Jax's Dzogchen

[xabir]

so why are ppl accusing Jax of being a crypto-vedantin? i'm sure he would agree with the above.

PS whats with the chat logs? am i missing something?

Awareness is an unchanging metaphysical essence for him - truly existing (even though formless, etc, but truly existing and manifesting as everything).

Rigpa is as Namdrol pointed out, unreal, insubstantial, empty.

...

edit: Anatta deconstructs 'Awareness' into the six constituents or six consciousness. In seeing only the seen, in hearing only the heard, (but no agent, hearer, etc) just the six senses which dependently originates but not subsuming everything to be a monistic substratum or 'The One Awareness' which is Brahman, hence even though anatta is non-dual without subject-object duality, it is not the same as collapsing dualities into a base of Oneness in the case of One Mind. (This, the Zen Priest Alex Weith has described very well in his own experience in http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/ ... sutta.html )

So when we realize anatta, it is like realizing 'there is no The Weather except as a convention for the everchanging phenomenality of clouds forming and parting, rain falling, wind blowing, etc, but no real entity called Weather can be established as truly existing', or 'there is no windness behind the everchanging activities of blowing', 'there is no river-ness behind the everchanging activities of flowing'. Even to say 'the wind is inseparable from blowing' is wrong because there is truly no 'the wind' to be apart or inseparable from flowing. It is just a convention - no real core or substance existing that can be established, but not denying ephemeral appearances. The same applies to 'Awareness'. Luminous clarity/appearances isn't denied, but the view of 'Self', 'Core', 'Substance' is denied.

So to realize anatta is not the same as the One Mind/One Awareness of Jax. So there is no 'The One Awareness or One Mind manifesting as everything'. This is what is meant by "Mind is no mind--the mind's nature is empty of any entity that is mind. Being empty, it is unceasing and unimpeded, manifesting as everything whatsoever." (3rd Karmapa) and "Non-dual anatta (no-self) is the experience of subject/Object as verb, as action. There is no mind (as one unchanging/all-subsuming/monistic/truly-existing entity), only mental activities" (Thusness).

As Namdrol pointed out,

http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/ ... ndent.html

There is no teaching in Buddhism higher than dependent origination. Whatever originates in dependence is empty. The view of Dzogchen, according to ChNN (Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche) in his rdzogs chen skor dri len is the same as Prasanga Madhyamaka, with one difference only - Madhyamaka view is a result of intellectual analysis, Dzogchen view is not. Philosophically, however, they are the same. The view of Madhyamaka does not go beyond the view of dependent origination, since the Madhyamaka view is dependent origination. He also cites Sakya Pandita "If there were something beyond freedom from extremes, that would be an extreme."

Further, there is no rigpa to speak of that exists separate from the earth, water, fire, air, space and consciousness that make up the universe and sentient beings. Rigpa is merely a different way of talking about these six things. In their pure state (their actual state) we talk about the radiance of the five wisdoms of rig pa. In their impure state we talk about how the five elements arise from consciousness. One coin, two sides. And it is completely empty from beginning to end, and top to bottom, free from all extremes and not established in anyway... (etc)

[Pema Rigdzin]

Norbu was my root Guru. I don't agree with all his of priorities. Sorry, that's my free choice.

Was? Considering that root guru in Dzogchen means the person who directly introduced you to your knowledge of the natural state... how could someone be your root guru at one point and then later not? How does that work exactly?

[heart]

Norbu was my root Guru. I don't agree with all his of priorities. Sorry, that's my free choice.

Was?

/magnus

[Pema Rigdzin]

how then I've also found that ... http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18171

Ok, will not go further ...

Sönam

"For those who are following this closely you may have been led down an inescapable path of Direct Introduction. This discussion was not intended to be 'about' a Direct Introduction but to actually be a 'Direct Introduction'. "

Wow.

[Sönam]

I do not like to pillory someone in such a way, feeling sad ... but sometime you must kill the mosquito before it becomes a plague

Sönam

[treehuggingoctopus]

Norbu was my root Guru. I don't agree with all his of priorities. Sorry, that's my free choice.

Was?

/magnus

Also nice, innit?

[heart]

Norbu was my root Guru. I don't agree with all his of priorities. Sorry, that's my free choice.

Was?

/magnus

Also nice, innit?

Actually I am not surprised. Many years ago I discussed the meaning of root Guru with Jax and I remember that he was very critical to all his Guru's , including ChNNR, that he mention in his spiritual CV. For this reason I also checked up his claim that ChNNR have given him the permission teach Dzogchen. Someone else posted ChNNR response email in an other thread so you can read it there.

