View Meditation Action (Part 2) Teachings Given By Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche On View Meditation Action !"y 2#$2 (The following is the second of three days of teachings Rinpoche gave last summer. The final day will be posted next month).
Day Two Two % Morning Motivation
F irst listen to these teachings by developing the altruistic mind and thinking of benefitting all sentient beings.
O&stac"es % P!ri'ication Yesterday I said said to do a good practice practice of meditation meditation you have have to have good health. o if your health is feeble then do everything to support it as much as you can. !ven then if you have difficulty meditating" you have too many thoughts appearing and your mind goes into a really pensive" sad melancholic mood where you#re always always reflecting on past negative negative things that you#ve done" if these kinds of thoughts thoughts and barriers barriers come up with the practice" it it means that you you have residue negative karma left in you. o that#s what#s preventing you from settling down into meditation. Therefore you need to do some purification. $urification becomes an important part first. In that case" then go to the %or&e empa practice" go to the confession practice. %o some charitable work. These actions
will develop some causal causal merit" which will eventually turn into into wisdom merit. merit.
Sa"" Vase to T!o 'owever" your body must be strong and your winds must be very calm" as I stressed yesterday. yesterday. They must must flow freely without any hindrance hindrance as all our our thoughts move move with these winds" that#s how how the thoughts move. move. o it#s important important to breathe correctly. reathe with the passage passage of the air air open breathe with the wisdom wisdom breathing. breathing. *gain this is explained in in the small vase breathing. This gentle breathing is important since it is the breathing of odhicitta. It is the odhicitta breathing. Though Though it is called small small vase" in effect effect it is tumo (inner heat practice). You are doing the practice of internal heat. That#s exactly what the vase is" heat working with the wind. ut here the predominant predominant effect effect is on the wind. wind. o sometimes I say that it is good to do your +gondro early in the morning" those of you doing +gondro" when you come to the prostration section" do your prostrations one hundred times or whatever" and then go to the %or&e %or&e empa" ,andala" ,andala" -uru Yoga Yoga &ust read through these these but when you come come to the prostration prostration section do at least one mala (ie /0). *nd then that will also pacify the neurotic winds. That#s what prostrations are for. $rostrations are for purifying the habitual obscurations of the body. 1f the four four types of obscuration obscuration emotional" emotional" karmic" intellectual and habitual" the last is the hardest to shift. This is the tendency to repeat negative actions again and again endlessly. $rostrations help in purifying this habitual patterning which is the worst one for us human beings. *lthough prostrations prostrations help purify purify all four obscurations obscurations the predominant effect is on the habits of the body formed by the mind. These habits create knots of attachment in the nerves" winds and essences. essences.
Three Steps to Shin +ow let#s talk about the formal meditation meditation itself. There are
three steps that you need to do before you go into shin2 and start looking at your thoughts. 1therwise meditation won#t do much here I#m afraid. o the first step now is first how to stabili3e your thought. That#s important. The second stage is how to concentrate on the thought. 4irst stabili3e" then concentrate. Then within the concentration" once it is stabili3ed there will be the luminosity" the luminosity of the thought. *ll thought is not mere content" there#s a luminosity of the thought" there#s luminosity in the 5uality of all the thoughts. o we have to learn how to look at that as well.
*irst Practice Techni+!e Techni+!e o first let#s talk about pacifying your thoughts" which is important. You need to calm yourself down" don#t race" &ust calm down. +ow in that practice now" to bring the concentration and to pacify yourself" you will visualise a small pea6si3ed light" radiantly white" &ust in front of you" &ust above eye level.
Priordia" Awar Priordia" Awareness eness ,onnecting -nner -nner and O!ter .!inosity This pea6si3ed circle of radiant light that is in front of you is the essence of your awareness and it is also the essence of awareness of all the uddhas. You have to first connect to the primordiall luminosity" that is where we will first start the primordia connection. This light" whether you see it as %or&e empa#s brilliance or whichever whichever uddha#s uddha#s brilliance it doesn#t matter so long as you understand it to be the essence of knowledge and wisdom. +ames +ames and labels labels are not important important but knowing knowing the essence of what it is" that is important. o understand that this light is the core essence of uddha +ature. 7e visualise this pea6si3ed light in front of us" extremely brilliant. +ow when we say the light is in front of you and you are observing it" it doesn#t mean you are observing it with your eyes. +o8 7hy9 ecause the eyes cannot see primordial awareness. They have no capacity for this kind of seeing. 7hat does see is the clear
awareness that is the mind. It is only the mind that can see primordial awareness. The eyes cannot. !ven if you had a thousand eyes piled up they would not be able to see even a speck of the wisdoms. Your physical eyes have no capability. !yes can only see atoms that are in motion they cannot see the atoms that are in stillness. The eyes cannot see these. This pea6si3ed ball of light that is in front of you that is brilliant" that is the essence of all the uddhas" call it whatever you want" keep your awareness towards that light. ee it as radiating light to all the parts of your body. Its like a beam of light" like a sun that shines on every phenomenon. :et that light fall on your whole central channel. This is where the light is really going. +ow if you have awareness and you#re doing yoga then you#ll understand that your central channel" the uma has two complimentary nerves called the roma and kyangma" but predominantly these are the three kaya channels. Your central channel is the light channel that your body and mind really are. Your mind really is in the central channel" that#s what it is. It#s nowhere else. It#s in the central channel and this central channel has all the five uddha families within it. This is the ultimate truth of your body. It is the light that you are. 7e are &ust light. *ll the other elements come together after that light. The first thing is &ust the light. o the outer luminosity of the light must now give energy to inner luminous light that you have. The outer and the inner luminosities must connect to each other. 4rom the outer" which is the absolute truth" then the relative channels that you have must be empowered by the absolute. o spend some time where this brilliant light touches your central channel. This channel starts from the crown and goes straight down to four fingers below the navel. That channel is not visible to any naked eye. ut nonetheless" that#s where your consciousness dwells. *ctually this central channel here is the embodiment of the entire universe. It is all within this channel. It cannot be apart from this channel. !verything is encompassed within this central channel. That is why in essence we are light" like beams
of light. *ll the five uddha families and the five winds" the five elements and the five spaces all dwell within this central channel. This channel is called the channel of the three kayas because this central channel is the %harmakaya" ambhogakaya and +irmanakaya. It has three kayas" white" blue and red. The central channel itself represents the three kayas. This central channel is the channel you work with when you do your Tumo and $howa practice" when you e&ect your consciousness. That is the same central channel" otherwise when you talk about ;e&ecting your consciousness"# what does it mean9 It means that the consciousness is e&ected through the central channel" there#s no other way to e&ect it. *nd how do teachings about birth and the bardo explain the various experiences and potential rebirths9 It#s all to do with the central channel" where the air goes and where it doesn#t go. *ir can go from the top and also from the bottom and it can also be lost at the sides. %ifferent rebirths arise according to where the air goes. If you are able to effectively e&ect your consciousness directly to one of the uddha6fields at the point of death" then that is where you will be reborn. In fact your connection between the heaven and the hell realms is through the central channel. That is the connection. There is no other connection. 7ith this central channel" sometimes you#ll be aware of it and sometimes you won#t. ometimes you#ll have the feeling that there#s a light going ahead of you or following you. That#s the reflection of the central channel. The central channel will appear" and disappear. * lot of people describe such experiences as going through a tunnel and seeing the light at the other end when they nearly die. That#s the central channel" there#s nothing else. Their awareness is in the same place" the central channel. It#s not that there#s a tunnel to go through" the tunnel is the central channel. Therefore" the central channel can be as fine as an atom and it can increase to being as large as the universe. That#s the flexibility of the central channel.
