Cultivating Meditative Concentration: Calm Abiding (8 March 2011)

0:00 Yeah, that's true. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:04 I have to admit when I first sat down and he was speaking, because of course I can't read the simultaneous translation, I thought, oh, here we go. I could only understand about every fourth word. And yet I know people have the karma that they understand everything that he says. But when I relaxed and just gave into it, I was able to understand. Report an error in the passage at 0:04 Highlight the passage at 0:04

0:32 he immediately put me up with Zopa and my self-cherishing. I mean, he isn't called Mama Zopa for nothing. But it was wonderful. Report an error in the passage at 0:32 Highlight the passage at 0:32

0:44 It does take some getting used to his accent and his way of speaking. Report an error in the passage at 0:44 Highlight the passage at 0:44

0:54 I was one of the ones typing notes and I really froze at a certain point. I'm supposed to be typing something. He's saying something. Very, very tough Report an error in the passage at 0:54 Highlight the passage at 0:54

1:07 I have no idea what he just said. It's not just his accent, it's going to be very slow and very, very quick. And then he'll throw something else in like this. I know. Report an error in the passage at 1:07 Highlight the passage at 1:07

1:28 And then I'm looking and dreaming. What was that? What was that? Anyway, okay. Anyway, we're so fortunate, right, to have met such an amazing being. I don't want to guess shit when you see tapes. Report an error in the passage at 1:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28

1:46 And he's going to be down in San Jose this weekend and next weekend if people want to go. And if people are financially challenged, don't worry about it. You know, we can arrange something. Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

2:05 It's different. It's going to be different. What Rinpoche will probably do is he'll give some explanation and then he'll read the text and he'll give some explanation and he'll read the text and he'll read the text in Tibetan. Report an error in the passage at 2:05 Highlight the passage at 2:05

2:18 But this is a text that he... It's one of his main heart practices. He's emphasized it's so beneficial, so beneficial for purifying, for peace in the world and all this stuff. So he's saying he's really wanting people to come and listen to it. So if you can come for all or part of it, fantastic. I'm convinced he knows what he's talking about. Report an error in the passage at 2:18 Highlight the passage at 2:18

2:49 No, he's going to do sessions similar at Sechenling, so he'll do a four to six, well, scheduled four to six and then like 7.30 to 10-ish. And then not this weekend, the following weekend, the Sunday night, he's going to do a white tar, a long life initiation. So let's Report an error in the passage at 2:49 Highlight the passage at 2:49

3:15 sit for a minute and try to set a positive motivation for tonight so Report an error in the passage at 3:15 Highlight the passage at 3:15

3:37 we can imagine countless sentient beings around us. Report an error in the passage at 3:37 Highlight the passage at 3:37

3:53 Just want to be happy and don't want to suffer just like ourselves and Report an error in the passage at 3:53 Highlight the passage at 3:53

· · · silence, 1 minute

4:31 who have helped us in direct and indirect ways, providing Report an error in the passage at 4:31 Highlight the passage at 4:31

4:45 us with our sustenance, Report an error in the passage at 4:45 Highlight the passage at 4:45

4:54 our food and Report an error in the passage at 4:54 Highlight the passage at 4:54

5:01 running water, Report an error in the passage at 5:01 Highlight the passage at 5:01

5:09 clothing, homes, electricity. Report an error in the passage at 5:09 Highlight the passage at 5:09

5:31 Our good health and happiness depend on so many other beings and Report an error in the passage at 5:31 Highlight the passage at 5:31

· · · silence, 1 minute

6:20 then all these beings are suffering again and again, Report an error in the passage at 6:20 Highlight the passage at 6:20

6:30 experiencing difficulties. Report an error in the passage at 6:30 Highlight the passage at 6:30

6:35 Sickness, Report an error in the passage at 6:35 Highlight the passage at 6:35

6:46 depression, Report an error in the passage at 6:46 Highlight the passage at 6:46

7:04 the various sufferings of saṃsāra that Report an error in the passage at 7:04 Highlight the passage at 7:04

7:11 are inevitable until we get out. Report an error in the passage at 7:11 Highlight the passage at 7:11

· · · silence, 1 minute

7:46 So generating compassion for these beings and Report an error in the passage at 7:46 Highlight the passage at 7:46

7:53 a wish to bring them out of suffering, out of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 7:53 Highlight the passage at 7:53

8:13 And to do so we need to become enlightened ourselves, Report an error in the passage at 8:13 Highlight the passage at 8:13

8:21 develop the omniscient mind, Report an error in the passage at 8:21 Highlight the passage at 8:21

8:28 the power, the compassion, the ability to Report an error in the passage at 8:28 Highlight the passage at 8:28

8:38 help count. To Report an error in the passage at 8:38 Highlight the passage at 8:38

· · · silence, 1 minute

9:25 the Report an error in the passage at 9:25 Highlight the passage at 9:25

9:55 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, teacher of gods and human beings, to you, the completely and fully awakened one. Report an error in the passage at 9:55 Highlight the passage at 9:55

10:14 The Endowed Transcendent Destroyer, the Glorious Conqueror, the Subduer from the Shaka Clan, I prostrate, make offerings and go for refuge. 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 God of Human Beings to be Tamed, Teacher of Gods and Human Beings, to You, the Completely and Fully Awakened One. Report an error in the passage at 10:14 Highlight the passage at 10:14

10:42 The Endowed Transcendent Destroyer, the Glorious Conqueror, the Subduer from the Shaki Clan, I prostrate, make offerings and go for refuge. 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 God of Human Beings to be Tamed, Teacher of Gods and Human Beings, to You, the Completely and Fully Awakened One. Report an error in the passage at 10:42 Highlight the passage at 10:42

