All phenomena should be laughed at.

Mistaken compassion

An example of this mistake is feeling pity for practitioners who face many hardships on their path for the sake of Dharma practice, such as living in mountain caves and lacking food and warm clothing. It is wrong to pity them and think as follows: “Well, what poor people! They will starve to death!”. Who we should pity are those who commit bad deeds, such as commanders of large armies and war heroes who kill hundreds and thousands of people and whose hatred will take them later to the lower hell worlds. We should show compassion to those who need it.

Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche

Sarvaṃ ca yujyate tasya śūnyatā yasya yujyate |
Sarvaṃ na yujyate tasya śūnyaṃ yasya na yujyate ||

All is possible when emptiness is possible.

Nothing is possible when emptiness is impossible.

-Chapter 24, verse 14, of the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Nāgārjuna).

The Madman Heruka from Tsang 1452-1507, was an author and a master of the Kagyu school of Tantrik Buddhism. Born in Tsang Tibet, he is best known as a biographer and compiler of the Life of Milarepa and The Collections of Songs of Milarepa. Tsangnyön Heruka was a Nyönpa "religious madman". He was ordained as a monk as a child, but at the age of 21 he renounced his vows and trained under various tantrik yogis from different schools. After Heruka left the monastery, he became a wandering yogi for the rest of his life, never staying in one place permanently. He was known to keep his hair long, carry a khatvanga and drink from a kapala (skull bowl). When local villagers saw his body covered in human ashes and blood with his hair adorned by human fingers and toes, they gave him the name 'Nyönpa' (madman). He later used the name Trantung Gyelpo "King of the Blood-drinkers" which he received from the deity Hevajra in a vision, "blood drinker" being the Tibetan name for the deity Heruka. These eccentric ways were influenced by an Indian sect of yogis called Kapalikas "skull-bearers", who practiced austerities as well as dressing in loincloths and human ashes and carrying symbols of the dakinis such as bone ornaments and skulls. Many monks questioned his behavior and way of dress but Tsangnyön Heruka Trantung Gyelpo was known to strongly defend his unconventional practice through rigorous argument and accurate quotations from scriptures. One day He appeared on a market place naked with brown sugar in one hand and feces in the other eating from both. Another day he was seen eating the brains of someone who had died of smallpox. It's said from this time on he was completely free from all misunderstandings and the dualities of samsara and nirvana became one and the same to him.

“If the mind wanders even the tiniest bit when you are reciting the mantra, your practice will accomplish nothing. The obscurations of your speech might diminish from reciting the mantra in this fashion, but you will certainly not accomplish the results you are seeking through the sadhana.

A quote from Guru Rinpoche says, “A person who experiences mental wandering while performing vajra recitation will never achieve any result, even from reciting the mantra for an eon of time.”

Of course, this is not surprising. If, while speaking to someone, you fail to look them in the face and instead allow your vision to wander everywhere else, you cannot establish the mental, visual or personal contact that would make your conversation a meaningful exchange. Similarly, if you recite mantra with a wandering mind, you cannot comprehend the substance of the mantra. So how can you expect to achieve results? You are just playing a game.”

Gyatrul Rinpoche

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THE FOUR DEMONS

~ Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

“The first demon is called “the Demon that Blocks the Senses.” When we think of a demon, we generally think of an external spirit which attacks us, but Machig realized that the true nature of demons is the internal functioning of the ego. This particular demon manifests when we see or experience something with the sense, and the senses get blocked and we get fixated on the object. For example, when we see a beautiful woman or man, as soon as we see this person the perception is blocked by the desire to possess that person. The process of perception stops, and we try to meet that person, and so on. So this is one process that must be overcome by meditation. If we are in a state of true meditation, perception occurs without this fixation with, or attachment to, the objects perceived.

The second demon is “the Demon which Cannot be Controlled.” This is the thought-process which just runs on and on. The thought-process takes over, the mind wanders from one thing to another, and our awareness is completely lost in distraction.

The third demon is “the Demon of Pleasure.” When we experience something pleasurable, like eating something delicious, we become attached to this delicacy and we want to get more and avoid anything which stands between us and the object of pleasure. This does not mean that pleasure is in itself demonic, but rather that our attachment to it becomes a hindrance to remaining in a state of clarity. For example, a meditator might have an auspicious dream, which is a sign of progress, but then “the Demon of Pleasure” comes into play and he gets very attached to the dream. Or someone else might experience a period when everything goes well, he feels good physically, and so he tries to continue this good period endlessly, but it must always end in change and is therefore disappointing to us.

The fourth demon is “the Demon of the Ego.” The ego is that with which we condition our world. It rests on the principle of “self” and “other” which causes a blockage in awareness and a lot of suffering for oneself and others.

Fundamentally, all four demons are thought-processes which block a state of clear, unattached awareness, and they all grow out of the process of ego-fixation and the lack of prajna, with the consequent misunderstanding of emptiness. The Chöd practice seeks to do away with these demons.”