Tralam-mé

Q Rinpoche, do you have some awareness of how people's tralam-mé is? Or do people just have to find out by their practice?

R You know by your own history, without having to ask us about it.

Q I need further clarification of tralam-mé.

R Tralam-mé is a strange word. Tralam-mé pertains to anything that happens in the sky – weather conditions, rainbows, and meteor showers. Tralam-mé includes everything that happens in the sky – seeing the stars and moon in the sky. When this word is used in the Dzogchen context of vajra romance—and when it is used within the Khandro Pawo Nyi-da Mélong Gyüd—we translate tralam-mé as ‘poetic turbulence’. It is the energy people naturally manifest in relation to each other in terms of how their appreciation effloresces as the innate presence of rTsa, rLung and thig-lé. Tralam-mé does not exist simply as an interface between male-female romantic couples; it exists between everyone and everything everywhere

Tralam-mé affects how people relate with each other. We call it poetic turbulence as an emptiness and form coinage. The word ‘poetic’ relates to form, and the word ‘turbulence’ relates with emptiness. Tralam-mé is the manner in which people accidentally ‘rhyme’ with each other – the manner in which they fall in love. This is why we use the word poetry. Poetry is not connected with the Tibetan word tralam-mé (khra lam me); so poetic turbulence is a descriptively engineered translation of tralam-mé. With this descriptively engineered translation we can express the nature of the nyam of falling in love in terms of rhyming. When people fall in love with each other, they rhyme – their respective tralam-mé rhyme. It is important both in terms of Dzogchen long-dé and of being able to fall in love that one’s tralam-mé does not become diluted. Dilution in terms of tralam-mé concerns adultery – that is to say promiscuity and engaging in multiple sexual relationships outside one ‘promised relationship’ – be that marriage or otherwise. ‘Adultery' means watering down or weakening; so if one has engaged in multiple relationships in the same time frame, one weakens or adulterates one's tralam-mé.

Q One then finds it harder to rhyme?

R Yes. And then one moves into assonance.

Q Assonance?

R Assonance means rhyming with the vowel – but I intended no slur on assonance. Poetry without assonance would be music without chords – it would be a little sickly sweet. I am misusing the word assonance here to means ‘something less than rhyming’.

Q Does this also happen when we fantasise? Is that why we have to be careful of our fantasies?

R Yes – certainly. You find that tralam-mé in a broader sense will affect how you are with anybody. Instead of saying adultery, you could say betrayal of any kind as regards friendships. When you betray friends—or when you are disloyal to friends—you become a person who does not like anybody overmuch; and whom nobody particularly likes. If you are not loyal in friendship, it has a similar effect on the tralam-mé, but not as pronounced as when sexuality is involved. You find yourself gradually having less sympathy or empathy with anyone. You find that no one has any sympathy or empathy with you. You become a somewhat marginalised person. You find that happens with people who are self-centred – they have fewer and fewer friends – and in turn they find people harder and harder to like. They find fault with everyone.

Q3 Then that's a way to check your tralam-mé?

R Yes. If you find it easy to make friends, easy to fall in love, then you have a strong tralam-mé.

Q3 It sounds like tralam-mé is significantly more important than personality in the interaction of people?

R It cannot be separated from personality – they reflect each other.

Q Outside of regular practice, what can be done to repair tralam-mé?

R Nothing. It cannot be repaired. Only rebirth repairs it. You can make sure it is not further eroded; but it is not repairable by any means apart from realising the non-dual state.

Q So trallam-mé is of one life-time?

R It comes with the body as a fresh arena of energetic pattern-absorbency – that is to say it is pre-pattern potentiality. It is a dimension which responds to pattern and which allows pattern to arise in relation to other strongly colourful patterns.

Q Does it relate to bodhicitta?

R Damn right – but bodhicitta in terms of the way in which bodhicitta is expressed within Vajrayana – and particularly within Dzogchen long-dé.

Q But bodhicitta can be developed? So then how is it that bodhicitta doesn't affect tralam-mé?

R Bodhicitta is far deeper and more pervasive than tralam-mé. Tralam-mé is partially physical – it is physio-energetic. Bodhicitta can be completely intangible, and so can be developed. Tralam-mé is exhaustible. Like many other things in life that are exhaustible – tralam-mé is one of them. It is like inherited wealth. It is the inherited wealth of re-birth. As with inherited wealth – one does not have to work to obtain it. Once it is lost however, there is no way to regain it. One can work—naturally—but if one has to work for wages . . . wealth is unlikely. Tralam-mé then, is a capacity we have and one which can be developed – just as wealth can be made to gain even greater wealth. I do not wish this to sound like an advertisement for capitalism [laughs] but there are certain similarities. The difference between inherited wealth and the wealth of tralam-mé is that everyone is born with the capacity for tralam-mé.