Part 1 - The natural state

Though all the dharmas of the phenomenal world
That is comprised by both samsara and nirvana
Are primal simplicity that is without a self,
By fixation and ignorance, we wander here in samsara.
Though the joys and sorrows of samsara and nirvana
Do indeed appear, from the very time they appear,

They are within the emptiness that is their nature.
We should know them to be like dreams and like illusions.

Though all dharmas are empty and without a self, by not knowing this, by grasping me and mine, there are the dreamlike confusions of samsara. Though individual joys and sorrows may be experienced, they should be known to be without any true nature. The Wondrously Arisen King says:

The primordial universal Buddhadharma,
Is without a beginning, middle, or end.
Not knowing this nature that is like the sky,
Fools are whirled about within samsara.

Yet with neither bondage nor liberation,
Its nature is like the nature of illusion.

The Secret Essence says:

By discursive thoughts and conceptions that are fixators of self
Space has been tied in knots in a most persistent way;
Without any bondage and without any liberation,
The Buddhadharma is self-perfection from the start.
However, in order to teach it, we make up complexities.

By grasping what is selfless as a self there is confusion. The Noble Clouds of the Three Jewels (‘phags pa dkon mchog sprin) says:

These skandhas are indeed selfless, but foolish ordinary individuals, attached to grasping them as self, are attached to the notion, “In my skandhas, a self exists.” Therefore, they do not enter into suchness. Since they do not enter into suchness, like the circle of a whirling torch, they wander among the cycles of samsara.

These various confused appearances are established through attachment to habitual patterns of mind. The Lotus Display Sutra (padma rnam par rol pa’i mdo) says:

The son of the gods, Lotus Display, spoke to Mañjushri saying. “Mañjushri, were these external objects made by a creator, or how should they be viewed?”

Mañjushri said, “Son of the gods, these external objects were not made by a creator. They are appearances of mind or habitual patterns of thought.”

The son of the gods asked, “However habitual patterns may have matured, how can these mountains, oceans, the sun and moon, and so on appear to be so hard and solid?”

Mañjushri said, “Son of the gods, they can so appear. In the great city of Vārānasī, a bhramin named Agnidatta meditated on his body as that of a tiger. The people of the city saw him as a tiger and fled. The city was emptied. By meditating on exhaustion as earth and water, it appears as earth and water. When the monks of yogachara meditate on filth and bones as their former perceptions, they so appear. By unobstructed maturation of habitual patterns, why should all this not appear?”

The son of the gods asked, “By the power of maturation of habitual patterns, why have various selves appeared?”

Mañjushri said, “All appearances are uncertain. Some are brilliant. Some are dark. Thus, as for what is only earth, earth is perceived as earth. Earth is also perceived as fire. Earth is also perceived as enjoyment. Earth is also perceived as suffering.

Fire is perceived as fire. Fire is also perceived as enjoyment. Fire is also perceived as place. Fire is also perceived as food.

Water is perceived as water. Water is also perceived as fire. Water is also perceived as earth. Water is also perceived as amrita. Water is also perceived as place.

Space is perceived as space. Space is also perceived as place. Space is also perceived as earth. These perceptions are uncertain. It is by the power of habitual patterns that things appear as they do.

Not certainly fixed as any one thing, like a dream, things are natureless. For example, one man may appear in many roles as a friend, an enemy, a monk, a bhramin, and all kinds of other people with which his appearance is not contradictory. The various appearances of dharmas should be known to be essentially without dualistic natures.

The Dohakosha says:

Just as, when blown by wind, unmoving water
Is agitated into patterns of waves,
So appearances of Saraha to the king,
Though he is one, a variety is produced.

Just as for stupid people, wrongly looking,
One lamp has the appearance of being two,
Thus for viewed and viewer that are not two,
Kye ma! in mind dualistic things appear.

Because of wind, the unity of water appears as many waves. One lamp, by pressing the eyes, appears as two. One Saraha is seen as both good and evil. All dharmas, in reality non-dual,^[1] but dualistically grasped, are like these examples. Therefore, all dualistic dharmas are appearances of what does not exist, like a dream. They should be known to be non-dual.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

With mind.