look at from the right place,
it’s completely okay.
That’s your gift, giving space for somebody, that he/she can reflect by themselves. Trusting the
silence. Silence is a greater teaching than speech is. Silence is a greater meditation than sound.
Nonconceptual, nondual awareness is a better meditation than conceptualization. Stillness is a better
meditation than movement, unless the movement contains the stillness. This is the opportunity. You

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have the opportunity. In this situation you have some great possibility. Be able to see that, that’s my
recommendation. At the end of the day, everything we really have to look at is for personal point of
view. That’s what really matters in the teaching. I think sometimes the sad part of the dharma is that it
does not become personal; it just becomes a parallel conceptual understanding with your life. That’s
sad. So stop waiting!
Stop waiting. Remember that. That’s my pith instruction. And particularly, stop waiting for something
which is almost impossible, because fruition is already here. Peace is already within you. Why does
your beautiful inner peace have to depend on this stupid person? It’s a ridiculous idea. So don’t wait.
One line of conclusion: Fruition is presence in the moment. What you are looking for is here in you.
And I know it’s hard to experience that. That’s what we are trying to do in the practices. Contemplate
on it, think about it, reflect on it, trust. Look inside yourself instead of trying to change people.
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It’s very important to reflect in our life, whatever it is, and to try to personalize the practice. They say
in the teachings, there are many diseases but the medicine is only one. Everybody has a different
problem, but the medicine is the same.
The approach of the teaching is not about really getting rid of negativity; it’s about finding yourself.
Finding yourself is the solution to get rid of the negativity. But trying to get rid of negativity might be
another trap of negativity, where people get trapped, because they are not focusing on what the
positive outcome is. They say, I’m trying to do better, but they do the same thing. It’s not better; it’s
just a different thing. They think it’s new; it’s not new, it’s the same old thing.
Some sense of exercise practice simply will be to recognize and rest. Remember these two words.
Recognize and rest. Recognize that you are putting so much effort and by recognizing that, what are
you’re trying to do? Do nothing, rest. Recognize – rest. Why am I putting so much effort? Recognize –
rest; stillness. I’m putting too much effort to try to say something; I don’t know what to say. Recognize
– rest, silence. Or, I’m saying so many negative things. Recognize – rest. Why do you want to rest?
Because you don’t know what positive thing to say. If you have so many positive things coming out of
you, of course you don’t have to rest – enjoy. But you forget about enjoying right now – rest. If there’s
not much to enjoy, resting is a good thing to do. That’s why there is the whole idea of rest in the
dzogchen teaching. This is a very timely teaching for this moment and a timely teaching in the West,
too. Rest, rest, rest. This is a holiday, a dzogchen holiday.
Yesterday we talked about one theme, saying that everything is perfected here, so not waiting for the
next moment. You remember that? Just a very simple thing. Did anybody deeply reflect on this idea?
Have you got any idea or knowledge or information or whatever you want to call it? Did you dive

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deep into reflecting on that, that everything is here, that what you’re looking for its here? Anybody
have some insights?
Q: When you said that, I felt so depressed – oh my god I’ve been waiting all my life for somebody else,
please make me happy – and I felt so depressed about myself. Then when I walked out I said, okay, so
I’m happy now. Wow, that’s amazing, look at the trees, the sky, all these beautiful people – and then I
saw it was working.
TWR: Wonderful. That’s great; that’s exactly what I was talking about earlier. You shifted very fast,
probably within one hour you went fast; all these years it didn’t work and you wasted your time, but
you immediately shifted in the moment. You saw the tree, the same tree that has been here for 15
years. Everything is the same, same beautiful people, but suddenly you see beautiful people, even they
are older. You begin to instantly see different people, different trees, that illuminates, the colors are
brighter and everything. You shift very fast. In some cases, it’s possible that the one who spent time
regretting – all these years I did not do the right thing – can get trapped back in the same thing. Great,
you did not do that, and I would not recommend it to anybody.
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Yesterday we talked about the three kayas are perfected, you remember?
Okay, today we talk a little bit about:
Base, path, fruition are perfected in us. zhi, lam, and dre bu.
Different doctrines have different approaches and understanding. In the text here it’s saying:
• Our heart is the base. Not in every sense, but in one sense the heart is the base.
• Channels are the path. The heart is like the power station and the channels are the path
because the energy moves through the channels.
• The senses are the fruition, the doors, particularly the eyes, eye sense – you remember.
Heart, the channels, and the door – base, path, and fruition. Fruition is what you see – a new tree after
15 years, that’s a result. A new person – you can live with somebody for 30 years, and finally after 30
years we see somebody: Wow, I’ve been living with this person for 30 years, how lucky I am. That’s a
fruition, rather than thinking, I don’t know how I got through that.
Anyway, there is base, path, and fruition; that’s what it means, it’s in you. You have a heart, you have
channels, you have these doors. Is your base working well for you? Are your channels working well
for you? Are you using your doors? Can you see the world through your doors? What world do you
perceive? Can you change your perception of reality? This is what it’s saying.

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Even in a limited sense when your heart is open physically, emotionally, and your channels are open
physically, energetically, and your senses are open, then you do see perception changes because your
openness in your heart is who you are. You feel, I am, my heart is fully open, unconditionally open
and that’s how I feel; I feel the sense of unconditional being, and I send out that energy. I perceive the
world with that unconditional perception. I think, energetically speaking, maybe that’s the idea of
fruition, the three kayas outside. You feel so much space, you see so much space. Everything you look
at, you see the space, you see the openness. You see openness between people, you see people are
open; you see the space is open, you see space is big; you see this space is not only big, there is also
this sense of light, brightness, full-color high-definition, full pixels brightening them. You not only see
them, it’s also affecting you; your reality is changing. When somebody perceives through the senses
like that, I think in some sense, it’s a fruition. You discover a different world. Two people might live
in the same place, same location, same history, same time, but there are totally different worlds they
live in. That’s a discovery.
People talk about perception change in neuroscience. They talk about looking at the mountain when
you are carrying a bag. When you are carrying a heavier bag the higher a mountain seems to be. It
changes the perception; immediately the mountain seems higher, because you have a heavier bag.
That’s their finding. And when you take off the bag, the mountain seems lower. Perception is
changing, and of course it seems like they were very enthusiastic: Oh, that changes the perceptions,
the mountain is higher up from this person’s perspective. Of course, this seems very normal, nothing
surprising, and also it’s not that interesting either. More interesting is, if the perceiver is changing, the
sense of self is changing – that’s more interesting for me. How do you change who you are? That’s
more interesting than the mountain; who cares about mountain. You don’t say, Help me to realize the
mountain. You don’t say, Help me to realize the true size of the mountain. Help me to realize
unconditional self, that’s what we trying always to pray in every spiritual path's journey, for the final
goal is to discover that. That’s interesting, right?
I’m sure if you look around at people, and if you look at yourself, we’re always looking for something,
right? Looking for the right person to be with, looking for the right job, looking for the right amount of
money, and all these right things, how do you find those right things? Who is the right person? Is
anybody looking for the right person to be with? And how many people are looking for the right job?
How many people are looking for the right job and right amount of pay? Just think about what you are
looking for in terms of right and wrong. But do you ever think that it might have something to do with
you? Or you think you are the right person? Just find another right person for that right person,
because there are very few right people out there except you, right?

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In short, whatever you’re looking for in your life, you’re not really looking for that in your life, you’re
looking to find yourself. That is the simple answer. And you are never ever going to find the right
person and right job and right amount of money, except and unless you find that aspect of yourself.
This is not rocket science. It’s a very simple observation. Look around, and you see it. You see people
with wealth; you say they should be happy. They are unhappier than probably you are. You see a
couple, you think, there’s a perfect couple, beautiful, handsome, young and all the things you can
imagine, and you can see how miserable they are also. I’m not saying everybody is like that, but the
ideal does not guarantee their happiness. And it’s sad sometimes. I know some cases where some jobs
really destroy people’s health, their well-being. I know cases like that. A case of a student who passed
away recently – I’ve known her for a very long time, and I wished she would have given up her job a
long time ago; she gave up after she was sick. Of course, in a way that job is not necessarily a bad job,
but it was a bad job for her. There is not an ideal sense. Of course, I’m sure there are thousands of
people who are looking for that kind of job; they will be happy to have that job, but she was miserable
having that job.
You have two possibilities: Change yourself or change the job. And of course changing yourself, your
self-identity, for sure is harder; not impossible, but harder. Most cases, change the job. You’ll be fine,
I guarantee. You'll be happy and probably live longer. At some point you have to have this braveness
to give it up, because it’s not good.
What I’m trying to say here is this sense of perception of yourself, there’s no right or wrong. Probably
we’re not really looking for a job, we’re not really looking to be with somebody – we’re trying to find
ourselves. I think that’s probably the single most important search, which is secret for everybody.
Sometimes you think about people’s love stories, how this person can fall in love with that person. But
they do. It has nothing to do with age, has nothing to do with appearances, has nothing to do with any
condition. That’s the power of love. It happens, because there is a self-discovery. There is some sense
of knowing themselves that is so powerful that they are able to fall in love. Appearance doesn’t affect.
Two beings just connect, because they are connected enough with themselves. That’s the power of
connection or realization of yourself.
Conclusion: Don’t try too hard to figure out, don’t try too much outside, particularly don’t try to put
too much effort into anything. Every place, when you are putting effort, just stop. Effort – no. Don’t
try. Believe in allowing things, trust in things; more things can happen than when you try too hard.
Just trying is coming from the wrong place.
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Remember, we’ve been talking about base, path, and fruition. They are all within us. Our heart is the
base, channels are the path, our senses – particularly the eyes – are the fruition, the door. When we
begin to see – perception either through the eyes or understanding with your mind – the whole thing is
very different than what you've seen your whole life you’ve been living. Experiences in your eyes are
a result of opening the channels. The channels are opening because you are opening your heart, so
heart is the base. I think it’s good to know that these three are already in us. Sometimes we invest so
much energy and time elsewhere rather than just reflecting inward and being inside. Being is very
powerful, this ability to be. And then when you are, you don’t feel judged.
Do you know people who, whatever you do, they take it personally, or whatever you say, they take it
personally? For sure you’re not talking about them, you’re not doing something to them, but they think
you’re doing something to them. Everything becomes personal. And every personal thing becomes a
problem. After all, we’re talking about dissolving the personality and the idea of liberating my own
being, may I benefit others. That’s the whole idea. Can I let go of my personality, and then can I help
others? Because if you hold on your personality, it’s difficult to help. Personality, personal opinion is a
pain.
How many people get stressed out trying to help somebody, especially with parents or taking care of
older people, like parents? Somebody is 60, 70, 80 years old, they take their medicine or they don’t
take their medicine, it’s okay. It’s not okay, but you don’t have to fight, you don’t have to make them
feel bad. Maybe if you make them smile, that might be more healing for them than this medicine.
After living that many years, it’s okay. If there is some sense of being helpless to help somebody, it’s
not a good experience. Being free to help somebody is a good experience. And whenever a moment
arises to help somebody, you don’t want to miss the opportunity. When somebody asks you, can you
give me a hand, don’t miss the opportunity – “of course, yes.” But when somebody doesn’t want to get
up, you don’t want to force them. Let them sit, that’s what they want. “No, it’s good for you, get up.”
You don’t want to do that. So feel free. When you feel free, you can help more. When you feel you are
in prison, you need more help.
This is the idea, base, path, fruition it’s in us. The text says fruition arises in the senses, especially
through the eyes, which is, it says, the unobscured three kayas – dharmakaya, sambhogakaya,
nirmanakaya.
It’s interesting to look in our human experience. I like to observe myself and other people. Sometimes
you walk out in the world and it seems like everybody is so open to you. I mean, even shops are open,
traffic is open, you know, something usually is closed and they open late for you. Just everything is
open for you, and people who are there are trying to help you. They are immediately trying to connect
with you. You feel the connection, you feel that warmth, you feel the interactions, exchanges. But on
the other hand, sometimes you also experience the moment you arrive, the shop closes. The moment

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you arrive, the gas station closes. The moment you hit the highway, there is a traffic jam – it’s close,
close, close. Also it's not only that you can see outside, but you also feel that way. In a way, you feel
like you’re creating it in every moment, but of course I don’t mean to say always – you know,
sometimes there is traffic, but the traffic does not have to close you even if there is traffic.
I had experiences where a negative situation gave me some good reason to be happy. Life is like that.
You encounter things, but you interpret from that space, you interpret from that awareness, you
accommodate in that space of warmth. You impact those situations. You do impact, and when you are
like that, you are impacting others also.
The idea of these lines is very interesting. It’s saying, whatever you see, you’re seeing the three kayas.
The space you are seeing is the dharmakaya; the light you are seeing is the sambhogakaya; the warmth
you are experiencing is the nirmanakaya. From that space of awareness and warmth, every interaction
is happening, exchanges are happening, giving, receiving, maturing, growing, supporting, helping, all
are nirmanakaya. You experience the fruition already here, right now. Regardless what situation
you’re living in, you are experiencing the result. The result is here, that’s what it’s saying. I think it’s
amazing, it’s really beautiful. And it’s very true.
Experiencing the three kayas is kind of like falling in love. You fall in love with somebody, then you
feel so open with that person. In the first place, the reason why you fall in love is because you are very
open to that person. When you are falling in love with somebody, no matter what that somebody does,
everything is perfect. Whatever dress she/he puts on, it’s perfect. Perfection, the body of perfection is
there. The space, the connection, the activity, everything is just right. Then, sometimes, it doesn’t take
very long time to have a totally different experience with the same person. You don’t want even to
look at that person, but you cannot help not seeing them. Everything you’re seeing is horrible,
annoying, disturbing, disconnecting; it’s nirmanakaya, but a different kind of nirmanakaya. That
basically means all through our sense experiences, what you’re seeing, what you’re experiencing has
changed completely. Of course, nothing is changing in that person – it’s in you.
The bottom line, what it’s trying to say, is at any given moment when you are in pain, when you are
suffering, when you are confused, you have a complete choice to suffer or not to suffer. You have a
choice: suffer – not to suffer. When you don’t feel you have a choice, then what you do? Recognize
and rest; don’t try to choose, because you have no ability to choose. That’s what you do, you don’t
choose at that time. Recognize you don’t have an option. So rest. Maybe you’re lucky enough to
recognize, then you have a choice. Then everything changes. Just remember that.
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[Rinpoche continues the teaching within a guided meditation.]
1. Base:
According to Nail 12, when it talks about the base, path, and fruition, the base is referring to the heart.
As an experience you bring your attention to your heart and feel the openness. That unbounded space
in your heart is the base.
Also, think that any time when open attention of awareness is drawn anywhere to a part of yourself,
part of your body, part of your organs, that awareness is a medicine. When you bring your open
attention to your heart, it’s a medicine for your heart. When you’re aware of that space in your heart,
that is the base to which Nail 12 is referring.
2. Channels:
The expansion of awareness of that space in your heart, when it moves through the channels – like in
the exercise of the life-force tsa lung – it opens the channels, so the channel is considered as path. The
channel is where energy moves through that open space. The movement is moving through that path,
so channels are the path. Just feel from your heart to the eyes a path of openness where awareness is
moving, or light is moving.
3. Fruition:
Fruition is when the awareness of the space and awareness of the light manifest through the senses,
particularly the eyes, and reflects in appearances and objects. That’s the fruition. If you open your
senses, and open your eyes and look at something, do you feel the same unbounded space through
your eyes on the object? Do you feel the same awareness, clear awareness, resting in the object that
you are perceiving? Or do you experience that warmth in an object, like a flower or whatever you are
seeing, do you feel and see the warmth?
If you experience that unbounded space, infinite light, genuine warmth in objects that you perceive,
that is the three kayas manifesting through your doors. That’s fruition. See if that makes sense. Open
your senses; look at things, either some needed objects, or even like the exercise that we’ve been
doing, looking at a situation in your life, a difficult person in your life – do you suddenly begin to see
there’s so much openness in that person; or so much light, connection with that person; or so much
warmth, care, love, forgiveness to that person? If these experiences are happening, they are fruition,
because you have transformed and changed completely. Just reflect and practice.
Also in Nail 12 it says, this base, path, fruition are also associated with the three kayas. The
unbounded space in the heart is dharmakaya, that awareness flowing light in the channel is
sambhogakaya, that appearance of warmth manifesting in objects in life is nirmanakaya. These three
kayas are perfected in our heart, channels, and doors of the senses. The whole idea is that everything is

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here now in us, in our union of body and awareness. This is a continuation of teaching and also
experience.
This is the same as the Buddha – awakening, enlightenment, is primordially perfected in us. It’s in us,
we are that. It’s saying, the unbounded space in the heart is called primordial Buddha - like
dharmakaya. Appearing in the heart, that’s one Buddha; appearing in the channel is Buddha; appearing
in the doors of the senses is Buddha. You are experiencing, or you can experience, an awakened state
of consciousness in the heart, in the channels, and through the doors. You can experience that in life.
[End of meditation.]
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This is the completion of Nail 12 that I just summarized a little bit. This is a very rich ancient tradition
of an unbroken lineage with deep knowledge. Sometimes, not necessarily always, it’s not easy to
understand, and not necessarily always easy to relate to our life, but that’s the approach. We all need to
try it, because otherwise it’s just reading through it. Saying what it’s saying, but not relating to us
doesn’t make much sense; then it doesn't even make sense to touch on it at all.
It seems all these teachings are trying to say, the way we started the discussion about Küntu Zangpo,
that everything is good, even though we don’t think it’s as perfect as we wish, but it’s still good. Also
this notion of waiting for something better to happen – with someone, in some situation – waiting
outside yourself so that inside will be okay, that notion also seems kind of mistaken, an error. This
sense of always looking outside ourselves, looking at somebody or someone who is not necessarily the
source of anything, but rather is an object of attachment or object of your weakness or object of your
pain, those are the places where we get attached, tied up. It seems like we always want them to change,
but the whole point here is saying can you somehow trust that everything is here and everything is in
you? Can you really journey and find it with confidence? That I think is the bottom-line conclusion.
That’s what it’s trying to say here.
All of the 21 Nails – it’s you. It’s not talking about something else. Clearly, it’s not referring to
somewhere; it’s saying, it’s you. That’s very important to understand. It’s about a different, awakening
state of you. Contrary to each of these Nails, there are issues. Like maybe Nail 12's whole issue is
about, I’m not good enough, the Buddha is outside, the goodness is outside, I have to chase and find it.
It’s saying, It’s here, it’s here, it’s here. That’s the whole point. It’s in you, it’s your body, it’s your
mind, it’s your heart, it’s your channels, it’s in you. For us, now, there’s this tendency to go out. All
these teachings just try to bring you back.

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What you’re looking for in life, it’s in you already. How many times do you look at other people, look
at teachers, to take care of you? Forget about it. Or therapists to take care of you, parents to take care
of you, somebody to take care of you? We can be a support to each other, but at the end of the day for
sure you’re fully responsible for yourself. That’s important to understand. You do have capacity on
your own. Your job is to discover that strength and capacity, and to seek the necessary help, but not be
dependent on others. That’s what we’re trying to learn, right?
We can work trying to save money, trying to become richer, but the richness is already in you. Money
will not necessary make you rich. Money will not help you either. In some cases, for some people, it's
better if you don’t have money; it will destroy you. Not everybody is meant to have everything. Some
people are meant to have some. It's not that what you are meant to have is what you need, or what is
good for you.
Or you’re seeking love from somebody. You feel I found my love, this is it, and then this is not it. This
is it or this is not it. How many times does “this is it” happen? The basic point is you are waiting to
feel love fully from that person, and that’s never going to happen. If somebody is saying some
romantic stories, novels, movies, they are lying. Do you have some friends who are saying, my
relationship is perfect? They are lying. If lying makes you happy, that’s fine. But for sure, I guarantee,
they are lying. It doesn’t happen like that. If they are saying, this is what I’m experiencing, like they
really feel they don’t lack anything in this relationship, that could be very true because something is
shifting, happening in them, not in circumstances. The circumstances are just a place of reflection.
What I’m trying to say here is just don’t wait for somebody to do something, somebody to change.
Even though they might, still it will not be enough for you, because the change needs to happen in
you. Does it make sense? I don’t mean outside circumstances did not have any effect, but we allow
them to affect us. I don’t think we can really blame anybody for being fully responsible.
The conclusion: All the things that you are waiting for – like love, peace, acknowledgment – for all
these you’re waiting to get it from someone, right? Just think about this. Can you begin to practice first
to say to yourself, it’s in me. Küntu Zangpo and the love that I’m seeking from this person is in me, in
my essence. It’s the exercise of life. Say, it’s in me. Maybe the moment you say that, you feel it by
being in yourself. Maybe you don’t feel it, then you say, I know it’s in me, but I cannot feel it; that’s
okay. And if you feel frustration you say, I don’t feel love, but I feel a little frustration; then do what I
have said – recognize and rest. Let that frustration rest, let frustration dissolve, don’t make frustration
talk or engage or do things, don’t do that. Just let it rest. Let it rest, maybe do the 9 Breathings of
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How many times are you not resting, but the frustration is doing something, that frustration is
behaving in a certain way, that frustration is talking, texting? It makes the situation worse. How many
times have you tasted that? You have enough rational reasons to not act. Just recognize that with right
contemplation, reflection. In contrast, you say, maybe I need to love this person; maybe I have not
acknowledged this person enough, maybe I can be a little bit more open to this person. You’re able to
do that, if you’re allowing the frustration to rest and dissolve.
Find that space which you’re experiencing now, that you’ve been witnessing you are changing over
the last few days. Maybe you have not changed enough yet. But what is enough? We talked yesterday
about that. What will happen? You don’t make changes, the changes happen around you, remember?
You not asking somebody to love you, or you not trying to love someone, you’re just having loving
fun conversations. You just recognize, it’s happening. That’s what we want. It’s like breathing, I am
aware and I’m breathing, I’m aware I’m breathing well. If I think about my breath – tomorrow I have
to take 84,000 breaths, my god, my important part tomorrow is 84,000 breaths, I know there will be a
lot of doing to feel my breath, I will try my best to breathe fully – that very moment your breath quality
goes down. Fruition happens spontaneously and effortlessly. You witness. That’s the fruition.
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Thirteenth Nail: Pointing Out the Mandala
The praise: “kün tu zang po rang rik tsa wé lha la chak tsel lo.”
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the intrinsic awareness root deity.”
Again, Küntu Zangpo is referring to our own essence. We’re always referring to that. Remember,
you’re not talking about anybody. “The intrinsic awareness of root deity” is talking about the deity,
root deity; mainly it’s saying the deity that manifests is also you, your essence.
If you think about the love of your life or somebody that you feel that way about, in a way this person
is like a deity. Who is that person? That person is one of the billion people, right? Somehow whatever
karmic situation or condition happens, that you have been born in the same time, same area, same
connection, some connection happens to find you at the right time, right place, in a bar, in the internet,
I don’t know, somehow you make a person somebody. Maybe you love them all of your life. Your
whole existence – who this person is, experiences of who this person is to you, it’s a unique
experience to you. Of course, you have created everything, but hopefully it’s good. You created it and
you are benefiting from it or you are having difficulties with it, but nobody else has any of these
experiences – that has nothing to do with anybody. It’s called personal vision.
Probably you know somebody you don’t like very much, and then his husband or wife says I love this
person, and you think, What? How you can love this person? The good thing is, that you don’t have
the control, that’s why somebody is able to love.
What I’m trying to say here is you create whole experiences. Out of love you create so many
experiences, out of fear you create so many experiences, out of trust you create so many experiences,
out of distrust you create so many experiences with that person. No one else in this world having
experiences of that; hopefully it’s only you, uniquely.
The deities are a little bit like that, if you look at all the deities. Don’t think about appearances. The
artwork in Nepal looks like Nepali, Buddha in Pakistan is skinny, Buddha in China is fat. I don’t
know, where there is more food, Buddha needs more to become; where there’s less food, Buddha
doesn’t need so much to become. Obviously, it’s a reflection of the society; otherwise, Buddha has a
problem with everybody shifting.
You see images of Tapihritsa on different thangkas. If you look carefully at the invocation prayer, it’s
a beautiful prayer full of meaning. It’s a description about truth, the inner deity, the inner essence; it’s
about you. But this Tapihritsa is one manifestation of that historical figure who embodies that quality
and left some knowledge to us. It’s just a support for us. What we really are trying to do is to realize

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that deity within us. That’s what it’s trying to say. This Nail is about discovering the deity within.
Literally, that’s what it means; it’s not metaphorical.
As humans, we love to take photos. It’s kind of interesting, why do we like to take photos? Especially
nowadays when you go to tourist areas, it’s so funny, photographing all the time, it’s amazing.
Sometimes I wonder what the psychology behind of it is. What’s happening there? I mean, one photo
is okay, two photos are okay, but that many, doing like that; what’s happening? We love to see
images. We love to see something. And even if you look at the deities, we like the deity to look like
us; ridiculous, but that’s how it seems to happen. Everybody who draws there, knows it looks like
themselves. Even in the history of art it’s very interesting. First people did not draw, then there were
no images of people, then images looked more frozen, then images looked more active. Someone was
explaining me the history of art; it’s very interesting how history of art evolved. It’s like from
dharmakaya to sambhogakaya to nirmanakaya, this history of art. Its expressions over different
centuries are still right there.
And if you look at the art here, it’s similar. Apart from male and female, it has something to do with
this level of either they are more space or they are more quality or they are more action. It’s similar to
how history marks in different times, but in the Tibetan situation it’s like in one time they always talk
about these three kayas. Some of these deities are more like dharmakaya, some are more like
sambhogakaya, some are more nirmanakaya. We talk about our heart, which is more space; the
channels, which are moving the energy, the qualities; and the doors, actions arising, happening. These
images represent those things.
The text says the mandalas are perfected in our base, and our base is the source from where peaceful,
expansive, powerful, and wrathful deities manifest.
Zhi, jie, wang, drak (?); these four qualities of deities manifest. In a sense these images are more
realistic because this is how things are. For example, sometimes people look at the wrathful image and
say, I don’t like the wrathful image. What a ridiculous statement. Look at your face. You’re looking at
the wall and criticizing, but see the look on your face – I cannot, it’s disgusting, it upsets me, I cannot
meditate. Someone who is saying that, look at their face. They have no idea what’s happening in their
body. This is real. Acknowledge it, acknowledge the discomfort. I think it’s important to recognize the
truth. There’s nothing wrong in what it is. I’m not saying there’s something wrong when you feel what
you’re feeling; it’s a little strange not to be aware and criticize something else, that’s what I’m saying,
otherwise whatever you’re feeling is completely okay.
One important thing it’s saying here is that these experiences – for example, even anger or enthusiasm,
like power – there’s nothing wrong in experiencing them, but the most important part is to be
conscious of it. The most important part is that energy is utilized toward recognition and development
rather than destructive nature. Sometimes it’s good, when you have it, to get angry. Fundamentally if

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you don’t have the root of anger, you’re not missing anything. But if you have it, then it’s good to get
angry. And when you get angry it’s good in the right way. The right way means containing it in the
space of awareness. If you have space you can jump around and go crazy, it’s okay when you’re
protected. But if you’re trying to do the same thing in the bush, there will be some problems. The
container is very important.
Maybe the main core meaning here is that there is nothing wrong in experiencing all the emotions that
we experience in ourselves or all the emotions that somebody is experiencing who’s very close to you,
as long as you’re able to be aware and contain the space; that’s all that matters. For example,
somebody is a little depressed. The depressed person is so much more depressed by looking at the
depression or by feeling hopelessness or by feeling something wrong. The way you analyze, the way
you judge, the way you feel and constantly think about it seems more problematic than the actual
experience itself. If you leave it, even it’s sadness or depression, any experience, if you leave it as it is
for a moment, it seems like a kind of breathing. Just leaving it in a moment of stillness. This is what
we call hosting, right? Just leave it, be aware of it like a mother being aware of the child, be there, but
don’t interfere with it, just let it be. My depression is breathing, my sadness is breathing, my anger is
breathing; I’m not trying to do anything. Containing that space is important.
The bottom line here is the mandala and all the deities of peaceful, expansion, powerful, wrathful are
perfected in the base, awareness, and the warmth, in these three kayas, these three places in us, who
are perfected.
Think about this, for example. You go to the movies, that’s one example. Or you go on a 49-day dark
retreat, that’s another example. Or think of your life, that’s a third example.
When a group of people go to the movies and they come out from the movie, then everybody has a
different opinion, right? And they might have more collective opinion, because they are collectively
energetically similar.
Sometimes I go to the movies with my son and it’s difficult for me to go. Either I go but it does not
make any sense to me and I just go there to sleep, or I will go in to take him and some friends and then
I just go out, because we’re completely in a different world and it does not make any sense to me. And
of course the movie that I would like will not make any sense to him. We are in different states.
You go into the dark room [dark retreat], same thing. Different people go; they come out with
different experiences, completely different experiences.
You have the same experience in your whole life. Somebody is living one life. It does not make any
sense to you, but the life you’re living does not make any sense to somebody. Hopefully, it’s not your
husband or wife, because you’re supposed to have some collective sharing.

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I think the movies is a good example. Think about this: The interesting part is not that Senghe’s movie
is not making sense to me; the interesting part is that my movie is making too much sense to me, that’s
more interesting. Why is the movie I like so important, why is it so real, why is it so meaningful? Why
is his movie not meaningful to me? This is no difference. There are different states. Why is the life
you’re living more important than one somebody else is living? They are equally important.
Everybody’s life is important because everybody’s life is creative with their experiences. What is in
the theater? There are only three things that we call sound, light, and rays. In the movie theater, that’s
all there is. But each person who goes there makes so much sense out of these sound, light, and rays.
That is called vision.
How many people come out of the movie theater and say, Oh, great sound, light, and rays. If
somebody says that, it’s good to make friend with that person; a bodhisattva, high enlightened being
was at the movies because she/he is just seeing the sound, light, and rays. Everybody else goes there
not to see the movie; they go there to see themselves. And they say, horrible. What they are talking
about? They are talking about themselves. They’re not there to see the movie; they go because with
the help of the movie they are experiencing themselves. What a great movie. It’s not the movie, it’s
this experience happening in you. I know, it sounds funny when it comes to the movie, but the whole
thing in life is like that. The issue that you’re working these days, or the person that you are working
on, is like a movie. It’s sound, light, and rays. Everything that this person says is sound; everything
that person does is light; it’s sound, light, and rays, there are pixels. That’s why, when we take photos,
we say it’s a good photo, how many pixels it has, and sound, how many waves there are, whatever you
call that, it’s the same thing. Anyway, pixels, it’s clear, right?
Would you hate pixels of light? I hate those pixel of light. Two pixels, right, three, right, maybe one
million, depends on how those pixels of light looks like; looks like my horrible father. You see, you
project the moment onto something, then you’re seeing yourself in that light. And then that’s what you
hate. You create it.
I know maybe it sounds like physics and quantum physics and so on, but that’s the reality. This is
exactly what this Nail is saying. I’m not making up anything. For me it’s very interesting, especially
this part is very interesting. Sometimes these teachings are difficult to understand for our ordinary
mind, and somehow most of the time even when teachers teach these things, it’s hard to understand.
Why do we have to try to understand? They just kind of repeat the same thing without trying to make
sense out of it. For me, I have to make some sense out of it, that’s my fun part out of it. What does it
mean? It must mean something, of course.
The text says there are three visions, which are sound, light, and rays. It says three great visions, but
basically it’s talking about sound, light, and rays. When awareness, when your consciousness,
encounters the sound, when your consciousness encounters the light, when consciousness encounters

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the rays – don’t worry about the rays, that’s always an issue with questions – it makes something out
of it. What it’s really saying is the life you have is your relation to these sound, light, and rays. Even
the body you have is your relation to the sound, light, and rays; even your organs are your relation to
sound, light, and rays. If your relations to sound, light, and rays can change – or another way to say it
is if your relation to the appearance can change – you can change your body; you can have a new
body, different body. You are the boss, you have control. That’s what it really trying to say. Whatever
we have, we made it.
Let’s try to keep it simple. Let’s look at personal stories like things you are working on. For example,
someone says something, and then you feel, How is it possible this person can say that? If you look at
this line, these words, for you it’s shocking somebody says something like that. In principle that is a
sound, but you feel so hurt that somebody said something like that. Clearly, it’s your pain seeing those
lines, it produced that pain. When we’re in pain we cannot really think clearly, we just take everything
so personally. When you meditate, when you really recognize and rest enough, feel enough space, and
you look at the same line again or listen to the same line again, maybe you begin to see love. We begin
to laugh. You will not cry anymore; you will laugh at the same sound. What it’s saying is that
awareness related to the sound can produce samsaric body or produce enlightened body. Production of
our body or our speech causes our relation to those sounds, lights, and rays. That’s interesting.
You see the shift. You are experiencing a shift in the situation of the person you are working with.
You’re witnessing that, right? Same thing, nothing has changed, but experience is completely
different. You want to know what’s happening? You have a little bit more enlightened body, you have
a little bit more enlightened mind. Instead of anger you’re feeling love. That’s the beauty, I think.
Maybe at the beginning of the retreat your experience of your situation and person was kind of
difficult, negative. Now maybe you feel neutral, maybe you feel good, and you ask yourself: which is
real, the beginning or now? Intellectually you will say: Same. But deep inside you know your feeling
before the retreat was real, and some of you might feel it’s equally real now, and some of you might
feel these are real problems but I’m feeling better, I might be making it up. You’re the creator. You
have infinite possibilities for creation. You can create happiness in places nobody can ever think of
being happy. You can fall in love with things nobody can ever think you can fall in love with. You
will feel such peace in the kind of environment or situation where nobody can ever think anyone could
feel peace. You can.
The only thing is, when we are going crazy, just recognize you are going crazy. I’m going crazy today.
On a crazy day, sing some mantras, just be playful with your craziness just realize you have an option.
I have an option; if I can go crazy, I can also not go crazy. I have an option. Just be a little lighter,
more playful. Even though it’s a little bit intellectual, you can say, It’s just a pixel of light and sound
and I’m just making it very difficult out of these lights. Recognize – rest, recognize – rest. Silence,

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stillness. Not only creating the silence, but enjoying the silence. Not only being still, enjoying the
stillness. Not only feeling open, but enjoying that openness. If you enjoy, you will rest easy, like
taking a nap in a comfortable bed. After this short, good power nap you wake up and feel better.
Recognize – rest.
This chapter is also talking about this idea of yidam. We begin to see peaceful people. We begin to see
creative people. We begin to see powerful people. We begin to perceive these four characters, four
qualities in beings and people. We begin to have a good relation to the four characters of deities as a
higher state of consciousness. You begin to change your world, that’s what this particular chapter is
saying.
Maybe that’s one way to look at it. Am I encountering more and more nice people in my life? Or am I
encountering more and more bad people in my life? Am I encountering more and more happy people
in my life? Or am I encountering more and more depressed people in my life? It’s a good thing maybe
to look at it in this way. If you’re meeting more happy people, nicer people, then there’s something
happening in you.
Every now and then you meet somebody saying, Oh my god, what world am I living in? Horrible,
horrible times, horrible people. If you listen more carefully it feels like this person is saying, I’m the
only one good person left in this world. How can he say something like that? This person is not saying
that, but that is kind of the message –everybody else is just bad; I am the only good one left.
It’s also nice in life, and it’s good to recognize that our world is very limited, our circle is very limited,
our friendships are limited. Try to open this territory and comfort zone more. Try to look at something
good in the people you never think there’s good in. Try to make something happen with somebody
you never think that you can make something happen with. Or try to enjoy somebody you think you
never could enjoy.
Open the dimension and you will be surprised. The world is still beautiful. There are still a lot of very
open people. If you’re open, you will see that. There are a lot of nice people. If you are nice, you will
see that, too. There are a lot generous people. If you’re generous with them, you will see that. But if
you are closed and you’re trying to find open people, it’s a little hard. And if you’re mean and try to
find nice people, it’s a little challenging unless you meet an enlightened being, a Buddha hanging
around somewhere, who does not care about your opinion and is just being nice. He will be nice no
matter what circumstances.
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We were speaking about the Nail 13, “Introduction to the Mandala.” We were talking about mandalas
we probably have seen in Tibetan art. We also talked about the deities – peaceful, expansive,
powerful, and wrathful, zhi, jie, wang, drak – these four characters. You can think about four
characters or four qualities:
• zhi wa means peaceful

• jie pa means expansive, very much like creativity
• wang is power, confidence
• drak po means wrathful or fearless
In the teaching it’s talking it’s about embodying all these qualities in balance equally, fully, not having
one quality but all.
It seems like I always talk about relationships; it seems that’s what people understand the most. Think
about having a partner who is just peaceful without the rest of the four qualities. I’m sure it would be
very good for a person who has spent 30 years with an angry husband, but not good for everybody.
You immediately get bored with this peacefulness. You do need the expansive, creative part. You also
want to feel the sense of power in a person. Or you want to feel that you cannot do everything you
want to do. You don’t want to see your wrathful wife. Wrathfulness also has a good place, so that you
don’t take advantage of each other or nobody takes advantage of anybody, because the power is there.
It has a place. Individually what it’s saying is to recognize yourself, try to embody these four qualities
or full mandala.
Embodying all the qualities is important. It’s not one, it’s all of them. In the wrathful images
sometimes people say, Why this human body is under the feet? That seems very mean. But this body is
the symbol of the ego, and that image is the symbolic meaning of taming the ego. It’s not grinding
some nice, cute, innocent person to pulp.
There’s somebody under the feet of the image of the sleep goddess, right? That will be ignorance.
Obviously, if you have somebody tame under your feet, you don’t want to be that, right? She [the
goddess] is not that. She is the awareness, she is that wisdom. Wisdom awakens and ego is tamed;
that’s what it symbolizes. When we discover these qualities, the presence of awareness is the center of
every manifestation. No matter what manifests you never lose that core quality of the space and
awareness. If you lose the core quality of space and awareness, then the manifestation is not called
enlightened manifestation or sacred manifestation; it’s just another action coming out of ego and pain.
Don’t get too attached to appearances. When you share your experiences of meditation and you say, I
feel free from my fear, basically fear is symbolic of this weak person under your feet, and you’re free.
If you draw it, that’s how you draw it, but it doesn’t mean somebody or your neighbor you put under
the feet. Okay, that’s what it really means.

