Reflections on Dhamma Talk given By Tenzin Palmo

As a homeowork for a project I am currently on, I was told to write a reflection on a Dharma talk and here it is:


Reflections on Dhamma Talk given By Tenzin Palmo on
Wisdom of Emptiness-Mother of All Buddhas
Broadcast Live at Women at Wisdom Lectures, San Francisco, CASeptember 5, 2002
Downloadable from: http://www.lamrim.com/tenzinpalmo/

In this reflection, I written my thoughts generated when I heard Tenzin Palmo’s lecture online. As I have also been reading many books by Zen Master Seung Sahn, and Tenzin Palmo’s Cave in the Snow, I would often make references to these books but I would have to say that what is written here are purely my thoughts and may or may not represent the correct view of Buddhism. If you find any mistakes along the way, please do tell me.

The lecture started with someone giving an introduction of Tenzin Palmo.

“My life is in the hands of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. Literally, I have handed it over. Whatever you would have me do to benefit all beings, let me do it”

And that was what Tenzin Palmo said. What a great Mahayana spirit!!! It is the hallmark of a true Bodhisattva. Sadhu! Rejoice! I bow three times in awe and respect.

As a nun, Tenzin Palmo has always owned nothing but the bare essentials to survive, living on the generosity of others. And she seems carefree, unlike us who have all the material comforts but still have so many worries. I remember once reading somewhere where Zen Master Seung Sahn said that monks have nothing to worry about as they have 4 million dollars already. All the temples in the world are their homes, so they have one million. Next, monks always receive clothes from their students so that is two million. Other than that, food and medicine is also always provided for by other people so they have already four million and are millionaires. This spirit is shown clearly by the actions and speech of Tenzin Palmo.

When Tenzin Palmo finally came on stage to talk, she very humbly said that all she can personally say about wisdom would perhaps only take 10 seconds. Which, sounds true, because what is there to talk about emptiness when it is empty. Furthermore, if one truly experiences emptiness, one understands it in less than a split second. If not 84000 hours are also insufficient. Another thing that I should mention here is that Tenzin Palmo never prepares for her lectures and they are totally spontaneous. That mentioned, she first started out with saying that wisdom is traditionally regarded as a female quality as it gives birth to enlightenment, but emphasizing that in reality wisdom is neither male nor female.

She mentioned of one interesting occasion when Thubten Rinpoche asked her if a table is empty by its nature or not, and if the mind was empty by its nature and asked which of the two was easier to perceive as empty. To which she answered yes to the first 2 questions and the mind to the second question. The Rinpoche then answered that she belonged on their side which is the Kagyu Sect of Tibetan Buddhism which is more meditative as opposed to the Gelug side which is more intellectual.

In the lecture, she defined emptiness as a lack of inherent nature by itself. This is because any object is the coming together of different parts. She then gives the example of a watch, which is a composite of the gears and hour hands and minute hands and we label it as a watch. She then goes on to demonstrate the lack of inherent nature of the watch by asking where the “watchness” of the watch is. To this, I find it rather strange. A watch is a watch. Yes, it is the coming together of a few dependent substances. But then, the coming together of the things creates a new thing which we call a watch. So what does she mean by the “watchnees” of the watch? It is called a watch because it serves a new function which is to tell time and the word watch is the name we use to call this watch, it is how we refer to it and it is how our human cognition recognizes things and function in this world. If we do not give names to form then how do we “make sense” of this world?

Next, she goes on to quote that famous phrase from the heart sutra, “Emptiness is Form and Form is Emptiness” which then reminds me of what Zen Master Seung Sahn used to say where at first in the heart sutra, it says the above phrase. Then it goes on to mention of non arising, non perishing, not dirty, not clean, and so on not not not. And this is actually a process of the development of a person’s mind where he goes to recognize Emptiness is Form and Form is Emptiness which he calls Theoretical Zen and then no form, no emptiness which he calls Tathagatha Zen and then Form is form and emptiness is emptiness which he calls Patriarchal Zen. At this state, one lives and perceives things just as it is, just as they are. I remember Tenzin Palmo giving an in depth explanation but it was all too difficult for me to comprehend and remember. I guess if one does not have the true experience of having seen such emptiness and practice to a high enough level, one would not understand. All understanding would only be conceptual if one does not have a true experience of it. As Venerable Cittara says, it is even worse if we have already such a conceptual knowledge and start to chase after it. Like that, we would never accomplish anything in meditation. We should always throw away all views and try it ourselves. Sometimes, we may even have built such a good mental image of the thing that we think we have achieved something but truly we are just super deluded.

I remember Tenzin Palmo once mentioned in her book that throughout her meditation, if you ask her what she has realized and she would just tell you the most mundane of truths! It is just that the level of realization and seeing these truths is different. And the seeing of this truth as it is, is really useful to them. I mean it helps them face the world and its problems, helps in their daily lives, unlike us. Like how is knowing that all phenomena has no intrinsic nature been useful to you at work or in school? Honestly think about it! If you cannot come out with an answer, then okay, we are still not there yet. The masters also say that if you have attained something from Buddhism then you have really not attained anything. So what is there to attain when enlightenment was already there in the first place? Did the Buddha teach anything? No he did not! But thinking that Buddha Nature is permanent and has also always been there is missing the point and being fixed and attached to words, names and forms. One must tread the thin line carefully, the line of the middle path.

