Meditation
and Nonmeditation
by
Mingyur Rinpoche
See also
these texts in this blog:
Tonight
we will talk about calm abiding meditation, or shamatha [Skt].The
title of the lecture series is "Meditation and Nonmeditation,"
and it seems that these two are contradictory to each other. But if
we really understand what meditation is we will see that they are the
same.
When
we meditate on calm abiding, or shamatha, we make our mind more
pliable, and thereby gain control of it.
This
is why we practice shamatha, calm abiding: to bring forth the potency
and strength that is in the mind in the first place. Further, when we
practice this meditation we awaken what is called "inner peace,"
an inner peace that does not depend upon outer causes and conditions.
These
are some general ideas about why it is important to practice
meditation, shamatha.
In
terms of the practice of shamatha, there are two essential points:
the key points of body and the key points of mind.
In
the early stages of the path of meditation, when we haven't achieved
a high level of
realization,
our body and mind relate to each other in the manner of support and
supported. Our body functions as the support for our mind, which in
turn is supported by our body.
In
Buddhism we talk about three different qualities that make up the
more subtle aspects of the physical body, which relate to our
meditation. They are called channels, winds and essences.
When
we meditate there are seven key points to our body posture that are
very important. The first point is to cross the legs...
...we
should pay heed to what our body is telling us; if it hurts us a lot
to sit in that posture and if we try to force ourselves into it, even
though we don't want to sit that way, then that really can hurt us a
lot. So we should not do it. Even if we are sitting in a regular
cross-
legged
fashion, if our legs get sore it is no problem to extend them. Also
we can sit in a chair.
The
second key point of posture is to put our hands in the posture of
equipoise, with our left hand underneath and our right resting on top
of it, or with our right hand underneath and our left hand resting on
top of it. The most important point is to rest them in a relaxed way.
We can also rest our hands on top of our two knees.
The
fourth key point is the most important point of all: sitting with a
straight back.
The
fifth key point is to bring the jaw inwards slightly taking the
general weight of our head
onto
our jaw, letting our jaw absorb the weight of the head.
The
sixth key point of posture is that our mouth should be relaxed in a
way that our upper and lower teeth are not touching each other, and
our upper and lower lips are not touching each other, there is a
slight space in between.
The
seventh key point is to rest our eyes in the way that they naturally
are. We can have our gaze going slightly downward, it can be going
directly outward or it could be slightly upwards. It is actually
better to shift our gaze from time to time. If we try to keep our
gaze in the same place for a long time, it tires us out, so if we
shift our gaze occasionally, that keeps things fresh. It is okay to
blink when we meditate.
Nonmeditation
Sit
up straight, with your body relaxed in general, and relax your mind
as well. You do not need to think of anything in particular - we're
just sitting with our body relaxed and our mind relaxed. We're not
talking about meditation yet. We are just going to sit with our body
and mind relaxed...
This
relaxation is meditation. But I did not instruct you to meditate. But
it is said, non-
meditation
is the supreme meditation. Therefore we don't need to meditate. We
relax our body and we relax our mind.
We
experience these states of relaxation in our body and mind frequently
in our everyday life. Why doesn't that benefit us when that happens?
Because we do not recognize that it is happening. Just now we relaxed
while knowing we were relaxing. This is what is known as mindfulness.
Therefore, if we relax, mindfulness comes right along with it.
Usually, we tire ourselves out and then relax after that, but we do
not realize that we are relaxing -
our
attention is always facing outward, looking at other things.
Here
we are relaxing in our body and mind while being aware that that is
what we are doing. By being aware that we are relaxing when we are
relaxing, we come to gain
control
over our mind. So that's easy, right? It is very easy. You do not
need to do anything. You do not need to meditate.
When
we relax in this way what is our mind like? Our mind is relaxed and
comfortable but still we cannot identify it; we can't point at our
mind and say "this is my relaxed mind" or "this is my
comfortable mind." This meditation technique that has just been
described is called shamatha or calm abiding meditation without
object.
Beginners
probably would not experience that type of meditation for more than
two, thre
e
or five seconds, but that's fine. We should practice in short
segments many times.
We
shouldn't think thoughts like "I need to sit for a long time,"
"I need to stop my thoughts," because thoughts will happen
and we cannot stop them. We can't shoot our thoughts, we can't burn
our thoughts, and even if we set off a bomb, that will not stop our
thoughts. That is the nature of mind. We do not need to stop our
thoughts. What do we need? We need mindfulness. The main point about
shamatha meditation is mindfulness, or, in other words, awareness.
