One of the Rime’s tag lines – and one you’ve heard me every wek is ”…. come and re-awaken your Buddha nature.”

Well, first the good news…. All of you are fully enlightened Buddhas. It’s true! The bad news is you just haven’t actualized that yet.

The Buddha gave three turnings of the wheel of Dharma. The first was after his enlightenment at Bodhgaya and was the Four Noble Truths. The Second was at Vulture Peak Mountain and is referred to as the “Prajnaparamita” or teaching on emptiness. And his third and final turning of the Wheel of Dharma was given at Vaisali, India on Buddha-nature. There are a number of different Buddhist texts on Buddha-nature that were revealed by Asanga in the fourth century.

I was raised Christian and was taught that man’s (or woman’s) basic nature is bad, and that you need divine intervention from a Supreme Being to be saved. Buddhism believes almost the opposite - that our basic nature is not only good - but in fact enlightened. And that it is a “do-it-yourself” job - you must do the work yourself. It is believed that all sentient beings (that is those with with a consciosness that includes humans, animals, even insects) generate karma and have re-birth - have as their fundamental nature the potential for enlightenment – to become a Buddha.

In Gampopa’s “Jewel Ornament of Liberation” This fundamental nature is compared to gold ore that contains gold, or to cream that contains butter, or sesame seeds that contain sesame seed oil. –

Another analogy is of that of the weather in the Northwest – Seattle. As you know in the winter for nearly 9 months they get nothing but rain and clouds. If you lived there, you might begin to think that the sun may never shine again.

A friend of mine in the Northwest said, “The weather this week wasn’t too bad it only rained twice. Once for 3 days and once for 4 days!” With such miserable weather you might think that the sun may never shine again – but of course the sun hasn’t disappeared. The clouds merely block the sun from shining. After the winds shift and the clouds part - you can see the sun again – shining as brightly as ever.

Similarly the clouds of our ignorance and delusion obscure our Buddha nature. The basic purity of our Buddha nature is unaffected by uncontaminated by our obscuring delusions.

Sometimes the analogy is used that following the spiritual path is likened to peeling away the successive layers of an onion. We must peel away the layers of our ignorance and delusion.

In the Buddhist text that describes Buddha-nature that is shared by all beings it is compared to a treasure lying hidden beneath a poor man’s house:

“Under the floor of some poor man’s house lies a treasure. But because he does not know of it’s existence he does not think he is rich. Similarly, inside one’s mind lies truth itself - firm, and unfading, yet because beings see it not, they experience a constant stream of misery. The treasure of truth lies within the house of the mind; Buddhas take pure birth into this world so that this treasure may be made known.”

So, you may ask – OK - but how do I go about contacting, revealing and fulfilling this fundamental purity at the core of my being?

There are two ways - and both are actualized through the meditation practice.

1. Cultivate the wisdom that unmasks ignorance, the root of all suffering.

ignorance of misknowing or misunderstanding the way things exist

The ignorance of not seeing things as they really are. How is that? Of seeing the emptiness of all things – to see that there is no duality between self & other - but that all things are intricately connected through a vast web of interconnectedness.

1. Generate the loving-compassion that opens your heart to others.

Not just loving-compassion for our loved ones - but for everyone - without any discrimination – without any distinction.

So in a nutshell the entire path to enlightenment is a union of wisdom and compassion.

So how do we know that Buddha-nature is real and it is possible? First is the example of the Buddha - he went on a spiritual search - like many of us and through his own efforts he attained enlightenment. H.H. Dalia Lama is considered a manifestation of the Bodhisattva of compassion. When you are in his presence you can see and feel the genuine compassion from this enlightened being. We can also see and experience this from some of the amazing teachers who visit the Rime Center.

This is why the meditation practice is so important. It is only through the meditation practice that we begin to get even get a glimmer of what this is about. Through the mediation practice we can begin to clear away the obscurations and ignorance of our mind. We can begin to see things as they truly are and we can begin to develop the kind of loving-kindness that we call bodhichitta – compassion for all beings without distinction.

So as I say so often - if you don’t have a practice, start one - if you already have a practice - then re-dedicate yourself to that practice – and re-awaken your Buddha nature – that is waiting to be uncovered.