This testimony is written by
”R”, an Open Heart-practitioner. It has been published to provide information about the relevance of further training for those who have attained the so called arhat-stage. More info about stages and bhumis can be found here.
R's bhumi documentation
on video can be found here:
R: Gratitude to all who
have taught, helped, supported me. I first meditated in my
late teens for 2 years daily. I stopped due to experiences such as
lucid dreams, and sleep paralysis, which at the time I didn’t
understand. No-one around me knew about it, they thought I was being
attacked by demons! So I stopped. Over the next 25 years, I regularly
read Buddhist books and was fascinated with the ‘big questions’
of life. In 2012 my father died, I
started a daily meditation and spiritual practice and came across
Daniel Ingram’s book, MCTB which I read 3 times in a week. My
practice became Theravada Buddhist based. Not long after I started
meditating I felt drawn to shamata Jhanas and found that I could
attain first Jhana. So I incorporated this into my meditation
practice and opened up the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Jhanas. I read that the
Buddha recommended a balanced practice of insight and concentration
so I adopted this using Jhanas for concentration and noting,
noticing, contemplation and awareness of awareness as insight
practices. I had some online sessions with a well-known pragmatic
dharma teacher, which was helpful for guidance. I had my first
cessation in mid 2013 and was delighted to have attained stream
entry, or so I thought. At a Buddhist conference in the US I met my
next teacher who quickly determined that I had actually attained 2nd
path. So stream entry probably occurred early in my meditation
included in a number of experiences I had whilst developing jhanas. I
continued to practice with this teacher’s expert guidance and
support from an online community, attaining 3rd path 3 months later
and by 29th October attained 4th path, verified by my teacher. This
seemed a fast path but 2 years of daily meditation in my teens and 25
years of reading, contemplating, searching probably prepared me
somewhat. The next two and half
years were spent integrating and embodying this significant and fast
transformation. During that time, my practice was meditating in open
awareness, and letting go of residual mental patterns that I could
see playing out. The previous practice techniques I had used all held
no interest for me and I relaxed in equanimity/contentment
acceptance. Significant external life changes also occurred during
this time as part of this integration. However, by early 2016 I
became aware of something very, very subtle still remaining to be
done. I felt drawn to Tibetan Tantric traditions of Mahamudra and
Dzogchen because they mentioned similar things to what I was
practicing – open awareness, ‘non-meditation’. I tried
returning to Theravada techniques but found they no longer resonated.
As a ‘Westerner’ I found the Tibetan cultural context difficult
to relate to but I came across Tibetan Heart Yoga and Open
Heart-method taught by Kim Katami. He had stripped away a lot of the
cultural context to the core teachings, similar to what Daniel Ingram
had done with his book making it more accessible and direct. I
started the practices (Guru Yoga of Machig Labdron, Deity Yoga -
Mantra and Ati-meditation/ati yoga) and found that more expansion was
occurring. Whilst the Theravada practices were perfect for opening
the wisdom eye, the tantra teachings were perfect for opening the
heart and body. So I continue with these teachings and practices and
continue to have openings/shifts leading to greater expansion of
awareness.
Bhumi
Study Series presents information on many of the contemporary gurus,
lamas and spiritual teachers, and their respective spiritual attainments,
or bhumis. This study has been conducted by two founding teachers of
the Open Heart-method, Kim Katami and Pauliina Katami on the
basis of photographs available about the concerned persons. For more
info on Open Heart, go to http://www.openheart.fi Familiarizing
yourself with the Open Heart bhumi-system is recommended, in order to understand what this series is about. Read "Stages of Spiritual attainment"
and go through Kim Katami's video documentation on the topic to
get a better picture of what bhumis are. Studying and understanding
bhumis in this manner is a deep subject which requires meditation and
analytical skills. One may or may not be able to discern the outcome of
this study series without extensive practice experience. On the other
hand, the differences are quite easily seen when studied attentively
and when the information is offered in context as has been done here, where one may compare between teachers, right next to each other.The study has been divided into several categories. As the Open Heart-bhumi model is universal, it applies regardless of possible differences in methods used by distinctive traditions.
