Transform Your Mind & Change Your Life Retreat - 7-Point Mind Training from Atisha (part 33)

0:03 A Report an error in the passage at 0:03 Highlight the passage at 0:03

0:26 transition from ultimate bodhicitta, from the last day or so, on into relative bodhicitta, relative. When we come to this quintessential practice of Dzogchen meditation, of simply being present, without doing anything, or for that matter the more preliminary practice, which is right in the same vein, the same current, and that is simply engaging in the shamatha practice of awareness of awareness. Report an error in the passage at 0:26 Highlight the passage at 0:26

0:56 As one is resting there, Of course, you are doing either very little or nothing, and it's very easy to have a sense of waiting, like, OK, I'm not doing anything, so suck it to me, any time now. It happens a lot in Zen. I'm just sitting. Report an error in the passage at 0:56 Highlight the passage at 0:56

1:20 And so I was taught the shamatha practice, the Shamatha practice, Awareness of Awareness, about 40 years ago, and then got a refresher course from Gyanam Rimba, the Tibetan yogi who spent about 35 years in retreat. I lived with him for a year. And he taught at me too in the 1988, so 12 years after I first learned it. And he commented that when you're doing this practice and you're simply resting there and you're just really not doing much of anything except for just being aware of being aware, at first it's kind of like, okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:20 Highlight the passage at 1:20

1:53 But if you simply continue, then really like the image I like, seems quite resonant, is like the sun. Gently rising or gradually rising from behind your back, coming over the horizon behind your back. And it just gets brighter and brighter, clearer and clearer as the sun comes up over the horizon. And similarly, your awareness of the awareness, it just starts getting clearer and clearer and clearer. And it's not because you're doing something more, it's just happening to you, until it becomes very clear. Report an error in the passage at 1:53 Highlight the passage at 1:53

2:25 And the veils, the obscurations that normally obscure awareness just gradually melt away, evaporate, dissipate. But then it's all the more true on a very deep level. Only having been introduced to the view, the meditation, the way of life of Dzogchen, it may be very concise. For some people it's better just to have a very concise instruction. And for others, more elaborate instruction can be helpful. But you are introduced to the view. Report an error in the passage at 2:25 Highlight the passage at 2:25

2:52 And you're taught the practice. And then there's also a way of life. And this seven-point mind training is a pretty good platform for a way of life. But you're introduced to that, and so the seeds are sown, so to speak. The seeds are sown. Dharmakaya, Rigpa, how is Rigpa different from substrate consciousness, and these kind of things. Report an error in the passage at 2:52 Highlight the passage at 2:52

3:13 And so those seeds are sown, and then you don't continue thinking about or cogitating or imagining. When you're practicing this yoga meditation, you're simply resting in activity. But the seeds have been sown. Report an error in the passage at 3:13 Highlight the passage at 3:13

3:30 Just greater clarity, greater clarity arises. And in terms of gaining insight or kind of cutting through to Rigpa, there are generally two ways this seems to happen. And one is you may have something like being in a non-lucid dream and then boom, and suddenly you're lucid. You know, some radical shift, like whoa, like that. Report an error in the passage at 3:30 Highlight the passage at 3:30

3:51 Very similar to being non-lucid and then lucid, if it's especially quite striking. And I think many of you have had experiences like that. Something anomalous. In my case, the earliest ones were something anomalous happened and then suddenly, like that. And it wasn't like inexpressible bliss, but it was definitely, whoa, this is different, to really be quite vividly aware that you're dreaming, why you're dreaming. Report an error in the passage at 3:51 Highlight the passage at 3:51

4:13 So it can happen like that. Now that's, of course, just the metaphor of it. It can happen of resting in Rigpa and viewing reality from the perspective of Rigpa, which is a strong analogy to being lucid in a dream. And so it may be abrupt. It may be something, it may be a pointing out instruction from a Lama, but it could be something else too. There's all kinds of things that may trigger it, and then suddenly that abrupt shift, and it usually comes with a sense of really quite exceptional bliss and a sense of profound meaning that this is the most valuable experience I've ever had. Report an error in the passage at 4:13 Highlight the passage at 4:13

4:48 But that's not the only way it happens. It's not the only way it happens. And that is, in a dream you may be a smidgen, a little bit lucid. That happens too. Just, I think this is a dream, maybe this is a dream. And then if you just rest there in that awareness, it's not this big radical shift of perspective. Report an error in the passage at 4:48 Highlight the passage at 4:48