,irc"e o' .ight/ the Sy""a&"e Ah/ Dor0e Sepa
o the first concentration is on a small light in front of you.
Don1t R!sh into the Vis!a"isation Therefore" spend time" don#t be in a hurry to rush into another activity. +o8 :earn how to relax into the emptiness. Relaxing into the emptiness is important. !very sadhana that you do" whether it is $hurba or whether it#s %or&e empa" with every deity practice whatever you do from taking refuge" to generating the visualisation deity" take time. %on#t rush=saying ;instantaneously I am %or&e empa# take time. It#s easy to say" but you don#t have the strength of the practice to instantly become %or&e empa. Take time and most importantly" any sadhana before it begins" the syllable will first arise from the
empty space of the %harmadhatu. That syllable will gradually transform into the wisdom deity" the &nanasattva. You are the samayasattva (the commitment being) who is practicing" but what is called the &nanasattva" this will appear as the wisdom deity. efore the wisdom deity appears" the wisdom deity will appear from emptiness in the form of a syllable only. There#s a gradual transformation" which our mind must begin to open up to accept. o take time for that syllable to come down slowly from that %harmadhatu space. Take time. ecause when the syllable is coming and you#re looking at the syllable with your wisdom eye and being aware of the syllable" your male and female essences will immediately tune in with it. 4rom this they#ll get a burst of life force that will start to vibrate inside the central channel. 7hat is the awareness" the memory" and the alertness9 The memory and the alertness of the mind is the vibrancy of the thigle (essence) and nothing else. If the thigle doesn#t vibrate" there#s no memory of anything. o take time. Then gradually as the syllable descends down" it#ll transform into the deity of whatever sadhana you#re practicing. ut here in this case when you are looking at this light" take time to really look at it. ee the appearances and the emptiness" simultaneously arising. That#s what it is. 7hen you do that and look at that light" then the focus of your attention will be towards this light and you will forget your normal everyday thoughts" which are running through your mind. These will subside. *t the same time" you are also connecting directly to your awareness" which means the central channel will also be illuminated by this process. Then" breathe gently within this.
The Merging o' O!ter and -nner 7hat is going to happen then" when you look at the light outside in front of you and you are looking at it with awareness" all of a sudden you#ll realise that the light you were looking at outside is no longer outside. That light has now come inside your forehead. That#s the next step that you#ll feel" that what
you#re looking at outside of yourself" is in fact now in. You#ll see that there#s no such thing as looking out. If that happens" you#ll feel the light now on the top of your forehead here. It#ll touch your third eye" and it will come right here" (Rinpoche points to his forehead). 7hat does that mean9 It means that there is nothing really to look at outside of your mind as such. The outer and the inner have now merged into each other. o there is no longer a distinction between what is out and what is in. These have dissolved one into the other. It has &ust folded into one. If this happens" it is good. Relax in that. reathe gently and when you#re breathing" do tonglen (Tib.)" taking in the suffering and giving the cause of your happiness to others. Take in their suffering and digest it. reathe with that awareness.
Sacred Air/ Space Rich with !a"ities %on#t take the air for granted. !ven within this air" the structure of all the ,andalas of all the uddhas is there. Therefore the air has to have this potential. There has to be something more to it than mere air. *ll the past kings# merits" all our glory" all our energy" all animate and inanimate energy" everything is in the air. o the space in front of us is space" which is rich with 5ualities. It#s not &ust air. *ll the uddha#s blessings are there. *ll the planets# energies are there. *ccording to the teachings" there are thirty6seven different levels of air that exist from our heads to the space above. o go into tonglen. %on#t let the breathing be ordinary. reathe with awareness. * key part of meditation is the awareness" how much can you maintain and keep in the flow of the awareness. That#s what meditation is all about. If you don#t have awareness you#ll not remember any of the teachings and instructions. It will be blank at that time. It doesn#t matter whether that light is now inside or outside of your forehead or whether it is beaming from here or there" whichever is fine. :et it be that way. pend some time there. %uring that time whether you do tonglen or whether you recite the hundred6syllable mantra it#s the same. If you want to recite the hundred6syllable mantra during the process of the light
training that is also good. ut at least use your speech in a positive way that#s important. o train yourself a little bit in the contemplation and relaxation of the thoughts. You will start to realise your thoughts are not ordinary thoughts your thoughts are of the nature of wisdom" that#s why we#re training you to turn ordinary thought into wisdom thought. o we are training in thoughts of purity rather than mundane thoughts.
