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Awareness as Phenomenology, Essays

Longchenpa Words and Meaning

By Rudolph Bauer, Phd Thu, Feb 23, 2012

Rudolph Bauer, Ph.D. Author, Erin Johannesen, M.A., M.D. Editor

1. For this mornings meditation, I am going to read and elaborate from the writings ofthe great Dzogchen master, Longchenpa, whose words and understanding can help usunderstand meditation. Understanding helps us hold and experience meditation indepth and breadth and helps us in the refinement of our perception. Withoutunderstanding, the experience disappears.2. Without understanding, meditation can be an aphasic experience.

3. There is this adamantine [diamond-like] nucleus of radiant light lying at the heart ofall living beings. The enlightened nucleus can be identified with the primordial ground ofall that is. This nucleus is primordial awareness. This ground of pure possiblizing, ofpure potential, is adamantine, both in the sense of being devoid of actualized concreteforms and in its sense of indestructible primordiality that continues throughout all livingbeings, [continues through you, life after life]continues throughout the universeitself. Vajra kumara means unborn and undyingever youthful. From this view,everything is alive.

4. This pure primordial ground resides within our hearts, and its presencing pervadesthe body in a wonderful network of luminous channels and [in] mandalas of the

interiorized deitiesthe archetypical energiessuch that, in every instant, we re -enactthe cosmic drama of self recognition, or lack of self recognition. We are aware ofawareness, or unaware of awareness within both ourself [ourselves in oneness] and theouter geography of the intersubjective, experienced world. Our very subjectivity is themanifestation of the primordial ground; our very self is the manifestation of theprimordial, luminous ground.

5. The first adamantine topic: The ground and ground presencing. Groundpresencing means the appearance within the ground and the lightening up of thegroundthe radiances of primordial awareness manifesting infinite forms and infinitepresencesinfinite singularities. This radiance, which is compassion, begins as an

unimpeded rainbow of pure light flowing forth from the ground and arising within theground as the elements. It flows too as the dimension of archetypical forms and as thedimensions of usthis world among other worlds.

The radiance of light evolves into dualistic forms. Congealed light becomes congealedmatter, and dualistic experienced light becomes matter encapsulated as earth, wind,fire, and space. This self awareness of self presencing is the core dynamic of theuniverse. This gnosis, this jnana, this intelligence, this knowningness of radiant light

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from which the entire spectrum of psychic activity and material dynamics arisesreflects the various luminous light energy vibrations that congeal and becomedimmed. The entire universe within universes, multi-dimensional and parallel, is athoroughly intelligent and anima mystic universeis psycheas universe.

6. The grounds utter emptiness, which is actually openness of pure potential, is inperfect union, complete oneness, with the luminous radiance of light energy. Thisemptiness, or openness, or potential is inherently dynamic and luminousluminous inits manifestation. Its essence is purity, its luminosity is spontaneous presence, andcompassion is its pervasive and creative resonance. This ground of being is brilliant,shining intelligence. Thus, at the cosmic level, this self organizing gnosis is the infinitestar systems and parallel universes, and, at the microcosmic level, it is the subtlestructures and the peculiarly personal world of the self conscious animals and beingsthat is ourself [ourselves in oneness]. All of this [shining through] is compassionresonatingtime itself is compassion manifested.

7. Timeless awareness manifesting timetimeless awareness in time, and time intimeless awarenessnon-duality manifesting duality, non-duality within duality, andduality within non-duality.

8. There is the shock of non-recognition, the great lack of non-recognitionma rigpa,and there is the consistent, ever present, self-organized movement of desire for rigpa,of self knowing self, and the experience of the ground presencing knowing the groundpresencing as ground.

9. As the dimension of primordial ground, the field remains a virtual reality, a potentialreality. This self-contained potential is devoid of actualization and is devoid of

exteriorization. It [this potential] is like a spiritual body contained in a vase. The entireuniverse is enfolded within it as pure potential. The [Dzogchen] master, Karmaya,comments that Dzogchen tantras very rarely, if at all, invoke the theories of emptiness,or syunyata, as non-self existence. These non-self theories are, at times, misleadingbecause the understanding of emptiness lacks the dynamic reality of primordialawareness as luminous openness, as radiant purity, and as the resonance of cosmiccompassion. Purity is the essence of the ground. Original purity is simultaneous withspontaneous presence, internal radiance, pure potential, or virtual reality. All of this[dynamic of luminous openness] gives rise to possibilizing the potential of actualizationsof infinite forms of infinite worldsall in singularity.

10. Emptiness may be empty, but as such, it is not the case of it being empty ofinherent dynamic spontaneous light energy, for the vibrancy itself presences itself asyou and me. It presences itself both as congealed materiality of light and asadamantine awarenessthe who in mind and body. And circumstance.

11. Primordial awareness is a who and not an it. Whos in us? Who are whos inWhoville?

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