5:10 It's, this is too weird, I think this must be, maybe I'm dreaming. You just saw an elephant fly by, and that was so unusual. Maybe I'm dreaming. You see an anomaly that's out of place. But no big deal, right? But then if you sustain that view, that perspective, And then you see pigs flying by. Or, you know, whatever, I'm making this up. But it becomes more and more and more and more vivid until after a while, kind of coming in, stepping in from the shallow end of the pool, it becomes then radiantly vivid, clear, lucid, slam dunk, lucid. Report an error in the passage at 5:10 Highlight the passage at 5:10

5:44 So it can happen initially, quite abruptly, some abrupt shift, or it may happen just a little crack in the door, and then it just gets clearer and clearer and clearer. So it can happen either way. It can happen while reading a book. It can happen, of course, that is glimmering there. But here we are just resting in awareness. And if you have been introduced to the view, and quintessentially you have been, just here, of course there are much more lab of teachings, but if you've been introduced to it, then why are you just resting there? Report an error in the passage at 5:44 Highlight the passage at 5:44

6:16 That just resting is imbued with, if you haven't simply forgotten, what you have heard and what you've understood. Even though not thinking about it, it's germinating. The teachings you've heard, that which you've understood, is germinating there. It's gradually bubbling through. And that will trickle up and it will imbue your inactivity, your just resting, and help you shift into this perspective of viewing reality from Rigpa. Report an error in the passage at 6:16 Highlight the passage at 6:16

6:48 So an analogy, this word imbue is exactly the right word. And something more familiar to those of you who study Tibetan, Mayana Buddhism, You cultivate bodhicitta, you arouse bodhicitta as your initial motivation for meditating or going to the university or whatever it may be. You arouse it, but let's imagine you arouse bodhicitta as your motivation for practicing mindfulness of breathing. Report an error in the passage at 6:48 Highlight the passage at 6:48

7:12 So let's imagine that's the case. But then when you're practicing the mindfulness of breathing, you're not thinking, you're not revving it up. May I achieve enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings? There's so much suffering in the world. You're not doing that. You do that beginning and then you slide. And you just go right back into the practice, but it's imbued with that motivation. Report an error in the passage at 7:12 Highlight the passage at 7:12

7:36 All the way through the session, it's still motivated by that. Because that was your motivation. You didn't change your motivation. And so that imbues, that means the whole quality or the direction of that practice continues to be guided, motivated, inspired and blessed by that motivation, even though you're not explicitly thinking about it. Report an error in the passage at 7:36 Highlight the passage at 7:36

7:55 So your practice can be imbued with a very meaningful motivation. It can also be imbued with insight, understanding, and filters in and actually transforms the whole experience and deepens it. So a final point on this just sitting because it's so not modern. That is, it's so not Protestant ethic. It's so just not. Report an error in the passage at 7:55 Highlight the passage at 7:55

8:21 The general view, I mean, the general view is get something done, you know, succeed, create something, produce something, do something. Here's a phrase I heard when I was a kid, don't just sit there, do something. You know, like if you're just sitting there, what's wrong with you? You're burning off calories, show that, you know, those calories were something. Produce something, at least a sketch. Report an error in the passage at 8:21 Highlight the passage at 8:21

8:41 Or at least twiddle, okay, twiddle your thumbs, just anything. Do something, you know. And this is, don't just do something, sit there. You know, it's just... And there's something very deep underlying that. And that is, we leave out Protestant ethic, very complicated, and just come back to pursuit of hedonic pleasure. Report an error in the passage at 8:41 Highlight the passage at 8:41

9:00 The sense there, when people are really fixated on that, is that if I just sit quietly in my room, and I'm not doing anything, I've got nothing here. I'm bored, I'm restless, I'm unhappy, and I've got nothing. This is a complete waste of time, or even worse than a waste of time. Because I've got nothing. I'm just sitting here. I've got nothing. Report an error in the passage at 9:00 Highlight the passage at 9:00

9:24 And so then I have to go out and find something that will make me happy. Something. Anything. So we have to go out. The whole notion that we have no inner resources, and if we're going to find any happiness, it's going to be from outside. Very common view, I think. And here, the underlying premise is that... Report an error in the passage at 9:24 Highlight the passage at 9:24