,ertainty that A"" is Pro0ection +ow before you go into authentic shin2 you have to be absolutely completely sure" without any hesitation at all" that everything you see is a pro&ection of the mind. You shouldn#t be in doubt over whether it is or it is not. There should not be even a shadow of a doubt about it. You should have already worked with the totality and come to the confirmation with certainty" that all phenomena are seen from your mind. If there is something else that can recognise phenomena" you#re not on the right track. You have to be absolutely sure that all phenomena that you experience are merely experienced from the mind. efore that" you have to first examine which is more important. Is your mind the most important9 Is your speech more important9 1r is the physical activity of your body the most important9 You have to establish who is the boss. *nd perhaps you will come to the conclusion that it is the mind since it is the mind that commands both the body and speech. Then we need to look into what this mind is9 7here is it9 *s we spoke about yesterday" we have to do a thorough search. $reviously when Tibetan :amas gave teachings on shin2" they would make you work for three weeks searching for the mind. They#d tell you to search in your room and everywhere. >-o search? they#d say. That was important" they#d ask you" >what colour is it9 7here does it reside9 7here does it go9 7here did you find the mind9 *nd how is it9 %id you ever meet the mind9? $erhaps if we searched like this for a million years we would never find the mind. You will never find the mind.
The Second Practice Techni+!e That was the first meditation" to stabilise the mind. +ext comes the second concentration. 'ere the mind is connected more with feelings and sensations because when it#s more inner" our innermost sensations get aroused. 'owever" feelings are not important. The point is not to get attached to the feelings but let the inner sensations rest. That#s the point. +onetheless because of our habitual tendencies we immediately respond with feelings = ;I feel good" I feel fine" I feel relaxed. 1h" I feel bad#. *wareness has got nothing to do with feelings. ,editation is free from the five skandhas so where#s your feeling coming from9 That#s not the path of meditation. +or is consciousness. +or is perception. +or is form. +o" meditation is not connected to any of these at all" not to any of the skandhas. There is no connection. If it is connected" then it is an intellectually devised meditation. It#s an imitation of meditation. That#s not going to bring you to genuine meditation at all. *nd I told you yesterday" the four mistakes don#t pretend that meditation brings substantial knowledge" is an antidote" or that it is a path" and don#t imitate the emptiness itself. These are the four errors we make in meditation. This econd concentration is more about how to practice the separation of feeling. +ow you are going to visualise a red light" the si3e of a pea" inside the crown of your head. o this time it is inside and it is red. o keep that in you crown" then focus it in your throat and then in your heart. The same red colour should be in all three places. 4irst" concentrate on the crown. You should stabilise that red in the crown" then the throat and then in the heart. -o step by step. *fter some time the light that you are concentrating on in the forehead will merge into the throat and as soon as you look into the forehead" there is nothing to be seen there. It has already gone to the throat. It will merge. :ikewise when you say ;it is in my throat# it will merge into the heart and will no longer be found in the throat. *nd now you say" ;it is in the heart"# but again it will no longer be there. *t this time it will have gone to the secret space of emptiness. This
is the understanding of the kayas" how you understand the three kayas and how the awareness moves and shifts to the three kayas. 1nce it has gone to the secret space and you cannot find it" don#t search for it. There is nothing to search for.
Getting into the Str!ct!re o' Tho!ght The practice here is to help your mind transcend into the three kayas. Through it" you will be able to accept gross thoughts" subtle thoughts" and extremely subtle thoughts. It will help you to accept the process of observing" identifying and letting go of these different types of thought. pend two or three weeks doing this practice. It has a lot of benefit and it will open up your understanding of the structure of thought. 7hat is the thought9 'ow is it structured9 Is there solidity in the thought9 *nd if there is nothing in the thought" why does it bother you9 omething fascinating about the mind is that fact that it never ceases to think" it never ceases to devise plans" and it never ceases to formulate things. o you have to start to understand the workings of your mind" how it works. Its fantasies are unstoppable. *nd you have to realise that it is your mind that makes you want to do %harma practice and it#s your mind that makes you not want to do %harma practice. It is all the mind. o how has this mind controlled us9 'ow has this mind been the one to control us" telling us what to do and what not to do" such that we follow9 7hat is this mind9
-peranence and Denia" 1ne thing that mind is constantly trying to tell you is that everything is impermanent. This is the main thing that you miss all the time. *nd we are very clever in making impermanence into solidity" i.e. something that is permanent and will not change. 7e don#t want change right9" we want something that is permanent. ut nothing is permanent. !ven if someone dies in your family" due to the grasping at permanence" will you accept that this person is dead9 +o" you won#t accept. You will say to yourself that he or she will get up after a little while. uch
is the grasping at permanence. ut yet" the change of the thought" the settling of the thought is all impermanent. 7eather changes" seasons change and then we are all happy. 7hen the seasons change we say" now summer is coming or spring is coming or autumn is coming" as if it#s good. ut it is showing impermanence. ummer is gone that#s why winter is now coming. It#s impermanent" that#s why summer has gone. ,orning to night again shows impermanence" the day has gone" night has come. !verything that is written on our face is showing impermanence. 7e celebrate +ew Year" making +ew Year#s resolutions and we are happy it#s a +ew Year. ut actually if you look at it" +ew Year means one year older and closer to death. It doesn#t mean anything else.
The Third Practice Techni+!e The third point to practice is to keep a beautiful picture" thangka drawing or flower in front of you so that you can see a brilliant pattern of colours. @eep that in front of you. %o not label anything" by saying to yourself that this is a beautiful flower or thangka or whatever. Aust keep it in front of you and &ust look at it. I#m not interested in what the picture is" in its patterns or colour or in the content. ut simply observe what is in front of you. I &ust want you to simply look at that picture and observe. %on#t accept" don#t re&ect" don#t do anything of that nature. I#m not asking you to identify anything whatsoever. Aust observe" that#s all. I#m simply asking you to observe and let go" nothing more than that. o you sit in meditation posture and look at the picture or any ob&ect without commenting. imply &ust observe. You are so used to commenting but I don#t want to hear the commentary" &ust observe.
