Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 44-minute weekend retreat session, Khyentse Rinpoche guides practitioners through a complete Avalokiteśvara sādhana practice, then pivots into deep philosophical inquiry about perception and Buddha-nature. He walks through the visualisation sequence in detail: establishing Avalokiteśvara on the crown, making prostrations and offerings, reciting the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum, and sealing the practice with the three meditative attitudes. He then addresses a fundamental tension in deity yoga—that visualising oneself as a pure form is itself dualistic—and introduces the completion stage practices that purify this dualism, including the six methods of tummo, illusory body, bardo, dream, and clear-light meditation. The second half becomes a searching dialogue on ultimate perception: what does a Buddha actually perceive? Can enlightened beings see others as Avalokiteśvara, and if so, how does suffering continue? Rinpoche explores rigpa, emptiness, and the nature of awareness with directness and humour, pressing students to distinguish between conventional reality and the non-dual knowing that lies beyond subject-object duality.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 07 WR.mp3
UUID: b789941b-020a-4484-b3f9-b4501e5ab9c9
Teacher: Khyentse Rinpoche
Collection: Weekend Retreat (Khyentse Rinpoche)
Date: 1986 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.8 minutes
Words: ~3,154
He’s adorned with all the ornaments, such as fine silk garments and precious ornaments. An antelope skin covers his left shoulder and breast. On his top of the crown, seated on his crown, is Buddha Amitābha. And this Avalokiteśvara, which you have visualized, is the essence of all the guru, essence of all the yidam or deity, essence of all the buddhas, essence of all the bodhisattvas, dakas, dakinis and Dharma protectors. Now pray to Avalokiteśvara.
Think that I prostrate respectfully with body, speech, and mind. Make offerings with all material offerings I make as well as those mentally transformed, mentally visualized offerings. Think that I declare all non-virtuous actions accumulated from time without beginning, and rejoice in the virtue of ordinary and noble beings. We request Avalokiteśvara to turn the wheel of dharma for the benefit of all the sentient beings. We request Avalokiteśvara to remain in this world and not pass into the parinirvāṇa.
We request Avalokiteśvara to remain and help sentient beings constantly. Think that all virtues, my own and those of others, dedicate for the attainment of the great enlightenment. And then, now, can you please do once? Mandala. Now offer, visualize that you are offering mandala to Avalokiteśvara.
Now, again, pray to the Avalokiteśvara to rescue oneself and all one’s father and mother sentient beings who are drowning in the six realms. Pray to the Avalokiteśvara. We seek to bestow the blessing for prayer to our Lord Chenrezig, to bestow the blessings upon us so that we may quickly realize the profound and vast aspects of the dharma, and especially to guru, the Bodhicharyavatara. Having made such requests single-pointedly, infinite rays of light radiate from Avalokiteśvara’s body. As the rays touch the six realms and all the sentient beings.
All the impure karma and delusions of sentient beings are purified. And now with great love and compassion towards all the sentient beings and sending the lights to all the sentient beings to help, chant the mantra. By the accumulation of these virtues, may we quickly attain the state of… Now from now on, in any activity, be it going, staying, or sleeping, or working, never be parted from these three attitudes, which are: recognize one’s own body and bodies of others are the actual body of Ārya Avalokiteśvara. Contemplate all sounds at the sound of the six lettered mantra Om Mani Padme Hum, and contemplate all recollections and perceptions of the manifestation of the dharmakaya, that is, that one’s mind is inseparably one with voidness, like water poured into water.
So now think that may the supreme and precious mind of bodhicitta be born where it has not been born. Where it has been born, may it not decrease, and where it has not decreased, may it abundantly increase. Not only that, after this morning, the meditation was very common. And in some special meditation teachings, after one’s visualizing as Avalokiteśvara or whatever, then that is another visualization, you see. Right now we think we are human beings, an ordinary being.
That is a visualization. Then we try to change this. We try to train our mind. We try to accustom our mind. So we try to visualize oneself as Avalokiteśvara, something purer than an ordinary human form.
