Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training

What is the object of mindfulness in the practice of settling the mind in it's natural state? Most people don't get it, it's good to know what you are attending to because your words are guiding your practice. The answer is the space of the mind and whatever arises within it. You still have an object even if nothing arises. Previously we have emphasised the events in the space of the mind but here we shift the emphasis to the space of the mind itself.

Post meditation: "Regard all phenomena as if they we dreams". Alan talks at length on this line from the seven point mind training text, analysing the assumption that the world is really out there. Here is a brief summary-extract:

It's important to see where out feet are, we are not in Tibet thousands of years ago, but living in modernity and carrying this massive metaphysical baggage: that the world is really out there, everything was there and then we arrived. Even with the instruments of technology, what we are getting is information, which is not physical and yet we think metaphysical realism, but the physical we never actually see. As Werner Heisenberg said: "What we observe is not nature itself but nature exposed to our nature of inquiry". John Wheeler calls it the strange loop, the entire physical universe as we understand it arises in dependance on information, it does not exist prior to or independent of that information, but information depends on human beings which are physical gathering that information. What Wheeler doesn't say but what has to follow is that there is no information without someone who is informed or something about which you are informed. Those three things. You can't have one without the other two. If you take one away, the other two vanish into thin air, that implies the other two are not really there by their own nature. In other words, we are really really really participants in this universe.

Meditation starts at: 12:14

Observer participance: In the practice of settling the mind in its natural state, awareness is in the space of the mind entangled with what we are observing, so it is bound to have an affect. The act of observing events seems to make them go away.

Some objects appear simultaneously - in real time - if we generate an image of a walnut and focus on the image, for example. Some only retrospectively, like being sad when it is raining, "the rain makes me feel so sad", then once we are aware of the sadness, it gone. Anger/aversion arise as long as being fed but as soon as focus on the emotion, it disappears. Interesting! Welcome to your mind.

Post meditation: Alan addresses questions on 1) the difference between the space of the mind and sense consciousness and 2) observing events in the space of the mind vs going with them. He also dispels a misunderstanding about 'open awareness' being Shamatha (or Vippassana).

Meditation starts at: 14:20

Note: We had a problem with the computer while recording and could only recover the session from a weaker source. Hence we kindly ask you to bear with us. Thank you.

Alan prefaced the meditation with several analogies for the practice of settling the mind in its natural state.

Alan discussed what happens if you were to immerse yourself in the practice of settling the mind in its natural state. He said that whatever comes up in the space of the mind, you know directly that whatever arises can't possibly harm you. You are free. The analogy is that of being in a lucid dream. When you come off the cushion, when witnessing the world around, everything appears empty. Not to say you have realised emptiness, (but the way you see reality is different) Attending to without grasping becomes a habit.

Text - 'View all phoneme as if they were dreams'. This is superb preparation to become thoroughly lucid and practice the remainder of the text. Ready for vipassana. Alan discusses this Dzogchen approach of 'outside in' as opposed to the Lam Rim approach of 'inside out'.

Question re: karma.

Meditation starts at: 12:56

The essence of the practice of settling the mind in its natural state is as a translation of the Tibetan, not distracted – no grasping.

The Tibetan term for awareness is rigpa – loss of awareness or not knowing is marigpa. The shift from awareness to the loss of awareness indicates that the mind is wandering. The first link of dependent origination is marigpa – not knowing.

Discussion of quantum mechanics and the statement “don’t attribute existence to something that is unknowable in principle”. When does a wandering thought begin – the answer is unknowable in principle because it wouldn’t be a wandering thought if you knew when it began – then it would be a deliberate thought. Likewise for a non lucid dream and also for the beginning of samsara.

Question: If you achieve shamatha in this life do the mental qualities flow into the next life? When you achieve shamatha, the gross mind dissolves into the substrate consciousness. This is also what happens at the time of death. Having attained shamatha, at the time of death you can enter the substrate consciousness lucidly. You know you are there and are prepared for what comes next – the clear light of death. You can then enter the bardo lucidly and direct your attention to where you would like to be born. Some obscuration occurs from the birth process but would have propensities allowing you to develop shamatha again easily.

Seven Point Mind Training – “Once stability is achieved, let the mystery be revealed” The mystery of the nature of consciousness.

Question: How do you know when grasping is occurring in the meditation? Answer regarding the different levels of grasping. Don’t banish the thought but release your clinging.

Meditation starts at: 25:25

Our usual mode of thinking is obsessive because of an involuntary flow of thoughts. It is compulsive because our attention is drawn in by the thoughts and delusional because we think whatever we are thinking is true. Mindfulness of breathing cuts this disorder right at the start by stopping the obsessive thoughts.