3hat Rea""y Sees 3hat4
o what will happen now9 7hen you keep the eyes open and you &ust look at it" when you look at it for a long time" eventually you will start to get tired" obviously. *fter looking at it for a long time your mind will want to shift to many things it wants to do. It doesn#t want to &ust look at one thing. o as soon as your mind gets tired" though your eyes are open" though you are looking at the picture of the flower or whatever" all of a sudden the sharpness of the picture will decline. *ll of a sudden it will not appear sharp any more. It will appear diffused. It will appear blank as though there is not much there. 1r even if there is" it is not as sharp as what you were looking at before. It#s all blurred9 Your eyes are still there these are the same eyes that you started looking at the picture with before. o why is its smudged and blurry now9 That indicates that when the mind thinks that it is looking at an ob&ect then the ob&ect will become clear. 7hen the mind has lost interest in the ob&ect then the ob&ect will no longer be clear. o therefore" it#s the mind that is seeing not your eyes.
3ith Shin ,oes Patience 4rom shin2 you develop patience" that#s another thing that#s important" patience. It#s well known in Tibet that when you do shin2 you are learning how to be patient and to let the thoughts move. In Tibet those people that are very rough" who get angry
very 5uickly and who are very short tempered" they are told to do shin2 practice from a learned :ama. 1ne such thing happened to one @hampa who was very violent" so his wife sent him to the -uru and asked him to teach the husband shin2. o then the -uru taught that @hampa shin2" giving the various instructions. This @hampa had a son" a naughty little boy. This boy heard his father was now learning meditation. 1ne day he walked into the room and saw his father was meditating so he &umped backwards and forward repeatedly in front of him. The father kept on meditating thinking" ;patience" patience" this is what my -uru said to me"# but the son kept on &umping backwards and forwards more rapidly. Then the father lost it and he caught the son and he beat him up. *fterwards he said" >1h -od" there goes my shin2.? (Rinpoche laughs) 'e simply couldn#t bear it any more. 7e shouldn#t be like that. $atience really means patience" that#s what it is. 1ne part of the shin2 is patience. You won#t rush into thoughts immediately" you won#t rush into action immediately" you won#t hold to the thoughts immediately" you always give it a little bit of space for the thought to change. ,ost of the time it &ust re5uires you to be a little patient before things change. 7e don#t give the time to change B that#s our problem. !ven if someone is going to say something harsh and negative to you" if you hold back a little bit" it will change. That will change because that#s a phenomenon that comes from emptiness and it will change. There is no need to anchor the thoughts immediately. *lways give some time for wisdom to prevail. 7isdom won#t prevail if you immediately attach to the thing. That#s the way it will not prevail" right9o if someone asks you something don#t answer immediately. Aust take some time. Then your answer will be different. Your answer will not be the same. You#ll have a wiser answer than your normal answer. Aust take some time.
Stay !iet A&o!t 5o!r 67periences +ow these three practices that I have outlined for you are really important in the development of shin2. o before you go into shin2" first go into those three practices. That way you#ll be able
to stabili3e. Then" when you talk about shin2" if you have any experiences concerning the changes and the movements of the thoughts" repeating these is not going to benefit the one hearing about them from you. Those are the experiences you have to clamp down and then if and when you come to talk about shin2 from a place of experience" you#ll really know what you#re talking about.
P!ri'ication and Progress +ow much of the progress of shin2 practice depends on your purification. Realisation cannot come without purification. * key part of %3ogchen is purification. ome :amas talk about &ust looking at the nature and understanding" but (Rinpoche laughs) you cannot &ust look at the nature and understand. That#s where a meditation with demonic view will come up. That#s all it will be. +othing else will come up. To experience the true nature of mind is to understand the uddha nature" and to understand the uddha nature re5uires an immense amount of purification. You cannot understand uddha nature &ust like that. It re5uires a lot of confession and purification" confession of things that we have done" both knowingly and unknowingly. %3ogchen realisation does not arise through ignorance. It doesn#t come through ignorance. !very %3ogchen teaching that I have received" my father always stressed the importance of purification first. 7hen I received these also" I had to go through many different kinds of purifications. 1therwise" thinking that you are going to understand your pristine mind &ust like that is a &oke. There is no way you are going to understand your pristine mind &ust like that without any cause" without any condition" thinking you can &ust overstep interdependent origination" thinking you can &ust skip it and then you#ll understand it= +o8 It doesn#t happen like this. It#s not true. Read the lives of %3ogchen masters and you#ll find the extent of penance and retreats they have done to come to that level. I haven#t met a single %3ogchen practitioner in our lineage that has &ust received teachings and then got enlightened straight off. +o8 I#ve seen them go through a
tremendous process of purification.
8ara is 9n'ai"ing *ll the negative things that you#ve committed in your past lifetimes" you think they will have no result or fruition9 You think that when you understand the %3ogchen mind" they simply disappear" that there#s no conse5uence99 There are conse5uences of your past actions. @arma is unfailing. uddha said it" so how can it not be9 7hen uddha was enlightened and he was going to Caranasi to teach" a thorn pierced his foot. *nanda and hariputra became alarmed and said >:ord" you are the :ord of all :ords. 7hen you raise your hand all the celestial gods and goddesses rush to serve you. You have total enlightenment" how is it that a small thorn could pierce your foot and make you bleed" :ord9? *nd then uddha saw his foot and said" >Yes" this is repayment of my karma that I had to go through. *t one time in a former life unknowingly I walked on an ant and it died. This thorn that pricked my foot is the karma I owed to that ant having killed it. This is the conse5uence.? +ow" if uddha had to repay his karma what need is there to talk about the need to repay our own karma9 Therefore be very careful with respect to the conse5uences of your actions" be very careful. * good practitioner will reduce karma producing actions. That#s important" to reduce as much as possible karma" cause and effect.