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In dreams, in dark retreat, in the bardo, when somebody dies, these visions are real, the visions appear
like this. Just imagine how many different dreams you have. If you have to draw your dreams you will
draw something like this, right? You will see deities, you will see demons, you will see all kind of
images, sometimes amazing images, they are there. The images are there, these appearances are there.
They appear actually like this in a dark retreat. People say they see the whole mandala of the deities.
They see all five goddesses or all five Buddha families, because these five characters are the
appearance of their realization of five characteristic qualities of the families, the elemental qualities.
The appearance is there.
What it’s saying here is you will see them in your dreams, you will see them in your dark retreat, or
you will see them in your bardo. Sometimes when people die they see horrific images also. That point
is a question of recognizing them, or maybe even not. When you have a real fight with somebody –
imagine you really hit somebody – how does this person appears to you? Even though it’s a person
who looks like you, like normal, it’s not normal when you see that person. The image, if you have to
draw it, will be quite an ugly one, right? If you draw the energy along with the appearance of that
person, it will be quite horrible. That means in a way you are perceiving that, you are already
experiencing the horrible being in some way. Of course, the person is not that.
These beautiful mandalas, like loving goddesses and mothers and protectors and guardians, also can
appear in the same way when internally the heart, channels, and doors are open.
It’s talking about the five lights: white, green, red, blue, and yellow. These are the typical five defined
colors in these traditions. Five lights it’s called, five lights in terms of the physical sense of five lights;
five lights in the sense of more light, and sometimes five lights in the sense of a state of consciousness.
What it’s saying here is, all the experiences that we are having are a result of the outcome of who
meets these lights. When ignorance meets with lights you’re able to create so many destructive
experiences. When awareness meets with these lights you are able to create so many enlightened
mandalas and deities and a whole pure dimension, whole pure land and individual whole family,
whole community, whole world, whole planet, whole star. Basically it’s saying it’s a creation out of
that connection between awareness and light.
I know all these things don’t make much sense, right? Okay, let’s look at our situation in which it
makes more sense. The situation we have been working with, everything is improving more and more
– yes or no? It’s changing. It’s amazing, right? The same situation has a totally different look, different
experience; not only different, but almost opposite experiences; not lost, it’s a discovery; it’s not lost,
it’s a game; it’s not a failure, it’s success; it’s not sad, it’s a joy. Opposite experience, same situation.
That’s exactly what these texts are trying to say; it’s on personal level, right?

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If you look at your situation, if you say there is no peace, there will be peace, but not with aggression.
There will be peace if you look inward, if you do what we’ve be doing the few days. Simple as that:
recognize, rest; observe, connect from that openness, awareness, and warmth; host or hug. Keep on
doing that, trust, don’t give up. Day by day as you witness already, if you witness here, you will
witness at your home. Maybe you say, at home I don’t have a sangha. That’s why we have a cyber-
sangha. As long as you have this one [cellphone], you have support.
Peace is coming in where there’s no peace, expansion is coming where there’s no expansion, power is
coming where there is no power. Your strengths like fearlessness, wrathfulness, power – sometimes
you need to say something, right? You need to confront, that’s important. But you don’t have to
confront with meanness; you don’t have to confront with weapons; you don’t have to confront with a
knife; you don’t. Mahatma Gandhi did not have any of those things but found independence.
Confronting from that openness, from that awareness, from that warmth is definitely good for
everybody, both sides. Sometimes there are so many stories existing in your head. Not half of those
stories know that person at all. But that happens; unless you tell, you would not know. For example,
there’s a difference between saying something like, What you did or what you said, it really hurts me;
I feel hurt –that’s the truth, and you feel hurt – and saying, You’re bad. That will not work. Nobody
likes to be called bad. Then they will say, I did not hurt you, but now I will. That’s how it goes. That’s
how people build weapons, like they say, I will build weapons faster, and faster weapons, and they
keep on doing that because somebody wants to be the first. When somebody says, What you said hurts
me, everybody feels like, I don’t mean that, I don’t want to hurt you, I’m sorry. And you also are
communicating directly what is a fact, what is real rather than your own frustration and projection and
judgment. You are just saying the truth, and saying it very clearly, directly.
Peaceful, expansive, powerful, wrathful – these four qualities are present in our life everywhere. If you
feel they are not there, you just haven’t found them, so don’t give up. The way to look for it is not
trying to force it but to go deep inside yourself to find it as we’ve been doing. This very typical human
mind, particularly in the Western mind, a sense of like success, wealth, worthiness measured by
material means – stay a little bit less influenced by that. In the dharma it’s important to be less
influenced by that. There is this commitment of I’m willing to tame my ego. That’s the commitment.
And as long as you keep that commitment, to be free is not to possess more, own more. It’s okay to
have that; if somebody is offering you something, is nothing wrong to take it, but not dying for
anything you don’t need. The sense of feeling rich without having anything, feeling powerful without
controlling anybody –that’s what you want. In the world it’s different, power is measured by how
much you can control. Richness and worthiness are measured by how much you possess.

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The conclusion is, it’s Küntu Zangpo –in a deep sense, what you’re looking for is already there in you.
Sometimes you’re not very clear what you are looking for, and then you are going a little off track to
find some troubles. Come back; realize it’s already in you. Then look at that person, your husband,
wife, your partner, boss: Thank you so much. I was always asking from you; I just discover everything
is in me; thank you.
Q: Could you give us examples in relationships. I think wrathful, powerful, creative are all fiery, and
peaceful is like water. I have a problem understanding it in concrete situations.
TWR: There’s a difference between very passive peacefulness and very enlightened peacefulness. If
you think about the peacefulness of Tapihritsa it’s very different than maybe when I’m taking a nap.
Let’s say it this way: In this mandala every single quality has every other single quality, except in
appearance they are different. Tapihritsa and Yeshe Walmo, the most wrathful one – we want to look
more at Tapihritsa and not at Yeshe Walmo. They look very different, right? Tapihritsa exactly has
that quality, and Yeshe Walmo exactly has the quality of Tapihritsa, they have both. But when we get
angry, we don’t have any peaceful quality. We cannot even make a cup of coffee for ourselves.
Let’s talk about the relationship. Imagine, what would be the perfect partner? It would be like a crystal
that is ready to shine all different lights. If it is morning, then it shines the morning light. If it is
evening, it shines the evening light. When it is dark, it goes down and no lights anymore. It always
corresponds to the environment, but in a right amount of energy, right illumination. The perfect couple
will be with persons who will have always just the right amount of peacefulness, and when action is
needed, they do the action. But that is not longtime action, no. When it is needed to quiet down, they
just quiet down in very loving persons – spontaneous, a flexible momentum that is right to the
situation and appearing like this and disappearing like that; like this crystal manifesting the light and
dissolving the light, like that.
So all qualities are there. I’m not talking about what the ideal of partner will be and you think about
somebody else – you can be that person, right, and you wish to be like that, and trying to exercise like
that. You don’t have to be strong all the time, you can be weak. Show your weakness, show your
strength. Be flexible.
If you look in our life some people are very active but very stressful. That means there is no peace.
Action, creativity does not mean not to have peace. Or somebody is very peaceful but they don’t do
anything. Being peaceful does not mean you have to be passive. You can be very engaging, active,
fiery, peaceful; not hurt anybody, not harm anybody. That’s all. Totally opposite qualities are fully
present in each other, that’s the completion of the mandala. That’s important.

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Sometimes people are too peaceful. You don’t want to be too peaceful; you want to get in touch with
your fire, because that fire will be the expression of yourself. It’s not always about money or success;
it’s about expression of yourself. Maybe if you’re lucky, it could be good money making also. When
money is coming, no problem; you can always do something good with the money. But it’s not about
fame, success, money. You are just genuinely being yourself. That’s what living life means, able to
have all qualities.
There are three kayas, right, dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya, so not two kayas,
Nirmanakaya is very important, the manifestation.
Base, path, fruition, there are three, not two, there’s fruition.
Heart, channels, and senses doors, there’s a door.
Many times the third part is blocked for many people. But in a way, expressions are like breath of the
core. When you’re expressing it – for example if I’m feeling love or something like that – if I express
it then I can feel more, because expression is like breathing. But if I’m not saying anything, I’m going
like that [Rinpoche showing breathing blocked], how can I feel more when it’s not breathing? So it’s
important. Maybe the reason why we don’t feel enough is because we are not expressing enough.
For example, if you love somebody, have you said enough, expressed yourself clear enough? Or if you
appreciate somebody, have you shared appreciation enough? If you enjoy something in your life, did
you create an environment, situation to enjoy it? If you are enjoying a cup of tea, did you really spend
time just drinking a cup of tea? You have to spend some time with your cup in order to drink tea,
right?
For experience, do you make enough time, energy for the expression part, experiencing part of that?
That is the breathing of joy of life. The more you do that, the more it will happen to you.
There is also a causal relationship among these four qualities, like peaceful is very, very important in
order to be creative. Real creativity comes from peace. When you are quiet, when you feel open, when
you relax, when you’re rested, then the creative fire comes. Many times in modern society there is so
much lack of genuine creativity because there is so much exhaustion. There is not enough rest. People
don’t take a nap, people don’t sleep enough, people don’t move their body enough, they don’t eat
healthy enough; there is a lack of genuine creativity.
I’m not talking about genuine creativity again in terms of numbers of product and outcome. Genuine
creativity means something about inner realization, which is obviously good for the world and for
yourself. That comes from peace. Peace helps expansion. When you feel expansion, when you feel
creative, when you feel what you are good at, you natural feel powerful. You feel, I have a place in the
world and doing what I know I’m doing, I’m doing things good; it’s working, because then you feel

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the power. Once you feel powerful, nobody will mess up with you. When I need to be wrathful, I can
be, but don’t take advantage of my peacefulness. Each one gives birth to the next one. And sometimes
you can see if you look into yourself, you might have a lot of one and you’re missing the other one,
while they are not connected to each other. That’s why we were saying the connections are important.
In conclusion: The right quality in the right amount in the right place in the right time will manifest in
your life if you are connected to yourself, because all these four qualities are equally, fully perfected in
yourself. I think it’s good to know there are these four things. If somebody is a very peaceful person
who has been peaceful for the last 30 years, it’s good to know there are three more things; or the other
way around, if you are living wrathfully for 30 years it’s good to know there are three other things.
------------
This metaphor [Rinpoche used this metaphor in a guided meditation before] of space being the soil,
and the quality being the flower, and awareness being the nourishing element, I think it’s a good
metaphor. Try to nourish the quality which is not strong enough, and want something that you wish to
have; the seeds are there.
Like this example of a flower [Rinpoche puts a vase with a flower in front of his table]; you remember
that [Rinpoche shows the flashlight of his cellphone in his hand]. Imagine this is your quality [the
flower]. The space in your heart is the base [the vase]. Space could be the whole being, whole
universe, and space can be in your heart. Be aware and present. Suddenly you see a quality [flower], a
sense of deep peace, and then that moment when you feel it, be aware of it. This is your awareness
[flashlight of cellphone], light – awareness means light and contact – light-contact with this
experience. But if this awareness begins to analyze this, it will disappear. This is the power of
presence.
This example of earth, water, fire, air, space is not metaphorical only, I mean, I’m using it as a
metaphor, but in the teachings, they do talk about these five lights. Five lights are like energy in that
space is not just empty space; space is empty of matter maybe, but full of energy. Space is always full,
it’s not empty in one way. In one way it’s 99.9 percent empty; but on the other hand, it’s always full.
We say there’s dynamic energy of all the lights. That’s why these lights are forming the experience of
peace. And this awareness [Rinpoche switches on the light of cellphone] is a perceiver, it caches that
[the flower/peace] and makes contact, connection, feeling. The longer you can maintain this
connection, the more familiar you become; the more familiar you become, the more earthy, more
concrete, more strong it becomes.
This is also true in every relationship. You cannot love somebody if you are not open. Space is the
base of love. But if you love somebody, awareness of love is equally important to nourish the love.
You feel it, feel it more, feel it deeper, feel it longer, feel it more frequently. Maybe in the beginning

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it’s a little bit of effort and you have to remember. Then maybe at some point you don’t have to
remember, that’s who you are. You are the full manifestation of love of that relationship. It’s not like
you have the love; you are the love. Sometimes people say something like, You are the light of my life.
The flower is saying, You are the light of my life, which is true. For one who is aware of the other
person and makes true connection, this awareness is the light. It makes complete sense to say, You see
the best of me – my light. The good relationship is like this light.
When awareness meets anything, it illuminates everything. Right? [Rinpoche moves around the
flashlight of his cellphone]. When awareness meets with anything, it illuminates all those things, even
dark objects. It illuminates, there’s a light in this darkness. Wherever it touches, it illuminates.
Your awareness, your presence, is exactly the same. I encourage every therapist to do this – when your
patient comes, don’t get into analyzing somebody too much, just be present. You have learned enough
in school, you have written enough, red enough papers, analyzed enough. For a moment, stop
analyzing somebody. The moment somebody comes in, immediately give up putting them in
categories; don’t do that. Just one pure being is coming in your room. Just hold that space, just be
present, whoever this person is. Be this light. When the person comes, what will the person see? Not
the therapist; he will see the light inside. Usually this therapist immediately begins to judge this
person: My god, I’ve been seeing this person for last 10 years, never changes. Right? I’m not saying
you do that. In case you do, that is not this light; that is the darkness we are putting on somebody who
seeks the light. Be conscious of that. You don’t have to have a skill, but you can be present. When
only presence is there, it’s good enough. Being present is good enough. It’s not only for therapists,
also your partner, your husband, your wife, friends, strangers, people who criticize you – be the light.
It will illuminate them.
------------
This is the end of our retreat. A goal was to transform that challenging situation or person. I don’t
know where we stand, but I hope that we had good progress.
The whole idea of these 21 Nails is saying: Küntu Zangpo, Samantabhadra, all good. All Nails are
about Küntu Zangpo, each and every Nail is Küntu Zangpo, and all these notions of Küntu Zangpo are
within us here and now.
The base is here, the path is here, the fruition is here; dharmakaya is here, sambhogakaya is here,
nirmanakaya is here, all three kayas are here. Actually, the line in the invocation of Tapihritsa, that
somebody was questioning, relates to that--may Tapihritsa help us to recognize all these three
dimensions or three kayas right here within us; may I recognize; help me to recognize.
This sense of everything is okay in every given moment, that’s what we’re trying to realize. The
moment, the situation, the person, we thought was very difficult or not okay, you see begin to shift,

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shift or change or change completely, you witness that, right? You personally witness that; that’s very
important. If you can do one, you can do all. If one bamboo is empty, all the bamboos are empty; you
don’t need to cut all of them.
We talked about these three things –base, path, fruition; je, lam, and dewo.
It’s important in dzogchen in your own development to try to recognize, are you connected with all
three of them? Sometimes there is lack of manifestation. For example, you might be very open, and as
a result of that maybe you do feel love, but what about the expression of love? Maybe you don’t feel
enough in your body, in your breathing, in your imagination, in your creativity, in your action, in your
communication. You don’t see enough, feel enough, express enough love, it’s not colorful enough. Of
course, you say, I love you, but it’s not manifested. The manifestation is very important. Pay attention
to that. Sometimes maybe you don’t know what to do. In those cases we pray. I don’t know what to do,
so may I manifest my qualities.
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It’s very important to sing and recite the SA LE Ö mantra. In particular, it’s very important when, for
example, there are moments in our life we’re trying to do everything and nothing seems working. Or
when we’re trying to talk and communicate and nobody seems to understand you or you don’t
understand yourself. Or when all the actions of the body are not really working because everything
you are doing is from disconnectedness and you cannot find a way of doing from the connectedness.
Everything you’re saying, imagining, you’re kind of circling in that darkness of the pain speech.
Everything you’re imagining, thinking, is always so much caught up with that pain mind. There’s
nothing happening. In those moments even meditation does not work. In those cases just remember to
recite the mantra and to sing the mantra. Even in the night before you go to sleep, just play a few
times, that’s your sleeping music. Remember space, awareness, warmth, all these qualities, remember,
and just go to sleep. Or when you’re very sad or you don’t know what to do, either, if it’s possible sing
or play the recording – you all have phone and earphone – and sing together. Or if you not feel good
enough to sing, at least you can listen. I think in those moments this mantra is very helpful. Definitely
it will clear negativity, clear thoughts, clear sadness and confusion.
When you sing A OM HUNG, it’s good to have a good relationship with these syllables, not just the
melody but the meaning. The meaning of it you can find in our booklet. It says, A OM HUNG
represents the three kayas. This is what we’ve been talking about during the teaching and also in the
invocation of Tapihritsa. What does that mean? What that means is you can see differently.

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When you sing A you can imagine white light comes to you from all enlightened beings, enters in your
body, expands in your body, clearing this pain body into a body of eternal light. We say it’s the
blessing and empowerment of the body – that’s the light you’re receiving, if you want to receive.
Of course, it is better if you don’t receive, if you discover that you are already that. This means when
you sing A, you’re not receiving, you are being aware of who you are. You’re aware of that unbounded
body, eternal body, dharmakaya. A – that’s the relationship you want.
And the same way with OM. Sometimes when you’re weak, when you feel you need help, support,
then you’re receiving the red light empowerment to your speech. If you don’t know what to say,
communication is not working, just sing OM and feel the silence, the blessing of silence, the blessing
of clear communication, kind communication, warm communication; just sing OM, feeling silence,
feeling clear within your throat.
Then HUNG, same thing; sing HUNG, blue light is coming to your heart, enters in your heart. Or your
heart is open and you feel so much presence of warmth in your heart the moment you sing HUNG.
When you’re singing these three syllables - A OM HUNG - basically you are awakening your body,
speech, and mind or you are receiving blessing to awaken your body, speech and mind. No matter
which your way is, you have a clear relationship to that. Then it’s more fun; otherwise, it’s like going
to a concert and singing A OM Hung. That’s fine too, but it’s better to have a good relationship.
When the syllables are written on prayer flags and the prayer flag is waving with the wind outside
your house, it’s supposed to have impact on the environment, and everybody who sees it, feels it.
Of course, if you’re listening to the mantra, you definitely have an impact. If you’re singing it without
even understanding it, you still have impact. Possibly you will find help, but, obviously, it will help
much more when you understand and when you engage. That’s why we talk about the impact of all
these syllables and the meaning of each of these syllables.
If you are suffering, it basically means you have closed up, you’re not connected, you don’t feel your
warmth, you don’t feel your qualities – that’s what suffering means, right? The impact of this mantra
means, regardless if you understand or not, it’s opening you, opening the situation, opening your heart,
opening somebody else’s heart. There’s awareness, there’s more warmth, there’s more love, more joy.
With this A A, this sense of confidence of ceaseless-birthless, all these qualities are slowly coming in
your life. That’s what impact means. These qualities are the impact.
When this mantra is humming in your head, all your other thoughts are not there, it just replaces them.
So keep like that. Sometimes just play a little bit before you go to sleep, just hearing it is fine.
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We do the dedication. Let me say just a few words about the Inner Refuge Dedication.
“May I attain great confidence in the three refuges.“ We are referring to that as our own inner
essence, the three refuges:
• Unbounded space, unconditional space, sacred space. This is in us, our base. Remember we
talked in the teaching about base. That’s the base.
• Second, the infinite awareness, the rigpa, light, that’s what it’s referring to.
• Third, the warmth, like manifestation, it’s referring to; manifesting the quality of inner
warmth.
These are fundamental qualities of who we are. They are inside ourselves. So we say, May I have
confidence. For example, when I feel this vast openness – fearless, unconditioned, selfless – may I
have confidence, may I trust this. That’s what it’s saying. Confidence means that.
“May my experiences and realization of the wisdom of the three doors increase.” Experiences and
realization – we are connecting with our body, experiencing stillness; connecting with our speech,
experiencing silence; connecting with our heart/mind, experiencing openness. These are experiences.
One can have deep, deep awakening experiences, and these experiences come from realization of three
qualities. When you realize space, you can have all the experiences of that realization. When you
realize silence, then there will be a lot of experiences of that silence. Experience and realization –
imagine like in Awakening the Luminous Mind, Awakening the Sacred Body, Tibetan Sound Healing.
Think that these three books are like body, speech and mind. All the experiences from these three
doors and from the teachings of these three books, and many more books, may they increase in me,
this is what it’s saying.
“In purifying the three poisons” – ignorance, aversion, attachment – “may I obtain the three bodies.”
These relate to the three inner refuges and the three doors; these three correspond to each other.
And the most important line: “In liberating my own being, may I benefit others.” It really means, I’m
willing to self-reflect. Every situation we always look out, always look at somebody, always at
somebody’s weakness, somebody’s error, somebody’s mistake. That’s a very human weakness, not
only looking like that but also being affected by that. No matter what difficult circumstances there are,
attacking somebody is never really an ultimate solution. Self-reflecting and then finding some solution
to do what is necessary is a better solution.
“Liberating my own being”, taking care of my own ignorance, my own anger, may I benefit or love
somebody; taking care of my own anger, may I love somebody. Recognizing my own closedness, can
I open to somebody, and allow somebody else to open to me, starting with recognizing my own
closedness? Most of the time it’s very easy to notice somebody is closed, but it’s not easy to know that

117
you are closed. Being genuinely interested in it, that’s the important part. Sometimes maybe there is
nothing much to do. There are some places in life you are just closed. I know myself, in some
situations I’m closed and then I’m aware of it. But I also know that is not where I want to be. One
thing for sure – I will not close more. I pray to open. When I do the dedication, “liberating my own
being” – I’m closed, I know I’m closed, I pray, may I open, may I be helpful in a situation. Just giving
intention, praying like that, will be very powerful, because somehow it keeps you on the right track.
Even you’re lost, you still need to be on the right track.

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119
Twenty-One Nails
Summary of the Teachings
(Part 4) in 2018
1
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
2
Preface
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.
3
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.
4
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.
5
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
7
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.
8
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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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.
14
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]
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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)

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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
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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]
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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
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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?
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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.
Freeing them into the vastness is the path.
Non-duality is the realization.
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
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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
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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.
Viewing them as something wrong is mistaken.
Freeing them into vastness is the path. That’s the dissolution of the stories.
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.
Freeing these five poison stories into vastness is the path.
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
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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
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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
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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
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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

