Discovering Buddhism - How To Meditate (1 December 2011)

0:00 Everybody's going to be teaching that? Yes. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:12 It covers everything on our preparation. So before we get started tonight, let's set our motivation with a little bit of meditation to kind of quiet and focus our minds as well. Report an error in the passage at 0:12 Highlight the passage at 0:12

0:31 So again, just checking up on your posture. I assume you've all been meditating these past two weeks. So this feels like it's second nature now. But just make sure. Your back is straight, your spine like a stack of coins. Your shoulders are back and your head's tilted forward slightly. Report an error in the passage at 0:31 Highlight the passage at 0:31

1:02 Your eyes are looking down at the floor about three feet in front of you or else they're closed. Then you have your tongue on your upper palate behind your teeth, your lips slightly apart and breathing through your nose if you can. Report an error in the passage at 1:02 Highlight the passage at 1:02

1:28 And then just take a couple of breaths and as you exhale, just mentally let go of all of the day's concerns. All of the issues and things that were on your mind, let go of it all. And just let your mind be present, be here. Report an error in the passage at 1:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28

1:49 And turn your focus to your breath. Report an error in the passage at 1:49 Highlight the passage at 1:49

2:01 As you breathe in, notice the sensation at your nostrils as you breathe out. Report an error in the passage at 2:01 Highlight the passage at 2:01

2:22 And just try to keep your attention on your breath. When distractions arise, just gently bring the attention back to the breath. Report an error in the passage at 2:22 Highlight the passage at 2:22

· · · silence, 5 minutes

7:17 So now, having had a chance to really focus, quiet the mind. Turn your thoughts to your motivation, recalling the highest motivation of the altruistic view, wishing to attain enlightenment, to benefit all mother beings, all beings, and Report an error in the passage at 7:17 Highlight the passage at 7:17

7:44 just generate the wish that I might do this myself to bring happiness and joy to all beings, that I might strive to attain enlightenment for their benefit. Report an error in the passage at 7:44 Highlight the passage at 7:44

8:14 So did everybody... Get a chance to do any meditation these last two weeks or continue in the readings. Did you have any questions about the readings? It's, you know, we're not really going to talk about them per se in class. They just kind of accompany this and give you a little bit of breath and foundation to go along with what we're doing in class. Report an error in the passage at 8:14 Highlight the passage at 8:14

8:40 So whatever pace you can keep up with, that's great. It'd be good, though, if you do have a chance to complete them. I was going to ask, in the readings that you did receive, are there meditations at the end? I couldn't remember. Report an error in the passage at 8:40 Highlight the passage at 8:40

8:58 Were there sample meditations by Lama Zopa Rinpoche? Okay. I'm seeing some. If you don't have those, let me know and I'll send that out. Maybe it's possible that what went out in the email had the attachment and what was printed didn't. So there might be a bit of a discrepancy there. But they're nice meditations to do if you don't have a copy of How to Meditate, the old copy. Report an error in the passage at 8:58 Highlight the passage at 8:58

9:31 So this is, as I said, our fifth session. And since it was quite a while ago, I thought we'd start out with a little bit of a review from our last session. Because the last session we talked about some important concepts. Basically we talked about... Purification, about why we purify. We talked about accumulating merit. And we said, as far as purification goes, I mean, ultimately we want to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 9:31 Highlight the passage at 9:31

10:04 We want to live happy lives. And to do that, we've learned that karma, karmic results, we create the causes for happiness. Report an error in the passage at 10:04 Highlight the passage at 10:04

10:22 Create positive actions so that this brings our attention to the need to practice ethics, to practice some sort of morality. And that because we've lived for countless lifetimes and accumulated a lot of negative karma, and this karma is definite, it will ripen at some point when the conditions and the causes occur to make that ripen. Report an error in the passage at 10:22 Highlight the passage at 10:22

10:49 And since we don't want to experience these... This negative karma, by purifying we can eliminate those results. We can basically keep that karma from ripening. So we talked about ways to purify and we mentioned the four opponent powers. So it's like a meditation and in fact I think we'll be going through that kind of a meditation on New Year's Eve. Report an error in the passage at 10:49 Highlight the passage at 10:49

11:22 No, I'm sorry, not New Year's Eve, New Year's Day. There will be a purification practice or a Vajrasattva practice. Vajrasattva is a deity that kind of embodies this purification. So sometimes you'll hear people talk about Vajrasattva retreats or Vajrasattva practice. It's a purification practice. So in terms of the other side of this accumulating merit, the purpose there, Actually, purification and accumulating merit kind of go hand in hand. But if we don't purify and create merit, then all of our efforts at practice, they won't really come to fruition. Report an error in the passage at 11:22 Highlight the passage at 11:22

12:18 It's kind of like a seed that doesn't receive proper water or that's planted in rocky ground. And the results that we do get in terms of our meditation practice and our mindfulness, mindfulness practice will just be They'll be inhibited and potentially they can be destroyed by this continual negative action arising. Report an error in the passage at 12:18 Highlight the passage at 12:18

12:46 So by purifying, we are essentially, you know, we're training our minds, ourselves basically, to, we're taming our minds and creating the causes to... Report an error in the passage at 12:46 Highlight the passage at 12:46

13:03 To not create further negative karma. So it makes our practice more effective. Report an error in the passage at 13:03 Highlight the passage at 13:03

13:16 And basically we'll talk about this a little bit further on in terms of how it connects with our meditation per se. But it just means that as we are able to, say, attain some measure of meditative realization, That attainment kind of stays with us, that we're able to maintain that. It's kind of like if we don't pay attention to our actions, to the karma we're creating, either by watching the mind and guarding our motivation and thereby guarding our actions of body, speech and mind. Report an error in the passage at 13:16 Highlight the passage at 13:16

