[From a question and answer session with Bardor Tulku Rinpoche in Evansville, Indiana in 2012. Translated by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso. Transcribed and edited by Matt Willis. All rights reserved. Please do not reprint without permission. The complete teaching is available as an MP3 download from the KPL Bookstore.]
Question:
Until one has actually achieved recognition of mind’s nature, are all meditation practices not really considered authentic mahamudra meditation?
Answer:
If the recognition of mind’s nature has not yet occurred, then obviously the practices that one does are not based on that recognition. However, they are not wasted or pointless because they are ways of approaching that recognition, getting closer and closer to it. In fact, everything we do, relying on teachers, practicing and studying under their guidance, and so forth, is all designed to gradually bring us closer and closer to recognition of the mind’s nature.
It also needs to be understood that not everyone is the same. Given that a teacher gives the pointing-out instruction, not everyone is going to have the same degree of recognition or experience. But, the moment when an individual — whether that moment occurs when that introduction is given, or at some later moment — the moment when an individual has a decisive recognition of their mind’s nature is the moment where the teacher who inspired it, through direct recognition and so forth, becomes unique for them.
About this there is a saying, “You may have a hundred gurus who have achieved the bhumis, but you will only have one who introduces you to your own mind.” You may study with a hundred eminent masters. In fact, they could be incarnate bodhisattvas. But all of the teachings they give you, as vast as they may be, as profound as they may be, as elegant as they may be, unless they produce a direct recognition of your mind’s nature in you, are basically just preparing the ground for that. They are about that without being it.
When one or another of your teachers points out your mind’s nature, and it need not necessarily be the most elevated or even the most awakened of your teachers, but the one with whom you have the necessary karmic connection, then your relationship with them becomes totally unique and unlike the relationship with any of the others.
Question:
How does one arrange to get the pointing-out instructions? Aren’t they supposed to be secret?
Answer:
The pointing out of the mind’s nature, the pointing out of mahamudra, is not a secret thing. It is not actually something that is done necessarily one-to-one, or done very rarely, or secretly. In fact, anytime anyone teaches mahamudra, whether they admit that they are giving the pointing-out instruction and they say, “Now I’m going to give you the mahamudra pointing-out instruction, get ready…” [laughter] Or, they don’t say anything. Or, they deny it: they say, “Now I’m teaching you, but this is not the pointing-out instruction.” Even if they say that, it’s still the pointing-out instruction. You can’t be really teaching mahamudra without giving the pointing-out instruction.
The issue is not arranging for this rare thing to occur, since it is occurring all the time; it’s making yourself receptive to it. The issue is not so much will teachers teach it or not; it’s will students get it or not, because you may hear it many, many times without actually getting it. It’s not the case that there is a secret, hidden form of mahamudra pointing-out that is only given to a select few, where the teacher leads you by the hand off into a dark corridor and whispers in your ear. It’s not like that. It’s given to large groups of people.
The part where you are correct about secrecy or discretion is when, after receiving it, you go to your teacher and report about your experience. You describe your own meditation experiences and based upon what you describe to them, they will give you further instructions. Those do have to be tailored to individuals because individual’s make-ups vary. That is traditionally not done in public. It would be considered indiscreet, and very gauche, to talk about your meditation experiences in a public setting; that is a one-on-one thing. But, the pointing-out instruction can be given to as many people as a teacher wishes.