11:10 The endowed transcendent destroyer, the glorious conqueror, the subduer from the shakit clan, I prostrate, make offerings, and go for refuge. When, O supreme amongst humans, you were born on this earth, you paced out seven strides, then said, I am supreme in this world. To you who are wise, then, I prostrate. Report an error in the passage at 11:10 Highlight the passage at 11:10

11:29 With pure bodies, formed supremely pure, wisdom motion like a golden mountain, fame that blazes in the three worlds, winner of the best, Lord, to you I prostrate. 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. Report an error in the passage at 11:29 Highlight the passage at 11:29

11:51 The savior having great compassion, the founder having all understanding. The field of merit with qualities like a vast ocean, to you the one gone to thusness I prostrate. The purity that frees one from attachment, 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, to you, the sublime community intending virtue, I prostrate. Report an error in the passage at 11:51 Highlight the passage at 11:51

12:26 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. Do not commit any non-virtuous actions. Perform only perfect virtuous actions. Subdue your mind thoroughly. This is the teaching of the Buddha. A 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. Report an error in the passage at 12:26 Highlight the passage at 12:26

13:01 See conditioned things as such. Through these merits may sentient beings attain the rank of all seeing, subdue the foe of faults, and be delivered from saṃsāra's ocean, perturbed by the waves of aging sickness and death. And then on page 98 is Refuge and Bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 13:01 Highlight the passage at 13:01

13:27 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 13:27 Highlight the passage at 13:27

13:51 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 13:51 Highlight the passage at 13:51

14:09 So if you have a text with you, we're on page because we're not doing slides tonight. We're on page 235 in the text. I'll show. Report an error in the passage at 14:09 Highlight the passage at 14:09

14:27 Maybe I'll keep one. Report an error in the passage at 14:27 Highlight the passage at 14:27

14:57 Are there enough copies? Report an error in the passage at 14:57 Highlight the passage at 14:57

15:02 Okay. Everybody got one? Okay. Oh, is the recording started? Okay. Okay. Okay. So... What we got up to last time where we talked about the nine mental abidings, right, before getting to calm abiding, the nine basically stages that we need to pass through before getting to calm abiding. Report an error in the passage at 15:02 Highlight the passage at 15:02

15:32 So then next, Lama Tsongkhapa talks about the six powers, accomplishing these nine steps or these nine mental abidings by means of the six powers. So on this chart, the side that says calm abiding chart, And the second table on the bottom, the first column is the six powers. So the first mental abiding, so to review, it is when we're able to put our mind on the object of meditation only for a short time. Report an error in the passage at 15:32 Highlight the passage at 15:32

16:12 We focus, let's say, on the body of a Buddha, and then before we know it, we're thinking about something else. You know, we're not able to stay on the object more than, you know, a few seconds or 30 seconds or something like that, right? We're not able to keep a continuity on the object, right? So that's the first step and that's attained through the power of hearing, it said. Report an error in the passage at 16:12 Highlight the passage at 16:12

16:40 Lama Tsongkhapa says, through the power of hearing the mental state of placement, so the first step is accomplished, for it merely consists in first tying the mind to the object, then following instructions you have heard from someone on how to place the mind on an object. It is not something that has become familiar through your own repeated reflections. Report an error in the passage at 16:40 Highlight the passage at 16:40

17:02 So this first step we accomplish just from having heard teachings on calm abiding, for example, on how to meditate, and maybe teachings on the object of meditation, if it's the image of the Buddha or something. But we don't accomplish this first step through having meditated a lot. We accomplish it just through having heard the teachings and understood what we need to do. Report an error in the passage at 17:02 Highlight the passage at 17:02

17:26 Whereas the second step, the second mental abiding... Continuous placement is where we're starting to develop some continuity on the object. Maybe we're able to stay on the object for a minute or two before we lose the object in meditation. On the second level, we're still mostly off of the object. We're more off the object than we're on, but we're starting to develop a continuity, like being able to have a little bit more mindfulness and able to stay on the object a little bit longer. Report an error in the passage at 17:26 Highlight the passage at 17:26

17:58 So the second Step is accomplished by the power of thinking, thinking in the sense of familiarizing yourself with meditating, having practiced. So having meditated, having practiced repeatedly, then we're slowly able to keep our mind on the object. So it's not just through having heard the practice. Report an error in the passage at 17:58 Highlight the passage at 17:58

18:29 We accomplish the second step through actually having sat and starting to familiarize ourselves with the meditation. So that's called the power of quote unquote thinking. Then the third step, the third and the fourth, patch-like placement and close placement. So the third one, patch-like placement is where mostly we're on the object of meditation more often than we're not. Report an error in the passage at 18:29 Highlight the passage at 18:29

18:58 And when we get distracted then we figure out pretty quickly oh I'm distracted and we're able to put our mind back on the object. Report an error in the passage at 18:58 Highlight the passage at 18:58

19:08 So this is where our mindfulness is really starting to have some power because we're more on the object than we're not on the object. Report an error in the passage at 19:08 Highlight the passage at 19:08

19:19 We've developed some sort of power to stay on the object. And then the fourth mental abiding is close placement. And this is where our mind is always on the object at the fourth level. At least part of our mind never loses the object. So even if we're sitting for an hour, part of our mind is always on the object at the fourth level. It may be part of our mind is thinking about something else, like part of our mind is on the object and part of our mind is thinking about what we have to do today. Report an error in the passage at 19:19 Highlight the passage at 19:19

19:51 But still... We don't completely lose our object of meditation. We don't completely forget that we're supposed to be meditating. So this is the example of water moving under ice. So part of the mind is still and part of the mind is moving. So that's the fourth level. And so the third and the fourth mental abidings are... Report an error in the passage at 19:51 Highlight the passage at 19:51

20:21 Accomplished through the power of mindfulness, right? Because this is where you're developing some power in your mindfulness. Your mindfulness being that ability, right? The non-forgetfulness of the mind and the ability for the mind to tie itself to the object. Okay? Report an error in the passage at 20:21 Highlight the passage at 20:21