14:09 If we're not doing that, then it's kind of like the effort we're doing is sort of like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom. It'll just kind of keep going through and you'll never fill up the vessel. So we're unable to really benefit from these practices the way we would be able to if we take these purification practices and the accumulation of merit. Report an error in the passage at 14:09 Highlight the passage at 14:09

14:37 If we take that to heart and we make that part of our practice. We also talked about visualization last time. We talked about visualization meditation in connection with stabilizing meditation and sometimes in connection with an analytical meditation. And as Sangye Kadro says in her book, How to Meditate, that one of the purposes... Report an error in the passage at 14:37 Highlight the passage at 14:37

15:12 The benefits of visualization is that it helps us transform the ordinary view. So it enables us to see the world around us and to see ourselves and the beings in this cyclic existence in a different way. It also helps us to deepen our meditative experience. So we talked a little bit more about some of the problems that arise. Report an error in the passage at 15:12 Highlight the passage at 15:12

15:43 When we try to do this visualization meditation or the stabilizing meditation and that the two main problems are what are called laxity and excitement. We'll talk a little bit more about those later and probably a little in depth more next week. But laxity has to do, sometimes it's considered dullness of mind, laziness, sleepiness. Report an error in the passage at 15:43 Highlight the passage at 15:43

16:09 And that often comes from applying too little effort. And then excitement is at the other end of the spectrum. And that arises from trying too hard. And that excitement can manifest as, you know, a mind that is constantly jumping from thought to thought. You know, just having discursive thoughts going through your mind when you're trying to focus on your breath. You're thinking of a million different things and you discover you're, you know, you just can't turn it off. Report an error in the passage at 16:09 Highlight the passage at 16:09

16:40 So there are... antidotes and remedies for both of those. And we'll talk more about that later tonight and probably next week. So why don't we right now, let's do a, well, let's see, I was going to do, let's turn these off. I sort of hate to do this. Can somebody just, Report an error in the passage at 16:40 Highlight the passage at 16:40

17:14 yeah, I think it'll just go on, won't it? Maybe not? It's coming on. Report an error in the passage at 17:14 Highlight the passage at 17:14

17:25 We didn't check the height though. Oh, it's fine, I think. Report an error in the passage at 17:25 Highlight the passage at 17:25

17:55 Okay. So we're just talking about this review. So again, purifying, accumulating merit, visualization and then common problems that occur in our meditations. So tonight we're going to be talking mainly about the objects of meditation. What are suitable objects? Report an error in the passage at 17:55 Highlight the passage at 17:55

18:19 And Pabanka Rinpoche first says that, you know, we should choose something familiar. And familiarity is to make it easier for the mind to hold on to this object. When we talk about visualizing, we're taking some object and basically examining it, looking at it in our mind, holding it in our mind. Report an error in the passage at 18:19 Highlight the passage at 18:19

18:44 And simple is just to make it in the beginning easier. If we look at some of the tankas, if we try to take that painting, As our object of meditation, it's very detailed. I mean, we probably, you know, you'd have to sit down and figure out how many figures were there. And one thing to remember is that the quality of our meditation is, you know, dependent upon how good our object is, how clear that representation is. Report an error in the passage at 18:44 Highlight the passage at 18:44

19:18 So, you know, the fact that we could maybe sit down and visualize an outline of this, it's a sketchy meditation. And that's basically what, you know. What we experience. So we want to start with something very simple so that we can get a nice clear view. And this tells us about what our minds are capable of because eventually as you work at this, as you continue this kind of meditation, you will have an object that you see or that you choose from a mental image. Report an error in the passage at 19:18 Highlight the passage at 19:18

19:51 And when you hold that mental image, it will be as if the object is real. Being able to see all of the detail, if you choose to meditate on the Buddha, you will have this representation of a living being. Report an error in the passage at 19:51 Highlight the passage at 19:51

20:14 The next aspect that Pabanko Rinpoche mentions is choosing an object that brings some sort of positive imprint. So when we Report an error in the passage at 20:14 Highlight the passage at 20:14

20:27 it's It's something that just affords us a bit of a long-term benefit. When we talk about this purification and accumulation of merit, these things arise when we focus on a positive object like Buddha. Or if you have a different tradition, it may be an image of God, an almighty being, of just whatever brings to mind a positive. Report an error in the passage at 20:27 Highlight the passage at 20:27

20:58 Influence, you can use that and you'd basically have the same kind of result. So what I was going to do, let's see, I was going to do a short meditation now, but let's, I sort of hate to turn this thing off now that we've gotten it back on again. So let's go through a few more slides and then what we'll do is we're going to do a body of light meditation. Report an error in the passage at 20:58 Highlight the passage at 20:58

21:24 So we're just visualizing something very, very simple. So we'll come back to that. So Pabanko Rinpoche says that, you know, when we do this kind of meditation, we need an object to fasten our minds to, to sort of connect it. And, you know, he likens it in the Heart of the Middle Way Sūtra. It says, securely tie the wayward elephant of the mind to the firm pillar of the visualization and use the rope of memory. Report an error in the passage at 21:24 Highlight the passage at 21:24

21:55 Break it in with the hooks of wisdom. So just likening the mind to a wild elephant. And what we're doing is taming, taming this elephant mind. Report an error in the passage at 21:55 Highlight the passage at 21:55

22:11 And the object of meditation, Pabankar Rinpoche says, you know, they should be mental objects in the sense that we're not looking at something. We're not going to sit down and, you know, look at Atanka and that's our meditation. He does say that... Report an error in the passage at 22:11 Highlight the passage at 22:11

