Me and Not-me walk the Path

Serie: The spiritual path in Dzogchen

Me and Not-me walk the Path

In the series of articles on the Dzogchen path, we will now turn our attention to who or what achieves this (illusory) path, going from ignorance to supreme enlightenment (always-and-already-there). We will also look at how long walking such a path can take.

For Dzogchen is often presented as the vehicle of enlightenment in a single lifetime – or even of enlightenment in the moment – which is correct. But from the gradual point of view of the path, i.e. its cooperation with Buddhism, Dzogchen leads to the fullness of pure enlightenment after countless lifetimes. So how can we reconcile this apparent contradiction between these two perspectives?

If Buddhism has at its heart the emptiness (tib. stong pa nyid) of self and phenomena, and Dzogchen is – from the perspective of the Nyingmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism – the pith or the crown achievement of earlier Buddhist vehicles, it seems hard to be satisfied with a response along the lines of : “Well… are you stupid or what? It’s me who is walking the path! Who else could it be?” But is that really the case? Who or what is on the path to enlightenment – is it me or not me?

“Dying well, finding the path again, recognizing the “reincarnations” of the great practitioners of the past, these are all necessary conditions for Dzogchen and Buddhist traditions to take root in the West.”

So, is it me or not me that dragged myself into past existences? Is it me or not me who will awaken in future existences? Is it me or not me who is practicing now? “Both and neither, my captain,” the great buddhist specialist Philippe Cornu would say. Moments of consciousness in perpetual motion, the natural flow of perceptions of reality, such is the becoming of the mind – before it discovers the fourth time, beyond time. So the question we asked – me or not me? – may not be the right one. And the perspectives that then open up are so enthusiastic!

This implies, for example, that human and non-human beings, visible and non-visible ones, are all connected in this immense and common movement towards the plenitude of pure enlightenment, moving from one state to another, from one form to another, from one existence to another… What generosity it is to share with and then receive from “me-not-me” the fruits of so much efforts, patience and practice!

By committing ourselves to the path, by practicing diligently and behaving rightly, we are not collecting good points for our own personal destiny in some paradise, but we are participating in the vast movement of reality towards the realization of its own fundamental nature. And it is this overcoming of (neither) me (nor) not-me towards non-duality (tib. gnyis su med pa) that alone can lead us to the end of the path – which is in fact its origin, its Basis. I know it doesn’t sound obvious, but it’s actually quite simple!

To take things a step further, we need to learn how to die well. Let me explain. You have to learn how to die well so that me-not-me continues on the path “after” this lifetime. And first of all, to find the way again in a future existence. This is also why the institution of tulku (tib. sprul sku ; skt. nirmāṇakāya ; emanation or manifestation body) – the recognition of “rebirths” (tib. yang srid – literally, “to become again”, or “to be again”, “srid” also having the connotation of “worldly” and “possibility”), the recognition of the great “dead” practitioners and masters of the past – in addition to more mundane worldly concerns – is so central to the traditions of the Himalayan worlds.

Dying well, finding the path again, recognizing the “reincarnations” of the great practitioners of the past, these are all necessary conditions for Dzogchen and Buddhist traditions to take root in the West. Without these, the efforts of individuals in a single lifetime will bear little fruit. And given the situation today, it is fair to say that conditions are not yet ripe – even if things are changing!

After all, these stories of past and future lives are nothing but tales! But very real and effective stories; true, but relatively so; as long as we believe in them; as long as we believe that we are human, and therefore want to continue to be something rather than “nothing” – without believing or not believing being a choice! Once all of this is abandoned, the simple, profound and oneness nature of the clarity-luminosity essence of reality is revealed. Then, by repeating this “instant” of introduction to the primordial nature of our mind over and over again, all these lives will be recognized as dreams without any real nature. Empty of inherent existence, without actually being real, an instant or zillions of cosmic eras will no longer make sense. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche often tells a story that seems to me to be a very telling illustration of what “an instant” can be for these traditions.

Imagine if a bird with a feather in its beak flew over a high mountain – in the Himalayas, or any mountains you are more familiar with – and grazed the highest peak with its feather, once in a century. Now, the time it would take for the mountain to completely disappear would be “a moment”… Enough to make our heads spin and stretch the narrow limits of our ordinary reality. So patience and perseverance on the path! Once the ultimate nature of these “past lives” is recognized, everything will be a luminous manifestation of the empty essence of the Base, the fullness of pure enlightenment, the ultimate Victory.