20:39 So then the fifth and sixth steps, right? So at the fourth step, we never lose our object of meditation anymore. Well, never, but... You know, if we continue to practice, we don't lose our object of meditation. But then what starts to happen is, right, you have some stability in your meditation, right? Report an error in the passage at 20:39 Highlight the passage at 20:39

21:02 You have some stillness, some stability. And so then what happens is gross laxity starts to become the problem, right? So you have stability, but the mind is starting, well, the mind gets dull, right? Report an error in the passage at 21:02 Highlight the passage at 21:02

21:19 So then the fifth level and the sixth level we're dealing with various levels of laxity as well as excitement, some more subtler levels of excitement. Because at the fourth level we've gotten rid of our gross excitement, right? Because the gross excitement is when we lose the object completely due to attachment. Report an error in the passage at 21:19 Highlight the passage at 21:19

21:38 So the fifth level, we don't have gross excitement anymore, but we have subtler levels of excitement. So the fifth and sixth levels, basically what we're doing is... Getting rid of the subtler levels of laxity and excitement. So the fifth and sixth levels, we develop the power of introspection. Because introspection is that mental factor that notices when laxity and excitement arise. Report an error in the passage at 21:38 Highlight the passage at 21:38

22:01 It's the spy that notices, okay, the mind is getting a little dull, it's not so clear, etc. So we're developing the power of, or we've developed the power of introspection by the sixth level. Then the seventh level, complete pacification. So at this level, it's said that when laxity excitement arise, you notice it right away and you can immediately straighten yourself up, right? Report an error in the passage at 22:01 Highlight the passage at 22:01

22:33 Or you even notice it before it arises. So at the seventh level, you're mostly free from laxity excitement. You know, there's some subtle levels, but you catch it right away, right? Report an error in the passage at 22:33 Highlight the passage at 22:33

22:49 And then the eighth level is when you're totally free from laxity and excitement. You still have to make effort, right? This is where you make a little effort at the beginning of the session, but then the rest of the session is pretty much free from laxity and excitement, right? So it's getting easier. So it's said that the seventh and eighth levels are attained through the power of joyous effort. Report an error in the passage at 22:49 Highlight the passage at 22:49

23:14 I think at this point it's getting more fun. Report an error in the passage at 23:14 Highlight the passage at 23:14

23:20 And they say, I think if I remember correctly, it was around the seventh level where your resistance to meditating is really falling away. Yeah, because otherwise, you know, for a long time it seems like work, right? Oh, I need to go and meditate. Ah, I need to go and meditate, right? You know, and there's still some resistance in the mind. But, you know, as we progress further and further, it gets easier and easier. Report an error in the passage at 23:20 Highlight the passage at 23:20

23:48 And I think it was the seventh level I was saying that the resistance is gone. But it's all very relative because it's early at Calm Abiding where they say the resistance is totally gone, right? Okay. So that's the seventh and eighth levels. And then the ninth level is setting in equipoise. And this is where you don't have to make any effort at all. You sit down to meditate and you're just free from laxity and excitement, just spontaneously, effortlessly. Report an error in the passage at 23:48 Highlight the passage at 23:48

24:22 You just sit there. It's as easy. Well, again, Lama Rinpoche was saying it's as easy as staying asleep once you've fallen asleep. And then some people laugh because they aren't able to stay asleep. Report an error in the passage at 24:22 Highlight the passage at 24:22

24:37 You know, it's as easy as, right, staying in front of the TV, you know, once you're sat down, right? You know, it's just easy. It doesn't require effort, right? You're just completely attentive. Your mind is completely clear. No laxity, no distraction effortlessly. And so this is attained through the power of what's called thorough acquaintance or familiarity. It's through having practiced for hours and hours, hundreds and thousands of hours. Report an error in the passage at 24:37 Highlight the passage at 24:37

25:07 It just becomes spontaneous and becomes easy and it's just automatic. And one of the examples they give is like when, like if you've done a mantra a lot, like... Amanipamihum, Amanipamihum, Amanipamihum, you know, you've done it all. Then after a while, it seems to just go automatically. Like even if your mind is distracted, you're doing something else, you know, there's a part of your mind that keeps doing the mantra. Report an error in the passage at 25:07 Highlight the passage at 25:07

25:33 So that's one of the examples they give. You know, because it's through the power of familiarity, it just becomes effortless, right? And so this ninth mental abiding becomes effortless through all of this practice, right? Kind of. Hard to imagine. Report an error in the passage at 25:33 Highlight the passage at 25:33

25:55 So basically Report an error in the passage at 25:55 Highlight the passage at 25:55

26:01 on page 236, this is near the bottom. This is what Lama Tsongkhapa is saying. Now when you've attained the ninth mental state, it is like the following analogy. When you're very used to reciting a text or something like that, then whenever the motivation to recite it first arises and you recite it, Even though your mind is distracted by something else in the meantime, the recitation itself continues effortlessly and without interruption. Report an error in the passage at 26:01 Highlight the passage at 26:01

26:29 Likewise, when you have placed your mind in equipoise, this ninth level, once through mindfulness of having initially directed it toward the object, even though mindfulness and introspection are not applied continuously, you become capable of entering meditative stabilization continuously over a long period. Report an error in the passage at 26:29 Highlight the passage at 26:29

26:51 Without being interrupted by scattering. When mindfulness and introspection are continuous, there's no need for the endeavor of application, and that is said to be without application or endeavor. So this mindfulness and introspection are just automatic. They're continuous without having to make any effort. Whereas in the beginning, we have to make a lot of effort. Report an error in the passage at 26:51 Highlight the passage at 26:51

27:15 A lot of effort to try to remember. To keep our mind on the object, but then through familiarity it becomes easier and easier. Report an error in the passage at 27:15 Highlight the passage at 27:15