22:29 In talking about this, that some practitioners do use this method, but that kind of a meditation is inferior to a meditation that uses a mental image. Because you're relying on this sense consciousness. And what we want to be doing for meditation is bringing that object, not using the eye consciousness in visualizing our object, we're actually using that mental. Report an error in the passage at 22:29 Highlight the passage at 22:29

22:57 Mental image and disconnecting the sense consciousnesses. So we can have this mental image. And as I mentioned before, using the form of a Buddha has this benefit of merit and purification. And it's said that whether it's a deity, Report an error in the passage at 22:57 Highlight the passage at 22:57

23:29 Or a particular aspect of the Buddha, any particular aspect. It could be your teacher visualized in the aspect of Buddha or vice versa. Report an error in the passage at 23:29 Highlight the passage at 23:29

23:42 We want to see the image not as something flat. If you're taking your image from a tanka or even from a statue, you want to see it as a living person, as a living being. Report an error in the passage at 23:42 Highlight the passage at 23:42

23:58 then another. You can use something like formlessness. I'm not sure how you would use formlessness, and I think that would be a rather advanced practice. But you can use more abstract concepts, which we'll talk about further. But there's a little story that Pabanka Rinpoche tells regarding objects to be used for meditation that a practitioner came to the monastery and he used a bull's horn as his meditation object. Report an error in the passage at 23:58 Highlight the passage at 23:58

24:28 So it's just an ordinary object, mental image of a bull's horn. And he was able to attain a level of mental quiescence, which is sort of like the first level of calm abiding. He didn't ultimately realize the highest levels of meditation, but basically Pabanka Rinpoche is telling us that you can use virtually any object. Report an error in the passage at 24:28 Highlight the passage at 24:28

24:54 And we're going to talk about the practice involved. But clearly there are benefits to using objects like the form of a Buddha or the form of a deity or a higher object. Report an error in the passage at 24:54 Highlight the passage at 24:54

25:15 So then again Pobanko Rinpoche says fix your mind on one thing and it should be something that you're comfortable with. so I think. Report an error in the passage at 25:15 Highlight the passage at 25:15

25:32 Ashva Gosha or Baba Viveka I think, says be firm in your contemplation, use one visualization. If we use many visualizations then the mind just gets confused. Report an error in the passage at 25:32 Highlight the passage at 25:32

25:48 So again Pabanka Rinpoche talks about keeping our mind fixed on a single object and this means during a particular meditation. A lot of what we're talking about here is preparation for what's called calm abiding, which if you read Venerable Rene's teachings Report an error in the passage at 25:48 Highlight the passage at 25:48

26:15 in the handouts, he was talking about how to prepare for calm abiding and that involves a lot of external sorts of preparations like being in a quiet place and kind of removing yourself from the busyness of life and not having too many desires. And these kinds of... What we're talking about now are more guidelines. If you were going to do a calm abiding retreat and maybe you plan to actually do this for six months or something where you would be, this would be your prime purpose would be trying to create this calm, achieve calm abiding through your meditation. Report an error in the passage at 26:15 Highlight the passage at 26:15

26:57 So then you would want to choose an object that you would focus on and not be changing that. You would try to stay with that. And there are different books written, or different suggestions in different books basically about the benefit of this object over that object or, you know, using the breath. There are different techniques. But the main thing here is that since we're talking about kind of a, you know, we're just getting into this. Report an error in the passage at 26:57 Highlight the passage at 26:57

27:28 Calm abiding is a pretty... It's a pretty advanced practice and we will talk more about why we'd even want to do that. But on any level, when we're doing meditation, the more clear we are with our object, the better our meditation is going to be. So, you know, maybe for now you choose the breath. That's fine. Or maybe you decide to do an analytical meditation and you choose a particular topic like karma or emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 27:28 Highlight the passage at 27:28

27:59 We'll talk more about... Those kinds of objects. But again, as we had said, I think in the last class, we can use this visualization or stabilizing meditation in conjunction with analytical meditation. And depending upon, you know, what practice we're doing, this can be part of our daily practice. It can be part of, you know, in taking, maybe studying with Geshe Dagpa as he teaches on I think he's doing the ninth chapter of Shantideva now. It's a chapter on wisdom. So those are very advanced teachings. Report an error in the passage at 27:59 Highlight the passage at 27:59

28:41 And practically any teaching, we benefit most if we take that teaching and then we meditate on it later. It reinforces and again it brings that understanding to a much deeper level. So fixing the mind. And Pabanko Rinpoche says, again, stick to one object. I think as we go on, there's a teaching in the sutras that says, or one of the objects suggested is meditating on the four noble truths, maybe to counteract or to Report an error in the passage at 28:41 Highlight the passage at 28:41

29:27 sort of rein in or purify the afflictive emotions. And when we do that, we wouldn't want to... Sit down to meditate on the Four Noble Truths at once. It would be better to take the first Noble Truth and then go in sequence. Maybe in this meditation session it would be simply meditating on the truth of suffering. The other thing Pabanka Rinpoche mentions in talking about sticking to one object, he likens it to trying to make a fire when you're rubbing two sticks together. Report an error in the passage at 29:27 Highlight the passage at 29:27

30:08 So if you start rubbing two sticks together and then you grab another stick, you're never going to get anywhere. And then, yes, sure, sure. It's the truth of suffering. The true cause of suffering is the second noble truth. The third is the truth of the end of suffering or the cessation of suffering. And the fourth is the means to that cessation or the path. Report an error in the passage at 30:08 Highlight the passage at 30:08

