Archive Result

20150626GRAASR10

0:00:04.2 mandala offering

0:01:14.2 Welcome back for the evening session. Kathy reminded me that all good things are beginning to end. I was sort of relaxing and moving, so she reminded me that we have to begin to dance the closing dance. So we just really reached to the point of shamata and vipasyana, the little more detailed talk. But as I said this morning, there are pre- actual and conclusion like every other session that we had.

The pre – here is general prerequisites for all these practices:

II.2.3.2.2. Training in the last two perfections in particular has two parts:

II.2.3.2.2.1. How to train in meditative serenity (shamata), the essence of concentration

II.2.3.2.2.2. How to train in special insight (vipashyana), the essence of wisdom

II.2.3.2.2.1.1. What to do in the actual meditation session

II.2.3.2.2.1.2. What to do between meditation sessions

II.2.3.2.2.1.1.a) The preliminaries

II.2.3.2.2.1.1.b) The actual meditation

II.2.3.2.2.1.1.c) The conclusion

II.2.3.2.2.1.1.a) They consist of common and specific preliminaries, the latter being to train in the attitudes of lesser and intermediate beings, and in a favourable, secluded environment, including good companions whose thinking is in harmony with yours, to maintain pure ethical discipline, give up associating with numerous beings and coarse thoughts of attraction to objects of desire, sustain few desires and be content with less, and having sat on a comfortable seat, your body straight, your legs in vajra posture, your hands in the meditative absorption position, to calm your breathing down and so forth.

If you remember back, there are 6 preliminaries: cleansing of the place, laying the alter, arranging the offerings, then sitting appropriately and whatever if possible, in Buddha Vairochana style, but most important, whatever is comfortable to you. Then generating the very special mind; then generating refuge; generating bodhimind and the four immeasurables. Then generate the Field of Merit, make the offerings of the 7 limbs, which is the essence of all contemplative efforts, accumulation of merit as well as purification.

0:04:30.4 Remember, Shantideva had said,

kye pa to ma rab gu dze pa yi

tu wang nam kyi de nyi pem pa sig

The buddhas thought for eons for the easiest, simplest way for practitioners to accumulate merit and purify and the resolution is the 7 limbs. Sometimes they are called 7 limbs, sometimes 7 branches. No matter whatever you call them, it includes making prostrations, making offerings, purifying, rejoicing, making request to remain, request for teaching and dedication. These are the 7 limbs, within the 6 preliminaries. As I said, Shantideva had mentioned the Buddhas’ thought that this is the most comprehensive, simple, straightforward easy way, for contemplation or purification and accumulation of merit.

0:06:25.8 And making heart-felt requests and including mantra saying and all of those are general prerequisites. And this one, in addition to that general prerequisite, you have ‘common with the lower level’ practices, from guru-devotional practices onwards to refuge. ‘Common with the medium level’ is after taking refuge, following the advice of Buddha-Dharma, the karmic advice and looking either through the Four Noble Truths or the 12 Links of the Interdependent System and finally recognizing the life nature of samsara in general and particularly – it’s not very specific here. When you take refuge, it is samsara in general and particularly the lower realms’ suffering and you take refuge. But for seeking liberation, the total samsara, wherever and whatever, you recognize the faults of samsara and the peace of nirvana, making the choice of samsara over nirvana.

0:08:34.2 Through the application of the Four Noble Truths of the 12 Links of the Interdependent System or both, you are seeking liberation.

0:08:49.8 After that you are joining the Mahayana path, that is not concerned with yourself alone, but then develops. That is also easy to develop the compassion and love for those who we like. It is difficult to develop love and compassion for those we don’t like or those who don’t care. So in order to smoothen our mind we have equanimity, equality. Whether or not equanimity is the right word or not, I don’t even know. It is a very strange word, anyway. But equality is for everybody. It is not only from my point of view, some are black, some are white, some are multi-colored, but it is the reality point, the point of the individuals, of what they want, what they don’t want and even looking at the rights of the individuals, as much as desire to joy as my friends have; that much right my enemies also have. Most of us Americans, when I talk about rights, I don’t think anyone can deny that.

0:10:36.4 If you deny that you become a racist. (laughs) I am joking. If you don’t call that racist, what do you call that? Well, it’s not race as such, it is the distinction between enemy and friend. If you call it black and white or yellow or Caucasian, then it is race.

Tony: more broadly, you can call it discrimination.

Rimpoche: Yes, true, so no one here would like to be a discriminator.

Audience: Even shorter, that’s a bigot.

Rimpoche: A figot? What’s that?

Audience: A bigot is someone who discriminates.

Rimpoche: I thought you use that for some sexual orientation. You remember, people used to say bad things about……..

Audience: Bigamy?

Rimpoche: No, bigamy is the word for someone who is married and getting another one and all that. I think I know that quite well.

Audience: The word you are looking for starts with an f, but that’s not what you are thinking.

