The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa: Volume 6 (81 page)

In this case, we are not purely talking about sexuality, or anything to do with sexuality, particularly. That is a very small portion of it. Instead we are talking about the general principle, the vastness of the whole thing. The basic mother principle is not even female or male; it is just a basic principle that exists, which accommodates, which allows the situation to become pregnant, to be born. And also, it gives birth. Nevertheless, it contains everything—which is a different, larger state of mind than we discussed in the mahayana discipline the other day. It is much bigger than the mahayana principle in this case, much greater, in some sense. It is no longer even vision, anymore, it is just a state of being. That vastness is so. So vast, therefore it is so. That might have some correlation with the concept of shunyata, but it is nothing like the shunyata mahayanists talk about as being not this, not that, therefore everything is nothing. You don’t even have to borrow the terms “form is empty, emptiness is form” anymore. It is completely total, absolute, from that point of view.

From the vajrayana point of view, the
E
principle, therefore, is impregnated space. We could say that space, in terms of physical space, is also impregnated space, because it is sympathetic to everything that goes on in that space. It allows things to operate in its own space. From that point of view, we could also say it is somewhat kind space, compassionate and accommodating space, precisely. That’s an interesting pun—it is accommodating space, space that accommodates everything—a vajrayana pun of some kind. Probably you don’t think it’s so funny, but it’s so. [
Laughter
] Space is very accommodating—and often, of course, it is very frightening, too. Things seem to be a larger size than you are, as we discussed the other night in a greater version.

Why, if space is just open and accommodating, should we call it wisdom? Why wisdom? What is there about being wise? What is the idea of being wise? The concept of wise, from that point of view, is what is traditionally known as “one flavor.” The Tibetan term for “one flavor” is
rochik. Ro
means “flavor,” “taste,”
chik
means “one”; so “one-flavor” experience. If you have one-flavor experience, there are two choices: you don’t experience at all because it is one-flavor, your own flavor; or else you become a monomaniac. If you become a monomaniac, you just like one thing at a time. But in this case, of course, we are not talking about that monomaniacal level of one flavor, that you like only one thing, the thing, that you become a maniac about something or other. Instead, one flavor means tasting your own tongue and seeing your own eyes with your own eyes. It is where the state of mind becomes not dependent on feedback from the phenomenal world, but it contains by itself. So it is self-contained experience, utterly self-contained experience.

I hope the dakinis and dharmapalas and all these people will allow us to talk about such a thing as this. If they wouldn’t, may this building collapse on the spot! [
Nervous laughter
] We are taking a chance, you know. But I feel that you have been studying already. Everyone of you has been studying and had study groups—everyone of you except one or two people who just dropped by. But still, those people are very quite safe people—who may be deaf, and hopefully will be mute, too.

Anyhow, the question of one flavor is that space makes love to itself, and space also produces children and grandchildren and great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren—and great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents, of course. Nevertheless, space is not the origin of the feminine lineage, because it is always one thing. It is ever-present, everready, ever-simple, which makes the whole thing very interesting, in some sense. Eventually the sitting practice of meditation, shamatha and vipashyana, or shi-ne and lhakthong experience, also could become like that: self-contained experience that doesn’t need, or is not asking for, a reference point anymore.

One flavor also brings the next notion, the
VAM
principle, which is mahasukha, great joy. Because of its one-flavorness, because of its own self-existence, because of its own self-contained situation, therefore lots of play can take place in our life, our experiences, and everything. The phenomenal world is the guideline completely, it is absolutely the guideline. There is a fundamental sign, or symbol, taking place. That often could become superstitious, of course; nevertheless, it is true, in some sense. It is like the very simple, ordinary, regular things we talk about. For instance, if you get angry with somebody and decide to walk out, storm out of his room, you are so pissed off at that person—you slam the door and catch your finger in it. That kind of situation. Sometimes it is very dramatic and vivid, and sometimes it is very subtle and ordinary. Nevertheless, those situations always take place with our life.

There seem to be no actual accidents as such, at all. Everything seems to have its own messages taking place. Why today’s weather is somewhat warm. Why tonight is going to be particularly cold. Why we actually managed to get hold of this particular place to give a talk on the
EVAM
principle at all. Why you managed to churn up time and money to come here and do this together. Why your particular hairstyle. Why you are bald, why you have lots of hair. Why you are wearing a shirt or why you are wearing a tie—or why you are not wearing a shirt, why you are not wearing a tie. All those little situations seem to be very superstitious, when we talk about those little things. Nevertheless, there is some deliberateness taking place always.

One of the exciting things about all that is that the world is filled with magic—not from the point of view of a conjurer’s trip, but magic in the very ordinary and very basic sense. How we came to be here—that our physical setup is such, our state of mind is such, our clothes are such, our way of behaving is such—is interesting. That seems to be the
VAM
principle: everything that exists contains great joy. It is not so much that you are having twenty-four hours of orgasm simultaneously. We are not talking about that, particularly, but about great joy from the point of view that some state of mind is here, and it is contained, and it is also is very sane and wholesome. What we are doing is absolutely wholesome, the most solid thing that we could ever have done in our life. Right now we are doing a great job, all of us. We are doing what we should be doing—and it feels togetherness, it feels awe-inspiring, and it also feels very sacred.

We have created some kind of atmosphere, quite rightly so. We decided to put our chemistry together, you and me, and this and that. The joy, or bliss, principle is not so much that somebody is tickling you or that you are in a state of ecstasy from the effect of some chemical, or what have you. Here joy and togetherness and wholesomeness have to do with something that is naturally there, completely there, a sense of arrogance and pride without neurosis, a natural state of being, which is so.

