According to the ’ug-Dong
Khandro Nying Thig mDo(1), authentic tantrikas live within the dimension of the
’ug-Kyi Lab-Nga(2) – the Owl Precepts. The five Owl Precepts originate
in the gTérmas of Khyungchen Aro Lingma. They contain the profound inner
meaning of the five precepts commonly found within the Sutras, and as such provide
an extraordinary base for approaching Dzogchen . They represent the Dzogchen view
of the five precepts, expressed as irrepressible inaction(3). Chatral dzi-mèd
must be experienced naturally(4), through the self-abandonment(5) of the artificial
constructs(6) of dualistic rationalisation(7).
Being natural, however, is
not ‘natural’ to those committed to the illusion of duality, and therefore
some encouragement is needed in terms of inspiring tantrikas to enter into the
felt meaning of the view. The Owl Precepts exist therefore, as five aspects of
essential life-advice(8) which are applied by the tantrika in terms of mere indication(9)
This method exists in terms of guidelines which undermine the complex contrivances
of attempting to maintain dualism. They are invaluable teaching in terms of evolution
on the spiritual path.
We have provided commentary on each precept according
to the limits of our understanding and from the motivation of wishing to help
our disciples relate with the context of their everyday lives. We are aware that
the subject of the precepts is approached from many different perspectives and
therefore feel it significant that a view is presented according to our tradition.
This presentation of the ’ug-Kyi Lab-nga can be understood in parallel
with the Sutric presentation, and should be regarded as harmonious with other
expressions of the precepts even when the contradictions are evident. As with
all apparent contradictions between the vehicles, one should find no essential
disharmony if one has developed a keen perception of the principle and function
of practice. We have attempted to bring out this essential harmony in our commentaries,
and if anyone is offended by what we have written then the fault lies with us
rather than with Aro Lingma’s ’ug-Kyi Lab-nga.
Ngak’chang Rinpoche
& Khandro Déchen
the
first precept – srog gÇod songwa. (10)
‘Tantrikas refrain
from killing the efflorescence of rigpa as it sparkles through the fabric of duality.’
Commentary: Tantrikas realise that to refrain from killing the efflorescence of
their enlightened nature is simultaneously possible and impossible. It is possible,
because they are enlightened from beginninglessness; but it is impossible because
they may lack confidence in the non-dual state. Because of this ambivalence, they
develop confidence in the non-dual state through sustaining awareness of the pain
and suffering caused by killing in all its manifestations. Their understanding
of this is always present. Tantrikas understand that it is impossible to disconnect
from killing. They understand that it is so, simply because they have human bodies.
They recognise that to have a body, and to exist, is to cause death. From this
knowledge they establish compassionate connections with everyone and everything
everywhere. Tantrikas recognise that to walk across fields is to kill insects.
They recognise that to light a fire to keep warm is to kill beings, and that eating
bread makes them responsible, in part, for the death of field mice. They understand
that to use medicines is to kill organisms and bacteria. They recognise that plant
life has sentience, and that sentience may exist within phenomena in which sentience
cannot be perceived. Through this knowledge they know that is impossible to be
'pure' or disconnected from killing. They realise that it is impossible to ‘transcend’
their situation as a potential killers, merely by enacting purist physical regimes
or purist dietary policies. They understand that to live is to cause death, and
that this fact cannot be avoided. They recognise that there is no external method
for disconnecting themselves from the causes of death; and that the only possibility
of practise is to generate compassion when awareness arises of any cause of death.
They know that because it is impossible to be pure, that it is also impossible
to judge others from the standpoint of purity. They know that if they cannot judge
others according to purity and impurity then all trace of religious bigotry is
abandoned. They delight in the knowledge that the avoidance of bigotry restores
the joy of practice. Knowing they cannot be ‘pure’ according to the
‘relative purist rationale’ dissolves all boundaries with regard to
compassion. The knowledge that one’s physical existence is in itself the
act of killing imbues tantrikas with the pervasive motivation to avoid harming
other beings wherever possible. This knowledge also encourages the dynamic of
alleviating suffering wherever it is found according to capacity, circumstances,
and appropriate juncture. Tantrikas extend themselves to other to the extent of
their ability, and without abuse to the continuity of their own worthwhile existence.
