Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week
January 8, 2009
BASIC NO
Basic NO is accepting discipline in our life without preconceptions. Normally, when we say the word "discipline," it comes with a lot of mixed feelings. It's like saying "oatmeal." Some people like hot cereal, and some people hate it. Nevertheless, oatmeal remains oatmeal. It is a very straightforward thing. We have similar feelings about discipline and the meaning of NO. Sometimes, it's a bad NO: it is providing oppressive boundaries that we don't want to accept. Or it could be a good NO, which encourages us to do something healthy. But when we just hear that one word, NO, the message is mixed.
Fearlessness is extending ourselves beyond that limited view. In the Heart Sutra, an essential teaching given by the Buddha, it talks about going beyond. Gone beyond, gate, is the basic NO. In the sutra, it says there is no eye, no ear, no sound, no smell -- all of those things. When you experience egolessness, the solidity of your life and your perceptions falls apart. That could be very desolate or it could be very inspiring, in terms of shunyata or the Buddhist understanding of emptiness. Very simply, it is basic NO. It is a real expression of fearlessness. In the Buddhist view, egolessness is pre-existing, beyond our preconceptions. In the state of egolessness everything is simple and very clear.
From "Overcoming Doubt," in CONQUERING FEAR, forthcoming from Shambhala Publications, Fall 2009. [Chogyam Trungpa gave the first teachings on Big No 30 years ago today.]
All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.
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Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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