The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa: Volume 4 by Chögyam Trungpa Page B
Authors: Chögyam Trungpa
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we are pushed, and we begin to give in and then slowly we get into the system, or whether we are pushed and we reject the system completely, that is an expression of independence in our personal mental functioning. Any move we make to join a society, organization, or church is based on our own personal experience rather than just tradition or history. On the other hand, breaking away from anything that we feel entraps us is also based on personal experience. Therefore, the commitments and choices that we make are called sacred word, or sacred bondage—which are saying the same thing. Samaya can be interpreted as sacred bondage, although literally it means sacred word, because we are bound by certain norms, certain processes that organize our experience. When we accept those boundaries as our own, that is the sacred bondage of samaya.
In the tantric practice of visualization, we visualize what is known as the samayasattva. Sattva literally means “being,” “individual,” or “person.” Samaya, as we discussed, means acknowledging connections and being willing to bow down to the experience of life. Sattva is the being who experiences the situation of samaya. So in visualizing the samayasattva we are acknowledging our experience of life and our willingness to commit ourselves to it. We acknowledge that we are willing to enter fully into life.
Visualization is a central practice of tantra. It not only encompasses visual perception, but it is also a way of relating with all sense perceptions—visual, auditory, tactile, mental—with the entire range of sensory experience, all at the same time. As well, it should be obvious from our discussion of samaya that visualization is a way of relating to our state of mind and a way of working with our experience.
In order to begin the tantric practice of visualization, we must have gone through the disciplines of hinayana and mahayana already, and we must have done preliminary vajrayana practices as well. Then when we receive abhisheka, we are given a deity to visualize, a samayasattva connected with our own makeup, our basic being. Whether we are an intellectual person, or an aggressive person, or a passionate person, or whatever we are, in accordance with our particular qualities, a certain deity is given to us by our vajra master, who knows us personally and is familiar with our particular style. The deity that we visualize or identify with is part of our makeup. We may be outrageously aggressive, outrageously passionate, outrageously proud, outrageously ignorant, or outrageously lustful—whatever our basic makeup may be, that complex of emotions is connected with enlightenment. None of those qualities or emotional styles are regarded as obstacles. They are related with our personal experience of a sense of being, a sense of existence. If we must exist in lust, let us abide in our lust; if we must exist in anger, let us abide in our anger. Let us live in our anger. Let us do it. Let us be that way.
Therefore, we visualize a deity that is connected with our own particular qualities and our commitment to ourselves and to our experience. Having visualized that deity, called the samayasattva of our basic being, then we invite what is known as the jnanasattva. The jnanasattva is another being or level of experience that we are inviting into our system; however, it is nothing particularly extraordinary or fantastic. Jnana is a state of wakefulness or openness, whereas samaya is an experience of bondage, or being solidly grounded in our experience. The samayasattva is basically at the level of body and speech, whereas the jnanasattva is an awakening quality that comes from beyond that level. Jnanasattva is the quality of openness or a sense of cosmic principle. At the same time, jnana is a fundamentally cynical attitude toward life, which is also a humorous attitude.
In this case humor does not mean being nasty or making fun of people. Instead it is constantly being fascinated and
In the tantric practice of visualization, we visualize what is known as the samayasattva. Sattva literally means “being,” “individual,” or “person.” Samaya, as we discussed, means acknowledging connections and being willing to bow down to the experience of life. Sattva is the being who experiences the situation of samaya. So in visualizing the samayasattva we are acknowledging our experience of life and our willingness to commit ourselves to it. We acknowledge that we are willing to enter fully into life.
Visualization is a central practice of tantra. It not only encompasses visual perception, but it is also a way of relating with all sense perceptions—visual, auditory, tactile, mental—with the entire range of sensory experience, all at the same time. As well, it should be obvious from our discussion of samaya that visualization is a way of relating to our state of mind and a way of working with our experience.
In order to begin the tantric practice of visualization, we must have gone through the disciplines of hinayana and mahayana already, and we must have done preliminary vajrayana practices as well. Then when we receive abhisheka, we are given a deity to visualize, a samayasattva connected with our own makeup, our basic being. Whether we are an intellectual person, or an aggressive person, or a passionate person, or whatever we are, in accordance with our particular qualities, a certain deity is given to us by our vajra master, who knows us personally and is familiar with our particular style. The deity that we visualize or identify with is part of our makeup. We may be outrageously aggressive, outrageously passionate, outrageously proud, outrageously ignorant, or outrageously lustful—whatever our basic makeup may be, that complex of emotions is connected with enlightenment. None of those qualities or emotional styles are regarded as obstacles. They are related with our personal experience of a sense of being, a sense of existence. If we must exist in lust, let us abide in our lust; if we must exist in anger, let us abide in our anger. Let us live in our anger. Let us do it. Let us be that way.
Therefore, we visualize a deity that is connected with our own particular qualities and our commitment to ourselves and to our experience. Having visualized that deity, called the samayasattva of our basic being, then we invite what is known as the jnanasattva. The jnanasattva is another being or level of experience that we are inviting into our system; however, it is nothing particularly extraordinary or fantastic. Jnana is a state of wakefulness or openness, whereas samaya is an experience of bondage, or being solidly grounded in our experience. The samayasattva is basically at the level of body and speech, whereas the jnanasattva is an awakening quality that comes from beyond that level. Jnanasattva is the quality of openness or a sense of cosmic principle. At the same time, jnana is a fundamentally cynical attitude toward life, which is also a humorous attitude.
In this case humor does not mean being nasty or making fun of people. Instead it is constantly being fascinated and
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