Tantrikas attempt to commit themselves to experiencing bodhicitta at every opportunity,
in order to create connections with whatever they eat, drink, or wear. They commit
themselves to a non-aggressive way of life. Whether their style of taking sustenance
is carnivorous, vegetarian, vegan, or fruitarian; they commit themselves to refraining
from aggression by way of act, word, or attitude to those who derive sustenance
according to contrasting considerations. Each style of deriving nourishment is
linked with a form of expressing chang-chub sem (byang chub sems – bodhicitta)
active-compassion according to the different vehicles, and so they commit themselves
to adopting whatever style accords with the integrity of their perception as tantrikas.
the
second precept –Ma chinpar pongwa(11).
‘Tantrikas refrain from
stealing opportunities for realisation and squandering the proceeds on the creation
of less obvious dualities.’
Commentary: Tantrikas are awareness that
they cannot extricate themselves from involvement in exploitation, social injustice,
oppression, and theft. They recognise the impossibility of disconnection from
causes of loss, impoverishment, and deprivation for other beings. Through this
knowledge they commit to depriving others as little as possible through their
presence in the world. They recognise that simply to live is to have gained personal
advantage from the disadvantage of countless others. Through this recognition
they commit themselves to generating kindness and generosity; by sharing time,
energy, and resources with those who experience need which resonates with their
capacity to assuage need. They avoid taking anything that is not freely offered.
They avoid freeloading as a way of life. They do not leave others to carry out
work which they have been allotted. They do not avoid work and allow others to
carry a greater share than would have been theirs if appropriate assistance had
been forthcoming. They do not fail to volunteer when help is needed. They abstain
from asking excessive favours of others, or expecting to be ‘carried’
in life. They avoid abusing hospitality or taking advantage of the time and generosity
of others. They do not steal the time of other practitioners by the refusal to
be real, or by engaging in the adoption of an 'artificial buddhist personality'.
They do not rob others of the enjoyment, appreciation, and spontaneity by adopting
pious and sanctimonious pretences. They do not engage in the expression of the
moral or spiritual superiority their teacher's view, in order not to rob personal
association with other practitioners of meaning and value. They do not rob their
Lamas through pusillanimous, parsimonious, or prurient behaviour of body, speech,
or Mind.
the third
precept – ’dod pé logpar gwempa pongwa(12)
‘Tantrikas
remain always in ecstatic embrace with the khandro or pawo.’
Commentary:
Tantrikas refrain from subverting the sexual dimension of their being in the attempt
to avoid authentic relationship with the khandro or pawo. They avoid obfuscating
the inner pawo or inner khandro by objectifying women or men according to sexually
distorted or degraded stereotypes. They commit to the awareness that as long as
they live in the illusion of duality they cannot extricate themselves from involvement
in sexual exploitation, in terms of insulting the pawo or khandro reflections
which present themselves as opportunities to experience their non-dual natures.
In actualisation of this commitment they refrain from engaging in sexual relations
which are without love and the possibility of long-term commitment. They commit
themselves to finding pleasure primarily in the pleasure and happiness of their
sexual partners. They commit to gentleness, generosity, openness, and respect
at all levels in relation to their partner, in order to maintain the view of spacious
passion in passionate space.
the
fourth precept: dzun du mra pongwa(13)
‘Tantrikas avoid taking refuge
in the lie of the dualistic rationale,
and from expressing the lie of dualism.’
Commentary: Tantrikas refrain from deluding themselves by taking refuge in their
dualistic rationale. They avoid lying to themselves about their relative condition.
They commit themselves to the truth of their own beginningless realisation, to
the extent of sacrificing relative securities in following the Lamas’ instruction.
They refrain from manipulating, harming, or exploiting others through deliberate
contrivance. They refrain from deliberate inaccuracy, indirectness, inauthentic
speech, or posturing. They are aware that as long as they live in the illusion
of duality they cannot extricate themselves from the manipulations of delusory
rationalisations, and will therefore not presume to judge others. In recognition
of this, they commit themselves to fierce integrity with regard to undermining
self-protective initiatives, designed to maintain self-image and hide themselves
from others. They commit themselves to kindness of speech and communication. They
refrain from gratuitous feedback, advice, or criticism unless it serves to protect
others from direct physical or emotional harm. They commit themselves to refrain
from bigoted, sectarian, or judgmental speech with regard to the spiritual practices,
lineage, or authenticity of other students or teachers. They refrain from condemning
people, things, or alternative views on the basis of prejudice or meagre evidence.