27:27 So then Lama Tsongkhapa says, okay, well to get to this effortless state of being without laxity and excitement, then this ninth state, then you need the eighth state. You need to have made effort. Well, the seventh, yeah, the seventh and eighth, but you needed to have made effort through the fourth. Report an error in the passage at 27:27 Highlight the passage at 27:27

27:49 The force of the eighth and accomplished meditative, well, accomplished the ability to stay on the object without laxing and excitement. And then in order to accomplish the eighth, you need the seventh complete pacification where your introspection is so strong that you catch laxing and excitement before it even arises or right when it arises. Report an error in the passage at 27:49 Highlight the passage at 27:49

28:17 And in order for that to arise, we need the fifth and sixth where we have developed a strong introspection that notices laxity and excitement and counteracts it. And in order for that to arise, we needed the third and fourth levels where we developed the power of mindfulness, the ability to stabilize on an object. Report an error in the passage at 28:17 Highlight the passage at 28:17

28:38 In order for that to happen, we need the first and the second, the having practiced again and again and learning to develop. Mindfulness, etc. So we need all, you know, we need to go through all nine levels. We can't just skip to the ninth, right? We have to go through one by one, you know, like the elevator, right, to get to the ninth floor. We have to go through the first floor and then the second floor and then the third floor, right? Report an error in the passage at 28:38 Highlight the passage at 28:38

29:09 Okay. So those are the six powers that go along with the nine mental abidings. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 29:09 Highlight the passage at 29:09

29:19 So then Lama Tsongkhapa says, Thus, to summarize, you should first follow the instructions you have heard and correctly act upon the method for placing the mind in equipoise. Report an error in the passage at 29:19 Highlight the passage at 29:19

29:32 Then repeatedly think about the manner of placement and sustain its continuity by way of the ability to piece short periods together. So we've talked about that, where we need to start with many short periods of meditation. In the beginning until we develop our power of mindfulness and then we can lengthen it. Then if mindfulness deteriorates and you get distracted, you should gather the mind quickly and quickly be mindful of having forgotten the object. Report an error in the passage at 29:32 Highlight the passage at 29:32

30:06 So initially we're trying to develop the power of mindfulness. We're trying to develop stability first, the ability to keep on the object. The focus isn't at the beginning to get... The clarity is good as possible. The focus at the beginning is stability. And then once we have stability, then we work on the clarity. Report an error in the passage at 30:06 Highlight the passage at 30:06

30:31 Okay. Then you should generate even stronger mindfulness and generate a power of mindfulness where you do not get distracted from the meditation object in the first place. Then by accomplishing powerful mindfulness and by seeing the fault of laxity and excitement and so forth, Where your mind gets distracted from the object to something else, then you should generate intense introspection to watch over it. So we develop this powerful mindfulness that stays on the object. Report an error in the passage at 30:31 Highlight the passage at 30:31

31:04 Then we start watching out for laxity and excitement. We have more focus on that, and that's through the power of introspection that notices laxity and excitement. All right, and... Report an error in the passage at 31:04 Highlight the passage at 31:04

31:18 Then you should generate the strong endeavor or effort so that when there is even distraction through subtle forgetfulness, it is recognized immediately and cut short. And once it has been cut short, the periods without obstruction by unfavorable conditions are lengthened. And then once that has arisen with effort... Report an error in the passage at 31:18 Highlight the passage at 31:18

31:42 Having perfected the habit through familiarization, you accomplish the ninth state of the mind, going into meditative stabilization without any exertion. Report an error in the passage at 31:42 Highlight the passage at 31:42

31:54 So in fact, when the ninth mental state has not yet been achieved, the yogi needs endeavor to practice the mind in meditative stabilization. So before we reach the ninth state, we have to use effort. But once... The ninth mental state has been attained even though you do not endeavor to place the mind in meditative equipoise deliberately. It just naturally goes into meditative stabilization. Report an error in the passage at 31:54 Highlight the passage at 31:54

32:24 So we might think that we're done once we get to the ninth state. But then Lama Tsongkhapa says, if despite your achievement of the ninth mental state, which is like that, you have not achieved pliancy, you cannot assert to have achieved calm abiding either. Let alone special insight. So the ninth level where we have no effort, completely without laxing excitement, meditative stabilization, still not calm abiding yet. Report an error in the passage at 32:24 Highlight the passage at 32:24

32:56 And the ninth level has been described by yogis as perfection. But there's even a better state than the ninth level. Report an error in the passage at 32:56 Highlight the passage at 32:56

33:11 Next, Lama Tsongkhapa gets into the four types of attention. Which is the third column in that same table. Report an error in the passage at 33:11 Highlight the passage at 33:11

33:26 So the first two levels, we need forceful attention, right? We're only able to keep the mind on the object if we put a lot of effort, really forceful effort, right? We really kind of tightly tie the mind to the object, right? So the first two levels. But then the third through the seventh level. The attention is called intermittent attention, which means intermittently we're able to stay on the object without laxing excitement. Report an error in the passage at 33:26 Highlight the passage at 33:26

34:03 Sometimes we're on the object without laxing excitement, but sometimes we're not. So in all these levels, we're increasing the amount of time we're able to stay on the object without laxing excitement. But still it's intermittent through all of that time. Whereas by the eighth level... The making single pointed where we're completely free from laxity and excitement but we still have to make effort. That's called uninterrupted attention because we're able to stay on the object all the time without laxity and excitement. Report an error in the passage at 34:03 Highlight the passage at 34:03

34:37 Whereas in the ninth level it's called spontaneous attention, spontaneous no effort. Report an error in the passage at 34:37 Highlight the passage at 34:37

34:46 So those are the six powers and the four attentions. Report an error in the passage at 34:46 Highlight the passage at 34:46

