← B. Alan Wallace

Transform Your Mind & Change Your Life Retreat - 7-Point Mind Training from Atisha (part 38)

B. Alan Wallace · 1 h 25 min · Vajrayana Institute via Internet Archive

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  • 2:47

    Entry level, just basic foundational level, the relationship of the teacher, the relationship to the teacher is very important. Really can be a tremendous blessing. And so I could go on, there are different levels of looking upon the guru, the teacher, your mentor, Lama, as like a representative of the Buddha, like an emissary, like an ambassador. Because you don't have the ability, none of us do, to meet Buddha Shakyamuni himself. But through the lineage, unbroken lineage, all the way down, then the guru who's had that lineage, and there are many of them, Going tracing back to the Buddha, then that's the closest you get. And so then, on this very elementary basic level, you view the Guru not simply as an individual with his or her own qualities.

  • 17:45

    This is the big deal. All your concerns, what are you thinking about? What occupies the mind so much? Are you worried? Are you anxious? Fearful? Fretful? Greedy? Why all the activity? What's the activity about? And usually it's about the past or the future. Very few people ruminate about the present. About 80 % of the studies have done, scientific studies, about 80 % of the time.

  • 33:21

    But the higher the tree is, it better have a very, very strong trunk. Otherwise, we'll blow it and break it. But if you have that massive trunk, it better have a really, really good root system. Otherwise, again, when it comes, it'll just push right over like a palm tree. Right there, it'll be down. So that's the metaphor. The more deep, if you want greater stability, look for deeper relaxation.

  • 35:15

    Compassion practice, the lin, the taking, is may your heart's desire be fulfilled insofar as it's authentic. But if the jihadist is simply wanting to kill everybody who doesn't believe like them, well that may be what they think is their heart's desire and I do not share it and I do not want them to succeed. I would say may your heart's desire not be fulfilled because this is going to be terribly harmful to other people and you can't even imagine how damaging this is to you. You think you're in heaven for this? You are profoundly wrong.

0:08 Randa Ji, could I ask you a small favour? Could you go back to my room and get my eyeglasses? You have the key here. Thank you. There are two notes here and I just forgot them. The notes are here in my eyeglasses. Report an error

0:24 So there are two notes here. I'll certainly be very glad to respond. I'm getting my eyeglasses so I become literate again. Any questions or comments? Yes. Report an error

0:40 How are you? I am well. Remind everybody your name. Your name? Brenton? Yeah. I'll ask you about Guru Yoga. Right. I've always had an interest in it. When I saw His Holiness in 2007, he gave an instruction on how to visualise your guru and take refuge in your guru. One on one? One on one? I wish it was. It doesn't matter, but he gave you an instruction. It was one on one, yes. And recently when I was in Italy, I saw the movie Melorica. Report an error

1:16 And I really, I don't know why, I sort of... Despite my interest in Guru Yoga, I don't know why, because of the issues coming down. So what I usually do is visualize, say, another reaper, and he dissolves in my heart. But then the object is a bit not so clear. Like for me, what it might have been has many qualities. Report an error

1:41 So I'm not exactly sure what to invoke in my heart. I feel the... the devotion and the confidence and the resonating, but not so much. Because I think it's like a box of shots, I'll take that one. Report an error

1:59 sure. It's worth the choice. Right. That's a very large question. And I haven't taught it in this retreat, so I could escape right now. I didn't eat that here. Report an error

2:11 Claudio, did you ever receive the little booklet on Guru Yoga that Elizabeth West... Prepare it on the basis of teachings I gave. Did you ever see that? You have one here. Maybe you could lend it to Brenton. I addressed that in some detail in this booklet, so you can read there. But a short response. I'm not very good at that, as you might have noticed. Report an error

2:37 At any level, from the most basic foundational level of just learning about the four-level truths and about ethics, samādhi and wisdom, Report an error

2:47 Entry level, just basic foundational level, the relationship of the teacher, the relationship to the teacher is very important. Really can be a tremendous blessing. And so I could go on, there are different levels of looking upon the guru, the teacher, your mentor, Lama, as like a representative of the Buddha, like an emissary, like an ambassador. Report an error

3:04 Because you don't have the ability, none of us do, to meet Buddha Shakyamuni himself. But through the lineage, unbroken lineage, all the way down, then the guru who's had that lineage, and there are many of them, Going tracing back to the Buddha, then that's the closest you get. And so then, on this very elementary basic level, you view the Guru not simply as an individual with his or her own qualities. Report an error

3:30 Some are very articulate, some not so much, some are more intelligent, less intelligent, charismatic, not charismatic, you know, and so forth and so on, personality, you know. But you're looking through that. You're just looking through that. And you're saying, my Guru is an emissary of the Buddha. And that's what you're tending to. Report an error