30:41 So when the Buddha taught, I mean first of all he was teaching that you're in this cyclic existence. If we don't recognize it as suffering, then we have no reason to want to develop any kind of renunciation, to want to get out of it. If we are looking for happiness in worldly things, then we're basically caught in this cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 30:41 Highlight the passage at 30:41

31:06 So when the Buddha taught, hey, you know, This is suffering. We live in a suffering existence. And what we consider when we experience happiness, it's often just the suffering of change. Report an error in the passage at 31:06 Highlight the passage at 31:06

31:21 We're sort of conditioned by being in this suffering existence. And then he went on to teach that there's actually a cause to the suffering. Cause is our mistaken view. It's this, the root cause of our suffering is ignorance. And it's grasping at things as inherently existing. So this is kind of, it's a lot to explain in just a few words. And we can talk about that more after if you want. But basically it's like saying this cyclic existence is suffering. Report an error in the passage at 31:21 Highlight the passage at 31:21

32:02 There is a cause to the suffering. You know, we can put an end to the suffering. By understanding that cause and cutting through that ignorance. And the way to do that is through the path. And this is basically what the Buddha taught after his realizations. So it's like he actually lived through this. And the teachings of the Buddha are what give us this valid path. Report an error in the passage at 32:02 Highlight the passage at 32:02

32:31 It's a path that he experienced. And is basically sharing with us this capability. So when Report an error in the passage at 32:31 Highlight the passage at 32:31

32:47 we talk about, again, this kind of meditation. So sticking to one object. And also, it's important for our practice. We talked about trying to prioritize to have a meditation session every day. And Pabanko Rinpoche says, you know, If you're trying to make fire and you just rub two sticks together and then you stop, you won't get anywhere either. Report an error in the passage at 32:47 Highlight the passage at 32:47

33:18 You have to do it continuously. You have to get that spark. So in the same way, we can't just say, I don't really feel like meditating today. I think I'll skip it. Or I'm going on vacation. I'm just going to take some time off. If we want to get results, we need to be regular. We need to... Report an error in the passage at 33:18 Highlight the passage at 33:18

33:39 Make time for our meditation practice. And then you will, you know, you will see results. That's what's just the sort of the incredible thing about the path is that because, you know, it works. It's a valid path. And when the teachings tell us, you know, they give us a method. And when we follow that method and you see it for yourself, you know, it's the Buddha isn't saying. Report an error in the passage at 33:39 Highlight the passage at 33:39

34:09 Hey, believe this. He's saying, hey, go try it. Experience this for yourself. And if it doesn't work, then by all means, don't do it. But what's very neat about having all of this information and having all of these teachings is that we have this method, and as we begin to practice, we do see results. Report an error in the passage at 34:09 Highlight the passage at 34:09

34:31 And it's something that, again, you experience personally. So what we're talking about here, as I mentioned, is this calm abiding instruction. And this is, again, a more advanced kind of practice. The main idea here is staying with a single object, really sticking with it, and then applying antidotes. We had talked about before when we said, you know, trying too hard, not trying hard enough. Report an error in the passage at 34:31 Highlight the passage at 34:31

35:07 and calm abiding has many many Many guidelines and methods in terms of how to practice and very clear teachings on the various stages and what happens with the mind. And there are several books out there that can take you through this. And it's said that if you really work at this, that you can definitely achieve some results with it in a matter of months. Report an error in the passage at 35:07 Highlight the passage at 35:07

35:37 They're just different levels. or, you know, some... And if you're interested in more study of this, I think Emily, Emily Sue has a class where, unfortunately, she's just completed the calm abiding session, section earlier this year, but it's in the middle length lamrim. And there's, that's quite a, an extensive teaching in that text by Lama Tsongkhapa. And we probably have copies in the bookstore. Report an error in the passage at 35:37 Highlight the passage at 35:37

36:13 Yeah. Okay. So, as Janet was saying, there are copies and this is part of the advanced reading for further discovering Buddhism classes. Report an error in the passage at 36:13 Highlight the passage at 36:13

36:43 I don't recall a specific, not a class, no, no, I don't remember that. I think it's more in the advanced level of teachings. Report an error in the passage at 36:43 Highlight the passage at 36:43

36:53 Once you've gotten through the basics of the Discovering Buddhism series, you may be wanting to go into that. I guess here we could talk about why. Report an error in the passage at 36:53 Highlight the passage at 36:53

37:13 The whole point of calm abiding, as we started with our motivation tonight, just remembering this wish to attain enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 37:13 Highlight the passage at 37:13

37:25 Enlightenment means that... First we have to liberate ourselves from this cyclic existence and the basis of that liberation is realizing emptiness. And that is said to be a direct realization of emptiness and we can't do that without having achieved calm abiding. Calm abiding and the realization of emptiness or what we call special wisdom, special insight, these two go hand in hand. Report an error in the passage at 37:25 Highlight the passage at 37:25

38:00 The qualities of when we do it, directly realize emptiness. That means we have ended our circling and cyclic existence. But as far as calm abiding goes, we can achieve, and probably have many times before, achieved realizations of calm abiding. And this is where, what we were talking about before, having that purification and that measure of merit, this is where these come into play. Report an error in the passage at 38:00 Highlight the passage at 38:00

38:34 Because without having those qualities, then we do have this potential to fall right back, you know, to lose those realizations. Now when we directly realize emptiness, then that's sort of like turning a corner. That's not something that... At that point, what it means is that we've overcome the afflictions. So calm abiding is very important to go along with that, but it isn't something that once we've achieved it, we maintain it. Report an error in the passage at 38:34 Highlight the passage at 38:34

