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- 9:08
So just a review of the five faults and the eight antidotes. We've covered the fault of laziness so far and the four antidotes to laziness. And this laziness is the laziness, in particular the laziness that doesn't want to sit down and meditate. The laziness that would rather do something more entertaining than to sit down and try to cultivate meditative stabilization. The four antidotes of laziness were pliancy, joyous effort, aspiration, faith or confidence, being the root of the other three.
- 13:06
Lama Tsongkhapa quoted the sūtra requested by Ravata saying that if we have a particularly strong mental affliction, then we should meditate on the particular object that is the antidote to that main affliction. Whereas if our afflictions are balanced or small, we can use whatever object that we want. A virtuous object, preferably. So just to review, if our predominant affliction is desire or attachment, then to meditate on the repulsive or unpleasant.
- 31:29
Saying moving between many different meditation objects is like trying to create fire from rubbing two sticks together. You rub two sticks together and you get tired and then you stop. And then you rub them again and then you stop. And then you rub them and you stop. So then you lose the momentum and then you never actually get fire.
- 34:27
So after that, if when you can bring your attention to the body as a whole, You can raise before your mind just half of the gross components, then even without radiant clarity you should be satisfied with just this and fix your attention on that. So visualizing from the top to the bottom, getting a general idea of the position of the Buddha and then being satisfied with that even without the radiant clarity.
- 48:09
So while we're doing this, why don't we start with a nine round breathing to settle our winds, to settle our minds. So if you're not familiar with the nine round breathing, three times inhaling through your right nostril, and exhaling through your left, and then three times inhaling through the left nostril.
Transcript
· · · silence, 1 minute
0:37 I wish I could say I picked it out myself. Report an error in the passage at 0:37
0:44 Okay, Report an error in the passage at 0:44
· · · silence, 1 minute
1:50 welcome everyone. Report an error in the passage at 1:50
2:00 Let's start with a minute of quiet to set our motivation for the evening, seeing if we can develop some semblance of a bodhicitta motivation. With Report an error in the passage at 2:00
· · · silence, 2 minutes
4:27 the praise to Shakyamuni Buddha on page 73. Report an error in the passage at 4:27
4:45 To the founder, the endowed transcendent destroyer, the one gone beyond, the faux destroyer, the completely perfected, fully awakened being, perfected knowledge and in good conduct, Sugata, knower of the world, supreme guide of human beings to be tamed, teacher of gods and human beings. the completely and fully awakened one, the endowed transcendent destroyer, the glorious conqueror, the subduer from the Shakya clan, I prostrate and make offerings and go for refuge. Report an error in the passage at 4:45
5:12 To the founder, the endowed transcendent destroyer, the one gone beyond, the foe destroyer, the completely perfected, fully awakened being, perfect in knowledge and in good conduct, Sugata, knower of the world, supreme guide of human beings to be tamed. gods and human beings to you the completely Report an error in the passage at 5:12
5:31 The endowed transcendent destroyer, the glorious conqueror, the subduer from the Shakya clan, I prostrate, make offerings and go for refuge. To the founder, the endowed transcendent destroyer, the one gone beyond, the faux destroyer, the completely perfected, fully awakened being, perfect in knowledge and in good conduct, Sugata, knower of the world, supreme god of human beings to be tamed, teacher of gods and human beings, to you, the completely and fully awakened one, the endowed transcendent destroyer. Report an error in the passage at 5:31
6:00 The glorious conqueror, the subduer from the Shakya clan, I prostrate, make offerings and go for refuge. When, oh supreme amongst humans, you were born on this earth, you paced out seven strides, then said, I'm supreme in this world. To you who are wise, then I prostrate. With pure bodies formed supremely pure, wisdom ocean like a golden mountain, fame that blazes in the three worlds, winner of the best, Lord, to you I prostrate. Report an error in the passage at 6:00
6:26 With the supreme signs, face like spotless moon, color like gold, to you I prostrate. Dust free like you, the three worlds are not, incomparably wise one, to you I prostrate. The Savior having great compassion, the Founder having all understanding, the field of merit with qualities like a vast ocean, to you, the one God to thusness, I prostrate. Report an error in the passage at 6:26
6:48 The purity that frees one from attachment, the virtue that frees one from the lower realms, the one path, the sublime pure reality, to the Dharma that pacifies, I prostrate. Those who are liberated and who also show the path to liberation, the holy field qualified with realizations, who are devoted to the moral precepts. Report an error in the passage at 6:48
