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ODYSSEY TO FREEDOM

THE MEDITATION CHAPTER PART II

Oral explanations by Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche

My apologies. I am really late today. I got stuck in the traffic and we couldn't get through. We had a very interesting driver who didn't know how to get here, but went a completely different way. Two people called me and asked me where we were, but I didn't even know where we were.

I should be continuing to talk about the meditation course we have been doing, but tonight in particular I am supposed to be part of that New York Meditates thing, in conjunction with Tricyle. So I am not talking about the Meditation Course tonight. So whether you are part of that Open Group or following the Meditation Course, we are talking about the essence of Buddha's teaching and in particular about the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. As many of you know, Tibetan Buddhism is part of the Mahayana practice.

What is the difference between Theravada and Mahayana? A lot of people will say that it is the difference between compassion and not having compassion. That is not right. The Theravadan tradition also gives you tremendous compassion and is wonderful. The bottom line really is that in the Mahayana tradition the practitioner thinks, 'Whatever it may take, I myself, single handedly will take total responsibility of liberating every single sentient being.' That is the difference, not just compassion. Whether you can do it or not is a different story. That is the reason why in the Mahayana they take the total responsibility by me, the individual. When I say 'me', I mean me and when you say 'you' that means you. I, the individual person, will take total responsibility to liberate all beings.

Theravada has tremendous compassion too, but not necessarily for everybody. So if you try to make the difference on the point of compassion, it doesn't work. The real point of difference is taking the personal responsibility to free all beings. In the Tibetan tradition this is called 'Special Mind'. When you take that responsibility, then when you look at your own situation you realize that you don't know what to do to help even yourself, you are unable to figure out how to look after 'me only, but promise to liberate all. So the question is: How? The answer is: Yes, you have to become fully enlightened. Then you will be able to liberate everybody else. That's why in the Mahayana practice the goal you are trying to achieve is becoming a Buddha.

In the Theravadan tradition the goal you are striving for, the stage of no more learning, is to become an arhat. An arhat is free of suffering and the causes of suffering, which is known as samsara in Sanskrit. If you are listening on the internet you will notice that this is what I talked about two days ago in Ann Arbor. I am here today again talking about samsara. It is a Sanskrit word. I don't know what the word really means. Sanskrit scholars know. There is one here tonight. I only know the Tibetan. There it is called kor and the combination of kor de means samsara and nirvana. Kor means anything that is circling. De means 'beyond'. That is quite interesting. When you look at the word kor de, what is circling? It is fantastic, just these two little words kor de contain the Four Noble Truths, the first teaching of the Buddha. These are Truth of Suffering, Truth of Cause of Suffering, Truth of Cessation of Suffering and Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering. The path means what leads to the cessation of suffering. The circling of kor is related to the first Two Noble Truths, the Truth of suffering and the cause of suffering. The cause of suffering makes the individual circle continuously in suffering. The other way round is that the suffering makes the individual run. We are running away from fear and we can't get away, so we are circling.

Fear combined with confusion is the source of suffering. We have had that for so long. We are running but we can't get away. So we are circling. Why can't we get away? Because we are sort of hooked in by links. It is like if you have a wheel where the inside runs but the spokes cannot fall apart because of the rim that keeps them together. We all know that. We drive cars that have wheels. The tires are kept together by the rim. They cannot fall apart. Exactly like that we are running but we cannot get away because of the 12 links of the interdependent system. You know about these, I am sure. We have heard and read about it and had teachings about that a number of times. These links, one after another, keep you running around. They are the rim that stops the system from falling apart. When Buddha talks about kor, circling, just that one word gives you the first Two Noble Truths. De, going beyond, gives you the other half of the Four Noble Truths. The first two are the negative aspects of the Four Noble Truths, the second are the positive ones. So just the name kor de gives you all that. That is why Buddha is really great. I am not saying that because I am a Buddhist. In these few simple words combined together he expresses the nature of our life. That's exactly what it is. We are all running, all of the time, physically, mentally, emotionally. Physically we are circling round - like us today, driving here, and not finding the way. [lauhgs].