This Bhumi Study Series has been made public in order to bring awareness, lucidity and clarity to the present spiritual culture of the world by explaining and showing what many of our well known teachers have actually been able to attain. There is much confusion about this topic, so we wanted to clarify this matter from our part, for the benefit of all.
May this study help and serve many in their understanding and study of the path of mind training.
Bhumi
Study Series presents information on many of the contemporary gurus,
lamas and spiritual teachers, and their respective spiritual attainments,
or bhumis. This study has been conducted by two founding teachers of
the Open Heart-method, Kim Katami and Pauliina Katami on the
basis of photographs available about the concerned persons. For more
info on Open Heart, go to http://www.openheart.fi Familiarizing
yourself with the Open Heart bhumi-system is recommended, in order to understand what this series is about. Read "Stages of Spiritual attainment"
and go through Kim Katami's video documentation on the topic to
get a better picture of what bhumis are. Studying and understanding
bhumis in this manner is a deep subject which requires meditation and
analytical skills. One may or may not be able to discern the outcome of
this study series without extensive practice experience. On the other
hand, the differences are quite easily seen when studied attentively
and when the information is offered in context as has been done here, where one may compare between teachers, right next to each other.The study has been divided into several categories. As the Open Heart-bhumi model is universal, it applies regardless of possible differences in methods used by distinctive traditions.
This Bhumi Study Series has been made public in order to bring awareness, lucidity and clarity to the present spiritual culture of the world by explaining and showing what many of our well known teachers have actually been able to attain. There is much confusion about this topic, so we wanted to clarify this matter from our part, for the benefit of all.
May this study help and serve many in their understanding and study of the path of mind training.
Bhumi
Study Series presents information on many of the contemporary gurus,
lamas and spiritual teachers, and their respective spiritual attainments,
or bhumis. This study has been conducted by two founding teachers of
the Open Heart-method, Kim Katami and Pauliina Katami on the
basis of photographs available about the concerned persons. For more
info on Open Heart, go to http://www.openheart.fi Familiarizing
yourself with the Open Heart bhumi-system is recommended, in order to understand what this series is about. Read "Stages of Spiritual attainment"
and go through Kim Katami's video documentation on the topic to
get a better picture of what bhumis are. Studying and understanding
bhumis in this manner is a deep subject which requires meditation and
analytical skills. One may or may not be able to discern the outcome of
this study series without extensive practice experience. On the other
hand, the differences are quite easily seen when studied attentively
and when the information is offered in context as has been done here, where one may compare between teachers, right next to each other.The study has been divided into several categories. As the Open Heart-bhumi model is universal, it applies regardless of possible differences in methods used by distinctive traditions.
This Bhumi Study Series has been made public in order to bring awareness, lucidity and clarity to the present spiritual culture of the world by explaining and showing what many of our well known teachers have actually been able to attain. There is much confusion about this topic, so we wanted to clarify this matter from our part, for the benefit of all.
May this study help and serve many in their understanding and study of the path of mind training.
Ngak’chang Rinpoche: In
sKu-mNyé there is great emphasis on the eyes. This is the case with
many practices of Dzogchen. The eyes are kept wide open and unmoving
whilst engaged in the exercise, and in the meditation that follows.
Sweeping movements of the torso, arms, and legs are quite
characteristic; but the most unusual aspect is ‘circling’
the head. Q: I believe there’s
head rotation in Hatha Yoga?
Khandro Dechen: Yes, but
the head circling in sKu-mNyé is kept extremely small. If you
imagine tracing a circle with your nose – the circumference should
not be more than an inch (2.54cm). It’s difficult to keep it that
small, because the tendency is to make larger circles. Unmoving
eyes in conjunction with circling takes time to perfect,
but it’s made easier by the ability to focus in space.
Focusing in space needs to be explained. It does not mean
going ‘out of focus’. Focusing in space means you are
in focus, but that there is no tangible object or surface to act as a
reference point upon which your focus rests.
