Longchenpa: Looking for Mind in the Three Times

 

 

It is seen neither in the past

Nor in the future.

It does not enter the present,

Remaining where it is.

Do not use mind to look for mind,

Just let it be …

 

 

Longchen Rabjam is an omniscient yogi of Tibet. The name Longchen Rabjam means the “the Infinite Great Expanse’ – the space of awareness. His another name is Drime Ozer – the Stainless Ray of Light.  These names truly show what he is. Longchenpa gave the most profound practical instructions and vast expositions on the practice of Dzogpa Chenpo (The Great Perfection). His words have the special quality of pacifying all conceptual elaborations and revealing the essential meaning in its utter lucidity. He also became a marvelous ornament of the Buddhist scholastic world. His works showed how the nine vehicles of Buddhist practice with its diverse means and views all fit together in the great expanse of the way of Bodhi – as if seeing many mountain paths from the very pinnacle of the mountain.

 

The nature of mind cannot be seen by ‘looking’ for it with mind, but by just being aware and just relaxing into its very nature in an uncontrived way. The true nature of mind is a timeless presence. Past is just memories. Future is just anticipation. Present is just another concept between past and future. What we experience as past, present and future are just creations of mind. How can the nature of mind be contained in past, present or future while these very concepts arise and vanish in the very space of awareness!