The Wisdom Flame Experiential Commentary on the Ganges Mahamudra

By H.E. Garchen Triptrul Rinpoche

(Priority: most impt is people in the future know what yeye is talking about.)

Pg 35:

The Buddha said, All sentient beings have Buddha Nature. It is only obscured by adventitious stains.
These adventitious stains are our grasping at mental arisings.


Pg 36

When you meditate, just rest and watch the nature of your mind. There will be a moment when past
thought has ceased and future thought has not arisen, and that moment is completely empty of any
thought. If you recognize that present moment gap between two thoughts, simply continue to rest
and remain within it.


Pg 45:

Whenever anger arises we should think, There is not a single sentient being who has not been my
parent in one or another lifetime, and although that person may currently arise as a harm-doer, in a
previous lifetime I have a strong connection to him or her. Through pondering in this way, you can
liberate the afflictive emotion. This is another approach for becoming free of the afflictive emotions.

Rephrase to:
Whenever anger arises, we should think, There is not a single sentient being who has not been my
parent in one or another lifetime, and although that person may currently arise as a harm-doer, I
have a strong connection with him or her in a previous lifetime. Through pondering in this way, you
can liberate the afflictive emotion. This is another approach to become free from the afflictive
emotions.


Pg 45:

If you practice Mahamudra, you can recognize that, in reality, there are no afflictive emotions, as
their true nature is primordial wisdom. Therefore, no separate antidote is necessary, other than
abiding within the view, with mindfulness holding its own. As long as mindfulness holds its own,
there is no need to see afflictive emotions as something negative, and there is no need to strive for
virtuous thoughts. There is no acceptance and no rejection, and nothing to be abandoned.

Rephrase to:
If you practice Mahamudra, you will be able to recognize that in reality, there are no mental
afflictions. This is because the true nature of mental afflictions is primordial wisdom. Therefore,
other than abiding within the view of emptiness abiding like space, with mindfulness holding its own,
no separate antidote is necessary. As long as mindfulness abides, there is no need to see mental
afflictions as something negative and no need to strive for virtuous thoughts. There is no acceptance
and no rejection, and nothing to be abandoned.


Note:
According to the dharma we have 82 individual thoughts per second. For the average person the
majority of those thoughts are made up of Kleshas, or Mental Afflictions. A Klesha is anything that
disturbs your peace of mind and there are trillions of them. If we could eliminate the major Kleshas
such as Ignorance and Anger we would be much happier people.


Pg 47:

The essence of mind is emptiness abiding like space. But this is not just emptiness like a mere
nothingness, for it possesses the aspect of clarity. Its nature is clear awareness.




Pg 48:

These two, clarity and emptiness, are an inseparable union.

I think somewhere Sis Ina did said the following which seems more complete to be presented as a
complete quote:
The true nature of our mind is an inseparable union of emptiness and clarity.





















Pg 48:

In the beginning, when we first begin to practice, we gives rise to a compassion that is concept-
bound, through contemplating again and again. Then, when we realize the meaning of emptiness,
this compassion becomes effortless; it arises naturally as compassion for all sentient beings who
have not realized this state.

Rephrased to:
In the beginning, when we first begin to practice, we repeatedly contemplate on compassion. This
gives rise to a compassion that is concept-bound. Then, when we realized the true nature of mind
emptiness, compassion becomes effortless and transcends all conceptual thoughts and mental
deliberation. It naturally arises for all sentient beings who have not realized this state.



Pg 49:

In Dzogchen, it is taught that you must never allow your awareness to stray. Even when strong
afflictive emotions or conceptual thoughts arise, awareness should still hold itself. In this way, the
afflictive emotions and thoughts will settle back into their natural place.







,


32

33

44

44




44

~


















~ 44

~ 45

~ 45

~ 42

~ 42


~ 42


~ 49

~ 50

~ 51

~ 51

~ 51


~ 51





OM AH HUNG Vajra Recitation, Part 2:
Sometimes people ask, Are we one or the same? Well, we are neither. Is there one
space, or are different spaces the same? Space is neither one nor the same, and so is the
nature of mind. Trying to figure it out by labeling it one or the same is just another
mental fixation. Likewise, there are neither one nor many Buddhas. You cant say there is
only one, as there are limitless Buddhas, yet you cant say there are many, as their essence is
a single groundemptiness and compassion abiding like space. Thus, do not grasp at
singularity or multiplicity. Whatever appear are empty of self nature, like a rainbow in the
sky. They lack inherent existence, as they are compounds and thus impermanent. The nature
of mind of all beings always remains like space; it is uncompounded. While their bodies
appear diversely, the mind of all beings has the same essence. There is only one such thing
called mind, just as there is only one such thing called water, although water manifests in
different waysas oceans, rivers, rain, drops, etc. If everyone were to practice OM AH
HUNG, their mindfulness would have the same essence without the slightest difference in
quality or size.