Rinpoche instructed that to “rest in naked awareness” is for  the mind to be natural, unaltered, fresh. All the intellectual dharmas  are created and you will not be able to see the uncreated meaning. So,  for this reason, take all practices and all appearances as the path  without heed. The best practice, whether sitting and looking at the  mind, is to practice without any sessions or breaks. Look at the mind  all the time whether you are going, lying down, eating, or sitting. This  is called the spiritual practice of no sessions or breaks.

Where the verse mentions “sever your mind’s own root,”  Rinpoche noted, that this is to cut through your own attachments. He  further elaborated that “rest in naked awareness” means there are no  obscurations. The benefit of no obscurations is that the qualities of  co-emergent self-aware wisdom arise and subside in the internal  self-aware wisdom. Then, the boundary between self and other is  destroyed.

Rinpoche clarified the verse:

Here, this verse alludes to the beginner who experiences big  movements of thoughts; like water rushing through a gorge. In the  middle, there is little stability and fewer thoughts just as water  slowly flows through the Ganges. In the end, there are no thoughts at  all. They have subsided into self-awareness, into the water of dharma  nature. He referred back to the power of meditation for severing the  root of the mind, severing the thoughts so that we can enhance our  practice and the strength of the practice. Rinpoche concluded the  teachings of the twenty-nine vajra verses with the aspiration of the  final verse,

Rinpoche instructed attendees to recite this text every day without  fail. As he said, “By merely hearing this, it will plant a virtuous seed  in our being. So, you should recite it at least once a day and think  about the meaning. Then, practice with the View and Meditation as aids.  By the power of the blessing, I hope it mixes with your own experiences  and meditation.”

Rinpoche humbly concluded these profound preliminary teachings with  the reminder that we have all come to Bodh Gaya as a place of refuge.  During the Monlam, we can join together in the practices that we do. He  said there is nothing better than to read this text every day. Before  much applause, Rinpoche requested that we dedicate all the virtue for  His Holiness Gyalwang Karmapa, the embodiment of the activities of all  the Buddhas, who had kindly requested that Rinpoche teach and bless us  with Tilopa’s vajra-verses of The Ganges Mahāmudrā.

Ignorance Is a Problem

If that is so, how does samsara come about? In the beginning of Entering the Middle Way, Chandrakirti explains:

Like a turning water wheel, you circle around in samsara due to  clinging to an “I,” and once you have fixated on this self, there is  “mine,” what belongs to you, and then comes the “other,” those seen as  enemies, and so forth. This is the usual way that samsara  appears—through clinging to “I” and “mine” and then “self” and “other.”  This kind of grasping is the cause of all faults.

Nagarjuna writes, “Coming entirely from the cause of ignorance.” Due  to ignorance, we take something to remain over time, which it cannot do;  we grasp onto a referent where there is none; and we take something to  have a root when it does not. Coarse clinging to things as real and the  subtler clinging to characteristics as real are both caused by  ignorance. Until you realize how ignorance is, you will continue to  suffer. As much as you wish to be free of suffering that much effort  should you make to be free of its cause, ignorance. If that is the case,  what do you need to discard? Nagarjuna’s fourth line counsels:

Grasping onto these three should be released back into their ground  because these are all forms of clinging to permanence. And “permanence”  is merely a concept imputed by your intellect; ultimately, it has no  essence or core. As Nagarjuna states:

There are many examples for this absence of an essence, which is  mistakenly taken to exist. Mind is caught in discursive thinking that  projects a nonexistent reality. In the context of mahamudra, however,  this process would be called the dynamism or the display of luminosity,  clarity, or the cognizant quality (gsal ba) that is part of mind’s nature.