Rimpoche: Okay, okay. That starts with f and bigot starts with b. Okay. Thank you for the clarification, because that’s my confusion. This language is very difficult to say. Even if you remember, you can’t say everything all the time. Anyway, we couldn’t discriminate even against our enemies, even though they are our enemies. From the general point of view they have every equal right.

0:13:38.5 This is the basis. This is the American principle of democracy and this is basically the point to build equality or equanimity. In certain countries, you don’t necessarily have equality at all. The country where there are bhumiputras and if you are not a bhumi, then there is a slight difference. But we are in America, so it is very much equality. Equality is very much a principle that is acceptable to everybody. Then that is followed by the 7 instructions to develop bodhimind or the exchange instructions to develop bodhimind.

0:15:17.3 And even after that, we have the Six Perfections. We covered them very briefly up to lunch time. So now, what you did is you really heard the instructions from ordinary, normal human beings, which is where we are – and if you want to move yourself to the extraordinary level, this is the path. This is the way. This is the path of liberation. There is no other liberation path. If there is something, then it means there has to be something like instantaneous liberation, which is not necessarily great. The 7 days – Buddha didn’t turn out to be right and good, but turned out to be a horrifying situation. So this is the path. When I sometimes tell you that saying mantras and sadhanas are great, but you rather should have a good dharma practice and I keep on telling a number of people: you should have a solid practice. And this is your solid path. This is your solid practice.

0:17:51.2 Like we have been saying the last 5, 6 days, plus in Holland, combined together, whatever I have been telling you, that to be your practice is quite impossible. But you really have to make it condensed into something portable, manageable, a simple path. The way and how you do that is either the zhing chog gom je - the Lama Chöpa’s lam rim path or “Foundation of All Perfections” and many of you also know and have read and studied the special Ganden Lhagyema guru yoga by Kyabje Pabongkha and that has a shorter version of the complete path. Whichever you follow, they are all fine. Simple and easy is the Foundation of All Perfection. Certain things are not directly mentioned in it, but you can obviously understand that they are included. Or the Lama Chöpa. One of those. Whatever you have learned, whatever your information, whatever your understanding of each point, bring them onto one or two sort of concluding sentences and bring it to that and your own conclusion of each subject is what you apply on each appropriate word within the Foundation of Perfection or the Lama Chöpa lam rim part.

0:20:27.8 Then think about it. Say the words, share the thoughts, review the thoughts. When you do that, then in very little time, just a couple of minutes, you will at least review the whole path and that’s when we say that from the guru-devotional practice to wisdom, you are not only understanding, but you are getting it. This is such a sequence. If you miss one step you won’t get to the next step, because one pushes the other. For example, the importance of life, if you miss that, then if you try to think of appreciation of life and the difficulty to find it and all this is then meaningless, because you missed one step.

0:21:51.6 So without missing any steps, if you put them, that will be your comprehensive practice. This is really solid. Whether you sit in the retreat or not – like a mantra retreat – but that’s what you need to do daily. Then you not only become familiarized with the path, but you also become very comfortable with the path. Then you become master of the path, some kind of understanding and move and you at least have a solid way of managing yourself. From today’s ordinary human being to extraordinary, at least that leads you up to the wisdom level. Now you have the information available, but it is your job to synthesize and make something chewable. This attractive, beautiful chocolate is very nice here, but if someone gives you a slab of chocolate, it’s not that easy to handle or it is not even that attractive. But when it is made into a small, beautiful, little packet wit as nice title, like Godiva or Belgian Chocolate, or Swiss Chocolate and if it is easy to bite and chew, then it is attractive. You like it, you would like to have it, you enjoy. Just like that.

0:24:42.4 You have to do the same thing. You have to package it, not for selling in the market, but for yourself, for easy to use. Just don’t throw the chocolate slab, unless you are making a big chocolate production, like making chocolate and putting in walnuts or something. Colleen does that. She puts pecan nuts in. Then you have to have that big slab of chocolate. But that itself is not attractive to eat. It is huge, bigger than a table top, so what would you do with that? I was just thinking that. Your practice should also not be a huge slab like that. Then I don’t know, whether you have to lift it or turn it around or use it for a table or what. So, you have to package it to make it easy and nice and beautiful and then take it and you will love to eat it and you will enjoy and that is nourishing and good.

0:26:27.7 Likewise you have to treat your practice like that. Make it simple, easy in that way, so that within the matter of 10 minutes or so you have a comprehensive path, at least reviewing. Once you have reviewed it a number of times, then you begin to focus on each and every step. This focusing you do today, tomorrow, the day after, again and again. A few days you may miss the focusing, but you don’t miss the review and then you pick it up again and maybe you do some more when you are on holidays or maybe you have a little extra time, lounging in bed or on the sofa. Then review and think about it and that will affect your mind. That is how it builds in your character. The essence you need is this comprehensive path: it has to become your character, your personality. Then whatever you do, wherever you go, you have that. That will help you tremendously from the karmic point of view.