9:44 You have unimaginable internal resources, even in the substrate consciousness. Even that is tapping into, let's say, a silver mine. And tap into your Rigpa, you tapped into a gold mine. I mean, inexhaustible inner resources. But how do you tap into that? By just resting there. And then these inner resources flow and flow and flow from that. Report an error in the passage at 9:44 Highlight the passage at 9:44

10:07 So I've added a few things to the notes that I find very meaningful. Just a few quotes. That highlights this from the Pāli Canon, from the most foundational Buddhism we have. This is not in your notes. I've added it in the new edition. And we'll find it in Mahāyāna and we'll find it in Dzogchen. So here are just a few quotes. They won't take long and then we'll go to the practice. Here's from the Pāli Canon, the Buddha's own words. For one who clings, motion exists. Report an error in the passage at 10:07 Highlight the passage at 10:07

10:38 Clings or grasp. But for one who clings not, there is no motion. Where no motion is, there is stillness. Where stillness is, there is no craving. Where no craving is, there is neither coming nor going. Where no coming nor going is, there is neither arising nor passing away. Where neither arising nor passing away is, there is neither this world nor a world beyond, nor a state between. Report an error in the passage at 10:38 Highlight the passage at 10:38

11:08 This verily is the end of suffering. That's from the Theravāda, from the Buddha's words in the Pāli Canon. And then Shantideva, great Bodhisattva, speaking for the whole of the Mahāyāna tradition, he states in his Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life, he says, surrendering everything is nirvāṇa, and my mind seeks nirvāṇa. Report an error in the passage at 11:08 Highlight the passage at 11:08

11:37 And then we go to Dzogchen itself, we go to this text that I've translated now twice, translated it, published it in what, 2000 or so. And then reworked it, refined it, published it again. The Vajra Essence is the third volume in three volumes of Dzogchen teachings written down by Dujum Lingva, the Vajra Essence. Report an error in the passage at 11:37 Highlight the passage at 11:37

11:58 So here are just a few quotes from here, from Vajra Essence. Leaving your body, speech and mind in a state of inactivity is the unsurpassed supreme technique for inserting the vital energy and mind into the central channel. So for those of you who know Vajrayana, The pranas, the mind, the awareness coming into the central channel, the ava dhuti, into the heart chakra, and then into the indestructible bindu in the heart chakra. Report an error in the passage at 11:58 Highlight the passage at 11:58

12:23 That's the highest state, the highest process within vajrayana practice. And there are visualizations and all kinds of things. It's really very difficult. Exercises. When you see the exercises, watch the movie Yogis of Tibet. All those exercises were designed to do this, to get the energies and the mind, the awareness, to come into the central channel. Report an error in the passage at 12:23 Highlight the passage at 12:23

12:45 And so forth. He says this, just resting in a state of inactivity of body, speech and mind, this is the supreme unsurpassed technique for this to occur, to realize then your own pristine awareness. When the energies dissolve into this indestructible bindu or orb at the heart, then rikma, pristine awareness, fully manifests. Report an error in the passage at 12:45 Highlight the passage at 12:45

13:07 So this is the supreme technique. And it's a non-technique technique because you're not doing anything at all. It's grace. But then he adds, here's again from the Vajra Essence, Report an error in the passage at 13:07 Highlight the passage at 13:07

13:17 motionlessly relax your body in whatever way is comfortable like an unthinking corpse in a charnel ground. your voice be silent like a lute with its strings cut. Rest your mind in an unmodified state, the primordial presence of space. Remain for a long time in these three ways of resting. This pacifies all illnesses due to disturbances of the elements. Report an error in the passage at 13:17 Highlight the passage at 13:17

13:43 And unfavorable circumstances. And your body, speech and mind naturally calm down. The ultimate purpose of this practice is to experience the Dharmakaya free of activity. Report an error in the passage at 13:43 Highlight the passage at 13:43

13:56 And this is resting body, speech and mind. Dharmakaya free of activity, of course the Dharmakaya free of the activity of a centime. So that's from the, it doesn't really matter when, but that was written down about 150 years ago. It's timeless. Much more recently, in about 1990, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was giving Dzogchen teachings in California and he made this comment at that time. When you rest the mind, putting it out of work, the vital energies naturally become refined and solely by non-conceptual meditation you slip into the clear light with the mind and vital energies. Report an error in the passage at 13:56 Highlight the passage at 13:56

