Illusory Advice: Cup of tea?

"Symbols exist in ordinary life. There are symbolic rituals around visitors for example. Your host may say: ‘Welcome. Would you like a cup of tea?’ They are not necessarily enquiring as to whether their guest is thirsty. It is a symbolic ritual of smoothing the movement into form of the new situation of a visitor arriving. It enables the host and the guest to become comfortable with one another. "

p200-201, Illusory Advice, Ngakma Nor'dzin & Ngakpa 'ö-Dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2016, 978-1-898185-37-6

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Illusory Advice: When is a dog…?

"Unenlightenment is a bit like thinking you are a dog and trying to be a human being, when in fact you already are human. Others can see that you are human—it is obvious to them—and cannot understand how you think you are a dog. You need to let go of dog-ness and discover that you are human. The effort—to continue the analogy—is to not dwell or wallow in dog-ness, but believe in the possibility of being human. Practise being human by trying to walk on two legs and visualising not being furry. This is a method until you actually discover that you are human. In that instant there can be no method, only realisation."

p196, Illusory Advice, Ngakma Nor'dzin & Ngakpa 'ö-Dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2016, 978-1-898185-37-6

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Please see the Aro Books worldwide website for more information about Illusory Advice.

Illusory Advice: Shi-nè, every day

"All practitioners engage in formal practice – it is too easy to kid yourself that you are practising when in fact you are indulging neurosis. We would strongly recommend daily shi-nè practice as a minimum. You will find that other practices such as yogic song, mantra accumulation, and sKu-mNyé will support the practice of shi-nè. "

p190, Illusory Advice, Ngakma Nor'dzin & Ngakpa 'ö-Dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2016, 978-1-898185-37-6

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Illusory Advice: Reference points

"Every time you notice that you are using something as a reference point, this is a spontaneous moment of awareness and something to celebrate. You can laugh at how silly you have been, for example, in getting all worked up about the fact that someone dismissed you as stupid. This might be because you like science fiction, or period drama, or soap operas, or whatever … . Tantra is intrinsically optimistic, because it recognises the energy of neurosis as no different to the energy of realisation. "

p184, Illusory Advice, Ngakma Nor'dzin & Ngakpa 'ö-Dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2016, 978-1-898185-37-6

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Illusory Advice: The openness of doubt

"Doubts about a situation keep it fluid and available for examination – they leave things open. Openness—in terms of being uncertain of an outcome—is an experience of emptiness. Once you have decided definitely on one side or the other about a situation, then there is no longer openness and the possibility of working with the outcome. Once you have established a concrete view of how the situation should be, there is only the possibility of matters supporting or conflicting with that view. You will encourage and like the things that support it, and hit against the things that oppose it."

p183, Illusory Advice, Ngakma Nor'dzin & Ngakpa 'ö-Dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2016, 978-1-898185-37-6

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Please see the Aro Books worldwide website for more information about Illusory Advice.