Instruction on Trekchö

The Essential Instruction on Trekchö, Revitalization in the Primordial State

by Longchen Rabjam

Utterly serene from the beginning, free from every flaw,
Naturally motionless, lucid and vast—
Paying homage to this awareness that cognizes itself,
I shall write an essential instruction on Trekchö, revitalization in the primordial state.

This has three parts: 1) the preliminary, demolishing the house of the ordinary mind, 2) the main part, introducing the face of rigpa itself, and 3) the conclusion, revealing how to sustain the experience.

I. The Preliminary, Demolishing the House of the Ordinary Mind

This has three parts: 1) an investigation of arising, remaining and ceasing, 2) an investigation of sameness and difference, and 3) an investigation that is directly seeing one’s own essence.

1. An Investigation of Arising, Remaining and Ceasing

This has two parts: 1) investigation of objects, and 2) investigation of the subject.

1. Investigation of Objects

Does this very mind which appears to involve the interruption or cultivation of memories and impressions emerge all of a sudden? Or does it arise from external objects of perception—earth, water, fire, wind and so on—when it is drawn towards them? Or does it arise from one’s own body? When these two are mentally dissected, they can ultimately be broken down into indivisible particles. From what then does mind arise? In a similar vein, when memories and impressions arise, where do they remain? Finally, when they fade and cease, where do they go, within or without? If you think something is present, then break it down, so that nothing real can be found. From where then does it arise, where does it then remain, and where does it cease? By analyzing in such a way, you will come to understand that any such objects are apparent yet non-existent, like the moon’s reflection in water, and cannot therefore be objects from which minds might arise, in which they might remain, or to which they might go. The recognition that mind does not arise from objects causes objective thoughts to vanish like space. With the realization that they are by nature unreal, having always been empty, objects are liberated into the unborn.

2. Investigation of the Subject

You might think that when memories and impressions arise, even though they do not derive from objects, mind might still arise from the mind, remain in the mind and then cease and disappear within the mind. This would entail the fault of the mind being in two parts at the same moment. The mind that arises and the mind that brings about its arising would be both that which emerges and the space in which it emerges, both the sphere of disappearance or dissolution and that which dissolves. If something is one, it is impossible for it to bisect at the same moment, because being essentially singular is incompatible with simultaneously being a separate entity.

If you think that mind emerges from the mind, does it do so from a mind that has ceased or from a mind that has not yet ceased? The former would entail emergence from the unreal, because what has ceased or elapsed is not actual. Were you to accept this, it would follow that mind must arise without a cause, because that could not exist. The second case would necessitate mind’s permanence, owing to its emergence from an unending cause; that is to say, the cause would be present—not having ceased—at the time of the result.

Then again, you might wonder whether mind emerges from an earlier mind. The question then becomes whether the earlier mind and the mind of the present mind are connected or not. If they are connected, the mind in that moment of connection must either have elapsed, since it is a mind that connects as a single identity with what came before, or the earlier mind must still be present, having never ceased, since it is the mind that connected as a single identity with the first moment of the present. In the same way, if the mind remains within the mind, then the mind of the present moment has the fault of being fragmented into the place of remaining and the one that remains. Then, when we consider dissolution, there would be the fault of bisection—a ceased mind and a mind that is ceasing—being simultaneously present.

If you persist in saying that mind exists, what is the essence of this mind? What shape and colour does it have? Is it located inside or outside the body? Or in between? If it is not to be found anywhere, how do you know that mind exists? Does the mind say, "I am mind"? Or does mind arise and then scribble a note saying "I am mind"? If you think that the vividness of your thoughts and impressions is mind, you are merely labelling it as such. There is no vocal or written testimony.

If you believe it is so because you that is what you think, then does this mean that what you label exists accordingly. If so, then please imagine that the mountain here is a mass of fire. We can both then check whether it turns to fire before our eyes. It will not turn to fire, because although you might imagine that it is fire, it is not. No matter what thoughts and impressions might arise, since there is ultimately no arising and no one who arises, this does not equate to something called mind. While there has never been anything distinguished in such a way, still we impute and cling strongly to it.

When we analyze the mind in this way, the fact that it is inexpressible yet vividly present is known as “seeing the inexpressible essence of mind itself.”

2. An Investigation of Sameness and Difference

When joy arises in the mind, are the joyful mind and the mental image of the loved one who occasions that joy, which arises to consciousness, one and the same? Or are they different?