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

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
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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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Twenty-One Nails
Summary of the Teachings
(Part 5) in 2019
1
Content
Preface 3
Reviewing the Fifteenth Nail - Profound Certainty, the Unification of Mother and Son 4
Sixteenth Nail - Transcendent Equanimity 17
Seventeenth Nail - Reaching the Ultimate Dissolution 23
Eighteenth Nail - Bodhicitta at the Time of Death 37
Teachings on Different Topics 42
- Commentary on the Meditation on Exhaustion 42
- Some Important Aspects of our Practice 47
- What is the issue? - Doing it personalized 51
- Important Points to Remember 55
- Questions – Answers 57
- Reflections on the Practice 63
Nineteenth Nail - The Time of the Bardo 66
Twentieth Nail ~ Dispelling the Extreme Misconceptions 73
Twenty-first Nail ~ Manifesting the Result 81
2
Preface
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, in 2017 up to the Thirteenth Nail, and in 2018 continued to the Fifteenth Nail.
This handout summarizes Rinpoche’s teachings on the last chapters of the Twenty-one Nails in
2019.
The Summary is based on transcripts of recordings of the retreat 2019 in Buchenau and
contains, selected by the editor, a compilation of direct quotations of Rinpoche’s teachings if not
marked differently.
3
Reviewing the Fifteenth Nail ~ Profound Certainty, the Unification of Mother and Son
Good morning, everybody welcome. I’m very happy to be here. After year after year everything
is very familiar, my room and the place. And that is also wonderful, because it’s effortless. Every
new thing is very effortful. Some of you been following over twenty-five years, maybe more.
Some of you maybe just first time came here. So, I want to welcome all of you, even the people
in between. I also want to welcome Geshe Sherab Lodoe and Dr. Sangmo Yangrila, both. We
had a nice train ride yesterday and good conversations. So, it’s a wonderful opportunity for all of
you to also interact with them. They gonna have every evening diner together with the group.
So, now to the Twenty-one Nails. Oliver reminded me it’s the fifteenth Nail we finished, and
we’re supposed to start with the sixteenth, but I think I will go back to the fifteenth.
So, first we will all say the line after me:
“kün tu zang po bak chak drip pa me la chak tsel lo”
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo who is without obscurations of karmic tendencies.”
So, this is the Fifteenth Nail. I just say a few words in the beginning, because some of you are
completely new here or not much familiar with this cycle of teaching.
This is a cycle of teaching of Dzogchen, the great perfection, from ancient tradition of Tibet.
Great perfection is referring to our own essence. Great in this meaning is, that everything, all,
without bias or separation is perfected in us as who we are. So, the teaching of perfection is to
realize this essence of ours. So, the core is to self-realize. It’s not about Tibet, it’s not about the
Tibetan culture, it’s not about religion, Buddhism, particular things, it’s about self-realization
which happen to come through this cycle of teaching from ancient Tibet.
So, here we are all together really trying to understand ourselves. We have been trying to
understand ourselves for very long time and we are still continuing. The reason why sometimes
it takes very long time to understand who we are, is because we’re always identifying with who
we are not, that’s why it takes long time. And our journey is: try again. And hopefully one day we
will exhaust all the one who we are not, and then we will just be exhausted completely and who
we are. Rest.
And Küntu Zangpo as in the homage here is referring to, Küntu Zangpo is like the image here of
Tapihritsa, we have many images of Tapihritsa here, Tapihritsa is also one essence with
Samantabhadra, Küntu Zangpo, which represents internally our essence. In the sky, naked,
luminous, that means pure, primordially pure, unobscured, and that’s how who we are; our true
essence is like that. Even though we go through a lot of experiences, through a lot of ups and
downs, lot of stories, but deep inside it is pure. No matter how big story you have, in the end of
the day do not make too big out of it. In the face of earth, in the face of universe this story is
nothing. Nobody cares, and one day there will not even be any trace. So, do not make too big
deal out of it, even though it feels very big. So, that is the Küntu Zangpo. For all of us in this
teaching we’re always trying to remember that, trying to connect with the images, enlightened
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beings, the lineage, the prayers, the mantras, dedication, supporting each other, invite nature
environments.
So, this Küntu Zangpo is without obscurations of karmic tendencies, it’s pure, it’s clean. The
experiences of karmic tendencies are arising as manifestations, but it’s not affected by the
tendency and experiences, and to recognize that. So, it’s similar in our everyday life, whatever
things are going on in your life, whatever experiences you are having in your life including big
experiences like birth and death, but deep inside there is no birth and death, deep inside there
is not any impure, there’s just the pure single essence, it’s beyond obscurations of karmic
tendencies. It’s like breathing in and out. When you breathe out, haaa, you can call it dead, and
when you breath in you can call it alive. So, every few seconds you’re alive and dead, you’re
alive and dead, alive, and dead; do you want to suffer very much in between? How much stories
do you want to have in between? So, it’s like that, just a little longer version of that. It’s a cycle.
So, our essence is not affected by these experiences. It’s Without karmic tendencies, without
karmic traces, without karmic seeds, without karma, whatever you want to call it.
chak tsel lo means, I pay homage, I prostrate. And that is very important. Why we prostrate, why
we pay homage, why it’s important? Because that source is very important, and always
remembering that Küntu Zangpo is within us, that Buddha is within us, that true essence is
within us, the source of healing is within us, the source of power is within us, the source of joy is
within us, the source of solution is within us. That source is within us. That is important to
remember. Therefore, we value ourselves, because inside us the source exists. That is really
important to remember. Just ask yourself, how often in your life last forty years, fifty years, sixty
years, thirty years, twenty years you remembered like that? The source is within us, I’m so
happy. How many times? Have you ever called somebody, saying, I have really a special
message for you, the source is within us. I’m so excited, you know, I have the solution. The
solution is within me. How often have you ever called anybody because of that? Or have you
ever woken up in the morning and felt that and walked whole day with a smiling? I hope, yes. Or
I hope soon that will be more frequently. But what we do know, is, very often we wake up in the
morning and we realize, oh, I have another problem. I just got rid of one, now I just have another
one, and I know the other one is also coming soon. It looks like a god and the universe have
appointed you to count your problems. Stop counting because there will be no end. If it’s going
to end, then it makes sense to count, you know end will come up in some numbers. So, that is
what it means here, without obscurations of karmic tendency.
On the other hand, in a very simple way, the way I look at it, the universe and the whole life
looks like just it’s always about flowing through energy of life. For simple example, the weather.
How many times you have been looking for the weather in Buchenau for the last couple of
years? I know some of you are looking for a lot. What you’re going to do? Does it any help you
to look frequently? It’s going to be what it’s going to be. I just give an example. This is not a big
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deal, but that’s how we live our life. The most important thing is, it’s not the weather to say, I’m
going to enjoy it regardless.
I went to a walk this morning and it seemed it might rain, and there was just a little moment I
wished it will not rain to my walk, a little thought. Then I thought myself, what a big deal, if it will
rain, my jacket will become wet, it needs cleaning anyway. I went to my regular place - every
year when I come here, every morning I walk to the gas station from here to get my morning
coffee there. So, this guy there knows, every day I come there just to get my coffee. And just
walking one mile and half or two and half kilometers, and then coffee is very special coffee. You
have to earn it. Of course, when somebody brings me a coffee, that’s fine, it’s nice too, but that
one is a special. So, you kind to have to even enjoy through your suffering. You know we don’t
even have to call it suffering, I don’t like the word suffering, maybe it’s discomfort; enjoy your
discomfort. So, what I’m saying, is, life is a flow of energy. The weather, seasons, climate,
politics, social issues, family relationships, personal experiences of life going through stuff – all
basically looks like just energy. But the question is, are you going against it, or you are flowing
through it? That’s the big question. Or you’re enjoying even it’s not what you wish? End of that,
that will define your life. Because if you go against the energy, against the natural law, against
the natural patterns of your body, against the natural patterns of your breath, you will go sick,
you will not feel good. Why? Because you going to lose energy. You lose by fighting, by going
against the flow. But we say, ok, I go against the flow because that’s what I don’t want. But
unfortunately, you don’t know, what you want. That’s the problem. Maybe what is happening to
you in your life is what you want. In many cases it is what you want, and if you work with that,
you have so much to gain from it, you have so much to learn from it, you have so much to grow
through it, and it’s definitely perfect for you, because that’s what universe is giving in that
particular moment in your life, that’s the flow of the life. Not fight.
Or people can say, oh, I have to fight to find a solution. Yes, sometimes that’s what people
believe, but sometimes people don’t believe in fighting to find a solution. Mahatma Gandhi got
Indian’s independence without even a knife. Or people trying to feel to have harmony and peace
in the world, with nuclear weapons there’s no peace. So, peace is not coming out of powerful
weapons or big wars, it’s coming out of realization. And every enlightened being, every master,
saints, who achieved that ultimate peace, it came out of that realization not by struggling, but by
realizing. Maybe sometimes you feel, no, no, I get the point, but still, you know, you have no
idea of my situation, in this case I need to fight. I see some invisible hands, so, ok, I agree with
you then. I mean, I don’t agree as me, I will agree with you as you, so, I agree with you. But
even then, you need to have some realization to be more clear to bring the transformation and
peace without harm. Then there will be a solution.
Tsering, my wife, and I, we were watching a documentary, I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s
about forgiveness. And one of the stories about forgiveness, I had mentioned this before also,
that this woman from Virginia, her husband and her daughter was killed in a Mumbai incident,
6
and she went back to visit this guy who killed, and she was trying to support and help. Anger
and punishment, forget about, but she was going there with her own expense to help him and
victims like that, many people who do those kinds of things, and people who went through those
kinds of things for bringing some sense of – so it’s quite amazing this documentary. So, if
somebody can forgive when somebody killed your husband and only child, I think, probably we
can forget many things, what we think, we cannot forgive. The only thing is, deep inside you,
you have to remember this voice saying, I cannot forgive this one. And you just have to hear
that voice from the stillness, silence, and spaciousness, and from the stillness, silence and
spaciousness you say, no, I can. That’s the seed, you have to plant. You have to hear that
sound which says, no, I cannot forgive. And you also have to realize, oh, I’ve been saying this
for a long time. And when you hear it, then you go deep in sense of this confidence powerful
place within you and saying, yes, I can, yes, I will. And then opens up completely another
source of power and ability to transform and transcend sufferings of your own and others and
collective.
So, this main point here is realizing the flow of the universe, flow of life, flowing through it rather
than working against it; that’s the main point I try to discuss. Every problem when it happens, it
should be the beginning of resolving the problem; every suffering should be the beginning of
clearing the suffering; every war, every struggle should be the beginning of peace. Only when
we realize it, not every problem is the beginning of a bigger problem. Every conflict is the
beginning of a bigger conflict, that’s how sometimes life seems like, when we don’t handle it
right. Because we are working with effort, we are working with our pain and pain identity.
In the last couple of months during my spring trip and also on Facebook live I’ve been speaking
about “deep rest and spontaneous action”, and that directly corresponds to these teachings. It’s
saying how you’re exhausting yourself by fighting, by not accepting, by getting confused - all
these efforts how long you’re being doing this? Or how long you’re being doing what you’re
doing without knowing what you’re doing, or maybe even you don’t know it’s not needed to do?
For long time. That’s why we are getting exhausted. That’s why we are losing battery like a
phone drains. When you say you have a problem with your phone, it drains very fast, it’s a
problem, right? You charge it and then immediately it finishes. Phone is not a big problem, but if
you are like that, Apple is not going to fix it. There’s no upgrade ten, ten-x and so on, it’s just
you are getting worse every year, every fall, when the new Apple comes.
So, the main point for each one of us here is just whatever the current life, this moment, what’s
happening in your life, that’s important. Where is all your effort going? A very important
question. Of course, sometimes when we talk about these things, it looks like we’re talking
something about philosophy, something about Dzogchen, something about somebody, but it’s
not about me at all. But it’s about you. Of course, it’s about me also, but as a teacher in this
7
point I be in the role to say it’s about you. I finger point to each of you. With your inner voice you
can say, it’s also about you, but it’s better to not say that. If you want to get more help from me,
better do not say that. You can say it in a different time, but not in this particular case, because
then you are going against the medicine.
Western mind and Asian Tibetan mind work a little bit different. I watched a movie with some
Tibetans and some Western Americans, and in this movie a wife and her husband go to a Lama
and the wife is saying, my husband has a drinking problem. And so, the Lama give advice to
him: Ok, it’s ok, have a balance, stop drinking slowly, and everything will be fine. That was it.
And then the person, who were watching with me, asked, what kind of advice that is, that they
know already. No, it’s not true, they don’t know that. I mean, they know intellectually, but when
this Lama says that both, the wife, and husband go like: Yes, yes. Their heart is really open,
they are fully open to receive this message. And of course, it’s going to change that. The
information – you can google it, but here it’s coming from the right place. It’s the right place,
because they have a right relationship with that, the person has a special relationship, some
kind of respect to that. That’s making the power or the energy work.
Ok, so, what’s happening in your life? Means, how you are going against the flow? How much
you are draining yourself? How much you are losing your energy? Whatever - business,
professionally?
I saw a friend of mine, one of the most joyful face one day when he accepted his failure of his
business. I thought he had succeeded, and he said, no, no, I realized, it just not works anymore.
Not everything works in life, and it’s completely ok, not everything works. And you don’t want to
waste your time in what is not working, because there are so many things waiting for you ready
to work. Same way in relationship. Same way in our aging; you realize looking on the old
photos, at least some of your mean friends remind you that: “Is that you? You are aged.” As if
they are not. And you look at them: “And you’re telling me that.” You’re just being kind and don’t
saying any comment, because you can make comments also. That’s fine.
So, recognizing that, I mean, that’s the main point. Key point here is recognizing the flow of the
energy of the universe in life and recognizing how much we are going against it, not really trying
to realize it and liberate it, but going against it and get stuck.
----------
So, now there are five [of six] main points in the Nail 15 in relationship to that. It’s about deep
rest or deep resting in five places.
First one, it says: “tong sel nam kha zhi”. The clear and empty sky is the base.
Basically, it’s like a boundless clear sky. Sky, spacious, blue sky, resting in the sky. Like all
these displays of elements, the dance of elements, but deep inside they are all resting in the
sky, this sense of deep rest in the sky. Or everything what arises, like all the energies of the
elements are energy; do not chasing them, if you chase them, it’s a delusion. When you look at
8
them as an error, it’s mistaken. When you leave them as they are, in that moment being with it,
flowing with it, it’s the method. Liberating that energy in being is the method. And when realizing
that liberation is one single essence within one’s own true nature, that’s the realization. For
example – I always give this example - people who live in the mountain they go to holiday on
the beach, and the beach people go to holyday in the mountains. City people go on holyday in
the countryside. Country people go to holiday in the city. I have a very much personal
experience with that. Living whole entire live in the monastery, first time I’m coming out in the
West was in 1983. We arrived in Paris to do our Cham Lama dance. The next day they took us
in a farm, showed us pigs, cows, milk. I said: “This is what we have in our everyday live. So,
after the second day in Paris, first time in our live in the West, you show us pigs again. Is it
really true our pig karma?” So, we need to explore a different world, but in the end of course you
have to accept. What I’m saying here is, try to be where you are. Enjoy. Think about your own
beautiful home or apartment, house, if you have to rent that, how much you’re going to pay
every day for your house? A few hundred Euros every day, right? If somebody else rent this for
like Airbnb. So, think about I am for holiday in this beautiful new house, I don’t know whom it
belongs to. The new person will be able to enjoy the holiday and not the old painful looking at
what’s wrong with that house all the time.
The Berlin sangha made this short video, remember? What it’s called? – “Be a tourist.” – So, the
issue was this, be a tourist. So, be a tourist at your own home, when you cannot travel to
somewhere else, or you don’t have the time or energy, just be a tourist in your home, because
that’s where you are. Be there, enjoy it, not trying to be somewhere else. Of course, you can do
that, but I’m saying, if you cannot and then trying to be somewhere else, not do that. Or in
relationship, same way. You are with someone, be with that person. When you’re with someone
it’s the beginning of deepening the relationship not wondering about the relationship. It’s like an
ocean of love. We just begin from the surface. The deeper experiences you will have more
when you’re not always conditioned by things.
Ok, let’s go to the second one here. The second resting place it says:
“jar me ye she zhi”. Actionless primordial wisdom is the base.
Non-action, stillness - I mean, this is what I use in a very simple way, stillness. And the teaching
here says: jar me ye she; actionless primordial wisdom is the base. It’s a very complicated way
of saying stillness. Ok, a very sophisticated way of saying stillness. It relates to all the activities,
basically all the activities. How much activity you do in your life? A very simple question to each
one of you. How many activities you do in your life? And I know, I do a lot. But I also know very
well, that when you do it from the right place, they charge you, they don’t drain you. When you
do things what you have, it’s easier. Understanding your resources, recognizing. If I have a cup
of green tea here this moment, then I’m enjoying my green tea instead of thinking, cappuccino.
That’s the beginning of my suffering. Or what you are doing in your life which seems like
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stressful, either it’s your work, family, whatever it is, even something that you’re trying to have
fun, it’s stressful fun. There are people they go to play golf [with stressed expression in their
face] or they are jogging [with a face like this], you know, it doesn’t matter, what they are doing,
even in the name of joy they are suffering. And there are other people, who quite peacefully,
gracefully suffer, joyfully even sometimes. My point here more personal saying is what actions –
ja wa na tso – actions that you’re doing this moment in your life are draining you. You are
looking at yourself, right? Not your husband or your wife. They all have problems, my brother,
my sister, my husband, my wife, I don’t know, everybody else, me, I am Samantabhadra. So,
I’m talking not about anybody, I’m talking about you.
What is it? So, there are two solutions, right, at that stressful thing what you are doing, actions
that you are doing. First, it’s very possible that you don’t have to do it. Unfortunately, you
waisted so many years by doing it without knowing, you don’t have to do it. So, wisdom is
always ok, never too late. This is the wake to stop that. You don’t have to do it. So, your journey
is to realize, you really don’t have to do it. You’re free. – I’m free, I’m free, I’m free. Am I free?
Yes, I’m free. Are you sure? Yes, I’m free. – You’re free, you don’t have to do it. Or maybe
you’re thinking, what, what, no, I do have to do it. This is the purpose of my life. This my
soulmate. This is my livelihood. This is my only friend. This is my only opportunity. I don’t know,
whatever good reasons you have. – Ok, if that is the case, then you don’t have to suffer that
much. You can do it joyful, but you need a rest. So, don’t stop doing it, but take a break to do it.
Take a long, good break. Could be one year, could be six months, could be one month, could
be, I don’t know, one week, hopefully not shorter than that. Just take a break, complete break.
Even phone needs a break, computer needs a break, car needs a break, mechanical things
need a break, we humans need a break. Sleep for days or lay down on the beach for days, walk
in the forest for hours. Take a break.
That’s what it’s saying: “ja wa na tsok tsel”; then you will realize, every activity is like energy.
They all are like energy, there is goodness in everything. So, ja wa na tsok tsel, all activities, all
events are your ornament, energy.
So, in short: After you take a long break, if you are the one who wants to continue, after you
take a long break, you might realize, your problem is not your problem. Your problem is your
solution, your problem is your door, your problem is your resource. Absolutely. Because
problems are truly like that. And if you don’t believe it, and you say: oh, what about this problem,
then think about this woman’s problem, the guy who killed her husband and her only daughter
became the cause of compassion and love. Think about that. She did not need to become more
angry in her life. She did not need to become more depressed in her life. She did not need to
hate more in her life. It was completely opposite. She found peace; she found a purpose of her
life. When I saw this documentary interview - I met her, one time she asked me to come and we
met and she wanted to share her experience, but when I saw her in the documentary – that was
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probably a few years after – I saw, it seems she found the purpose of her life. All the gifts that
we have, unless we realize, there are no gifts, even so-called good ones, because sometimes
they become the cause of laziness. I will not say, she will become lazy, but I don’t know how
she will be, you know, husband is there, wife is there, everything is perfect, I don’t know, how in
terms of deep personal growth will it be as it is right now or not. That’s a good question. But
usually, these challenges can really help. So, what I’m saying in short, what is your challenge
can totally change you and transform you, your life, which you’re going against, not realizing,
and using it.
Next one is the speech. I still continue to talk about the deep rest. Deep resting in the stillness,
and then next one is the deep resting in the silence.
“jö me ye she zhi”; the translation says: “The speechless primordial wisdom is the base.” So,
silence is the wisdom of the base.
Every speech is energy of that silence. On a very practical level: Every speech, something you
said, something you’re supposed you should not have said is also like energy. Or something
somebody said only one time, but you are saying it many times still. You know, what I’m saying?
Somebody said something bad to you, one time, and this person don’t even remember it, but
you – oh my god, when I was at that age, at that place this person was so mean and said that to
me. – The speech, alive, affecting you. So, these are the voices in your head. Somebody said
something or you said something, or something happened, that’s the energy, vibration, the
sounds. If there’s energy, it should help you, if it’s not energy, there should be silence; it should
be silent, peace, peace. If it’s not silence, if it’s not helping you, that means, you don’t have
realization and connection to it. And you just have to realize, oh my god, how many years this is
been bugging me, this is been eating me up. It’s interfering every moment of peace. It’s
affecting every holiday. You see some of these thoughts – this kind of energy is interesting,
right? Sometimes they come at specific time of the year. Whatever energetically triggers, I don’t
know, sometimes it comes up in the spring or in the fall, in particular places, in a particular kind
of environment – bump, it shows up.
So, what do you need to say to yourself? I need to rest from this. I want to rest deep from this
voice, energy. I want to rest deep in silence with perfect connection, and heal myself, charge
myself.
Does it make sense, what we are talking here? What I just said – just connection here, the flow,
the energy, draining, sky, stillness, silence. We come here to the retreat, you get materials,
pages and lot of things; maybe you understand some, maybe you don’t understand very much,
in the end at least you want to good rest here. I always look at retreats like that, it’s a very good
place to rest. So, you have your routines, then you rest. So, we are here to rest. Deep rest.
So, whatever you came here to realize something more or to find some more solution, to heal
something deeper also only will happen, if you rest, not when you fight, when you struggle,
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when you demand. That all will work against you. The retreat is not only the example, but life in
general.
Ok, fourth.
“tong me ye she zhi”; “Thought-free primordial wisdom is the base.”
No thought. Don’t think, or take a break from thinking, or don’t think that seriously. Think
playfully. There are many ways to not think, think better. Force doesn’t work. When you are
trying to forcefully remember somebody’s name or phone number, that numbers disappear.
When you say, ok, I don’t remember, it’s ok, it’s fine, then bump, bump, bump, all the numbers
come up. How many people agree with this? So, the good news is, it’s not only the phone
number, but your happiness also functions the same way. And your peace works in the same
way. When you’re trying to be peaceful, it doesn’t work, when you’re trying to relax, you cannot
relax. That’s why for some people awareness of the body is very important to relax. Instead of
trying to relax in your mind, bring your awareness in the body. If you bring the attention to the
body, you can see the effect of it. Mind says: Relax, ok! Relax, try it. Mind says those things.
And it can also pretend, that we can relax. And when you forget about what the mind is saying -
I know, I need to relax - you bring your attention to the body and really trying to scan your body,
it lines up, it lines up by itself. Especially in the night, when you have difficulty to sleep or
something, you relax and fall into sleep instead of trying to sleep forcefully. Even in the end
trying to rest will not allow you to rest. Or trying to sleep will not allow you to sleep. Trying to
love and connect will not make you love and connect. Trying to be good will not allow you to be
good. But being will help you to be good, not trying to be good. So, that’s what it’s saying.
All the thoughts, tong me ye she zhi, all the conceptual mind, don’t give too much power to
them; like the idea of right and wrong; yes, you can have an opinion about it. Senghe reminds
me that all the time. As a parent you say, this is the right thing to do, right. He says, that’s your
opinion. Which is true. So at least it’s good somebody is reminding me that. It’s my opinion, bud
you know, we will always love you, we will always – even sometimes it might be a wrong
decision, but we think it’s the right decision from out of our love. So, there are much more better
chances there because it’s truly coming from right place. Sometimes it happens that wrong
things come out of right place, but I think it’s a little better than right things coming out of wrong
place. There’s more genuineness in the first. That’s how the parents usually do.
So, all the thoughts there’s no good or bad. In the end they all are good. Every single thought is
good. I truly feel that way and talk about that, and I know, sometimes we have issues with the
idea. So, some people feel little bit like, I don’t get it really. Well, it’s fine, again, we don’t have to
get it also. For me personally in my life really helped the idea of “all is good”, it really, really
helps me. It’s more like I’m trying to realize [what is] why all is good; why things, which I think
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are not good, have a good reason to be there. For me that principle truly helps me a lot in my
life. I’m not saying all the time everything is equally easy, some are much harder than others.
You have moments like: You? Good? You think about somebody, right? This person, good?
This situation, good? And when you feel that way, don’t try too hard. What you need to do?
Rest.
And of course, either you rest in the sky, or you rest in stillness, or you rest in silence, or you
rest in thoughtless – break from thoughts.
Last one.
“rang jung ye she zhi”, “self-arising primordial wisdom is the base.”
All the emotions, “nyön mo tuk lang tsel”, all the emotions, let all your emotions, pain, let it rest
in that primordial wisdom, and the healing will spontaneously happen. All your emotions,
afflictions let it rest in that primordial wisdom. Healing and transformation will spontaneously
happen there.
So that’s the idea, it’s called: Deep rest, spontaneous action. Means, you know, the reason why
I say spontaneous action, because in our Western world we always think we need to do
something, be creative and everything, but creative things will happen if you rest. So, in the end
what it’s saying, there are five different places to rest. And there are five different things from
which we need to rest. Rest, rest, rest, rest and rest.
Ok, let’s take a break.
---------------
Nail 15 (continuation)
So, this morning Nail 15, we were saying like 6 points.

So, the first one was the sky, the metaphor of sky, that every universe, everything what’s
happening in the universe, something that we think, we want, we don’t want, we’re trying to get
rid of, as far as the nature is concerned, they all are good. Storm is good, earthquake is good,
it’s just an evolving thing, nobody is ultimately interfering with anything, it’s just evolving, it’s
changing things.
Second, third and the fourth is body, speech, and mind, which is really the main principal
practice, which we just did. So, in the end what it’s saying is, all the activity is just energy, all the
speech is just energy, all the mental activity, imagination of mind, is just pure energy. There is
nothing good or bad. But they are affecting us, because of the way we see them. The way we
see them can be improved. And hopefully it’s improving every year. If it’s getting worse, then it’s
not a good sign. When things look worse and worse, that’s not good. So, it’s all energy, but
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when we don’t see them, they are exhausting. That’s true in our life, and all activity, all the
things, what we do or what we say or what we think, it’s very exhausting. Maybe twenty, thirty
years ago it was only you and around you, but now you also see, hear activities of everybody
else online. That means, more problems. In old time it takes long time to affect things from one
information to other places, now like global economy it’s over night. Whatever changes are
happening, it’s over night.
So, the main thing for us is recognizing the exhaustion. You are tired or you’re getting tired. I am
tired, I’m getting tired. I need to preserve my energy. I don’t have to fight with the universe, with
the life. Even what’s happening in my life I don’t have to fight with it, I have to flow with it. That’s
the idea.
So, when you recognize it – anyway, you read these lines; I mean, they are just beautiful lines.
Don’t look at something wrong. What somebody did, what you did, what somebody said, what
you said, what somebody thought, what you thought, if there’s anything you’re saying, it’s
horrible right now, don’t look at like that. This exhausting, unpleasant, unfortunate event, what is
the good thing about it? There is a bunch of questions. What is it trying to teach me? If you need
to learn, then ask this question. What is it trying to teach me? If you are weak and you want to
become stronger, then ask the question, how it is going to make me strong? If you are not kind
enough and you feel you can be more kinder and nicer, then ask this question, how it’s trying to
make me a better person? Better husband, better father, better teacher, better this and that,
better human - what it is trying to teach? If you feel you are growing not fast enough internally,
then ask the question, how it’s trying to help me to grow faster? Not see something wrong, see
what it’s trying to teach something right. I guarantee that it will give you the right answer. Every
answer is depending on a good question. So, learn to ask good questions. And it will answer to
different people totally different answers. So, that is exactly what we are trying to do, more focus
on these three doors.
And the last two are “rang jung ye she zhi” and “rang rig ye she zhi”, these two bases: “Self-
arising primordial wisdom is the base” and then “The primordial wisdom of innate self-
awareness is the base”. So, basically the space and the awareness of the space, these two we
are talking about, in these syllables it’s A and OM. In experience it’s like a body. When we say,
draw your attention to your body, you bring awareness in your body (Rinpoche puts his hand on
the heart area), you can feel, it’s like the image of warmth of awareness melting the pain ice,
pain of frozen ice. It’s melting, melting, melting into the stillness. That stillness is the rang jung
yeshe, the space. But if there is no awareness of that space, then there is rang jung yeshe, but
there is no rang rig yeshe. Because in the end of the day we’re not trying to create the truth,
truth cannot be created, truth can only be realized.
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So, what we are trying to do is to realize, not trying to create one. Every time when we are trying
to create one, we are distancing from the truth. It’s called “elaboration”, trö pa (?), or worse
“manipulation”. Every time you’re doing something, it’s more or less like that. It’s interesting,
even in the life simple things are very interesting, like you always notice some people trying to
impress each other with intention that people will like you more. And the more you do it, you
see, people don’t like you. It’s not working. But still people don’t get it, they still trying to do
more. Have you noticed that? Have you noticed, you’re trying to talk to somebody, trying to
impress somebody by talking something? And they are looking at you like, are you ok? And
then you continue and continue and then they are looking like, oh my god. You know for sure
they would have loved you more if you did not talk. But since you have talked already, no
choice, next time try differently. Remain a little bit more silent. And from silence only necessary
things will come. There are sometimes necessary communications. They will arise, you can
trust.
Anyway. So, the last two; that’s what it is, one is like the truth. Stillness is like the truth, silence
is like the truth, spaciousness is like the truth, it’s more like rang jung yeshe, but it needs the
awareness. Our practice is not trying to create something, but trying to be aware, what is
already there by melting things what interferes to see it or feel it. And also having a little
compassion to oneself and to others. It’s like if you look at a kid, a little kid who is not very smart
and trying to do something that you know exactly what they are doing wrong, and they are
putting so much effort, and you are looking and think, oh my god, ok, let’s try another, wait
another hour, and trying to mess it up more, and ok, let’s wait another hour – when you see that,
you feel maybe you want to help. Or you see anybody like that, you want to help. Maybe life
looks a little bit like that, all the things we do, it looks like you do not figure out what you want
trying to do.
So, when you’re feeling a lot of effort, when you are feeling discomfort, when you are feeling
conflicted, when you’re unhappy with things what you’re doing, saying, or thinking, there’s quite
good chance you’re not doing the right thing or maybe not the right way. So, when you feel like
that, don’t try to do anything new, or don’t try to say something more impressive. Since you
messed it up the first time, so don’t try to say something more to impress before you messed it
up a second time.
So, what is the solution? It’s not trying to do something different, to say something different,
imagine something different, it’s about recognizing the effort and the loss, disconnection, and
rest. Resting is the solution, not doing different thing. So, resting - there will be more silence,
then if there is more silence, the more right speech will come. But if there is no silence in the
first place, the right speech did not come out, in the second time it will not come out, it just
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happens. So, it will not work. In life, I think, it’s very much like that. In the end what I’m saying,
rest. Resting is the solution.
And then also this idea of compassion. Sometimes you feel you did something, and you hurt
somebody and then you want to be the right and you keep on trying to defend that you are right
or something like that, and you keep kind of hurting somebody or yourself. But if you kind of
open up yourself then you say, ok, and you want to stop that cycle, the chain. You feel a little bit
more warmth toward somebody and a little bit more warmth toward yourself, and that warmth is
kind of right soil to grow deeper meditation.
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Sixteenth Nail ~ Transcendent Equanimity
Ok. Repeat after me:

“kün tu zang po mi né pa röl chin la chak tsel lo“.
„I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the non-abiding paramita”.
Basically, what it’s saying: What is can never change. Küntu Zangpo, the truth, can never
change. Its appearances can never stop. So, we are having so many experiences of what can
never change. It’s a deep confidence. Sometimes I give the example of winning a lottery.
Imagine, you’re winning a lottery. How much you want to win? Sometimes people say, oh now
it’s fifteen million, that’s not enough, I want to buy next time, I wait for it. So, pick your number,
your ultimate number. Imagine you win it. Imagine the idea it will set you free from all the
sufferings of samsara. We know, that’s not going to happen, but we think it might happen like
that, it’s kind of feeling you have, secured is the right word. I’ll be secured. I’ll be free. I can be
happy. I can do good things. As if you cannot do good things now. So, let’s say, you win it. And
the first month probably that’s how you feel. The closest experience of enlightenment, liberation,
freedom. There are still some sufferings, but when your old car breaks down, will you be
suffering? No. You’re ok, this car has to go, it’s about time, and I’m happy, that it broke down.
The only time you are happy that it broke down. Or, I don’t know, your computer breaks down.
No problem. You see, you somehow whatever you call it usually something is a problem, you
feel is not a problem. Because you can replace it.
But it’s similar: Discovering the inner truth is a great victory of lottery. It’s truly like that, it’s truly
like that. When people feel they discover that inner truth, inner treasure, truly they feel no matter
what breaks down, they feel, it’s about to break down, it’s ok. You lose something, it’s ok.
Maybe you realize, I never had it anyway. I have a lot of effort of thinking I had something.
Because a deep treasure is within you. Right? Remember from the Seven Mirrors: The one who
realizes that it’s like discovering a great treasure. (Tibetan quotation) Unbounded treasure flows
in life. Does it make sense? Kind of, right? But you still prefer to win a lottery even though the
truth is like that. We Tibetans say: With one yak there is a problem with one yak, with two yaks
there is a problem with two yaks, with no yak there is a problem with no yak, but there is a
choice you can make, which problem. When you have one [yak], you feel joy, and then
afterward you feel pain.
I love these campers, so I bought this 1986 Volkswagen camper, which was inspired by Jan’s
nice yellow car there. But he has a good one. So, we fixed the car a little bit, but I cannot go too
far, I’m afraid of it. Two hours was the longest we made. So, usually we go down ten minutes
right to the marine where the sun sets. We go there often, have a dinner, and come back. A
five-minute drive. And I’m the only one, Tsering, she does not care that much, Senghe, he lost
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his interest, so I don’t want to go alone to have a dinner in the camper. So, the pleasure part is
gone, now it’s suffering. Tsering cannot serve the gearshift, and every couple of months the
battery dies. Last time when we were at the summer retreat, we had to involve our neighbor to
come and try to turn it on, he said, it doesn’t work. After a long summer vacation, we came
back, and first thing I had to deal was this car. First trying to start, which never starts. And I had
to call to get a new battery and turn it on and go around a little bit few circles and park it back.
And I take it and wash it. And before I left the first thing, I have to deal, is car again, I tell
Tsering, you have to turn on to take out the black part of the battery when you do not turn it on.
So, anyway, short story, it’s a pain. She took photos, clean it inside, took photos and put the
sale note and telephone numbers outside, people came, but nobody wanted to buy it. So, life is
a little bit like that. So, I will be soon liberated from it, but I don’t know when. But I still love the
idea of camper, but not that old one.
So, anyway, Sixteenth Nail. It’s very similar to the Fifteenth.

These are the first three lines:
(1) “kun zhi jing la gya ché chok lhung me”.
“The space of the base-of-all does not fall into bias or partiality.”
Kunzhi, the base of all, is like no bias, it’s boundless. “kun zhi jing” in our meditation we can say,
deep place of stillness, there is no bias, it’s indestructible, deep place of silence, it’s unaffected,
it’s pure, deep place of spaciousness in the heart, openness in the heart, it’s unbiased, beyond
things.
(2) “rig pé ye shé ché me jö du me”.

“The primordial wisdom of innate awareness is beyond expression and action.”
Innate awareness cannot be analyzed or spoken. So, you say, I’m aware; but if you say, am I
aware, I think I’m aware, I’m not sure I’m aware, I think I was aware, all those things, when
that’s happening, clearly you are not aware. rig pé ye shé ché me, means, you cannot analyze
it. Or even experiences – (and then you say:) this is a beautiful experience - grasping like that,
you’re analyzing it, you’re judging it; you’re judging the experience. Or, this is so peaceful, I
hope, my neighbor will not make a noise – it sounds familiar? Yes, that’s analysis, that’s noise.
(3) “tan pé lo la zhi me gak pa me”.

“The recollecting intellect is without base and cessation.”
Thinking mind is ceaseless. Does everybody know, you’re thinking mind is crazy? We all know,
right? What you think sometimes is crazy. Don’t you think? Are you happy, that people don’t
know, what you are thinking? Or maybe you’re more happy, you don’t know what your famous
person is thinking. At least something we can secretly think. Crazy imaginations. Or look at
fears for example. Anything can trigger the fear, uninvited fears.
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It says: “gak pa me”. It’s ceaseless. So many thoughts. It’s ok. So, every thought is ok. Or every
thought you can make it ok. Every experience is ok. Everything is ok. Everything what’s
happening in your life is ok. How something cannot be ok and happening. Like the universe, it
seems like it needs to breathe. Everything that’s happening seems like a breath of the universe.
Somebody is breathing, big picture is breathing, and it’s good to breathe. Because it’s part of
the truth. Boundless is part of the truth, manifestation is part of the truth. You cannot say, I love
the boundlessness, but I don’t like the manifestation. But if you say that or if you feel that, that
means, you did not get the boundless part. So, you have to revisit the boundlessness. Or your
definition of your understanding of boundless is not correct. If you like openness, then
experiences are open. Sadness is open. I’m feeling sad, nothing wrong about it, I’m open to it.
And also, genuine healing experiences of sadness can only happen to people who are open -
healing sadness, not just sadness.
So basically, in short, it’s ceaseless manifestation, all the manifestations are just manifestations,
not good or bad. If you see bad, if you feel bad, it can be, you can transcend it, if you realize it,
not analyze it or judge it.
Fourth line:
(4) “dra ö zer sum chak me dang du me“.
“Sound, light, and rays are without attachment and anger.”
So, dra ö zer sum, it says, sound, light, and rays, all the visions and experiences of life; life is
sound, light and rays, even speech, names. What is politically correct or politically not correct?
What is right in this century is not right in the next century. Even within ten, twenty years notion
of meaning of words change. Like people’s idea of religion for example, religion is not a good
word, spirituality is better. It’s not a problem of the word, religion is not a problem, but we
messed it up like that. And spirituality is the next in line. Then we have to come up to another
word. Things change, ceaseless. But that’s part of the truth, part of the truth of boundlessness.
It’s like sometimes in a conversation people say something like: Oh, I’m open to you, you can
say anything. And then he says something, and you get angry. Then you realize, you thought
you were open, but you were not open. Then you say, just shut up, don’t tell me anything. But if
you are truly open, then at least you want to be open to hear. In short, appearances are the
other part of the truth.
Fifth line:
“zak ché zang me men dang chok mi zung“.
Do not cling to the defiled as inferior and the undefiled as superior.”
All the pure and impureness you don’t get attached to seeing something as right or wrong. So,
notion of right and wrong to a pure and impure not get attached to it. So, what is good and bad,
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what is pure and impure in your life? All the good, pure (on one side), bad and impure (on the
other side), it’s like a list, which is going more and less. Pure, pure, pure up – impure, impure,
impure down or impure more and more, and pure is becoming less, less, less, or they are stuck
for the last forty-five years; not going up or down. That’s a good question. They need to move in
the right direction. So, one of the good compliments about from someone, who did the three
doors program, said, bevor, when I was happy, I was not so much aware of my happiness, now
when I’m sad, deep inside I still feel joy and I can still be sad. Deep inside I never lost the
connection to the joy, but sadness in the surface I can still experience. It’s nice being able to
say, no matter how much painful movement, it never affected my stillness, no matter how much
painful speech, it never affected my silence, no matter how much movements with the pain
imagination, it never affected the pureness of my heart, the space in my heart. That would be a
nice thing to say, a nice thing to feel.
So, this sense of “zak ché zang me dang mi ma”, like pure, impure, these notions, it’s kind of
interesting, in our life every time it manifests. Even in religion people say something, people who
are very kind of fundamentalist deep inside that’s how they feel like, and Buddhist
fundamentalist might feel the same way, like: Oh, you are good, bud you are not Buddhist.
That’s in the mind. Or somebody says: Oh, this guy looks very nice, but it’s not a Christian.
Even like people couples getting married together; so, your daughter is going or your relatives
marrying somebody else, they like the person, but they don’t like the person’s religion. That’s a
notion of pure and impure. So, it’s obviously from the point of view of the teaching it’s not related
with the truth. In a way it’s related with the false ideas. You’re identifying yourself with religion
and limiting way and excluding. You’re excluding somebody, but also, you’re isolating yourself. I
don’t like these people, but I want a friend. I’m looking for a friend, but I don’t like people. It
doesn’t work like that way. If you want a friend, you got to like people.
Line six:
“dang deng nyi ma yön tan kyön mi ta“.
„Do not view purity as a quality or impurity as a fault.”
[Very similar to line five. No further comment from Rinpoche.
And then of course the big notion of:

Line seven:
“khor dang nyang da jer med chad du med“.
„Samsara and nirvana are inseparable and cannot be divided.”
Everybody knows samsara and nirvana. So, samsara and nirvana you cannot separate them.
Do you think, if life has no problem, you will be happy? Or not a problem, challenge which you
call a problem. I think life will be very boring then. I personally, I love challenges. It gives you to
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think, reflect, trying to understand, grow, look for solution, it’s so much fun trying to look for
solution, trying to figure out solution, it’s one of the most funny things. Problem is not a fun thing
but looking for solution of a problem is fun. Do you want to focus on a solution, or do you want
to focus on a problem? Or maybe it’s not the right question, not what you want - do you focus on
a problem, or do you focus on a solution? But if you are one who focuses on a solution, you
don’t care so much about problem. But if you focus on a problem, you will not have a solution.
So anyway, this sense of pure - impure, good – bad, inner – outer, samsara and nirvana, all
these are just another truth of that boundlessness. So, they are not really like good or bad.
That’s what it’s saying. When we talk about religion and things, it’s a lot more complicated topic,
but if you look at more simple places in your life, you know, everything happens in your life, are
they good or bad, they all are ok. Is it good or bad that you are born on this earth? If you are not
born, it’s ok that you are not born, but since you are born, it’s ok that you are born. Is it good or
bad, you’re getting older? I know an answer for it, but that’s not the point here. Here it’s ok. It’s
fine. That’s what it is. If you don’t think about it, if you don’t analyze it, if you don’t judge it, if you
don’t look down it, if you don’t look negatively, it’s completely ok.
Like Senghe, he complains – Senghe by the way, I talk a lot about him, is my son, for those who
don’t know - so, he’s eleven, sometimes he complains about things like, oh you guys should
have made me earlier. I said, why? He says, you know - he is worried about things that doesn’t
make any sense for us, but of course it makes sense to him – he says, when I graduate in high
school and college, I don’t want a too old couple coming to my graduate day. He has a lot of
time we’re living together quite nicely, and then we planned your life, you know, there is a plan,
but why he is worried about that one single day of his graduation with a too old couple to show
up? I said, instead of worrying about, think, I wish, there will be the old couple there, think about,
there will be somebody there, not thinking about old or young. I said, look at the school, how
many parents are together, how many single families. So, be happy. There are two people
totally focusing on your happiness. My schedule all around the different teachings and
everything, everything is around his school holiday. Number one we look at his calendar bevor
we make any decision. But anyway, what I’m saying here, it’s truly samsara. Everything is
samsara. So, you really have to have space for everything. If there’s no space, good is not
good, good does not stay good. If there’s no space, the bad manifests and stays more longer. If
there is space, bad does not space bad, they transform into goodness.
Over the time? So, that’s not good. So that’s fine, we finish this tomorrow.
So, in short, basically all appearances and experiences are part of the boundless, like going
beyond time. At least it’s a good sign, means, I’m energized, rather than trying to: ok, let’s finish
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it up; I had enough. That’s a good sign, when you’re getting older, when you’re teaching for so
many years, but still when you pass your time, that’s a good sign.
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Seventeenth Nail ~ Reaching the Ultimate Dissolution
Repeat after me:

