Archive Result

12

Talk on Meditation

given by Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche

July 8, 2004

New York Jewel Heart Center

This is the last class in this series, so I’d like to review [some of the material]. The next series will take place on August 5, 12 and 19.

What we have tried to do is to show you the way to develop the perfect meditative state called shamata or zhi-ne. We spent almost half a year discussing what this is, why [to strive for it], what the problems are and how to overcome them.

Last week we looked into what a perfect state of meditation is, what happens, what the perception of the person meditating is at that time, and how the person knows he/she is in this perfect state. We will discuss further (during the next two series) how you know you are there.

The most important topic we covered last time was how we reach the perfect state. What it actually boils down to is quite simple. We introduced the object on which you meditate. There are two types; one that is physical, and one that is non-physical. The latter is the mind level. We covered that quite well.

When you are focusing on the subject, meditation is focusing. We encounter two problems on that level; mental laxity and excitation. Each consists of different layers. Layer one is the gross level of laxity, and the gross level of excitation. The gross level of laxity is falling asleep. You are thinking of meditating, and suddenly you realize you are dreaming, snoring. The person next to you is kicking you, giving you the eye, and waking you up. If there is no one next to you, you will be throwing your neck down, causing you pain; or you will be falling backwards.

In between this very gross laxity and subtle laxity, there is this ignorance-oriented, dark, heavy [condition]. We also talked about types of depression, which are part of this problem. We even introduced where they come from, not in the way a psychologist would go back to childhood. We gave the five points where these really originate.

We have not dealt much yet with subtle laxity. Here the meditator does not lose the focus, but the sharpness from the point of view of the mind is missing. It is not the sharpness of the subject or the object on which you are focusing. From the point of view of who is focusing; there is no sharpness, no alertness of that mind. Yes, you are focusing, but there is dullness. If you have this dullness, yet you think you are meditating, there is a big problem. Your memory will begin to be eaten up. It will lead to Alzheimer’s. It is true. It is a nice way of contributing to the aging process.

The reality is that you are forgetting, losing intellectual knowledge. When the sharpness is missing, you will create pressure, darkness, you will drag yourself through the session. All those things will cause forgetfulness. At the gross level, it might become Alzheimer’s. This is called mumba, which comes in between gross and subtle laxity. We covered depression in great detail, but we didn’t talk about subtle laxity. We will talk about that at the next session. The gross level of subtle laxity is Alzheimer’s. You forget, don’t recognize [people], and after a while you forget your own name. Your mental capacity has gradually deteriorated.

That problem comes because we don’t keep the mind alert. We allow the mind extra relaxation. We presume that ‘I am tired.’ We think we’re giving ourselves a break, but what we are really doing is reducing the alertness of the focusing mind. You’ll be able to think about things like the pink cover, the clock inside, you see the time is getting to be a quarter to eight and behind that your memory tells you this is p.m., not a.m. The mind, however, is not alert. You don’t have the crispness. This is subtle laxity.

In perfect meditation, we have this ‘crispiness’ and freshness. This mind is not holding tight. It is observing its alertness and crispness. These qualities will be present not only when we are meditating, but even while thinking about our problems.

Knowing what the problems are, e.g. subtle laxity, and dealing with them are important. Thus we have introduced the problems we will encounter in meditation.

Last week I introduced you to the Nine Stages of Meditation. We gave names such as

1. focus

2. continual focus

3. patch like focus

4. close focus

5. controlled focus

6. pacified focus

7. completely pacified focus

8. single-pointed focus

9. equanimity

I thought last week’s transcript was not [put on the web. I would like to make a chart using the [thangka] borrowed from Domo Geshe Rimpoche that has the perfect explanation. I wanted to include that to show how it works. These nine stages are developed by the six powers. I think I covered that last week. These are

1. power of learning

2. power of contemplating

3. power of mindfulness

4. power of meta-attention

5. power of joyous effort

6. power of habituation

These six powers push you to the nine stages.

First is the power of learning, leading to focus. The second one is contemplating, which will lead to continual focus. Then comes mindfulness. Even if you forget the subject, mindfulness will bring you back. This is ‘patch-like focus. Even if you are lost – there is a practice of poor Tibetan people putting a piece of cloth on a torn part [of a garment], and stitching it, in other words, patching it. It means, even if you are lost, which you are going to be, you have to patch up and add up again, and focus.

That creates two stages, not only the patch-like stage, but also the next one – close focus. Why? Because at this level, whenever the mind is not focused, the mind will be brought back inside and mindfulness will be rebuilt and re-strengthened. This mindfulness will bring two stages.

Likewise, meta-attention will bring the next two stages, the controlled focused and the pacified focus. It is so-called because at that level, thoughts and disturbances and obstacles are strongly considered. The mind has learned that, and will see these as a problem. The mind doesn’t go out [of focus].