7:07 To you, the sublime community intending virtue, I prostrate. Homage to the Supreme Buddha. Homage to the Dharma refuge. Homage to the great Saṅgha. To all three, ever devout homage. To all worthy of respect, bowing with bodies as many as all realms atoms in all aspects. With supreme faith, I pay homage. Report an error in the passage at 7:07
7:25 Do not commit any non-virtuous actions. Perform only perfect virtuous actions. Subdue your mind thoroughly. This is the teaching of the Buddha. star, a visual aberration, a flame of a lamp, an illusion, a drop of dew or a bubble, a dream, a flash of lightning, a cloud. See conditioned things as such. Report an error in the passage at 7:25
7:45 Through these merits may sentient beings attain the rank of all seeing, subdue the foe of faults, and be delivered from saṃsāra's And then page 98, Refuge in Bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 7:45
8:09 I go for refuge until I am enlightened. To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened. To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 8:09
8:32 I go for refuge until I am enlightened. To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 8:32
8:49 we've been talking about the objects of calm abiding. Report an error in the passage at 8:49
8:57 through I want to review from last week Report an error in the passage at 8:57
9:08 So just a review of the five faults and the eight antidotes. We've covered the fault of laziness so far and the four antidotes to laziness. And this laziness is the laziness, in particular the laziness that doesn't want to sit down and meditate. The laziness that would rather do something more entertaining than to sit down and try to cultivate meditative stabilization. Report an error in the passage at 9:08
9:38 The four antidotes of laziness were pliancy, joyous effort, aspiration, faith or confidence, being the root of the other three. Report an error in the passage at 9:38
10:00 Lama Tsongkhapa really emphasized how from the outset we need to try to get rid of laziness. Otherwise it's going to be an obstacle all along. When we get bored, when we have difficult sessions, the laziness will kick in. So we need to try to overcome that from the beginning. And to do that, we need to develop this faith or confidence in the qualities of meditative stabilization. Report an error in the passage at 10:00
10:28 So we need to reflect on them again and again. And the reason I want to go through this again is because I was missing a slide last week. Somehow I had deleted it. So we didn't talk about the first couple positive qualities of meditative stabilization. First of all, our mental happiness and physical comfort greatly increase so we stay happy in this lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 10:28
10:56 So it said once we attain calm abiding, we attain this level of happiness and bliss that we've never experienced before. So that's a great incentive because oftentimes we like to engage in entertainment, go see movies and spend time with friends and all of this kind of thing because that makes us happy. Report an error in the passage at 10:56
11:24 So if we remember that, Meditative stabilization will make us even happier than we're more inclined to put the effort in there. Report an error in the passage at 11:24
11:38 And then once we have this physical and mental pliancy that calm abiding has, then the mind is fit to make use of any virtuous object at will. And particularly mental pliancy, because mental pliancy gets rid of that resistance in the mind, the resistance in the mind that doesn't want to practice, doesn't want to practice virtue. Report an error in the passage at 11:38
12:02 So once we get rid of that resistance, then it's easy to practice virtue. And then we talked about how faulty conduct doesn't occur so much because our... Once the uncontrolled distraction is gone, once we've been able to control our minds with calm abiding, the mind doesn't just jump all over the place and get irritated so easily and get taken over by desire. Report an error in the passage at 12:02
12:32 And then the biggest benefit is then we can realize special insight based on calm abiding and cut the root. And then Report an error in the passage at 12:32
12:57 just to review what we've covered so far about what object we should use as an object of calm abiding, Lama Tsongkhapa quoted the sūtra requested by Ravata saying that if we have a particularly strong mental affliction, then we should meditate on the particular object that is the antidote to that main affliction. Report an error in the passage at 12:57
13:25 Whereas if our afflictions are balanced or small, we can use whatever object that we want. A virtuous object, preferably. So just to review, if our predominant affliction is desire or attachment, then to meditate on the repulsive or unpleasant. Report an error in the passage at 13:25
13:49 If our predominant affliction is anger or hatred, to meditate on love. Ignorance or confusion to meditate on dependent arising. Pride to meditate on the 18 constituents or whatever we don't understand to diminish the pride. And then discursive thought, if we have a lot of uncontrolled thoughts, then the strong recommendation is to meditate on the breath. Okay, so that's what we've covered so far. Report an error in the passage at 13:49
