Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training

Intent of Samantabhadra – Placement exam – different practices for those of superior, middling and inferior faculties. Those with supreme faculties hear teachings and experience the direct crossing over and become a vidyadhara. Those with middling and inferior faculties follow the 10 bhumis (grounds) and the 5 paths. Merge your mind with space and remain in equipoise for 20 days. Those with middling faculties will identify rigpa and become a vidyadhara. Those with inferior faculties practice shamatha, vipassana, breaking through, and crossing over.

Merging your mind with space – let awareness slip into space rather than taking space as an object. Release all grasping to your mind and even the bliss, luminosity and nonconceptuality of shamatha. Release everything on the out breath – designed to counter the tightness or wired feeling that can come with awareness of awareness.

Working hypothesis – right now we are in a non-lucid dream. What would be the most direct way to wake up? Don’t do anything that will reinforce yourself as a sentient being. Release all grasping.

Meditation starts at: 22:20

Straight into Tong Len meditation.

Begin on the 3rd point of Atisha's 7 point mind training.

A story about Dontonpa - 'give up all attachment to this life, and make you mind Dharma'.

From the text 'When the physical world and its sentient inhabitants are enslaved by vices, transform adversities into the path of spiritual awakening'. See adversity as fruition of past karma. Personal story about Tibetan refugee.

Geshe Chen-ngawa: If you have the will to practice in the face of physical and mental suffering, they become blessings from the objects of refuge; so apply all suffering to the two types of Bodhicitta. Something to cultivate with sincere, dedicated practice like His Holiness Dalai Lama.

The true enemies are self centredness and self grasping. Once identified they can be overcome. A strategy to overcome self centredness - not following the 8 mundane concerns (includes pursuit of wealth, power and fame).

Alan poses a question - Can we trust that their is some power in the universe that will bring us what we need if we don't grasp after it with self cherishing?

Questions:

How does one display rainbow body?

Meditation starts at: 00:35

The end of the explanation of shamatha without a sign by Padmasambava in the 14th century, the very last line is 'bring your mind to space and leave it there'. Dujong Lingpa's mind treasure in the 1860's picks up right where this left off, 5 centuries apart, 'merge your mind with empty external space'.

Alan discusses the practice further so as to talk less through the meditation.

After the meditation, Alan reads a short passage from the Vajra Essence. Alan then discusses where shamatha practice and mahamudra practice intersect, where they are distinct practices from each other, and where confusion sometimes lies between the practices.

Meditation starts at: 12:31

Discussion of Jesus taking on all the suffering and sins of others on the cross. Two views – Jesus suffering on the cross and Gnostic vision in which he is laughing and joyful. May both be true with suffering on the surface and beneath that resting in pristine awareness. St Francis – gave up everything to live in poverty and became very joyful.

Discussion of the phrases – May the suffering and its causes of all sentient beings ripen upon me and may the causes of my wellbeing ripen upon all sentient beings. Developmental model.

Discovery model – going deep into one’s own awareness and discovering loving kindness. Tap into ultimate Bodhicitta and relative Bodhicitta comes out like a geyser.

Question: Practices were given for people of superior, middling and inferior faculties. What about those needing remedial help? Answer – go to taking the mind as the path and if still having problems than let your mind mount your breath and go to breathing practice.

Meditation starts at: 24:05

Intent of Samantabhadra – Placement exam – different practices for those of superior, middling and inferior faculties. Those with supreme faculties hear teachings and experience the direct crossing over and become a vidyadhara. Those with middling and inferior faculties follow the 10 bhumis (grounds) and the 5 paths. Merge your mind with space and remain in equipoise for 20 days. Those with middling faculties will identify rigpa and become a vidyadhara. Those with inferior faculties practice shamatha, vipassana, breaking through, and crossing over.

Merging your mind with space – let awareness slip into space rather than taking space as an object. Release all grasping to your mind and even the bliss, luminosity and nonconceptuality of shamatha. Release everything on the out breath – designed to counter the tightness or wired feeling that can come with awareness of awareness.

Working hypothesis – right now we are in a non-lucid dream. What would be the most direct way to wake up? Don’t do anything that will reinforce yourself as a sentient being. Release all grasping.

Meditation starts at: 22:20

Alan introduces this last of four Shamata practices with concise instructions from two traditions. He then talks briefly on Tummo and Prana.

Questions:

Alan expands on these questions sharing his vision of the Alaya project, scientific process and faith and ethnocentricity in relation to belief.

Meditation starts at: 10:28

Alan explains equanimity and how we can use this Lo Jong text to transform each moment of our waking life into Dharma practice. He gives practical examples of how we can confront the afflictions of attachment, aversion and ignorance in our own minds recognising that they begin with us. He shows us how to use the combination of mindfulness and introspection relating this to our practice of Tonglen.

Question: What are imprints and how are they different to tendencies?

Meditation starts directly at the beginning of this session.

We begin the afternoon session with Tonglen meditation. After the session, Alan explains the second component of Tonglen, which is loving-kindness. Alan explains how loving-kindness is often compared with love and how they are different in nature. While ordinary love is an emotion and often comes with associated attachment (to a person, animal or thing), loving-kindness is an aspiration and a heart-felt yearning for sentient beings (both those we feel affection towards and those we despise) that they find genuine happiness (its fruition) and causes of genuine happiness. Also, attachment looks only at the surface of the person and changes with changing circumstances and the person's behavior. Loving-kindness, on the other hand, looks at a very deep substance of a person and is independent of circumstances and changes in the other person's behavior or character. Later, Alan refers to the Pali canon to explain both the near and far enemies of loving-kindness. The near enemy is self-centered attachment and the far enemy is ill-will (malice). So, how one can know if his/her practice is successful? If loving-kindness is practiced correctly, malice subsides. Overall, Tonglen practice is really successful when one develops willingness to take on others' suffering on oneself without regard for one's own well-being (similar to a mother willing to take on her child's suffering on herself). In the face of so much suffering present in the world nowadays and our limited ability to do something about it, Tonglen practice is often our best way to contribute to the world, and we don't need to reserve the practice only to the time on the cushion but should extend it to our everyday activities and interactions with others.

Final note: the microphone gives out at the end, at which point Alan ends the session.

Meditation starts at: 00:40

Today is the last day of the cycle of the Shamatha without a sign. Before the morning meditation, Alan reads instructions from Penchen Rinpoche, where he explains that whenever thoughts arise, when their nature is observed, they naturally disappear and a clear vacuity arises. So the technique to disperse the thoughts is to simply observe their nature (meaning: mental phenomena occurring in the space of the mind) when they arise. The goal is to view the mind as mind and to not mistake the appearances of mental phenomena for anything else; view thoughts as thoughts, mental events as mental events. By doing so, we disempower them and stop being victims of our thoughts (and other mental events). We need to become scientists of our minds: observe them, examine them, understand them. By doing so, we can realize both the empty nature of the mind and its luminosity. Both is stability and movement. Both the awareness and the space of the mind.

Meditation stars at: 24:10

Alan introduces this last of four Shamata practices with concise instructions from two traditions. He then talks briefly on Tummo and Prana.

Questions:

Alan expands on these questions sharing his vision of the Alaya project, scientific process and faith and ethnocentricity in relation to belief.

Meditation starts at: 10:28