Then, after visualizing oneself as Avalokiteśvara, this itself is also another dualistic mind. So this is also impure in the sense of dualistic visualization. So this also has to be consecrated or blessed or purified. For that reason, sometimes you will find after visualizing certain deity, you send light from your heart letter HUM, and then invoke all the five Dhyāni Buddhas and consecrate upon yourself, that is a purification of that visualization. Then not only that, after having the self-initiation as a mark of the family, one of the five Dhyāni Buddhas remain on the top of your head.
That is also a part of a visualization. So, all these are developing meditation now. And then, now, what you have developed, for example, developing meditation is sort of to develop oneself as something. If you cling on that development, then that is also one extreme. If you cling on… For example, you think you are a human being right now.
You think you are somebody, and you cling on that, and that is a dualistic attachment. And if you think you are Avalokiteśvara, and if you cling on that visualization, that is exactly the same. So in order to make you realize that all this imagination, whether you are human imagination or Avalokiteśvara imagination or the emptiness, then we have to do the completion meditation. So then comes the completion meditation. Collectively speaking, there are six different types of completion method.
The heat meditation, which involves lots of body exercise and breathing exercise so that one can bring the inner heat. And when one can bring the inner heat, then one will realize the bliss. One will get the bliss, and through this bliss one will understand the emptiness. So, for that reason we have heat meditation or tummo, Kundalini meditation. And then we have illusory body meditation.
And then we have bardo, intermediate state meditation. And we have transferring the consciousness meditation. We have dream meditation like that. Now, was it six? And then the clear light meditation.
Collectively speaking, in the completion meditation stage we have six different methods. But of course, also, just for Kundalini meditation, have lots of different types. First, you develop oneself as a Vajrayoginī or Chakrasamvara or whatever. And then you visualize or develop all the three channels and chakras. And once you finish developing the chakras, and then you first do breathing exercise, breathing, burning and dripping.
Dripping is something better. Yeah. I think that’s good, yeah?
Dripping, or trickling, whatever. Anyway. Through that, try to bring the bliss. Then at the same time, if one has a blockage in the burning and dripping or leaking, then one has some methods of exercise through the body, of body, so that one can balance the subtle air and gross air. Still if you can’t make it refined, then we have taking the essence meditation.
Have you ever heard of this? Sort of. This is quite popular, especially in Drukpa Kagyu lineage, they do it a lot. There are a lot of monks in Bhutan, like, during the first few weeks, they eat very little. They reduce their food.
Then after some times they don’t eat anything but some water or something like wind. But at that time still they eat some pill, specially made pills. And then afterwards, you also don’t depend on the sun and moon, but you just eat the wind. Then after that, you concentrate on the flower, and then take the essence of flower just by concentrating, looking at. This is what we call taking the essence.
This will make your body very refined, very refined, sort of. These are all completion meditation. Both this, completion meditation and developing meditation, whatever you do, you need to receive the initiation. That’s why, for example, like today, I can’t talk so openly about this completion meditation and both developing meditation because there could have some person who have not received any initiation. Now, for the initiation, there are a lot of different types of initiation.
Some are just jenang, which means it’s like a permission. Some initiations are meant for permission to recite some letters, to recite some mantras, or to read some sutras, or to read some tantra texts. And some initiation is like a blessing. According to Anuttara Yoga, the initiation always has to be sort of the highest initiation. The high initiation or the complete initiation has to be sort of four category: the vase consecration or vase initiation, secret initiation, and third, people call it third initiation these days, but you can call it… Do you have any words for this? Wisdom initiation? Yeah. That’s quite good. And then what?
Some people call it word initiation, but some people call it fourth initiation. Now this is very important. In India, during the Tilopa and Naropa’s time, what they do is first the guru sort of check the student and make him accumulate foundations. It doesn’t necessarily have to be ngondro foundation or whatever, but guru really emphasized more on accumulating the merit and purifying the defilements. After accumulating enough merit and purifying lots of bad karma, then guru gives the first empowerment.
Empowerment in Sanskrit is abhisheka. Abhisheka actually means to throw or to put or to awaken. For example, when a lama gives you highest initiation of anuttara yoga, then first he gives you vase consecration. Vase consecration. The word vase consecration, the substance, vase consecration, usually used is water.