Not knowing this to be the case, you take these projections of your  discursive mind to be real and wander, as Nagarjuna explains, in “a  stupefying urban scene difficult to bear.” So benighted in taking  phenomena to be real, you do not recognize that they are the dynamic  energy and play of mind; you fixate on appearances and concretize them  into self and other. Ultimately, however, the source of these  appearances is primordial wisdom aware of its own nature. It is mere  ignorance that creates the illusion of self and other, this projection  of your afflictions, so you wander in a delusive world:

In the afternoon session on The Ganges Mahāmudrā (Mahāmudrā Upadeśa),  HE Kyabje Drubwang Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche continued his teaching by  discussing conduct. In the morning session, he discussed the view and  meditation on non-arising and non-fixation. Conduct is what manifests  naturally from that view and meditation. Rinpoche said that “to manifest  non-arising we need to follow the stages of the path to realize that.”

One of the first points Rinpoche discussed was the importance of not  being attached to your own views, and disparaging the views of others.  This kind of thinking leads to judging and fixation, which is directly  at odds with cultivating a liberated mind and manifesting liberated  activity. Eliminating attachment to your own views and eliminating  rejection of other views makes you a yogi, he said.

Related to this point, Rinpoche spoke about how to relate to  thoughts. Specifically, Rinpoche taught that if we think of thoughts as a  problem and emptiness as a quality, there is no way we can be  liberated. This is again a type of judgement and not the correct  understanding of emptiness. “In suchness, there is no judgement,”  Rinpoche said. In order to understand this point, Rinpoche said you have  to have certainty in emptiness. This certainty arises from inside, from  meditation, and cannot come from outside. He emphasized that you cannot  be liberated from just words. To manifest certainty about emptiness,  you have to meditate without judgment or fixation. Furthermore, he said,  “let ideas of meditator and not-meditator liberate on their own.”

HE Kyabje Drubwang Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche began the second day of teachings on the The Ganges Mahāmudrā (Mahāmudrā Upadeśa) summarizing key aspects of the first afternoon session. Given their  importance, he re-emphasized the four characteristics of the student who  can be taught the profound instructions. These characteristics –  enduring hardship, guru devotion, bearing suffering, and intelligent  wisdom (prajña) – are key for any student who sincerely takes to heart  that Mahāmudrā cannot be shown. Using the analogy of moonlight hidden by  clouds, Rinpoche stressed that obscurations of thought also dissipate  from the mind illuminating the basic luminosity that is present in all  of us. In order to actually look at thought requires developing  certainty to rest in this inexpressible nature of mind. The student  should consider the nature of thought as an aid for practice in itself.  Rinpoche alluded to and quoted the ninth chapter on Wisdom from Shantideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra) in which it is stated that the antidote is meditation and analysis.  Through the practice of meditation, we can see that thoughts have no  basis. This is the self-liberation of thoughts and is akin to a knotted  snake uncoiling itself. However, fortitude is a necessity and we must  develop diligence to make our thoughts an aspect of our practice.

Rinpoche then shifted to the next verse which he had previously  touched on in the first part of the afternoon session. Here, he  highlighted that mind and appearance are not two. As the verse states,

Milarepa, he noted, used the nature of space as the best analogy  since it transcends characteristics. Similarly, the essence of mind  transcends color and shape and is luminous in its nature. Drawing again  from Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, Rinpoche noted that  this text stresses several steps in order to realize the nature of mind,  in particular cultivating bodhicitta. For example, when we develop the  qualities of the mind of enlightenment (bodhicitta), this encourages  excitement to engage in practice which necessitates confessing our  misdeeds leading to taking bodhisattva vows. When we enact these vows,  it requires maintaining awareness and using mindfulness which enables us  to rejoice in the luminous nature of our mind. We must apply the  antidote which is meditation and analysis. Most importantly, in this  precious human life we must not waste this opportunity of mind.

Throughout the teaching, Rinpoche reminded us that in order to  realize this ultimate view, we begin with going forth and following the  stages of the path. The View must be connected with scripture and logic.  Then, we can practice meditation on egoless-ness. Meditation must be  connected with non-fixation and Conduct becomes manifest with  experience. The verse says,

Rinpoche elaborated that this verse directs us to have revulsion for  worldly things. If we are fixated on this life, we are not a  practitioner. If we do not “sever all ties of greed and hatred for samsaric objects,”  then we are merely stirred up with afflictions. He reminded us of  Milarepa who went into the mountains in order to have natural Dharma.  The verse from Milarepa says,

What this means is that we must keep the idea of impermanence as the  immediate focus. There is no certainty to our lives. Just merely saying,  ‘Okay, I will do this tomorrow’ shows a disbelief in impermanence  because we may not be able to get up tomorrow. We must remember that  death is certain and we are longing for freedom.