Q: That sounds really
quite difficult. I imagine that you would have to spend a long time
in training to be able to do that. What purpose does circling
have in sKu-mNyé?
KD: There are two active
principles involved with circling. Firstly there is the
Dzogchen gaze. The method of Dzogchen gazing
disorientates the conceptual mind. Secondly, there’s circling.
Circling massages the rTsa, the spatial nerves, but it
does so through movement rather than through control of the breath.
When conceptual mind is disorientated, we become open to perceiving
extraordinary experiences, which are released through massaging the
rTsa. There are numerous rTsa in the neck that connect with
the eyes – so circling activates the rTsa and opens up a
subtle dimension of visionary experience at the same time.
Q: So you might start to
see in an unusual way?
KD: Possibly, but in
terms of Dzogchen the word ‘vision’ applies to all the senses.
Initially there would be tactile visions. Then the other sense fields
would gradually follow until visual experiences began to occur. It
might sound difficult, but anyone can experience their rTsa rLung
energy if they have enthusiasm and application. You do have to push
through sensations of dizziness and vertigo – but these sensations
tend only to arise when you’re not focused in space.
Learning to focus in space is crucial to sKu-mNyé, so it’s
very important to practise the gaze first. You have to do that
in order to keep your eyes from seeking forms upon which they tend to
settle.
Q: This must be a
valuable aspect of Dzogchen.
KD: Yes. This is
something which is central to Dzogchen long-dé. The eyes are
important in all the Dzogchen systems. The eyes always relate to what
is happening at the level of mind and the nature of Mind. You see,
it’s not really the eyes that seek out forms – it’s the
conceptual mind that seeks them out. In fact, the conceptual mind
seeks out forms through all the senses.
NR: In terms of Dzogchen,
we train through the senses and the sense-fields rather than through
trying to let go of thought. We learn to fix the senses. We
keep the senses unmoving in relation to the external world. We
employ the natural phenomena around us to become part of the process
that leads to the dissolution of reference points. We accomplish this
through the Dzogchen practices of integration with the moving
elements: water, fire, and air.
KD: This is because we
are always attaching to reference points. We grasp at reference
points in order to feel real; but this actually saps the vitality of
our being and obscures the vividness of our perception.
Q: So how would I
practise this integration with the moving elements, say, with
the water element?
KD: You would sit by the
sea. Or you would sit by a river. You would focus on the surface
detail of the water, so that you saw it very clearly and crisply. You
would then fix your gaze. You would achieve that by keeping
your eyes from moving. The eye muscles habitually track movements by
flicking backwards and forwards along the line of movement. This is
what stops everything from becoming a blur when you look out of the
side window of a car.
Q: Yes! I’ve seen that!
When you look at someone who’s looking out of the window of a car,
their eyes dart rhythmically. They seem to hop forward in the
direction the car is taking, and then flash back again. And that’s
obviously completely unconscious, isn’t it?
KD: Yes. But with
sKu-mNyé that habit is brought into consciousness. You become aware
of that darting movement, and you continually attempt to freeze it –
to fix your gaze. You know when your gaze is fixed
because the water blurs – the scenery from the car window blurs.
Q: So you could practise
this on the way to work every day.
KD: Quite.
NR: But it is especially
important to remember that the blur is a speed blur and not an ‘out
of focus blur’. So, in terms to gazing into the water, the
water would blur because your eyes were fixed.
KD: This wouldn’t be
because you weren’t focussing on the surface of the water. It would
happen because your eyes were not moving. This is a specific of many
Dzogchen practices.
NR: The impression you
would receive would be like a photograph taken at a slow shutter
speed. This is one of the best ways to train in fixing the gaze.