6ngaging in On"y Positive Actions is B!ddhahood uddha himself said" >*ll my eighty6four thousand stan3as can be put into four linesD B >%o no negative actions" do only positive actions" thoroughly tame your mind.? y engaging in only positive actions" this is the core of the %harma" this is uddhahood. The important thing" in whether we do positive or negative actions" is our mind. uddha said" >ub&ugate your own mind.? There is nothing else to sub&ugate. ring your own mind under control. $urification is extremely important" I cannot say more than that. o in your daily practice now" one
section must be on purification. Enderstand the importance of the purification. +ormally" 'is 'oliness would say to his students that doing the hundred6syllable mantra twenty6one times is enough for the negative karma of that day to cease. +ow of course" if you do more then it will clear more" but if you are too busy then twenty6one times may be okay" (Rinpoche looked doubtful) but if you can do more" purification and confession are the two things that we need to include as part of our main practice. It is extremely important. +ot only will it bring the blessings of your -uru" but also the blessings of your Yidam. These will come down to you. *lso it will remove all the obstacles to your path by the compassion. +ow those of you who have the time to do ang" if you do the ;Riwo ang
S!pp"icate yo!r Teacher Then to have success in your practice" pray to your root teacher" ask your root teacher to open his mindstream towards you. @eep your devotion clean" keep your samaya clean" and keep your commitment clear. In addition" at all times do work that brings benefit to others.
P!re Perception In the Ca&rayana" the angha is very important" &ust as it is a key aspect in the triple gem. You take refuge in the uddha" the
%harma and the angha. 7ith the angha" harmony and love towards each other is absolutely necessary" so work on this. 7hen you have met a teacher and you have surrendered your ego" surrender your ego totally. That is important. *ll the time opening up your connection to your teacher#s path that is very important. *gain and again you have to open that up because there are always obscurations whereby we see the teacher as the same as ourselves. 7e cannot see the teacher in the pure view and as I said earlier" the extent of your blessings depends on how you see the teacher. If you see him as an ordinary man" you#ll have an ordinary blessing. If you see him as a bodhisattva" you#ll have a bodhisattva#s blessing and if you see him as a uddha" you#ll receive the blessing of the uddha. In the Ca&rayana the practice of pure perception is the most important of all. !ventually ordinary perception will exhaust.
e Thop % Post Meditation 4ollowing the practice of shin2" what is the &e thop (post meditative) part of shin29 4irst of all" the post meditation of shin2 is not to separate being in meditation and being out of meditation. That#s number one. %on#t separate these at all. econd" the outcome of the shin2 is compassion" emptiness and patience. Those are the results of shin2.
,ontin!ity o' Awareness 'ow do you apply these experiences in post meditation9 ,editation and post meditation must unite together. They cannot be separated out. Then you are separating out into duality again and the whole point of shin2 is bringing everything into one taste" not creating duality but bringing all into one taste. Therefore" first when your meditation is over" do not show any sign of happiness that the meditation is over" as if
someone has forced you to do the meditation in the first place. This is not the case. Rather you go into your shin2 practice with &oy. *s soon as your meditation is finished do not sigh with relief as if someone forced you into laborious work. If you do that" you will exhaust the merit of the shin2 you &ust did. 7hen your meditation is over" in the technical sense of saying >it#s over"? feel instead that the meditation is continuing in the post meditation. %on#t &ust end there. I had a dream"? because your awakened state is more of an illusion than the state of the dream. *wareness continues in the same way" it doesn#t matter. It doesn#t make a separation. If you understand this" even death itself is nothing but a dream. If you understand the deathless nature of awareness of the mind" where has the mind itself ever experienced death9 It has never experienced death. If there is something that experiences death and can hold to the experience" then that is not awareness. ,ind doesn#t hold to the phenomena of duality so how can death be an experience of the mind. It is not. +onetheless" because we have made the separation" death has become something else. o continue with the same awareness right through every experience. You are still in meditation" though you are not in formal meditation. @eep the awareness of the meditation.
Shin as the ,ore o' :owness; Rigpa as Si!"taneo!s Recognition ,editation means ever aware" ever aware of the nowness and
not being caught in thoughts of the past" present or future. This nowness cannot be contaminated by thoughts of the past" present or future. +owness is the primordial wisdom. It cannot be conditioned and it#s beyond description. 7hile saying this" it is not something that can be written down because it is gone the very instance it is said. In the present moment what is said becomes a mere reflection of what was spoken. hin2 is the core of nowness. This is sometimes called rigpa" sems or sems nyid. Regarding rigpa" upon recognition it is a simultaneous dissolution like writing on water or a snake uncoiling. The simultaneous aspect is the recognition of the wisdom aspect as primordial wisdom. ometimes you will get the sensation of emptiness" which is a kind of wishful thinking for rigpa.
,ontin!o!s Recognition/ -nc"!ding Drea State This nowness" which is awareness itself" is continuous. o keep the awareness all the time while walking" talking" sleeping etc. 7hen sleeping" sleep with clarity. The distinction between animals and ourselves is that we can sleep with clarity. Aust before you go to sleep" make the strong intention to recognise your dreams and to recognise your dream body so that you can work with your dreams. *s you go to sleep visualise the -uru of great bliss in your heart. ometimes you can also visualise a white syllable *h" radiating light rays. If you do this" most of your dreams will turn to luminosity. The key here is to will yourself in no uncertain terms to recognise your dreams as dreams before you go to sleep.
Ga
they find ultimate peace. %on#t look too far ahead. +o more than eight to nine feet. This ga3e is to bring about humility. 7e should look with the ga3e of compassion towards each and every single parent sentient being. *lso when you eat" eat without slurping your food. 7hen you use your knife and fork" see these as using skill and wisdom. 7hen you shower" consider the water as the nectar of %or&e empa descending on you and purifying you of all impurities. !verything depends entirely on your perception and your view of reality becoming pristine" clean and clear. -reat teachers work with impartiality and treat everything as one" &ust as a loving mother treats all of her children. 7henever you have good thoughts" dedicate them to the ultimate happiness of others.
Signs o' Progress % 9ncop"icated/ Sip"e/ =!&"e and Resi"ient The sign of a good meditator is that they are uncomplicated" simple" and humble. They are not greedy and they do not grasp at things like most do. ,editation is meant to soften the fabric of the mind &ust as butter does when applied to stiff leather. 1ne outstanding 5uality of such a meditator#s mind is that he or she is able to take pain. 7hatever is slung out to you" you are able to absorb it without retaliating. This is because one comes to understand that everything comes from the mind" which is totally confused regarding phenomena" so there is more reason to give space to everything that manifests.
