Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche – The View Brings a Smile

 

 

Once you have the View, although the delusory perceptions of samsara may arise in your mind, you will be like the sky; when a rainbow appears in front of it, it is not particularly flattered, and when the clouds appear, it is not particularly disappointed either. There is a deep sense of contentment. You chuckle from inside as you see the facade of samsara and nirvana; the View will keep you constantly amused, with a little inner smile bubbling away all the time.

– Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (as quoted in Sogyal Rinpoche’s the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying)

 

The View is the panoramic openness of naked awareness that is unstained by the tendencies to grasp at visions. It is the utter simplicity of the nature of mind – the indivisibility of emptiness and luminous clarity of awareness. When you have that View, you leave everything as it is – in its freshness,  letting experiences and perceptions arise and vanish. There is a great sense of evenness and ease. No matter whether it is the perception of suffering of Samsara or the bliss of Nirvana, you remain equally amused.

In Sogyal Rinpoche’s words,

 

The confidence, the contentment, the spacious serenity, the strength, the profound humour, and the certainty that arise from directly realising the View of Rigpa (the indivisibility of luminous awareness and emptiness), is the greatest treasure of life, the ultimate happiness, which, once attained, nothing can destroy, not even death.

In particular, this relates to the tradition of Dzogpa Chenpo (Mahasandhi-yoga / Great Perfection). The View is experientially introduced by a Guru. Familiarising with the View is Meditation. Taking the panoramic perspective of the View beyond meditation is the Conduct. Read Living in Spacious Awareness to see how View, Meditation and Conduct work together in practice.