This exercise called Point of View asks you to search inside and find the point of view which is creating your experience of right and wrong, good and bad. By drilling down to your essential point of view, you will see the infrastructure which is creating your identity and your experiences, right and wrong, good and bad.

Once you know what your point of view is, the next step is to change your point of view, at least a little. This allows a new experience to emerge which is often beyond right and wrong, good and bad.

Buddhist teachings are all about working with your point of view. The quickest path to transformation and even to enlightenment is simply to change your point of view. It’s that simple but easy.

Generally, it’s taught that there are three hundred and sixty points of view which are entirely false or nondharmic. These are our favorites most of the time. To get beyond this level, we must challenge ourselves to openly acknowledge our nondharmic points of view and then we must free ourselves of them. If we can practice this level of self-regulation, then we're ready to start working with dharmic points of view. These include partially correct points of view, pure points of view, and utterly pure points of view. Of course I’m referring to the practice of view according to the levels of sutra and tantra.

But for the time being, let’s just stay with the territory of discovering nondharmic points of view and freeing ourselves from them. Here’s the deal: 1) there’s an untrue point of view embedded in every thought and, 2) it prevents us from accessing the wisdom light of our true being. Yes, point of view prevents coherence with our true being. When we change our undharmic points of view, we find fulfillment and peace with what’s inside us and we no longer need to project onto others or act out on the world around us. And when we cultivate dharmic points of view, we align with the truth of an arhat, a bodhisattva, a meditational deity, or a master of awareness. And when there is no point of view, we’re buddha! I invite you to practicethis exercise many times a day: find your point of view and change it!

Please comment or tell me about your experiences with Point of View.

First, replace self-centeredness with other-centeredness by living your life in order to truly benefit all beings, no exceptions! The point is removing any hint of personal self-interest. This requires sensitive mindfulness and is not easy. There's always deeper levels to penetrate. Nevertheless, restructuring your raison d'etre in the way is essential and strangely, often bypassed! However, in order to become permanently selfless, you must commit to fully realizing the true nature of your own mind. This means realizing emptiness or in Sanskrit, shunyata. So Step One in creating the possibility is to cultivate the aspiration of selflessness and to follow through with your commitment to realization. This is what's called entering the path of mahayana.

Step Two

Accelerate this transformation by using the skillful means of vajrayana, the essence of which is anchoring in the one true nature of everything. Remaining conscious of the true nature of seeming perceiving subjects and perceived objects prevents unawareness and dualistic conceptuality from arising. It also avoids getting waylaid and wasting time by notions of due process. When you living in the true nature of everything, whatever arises in the field of your perception is non-separate from your true nature. So Step Two is the practice of pure vision. If you combine Step One and Step Two, you are always traveling towards your goal and in the midst of your goal.

Step Three

Before investing lots of time and energy in the skillful means of vajrayana, it's best to have an understanding of the true nature of reality. There's not much point getting into a Ferrari if you don't know what's it all about! The view of reality I am referring to goes something like this: “All phenomena exist as primordial purity and equality in the nature of great bliss which is the nature of your own mind.”(Secret Nucleus Tantra). Roughly, this is saying that everything which can be experienced in any way, shapr, or form, is, at its core, always pure and, in its appearance, it is also always pure. This is the case simply because at the level of what actually is, at the level of ultimate truth, there is no ignorance or delusion to create the impression of impurity. The whole thrust is that your always-pure essence always gives rise to only always-pure appearances. That makes everything pure and thus equal. And where is this discovered? In the nature of your own mind! Not in or by means of your conceptual mind which is inherently corrupted. Finding it identifies the bliss of jnana or true wisdom. 

So the third step for creating the possibility of realizing your innate enlightenment is the undistracted pursuit (for the lack of a better word) of jnana or true wisdom. This seeking and finding is fueled by authentic empowerments which are symbolic catalytic transmissions of true wisdom, followed by instructions which are like being coached and mentored, and then by your own personal meditation which leads you to your own discovery.

Written by Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo today inspired by a transcript of teachings I gave in Portland in 2011. Thank you!

So now  there is a new experience in my heart —this conflict is changing reality not only for the Tibetans and the Chinese but for me as well! I must do the inner work necessary to not reject anything or push anything away. Everything is a part of the truth in this non-linear world and my goal is to build a greater world of greater possibility.

Please view my video about open-ended hope which I recorded in response to this situation and please  join me in this practice. I welcome your responses and comments on this website Blog, on You Tube and on Facebook. Thank you. Dechen Yeshe Wangmo

"If you want to stop war, you have to stop your pain, your version of that war. You have to relate with your own antagonism, your own innate war between you and your projections." Chogyam Trungpa