Like gold in filth

• Advice on taking initiations
• Third simile: a kernel of grain in its husk
• Buddha nature obscured by seed of ignorance
• Emphasis on ordinary beings in the form realm and formless realm
• Fourth simile: gold buried in filth
• Buddha nature obscured by manifest, coarse three poisons
• Manifest coarse attachment, animosity, and ignorance

Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature 122: Like Gold in Filth (download)

Contemplation points

1. Consider the third simile: our buddha essence is like a kernel of grain in its husk. Just as the husk must be removed for the grain to be edible, our ignorance must be removed before we can realize the ultimate truth. Nor we can see the enlightening activities of a buddha because our minds are too obscured. Take some time to contemplate how our ignorance obscures our own buddha nature as well as our ability to recognize the enlightened activities of the buddhas in our lives. Consider how the buddhas teach us to remove the husk of our ignorance so that we can eventually nourish others through our own enlightened activities.
2. Visualize the court simile: that our buddha essence resembles gold buried in filth; our buddha essence is pure, but that we’re often completely unaware of it, particularly in wake of manifest attachment, animosity, and ignorance that dominate the mind. Really get a feel that this is our situation in samsara. Consider that as the buddhas teach us to subdue and eventually eradicate the afflictions, the beauty that is our own buddha essence can shine forth. Imagine what that must be like.