In Sanskrit I don't know what exactly samsara and nirvana means. But the Tibetan equivalent, kor de, gives me the message of the Four Noble Truths. That is the life we are in. That is our reality. The idea of Buddha's liberation is based on these Four Noble Truths. It tells you how people get into it and how they can get out of it. I was just thinking of a sutra called lanka shepa. There Buddha says,

Why are peoplerunning around and suffer so much? Because they don't get emptiness straight, they don't get the meaning of peace. They don't get it straight with the nature of reality, what is really going on. That's why they are circling, life after life.

That is very important. Life after life, we are continuously doing the same thing. We may think, 'Well, I am okay, I am not doing anything terrible and miserable'. In one way that is true. We are greater than many others. But on the other hand, we are not liberated, we are not free. That much we know. For me the goal of spiritual practice, of spiritual work is that first we have to liberate ourselves, then to help liberate others. That's exactly what is. Liberating from what? From running around. The fear combined with confusion is traditionally called ignorance. It might not be exactly ignorance. This beats us so badly. It takes shelter in one of the emotions. It can be hatred or obsession. We are running around within that.

If you watch carefully, the truth becomes clear, whether you are doing okay or not. In your mind, at that time, what is the mind really influenced by? Only for a very short time you will find the mind influenced by positive emotions. Most of the time, however, the mind is influenced by negative emotions, such as dislike, dissatisfaction, fear. All of those are occupying all the time in our mind. That is our problem. It causes misery and suffering and unhappiness. That is the problem.

Sometimes we think we don't have this problem, and it may not look like we do. There is no one with horns and tail and fangs and says, 'I am the problem.' But it is there, occupying the individual subconsciously. Without our knowledge it controls us completely. These are the points because of which Buddha says that we are suffering. We do not necessarily have to be in a hot or cold hell, where you are either getting fried or frozen. Suffering is everywhere, there is mental, physical and emotional suffering. Physically we also have tremendous suffering. Everyone of us looks different from ten years ago. Just visualize what you looked like then and put a mirror in front of you. You won't like it. At least I don't. You won't like it either. That alone is physical suffering, even without specific aches and pains. When Buddha talks about kor and about suffering, that is what it is.

We repeat this behavior in lives after lives. If it were just for one life, it would be worthwhile to take away by experiencing it, but that is not the case. Life after life we repeat the same thing again and again - if you are lucky. Now is the time for us to stop that and make ourselves into something different. But the circle of kor, get out beyond. Shift from the first Two Noble Truths to the Second Two Noble Truths. Look at the Four Noble Truths. Everything good and bad is included in there. We have the opportunity and possibility and capability to make the difference now. It is the right time and the right opportunity. Whether we do it or not is our choice and business. If you try to cut that circle, the only link that this is possible is the root link. That is the only point where you can get out of it. This is the fear and confusion combined, which we call ignorance. This can only be cut by wisdom, nothing else. In order to get that wisdom, we have to have meditation. Yes, it is true, in vajrayana Buddhism they tell you that you can go and say certain mantras and rituals and develop wisdom. These are all there and they are very nice, and it is worth putting effort in, but without really putting the hard work of meditation in we will not get that wisdom at all. The hard work of meditating is needed on top of the work of saying mantras and rituals. Then that is the icing on the cake. But if you don't have the cake, the icing alone will be too sweet and too creamy to eat. It is not fun and won't do any good either. That is why we have this particular meditation course running. We are now halfway through. We are beginning with the second section which will run over 5 weeks, including today. The first section ran for 8 weeks.

