As It Is, Vol. 2

Rating:
Summary: Some redundancy, some great points, Mahamudra&Madhyamaka ref
Review: This is a good book on the ultimate view of Dzogchen, Mahamudra, and Madhyamaka, but not, I think, the author's best work. I liked volume I (and "Rainbow Painting") better. But, it's certainly worth your time reading it. The title of this book reflects its main tenet (p. 97 "nothing needs to be accepted or rejected; it is already perfect "as it is." i.e. the title of book). It's also taken from a quotation (pp. 140-1) from Padmasambhava's "Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpa" -
"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing,
Is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state.
When not altering what is, allow it to be as it is,
And the awakened state is right now spontaneously present.
`As it is here means actuality. `Actuality' means seeing directly how it is, not as an idea or a concept. This matches the philosophical (and Rosicrucian) use of Actuality for "what is" vs. Reality for our perceptions of "what is."
Interestingly, the title of the publishing company similarly reflects the writings of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche: (e. g. on p. 94) Rangjung Yeshe = "self-existing wakefulness." This is reminiscent of Tulku Urgyen's son Drubwang Tsoknyi's book "Present Fresh Wakefulness."
This view is similarly described in Kagyu Mahamudra, Madhyamaka (The Middle Way philosophy), and Nyingma Dzogchen. The author describes these similarities in several places in the book (e. g. pp. 97, 122 &. 233). He also includes quotations from the three traditions throughout the book (e. g. pp. 117-8, 207, etc.) and even some stories on Chö (d) on pp. 222-3.
However, the first half dozen chapters are considerably redundant with volume I as well as with each other. Repetition may be beneficial in order for the reader/practitioner to absorb the view at a deeper than intellectual level. Chapter 7 (pp. 127-143, "The Highway of the Victorious Ones") is very different from the rest of the book-it's my favorite chapter! In it, the author includes a concise yet enlightening description of Trekchö and Tögal (the 2 main Dzogchen practices) on pages 136-7. He has a poetic way of pithy description of the essence of the teachings (somewhat like a koan), such as on pp. 141-2:
"See the view of no viewing.
Train in the meditation with nothing meditated upon.
Carry out the conduct of nondoing.
Achieve the fruition in which there is no thing attained."
On the down side, it is difficult to tell if he is using mythological beliefs just for illustration or not. For example, on p. 117 he uses the example of insects born only from heat and moisture and describes the physical activities of obstructing gods on p. 221. On the other hand, he clears up the question of life after death logically: (p. 225): "mind is not some `thing' that can die. The reason why there can be a succession of lives is because of this mind. If mind could die, there would be no rebirth" and (p. 228): "In actuality, death is only the death of the body; mind does not die."
He also provided some interesting quotes for my collection:
p. 118 "It is not all right to let simplicity be fettered by complexity."
p. 149 "a thought is simply the extroverted expression of knowing, of awareness."
p. 234 Tibetan Proverb: "The wise may still find truth in the words of a rascal" which is quite similar to the Western Proverb: The wise can learn even from a fool, but a fool cannot learn even from the wise. (Oscar Wilde and others).
Finally, pp. 225-8 Chapter 14 "Death Row" is an actual transmission from the author to a prison inmate and serves as a very good summary of book.