Joyous effort will bring the next two, the seventh and eighth stages, the completely pacified and the single-pointed focus stages.

Then, the power of habituation brings the meditative state of equanimity, the ninth stage.

Thus the six powers bring these nine stages.

Maybe it is important to repeat a little bit. When you reach the ninth stage, the meditative stage, the example given from the teachings is, when you have memorized a tiny little book, or some verses of a song, the moment you say the first word, thereafter you will reach the end effortlessly, without having to remember. Just as many of you here, when you say ‘om mani’ you don’t have to think – you will automatically say ‘pedme hung.’ Maybe that’s too short. If you say this ‘Dhara Dhara’ business, then you will automatically say ‘[Dhiri Dhiri]Dhuru Dhuru Itte [Vatte] Tsale Tsale Pratsale Pratsale.’ It is going through your mind without effort. You can see that yourself, right? When you say, ‘I take refuge in Buddha,’ then you comes ‘Dharma, Sangha’ without effort.

Just like that, when you reach that meditative stage, then effortlessly you are meditating. That’s why you can plan and set the time period when you want to meditate, and when the timer goes off, it’s finished, right? So, just like that, the mind itself will function in that way, at the ninth meditation level.

That’s why it comes automatically, effortlessly. That’s why it’s called an effortless state.

At this level, you will also have sort of side effects. You will have clairvoyance. You will probably read people’s minds. You’ll probably read your future, and others’ future. As medicines have side effects; allopathic and even homeopathic and ayurvedic medicines have them sometimes. It’s good for something but then it harms you in another way.

Just like this, in a positive way, when your mind reaches that level, your focus of your mind will be sharpened to the point where you will read the future. [To what degree] is a different question. How long or far into the future you will see is a different issue. You’ll be able to see it. If you want to, you can give limited predictions. You can be wrong. I keep seeing that Gephart will be Kerry’s running mate, but I was wrong.

Audience: The New York Post put on the cover that it was Gephart.

Rimpoche: (laughs). I have no excuse, right? How far you see and what you see is a different question, but that’s what it is.

Before reaching such a state of mind, we have to have a habitual development of mindfulness and meta-attention, so that they are constantly, continuously being applied. If you have that, what does it do? It cuts the two problems of excitation and laxity. It cuts them short; they can’t stay long.

In order to develop that, you need the eighth stage. Neither at the eighth nor the ninth stage [are you subject to] interruption or disturbance by laxity or excitation, but at the eighth stage, joyous effort is needed. At the ninth level, it is effortless.

In order to develop that, the moment that either laxity or excitation comes, you must have established the habitual pattern of forcefully preventing them from occupying a single second within you. That is the seventh stage (completely pacified focus). That is how the seventh brings the eighth stage, and the eighth brings the ninth.

To reach the seventh stage, you have to achieve the fifth (controlled focus) and sixth (pacified focus) levels first. Why? The reason is you have to know and recognize that laxity and excitation are problems. Not only must you know, but you have to have powerful meta-attention. The fifth and sixth stages are developed purely by meta-attention.

To develop meta-attention, you have to reach the stage where you are constantly, mindfully focusing. You must also be able to block excitations before they even develop. This mindfulness produces the third, patch-like focus and the fourth, close focus. The focus you must have is continuous; therefore you need the first stage, focus, and the second, continual focus. We are tracing back. That is how you develop.

In short, again, by learning meditation, your mind will just follow on meditation. Just try to meditate. Whatever your subject or object may be, try to make your meditation a little longer. If you recognize that you are losing the focus, bring your mind back as quickly as possible, with mindfulness. You should make this mindfulness stronger and stronger, until you don’t lose your focus at all. Once you have such mindfulness, you will develop meta-attention. You will begin to see it immediately when the problems of laxity and excitation come. Meta-attention will become strong and powerful. Through it you will notice whether you are losing any attention, and cut it immediately. Your meditation will become stronger, longer. You will develop strong and powerful effort, you will be able to continuously meditate. Then you will reach the state of effortless meditation, which is the ninth stage.

At the ninth stage, without any effort, your mind stays totally on whatever point [you have chosen]. I’m not just talking about meditation. When you want to put your mind to solving a certain mundane problem, this total mind will do the job.

Meditation is a tool. You may use it for a positive or negative purpose. Even with subtle laxity, it delivers quite good results. You hear very often in the west of the ‘absent-minded professor.’ The professor knows the subject he’s focused on very well, but he’s completely absent in normal mundane matters. That is the subtle laxity I’ve been talking about. It fully delivers the goods, don’t forget. The totally focusing mind is there, but there is no sharpness or alertness.