/magnus

[heart]

Session Start: Wednesday, April 22, 2009

(5:28 PM) AEN: hi
(5:29 PM) AEN: btw i was searching about jax in e-sangha and found they were suggesting that he is not an authorised teacher of dzogchen
Someone asked Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche:

"A person called Jackson Peterson (ejackpete@aol.com), has a group called DzogchenPractice on Yahoo Groups. He claim to have permission from you to teach Semde,is this true?
He also claim to be able to give direct introduction by means of e-mail. For me this seem highly unlikely, could you please comment on this?"

I then received the following answer:

"Dear Magnus,

Thanks for your info. I'll inform him that he is going
wrong direction.

With many Tashu Delegs NN.

I am that someone.

/magnus

[Jax]

Magnus, if you remember Norbu did send an email telling that if people have received transmission that I could share all trekchod and material from his texts. When I told him i was teaching Semde to my on-line groups he said: " just make sure you do it in the right way."

That was in 2009. I no longer ask anyone for permission to share what has now been internalized through my own practice. No one owns Dzogchen, not even Norbu. And I certainly owe no explanations to Dzogchen intellectuals like yourself.

[Stewart]

Jax,

The majority of the people on this forum are interested in practising Dzogchen and Mahamudra etc. in an authentic way, you may call this 'cult like mentality', but I suspect you call it this because if we practice in this way it robs you of your position as a teacher.

I mean seriously Jax, who honestly appointed you as a teacher? If the answer is 'You' and 'Your experience' then this is deeply suspect. Same way if someone told me that they were a authorised heart surgeon I would want more than their word before I let them perform a triple bypass on me.

Please sincerely examine you motivations.

[Jax]

Mr. potato head,

Quoting texts like a parrot without direct experience have caused your feathers to be colored by the extremes of nihilism. That text was designed to smash the conceptual frameworks of the minds efforts at reification. This is the same purpose of the Prajnaparamita Sutras. I will call you by your new name: Mr. Parrot Potato Head.

[Jax]

Dear Sam,

Teaching doesnt require appointment. Who appointed Buddha or Garab Dorje? My point is that thousands of people are waisting their time in following the lineages as taught today. The transformational power of these teachings have produced very, very poor results. How many friends that you know that are engaged in lineage teachings attained realization, releasing them from all personal suffering? For old timers, most of the practitioners are just as f**ked up as ever, in terms of transformational realization. What's wrong with this picture? Bon master Tenzin Wangyal said only 1% of all practitioners will attain realization. With those kinds of numbers I would "fire" the teachers! The technology works. But the most essential isn't being focused on. Poor teaching. We need to really be more attentive to results, not just wishful thinking that because we are on the lineage train, that we will some day arrive. We may arrive, but at what station? I see clearly here that many like Magnus substitute intellectual information for experiential Gnosis. The goal is Gnosis, and makes no difference how ya get there... But get there! You need a teacher who has the experience that you can have daily or almost daily access to until you can practice alone. Today's lineage retreat circuits have become a pointless circus. Young Lamas pretending to "know"... Pretending to teach. Consumer beware! Our time is short... Don't waste it!

[Jax]

Magnus, at least don't lie. You said i was critical of "all my Gurus". Totally not true... I only mentioned one...

[Jax]

Xabir, what you describe is nihilistic regarding Anatta. Many of the Theravada tradtition make the same mistake. They believe nirvana is a type void extinction. But your's and their views are based on intellectual assumptions. In realization of the Dharmakaya, there is a clear sense of Being. As its nature is vividly alert, devoid of any location in space or time, yet all phenomena are it's luminosity, like water and waves, without any separation. This can be accessed in gTumo as the kundalini enters the crown chakra and third eye. All aspects of dualistic mind dissolve and one's true nature is unmistakably known. Yeshe. You need the experience or as some here say " knowledge"... Non-conceptual Gnosis. You realize yourself to be Samantabhadra or the Kunje Gyalpo. You haven't arrived at this yet.

[Anders]

So let me get this straight: Against the advice of your guru, you have appointed yourself to be a dzogchen teacher?

Come on, Jax. The pitfalls of this are obvious. However it may be that 'no one owns dzogchen' surely you can see there are good reasons for maintaining the lineages of transmission. For the sake of the mature student, it ensures they do not fall into the pitfalls of delusion in trying to assess their own progress and capacity and for the sake of new students, it ensures that newcomers are not being misled by self-appointed deluded gurus by way of peer review.

I think it is sad not only that you are so conceited you think you are a better guru for yourself than your actual gurus, but also that your actions set a terrible precedent of the blind leading the blind. If you truly are qualified to teach, it should not be too difficult to receive the proper transmissions from qualified gurus. What you are doing here is imo a recipe for ruining the Buddhadharma.