34:55 238 I'm going to skip over to the middle of the page where it says the need continuously to rely on joyous effort along those lines. Report an error in the passage at 34:55 Highlight the passage at 34:55

35:05 In the summary of perfections it says through uninterrupted yoga strive to bring about stable concentration. If you rest again and again you will not get fire through friction. The method of yoga is like that. Don't give up till you gain the distinction. Report an error in the passage at 35:05 Highlight the passage at 35:05

35:24 You should accomplish it in accordance with that statement. So in order to attain calm abiding, we can't just kind of meditate sometimes and not meditate sometimes. To actually get to calm abiding, actually it takes thousands of hours of effort. So we need to meditate again and again and again and again and not just think, okay, after we've tried for a few weeks and not much has happened, let's give up. Report an error in the passage at 35:24 Highlight the passage at 35:24

35:53 For a while. It takes a lot of training. Report an error in the passage at 35:53 Highlight the passage at 35:53

36:02 But the more we're practicing and we see progress, it becomes easier. It's very worthwhile. Report an error in the passage at 36:02 Highlight the passage at 36:02

36:13 So then we get to the dividing line between having accomplished calm abiding or not. So on page 239, there's this, towards the top, there's setting out a doubt. Report an error in the passage at 36:13 Highlight the passage at 36:13

36:32 So there's this question. This person asks, when you can sustain the ninth mental state, free from subtle laxity and excitement, throughout long meditation sessions, as has been explained earlier, and when you attain meditative stabilization that operates spontaneously, independent of the exertion of applying mindfulness and introspection continuously, has calm abiding been achieved or not? Report an error in the passage at 36:32 Highlight the passage at 36:32

37:02 So the response, right, so basically you're not on the ninth level. Seems pretty perfect, right? So have you achieved calm abiding? Lama Tsongkhapa says, when meditative stabilization has been attained, there's a two-fold division, pliancy having been attained or not. If pliancy has not been attained, it is something concordant with calm abiding rather than actual calm abiding. So really the distinction between whether it's calm abiding or not is whether or not you've attained this pliancy. Report an error in the passage at 37:02 Highlight the passage at 37:02

37:33 Or complete pliancy, actually, because you attain little bits of pliancy all along, but complete pliancy when we attain calm abiding. So sometimes the ninth mental abiding is called meditative stabilization concordant with calm abiding or a similitude of calm abiding. Sometimes that word is being used. So it's the ninth mental abiding that's... Report an error in the passage at 37:33 Highlight the passage at 37:33

38:01 Close to calm and binding, but it's not actually there. And there's actually a difference on page 240 near the top where the question is asked, what level does the meditative stabilization before the attainment of pliancy belong to? And Lama Tsongkhapa says it belongs to the desire realm level. Okay. So that relates to the chart on the other side, which I'm not going to go through in detail now. Report an error in the passage at 38:01 Highlight the passage at 38:01

38:40 So there's three realms, right? The desire realm, according to Buddhist cosmology, desire realm, form realm, formless realm. And I'm going to talk about these realms in terms of a mental level as opposed to a physical place where you're born, right? Because you can talk about it in two different ways, right? But we'll talk about it in terms of a mental level, like whether or not you have... Report an error in the passage at 38:40 Highlight the passage at 38:40

39:07 Desire realm afflictions in your mind or whether or not you've abandoned desire realm afflictions. So we beings who haven't attained calm abiding, we still have desire realm afflictions. Or actually even beings who have attained calm abiding have desire realm afflictions, haven't abandoned desire realm afflictions. So anger, for example, is a desire realm affliction. Report an error in the passage at 39:07 Highlight the passage at 39:07

39:32 Once you've reached the form realm, there's no anger. You have no possibility of anger if you're a form realm. If you have a form realm mind, but it doesn't mean you've abandoned anger, the potential of anger, because once you've lost your form realm mind, then you're back into a desire realm mind. So form realm mind and formless realm minds have subtler and subtler levels of mental afflictions, but what they've done is only temporarily abandoned those afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 39:32 Highlight the passage at 39:32

40:07 But haven't abandoned them from the root. To abandon them from the root, we need to realize emptiness. But we can, through higher and higher levels of concentration, abandon them temporarily. But that's just like taking a really long, blissful vacation. But sooner or later, you have to go back to your... Report an error in the passage at 40:07 Highlight the passage at 40:07

40:33 Your normal life, your desire realm mind. So historically, in some traditions, it was a big practice to develop higher and higher levels of concentration, and that was thought to be liberation. And then people would see, right before they die and fall down to the lower realms, they would see, oh, wait. Report an error in the passage at 40:33 Highlight the passage at 40:33

41:00 I'm going to fall to the lower realms. And then they think, oh, liberation isn't possible because they thought they had achieved liberation, and then they see, okay, no, it was just temporary. So that was a mistaken path. I mean, it was a useful path in a lot of ways, but it wasn't the way to get out of some sorrow. Report an error in the passage at 41:00 Highlight the passage at 41:00

41:21 right? So, um... So on the Buddhist path it's emphasized, right, we need calm abiding but we can't stop at calm abiding, right, then we need to take the next step to special insight and realize emptiness because that's the only way we're going to get out of saṃsāra completely, right. Report an error in the passage at 41:21 Highlight the passage at 41:21

41:43 Okay, so the first, so if we look at this chart from the bottom, right, the first nine mental abidings are all considered desire realm minds. Report an error in the passage at 41:43 Highlight the passage at 41:43

41:53 Then you get to calm abiding. And calm abiding is considered a form realm mind. And it's the first step to actually getting to a form realm concentration. Report an error in the passage at 41:53 Highlight the passage at 41:53

42:11 Well, Lama Tsongkhapa goes into a little bit, well, not much detail on how you get from calm abiding to the first concentration, the actual first concentration. But I don't want to get into that now. Next class, if we have some time, maybe I'll talk about that a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 42:11 Highlight the passage at 42:11