Let me tell you a little bit about this. What did we do for the last 8 weeks? We introduced different types of meditations and selected zhi ne (Tib, shamata in Sanskrit). Then we gave you the reasons why it is called zhi and ne. Also we introduced you to two types of meditation: concentrated and analytical meditation. A lot of people say that concentrated meditation is meditation and analytical meditation might not be meditation. But if your purpose is to liberate yourself and others you cannot do without analytical meditation. Here is why: You cannot gain wisdom just with concentrated meditation. Wisdom requires tremendous analyzing. On the other hand, you cannot develop wisdom without stabilizing and concentrating either. You won't be able to focus or else, you will lose focus. We may think straight but we cannot focus and lose the focus all the time. Without focus, no matter how wise and clever you may be, you cannot achieve anything. It has never happened before and will never happen. Really true. First and foremost, we have to pick that up. So far we have covered a lot of detail, where to meditate, what to meditate, in which place, what are the qualities the place should have, what kinds of friends should we rely on, how should we meditate and so on. Up to here we have covered quite a lot.

One very important thing is: What to focus on. We have covered that quite well. Otherwise we could simply say: Meditate. You sit down, make your body gesture, sit straight and do it. But do what? You cannot just sit there, may be close your eyes, maybe not. That part is the biggest problem. In the west, we do have meditation and that is great. 20-30 years ago, no one knew about meditation and even if you knew you would probably let no one see you do it, as though it was some kind of criminal activity and you had to do it behind people's back. Nowadays people do it openly. But still, what are you doing? You are meditating, you are sitting there. If I came and asked, 'Hello, what are you doing?' Really, what would you be thinking at that time? What are you doing? Probably nothing. This afternoon I told somebody, 'You are not doing anything!' And he answered, 'Yes, I am. I am thinking about somebody in jail and thinking is doing something.' Actually, thinking is doing. But when you are sitting there, what are you thinking? Probably nothing. And then you are not doing anything. That is the question we never bother asking ourselves. We think we know something about meditation. Even the people who teach you meditation may do all kinds of things, burn incense, beat gongs, and then say, 'Stretch and sit straight.' I can look at you and yes, you sit beautifully, with crossed legs, in lotus style, hands together. But I cannot see what you are thinking. Since I cannot see what you are thinking I cannot copy that. If you are not thinking anything, you are not meditating, honestly.

I have given my usual example for that: One of my teachers told me one day, 'Come over here. I show you somebody who is meditating.' It was near that cave I had in Tibet. And there was a lizard sitting on a rock, sitting there with mouth open, taking in air. We all know that lizard is not meditating, just sitting there with fully opened mouth. That's what I now call 'lizard meditation' and that is not meditation. When you meditate you must engage something in your mind. So when I am talking about concentrated meditation, it means that the mind must concentrate on some thing. If the mind stays blank that is not concentration. You need on object or subject of meditation.

The recommended object is the image of Shakyamuni Buddha. There are a zillion reasons why. Why not my girl friend's face? Why not my boy-friend's face? There zillions of reasons. If only focusing itself is your purpose, the old Tibetan masters used to say that you can focus on anything from the yak's horns to the cow dung. If that is so you can meditate on your girl friend's face. Maybe that makes your concentration even easier than anything else. But it is not going to accumulate any positive virtuous deeds. That is why it is recommended to concentrate on the image of Buddha's body as object of meditation.

If you are trying to concentrate on a subject for meditation, a lot of people would like to meditate on the mind. That is very important. It is more difficult than meditating on Buddha's image. There we at least have an image that we can draw in our imagination and that is something to think and to hold. Right or wrong, good shape or bad shape, at least you have something. I am even saying that just a yellow lump will do. Not any yellow lumps - there are a lot of interesting yellow lumps. But when you try to meditate on Buddha and all you get is a yellow lump, even that will do in the beginning. You can gradually make it better and more clear. It is much more difficult to meditate on the mind. With the Buddha image you can imagine the image. If you can't imagine that, you can look at a Buddha statue or tangka close up, close your eyes, try to bring something up there and that is quite easy. But if you are looking at the mind you don't get that. It is almost like looking blank. That's why I am warning people about just sitting blank. There is a lot of talk about space-like emptiness and so on. That is a different story. Don't bring that together with our subject right now. If you do you will be the loser. If you meditate on mind it is very difficult to find. I already told you in the first course that there are 6 different ways of looking at the mind. They are all metaphors. One is like an eagle soaring. Then you try to draw a conclusion from all that, and sit and try to concentrate on that thing called mind. The instructions say, 'Don't close your eyes when you meditate', but if it is easier you can close your eyes and think over the 6 metaphors of the mind and try to imagine that you are observing the mind. For example the one of the eagle, which suggests not pushing too much, but lingering around, overlooking. But what do you see? You will probably see an eagle flying! [laughs]. If that is so you are not finding the object.