“küntu zang po tar tuk gyel pö ku la chak tsel lo.”
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the body of the ultimate king.”
Generally, every spiritual tradition and every cycle of teaching of Buddhism, I think, all are
getting towards the liberation of sufferings. Every religion or every philosophy or maybe different
disciplines, healing, and medicine, also in some senses are going toward overcoming suffering.
Or anybody trying to do anything in life or working so hard to do something in life, it seems like
have the same expectations, somehow trying to not suffer. Every means of therapy, physical,
mental, different analysis, different approaches, all are also trying to understand something and
trying to overcome conflicts and suffering. It seems the same goal. And sometimes parts of
religion or parts of philosophy or parts of therapy or parts of different disciplines help and
sometimes it seems they don’t help. They become another kind of comfort zone and an
acceptable place to identify with. Sometimes for some people it’s worse, they should not enter
into those religion or therapy or groups, because they will have more suffering than they had
otherwise.
So, bottom line is, there is nothing guaranteed even though it seems like guaranteeing
something. Liberation only happens through more closer understanding of the truth through any
discipline, through any formal discipline or through non-formal discipline. You have suffered
enough, and you are smart enough to get up one day in the morning and just realize the truth.
That’s the end of the suffering. I believe it can happen like that.
So, the reason, why it is like that, is, because in some sense what does truth mean? If you look,
every time when we face challenges or we face suffering in our life, just simple experiences in
our life, we are not realizing the truth. Let’s start with getting older. When you feel
uncomfortable, when you don’t like it, when you hate it, and you are suffering, because you’re
aging. Why? Why are you suffering? Because aging is truth, and you don’t want to accept it.
And you don’t understand that truth. That’s the only reason, why you are suffering, no other
thing. Aging is not causing suffering, not accepting aging is causing suffering.
Let’s think about death. The idea of death is frightening, fearful. Why? Again, death is truth. We
talked yesterday about unceasing experiences. It’s one of the countless million experiences of
bigger picture of life. But when you’re totally fixated on one point of the death and expect to be
what it is not, that’s the only thing that causes suffering. If there is no label on the death, (like) all
the labels that you put on the death, there is no suffering. Could be a simple example as I said
yesterday like a breathing in and out. You breathe in, you feel good, and before you breathe out
you say: I’m going to suffer now. I’m going to suffer, it’s a big change, an unacceptable change,
I don’t like it, I don’t want to breathe out, I don’t want to end my breath. It’s not ending of breath,
in order to breath in again, you have to breathe out, it’s a natural law. If you don’t want to
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breathe in again, then you should not breathe out. Then that is really a tragedy. Otherwise, it’s a
cycle. It’s a continuation of life: When you breathe in, when you breathe out, when you die,
when you are reborn. So again, it’s again about not understanding the truth.
In short, every experience of suffering, pain, that you are feeling right now, it’s simply not
understanding or not trying to understand not understanding the fact of the truth. I know, I’m not
saying something new. I don’t think there is anything to say new anyway. But it’s always about
remembering, reminding each other. So, why is that? It would be nice we understand the fact
and the truth. As you’re getting older you say, yes, I know, it’s coming, now it’s coming here,
wonderful, I knew it is coming. I know, how it’s going to go and the way it’s going to go, how it’s
going to happen I know very well, so no problem. This is not the first time, countless lifetimes I
have experiencing this, so what a big deal. That would be nice.
Or when the moment of the death comes, just say, I’m ready to go. Instead of knee surgery I’m
ready to have a new baby knee. Or I’m ready to have wings and to fly like an eagle, I’m tired of
walking on the earth. I don’t know, just completely idea of this change is totally accepted and
move away to move on accepting the fact and the truth of the cycle.
It seems like we always go against the truth. You meet someone, and end of anybody you meet
you know is going to separate it. It’s a natural thing. I’m not talking about the western kind of
separation every other couple of years, I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about even a
lifetime eventually it’s going to separate. And right from the beginning of kind of any relationship
with clear understanding of this will end. It doesn’t have to be a bad ending, it can be a beautiful
ending, the best ending, but it’s going to end, instead of saying, this is it and this is forever, it’s a
secret, don’t tell anybody. So, with that view, that approach, that expectation, you prepare to
suffer. The change is not going to make you suffer, but you’re preparing yourself to be not able
to deal with change better, basically you are preparing yourself to suffer. You’re doing it.
So, truth doesn’t change, the experiences are infinite. Every day you wake up in the morning,
life tells you, today there are infinite possibilities, do you want to suffer, or do you want to be
happy? It’s like a market opening. And you say, ok, I want to suffer. Then it says, what kind of
sufferings you want today? We have a whole list of sufferings. You want to feel lonely and
depressed? We have that. Or you want just to remember some old wounds and get angry at
someone? We have too. Just give us some hint, we’ll open up whole file, you’ll have no problem
to choose from. Or today do you want to be happy? We also have a big list of happiness. The
best one will be, you don’t have to have anything, something called happiness of being. If you
will get it, we will give you that. Or you want happiness of having something? We can also
introduce you because you have enough staff to be happy of. If you just have to be reminded,
we can do that too. If you want to be happy of having, but then don’t look what you don’t have;
that’s another way of suffering. Look at what you have.
What I’m saying here is, experiences are unceasing, unlimited. What do you want to choose? I
mean of course I always think, the best thing to choose is what is given. 2019 August, I don’t
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know what day is today, Wednesday, fourteenth? Ok, fourteenth, Wednesday 2019 is the day
that we are living. Don’t go back, don’t go forward. Just be here today. Today these experiences
in Buchenau, just be here. Look at the people around, who are alive, nice, moving, breathing
people around you. Do you see other people around you? Are you interested to look at each
other and to connect a little bit? Give a smile, enjoy the smile of somebody else, willing to
support, willing to receive support. It’s alive. That’s what’s given today. Or even this morning
whatever I’m teaching, I did not plan to teach what I’m teaching right now. I know it’s about the
Seventeenth Nail, but I be open to what comes. And the most important thing, I have to kind of
feel what the universe is telling me to teach, instead of my miserable pain teacher suffering
organizing to teach on Wednesday fourteenth August 2019. So, this is what is given. So, in
some sense the universe chooses you. Circumstances choose you. But you kind of being more
open because enough things are there. Does it make sense?
What I’m saying in short, it’s about all the suffering it’s not realizing and not accepting the truth.
It’s the basic fundamental view of Dzogchen teaching. I know, I have said thousands of times,
but sometimes I feel maybe I’m saying it in a kind of very abstract way. My whole goal is trying
to make sense out of it rather than just repeating something abstract. Such as the idea of
changeless. Changeless essence – ok, what is this changeless? Why it matters? Why I need to
know changeless? What it helps me? Who cares? Of course, it’s important. It matters. You
should care. Why? Because changeless is the truth. So, you need to understand something
what does not change. Not looking at something which changes and expect not to change. That
seems very simple. Expecting everything in life which guaranteed do change and expect not to
change, that seems a totally silly thing to do. I think it can be called absolute confusion of
misperception of truth.
This [cup on table] expect to change. Your essence is not expected to change. It’s a confusion
between these two realities. You and your experiences, confusion between these two. You don’t
change, your experiences change. And what you do? You expect, experience do not change.
And you have no clue who you are. That’s the problem. Or maybe you think, the experiences
are you. And particular your pain is you. That’s why we say, I am sick, instead of saying, I am
Buddha. Which one you will choose? You want to be Buddha, or you want to be sick? You want
to be changeless, or you want to be dead? You are changeless, but you have experiences of
death. And the experience is not you. And when you realize that you don’t suffer. So, I hope this
is making some sense here.
Ok, let’s trying to make it simpler, talking a little bit more practical. So, you look at your life,
everything, all the wonderful experiences, beautiful, heartwarming experiences, loving
experiences, joyful experiences, fun experiences, and just not expect to last. Know, it’s a
movement. Even it’s fun, it should go. Even it is good, it should go. It’s like [Rinpoche shows a
deep breathing in] – wonderful - [and not breathing out] like this. It should go – [Rinpoche shows
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a joyful releasing breathing out]. I thought it will be really bad, but I am so enjoying I let go.
Breathing in was wonderful but breathing out was also great after holding so long. That’s the
life. Every experience you have at some point you have to let go. And letting go with awareness,
with a choice, seems a beautiful freedom. Either it’s the children you’re saying, ok, it’s your time,
go, you have my blessing, you’re free, explore the world. Or in relationship, couples are different
people and different needs are there, saying, I’m with you, I love you, just do what you need to
do, explore your world. I mean every sense. Trying to give that sense of space to others and to
yourself. With choice. Because it’s going to happen anyway, even you don’t give. Or children,
they want to go out, “go out”, they go anyway. I mean, as a father I can clearly say that.
Yesterday Senghe and we were trying to organize first flight for Senghe by himself. So, he is
flying tomorrow to Seattle by himself. And it was kind of nice, such a joy for me. It’s like
[Rinpoche shows opening, releasing gesture]. And of course, he’s like: I don’t want to go by any
other one taking me to the gate and being picked up, I want to go by myself. You can see, he is
really enjoying the sense of [feeling free], being himself out in the world, without the parents,
without guardians. It’s beautiful and I totally support that. It’s a pleasure. It’s a joy.
So, what I’m saying here, every experience in life it’s going to happen. You never had it when
you came to the universe, you came naked, and you will go naked. Just think about when you
shop. Ok.
----------
Nail 17 (continuation.)
So, “Küntu Zangpo, the body of ultimate king”. Basically, this whole Seventeenth Nail is about
cessation. So, it says, dissolve, dissolve, dissolve, etc. This is what I’m talking right now.
Every single experience will dissolve. Your father, father will dissolve, your mother, mother will
dissolve, your partner, your partner will dissolve. And that is not to be sad, that is you should be
happy about it, because you are connecting with the bigger picture of who you are, rather than
getting stack with one single identity. It seems like a very human thing to get attached to each
other.
A funny thing I remember, when Senghe was very little, he was maybe three or four years, one
evening he was crying, just like that, just kind of very emotional, he was crying for no reason; I
said, what happened? Then he said, oh, I’m very sad everybody is dying. Just two, three years
old, three or four, I don’t remember. And then he said, why people die? Will you die? If we die,
let’s die together. I don’t want to come back and start with somebody else. It was like, it took so
long time to get the two of you to know now, I don’t want to start a relationship with somebody
else.
So, what I’m saying is, probably when I say this, you might feel: “You know, my partner, I love
him, I love her, I don’t know, it sounds a little bit mean, to think that way. Everybody is possible,
26
you are just one of many.” It’s not like that. It’s a bigger picture; much more bigger potentiality.
You’re not dismissing anybody.
It says (in the text):

In the Bon essence all the Bon teachings will dissolve.
In a bigger picture every method will dissolve, every religion which exist, everything has a
historical period of time where it comes, it lives, and it dies. But that’s the nature.
In the essence of the mind every experience of the mind will dissolve.
In the stillness every action will dissolve.
In silence every speech will dissolve.
In the thoughtless, boundless space every memory, every thought will dissolve.
In the awareness every sound, light and rays will dissolve.
In the bodhicitta all the samsara and nirvana will dissolve.
In thoughtlessness all the thoughts will dissolve.
In unbiased truth all the bias experiences will dissolve.
It’s not the experiences cease or finish, because ultimate truth of experiences and appearances
is that dissolution.
So, that’s the Seventeenth Nail. The idea is, that everything dissolves. And dissolution is not
bad. Does it make sense? Anybody, recently have you felt something like a little bit rejected by
somebody? Like: Ok, it’s ok you are not here, it’s ok you can go, it’s ok, whatever. How many
people have felt that? Are you angry a little bit? A little upset? And are you doing better now?
Are you still thinking about it? Or are you happy that it happened now eventually? You see,
there are infinite possible experiences. But what would be the best one, if you can choose one?
Accept and be happy. Faster, sooner than later. Or if that doesn’t work at least have some clear
idea, that’s ok. But what you don’t want to do is suffer the next five years, and then analyze the
next twenty years, miserable, painful, costly, and then still no guarantee. You don’t want that.
Because it’s a change.
So somehow seeing it’s ok. Seeing it’s ok. This is what it is. This is what is, this is ok. This is
what is, this is ok. It’s ok, it’s ok, it’s ok. Küntu Zangpo, Küntu Zangpo, Küntu Zangpo. Right?
So, all this ceases. Like yesterday Geshe Sherab Lodoe and I we were talking, he was telling a
story about in Triten Norbutse they used to have a drupta, like meditation, - they have a shedra
and drupta; in drupta people do a four-year retreat. So, all the time there used to be a group of
monks doing retreat. In Tibetan monastery tradition usually, you have shedra and drupta, these
two places; people are happy to have these two places. But afterward there were not many
people in the drupta, in shedra, the dialectic school, there were many people, but in drupta there
were not that many people. So, the monastery was saying, ok, it’s not good, we need to have
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more. Yongdzin Rinpoche said, if there are no people, then it’s ok. He said, let it go. He said
that. So, that’s the idea of what I’m saying. He was saying, drupta is beautiful, but when nobody
wants to come, it’s ok, rather than nobody is coming, I begin to suffer and now I begin my
drupta.
Ok, so let’s come closer back to ourselves here, not go to Nepal. In your life, change is in your
life which is difficult, painful, just look at that, challenging, difficult, painful. Maybe you wish that
it’s not like that. So, according to the teaching it says, that this change is truth. If I understand
the truth, accept the truth, I’ll be free from the suffering. So, help me to understand the truth.
Help me to understand the truth and accept this fact, this experience. I want to understand the
truth. I want to accept the truth. I do not want to avoid it. So, help me to understand the truth.
That’s the better prayer and better wish than saying, help me to avoid the truth; help me to run
faster away from the truth and suffer deeper in me. You don’t want to think that way or pray that
way. Do look at the Tapihritsa Sol Deb, that’s enough clear teaching about that. Ok. A little bit
further deeper. You can say, yes, I get it, I kind of understand it, but I’m trying to find a solution,
trying to find a way to avoid it. Of course, there is a little bit what we call conventional truth, you
can do a little bit thing, but ultimately, it’s far better to embrace the truth of change. That’s the
best, embracing the change is the best thing to overcome the suffering of the change. For sure,
no question.
The energy of attraction of the universe, if you do that, I think, they tend to stay more with you.
Like the children, you say, you go, you go, you find good, - no, no - they will have more like a
sense of love and attachment. And if you trying to grasp them, they just want to get out. That’s
how the law works.
One time at the Rice University I was talking about the bardo, so I was talking about the death,
and one of the ladies there she was very upset about the word death. And she said, it reminds
me at my husband, late husband, who had passed away many years ago (twenty, thirty years),
and she said, I’m still suffering a lot. Culturally coming from a different background, I was a little
bit shocked. In the monastery, when a monk dies for forty-nine days people feel a little bit grief
and after forty-nine days people have fun; they make jokes out of each other. Twenty years
suffering? She also was a little bit mean when I was talking and she didn’t like the idea of death,
so I felt like I’m saying, that your husband is already married and has a kid and has a wonderful
time at the beach with a new wife. If you see the truth what happens right now you would stop
suffering right away; you might still suffer, but with anger not with love. Because maybe she
chooses to suffer, she chooses to suffer because of husband, so then one other way to do it is
to get angry and suffer for him rather than feeling love, feeling lost. She can do that, right? So, it
doesn’t make sense from a bigger picture, after twenty years husband passing away suffering
like that, it doesn’t make sense. Even when you believe in reincarnation sense, it doesn’t help to
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somebody else. Maybe they have a beautiful bond and love together, maybe husband is saying,
I’m having such a big headache, I think my wife is still not letting me go, in another life.
Sometimes you can negatively affect each other.
So, in short, praying, wishing to understand the truth, and you are facing the truth. And if you
are going through challenge, it’s to pray, help me, give me strength to realize and accept the
truth. And nothing wrong about this truth. Nothing wrong about this change. And as a human
experience I’m learning a lot, I’m learning. In the process there you might learn something how
you want to live in the future. Does it make sense?
----------
O.k., so maybe few questions? Just maybe one or two questions.
Question: What did you say to Senghe when he was crying about the fact that people are
dying?
Rinpoche: We told him that people die that’s kind of natural cycle. But at that age he did this
kind of things momentum of he had some wisdoms like that, and then he changed topic very
rapidly, you know, he went from one topic to another topic. So, we said that, and he was very
deep kind of grieving something, sending out something crying, and then later he was ok. In
beginning of this year, in March we were in Bhutan, and he got really sick also with very high
fever, with hallucinations, and he asked me to sit down next to him, he said – he calls me
“Ababa” – so he said: Ababa, please sit next to me. And he said: I think, I’m dying, please pray
for me. I was very impressed – of course I did not like that he was sick, but on the other hand
I’m happy he was sick, because the sickness, that kind of experience of sickness he touched
some other areas of experiences of his life, in some sense deeper experiences, that there is
more than that, like some hope. It was a beautiful experience. He was trying to connect.
Question: We were talking about it yesterday, you were mentioning that we have certain
patterns, behavior patterns in life within our relationships with our partners, maybe for instance
with our employers and so on, and you mentioned we have two alternatives of acting there,
either we quit the whole situation, so we separate from that, or we accept it and do things, which
I don’t really understand what it really will be like, what comes when you accept the situation,
and based on that what happens, if I changed now and this pattern doesn’t seem to be there,
where is the guarantee that this old pattern is not going to come back again, so that I’m not
starting to act like I used to before again?
Rinpoche: The pattern will always come back if the source is there. So, this question about
should I accept, or should I quit, I think that depends very much on individual, it depends on
your strength. I don’t think there is one advice. Situations and experiences in life I think they
29
give you equally opportunities to grow either way, if you think about job, with that or without that
you have both equally opportunity to grow as far as your own happiness is concerned or
development is concerned. But the question is what you are capable of. The choice really very
much depends on you. I see in the live all the time it’s not an intellectual thing, people
sometimes they can see it, but they can never manage it. I mean, cases that I know about
people in live I wish they would have cut things, because sometimes I have long relationship
with people that I know in their life patterns and everything and how long they have been
struggling with situations, I wished they should have quit it long time ago, but somehow they
were not really able to quit it, like job situations. In the end the job, I believe in some situations
the job killed them. They got sick and died.
- Break
Repeat after me:

“küntu zang po tar tuk gyel pö ku la chak tsel lo.”
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the body of the ultimate king.”
So, basically, in this one it’s the same kind of flow:

- that every appearance, that every existence in the sky dissolves back into the space,
- every phenomenon dissolve into the bon essence,
- every experience of the mind dissolves back in the essence of mind,
- every action dissolve into stillness,
- every sound, speech dissolve into the silence,
- every thought dissolve into the thoughtless,
- all sound, light, and rays dissolve into the innate awareness,
- all samsara and nirvana dissolve back into the great bodhicitta; again, referring to the essence,
- everything, that mind has created, dissolves beyond mind,
- every bias dissolve into this boundless state of bias-lessness.
In a way of course when you hear something like this, it kind of make sense, right? And then
you wonder, so what. I don’t know if you think that way. I imagine, one might think that way. So,
what it has to do with the teaching, practice, development and so on? Of course, on the journey
that’s what we are interested, we are not interested what does this telling, but we are interested,
what it means to us. So, I mean, think a little bit about it.
30
So, my sense is that what it’s saying is that – you know, usually in our problems in our life it’s
we grasp on. We are incredible grasper talents. Every place possible we can grasp. A sense of
I, sense of permanence. So, when somebody kind of knows – when somebody knows
(Rinpoche takes his teacup) you can enjoy this, but not grasp it in the sense of it should stay
forever, then that becomes an issue. But when you know, this is not its nature, its nature is
dissolution, that’s the truth of impermanence, when you realize that, then you feel free, I hope.
Does it make sense?
Somehow here it says:
“bon nyi jing su bon sog tek gyud sed”. “Even in the ultimate essence all the teachings dissolve”.
Even the teachings, they don’t last. I guess what I’m saying is, the essence of the teaching, the
truth lasts, but the expression, or the teaching, the communication does not last, they change.
During the teachings of early Zhang Zhung Nyin Gyud masters they did not have a Buchenau
retreat. Can you imagine like the seventh century or something like that, people get in like this
called retreat or something like that, and they have to do a registration or something like that?
Or even earlier then they didn’t even talk, they said mind to mind, they didn’t even talk to
anything. And then they began to talk very, very little. No publishing houses. And now it’s very
different. And we don’t know what’s going to come in the future. What I’m saying, the means of
communication will change, for sure, but the teaching will not. The symbolism will change, but
the essence will not. But people fight for symbols. People fight for ideologies. “Wisdom is good,
my one is better. Ours is better.” These are all this notion of grasping mind. Of course, I mean, I
think we are pretty open here and we can talk like this, but some people will not, not tolerate the
way we think. There it’s not the same, the Bon is perfect, or this is perfect, you know, like really
a sense of identifying with it in a very, very strong sense. And I’m sure, it exists everywhere, but
I’m usually trying to avoid those people. I say, I agree with you, and see you later. I don’t have
so much time to talk and discuss these things.
So, whatever you are grasping this moment either like - if you think about these lines:
“nam khi jing su jung zhi nang si zé”.
So, if you think about in the sky you are grasping your new car. It’s ok, to grasp a new car, but
you have to be aware of that. Not too much. Enjoy it, but not create pain. I don’t know if it’s
possible, these two things seem always get together. Or enjoy the teaching, but not get too
attached to the identity of the teaching. Enjoy your creativity of your mind, but not get caught up
with that. Enjoy everything what you do, but not grasp on them too much. Enjoy the expression
of your speech, but not grasp too much. So, all these, you can say every experience, they are
beautiful, they are enlightening, they can be very displayful, but the moment you start to grasp
them, then they become a problem. So, everything you have in your life, it can make you grow,
it can make you happy, it can produce confusion, it can make you suffer, this potentiality of all
those experiences is there what you have. Does it make sense?
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I mean, I’m just trying to see how they relate in life. Sometimes these fancy teachings it’s hard
to find a real place in life. I guess in a simple short way it’s just basically saying: It doesn’t last
like that; not lasting is its truth; changing, it’s truth. So, don’t think it will last, that’s not the truth.
Don’t grasp it. It’s permanent that’s not its truth. If you go against the truth, that’s how you’re
going to suffer. So, if you don’t have the strength to realize, at least pray: Give me the strength
to realize these changes, it is changing, it is changed already.
So, on the other hand it says:
“nang wa zé ché gak pa ma yin te”. “The appearances do not dissolve, stop, or cease.”
That means, when it says, dissolve, dissolve, dissolve, it’s saying, it’s not like a completely
ending of something, it’s not like that. That sounds a little depressing, when you say, this
finishes, this finishes, this finishes, that sounds a little depressing, it’s not like that. It’s not like
completely end of something. It’s the continuation of something. I was giving the example of
breathing: Enjoy breathing in and you have to breathe it out in order to breathe in again. The
only way to breathe in is to breathe out. I think, the breath example is good, it’s very short, so
we understand it. When it becomes long it’s a little problem.
“jung wé phuk dang dröl tha di la thuk”. “The original source and ultimate liberation blend here.”
It says. Basically, it’s saying, not everything just finishes like that. It finishes, but that is not the
ultimate nature of it. The ultimate nature is ceaseless, everything continuously arises,
continuously changes. That’s the nature. So, don’t stop, don’t think that it should not go away,
because it should go away in order to – that’s the nature in something to come up, something to
change, something new. Right?
And it says: “jung wé phuk dang dröl tha di la thuk.” “The original source and ultimate liberation
blend here.” So, what we’re trying to understand is the original source, the ultimate liberation,
where everything is happening. So, we are interested, where everything is happening rather
than imagine a beautiful unbounded space and then one single appearance arises and then you
get attached to it, and you say this is the whole thing and you don’t want it to go. And what you
did, you lost this vast infinite possibility potentiality, and also you lost the infinite manifestations.
You’re just totally caught up with this one single appearance called me. That’s the problem.
Does it make sense?
So, in very short with the example of breath: Do you like to hold the breath and suffer or breathe
in and out enjoy? Two choices. Which one you choose? It’s clear, right? That means, whatever
you’re stuck in, whatever you’re grasping on, it’s like you are suffering holding the breath. So,
breathe it out or breath is breathing you out or universe is breathing you out, with one big
exhalation you’re – boom - up in the universe. So, let it go and enjoy the new fresh breath. Wait
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for new breath; wait for new life; wait for new opportunity; new possibility; infinite possibilities.
And it’s truly, truly like that, that’s the magic. You just have to breathe it out.
You see, universe is going to breathe you out. So, there is a choice, a very short period of time
you have the choice to do it yourself or it will kick you. I don’t know how far you stand in that
period of time. So, do it by yourself, it’s called self-realization, before someone other kicks you.
Then it might be called, I don’t know, other-realization or something like that.
Ok, so I think, that’s the Seventeenth Nail.
“zé me gak me dü sum gyü ché me.“ Ultimately nothing ends. No finishing. In ultimate sense
there’s no ending. It says: zé me, no ending. “Neither dissolving nor ceasing, continuous in the
three times.” - “zé me gak med dü sum gyü ché me.“ That’s what it says. So, in short, there’s no
end of anything, it’s a continuation. Because we think, there is an end of something. There’s no
end of you. It’s a continuation of experiences. Does it make sense? No? Which part doesn’t
make sense?
Ok, let’s not worry about it. Something makes sense, right? Some of the things, that we just
said, make sense. So, let’s just stay with those, and not grasp on what is not making sense.
Just take it in what is making sense. It’s amazing the teaching is like. I always feel it’s amazing
me many, many times, something that you hear it – personally I have heard myself many times
my teachers teach, I have even taught many times, I have reflected many times, but then
suddenly something is making complete sense. Lately the whole idea about resting, deep rest,
spontaneous manifestation, it’s my realization. I’m trying to explain that - of course, I explained
that many times before, but that was without realization. Now after that little realization I’m trying
to explain that in five minutes instead of forty minutes. It seems like it’s making sense, there are
a lot of people, when I did it in five minutes, they say “yes”. Many, many people attend the
Facebook live, they have no clue about the Zhang Zhung Nyan Gyud, dzogchen teaching,
nothing, but that makes sense. That’s the beauty of this knowledge
Ok, so maybe people want to ask something or make some comments or something, you’re
welcome.
Q.: Is the unbounded space really permanent?

TWR: The simple answer is according to the teaching: yes.
Q.: Thank you.
TWR: You’re welcome.
Q.: For me I always have this notion, this idea, that what is true in a spiritual context is also true
for the context of nature like in physical forms and so on. So, taking this from astrophysics for
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instance they found, that the universe is spreading out continuously. So, do you think that this
would account to what the spiritual teaching is saying?
TWT: Yes, absolutely. Think about the universe is like breathing, it’s expressing. And how much
it has expressed is maybe one percent of what it can express. So, what we know is so little than
what we don’t know. So, the idea of knowing the truth with its physical manifestations, I think, is
totally delusion, because the things change all the time. – I mean, that’s why you need some
sense of trusting this bigger sense of expression. And I think, when you feel a little bit more like
that you do feel in your heart also you open more.
So, according to the teaching, expression - like universe is expanding - so, in terms of its
energy, its expression, appearances, sound, light, formation of sound and light, these are
expanding, but the space, in which it’s expanding, is always one, it’s boundless, there is nothing
to expand. If there is boundless, then there’s nothing to expend. Only bounded can expand,
boundless cannot expand. If boundless can expand, then it’s not boundless.
Now if you look at this a little bit more on a personal level, same idea. I always try to bring it
back to our personal life. So, like sufferings that we have, change that we cannot accept, it’s
similar thing. You have express one aspect of you: I am a father, I am a mother, I’m a partner, I
am human, I am young, I am – that’s not going to stay like that. It’s changing into something
else, and we are suffering. So, you have a choice between I am not just a father, I am not just
whatever in your case, I am not just that, I am more than that, I am beyond that, maybe even to
the point, I am not even that. So, why I have to be this? I mean, you have the possibility to really
expand. The more when you are really spiritually able to expand that awareness, you feel free.
But you’re feeling free in a way not like I’m free, now I don’t want to do anything; not like that.
You’re feeling free that sees, you see things with clarity the world, the purpose, opportunity,
mission, which basically ends up its very momentum manifestation. We fully manifest something
in particular given moment what is the best thing to manifest for you, not what you planned to
manifest. When life happens like that, it’s beautiful. I don’t know, just you go in the kitchen, what
do you realize? The dishes need to be worked out; not like you have to achieve rainbow-body.
Is that simple. You just wash the dishes and enjoy or make somebody else enjoy. Because that
given moment that’s what is there. I’m just giving a silly example, but it seems true in everything
like that. You might see the rainbow in the sink than in shrine. It’s still a rainbow in a different
location. Not appearing where you expected, it’s appearing where the possibility was there. It
truly happens like that.
Ok, next?
Q.: In line two of the dedication, we are dedicating all the benefit to the beings of the three
realms, and in the explanation, it is said, that these are the realms of desire, form and
formlessness. How can I understand this?
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TWR: The idea is in different realms like humans are like desire realm, so form and formless
they are more higher realms. So, basically in a simple way to think is, that different beings –
human realm, desire realm, the form realm, the formless realm, it’s called the three realms, so,
we’re dedicating to all the sentient beings, which in this particular case it just happens to put in
three categories.
Q.: I was wondering, once you realize the truth can you forget it again, or is it that you have the
realization and then know for all, or that you have a glimpse of realization, but then you forget it
again?
TWR: That seems to be like a kind of normal process we call becoming familiar. We say gom
and khrom, like you realize something, then you have to become familiar enough that it will not
go away.
The idea here is something that we’ve been talking. It seems like sometimes it’s hard to realize,
or maybe all the time. So, when it’s hard to realize, [it’s] do not trying to realize either, try to take
a break from what prevents the realization. That’s I think, many people can do. I’m amazed,
sometimes I feel like I’m encouraging people not trying to realize, because it seems a little too
far to realize, but take a break from ignorance. Forget about the wisdom, but take a break from
ignorance, that’s what I’m trying to say. Once you take a break from ignorance you have far
more chances to realize. But if you do not take a break from ignorance and trying to realize
wisdom, trying to realize wisdom, it’s not going to happen. During most of our practices that
seems what we are trying to do, right? We are trying to do really bring the awareness in the
body and then just really bring awareness in the body and we can feel the restlessness,
agitation, blockages, pain, contractions, muscles kind of very tight, then you just - [Rinpoche is
breathing deeply out several times and relaxes and opens more and more]. So, awareness of
the body it’s kind of opening up different parts of the body, dissolving the tensions and resting
into the stillness. That’s what you’re trying to do, do more and more, at some point then you’re
completely in connection to that stillness. And then it’s like taking a power nap. And once you
take that then you feel immediately like a new body. But you have to get to that place. So, same
thing with the speech also. Being aware of that, getting into the silence, into the silence, into the
silence, it’s like taking a break. So, we’re trying to take a break.
Q.: I’m wondering if we are really capable of making choices or making decisions, or if it isn’t
wiser altogether to not make any choices at all and not make decisions at all, but so to speak
give ourselves to life for to be guided by life, so that life itself is guiding us?
TWR: Well, I mean, even when life is guiding then you still are making choices, you’re making
choices what life is guiding. So, in some sense there is a sense of self which is separated from
the big essence. So, it’s trying to find a way back to its source. In the way back it gets lost so
far. And of course, there are many choices, some choices will make closer, some choices will
35
make it further away. But collective universe generally speaking - my own sense I truly believe
more and more for all the years that, what you are saying, I choose things, but not what I
choose, but what universe make me guiding to choose. I definitely believe in that. But
sometimes that could be very different than what I chose and then sometimes it’s a little more
challenging, but still, I prefer to really understand, what universe is telling me. And always I’m
amazed by why something happens in whatever particular given moment. It’s like the Steve
Jobs saying, putting the dots together. So, it’s how the life leads you somewhere.
So, as a teacher sometimes I’m trying to feel more the collective energy of the students for
example, or some voices that I pick up – I don’t mean mysterious voices or something like that,
but some voices of you, real persons talking real things, you know, I pick up something. Then I
see that one single person is the voice of collective issue or something like that. And then I can
feel that of course not only that’s collective issue, I’m part of that also. So, for me these Twenty-
one Nails, these teachings they don’t change, but in context of what I’m trying to talk that exactly
fits here. I’m trying to always fit that (collective issues) into this (text of Twenty-one Nails). That’s
what I’m trying to do. That’s why I think sometimes you feel, I mean, hopefully you feel, that
when I’m saying something, I’m talking to you, even though I’m talking the Twenty-one Nails.
Right? It’s you linked with what the Twenty-one Nails is trying to talk about you. That connection
is beautiful and powerful and it’s also encouraging for me, I feel. Otherwise, if it’s only you and
it’s not related to here (text of teaching), then there is a chance to get lost. So, it’s always
coming back to here, then it’s just nice. On the other hand, if it’s not about you and sometimes
it’s only about the text, then the connection is lost again.
Because one time one of my friend, a Tibetan teacher, I was very surprised when he told me –
because every day I was preparing, marking, notes and what I was trying to teach there, writing
down notes and things like that, and then I bring the text there and I taught like I do now, and
then he said: You’re preparing all the time from the text, but when you’re teaching you didn’t say
anything from the text. And I was very shocked what he said. For me it was totally linked and for
him it was totally disconnected. Wow, that’s really interesting. For me it’s absolutely this (text)
what I’m talking, but I’m talking in the language and circumstances of real experiences of life,
that’s the reason why I’m talking. Otherwise, this is the book, it’s already there, – then what is
the benefit of me being here? So, then ok, that’s interesting. So, I prefer my way.
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Eighteenth Nail ~ Bodhicitta at the Time of Death
“küntu zangpo tuk jé drowa kyop la chak tsel lo”.

