Great Unraveling - Blue Cliff Records Quotes

Siddharameshwar Maharaj to Nisargadatta Maharaj: “You are not who you take yourself to be.”

Nisargadatta Maharaj: (paraphrased) “…
It is the consciousness prior to the eyelids which “sees…”
…all experiences will lead you to is more experiences…expect nothing from experiences…”
if you can forget it or remember it it is not you, therefore discard it.”
If someone says something mean to you in a foreign language are you offended?

Ramana Maharishi: “Go back the way you came.”
Prakashananda Baba: “If I tell you my experience I will think I had it…spiritual experiences are just ego…”
“You don’t want libeation, if you have liberation you won’t be there to appreciate it.”

Enquiry Koan:
What is the state of enlightenment made of?
What is the house you dreamed of made of?
Is there Zen prior to the word Zen?
Is there Zen prior to the word Zen?
Is there Zen practice prior to perception?
Without perception, is there a mind with sky, birds and Buddha?
Is there oneness without thought?
Is there oneness without words and meanings?
Is there oneness without perception?

A monk asked Ummon, “What is it when no thought is stirring and nothing presents itself?”
Ummon replied, “No preaching on oneness.”

Zen Saying:
 The Great Way is easy for those with no preferences.
 By looking to it you are looking away from it.
 By looking for it you look away from it.
 Snowflakes never fall in the wrong place.
 A monkey grabs at the reflection of the moon.
 The Absolute is closer then your breath
 Nesting in enlightenment is called the stagnant waters of transcendence

Nagarjuna: “There are no similarities, there are no differences Unperceived
Nagarjuna: “There is no duality, there is no unity, (non-duality)”

Buddha Diamond Sutra: “We refer to it as a world, but there is no world.”
Buddha Diamond Sutra: “…We refer to it as a being, but there is no being“.…No being has ever entered Nrvana…”
Buddha Diamond Sutra: “Give up all perceptions of objects.”