3:46 This is the closest I get. So without going on, but even there, basic Theravāda, it's very important that there be an authentic, sound relationship, trusting relationship. It really helps a lot. Because you're not just getting information, of course. You want information, go to the internet. And then there's a Mahāyāna approach, there's Vajrayana. Report an error

4:08 And then generally in Vajrayana and then specifically in Dzogchen, all are the great masters. They all give tremendous emphasis to Guru Yuga. I mean, really strong. That if you really want to proceed along this path, this is not one of those things, if you like it, then go for it. But if you don't really care about it, then don't bother. It's considered to be really, really enormously important. Thank you, Randa. That's perfect. Report an error

4:35 And so, then why? And the reason for that is very pure. I'll put it that way, pure. And that is that any... Within Buddhist context, any guru-disciple relationship is always for the sake of disciple. I said that the guru really shouldn't need to have any disciples, not even one. So it's not for the guru's sake, not for the guru's wealth or for his setting up Dharma centers or anything else, any other agenda. If that's the issue, then count me out. Report an error

5:12 It's all for the sake, the relationship is for the sake. Like if you go to a doctor, it's not for the doctor's benefit. If the doctor is ground saying, I've got to get more patients, more patients, then find another doctor. Its relationship is for the sake of the patient. So that's the bottom line. The first thing is, that's the nature of the relationship. It's not a symmetrical relationship. Like, okay, we're just Dharma buddies. There's one in the service of the other, and the guru is in the service of the student. Report an error

5:36 It's very simple. But now, why, again, it's hard to give a short answer that's even meaningful here. Maybe what I've said surprised me. But the whole point here, let's just put it in the context of Dzogchen, because that's, you know, Report an error

5:51 Is that within Dzogchen, of course, the central theme is to realize your own Buddha nature, to realize your own identity as Buddha. But then not conflating this with, you know, superficial level, you know, the top level, person, psyche, nationality, ethnicity and so forth. Not conflating it or identifying it with a substrate consciousness, but recognizing yourself on the ground, recognizing that's who you are at your ground. Report an error

6:16 But it's difficult because we do tend to identify so strongly with what's up there on the surface levels. So if on the surface level, if one is looking to the surface level of the guru, excuse me, is a Tibetan, it's a man, it's a woman, what have you, looking at the surface level, very erudite, all that stuff, and then fixate there, then frankly it's a form of idolatry. Report an error

6:40 It may be benevolent, it may be harmless, there may be no exploitation, but it's still idolatry. Because you're looking at that level and thinking, that's a Buddha, that's a Buddha. Right? So it'd be like, you know, the earlier one, I was almost joking around. If I, as this individual, this guy from California, if I, from that level, should say, I shall liberate all sentient beings from all suffering and bring all to its state of enlightenment. Report an error

7:07 The answer would be, you've got to be kidding. You know, because, wait a minute, it's a mismatch. If you drop down two stories down to the Buddha nature level, or rip, but then it's fine. But you don't conflate these. They're not the same. And so when you look upon the guru, the whole central theme here is look upon the guru as a Buddha. In Dzogchen, that's it. Report an error

7:28 Not as being like a Buddha or simply a conduit, a blessing as a Buddha. You look upon your guru and you identify there's a Buddha there. Say again? Report an error

7:39 Oh, the same. Completely the same. There's no difference here. No difference at all. Within that Vajrayana context, I have this straight from His Holiness, but I've received a lot of teaching. Report an error

7:50 There's just no difference. Vajrayana and Dzogchen is within Vajrayana. You simply look upon your guru as a Buddha, period. And so if your yidam, let's say, is Padmasambha, that's the archetypal form, drawing out those aspects of Buddha mind. It could be Majjushri, it could be Tara, and so forth and so on. But let's say Padmasambha. So here's more of an archetypal figure. Historically, yes, but nowadays really archetypal, as much as Tara. Report an error

8:17 So let's imagine you have very, very deep faith in Padmasambha. As fully enlightened, perfectly enlightened, manifested great transference rainbow body, which Rochelle can explain to you. Because I explained to her this afternoon. So you've got the transmission now. So I don't have to do it all over again. And so, let's imagine very deep faith here. Report an error

8:42 Here's a man who manifested the highest form, the most sublime form of rainbow body, called great transference rainbow body. And so imagine very deep faith here. This is truly a perfect enlightened being, Padmasambhava. And then there's your guru. And there are many lineage holders of Padmasambhava's teachings, many, many. Report an error

9:03 So then you're focusing on that guru. That's a man, a woman, could be a Tibetan, a Westerner, whatever. But there is somebody you are having actual contact with. You can meet, you can engage with. So you see the emptiness. First of all, you look upon the Guru, how the Guru appears to you, right? And you say, okay, but that's a you-me relationship. That's a you-me appearance. And that is, I'm not just getting Guru. Report an error

