Longchenpa - Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind

He began by lamenting the fact that the great masters of the past, whose works were clear, comprehensive, and utterly trustworthy, had passed away. Their place had been taken by scholars of incomplete learning and understanding who, through clinging to words and formulas, had failed to penetrate the essential meaning of the teachings. They perceived differences and even contradictions between the views of the stras and the tantras of the Mahynawhere no such conflicts existed. It was to correct this misunderstanding that Longchenpa composed his Trilogy of Rest and in particular its first section, Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind, which is an exposition of the stages of the path. Here, the stras and tantras are explained progressivelyfrom the preliminary reflections that cause the mind to take an interest in spiritual values, to the view and practice of the Great Perfectionin order to show how the earlier teachings are enlarged and completed by those that follow. Scriptural authority, reasoning, and the essential instructions of the practice lineage are all invoked to demonstrate that the Pramityna and the Mantrayna form a single, perfectly integrated vehicle suited to the varying abilities and aspirations of practitioners, and grounded, from beginning to end, in bodhichitta: the wish to attain buddhahood for the sake of others.

The basis of all progress on the path is faith: confidence in the Buddha as a trustworthy guide, in the truth of the Dharma that he expounded, and in the Sagha that over the centuries has preserved and practiced the teachings, and transmitted them to us. But if faith in the Three Jewels is the essential foundation, it is only through actually implementing the teachings that we can free ourselves from the confusion and meaningless sufferings of sasra. This being said, it is obvious that in order to practice the teachings, we need to know what they are. We need to understand them as clearly and as accurately as possible. We need to be certain of their truth. When the Buddha said that we should not accept his teachings out of blind faith but should examine them and put them to the test of reasoning and experience, he was not just expressing the fearless confidence of someone who had discovered and seen the truth for himself.