Tilopa's Mahamudra Instruction to Naropa in Twenty Eight Verses
	Homage to the Eighty Four Mahasiddhas! Homage to Mahamudra! Homage to the Vajra Dakini! Mahamudra cannot be taught. But most intelligent Naropa, Since you have undergone rigorous austerity, With forbearance in suffering and with devotion to your Guru, Blessed One, take this secret instruction to heart. Is space anywhere supported? Upon what does it rest? Like space, Mahamudra is dependant upon nothing; Relax and settle in the continuum of unalloyed purity, And, your bonds loosening, release is certain. Gazing intently into the empty sky, vision ceases; Likewise, when mind gazes into mind itself, The train of discursive and conceptual thought ends And supreme enlightenment is gained. Like the morning mist that dissolves into thin air, Going nowhere but ceasing to be, Waves of conceptualization, all the mind's creation, dissolve, When you behold your mind's true nature. Pure space has neither colour nor shape And it cannot be stained either black or white; So also, mind's essence is beyond both colour and shape And it cannot be sullied by black or white deeds. The darkness of a thousand aeons is powerless To dim the crystal clarity of the sun's heart; And likewise, aeons of samsara have no power To veil the clear light of the mind's essence. Although space has been designated "empty", In reality it is inexpressible; Although the nature of mind is called "clear light", Its every ascription is baseless verbal fiction. The mind's original nature is like space; It pervades and embraces all things under the sun. Be still and stay relaxed in genuine ease, Be quiet and let sound reverberate as an echo, Keep your mind silent and watch the ending of all worlds. The body is essentially empty like the stem of a reed, And the mind, like pure space, utterly transcends     the world of thought: Relax into your intrinsic nature with neither abandon nor control - Mind with no objective is Mahamudra - And, with practice perfected, supreme enlightenment is gained. The clear light of Mahamudra cannot be revealed By the canonical scriptures or metaphysical treatises Of the Mantravada, the Paramitas or the Tripitaka; The clear light is veiled by concepts and ideals. By harbouring rigid precepts the true samaya is impaired, But with cessation of mental activity all fixed notions subside; When the swell of the ocean is at one with its peaceful depths, When mind never strays from indeterminate, non-conceptual truth, The unbroken samaya is a lamp lit in spiritual darkness. Free of intellectual conceits, disavowing dogmatic principles, The truth of every school and scripture is revealed. Absorbed in Mahamudra, you are free from the prison of samsara; Poised in Mahamudra, guilt and negativity are consumed; And as master of Mahamudra you are the light of the Doctrine. The fool in his ignorance, disdaining Mahamudra, Knows nothing but struggle in the flood of samsara. Have compassion for those who suffer constant anxiety! Sick of unrelenting pain and desiring release, adhere to a master, For when his blessing touches your heart, the mind is liberated. KYE HO! Listen with joy! Investment in samsara is futile; it is the cause of every anxiety. Since worldly involvement is pointless, seek the heart of reality! In the transcending of mind's dualities is Supreme vision; In a still and silent mind is Supreme Meditation; In spontaneity is Supreme Activity; And when all hopes and fears have died, the Goal is reached. Beyond all mental images the mind is naturally clear: Follow no path to follow the path of the Buddhas; Employ no technique to gain supreme enlightenment. KYE MA! Listen with sympathy! With insight into your sorry worldly predicament, Realising that nothing can last, that all is as dreamlike illusion, Meaningless illusion provoking frustration and boredom, Turn around and abandon your mundane pursuits. Cut away involvement with your homeland and friends And meditate alone in a forest or mountain retreat; Exist there in a state of non-meditation And attaining no-attainment, you attain Mahamudra. A tree spreads its branches and puts forth leaves, But when its root is cut its foliage withers; So too, when the root of the mind is severed, The branches of the tree of samsara die A single lamp dispels the darkness of a thousand aeons; Likewise, a single flash of the mind's clear light Erases aeons of karmic conditioning and spiritual blindness. KYE HO! Listen with joy! The truth beyond mind cannot be grasped by any faculty of mind; The meaning of non-action cannot be understood in compulsive activity; To realise the meaning of non-action and beyond mind, Cut the mind at its root and rest in naked awareness. Allow the muddy waters of mental activity to clear; Refrain from both positive and negative projection - leave appearances alone: The phenomenal world, without addition or subtraction, is Mahamudra. The unborn omnipresent base dissolves your impulsions and delusions: Do not be conceited or calculating but rest in the unborn essence And let all conceptions of yourself and the universe melt away. The highest vision opens every gate; The highest meditation plumbs the infinite depths; The highest activity is ungoverned yet decisive; And the highest goal is ordinary being devoid of hope and fear. At first your karma is like a river falling through a gorge; In mid-course it flows like a gently meandering River Ganga; And finally, as a river becomes one with the ocean, It ends in consummation like the meeting of mother and son. If the mind is dull and you are unable to practice these instructions, Retaining essential breath and expelling the sap of awareness, Practising fixed gazes - methods of focussing the mind, Discipline yourself until the state of total awareness abides. When serving a karmamudra, the pure awareness of bliss and emptiness will arise: Composed in a blessed union of insight and means, Slowly send down, retain and draw back up the bodhichitta, And conducting it to the source, saturate the entire body. But only if lust and attachment are absent will that awareness arise. Then gaining long-life and eternal youth, waxing like the moon, Radiant and clear, with the strength of a lion, You will quickly gain mundane power and supreme enlightenment. May this pith instruction in Mahamudra Remain in the hearts of fortunate beings.
ColophonTilopa's  Mahamudra Instruction to Naropa in twenty Eight Verses was transmitted by the Great Guru and Mahasiddha Tilopa to the Kashmiri Pandit, Sage and Siddha, Naropa, near the banks of the River Ganga upon the completion of his Twelve Austerities. Naropa transmitted the teaching in Sanskrit in the form of twenty eight verses to the great Tibetan translator Mar pa Chos kyi blos gros, who made a free translation of it at his village of Pulahari on the Tibet - Bhutan border. This text is contained in the collection of Mahamudra instruction called the Do ha mdzod brgyad ces bya ba Phyag rgya chen po'i man ngag gsal bar ston pa'i gzhung, which is printed at the Gyalwa Karmapa's monastery at Rumtek, Sikkim. The Tibetan title is Phyag rgya chen po'i man ngag, or Phyag rgya chen po rdo rje'i tsig rkang nyi shu rtsa brgyad pa. This translation into English has been done by Kunzang Tenzin in 1977, after transmission of the oral teaching by Khamtrul Rinpoche in Tashi Jong, Kangra Valley, India.

The Doctrine of the Diamond Needle

(translation by Rama Ramanuja das)
http://www.gaudiyadiscussions.com/topic_1918.html

1.I shall describe the Vajrasuci — the diamond needle doctrine which destroys ignorance, condemns those who are devoid of the knowledge (of Brahman) and exalts those endowed with enlightenment.

