Free Awakening the Luminous Mind: Tibetan Meditation for Inner Peace and Joy by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche Page A

passive, needy receiver. No, the entire process is beautifully empty. Knowing this, you become infinitely generous. This is the gift of openness—the body of emptiness referred to in the poem of inner refuge.
    Overcoming Fear with the First Refuge
     
    As we discussed in Chapter 2 , our human ego is changeable and vulnerable. Even though we all have the capacity to recognize the changeless essence, we grasp at our temporary experience with our conceptual mind in an attempt to protect ourselves from loss or change. We want what is by nature changeable to be unchanging. This creates an identity of insecurity, which I have been calling the pain body. We seek refuge in the wrong place, the changeable pain body. Our desire is that it should be changeless, and when this expectation is repeatedly disappointed, we experience fear. The continuous habit of identifying ourselves with what is changeable is the source of fear.
    The first refuge, the body of emptiness, is the changeless essence, the unbounded space of being. In reality, you are changeless, and you come to recognize this when you experience the first refuge. Recognizing it does not mean, “I intellectually believe this to be true.” Rather, you experience it so directly that the reality of it is without doubt. This recognition of the unbounded, unchanging space of being is a powerful experience of openness, and becomes the source of your inner confidence. Because you directly experience the changeless essence, this protects you from the fear of change—even the most extreme change that ego faces: death.
    Every time we go to the first refuge through the door of stillness, we can have a taste of changelessness. This taste is the medicine that heals fear and anxiety. To explore this, engage in a short period of reflection, bringing to mind a recent experience of anxiety or insecurity. Form a clear intention to seek refuge through the door of stillness. As you host the experience of fear or anxiety, bring unwavering attention to the stillness, until you glimpse unbounded spaciousness. Trust this glimpse. As you trust, your fear or anxiety begins to dissipate. Rest your focus in the openness that you discover. Rest there as long as the experience is fresh. In the beginning, you may be able to experience maintaining an open focus for only a short period of time—perhaps a few minutes. As you continue to practice hosting any fear or anxiety while focusing on stillness, you will again and again witness the dissolution of the anxiety and be able to rest in openness for longer periods. As you practice this, your fear can be overcome by trusting, and then resting in openness, which is the changeless, unbounded space of being—the body of emptiness. Confidence will naturally become available as you continue to practice resting in openness. This is the real and only way to go beyond fear and discover natural confidence.
    T HE G IFT OF A WARENESS : T HE B ODY OF L IGHT
     
    As we discussed in Chapter 2 , the second refuge—refuge in the body of light—is awareness of the unbounded space of being. When we discover the inner refuge of awareness, we connect with a sense of completeness, fullness, and worthiness. This is a tremendous gift and an antidote for so much of the suffering that we experience, whether it takes an extreme form like physical addictions or a more subtle form, such as depending on external things for our happiness, a strategy that is doomed to eventual failure. When you experience awareness of inner spaciousness, you feel complete in the moment, vividly present, and connected as you are and where you are. It is the experience of self-worth in the truest sense. You realize you are full with potential. Because every individual in any given moment has infinite possibilities within him or her, when you extend the gift of awareness to others, you allow them to feel, explore, and discover who they are, without trying to control or manipulate their process or