Ta>e ,are e very careful of the words that come from your mouth and the actions of your body. 7e need to be careful and guarded with respect to these. The training concerning post meditative actions are really for you to be able to keep complete control of yourself. *ny emotion that comes up" don#t chase after it. Rather you should be able to control yourself for three days before reacting. Then you#ll find that lasting happiness and &oy will genuinely develop.
A"" Pervasive ,opassion The compassion you have should be both relative and absolute.
-n s! $ractice on the three concentrations until you have a firm understanding of how thoughts move. This is very important for shin2. You need to nail this down before shin2 itself will genuinely take root. If you have a good foundation the roof won#t collapse. You need to prepare the soil properly. These are three steps to cultivate before you get to the fruit of accomplishment in shin2. Then you will be able to relax and know how thoughts are forming. :ook after your health. Your winds must be strong. ,editation re5uires that you be in a good state of health. ,oreover" you cannot meditate if you have a sad or grieving mind. 4urther Instructions on the mall Case and into hin2 itself-o to the small vase" exhale the three poisons" inhale the wisdom of the uddhas" draw this down to the stomach and navel and pull up from the anus and hold the air in the belly. You need to get rid of the negative airs in the body. This purification is important in helping to expel these" especially in the female there are a lot of different colours of blood that will come out reflecting different types of blood. You need to vomit out what
is impure. I cannot emphasise enough the benefits of the small vase. It will improve your memory give more power in your recitation and most importantly in relation to breathing" you will begin to breath in wisdom. If you can breath in wisdom when you are dying" you will have a clear understanding of the deities and the dissolution of the elements as a result of the small vase. Cisualise a sun and moon on the right and left palm of your hand respectively. 7arm with the sun and cool with the moon. Tighten your palms into fists" holding the tintsa" (ie the base of the ring finger) with the thumb on each hand and pull your hands up your thighs and the sides of your body. %o the whole visualisation according to the small vase instructions" including the nine clearings. This will help strengthen the two main nerves on the right and left of the body and also the central channel. Then do tonglen. 4ollowing this" go slowly into shin2. 7hether you do the seven6point Cairocana posture or not" the most important thing here is to maintain a straight spine. Then the nerves will be straight and the winds will be able to settle more easily. 1nce you are straight you have to lock the mind inside your central channel so that it doesn#t wander. Enless it#s locked in place it#s like a horse being ridden by a blind man. ring the horse to stillness with the small vase. Then in a comfortable position" without accepting or re&ecting look at the thoughts themselves. You should recognise the four different types chains" patterns" scattered and subtle thoughts. Recognition is important but do not go on to accept or re&ect. ometimes there are too many thoughts. Then it is better to stop meditation. 7alk around" relax and then go back. 7hen a thoughts arise" keep awareness of the thought. 7hen you recognise it as thought" it will settle and return to the basic nature of emptiness. *s thoughts dissolve another will arise.
8eep .oo>ing @eep looking at the arising" settling and change. @eep watching.
,any thoughts arise" in clusters" sometimes they are scattered. Then the three types of experience of shin2 will also arise. 7ith regard to the bliss you will feel great warmth. The body in emptiness is bliss. It is the inherent nature of the uddha#s and this is one aspect of the Tathagatagarba. This is nothing to do with physical bliss. It is the bliss of primordial knowledge. It is a healing bliss. It will heal the damaged subtle nerves. It is a bliss that pervades all phenomena. It is unlimited. In shin2 you will get a glimpse of this bliss. uddhas don#t deviate from this even for a nano second.
*!rther -nstr!ctions on the Three Meditative 67periences +ext is the clarity. This relates to the lights of the five primordial wisdoms. ometimes" you will feel the vastness of unending space. This is also the clarity. *t other times" night may appear as day and day as night through the meditation. *nd sometimes when you meditate you#ll feel so relaxed" you may even fall asleep. This is called ;a state of no progress# metokpa nyam (Tib). It is a blank state in which the mind feels 5uite happy in its blankness. It has found a nest to rest in" but it is not a good one. If this happens" stop trying to meditate. The three experiences are important but we need to go through and beyond these. 7e need to lose our attachment to them. *t first we will be attached to them since they are comforting. The moment you see yourself wanting it" cut it out. The experience itself is one thing" but when you experience wanting the experience" cut it out" otherwise you will form a habit. ut if you experience it and let it go" this is good. %on#t hold on to it. The idea is to have no reference point. 7hether you have the experience or not it#s good. The idea is to try to remain in e5uanimity. The direct result of shin2 is that the four &oys will arise.
enlightenment.
*!rther -nstr!ctions on the Three Sy""a&"es % O/ Ah/ =!ng 7e have looked at the three basics steps to shin2" including the small vase. +ow I will explain about the three syllablesD B 1m" *h and 'ung. These mantric syllables" 1m *h 'ung are the body speech and mind of all the uddhas. They are not con&ured up but are primordial syllables. 7hen you watch in the %3ogchen practice of Togyal you#ll see these syllables arising naturally. 7ithin the central channel there are five centresD B the crown" throat" heart" navel and secret centres. !ach centre has a syllable associated with it" respectively 1m" *h" 'ung" o and 'a. 7hen you are doing the three syllable recitation the o and 'a are included in the 'ung. There is no need to recite them separately. You should assume that you have these five syllables in your central channel" the uma" while reciting.
3hat is Mantra4 ,antra means the mind#s concentration. It is the distilled essence of the mind" which evolves around it. ,antra encompasses the relative and it binds the absolute wisdom.