Even if you are not Buddhist, it doesn’t matter. If you really have that practice, though there is a step between that, like refuge and all that, even if you don’t take that step, whatever you are learning you can take and try to comprehend that and utilize in your life. It will make a tremendous difference to you. Thereafter, it will be a little difficult. Like the Vajrayana path will be almost impossible. You can take some techniques out of Vajrayana, but it is almost impossible to make the practice comprehensible without taking refuge. Particularly, the refuge vow is the basis of all vows. That’s why, without taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, thinking of using the Vajrayana path is a little difficult.

0:29:34.9 But up to here it is very much Buddhism, however, you can take each and every part and tear if off and use it. If you want to use one single, solid path and try to make it you can. The other day I introduced the equanimity meditation and somebody said, ”Can we make that separately?” Yeah, you can. Each and every one of them you can take separately or collectively. When you do it collectively it has different results. If you take it separately, it will have a different result. These are geared towards developing enlightenment. So that’s why one after another, collectively working is good. So that will be your solid practice, whether you have a Vajrayana practice or not. Whatever you do, this will be extremely helpful.

0:31:02.6 Even if you are not Buddhist, this is what Buddha shared as his experience to serve people. Buddha did not put his exclusive rights as part of Buddhism. But if people don’t like it, if they don’t pick it, that’s their choice. Nobody can force or push anything. But it is available and we put it out there and it is a matter for you to pick it up.

0:31:51.5 Having said that, now we are talking about shamata. It is part of Samadhi in long stages. Samadhi is always available with the Hindus. It’s the same thing. It is not a very specific Buddhist thing. The Hindus may have better Samadhi, because Buddhists, according to Buddha’s advice, when you have the absolutely prerequisite of not being able to do without, then you develop the shamata and you are satisfied with that and instead of going beyond into the Samadhi levels, you shift your meditation from concentrating into analyzing.

Thus, the focusing and analyzing bringing wisdom are working together. So that is from the pure point of meditation, the Hindus may have much more than Buddhists. But Buddhists are satisfied with the absolutely necessary level of concentration meditation that one cannot do without. Then, not wasting time anymore, they move towards wisdom. That is one of the Buddha’s extraordinary wise ways. In order to reach shamata properly, that person also is expected to remain with pure morality. While maintaining pure morality you need retreat and withdraw from a lot of social activity and many public gatherings. That’s physically. Retreat means withdrawing, doesn’t it? Do not move too much in society and not have too much noise and too many activities. Slightly withdraw from that, because you need quietness. Shamata is established on maintaining quietness, physical and mental. Particularly mentally retreating means not to have multiple desires and thoughts. You are recommended to retreat from those. I don’t mean not to use your intelligent, intellectual capacity, but focus on certain points that you really need to and want to focus on, rather than multiple thoughts.

0:36:17.9 As you are physical retreating you will also retreat mentally as well. You also should have less desire. One of the rich qualities of Buddha’s gift to the community is satisfaction and less desire. Be satisfied with whatever you have. We call that in Tibetan dö chung cho zhi. Less desire and satisfaction. These are very important points to establish shamata.

0:37:22.3 Then you sit on a comfortable seat, in vajra style. In the west, they call it lotus style. In Tibetan it is kang pa dor je kyi trung, not kang pa pä mei kyi trung. So that vajra style of sitting means the two hands are in meditative posture, with one above the other and maybe you want to join the two thumbs together. Those are the instructions you get normally from all meditation teachers anyway. If you have too strong hatred, if your hatred is more powerful, put your right hand down and the left on top of it. If you have more desire or obsession, if that is bothering you more than anger or hatred, then put your left hand down and the right on top. It is important to join the two thumbs together.

Then the actual practice of shamata meditation. You have to focus on something.

0:39:50.7 Actually, you can focus on anything. The earlier Kadampa lamas said that you can develop shamata by meditating on anything, from the yak’s horns to the cow dung. Whatever you do, anything is okay. It is the training of mind bringing to the point of fixation. But normally, and particularly, at the I level, it is recommended to focus on a Buddha image. By focusing on a Buddha image, with a little respect and faith you will also build the very positive karma of commemorating Buddha. That builds good karma, as well as it will also qualify you to concentrate on those yidams, when you become a Vajrayana practitioner. That is the recommendation.

However, you can meditate on anything. In the west, people are very keen to meditate on the mind. They do meditate on an image and it is very helpful and very good. Yet many people are keen to meditate on the mind. The mental meditation here is not an appropriate subject here, but if you look in Jamgön Lama Tsongkhapa’s medium level lam rim, Jamgön Lama Tsongkhapa, at this level, gives the meditation on the mind as well. So, in this case, you are finding the Buddha image as focal point. When I say Buddha image I don’t mean you have to go to Ujjen-la in the store and buy a Buddha image or tangka. This is mental. You have to find a mental base. How are you going to find it?

