Introduction to Tantra: The Transformation of Desire by Lama Thubten Yeshe, Philip Glass
Authors: Lama Thubten Yeshe, Philip Glass
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being—the great peace, the great satisfaction.
CLARI TY, COLOR, AND BLI SS
Tantra contains powerful methods for awakening the very subtlest level of mind and for directing this blissful, subtle, clear-light consciousness toward the spacious and penetrating vision of nonduality. Yet even before we become highly skilled practitioners of tantra we can make contact with our mind’s natural state of clarity and taste the freedom of the nonduality experience. An easy technique to use in times of confusion is simply to look up into the blue sky. Without focusing on any object, merely gaze out into space with intensive awareness and let go of all ideas about yourself. You are there, the blue infinity of space is there, and nothing else appears. As we fill our consciousness with this experience of the clarity of space, we will naturally come to contemplate the clarity of our mind.
As human beings, as soon as we visualize expansive blue light in this way our concrete conceptualizations begin to break down somehow. That is one reason why in tantric art blue is often used to symbolize nonduality, the state wherein the ordinary dualistic concepts of this and that no longer appear and are no longer held onto as real. Many people feel this freedom from conceptuality when gazing out at the vast expanse of the blue sky or the blue ocean. I am not talking about some complex philosophical notion or about something you have to accept on faith because a lama has told you it is true; I am merely relating an actual experience that many people have had and that you may have had as well.
From the tantric point of view, whenever we open our mind and senses to the objective world, our perception is always related to a particular color. And each color that we perceive—blue, red, green, and so on—is directly related to what is happening in our internal world. That is why in the practice of tantra, with its visualization of deities and so forth, color and light play such an important part.
To give an idea of what I mean, let us consider the color blue again. As I said, the particular inner quality of radiant blue light is freedom from fantasy projections. If these projections are very strong—when, for example, we are so caught up in ourselves that we cannot break out of depression—then even on a perfectly clear day we are unable to see the blueness of the sky. All we see is greyness. This definitely happens and, along with the experience of seeing red when angry or being green with jealousy, shows the close relationship between color and states of mind.
To return to what we were discussing, we can achieve temporary freedom from conceptuality by gazing at the rays of the early morning sun or at a calm lake. We merely watch without any discrimination of this and that and at a certain point our mind will experience nothing but its own clarity. Taking such opportunities to experience clarity outwardly and then integrate it inwardly with our consciousness is a powerful and direct way of cutting through the confusion crowding our mind and of experiencing peace.
In addition to peace, whenever we contemplate the clarity of our consciousness we automatically experience a feeling of bliss as well. Normally, our dualistic mind with its confusing chatter and constant judgments about this and that tires us out. Thus it is a welcome relief when these conflicting thoughts and emotions subside and eventually disappear. The resulting clarity is experienced as peaceful, joyful, and extremely pleasurable. Unlike ordinary sensory pleasures, however, the bliss that comes from such an experience brings real satisfaction. Instead of agitating our mind the way sensory pleasures ordinarily do, this bliss actually increases the strength and sharpness of our concentration.
BLI SSFUL ABSORP TI ON I NTO REALI TY
Anyone who has ever tried to meditate knows that one of the biggest hindrances to concentration is the wandering
CLARI TY, COLOR, AND BLI SS
Tantra contains powerful methods for awakening the very subtlest level of mind and for directing this blissful, subtle, clear-light consciousness toward the spacious and penetrating vision of nonduality. Yet even before we become highly skilled practitioners of tantra we can make contact with our mind’s natural state of clarity and taste the freedom of the nonduality experience. An easy technique to use in times of confusion is simply to look up into the blue sky. Without focusing on any object, merely gaze out into space with intensive awareness and let go of all ideas about yourself. You are there, the blue infinity of space is there, and nothing else appears. As we fill our consciousness with this experience of the clarity of space, we will naturally come to contemplate the clarity of our mind.
As human beings, as soon as we visualize expansive blue light in this way our concrete conceptualizations begin to break down somehow. That is one reason why in tantric art blue is often used to symbolize nonduality, the state wherein the ordinary dualistic concepts of this and that no longer appear and are no longer held onto as real. Many people feel this freedom from conceptuality when gazing out at the vast expanse of the blue sky or the blue ocean. I am not talking about some complex philosophical notion or about something you have to accept on faith because a lama has told you it is true; I am merely relating an actual experience that many people have had and that you may have had as well.
From the tantric point of view, whenever we open our mind and senses to the objective world, our perception is always related to a particular color. And each color that we perceive—blue, red, green, and so on—is directly related to what is happening in our internal world. That is why in the practice of tantra, with its visualization of deities and so forth, color and light play such an important part.
To give an idea of what I mean, let us consider the color blue again. As I said, the particular inner quality of radiant blue light is freedom from fantasy projections. If these projections are very strong—when, for example, we are so caught up in ourselves that we cannot break out of depression—then even on a perfectly clear day we are unable to see the blueness of the sky. All we see is greyness. This definitely happens and, along with the experience of seeing red when angry or being green with jealousy, shows the close relationship between color and states of mind.
To return to what we were discussing, we can achieve temporary freedom from conceptuality by gazing at the rays of the early morning sun or at a calm lake. We merely watch without any discrimination of this and that and at a certain point our mind will experience nothing but its own clarity. Taking such opportunities to experience clarity outwardly and then integrate it inwardly with our consciousness is a powerful and direct way of cutting through the confusion crowding our mind and of experiencing peace.
In addition to peace, whenever we contemplate the clarity of our consciousness we automatically experience a feeling of bliss as well. Normally, our dualistic mind with its confusing chatter and constant judgments about this and that tires us out. Thus it is a welcome relief when these conflicting thoughts and emotions subside and eventually disappear. The resulting clarity is experienced as peaceful, joyful, and extremely pleasurable. Unlike ordinary sensory pleasures, however, the bliss that comes from such an experience brings real satisfaction. Instead of agitating our mind the way sensory pleasures ordinarily do, this bliss actually increases the strength and sharpness of our concentration.
BLI SSFUL ABSORP TI ON I NTO REALI TY
Anyone who has ever tried to meditate knows that one of the biggest hindrances to concentration is the wandering
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