42:29 So this is where Lama Tsongkhapa is saying, okay, well, the ninth mental abiding is still a desire realm mind, but once you get to calm abiding, then you have what's called a form realm mind. Report an error in the passage at 42:29 Highlight the passage at 42:29

42:49 And so the distinction, once again, between the ninth mental abiding and calm abiding is pliancy. Report an error in the passage at 42:49 Highlight the passage at 42:49

42:59 So halfway down or toward the bottom on page 240. Lama Tsongkhapa starts talking about, well, what's the method for attaining pliancy? So first of all, what is pliancy? According to the compendium of the Abhidharma by Asanga, he says, it's that serviceability of body and mind due to cutting through the continuity of taking on bad physical and mental states. Report an error in the passage at 42:59 Highlight the passage at 42:59

43:31 Okay, what does that mean? What's a bad physical state and what's a bad mental state? So right now, until we have attained calm abiding, we have both bad physical and mental states. Or what's the other term? Report an error in the passage at 43:31 Highlight the passage at 43:31

44:08 So there are various levels of physical and mental bad states, right? So the physical, well, let's say we'll talk about the mental, bad mental state is... The mind that has resistance to practicing Dharma or the mind that has resistance to practicing virtue, resistance to sitting down to meditate, resistance to wanting to do our practice, resistance. Report an error in the passage at 44:08 Highlight the passage at 44:08

44:44 The mind that sits down and says, oh, I should do my practice, but let's just switch on the TV for a little while first. The mind that... Isn't joyful about doing the practice, but still has this resistance. With calm abiding, you develop mental pliancy that overcomes this resistance. Once you've attained calm abiding, you are just happy to sit down. You have no resistance to practicing virtue. Report an error in the passage at 44:44 Highlight the passage at 44:44

45:24 When I think of that, I think of Lama Zopa. just like You know, you read the stories about, you know, he's up all night long. Or last weekend in Losar, he started, well, Pooja was scheduled to start at 5 in the morning, right? And so he went till, oh, we took an hour off for breakfast, so from 10 to 11, was that it? Or something, 10 to 11? And then he went till 1 o 'clock and then went out to lunch with the ordained people and then went to the... Report an error in the passage at 45:24 Highlight the passage at 45:24

45:54 Beach to bless the animals. Apparently, I guess he stayed in the car and did his prayers. And then went back to land of medicine, Buddha, and continued puja until 2 in the morning, right? With more frustrations. With more frustrations, okay. So, no resistance to practicing virtue, right? Report an error in the passage at 45:54 Highlight the passage at 45:54

46:16 Others may have experienced some resistance to practicing virtue, right? Like, gosh, I'm feeling really tired now. Or really, isn't it time to finish? Or more prostrations, right? That would be mental resistance, right? Yeah. So once we attain calm abiding, no resistance to practicing virtue. Report an error in the passage at 46:16 Highlight the passage at 46:16

46:45 And then... Physical, and then we have physical resistance, right, in terms of, well, our body just doesn't want to sit or the body feels heavy, the body feels achy, you know, whatever, the knees hurt, the back hurts. Or we're tired, right, we're just tired. So when we attain physical pliancy, no tiredness, no achy body, no heaviness of body. Report an error in the passage at 46:45 Highlight the passage at 46:45

47:13 It's likened to your body feeling like a ball of cotton, like light is up. Report an error in the passage at 47:13 Highlight the passage at 47:13

47:22 So Lama Zopa seems to me to be like that too. He just seems to kind of float around. He's not kind of slumping over in his throne thinking, wow, we've been sitting here for almost 24 hours. Maybe it's time to stop. He's just sitting there. Report an error in the passage at 47:22 Highlight the passage at 47:22

47:46 Without having to shift his knees or anything, just sitting there. So that might be an indication of physical pliancy. So what happens is when we have the ninth mental abiding, we're effortlessly abiding in meditative stabilization. Then at some point, mental pliancy is about to arise, which is the elimination of the... Report an error in the passage at 47:46 Highlight the passage at 47:46

48:16 The resistance, right? The mental resistance. And it's said that right before this mental appliancy arises, there's a physical indication of like a slight heaviness on the top of your head. And you say it's not an uncomfortable heaviness. It's just unusual. And then it's said it's likened to like somebody's warm hand laid on top of your freshly shaved head. Report an error in the passage at 48:16 Highlight the passage at 48:16

48:54 So low maintenance. So anyway, so that's how it's likened to something like that, right? So first, mental pliancy arises, right? The resistance, mental resistance falls away, which then gives rise to physical pliancy. Which is where the physical resistance falls away, the physical unserviceability. So oftentimes it's talked about, pliancy is talked about in terms of being a serviceable mind, serviceable in the sense that you can direct your body and mind to any virtuous practice as you wish, at will. Report an error in the passage at 48:54 Highlight the passage at 48:54

49:41 Oh, let's do prostrations. Okay, not let's do prostrations, well, maybe tomorrow. Okay, right? Or let's meditate. Okay, right? So serviceable. Okay. Then, right. Report an error in the passage at 49:41 Highlight the passage at 49:41

50:02 Then after physical pliancy arises, then the bliss of physical pliancy arises. So the bliss. Report an error in the passage at 50:02 Highlight the passage at 50:02

50:17 So this is, you know, I mean, incredible joy arises. Like this incredible, well, with physical. The bliss of physical pliancy and then the bliss of mental pliancy, right? Those two arise. It's said that there's so much bliss in the body that it starts to destabilize your calm abiding, right? Because, you know, because all you can do is enjoy the bliss at this point. So then the bliss of physical pliancy arises, then the bliss of mental pliancy. Report an error in the passage at 50:17 Highlight the passage at 50:17