These mind stages are developed not only by the six powers, but also by four steps called in Tibetan yi la che pa. Yi la che pa means truly, rightly focusing. Rightly thinking. I don’t have the exact English for this, so we may be able to develop this. The first of [these four] right ways of thinking is ‘thinking with effort.’ Why is it called with effort? Of the nine stages, the first two require the most effort. Actually, this involves bringing the right mind forcefully. That brings the first two of the nine stages. At the third, fourth and fifth stages, you are focusing, but laxity and excitation bring tremendous interruptions. You are rightfully thinking, but your thinking is constantly interrupted. That’s called che jing jupa. You follow, but with a lot of distractions and interruptions. You are still, however, constantly focusing.

The sixth, seventh and eighth stages are called, in these four ways of right thinking, ‘with no interruptions.’ At that time, the powers of obstruction are quite reduced.

The ninth stage is called ‘effortless mindfulness.’

These are called the four mindful states.

There are many other details I would like to share with you. Now what you have is the nine stages of the mental state. The stages were brought by the six powers. They can be divided into the four mental states: rightfully thinking, with interruptions, with no interruptions and effortless mindfulness.

We have finished early. If anyone has questions, I’ll be happy to answer them.

Audience: I think you said two weeks ago about laxity and excitation that of the two, excitation is caused by attachment-oriented mind. I was thinking two things. Isn’t it sometimes caused by fear? I’ve noticed that when my mind is wandering, it’s not only towards things I want, but also towards things I don’t want. The second question is, if you learn to manage wandering, so that you do have a better focus, does that cut down attachment in your life as well?

Rimpoche: No. What I said is that excitation is a part of attachment. Attachment does cause excitation, because attachment draws your mind. I’ll give you an example that I think will speak very well to you. If you [were with] a nice, new girlfriend last night, today your mind will be very often on that excitation. That’s because the part of attachment pulls you.

[Managing the wandering] can reduce attachment. That doesn’t mean it is the antidote of attachment, or the power over attachment. It’s good, but you can do better than that. Actually, the direct antidote of attachment is……

Audience: Impermanence, right?

Rimpoche: Yes, but…… I’ll leave it at that, because people won’t like it if I say more. That’s good enough. Some other time [we’ll talk about it].

Audience: Rimpoche, what is the direct antidote of attachment?

Rimpoche: Next time. (Rimpoche laughs).

Audience: I know you’ve been saying that right now we’re only going to be able to meditate for a second or two at a time. I have a lot of times when my mind has been away somewhere else before I recognize that it’s off the point and I bring it back. There are ways in which I’m working with this within doing a sadhana, and then there’s also just doing sitting meditation. Do you feel that it’s advantageous for us to do a particular amount of sitting meditation in addition to the sadhanas, and how much should we do?

Rimpoche: The beauty of the Vajrayana is, you don’t have to allocate a separate time for sitting meditation. In the west, Dharma centers have a system of [scheduling] a time for meditations. People come in, keep quiet, sit down, and that’s a great thing. I think it comes from Southeast Asia, from the Theravadin tradition of meditation, if you are talking from the Buddhist point of view.

The beauty of the Vajrayana is they don’t give this meditation course separately because it is covered in the Mahayana. I think this is also true of the Hindu tradition. In the Lam Rim, the Mahayana level is given. The beauty of the Vajrayana is that throughout the sadhana, from the beginning to the end, the [aspects of meditation] are completely covered.

From the Guru praise to instantaneous arising, through the blessings, through the seven limbs, through the accumulation of merit, generating a supreme field, through the Dharmakaya death and dying stage, to generating the universe, the mandala, environments and inhabitants, through the subtle deities in the body, the seed syllables, the purities of the body, and mantra recitations; these are all focused on this.

You do not need a separate time [to do sitting meditation]. If you have plenty of time, and you want to do it, it is good, but it is not necessary, because it is completely covered in the sadhana. Especially, just before the purities, if you are doing a Yamantaka sadhana, you say

The nine faces are the nine scriptural categories, the two horns are the two truths. The thirty-four arms together with the body, speech and mind are the thirty-seven elements directed at enlightenment……

At the Vajrayana level, you can [achieve] all nine stages. Without even [thinking in terms of the nine stages], since you have the knowledge, you can [clearly see] how much you are thinking, how many interruptions you experience, and how much effort you have or don’t have to [apply]. You can see whether it is effortless. You [are able] to judge for yourself.

We give this course [on meditation] separately, in order to specifically emphasize it. When you attend any Vajrayana teachings, like the Yamantaka or the Vajrayogini teachings, I’m not going to tell you there are nine stages and six powers, because they are part of [contained in] the teaching. The Vajrayana teachings are not a part of the nine stages, etc.

Even if you are just doing a White Tara practice, as you are focusing on Tara, you see what stage you’ve reached. Is it an interrupted level, or just focusing, or a little bit more than focusing, or a level with effort or without effort? This is true within all practices.

