View Meditation and Action Part 2
View Meditation and Action Part 2
View Meditation and 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).
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 to do a good practice of meditation you 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 reflecting on past negative things that you#ve done" if these kinds of thoughts and barriers come up with the practice" it means that 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 merit" which will eventually turn into wisdom merit.
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.
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.
o the first concentration is on a small light in front of you. <oncentrate on that light and recognise that light as the wisdom of all the (uddhas. Recognise that light at the same time as the wisdom of all the primordial (uddhas. 4rom where does this light appear9 It appears from the emptiness. It appears from the emptiness and it is self6arisen primordial wisdom" basically this light arises from the field of the %harmadhatu" which in one form is light" and in another form is the syllable *h" a brilliant white *h. 7hether you see it as a syllable *h or as a circular light" it doesn#t matter. 1ne is in the %harmadhatu space and one is coming in the ambhogakaya space. It#s the same. *nd sometimes in the +irmanakaya sphere the light will appear as %or&e empa" that also is fine because that dot is %or&e empa. 7ho is %or&e empa9 'e is the Yidam of all the (uddhas. There#s not a single (uddha whose heart mind concentration is not based on %or&e empa practice because %or&e empa is the chief of all the (uddhas" the ,andala of all the (uddhas. You can practice his sadhana (i.e." ritual practice text) throughout all the yanas (i.e. vehicles). There#s not a single yana that does not have his practice so you can practice from the -reat $erfection" from the ,ahayana or the 'inayana. It doesn#t matter. (ut the point of %or&e empa in front of you here is that %or&e empa is your forefather. That is the reason. 7e are coming from the genetic line of %or&e empa. 7hy9 (ecause %or&e empa is the father of all the (uddhas.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. <elebrate for what reason9 'ow much have you accomplished now9 In shin2 when you practice" the sense of impermanence will arise. In addition" the sense of emptiness will arise together with impermanence in shin2.
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. <ome to certainty about that. !yes only see with your emotion. If you don#t have awareness the eyes don#t see anything. You may travel a &ourney a hundred times but if you are unaware it doesn#t matter" you won#t know where you are. 1n the other hand" even if you#ve never made the &ourney before" but still if you are aware" you will know exactly where you are. o everything is clearly to do with awareness. *gain you should do this practice for about two weeks. (ut with all these practices do for short intervals. %on#t sit for too long doing it otherwise you will &ust be entertaining your thoughts. That#s all you#ll be doing. There will be no vivid experience. 1nly stagnant thoughts will arise. o keep it short" ten to fifteen minutes" followed by another ten to fifteen minutes. Then take a break walk around" refresh yourself and then go back and sit.
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" right9 o 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.
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.
8ar(a 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.
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 <ho# ang every day" I cannot express the extent of benefits that will accrue to you. o make a little bit of smoke and put the ingredients in there. That will purify your karmic obscurations due to eating" the obscuration of the elements we#ve caused and all the negative tendencies we#ve accumulated. *ll of these are covered in the ang confession and purification. It#s a beautiful purification practice. It will increase your wind horse" which is what you need. ang is both a confession and a purification. The two are combined in ang. o try to do ang. That will also rectify any obstacles coming to your meditation.
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.
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. <ontinue it. The interruption is what creates the duality. ometimes you have a bad dream and you wake up thinking" ;7oh" what a horrible dream I had"# as though now you#re waking up into reality. (ut that#s not it. Your dream state" your awakened state" your continuous awareness state are all the same. There#s no difference. 4or the mind there#s no difference. It doesn#t make a differentiation between the three. You have to understand the continuous involvement of awareness. This is the important part. +ot separating anything" not taking out anything. It should be a continuous flow" like a rapid flow of a continuous river. It#s a greater mistake to say" >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.
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.
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.
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.
-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.
enlightenment.
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.
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. <oncentrate on the three syllables for a while. It should not &ust be a mental exercise. You need to use the energy of sound to activate the chakras. (y repeating mantra many times" it will go towards purifying and stabilising your mind. The structure and purpose of all mantras is to penetrate and break down the vital cells of the body. ,antra arises from the
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.
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"' 6(power(ent
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.
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.
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.
:o 67pectations/ :o Disappoint(ent
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 ,onta(inations
*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.
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.
%3ogchenD6*h(long) *h(short) ha a ,a 'aThrough this recitation" the six realms will be made into emptiness. This is the +gondro of %3ogchen so sometimes recite this" sometimes the 1m *h 'ung and at other times the Ca&rasattva mantra. 7hichever mantra you recite" all are geared towards the same goal. I have &ust explained the 1m *h 'ung above as an example of how the respective chakras move in the process of purification. It is important to purify these.
Dedication?
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