14:34 So you slip into Rigpa. This requires settling in complete inactivity, which is not easy. As you probably could tell already, it's not so easy simply to turn off the switch of all the activities that you come to and with which we normally identify. So, it's simple, not easy. Not much more going on here, but here I just wanted to jump tracks over to the 5th century, but on the other side. Report an error in the passage at 14:34 Highlight the passage at 14:34

15:02 The Mediterranean basin, where Hippocrates, the first very renowned healer in our Western tradition, he states, he lives in the... Fifth and fourth to the fourth century. He said, to do nothing is also a good remedy. Report an error in the passage at 15:02 Highlight the passage at 15:02

15:21 And he comments elsewhere, I can't quote exactly, but he said the role of the healer, the doctor, the nurse, the role of the healer is to help the forces of nature heal. Report an error in the passage at 15:21 Highlight the passage at 15:21

15:33 It's the forces of nature that heal. And the healer, the doctor is there as a facilitator. But the healer doesn't heal. The doctor doesn't heal. Report an error in the passage at 15:33 Highlight the passage at 15:33

15:43 He says forces of nature. I would say Buddha nature. Tomatoes, tomatoes. Now we're moving on then to relative bodhicitta. So I think you're all familiar with the theme there. We're going to go right into the practice of donlen. Many of you are familiar with that, some maybe not. But relative bodhicitta, rooted in compassion, rooted in great compassion, the cherishing of others more than oneself, and out of that aspiring for perfect enlightenment in order to be of greatest possible service to the world. Report an error in the passage at 15:43 Highlight the passage at 15:43

16:14 So this is called bodhicitta or relative bodhicitta. We've kind of finished with ultimate bodhicitta in this very brief introduction. Again, I wanted to come back to Vajra Essence. When I read this, it made a very deep impression on me. And I'll preface it by saying that in this Dzogchen context, ultimate bodhicitta is rippa. Report an error in the passage at 16:14 Highlight the passage at 16:14

16:33 It's Buddha nature, it's Darmakaya. That's ultimate bodhicitta. And relative bodhicitta is its aspiration. Whereas in general Mahāyāna, General Vajrayana Buddhism altogether. Then when we speak of ultimate bodhicitta, this is referring to the realization of emptiness, of Dhamma Datu, realization of emptiness, realization of nirvāṇa. Report an error in the passage at 16:33 Highlight the passage at 16:33

16:55 But then it's strongly emphasized that, okay, this is wisdom. This is the cultivation of insight into the nature of reality, right, on the one hand. On the other hand, we have the cultivation of compassion, of loving kindness, altruism, bodhicitta. And these, it's said, remember, these are like the two wings. Report an error in the passage at 16:55 Highlight the passage at 16:55

17:11 Two wings of a bird. You've got to have two wings, otherwise you just fly around in circles. Or maybe never get off the ground. So you need to balance these two, the wisdom and the compassion. The wisdom, left hand. The compassion, right hand. You want to unify them, the two thumbs together. The mudrā of meditative equipoise. But always this emphasis on balance. Report an error in the passage at 17:11 Highlight the passage at 17:11

17:30 The Buddha said, wisdom without compassion is bondage. Compassion without wisdom is bondage. So balance, balance, balance. And you know, everybody knows I'm balance wallah, right? B. Alan Wallace. Balance, voila. That's what I do. I'm peddling balance. And so, we have this very strong nephosis, and it just makes so much sense that if one gets top-heavy over in the wisdom, it can get a bit cold, a bit loose, a bit dry. Report an error in the passage at 17:30 Highlight the passage at 17:30

17:56 And then if it's way over here, then it can start burning out, or just, you know, without the wisdom, then it can be very frustrating, and so on. And so, that's general. You see that everywhere in my Vajrayana Buddhism. But now, And that's, again, ultimate bodhicitta is realization of emptiness, the nature of reality, relative bodhicitta there. In Dzogchen, once again, very briefly, ultimate bodhicitta is not simply realization of emptiness, it's realization of Dharmakaya. Report an error in the passage at 17:56 Highlight the passage at 17:56