2. The Brahmana the Kshatriya, the Vaishya and the Sudra are the four classes (castes). That the Brahmana is the chief among these classes is in accord with the Vedic texts and is affirmed by the Smrtis.

3. In this connection there is a point worthy of investigation. Who is, verily, the Brahmana? Is he the individual soul? Is he the body? Is he the class based on birth ? Is he the [possessor of] knowledge ? Is he the [performer of] deeds (previous, present or prospective) ? Is he the performer of the rites ?

4. Of these, is the Jiva or the individual soul the Brahmana? No, it is not so; for the Jiva is one and the same in the large number of previous and future bodies. Since the Jiva (the individual soul) is the same in all the various bodies obtained through (past) karma, and in all these bodies the form of the Jiva is one and the same. Therefore the Jiva is not the Brahmana.

5. Then is the body the Brahmana? No, it is not so, because the body which is composed of the five elements, is the same in all classes of human beings down to the chandalas (outcastes), etc. Since old age and death, virtue [dharma] and vice [adharma] are found to be common to all mankind. There is also no absolute distinction (in the complexion of the four classes) that the Brahmana is of the white complexion, that the Kshatriya is of the red complexion, that the Vaishya is of the tawny complexion, that the Sudra is of the dark complexion. [If the body is the brahmana] the sons and other kinsmen would becoming guilty of the murder of a Brahmana and other (sins) on cremating the bodies of their fathers and other kinsmen. Therefore the body is not the Brahmana.

6. Then is it birth that makes the Brahmana? No, it is not so, for many great rishis have sprung from other castes and orders of creation. We have heared that Rishyasrnga was born of a deer, Kaushika of Kusha grass, Jambuka from a jackal, Valmiki from an ant-hill, Vyasa from a fisher girl, Gautama from the back of a hare, Vasistha from Urvashi (the celestial nymph), Agastya from an earthen jar. Among these, many rishis outside of the caste-system have been accounted as the foremost among the teachers of the Divine Wisdom. Therefore birth does not (make) a Brahman.

7. Then is it knowledge that makes a Brahmana? No, it is not so, because among Kshatriyas and others there are many who have attained cognition of divine truth. Therefore knowledge does not make a Brahmana.

8. Then do actions (karma) make a Brahman? No, it is not so, since the prarabdha karma which gives rise to the present birth, sanchita (accrued) karma, and agami karma — commenced in the present lifetime which will fuctify in a future embodiment is common to all mankind; and that people perform works impelled by their past karma. Therefore actions do not make a Brahmana.

9. Then does the performance of religious duties (dharma) make a Brahmana? No, it is not so; for there have been many Kshatriyas and others who have given away gold [in charity]. Therefore the performer of religious rites is not the Brahmana.

10-11. Then, who, verily is the Brahmana? Whoever he may be – he who, has attained self-realisation, and directly percieves the Atman like a myrobalan fruit in the palm of one's hand. [Realising that the Atman is] of the nature of truth, consciousness, bliss and eternity, without a second, devoid of distinctions of birth, attributes and action, devoid of all faults such as the six infirmities*, and the six states** and devoid of all changes. [The Atman] is the basis of endless determinations. [The Atman] is the indwelling spirit of all beings. [The Atman] pervades everything within and without like space. [The Atman] is of the nature undivided beatitude, indivisible, immeasurable, and is known only by direct cognition.

He who having attained self-actualisation becomes rid of the faults of desire, attachment, etc., and is endowed with the six virtues***. Who having overcome emotion, spite, greed, expectation, desire, delusion, etc., with the mind unaffected by pride, egoism and the like. He alone, who is possessed of these qualities is the Brahmana. This is the view of the Vedic texts and tradition, ancient lore and history. The attainment of the status of a Brahmana is otherwise impossible. Meditate on the Self as Brahman who is being, consciousness and bliss, without a second; meditate on the Self as Brahman who is being, consciousness and bliss without a second. This is the Upanishad.

* six infirmities: (1) old age, (2) sorrow, (3) delusion, (4) hunger (5) thirst and (6) death.
** six states: (1) birth, (2) being, (3) growth, (4) change, (5) deterioration and (6) perishing.
*** six virtues; (1) Sama - tranquility, (2) dama - self-control, (3) uparati - cessation of dependance upon rituals (or continence), (4) titiksha - fortitude, (5) samadhanam - meditation, and (6) sraddha - faith.