They refrain from unwillingness to listen with an open heart to the explanation
of alternative views (especially amongst other Buddhist Sanghas). They refrain
from the use of language which causes division and discord, or which causes vajra
brothers and sister to sever friendship. They commit themselves to reconciling
and resolving conflict wherever possible unless harm is caused by so doing. They
avoid cultivating a stereotypical spiritual persona, or of maintaining a 'party
line' as a means of disparaging others. They avoid self-righteous or pious stances
which alienate new comers to the Vajrayana. They refrain from argument with reference
to Buddhist psychology, philosophy, or religious forms. They refrain from obsessive
intellectualisation and scholastic nit-picking especially with regard to disparaging
divergent approaches to Buddhist practice. They avoidance of Buddhist jargon as
a means of avoiding real communication, or as a means of feeling superior to others.
the fifth precept:
Yö-pé ’gyür wa’i tungwa(14)
‘Tantrikas disengage
from the intoxication of duality through inebriating the dualistic rationale and
becoming drunken with primordial wisdom’.
Commentary: Tantrikas refrain
from deliberate loss of awareness. They know that as long a they live in the illusion
of duality, they intoxicate themselves with their own concepts and from this perspective
they abstain from expecting others to take their befuddled ramblings as sober
speech. Through this knowledge, they commit themselves to practice. Through this
knowledge they live the view with impeccable verve. They commit themselves to
maintaining an open appreciation of the sense fields and defy the deluded protocol
which abstains from uninhibited play. They refrain from retracting into concept
conscious at the expense of the other senses. They commit themselves to discovering
uncontrived awareness, free from tight control or oblivious indulgence in soporific
excess(15). They commit themselves to inebriation from the hot blood of compassion,
and to the experience of kindness merriment and freedom for all beings.
Footnotes:
1. ’ug gDong sNying thig mKha’ ’gro mDo (Ulukha-mukha Dakini
Upadesha Sutra) – Heart Essence Sutra of the Owl headed Dakini, belongs to
the Aro gTér cycle. It presents the essential aspects of Sutra from the
perspective of Dzogchen.
2. ’ug kyi bsLab lNga.
3. chatral dzi-mèd
(bya bral brDzi med) ‘irrepressible inaction’.
4. khril gyis
5. rang dor
6. Kun tag (kun bTags)
7. Dualism - nyi nang (gNyis sNang).
Dualistic rationalisation nyi nang gyu tsen nyid chos (gNyis sNang rGyu mTshan
nyid chos.
8. Kun-jö (Kun brJod).
9. Man ngag.
10. srog gCod
song ba – the avoidance of killing. Literally ‘srog gCod’ means
‘to cut the life force’. In terms of motivation, this relates with the
desire to terminate a being’s existence through obliterating the being. ‘Causing
death’ and ‘cutting the srog’ are therefore not identical. The
meaning of this ‘difference’ is profound and easily misinterpreted.
For example, the yogi who dispatched various other ‘loser yogis’ through
’phowa and who was on the verge on ‘killing’ Milarépa (before
realising Milarépa was going to attain realisation) was not in breakage
of this vow. To be in breakage of this vow one has to intend to ‘obliterate
a being entirely’, or to ‘terminate sentience’. Many hunter-gatherer
societies were keen to ensure to release of the ‘soul’ of the animals
they hunted, and were therefore not motivated by the desire to commit srog gCod.
11. Ma byin par sPong ba – avoidance of theft
12. ’dod pas
log par gwem pa sPong ba – avoidance of sexual exploitation
13. brDzun
du dMra sPong ba – avoidance of manipulative speech
14. mYos pas ’gyur
ba’i bTung ba - avoiding deliberate loss of awareness.
15. We would
recommend that tantrikas commit themselves to the avoidance of mindless and unskilful
consumption of anything – including food. We would advise that tantrikas
commit themselves to drinking with awareness, and from refraining from a dependant,
unhealthy of physically abusive relation with alcohol. It could also be added
here (in a modern context) that tantrikas refrain from the use or any drug, other
than those medically prescribed for specific illnesses or the control of pain.
Although some hallucinogenics have been debated in relation to their quality as
instigators of spiritual interest, and although some naturally occurring varieties
can be deemed harmless to the rTsa rLung system, it remains doubtful whether there
is sufficient value in them to warrant their use. If more is found within the
use of psychedelics than meditative practice, it is there that one will establish
one’s prior refuge.