=ow Mantra wor>s Cisualise the central channel no thicker than a finger#s width" completely straight starting four finger widths below the navel and extending to the crown centre and beyond. It is a clear" radiant channel of self6luminosity. ometimes you may dream of it as a flash of light. *ll are reflections of the central channel. 7hen you recite mantra" it activates the whole channel through each chakra as it begins to vibrate. This is the power of mantra. y pushing the chakra to vibrate through recitation" and visually spinning it" each of the five syllables pulsates through the five centres and gives a rhythmic beat. 1m is the main vibration in the forehead. There are thirty6two spokes running
off from the centre of this chakra. y reciting and spinning the syllable here" the whole chakra becomes increasingly pure and it purifies the thigle" the essence of one#s being. It is important to feel the vibration. *ir has to move the atoms" there has to be some friction there. The crown here refers to the whole head. 1n top of the crown is the :ord of 'orse 'ead. 'e sits on a double dor&e to seal and protect your vital energy. The sound of the syllable *h (high sounding ;*h#) is the main vibration of the throat and relates more to speech. The sound of the syllable 'ung is the principle pulse of the heart. This syllable will start to rise up" as will all the syllables upon recitation. The sound of the syllable o is the main sound occupying the navel centre and 'a is at the secret centre. The navel has sixty6 four spokes" or sub channels. This is the chakra of life and death. The symbol of the lotus petals always refers to the secret centre since it is hidden. Remember the four 5ualities of the central channel it is as straight as a palm tree translucent fine as a lotus petal and glossy. It is good to be familiar with the central channel. It is better to be connected to this rather than your physical body. !verything that manifests" inner and outer phenomena" all comes from the central channel. It is not physically visible. It#s a magical channel. 7hen you do tsa lung yoga practice in relation to holding the big vase you may see a vein appear along the central channel that will blow out like a tube. It will appear although it is not there physically.
field of primordial wisdom and has properties that will pacify" increase" magnify and sub&ugate. o it is an incredibly enlightened form" coming from primordial wisdom" to bring forth wisdom. 7ith respect to the three6va&ra recitations" the sound should be coming from the mouth. 7ith all mantras" sound should be made. 7hether it is loud" collar length" soft or whatever the type of sound" it needs to be audible. The three6va&ra recitation should not be too soft. It will not agitate phenomena so it#s okay to recite clearly out loud.
Tho!ghts/ 6otions Arise to &e Se"' .i&erated Things will come up. 7e have engaged in an overwhelming amount of negative karma.
Right conditions If you feel di33y or nauseous" this is a sign of having weak winds. This meditation will absorb a lot of energy. Try to have some bone soup B this will help. *lso *gar thirty6five is a good Tibetan medicine" which you can take to strengthen the wind. 'is 'oliness %ud&om Rinpoche used to advise that if you feel melancholic" leave meditation. It won#t help. Rather you#ll &ust
meditate on your negative feelings and view. -ood humour is important. *lso" you need to have the support of the right clothing so that your body temperature is &ust right.
Se"' 6powerent This practice" when done properly" is a self6empowerment of the %3ogchen channel" Tib. ;rigpai sel wang#. *ll the impurities and obstacles are being removed. +othing can be finer than learning how to empower your own channel from the ultimate. 7hen this kind of empowerment is happening with regard to each centre" each chakra is being purified. 1bscurations of the relative are being removed. :ook at this light. efriend it. This is your light body" the main meridian nerve and the path that is pathless. *ll the practices evolve around the central channel. It is the connection between heaven and earth. This is the central channel.
.ight ,hanne" % Se"'"ess Se"' Instead of recognising the gross body as yourself" learn how to recognise the light channel as the selfless self. It#s the essence of all the five elements" channels" spaces and uddha families. !very wang you receive and $howa you do is done through the central channel. ,ost significantly" it is the light body we take rebirth in. Its nature is indestructible. 7hen you visualise the light coming into you" then from each of your five centres light will go back" in order to interconnect and &oin each of these spheres to its respective primordial space. Therefore you need to be immersed in this light exchange. There is no space for ordinary concepts to arise. You are already involved with the radiant space. $ractice this. There is much to gain by doing so.
*iner -nstr!ctions on the Vis!a"isations 4irst" you can start by visualising the *h as a circular"
multicoloured light. In addition" you can begin by saying *h" parachuting into the meditation itself. ome of you may see that the *h is no longer outside you" but that you are &ust meditating on it within your mind. This isn#t a problem. The central channel is now becoming the *h and merging with the central channel itself. %on#t keep looking for it. Aust relax in the confidence that whether it is outside or inside" it is where it should be in the secret space of your mind. *s mentioned this is called the self6empowerment. It is the ultimate uddha. This is in the profound simplicity. The point is that it is so simple that it is easy to miss the point. That is the problem with the -reat $erfection. %on#t worry about the simplicity. econd" visualise a red light the si3e of a pea at the centre of the crown and another in the throat and at the heart. This meditation focuses on an inner light rather than the previous practice described above. The point here is to gradually let the light focus in the crown" mingle with the throat and then again with that of the heart. ut first concentrate on the red dot in the crown and stabilise this. This red bindu in the crown is the male and female essence. :et your focus merge into the three kayas. 7hen you meditate on this for a long time" the concentration in the crown will merge with that of the throat. This is the merging of %harmakaya and ambhogakaya. 7hen they merge you have come to the border of rigpa. 'ere there is nothing to point to or to be aware of. *wareness is vivid. 7hen it goes into this space" it is the space of the %harmakaya. You won#t be able to stay there for long. ,any thoughts will come. The thought of the luminosity of the heart" throat and crown will appear and then from that will come the gross thoughts. It will go that way. 7e won#t be able to remain in that pure vivid awareness for long. +o" we won#t have that skill at first. -ood practitioners are able to remain in this space. You#ll be lucky if you can stay in it for more than a few seconds. The third concentration is on this flower here on my table. I want you to relax. I don#t want you to identify what kind of flower or vase I have. ut I &ust want you to look at it. I don#t
want you to &udge anything. ut look from a relaxed point of view where you are breathing in and out and it#s &ust going naturally and here &ust look at it. @eep looking at it. You#ll see the leaves" the flowers and the beautiful arrangement of the different colours. %on#t accept anything. There#s nothing to re&ect. imply observe. That#s all. o keep looking at it. +ow some of you will feel your eyes strained and it#s not so comfortable looking at it. The mind has to always make some excuse. ome of you will feel that your eyes are burning and tears are coming. These are all your obstacles" nothing is happening to your eyes. They have always looked so why should there be a problem now9 ut the point is your mind cannot stay where it should stay. It#s so used to darting everywhere and all of a sudden it feels uncomfortable to simply focus on a single ob&ect and nothing else. +onetheless" &ust continue to look at it. 7hen you look at it" your mind might be interested in counting the petals and examining the details. %on#t do that. +obody is asking you to count anything. Aust look at it. *ll phenomena are like that. They &ust appear but we are not able to &ust let them appear" we grasp at the phenomena. The flower is not going to &ump into your eyes. ,ost likely your mind is going to &ump into the flower. If you look at it and keep on looking at this" at times it will blur and at times it will be sharp. +ow that#s nothing to do with the defect of you eyes or anything" it has to do with your mind. 7hen your mind is thinking" ;I am looking at this"# the picture will be sharp because it has come back to focus on what it has been looking at. ut when the mind is not interested" it drifts away and the flower will blur. It won#t be as intrinsically clear as it was. It#ll &ust be in colour but not knowing what colour.