If they were one, there would be no longer be any distinction between object and subject, which would be untenable. Moreover, since the joyful mind arises from the mental image of the loved one, two things that occur one after another cannot be identical. This is because the past and the present do not coexist, and the sequence of mental states—loved one, then joy—is also incompatible with oneness.

If they are different, then is one mind divided into two aspects, one that is identifiable as the mental impression of the loved one and one that is identifiable as the mental state of joy? Is there truly a separate existence of these mental impressions of loved one and joy beyond your own conceptual thinking? If you believe that they are temporally or qualitatively distinct, how are you aware of this distinction? Did it announce itself? Did it write you a note? Or is this based on an idea? If it is your idea that makes it so, then imagine they are one and imagine that joy is sorrow. Now check whether they have transformed accordingly. You might claim so, but this is impossible. Things cannot simultaneously be both one and different.

In the same way, when the conditions that lead to unhappiness arise, such as encountering an enemy or unpleasant talk, you might mentally separate the impressions from your own mind. Still, when you examine whether the ideas such as "They are unreasonable" or "They said such-and-such to me" are distinct, you come to understand that there is no oneness or difference aside from your own mental fabrication, and you are thereby freed from all affirmation and denial.

When consciousness extends to external objects, are the features of an object and the awareness to which they arise the same or different? If they were the same, this would mean that the mind must have the same features, such as colour and shape, that characterize the external object, which would be problematic. You might object that this is how it seems, in which case it should be clear from the fact that the sūtras and tantras teach that mind has no identifiable colour and that no such colour can be found upon investigation. If you claim that they are different, then since the object is divisible into partless particles and the mind is divisible into past, present and future, or outer, inner and in-between, no individual identity can be established, and there is therefore no essential distinction. You might say that this is how it is on the ultimate level, but that relatively there is still a difference. Whatever is true in reality must always be the case. It is like this: should you consume datura and experience hallucinations, how could they be said to be real?

When thoughts and ideas occur, are they the same or different? If you claim they are the same, this contradicts their obvious variety. You might claim that they are different, but multiple thoughts do not appear at once. They arise sequentially, and are therefore several only at distinct moments. It is clear that this does not constitute actual difference within the mind. You might say that they are one in the mind or consciousness but different in features. This too entails problems. When you analyze this oneness of mind, since it lacks any real essence, it can’t be established as one. And since this cannot be established, whatever arises to it cannot be established as having distinct features.

Through direct investigation, therefore, while these thoughts and mental states appear so vivid, they have never really arisen, there is nowhere for them to arise, and their arising is impossible. We determine that our previous state, in which with unreal deluded thoughts we took the mind to be real and applied ourselves with effort in view, meditation and conduct, was what we call "total delusion". Moreover, although all the sūtras, tantras and pith instructions describe the mind as like space, groundless and without origin, those who have been blind to this and never seen it will now see it clearly and directly, as if opening their eyes. This is known as "realizing the nature of mind".

3. The Investigation That Is Directly Seeing One’s Own Essence

This is revealed by means of the empowerment of pure immediacy and the empowerment of pure primordial liberation.

1. The Empowerment of Primordial Liberation

The latter involves resolving how the five external objects of perception are naturally apparent yet nameless. This is demonstrated by the reflections that appear in a mirror. From where did they first arise? Where do they now abide? Where do they finally cease? Examine whether the surface of the mirror and the reflections within it are the same or different. Doing so, you discover that the reflections do not come from anywhere in the beginning; they are without essence. Although they appear right now, they are not located anywhere, as they are without nature. Nor do they go anywhere at the end. This is because the face did not enter the mirror, and its reflection is not something concrete that could fade away. In the same way, the visual forms of apparent objects together with their associated thoughts, impressions and mind have never really existed, so although they appear to exist and seem real, they are established to be great primordial emptiness and rootlessness. Similarly, when sounds are audible they do not exist outside, inside or in between. And when smells, tastes and textures are perceptible, the apparent object and the mind that apprehends it do not exist outside, inside or in between. We determine that they appear while lacking any real essence, and therefore do not emerge from anywhere, do not reside anywhere, and do not depart for anywhere. This is the empowerment of the great abiding primordial liberation.

2. The Empowerment of Pure Immediacy

For immediacy, the demonstration of primordial wisdom in its naturalness beyond the ordinary mind has three parts.