14:23 Yeah, only if you use the mic. I know the protocols, it'll be like this. this working? Yeah, okay. Is this for actually developing meditative stabilization? Like if desire was your main affliction, you would try to develop combining on a propulsive, unpleasant object? Report an error in the passage at 14:23
14:52 Yes. So if we have... And predominant affliction means like a really big... like habit of affliction and Lama Tsongkhapa says like from previous lives right so if we have this strong attachment strong So he recommends to then meditate on the repulsive, like for example, there's a lot of different meditations like, you know, if our Lama Tsongkhapa I think that's what made me curious. Report an error in the passage at 14:52
16:06 Can you perfect concentration based on a repulsive object, meditating on the ugliness of the body and so on? Or is that more something you do to diminish your afflictions and then you switch to... to either a neutral or a virtuous object. Yeah, I was curious about this, but everything that I've read and also talking to Geshe Dagpa, he says, oh yeah, you can cultivate calm abiding on repulsiveness. Report an error in the passage at 16:06
16:36 Possessiveness, right. Report an error in the passage at 16:36
16:41 But some of these other ones, it's difficult to develop calm abiding newly, Lama Tsongkhapa says, on some of these, like dependent arising or the 18 constituents that require a lot of analysis. Very difficult to newly attain calm abiding on those. But specifically, a couple of different sources say, but meditating on the repulsive, you can develop calm abiding with that. Report an error in the passage at 16:41
17:07 We may not want to, but... He says we can. I've also heard His Holiness the Dalai Lama when he taught the Lamrim Chenmo in Pennsylvania. He was talking about emptiness as being the best antidote to the mental afflictions. Because some of these other antidotes can lead to... the opposite affliction right so that seems to be the case with meditating on repulsiveness so we diminish our attachment but we may develop aversion right so that's not really ideal yeah yeah yeah it is interesting but Do you know any story of a yogi? Because we hear these stories of yogis developing concentration on the coffee cup. Report an error in the passage at 17:07
18:01 Have you ever heard a story of a yogi who perfected concentration on a repulsive object? I haven't heard a specific story about that. But it's quite extensively taught, though, to meditate, for example, on skeletons. Everybody is being a skeleton and that kind of thing. So it seems to be a meditation that people do. But then I think also in the Theravadan tradition, In order to diminish their attachment, they meditate on repulsiveness more than it seems in the Tibetan tradition. Report an error in the passage at 18:01
18:44 Oh yeah, that's quite, yeah, to meditate. But that's more to meditate on emptiness. Because a lot of fear comes up right in a cemetery or something like that, right? And so then you can meditate on emptiness and check out the strength of your meditation on emptiness. Yeah, so... I was thinking in terms of... Yeah, there's that too. Report an error in the passage at 18:44
19:17 Yeah. Leslie will... I can't decide if I'm hot or cold. Report an error in the passage at 19:17
19:31 So, right now I need to do it on the breath because... to get started. But then it's okay to think about doing it. I suppose you wouldn't like switch every other day or anything, but to do that for a while and then you could switch to doing, you know, seeing the Buddha or some other virtuous, more virtuous. Report an error in the passage at 19:31
20:00 Breath's not virtuous, just breath. But to do that until at a point where, you know, that you could concentrate on it. Without your daily laundry list jumping into your head all the time. So it's not like you have to pick one and stick with it or anything. Well, it depends on who you ask. And Lama Tsongkhapa really emphasizes sticking to one object. Report an error in the passage at 20:00
20:32 But then for something like the breath, the breath can be used as something that we use all the way through to calm abiding, apparently. Which I don't quite get. Or we can use the meditation on the breath as like the eighth point of the meditation posture. And the eighth point there is meditating on the breath until you settle your mind. And then you can switch. So there's two different ways we can look at meditating on the breath. Report an error in the passage at 20:32
21:04 As just a preliminary to settling your mind or as your actual object all the way to common binding. So, la, uh... But then there are other yogis who say, you know, it's okay to switch objects at certain points along the way, like not switching every day, right? But, you know, until you get to a certain point, you can stick with one object and when you get to another point, you can use a different object. Report an error in the passage at 21:04
21:32 But Lama Tsongkhapa is not saying that. I've just read that in other places, like Geshe Lodro. You know, who wrote Calm Abiding and Special Insight. He says, it's good to not change your object, but if you have to, you know, you can do the third mental abiding of the nine mental abidings. Because right now I feel like I've got to, I need to do the breath. Yeah. That's a good idea at the beginning, right? Yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 21:32