II.2.3.2.2.1.1.b) Having thus prepared the conditions for achieving meditative serenity, for the actual meditation, although [the Buddha] taught many objects in relation to which serenity can be achieved, the prime object and the ideal one is recollection of the Buddha. As it serves many purposes like readying you for meditating tantric deity-yoga, it is good to visualize a deity's form. To do so you meditate one-pointedly, visualizing that the master-deity on your head emits from his heart a light ray like a spider thread on the tip of which, in space in front of you at the level of your navel, "on a seat formed by sun and moon discs and by a multicoloured lotus, is your main spiritual master, so kind, in the form of the Conqueror Shakyamuni. The colour of his body is that of pure gold ... made of pure light and adorned with the major and minor marks of a buddha," and the size of a kidney bean.

0:44:15.1 While remembering Lama Lhagpai Lha, either on your crown or in front of you, from the body of Lama Lhag pai Lha, a beautiful net of light generates. Here it says: dhom gyi pa ta ta bu - a spider’s web, like that. But don’t make it very small, or very little quantity, but make it big. At the tip of those light rays coming you have a multi-colored lotus, moon cushion and above that sits Buddha Shakyamuni, the color exactly like beautiful, refined gold, with all Buddha’s specific head shape, his specific ears and eyes, whatever you can remember. If you can’t remember details, that’s fine. See the nose, neck and chest, hands, crossed legs, lotus cushion, sun and moon cushion. He is in the meditative state, etc. He is not so big – like half a green pea. Don’t even make it one inch, but smaller.

0:47:29.5 That may be meditated in front of you. He is maybe at the level of your eyebrows. If it is too far away, it’s too small and may disappear. If you want to get up and prostrate, you should have room – so like 6 feet or something, but that maybe too far for your visual image. So adjust it to whatever you can think. That is the focal point. That’s when you have found your meditative focal point of Buddha. And if you try to zoom in and have a look, you maybe able to save the face, the lips, etc, but at the distance you may not be able see that much. You may simply see a little, yellow dot and that is good enough to be called finding your focal point.

So, that’s one way of finding the focal point of meditation.

An alternative is to meditate one-pointedly, visualizing that from the master-deity on your head comes a second master-deity, like one butter lamp lighting another, who dissolves into you. [You visualize yourself] "on a precious throne both high and wide, borne by eight great lions, on a seat formed by sun and moon discs and by a multicoloured lotus, [as] the Conqueror Shakyamuni ... adorned with the major and minor marks of a buddha," who, like a rainbow in the sky, appears but lacks intrinsic nature.

Now, the second choice: while meditating, the Lama Lhagpai Lha, particularly in the Buddha’s form, just has a duplicate Buddha come out and then again, he is sitting on the throne, etc., like usual. So you can do that. That Buddha, this or the earlier one, whatever they are, they are like color in the space.

0:50:51.9 It is like a rainbow. It appears. You can perceive it, but in reality it is the nature of emptiness. In other words, it appears and you can see it, it is there, but naturally or inherently it’s not there. It’s not there, we just imagined it and perceive it. Our job is that whatever we have imagined and perceive, make it useful and working. That is the challenge. Inherent existence will never be found anywhere. It is dependent origination. When you really trace it deep down, it is like a rainbow. It is there, beautiful and people appreciate it because it is beautiful like a rainbow, especially if it is a double rainbow. So it serves the purpose and there is no inherent existence and if you keep on tracing and chasing the rainbow, trying to catch it physically, I don’t think you can do that. If you stand on your car and try to get closer you will just fall, right? So that the understanding of the lack of inherent existence. It appears and we perceive it and that should be accepted. That is how your meditative point is.

At this point, if you wish to meditate a yellow object and it appears red, or you wish it seated and it appears standing, you wish it solitary and it appears multiple, you are not to follow these appearances but are to meditate one-pointedly, maintaining the original object. Although at first it will not appear clearly, made of light, when the mental image of about half the body parts of the form are clear, then meditate on it, focusing your mind one-pointedly.

At that point, that Buddha that you have meditated, if you want to create it yellow, but your mind would like to change it into red or blue or something else, or when you are first labeling, you created a sitting Buddha and then you would like to have him stand up and walk around and when you are creating him in the beginning, he is nice and beautiful to look at and doesn’t speak. Now he would like to speak. All this type of thing, if your mind desires to go there, then certainly you will not allow your mind to do that.

0:55:25.8 Whatever you have introduced and that appeared to you and you have accepted, keep that, even if it is not clear. Maybe a yellow lump is good enough to begin with. More than half the structure of the physical body is good enough. So you have to focus on that. You found the object and you are focusing on it.

Moreover you should generate firm aspiration, thinking, "During this session, of such duration, I will not let laxity and excitement arise, and if perchance they should, I shall immediately identify them and discard them." You then focus one-pointedly on the object, not forgetting it and reinforcing your remembrance of it from time to time. Maintaining that awareness continually is the excellent method for beginners to achieve the [nine] mental states.