39:18 It depends very much on the state of our afflictions, the state of our minds. So the reason to... so... Report an error in the passage at 39:18 Highlight the passage at 39:18

39:25 The reason to want to achieve calm abiding is certainly to enable us to understand emptiness, to achieve that kind of liberation. Very hard to do that without calm abiding. But by the same token, being able to achieve calm abiding involves a lot of meditation practice. And there are... Stories of, you know, meditators. I think Pabanka Rinpoche tells a story of a meditator who meditated for many years and, you know, had attained calm abiding and then he sort of came out of his meditation and realized, you know, he had all this long hair and the rats had eaten his hair and he became angry. Report an error in the passage at 39:25 Highlight the passage at 39:25

40:23 And so it's like he lost his meditative absorption right there, you know. So it's sort of like just a story to tell us that, you know, if we haven't achieved control of our afflictive emotions like anger and hatred and, you know, these strong emotions, then, you know, the mental quiescence we attain, we just can't hold on to. Report an error in the passage at 40:23 Highlight the passage at 40:23

40:47 I mean, there are stories of, you know, people, you know, Westerners and... Nepal and India, going up in the hills and meditating and then coming out and coming into Kathmandu and then kind of freaking out with all the noise and getting upset. And of course, you know, if we don't have, we don't maintain the sort of our sense of our higher trainings of morality to go along with this development of concentration. Report an error in the passage at 40:47 Highlight the passage at 40:47

41:18 Then we simply can't, you know, we can't maintain any of these meditative realizations. So anybody got any questions? Then let's, yes, sure. Report an error in the passage at 41:18 Highlight the passage at 41:18

41:39 Right, with the struggles I'm going through. And the other night I was just laying in bed thinking, man, all of this would be so much easier if I didn't have kids, right? And then I thought, well. But that's the purpose of it. You know, you have to learn to be calm through chaos. And if you remove the chaos, then of course it's easy to be calm. Report an error in the passage at 41:39 Highlight the passage at 41:39

42:00 Exactly. But if you can do it in the midst of utter chaos, then you've really achieved it. Exactly. Yeah, that's perfect. Report an error in the passage at 42:00 Highlight the passage at 42:00

42:14 Sure. Report an error in the passage at 42:14 Highlight the passage at 42:14

42:22 So, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 42:22 Highlight the passage at 42:22

42:29 When I was looking at this, it was sort of sad because it made me think about this history of, you know, Animal abuse, basically, of taking wild elephants and subduing them and tying them up. I think they still do some of that in circuses, but it kind Report an error in the passage at 42:29 Highlight the passage at 42:29

43:02 of brings the whole cyclic existence in. Again, it kind of brings it all back in terms of the sufferings of this existence. Report an error in the passage at 43:02 Highlight the passage at 43:02

43:16 And humans and animals as well. All sorts of beings. Report an error in the passage at 43:16 Highlight the passage at 43:16

43:26 So, are we okay now? Or did you get it? Okay. Okay, let's do, going back to visualization, we're going to do just a really simple meditation. Do you want to turn that off? Okay. I mean, I don't know. Does that bother anybody? Let's just leave it because I'm going to go back to the slides in a minute. Report an error in the passage at 43:26 Highlight the passage at 43:26

43:46 Let's see. How are we doing? Oh, you know what? We could turn it off because we'll probably take a break after this. Sorry. Report an error in the passage at 43:46 Highlight the passage at 43:46

43:54 So this is just called the body of light meditation and it's to get a chance to practice these meditation skills, this visualization skill. So again, just get yourself into your meditation posture, back straight but not stiff. And then what Report an error in the passage at 43:54 Highlight the passage at 43:54

44:20 we're going to do is you can start with a couple of breaths just to calm and clear the mind. Report an error in the passage at 44:20 Highlight the passage at 44:20

44:41 So visualize in the space above your head. Now this is just visualizing with your mind a sphere of white light, somewhat smaller than the size of your head, pure, transparent and formless. Report an error in the passage at 44:41 Highlight the passage at 44:41

45:06 So just see if you can generate this visualization and Report an error in the passage at 45:06 Highlight the passage at 45:06

45:18 just try to hold it there. If it begins to waver, go back to it. If you find yourself in discursive thought, then just go to your breaths. Watch your breathing for a few breaths. Report an error in the passage at 45:18 Highlight the passage at 45:18

45:33 And then go back and generate the visualization again. Report an error in the passage at 45:33 Highlight the passage at 45:33

· · · silence, 3 minutes

48:53 So just imagine that the sphere of light represents all universal goodness, love and wisdom. That it embodies the fulfillment of your own highest potential. And Report an error in the passage at 48:53 Highlight the passage at 48:53

49:14 then visualize that it decreases in size until it's about one inch in diameter. It descends through the top of your head and Report an error in the passage at 49:14 Highlight the passage at 49:14

49:29 comes down to your heart center. Report an error in the passage at 49:29 Highlight the passage at 49:29

49:38 Then imagine it begins to expand once more. Report an error in the passage at 49:38 Highlight the passage at 49:38

49:43 Slowly spreading to fill your entire body. Report an error in the passage at 49:43 Highlight the passage at 49:43

50:03 As it fills your body, all the solid parts of your body dissolve and become light. Report an error in the passage at 50:03 Highlight the passage at 50:03

50:18 So your organs, bones, blood vessels, tissue and skin all become pure, formless white light. Report an error in the passage at 50:18 Highlight the passage at 50:18

· · · silence, 1 minute

51:08 So experience your body as this body of white light. Report an error in the passage at 51:08 Highlight the passage at 51:08

51:15 Just imagine that all problems and negativities, all hindrances to your realizations have completely vanished. Report an error in the passage at 51:15 Highlight the passage at 51:15