...when
there is no mindfulness there is no meditation. We are not saying
that when there
are
thoughts there is no meditation, and when there are no thoughts that
is meditation; it's not about that at all. The point is whether there
is mindfulness or not.
So
meditation in this way is extremely easy, but there is one
difficulty: it is so easy that it is
hard.
It's hard because we don't trust it. We are always thinking that
meditation must be
referring
to something very special.
Our
expectations about meditation bind our minds. This way of meditating
is so close to us that we do not see it.
Meditation
Now
I will give you a difficult method of meditation [laughter]. This one
relates to the collection of consciousnesses that we have. Buddhism
teaches about six different consciousness: the eye consciousness that
sees form, the ear consciousness that hears sounds, the nose
consciousness that smells, the tongue that perceives tastes, our body
consciousness that perceives tactilenobjects, and our mental
consciousness that perceives thoughts. The reason why all of our
disturbing states of mind, our suffering and monkey-like behavior,
happen is because of this very collection of consciousnesses that has
six different parts.
When
some people who are immersed in meditation consider the thoughts that
arise from
seeing
forms, hearing sounds, smelling smells, and so forth, they think that
these thoughts
harm
their meditation, are enemies to their meditation. But for those who
really understand
the
essential point of meditation, all of those thoughts can become
supports and aids to our meditation. Let's look at the way in which
we can make these thoughts supports for our
meditation.
Meditation
with Form
First,
with regard to form, our eyes see two kinds of things: shapes and
colors. So it would be best for us to start off with a small object.
We can look at a very small object and at the same time that our eyes
are looking at that object, our mind should also look. If our mind
can look at that object, this is what is called shamatha with object.
We do not need anything but for our eyes to be looking at the object
one-hundred-percent. It is not necessary to try for
two-hundred-percent. [Rinpoche holds up his hand.] You see my hand.
Even if we were to look at it for one whole hour, would our mind be
looking at the hand for the whole hour? If our mind can see the hand,
then this seeing is shamatha. That's easy, right? We do not need to
meditate on our hand. We don't need to visualize our hand in our
mind, or worry what a hand is like. We need merely to see it.
Meditation
for beginners is just like a frog-it jumps to one state then goes to
the side again,
then
back and off to the other side, then back and off in another
direction. We focus our mind on a particular object and it actually
focuses on that object but then scatters off to something else, comes
back to the focus, scatters off to something else. We do not need to
hold our mind tightly or put a whole lot of energy into our mind to
try and bring it into focus. We merely need to see.
If
we practice in this way, our mindfulness will become stronger and
stronger. Seeing the form, our mind will extend for longer periods of
time. We can practice this type of meditation now, together. You can
choose any object to look at.
First,
relax your mind. [Pause] Now look at a form. [Pause] Now, without
particularly looking at a form, continue sitting with your mind
relaxed. [All practice.]
Meditation
with Sound
Now
we can work with the technique related to sound. Do you hear any
sound? What sounds? Is there a sound coming from the roof? We'll
meditate together and pay attention to what we hear - it could be any
sound, doesn't matter what. We do not need to focus on one sound. We
simply look with the thought "what is my ear hearing?" We
open up our
ears.
If we do not hear anything in particular, then that will become
shamatha without object, and then when we place our attention with
mindfulness on what we do hear, that is shamatha with object. When
practicing this type of meditation with sound we can
have
both happening, in alternation with each other - shamatha with object
and shamatha without object.
First
sit with your mind relaxed. [Pause]
Now
listen to sound. [Pause]
Now
relax your mind. [Pause]
When
we do these practices looking at forms and our mind looks at them
too, listening to
sounds
and our mind listens to them too - when our mind is also looking at
the form or listening to the sound - we are practicing mindfulness
and developing our mindfulness. The more our mind is able to stay
with thoseperceptual objects, the stronger and more developed our
mindfulness is becoming. Through continuing to practice in this way,
our mind becomes more tamed, more peaceful, and more happy and
joyous. We come to gain control over our mind and we gain pliancy in
our minds - our minds become more supple.
Q:
Do you offer meditation on the sense of taste?
R:
Yes. Tomorrow I will teach tasting, touching with thought.
Beginners
need to be relaxed. But when you become more familiar, you can do
things fast and still have the presence of mindfulness. You can have
mindfulness in doing things like that. When we apply meditation to
our ordinary life we do not have to be robots.