This water is meant for purifying the body defilement, receive the blessing of all the buddha’s body, and put the seed of nirmanakaya. But when you receive the initiation, what it does, it actually introduces, it actually introduces the nirmanakaya, which exists primordially within you. It’s not that when a lama give initiation, he’s giving Nirmāṇakāya. Sort of he’s sharing a little bit of his Nirmāṇakāya to you. It’s that you have the nirmanakaya within yourself from the beginning, and when he gives you the initiation, he awakens, he introduces to you that you have this nirmanakaya.
But then we are so dualistic mind. We need to depend on something. Just by him saying, for example, okay, today you are here and I act as your guru and say, you have Nirmāṇakāya. That won’t change anything, right? Unless you are a very, very good student, I mean, so good student, then you know.
Because you like dualistic things, dualistic objects. That’s why you come here. That’s why you sit down and that’s why you are listening to my words. All these are dualistic. That’s why we use water, we use vase, we use texts so that you think, ah, at least I’m getting something, you know?
I’m getting something. And that can sort of enlighten you. It is exactly the same as the example which I gave, the sun and the cloud. Sun is behind the cloud. It’s not that the sun is not there.
It is our concept that thinks that sun is not there. Nirmāṇakāya or dharmakaya or sambhogakaya is there inside within us, but we think it is not there. So, when you receive initiation, it purifies the ignorance of not knowing of Buddha within or Buddha-nature of oneself. When it purifies, on that purification aspect we call it, ah, I got the Nirmāṇakāya blessing. Then we have secret initiation, and then the wisdom initiation or third initiation, and then the fourth initiation.
This is visualization now. Anything that you want me to talk, or should we go with heart advice? There’s nothing rational in heart advice. Mhmm. Ah, yeah.
Then? And then you see, say you see somebody… That means that you have gotten, that means that you don’t have a pure vision. If you really had the pure vision, nobody will hurt nobody. Right? Isn’t it?
You are saying that, what are you saying? During the practice or after realizing? After realizing or after just you do one session of meditation? Well, if you’re doing something, you’re trying to see others. And others also jealousy.
You try to, but you haven’t. You haven’t. You try to. This is what we do. Try to.
Try to. Of course, you will see somebody beating somebody, and then you have to pray for them. You understand? But if you really realized, after realizing that everybody is Avalokiteśvara, then Avalokiteśvara won’t beat Avalokiteśvara. Right?
Yeah. You won’t. In your case, you know, in your view, again, back to yesterday’s discussion. In your view. For example, I ask you, what, a hell being is sort of boiling in the water there?
When a buddha looks at this hell being, what will he perceive? Talk about his perception. In Buddha, his view? That is our view of Buddha’s view. That is our view of Buddha’s view.
Right? Don’t you think? But what I’m talking about is his view. Actual view. So you are saying that Buddha has impure vision of burning hell, boiling hell?
Yes, in our view of Buddha’s view. Inexpressible by our word? Don’t you think? This has to be discussed. This is quite hard to understand.
Oh, yes. Buddha is aware. He knows that you are suffering. He… Who is he?
He which you perceive. Right? He which you perceive. Oh, yes. Yeah.
Oh, yes. He is omniscient. What is omniscient? Isn’t that your perception? I’m talking about Buddha.
His own view. You know? I’m really talking about something very serious. Tell me frankly. What do you think?
Okay. Say you think he’s a good man and I think he’s a bad man. What will Buddha think? He’s omniscient? Neither.
Yeah, that’s it. That’s it. So we think hell is burning. No, no. Hell people exactly the same.
Burning. Burning. Flames. Exactly the same, don’t you think? Ultimately.
That’s what I’m speaking, ultimately. Relatively I agree. Of course, Buddha, yes. Of course. Relatively, Buddha married Yashodara. He had a son, Rahula. He had to escape from the palace. Buddha has to escape. What a powerless Buddha.
Some sounds. Right? If he can do everything, why he has to escape, why he has to mount the horse if he can do, relatively. It’s our view. Why Buddha died?
Why Buddha passed away? Isn’t that our perception? The true Buddha cannot be passed away. That was before his enlightenment. Right.
Now we are getting deeper here. According to the Mahāyāna, according to the Mahāyāna, he was already enlightened. See, sambhogakaya is already enlightened. He’s just showing, representing. That is the quality of Nirmāṇakāya.
