The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa Collected Works: Volume Two by Chogyam Trungpa, Chögyam Trungpa

homework already, so they don’t need further proof.
    Jhana states are part of what is called the common path, which is shared by both Buddhists and Hindus. The application is that if somebody wants to get into a religious trip, theistic or nontheistic, they could be reassured through the jhana states that the religious trip does give you something definite to experience right at the beginning. It’s a kind of insurance policy, which we do not particularly need. I think we are more educated than that. Nobody here is a stupid peasant. Everybody is a somewhat intelligent person. Every one of you knows how to sign your name. So we are approaching things with some sophistication.
    S: So as one proceeds on the path through the yanas, and gets into the tantric yogas and everything, there is still no need to work on the jhana states?
    TR: From the vipashyana level onward, it’s no longer the common path, it’s the uncommon path. You are getting into enlightenment territory rather than godhead territory. So jhana states are unnecessary.
    They are similar in a way to what people in this country have gone through in taking LSD. Through that they began to realize that their life had something subtler to it than they expected. They felt that something was happening underneath. People took LSD and they felt very special. They felt there was something behind all this, something subtler than this. This is exactly the same thing that jhana states provide—the understanding that life isn’t all that cheap, that it has subtleties. But in order to get into the vajrayana, you don’t just keep taking LSD, which is obsolete from that point of view. That was just an opener, and you were exposed to a different way of seeing your life. You saw it from a different angle than you usually do. So in a way, taking LSD could be said to bring about an instant jhana state. In a way, it’s much neater. Maybe LSD pills should be called jhana pills.
    Student: I’m interested in the point where you are self-conscious in the mindfulness of shamatha and then you switch into becoming panoramically aware. Does that switch happen in flips, in flashes? How does it work?
    Trungpa Rinpoche: What are you trying to find out, really?
    S: I’m trying to classify my experience more, so I know when it’s shamatha and when it’s vipashyana.
    TR: I don’t see any problems there. When you experience shamatha, it’s very literal, very direct, concise and precise. When you experience vipashyana, things begin to expand. Your mindfulness becomes more grown-up. You have a multifaceted awareness taking place, everything all at once. That is possible. It works. It has been done in the past, and we are doing it now. It’s very simple. It’s just like switching on a light switch—there’s no problem, particularly.
    But there are side effects, obviously. You start thinking, “What is this about to be? What should happen now?” and all kinds of things like that, which is unnecessary garbage. As far as that’s concerned, when you meditate every day, it’s like shaving every day. You shave off unnecessary little pieces of hair by meditating. So shave every day.

FOUR
     
    Boredom—Full or Empty?
     
    O NE OF THE POINTS of basic vipashyana practice is developing what is known as the knowledge of egolessness. That is to say that the awareness that develops through the vipashyana experience brings nonexistence of yourself. And because you develop an understanding of the nonexistence of yourself, therefore you are freer to relate with the phenomenal world—the climate, atmosphere, or environment we have been talking about.
    Unless there is no basic center, one cannot develop the vipashyana experience. On the practical level, this means that vipashyana is experiencing a sense of the environment, a sense of space, as the meditator practices. This is called awareness as opposed to mindfulness. Mindfulness is very detailed and very direct, but awareness is something panoramic,