51:28 That you've reached a state of wholeness and perfection. Report an error in the passage at 51:28 Highlight the passage at 51:28

· · · silence, 1 minute

52:18 If any distractions arise, just see them as melting into this white light. Just Report an error in the passage at 52:18 Highlight the passage at 52:18

· · · silence, 1 minute

53:13 remain in this white light. Feel the peacefulness and joy of just being there. Report an error in the passage at 53:13 Highlight the passage at 53:13

· · · silence, 1 minute

54:34 Sorry, that was kind of a... Didn't want to end that one. Let's take a short break. Report an error in the passage at 54:34 Highlight the passage at 54:34

· · · silence, 1 minute

55:36 Does Report an error in the passage at 55:36 Highlight the passage at 55:36

· · · silence, 8 minutes

1:03:16 everybody want to come back? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:16 Highlight the passage at 1:03:16

1:03:21 Maybe you don't want to come back, but... Report an error in the passage at 1:03:21 Highlight the passage at 1:03:21

1:03:38 We do, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:38 Highlight the passage at 1:03:38

1:03:43 Oh, that's okay. I mean, oh, well, you know, if you want to sit in the bookstore or if you need to leave, that's fine, too. I mean, I know you came for the other. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:43 Highlight the passage at 1:03:43

1:04:01 I mean, you can bring one in. Is that one? Oh, no, somebody's sitting in all of those. Yeah. Yeah. I can make it 21 Are you sure? Yeah. I don't want to disturb Report an error in the passage at 1:04:01 Highlight the passage at 1:04:01

1:04:15 I mean, if you want, you sure? You can grab a chair from the bookstore if you want. I'll just stick one right here. Yeah, it's fine. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:15 Highlight the passage at 1:04:15

1:04:29 class is good, and I'm good after the class in the year. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:29 Highlight the passage at 1:04:29

1:04:46 me, chair really dies in the Next time. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:46 Highlight the passage at 1:04:46

1:04:58 am I Jacky? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:58 Highlight the passage at 1:04:58

1:05:02 So how did you find the, you know, the body of light meditation? It's sort of a combination of, you know, preparing your mind to get that visual image. And sometimes it's hard to just sort of see something out there. But if you have this action of bringing, you know, sort of making it come in, bringing it into your body and having that experience, sometimes that, it felt brighter. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:02 Highlight the passage at 1:05:02

1:05:25 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:25 Highlight the passage at 1:05:25

1:05:29 Right. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:29 Highlight the passage at 1:05:29

1:05:34 Yes? Do you want to use the microphone? Share that experience? Sorry. So from the head, I had a strange sensation in the whole body, like just being like, not numb, but good sensation. I don't know. Like some vibration? You know, I think I had a similar thing. Yeah, it felt like I... I didn't know if it was the latte I had before class or the meditation, but it did seem to, you know, all happen there. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:34 Highlight the passage at 1:05:34

1:06:13 Yes. Oh, you want to pass it back? Please. Somebody gave me a CD with monks chanting. And so I sat down these past couple of weeks and I did a little meditation. It's a totally different experience. I almost felt like I was in trance. So is that a type of meditation to listen or was I doing my own thing? You know, that is all, I mean, one of the things, depending upon what they were chanting, you know, the sutras talk about the power of mantra, that this is another aspect which maybe made the whole experience more powerful. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:13 Highlight the passage at 1:06:13

1:06:55 Because I didn't know what they were chanting because it was in Tibet, I guess, but it just was, it was like hard to come out of it. Well, you know, and it's interesting, too, because one of the things I find is that just coming here to meditate with you, it's a different kind of experience than meditating at home alone. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:55 Highlight the passage at 1:06:55

1:07:15 So there's definitely that power, and I think when you're listening to a group of monks chanting, I think it can also be very powerful, kind of bringing all of that together. Does that have a name, that type of meditation? Not that I know of. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:15 Highlight the passage at 1:07:15

1:07:32 But I will check to see if there's something, you know, I haven't really come across that, but I can see where it would all work together. I have a question also. Are we done? Okay. Sometimes when I meditate, and I notice it oftentimes happens in yoga at the end of that meditation, but I was experiencing it today, that I get kind of like this, like, I don't know, like... Report an error in the passage at 1:07:32 Highlight the passage at 1:07:32

1:08:00 Not twirling, but kind of swaying motion. And it's very calming. And I don't know if that's like, I kind of just go with it. I don't know. Is that normal? Is that, I mean, should I try and stay still or? You know, I don't, I don't know. I don't think the only thing in terms of, I know what you mean as far as, you know, maybe having that swaying motion arise. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:00 Highlight the passage at 1:08:00

1:08:31 I've experienced that and seen that in terms of your actual like if you were working toward your calm abiding practice, then it might be a hindrance because it would be that physical sensation, maybe, you know, drawing your attention away from your object of concentration. But, you know, if you're doing just a daily meditation practice and it seems to enhance things, then I think it's fine. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:31 Highlight the passage at 1:08:31

1:08:58 I don't I haven't heard anything positive or negative in that direction, but again I'm looking up. Thank you. Okay, well let's get back, try to get to the end of these slides. So the Dalai Lama in a book entitled The Dalai Lama at Harvard talks about these objects of meditation and he talks about the pervasive objects. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:58 Highlight the passage at 1:08:58

1:09:29 Four basic types of objects, the pervasive objects, objects for purifying behavior, skillful objects of observation and objects of observation for purifying the afflictive emotions. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:29 Highlight the passage at 1:09:29