[Jax]

Anders, it is always better to have a Guru who has greater clarity than oneself. But, all my teachers have passed on. Its time to stand on my own. I have paid my dues and am fully capable of helping others to discover and enter the "non-dual" state or rigpa. The best teacher is direct experience. I do still consider the Menri Lopon as my teacher, and he has accepted so. But I don't ask him permission for what I do or say. I also consider Harada Roshi in Japan as my teacher and visited him a few years ago in Japan. My Chan (Zen) Master, Yen Why Shih in China gave me permission to teach Chan or Zen. My Sufi master in Kashmir gave me permission to teach Sufism as well. What I teach is according to the student. It may be more Mahamudra or more Zen. Or it may be Dzogchen methods. I also teach Kundalini yoga using basic gTumo practice. Everything I teach I did receive full transmissions for from whatever tradition, and I practiced the methods to a stable result. I am not impressed with the way the Buddhadharma is being taught today. I believe the lineage teachings are huge failure. The systems are over-burdened with unnecessary cultural baggage and traditions. The way is very easy and clear. But you won't receive the most direct instructions for what you personally need within the lineages. Its time for a Western or at least generic presentation of these teachings. There is a technology present in these teachings. I don't believe it has to do with all the hocus-pocus of Rites and rituals, although they may create a certain beneficial mood. One needs a teacher until they don't. The real Guru, the only Guru is your own Wisdom Mind. Discover and rely on your own inner Guru and you will never be disappointed.

[gregkavarnos]

Did everybody miss the fact that at the beginning of this thread (and others) Jax started off by quoting Longchenpa about the uselessness, or "lack of need" of pointing out and then he went on to say:

...I had the good fortune in the early 80's of having a lot of contact personally with Norbu at several retreats as I became his private cook. We discussed all the essential "pointing out" and "direct introduction" topics in detail. Rigpa did suddenly present itself from a specific pointing out he did in a private conversation with me... where I couldn't stop laughing for over an hour... it was quite hilarious to realize all the rituals, mantras and practices had nothing to do with Rigpa at all... and that was exactly what he pointed out to me, because I was asking him about specific mantras and practices.

ie he contradicts the main point of his opening statements.

Without that direct contact possible with Norbu, I would seek out Dzogchen teachers who have the time to meet with you one on one. The magic is in the live "exchange".

I have to admit that I am with you on this point!

So the question arises does one need pointing out or direct introduction or not?

And then you contradict yourself by saying it's all in the "live exchange" whereas it is reported that you give pointing out instructions via email.

You say that it was due to CHNN's pointing out that you saw the empty nature of rituals etc... and then you go on to say that CHNN basically doesn't know what he is doing.

Either seek professional help or stop making absolute comments, unless of course you like the taste of your own foot and looking like a fool.

[heart]

Magnus, at least don't lie. You said i was critical of "all my Gurus". Totally not true... I only mentioned one...

I remember that you criticized both Trungpa Rinpoche and ChNNR and made it pretty clear there was no teacher you actually respected that much. My memory is not the best but I certainly don't lie.

/magnus

[Sherlock]

Regarding the 1% of practitioners thing, Namdrol said somewhere that as long as we received the transmission and practise, we don't need to worry about what happens after death. Could someone elaborate on this? Does that mean that even if we don't even gain enlightenment in the bardo we will still be reborn in a nirmanakaya buddha field? What exactly does that mean BTW? It's a "human" rebirth (as compared to a deva or asura realm rebirth even if the inhabitants aren't exactly homo sapiens) in a realm with living Buddhas?

[xabir]

Xabir, what you describe is nihilistic regarding Anatta. Many of the Theravada tradtition make the same mistake. They believe nirvana is a type void extinction. But your's and their views are based on intellectual assumptions. In realization of the Dharmakaya, there is a clear sense of Being. As its nature is vividly alert, devoid of any location in space or time, yet all phenomena are it's luminosity, like water and waves, without any separation. This can be accessed in gTumo as the kundalini enters the crown chakra and third eye. All aspects of dualistic mind dissolve and one's true nature is unmistakably known. Yeshe. You need the experience or as some here say " knowledge"... Non-conceptual Gnosis. You realize yourself to be Samantabhadra or the Kunje Gyalpo. You haven't arrived at this yet.

What you are describing is the realization of One Mind. I have already experienced what you realized in 2010 and went beyond it, which I described in http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/ ... urnal.html , http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/ ... l-non.html and http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/ ... ctice.html

I didn't deny "sense of being" but the reifying of Being or an inherent Self or Source is what is problematic, it is what Buddha calls the thicket of views, and therefore as the old masters say, "keep the experience but refine the view".

P.s. By comparing what I said with "void cessations" or nihilism, you obviously have no inkling what I'm talking about. Eternalism pertains to a self that is unchanging, nihilism pertains to a self that ends. Both cases don't apply when no self can be established within or apart from the five aggregates which the Buddha clearly said.

The nirvana of Theravada is not void cessation though some (especially those following burma meditation) have mistaken it to be so. The nirvana of Theravada/pali suttas is the end of craving, aversion and ignorance. More info in http://sgforums.com/forums/1728/topics/447451