Rigpa...

"Once again, selflessness(rigpa) is not a “deep” feature of consciousness. It is right on the surface. And yet people can meditate for years without recognizing it.

After I was introduced to the practice of Dzogchen, I realized that much of my time spent meditating had been a way of actively overlooking the very insight I was seeking. How can something be right on the surface of experience and yet be difficult to see?

I have already drawn an analogy to the optic blind spot. But other analogies may give a clearer sense of the subtle shift in attention that is required to see what is right before one’s eyes.

We’ve all had the experience of looking through a window and suddenly noticing our own reflection in the glass. At that moment we have a choice: to use the window as a window and see the world beyond, or to use it as a mirror. It is extraordinarily easy to shift back and forth between these two views but impossible to truly focus on both simultaneously.

This shift offers a very good analogy both for what it is like to recognize the illusoriness of the self for the first time and for why it can take so long to do it. Imagine that you want to show another person how a window can also function like a mirror. As it happens, your friend has never seen this effect and is quite skeptical of your claims . You direct her attention to the largest window in your house, and although the conditions are perfect for seeing her reflection, she immediately becomes captivated by the world outside . What a beautiful view! Who are your neighbors ? Is that a redwood or a Douglas fir?

You begin to speak about there being two views and about the fact that your friend’s reflection stands before her even now, but she notices only that the neighbor’s dog has slipped out the front door and is now dashing down the sidewalk. In every moment, it is clear to you that your friend is staring directly through the image of her face without seeing it.

Of course, you could easily direct her attention to the surface of the window by touching the glass with your hand. This would be akin to the “pointing-out instruction” of Dzogchen. However , here the analogy begins to break down. It is very difficult to imagine someone’s not being able to see her reflection in a window even after years of looking—but that is what happens when a person begins most forms of spiritual practice.

Most techniques of meditation are, in essence, elaborate ways for looking through the window in the hope that if one only sees the world in greater detail, an image of one’s true face will eventually appear.

Imagine a teaching like this: If you just focus on the trees swaying outside the window without distraction, you will see your true face. Undoubtedly , such an instruction would be an obstacle to seeing what could otherwise be seen directly.

Almost everything that has been said or written about spiritual practice, even most of the teachings one finds in Buddhism, directs a person’s gaze to the world beyond the glass, thereby confusing matters from the very beginning."




Harris, Sam (2014-09-09). Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion (Kindle Locations 2003-2008). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.