1. Examining Appearances

Climb to the summit of a tall hill and look about in all four directions. Suppose you were to be asked, "What is there? Tell me, quick! Quick!" There would emerge a clear awareness in which there is no labelling of perceptions as this or that. The mind that labels as this or that would cease, and there would be what we call "awareness that is the domain of primordial wisdom". Alternatively, halt your breathing through the mouth and nose, and gaze directly at outer objects. This will bring about a vivid, non-grasping awareness, akin to a child’s perception, that is free from both name and referent with regard to apparent objects. At that time, since the wind-energy dissolves in the heart, radiance abides as it is, mind ceases, and there is the realization of luminous wisdom.

2. Examining Rigpa

Imagine you were told a series of unrelated things, such as, "One’s own mind. Object of mind. Empty object. Solidified. Freed from restraint. What is meant by 'evenness'?" And then, "Tell me, quick!" You would experience a state which cannot be identified in generic terms and be left completely wonderstruck. This is the realization of primordial freedom beyond association. Alternatively, you might be asked, "Where were you and I born in a past life? Where will we be reborn in future? Quickly, tell me!" This would leave you speechless and serenely wonderstruck. Determine this to be the realization of naturally cognizant awareness in which the ordinary mind has ceased.

3. Examining the Non-Duality of Appearances and Mind

The teacher shows the student a certain area and says, "Go there." When the student reaches halfway, the guru says, "Now, turn around and come back." During this time, although the movement and the apparent objects do not stop, the conceptual grasping of mind towards the various names and referents ceases. This is determined to be the primordial wisdom of awareness itself, which is vividly aware and evenly arising.

In this way, through various symbols and methods, you continuously recognize the great primordial, naturally abiding intention of awareness free from dualistic grasping as the great spontaneously present great nature. This is recognition of primordial wisdom beyond the ordinary mind.

II. The Main Part, Introducing the Face of Rigpa Itself

This has two parts.

1. Introducing Naturally Present Wisdom Mind

Once the students has adopted the appropriate physical posture and relaxed for a moment, the introduction is effected in the following manner. "Hey, fortunate one, this present awareness, free from expansion or contraction, yet unceasing in its radiance, wonderstruck and even, is the wisdom mind of primordially pure dharmakāya. It has neither outside nor inside and no view, meditation, conduct or fruition. It is beyond existence and non-existence, neither is nor is not. It is beyond words and expressions. It is naturally settled and even; spontaneously clear and relaxed; primordially free and vivid; loose without grasping; clear, empty and lucid; unreal and intangible. In this state, without identifying any essence, remain without applying effort or clinging to anything as real. Recognize this as primordially free awareness, great spontaneously present dharmakāya. Rest in a state that is thought-free and insubstantial, meditation-free and unrestrained, traceless and vivid, free of any grasping or attachment to anything, and like the sky. Rest with unwavering stability, like a mountain. Rest with unmoving lucidity, like an ocean. Rest without hope or fear, as if a task has been completed. Rest with open-minded contentment like that of an elderly person. In the uncontrived, spontaneously settled dharmatā, the non-abiding primordial dharmakāya is spontaneously present. Rest freely and naturally, without contrivance or correction." This is how the introduction is given.

2. Introducing the Non-Arising and Non-Dissolution of Thoughts and Impressions

"Fortunate one, while resting in such a state, various thoughts and impressions seem to arise. Recognize that since there is nowhere they might arise and nothing that arises, there is no arising or fading. Look at the precise moment of arising. In the non-identification of any external or internal essence, determine that what we call 'arising' and 'dissolution' have never existed. By abiding in that ongoing experience, motionlessness is spontaneously achieved. By deciding that there is neither arising nor non-arising, you become confident that there is neither dissolution nor non-dissolution. Without applying any remedy to the mind that is without referent, rest with great naturalness in the unborn state. This cannot be gauged by looking; nor can it be captured through pursuit. Without grasping at what has never existed, rest freely in the spontaneous unfolding of whatever arises. You might mentally prolong the mind that is beyond benefit and harm, but in that way the cycle of thought will never be broken. In the very moment of spontaneously letting go, there is the dharmakāya, the actuality of wisdom awareness, in which mind has ceased. Whatever thoughts appear, even from the very first moment of their appearance they have never existed, so allow them to roam freely, just as they please, in the empty valley of non-attachment. Look into awareness, which is unspoilt by fragmentation, and is naturally lucid, unceasing and primordially free. It is not found through looking, nor subject to causality. It abides as empty clarity free of basis or origin. When left as it is, there is nothing to identify. It is ordinary awareness, the state of dharmatā. Rest, freely and at ease, in that timeless experience. That is the nature of the Great Perfection.

