| Yongey Peace Prevails Center 7714 W. Catalina Drive Phoenix, AZ 85033 |
| Under the guidance of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche |
Finding Peace: Clarity
by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
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Fundamentally, we could say that we have been inherently endowed with three qualities. The first of
the three has three parts: clarity [or] peace and the openness of being ... The second of the three major
qualities that are inherent in us is that of loving-kindness and compassion. The third factor is what we
might call “inner strength,”an inherent power or force within us that is part of our nature. So, we have
these three major qualities, which ensure inner peace.
Let me explore the first of these three qualities. To start with, there is a basic quality of clarity that we
experience as our nature. It exhibits or expresses itself in all kinds of ways. We have all kind of thoughts
and concepts in our minds, all kinds of emotional responses, all kind of states of happiness and
unhappiness, pleasure and pain, and so forth. The fact that we have all these experiences is a sign of that
clarity as one of the aspects of our nature. The fact that you can sit here and listen to the words I am
speaking and understand them is an expression of that clarity and openness of mind to that kind of
experience.
This kind of natural peace is something that is always with you. It’s not something you loose at night or
in the daytime when you wake up; or have more of in the morning than in the evening. This nature is
always what it is. Do you think so? Even to sit there thinking I am not sure I have it or not, that’s more of
that clarity and openness of mind at work. But again it’s so close to home that it’s easy to miss.
Even when you are experiencing intense anger or our mind is flooded with all kinds of thoughts, or just
completely turbulent – that’s all on the surface. If you can tap deep down inside the mind what you
discover is that the turmoil and the intensity is not its nature. This natural peace deep down inside is its
nature; all that other stuff is just going on in the exterior level. So, as an exercise you can actually work
with your thoughts and emotions in this way. Rather than projecting them outward, turn the attention
and experiences of having those thoughts and emotions inward. This is not some deep penetrating
forceful inner search; it’s just turning the attention inward, and recognizing the actual nature inside.
Some people, in their search for inner peace, wind themselves into an intense state that they absolutely
have to find this thing called inner peace. Unfortunately, that becomes counterproductive. You don’t
have to be so tensed about it.
Now, all of us get a glimpse of this natural peace, from time to time depending on the circumstances. For
example, when we finished doing a good job, we sit back and take a break. We all know what it feels like;
we can sometimes hit on this feeling of being just completely at peace without having to try at it. The
only reason we can feel it, is because [of] our nature being a state of peace in the first place.
The Buddha used a metaphor to illustrate this point. He said suppose you have a building in which you
build a huge fire or have some other source of intense light, but you shut all the doors and windows tight.
Still, some of the light can be seen through the cracks in the doors or around the windows - a little hint
that there is that intense and brilliant light inside the building even though you can’t see it directly. In
the same way, even though we don’t recognize it for what it is, or fully appreciate it all the time, we get
glimpses of this natural state of peace that is inherent in us.
The fact that we are not able to experience our nature is because of a number of factors. There are
thought patterns that take our attention and mind, and we get caught up in this coarser or more obvious
emotions and senses of the world around us. All of these constitute a rather obvious level of obstructions
that prevent us from recognizing what our nature is, and therefore prevent our nature from becoming
fully evident to us at all time.
the three has three parts: clarity [or] peace and the openness of being ... The second of the three major
qualities that are inherent in us is that of loving-kindness and compassion. The third factor is what we
might call “inner strength,”an inherent power or force within us that is part of our nature. So, we have
these three major qualities, which ensure inner peace.
Let me explore the first of these three qualities. To start with, there is a basic quality of clarity that we
experience as our nature. It exhibits or expresses itself in all kinds of ways. We have all kind of thoughts
and concepts in our minds, all kinds of emotional responses, all kind of states of happiness and
unhappiness, pleasure and pain, and so forth. The fact that we have all these experiences is a sign of that
clarity as one of the aspects of our nature. The fact that you can sit here and listen to the words I am
speaking and understand them is an expression of that clarity and openness of mind to that kind of
experience.
This kind of natural peace is something that is always with you. It’s not something you loose at night or
in the daytime when you wake up; or have more of in the morning than in the evening. This nature is
always what it is. Do you think so? Even to sit there thinking I am not sure I have it or not, that’s more of
that clarity and openness of mind at work. But again it’s so close to home that it’s easy to miss.
Even when you are experiencing intense anger or our mind is flooded with all kinds of thoughts, or just
completely turbulent – that’s all on the surface. If you can tap deep down inside the mind what you
discover is that the turmoil and the intensity is not its nature. This natural peace deep down inside is its
nature; all that other stuff is just going on in the exterior level. So, as an exercise you can actually work
with your thoughts and emotions in this way. Rather than projecting them outward, turn the attention
and experiences of having those thoughts and emotions inward. This is not some deep penetrating
forceful inner search; it’s just turning the attention inward, and recognizing the actual nature inside.
Some people, in their search for inner peace, wind themselves into an intense state that they absolutely
have to find this thing called inner peace. Unfortunately, that becomes counterproductive. You don’t
have to be so tensed about it.
Now, all of us get a glimpse of this natural peace, from time to time depending on the circumstances. For
example, when we finished doing a good job, we sit back and take a break. We all know what it feels like;
we can sometimes hit on this feeling of being just completely at peace without having to try at it. The
only reason we can feel it, is because [of] our nature being a state of peace in the first place.
The Buddha used a metaphor to illustrate this point. He said suppose you have a building in which you
build a huge fire or have some other source of intense light, but you shut all the doors and windows tight.
Still, some of the light can be seen through the cracks in the doors or around the windows - a little hint
that there is that intense and brilliant light inside the building even though you can’t see it directly. In
the same way, even though we don’t recognize it for what it is, or fully appreciate it all the time, we get
glimpses of this natural state of peace that is inherent in us.
The fact that we are not able to experience our nature is because of a number of factors. There are
thought patterns that take our attention and mind, and we get caught up in this coarser or more obvious
emotions and senses of the world around us. All of these constitute a rather obvious level of obstructions
that prevent us from recognizing what our nature is, and therefore prevent our nature from becoming
fully evident to us at all time.
| -- from a teaching in 2006 or earlier |