0:56:32.2 Maybe you made up your mind, “I am going to have a concentrated time on this. Let’s say 30 seconds. Within these 30 seconds I will not have any interruptions.” I am not talking about a telephone call or someone talking to you, but about mental interruptions within ourselves, our own internal process. What types of interruptions will we get? There are two. One is sinking mind, the other is wandering mind.

0:57:30.5 Make sure, whatever it is, 10 seconds, 15 seconds or 5 seconds, you decide that within those seconds you want to make sure that your mind is not taken by either sinking or wandering mind. Sinking is becoming dull and most relaxed and even falling asleep. Wandering is the wandering mind that cannot focus and runs away here and there and even you don’t realize that your mind is lost and not sitting on the focal point. So for a very short period, whatever you label it, if any obstruction comes, you should recognize and realize that, resolving, “I will correct this.” With a very strong mind you think that you will correct any one of these, sinking or wandering obstructions. You have to make your mind very strong and say it and make the statement to yourself and do it.

0:59:22.4 So, with that attitude, you begin to focus. Focusing here means not forgetting what you are thinking about, not changing the color or shape, not walking around, just not forgetting. You have to remember, remember, just remember. That is progress. The continuation of that mind, the mind with that attitude and effectiveness is what we call the layman’s way of developing shamata. Basically, that is the meditation instruction, really. For us. But then there are additional instructions, not what you do, but additional points that should be shown.

In brief, meditate genuine concentration according to what is said:

The eight applications reject the five faults.

Relying on them will cause it to arise.

Therefore you must rely on the eight applications which are the antidotes that exclude the five faults. The fault that arises when you start to concentrate is laziness. It has four antidotes: faith that perceives the advantages of concentration, aspiration that is drawn to concentration, enthusiasm that strives after it, and pliancy, the fruit of effort.

1:01:37.1 Our layman’s way of starting meditation, to make that perfect, you have to avoid the five faults and apply and maintain the eight awarenesses. The eight awarenesses are the antidotes to the five faults. The most important fault that will come up is laziness. Recognize that laziness is the most important obstacle. There are many forms of laziness. Sometimes one would not like to do it. Sometimes laziness comes in the form of busy-ness. You can never think about it. Sometimes you feel physically or mentally or emotionally tired and don’t want to get into it. There are all kinds of laziness that will come.

1:03:28.3 How do you overcome that laziness? It is difficult. Each one of those lazinesses is very difficult. However, if you see the quality of meditation, if you notice the meditation helps you in your mental state, if you notice the meditative state relaxes your mind, if you notice the meditative state will make you calm down, make your life calmer, easier, simpler and if you find that, you may appreciate it a little bit. You may admire it a little bit. You may want to have that. It is almost like admiration or you can even call it faith.

1:04:49.6 Again: it is not blind faith, because you know it is helping and you appreciate it and you think it does work. That faith is what I am talking about and that is one of the mental faculties. Another mental faculty you can apply is desire. If you have that appreciation, that mental faculty easily brings desire. That appreciation plus the desire then brings enthusiasm. It is then not far away. In Tibetan: de pa, dün pa, tsön dru, shin jang. So shin jang is the result level of that. It will come back to you then. So these are the four antidotes to laziness. Particularly, the last one, shin jang is joy, mental and physical joy. If you focus a lot, if you stabilize yourself and if you reach close to shamata, then there are certain physical and mental states of joy you experience and that is labeled shin jang in Tibetan. Actually that is the true antidote of laziness, because that joy is what people enjoy, that’s what they cry for and look for and therefore laziness doesn’t find a place.

1:04:49.6 Until we get that, our desire and appreciation, our little understanding, has to replace that. That covers the first fault, laziness.

When striving after concentration, "forgetting the instruction" is a fault; its antidote is remembrance. It is insufficient for remembrance to not forget the object; the mind focused one-pointedly on the object must ascertain it intensely and tightly.

1:07:50.8 Secondly, while meditating, if you forget your subject, that is a fault. You overcome that by two mental faculties, dren pa and shi shing. Dren pa remembering, remaining to remember, continuously remembering, not losing the remembering. That is another mental faculty. That is one of the mental faculties you have to apply. The other one, along with remembering, while remembering, you have to have a freshness, crispy freshness and with that you are holding the object reasonably tight, but not over-tight. Then knowing that any of these obstacles are coming, either wandering or sinking and watching it, watching carefully. Very intelligent people can recognize that there is a danger of getting those two obstacles and they can block them even before they start.