Shamatha
without Object
In
terms of resting the mind naturally, I spoke last night about
"shamatha without object" or
"shamatha
without attributes." During this type of shamatha, we relax our
body and we relax our mind in its natural state
Shamatha
without object is so easy that we don't trust it, and so for
beginners we need
something
that is a little bit difficult- the practice of shamatha with object.
Whether we're
practicing
shamatha with object or shamatha without object, we should simply
have the
attitude
that we are going to try our best. We don't have to hold our mind
tightly thinking, "It
is
absolutely not okay if I do not have a good meditation session."
Relaxation
We
should think: "If my meditation is good, let it be good. If my
meditation is bad, let it be bad. If it is mistaken, let it be
mistaken. If it is correct, let it be correct. If I am to be reborn
in hell, let me go to hell. If I'm to be reborn in a Pure Land, let
me be go to a Pure Land." The time of meditation is precisely
this state of being free from cares. We shouldn't be
that
carefree in our post-meditation stage, but when we meditate, we
should definitely be as carefree as that.
Meditation
is pretty much just sitting. It is just resting with your mind in
whatever its nature is.
Meditation
with Taste and Smell
In
terms of shamatha with object, we discussed last night about
meditating using forms and sounds as objects of meditation. We will
continue with that explanation, start
ing
off with smells, using whatever smells that are occurring as a
support for our meditation – pleasant smells and unpleasant smells.
Perfume, incense - whatever it is. It is the same as forms and
sounds. We can look at whatever forms are in front of us,
and
when we are using sounds, we listen to whatever sound is resounding
at the time.
Smells
are something that are perceived by our nose, and when we do shamatha
with smells, we simply guide our mind to perceive the smells as well
- we look at the smells w
ith
our mind, but that is all.
It
is the same with taste. We can take any taste as our object of our
meditation - sweet, sour, bitter, spicy -whatever it is. When we eat
food, our tongue faculty perceives the taste. In order to practice
meditation, we merely bring our attention to it and have our mind
merely notice the taste. That is all.
Meditation
with Sensations
The
fifth meditation is tangible objects or tactile sensations. From
among all the five senses, the tactile sensations are the best to use
with meditation.
Meditation
with Thoughts
If
you understand this meditation – without- object technique, you
will attain Buddhahood very quickly... It is a very profound
meditation but there is nothing special about it.
Our
biggest obstacle in meditation is the movement of thoughts - thoughts
of desire,
aggression,
ignorance, jealousy and so on. There are all kinds of movement in our
minds
-
we usually think of these thoughts as getting in the way of our
meditation and harming or
destroying
our meditation.
But
if we understand the key points of meditation, then those very
thoughts actually will be
support
for our meditation and will not harm our meditation at all. It is the
same as how forms become support for our meditation.Thoughts are any
type of thought: negative thoughts of mental afflictions... positive
thoughts...
Any
of these thoughts can become a support for our meditation simply by
looking at our
thoughts.
It is just like looking at forms and listening to sounds.When we
meditated on tactile sensations and brought sound into our
meditation, they became supports for o
ur
nondistraction. They helped us to maintain undistracted mindfulness.
In the very same way when we look at our thoughts, they help us to be
undistracted in our meditation.
There
are two different basic states that our minds could be in: stillness
and movement. There is no third category for beginners on the path of
meditation; there is no state of mind they could experience that is
not stillness or movement. The technique of using thoughts as the
support for our meditation relates with the state of mind when it is
moving. So it is important to know that we do not have to look at one
thought alone, we simply look at
whatever
thoughts are arising. For example, thoughts are like this rosary or
mala - one thought comes after the other after the other after the
other after the other. Our mind usually operates like that, but when
we do not look at thoughts, we are not aware of the process. We
should look at them now.
...we
look with our mindfulness at all of our thoughts.
As
we look at our thoughts in this way, even a hundred thousand
thoughts, that means you
have
a hundred thousand supports for meditation. That is very good. The
thoughts themselves become a support for holding our mind.
(Added
link: Listen to a Guided Object Vipashyana Meditation with Awareness
here in
Finnish.)
Question:
Rinpoche, is it necessary to label your thoughts, or is awareness
simply
looking
at a movement or hearing a sound?
Rinpoche:
The most important point about it is recognizing that we are having a
thought. But it is fine to use a label as a technique for doing that,
because our mind does not work without labels. The entire work of
this mind, the sixth consciousness, the mental consciousness that we
are working with, is to join words and meanings, join words and the
things to which they refer and cling to them as being the same thing.