Grasping Mind ,reates So"idity This will help show you what is seeing and who is seeing. It is your mind that is seeing and nothing else. Your eyes are still open and but the ob&ect is not there. This shows how phenomena are recognised by the mind. :ikewise in the process of your thought" that#s what it is. 7hen the mind focuses on a
thought" the thought appears. 7hen the mind is not focusing on anything then thoughts move. o here we have to let thoughts move and change B that#s important. I told you thought means impermanence. There#s no solidity to the thought. 7e think thoughts are solid but they are not solid. The solidity in thought is our grasping mind that is grasping the phenomena to make it solid. ut what is solid9 +othing is solid. Today we#re in this house. *fter a few years this will break down. ricks and stone will all turn to dust. It is the component nature of all things that makes it look like it#s solid" but actually" it is emptiness. ut it is hard for us to see this emptiness in the nature of all things.
A"ternate the Three ,oncentrations %uring your sessions you can alternate these three concentrative practices as your main practice. ometimes do this last practice" sometimes do the outer light practice and sometimes focus inwardly. +ow most of the time when you#re focusing inwardly on the red light which is the mother and father essence" you#ll have sensations of bliss and warmth. You#ll feel well and in open space but as I said before it#s not for this that you are doing the practice.
:o 67pectations/ :o Disappointent These things are your hope of what you expect from your practice. It#s your hope. 7hen I#ve led this practice" I#ve asked 5uestions of the students and asked them how they feel and they sometimes tell me" >1h it makes me feel so warm and nice.? They feel good about it. ut that#s not the point. 4eeling good is your hope of feeling good. I#ve simply told you about the red father mother essence in your heart" throat and crown" that#s all. They are not supposed to be generating heat" bliss" clarity or visions. ome of you have visions about it. Those are your expectations. !xpectancy about what you would like to get out of your meditation. %on#t expect anything. In meditation there#s nothing to expect. There#s nothing to expect. %on#t
expect. Though we say the predominant experience of shin2 is bliss" clarity and non6thought" we shouldn#t expect these. These are the experiences of shin2 you will have" but don#t expect them. o in meditation" rule out expectation. %on#t expect to improve your health with it. %on#t expect to do anything with it. !xpect nothing and you#ll not be disappointed. You#ll be a happier person. The attitude should be" ;come what may#. *ccording to your karma you will experience awareness differently.
:o ,ontainations *ll of your experiences will not be the same. They cannot be the same. 'ow could they be9 o it is useless for you to describe your experience to someone else. It#s invalid. It#s got nothing to do with them. The individual person who is going to meditate will face his or her own karma. Your experience you describe to another person is a contamination of that person#s pure experience. It is of no use. imilarly" when you receive empowerments or teachings" don#t try to describe what you got to another person. It is useless. 7hy would you want to contaminate that person#s view9 That person will then think" ;I should have experienced the same as they saw or felt but I didn#t get that#. You contaminate their pure field by relating your experience. ut if you say" >That is my experience" but your experience will be different.? Then that person won#t put in his hope to have the same experience you had. +o two persons# experience is the same in shin2. +o. It doesn#t duplicate like that at all. It is only according to your karmic propensities that the experiences will arise.
The Throat ,ha>ra and Mantra *s far as reciting the mantra is concerned" recite 1m *h 'ung aloud. I think if you do this for twenty or thirty minutes a day it will be very good for you. ome of you have bad memory. *nd some of you have very little memory. ,emory is what9 ,emory resides in the throat chakra in the sixteen atoms there. If you
have polluted speech and a polluted mouth" that will affect your memory. The throat chakra also causes the dreams to manifest. 7hether you have clarity of dreams or not again depends on the throat. o with this throat" the sixteen atoms of the throat" it is very important to keep it pure and clean and all the time bring purification to this throat chakra. The link between the crown and the heart is the throat. The throat is the meridian link between the upper and lower chakras. o it plays a very important part in your meditation and recitation. 7hen you#re doing mantra and you have the power of the mantra" this is your throat. 7hat keeps all chakras moving inside your body9 It is your throat. 7ords and mantras come from the throat. Therefore" 1m *h 'ung are good" the hundred6syllable recitation is also good. *ll mantra recitation is geared to the throat chakra being purified. o if you want to purify that" this is what to do.
Mantra So!nding So't/ Soothing and ,opassionate *nother thing is to keep your sound so it sounds very compassionate" so the sound sounds very smooth" so the sound sounds very comforting and healing to others when they hear your voice. %rink saffron water with a little bit of honey in it every morning. If you#re a teacher and you want to sound good to your students do that. It will smooth the tonal nerves. *lso it#s good for the female hormones because they are regenerated by the saffron. The red saffron gives colour to the blood and gives it more texture. The honey will help build up your immune system and keep your throat clear" and clean. The honey you drink should be from you local area. Aust a little in the early morning will not only give you a beautiful complexion but it will also give you a beautiful voice by increasing your tonal strength. 'oney is good for your complexion" that#s what its good for. It clears up imperfections and cuts and things like that. If you want later to on go to the %3ogchen teachings and begin the purification there" then recite the six syllables of the