“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, compassionate protector of beings.”
In this particular Nail there are three important things. Basically, it’s saying: Any transition of life
- like a big one it’s life and death, one loses the body and consciousness separates, or transition
of happiness and suffering – these kinds of transition, it says:
For superior practitioner the self-arising wisdom itself will teach. So, in a sense it’s like for all of
us in our journey in our life we somehow need a little help and we’re asking for help. This is the
idea of Küntu Zangpo, tuk jé drowa kyop, means, it’s a compassionate protection of beings,
compassionate protection what we’re asking in some sense. So, the best one, or it’s saying,
wang po rab, which means the superior practitioner, will be taught by his/her own awareness.
So, in some sense of what we were saying earlier, in live all the efforts, we know probably most
of the efforts are meaningless. In principle all the efforts are meaningless, but we will not agree,
but most of the efforts are meaningless I hope, you will agree, but nevertheless we still put
effort. Ok, what will be a good example? I mean this lady’s example about choices.
Ok, let me finish first these three points, then we will come back.
So, in very simple, three choices. One says, superior, the wisdom awareness itself.
It says:
The quintessential instruction of self-arising primordial wisdom is taught. For superior it’s taught
by itself. That’s number one.
The second one it says:
The quintessential instruction of illusory self-appearance is taught. I know, it doesn’t make any
sense, but I’ll come back to it.
The last one, for the weaker ones, it says:
The quintessential instruction of the master and the deity is taught. So, master’s teaching and
advice support through which one is taught.
Or another word, maybe simple word to say, will be, when you need a compassionate
protection, you find the compassionate protection within yourself with self-arising primordial
wisdom. If you cannot find that, then you find through your experiences, illusory self-
appearances. If even you cannot find with that, then find the help of the master. Master is the
last thing here. The first two will be better. If then there’s not, then you need the master.
So, it says here in Tibetan:
“ye she rang shar men ngak té”
“rang nang gyu mé men ngak té“
„yi dam la mé men ngak té“
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I’m just saying it because of the recording if someone is wondering what it is in Tibetan. Not for
all of you.
Yesterday I was talking about flow of life, flow of energy and not go against the flow of the law of
the nature. So, this is what I mean, some sense this is a question about a decision in life also.
So, sometimes it seems like if you’re trying to not bring your own pain in the place, you kind of
step back a little bit, trying to be open and aware, it seems like decision is quite clear. You look
around, it seems quite clear. The universe has already made one. And probably it’s also very
clear, there’s nothing you can do about it. And either you dance with it or suffer with it. So,
obviously you just realize that this is it, this is the truth. Or sometimes you don’t self-realize, but
you realize through experiences, illusory experiences. So, I think, let’s finish the first one. The
first one seems the important one.
You know, I wrote these poems called the “Inner Refuge Prayers” particular for the Tree Doors,
we have done this practice a lot; many of you being introduced to the Inner Refuge – so, how
many of you feel, that you do have some kind of deep enough experiences with Inner Refuge?
So that means like:
“küntu zangpo tuk jé drowa kyop la chak tsel lo”. The Samantabhadra within you, the one
compassionate protector of beings. So, compassionate protector is within you, the
Samantabhadra, which is your own awareness, it’s protecting you, if you are more closer to it.
It’s like total surrender and trust and letting go off this dualistic effort.
Imagine the being of light and the dark being demon come in your room and both are saying, I
want to help you, which one you go for? It’s clear, right? Or you look inside yourself, there is
awareness and there is ignorance, they both are saying, I’m going to help you, which one you
go for? With awareness you surrender, with ignorance you discuss. Then in the end you
discuss, you discuss, you discuss, it’s effort. So much discussion, you lose completely
connection to the silence, you lose completely connection to the peace. But at some point,
either you surrender and do let effort dissolve and connect with the source of the silence and
wake up from there, that’s one way, or while you’re talking you hear, talk is a noise, noise is
what you need to recognize in order to connect to the silence, that’s another process, but
recognition is still there. So, deep sense of - when we think about like self-respect - I think, deep
sense of self-respect is to connect with the Inner Refuge.
And way to connect with that is resting. Resting is the way to connect with that. That’s why
resting has that important place, that helps you to connect. When we are resting probably so
much more healing is happening in our body. When we are resting in our mind, there is so much
healing happening in our mind. When we are resting our emotions, so much healing happening
in our wounds. All are happening while we’re resting, not while - how to say – disturbances of
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duality and emotions. But awareness is important. Because each time awareness is like being
aware of the connection.
A few years ago, I used to give example of Inner Refuge as shaman going to visit the mountain.
After many days one day you just find you’re arrived there, and you see the sacred mountain.
Or you go through Tibet few months and you arrive at the mount Kailash; you see the mount
Kailash right in the sky in front of you. - Joy. It’s touching your heart, feeling the sacredness,
feeling connection, feeling very moved. It happens, right?
Or child who needs the mother, lost the connection to the mother for years and then finally in a
crowd child sees the mother in the crowd and runs and hugs.
Or a yogi spends thirty years in a cave meditating and one day he realizes, and one day he
sees Samantabhadra in appearance as a being of light and have a simultaneous inner
realization. Imagine!
All these examples were outer examples, comparing to inner realization there is nothing to
compare, it’s more important. The moment when you let go and you feel the space, you feel the
space, you feel the sense of boundlessness, and you feel connection to it. That’s the sacred
mountain. That’s the Buddha. That’s the mother. That’s what you are seeking for whole life.
That’s what you’re grasping on things that changes for not changing, and this doesn’t change. If
you wish something to connect which doesn’t change, connect with this, not what is changing.
It’s formless, omnipresent. You don’t have to travel anywhere. You don’t have to pack anything.
It’s the realization. Of course, we need to understand this. We need to do, I guess, emphasize a
little bit on this.
I don’t know if you remember, those you have been following me for a long time, I used to say –
I used to say, somehow, I haven’t said few years – is that when you feel that, bow to it. Bow;
internally bow. It says (text): “küntu zangpo tuk jé drowa kyop la chak tsel lo”. That’s what it’s
saying:
“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, compassionate protector of beings.” I prostrate. So, internally I
bow to that, my inner essence. That’s what it’s saying. It’s inside one. Then of course outside
one (Rinpoche points on image of Tapihritsa) we also doing it, but inside one should not be lost.
How much time you engage with your inner block, inner stories, inner pain, but how much time
you engage with inner vastness, inner light, inner joy, inner completeness. Compare the time in
terms of how many hours. In 2018 how many hours this and that. It’s shocking. Is it 2019 better?
And you hope 2020 will be better. But somehow, I think we need to kind of learn little bit more
kind of narrow down our focus and emphasis in the teaching and practices, and definitely it will
come. And that’s what we trying to do here.
So, I think, during this retreat I will emphasize a little bit more to come back to this Inner Refuge
sense, but I think it’s good to each one of you look – I mean, each time when we say Twenty-
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one Nail, Twenty-one Nail means twenty-one times doing prostration to something inside. And
each one of them are very uniquely different from each other. And that’s why there is this
number. So, your journey is to find this compassionate protector within yourself. With help, but
that’s the journey. Your journey is not looking out and looking at someone and asking for
protection. Even when you do that, in true sense if you do that, is, you’re only doing that to find
the protection within. That’s the role of the teacher. But if you don’t find that, the teacher or
somebody else is the only protection, but you’re identifying with the protector, it’s a mistake. The
teacher’s lineage blessings are important, but in the end it’s through these blessings one needs
to realize. That’s what we pray, help me to recognize. Bless me, help me to recognize self-
realize. It doesn’t say, help me, make me self-realize. It’s not saying that. It’s saying, help to
self-realize.
---------------
“küntu zangpo tuk jé drowa kyop la chak tsel lo”.

“I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, compassionate protector of beings.”
So, compassionate protector of beings; compassionate protector, it’s within us, which is Küntu
Zangpo where we are pay homage. So, in this Eighteenth Nail there are basically three
important points like teachings or wisdom. Primarily it’s saying:
“lu sem tal wa tha mé dü”.
“When body and mind separate”, means, moment of the death, or
“at the junction of bliss and pain”, in another sense probably - it’s not exactly saying that, but I
think it means that - it’s any other major transition of life, that many of us during doing the
practice that’s where we are looking, when we are saying challenge or exhaustion, effort, or
pain identity, having difficulty to coping with that transition. So, that transition is a little bit life or
death, it’s similar.
So, it’s saying: How you cope with that? How will the inner compassionate protector protect? Or
how the inner Küntu Zangpo will protect? So of course, it depends on three levels of students. If
somebody is more mature, more advanced, it says:
“na tso nyam nyid dam pa dab “.
Means: “The quintessential instruction of self-arising primordial wisdom is taught.”
So basically, self-arising primordial wisdom is taught. Self-arising wisdom is taught, means,
direction to look inward, try to bring the awareness of that wisdom within. Normal tendency will
be looking at out of, looking for someone, something, something to change, we don’t look in. So,
here it’s saying, self-arising wisdom is the solution.
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So, it’s saying that all these different diverse experiences are not separate. So, like finding and
losing, having, and losing, young and aging, age and dying, dying and being born, bigger to
smaller, smaller to bigger, fewer to more, more to less – in essence all these experiences are
equal. Great wisdom of great equanimity. Allowing the experiences of great equanimity wisdom.
Then you will see yourself or will self-realize.
But when that is not possible, then for the second, intermediate students:
“rang nang ghu mé men ngak té“.
„The quintessential instruction of illusory self-appearances is taught.”
So, illusory self is taught. Rather than saying something completely solid truth of our
experiences, able to see, how unreliable perceptions, changeable, impermanent experiences,
we are having, recognizing through those illusory nature of our mind.
“ma chak zhen mé dam pa dab“.
„Give the instruction of no desire and no attachment,”
So basically, able to learn detachment from the experiences of illusory nature of our mind,
because in the first place the self-arising wisdom one did not get it. Like equality of in some
sense like unity in duality, equality in appearances wisdom knowledge we did not get it. So now
it’s about detachment through illusory nature of mind. This will help not to repeat the pattern, or
not reborn again.
If this does not help, so the lesser capable students, then the teaching of the yidam and master
is taught, so basically faith, trust, devotion. Because in some sense self-realization is not there,
realization of illusory nature is not there, so “I cannot handle anymore, you help me, I trust you”.
So, in some sense ability to trust to your guide, find the right guide and ability to trust in that
relationship, the yidam and lamas.
“chi kha sem kyed kyi zer bu jo ghe so“.

So, this is the instruction of the moment of the death; generally, that’s what it’s speaking, but
that does not always necessarily mean the ultimate death, but every transition we have
experiencing more death.
So, that’s the Eighteenth Nail. It’s basically protection, compassion and protection, or protector
will arise – the wisdom awareness is the protector. That’s really the main message.
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Teachings on Different Topics
- Commentary on the Meditation on Exhaustion
So, this meditation what we just did, does it make sense? Do you feel clearly one of the three
parts?
So, how many people are from the first group? [fully exhausted]
And how many people from the second? [trying hard, lot of draining effort]
And how many people from the third? [subtle form of being disturbed or exhausted]
Ok, and how many people from all?
So, can you see, if you are in one of these groups, can you see this practice will help? It will
definitely help. One of the reasons why we are exhausted so much is obviously, we are putting
lot of effort. One of the reasons why we are putting lot of effort is, because it’s not working. One
of the reasons why it’s not working is, because we are disconnected, and we kind of don’t know
what we really need to do to have it, to achieve it, to realize it. So, many times also in life when
we are disconnected, when we are fearful, when we lack confidence, we do the opposite things
to get it. We isolate ourselves trying to connect with somebody. Getting angry at somebody
seeking for love from somebody. Or fighting with someone to have peace. Or many, many other
things we just do the opposite. That’s why we get exhausted. But somehow these qualities
seem like necessary qualities for us as human. Maybe enlightened beings, Buddhas, they don’t
need it, but us, we need it, we need connection for example. A deep sense of connection, a
healing connection, healthy connection, or complete connection. Sense of connectedness for
sure we need that. But do we need to go crazy to get it? Do we have to fight to get it? Do you
have to get confused to get it? Do you have to suffer to get it? Do you have to travel thousands
of miles to get it? Or do you have to hide and get depressed to get it? Sometimes people do
something called a retreat; people hide and try to get it. Yogis do that, that’s one approach for
sure. Or people go travelling all around the world like going to India and they change name and
dress and food, get diarrhea, bitten by mosquitos, make few extra enemies. Yeah, definitely
that’s one way to do it. You can do it or not, but at least you can try to do it, but these all are
called simply processes; it’s a process. I’m not saying they are wrong. Different people need
different things; it’s a process. But in the true sense of realization, do you need to do any of
those things? No. You don’t have to do any of those things. You have to realize yourself, where
you are, who you are, what’s happening to you. It’s realization, what makes the difference, not
complicated process.
But sometimes complicated process seems necessary. It’s the same thing as every parent
trying to advice children. Everything what they did, they tell children not to do it. Advice does not
work very well. Have you smoked? But don’t smoke. I smoked, but you don’t smoke. I drank, but
you don’t drink. I don’t know whatever all the list down there. Maybe it doesn’t work that way.
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So, maybe it’s better to say, let’s smoke together and find out, it’s nothing fun about it. Actually,
that’s what I’m planning to do with Senghe. I wish to do the first smoking with him. I don’t know
he will invite me or not, but I will be definitely happy to do it.
So, it’s like the same kind of advice, somehow each individual needs to go through its own
process to find out something. Those processes are valuable, but some point one needs to get
it. The sooner is better, so you exhaust less. So, inner journey is about to shorter the process.
So, for example all the things that we seek in life, I could say like the qualities, like connection
for example, how often we have this sense of I want to be connected. Let’s think about it just for
a moment, the sense of wanting to be connected. The connections that you have with the family
for example or trying to connect with the family. Or you go in a café, have a cup of coffee, you’re
looking around, kind of wanting to be connected here. Or you come to the retreat you want to try
to connect to the teaching, teacher, sangha. Or trying to make special connection with a specific
person. So, in short, in your life what is important this sense of connection you’re trying to
make? How you feel, how good you feel when you feel a little connection. Or how bad you feel
when you feel not the connection or when you feel rejected. It’s a sense, which is important, but
does it really have to do with the other person? It feels like that, but that’s not true. The
connection is already there within yourself. That needs to be awakened, aware, exercise,
manifest, shared. If one is able to do that, one will not be seeking so much the connection,
rather than one will enjoy the connection. Enjoying is charging, seeking is draining. That’s what
happens in life.
But in the name of connection sometimes it’s love, for example, acknowledgement,
appreciation, recognition, these are means that we seek sometimes connection. Or other things
like a sense of worthiness. Am I worthy? Am I worthy in the eyes of others? Am I worthy in my
partners eye? Does my husband or my wife or my partner, my family value me? Am I valuable?
When you feel you are not appreciated, your qualities are not seen, then you feel a little bit
worthless. And particularly with family members. You’re trying to tell, I’ve been so much
appreciated by this person, that person, that person, you’re giving a list of all the other persons,
saying you don’t do it, or you should do it. So basically, in someone important people’s eye you
want to be worthy. And when you don’t feel then you’re trying to work hard, to do a lot, so that
you can feel worthy, so you feel that somebody will value. But that sense of worthiness, it’s
inside, or richness, it’s inside.
In Dzogchen it’s called great perfection. So, if there is a great perfection, if there is a sense of
great perfection in you, that’s worthy. When you have a connection to that, then you don’t seek
for others approval for worthiness. Then you look out in the world from the place of being
worthy. What you ask from the universe and from others? You ask what’s your value, that
people value. When you value yourself, others value also. Maybe others don’t value because
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you don’t value yourself. They see you don’t value yourself. It’s like having a little invisible sign
on your chest, saying: valueless being seeking for value. First thing they say, ok, that’s the one
valueless person walking around there.
Or like friendship. We seek for friendship, right? Same thing. Are you a friend with yourself? Do
you like yourself? If you don’t like yourself, how you expect others will like you? Do you love
yourself? I hate myself, but I want you to love me. That doesn’t work. So, the love is perfected in
you. When you realize that, you see you are attraction of love. You immediately attract that from
others.
A sense of home, which is really, really kind of important. Feeling sense of home. Are you
feeling a sense of home where you are? Or who you are with? Or what you do? In any given
moment, do you feel home? Or do you feel always misplaced? You are at wrong place with
wrong person doing the wrong thing and seeking for the right place with the right person and for
do the right thing. Last thirty, forty years you haven’t found one and you expect to find it when
you get old. Is that going to happen? It’s not going to happen. Guaranteed it’s not going to
happen. So, where is the home then? Home is within. When there is nobody seeking for home,
the effort to seek for home when that dissolves, that space, that sacred space is home. There is
more chance to recognize it because nobody is looking for a home, somebody has just found
one.
So, these are very general some specific list that I gave what we drain looking for. That’s why
we’re exhausted, why we drain, that’s why we get lost, that’s why we get depressed, that’s why
we get isolated, lonely, but if we discover the meaning of great perfection then the home is
within, the friend is within, the source is within, peace is within, love is within, joy is within. They
all come from one single source that is within you. That’s it. That’s the main point.
So, what does that tells us? Ok, probably not much. Maybe the practice what we did, this is
what we should do. But really, really do it every day. And do it with specific things. Of course,
the general practice is the same, but each individual practice should be different. When you just
lost your partner and feel lonely, you feel betrayed or angry or whatever you’re feeling, all these
are experiences, difficult experiences, but these experiences also are great opportunities. Our
own pain is the greatest opportunity. It’s the most important visible door, unavoidable door. You
don’t have to say, which Bon door I should follow? It’s just right there in front so big. Appeared
so big. You work with that. Find the friend within. Find the love within. When you find one within
for sure you find somebody outside. The chances what you find outside is far more better when
you find one inside.
It’s interesting how people find relationship. We feel like sometimes we have choices,
sometimes it just seems like timing. You are certain age, you feel like I’m getting late for
something, I don’t know what that is. “Let’s do it, let’s do it.” And then, why? Because I think it’s
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just about the time to do it. It’s right about the age, too late is not good. Then you realize it has
nothing to do with the person, it has nothing to do with you, it has to do with the age. But of
course, there are better companionships, better match – I’m not saying I don’t believe in a good
match, for sure match are important, but more likely you will find good match being in the right
place, because there’s no urgency. Loneliness should not be a good reason to find someone.
Sadness is not a good reason to find someone. Unhappiness is not a good reason to try to look
for someone. Joy is good for looking for someone. If you look with joy, you find another joyful
person. If you look with loneliness, there is good chance you find another lonely person. Two
lonely persons are more problematic. So, we mirror each other. What we are, what we feel, we
invite that in our life. We create how we feel, we create that. With that energy we create our life
around us. Does it make sense? Ok.
----------
So, any questions?
Q: Fire seems to eat feelings, is that right?
TWR: Can you say a little bit more?
Q: I’ve been thinking about my emotions and as soon as emotions come up, there are a lot of
stories attached to that, and these stories they give me unrest. So instead of trying to figure
these stories out by thinking as fire is consuming everything, so why not be like fire, because
fire will consume all the emotions and the attached stories totally and there will be peace.
TWR: Like fire will burn? Or fire will mature?
Q: It will burn, consume, or melt.
TWR: Yeah, I mean, that’s what we said. I mean, this idea of melting, dissolving, clearing,
purifying can come from different elements. And elements have different degrees of subtleties.
Sometimes we do sweat lodge like Native Americans, that’s also fire purification, for example.
Or sometimes we do smoke fumigation, it’s a purification. Or sometimes when we say A YANG
RAM MANG KHANG DRUM DU, it’s an element purification. Or then in a subtler way, I said
earlier - yesterday I said, today I said – warmth of awareness, if you remember that or not,
right? Warmth of awareness, that is subtl, you don’t need a match or you don’t need smoke or
you don’t need to go in a room with hot temperature like sauna, but if awareness is there, it
melts. But then, if that awareness is not melting, then make a fire.
One very nice simple exercise you can do: You know, every day when we’re out in the world
you always meet somebody like very grumpy, unhappy, and sometimes you feel you take it
personal, but they not even do it to you looking like – [Rinpoche shows a very grumpy face]. So,
if you observe them – it reasently happened to me – so I thought, my god, this is really like a full
blowen pain body manifestation and it’s directly on me. Then of course it’s not on me, he was
looking at everybody like that. So, what do you do? Then good thing to play without high
expectation will be, make this person smile or melt. You just can smile a little bit, and you can, I
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don’t know, whatever you can do, be playful, if you can change the shape of this face, melt
down. So, your warmth, warmth of your playfulness, kindness can definitely change the energy
of the person that you are sitting with. For sure, you can do it. And some people are a little bit
harder than other, for sure, and at some people it might not work, but at most people it will work
and it’s a fun game to play, because it’s not a game only, it’s a good practice, because most
time what we do is, we take it personal. We would say something like: “What’s wrong with you?
What’s wrong with this person?” Maybe there’s something wrong, but that’s not a nice thing to
say. You don’t have no clue what’s going on in this person’s life. Stories; everybody has a story.
So, at least be open. Whatever your story is, I want to lighten up, I want to melt. I think, it’s a
very nice exercise. So, I recomment that.
Ok, any other?

Q: Rinpoche, you been talking about the causes of our suffering, and the cause of our suffering
is mainly that we try to hold on to things as permanent which are impermanent, and that we
have big difficulties in accepting impermanence and change, and as an example you used the
example of the breath, that holding the breath actually brings about suffering. But now in our
exercises here, we keep practicing holding the breath. So, are we actually practicing dealing in
a controlled way with suffering?
TWR: We are not holding the breath, right, we are breathing out. I use this term saying, with
awareness and breath you release, it means, releasing is always exhalation. For example, when
there is a conflict, when things happen, you begin to feel like a little bit pain in the neck and
shoulder or chest. How many people feel that? What do you think, why you’re feeling that? It’s a
lack of breath. It’s more like a holding, it’s basically interference of the flow of the breath. Some
people can feel that for month and years without doing anything about it. Or maybe the only
thing they do, they hate it. And they have no believe that they can do something to clear it. But
during meditation I’m saying be aware of your effort. Maybe your effort is trying to convince
somebody or maybe your effort is expecting from somebody something is not happening. And
that’s why your pain is happening in your neck and back. So, in meditation you’re aware of
effort, you’re tracing back effort and you bring it back to your back. And then when we say -
that’s awareness – I can feel the conflict, I can feel pain in my back, that awareness is already
helping. Then I’m breathing in into that area and breathe out. Physically I’m feeling I’m breathing
out from that area. Maybe physically I’m not feeling very well, I’m not fully aware of that, at least
I’m imagining I’m breathing out releasing from there through my breath. That helps.
Is that answering the question?
Q: I actually related it to the Tsa Lung practice where we hold the breath, that was my idea, this
holding of the breath during the Tsa Lung practice. The question is, is that holding of the breath
during the Tsa Lung practice a controlled experiment how to deal with suffering and pain as you
said, holding the breath is suffering?
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TWR: No, no, it’s very simple. The function of the breath is like if you want to clean the cup, you
put water inside, and you close it, and then you shake. So, shaking is, you’re holding the breath,
because that’s why it’s cleaning, once you shake well, what do you do? Then you open and
throw it out and put new water inside. That’s how it gets clean. So, the air is simply a way of
cleaning. In hospitals the clearing is, they just do the operation and cut and chop. Here we
believe before that we can also do with breath in different areas.
We take a break now.
- Some Important Aspects of our Practice
So, let’s look a little bit at our meditation, what we just did. So, there are just important pieces in
meditation. One is the awareness of your life. Just generally speaking awareness of your life it
seems like most important. Particularly here I’m talking about exhaustion, either you’re feeling
sick or feeling not well, physically, energetically, emotionally, it’s important to be aware of that,
so that something can change. If you are not aware of that – you’re just suffering, but being not
aware of that, there’s nothing going to change. And then also seeing like a causal relationship if
I am exhausted – why? A very simple answer is, I try too hard. I’m trying too hard. You are
trying too hard. So, if I say you’re trying too hard, that could be many things that you are trying
too hard, but if you look in this moment in your life, you are the one to know, what that is. What
is that you are trying too hard this morning? Or yesterday evening? Or yesterday morning? Or
phone calls that you made? Text messages that you sent. E-mails that you sent. Conversations
that you had. Discussions that you had. Little arguments that you had. Trying to be smart, trying
to convince someone, but nobody seems listening. What is that? You have to recognize that.
That’s the effort. So, each one of you: What is that? Again, when I say effort, you can think
about: Ok, effort means this and effort means that, I know someone who puts a lot of effort. –
But you can always kind of skip yourself. That means, there is no clear recognition in your own
life. So, if you recognize the effort, then you can say: Wow, how long I’ve been doing this? How
many different ways that I’ve been doing this? I do this with doing, I do this without doing, I do
this with talking, I do this without talking. I can do this with many ways. Then you recognize
something. Who is it? I can see, I’m exhausted. I see I try hard. But I see, when I try hard and
harder, it doesn’t work that well.
So, who is it? Why it’s happening that way?

Well, who is it? It’s the pain identity. Like a helpless father, lost mother, lonely husband,
depressed wife, I don’t know. Could be anybody, if you look closer, you will see it. It’s trying too
hard. It’s suffering, deep inside suffering, true object of compassion. Pain identity is true object
of compassion. When you feel that in yourself, you feel compassion to yourself. When you see it
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in someone else or particularly close ones, you truly feel compassion to that person. Because
just trying so hard. It’s mean but trying so hard to be nice. So, you’re not so affected by the
meanness, but you are more aware of trying to be kindness. Like you will not punish the bad
behavior of a sick child. Trying so hard. So, in your own self, when you connect with that, the
only way, when you connect with that, then healing happens. Only then. There is no other
choice, there is no other option. So, bringing more sense of compassion to that and recognizing,
it’s ok, you don’t have to try. You’re good, you don’t have to try. All is good. This sense of
permission to rest, let go, at least, take a break. A kind of natural thing, right? Even if you think
about how every country’s structure there seven days and two days are to rest. Supposed to
rest in principle. So, you also can take a little break, you can say, I’ll suffer next week, but I’ll
rest for two days. But resting with awareness and breath. So, two most important ways of
resting. Breath and tsa lungs are more gross ways of resting and awareness is more a subtle
way of resting. And maybe you don’t know, what it means to rest with awareness.
So, during the practice, you’re aware (Rinpoche concentrates to the heart area and breathes out
from there), maybe you feel pain here (at the heart). I feel pain here. I see, it has something to
do with my interactions, my effort; I see, it has deeper to do with my pain identity, I give
permission to rest. I’m aware and breathe from it. It’s a pranic breathing from that location. And
when I say, rest deeper and deeper, it means, the only way to rest deeper is when you’re aware
of deeper layer of effort. Otherwise, you’re not resting deeper, you’re just rest continuously. So,
once you rest complete, remember this image: Child resting in the loving arms of mother. Just
simple idea is resting. Body is still, speech is silent, mind is quiet, but connected to the mother.
You are connected to your true source, that’s your mother. Or another way, you’re connected to
yourself, that’s your mother. So, you’re resting; deeper and more familiar experiences of resting.
Then, when you rest, it’s important to not lose the awareness. Resting and death there’s a
difference or resting and sleeping – maybe you can sleep and rest, but usually we are talking
about conscious resting. When you feel the nourishment of connection, it’s better to be awake.
Does it make sense? So, when you are connected, then that’s important when I say
nourishment. That’s very, very important. Because unlike other teachings Dzogchen says,
everything is perfected there, but whatever you need it should come from that source; it’s the
same source.
So, you go for what you need. This morning we talked about it. We talked about feeling
homeless, then look for home, and home is there. Realize, this is your home. That is your home.
– This experience of being at home, it’s alive now. Because search for home, exhaustion of
search for home you have let go and you have let rest. Now you have created a new space in
which you feel the sense of home. That’s nourishment. And if you are nourished by that, for sure
soon you will not feel homeless. You feel you’re happy. Wherever you’re going, whatever you’re
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doing, doing, not doing, you’re happy, you’re at home. How many houses and people feeling
homeless, how many people are there in the world? There are many people, they have many
houses, but no one home. It has nothing to do with that.
Or, typical, loneliness. It’s the same, how the experience of loneliness is. Need to connect. Or
maybe it seems more like a perception of lost the connection to somebody. “I don’t have
someone.” “I don’t have that person.” “That person left me.” I lost that person.” “That person
passed away.” Whatever your stories are, basically your experience is more the loss of
somebody. But it’s not like I found something, a different experience.
So, talking about exhaustion and effort, this perception of trying to look for someone, that
exhausts. You can sometimes see people looking for someone. Do you see sometimes people
looking for someone, do you meet people like that? It goes to the level, where it’s too much, you
are scary. It’s only in the middle someway it clicks. Scary, right? So, when you don’t look for
someone, when you feel the sense of found (in yourself), there’s more chance of finding
someone. But anyway, that is not the point of finding someone here, unless you’re worrying
about it, that’s why I’m mentioned it; does that really help to find someone? The answer is yes,
but let’s not think about right now. Right now, find yourself. From the source nourish that.
Always when I meditate with the stillness, I feel this beautiful experience, there’s a big difference
just being still and awareness of the stillness. The awareness of the stillness is in my body, I feel
like awareness is like a mother. Every cell in my body is like this child waiting for the mother.
When awareness comes in, they are jumping. They are dancing. They are laughing. They are
happy. They are moving. They are hugging. They are sharing. Running around. I feel in entire
my body so it’s big universe of live. Simply one single sphere of sunshine in my body. That’s for
fun too much. It’s not just (Rinpoche sits very straight with strained expression in the face) – not
that kind of stillness.
So anyway, what I’m saying here is, each nourishment, meaning of nourishment, each of you,
what you exhaust, what you’re looking for, find that quality in there. That’s what I’m saying. (Tib.
citation)
“Abundant knowledge and qualities are there”, nourish from that. Does it make sense? So, a
very short question to you will be: Do you recognize your effort for what you are looking for? –
Stop looking, rest. When you rest enough, you will find it in you. When you find in you, you will
find outside. That’s it. Or you can do the cycle for the rest of your life, and you will never find.
You will never find it. Whole life. You might have different time experiences of finding
something, each time you feel, that’s not the right thing. In the end you go without finding
anything. You don’t want to leave the world like that? “O my god, I thought I found that person,
49
that was wrong, wrong, wrong. I thought I found a home, it was wrong. I thought I found the right
job; it was wrong job.” – You don’t want to do that.
And the idea of also nourishment is not actively imagining of visualizing something, it’s more just
simply being aware. Imagine this beautiful loving mother holding this beautiful baby. So, you can
look in Google “loving mother holding baby”, you see all these beautiful images. You look at one
of those images, and you look at a real situation, and the baby is still, resting, baby is silent;
beautiful. You can see, baby is very open and looks like very passive. But do you think, it’s
passive? No, a lot of activity is happening between the mother and the baby. A lot of energy
exchanges are happening. I mean, when baby is hungry mother is taking her milk out, you can
see this kind of connection. Active energy connection. So, if you list the qualities like sense of
safeness, do think, baby is feeling save? Yes. Do you think, baby is feeling protected,
compassionate protected? Yes, or no? Yes. Do you think, baby is feeling loved? Yes, or no?
Just make a list, have a little more imagination. Write all down. Think what amazing amount of
energy is transmitted and received and baby is nourishing from that. But baby is not visualizing
anything. It’s not like a baby Buddha is doing a guided baby meditation. Imagine, the mother is
sending something, grab it, and imagine, it activates lower chakras, higher chakras, I don’t
know. Nobody is guiding anything, nobody is talking anything, nobody is imagining anything,
nobody is putting any effort. It’s happening.
That’s magic. That’s the magic of meditation. In the practice what we did, this is exactly what is
happening. It happens, because of the awareness of connection. If awareness is not there, then
it doesn’t happen. So, awareness is the life-force of communication. Ok, so I hope, during
meditation that’s how you feel. Ok, that’s fine.
And once you feel some nourishment, then also it’s important, if you feel not overwhelmed by
the whole experience, then it’s good to feel, I allow it to manifest. What I just received, I allow
that it becomes alive in me, active in me, and I allow it to express through me.
In the twenty-one Nails there it’s called [seventh point from the First Nail]:
“shar wa sum gyi rig pé tsal jang”. “Exercising with the three arisings.” I allow through the
movement, or through what I do. I will allow this energy to come through what I do. I allow to
come out from my speech. I will allow this to manifest through my imagination of spontaneous
creativity. So, these activities in us in our three doors becomes more support of the seed that
we found in ourselves. Because many times we live different lives, we feel something, we do
something else. Or we feel gratitude and we never say that. We feel love and never express
that. We feel respect, we never say that. We feel joy, but we do not express that through our art.
Expressing it out, because expression is also a part of you. Nirmanakaya is part of dharmakaya.
You don’t go walk out there, doing nothing, saying nothing, imagining nothing, just saying, “I am
just perfected. I am frozen great perfection. And nice to meet you, another frozen great
perfection.”
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Ok, I think, that’s enough.
- What is the issue? - Doing it personalized.
When one is able to deeply connect with this practice, I think this is the way the healing
happens.
Healing happens in one's own body, because all the exhaustions, sickness and pain are
recognized there. It is releasing, it's clearing. Healing happens in one's own energetic field
because there is a lot of effort there, conscious, unconscious, different layers of effort. When
you recognize it, when you use the breath to clear it, then it rests, healing happens there.
Healing happens in our heart, in our deep sense in ourselves, where the pain identity, which is
causing all of these efforts, exhaustion, sickness, is touched, is connected, it is being aware of
it, it is breathing also finally.
When one is able to connect with the sources of problems then healing happens; one will be
able to sleep better, feel better, one will be able to rest better, one will be able to connect to
each other better. So, it is a kind of very natural process. As you practice like that, then you can
see, you are feeling good, you are sleeping better; naturally you see its fruition is coming out at
different places in your life. You find yourself in the right places, with the right people, in right
situations, right things are happening. Something that you needed, before you even know, it is
already there. Something you want to tell to somebody, before you even say one word, they
understood already. So, you synchronise with the whole rhythm of the universe, a kind of
spontaneous, effortless support system.
But in the contrary, we suffer. So, each one of you look at your own suffering, whatever you are
facing. Suffering of not knowing what to do, suffering of knowing too much and to know it’s not
working, suffering of aging, suffering of losing someone, suffering of fearing to meet someone.
Countless - and each one of these sufferings, we make a big deal. Because it is my suffering,
my current suffering, I am going through it; that's why it becomes important, because "I am
going through it". Do you feel that? Everybody? Whatever you are going through, we all are
going through things, right? Just don't take it personal, anything. Believe me, I am not saying
specific things about anybody, I am just talking general.
Sometimes it seems very helpful, to know, what you are going through is not really an issue.
Oh, I am getting older is not an issue; you have got older countless times. Why it finally
becomes an issue? Or I am dying - you have died so many countless times. Why it finally
becomes an issue? Or you lost something. Why is that an issue? Because you lost so many
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times. Maybe it is even good to lose what you lost. If you are open to the new, new world, new
time, new space, new situation, new encounter, maybe this is the best thing ever happen to you.
But none of these are really an issue. And how do you know that? Deep inside you have to
trust, this is not an issue, the true issue is: I don't have self-realisation. I don't know myself.
If I know myself, the self that never dies, I overcome the issue of death. If I know myself, the one
which never can be lost, I overcome the sense of losing something or someone. Whatever you
are going through, the story that you have, the meaning of this story is something else, that is
not the story. And that is important to recognize. You want to stay young; you are looking at
your inner youth. It is not just because you want to stay young, right. If you want to stay it is like
frozen, no movement, no fun, no? So, in short what I am saying, it seems really important to
realize at some point this is not the issue. What causes me suffering, what causes me pain,
what causes me a sense of lost, disconnected, circumstances, situations, this person is not the
cause - this is the most important thing.
Just imagine a lost person is trying to find a lost person. This sense, would it make any different
if I find it ultimately, probably not. But I feel lost, I feel lost. Because maybe some sense I am
lost since long time, but the circumstances triggered me to experience this sense of lost
stronger. Either it is something, it is a job, is the stock market, is a lover, husband, wife,
whatever it is, a lost. Anything right? If you look at the stock market, you cannot fluctuate like a
stock market nowadays. Same way. Some people are worse than the stock market. They
fluctuate more. Stock market at least in the end, long run, they stay stable. But people,
sometime, at long run, they totally disappear. So, the issue is not that what I am saying. The
issue is that I am really trying to realise myself, I am trying to find Buddha nature in me, I am
trying to find myself, that is the issue, these stories are not the issue.
When you truly, truly feel that, realize that, then you will not be fighting with those people. You
will say, thank you, thank you for reminding, I have no time for you, I have to go in my inner
journey, you know. Because that is the truth, you realize, the circumstances just reminded you
something deep inside you. You made the circumstances a big story but then you realize it is
not a big story; the big story is bigger than that. In one single instant you are able to let go of the
story. I lost someone. Ok, I am fine. I mean I lost someone I love. Ok - sad, but it is ok. I lost
someone mean that I am attached too, oh - I am so happy now.
I have the opportunity of let go of some really conflict circumstances, situations, relationships - I
am so happy, I have opportunity to let go - this is not the story, the story is bigger. Or my
challenge of the process of dying. Yes, it is scaring, but that is not the story. Story is even bigger
than that. That is telling me something about something beyond that.
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Throughout my entire journey of spirituality that is always what we are trying to understand,
something transcending beyond the death. That is my focus. That is my ultimate interest. Death
is not a story, it is maybe not even that important, but it became important for me and now I
realize the reason is because it is trying to tell me something. In one single moment you can
transcend the fear of death and that does not matter anymore anything. So, what I am saying, I
hope I gave enough examples to include all of you. If you feel you are missing, come later to
me.
But whatever story you are making, it is not the story that you wanted to engage too long.
Because that is not the issue. Does it make sense?
Actually, the Nail 19 is a little long nail, is all about the Bardo. I will not touch it this morning, but
I will come back to it this afternoon. I am preparing for it. Because in some sense all the nails
seem like preparing toward that, right. Because that is something hard to handle. And the other
thing is the practice what we did. I hope you are able to personalize the practice. Because
everything what I said yesterday, everything what I just said now, when I say I hope you are
included here, that means you have a very specific story. We all have very specific stories -
specialised, personalized drainer, a custom-made drainer. And you have this custom-made
drainer for a long time, even becoming antic; that means long time, right.
And you have to work on it. It is very, very simple. If you focus on the right place, if you realize
your exhaustion, you realize your personalized effort. If you realize the deep pain identity of that
specifics, then it is easy. These are the problems; these are temporarily causing problems.
Everything you want and you don't have, these are the reasons. The only way to have it, is to
clear it. If you have a cup of poison and you want to put a cup of healing medicine, you have to
throw out the poison first, clean it and then put the medicine.
First: The whole process of resting is a way of cleaning. In neuroscience the brain in the sleep
research that is what they are saying, when people sleep deep it’s the way of waste cleaning-
one of the most reason they were finding - it’s the waste cleaning process. Not only it is cleaning
the waste, but it is making connections. That is exactly what we need. So, during the meditation
you are not sleeping but you are conscious awake, but you are still resting; I think the process is
the same thing. They are not talking that yet, but they will probably sometime soon talk also. In
general, we believe clearing is a way of doing more, talking more, thinking more, more
meetings, it does not seem it always works. I believe many times in life doing more does not get
more done. For sure! Or doing more does not get done what should be done.
Sometimes some things are happening, I believe. Like even your brain, for example. Are you
responsible for your brain? Do you wake up in the morning, you are saying, brain do this, do
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that, connect this neurone to that and this and that, do you do that? Are you the organizer of
your brain? If you are the organizer of the brain, your brain will be in trouble. I think it applies the
same way, if you are organizer of your life, your life will be trouble.
But you trust to the bigger picture of the universe. The whole universe is there to support you,
give you signals, send you messages, send people to you, that connecting all the time. You just
have to be a little bit open to it - ok, I get it, I get it, I get it. That is what I find sometime is so
much fun doing it in one single day, you can experiment that. Ok, I am open to that; I am not
making any plans. So, you look if somebody comes, the universe sends you, right - what is the
message? You are trying to listen the message it is very interesting, thank you so much, and
you go down, you meet somebody else, something is happening, everything you make the
meaning out of something that you did not, your pain did not prepare. It is so much more fun
day, so much more fun day.
That day is a fun day because there is not much pain there; because there is not much plan
there, because pain did not plan, you just go with openness. I think many times we have to trust
life more like that. It seems that we in general in our life we question, we question wisdom, but
we do not question ignorance.
People are going through lot of problems - oh God, confusion, problems - they never say, is it
real? Is it very serious? Or the question I raised this morning, what you think is important is not
important, so maybe you ask the question, is it important or issue is something else? We think
our problem is the most real thing ever. And that perception has a power to create problem to
us. But during meditation, when you are experiencing, whatever you are experiencing during the
meditation, we say, this is fantastic, great. But then you say, is it really real, am I making it up
all?
If you want to have fun with those thoughts, you can say yes, I am making up all, but I rather
prefer to make this way then the other way. So anyway, in short, try to personalize; ok? So,
whatever you need specific time in your life, in your journey - this is the practice ultimately. You
can do in so many different ways, but this is the core and make it personalized.
Your personal journey, obstacles of your personal journey will be clear, your personal journeys
whatever you are seeking you will find.
So, we do A OM HUNG a few times and then we will take a break.

