On page 44 of White Sail, Thinley Norbu writes:
Although sectarians may seem to be studying spiritual teachings, they are only disguising dualistic mind’s ruminations with a spiritual veneer. The reason for studying spiritual teachings is to subdue ordinary ego and open wisdom mind. No matter what traditions are studied, the purpose of study is to go beyond sectarian views. When wisdom mind opens, there is automatically a total loss of interest in outward, intellectual study and sectarianism, since the immeasurable knowledge of wisdom opens from the treasure of wisdom mind. If wisdom mind opens without studying, the meaning of studying is still achieved, which is the manifestation of wisdom Buddha. Abiding in wisdom mind is nonsectarianism.
The world’s bookstores are filled to the roof with books on Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, the Western Mystical tradition, Shamanic paths, and so forth. It is a good thing that so many branches of wisdom mind are represented in such an open and available way in this brief time that we are together. But once the mind opens, there isn’t much point in casting about any further. That is why there is a loss in the motivation to read and study intellectually further. That path was useful to get your wisdom mind opened. Then, one studies in a different way. One cultivates. This is very different from continually getting all excited about the latest book or teacher. Cultivation is done without books. Cultivation is done in real life, with real people.
Many get a powerful glimpse of unitive conscious wisdom mind. It’s like the clear light of wisdom mind Buddha breaks through a shrouded shell and suddenly all is light, but we still fall back into dualistic intellectual combat. In this state of mind, we are not yet awake to the inconceivable, infinitely vast buddhafield in which we live and breathe. What these people do is to immediately patch up the breach due to cowardice or fear that results from attaching to dualistic, nihilistic phenomena as ultimately real. More real than this freedom/light buddhafield thing!
The best way to handle the precious glimpse of Buddha Mind is to cultivate deity yoga until one’s habits are eventually cleansed of nonsense. Then it is easier to purify one’s practice until finally one awakens permanently in the Clear Light Wisdom Mind, and so arises Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya, and no more mistakes are made.
On another note, does the awakening mean that there will no longer be interest in intellectual pursuits such as science, mathematics and so forth? Absolutely not. In truth, it is next to impossible to totally escape karma, and so there will always be inclinations, which will be expressed in talents for certain kinds of disciplines as a specialty. There simply isn’t the attachment to the samsaric aspects of samsaric activities. The bottom line is that there is no longer any need to convert anyone to your own way of thinking, since you aren’t “thinking” in that way anymore. Everything sparkles and dances in the eternally playing light of Wisdom Mind.
