3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche (1954-1992)
“The Mahamudra path is called the path to liberation. If you are able to practice and when you realize the Mahamudra instructions that you are receiving, you will have achieved liberation. One must be a proper vessel, though, i.e., one needs to be a qualified disciple who is capable of receiving these profound instructions without distorting them.
3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche (1954-1992)
“Many unskilled practitioners think they can jump into higher practices and engage in Yidam and Mahamudra practices without having perfected the preliminaries, but this will be very detrimental to achieving fruition. Should one meditate on the nature of one’s mind without having perfected the preliminaries, all efforts are in vain. One needs sincere faith, confidence, and certainty of karma, and one needs perfect renunciation in order to meditate Mahamudra correctly. Of course, one can receive many teachings on Mahamudra, but it would only be like changing old clothes as long as one has failed to prepare the ground properly. It’s necessary to actually integrate all teachings in one’s life and to know that they are only presented in order to help one transform one’s delusive apprehensions into peace and supreme insight. This can only happen if one relies on and is dedicated to one’s Root Lama, if one has unwavering love and compassion, if one has ethics and engages in virtuous activities, and if one practices the methods correctly. Methods are only effective if long-standing habitual patterns have been overcome and if merit has been accumulated. And so, the preliminaries are indispensable for advanced practices.”
From the 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul‘s instructions based on “Pointing Out the Dharmakaya” composed by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje. Full text here.
3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche (1954-1992)
“Mind’s essence is emptiness possessing self-awareness of manifestations, referred to as all-pervading and unobstructed, i.e., emptiness and lucidity. Mind’s nature is the inseparability of emptiness and clarity. Through meditation practice, one comes to realize that there is no mind different than thoughts and that there are no thoughts different than the mind. One realizes that one either recognizes the mind or doesn’t, whereby both are the same mind. Differences pertain to realization. One needs to look at one’s mind in order to realize that it is in truth free of an apprehending subject and apprehended objects. Realization of the union of emptiness and clarity – which is freedom from subject and objects – is Mahamudra, the goal of all meditation practices. Words will not disclose Mahamudra. One needs to purify one’s negativities and obscurations that conceal one’s mind’s true nature and accumulate merit in order to realize Mahamudra.”
From the 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul‘s instructions based on “Pointing Out the Dharmakaya” composed by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje. Full text here.
3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche (1954-1992)
“The transmission of Mahamudra does not take place through an intellectual understanding of Buddhist literature. Mahamudra is an oral transmission of the meditation instructions that have been handed down through the Lineage from a Lama to his disciples successively and is based on realization of the instructions. A transmission presupposes realization on the part of a Lama, who is able to transmit the blessings of the Lineage, without any mistakes. This is why the Mahamudra Lineage is extremely pure and beneficial – transmission is based on realization. All meditation instructions are profound and are not a mere collection of information.”
From the 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul‘s instructions based on “Pointing Out the Dharmakaya” composed by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje. Full text here.
3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche (1954-1992)
“The physical posture is most important for one’s meditation to go well. There are seven points to take into consideration, called the sevenfold posture of Vairocana. He is the central Buddha in the Mandala of all Buddhas. The seven points of Vairocana are:
This TV interview with H.H. the 16th Karmapa took place in the USA in 1976. The show was called “Vermont Report”, a half-hour Public Television news program from Vermont. In the studio there are other important figures in the Karma Kagyu school such as the 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and Lama Jigme Rinpoche. The footage is from the “extras” disc which features with the documentary film “Recalling a Buddha” (2009) by Greg Eller. The DVD is available to purchase online at http://www.karmapaxvi.com/
The following text is the transcript of an interview with the Third Jamgon Kongtrul in the USA in 1988 which was published in the journal “Material For Thought”, issue number 12.
Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche
Lodro Chokyi Senge, the third Jamgön Kongtrül, was born in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1954, in accord with the predictions of the second Kongtrül Rinpoche. During his childhood he was recognized and enthroned by the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa and later taken to safety to be educated in his monastery in Sikkim. The Karmapa, head of the Kagyü lineage — which follows the traditions of Milarepa — raised him as one of his four “heart sons.” These four individuals direct the study and practice within the 39 centers established throughout the world during the Karmapa’s lifetime.
In continuing the Buddhist tradition, Jamgön Kongtrül, Rinpoche, is currently building two major centers. Rigpe Dorje, a center for study and meditation, is being established at Sarnath, India, where Buddha first taught. Pullahari, located on the southern slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal, will serve as a three-year retreat facility.
Jamgön Kongtrül, Rinpoche, visited Far West Institute in October of 1988, at which time conversations ranged from the difficulties of bringing an ancient tradition to the Western world to the nature of mind and of meditation.
Several members of Far West participated in the following discussion. Replies were given through a translator. (more…)
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