Reminding everyone to hold bodhichitta in their hearts, Kyabje  Drubwang Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche began his third and last day of teaching  Tilopa’s Ganges Mahamudra, the upadesha or key instructions for the  practice of mahamudra. At the start of his talk, Nyenpa Rinpoche  reviewed the previous verses and added new commentary. He explained that  highly developed adepts could realize the whole text by simply hearing  the title. Summarizing the text’s meaning at the next level comes in the  traditional prostration of the translator:

Here, “dakini” refers to the entire meaning of the verses: the nature  that is the ground of mahamudra and the nature that is the path of  mahamudra; when these two manifest, the fruition of mahamudra appears.  In this way the dakini symbolizes the realization of ground, path, and  fruition. According to the teachings of the Kalachakra, “dakini” points  to Prajnaparamita, the great mother of all the buddhas.

Another way to express this is that no phenomenon transcends the  fundamental nature. When the great mother Prajnaparamita manifests, we  can see the true nature of all phenomena appearing as samsara and  nirvana. Female deities, such as Tara and Vajra Varahi, are displays of  the great mother’s form. Here the vajra symbolizes the mahamudra of the  definitive meaning, which is represented here as the glorious Vajra  Dakini.

The Student and Teacher

The first verse of the Ganges Mahamudra describes students who could  practice mahamudra and they have four characteristics. (1) Intelligence  is the most important as it allows one (2) to endure hardship, (3) to  see the qualities of the guru and therefore have respect, and (4) to  bear the suffering that comes with practice, as we engage our body,  speech, and mind fully in listening, reflecting, and meditating on the  teachings. How we act depends on the conditions around us, and our  intelligence allows us to know what makes a condition positive or  negative. This is not a mere intellectual knowing but based in the  experience of practice.

Since Naropa had all four of these qualities, Tilopa gave him all the  pith instructions on the banks of the Ganges, saying to his disciple,  “I have no human guru. In coming to your own realization, you’ll realize  the guru.”

Today we can meet teachers and discuss the Dharma with them for  hours. But this might not be the good fortune we take it to be if we do  not develop the power and strength of our meditation. We should be able  to go through difficulties. Meeting the Dharma is not like finding gold  by chance. It comes from gathering the two accumulations and from karmic  connections that extend back for many generations. If we are  constructing a tall building, we need a stable foundation. To meet a  real guru we need genuine conviction.

In the afternoon session on The Ganges Mahāmudrā (Mahāmudrā Upadeśa),  HE Kyabje Drubwang Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche continued his teaching by  discussing conduct. In the morning session, he discussed the view and  meditation on non-arising and non-fixation. Conduct is what manifests  naturally from that view and meditation. Rinpoche said that “to manifest  non-arising we need to follow the stages of the path to realize that.”

One of the first points Rinpoche discussed was the importance of not  being attached to your own views, and disparaging the views of others.  This kind of thinking leads to judging and fixation, which is directly  at odds with cultivating a liberated mind and manifesting liberated  activity. Eliminating attachment to your own views and eliminating  rejection of other views makes you a yogi, he said.

Related to this point, Rinpoche spoke about how to relate to  thoughts. Specifically, Rinpoche taught that if we think of thoughts as a  problem and emptiness as a quality, there is no way we can be  liberated. This is again a type of judgement and not the correct  understanding of emptiness. “In suchness, there is no judgement,”  Rinpoche said. In order to understand this point, Rinpoche said you have  to have certainty in emptiness. This certainty arises from inside, from  meditation, and cannot come from outside. He emphasized that you cannot  be liberated from just words. To manifest certainty about emptiness,  you have to meditate without judgment or fixation. Furthermore, he said,  “let ideas of meditator and not-meditator liberate on their own.”