22:02 Exactly. But then, you know, the thought of, you know, that's not, you're not, it would be nice to... on something with Samaritan at some point when I'm much calmer it's not going to be next week or anything I'm sure it Report an error in the passage at 22:02
22:24 conceivably do the breath for years and then would probably know that it was time to Report an error in the passage at 22:24
22:34 to, or are we just... Report an error in the passage at 22:34
22:39 to switch yeah Report an error in the passage at 22:39
22:46 I think that's, I mean, in my own opinion, I think that's fine, right? To meditate on the breath for a while and then to switch to something else, you know, at a certain point, as long as you're not switching back and forth. Report an error in the passage at 22:46
22:58 And then another option is if you have a Lama, right, to have your Lama, you know, kind of guide you and say, okay, now is a good time to switch. That's usually, right, recommended, right? But if we don't, then we just do the best we can. Wow, okay. One more question and then we'll get into the material. I was kind of excited because I'm reading Alan Wallace's book and he started talking about in this vein, I sent you that question about the breath and how it's not, what do you concentrate on if it's not your sensory stuff as you go along to these higher levels. Report an error in the passage at 22:58
23:33 And he talked about this thing I'd never heard of before, they call it a received sign or something like that. Do you remember? A received sign or a... Something sign. But at any point, in any case, he says at some point as you go through these levels, instead of as your senses withdraw, what replaces your breath is some sign that stands for the air sign of the breath. Report an error in the passage at 23:33
24:04 It's a mental image of the breath that can appear in different forms to different people like a sun or a moon or a bright spot or a... a bunch of jewels or flowers. It depends on the individual practitioner, but there's some sign that appears to the mind spontaneously that stands for the air sign that replaces Report an error in the passage at 24:04
24:32 replacement it arises spontaneously as your senses withdraw while you're meditating on the breath i thought that was really cool i haven't heard that anywhere yeah yeah i'll send you okay Okay. I was so excited when I read it. I was like, that makes sense. Okay. Right. Yeah, because as we meditate on the breath, right, as our concentration gets greater and greater, right, the breath becomes almost imperceptible, right? Report an error in the passage at 24:32
25:00 So then it's kind of hard to understand how you meditate on the breath at that point. So that may be what happens. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 25:00
25:22 So. happens. Report an error in the passage at 25:22
25:23 So then last time we got into the special advantages of meditating on the image of a Buddha. Oh, and before we go further, I noticed in the homework, you know, when we talked about the eight points of the posture, a number of you wrote the arms as being one of the eight points, like having your arms like this and your right hand on top of the left. Report an error in the passage at 25:23
25:49 Actually, Lama Tsongkhapa doesn't mention that one at all. I don't know what the source of that is because it's quite a common one that people hear, but Lama Tsongkhapa doesn't mention that and Kamala Shili doesn't mention that. He mentions the shoulders being even, but never the hands, like the right one on top of the left. So I just wanted to bring that up because that's one of the benefits of... Report an error in the passage at 25:49
26:17 Studying a text is we know, oh, okay, well, this is what Lama Tsongkhapa said. This is like there's common knowledge out there and who knows where it came from. But Lama Tsongkhapa actually doesn't actually mention that. I just wanted to point that out because it's a common teaching. Report an error in the passage at 26:17
27:01 I was just going to say that it's interesting, Emily. I don't know where I know where I've seen it before. And there's the Saṅgha Kadra's book on how to meditate mentions that. But I never really looked at the source of that. So it'd be interesting to follow that up. Yeah. Yeah. I want to do some research. And if ever anybody finds out. Report an error in the passage at 27:01
27:23 out, you know, I'd be interested to know, because I've seen that, like, in Sangeet Khadra's book, also Geshe Loden's book mentions that, so I've seen it. Report an error in the passage at 27:23
27:35 So we talked Report an error in the passage at 27:35
27:46 about how using the image of a Buddha has special advantages, like accumulating merit and it's more powerful. For our refuge practice and seven limbs and things like that, if we have a clear image of the merit field or the Buddha, easier to remember the Buddha at the time of death. And very helpful for our tantric practice, our deity yoga practice, if we use the image of a Buddha as our object for calm abiding. Report an error in the passage at 27:46