"No matter what arises, relaxedly let it go in naturalness. Recognize the essence of naturally lucid awareness, simply through remaining undistracted. Neither arising nor remaining has ever truly existed, so this is beyond the realm of benefit and harm. Merely by relaxing in such a state, thoughts need not be abandoned but are purified into basic space, as you remain in the great dharmatā of primordial realization. Look into this awareness, which is unsullied by the ordinary mind, lucid and thought-free—natural consciousness unspoilt by contrivance. This is unelaborate co-emergent wisdom, impartial and unrestricted like the sun when it has risen in a clear sky. Whether this essence of clear and empty naked awareness arises or remains, at all such times recognize what has been introduced—the nature that is primordially free, unchanging, even, open, and beyond thought and expression. This means abiding by the ongoing experience, in which the basis for thought is exhausted, and is effortless, free from hope and fear, with no fixed dimension, not fixated on type, undistracted and unspoilt by thought. Practice in this way." This is how the introduction is given.

III. The Conclusion, Revealing How to Sustain the Experience

This has two parts.

1. During Meditation

During meditative equipoise, without clinging to the pristine wisdom of empty awareness, relax, freely and openly, in its natural clarity. At the same time, do not block the objects that arises to the six modes of perception—visible sights, audible sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and the thoughts involving affirmation or rejection within the mind—as consciousness relaxes. Practise in an ongoing experience of awareness, without pursuing anything, but with brilliant clarity, and uncorrupted by hopes or fears or by contrivance. Doing so will bring natural freedom without rejecting sensory objects, as well as natural freedom without rejecting the perceiving mind. Pure vision, in which there is no duality of appearance and mind, will resemble the unobstructed divine sight that sees right through walls, fences, mountains, and the like. Hearing will decipher major and minor languages, including the language of the devas and that of the nāgas. Smell can sense odours beyond the human domain. You will savour the hundred flavours of meditative concentration, and no longer require food. Physically, you will experience the warmth of wisdom’s bliss and clarity. And mentally, you will recall many of your own and others’ previous lives, gain heightened perception, and enjoy the exhaustion of defilement.

2. During Post-Meditation

By understanding whatever appears in terms of the eight similes of illusion, you will be freed from attachment and aversion and the mental afflictions. Decide that everything that arises as the play of the mind of affirmation and rejection is without basis or origin. Do not cling or become attached, or accept or reject. Until self-grasping fades into basic space, meditate on the profound instructions, cautiously observe the karmic law of cause and effect, cultivate pure perception and devotion, and keep your mind free of faults. Keep your vows and samayas and remain in solitude. Forsake distraction and busyness, and maintain renunciation. Be without attachment or compulsion, and take non-grasping as the path. Continually reflect on mortality, and kindle the flames of diligence. Devote yourself to virtue, day and night, and renounce this present life’s concerns. Always rely upon the guru, be devoted, and offer prayer. Take aimlessness as the path, and rest in a state beyond action. Give up dualistic grasping at self and other, and eradicate hopes and fears. Take adversity as the path, and view whatever appears as the guru. Understanding everything to be your own projection, let go of self-grasping and attachment. Since things lack any real substance, maintain a sense of their unreality and flux. Through understanding that things are and always have been empty, they will arise as one’s own projections. Maintain such methods and such conduct, and apply them day and night. For as long as your mind is affected by circumstances, exercise the strength of awareness and apply yourself to practice in solitude. For as long as you are attached to rejection and cultivation, adopt what is wholesome and avoid what is unwholesome, and train in the meaning of non-duality. Until everything becomes an ally, let the instructions be your guide, and look into the nature of awareness. For as long as you still have fear of birth and death, train in the meaning of the unborn, and everything—without and within—will arise as dharmatā. It is then that you will abide by the river-like yoga of non-meditation.

Through thus revealing these key points of profound instruction,
May the fortunate be naturally freed from their dualistic grasping,
And may all beings spontaneously gain accomplishment
In the state of Samantabhadra, primordial and self-arisen.

This Essential Instruction on Trekchö, Revitalization in the Primordial State set out by Longchen Rabjam, a yogin of the supreme vehicle, is hereby complete. Let it be virtuous! Virtuous! Virtuous!

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation, 2024.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer. "khregs chos ye babs sor gzhag gi don khrid" In snying thig ya bzhi. 13 vols. Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975. Vol. 1: 371–388 (9 folios)

Version: 1.0-20241216