HE Kyabje Drubwang Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche began the second day of teachings on the The Ganges Mahāmudrā (Mahāmudrā Upadeśa) summarizing key aspects of the first afternoon session. Given their  importance, he re-emphasized the four characteristics of the student who  can be taught the profound instructions. These characteristics –  enduring hardship, guru devotion, bearing suffering, and intelligent  wisdom (prajña) – are key for any student who sincerely takes to heart  that Mahāmudrā cannot be shown. Using the analogy of moonlight hidden by  clouds, Rinpoche stressed that obscurations of thought also dissipate  from the mind illuminating the basic luminosity that is present in all  of us. In order to actually look at thought requires developing  certainty to rest in this inexpressible nature of mind. The student  should consider the nature of thought as an aid for practice in itself.  Rinpoche alluded to and quoted the ninth chapter on Wisdom from Shantideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra) in which it is stated that the antidote is meditation and analysis.  Through the practice of meditation, we can see that thoughts have no  basis. This is the self-liberation of thoughts and is akin to a knotted  snake uncoiling itself. However, fortitude is a necessity and we must  develop diligence to make our thoughts an aspect of our practice.

Rinpoche then shifted to the next verse which he had previously  touched on in the first part of the afternoon session. Here, he  highlighted that mind and appearance are not two. As the verse states,

Milarepa, he noted, used the nature of space as the best analogy  since it transcends characteristics. Similarly, the essence of mind  transcends color and shape and is luminous in its nature. Drawing again  from Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, Rinpoche noted that  this text stresses several steps in order to realize the nature of mind,  in particular cultivating bodhicitta. For example, when we develop the  qualities of the mind of enlightenment (bodhicitta), this encourages  excitement to engage in practice which necessitates confessing our  misdeeds leading to taking bodhisattva vows. When we enact these vows,  it requires maintaining awareness and using mindfulness which enables us  to rejoice in the luminous nature of our mind. We must apply the  antidote which is meditation and analysis. Most importantly, in this  precious human life we must not waste this opportunity of mind.

The first line of Tilopa’s teaching: "I prostrate to the glorious Vajra dakini".  Vajra refers to method. Dakini is prajña. Dakini means sky goers, that  is, emptiness, the base of all phenomena. It doesn’t refer to the  female. Dakini is emptiness, Vajra is the means, unchanging and  indestructible.

In these 2 words are included all of ground path and fruition. The Ganges Mahāmudrā teaches the way it is.

The first verse: The pledge to give the pith instruction

The vessel or disciple has to have 4 qualities.

Prajña is the main attribute. We have to recognise the afflictions.  By the power of prajña we can understand the nature of things as they  are. Understanding develops faith. If we don’t know this, it’s like  torturing ourselves. We need it to pacify our afflictions, our thoughts.  We need prajña to develop enthusiasm for enduring hardship, which leads  to respect for the guru.

I, Tilo, have nothing to show you. Mahāmudrā cannot be shown.

Over a thousand years ago on the banks of the river Ganges, the Mahasiddha Tilopa offered the pith instructions on Mahāmudrā to his heart son Naropa. Not only had Naropa been the greatest scholar at Nalanda university but he had endured 12 years of inconceivable hardship following every ‘crazy’ command of his guru. The pith instructions of 29 quintessential verses spoken on the essence of non- meditation, flowed spontaneously, like the Ganges, from the ultimate realization of the supremely enlightened master. It is said that after Naropa heard these verses he fainted and when he revived, the enlightenment of Tilopa had merged with his mind. He had attained liberation entirely through devotion, seeing the guru as a Buddha, without a moment of meditation practice. In the 11th century the great Tibetan translator Marpa, to whom the lineage was passed, translated and edited the verses at Phullahari in the presence of Naropa.

The Ganges Mahāmudrā, as it came to be known, has accumulated an almost mythic reputation over the centuries as a classic ‘ear whispered’ pointing out. The guru has to reveal the essence at the right time in the right place to the right student. Pith instruction depends on experiential realization and is thus rarely given.