KD: The way to train in
focusing in space, in terms of Dzogchen, is to learn to feel
comfortable when your eyes have no object of focus. This seems
challenging at first, but it is by no means difficult. It is, in
fact, easier than learning how to fix the gaze. There is a
fairly simple method. You stretch out your arm and focus on your
index finger. Then, when you have settled your focus, you lower your
arm and maintain the gaze. Every time you find your eyes
settling on distant objects, simply raise your arm again and re-focus
on your finger. You just keep repeating this process until focussing
in space becomes a simple muscular reflex.
Q: Could that ever be bad
for the eyes?
KD: [laughs] No, it is
actually very good exercise for the eye muscles.
NR: Especially when you
develop the ability to fix the gaze and focus in space. In
sKu-mNyé you do both at once, so it is good to practise both before
attempting circling.
… NR: Prana, or rLung
in Tibetan, is the subtle breath or ‘spatial wind’ that flows in
the ‘spatial nerves’ of the subtle energetic body. These ‘spatial
nerves’ or rTsa form a pattern that spreads throughout the
body.
KD: There are rTsa all
over the body: in the armpits; the ‘elbow pits’; the inside of
the wrists; the palms of the hands; between the fingers; the soles of
the feet; behind the knees; the inner thighs; the stomach; the neck;
and in general, in all the areas described as erogenous zones.
Q: Are rTsa like
acupuncture meridians?
KD: Yes, in some ways,
but the pattern is sometimes very different from that of the
acupuncture meridians, and functions in different ways. sKu-mNyé
stimulates the rTsa and causes stagnant rLung to move.
When rLung begins to move, people tend to come alive or wake
up in surprising ways. To use the analogy of acupuncture meridians,
you could say that sKu-mNyé was like a system of acupressure.
Rhythmic physical movements affect the meridians, rather than
pressure. ... From here.
Kim's
comment: I have always felt that the simple and often striking
teachings of the zen buddhist masters, both from Japanese rinzai- and
soto-schools, describe well what spiritual practice is ultimately
about. The approach of the soto zen-school is very direct and simple,
and therefore often difficult to understand conceptually. What is
interesting however, is that the dzogchen-adepts say the same things.
However, the greatest difference between zen and dzogchen, I feel, is
that the latter uses concepts, techniques and pointing out
instructions as tools in going beyond concepts, stages and so on in
order for the practitioner to realise the empty nature of mind, while
zen doesn't. For this reason the quotes I've gathered below might not
be easy to understand. However, I feel, that they give valid advice
to one on the path of dharma. At the end, I have also included a
recommendation of another soto zen adept to study dzogchen. Perhaps
this recommendation was given because skillful theory, mapping and
study, together with committed practice, can make a real difference.
”People
love emotional confusion... Buddha-dharma means not putting yourself
at the mercy of emotional confusion. In the world, on the other hand,
a big fuss is made over nothing.”
”If
it’s even the slightest bit personalized, it isn’t pure,
unadulterated zazen. We’ve got to practice genuine, pure zazen,
without mixing it with gymnastics or satori or anything. When we
bring in our personal ideas – even only a little bit – it’s no
longer the buddha-dharma.”
”In
true dharma there’s nothing to gain. In false dharma there’s
something to gain.”
”The
way of buddha means that there is nothing to seek, nothing to find
[mushogu-mushotoku]. If there’s something to find, no matter how
much we practice, it’s got nothing to do with the buddha-dharma. If
there’s nothing to find [mushotoku], that’s the buddha-dharma.”
”What’s
zazen good for? Absolutely nothing! This “good for nothing” has
got to sink into your flesh and bones until you’retruly
practicing what’s good for nothing. Until then, your zazen is
really good for nothing.”
”You
say you want to become a better person by doing zazen. Zazen isn’t
about learning how to be a person. Zazen is to stop being a person.”
”As
long as you say zazen is a good thing, something isn’t quite right.
Unstained zazen is absolutely nothing special. It isn’t even
necessary to be grateful for it... Without knowledge, without
consciousness, everything is as it should be. Don’t stain your
zazen by saying that you’ve progressed, feel better or have become
more confident through zazen.” ”We
only say, “Things are going well!” when they’re going our
way.” ”We
should simply leave the water of our original nature as it is. But
instead we are constantly mucking about with our hands to find out
how cold or warm it is. That’s why it gets cloudy.”
