The best situation is to practice in a way in which mind essence is recognized in conjunction with the skillful Vajrayana methods. These methods include refuge, bodhichitta, the preliminary practices, the yidam deity, and so on. To practice these concurrently, excluding neither one nor the other, is the most profound way of perfecting the two accumulations. It is the way of bringing the ground into the path. This is a topic that we might want to reflect on a little bit more.
No matter what Buddhist practice we apply, we should always remember that the two accumulations must be perfected. This holds true from the beginning level of shravaka training all the way up to and including Ati Yoga. There are various ways to perfect the two accumulations; here, I will discuss an approach unique to Dzogchen.
The recognition of empty essence—in other words, the insight that realizes egolessness, the absence of an independent identity—is the state of original wakefulness itself. Training in this state perfects the accumulation of wisdom. During whatever formal practice you undertake, do not leave behind this accumulation of wisdom beyond reference point; rather, embrace the particular practice with the recognition of empty essence. Training in this perfects the accumulation of merit, and it does so without your having to hold on to any concepts or struggle to do so. In this way, by simply training in recognizing mind essence you can simultaneously perfect the two accumulations of merit and wisdom.
Through the profound methods of Vajrayana, the two accumulations can be perfected on a tremendous scale. By utilizing certain skillful means to further enhance the recognition of mind essence, we can develop even more quickly, reaching progressively deeper levels.
Let me mention some of these methods. The first entrance to the Buddhist path, which is taking refuge, involves regarding the Buddha as your teacher, the Dharma as your path, and the Sangha as your companions on the path and using all three of these as support, as a refuge. We take refuge in the Three Precious Ones, which are called the outer Three Jewels, in order to realize the state of complete enlightenment. In other words, you could say, “I place my trust in you, the outer Three Jewels, in order to recognize and actualize the inner Three Jewels.”
It’s not difficult to understand taking refuge once we realize that we already take refuge to a certain extent in various things in the outer world during the ordinary course of our lives. For example, as university students we are helped and supported by the educational setting. We respect it for what it is, that it enables us to get our degree. Here we are taking refuge in the university, and in that sense it is worthwhile. The secular tutoring we receive enables us to reach that full degree of education, of intellectual knowledge, which is similar to the Dharma teachings. Our fellow students and the faculty are the university sangha, whom we respect as helpers on our educational path. In Buddhist terms, there is the Buddha, who represents the ultimate state of enlightenment. There are the teachings that he gave, the Dharma; using them is the path to that state of enlightenment. Then there are the Sangha companions, our fellow practitioners, who provide the support and help for us to reach that destination. When we take refuge in this way, we accept the precept of giving up harming others as well as relinquishing the basic causes for harming others.
Generally speaking, reality has two aspects: the seeming and the real. We take refuge from the seeming aspect, which is the state of confusion, in order to realize the real. As long as we haven’t realized how things actually are, there is a need to seek support in the objects of refuge. A certain beneficial influence arises though this, which, in old-fashioned terminology, is called blessings.
By taking refuge, we are actually requesting an influence. We want to be influenced by what the buddhas have experienced; we want to have their state of realization sway our minds. That is the real purpose of taking refuge. It is actually possible because the realized state of the buddhas is not a solid, material substance but something insubstantial. Since our minds are also not made of material substance, a connection can arise between these two—between our minds and the enlightened minds of the buddhas. Using material substances to influence our immaterial mind can have a certain effect, but it is superficial. True blessings can take place only through that which shares our mind’s immaterial quality.
We could distort the act of taking of refuge by thinking of ourselves as lost, helpless, and worthless: “I can’t do anything except surrender to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.” Then we wait there and expect that the buddhas will take us and throw us into an enlightened state, just like flinging a stone into a pond. I’m sorry, but this is not the way it works. This is not the right way to take refuge. Rather, regard taking refuge as being willing to realize the state of enlightenment so that we understand the fundamental indivisibility of the wisdom of the buddhas and the original wakefulness present in ourselves. That is the real refuge.
Once we have established the refuge attitude in ourselves in a realistic and effective way, the next step is to become a bodhisattva. Taking the bodhisattva vow essentially means we form the resolve to help other beings, and we actively work to create the basis for doing so. In other words, having taken the vow, we are counted among the bodhisattvas. This doesn’t mean we become perfect bodhisattvas simply by taking the vow. Rather, it means that we are aiming in that direction; we are moving toward bodhisattva perfection. Taking the bodhisattva vow is like planting the seed of being a bodhisattva. We are creating the basis for helping and benefiting others.
Bodhichitta, the enlightened attitude, is like a moisturizer for our basic nature. It is like salad dressing on the salad of our basic state. Without this, we are just a little too dry. Our usual way of solidifying and fixating on experience causes us to be deluded, to move away from our basic nature. This pursuit makes us very dry, antsy and restless. We are always chasing after this and that, in a very limited and narrow-minded way. Both our perspective and aims must be opened up. We may not immediately be able to generate the true and perfected state of awakened mind, but we can at least begin to by forming a wish, a resolve: “I want to benefit all sentient beings, and for this reason I will practice the Dharma.” It’s possible for us to experience that opening, that starting point, right now, this very instant.
The real bodhichitta, which is awakened mind, is of course already present within us as our basic nature, but somehow it is covered up by our normal way of thinking, encased within the shell of deluded perceptions. It’s not so easy to have it become visible immediately in a fullfledged way. It’s as if we need to plagiarize awakened mind a little bit, by forming a thought as an imitation. There is really no way around this other than to make a facsimile of the awakened attitude. When a new gadget is invented in the United States, in China someone immediately makes a copy of it to sell. The real gadget is still in the USA, but the copies are being fabricated right and left. Similarly, we need to copy bodhichitta by forming the thought of compassion for all beings. There is nothing wrong with that. Bodhichitta is not copyrighted; no company manufactures it, so it’s not as if we’ll be sued. We simply want to imitate what we have heard so much about, the awakened state realized by the buddhas and masters of the past.
Now we may have heard in various Mahamudra and Dzogchen teachings that we should be totally free from artificial concepts, completely natural, and realize mind’s original, natural state. And here I am saying, “Form the thought of wanting to benefit all sentient beings.” We might think, “That’s artificial. If I try to make up something that is not already present, then I’m corrupting the mind’s natural state.” We might even feel guilty and shy away from doing so and thus end up with nothing. Of course, it is wonderful if you have already realized the original wakefulness that is the awakened state of all buddhas; by all means, don’t hold yourself back. There is no problem at all if it arises as an actuality in your own experience. But if it doesn’t and you feel guilty about fabricating bodhisattva motivation, you simply end up without anything—without either the real thing or the copy. Many people stumble on this problem.
To make a copy, to fabricate a conceptual thought, is perfectly okay if it is helpful and useful. If a copy works like the original, what’s the problem? The idea here is that if we don’t have anything, if we don’t have a natural orientation toward the bodhisattva’s frame of mind, then it is fine to make a copy, because then you at least have something. As you improve upon it, it gets better and better, so that ultimately