Self-Immolation

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).

“Many people have this fantasy of somehow coming across some yogi or lama sitting on a mountain-top who looks up and says, “Ah, I’ve been waiting for you. What took you so long?” People think that if they could only find the perfect master who’s just right for them, all their problems would be solved. Sometimes I say to people, “Look, even if you meet your master, that’s when your problems begin!” In fact, even if the Buddha himself was sitting in front of us right now, what could he do to our untamed and uncontrolled minds? The only thing he could do is tell us to practice.” Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

“The word kula refers to the family or grouping of the yoginīs and of the 'Mothers'. It is also taken to mean the corporeal body, the body of power, the cosmic body, the totality of things so that by entering into a 'family', a kula, the worshipper enters into the totality of cosmic powers, the kula. He himself, in his own body, is the embodiment of the 'Mothers' and of the whole of reality. By being initiated into a 'Mother' he also enters into one or other level of his own body and becomes master of the powers identified with it. By piercing all the circles of his body he is master of the totality and attains the central deity which is identified with the true self of the worshipper, his 'blissful inner consciousness' of whom the eighth 'Mothers' are the projections.” John R. Depuche

"The Tantrik devotee is very much committed to a human guru, with whom he has personally come into contact in the transactional world. The guidance that he gets from the master is by no means imaginary, it is concrete and practical. While the guru is an individual, he also symbolizes the theme of personal transmission of the secret of realization in a succession of masters. This succession is known as Sampradaya which is defined in the Tantrik texts as whispering into the ears of the prepared disciple the highest truth so as to awaken him spiritually." - The Tantra of Sri-Chakra

We should try to get used to the fact that everything we see, do and think is an interpretation created by our mind. This in itself is an important milestone on the path to practicing non-duality. And “getting used to it” in this case means reminding ourselves of it over and over again. Dzongsar Jamyang Kyentse Rinpoche

In fact, essential reality (dharmata) transcends all conceptual fabrications, & the Buddha taught this to his disciples very clearly. In this way the Buddha taught the path that dissolves all conceptual fabrications and thereby leads to the peace that is free from samsara's suffering. Suffering comes from taking things to be real—from taking friends & enemies to be real, from taking birth and death to be real, from taking clean & dirty to be real, & from taking happiness & pain in general to be real. The Buddha taught that the true nature of reality actually transcends all these concepts...& he also taught us how to realize this. Since putting the Buddha's teachings into practice leads to the complete transcendence of suffering & the perfect awakening of the omniscient enlightened mind, then these teachings are the greatest words ever spoken, and the Buddha himself is the supreme of all who speak. For these reasons, the Buddha is worthy of our respect & our prostration. —Khenchen Tsultrim Gyamtso

Just as cattle pulling carts manage to grasp only a tuft of grass, so also people who are caught up in desires have many hard things to endure and few pleasant things to enjoy. Shantideva

"Empty, luminous, and infinite in potential, mind can be understood as having five basic qualities: emptiness, mobility, clarity, continuity, and stability. Each of these corresponds respectively to the five principal elements of space, air, fire, water, and earth. We have already described mind as not being a tangible thing: it is indeterminate, omnipresent, and immaterial; it is emptiness, with the nature of space. Thoughts and mental states constantly arise in the mind; this movement and fluctuation is the air element’s nature. Furthermore, mind is clear; it can know, and that clear lucidity is the fire element’s nature. And mind is continuous; its experiences are an uninterrupted flow of thoughts and perceptions. This continuity is the water element’s nature. Finally, mind is the ground, or basis, from which arise all knowable things in samsara as well as nirvana, and this quality is the earth element’s nature." From: "Luminous Mind: The Way of the Buddha" ~ Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche

“One can impute emptiness logically when an independent reality of the self or of other phenomena is sought and not found. One also experiences it directly through meditation when the mind abides without ideas of existence or non-existence or both or neither. Meditators experience emptiness as a kind of fullness. Emptiness allows for the unimpeded radiance of intrinsic awareness. In the experiential sense, then, it is not only a lack of something, but also a quality of knowing, or pristine cognition, a luminous quality that is the actual nature of the mind that can be experienced once the veils of concepts and emotions have been cleared away. This experience is often referred to as clear light or radiance and also as "compassion." It is not something other than emptiness, for without emptiness it could not occur. It is the radiance-awareness that is the primordially pure basis of all manifestation and perception, the buddha nature. This very nature of mind was always already there and is never corrupted or damaged, but only covered up by confusion. As such, it is the basis of spiritual practice, and also the goal or result. Buddha is not found anywhere outside of the intrinsic state of one's own mind. In the traditional breakdown, then, of ground, path, and fruition, the ground is one's own true nature, the fruition is the discovery of that, and the path is whatever it takes to make the discovery. Kongtrul describes the identity of ground (basis) and fruition when he says: The basis of purification is the eternal, noncomposite realm of reality that fully permeates all beings as the buddha nature.” Sarah Harding

Illusion-Like Thoughts “All of our different activities are projections of the mind, created by our thoughts. If you follow these deluded thoughts, there will be no end to your mind being upset by delusion, just as when the wind blows over the surface of a lake, the crystal clarity of the water is masked by ripples.” ~ HH Dilgo Khentsye Rinpoche Zurchungpa's Testament, pg 267 – on Wisdom – Snow Lion Publications

“What is the benefit of peacefully abiding, allowing the mind to remain still, in a natural state which is motionless? Until you are able to develop quiescence, you will not be able to control or suppress deluded mental afflictions. They will continue to arise and control the mind. The only way to get a handle on that and put an end to it is to accomplish quiescence. Once that is accomplished, all other spiritual qualities will arise from that basis, such as super knowledge, clair­voyance, the ability to see into the minds of others, to recall the past, and so forth. These are mundane qualities that arise on the path but are developed only after the mind can abide peacefully. Qualities such as heightened awareness and clairvoyance must be de­veloped, because it is through them that one is able to understand and realize the fundamental nature of the mind. As it says in the Bodhicharyavatara, one of the most important mahayana texts, "Having developed enthusiasm in this way, I should place my mind in concentration; for one whose mind is distracted dwells between the fangs of mental afflictions." An individual who has been able to accomplish quiescence will no longer be overpowered by attach­ment to ordinary activities and contact with worldly people. The mind automatically turns from attach­ment and attraction to cyclic existence, because quies­cence is the experience of mental contentment and bliss which is far more sublime than ordinary attrac­tions that arise from confused perception. When the mind is at peace, it can then be directed to concentrate undistractedly for indefinite periods of time. Quies­cence destroys delusion because mental afflictions do not arise when one is experiencing the equipoise of single-pointed concentration. People who have achieved quiescence naturally experience compassion as they view the predicament in which other living beings are ensnared. Pure com­passion arises as they begin to clearly perceive the nature of emptiness in all aspects of reality. These are only a few of many qualities as taught by the Buddha which are the direct result of accomplishing quies­cence. Quiescence is the preparation and basis for the main practice which is the cultivation of the primor­dial wisdom of insight. These two meditations are complimentary. The success that one has in develop­ing insight is dependent on the success that one has with developing quiescence. If you are able to de­velop quiescence only to a certain degree, then your experience of insight will be limited. However, if you are able to fully accomplish quiescence, then you will be able to fully perfect insight as well. If that is the case, then that is as good as saying perfect enlighten­ment will be realized.” Gyatrul Rinpoche

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.