”If
we don’t watch out, we’ll start believing that the buddha-dharma
is like climbing up a staircase. But it isn’t like this at all.
This very step right now is the one practice which includes all
practices, and it is all practices, contained in this one practice.”
”If
you do something good, you can’t forget you’ve done something
good. If you’ve had satori, you get stuck in the awareness of
having satori. That’s why it’s better to keep your hands off good
deeds and satori. You’ve got to be perfectly open and free. Don’t
rest on your laurels!” ”Even
if I say all of this about the buddha way, ordinary people will still
use the buddha-dharma to try and enhance their value as humans.” ”You
study, you do sports, and you’re fixated on satori and illusion. So
that even zazen becomes a marathon for you, with satori as the finish
line. Yet because you’re trying to grab it, you’re missing it
completely. Only when you stop meddling like this does your
original, cosmic nature realize itself.”
”You’ve
got it backwards if you talk about stages of practice...”
”Master
Dôgen doesn’t expect anything from us that’s not humanly
possible. It’s simply a matter of becoming natural, without empty
thoughts or peculiarities. Buddhism in general doesn’t demand
anything special from us, only that we become natural. Some verses in
the sutras might seem special to us, for example,
“The white hair
between his eyebrows illuminates the 3,000 worlds.” But that’s
only a literary symbol for the samadhi that is the king of all
samadhis.”
”Master
Dôgen’s whole life was one uncompromising, penetrating inquiry
into himself.”
”A
bodhisattva is someone who awakens suffering beings. He’s an
ordinary person who has the goal “buddha” clearly and decidedly
in sight.”
”When
you talk about Buddha, you’re thinking of something far away that’s
got nothing to do with you, and that’s why you’re only running
around in circles.”
”Ordinary
people and buddhas have the same form. Awakening and illusion have
the same form.”
”You
lack peace of mind because you’re running after an idea of total
peace of mind. That’s backwards. Be attentive to your mind in each
moment, no matter how unpeaceful it might seem to be. Great peace of
mind is realized only in the practice within this unpeaceful mind. It
arises out of the interplay between peaceful and unpeaceful mind.”
Translation
of Kodo Sawaki's teachings by Jesse Haasch and Muho Noelke, found
here.
Someone
wrote: "My first buddhist teacher was Kobun Chino Roshi*. In one
class, someone asked him how to get closer to his lineage or more
involved with his lineage. His answer was to look into dzogchen." *the
mentioned Kobun Chino was a student of Kodo Sawaki.
Discover
Your Innermost AwarenessBY
THE DALAI LAMA
In
his teaching on the essence of Dzogchen, the Dalai Lama describes the
shock that naturally accompanies an experience of innermost
awareness, which is actually the basis of all reality.
”I
have great interest in the statement by many wise persons in all the
orders of Tibetan Buddhism that their systems come down to the same
final principle, and I feel that this is what I should and must
explain. Such an exploration may be controversial, but in any case,
these great scholar–yogis say that all these systems come down to
the same final basic insight, the same principle, because there is
indeed a final basic experience on which they all alight. There is no
way they would say this just to be polite.
In texts we
inherited from India, the basic principle is sometimes called the
“fundamental innate mind of clear light” or the “fundamental
innate wisdom of clear light,” these two terms having the same
meaning. In other texts, it is called the “space-diamond pervading
space,” while in yet others it is called the “jewel mind,” as,
for example, when it is said, “Separate from the jewel mind, there
is no buddha and no sentient being.”
Then, in Tibet, in some
texts, it is called “ordinary consciousness” and “innermost
awareness.” These terms are used in the context of speaking about
freedom from thought, which is psychologically and experientially
described as “self-release,” “naked release,” and “unimpeded
penetration.” The innermost awareness is said to be the basis of
the appearance of all of the round of suffering (cyclic existence)
and also the basis of liberation (nirvana). Everything, without
exception, is complete in the continuum of innermost awareness. It is
even said to be naturally arisen, since it has always been and always
will be.
