of what is true at all. It doesn’t seem logical to us. This is why it is said that reality as it is (dharmata in Sanskrit) is beyond concept. It is not possible to have realization of true nature through the thinking mind. The thinking mind operates in a dualistic way. Thinking is basically a binary process where truth is either this or that. But genuine truth is beyond polarity. Realization of genuine truth happens in direct experience. We need to have stable concentration, called samatha in Sanskrit, and then direct our concentration to investigate the nature of reality in our direct experience. This is called vipashyana‡ in Sanskrit, meaning “insight” or “inquiry.”
Kalu Rinpoche illustrated our own inner awakened nature to us once by holding up a large, pristine crystal and covering it up with many layers of his robe. He explained that the robe symbolizes the many layers of ignorance that hide the beautiful awake radiance of who we truly are. The path in Buddhism is peeling off the layers. Meditation, study, and living with kindness and integrity allow us to move past the obscurations blocking us from reaching awakening.
Who we truly are is luminosity, clarity, and emptiness. Who we truly are is the inseparable union of wisdom and love. Who we truly are is radiant goodness. This is our buddha nature, which is a seed, our potential for enlightenment. However, buddha nature is not a thing — if we look for it, we won’t see it. This is called “being empty of being a thing.” We know that our mind is not a thing. But we think that our mind is dependent on our brain, encapsulated in our body. This is not the case. Who we truly are is deathless and birthless. Consciousness can and is obscured on an apparent level, but not in actuality. It is primordially pure.
From the perspective of genuine reality, we are already awakened. The difficulty is that we do not realize who and what we are. One of the Sanskrit terms for our innate awakened nature is tathagatagarbha. Tathagata means “thus gone one,” gone beyond samsara. This refers to all the buddhas, the fully enlightened ones. Garbha means “potential” or “seed.” Buddha means “awakened” or “enlightened.” Our buddha nature is the seed potential we all have for full enlightenment. The seed will grow into a vibrant, alive plant if given the right conditions. Not only that, it is the part of us that is always awake. That has always been awake. We are usually completely out of touch with this aspect of ourselves. Of course, in actuality, our buddha nature pervades ourselves as well as all that is, but from a relative point of view, we can speak of it as a part of ourselves.
There is a famous metaphor for our buddha nature. We are walking along a dusty road and feel something in the dust under our feet. We reach to pick it up, clean it off, and it turns out to be a jewel! Do we keep it with us, or do we throw it back onto the ground? This is our situation. There is a jewel, our buddha nature, inside of us, covered over. Are we going to pick it up and cherish it or ignore it, leaving it on the road in the dust?
Jennifer Welwood captures this in her poem “The Jewel Inside”:
The jewel inside has grown dusty.
What out there could have captured you so
That you forgot all about this one?
Feel the tragedy of that error.
And see: Even now, the tears of your grief
Are washing the dust away.5
Our Awakened Nature and Our Shadow Side
The Love on Every Breath meditation helps us to connect with our awakened nature. We become aware of this by noticing in the moment, and in later reflection, those instances where our spontaneous goodness emerged, the times when our hearts were moved and we simply acted. For example, people who leap to help another in distress, even at the risk of their own safety. We all have the inherent tendency to come to the aid of someone in distress. We can also see in ourselves the kernel of goodness that underlies what we do. For example, the teenager who wants to go to college to become a teacher, so she can help inner-city kids learn and grow, or the man who shields another with his body. For some of us, the layers covering our altruism are many, but nevertheless it is there in all of us. As we become aware of this basic goodness in ourselves, it gives us a glimpse of our awakened nature. We begin to have a felt sense of our inherent goodness and loving-kindness. It’s like the sun poking its head out from behind the clouds. It is helpful if we acknowledge this in ourselves and in other people. We can learn to rest in this more and more and cultivate the closeness with our essence.
If we usually don’t see our true nature, we also don’t see our shadow side. Both of these are incredibly important, as getting in touch with our basic goodness not only is the path to realization but helps us face our shadow. Connecting with our basic goodness is not about feeding the ego. It’s not narcissistic and doesn’t increase our narcissism. It joins us with our humility and compassion. The more we can feel our true goodness, the more we are able to look at, be with, and work through our shadow material. Once we know that our neurotic, confused, insecure, aggressive parts are not who we are, it gives us courage to consciously work with our shadow side. Otherwise, it is too scary. If we don’t have enough sense of our basic goodness, the ego will block us from looking at our more neurotic parts because it can’t handle it. It’s too disconcerting. It feels dangerous to the ego.
We defend against seeing our negativity, our control issues, and our ego strategies. We can’t bear to face them because we think that is who we are. When we know that is not who we are, we become willing and courageous enough to face ourselves. We can transform. We can allow our negative patterns to be liberated by not acting them out. For most of us, this is a long-term project. It doesn’t happen overnight. We have to quiet the voice inside that tells us we are not up to the task. But what is the other option? Not waking up? Life will provide us with suffering either way. Then our happiness is always transitory, dependent on good circumstances. And good circumstances are not always under our control. This is an opportunity to turn our suffering into the path of awakening.
Subtle Body Teachings
The subtle body is not physical reality but rather a pattern in the interface between mind and body. It is the intersection of our material and nonmaterial manifestation. It is a phenomenon and, as such, is an apparent truth, just like our physical body. On the path of awakening it is purified, transformed, developed, and eventually awakened. Awakening is not only mental. It happens in the entirety of who we are, including in the physical and subtle bodies.
Centuries of meditation and yogic practice have brought understanding about the subtle body, which comprises what are called in Sanskrit nadis (channels, pronounced “nadees”), prana (movement, air principle, closely connected with the breath), and bindu (energetic aliveness or vital energy in every molecule). In Tibetan these are called tsa, lung, and tigli. The chakras are energetic centers within the central channel.§ In Love on Every Breath, we work with and in the heart chakra. The central channel is said to be about a dime’s width, and it runs from the root chakra in the genital area straight up to the crown chakra at the top of the head, slightly in front of the spine. The prana runs through the central channel as well as through the other eighty-four thousand channels said to be in the subtle body. For unawakened beings, the prana is restricted, running through the channels that are wired according to our neurotic habit patterns and karma. The suboptimal wiring of the channels creates blocks and detours in the flow of prana, causing the prana to flow in less-than-advantageous ways. It is said that after enlightenment, the nadis in the Buddha’s subtle body were completely rewired in the optimal way. Researchers who investigate the relationship between meditation and the brain are finding that this rewiring is not metaphorical, but actual.6
The Importance of Posture and Eye Placement
Posture is critical for meditation and for rewiring to occur. There are various points of posture, but the first step, and most crucial, is to sit upright. This allows the subtle body channels to straighten and the prana to flow in a proper way. It allows for natural presence to open and stabilize. You want to be comfortable without tension. If normally you do not have great posture, sitting up straight may be uncomfortable at first and take a while to get used to.