50:57 And then that settles down a little bit. And I think Alan Wallace was saying, thankfully it settles down because then you can continue your meditative stabilization. And once it settles down, then you've achieved calm abiding. So you've gotten rid of the mental unserviceability and then the physical unserviceability and then you have this incredible bliss and then it settles down and then you have calm abiding. Report an error in the passage at 50:57 Highlight the passage at 50:57

51:34 Alan Report an error in the passage at 51:34 Highlight the passage at 51:34

51:40 Wallace has a nice description of this in his book, Attention Revolution. So he says, so the nine preceding stages, the first nine mental abidings, entail many incremental changes, but the actual accomplishment of calm abiding involves a radical transition in your body and mind. You will be like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Report an error in the passage at 51:40 Highlight the passage at 51:40

52:09 The shift is characterized by specific experiences that take place within a discrete, relatively brief period of time. Report an error in the passage at 52:09 Highlight the passage at 52:09

52:22 So here, Ann Wallace talks about this heaviness on the top of your head, which allegedly happens to anyone who experiences this transition regardless of the method that you use to get there. And Report an error in the passage at 52:22 Highlight the passage at 52:22

52:38 he's saying that this experience, right, that feels like a palm on the top of your shaved head is not unpleasant or harmful, just unusual. And then he says that something remarkable must be taking place in the cortical region of your brain at this point. Alan Wallace is very involved in the whole mind science. Report an error in the passage at 52:38 Highlight the passage at 52:38

52:58 He's a former scientist, right? But he's saying at this point nobody's measured the brain correlates of somebody passing through that state. But he's wanted to, right? He has the Shemata project and he's been leading all these Shemata. And retreats with scientists to try to measure their brains. But anyway, I haven't heard of anyone attaining Shemate yet. Report an error in the passage at 52:58 Highlight the passage at 52:58

53:26 Yeah, exactly. But it will be very interesting to see what happens. So here, he's saying this physical sensation on the top of the head is symptomatic of a shift in your nervous system that is correlated with gaining freedom from mental dysfunction. Report an error in the passage at 53:26 Highlight the passage at 53:26

53:46 Which he says is a general state of mental imbalance characterized by stiffness, rigidity and unwieldiness. Because we can have quite mental stiffness, right? Mental rigidity, not wanting to see another point of view, etc. Report an error in the passage at 53:46 Highlight the passage at 53:46

54:11 So with mental pliancy we're free from that. And your mind is... Fit and supple like never before. Then he says from a contemplative perspective when the mind is dysfunctional or prone to laxity and excitement it is hard to generate enthusiasm for healing the afflictions of your mind or for devoting yourself to virtuous mental activity. Report an error in the passage at 54:11 Highlight the passage at 54:11

54:41 Once you are free of such mental dysfunction you can focus your mind without resistance on any meaningful object or task. And such a mind is now said to be fit or serviceable. This is the key to achieving optimal mental performance. Report an error in the passage at 54:41 Highlight the passage at 54:41

55:02 Then following the sense of pressure on the top of your head, then you experience the movement of vital energies moving in your body. So previous to this point, our mind is becoming more and more still. Which means the energies in our body are becoming more and more still as well. The breathing becomes almost imperceptible after a while. Report an error in the passage at 55:02 Highlight the passage at 55:02

55:26 But then once you get mental pliancy, then that stimulates the vital energies in your body and they start moving. Probably in a way that they haven't moved before. So he says you experience this movement of vital energies moving in your body. And when they have coursed everywhere throughout your body, you feel as if you were filled with the power of this dynamic energy. You are now freed of physical dysfunction, so your body feels buoyant and light like never before. Report an error in the passage at 55:26 Highlight the passage at 55:26

56:04 Both your body and mind are now imbued with an exceptional degree of pliancy, which makes them remarkably fit for engaging in all kinds of mental training and other meaningful activities. Report an error in the passage at 56:04 Highlight the passage at 56:04

56:17 Just another comment about the nervous system. I once talked with a friend of mine who's done a lot of calm abiding training and he was saying that you notice your nervous system really settling down through this practice. Progress through the practice, right? Because we tend to be so busy and stressed out, or speaking for myself, you know, and running around and doing this and doing that and feeling dissatisfied, you know, so we're having to do all these things to feed our dissatisfaction and all that. Report an error in the passage at 56:17 Highlight the passage at 56:17

56:53 But, you know, through this practice, right, the mind is settling down more and more and more and the nervous system is being healed, right, because we, right? We really damage our nervous system through all of this stress and running around. Report an error in the passage at 56:53 Highlight the passage at 56:53

57:11 Okay, so then after this mental and physical pliancy, then Alan Wall says, when physical pliancy initially arises, the vital energies catalyze an extraordinary sense of physical bliss, which then triggers an equally exceptional experience of mental bliss. This rush of physical and mental rapture... Is transient, which is a good thing, for it so captivates the attention that you can do little else except enjoy it. Then gradually it subsides and you are freed from the turbulence caused by this intense joy. Report an error in the passage at 57:11 Highlight the passage at 57:11

57:53 Then your attention settles down in perfect stability and vividness. You have now achieved shamatha or calm abiding. Report an error in the passage at 57:53 Highlight the passage at 57:53

58:04 Then Report an error in the passage at 58:04 Highlight the passage at 58:04

58:15 he quotes Padmasambhava. I was saying, Flawless shamatha is like an oil lamp that is unmoved by the air. Wherever the awareness is placed, it is unwaveringly present. Awareness is vividly clear without being sullied by laxity, lethargy or dimness. Wherever the awareness is directed, it is steady and sharply pointed and unmoved by adventitious thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 58:15 Highlight the passage at 58:15

58:48 Thus, a flawless meditative state arises in your mind stream, and until this happens, it's important that you settle the mind in its natural state. And then he says, without genuine shamatha arising in your mind stream, even if awareness is pointed out, it becomes nothing more than an object of intellectual understanding. Report an error in the passage at 58:48 Highlight the passage at 58:48