All of the phenomena of cyclic existence and nirvana
are, when you come down to it, not newly produced by causes and
conditions but integrally complete within the nature of primordial,
naturally arisen innermost awareness; everything is contained within
its sphere, within its scope. On the low end, the basis of the
dawning of all of the phenomena of the world of suffering is this
diamond mind of clear light; on the high end, the basis of the
dawning of all the pure phenomena of liberation is just this
innermost awareness, also called the diamond mind of clear
light.
This is a topic well worth exploring for the sake of
furthering our inner peace by opening our minds beyond our usual
stream of thoughts. We should look into this with the aim of creating
more peace with our neighbors and throughout our world.
Innermost
Awareness Pervades Every Type of Consciousness
No
matter what kind of consciousness we might consider, the clear light
of innermost awareness pervades it. Ice, even when it is solid and
very hard, does not pass beyond the nature of water. In the same way,
no matter how gross, tough, or coarse conceptions might be, the place
from which they dawn and the place into which they vanish when we no
longer think about them does not pass beyond innermost
awareness.
Conceptual awareness appears from within the sphere
of innermost awareness and finally dissolves into the sphere of
innermost awareness. Since this is the case, as the early
twentieth-century scholar–yogi of the Old Translation (Nyingma)
School Dodrubchen Jigme Tenpe Nyima says, just as oil pervades the
entirety of sesame seeds, so clear light pervades all consciousness.
He concludes that therefore even at the time of the manifestation of
the coarser levels of mind—both during thinking and during the
operation of the sensory consciousnesses associated with the eye,
ear, nose, tongue, and body—it is possible to identify, through the
force of a lama or guru’s empowering blessings* and quintessential
instructions, a subtle feature of clear light that pervades each of
these consciousnesses.
*Added
note. Lama Alan Wallace, Dalai Lama's direct student: "(There
are) two approaches to identifying the mind. We can receive pointing
out instructions from a qualified master, or we can just do the
practice".
Practicing
the Path Right Now
How
can we take innermost awareness into the spiritual path right now? It
is through being introduced to and identifying—in experience—the
clear light that pervades all types of consciousnesses and
one-pointedly meditating on this, sustaining attention to it within
nonthought, nonconceptualization.
Then, as the clear light
becomes more and more profound, the types of coarse thoughts diminish
more and more. This is why this practice is called “the essential
path through knowledge of which all states are released.” Coming to
know this single innermost awareness in our own experience, we are
liberated from all sorts of tense situations.
To identify
innermost awareness, the most difficult part is to make the
distinction between mind (sems) and innermost awareness (rig pa). It
is easy to talk about this difference, to say, “Innermost awareness
has never been infected by mistake, whereas mind is under the
influence of conceptualization and polluted with mistaken thought.”
This is easy to say, but in terms of actual experience in our own
mental continuum, it is very difficult. Dodrubchen said that although
we might fancy that we are meditating on innermost awareness, there
is a danger that we are actually, in fact, merely maintaining
concentration on the clear and cognitive nature of a more superficial
mind, and so we need to take care. It is helpful to do the latter,
but it is not so profound.
The
Innate Mind of Clear Light
All
Tibetan systems, in their final view, emphasize the fundamental
innate mind of clear light. In terms of the center of these systems,
all of the phenomena of cyclic existence and nirvana are the sport,
the effulgence, of the fundamental innate clear light. Hence, the
root, and foundation, of all of that is within the scope of cyclic
existence and nirvana is the fundamental clear light.
This
being so, when practicing the spiritual path, there is nothing else
needed to purify these impure appearances—which themselves dawn
from within the context of innermost awareness or clear light—than
to turn the fundamental innate mind of clear light itself into that
through which you practice the spiritual path. Manifesting the fruit
of practicing the path, the fundamental innate mind of clear light
itself, when separated from all obstructive defilements, is the
resultant omniscience of buddhahood, a state from which the greatest
benefit to others can be effected.
