The Identity of Relative and Absolute

The mind of the Great Sage of India
was intimately conveyed from West to East.
Among human beings are wise ones and fools
But in the Way there is no northern and Southern Ancestor.

The subtle source is clear and bright;
the tributary streams flow through the darkness.
To be attached to things is illusion;
to encounter the absolute is not yet enlightenment.

Each and all the subjective and objective spheres are related,
and at the same time independent.
Related and yet working differently.
Though each keeps its own place,
form makes the character and appearance different.

Sounds distinguish comfort and discomfort.
The dark makes all words one;
the brightness distinguishes good and bad phrases.

The four elements return to their own nature
as a child to its mother.
Fire is hot, wind moves, water is wet, earth hard.
Eyes see, ears hear, nose smells, tongue tastes the salt and sour.
Each is independent of the other.

Cause and effect must return to the great reality.
The words high and low are used relatively.

Within light there is darkness,
but do not try to understand that darkness.
Within darkness there is light,
but do not look for that light.

Light and darkness are a pair
like the oot before and the foot behind in walking.
Each thing has its own intrinsic value
and is related to everything else in function and position.

Ordinary life fits the absolute as a box and its lid.
The absolute works together with the relative
like two arrows meeting in mid air.

Reading words you should grasp the great reality.
Do not judge
by any standards.

If you do not see the Way,
You do not see it even as
you walk on it.

When you walk the Way
it is not near, it is not far.,

If you are deluded,
you are mountains and rivers away from it.

I respectfully say to those who wish to be enlightened
Do not waste your time by night or day

from HARDCORE ZEN

Letting Go

We met sogiel Rinpoche in Sikkim, when we travel led over India during the whole year of 2005.

He is a good and happy man, a little too “kingly” in his demeanor but assuming he is enlightened I assume that he does this as part of his game

Here is a little gem of understanding regarding letting go. . , .

Let’s try an experiment. Pick up a coin. Imagine that it represents the object which you are grasping. Hold it tightly, clutched in your fist and extend your arm, with the palm of your hand facing the ground. Now if you let go or relax your grip, you will lose what you are clinging onto. That’s why you hold on.

But there’s another possibility. You can let go and yet keep hold of it. With your arm still outstretched, turn your hand over so that it faces the sky. Release your hand and the coin still rests on your open palm. You let go. And the coin is still yours, even with all this space around it.

So there is a way in which we can accept impermanence and still relish life, at one and the same time, without grasping.

— Sogyal Rinpoche