28:15 And then we talked about how we're not looking at the image when we're meditating. We look at it, familiarize ourselves with the image beforehand. beforehand, right? And then, you know, we get used to it. then we meditate on the image in our minds. I don't remember if we talked about this. Lama Tsongkhapa is recommending that instead of visualizing the statue of a Buddha or the painting of a Buddha, To imagine that it's a real Buddha, right? A real Buddha that's like smiling at you and, you know, it's not just a, right, a two-dimensional or, you know, figure or a, you know, a painting or a, you know, piece of metal, but actually if we can to imagine it as being an actual Buddha, right? Report an error in the passage at 28:15
29:12 And that really helps us develop faith. Report an error in the passage at 29:12
29:24 So here we talked about how meditative... Concentration is not in the sense consciousness, not in the eye consciousness, but in the mental consciousness. And then we observe the meaning generality or the mental image that's in our minds. We covered all of this stuff last time, yeah? I don't think we got this far though. So then, when we're visualizing, we should first, he's saying, observe the rough part. Report an error in the passage at 29:24
29:59 And then when our meditation is stabled on that, then observe the details. Because if we're imagining Shakyamuni Buddha, to get a rough overall image of Shakyamuni Buddha, like scan from the top to the bottom, where his head is, his arms, torso, legs, and then to be satisfied with that, instead of trying to get a crystal. Report an error in the passage at 29:59
30:26 clear image of all of the details, right? Because if we first focus on the details and try to get too much clarity, then the stability of our meditation suffers. So he's saying to be satisfied with the rough outline. And Report an error in the passage at 30:26
30:49 then this is what you were addressing before, Leslie, about not moving between many different types of objects. So Lama Tsongkhapa is saying, As long as a fully qualified meditative stabilization has not been accomplished, it is inappropriate to move between many different types of objects. This is because if you practice meditative stabilization, moving between many dissimilar objects, it will become a great obstacle to the accomplishment of calm abiding. Report an error in the passage at 30:49
31:18 I'm sorry, I don't remember how much we covered last time because I had a little too much going on this week. But did we talk about this, like Gishadagpa's? Report an error in the passage at 31:18
31:29 Saying moving between many different meditation objects is like trying to create fire from rubbing two sticks together. You rub two sticks together and you get tired and then you stop. And then you rub them again and then you stop. And then you rub them and you stop. So then you lose the momentum and then you never actually get fire. Report an error in the passage at 31:29
31:54 So similarly, if we keep switching objects, we're losing the momentum of our meditative stabilization. We'll never get there if we keep switching around. And it's tempting to keep switching around because different objects have different benefits. But it's better if we can stick to one. Report an error in the passage at 31:54
32:18 Leslie? I Report an error in the passage at 32:18
32:31 kind of feel like I'm at a point where I feel like The discursive thoughts have always been in the past been an issue but it feels like maybe I'm you know since we just started and haven't been doing meditation recently then it would be okay to say try to do the Buddha with the Buddha and see if that was try it you know go ahead and and then if it didn't then you know if it wasn't going to work then I could do the breath but Report an error in the passage at 32:31
33:06 I think it's useful to try. Go ahead and give it a shot, see if that can... Yeah, yeah. I mean, the main point is to not... Back to the right. Right, but if you feel like you're ready for a different object, I think it's okay. I mean, it's interesting, Alan Wallace says that according to Padmasambhava, he said it's fine to switch objects. Report an error in the passage at 33:06
33:30 So different sources say different things. things, right? But yeah, I mean, I just go ahead and say, okay, I'm going to try that and just try it for a while and see if I, well, I want to do that in today's classes. We'll, we'll, we'll try a different object and, you know, because, because these kinds of things, right, are useful to try out and see, you see what works for us. Report an error in the passage at 33:30
34:02 Lama Tsongkhapa here is saying, okay, well, what is the measure Lama Tsongkhapa First found the object of meditation. So this is what I was saying before about how you visualize several times in sequence the head, the two arms, so this is in the case of Shakyamuni Buddha, the head, the two arms, the rest of the trunk of the body and the two legs. Report an error in the passage at 34:02
34:27 So after that, if when you can bring your attention to the body as a whole, You can raise before your mind just half of the gross components, then even without radiant clarity you should be satisfied with just this and fix your attention on that. Report an error in the passage at 34:27