So to use the label would be fine, because that is how this mind
operates.
When
we work with shamatha with object, there is a subject and an object,
a viewer and
viewed,
a sense of duality, so the labeling process is fine. The
looker/viewer is mindfulness, and the object being looked at is our
thoughts. There is a quote from a Buddhist text that says, "Through
relying on focus, the state of nonfocus excellently arises," and
that is what is being pointed to here.
Meditation
without Thoughts
When
you are looking at thoughts, like this, and in particular for
beginners, there are two types of things that can happen. Most people
try to look at thoughts and don't see anything happening. There is a
gap that happens, but it only lasts for about three or four seconds.
Then another thought arises and we look at it. As soon as we start
looking at it, we don't see it anymore. It goes back and forth in
this way. A thought arises, we look at it, and we don't see it
anymore; a thought arises, we look at it, and then we can't identify
it. This is very good. It is just like sitting here. If you are
someone who has already received pointing
-out
instructions on the essence of mind, this type of practice is
particularly beneficial.
The
meditation during which we cannot see any thoughts becomes shamatha
without object. The meditation during which we can look at thoughts
becomes shamatha with object. Both of these are very good.
In
meditation, one main point is to simply pay attention with
mindfulness. We do not need to identify what we are paying attention
to. It is the paying attention itself that is most important. When we
continue practicing in this way, we begin with a sense of duality,
with a viewer and viewed, or a looker and object looked at. As we
become more and more familiar with the practice, the viewer and the
viewed will become the same thing. When that happens, we are very
close to seeing the essence of our mind. During the shamatha audience
this morning, one student asked if it were possible for shamatha to
turn into vipashyana, or insight, without applying any particular
effort. In most cases, the answer is no. You would have to apply some
other view, such as the view of emptiness. But there is one situation
where shamatha could change into vipashana without bringing in any
other technique. This is that very instance.
Meditation
with Negative Thoughts
As
we said earlier, there are three main types of thoughts we could
have: negative, positive or neutral. For beginners on the path there
is a special method for working with negative thoughts. When we have
negative emotions, such as strong anger or aggression in our mind,
the first thing is to recognize that "anger has arisen in my
mind." At this stage we don't try to stop the anger, we simply
recognize it. So don't hit the other person right away. Look at the
anger not at your enemy.
We
can apply this technique for other negative mental states too, such
as depression, fear or any other type of suffering.
Meditation
with Neutral and Positive Thoughts
If
we are working with neutral thoughts or positive thoughts, we can
look at both subject and object.
If
you looked at all those images as they are arising in your mind, it
is the same thing as
visualizing
a deity in the creation stage. It is the same thing as visualizing
yourself as a deity inside a palace and another deity in the sky in
front of you. It is also the same thing as taking refuge, and
visualizing all the objects of refuge in the sky in front... from the
perspective
of nondistraction and practicing mindfulness, accomplishing shamatha
or calm abiding, there is no difference between the two.
If
we keep meditating in that way, finally we will arrive at a state
where the object we are
looking
at and the looker become one, and all of our mental
afflictions-desire, aggression,
jealousy,
and so on -will be self liberated. The power of our disturbing
emotions or mental
afflictions
(kleshas) will be gradually diminished.
This
has been an explanation of the sixth method of shamatha. The main
point of shamatha is to gain freedom over our mind, to tap into the
natural energy of our mind and tame the mind's wild monkey. When we
do that, we will become like a well-tamed elephant. They don't go
about following their every whim or harming people randomly. They
walk with a purpose.What do we do with this shamatha mind that is
like a well-tamed elephant? We put it to work on the path of
liberation. In order to join fully with the path of liberation, we
need to join with the practice of vipashyana or special-seeing,
insight.
Vipashyana
is of two types: the vipashyana of emptiness and the vipashyana
of the essence of mind (link to a guided practice in Finnish). If
emptiness and the essence of mind are joined with shamatha we attain
the state of Buddhahood. That's all.
Q:
If Buddhahood can never arise, how does one become enlightened, or
how does one
transcend
from the relative?
Rinpoche:
We go back to the distinction between the way things appear and the
way things are. Buddhahood, or the state of enlightenment, is
actually the way things are, the way we are ultimately. But from the
perspective of the way things appear, we appear as confused sentient
beings. The way we appear is not really the way we are. So when we
attain Buddhahood, when we recognize the way we really are, the way
things appear and the way things are become the same thing.
*
This text
is a condensed version from this
original text given by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche in 2004.
Links
embedded in the text
