Buddha's teaching was that most people live their lives in a state of dissatisfaction (dukha) that is caused by misperception of what we are. When we misperceive our own mind, we misperceive others, our world, all of reality. And in this misperception we feel awkward, disconnected, dissatisfied. If you thought you were a tuba, imagine how this would complicate your life. People would try to feed you and you think, “tubas do not need food.” So you would not eat and you would not feel great. Your lover would try to kiss you and as soon as their lips hit your “mouthpiece” you would blare out with your low, loud tuba sounds. Of course, this would make relationships difficult. Misperceiving what we are is the grave error that causes us to fall into all kinds of dissatisfaction, confusion and even all out suffering.

This the Buddha understood all too well. He was a man who had everything. He had looks, smarts, was great at sports, was rich, powerful, had a wonderful wife and a child. He would one day inherit the throne from his father and be the most powerful man in his clan. Yet, he felt something was missing. And so he set out on the spiritual quest that changed history and liberates our lives still to this day. He knew all too well that no matter how much success and good things we have in our life, if we do not know our own Buddha-mind we will not be satisfied. This dissatisfaction can spiral into all kinds of confusion and unnecessary suffering.

Buddha’s teaching was a series of methods for dismantling the confusion and conditioning that prevents us from enjoying the freedom of our Buddha-mind. Our Buddha-mind is a sane, satisfied state of being, in tune with the goodness and richness of life. He taught two major kinds of methods for realizing this path, that of the Monk and that of the Yogi. The path of the monk is very well known. Fewer people have had the good fortune to train in the lineage of the Buddhist Yogi whose path is expressed in the world of relationships, work and everyday life. Buddha passed on these teachings to us in an inspiring two thousand year-old tradition which was expressed through the lives of the MahaSiddhas and through the Tantric Buddhas, who in turn predicted it’s new life in the west.

- Excerpted from MahaSiddha Buddhism, by Troma Rinpoche