But if it has started within your mind you have to become immediately aware of that and give them up. Giving up here means don’t let the mind wander, but bring it back to the subject. In the west, there are certain traditions what will teach you to let the mind wander and go, go, go, wherever, a million miles away and sit far away and do all kinds of things. I have no idea, I am not criticizing them either. But I noticed that some people do that. John Roger’s [perhaps Dr. John-Roger???] group does that, right? John-Rogers and traditions like that do that. And it is a huge tradition. Millions of people are meditating on that and this is travelling, right? Just travelling. Going, going, let the mind wherever it wants to go. You reach zillions of miles away somewhere and then come back. So anyway, I am not criticizing, but it does not go well with this particular instruction. So, the intelligent ones will block the wandering and sinking even before. If it is already taking place, make sure you realize that and avoid it. The way to avoid it is by focusing, not forgetting your subject, not forgetting your focal point. So not lose your focal point. This is the key. The time you want to do, do it within that. Within that period, don’t lose it.

When absorbed in concentration, the two faults that occur are laxity and excitement; their antidote is watchfulness. Watchfulness examines thoroughly whether laxity or excitement has arisen. The most skillful are able to detect and reject laxity and excitement as soon as they threaten to appear; those with average skill, as soon as they appear; those with lesser skill must reject laxity and excitement not long after they have appeared.

What then differentiates lethargy on the one hand and laxity and excitement on the other? Lethargy has the aspect of physical and mental heaviness and its object is unclear. It is as if darkness had descended on the mind. In the case of coarse laxity, although the mind does not move towards another object, it lacks limpidity and clarity, and remembrance is weak.

In the case of subtle laxity, limpidity and clarity are present but the tightness of the ascertainment of the object has declined slightly. As antidotes to them, apply the instruction which is to recall the three jewels' good qualities, bring to mind signs of light, and think that your winds and mind have merged with the sky.

In the case of subtle excitement the mind does not remain steadfast on the object but scatters slightly. Its antidote is to meditate while relying on remembrance and watchfulness. When despite applying remembrance and watchfulness the mind is unstable and scatters to objects of attachment, it is a case of coarse excitement. As an antidote to it, apply the instruction which is to meditate on impermanence and on the sufferings of the three lower realms and of samsara, and halt excitement forcefully.

1:13:08.3 And then dullness comes in between. The dullness will make you physically not right, mentally lazy. That’s called dullness. And then, what is sinking? Sinking has two, gross and subtle sinking. That is more subtle than dullness. Sinking mind is when you focus on the focal point, but there is no clarity. There is no crispiness. That is actually gross sinking point. Some people even fall asleep. If you have sleep apnea you will definitely fall asleep. Even if you don’t have sleep apnea, some people will fall asleep. That is even grosser than gross sinking mind.

Then another one: although there is a little clarity and a little crispiness, there is not really holding it, there is no sort of tight connection. You know what I mean? Losing the grip is subtle sinking mind. How do you take care of those sinking mind problems? Remembering the qualities, the qualities of spiritual development; the benefits of overcoming afflictive emotions and sometimes, even thinking of light, powerful light, standing, walking, sometimes you do have certain meditations involving your mind, your consciousness and the air that you use as horse for the mind to ride on. The mind travels everywhere. But it needs a vehicle. The vehicle the mind uses is air. The mind becomes the rider and the air or energy is the vehicle.

1:18:04.7 Think your mind along with the vehicle air is very light, almost like a feather ball. I say “ball” because we are in the habit of thinking solid. If you just think feather alone, it is also fine. Maybe it is comfortable to think of a little solid feather and that is jumping and bumping up and down at your heart level. The vehicle is the air. That air suddenly pumps up and pushes and carries your own consciousness like a feather up in the air, way up in the midst of a cloud or above the cloud. And there it sees around. Then bring it back. Or you can leave it up there, merging into the clouds or space. But you have to bring it back. So that will help to cut the subtle sinking mind.

The subtle sinking mind is more harmful to us than the gross sinking mind. The gross one is harsh, however, we will recognize it. We will know it, no problem. But the subtle sinking mind is a very big problem. Sometimes it gets confused with the meditative state. When it is confused with the meditative state then it becomes a very big problem. People think they are meditating and focusing, yet their intelligence level is going down. You are losing your intelligence level. But the meditative state should help and build your intelligence level, not lose it. So subtle sinking contributes to a tremendous loss of intelligence and capacity. When that happens it is much more harmful to the person than the gross wandering and gross sinking. Even if you fall asleep, you just fall asleep and you will wake up and then do it. But this subtle mixing with the meditative state really sometimes lets the individual down. So you have to be careful.

1:22:02.1 Then, when you bring it back to your level of focusing, you are not having a problem of sinking, but you start losing focus. That is the wandering mind problem. So again, the antidote is remembrance (dren pa) and Shi shing [meta alertness] – dren shi. Then if you are controlled by wandering mind, what will help? Meditating on impermanence, because it’s too high. Meditate on impermanence and the suffering of the three lower realms, the suffering of samsara, etc. If you do that, then you can cut the wandering mind problem.

When either laxity or excitement occur, non-application is a fault. Rely on its antidote, application, and reject them as soon as you have become aware of their presence.