- A OM HUNG -
Just for a moment contemplate on this idea that whatever the challenge is that you are facing,
pain that you are facing, confusion that you are facing, just try to tell yourself, realize, this is not
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the issue. This is like outer symptoms, but inner cause it’s seeking for self-realization, and
realisation is the answer, not temporary resolving problem or not temporary resolving outer
problems. Just for a moment sit on that and look at it closely in your own situation trying to
understand something with this line.
- Important Points to Remember
So there a few important points in this practice to remember. One is recognition, recognizing
one's exhaustion or sickness or the effort and of course the root of all is pain identity,
recognizing all these very closely. Of course, it will depend on each particular situation in life, in
the moment in life, what is going on. If you are not well, if you are sick, getting sick, exhaustions,
carelessness of the body is big, so then it is really important to focus on the body part, because
we don't pay so much attention to it.
If there is like a dispute, argument, fight, discussions with speech, with lot of effort, related with
your throat and your voice and your speech, then obviously you pay close attention to that,
recognizing that exhaustion, that effort in the speech, then your door is speech. For example, if
there is a lack of communication then recognizing why you are not able to communicate,
because of what kind of pain identity is that. On the other hand, sometimes you end up saying
so many things, so many things, totally unnecessary, there is no container. Also, why you are
doing that is because of the pain identity.
Same thing with the mind.
The point is to recognize. That’s number one important!
Once you recognize, second thing is the ability to rest, resting from all the dysfunction of the
body, speech and mind. It is not going to work unless you rest. So, second after recognition is
the ability to rest, and it’s really taking time, like when we are meditating you can feel that. Just
lying down is not resting, going to the beach is not necessarily resting, or just getting a massage
is not necessarily resting. So resting is a true sense of awareness in your body, awareness of
exhaustion and awareness is letting go off those exhaustions and efforts, then it's resting, and
all the outside - beach will help, massage will help, everything will help, but otherwise it is not
going to work, again. Even a short nap, a short nap, it only happens when you forget about
taking a nap. Wanting to take a nap so badly, holding that energy before you take a nap, nap is
not going to happen. Good intention interferes your nap. How it happens? Forget about. Rest!
Deep rest means forgetting yourself, not just self in a big aspect, but pain self.
Second main point is: Rest. There is a process, right. Specifically, if you are working on your
body then work on your body for one week or something like that. If you are working on your
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speech, then work on your speech if that is your issue. You are having discussions, conflict,
argument - then focus on your speech. What I am saying is be more specific and personal.
So, when you truly rest, the process it clears.
The next important thing is to be aware of that space. Aware of exhaustion and aware of
exhausted space are equally important. Most of the time we are not aware of the exhaustions.
Think about for example if children are in pain and are crying. Being bothered by child's crying
does not help, getting stressed out of that noise does not help, and forcing the child to stop
does not help or screaming at the child, asking for not screaming does not help, but that is what
we do. Child within us, the pain, when that is asking something, we treat like that. Instead of
distancing, you go closer. Instead of getting stressed out, you are trying to be careful, more
caring. Instead of disconnecting, you connect. And then the solution is to rest. What we are
talking is the awareness of the space, you remember.
In one way you might think, why it matters so much to be aware of that space? As the same
question you can ask to yourself: Why are you focusing so much on your pain? Why you focus
so long on your pain? Why you focus so frequently on your pain? Why you have so long
conversation with your pain? Do you like it? Do you have a good reason to do it? Or you don't
know why you are doing it? Probably the last answer, right?
Same way, there is a good reason to be aware of the space. Without awareness focusing on the
pain is the way of expanding, extending the pain. With awareness getting closer to the pain is
the way of clearing the pain. So, space. When you are aware of the space, that space, that
sacred space becomes alive because it is a source. It is vibrating, it is energizing, it is tsal -
dynamic energy, primordial winds are pure, primordial pure winds are moving.
It is like - in physic they are saying particles, unknown particles, they are bumping up, they are
ready to manifest anything, it depends on the observer. Then when you have seed of joy - joy -
bump, bump, bump – it’s bumping up and all becomes joy. Sound, light, rays, these particles,
they are moving there. Out of nowhere joy is seen - wow! And joy meets these particles - bump,
bump, bump. So, it is called like exercising the energy or exercising the awareness, rigpé tsal
jang. So that is important.
And then what? Ones you exercise the energy they mature. So, joy - I am happy. It is not like I
am just happy. - I am happy, I am happy, why I’m so happy, I am happy today, I am happy now,
I am happy with tea, I am happy with you, I am happy with them, I am happy with life. So, million
places and reasons that your happiness is expanding and manifesting and creating and sharing
- that is what happens!
So, if you exercise enough, you have ceaseless joy from boundless space. If you don't exercise
enough then there is one joy - to keep it or to give it. And people want that, so you want to
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protect. It’s my joy, I worked so hard, I am not going to give to you. When you think like that,
they have taken it already. It doesn't work like that. So, it requires it’s called exercising dynamic
energy of the joy. In that matter the joy is one example, that’s why I’m saying you need to work
on whatever specific thing you are working on.
And last one - a placement of your manifestations, quality, a place, where, you know. If you feel
the quality, it is good to know where the quality can serve. I feel joy - I want to bring it in my
work. I feel love - I want to bring it in my family, my sangha, my friends. I feel strong - I want to
bring it in my projects. I feel resourceful - I want to bring it to my creativity. Just name it.
Whatever quality you lost, now you rediscover, find a place for them.
It is a little link that you have to make in your mind. Joy, joy, oh, I bring it in my work. Why?
Because job is a miserable place for many people, I am not saying for everybody. I want to
bring it in my work, that's it, that's all enough. The seed has been planted already. Next time you
go to your office, you will be smiling, and you'll see smiling people - what happen? Well, you put
the seed in Buchenau. Or, oh I feel love, I want to bring that in my family. Even though there is
love but sometimes you get stressed out, yell at each other and so on, make an issue out of no
issue, and suddenly when you go back in the family there is so much loving quality. So, plant
the seed and allow it to manifest. Simple thing, right, just making these links in the mind, don't
think you have to do too much work, very simple, just a link, that's it.
Don’t think how to link, how long to link, how forcefully to link, and would it work, did I link well, I
am not sure it will manifest Monday or Tuesday, just link, and forget.
You know how it works? Usually when we walk, when we go somewhere you turn the wrong
turn in one place, next time you go to the same place, you do the same mistake - have you
noticed that? Pattern! When you did the first mistake you did not say I am planning for the next
one too. When it comes the second time, we do the same mistake, we did not say that, but you
put the seed to do that. If you want to do the same mistake a second time, you don't do
anything, it will do it likely. If you don't want to do it a second time, you say "I did a mistake, next
time I am not going to do it, I will be aware". Put that seed and then forget about it.
- Questions – Answers
We have some little time if anybody wants to share something. How is the practice going or any
questions?
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Q: In terms of stillness, silence, and this open space, this is seen as our inner refuge. The more
and more I am familiar with it, this becomes a kind of a real home. So, is it necessary anymore
to move?
TWR: That is a good question for yourself, right. Each person should ask that question to
yourself. Sometime, whatever we do in our life, it is not necessarily always there is a deep pain,
is not a pain manifestation, it is more what the moment requires, what the moment needs, what
some other needs, what collective space requires, many reasons to do things. Let's say this
way. You feel totally home, or someone feels totally home and then the partner, husband or wife
says, let's move. Then you have to see how you react to that. If you say no, that means you
don't feel home, because if you feel home, you will feel home anywhere. And you don't have to
move for yourself, but you are moving for someone. So, you are happy moving, you are happy
not moving; it feels like that, right? Because many times it feels we function better, we serve
better, we are happier when we are able to tap into the momentum collective resources and
energies.
With intention we do say that, right. We go somewhere, in another person’s house, somewhere,
we say how I can help you? We don't go there and say, how I can help myself? Think about
your own situation in life where you really intend to help someone, could be your parents, could
be your partner, could be your children, but then you run into a conflict and then you see how
the conflict is arising and maybe you can see sometimes you are not really trying to help
someone. You need help, but you are not clear about it. In the name of helping other you are
seeking help for yourself; confusion creates more confusion. Does it make sense? For example,
if you go sometime trying to help somebody, maybe you just go there, you don't have to do
anything, but you feel I have to do something. People who are agitated doing things, they feel
they have to do something. So even just simply their agitation is interfering the person. Or they
feel they have to say something, they have to talk; maybe this person doesn’t want to talk, he
just really wants to be quiet. “But I am here to help you, let's talk.” And then we get upset if they
don't talk.
You see, you don't know who needs help. The idea of spontaneous manifestation is to not have
a plan for manifestation, because you don't know what you need to manifest, or you don't know
that you don't need to manifest anything. There are already so many beautiful manifestations
happening, your presence is good enough. Even with children and parents, it is very interesting,
that's what I feel. I was watching one time a video, Senghe was dancing, and another boy was
dancing. I watched that video a few times and I noticed something interesting. When he was
dancing, he was always looking at me, he needed my proof, “my dad likes my dance”, some
kind of things like that, I noticed that. I don't need to say anything, I need just to look, observe,
presence. So, it is not that I needed to say: “yeah, I saw it, you could do it better, if you truly
want my opinion, true improvement.” Anyway. Or sometimes we go to the masters and teachers
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in the caves and holy places, we are trying to feel their presence, we are not trying to discuss
and argue. Presence!
I think we always have to remember, when we visit somebody, you want to feel the joy, the
pleasure, the blessings of their presence, not necessarily what they will say, or do or anything
like that. Or same way when you are visited by someone, also similar situation, you wanted to
be more present there, not doing things or saying things like that. But then if this is needed then
you will know what that is, and then you can manifest. It’s the question about what I should do. I
mean, just the question you can see, what should I do, that means, the question is already
ready to do something. Maybe the circumstances do not require to do anything, but we feel we
have to do something.
Q: Resting in the inner refuge or taking inner refuge or inner refuge as such is that synonymous
for Buddha nature or as we are talking here, resting in the inner refuge, is it resting in one's
Buddha nature?
TWR: Yes, it is a synonym for Buddha nature. But in a way there is a specific thing. The idea of
refuge means you are seeking for help, remember in one of the Nails we were talking about
protection, compassion, and protection, Küntu Zangpo, who has protection and compassion.
So, the protection is that Küntu Zangpo, which is within us, has the quality, so the teaching is
about understanding how does this work.
So, the notion of inner refuge is not a concept, it is through experience that one can realize it.
Many of you have been following me for quite some time and I know many of you have
connection to it. Probably one of the reasons you keep coming back is, because you have
connection to it, because you feel, it is helping, it is making you not go crazy, it's making you
protection from disturbing thoughts, wrong decisions, it's transforming the deeper pain into more
positive actions and you feel that you have something so precious in you, always with you,
forever with you, in every situation it is with you, that's why it is important. You don't have to
pack anything when you are travelling, it is not heavy, it is not stuff, there is no way you can
forget about it, at most difficult moments, probably the more likely you will remember it, in the
most difficult moment you will go to the right direction of it, where you know where you will find
the solution, where you will find the peace, where you will find protection, where you find home,
friend, where you find the worthiness of wealth, where you find your strength, and it is just right
there in you. And these practices are a specific way. The reason why I am saying it is not a
concept, it’s realisation, experience, and realisation, it's experience, these practices take you
step by step there in very short moment, you can feel it, that presence. You feel free, you feel
peace, you really experience it. So that is the beauty of it, you know. We are very lucky in that
way, no?
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Sometimes the teachings can be so elaborated, sometimes I hear things on Facebook and
YouTube people are doing different things and I think, oh my God, why even they are doing
things like that? - I am not criticising people, or maybe I am. I feel the intentions are really good,
but I feel the patterns of doing is a repetition of old patterns, I don't feel they are communicating
anything, they are really saying anything. Anyway, let's stop there.
Any other?
Q: I have a question about the spontaneous manifestation. Does it correlate with having the
sense of life? Many people look for what is the sense of my life. So how does this is, because if
you find the sense of life then you need to plan for this, or maybe it’s my assumption or wrong
assumption. So how does this spontaneous manifestation fit together?
TWR: This is a story. One time a businessperson approached me, and he said, oh it seems you
did quite well, your books, and projects and things and everything. Did you plan them? And then
I told him, no, I did not plan. Of course, there is some plan, but it is not like I plan for a period of
time, I don't plan like that. And then he said, oh if you would have planned it, you would have
done much better.
Experiences of my life, I can clearly say, I have done much better without specific plan, but
being aware - I was just talking earlier this morning – tapping into the resources of moment. I
have done much better with that then my plans, because I have many plans with which I did not
do well - they didn't work.
I think any given moment in life when we are at the junction of making decisions, it is very
complex, there are so many circumstances around we don't know, but the pain mind is very
predictable, the magic of universe is totally unpredictable. So how the predictable mind can
realise unpredictable reality? It doesn't, that's why the idea is to be open.
Does it make sense? Maybe another word would be, if you think about, even in the world today,
like market or businesses, every business that fails they are sticking on their plan, that's why
they fail. If they don't stick on their plan, if they move with potentiality, tapping into potentiality
then they will not fail, because they can change. Amazing, right. If you look at the Airbnb, not
having one building, running every house in the world, or Uber not having one car, running
every car in the world, unpredictable, right? If you stick with the material, buildings and all these
solid ideas you are going to fail for sure. So, this is a kind of Dzogchen world, right. Interesting!
You just have to have a good idea.
Just a very practical example, similar what we were talking earlier about helping other people.
Let's say you decide to go to help your aging parents or a sick friend; somebody, right. You
decide to spend the whole Saturday and whole Sunday, two days. Of course, there is a plan,
which is to help. Let's say you get there in the morning, Saturday. You look at yourself, you are
making a plan, “you need this” – “no, no, I don't want that” – “no, you need that”. So, if you
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watch yourself how you are interacting with that person you are trying to help, almost every
minute, every moment you are going against, because you wanted to do it on your way. “I get
hurt when people don't listen to me, I get hurt when people reject my decisions.” You are paying
a weakness in the place where you wanted to be strong and trying to help somebody. So, you
can watch, if you watch closely for whole two days you are trying to do what you wanted to do.
That's the plan, pain identity plans like that.
Let's say what will be the successful two days visit. You go there, you'll be open, maybe five
hours it was nothing to do, then you should be very happy doing nothing, not getting agitated,
restless, feeling I wasted my five hours here, trying to come to help you, there is nothing to do.
Do nothing! And suddenly the toilet needs to be cleaned; it happens, right? And you say, I didn't
come here to clean the toilet, I came here to help you. Toilet was not my plan. Well, when you
wanted to help, you should not have a plan, because you don't know what kind of help is
needed in a particular given moment.
You don't know how fast things change and you have to be flexible. Somehow doing nothing,
willing to do anything is the way you can help in two days; forget, in some sense really forgetting
yourself. Does it make sense? So how many people have a plan next week trying to go to help
someone? Ok, you know what you need to do now, right. Just delete all your plans. But if you
are not brave enough to delete it, then just write “flexible” beside it (on the list). I think this (plan
list) but I am open to anything.
Sometimes you hear people saying, I want to help you, I really think you should do this. And
then you can also hear they won't accept any other things. Or people saying something like I
think you should do this, but we can do anything. That is nice, thank you so much, being very
flexible.
Q: I was very much surprised in the morning meditation, where we should go for manifestation
of a positive quality. A quality came up, which I did not consider to be such a positive quality, but
I felt it very strongly, felt like a fierce determination and a power to overcome obstacles. Then I
thought, o my god, this is something I considered to be a pattern to go to more overchallenge
myself, which happens quite often in my life, demanding too much of myself and to go into
struggle. But today it came up as a positive quality with a very strong feeling. So, I wonder what
makes the difference and how I can go along with it, as I experienced it to be a change?
TWR: So, I think the question is similar to this question being flexible, spontaneous. Our pain
identity, each one of us, whatever pain identity we have is very predictable. If you want to see
something wrong, it is wrong. Wrong cup, wrong table, wrong book, it is wrong. So, when some
experience come, it’s just seen as something wrong. Fear, anxiety, sense of lost; it plans that
way, to see that way. But when you are open, when you are rested, when you are connected,
then experiences arise, what usually seems to be not good, now you see is good. What usually
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seems is a threat, now you see as opportunity. What usually seems as obstacle, now you see
as a door. What usually you will see as taking your strength away, now you see as a source of
your strength, because who is seeing is different. That is the reason why we rest. Rest basically
means, pain identity needs to be dissolved in some sense; it's cleared, and a new sense of self
need to arise and then it sees things differently. Yes, it sees everything differently.
We talked a lot last year about Küntu Zangpo, that every situation we experience in our life is
good. We also discussed about it, we have doubt about it, and some of you felt, that idea is a
little bit too much. I understand, that makes sense. I think maybe sometimes situations like this it
is not necessary to think, even though I am trying to make a statement, but I don't think it is
necessary to think that way; in the teaching it is saying like that, we don't have to believe or
we’re trying to convince ourselves to believe in that way, we have opportunity to experience
something like that. So, we should be open to see, how much the goodness in my life I can see,
because right now I see it pretty dark. How much in this darkness I can see light, how much
these problems I can see as a solution, how much these enemies I can see as a friend. I am
willing to do it; I am willing to change my shift of view. That’s all what matters, that's all we need
to think. It's right statement, wrong statement, what about this person, that person, no - let's not
worry about that. Right? I mean, who knows.
In a very practical note maybe think about three things in your life at this moment: big problem,
medium problem, and small problem. Can you locate that? Sometimes it is hard, when you ask,
what is your problem. “Oh, I don't know what my problem is. Three - I don't know how to count
three.” - “Usually you have thousands, come on, just three. Three - big, medium and a small
one. Did you get it? - Yes? Good. Now, who said big is big, medium is medium, small is small?
Who? You! Right? And who is that you? That is called pain identity.”
Ok. Are we clear with that? So that's fine, welcome pain identity in the club. Let's talk about it.
So, let's talk about the big one. Maybe the pain identity says, no, the big one, we don't want to
talk. Forget about positive view, forget about flexible behaviour, forget about hosting - ok, ok, I
get it, I get it, let's forget about the big one.
What about the medium one? Maybe some of you are saying, let's try the medium one. Ok let's
even not go to the medium one. What about the small one?
Hopefully you all say, yes, let's try. So, are you open to look at your small problem as not a
problem?
Are you open to see that as your resource, your opportunity, your support, that there is
something more than just a problem? Are you? In that case basically you have to say, I am
open to it, I am open to see this is not a problem. So, let's say you are a little bit open to it. Then
you say, what is this then? I feel it's trying to make me weak, maybe it is trying to make me
strong. It's trying to take something away, but maybe it is trying to give me something. Maybe it
is trying to teach me something. When you really ask this, it is amazing, really amazing.
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Personally, I love this exercise, because it is a kind of funny to look at the mind, how fear can
project everything as a threat, how confidence can see everything as opportunity. Really it is like
that. Of course, it does not mean, that you have all the time do things and nothing like that, but if
there is something, then your relationship to the reality is different. So, you say, my problem is
maybe my opportunity. Think about that. Of course, we have done this exercise before, right, a
number of times the last few years. I hope some of you have really experiences, amazing
experiences with this exercise, I mean, transforming your life, you know.
So, you don't have to live like this experience is something wrong, but you are free and it's a
cause of your growth. Does it make sense? It is a support, it's support. Remember in the SA LE
Ö Mantra it says, everything I hear is the mantra, everything I see is a deity, all the God and
Goddesses, every given moment.
Do you see people around you? You know, you are not only alone sitting here, right. Or do you
think, you’re alone here? A lot of people are sitting around here, right. What do you see? Do you
see people? You see what kind of people? Strange people? Nice people? Suspicious people?
What kind of people?
Or do you see God, goddesses, sweet, genuine, people? How people can be bad? That's what I
feel like, no matter sometimes people do things, but I feel it is connected. I need to connect. Do
you feel connection? I’m open to connect. I am open to look closer, then experiences change.
Does it make sense? So, we hear only the mantra, we see only God and goddesses;
sometimes the mantra sounds a little bit like kind of different frequency (discordant). Ok, that's
fine.
Q: Has this what U. just described from her experience something to do with what is called
exercising the energies, the dynamic energies?
TWR: Yes, you can say that. But the more important thing is, that she has a new awareness
there. The new awareness sees it differently. When you are ready to laugh, anything can make
you laugh. And when you are ready to cry, anything can make you cry. I always think about
Italian people, they can laugh about an empty glass for two hours, and German people will have
a hard time with that. It is just that dynamic energy is different. Sorry for that. I think we do quite
good with laughing here. So, don’t worry about.
- Reflections on the Practice
So, I hope that this practice we were repeating again and again is becoming familiar. It is a very
simple practice but very essential practice, and a very personal practice in some sense. The
motivation to practice is also, if something directly links with your life, more motivation is there.
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Sometimes you do practices supposed to be related to your life, but you don't know exactly,
how it is related or if it is related, then it is less motivating to do the practice, right? That is the
truth. If you bring practice with this kind of awareness, it will help your life, it will help your
sickness, it will help your exhaustion, it will help your emotional crisis, it will bring you more
awareness in your life, bring you more clarity and guidance in your life and also probably
function better and is more helpful in the society. So, there is a deep sense of personal
transformation, development if you apply it this way.
But you can imagine really having a junk of time dedicated to practice like this, like a week, or
10 days or two weeks on very specific area, you can do on all three, body, speech and mind like
we did, but then half day you do all and half day you focus on a specific one; like if somebody is
not well in the body, the body should be the focus. It is not only about resolving problems of
body, speech, and mind, but many times people practice dharma without resolving their
problems of body, speech, and mind. Bad relationship to their body, bad relationship to their
speech, bad relationship to their mind, this bad relation is trying to do a good practice - this
really does not work. So, the body, speech, and mind - it helps to clear the problem, but clearing
the problem becomes the door to your essence of the truth. So, one part of the process is
clearing the problem, the deeper meaning is, it opens the door to the deeper spiritual life. Does
it make sense? Two things, right?
It seems like a kind of very simple, but on the other hand it seems really hard in life. How often
people are so busy, especially in the Western world. Busy is ok, but too much not. What I mean
by too much? When time for the basic needs is taken away, then it is too much. You need to
have a great sleep, seven or eight hours of good sleep. If that time is taken away by your
business, it is not good. You need one or two hours of good exercise. If that time is taken away
from busy life, then it is not good. You need a good significant amount of time to be with loved
ones. If that time is taken away, it is not good. You need a time to be with yourself, with no one,
just be alone; it's beautiful when you are by yourself. We all need it, regardless of if you know or
don't know. When you have it, then you know you need it. It is very refreshing, you don't have to
discuss anything, just quiet, you can be thinking about things, you know, you can be creative,
use your imaginations, connect with the nature, simple pleasures of connecting around you,
without any purpose, any meaning. When you don't have a time for that, then it is too much.
Or when you don't have time to pay close attention to that what you eat, how much you eat,
then it is not good. So, if we lose time, but then we are doing something, I don't know why, we
are doing anyway. I think it is important, these little things matter. Lately I have been
emphasising a little bit on these things, also because I feel like that. Personally, I feel like that. I
am trying to keep my sleep seven to eight hours, trying to walk five to ten miles a day, trying to
skip the dinner, trying just to enjoy myself, it does not matter what I am doing or not doing.
Because these are a kind of small foundations which help to further development. Anyway, I
hope this simple practice is something you can really work every day. Does it make sense? It's
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bringing a little closer attention to our existence, like our body - that's why we call it three doors
– to our body, even five or ten minutes when we bring awareness to our body you can really feel
that the body is saying, oh thank you so much, I appreciate that. Truly, you are your own healer
in that way. When you feel the connection, warmth of your awareness with your body you can
feel the body responds to it, it is collaborating with you, it is supporting your life. Ok, I think that's
fine.
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Nineteenth Nail ~ The Time of the Bardo
Nail Nineteen, we just start it here.

“kün tu zang po rang dröl dzok sang gyé la chak tsel lo”.
„I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the self-liberated, complete Buddha.”
The self-liberated complete Buddha, the self-liberation, the self-liberation is within us. All these
things we have been talking earlier in terms of resting, dissolving, clearing, it seems saying that
each manifestation it’s completely natural for them to go by themselves, liberate by themselves.
Think about that, it is a very simple concept. Think about your suffering, pain, pain that you are
experiencing, it has complete ability to heal itself away, self-liberate, unless it is interfered. Pain
identity is contributor, creator, contributor, sustainer.
Can you see that? This notion of self-liberation - the whole practices, all the things we were
doing, we are trying to rest our pain identity so that pain can naturally heal by itself. So, there is
no healer, it is a self-healing, no dual or separate healer, if there is any it’s the self-awareness.
During the bardo – this text here is talking about the bardo:
„tol tang tul bé tü tan pa … “(?)
In the moment of death when body and mind separate, when all the elements dissolve into the
body, when all the perceptions fade away and the mind becomes very clear, self-arising wisdom
arises without any obscuration. Here again for superior practitioners that moment they liberate if
they are not interfering with their fear and all the things. If they don't interfere, they have the
opportunity to liberate. So, in some sense right now when we are doing meditation, we bring our
attention to the body, trying to dissolve this tension and the moment you die you don't have to
dissolve the tension in your body. The body totally dissolves; immediate support is there
because there is no body. Your grasping mind to outer reality is totally dissolved in that moment,
so then you don't have to try to detach, detach, detachment is not there in outer reality at that
moment. In short, in the moment of death the whole process brings you in the place, where it is
easy to recognize the nature of mind.
What is usually its obstacle is gone, like your body, the energies in the body, gross thoughts,
gross emotions, outer perceptions, all are gone, so it is very clear. Does it make sense? Maybe
in another word I can say something like, when you feel something is lost, and you feel pain
because something is lost, experience of pain is not fun but definitely there is the opportunity for
you to self-recognize. What you have, what you identify with, it has been obscuring you for all
this time, it's gone. Transition is hard, but you have opportunity. It is interesting when you look in
the world, like YouTube or things like that, amazing things you see in YouTube, right? Like
people who lost their arms, lost, I mean, lost basically, different things, very important things
they lost, and because of what they lost, they became stronger in another way - as far as
creation, art, music, inspiration. You know people without legs they create some way to be able
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to walk, amazing things, right? But the main point of what I am saying is, what made them
strong is what they lost.
So anyway. This moment is a great opportunity to recognize. And after that, if somebody does
not recognize, then the Bardo start to appear. So, you begin to see light, you begin to hear
sound, like rainbows, like thunderstorms, many, many things like sacred images. If you are used
to visualize deities, then you begin to experience them. During that time your experiences
become your reminder, your support. Like you might hear the SA LE Ö Mantra and then
immediately that might become support, invitation to the awareness. Or image of thangka,
mandala if you are familiar, immediately that becomes support. You do not need to have any
images and sound, you can just self-realize in that moment of process, but since you did not
then these images, sound have a place that time.
Appearances are a mirror to self-realize. So, whatever you are seeing, they are like a mirror to
you, makes you recognize your-self, because they are like a projection, manifestation from that
place. Manifestation reminds you, connects you to the source, not takes you away from the
source, which usually is what's happening in our life. That moment is like sun shining in the dark
environment, like a king reaching to its own throne. And all these visions dissolve and become
pure, all gross appearances dissolve into pure, subtle, like dissolving the ice, “thar zhi tso la
thim pa ta”. Basically, it is talking about all these moments of dissolution, dissolving, dissolving.
What do you feel when you hear these things? Is it exciting? Or is it scary? Another image will
be, imagine whole your life collection of your garage, stuff in the garage, all the things you don't
want, somehow begin to dissolve - bum, bum, bum - dissolve into the light. That sounds
exciting, right? And the garage becomes very soon this spacious luminous, warm garage. It's
like that with our karmic stories (in our body), you know. The reason why we don't get excited
when we talk about dissolution of our body is, because we are attached to it. That’s all. Garage -
we are not attached to it. That is the only difference.
The idea is, not to get attached to this (body), just let go. When you have the opportunity to
have a new body, why hold on old one. When you have opportunity to have a light body of light,
why keep the stuff body. When you have opportunity to get body of bliss, why you have body of
pain. When you have opportunity to have eternal body, why you get stuck with a changing body,
impermanent body. That is actually exactly what is happening here. So, we have to trust
enough, believe enough, talk enough, think enough, to feel enough, then feel maybe (?). -
Sounds good, sounds good, sounds good, but I like my pain body.
Ok, I think that is enough.
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I continue with the bardo.