59:11 So he left simply giving lip service to the view, and there's danger that you may succumb to dogmatism. So he says, thus the root of all meditative states depends upon this, so practice until you have a fine experience of stability. Report an error in the passage at 59:11 Highlight the passage at 59:11

59:40 Emily, I just had a question. Do you know what, can you interpret dogmatism the way it's used there? What's the danger? What does it mean? Report an error in the passage at 59:40 Highlight the passage at 59:40

59:53 Well, you know, I mean, the way, I can only say the way I interpret it because I don't have... Report an error in the passage at 59:53 Highlight the passage at 59:53

1:00:00 I don't know. I have a commentary on that. No. Yeah. But my sense of this passage is that until we've seen this experience directly, then it's just we're relying on somebody else, what somebody else tells us, right? We're, you know, and we're hanging on to a belief, right, without actually having experienced it. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:00 Highlight the passage at 1:00:00

1:00:28 And, you know, and we hang on to it, right? Because once you've actually experienced something. We don't have the need to defend it or convince somebody else, right, because you're confident, right, you experienced it, right? But usually, you know, dogmatism or, you know, being really attached to a particular view arises, right, when you haven't, you don't really know, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:28 Highlight the passage at 1:00:28

1:00:49 There's still some doubt or some, you know, lack of knowledge, maybe. I don't know if that's really the right way of saying it. I guess my question is, it seems like what I'm thinking, what I... The thought I understood is that it's being said that you may think you've achieved calm abiding, but you haven't. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:49 Highlight the passage at 1:00:49

1:01:14 You haven't really experienced it, right? But you think you have. So I'm trying to figure out the dogmatism in connection with that, but maybe I'm misinterpreting that, that in fact we're just hanging on, like you say, to what you're believing should be happening. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:14 Highlight the passage at 1:01:14

1:01:32 Well, you know, I mean, this was... This is a Padmasambhava quote, so it's really more from the enigma point of view, where you rest your mind in the natural state. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:32 Highlight the passage at 1:01:32

1:01:47 So here he said, without genuine shamatha arising in your mind stream, even if awareness is pointed out, it becomes nothing more than an object of intellectual understanding. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:47 Highlight the passage at 1:01:47

1:02:02 So we understand the words, right? But we haven't... right. And so he's saying, well, Report an error in the passage at 1:02:02 Highlight the passage at 1:02:02

1:02:07 We can say the words, but do we have the experience of it? That's the big question, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:07 Highlight the passage at 1:02:07

1:02:42 What you're saying is not true. You didn't use the word inherent. So we can argue the words, right? But it's like the stories you hear of the philosophers versus the yogis. The philosophers get together of the different traditions and get together and argue about the differences between their religions. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:42 Highlight the passage at 1:02:42

1:03:05 Or their points of view. But then the yogis get together who have actually realized it and they just kind of smile and nod and agree with each other. Yeah, it's like this and yeah, it's like that. Exactly. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:05 Highlight the passage at 1:03:05

1:03:33 And that's when he realized he needed to go off and find his master. you know Right, yeah, so. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:33 Highlight the passage at 1:03:33

1:03:40 Yeah, so the difference between knowing the words, right, and intellectual understanding and actually experiencing. So he's saying, you know, we really have to have calm abiding to actually experience. Well, in this case, the pointing out the nature of the mind, right? But also, I mean, in this tradition, with the view of emptiness, to actually, well, to get to the path of preparation, the second of the five paths, you need calm abiding. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:40 Highlight the passage at 1:03:40

1:04:09 And to get to a direct realization of emptiness, which is the third of the five paths, no question you need calm abiding and special insight. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:09 Highlight the passage at 1:04:09

1:04:20 Can't see emptiness directly without the calm abiding. So sooner or later, we need to do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:20 Highlight the passage at 1:04:20

1:04:53 I Report an error in the passage at 1:04:53 Highlight the passage at 1:04:53

1:05:00 mean, it gets easier and easier, right? So it gets better and better. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:00 Highlight the passage at 1:05:00

1:05:10 Because, you know, the people that I know who have achieved higher states, you know, along the ninth mental state, I mean, they're much more sane than, you know, the normal really mentally afflicted person. Because you can't progress that far, you know, in the nine mental abidings if you have strong mental afflictions. You know, you just can't, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:10 Highlight the passage at 1:05:10

1:05:32 So, you know, the person that I know who has achieved the, you know, as far as I know, you know, how do you know? The person I know who is said to have achieved the seventh mental abiding is one of the saniest people I know as a very inspiring person and a very happy person and very contented. You don't see the dissatisfied mind. You don't see the negative mind, this person. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:32 Highlight the passage at 1:05:32

1:06:03 I, you know, never. I've never heard him say anything negative about anybody. So the training, the happiness comes along with it and the sanity. Alan Wallace talks a lot about Shemata from a secular standpoint about how you don't have to have any religious belief but just attaining this higher and higher states of attention brings more sanity. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:03 Highlight the passage at 1:06:03

1:06:35 Yeah, so, you know, so it's, you know, it's a win-win situation, right? It's just a matter of being willing to write and do it, right? Sit down and make the afternoon Report an error in the passage at 1:06:35 Highlight the passage at 1:06:35

1:06:51 break time. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:51 Highlight the passage at 1:06:51

1:07:22 This Thursday. there's a tibet. For a tibet day. Mmm. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:22 Highlight the passage at 1:07:22

1:07:27 going to be in the news. I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to get a visa now. I know, I thought of it. What are they trying to do, just raise awareness of the Tibetan cause? It's not something specific commemorating, like because May 10th or something was the, March, oh it's March 10th, oh okay, so that's, it is commemorating that. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:27 Highlight the passage at 1:07:27

1:07:51 Wow, it's here already. I know, it's March? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:51 Highlight the passage at 1:07:51