Stressing the intensity of the mind's strong grip of the meditational object may enhance the clarity aspect but increases excitement, thereby making it difficult to achieve the stability aspect. Gripping it not tightly but loosely may enhance stability but increases laxity, thereby making it difficult to achieve the clarity aspect. Hence based on your personal experience, when you have the impression that by heightening [your grip of the object], excitement will arise, you should loosen it a degree. When you sense that if you leave things as they are, laxity will arise, raise it a degree, then balance will be achieved.

Between the two, bring the mind back from scattering and excitement and seek stability. Each time you achieve stability. Watch out for laxity and generate clarity with intense perception. Meditate the two alternately and you will achieve faultless concentration. Do not count solely on limpidity that lacks clarity and ascertainment's intense mode of apprehension.

Now, while you have interruptions of either wandering or sinking, if you do not apply the antidotes, it becomes a fault. There are a lot of faults and this is on. How do you handle that? The moment you have wandering and sinking you understand and maintain the antidotes, as we have mentioned earlier. Then the focusing point becomes rich.

Then at a certain level, if you focus too much and it becomes too tight, there is the clarity of the focal point, but you cannot remain for a reasonable time. So you have to handle it with your own personal experience, how tight you want to go. If you are too tight, you lose it. If you are too loose, again you will lose it. So based on your experience you have to learn how much tightness you want and how loose you want to go. This is important. So, at that balanced level, with your mind taken away from the wandering or from losing, try to remain for a period of sitting on the focal point. The moment you have a little stabilized focus, then again you have worry about sinking, because the sinking will take place. So again work for clarity. In other words, in turns do holding, achieve clarity, holding, achieve clarity, holding, achieve clarity. When you do that you may be able to get some faultless stable focusing. Holding, clarity, holding, clarity.

When you have put a halt to laxity and excitement and abide continually in concentration, application is a fault. Consequently the antidote is non-application of the antidotes to laxity and excitement, and leaving the concentration as it is. By training well in concentration in this fashion, you will progressively achieve the nine mental states and generate meditative serenity with physical and mental pliancy.

1:27:27.1 Then, if you can cut even the subtle problems, then the application of the antidotes becomes a problem. So, you let it go. Do not push the antidotes. The antidotes’ work is done, so you are losing focus [if you apply them]. By doing that, the nine stages of the mental state will come. If you look in our GOM transcript, we have described the nine stages very well, including the photographic diagram of the monkey and elephant on the path. You have just heard this roughly from me today and you have to think about it and learn more by reading the GOM. GOM is not bad, honestly. One of the best meditative tools available in English language. Though it is not good – only a transcript – read it.

1:29:35.6 So by building those nine stages, as I mentioned to you, you gain your own joy, the physical and mental joy, both. This joy will lead you at the ninth stage, and you will attain the first prerequisite stage of shamata one cannot do without. That is how one develops. By talking like this I am not sure whether you are getting any picture, but to cut it, remember, when we talk about it, there are the nine stages, five faults, eight antidotes, four conjunctions [and six powers]. But bottom line, shamata is focusing on your focal point as you have created it. You are not changing it. It is as you created it. You focus on it by overcoming the obstacles, let’s say four: gross and subtle sinking and wandering. How do you handle them? By remembering and alertness and awareness. Alertness notices that obstacles are coming and they are here and immediately wake you up and you are focusing. And awareness: be aware all the time while meditating. You don’t lose awareness. You don’t lose the alertness. The application and continuation of awareness and alertness really overcomes the two, sinking and wandering, gross and subtle at the different levels of your meditative states. The different obstacles come automatically, by themselves. But you apply the two mental faculties of remembering and alertness and that continuation will bring you to – do re mi

Audience: (laughs; back to do)

Rimpoche: Back to do, all right.

1:33:53.7 A few more minutes: if you wanted to meditate on mind, just as we talked to you earlier, when we were finding Buddha as the focal point, here you find the focal point of your mind. This is not part of Delam here. Delam doesn’t talk about it. But that is okay, because in the west, meditating on mind is very – what you call it – popular or fashionable. There was a period where everybody would like to talk about dzog pa chen po and this and that. That’s because of the mental state of meditation. Just like finding Buddha as focal point, you have to find the mind as focal point.

1:35:17.3 The mind you are finding is – there is a relative mind and an absolute mind. So the absolute mind, when you are finding that, is also involved with the wisdom of emptiness. But the relative mind is actually looking inside and trying to point the finger, finding out: what is the mind? Really looking into it. When you are looking within you, these mental faculties, such as the senses, eye, ear, nose, etc., the objects of those senses, like form, sound, smell, etc, are not mind. You need something other than mind. Looking deeper within you. When you look deeper within you, it will be very difficult to find something like a clock, a physical form point, with shape and color. To find that is very difficult. Then, what is it? It is a huge void, since there is a lack of shape, a lack of color, a lack of anything physical. What you are left with is space – like void, empty. Then the question rises: every void, is it my mind? Every open space, is it my mind? Certainly not.