Introducing
Innermost Awareness
I
will now explain the first section of the text Three Keys Penetrating
the Core, from the mind of the great adept Dza Patrul Jigme Chokyi
Wangpo (1808–87). Patrul Rinpoche’s teaching, and thus his poem,
is organized around three keys for uncovering innermost awareness,
the Great Completeness. The essential meaning of how to place
yourself in the core of reality is cast into three sets of
quintessential teachings for the sake of severing the life, so to
speak, of self-ruinous mistake. Here, I will discuss the first
key:
The view, the multitudinous expanse, Is cast in
practical essentials of three keys.
I.First set your own
mind in a relaxed state, Not emitting, not withdrawing, without
conceptuality. In this relaxed state of total absorption, Suddenly
shout PAT, striking your awareness, Strong, intense, short. E MA
HO! Not any thing, astounding. Astounding, unimpeded
penetration. Unimpeded penetration, inexpressible. Identify
innermost awareness of the truth body. Its entity is identified
within yourself—the first essential.
I will try
to provide a little commentary.
Relax
The
initial introduction to the view of naturally arisen innermost
awareness cannot be made while you are involved in constantly
generating many conceptions, such as thinking about good and bad and
the like. For instance, it is difficult to identify somebody you
don’t know well in a huge crowd, but once you have been introduced
to a person and come to know him or her, it is easy to identify the
person even in the midst of a big crowd. Similarly, even though
innermost awareness pervades every moment of consciousness, including
every single thought, it is not possible to bring out innermost
awareness in its nakedness without being introduced to it first,
because it is bound and obscured by conceptual thinking. However,
after you have identified it, you can see it even in the midst of a
multitude of thoughts.
Therefore, without making any
adjustments to your mind, such as by conceptually working at
analysis, leave, among the various phenomena of the world, whatever
appears to your mind—people, buildings, mountains, your work, your
friends, your problems, and the like—as just an appearance, and do
not get involved and polluted with identifying it and thinking, “This
is such-and-such.” Since a state of mere appearance and mere
awareness needs to be sustained, do as the author of the poem says
and “first set your own mind in a relaxed state,” not allowing
the busy state of a multitude of thoughts.
Stop
Thinking for A While
Naturally
arisen innermost awareness naturally exists within you; it is
naturally there, not newly generated or constructed by superficial
conditions. Rather, it is original wisdom, naturally flowing
awareness whose continuum is itself fundamental, uncontrived. For it
to become evident to you now, do not allow new superficially
fabricated conceptions to develop. Do not emit new thoughts, and even
when you notice that conceptions have been produced, do not exert
yourself thinking that they have to be withdrawn; just let them
disappear. As the poem says, “not emitting, not withdrawing,
without conceptuality.” Rather, vividly stay completely within the
self-flow, the natural flow of nonconceptuality. On the spot, let go
of all conceptual thinking altogether.
Shock
Still,
it is not sufficient just to keep your mind from diffusing and
scattering. Even if bliss, clarity, and nonconceptuality dawn in
meditative experience, these interfere with being introduced to and
identifying naturally arisen innermost awareness. You need to avoid
even bliss, clarity, and nonconceptuality. You have to get beyond all
of these.
Therefore, in this relaxed state not affected and
polluted by the tightness of conceptuality, suddenly shout PAT
(pronounced “pat” with the tongue curled to the top of the mouth
behind the front teeth while saying the final “t”)—strong,
intense, and short—for the sake of immediately clearing out any and
all of the commotion of thinking It is so-and-so, It is like this, It
is like that. The sudden sound of PAT will strike conceptual thinking
out of your consciousness: “In this relaxed state of total
absorption, suddenly shout PAT, striking your awareness, strong,
intense, short. E MA HO! Not any thing, astounding.”
Old
thoughts have stopped and new thoughts have not yet been produced.
For example, when a boat moves quickly through water, the water is
moved to the two sides with an empty place right then and there in
its wake at the back of the boat.