34:46 So visualizing from the top to the bottom, getting a general idea of the position of the Buddha and then being satisfied with that even without the radiant clarity. Just try to stabilize on that. He says, Report an error in the passage at 34:46
35:10 why? If dissatisfied, which is that you fail to fix your attention on it and want more clarity instead, then as you visualize it again and again, the object of meditation will become a bit clearer, but you will not obtain a stable concentration. So we sacrifice stability. In fact, you will prevent yourself from getting this. Report an error in the passage at 35:10
35:37 So even though the object of meditation is not very clear, if you keep your attention on precisely this partial object of meditation, you will quickly obtain concentration. Since this then intensifies clarity, you will readily achieve clarity. So if we start with the rough, stabilize on that, then the clarity will gradually come through the stabilization. Report an error in the passage at 35:37
36:07 That's what he seems to be saying. Report an error in the passage at 36:07
36:22 So again, Lama Rinpoche says, so one thing to remember as you enter this first stages of practice is that at the outset there tends to be a strong urge to get better clarity fast. He says, don't go for it. Be satisfied with a rather poor quality of clarity and really go for stability. The appropriate process is to start by trying to establish stability in a very gradual and gentle way. Report an error in the passage at 36:22
36:49 And then upon that basis, clarity can then be developed. So the same kind of thing. Does that make sense? Go for stability first. Report an error in the passage at 36:49
37:07 Then Lama Tsongkhapa says, keep your attention on the entirety of the body to the extent that it appears. Then if some parts of the body appear especially clearly, then keep your attention on them. When they become unclear, return your attention to the entirety of the body. Report an error in the passage at 37:07
37:28 So if it's a Shakyamuni Buddha and let's say his, you know, that spot appears particularly clearly, right? Then to focus on that, right? Not to the exclusion of the entire body, but we can put more emphasis, right? More focus on that part that appears clearly. And then it said that then the clarity will spread. Report an error in the passage at 37:28
38:02 So Genlam Rinpoche is... Saying basically the same thing and saying do not engage in any kind of analysis or checking up of the object. We're just stabilizing on the object and not thinking, oh, the Buddha has all these qualities and things like that. Just remaining with the image and cultivating stability from that. Report an error in the passage at 38:02
38:33 And then, if a particular part of the Buddha image becomes very clear, simply focus on that part. Because of its special clarity, then gradually, gradually, clarity will spread to the rest of the object. This does not mean that you focus on that part to the exclusion of the rest of the image. It's just that you give greater emphasis to that area of clarity. But still maintaining a general awareness of the entire body. Report an error in the passage at 38:33
39:04 Making sense? Report an error in the passage at 39:04
39:12 And then, let's say we're visualizing the Buddha. Buddha, Shakyamuni, and suddenly he turns red, So Lama Tsongkhapa is saying, okay, at that time if the color, shape, number or size appears that was not ascertained earlier, for example, you want to meditate on something yellow and something red appears, or you want to meditate on a sitting figure and a standing one appears, Report an error in the passage at 39:12
39:48 You want to meditate on one and two appear, or you want to meditate on something big and something small appears, it is inappropriate to pursue them. Report an error in the passage at 39:48
39:58 So you should only make that which is the original object the basis of observation. So if we're meditating on Shakyamuni Buddha and suddenly he stands up, make him sit back down. down, right? Report an error in the passage at 39:58
40:14 We shouldn't just pursue whatever appears to our minds, but stick with the original object that we decided on. Report an error in the passage at 40:14
40:28 And then Lama Tsongkhapa gets into, if you're practicing tantra in your generation stage and you're visualizing the deity, then it's very important to develop a clear image of the deity. Report an error in the passage at 40:28
40:50 So if we're practicing generation stage, then we need to do whatever we can to get a clear image of the deity. But here, if we're not practicing tantra, if we're trying to develop calm abiding, and we're having a lot of difficulty making the image of the deity appear, we're trying to visualize and it's not appearing, then... Report an error in the passage at 40:50
41:18 He's saying use one of the other objects that we talked about. If we're having great difficulty visualizing the Buddha, then try a different object. It's not important. If you're practicing tantra, then it's important. If you're trying to get calm abiding, it's not important. Because here, the main purpose is to achieve calm abiding. Report an error in the passage at 41:18