1:38:26.8 What is so very specific about the mind within ourselves? Within our personality, this void, this space-like empty, is able to function as sel zhin rig pa, clarity (sel) and functioning (rig pa). That is the definition of mind. But the question of clarity comes. What does that sel mean? That is a big question, a really big question. Normally, when darkness is there and light comes, it is clear – clear of the darkness. So the mind labeled as clear – that is a different style of clear. The clarity here – one quality of mind is that whatever happens will not change its nature into another form or anything else. The mind will always remain as mind. It doesn’t change. It always remains. What do you mean by clarity then? There is one scholar I read – a great scholar – who said it is not the light coming into the darkness clearing it, but the mind accepting [information] like taking a photograph.

Taking a photograph, I don’t know whether that is right or wrong; I can’t comment. But I do know one thing: the nature of the mind is that mind is not changeable into different shapes or anything. The photograph changes. You take a photograph and it changes. I don’t know whether that is right or wrong. I am not criticizing, because I don’t know enough.

1:42:06.3 But the clarity here is to be able to perceive and project. Anything that appears to the mind, the mind is able to perceive and project clearly. The mind itself has the capacity to be clear. Whatever mind sees may or may not be clear. Maybe in that case the photograph [analogy] may work. The basic photo, if it is not very clear, mind will perceive as it is. Mind is not going to make it – unless mind studies it. That study will make it better. Other than that, while perceiving…so perceiving. In other words it is capable of perceiving messages, images and all of them, it is able to not only perceive but produce. Yet, the nature of itself is never changing. Something like that.

1:43:43.2 And I don’t remember quite well, but if you look into the Mahamudra text, particularly the one by Panchen Lozang Chögyen, the same author [of the Delam], both the root text of the Mahamudra as well as the commentary on it, that gives us good understanding. That is relatively knowing our mind. That is what we call: finding the focal point of the meditation on mind.

1:44:33.1 Then the procedure of having wandering and sinking, etc., [is the same] and protecting yourself from that and continuously focusing on sel zhin rig pa, that clear functionable. There is no shape, there is no color, there is no form. There is nothing. Truly, no nose, no ear, no tongue and no all of them. That is not [normally not quoted in the context of ] quality of mind. They are talking about Buddha, but mind is like that. Buddha is talking about the quality of emptiness, but here it is almost the same thing. That is the basic focal point of your meditation on mind. And then remaining and avoiding the two obstacles and applying the antidotes is the same thing.

1:46:01.8 The changing of the focal point from the Buddha image to the mind. That much briefly I like to share with you. Take it home. Good night. And observe it. Okay.

1:46:31.2 Tomorrow, apparently it becomes the last full day. We have no change of schedule, but in the afternoon somehow they would like to make a tsoh offering. So those of you who would like to donate for tsoh materials, there is a little bowl, a begging bowl in the lobby, marked “tsoh offerings”. There is another bowl for “teacher offering”. So whatever you want to put in the tsoh bowl, for contributing towards the materials of the tsoh, please put it in there. You can’t put a lot of money in there, okay? That is another thing, just a reasonable amount of $5, $6, $10 or so. Don’t put $100 in there by everybody, because this is specifically meant for tsoh and if you put a couple of $2000 in there, so what do you do with that? So that is not right, but generously, reasonably, put it in there.

1:48:47.6 In the morning we will function the session as it is on the schedule and then in the afternoon, Tony will be talking and presenting Science and Compassion, or Biology and Compassion. What about those insects and rabbits and compassion? I am just joking. Then I would like Geshe-la [Nyendak] a little talk, so instead of starting at 4.15 pm, we will start a little after 4 pm and Geshe-la will talk at least for 45 minutes and then we will start the lama chöpa tsoh. That’s what I would like to do. So if we start the lama chöpa that late we may not be able to finish by 6.30 pm. It may go till 7 pm or 7.30 pm. So please be prepared. If it is finished before, that depends on the umdze. It is according to the umdze’s adjustment. If the umdze is kind it will be a little shorter. If the umdze is mean it will go a little longer.

1:50:58.7 Also in the afternoon, those of you who have your own damaru, bell and mandala offering, please bring them, because during the teachings we made short mandalas. But still, one or two people are making the mandala offerings even when we say just two verses. It is good enough time for them to fill it up and take it down. I noticed. So those of you who would like to, please bring your own things. But then play when the others play. With one ear listen to the others and the other ear listen to yourself. So it is not that when nobody is doing anything you suddenly go gotok-gotok-gotok….that will be funny and we do that quite often anyway. So just be aware of it. So I shouldn’t be talking too long.

1:52:20.5 I just gave you the instructions of shamata meditation. Reviewing it and meditating on it is up to you. Please do practice whatever you have learnt.

Da gi ji ni….. 1:52:37.8 End of File