1:09:44 And pervasive objects are called this because they basically apply to all aspects or all objects of calm abiding. And the purifying behavior, objects for purifying behavior. That is going to involve meditating on antidotes. So we're going to do the purifying meditation later. So the first type of the pervasive objects is non-analytical images. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:44 Highlight the passage at 1:09:44

1:10:12 So it's just images without analysis. And this could be objects of calm abiding like the breath, visualizing the Buddha, your teacher, almost any object. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:12 Highlight the passage at 1:10:12

1:10:31 The analytical objects, these are things like examining the nature of the eye or karma, taking that as your object, focusing on that, analyzing it and then doing a stabilizing meditation from that analysis. As you're analyzing, you experience a deeper realization, you stay with that, you investigate, just kind of hold that experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:31 Highlight the passage at 1:10:31

1:11:01 And then you go back to analyzing. You can have as your objects, okay, it's called the limits of phenomenon or looking, examining phenomenon, objects, including ourselves, but everything in cyclic existence as relative and ultimate truth. So how things exist in a conventional way versus how they appear to exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:01 Highlight the passage at 1:11:01

1:11:28 So this appearance is one of, that would be the relative truth, appearance seeming inherently existing, but in actuality the ultimate truth is that they are empty of inherent nature, that things exist independent upon causes and independence upon causes and conditions. And this is again more of an advanced kind of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:28 Highlight the passage at 1:11:28

1:11:57 So probably beyond what we're doing here. And then what's called the thorough achievement of purpose. So this is really that bodhicitta motivation. We're talking about that altruistic view. And this is essentially the motivation for our meditation and includes all the benefits that come from it. This is sort of the heart motivation for... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:57 Highlight the passage at 1:11:57

1:12:25 Everything that we do up to and including enlightenment. You know what, I'm going to send these to you so you don't have to take these down. Sorry. I just realized people are writing and don't need to. I was going to do that today and I forgot. So we had the pervasive objects. The next set of objects is the objects for purifying behavior. So this depends on essentially a... Report an error in the passage at 1:12:25 Highlight the passage at 1:12:25

1:12:40 forgot, so. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:40 Highlight the passage at 1:12:40

1:12:55 An assessment of your own personality. If desire is an issue, you meditate on the ugliness of the object. So if you're attached to a person, we meditate on this body and how it appears on one hand so beautiful, but actually if you start getting inside of it, it's full of all sorts of gross things like blood. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:55 Highlight the passage at 1:12:55

1:13:23 And that ultimately, you know, we're going to die and everything's going to just decay. So that, you know, what appears to be so lovely is really very, very surface, very temporary and very projected. If it's hatred, you know, some sort of aversion, you know, we meditate on love to counter that. Ignorance. This is the ignorance that's grasping at this. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:23 Highlight the passage at 1:13:23

1:13:50 Absolute or inherent existence of things. So we meditate on dependent arising, realizing that things don't exist in this very permanent sort of way. We project that permanence, we project on them. Discursiveness. It's the mind just constantly on overdrive. Meditate on your breath. Just follow the breath. And that's always a good, whenever you're meditating, if you find that your mind just won't quiet down, Then just focus on the breath for a while. Count your breaths. That gives the mind something to do. And it's sort of an easy object to hold on to and to gently, you know, to watch with that other bit of concentration. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:50 Highlight the passage at 1:13:50

1:14:37 So you kind of watch yourself watching your breath. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:37 Highlight the passage at 1:14:37

1:14:47 And then the skillful objects of observation. His Holiness talks about the mental and physical aggregates. So when we talk about the aggregates, that is sort of what makes up the eye. It's like form, feeling, recognition or perception, mental factors. These are all kind of abstract terms. And this kind of object would be something that you would consider using. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:47 Highlight the passage at 1:14:47

1:15:28 And later on, if you were doing more advanced study, where you were studying more of the philosophies, the philosophical texts, you get into the 18 constituents. And by meditating on these things, we kind of, you know, we see them, we take that, again, that understanding to a deeper level. And it loosens our attachment to this. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:28 Highlight the passage at 1:15:28

1:15:56 This mistaken view, this view that we project on everything. There are more in this category of skillful objects, the external and internal sense spheres, the 12 links of dependent origination or dependent arising. That may actually, in presenting the path, that will probably come up in that class. And that is kind of the explanation of this whole cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:56 Highlight the passage at 1:15:56

1:16:26 How it arises, you know, how we are sort of part of it and how the karmic imprints cause us to take rebirth and sort of this whole cycle in terms of these 12 links. And then appropriate, inappropriate. So looking at sort of the workings of karma. And again, it's a more esoteric kind of. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:26 Highlight the passage at 1:16:26

1:16:58 And then finally the objects for purifying the afflictive emotions. And just to give you an idea, the afflictive emotions, we talked about this before, jealousy, anger, fear, hatred. So His Holiness here is just saying, you know, when you realize these emotions are only temporary, that they always pass on like clouds in the sky, you also realize they can be abandoned. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:58 Highlight the passage at 1:16:58

1:17:23 So this is... This is, again, a reflection of the Four Noble Truths, kind of recognizing that we can, you know, we aren't born or, you know, we aren't inherently, we aren't the same, I'll say, as our afflictive emotions. We have, they're like obscurations. Our minds are clear, you know. We have, the nature of mind is clear and knowing. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:23 Highlight the passage at 1:17:23

1:17:56 It's like the afflictive emotions and the obscurations that we experience are just like dust on a mirror. So we can. We can eliminate all of those. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:56 Highlight the passage at 1:17:56

1:18:13 And methods of doing this, again, are meditating on our present level, sort of the coarse level versus the higher level as peaceful. Again, what we're talking about in terms of... The meditation being this transformation of mind, so it's not so much what we're in, like trying to change our situation, but trying to change our reactions to it. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:13 Highlight the passage at 1:18:13