At the point of shouting
PAT, between when you are unable to think your former thoughts and
before you are able to produce new conceptions, in between those two,
when you cannot make conceptual distinctions, there is astonishment,
clarity, vividness, mere knowing.
If you have faith and keen
interest, as well as a guide’s quintessential instructions, then
remaining in place of the sudden removal of thoughts will be a sense
of shock that cannot be identified as anything, this or that. The
clothing of thought suddenly thrown off, you will be left in a state
of wonder, feeling astounded, astonished.
There are several
types of shock. One is like having your eyes closed and being unable
to think anything; another is a state of nonconceptuality in which
the mind is free from the pollutions of the mind being either too
loose or too tight. There are also others. At this juncture, the
emitting and withdrawing of conceptuality has stopped to the point
where you are in a state of astonishment, having lost the power to
recognize objects as this or that.
With a shock, mental
activity suddenly halts. For example, when a dog suddenly barks near
you, you can be shocked into being unable to think anything. Here, in
this practice, you are released from the varieties of thought, from
the binding confines of the groups of adventitiously generated new
conceptions, but still it is not as if you have fainted. Rather, the
perspective of your consciousness is vividly clear.
Texts
speak of making evident a state in which the usual underlying
consciousness has lost its intensity and conceptual apprehension
cannot get started, and thus during this interval naked innermost
awareness can manifest for a period. The great Tibetan scholar Mangto
Lhundrub Gyatsho cites many scriptural sources, such as:
Between
earlier and later conceptions, the continuum of the clear light of
innermost awareness remains unbroken.
In the space between two
thoughts, there is an easy opportunity for identifying this moment of
innermost awareness.
Therefore, this state of shock is not
just astonishment, but also has, as Patrul Rinpoche says,
“Astounding, unimpeded penetration.” The nature of this is to be
known, just as it actually is, in the context of experience, and is
otherwise indescribable in words, so he says, “Unimpeded
penetration, inexpressible.” Though called innermost awareness of
the truth body, it is inexpressible as any of the poles of being
existent, nonexistent, and so forth. This innermost awareness of the
truth body must be identified in experience.
Unless you can
identify it, there is no way to sustain the view of the Great
Completeness in meditation. This type of meditation, in which you are
sustaining the experience of innermost awareness, is a case of
remaining within the experience of what you are meditating on, rather
than meditating on an object.
Beyond this, as is clear in
Dodrubchen’s writings, if you are able to recognize all phenomena
as the sport, vibration, or effervescence of this naturally arisen
innermost awareness, this allows you to easily see that phenomena do
not exist in and of themselves, independently, and are only set up by
conceptuality. When you identify innermost awareness, also called
ultimate truth, and ascertain that all the phenomena of cyclic
existence and nirvana are its effulgence, then along the way you
understand that all pure and impure phenomena are, as the
philosophical texts say, only nominally existent. You understand that
all appearing and occurring objects of knowledge are adventitious and
essenceless, that although such phenomena have, from the start, not
been established under their own power, they nonetheless appear to
you to have their own autonomous nature, whereupon you adhere to this
sense of seeming existence from their own side. You further
understand that this misapprehension leads to engagement in various
good and bad actions and the accumulation of those predispositions,
leading to still more entanglement in cyclic existence.
To
identify innermost awareness and properly sustain it in meditation,
it is important to have previously reflected on from where the mind
arises, where it abides, and that into which it ceases, as well as
other analytical techniques. For these practices, the reasonings as
they are laid out in the great texts are helpful.
If you can
cause all these phenomena to appear as the vibration of innermost
awareness, not deviating from the sphere of that mind, you will not
come under the influence of conventional conceptions. When you
identify your own basic entity yourself and directly ascertain its
meaning continuously and forever in meditative equipoise, then even
though acting in the world, you are enlightened.”
This
article is adapted from the Dalai Lama’s new book, The Heart of
Meditation, translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins from oral
teachings, published by Shambhala, 2016.
