Self-Liberating Emotions

Happy Guru Rinpoche Day!

"All the Buddha’s teachings have one purpose. They are designed to show us how to remove, to transform, or to liberate the six negative emotions, and thus be free. This is true from Basic Buddhism all the way to the Great Perfection. In other words, it’s the essence of everything the Buddha taught. We must not continue to let these emotions stay, considering them to be “normal” as we habitually do now. We can learn to remove, to transform, or to liberate them through the practice of meditation. We must just make a commitment to use the many skillful means the buddhas and great masters have given us.

In any case, how real are emotions? Where are these emotions? If we examine our own minds with the techniques of meditation, we will not find any substantially existing emotions. They’re not outside, they’re not inside or anyplace in between. They’re not anywhere. They only arise fleetingly as mirages or illusions in our mental state. Once we examine this thoroughly, discovering that emotions aren’t as real as we thought, we do not have to act on them.

At the present moment, from the Dzogchen point of view, all ordinary experience, whether suffering and difficulties, or joy and peace, is nothing other than our own minds. When the time comes that we attain realization of the true nature of ultimate reality, that is also nothing other than our own minds. So our minds are the engine or creator of our own vision and experience.

This means we must remember and follow the Buddha’s instructions. Among these instructions, the techniques for self-liberation of emotions are special to the Great Perfection or Dzogchen, which is the highest level of the Buddha’s teaching. This was taught in Tibet by Guru Padmasambhava, who said, “When you have the dense power of the six poisons, you must learn and practice liberating them, using the self-liberation techniques.”

What is meant by self-liberation of an emotion? We can say this means that the emotion self-transcends into wisdom. Its power ceases being an explosive disturbance to us and others. In fact, it not only stops being a cause for suffering, but its transformed energy adds to the power of our love, compassion, and understanding. So instead of pushing an emotion’s power aside, or throwing it out, we can use it as a cause to restrengthen our natural power of love, compassion and wisdom. That is how the teaching of Dzogchen directly connects back to the Buddha’s most fundamental teachings."

Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches

The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind From Samsara (pgs 34-35)

www.padmasambhava.org/product-page/the-four-thoughts-that-turn-the-mind-from-samsara

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Photo of Ven. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche at Mandarava House in Pam Beach, Florida in 2009.