One of the things, general idea in this teaching of the bardo it seems saying that our relationship
to the idea of death is very important, to have a better relationship. Because whatever cultural
upbringing, information, collective fear is, we don't have a good relationship with death. We feel
death is like a failure. Death is like an end. Something finishes, no more life, end of everything.
End of connections with loved ones, connection to your life, connection to your reality. That's
how more or less people feel, or maybe even not have the opportunity to practice or realise or
achieve liberation - but it is the contrary!
Death is the beginning of charging the battery. It is the beginning of new life. It is the opportunity
like in this practice, when we are saying what happens in the body, like all these blockages,
physical conditions, in simple words, all these physical conditions are naturally clearing, so the
mind is getting more free by itself. After good tsa lung exercise in the morning meditation how
good you feel? After hot summer with lack of air, with big lunch meditation how you feel? The
physical dimension has an impact. When you are dying, you forget about lunch, even the weight
of the body and effort of the body, everything is gone. The luminosity increases nine times
more, the clarity, space, every experience increases; so much more possibility. So much more
possibility to understand the truth! But not necessarily easy to understand the truth, unless you
are familiar with what that is. If you recognize your mother, you will recognize your mother in the
crowd. If you don't know yourself, you will not know it in the bardo. So, in the bardo it says, there
is much more opportunity.
It says:
ö ni zhing kham tha bü me
kha la zha tsö shar wa ta
So, this light is like boundless visions of light appearances like rainbows in the sky. These inner
sounds will be continuously like a thunderstorm, sound will be there. All these manifestations of
colours and light will be like huge files of silks, colourful.
ghom shing ti pé gang za la

ku dang kyi kho dzo par char
So, the one who is more familiar and experienced will see this full mandala of the truth.
So, what I am saying here, it is so much more opportunity to recognize. Let's say, in the
moment of the death, which for sure will come one day, what do you will or what do you wish to
do? Worry about the will, worry about the car, the house, who should take, who should not take,
who will take. Would you worry about all these things?
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Or will you be excited about all the visions, sound, light, rays, rainbow, colours, all this what you
are going to hear and see? It is like a spectacle; will you be just excited about these visions?
That's a relationship to the death, right?
Like I was already telling, one of my teachers, Gen Singdruk, when he passed away, at that
time I did not pay much attention to it. I felt it was like ok, I was like eleven or twelve years old.
But I witnessed his process of death so closely. He was the one I lived with, he cooked for me,
took care of me like a father, but also more like a friend, I would talk and argue with him. I did
not know exactly what he was sick, but I am sure he was sick, it was not like nowadays, you do
this test, that test, you diagnose this, you try this operation, and so on, nothing like that, he was
just sick, and somehow, he knew, he is going to die.
And he was joyfully preparing for it. That means, little things what he had, he wants to give
away. “This is a new cup, give it to that lama. This is a new spoon give it to this lama”. Basically,
he was trying to give away all the things he had. So, I was like one transporter, running up and
down giving to everybody. But the main point was the image that I remember very clear. We
were in two rooms, in one room I were studying, in the other room he was doing his work, a little
window in the afternoon the sun shines through, he was having a sewing machine, and this was
part of his kind of job, making cloths. So, he was making these silks, this kind of silk that is used
for cremation, it will be burned together with the body, so cremation mantras on it and all those
things. He was sewing it and singing a joyful song. At that time, I did not pay attention, I thought
it is just ok, normal, but when I look back now, particular reason why I look back, what reminded
me to look back, some experiences triggered me, something what happened in US with some
people. One of these people was a guy who always wanted to come down to Serenity Ridge to
a retreat, he would ask weeks and months before for the weather and I got tired of answering
him, because I don't know how the weather will look like. So, stressed out to go to the retreat,
and then I remember my teacher. He was so joyful preparing for his death. Look at these
differences.
It's an amazing experience to see the process of dying that way. He was kind of having more
fun like as he was going to a holiday to the Bahamas or something like that, preparing his
sunglasses, wearing colourful t-shirt or something like that.
His connection to the first Abbot of Menri, Nyame Sherap Gyaltsen, was very strong. So, he
asked his friend, the moment when I am dying loudly say the name of Nyame Sherap Gyaltsen
100 times into my ear. So, this hearing will trigger the connection to his own practices.
So anyway. What I am trying to say here is, try to have little better relationship to the death.
Right. Big transition! Because of that, also the little transitions that you are going through - why
you make so big story, you are not dying. Just don't make big thing out of it, enjoy it, enjoy it.
From the right place if you look at it, all these little challenges and transitions, which are
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happening, they are really opening a new door for you, absolutely with no doubt I can say that.
You just have to pray, have a strength to recognize that, that's all. Don't make it a big story
because the bigger story will come soon. So, don't waste time now, get ready for the bigger one
later, right.
If you don't waste time now, if you are trying to get ready for the bigger one, when the bigger
one comes you will say, is this the bigger one, it doesn't look like that big. It means, you are
stronger, you are equipped, right?
nang wa dak zhel dak ghi tong

All these appearances become more clear by itself.
rang rik dak dang dak tu jel

The self-arising wisdom clears to oneself; ignorance disappears by itself; sound, light and rays
appear by itself. In the dark retreat, if you did the dark retreat, if you did not see sound, light,
and rays, now you will see it, without suffering for 49 days.
In short: In the moment of the death, in the Bardo, all clearings are going to happen by
themselves, all the experiences, sound, light, rays, these visions are going to arise by
themselves, so you have so much more opportunity to realize yourself.
khom pa chung pé khang za nam;

rik pé gyal po bar la zha
chik né sum gyi bar tu né
So, people who don't have much of experiences then the innate awareness becomes more
passive and hidden. So, all the visions will not arise; there will be more obstacles. These are the
moments called bardo of existence – sid pé bar do. During that time prayer and support are
necessary. Basically, it is a question of how familiar people are with these practices and
teachings during that time, that's what it says.
“dam pé go.mé gang zak nam; né luk sé yang ngo mi shé”. People who have not received
teachings, not practiced, not familiar, then during this time even though everything is so clear,
but there will be no recognition. There will not be self-realisation, because the outer vision will
delude the awareness.
So, when people are talking about Bardo teaching they are talking about these three different
stages of the Bardo, but more in an essential sense this is what it means the 19th Nail. That's
how it finishes here.
In my own way how I would say, the short message would be, have a better relationship to the
death and transition. Does it make sense?
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So maybe one or two questions?
Q: I have done several dark retreats already and I experienced, like most of people, I realized
whatever experiences are there, it's your own mind or respectively your own dream, or
equivalent to the practice of lucid dreaming, if you just stay in awareness not trying to alter the
dream, but staying aware that you are dreaming, you realize, whatever happens is your own
dream, and my question is or the effect of that often is, that most of the people who do this
practices lose the fear of death, of dying. My question is, is it sufficient to go into the bardo with
this idea, with this view that everything is your own dream?
TWR: Yes, exactly. The idea of all these different practices of the day, practices of the night,
dreams, sleep, they all are supposed to help each other. That's why I am talking about
transitions in your life right now. For example, how many people feel like you are in transition
right now?
And maybe, when you feel you are in a transition, you feel little bit of challenge or lot of
challenge. Ok, think about that. It's one way to look at it. Maybe it's true it's a challenge, it's a big
challenge, on the other hand maybe it's not a challenge, or it is not a big challenge, it is
perspective, right? So, either visions, awakened visions, dream, bardo visions, they are all the
same more or less, how you relate to them is the same.
So, sleep, bardo, awakened vision, in all three cases what you are supposed to do, is remaining
in awareness of unbounded space.
Maybe it is a little bit like receiving teachings this morning, right, maybe a little bit like that, I
guess. I am speaking, I am speaking, I am speaking, you are listening, right. So, some of things
make sense, some doesn't make, somehow you enjoy listening, I hope. So hopefully whole life
is like that. Something makes sense, something doesn't make sense, but it is fun.
But when there is no unbounded awareness, when you are not open to someone, when you are
not open to life, then you are stuck in one visionary experience, one experience, and when that
experience is lost you feel that you are lost. That is not true.
Maybe, I know, maybe it is not the best example, silly example, it is like this: If you are worried
about losing a 1000 € and the universe is saying, don't worry about it, I'll give you 1 Mio €, ok.
What would you say? Would you say no, no, no, I don't want, it's my 1000, it's my 1000, no, I
don't want to lose it. Million? What do you mean million? I don't hear you; I cannot see, I don't
believe you, I love my 1000, I have suffered a lot to get it. It is exactly like that.
So basically, the universe is giving you far more than you can ever imagine and what you are
losing and what you are wishing, far more. So, the only way to receive it is to take a little break
from your pain, what you think you are losing and be a little bit more open to the universe, it's
simple.
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So, then the other part of here is, we are saying exercising the energy. When you are not able
to let vision just arise and let liberate by themselves, that means, if you feel like being playful
with the vision then you can be playful or if you feel little bit challenging, if you feel like you have
strength enough to guide the vision, then you can guide it. Then you have different options, you
know.
Q: I want to know what happens to a person, who never had contact to teaching or who never
wanted teachings? My father died in autumn, he was a scientist, and he did not want to have to
do anything with spirituality.
TWR: First of all, for everybody, I think in general, these experiences, they are going through,
are the same. So sometimes not know teachings, no knowledge, no experiences, the transition
might be a little harder, right? But sometimes also when we say, my father had no teachings is
difficult to say also. Who have a teaching, who does not have a teaching, that is also very
difficult to say, because sometimes some experiences or knowledge can be very informal, like
people have, people have their own way, they have it, but they don't call it specific things what
we call them. So, I would not think about somebody have it, not have it, lightly.
But we can always pray, send our prayers, dedication, and that will help.
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Twentieth Nail ~ Dispelling the Extreme Misconceptions
I will speak a little bit from the 20th Nail and then we will follow just few left over questions from
before.
“kün tu zang po lok tok mün pa sel la chak tsel lo “.
„I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, dispeller of the darkness of misconceptions.”
So true experiences of Kuntu Zangpo, our own self, will dispel the misconception about the truth
in oneself. In this 20th Nail this is about keeping it secret. Traditionally these teachings are kept
very secret. And earlier like in the 7th, 8th or 9th century in these times people called it like single
transmission, only one person gave it to only one person, not two persons, only one. So, one
hold it, and then one gives it to one, then one gives it to one.
Of course, it became more and more available and when we were receiving, we were a group of
us receiving from Lopon Sangye Tenzin, and there was a question about, you know, this is
exactly is this ok to teach like that? So even when we were taught, we were a group of us, but
still there was some sense of very secrecy. Lopon Sangye Tenzin clearly said, now it's the time
to give, not hold on. Personally, it's a permission from him to teach the way I teach. He said, if
you don't give, maybe this might completely disappear. But always there is a little bit a sense of
discomfort of doing it, still. So, after so many years now I get used to it and the feeling is, if you
get it, good for you, if you don't get it, then it is not for you.
The reason behind why one should keep it secret, this is what I want to say a few words from
this text:
“gha zhik di la dak tu dzi”. There are some people, they will self-identify with this. So, for them
this is not good. For some people will be denying the reality and this is not good for them either,
they fall into nihilism.
“gha zhik di la chok tu dzi”. Some people will say, this is the best, super or something like that.
In some sense it is true, like in the West it is a little bit like that, you know. Many times, in the
beginning years when I was coming here, people heard about different teachers talking about
the 4 tenet system, 9 tenet system, this and that, they were saying, dzogchen that is the best,
the highest, which is said that way, but it doesn’t say, you have to grasp that way. So somehow,
they could receive any teaching, it should be fine, but they feel, they want to receive dzogchen,
and the only reason is, that everybody is saying, that is the best. So, “chok tu dzi”, that’s what it
means, because of that, that is the problem.
“gha zhik di la lom par sem”. Some people get very proud: Oh, I am dzogchen practitioner. So, if
they don't have enough ego on their own, then Dzogchen, which is supposed to help to reduce
one (ego), that it just illuminates one.
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“gha zhik di la ngo por dzi”. Some other people can look at it as dzogchen materialism, as if this
is something to grasp.
“gha zhik di la ngang shing tak”. Then there are some other people who are scared, afraid; the
notion of boundless, all good, that’s a little scary, unacceptable, the way is too big or maybe it
seems like going against morality or something like that.
“gha zhik di la she kur deb”. So, because of many of these then they start saying, these are not
good teachings; so basically, undermining the teaching, the lineage.
“gha zhik dam ngak chö bar jö”. Some others they will practice this, instead of trying to
overcome their pain identity they are trying to use it in a way of reinforcing their pain identity by
manipulating its message.
Of course, you can say, many of these chances we can fell into. That's why we say, we pray:
rang ngo rang gi she par jin gyi lop; every day we pray, help me, to recognize myself, help me to
recognize myself. So, that's we are praying, so that we will not misunderstand, in many ways
there are possibilities.
“kun zhi sem kyi ter du pö”. Hide this knowledge, these experiences deep in your heart, hide it,
keep it personal private. So, it means basically, keep it private and secret for yourself. So, in
that way one can overcome various misconceptions.
So that is the 20th Nail.
So, in some sense it means keeping it in your heart and do not intellectually manipulating or
with fear judging or something like that. Whenever these experiences arise, praying to help me,
help me to understand, help me to understand.
So personally, I feel that these teachings are really, really like a timely teaching, you know. I
cannot imagine teaching anything else than this; in any different forms, different ways; even all
my books, you know, “Sacred Body”, “Sound Healing”, “Luminous Mind”, “Spontaneous
Creativity”, you see the core is just the same thing. Have you noticed that? It’s the same
practice, not a different practice? Last ten years, everything I said, did, talk, retreat, books, is the
same thing. And also, I would say, don't expect anything else from me. But they all are applied
for different reasons. It is the same principle, same practice, same view, that cannot be different,
but for different reasons.
Using the body to experience it, using sound to experience it, using breath and awareness to
experience it, using our life and creativity to experience it. Lately I am saying sleep more, rest
more, that’s the dzogchen practice. Since you did not realize by waking doing things, one day
waking up in the morning only rainbow body is left in your bed, because the teachings that is
exactly what it says, it says about resting. It talks about respecting the body, respecting the
breath, respecting our need, mind, and it also addresses the social issues. This is one of the
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most beautiful things I see when I read these things, and when I’m reflecting on these things, I
see, wow, it is answering everything, all of the current social problems.
So personally, I feel more my specific job or my mission somehow it is not to preserve teaching
of course as much as possible in a traditional way, but more importantly to communicate the
true message to everybody’s life. That I feel is my mission, not just preserving it, but there is no
link, no connection to our society and to our individual. Somehow personally I don't feel excited
about, - exciting also, because - it’s like living - I don't feel, I am a hard drive, information
storage or something like that, or playing the tape recorder or something like that. It's feeling like
- many people have recorded me and I am just replaying them, which is fine, be part of is fine,
but I should do a little bit better job than that, because I can see, I can feel, I can hear, I can
connect, I hear people, I hear what they are saying, I also hear what they are not saying, or
what they meant to say. So, if I hear all those things, then I have to communicate to that these
teachings; that I feel is my mission.
Like in Facebook live teachings when people say something like this is exactly what I wanted to
hear today. Many, many times I hear that. This is exactly what I needed today. But I am not
talking what they needed, I am talking in the teaching in a right way, which happen to be they
needed, that is the magic part of it. So anyway, the main point what I am saying here is, that it
really addresses our needs. And also like this cycle of teachings, I think, it is beautiful in a
sense, it is very inclusive. Of course, there are images like Tapihritsa, buddhas, specific images
and deities, but according to the dzogchen teachings that is not the primary emphasis, you
know, we know that, so, which is good, that's why it is very inclusive.
We are not trying to form a club, a group, a specific group, or something like that. Sometimes to
function as an organisation we need to do something, but that is not the main purpose. The
main purpose is, whatever groups we form, is the way to accommodate flourishing these
teachings as much as possible, in a very unbiased way. And that's why our organisation is
speaking, we try to stay very open to all other teachers, all the other lineages.
Personally, in my life I don't have so much time to give it to everybody, but symbolically I give
little time to everybody in a gesture of, if I have more I'll give more, but I don't have. So, I think in
some sense I feel this teaching need to become more alive in a way we operate also as an
organisation, as a Sangha also. We need to be a living teaching in the society. So, thinking
about conscious leadership, idea of conscious leadership, enlightened leadership; this principle
again applies very much in these teachings.
And the Three Doors is one single manifestation of that sense of openness, and of course
everything has his own good side, bad side, challenging, that is the natural process, but clearly
it is one single seed manifestation from that view, and there are so much more to come. Every
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time, we always have to remember, you know, to stay more connected to that view, not to get
stuck. So that’s kind of little bit one of the reasons also we said tomorrow I will do the 21st Nail,
finally finishing.
Officially the 21 Nails will be finished tomorrow morning. And next year we will do the essence
and the practices of the 21 Nails. That will be our last summer retreat as I have said two years
ago.
When I said that, I can feel, ‘Oh my god, last summer retreat’. That is exactly the thing, you just
watch yourself, what you feel, why you are feeling, what you are feeling, what does that feeling
mean? In truth it does not really change anything, we do continue or not continue, it is just
somehow, I think, it is good to - you know - after how many years now? Just the summer retreat,
I don't know – So, how many years? 18 years? So, anyway, many, many years, which is also a
pattern, right. And pattern is good to break, not get too attached to the pattern. “Oh wonderful,
Buchenau, summer retreat.” Yes, wonderful, that's great, it stays wonderful forever, but it does
not stop your journey, it does not stop my journey, our journey continues. If you want to continue
you can continue, this will not change anything. If I want to continue my journey, I continue my
journey, it will not change anything, but the pattern does not have to continue.
So anyway, we will have a wonderful retreat, practice retreat next year. We will have a little
celebration. I already told Tsering and Senghe - they don't like travelling so much - but I told
them, you got to come next year, because this is the celebration. I remember, Senghe was very
little, going up in the kitchen, stealing sugar, coming out with (lot of sugar, licking his fingers).
So, all the good stories.
-----------
Ok. So, we may have few questions here?
Q: Thank you for the wonderful teachings. My question is: I have read a Tibetan Book of Death
when I was young, and I wonder since that, is it possible for human beings to remember the
deaths and the lives before?
TWR: Well, you know there are many literatures, recordings by different teachers, there is also
the University of Virginia, and they have hundreds of videos, not only on specific traditions but
interviews from different places, it clearly and I believe this exist, memory exists, you know. So
other than that, I don't know what to say.
But maybe what I will say is, you see lot of near-death experiences recorded and very
commonly how beautiful they feel. There are also many experiences, they don't want to come
back. And it is a little bit like what we were saying this morning, when you are freeing your body,
when you are freeing your pain, when you are freeing lot of things, you really experience totally
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different sense of self. So, in short what I am saying, don't feel too bad of the death. Have a
better relationship; this is what I am saying. And particularly don't feel bad about people, who
have passed away. I think maybe the other way round, they are looking at you, saying, 'my God
I am sorry for you', 'I pray that you come soon, joining the luminous club'. I am quite sure,
actually that might be like that. So don't be too smart, thinking oh poor who died - at least be
neutral, send warmth and love and don't worry about them. If there is any sense of stronger
relationship between you and deceased people, if you take care of yourself better, they are
happy.
Q: In terms of the Bardo teachings as a western person the question arises, where did this
teaching come from? From Visions of realized masters?
TWR: Like any other teachings, the teachings come from different masters, different enlightened
beings. So, these cases of the 21 Nails, it is saying, are the words of Tönpa Shenrab in the
canon. So, yes, they are coming from the teachers, original teachers.
In some sense you feel like knowledge - I don't know if that knowledge comes, knowledge is
always there. When you say, when did it come, it sounds like, one time it was not there and then
it came or something like that. In some sense I feel it is always there, but then it surfaces by
different periods, through different teachers and experiences and realisations; but what comes
out of them, it is not just came out of them, it was there, maybe it might be there sometimes in
different way.
Like love. How many ways you can express it? How many different cultures express love in
different ways. One kiss, two kisses, four kisses, putting head together, hug together. Senghe
does it like the American teenagers (touching the fist), and he did it also with His Holiness, he
went there very friendly to him with the same gesture (with the fist), HH did not know what to do,
so he also goes like that (with the fist), he felt a little bit strange, but he said okay.
Or he (Senghe) says, 'hi bro'. Or like people sending flowers as symbol of love, expression of
love, like postcard; now digital clicks (emojis), it is a new expression of love, right? Very easy,
cheap. But in ancient time they did not send anything, they were mind to mind transmission,
they were connected. There was no button or switch, there was just – it was illuminated.
So, what I am saying here is that teachings seem to have different ways it exists. Do not be too
attached to the names what it is called. It is more available for us.
Q: You pointed out this morning, how comforting it is for the body, that if we put full attention on
it, full awareness and our body is really responding, so that the cells are dancing as you
describe it. And of course, there are people who lost the physical sensitivity of the body in parts
or completely. So even if they focus their attention on the body, the body is not reacting
anymore or answering anymore. In this case, when the body door is closed, is it sufficient of
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using the other two doors to be in connection with the base; or in the case even that is lost, so
no door of speech, no door of mind anymore, is it enough, as Thomm asked this morning, to just
be aware or think or remind oneself, that all this experience is a dream, or dream-like?
TWR: I think eventually, it takes a longer process; eventually life will come back in the body.
Very often, my experience is, when I say bring your attention to the heart, people say, I don't
feel anything, or people say I feel pain, or people say I feel some warmth. So, I feel all these are
different stages of connections. I think definitely you want to continue and try.
When we are doing the practice of silence, the same thing, speech is the same thing. When
people say something like 'I want to be quiet', 'I want to be alone', 'need a private time', what
does that mean? Does it mean that today I want to suffer alone? Fully suffer, fully go crazy
myself, not with anybody talking, does it mean that? Or does it mean, today I want to be fully
aware of my suffering? Or does it mean, today I want to be fully aware of my space of silence?
Or does it mean, today I want to be fully alive in my silence? Or does it mean, today I want to be
fully joyful, an illuminate joy from that silence, feel the inner song, inner melody, I want to create
music, whatever, I don't know.
So, I think it is important, the word, we say “gyur wa me pa”, the stillness, it is not just still, it is
really the source of whole activity. And silence is clearly a source of clear communication. The
space in the mind is clearly the source of imagination and creativity, but we need to go until
there. That is why it is requiring the sense of rest. So basically, it becomes alive. Even I think
the patterns or let's say addictions - when you are trying to communicate with your addictions,
you can say to the body: do less sweet. And the body - first of all I don't know if you say that or
not, second if you say that, if anybody is hearing that or not, every cell in the body looking badly,
saying: What? Who are you talking to? Not me! So, you can see, the self-communication is not
working, connection is interrupted, but when the mind and the body are a little bit more
connected, it should be simpler, right? Maybe you don't even have to say, seed of intention is
enough, you are already feeling, no, sweets no. Or move your body, ‘yes, I want to move my
body’.
Communication between your mind and your body, I think, the body is so much more receptive
to the information when it is connected. So, connect, become alive, receptive, transform. Does it
make sense?
Q: When I am sitting in this inner space and I focus to the inside, I feel warmth of my awareness
and I really start sweating and I wonder is this actually the warmth which is meant by warmth of
awareness or not? Second part - I really find this practice extremely useful for me, I especially
feel that when I do not practice for a week, I feel how much I miss it, so how can I include this
awareness more and more into my daily life?
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TWR: First question - In terms of the heat as temperature, I don't know exactly, but in some
sense when body and mind are more connected, maybe it is just kind of moving things, shifting
things, so this could raise temperature, like the idea of Tummo practice in principle the
temperature is raised. But sense of warmth definitely is there, and I think that sense of warmth
probably is inner energy, alchemy, it is like a medicine, a processor of emotional, energetical
blockages, they are like frozen ice melting with the warmth of awareness, and literally it feels a
little bit like that.
And the second question is that practices are beautiful and helpful, but you don't have time to
practice.
So, if you look in our everyday life, like when you go to sleep, when you go to sleep, when you
are having difficulties to fall asleep, what do you do? Think about this, trying to go to sleep and
you are having a hard time to fall asleep. What's going on, right? What's going on in your body,
in the field of energy, in your mind, emotions, thoughts - obviously - zzzzzz – everything is
vibrating like that, right?
And then maybe thoughts come, I really want to go to sleep, I need to go to sleep. Effort. And
then you are turning right, turning left, and turning the light on, look at the clock, looking at your
phone, right? Oh, that is the time. And while you are looking, you see all the messages. And
you’re looking if there is any last-minute message, which cannot wait until the morning, right?
This kind of patterns. So, nothing helps, right? So, those are the moments to bring the practice.
Just simply think about that.
When you have challenging moments to sleep, bring the awareness in the body and you can
feel detecting your agitations. Maybe you are like - no, no I am relaxed (Rinpoche shows tensed
posture), I am really relaxed (Rinpoche is slowly breathing out, relaxes and gets ready to sleep).
You see, there is a long way to go, but awareness should keep watching, but not lose the focus
in the body, and then at some point you fall asleep - but sleep in a very good way, it's like
melted, your body energy, tension is melted. People can sleep when you are really exhausted,
you still sleep, but with holding negative energies. So, what I am saying, there are so many
different locations in life to bring these exact practices, which normally we don't call formal
practices, like before going to sleep.
Can you do that? Do you have any excuse not to do that? You cannot say, you don't have time,
because (you’re lying in bed). Can you find any good excuse not to do that at this moment? Not
only that, but you also need it!
You need it, right? Do you agree? So, from now on every night, that's what you do.
And then at places when you have difficulties communicating with some people or when you are
tired of listening to someone. How many people in your life very often when you meet
somebody, you love these people, but you are tired of listening. How many people? That's it.
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Thank them for your silence practice. They are the source of your practice of silence, because
usually you will be doing the same thing with somebody else, right? In this case they are the
opportunity. Tomorrow, I have at least one hour of silence practice. The moment we meet them,
they will go talking, and you do internal Nine Breathings, listen to the silence, be the silence, feel
the silence and that sound is music in that silence. And when you do that, I guarantee you, that
day it will be a shorter one, and they will say 'I am done today', because you were not noisy
also, one noise encourages the noisier one. So, this again, this is the beauty about these
teachings, there are so many places in your life you can bring it, integrate there.
For me, when I say protection, it really feels like protection, not only like when you go into inner
refuge, it is protection, but even protection in terms of your behaviour protection, you know.
How you know you have realized that practice? When you remember that person, you want to
meet the person and you want to listen. That's the sign. That is the sign that you have achieved
the taste of silence within you. The outer noise is just reminding you that. Noise is no longer a
reminder of noise; the noise became a reminder of your silence, that's why you love that person,
its relationship changed.
So infinite possibilities of practice! Enjoy it!
Ok, thank you.
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Twenty-first Nail ~ Manifesting the Result
„kün tu zang po ku sum ngön du gyur la chak tsel lo“.

„I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo who manifests the three bodies.”
So, this is our last Nail. Kuntu Zangpo - as always at every 21 Nail when we say Kuntu Zangpo
it's referring internally to our inner refuge, our inner essence - who manifests the three bodies.
Three manifested bodies, so, we are paying homage to three manifested bodies. In some sense
letting the pain body rest, letting the pain speech rest, letting the pain mind rest, letting these
three pains totally dissolve, letting the new body arise, new speech arise, new mind arise, so, it
is like allowing to manifest the three kayas, manifested means that - that is what it is referring to.
First [part of the text] it is about confidence, confidence, understanding the truth.
Confidence in the Kunzhi, the base of all, the source.
Having confidence in the innate awareness.
Having confidence in one's own mind.
Confidence in the realisation of the source of delusion.
Basically, these three areas:
It’s saying Kunzhi, usually we are referring to as unbounded space, confidence in that space,
trust in that space, confidence in that awareness of that space, realizing the illusory nature of
our mind, moving mind. No matter how things appear, how confusing it is, but they are all
connected to the base, having confidence to that.
This second part [of the text] is talking similar like before, it is about dissolutions.
(I guess it’s like) Letting all the negative emotion exhaust, then samsara finishes.
Letting all the karma exhaust, “lam nam zé sar kyal pé de chen na su chin”, then one reaches
the enlightened of bliss, the great bliss.
Letting all the doctrine exhaust, then there is no separation between you and others.
Letting all the elements exhaust, “jung wa zé sar kyal pé khé la nub pa mé”, then there is
nothing ceases, then it remains in a sense of pure.
Letting all the materialism or materialistic view dissolve.
Letting all the sentient beings dissolve, so there is no birth and death.
Letting all the activities of body, speech, and mind dissolve, so that one can fully realize the
dynamic energy of body, speech, and mind.
Letting sound, light, and rays dissolve completely, exhaust completely, let three mandalas arise.
So, these are all like letting it dissolve and exhaust. Basically, end of is, that’s the nature of it.
So, like suffering, if you are suppressing it, controlling it, manipulating it, elaborating it, is the
way of continuing it, but if you are open to it, connect with it, allow it, allow to exhaust it, then it’s
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the only way to be free from it. So, that's what it is saying. Same way with all the other
manifestations.
And the last part is, it says: “ying nyi rang la shar wé bön nyi né na de”. Because the two spaces
arise in you, or because you realize the two spaces, then there is the bliss of bön nature.
Because of the two lights - it is talking about, I guess it’s like conventional and absolute sense of
light - arises in oneself, allowing it to arise in oneself, then there is no, nup tha mé par, means
no cessations, so it is continuation.
Because of yungdrung body arise, or unchanging, unceasing body arise - it is like realisation -
then there are no enemies.
Basically, in the end it is saying, ultimately, it’s about three kayas are effortlessly, spontaneously
arising in oneself, because they are perfected in oneself. So that is the fruition, ultimate fruit.
Because the door of the treasure of the mind is open, everything you need is complete within
you.
So, that is the ultimate word, line.
So, everything with experiences, pain related to body, speech and mind, blockages, when they
all exhaust, when they all clear, when they all rest, when you connect to the true source, then
these three kayas are spontaneously manifesting. That is like opening the door of the treasure,
everything is completely there, everything arises. This is what we’re doing. But in our practices,
I’m trying to explain them literally, so we were talking about home, friend, confidence,
everything.
Here it says, because the door to the treasure of the mind is open, everything you need is
complete within you. So, you look at in a way what is that in our life, or this moment in our life
that we know what we need, it's complete within you.
Just contemplate on that for a moment – I need peace; peace is complete within you, you will
have access to it, when the door of the treasure of your mind is open. I need a joy in my life; it’s
the same, when the door of the treasure of mind is open, it is there. I need a fire and energy in
my life, same.
So just think about what is, that you feel, you need? The purpose of your journey or to fulfil your
journey, you need certain things, what are they? Just think about that. And think about, that we
are creating a lot of stories to get it, we are creating a lot of stories outside with others to get it,
but the source is within, and these qualities are perfected within. When I will see the door of the
treasure of my mind, I will find them. So, it’s not out there, it’s in here, it's in here, it's in me, I
am, I am joy, I am love, I am compassion, I am confidence, I am Buddha, I am three kayas, I am
Küntu Zangpo, I am “all good”.
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Twenty-One Nails
Einundzwanzig Nägel
Sommerretreat in Buchenau
2015 – 2020, 2022

Practicematerial for participants / Teilnehmerunterlage
Gebets-Texte
Summerretreat 2015-2020, 2022: Twenty-One Nails
Sommerretreat 2015-2020, 2022: Einundzwanzig Nägel
Content / Inhalt
Guru Yoga Prayer / Gebet 2
Invocation of Tapihritsa / Anrufung von Tapihritsa 3-7
Qualities of Küntu Zangpo from the Twenty-One Nails / Qualitäten 9-19

des Küntu Zangpo aus den Einundzwanzig Nägeln
The Six Bases from Nail 15 of The Twenty-One Nails / Die sechs 20-21
Basen aus Nagel 15 von den Einundzwanzig Nägeln
Invocation of Yeshe Walmo / Anrufung der Yeshe Walmo 23-27
SaLeÖ Mantra (A OM HUNG) 28-29
Prayers for Long Life / Gebete für Langes Leben 30-31
Dedication Inner Refuge / Widmung Innere Zuflucht 32
Dedication / Widmung 33
Additional Information / Weitere Informationen 34-35

Restrictions on use of these support materials
The teaching-and-practice support materials found herein are for the exclusive use of those who receive the related
teachings by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in a three-part series of annual retreats on the “Twenty-One Nails”
sponsored by Ligmincha Germany in Buchenau in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
These materials are not to be shared with anyone who has not received the teachings that the materials support, nor
may they be copied or distributed in any way except by express permission of Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.
The binder provided for these materials is a gift to you. Please keep it for use during the next retreat of the three-part
series. Reprinting the already handed out material in the following years is not planned. For reasons of better
readability, we have used the generic masculine in the translation. As a matter of principle, all gender identities are
included, insofar as this is necessary for a statement.
Einschränkungen zum Gebrauch dieser unterstützenden Materialien
Die hier vorliegenden, unterstützenden Lehr- und Praxismaterialien sind ausschließlich zum Gebrauch für diejenigen
bestimmt, die die entsprechenden Belehrungen von Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche erhalten (wie sie in einer
dreiteiligen Reihe über die „Einundzwanzig Nägel“ von Ligmincha Deutschland in den Jahren 2015, 2016, 2017
durchgeführt werden).
Diese Materialien sollen weder mit jemandem, der die zugehörigen Belehrungen nicht erhalten hat, geteilt werden,
noch sollen sie kopiert oder in irgendeiner Form ohne ausdrückliche Erlaubnis von Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
verteilt werden.
Das Heft mit diesen Materialien ist ein Geschenk an Dich. Behalte es, bitte, für den Gebrauch während der nächsten
Retreats der dreiteiligen Serie. Ein Nachdruck der bereits ausgehändigten Materialien in den Folgejahren ist nicht
vorgesehen. Aus Gründen der besseren Lesbarkeit haben wir in der Übersetzung das generische Maskulinum
verwendet. Es werden dabei grundsätzlich alle Geschlechteridentitäten mitgemeint, soweit es für eine Aussage
erforderlich ist.
1
Guru-Yoga Prayer / Gebet
Guru Yoga Prayer ~ La Mé Nel Jor

