[Next, Babaji presented the chart “Mahamudra – The Great Seal,” and throughout the retreat kept checking with us that we remembered it, i.e., had memorized the key points to The View, The Practice, and Action]:
“All manifestation, the Universe itself, is contained in the mind, and the true nature of mind is the realm of illumination, shining with radiance that can neither be conceived nor touched. These are the key points of The View.”
“Errant thoughts, the antithesis of The View, are liberated in the Dharmakaya. Awareness, the Illumination, is always blissful there. Meditate in a manner of nondoing, and noneffort. These are the key points of The Practice.”
“In action of naturalness, the ten virtues spontaneously grow, and the ten vices are thus purified. By corrections or remedies, the illuminating Void is never disturbed in any way. These are the key points of Action.”
— As described by Milarepa
Buddhism emphasizes shunyata, the void (absence of form). Vedanta often emphasizes purna, the plenum of Reality. Tantra refers to the void as abhava and purna as mahabhava. Do we need to choose one over the other? Sometimes you feel like a nut; sometimes you don’t. Mahayoga has nuts, abhava don’t…..
In the practice of Mahamudra there are three principles. The first, or “basis”, states: All phenomena bear the “seal” of combined emptiness and luminosity. So, the emptiness of the atheist’s void is black and lifeless, but the emptiness that the Buddha taught is impressed with the seal of Open Space and Light.
Slokas 15 & 16: You are the power of the Self, enchanting all, armed with the noose, the hook, the bow, and the arrow. Yours is the great and holy Science of Vedanta. Who knows thus tides over grief.
[Sloka 16 affirms that the devotees of the Devi will tide over all grief by knowing that She is the power of the Self and the holder of all the weapons mentioned in sloka 15 (“You are armed with the hook, noose, goad, bow, and arrow.”) To show what is meant by grief and inspire faith in the Mother’s Presence as our own true Self that can break all bonds, Babaji showed the chart on the Three Enemies of Reason, the Three Stupefactions, and the Four Deadly Traps. “On your fullness do we meditate.” — The Devi Gita]