Resting the mind in its natural state allows this obsessive flow of thoughts to flow. This mediation can develop lucidity in the waking state. In a lucid dream there is no possibility of harm to you as you know it is a dream. Likewise the events arising in the mind have no power over us unless we identify with them. When you are lucid to whatever arises in the mind, when mental afflictions arise, if you don’t identify with them they dissipate.

Lojong – the lucidity of shamatha allows you to shape your thoughts the way you can shape a lucid dream – you can shape everything in your mind to Bodhicitta.

Alan gave a short story about Milarepa in the rain.

Meditation starts at: 23:45

Prefaced with brief elusion to the third of those four thoughts that turn the mind about - focusing on the reality of suffering. Why do we have to suffer at all? This deepest dimension of suffering - it arises directly because of or pertains to our relationship with our bodies and minds. The aggregates (our bodies and minds), arose in relation to mental afflictions (klesha) and karma. We are closely holding onto, or identifying with, our bodies and minds which are defiled in the sense of being created by karma and klesha. That very identification with that which is not 'I' or 'mine', as being 'I' or 'mine'. Alan then goes on to give examples.

Meditation starts at: 16:08

Alan explains how the natural state differs from the habitual state of mind. This practice "melts the ice" of our habitually configured consciousness to get to the substrate consciousness. To assist us to find the object - the space of the mind - we use a process of elimination.

Question: Do we accumulate Karma when dreaming?

In the Seven Point Mind Training text we move on from the preliminaries with the line: "Once stability is achieved, let the mystery be revealed". Here the mystery is the Nature of Mind and the stability refers to both our motivation and attention.

To finish Alan answers the question: Why don't we have western meditation Heros as exist within other Buddhist traditions?

Meditation starts at: 09:24

Note: We had two minor problems with the microphone causing a short interruption which you might notice.

The essence of the practice of settling the mind in its natural state is as a translation of the Tibetan, not distracted – no grasping.

The Tibetan term for awareness is rigpa – loss of awareness or not knowing is marigpa. The shift from awareness to the loss of awareness indicates that the mind is wandering. The first link of dependent origination is marigpa – not knowing.

Discussion of quantum mechanics and the statement “don’t attribute existence to something that is unknowable in principle”. When does a wandering thought begin – the answer is unknowable in principle because it wouldn’t be a wandering thought if you knew when it began – then it would be a deliberate thought. Likewise for a non lucid dream and also for the beginning of samsara.

Question: If you achieve shamatha in this life do the mental qualities flow into the next life? When you achieve shamatha, the gross mind dissolves into the substrate consciousness. This is also what happens at the time of death. Having attained shamatha, at the time of death you can enter the substrate consciousness lucidly. You know you are there and are prepared for what comes next – the clear light of death. You can then enter the bardo lucidly and direct your attention to where you would like to be born. Some obscuration occurs from the birth process but would have propensities allowing you to develop shamatha again easily.

Seven Point Mind Training – “Once stability is achieved, let the mystery be revealed” The mystery of the nature of consciousness.

Question: How do you know when grasping is occurring in the meditation? Answer regarding the different levels of grasping. Don’t banish the thought but release your clinging.

Meditation starts at: 25:25

Our usual mode of thinking is obsessive because of an involuntary flow of thoughts. It is compulsive because our attention is drawn in by the thoughts and delusional because we think whatever we are thinking is true. Mindfulness of breathing cuts this disorder right at the start by stopping the obsessive thoughts.

Resting the mind in its natural state allows this obsessive flow of thoughts to flow. This mediation can develop lucidity in the waking state. In a lucid dream there is no possibility of harm to you as you know it is a dream. Likewise the events arising in the mind have no power over us unless we identify with them. When you are lucid to whatever arises in the mind, when mental afflictions arise, if you don’t identify with them they dissipate.

Lojong – the lucidity of shamatha allows you to shape your thoughts the way you can shape a lucid dream – you can shape everything in your mind to Bodhicitta.

Alan gave a short story about Milarepa in the rain.

Meditation starts at: 23:45

Alan explains how the natural state differs from the habitual state of mind. This practice "melts the ice" of our habitually configured consciousness to get to the substrate consciousness. To assist us to find the object - the space of the mind - we use a process of elimination.

Question: Do we accumulate Karma when dreaming?

In the Seven Point Mind Training text we move on from the preliminaries with the line: "Once stability is achieved, let the mystery be revealed". Here the mystery is the Nature of Mind and the stability refers to both our motivation and attention.

To finish Alan answers the question: Why don't we have western meditation Heros as exist within other Buddhist traditions?

Meditation starts at: 09:24

Note: We had two minor problems with the microphone causing a short interruption which you might notice.