That is why zhi-ne and laktong are sometimes called the backbones of practice. They are called backbone because they tell you where you are. It’s just very clear to you. Which of the six powers are you using? At which of the four correct mindful levels are you?

Four or five weeks ago we covered the five faults that have to be overcome by eight different minds. These are relevant even before you get to stage one or two [of the nine stages]. Even single focusing on White Tara or the White Tara sadhana have [all these levels, powers, etc.] And then, the vividness is going to add up.

There is a slight difference here between the Vajrayana and the non-Vajrayana levels. The Vajrayana level demands clarity. For instance, if you are meditating on Tara, you are meditating on Tara’s face, seven eyes, two hands, implements, sitting crossed-leg, lotus cushion, jewel ornaments and her [garments]. Vajrayana demands complete clarity and vividness of all of it. Non-Vajrayana does not. A yellow lump will do.

If you are a Yamantaka practitioner, you have the demand of [clarity of] 34 heads, 16 legs and nine faces. If you are a Heruka practitioner, [you must have] four faces and 12 hands. For Vajrayogini, [the clarity of] one face and two hands is easy to do, but also the 32-body mandala deities are demanded.

The Vajrayana techniques, systems, and applications all demand vividness and clarity, not only of the mind, but of the subject. At the non-Vajrayana level, we talk about this ‘crispy’ mind level, but nothing beyond that. Vajrayana is much more intense, the demand is much more. Some system, some level, some format will be applied.

Audience: I understood, probably wrongly, that in doing a sadhana, when you’re building up the visualization that it’s an analytic meditation. If you don’t have a long time to concentrate on each of the points that you build up, what should you spend your concentration time focusing on?

Rimpoche: At least you have to think it’s there. The completion of the Deity, with the mandala and with everything, think that they are there. That will be the object of concentration. This is Maha anu yoga tantra, and it is also another funny thing. You are looking at everything inside. You are the one who is the Yidam. You can also generate Tara in front of you, but you are Tara. For us it is a little easier. But in Maha anu yoga tantra, except at the end of the offering, you don’t have the additional [Tara] there. It is only you, and everything is you, you, you. You are making offerings to yourself. You are the Yidam, you are the one. You are focusing, perhaps, on oneness.

That’s why in the Vajrayogini teaching, when you have ten or twelve days of teaching, sometimes one evening you will be given one thing to focus on, like the third eye, or the hand implements. In one day, you are given one focusing point. It is not that they tell you directly, but indirectly, they inform you completely.

In the west, there is a lot of demand for you to teach exactly what to do and where to sit. If any of you have been listening to the Ann Arbor broadcasted teachings on Tuesday, I’ve been telling them this is ‘cow teaching.’ If you are talking to a cow, then you have to [spell it out]. You have to teach a chimpanzee how to say, ‘Ah, ah.’ And then the chimpanzee will be able to say ‘ah.’ Then you have to tell the chimpanzee, ‘put down, sit down.’

As an educated human being, you really don’t have to do that. The most important thing is you have to get the information, and then apply it.

I have a story: This actually happened – probably 200 years ago – a great learned teacher was teaching a nomad guy how to read. He was teaching the alphabet. He was very polite. He didn’t say, “KA” (harshly). You know the Tibetan alphabet goes, ka kha ga nga, it doesn’t go a, b, c, d. The teacher could have taught the nomad to say ‘ka’ but he didn’t. What he said is, “Nice guy, gentleman, the first thing you say is ‘ka’”. So the guy repeated, “Nice gentleman, the first thing you say is ‘ka’”. The second time, the teacher said, “Don’t say such a thing, just say ‘ka’”. So the guy repeated, “Don’t say such a thing, just say ‘ka’”. Then the third time, the teacher said, “You stupid mother…F word.. say ‘ka’”. The nomad repeated “You stupid mother…F word..say‘ka’”. This is what we call ‘cow teaching.’

Human beings, and particularly educated human beings, and baboons have some differences. I’m not scolding either one of you for your questions. The knowledge is there and you have to apply it. That’s exactly how it works. It is important to put them together. The other example I shared with you the other day was if you don’t have much to teach, you say, “This is the book, this is gold, this is silver.” These examples deal with the level of understanding that people have.

The important thing is all the teachings, everything you pick up, bring them all together, even in a single practice. When you are giving teachings and meditation courses, you do [present] all the aspects of meditation. When you are practicing, there is no separation between your meditation and your sadhana, your praying. Bring them together.

That, I believe, is the difference between the professors and practitioners. Professors, or academicians have to separate [all these aspects] into different boxes and label them. Practitioners bring them together. It may be a little bit chaotic there. It doesn’t matter. Out of the chaos and mystery you will pop up with vividness and enlightenment.

I don’t mean to be hard on you, but you had very good questions, and they have given me the opportunity to share this with everybody. It is important.

It is a little bit early, but thank you. We will meet next on August 5.

9/13/2004