18:24 And if you realize that, of course you realize emptiness, as explained previously. So the question comes up, if you've realized Rigpa, if you've really tapped into Rigpa, and you're able to dwell on Rigpa, not have just a fleeting glimpse. Or kind of dabble in it and then flow it out and go back into the same routine. But if you're able to cut through, let's say, with shamatha, Vipassanā, and then you identify Rigpa, and you're able to dwell in Rigpa, remain in Rigpa, Shantideva becoming clear, clear, clear. Report an error in the passage at 18:24 Highlight the passage at 18:24

18:53 It's kind of like, you know, your inner resources, like a geyser, just flowing, flowing, flowing, until you fully realize Dhammakaya, you become completely lucid. What's the relationship between that and relative bodhicitta? That is, if you are actually able to dwell like that in Ritpa, do you need to complement your Dzogchen meditation with the explicit cultivation of relative bodhicitta, explicitly cultivating love and kindness, compassion and so forth? Report an error in the passage at 18:53 Highlight the passage at 18:53

19:21 And this question is addressed in the Vajra Essence. And the speaker is, in this pure vision of the Dujjum Lingva, the speaker is Patmasambhava, the lake-born Vajra. So here's what he says. That which manifests the great reality that pervades all of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa is called bodhicitta of the ultimate ground. Report an error in the passage at 19:21 Highlight the passage at 19:21

19:44 So, ultimate bodhicitta, that is Rigpa. That's primordial consciousness. You need apprehend only this. Apart from this, intellectually fabricating so-called bodhicitta with effort entails generating a mental state in which you view yourself as the meditator. And other sentient beings as objects of meditation, an attitude that is as limited as a teacup. In the expanse of the great perfection, the original nature of the great equality of samsata and nirvāṇa, the mode of existence of the ground itself is known, just as it is, by means of great omniscient primordial consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 19:44 Highlight the passage at 19:44

20:28 To speak of having bodhicitta greater than the vision of great all-seeing primordial consciousness would be like saying you must seek moisture elsewhere, even though you already have water. Report an error in the passage at 20:28 Highlight the passage at 20:28

20:40 The primordial, originally pure ground, the great reality that pervades all of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa is bodhicitta. Without knowing this, even the benign sense of love and compassion that parents have for their children is a conceptual, object-focused state of mind. With that alone, you might aspire for a fortunate rebirth. But hoping it will lead to enlightenment is as senseless as hoping that the son of a barren woman will become a householder. Report an error in the passage at 20:40 Highlight the passage at 20:40

21:11 So it's a different interpretation. That if you tap into this one thing, this one tapping into Buddha nature, this primordial consciousness, then all is found there. Relative bodhicitta, all the virtues, all the wisdom, everything, you've tapped into the one source of all. Report an error in the passage at 21:11 Highlight the passage at 21:11

21:33 And so everything is for that. So everything for one and one for all. All for one and one for all. It's all for that. And then out of that flows everything. But I'm going to be making the bold assumption that after a day of practicing Dzogchen, you're not simply dwelling in Rinpa. Like constantly. If you are, then just ignore everything I'm about to say. And if you're not, maybe some seeds were sown over the last day or so. Report an error in the passage at 21:33 Highlight the passage at 21:33

22:04 Hopefully I think seeds were sown. So the seeds are sown, but now we might get a little help from our friends. And that is some explicit teachings, and this is what the teacher is sharing with us now. Well, how about helping that along a bit, cultivating, explicitly cultivating relative bodhicitta? Because as you do so, that will actually facilitate your deepening understanding of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 22:04 Highlight the passage at 22:04

22:28 And that will facilitate tapping into Rigpa. The rikpa and realization of emptiness will facilitate and deepen your loving kindness and compassion. And so then you have this synergy, this reciprocity between the two. So that's why we go on to the explicit cultivation of relative bodhicitta. So I will read just the aphorism and then we'll go to the practice. Report an error in the passage at 22:28 Highlight the passage at 22:28

22:54 I'm not going to give any commentary right now. But here as we go to relative bodhicitta, that's the outline heading. Report an error in the passage at 22:54 Highlight the passage at 22:54

23:02 Alternately practice sending and taking. And sending is tong, taking is len, tonglen. So it's good to know that term. A lot of people know it, tonglen, sending and taking. So for those of you for whom this is new, you're about to learn what sending and taking is. Please find a comfortable position and we'll jump right in. Report an error in the passage at 23:02 Highlight the passage at 23:02