(bla ma’i rnal ’byor)
སྤྱི་གཙུག་བདེ་བ་ཆེན་པོའ་ྤྱི ཕོ་བྲང་དུ།།
Chi tsuk de wa chen pö po drang du
From the crown of my head, palace of great bliss,
Im Palast der großen Glückseligkeit auf dem Scheitel
meines Hauptes
དྤྱིན་ཆེན་རྩ་བའྤྱི་བླ་མ་ལ་གསོལ་བ་འདེབས།།
Drin chen tsa wé la ma la söl wa dep
I pray to you, benevolent root lama.
bist Du, mein gütiger Wurzel-Lama, zu Dir bete ich.
སངས་རྒྱས་སེམས་སུ་སོན་པ་རྤྱིན་པོ་ཆེ།།
Sang gyé sem su tön pa rin po ché
O precious one, grant me the blessings
Kostbarer, gewähre mir Deinen Segen,
རང་ངོ་རང་གྤྱིས་ཤེས་པར་བྤྱིན་གྤྱིས་རོབས།།
Rang ngo rang gi she par jin gyi lop
To recognize my own true nature as a buddha.
damit ich meine eigene wahre Natur als Buddha erkenne.
2
Invocation of Tapihritsa
Anrufung des Tapihritsa
3
ཨེ་མ་ཧོ།
E MA HO
ཀུན་བཟང་ཐུགས་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་མདོག་ཤེལ་དཀར་འོད།
Kün zang tuk trül ku dok shel kar ö
དྤྱི་མེད་མདངས་གསལ་འོད་ཟེར་ཕོགས་བཅུར་འཕོ།
Dri mé dang sel ö zer chok chur tro
རྒྱན་མེད་གཅེར་བུ་ཡེ་ཉྤྱིད་སྤྱིང་པོའྤྱི་དོན།
Gyen mé cher bu yé nyi nying pö dön
མཁེན་གཉྤྱིས་ཐུགས་རེས་འགོ་བའྤྱི་དོན་ལ་དགོངས།
Khyen nyi tuk jé dro wé dön la gong
བདེར་གཤེགས་ཐུགས་བཅུད་རོགས་ཆེན་ཀུན་གྤྱི་མཆོག
Der shek tuk chü dzok chen kün gyi chok
ཐེག་པའྤྱི་ཡང་རྩེ་རྒྱུད་ལུང་མན་ངག་སྤྱིང་།
Tek pé yang tsé gyü lung men ngak nying
གཞྤྱི་ཡྤྱི་གནས་ལུགས་འཁོར་འདས་གོལ་འཁྲུལ་དང་།
Zhi yi né luk khor dé dröl trül dang
སྒྲ་འོད་ཟེར་གསུམ་སོན་ཡོན་རང་གསལ་ཞྤྱིང་།
Dra ö zer sum kyön yön rang sel zhing
འགོ་བ་བློ་ཡྤྱི་མུན་པ་ཀུན་གསལ་ནས།
Dro wa lo yi mün pa kün sel nè
གཞྤྱི་སོང་རྩ་བྲལ་ས་ལམ་གཅྤྱིག་ཆོད་རོགས།
Zhi tong tsa drel sa lam chik chö tok
4
ཉམས་རོགས་མངོན་གྱུར་འཁོར་འདས་སེམས་སུ་གོལ།
Nyam tok ngön gyur kor dé sem su dröl
འབྲས་བུ་སྐུ་གསུམ་དབྤྱིངས་སུ་འགོད་མཛད་པ།
Dré bu ku sum ying su gö dzé pa
འགོ་བའྤྱི་མགོན་པོ་ཏ་པྤྱི་ཧྤྱི་ཙ་ལ།
Dro wé gön po Ta pi hri tsa la
བདག་བློ་རྩེ་གཅྤྱིག་མོས་པས་གསོལ་བ་འདེབས།
Dak lo tsé chik mö pé söl wa dep
བདག་སོགས་འགོ་ལ་དབང་བསྐུར་བྤྱིན་གྤྱིས་རོབས།
Dak sok dro la wang kur jin gyi lop
ཕྤྱི་ནང་གསང་བའྤྱི་བར་ཆད་ཞྤྱི་བ་དང་།
Chi nang sang wé bar ché zhi wa dang
མ་རྤྱིག་འཁྲུལ་བའྤྱི་བདག་འཛིན་གོལ་ནས་ཀྱང་།
Ma rik trül wé dak dzin dröl né kyang
རང་རྤྱིག་མངོན་གྱུར་ལྟ་སོད་མཐར་ཕྤྱིན་ནས།
Rang rik ngön gyur ta chö tar chin nè
ཡེ་སོང་རྩ་བྲལ་བློ་འདས་ཆེན་པོའྤྱི་དོན།
Yé tong tsa drel lo dé chen pö dön
ད་ལྟ་ཉྤྱིད་དུ་བདག་ལ་བསྩལ་དུ་གསོལ།
Da ta nyi du dak la tsel du söl
རེ་འགོ་བའྤྱི་མགོན་པོ་ཏ་པྤྱི་ཧྤྱི་ཙ་ལ།
Jé dro wé gön po Ta pi hri tsa la
གསོལ་བ་འདེབས་སོ་འགོ་དྲུག་ཐུགས་རེས་ཟུངས་ལ་བདག་རྒྱུད་ཁོལ།
Söl wa dep so dro druk tuk jé zung la dak gyü tröl
5
How marvelous!
Experiences and realization
You are the heart emanation of become manifest,and samsara
Küntu Zangpo, and nirvana liberate in one’s
Your body appears like a white natural mind.
luminous crystal, clear and In that vastness, the three
without impurities, radiating dimensions, which are the
light in the ten directions. fruit, are arrayed.
You are naked, without With one-pointed devotion I pray
ornaments, signifying the to you, Tapihritsa, protector of
innermost essence, the beings.
primordial state. Grant the blessings of bestowing
Endowed with the two-fold the empowerment upon me
wisdom of emptiness and and other beings.
skillful means, May the external, internal, and
With compassion you secret obstacles
contemplate the benefit of be pacified.
beings. And may the error of self-
You embody dzogchen, the great grasping, which is
perfection, supreme among the ignorance, be liberated.
teachings, the essence of the Having recognized self-
awareness of the realized ones, awareness, may the
the peak of the way of view and the conduct be fully
realization, the heart of the realized.
tantras, of the essential Please bestow upon me, at this
scriptures, and of the secret very moment,
instructions. The great meaning beyond
You point out the natural state, intellect of the
the base that is self-clear of primordial base, empty and
delusion, which is samsara, of rootless.
liberation, which is nirvana, To you, Tapihritsa, noble
and of the defects and virtues protector of beings,
of sounds, lights, and rays. I pray:
Having completely dispelled the May the beings of the six realms
darkness of the minds of be protected
beings, by your compassion
You enable us to experience the And may my mind be liberated!
base as empty and rootless,
And simultaneously realize all
stages of the path.
6
Wie wunderbar! ermöglichst du uns, die Basis als

leer und ohne Wurzeln zu
Du bist die Ausstrahlung des erfahren
Herzens von Küntu Zangpo, und gleichzeitig alle Ebenen des
Dein Körper erscheint wie ein Pfades zu realisieren.
weißer, leuchtender Kristall, Es manifestieren sich
klar und ohne Erfahrungen und
Verunreinigungen, er Verwirklichung und Samsara
verbreitet Lichtstrahlen in die und Nirvana befreien sich in
zehn Richtungen. die eigene Natur des Geistes.
Du bist nackt, ohne jeden In dieser Weite zeigen sich die
Schmuck als Zeichen für die drei Dimensionen der Frucht.
innerste Essenz, den Mit einsgerichteter Hingabe bete
ursprünglichen Zustand. ich zu dir, Tapihritsa,
Ausgestattet mit der zweifachen Beschützer der Wesen.
Weisheit von Leerheit und Gewähre mir und den anderen
hilfreichen Mitteln, ist deine Wesen den Segen der
Kontemplation mit Mitgefühl Ermächtigung.
auf das Wohl der Wesen Mögen die äußeren, inneren und
ausgerichtet. geheimen Hindernisse
Du bist die Verkörperung von besänftigt sein.
Dzogchen, der großen Und möge der Irrtum des
Vollendung, der höchsten aller Greifens nach dem Selbst, d.h.
Lehren, die Essenz des die Unwissenheit, befreit sein.
Gewahrseins der Nachdem das Selbstgewahrsein
Verwirklichten, der Gipfel des erkannt ist, mögen Sicht und
Wegs zur Verwirklichung, das Verhalten vollständig
Herz der Tantras, der verwirklicht werden.
grundlegenden Schriften und Bitte gewähre mir jetzt in diesem
der geheimen Unterweisungen. Moment jenseits des Intellekts
Du zeigst den natürlichen das große Verständnis der
Zustand, die Basis, die selbst- ursprünglichen Basis, leer und
klar ist, frei von Täuschung, ohne Wurzeln.
dem Samsara, und von Zu dir Tapihritsa, erhabener
Befreiung, dem Nirvana, und Beschützer der Wesen, bete
von den Mängeln und ich:
Tugenden von Ton, Licht und Mögen die Wesen der sechs
Strahlen Bereiche durch dein Mitgefühl
Nachdem du die Dunkelheit aus beschützt sein
dem Geist der Wesen und möge mein Geist befreit
vollständig vertrieben hast, werden!
7
8
Twenty-One Nails
Einundzwanzig Nägel
9
The Chapters of the Twenty-One Nails

Die Kapitel der Einundzwanzig Nägel
Nail 1: KA Recognizing the Base-of-All

Nagel 1: Erkennen der Basis von allem
Nail 2: KHA Thoroughly Investigating Delusion

Nagel 2: Gründliche Untersuchung der Täuschung
Nail 3: GA The Space of the Nature of Bon

Nagel 3: Der Raum der Natur des Bön
Nail 4: NGA The Primordial Wisdom of the Minds Nature

Nagel 4: Die ursprüngliche Weisheit der Natur des
Geistes
Nail 5: CA The Tshon Gang, the Body of Bon

Nagel 5: Das Tshon Gang, der Körper des Bön
Nail 6: CHA The Body of Perfect Union

Nagel 6: Der Körper der vollkommenen Einheit
Nail 7: JA The Unbiased Emanation Body

Nagel 7: Der unverfälschte Ausstrahlungskörper
Nail 8: NYA Symbolic Examples

Nagel 8: Symbolische Beispiele
Nail 9: TA Innate Self-Awareness that Emerges from

Within
Nagel 9: Das innere Selbst-Gewahrsein, das sich von
innen heraus entfaltet
Nail 10: THA The Path without Deviation

Nagel 10: Der Pfad ohne Abweg
10
Nail 11: DA The Lamp that Dispels the Darkness

Nagel 11: Die Lampe, die die Dunkelheit vertreibt
Nail 12: NA Pointing Out the Three Vital Points

Nagel 12: Aufzeigen der drei vitalen Punkte
Nail 13: PA Pointing Out the Mandala

Nagel 13: Aufzeigen des Mandalas
Nail 14: PHA Pointing Out Singleness

Nagel 14: Aufzeigen der Einzigkeit [der einen Sphäre]
Nail 15: BA Profound Certainty, [the Unification of]

Mother and Son
Nagel 15: Tiefgründige Sicherheit, [die Vereinigung von]
Mutter und Sohn
Nail 16: MA Transcendent Equanimity

Nagel 16: Transzendente Ausgewogenheit
Nail 17: TSA Reaching the Ultimate Dissolution

Nagel 17: Erreichen der letztendlichen Auflösung
Nail 18: TSHA Bodhicitta at the Time of death

Nagel 18: Bodhicitta zum Zeitpunkt des Todes
Nail 19: DSA The Time of the Bardo

Nagel 19: Die Zeit des Bardo
Nail 20: WA Dispelling the Extreme Misconceptions

Nagel 20: Auflösen der extremen Missverständnisse
Nail 21: ZHA Manifesting the Result

Nagel 21: Manifestieren des Ergebnisses
11
Qualities of Küntu Zangpo from the Twenty-One Nails

Qualitäten des Küntu Zangpo aus den Einundzwanzig Nägeln
kün tu zang po khyap del tuk jé ché la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to the all pervasive Küntu Zangpo, the greatly
compassionate one.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor dem alles durchdringenden Küntu
Zangpo, dem großen Mitfühlenden.
KA / Nail 1 / Nagel 1
kün tu zang po rang rik ngön du tön la chak tsel lo
I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the manifestation of innate self-

awareness.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, der Manifestation des
inneren Selbst-Gewahrseins.
KHA / Nail 2 / Nagel 2
kün tu zang po trül pa ka né dak la chak tsel lo
I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo who is primordially free of delusion.

Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, der ursprünglich frei ist
von Selbsttäuschung.
12
GA / Nail 3 / Nagel 3
kün tu zang po khyap del chok ri mé la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to the all-pervasive Küntu Zangpo,
encompassing all without divisions.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor dem alles durchdringenden Küntu
Zangpo, der alles umfasst ohne Unterscheidungen.
NGA / Nail 4 / Nagel 4
kün tu zang po rang rik drip yok mé la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, unobscured, innate self-awareness.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, dem inneren Selbst-
Gewahrsein ohne Verdunkelung.
CA / Nail 5 / Nagel 5
kün tu zang po rang rik ka né dak la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the primordially pure,
innate self-awareness.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, dem ursprünglich reinen,
inneren Selbst-Gewahrsein.
13
CHA / Nail 6 / Nagel 6
kün tu zang po rang rik dzok pé ku la chak tsel lo

I prostate to Küntu Zangpo, the body of perfected, innate self-
awareness.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, dem Körper des
vollkommenen, inneren Selbst-Gewahrseins.
JA / Nail 7 / Nagel 7
kün tu zang po rang rik trül pé ku la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the emanation body of innate self-
awareness.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, dem Offenbarungskörper
des inneren Selbst-Gewahrseins.
NYA / Nail 8 / Nagel 8
kün tu zang po té tsom mün pa sel la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, dispeller of the darkness of doubt.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, der die Dunkelheit des
Zweifels vertreibt.
14
TA / Nail 9 / Nagel 9
kün tu zang po rang rik du drel mé la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, who neither meets with nor departs
from innate self-awareness.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, der sich mit dem inneren
Selbst-Gewahrsein weder trifft noch von ihm trennt.
THA / Nail 10/ Nagel 10
kün tu zang po rang rik yo gel mé la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the innate self-awareness
that is straight and whole.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, dem inneren Gewahrsein,
das direkt und vollständig ist.
DA / Nail 11 / Nagel 11
kün tu zang po ma rik mün pa sel la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, dispeller of the darkness of ignorance.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo,
der die Dunkelheit der Unwissenheit vertreibt.
15
NA / Nail 12 / Nagel 12
kün tu zang po ku sum du drel mé la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the inseparability of the three bodies.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, der Untrennbarkeit der drei
Körper.
PA / Nail 13 / Nagel 13
kün tu zang po rang rik tsa wé lha la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the intrinsic awareness root deity.
der Wurzelgottheit des innewohnenden Gewahrseins.
PHA / Nail 14 / Nagel 14
kün tu zang po rang jung nyak chik ku la chak tsel lo

dem selbstentstehenden, einzigen Körper.
16
BA / Nail 15 / Nagel 15
kün tu zang po bak chak drip pa me la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo who is without obscurations
or karmic tendencies.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, der ohne Verdunkelungen
oder karmische Tendenzen ist.
MA / Nail 16 / Nagel 16
kün tu zang po mi né pa röl chin la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the non-abiding paramita.
dem nicht-verweilenden Paramita.
TSA / Nail 17 / Nagel 17
kün tu zang po tar tuk gyel pö ku la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the body of the ultimate king.
dem Körper des höchsten Königs.
17
TSHA / Nail 18 / Nagel 18
kün tu zang po tuk jé drowa kyop la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, compassionate protector of beings.
dem mitfühlenden Beschützer der Wesen.
DSA / Nail 19 / Nagel 19
kün zang po rang dröl dzok sang gyé la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, the self-liberated, complete Buddha.
dem selbst-befreiten, vollkommenen Buddha.
WA / Nail 20 / Nagel 20
kün tu zang po lok tok mün pa sel la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo, dispeller of the darkness of
misconceptions.
der die Dunkelheit falscher Vorstellungen vertreibt.
18
ZHA / Nail 21 / Nagel 21
kün tu zang po ku sum ngön du gyur la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo who manifests the three bodies.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, der die drei Körper
manifestiert.
19
The Six Bases from Nail 15 of The Twenty-One Nails

Die sechs Basen aus Nagel 15 von den Einundzwanzig Nägeln
BA / Nail 15 / Nagel 15
kün tu zang po bak chak drip pa me la chak tsel lo

I prostrate to Küntu Zangpo,
who is without obscurations or karmic tendencies.
Ich werfe mich nieder vor Küntu Zangpo, der ohne Verdunkelungen
oder karmische Tendenzen ist.
***
The clear and empty sky is the base.

Der klare und leere Himmel ist die Basis.

Ursprüngliche Weisheit frei von Handlung ist die Basis.
20
Silent primordial wisdom is the base.

Ursprüngliche Weisheit der Stille ist die Basis.
Thought-free primordial wisdom is the base.

Ursprüngliche Weisheit frei von Gedanken ist die Basis.
Self-originated primordial wisdom is the base.

Selbstentstandene ursprüngliche Weisheit ist die Basis.
The primordial wisdom of innate self-awareness is the base.

Die ursprüngliche Weisheit des inneren Selbst-Gewahrseins
ist die Basis.
21
22
Invocation of Yeshe Walmo

Anrufung der Yeshe Walmo
(Version 08/2020)
23
མ་དུས་གསུམ་སངས་རྒྱས་བཀའ་སོང་མཐུ་མོ་ཆེ།
ma dü sum sang gyé ka kyong tu mo ché
མ་མཆོག་སྤྱིད་པ་རྒྱལ་མོ་དབྤྱིངས་ཀྱྤྱི་ཡུམ།
ma chok si pa gyal mo ying kyi yum
སྐུ་མདོག་མཐྤྱིང་ནག་ནམ་མཁའྤྱི་གཟྤྱི་མདངས་ཅན།
ku dok ting nak nam khé zi dang chen
སྐུ་ལ་རྨ་བ་མཛེས་པའྤྱི་ཐུལ་པ་གསོལ།
ku la ma ja dzé pé tül pa söl
ཕག་གཡས་གནམ་ལྕགས་རལ་གྤྱིས་དག་སོག་གཅོད།
chak yé nam chak ral dri dra sok chö
གཡོན་པས་ཚེ་བུམ་གཤེན་གྤྱི་ཚེ་སོག་བསྤྱིང་།
yön pé tsé bum shen gyi tsé sok sing
ཡེ་ཤེས་དབལ་མོ་འཁོར་དང་བཅས་པ་ལ།
ye shé wal mo khor dang ché pa la
24
བདུད་རྩྤྱི་མྤྱི་བཟད་རྒྱན་ཚོགས་འདྤྱི་འབུལ་གྤྱི།
dü tsi mi zé gyen tsok di bül gyi
གཡུང་དྲུང་བོན་གྤྱི་བསན་པ་གཉན་པོ་སྲུང་།
yung drung bön gyi ten pa nyen po sung
སྒྲུབ་གཤེན་བདག་གྤྱི་མཐུ་དཔུང་སོང་གོགས་མཛོད།
drup shen dak gi tu pung dong drok dzö
བདག་ཅག་དཔོན་སོབ་འཁོར་དང་བཅས་པ་ཡྤྱི།
dak chak pön lop khor dang ché pa yi
མྤྱི་མཐུན་རེན་དང་བར་ཆད་མ་ལུས་ཀུན།
mi tün kyen dang bar ché ma lü kün
མཁའ་ཀོང་དབྤྱིངས་སུ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཞྤྱི་བར་མཛོད།
kha long ying su tam ché zhi war dzö
བསོ་མ་མ་ར་ཡོ་ཛ།
SO MA MA RA YO DZA
25
O Mother of the buddhas of the To you, O Yeshé Walmo,

three times, great and powerful together with your retinue, I
protector of the teachings, offer this ornamented feast and
Supreme Mother Sipé Gyalmo, this inexhaustible nectar.
Queen of Existence, Mother of Therefore, guard fiercely the
Space, your dark-blue body has Yungdrung Bön teachings and
the radiant brilliance of the sky support the strength and
and you wear a cloak of power of my spiritual practice.
beautiful peacock feathers.
For us, masters and disciples
Your right hand holds a sword along with our benefactors and
of meteorite iron that severs companions, pacify all
the life-force of enemies. And obstacles and causes of
your left hand holds a long-life disharmony without exception,
vase that extends the life-force into the vastness of outer,
and the lifespan of shen inner and secret space!
practitioners.
SO MA MA RA YO DZA
26
Mutter der Buddhas der drei Dir, Yeshé Walmo, zusammen

Zeiten, große und machtvolle mit deinem Gefolge opfere ich
Schützerin der Lehren, dieses schön geschmückte
Höchste Mutter, Sipé Gyalmo, Festmahl und diesen
Königin der Existenz, Mutter unerschöpflichen Nektar.
des Raums, dein tiefblauer Beschütze dafür mit aller
Körper besitzt den Kraft die Lehren des
strahlenden Glanz des Yungdrung Bön, und
Himmels und du trägst einen unterstütze die Stärke und
Umhang aus wunderschönen Kraft meiner spirituellen
Pfauenfedern. Praxis.
In deiner rechten Hand hältst du Befriede für uns, Meister und

ein Schwert aus Meteorit- Schüler zusammen mit
Eisen, das die Lebenskraft von unseren Unterstützern und
Feinden durchtrennt, und in Begleitern , alle Hindernisse
deiner linken Hand hältst du und Ursachen von
die Vase des langen Lebens, Disharmonien ohne
die die Lebenskraft der Shen- Ausnahme.
Praktizierenden stärkt und
ihre Lebenszeit verlängert. Löse sie auf in die Weite des
äußeren, inneren und
geheimen Raums.
SO MA MA RA YO DZA
27
SA LE Ö Mantra
The Explanation of the Mantra
A - is the mantra of the body of expanse, bön ku, the

dharmakaya.
OM - is the mantra of the body of perfection, dzok ku, the
sambhogakaya.
HUNG - is the mantra of the emanation body, trül ku, the
nirmanakaya.
~
The long A is the changeless essence.
The short A is the birthless nature.
KAR is freedom from errors of karmic tendencies.
SA LE is supreme wisdom free of doubts.
Ö liberates all misconceptions in wisdom.
A is the sacred space in which everything dissolves.
YANG is the pure wind that generates wisdom.
OM is the five bodies and the five wisdoms.
DU is the single sphere—oneness.
Ground, Path, and Fruition

The long A and the two small A’s of the mantra—the three A’s—show
the foundation, the ground. These are the three sacred syllables of the
abiding ground.
KAR SA LE Ö show the practice of awareness. These are the three
sacred syllables of the path.
YANG OM DU show the essence of the ultimate meaning or realization.
These are the three sacred syllables of the fruition.
28
SA LE Ö Mantra
Erklärung des Mantras
A - ist das Mantra des Körpers der Weite, bön ku, der
Dharmakaya.
OM - ist das Mantra des Körpers der Vollkommenheit, dzok ku, der
Sambhogakaya.
HUNG - ist das Mantra des Ausstrahlungskörpers, trül ku, der
Nirmanakaya.
~
Das lange A ist die unveränderliche Essenz.
Das kurze A ist die geburtslose Natur.
KAR ist Freiheit von Irrtümern der karmischen Tendenzen.
SA LE ist höchste Weisheit frei von Zweifeln.
Ö befreit alle falschen Vorstellungen von Weisheit.
A ist der heilige Raum, in dem sich alles auflöst.
YANG ist der reine Wind, der Weisheit erzeugt.
OM bedeutet die fünf Körper und die fünf Weisheiten.
DU ist die eine Sphäre - Einheit.
Basis, Pfad und Frucht

Die drei As - das lange A und die zwei kurzen As des Mantras - zeigen
das Fundament, die Basis. Dies sind die drei heiligen Silben der
verweilenden Basis.
KAR SA LE Ö verweisen auf die Praxis des Gewahrseins. Dies sind die
drei heiligen Silben des Pfads.
YANG OM DU zeigt die Essenz der letztendlichen Bedeutung oder
Verwirklichung. Dies sind die drei heiligen Silben der Frucht.
29
Prayers for Long Life / Gebete für Langes Leben
1. Long-Life Mantra / Langes Leben Mantra
SO DRUM A KAR MU LA TING NAM Ö DU MU YE TSE NI DZA
SO empty space leerer Raum
DRUM Long-Life Deity castle Burg der Gottheit des

Langen Lebens
A KAR unborn wisdom ungeborene Weisheit
MU LA Seed syllable of yogi Keimsilbe des Yogi
TING NAM nectar Nektar
Ö DU receiving long life force Empfangen der Kraft des

Langen Lebens
MU YE syllable for prosperity Silbe für Wohlstand
TSE long life Langes Leben
NI seed syllable for human Keimsilbe des

realm Menschenbereichs
DZA hooks of light Haken aus Licht
30
2. Long-Life Prayer for Geshé Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

by Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche
Chok sum gyal wa sé ché jin lap dang
Dön dam lu wa mé pé den top dang
Nel jor dak gi ting dzin nu pé tu
Ten zin kye bü ku tse tar chin shok
Through the blessings of the Durch den Segen der Drei Juwelen,
three jewels, the buddhas and der Buddhas und Bodhisattvas,
bodhisattvas, die Stärke der letztendlichen,
The strength of the ultimate unfehlbaren Wahrheit
unfailing truth, und die Kraft der Meditation von
And the power of the meditation uns Praktizierenden,
of us practitioners, Halter der Lehren, möge deine
Holder of the Teachings, may Lebensspanne vollkommen
your lifespan be perfectly erfüllt sein.
fulfilled.
31
Dedication Inner Refuge / Widmung Innere Zuflucht
ngo wa
kyap né sum la ding chen top par shok

go sum nyam tok ye shé gyé par shok
duk sum dak né ku sum top par shok
rang gyü dröl né zhen la pen par shok
Dedication
May I attain great confidence in the three refuges.

May my experiences and realization of the wisdom
of the three doors increase.
In purifying the three poisons, may I obtain the three bodies.
In liberating my own being, may I benefit others.
Widmung
Möge ich großes Vertrauen in die dreifache Zuflucht erlangen.

Mögen meine Erfahrungen und Verwirklichungen
der Weisheit der drei Tore zunehmen.
Möge ich durch Reinigung der drei Gifte die drei Körper erlangen.
Möge ich durch die Befreiung meines eigenen Seins
für andere von Nutzen sein.
32
Dedication / Widmung
སོ་གསུམ་དག་པའྤྱི་དགེ་བ་གང་བགྤྱིས་པ།།
Go sum dag pé ge wa gang gyi pa
All pure virtue done through the three doors,
Alle reinen und positiven Taten der drei Tore
ཁམས་གསུམ་སེམས་ཅན་རྣམས་ཀྱྤྱི་དོན་དུ་བསོ།།
Kham sum sem chen nam kyi dön du ngo
I dedicate to the welfare of all sentient beings of the three realms.
Widme ich dem Wohl aller fühlenden Wesen der drei Bereiche.
དུས་གསུམ་བསགས་པའྤྱི་ལས་སྒྲྤྱིབ་ཀུན་བང་ནས།།
Duk sum sak pé le drib kün jang né
Having purified all afflictions and obscurations of the three poisons,
Mögen wir, nachdem wir alle Hindernisse und Verdunkelungen der
drei Gifte gereinigt haben,
སྐུ་གསུམ་རོགས་པའྤྱི་སངས་རྒྱས་མྱུར་ཐོབ་ཤོག།
Ku sum dzok pé sang gyé nyur thob shok
May we swiftly achieve the complete buddhahood
of the three bodies.
Schnell die vollkommene Buddhaschaft der drei Körper erlangen.
Explanation of terms in the dedication: Erklärung von Begriffen in der Widmung:

three doors ~ body, speech, mind Drei Tore ~ Körper, Sprache, Geist
three realms ~ desire, form, formless Drei Bereiche ~ Begehren, Form, Formlosigkeit
three poisons ~ aversion, desire, ignorance Drei Gifte ~ Abneigung, Begehren, Unwissenheit
three bodies (or dimensions): Drei Körper (oder Dimensionen):
~ bön ku or dharmakaya ~ bön ku or dharmakaya
dzok ku, long ku or sambhogakaya dzok ku, long ku or sambhogakaya
trül ku or nirmanakaya trül ku or nirmanakaya
33
Gompa Etiquette
The Gompa is a meditation room where entering the Gompa for the first time in the
practitioners meditate and listen to teachings. morning. This practice is repeated as soon as
Since the gompa is a spiritual space, certain the teacher has taken his seat. Please refrain
etiquette applies. from doing any more prostrations during the
rest of the day. Instead, show your respect by
Keeping Quiet folding your hands in front of your heart and
implying a bow. While many students do
prostrations upon entering the Gompa, this is
Please keep quiet inside the Gompa so as to practice is not mandatory and there is no need
respect this spiritual space. During teachings to feel uncomfortable if you choose not to
the teacher should be the only person who is participate.
speaking. Questions may be asked as the
teacher invites them.
In case it gets crowded …
Clothing
When moving around a crowded Gompa,
please make sure not to step on any other
It is considered polite to wear clothing that is students or their belongings. Please avoid
not revealing, but of course comfortable for stepping on Dharma books and items!
sitting.
Food and Drinks
Cushions, Blankets, and Chairs
Inside the Gompa, drinks have to be kept in
There are chairs in the Gompa which you may closed containers. Eating is only allowed
use. Otherwise, please sit on your own cushion outside the Gompa.
and blanket.
Beginning of Teaching
Shoes and phones
Please return to the Gompa as soon as you
Before entering the Gompa please take off hear the Dung Kar (conch shell horn) in order
your shoes and turn off your mobile phone. to arrive to the teachings on time.
Sitting posture In case you were unable to accommodate

your dog at home (which is preferred)
Traditionally, students are asked not to stretch
out their legs so that their feet are facing any of Unfortunately, dogs are neither allowed inside
the sacred Buddhist objects or the teacher. the Gompa nor during other outside sessions.
Prayer and text books Dogs need to be kept on a leash on the entire
property and adequate supervision should be
As a sign of respect for the Buddha’s provided independently. The meadows behind
teachings, please place any Buddhist texts or and in front of the castle are meant for Trul
prayer books on clean, elevated surface. Texts Khor in the morning, open-air teachings, and
should never be put on the floor or carelessly the students’ free time. Please walk your dogs
left on a chair. outside these areas and dispose of their dirt.
The Teacher’s Arrival Cups and other Dishes
… is announced by a gong. At this point we get Please return your used dishes to the
up and wait in a calm, respectful posture until collection point.
the teachers has taken his seat.
Prostrations before teachings
You will observe that some people are doing

prostrations, when arriving at the Gompa. It is
common practice to do three prostrations upon
34
Gompa Etiquette
Eine Gompa ist ein Meditationsraum, wo Sie werden beobachten, dass manche
Praktizierende meditieren und den Teilnehmer Niederwerfungen machen, sobald
Belehrungen zuhören. Da die Gompa ein sie die Gompa betreten. Üblicherweise werden
spiritueller Raum ist, gilt es eine gewisse einmal am Morgen nach dem ersten Betreten
Etikette einzuhalten. der Gompa drei Niederwerfungen gemacht.
Außerdem, sobald der Lehrer seinen Platz
Ruhe bewahren eingenommen hat. Im restlichen Tagesverlauf
machen Sie bitte keine Niederwerfungen,
sondern zeigen Ihren Respekt durch das
In der Gompa ist grundsätzlich Ruhe zu
Falten der Hände vor dem Herzen und einer
bewahren; damit würdigen Sie den spirituellen
angedeuteten Verneigung. Obgleich viele der
Raum. Während der Belehrungen redet
Teilnehmer dies auf diese Weise machen,
ausschließlich der Lehrer. Themenbezogene
Fragen können gestellt werden, nachdem der besteht keine Notwendigkeit für Sie, dies auch
Lehrer dazu aufgefordert hat. zu tun, wenn Sie sich damit unwohl fühlen.
Wenn es eng wird …

Kleidung
Wenn sich viele Menschen in der Gompa

Es gilt als höflich, nicht aufreizende Kleidung
aufhalten, bemühen Sie sich bitte unbedingt,
zu tragen und natürlich etwas zu tragen, das
nicht auf andere Teilnehmer oder deren
sich eignet, um bequem zu sitzen.
Gegenstände zu treten. Bitte achten Sie auch
insbesondere darauf, nicht auf Dharma Bücher
Kissen, Decken und Stühle und Gegenstände zu treten.
In der Gompa sind Stühle vorhanden, die Sie Getränke und Nahrungsmittel
nutzen können. Alternativ benutzen Sie bitte
die selbst mitgebrachten Sitzkissen und
Decken. In der Gompa sind ausschließlich Getränke in
verschließbaren Gefäßen erlaubt.
Nahrungsmittel sind grundsätzlich nur
Schuhe und Handys außerhalb der Gompa zu konsumieren.
Bevor Sie die Gompa betreten, ziehen Sie bitte Belehrungsbeginn

im Vorraum die Schuhe aus und stellen Ihr
Handy aus.
Wenn Sie das Dung Kar [Schneckenhorn]
erklingen hören, gehen Sie bitte in die Gompa,
Sitzposition um rechtzeitig bei den Belehrungen anwesend
zu sein.
Traditionell wird beim Sitzen darauf geachtet,
die Fußsohlen nicht in Richtung heiliger Falls Sie Ihre Hunde nicht zuhause
Objekte oder zum Lehrer auszurichten. unterbringen konnten
Gebete und Textbücher Ihre Hunde dürfen leider nicht mit in die
Gompa. Hunde sind auf dem gesamten
Aus Respekt vor den Lehren der Buddhas Schlossgelände an der Leine zu führen und
legen Sie bitte die Texte auf eine saubere, artgerecht, eigenverantwortlich zu
erhöhte Unterlage. Legen Sie die Texte beaufsichtigen. Die Rasenflächen vor und
keinesfalls auf den Boden oder achtlos auf den hinter dem Schlossgebäude sind
Stuhl. ausschließlich für das allmorgendliche Trul
Khor, Belehrungen unter freiem Himmel und
Wenn der Lehrer die Gompa betritt … die Freizeit der Teilnehmer bestimmt. Bitte
führen Sie Ihre Hunde außerhalb dieser
… wird dies mit einem Gong angekündigt. Ab Bereiche „Gassi“ und entsorgen Sie
diesem Zeitpunkt stehen wir auf und warten in grundsätzlich die Hinterlassenschaften.
einer ruhigen respektvollen Haltung, bis der
Lehrer seinen Platz eingenommen hat. Tassen und anderes Geschirr: Bitte bringen
Sie unaufgefordert das von Ihnen benutzte
Niederwerfungen vor den Belehrungen Geschirr nach Gebrauch an die dafür
vorgesehene Sammelstelle zurück.
35
These materials are not to be shared with anyone who has not received the teachings
that the materials support, nor may they be copied or distributed in any way except by
express permission of Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.
Diese Materialien sollen weder mit jemandem, der die zugehörigen Belehrungen nicht erhalten
hat, geteilt werden, noch sollen sie kopiert oder in irgendeiner Form ohne ausdrückliche
Erlaubnis von Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche verteilt werden.
For information regarding these teaching materials, please contact

Ligmincha Deutschland e.V. (Germany)
info@ligmincha.de
For information regarding Ligmincha Deutschland

and future teachings with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in Germany
please visit our website.
Für weitere Informationen bezüglich Ligmincha Deutschland

und künftige Veranstaltungen mit Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in Deutschland
besuchen Sie bitte unsere WebSite.
Ligmincha Deutschland e.V.

Eppsteiner Str. 63
65719 Hofheim am Taunus
info@ligmincha.de
www.ligmincha.de

Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche - Twenty-One Nails

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Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche - Twenty-One Nails

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European Summer Retreat

2015 – 2016 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019

© 2019 Ligmincha Deutschland

Beginning of the Retreat 2015

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© 2019 Ligmincha Deutschland

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First Nail - Recognizing the Base of All

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− Restrain or calm down the body

There is some advice for the mind:

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What is the nature of mind, the essence of mind? Four things:

− free of thoughts (dogpa mepa)

These are the four characteristics of the base.

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So the fourth one:

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− recollection and awareness

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1. Renounce distracting actions through the three restraining vows.

2. Rest the mind through the three relaxations.

4. Cut through karmic tendencies through the three non-followings.

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6. Protect the experiences through the three hidings.

8. Release into non-duality through the three liberations.

9. Maintain the result through the three non-obscurations.

This completes the nail of recognizing the base of all.

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Second Nail - Thoroughly Investigating Delusion

The starting point here is: What causes the delusion?

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1. First, the example is like a waterfall, very fast.

3. Third, the example is a hawk searching for prey.

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© 2019 Ligmincha Deutschland

Third Nail - The Space of the Nature of Bön

The Third Nail

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8. Ceaselessness. Allow the experience of ceaselessness or endlessness or nothing is finishing, it’s

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Fourth Nail - The Primordial Wisdom of the Mind’s Nature

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- the wisdom of emptiness

- all accomplishing wisdom

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© 2019 Ligmincha Deutschland

Fifth Nail - The Tson Gang, the Body of Bön

- It is formless; primordial wisdom beyond form, shape and color

- Words cannot express

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- Thoughts cannot realize

- Intellect cannot perceive

- Effort cannot achieve

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There is no in and out, it’s transparent.

There is no corner and no center, it’s pervasive.

It is the base of arising of everything, pure no matter what arises in it.

This innate king of awareness is the first which arises.

No cause and condition creates it.