Another example is cutting off the thoughts. The metaphor is the fight between the arrow man and the sword fighter. The sword fighter is cutting off the arrows that the arrow man is shooting at him. Then he gets attracted by something else and his concentration fails and the next arrow kills him. When you reflect on that as an example for meditating on the mind, you might see in your mind two or three people, playing out a drama. But that is not focusing on the mind. Therefore, when you get down to meditating on the mind, it is very difficult to actually find the mind as the object. There is no image of the mind.

Some people have difficulty anyway with visualizing. Visualization is considered meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It is one of the best ones. We have been doing that for over a thousand years. If people find it hard to visualize they have to focus more on the feeling. During the retreat at Garrison we had this discussion and Za Choje Rimpoche said that apart from the feelings you can also concentrate on the sound. Then a question came, 'So what is the sound of a flower?' And the discussion went on. Segyu Rimpoche said, 'I try to listen to the sound of a lotus with my right ear and my left ear, but I didn't hear anything. Tsa!' Tsa in Tibetan means there is a contradiction. So, I don't know if you can always get a sound when you meditate, but you can get feelings. So when you cannot draw up a mental image you have to rely on feelings. You know yourself best. In my case I have become so used to it to draw mental images, because I have been trained to visualize everywhere. So that is not difficult for me. I may not be as great though as some other people. There is somebody in New York who can visualize a mandala so precisely that when the prescribed measurements from the texts are two millimeters out they will notice and say 'Rimpoche, it doesn't work here. It is becoming crooked.' So I had to go out and get some experts in mandala drawing and figure out why it doesn't fit. I can't visualize as precisely as that, but I can visualize. However, if you have no mental image in your visualization you have to focus on feelings. Then, what do you feel? Good or bad and who is feeling? There is just an acknowledgment of something being there, there is somebody who felt something, there was an understanding. Something acknowledged pain or joy. That, just that is mind. There is no image, no drawing, nothing tangible, no shape, no color. When you get that you have to recognize it, acknowledge it as relative mind. Not the absolute mind. The mind itself. You have to be satisfied at that point. If you are not satisfied but search for more you won't get anything. Just the satisfying point of that is the mind. Once you get used to it and pick it up you will begin to deal with it and not lose it. Then, whether this mind is permanent or impermanent, you can bring that in later, without losing the focus.

This is the beginning of finding the object on which you can concentrate. Then you try to develop zhi ne on that basis. That has problems. The two major ones are: too much focusing or excitement and too little focusing or laxity. That also has to be dealt with on the gross and on the subtle level. Then how do we handle those? That is what we are going to be talking about for the next four evenings. The reason why you have to meditate and specifically shamata or zhi ne in Buddhism is that you need it in order to gain wisdom. The purpose is not shamata itself. That is the difference between Buddha and the early Indian teachers. For those teachers shamata was considered the most important and then it was further intensified. There are up to 70 different stages. There are the 4 form and the 4 formless realms. Each of these has preliminary, actual and conclusion stages. 8 by 3 is 24. Then there are more subdivisions and it can go up to 70. In those systems these stages are used as measurements for spiritual development. That is the difference between Buddha and the earlier Indian teachers. Buddha does not do it for the purpose of just attaining concentration. At the stage of shamata he shifts the object of focus on to wisdom in order to attack the root of samsara and becoming liberated. That is the difference.

I should stop here and we probably don't have time for questions, unless there is some burning question.

Audience: Can you just quickly repeat the Four Noble Truths?

Rimpoche: The truth of suffering, then what makes us suffer, the cause of suffering. Then how do you get rid of it, which is the truth of the path and then, once I have got rid of the cause of suffering, where do I land, which is the truth of cessation of suffering.

Thank you.