1:18:42 When we have kids, when we have jobs that drive us crazy, or we live in a place that's busy, we can't change the world outside. the Buddha said, you know, you can't. He's talking about, you know, the... Report an error in the passage at 1:18:42 Highlight the passage at 1:18:42

1:19:03 um... The roughness of the path in terms of walking around the world. You can't cover the world with leather, but you can wear leather on your feet. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:03 Highlight the passage at 1:19:03

1:19:16 This is the equivalent here of really pacifying those afflictive emotions and changing our minds so that we react differently. That we can control. That's the only thing we can control. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:16 Highlight the passage at 1:19:16

1:19:37 I was going to do a short calm abiding meditation, but I think we might do this next time so that we get a little bit of a chance to practice calm abiding. And next time we'll probably talk a little bit more about methods to sort of observe and correct our... Our attempts at calm abiding. So right now, you know, I've got here laxity, dullness, sleep, just starting with a comfortable posture, keeping the eyes open. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:37 Highlight the passage at 1:19:37

1:20:19 And that in itself can be a difficulty at first. Begin by focusing on the breath. Again, as I mentioned, just kind of getting rid of the discursive thought that way. And some people spend their first few months of calm abiding. I think Alan Wallace mentions it in his book, just focusing on the breath, being able to stay with that and not be distracted. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:19 Highlight the passage at 1:20:19

1:20:47 Which right now, when we're just meditating, hopefully meditating every day, but probably not for very long. You know, we need to build up our meditation sessions, the times. But, you know, it's inevitable for those distractions to arise. So when we're talking about calm abiding, we're looking at kind of a different experience because it's a much more intense experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:47 Highlight the passage at 1:20:47

1:21:21 And it can be a lot of work trying to just... Reign in the mind and stay with it and not get frustrated and not give up. So we'll talk more about that next time. But what I wanted to do now was finish up with a purification meditation because we haven't gotten a chance to do this. And this is a really nice one to do anytime. And it's just, again, kind of good to file away, just like the body of light meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:21 Highlight the passage at 1:21:21

1:21:55 These are two nice meditations. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:55 Highlight the passage at 1:21:55

1:22:03 Again, just find Report an error in the passage at 1:22:03 Highlight the passage at 1:22:03

1:22:11 a comfortable position with Report an error in the passage at 1:22:11 Highlight the passage at 1:22:11

1:22:27 your mind. Just sort of survey your body. And as you bring your consciousness to different parts of your body, just feel the tension leaving so that your body becomes relaxed and your mind becomes aware. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:27 Highlight the passage at 1:22:27

1:22:42 Feel it becoming lighter, more concentrated, Report an error in the passage at 1:22:42 Highlight the passage at 1:22:42

1:22:51 so unburdened. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:51 Highlight the passage at 1:22:51

1:22:57 And then just focus on the breath Report an error in the passage at 1:22:57 Highlight the passage at 1:22:57

1:23:02 just as you inhale and then exhale. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:02 Highlight the passage at 1:23:02

1:23:23 So now imagine that as you exhale, all of your negative energy, your past mistakes, distorted conceptions, negative emotions, all of these leave your body with your breath. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:23 Highlight the passage at 1:23:23

1:23:49 Just visualize this energy as black smoke. Just send it out into space. Imagine that it just disappears. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:49 Highlight the passage at 1:23:49

1:24:13 So with every exhalation, just imagine that you eliminate more negative energy. Just exhaling this black smoke. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:13 Highlight the passage at 1:24:13

1:24:38 And when you inhale, imagine that all positive energy in the universe enters your body with your breath in the form of pure radiant white light. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:38 Highlight the passage at 1:24:38

1:24:52 As you inhale, visualize this light flowing to every part of your body. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:52 Highlight the passage at 1:24:52

1:25:01 So imagine it fills every cell and atom. It makes you relaxed and light and blissful. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:01 Highlight the passage at 1:25:01

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:25:41 So just continue imagining as you inhale, you're breathing in this pure white light. Absorbing this energy fills your body and as you exhale you eliminate all negativities, all the afflictive emotions, the anger, the hatred, Report an error in the passage at 1:25:41 Highlight the passage at 1:25:41

1:26:10 the fear, all of these things leave. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:10 Highlight the passage at 1:26:10

· · · silence, 6 minutes

1:32:07 Now let's just turn our thoughts to dedicating the merit from this time we've spent practicing meditation, developing mindfulness, Report an error in the passage at 1:32:07 Highlight the passage at 1:32:07

1:32:23 taming our minds and progressing along the path. Dedicating all of this merit that we might attain enlightenment to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:23 Highlight the passage at 1:32:23

1:32:49 Thank you. So I will send these, copy of the slides out and sorry about that. Next week I'll try to get them out earlier so if you want to take notes you can just write on them. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:49 Highlight the passage at 1:32:49

1:33:03 So think about next week, think about whether you'll be able to attend the Saturday session so I have an idea of how many people will be coming. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:03 Highlight the passage at 1:33:03

1:33:15 And have a nice week. Enjoy your meditation. If you want copies of these, how many people have the How to Meditate book? Okay, if anybody else wants copies, let me know because I can always scan them and send them out. But it looks like practically everybody's got one. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:15 Highlight the passage at 1:33:15

1:33:37 Oh, you don't have it? Would you like a copy? I can email it to you. Or I'll make some copies and have them here. Thanks. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:37 Highlight the passage at 1:33:37

1:33:49 Oh, you're welcome. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:49 Highlight the passage at 1:33:49