Okay, anyway, it doesn’t matter. That was before he got nirvana, but why he died then? What is rest? It is rest, the… Oh, that we… In that, our mind is also not dying all the time. What?
When you say when he died… Yeah. Did we die? He’s got the… Oh, he died. He went to Magadha with a begging bowl empty. He went to the merchant’s place.
He begged for alms. He received the alms. He ate the foods which he got. Buddha himself said, those who perceive me as a form, they have not seen me. Those who perceive me as a sound, they have not seen me.
Those who have perceived me as a vision, they have not seen me. What they have seen is they have seen a wrong view. That’s what Buddha himself said. Those who don’t have seen anything? Pardon?
And those who don’t see anything? What do you… That is seeing anything? Pardon? If they don’t… Because that is a dualistic.
Seeing is one dualistic, and not seeing is also one dualistic. So you have to… If you want to see real Buddha, you have to reach to the state where you have no seeing and not, not seeing. That’s very easy. I don’t have to give you haircut. Now I sound like Krishnamurti.
So, what is nirmanakaya anyway? Manifestation. Nirmāṇakāya is a manifestation, right? So, Buddha Śākyamūni is a manifestation of his sambhogakaya. The real Buddha is not even one inch moved.
Real Buddha doesn’t have intention of being born in Nepal, being enlightened in Bihar, being, you know, to give teachings in Varanasi, not in Australia, not in Adelaide. The real Buddha doesn’t have that kind of intention. He gives teachings spontaneously. That’s why even when you talk about history, if you want to make a history of Buddhism, relatively speaking, Buddhism was taught by Buddha Śākyamūni about two thousand five hundred years before. He taught this in Varanasi first time.
He gave it to five monks. That kind of thing you can make. If you want to make about ultimate teaching of a history of ultimate teaching or vajrayana teaching, then Buddha Vajradhāra gave this teaching. To whom? To his own reflection, Vajrasattva.
When? Timeless time. Where? Boundless place. Always teaching, but teaching was never start and it will never end. You see? So what has happened now with our discussion? So your question was if we see other beings as Avalokiteśvara, and what do you mean by that? After realizing that all the sentient beings are Avalokiteśvara or during the practice of trying to realize, to see.
Oh, yes. During the practice, you’ll… Why you are a practitioner? Because you are deluded. Right? Because practitioner means you are not enlightened.
If you are enlightened, then why are you a practitioner? So you are a practitioner who wants to see all the sentient beings as Avalokiteśvara, which indirectly means that you have difficulty to see sentient beings as Avalokiteśvara. You easily see them as ordinary beings who beat each other, but you have to try. In case of somebody beating somebody, and if you have energy, you have to help. Maybe even you don’t have energy, you have to help.
Any more question you have? So this heart advice is quite hard, isn’t it? Any questions from this? Actually, rigpa is awareness, but awareness in English word seems to be more subject, the perceiver, is it? But here, in this awareness, this rigpa, can be both a perceiver and perception.
This is a rigpa when you look at here. Why? Because without your perceiver there’s no this perception. When you look at this, it’s something like this is looking at you. That’s why you are perceiving this.
You listen? If this is not here, then there is no perception of this. If your mind is not there, then you have no perception of this. It has got to do with the perception. This spontaneously arising awareness is the rigpa.
The nature of this rigpa is emptiness, or the essence of this rigpa is emptiness. That’s why rigpa and emptiness always comes together. Rigpa is a Dzogchen language, Dzogchen term. But rigpa literally means vidya, knowing. Knowing and knowing the knower itself.
Constantly. Looking at that and saying that’s a fixed solid object, just permanently. Mhmm. That’s ma rigpa, ignorance. Ah, that is ma rigpa, or ignorance. Okay.
When you look at this, you think, okay, this is something solidly existing there. So at that time we call it dualistic mind, ma rigpa. Why? Because you haven’t seen that this is not different from you. You think this is something separate, so you make it independent.
So you think that without this you would have the perception. Without your perceiver, you can still have the perception, which is very wrong. This is what we call avidyā or ma rigpa or unawareness.