Next, I remember her saying she was talking to a person and she told the person, “I am I and you are you!” To which, the person replied, “No! I am I and you are you!” This, I thought was so very true! Everyone views this world through the lenses or the filter of I and my views. That is how the human functions. However, she mentions here that when you talk about I, where is the I? If you examine your I, and try to find a solid tangible I, you cannot find it! Your hand, is it yours? No! After you die, it goes. Your thoughts, is it the you? If yes, is this I permanent? No! Your views change from time to time, as new experience comes in. So there is no permanent I which is present. The I just changes so very often. It is only a coming together of various factors like ones body, five senses and mind and other stuff.

Through her meditation, she is able to talk of her meditative experience. She speaks of it like watching a movie. She says that in our mind, there are just streams of thoughts going on and on like the show running in a movie. However, as you continue to observe your mind, you would find gaps between the thoughts where there is true awareness. Of course, when you first start meditating, there are no gaps between the thoughts and it is like a waterfall but as you progress, supposedly as it is said in the books, ones mind becomes calm. It is like a muddy pool of water where at first it is muddy and meditation helps to settle the mud, making the mind clear. She compares the mind to the sky where the thoughts are the clouds and the true awareness is behind the clouds. She says, when we are aware of something, there is still subject and object. However, Buddhism talks about non-dualism. One should enter the realm of the true nature of the mind and all dualism would dissolve. The true nature of the mind is the clear vast sky. Because the sky is vast and spacious, it is called empty. If you want to hold the sky, is it possible?? No! It has no solid identity. It is empty.

She says when there is this clarity; one sees the confusion of the state we dwell in. A Zen Master once said that his mind is like a clear mirror which reflects exactly what he sees. When one’s eyes are open, one sees all as Buddhas. If not, we would have a differentiating heart, differentiating all into good and bad, drawing those which are pleasant and rejecting those which are not and this causes suffering. It is like a filter. If you put in a filter, it traps stuff and then eventually it will clog up and get stuck. If you take the filter as a self with many views, then when the filter gets stuck and the water cannot pass through, then there is suffering, worries, pain, depression, all kinds of things. If there is no I, no so many views, no mental formations that trap stuff, then this suffering disappears. Where is everything? No! There is nothing. But to say there is nothing is wrong. To say that it is impermanent is wrong; to say that it is permanent is wrong. So what?

She says that at this state, she sees all beings suffering so much through their clinging mind. That is when compassion is generated in one’s heart, to help these people.

She says that meditation actually brings us back to the place which we started from, which we never actually left. We just have to slowly recognize this place. It is like an eye which always sees outside. It does not see itself. When meditating and looking into our mind, we see thoughts and feelings, but cannot see the clear luminous awareness behind this. They say God is within thyself. Can they actually mean this?? Without the sky, can the clouds exist?

Next, she extols us to use our lives to discover our innate wisdom and compassion. Use our relationship at the workplace, our social life, turn our everyday life into practice. A Zen Master once said, there is no good situation or bad situation. Every situation as long as you treat it as a practice and help people with it then it is a correct situation. This is Buddhism as its best. All time is practice. There is no time which is out of Buddhism.

She then goes on quote from Christianity saying, “God is within you! Whatever you think about God, it is not that. God is just another label but the realization is beyond words and concepts.” This always makes me wonder about the ultimate aim about Christianity and Buddhism. Are they both methods to the same goal? It sure seems like it to me and I think she thinks so too. Her last words before the end of the lecture were to ask us to do something useful to benefit others and this whole planet.

Next was the question and answer part. Here, someone asked her if she has ever wondered why she follows so closely to such a lineage as hers since all of them lead to the same goal. To that she answered, “In order to get to the top of a mountain, you have to follow a path, if not you will not reach anywhere.” How very true. That is how I see it too and why I started to practice in my tradition. Not recognizing the good conditions that one is presented with and always looking around, one can never reach anywhere. The only way is to start walking and stepping on the path. One may like to go around and explore different paths but if one keeps changing paths, one may never get to the top. So the surest way is to doggedly follow a path. And about a master, she says that there are things that we need that we would have never chosen to do by ourselves, so we need someone who sees us clearly and can guide us on the path and one who will give us what is important which we may just miss out unknowingly ourselves.

Next someone asked it was a challenge to bring a sense of inner balance to our daily lives after living in a cave and going back into society with all its distractions. My thoughts then drifted to something I read of not being attached to a quiet and simple life and at the same time not attached to a noisy and emotional high life. In all situations, the mind must always remain centered. The Buddha was comfortable when treated as a royalty when he gave talks in palaces and also just as comfortable in the forests. Next, she went on to elucidate on how it is a challenge to maintain the quality of awareness in our daily lives. We should thus use this as an opportunity to practice patience. Where else is a better place to practice? It is here where there are people pushing you and people irritating you that you can practice detachment, patience and tolerance. She said that it is to bring our mind back to the present. Start small and we can do it if we really want to. I always remember this story which has always inspired me. Everyday, a boy puts some sand in the middle of the train track. At first, it offers no resistance to the coming train, then after sometime, it offers a little resistance to the train, but the train still manages to push through it. Then as times goes by, one day, it will become a mountain and stop the train in its tracks. That is how our effort should be like.

Last of all, I remember that someone asked if peaceful demonstrations are all right and in line with Buddhism. To this she answered that if the demonstration is rooted in anger and irritation then it is bad. If it is rooted in compassion then it is good. She says it is easy for negative forces to take over. And that in peace movement if one has the heart that one is righteous and it is this righteous heart of one against others then the intention is wrong and is born of attachment to self which will eventually cause suffering but if it is from true unconditioned love and compassion then, only true compassion is projected out which is good and I personally feel would bring good results.

The lecture ended there. Hopefully this reflection has served its purpose well and may all be well and happy. As Zen Master Seung Sahn would end his letters, May you attain enlightenment soon and save all beings. May all be well and happy.