41:40 So visualizing the image of a Buddha is not really for everybody. Everybody, yeah? Like some people... I find it very difficult to visualize and it's a lot easier to meditate on the breath, for example. Report an error in the passage at 41:40
41:57 And it's interesting, Alan Wallace in his book mentions how a lot of practitioners have found it a great strain to try to visualize something in the practice of calm abiding. I mean, it takes a lot more effort to try to visualize a Buddha than to watch your breath. Right? So Alan Wallace was saying that it's, you know, a lot of more people have found it successful, right, to meditate on the breath to start with. Report an error in the passage at 41:57
42:30 And he recommends meditating on the breath like for the first four stages and then at the fifth stage to move to the nature of mind, like Mahamudra kind of meditation. So that's another option. Report an error in the passage at 42:30
42:45 option. Report an error in the passage at 42:45
42:57 So here he's just saying if we keep trying to focus on the body of the deity and nothing is appearing, then we're not going to achieve our aim. So we have to keep our attention on an image that does appear. So Report an error in the passage at 42:57
43:22 any questions on meditating on the body of the Buddha? Report an error in the passage at 43:22
43:35 I was just wondering, in light of meditating on the Buddha as... Like a living being, an animated being as opposed to an image or something. Is there anything in the teachings or the text regarding meditating on your guru? Like an image of one of your teachers or something as Buddha? Yeah, the actual image of, well, I mean, I haven't seen anything in the context of calm abiding, right? Report an error in the passage at 43:35
44:02 But of course that would be good, right? And then in general, usually you meditate, like when you're meditating on the deity, you're meditating on... Right, your guru is being inseparable from the deity, but that's different from actually meditating on the guru's body. But I haven't actually seen that anywhere, interestingly. Report an error in the passage at 44:02
44:23 I mean, in some tantric practices, you meditate on the deity, on your guru. In terms of visualizing a Buddha. Right, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 44:23
44:37 I don't know, has anybody seen that in a text talked about? Lama Tsongkhapa doesn't talk about that. Uh-uh. Report an error in the passage at 44:37
44:48 Merit field, when you visualize a merit field, then you can, I've been taught, you know, you bring all your teachers in there, the form that you recognize them, that's all, that's the only one I'm familiar with. Usually it's the union of the Buddha, looks like a Buddha, but inside. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's inseparable for you and your guru. Report an error in the passage at 44:48
45:11 But like, I have a particularly... I thought we could actually do a meditation on a Buddha. Maybe we spend a few minutes, maybe you guys choose which deity you want to meditate on and spend a few minutes looking at the Thangka and getting familiar with the one you want to meditate on. So Report an error in the passage at 45:11
· · · silence, 1 minute
47:32 do we have a good enough image in our minds? Remember it doesn't have to be perfect. Report an error in the passage at 47:32
47:59 David, there's a dry cushion in there if you want to just switch. Report an error in the passage at 47:59
48:09 So while we're doing this, why don't we start with a nine round breathing to settle our winds, to settle our minds. So if you're not familiar with the nine round breathing, three times inhaling through your right nostril, and Report an error in the passage at 48:09
48:30 exhaling through your left, and Report an error in the passage at 48:30
49:00 then three times inhaling through the left nostril. and exhaling through the right. Report an error in the passage at 49:00
· · · silence, 1 minute
49:39 three times, inhaling through both nostrils. And then sitting Report an error in the passage at 49:39
50:14 with your spine straight and preferably our eyes partly open and visualizing the image of the Buddha that we chose, either Report an error in the passage at 50:14
50:34 in front of us or on top of our crown, level Report an error in the passage at 50:34
50:42 of the navel in front of us. Report an error in the passage at 50:42
51:03 I'm just stabilizing on that rough image that we can generate. And we'll do that for five minutes. So see if we can keep on that object as much as possible without getting distracted. Report an error in the passage at 51:03
51:27 Balancing relaxation and tightness. Holding the object but not getting tense. Any Report an error in the passage at 51:27
· · · silence, 5 minutes
56:48 questions on that? How was that, Leslie? Report an error in the passage at 56:48
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Talk by Emily Hsu, recorded 1 February 2011. Original at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/EH_CalmAbiding_20110111. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.
Recorded at Tse Chen Ling Center, San Francisco, and archived by the center on Internet Archive. More from Tse Chen Ling