The vajrayana principle,
VAM,
is often referred to as the “vajra principle.” That particular vajra principle is based on the idea of indestructibility. Nothing can challenge it, nothing can actually destroy it or chip off that vajra being. It is a state of being, generally—a state of being, a state of existence, a state of reality, a state of straightforwardness, sharpness, toughness, gentleness and everything, brilliance and so forth. We begin to realize that we possess all those qualities, even though we are mere beginners in the practice. We are mere beginners, we are just mere. We can only spell—if we could read the alphabet, that would be the best. We are at that level at some point; however, we have some sense that we are associating ourselves with some basic sanity in any case.

That basic sanity is so complete. Bliss, joy, can only occur when there is a sense of complete circulation taking place, without any mishaps or outlets. In other words, nobody is stealing your energy. The energy is yours, and you are actually utilizing that particular energy in an appropriate way. You feel completely harmonious; you feel complete harmony with that particular situation, which is joy. It is quite magnificent and fantastic. Nevertheless, the
E
and
VAM
principles put together, that we would actually bring together, are not separate—they are interdependent and indivisible. Much more indivisible than your nation. [
Laughter
] Much more so, I’m afraid. It is very complete. It is one flavor, again, once more, in the indivisibility.

Three levels. The hinayana level stirs up pain and pleasure and complications. The mahayana level makes you more relaxed, more committed to what you are doing. In vajrayana, finally you are presented with the ultimate healthiness, ultimate wholesomeness, completely. It is that you are okay, so to speak, and everything is fine. If you worry, that’s great; if you don’t worry, that’s fine, too. All the sharp edges, the sharp corners of this and that which take place—you should let them take place in their own way. Razors have their own place, and sponges have their own place, too. So whether it’s floppy or sharp, it’s fine—they are the same manifestation of it. What is it? It’s nothing, it’s everything, it’s everywhere. It is us. It is nobody. It is everywhere and it is so joyous—joyous and powerful. And also, we mustn’t forget, it is very liberating. The highest mind that has ever occurred in this age and space and planet is vajrayana intelligence, which is so gentle and handsome [
laughter
], and so dignified, beautiful. That is why it is called vajra-yana, the “vehicle of the vajra.”

Often this yana is referred to as the imperial yana; however, in this case, we are not particularly talking about politics, but we are purely talking about its all-encompassingness, overwhelmingness, expansiveness. Usually nobody is actually able to identify themselves with space, because we are hassled with our life. We have too many dirty dishes to wash, so we have never had a chance to look out the window even, let alone take our roof off. But in this case, the vajrayana principle is to wash up your dishes, make your bed, clean your room—and then take off your roof. [
Laughter
] That is the imperial yana. Thank you. If you have any questions, you are welcome.

Student:
Could you say anything about the
EVAM
principle in relation to the context of devotion?

Vidyadhara:
Well, I think devotion is also a love affair at the same time, which is a very important point. The indivisible experience of taking off your roof and cleaning up your dirty dishes and everything, could not occur at all, if there were no basic devotion. Devotion is somewhat claustrophobic at the beginning; nevertheless, you begin to become one with space. The object of devotion is the force that comes out of the space that we have been talking about. Without that, we can’t do anything at all. Thank you.

S:
Thank you.

V:
Metal rim?

S:
A friend of mine told me that before she went to India to practice Buddhism, she spoke to you. You had just come to this country and she asked if you had any advice—and you said to follow the pretense of accident. [
Laughter
]

V:
So?

S:
Is that anything like what you were talking about, the magical quality of the details of your life?

V:
Your guess is as good as mine. [
Laughter
] . . . Red—and black? [
Laughter
]

S:
I have two questions, Rinpoche. One, when you were talking about the one-flavorness of things, did you mean that there isn’t an experience and an experiencer, but that we are the experience?

V:
Can you run down your logic?

S:
Does that limited point of view ever disappear in the vajrayana, or does it just appear that whatever is viewed, or whatever is experienced, is all there is?

V:
I don’t think anything in particular will disappear or reappear. Instead, it is a state of being where we could actually make a further statement of things as they are much more clearly. You see, the idea of attainment is not so much getting to a new field, or a new experience, particularly, but refining what we have already. Otherwise, we are completely helpless—if we have to reform ourselves, if we have to change everything, make green into yellow, yellow into black, or whatever have you. That whole thing doesn’t work, because if you have to make rocks out of flowers, flowers out of rocks, and daytime into nighttime, nighttime into daytime, it doesn’t work. The idea is very basically, simply, that we have every possibility already in us. That is our inheritance as sentient beings. What we have to do is refine whatever is there—refine and refine and refine, completely refine.

S:
The other question I had was about the idea of space. In
The Tao of Physics
, Fritjof Capra talks about there being particles, or very basic constituents of the inner nucleus, that sort of support one another. He says that they are part of a ring, and that you can’t destroy them, because one just turns into another one of the constituents of what makes it up. So it is never really destroyed, it just turns into something else, and it can turn into things continually.

V:
Well, that seems to be an interesting point; that actually fits. That particular particle has to have its own thing to begin with; otherwise, it couldn’t turn into anything else. And because of its existence, therefore it has sympathetic qualities to relate with the rest of it. That seems to be what we were talking about. One-flavor, one-taste, is precisely that. It is one taste; therefore, all the tastes and flavors can be included in the whole thing.

S:
Got ya. Thank you.

V:
You’re welcome . . . Another red.

S:
You have talked about the
EVAM
principle in terms of a lot of other terms that we have some familiarity with in other contexts: renunciation, discipline, commitment, faith, vast space, and now, jnana and mahasukha. Is there anything actually new in
EVAM,
or is this just a superjargon that helps us to understand the rest of the stuff?