9:28 I'm getting Guru filtered, interpreted, edited, censored, and so forth through my filter, my lens, my conceptual network. And so what I'm seeing here is like three parts me and one part you, you know, whatever, two part you, whatever. It's not just you. And therefore what I'm seeing, if you're my Guru, what I'm seeing is not... Report an error

9:48 You, as somebody existing from your own sight. You don't even exist from your own sight. You're not to be found. So you're empty. You're empty. That means you're empty of being a sentry being. And so realizing that there's nothing there from your sight that is a sentry being, empty, then you look through that facade, that appearance of the guru appearing as a sentry being, like the Dalai Lama that looked like a funky old man, and said, I can remember all my past lives. Report an error

10:20 But he looked like a funky old man. I mean, really, that's what he looked like. So you see through that, because that's just irrelevant. Whether he's incredibly handsome or glorious or radiating light, whatever it is, that's kind of like irrelevant. What's looking through the veneer and seeing, there's a Buddha there. And I'm taking refuge then in the Guru as indivisible from, not separate from, of the same nature as Padmasambhava. Report an error

10:47 Padmasambhava has the same nature as Amitabha, the Buddha of infinite. light. So that's it. So you see then there's no idolatry, there's no hero worship, there's no all the junk that goes along with rock stars and famous people, the idolatry, the fixation, the adulation and so forth, that's all locked into samsaric garbage. Report an error

11:10 It just cuts right through that. But then what's the point? If you can attend to another person who looks kind of like you, more or less, looks like you, and appears kind of like you, Not having 32 major and 80 minor marks, for example, that kind of sets them off. And if you can attend to that person, who is further along the path than you are, at least somewhat further, and see that person as a Buddha, this brings you all the closer to identifying yourself as a Buddha. Report an error

11:38 And that's the point. That's the point. And then you get blessing. By focusing on your actual guru as a Buddha, you get blessings very swiftly. By focusing on the Patmas and Baba, where your guru is, you get very deep blessing. So if you can view both individually, Patmasa Bhava and your guru, non-dually, both empty of inherent nature, both right there, then you get very deep, very fast blessing. Report an error

12:03 And that's the way to supercharge your practice. To try to practice Vajrayana in general, Dzogchen in particular, without blessing, it's a very long haul. It's not a fast path. Okay. Yeah, thank you. So just quickly, so is that merging the Guru into my heart from a non-dual perspective? So you begin with attending to the Guru in front. And there may be offerings, there may be supplication, there may be verses and so forth and so on, like the seven limb devotion, for example. Report an error

12:32 And then when that's finished, and now here it is an I-Thou relationship, you're attending to the Guru, you're seeing, you're visualizing Guru. Then when you finish that, when it's finished, then you're quite right. Then you invite the guru to the crown of your head. The guru faces in the same direction and then dissolves the guru's mind with your mind, guru's speech with your speech, guru's body with your body and you then rest imaginatively by the power of your imagination, your faith. Report an error

12:59 You rest in the sense of your own identity as being indivisible from that of your guru. So your body is indivisible, speech indivisible, mind indivisible and then this lifts you into your own identity. Thank you. Yeah. See, I'm terrible at short answers. I don't think I try hard enough. So I have a couple of written ones here, and so we'll go back and forth if there are more questions from you all right now. Report an error

13:27 So I won't read this verbatim. I read it already. And so the case of this person, I think I'll just leave anonymous, is a case where it's just difficult. I find it very difficult to calm my mind while sitting in meditation. Keep trying and trying, but it's just difficult. The mind just doesn't calm down. And of course that's frustrating. But this person is a long distance runner. Report an error

13:51 And when doing this, my mind is calm and I have insights. So does this count as meditation? Long distance running. I don't seem to be able to achieve this relaxed state while sitting still. So, very good. Report an error

14:13 This person says I have to leave home tomorrow evening. And I couldn't get to it earlier. So if the person is not here, I won't ask, but if the person is not here right now... Yes, I will. She put her name, so I think it's okay. Nadia is not here anymore, probably. Nadia? Okay. Am, but you know who she is, yes? Could you let her know? Because I had to teach what I teach during the daytime. But just let her know that I'm very happy to respond. Report an error

14:36 I have, and then she can listen. Thank you. And she did love her name. I'm just not going to say some other things here that I think are more of her private business. So the answer is... Meditation means cultivation, remember? Meditation is cultivation. And so if while engaging in long distance running, the mind becomes calm, it goes into flow and insights arise, then what do we say? Report an error

14:58 You're cultivating your mind while running. Sure. And so the answer is yes, yes. But now if it's difficult to meditate or to find the mind calming down while sitting in meditation, but you find it running, it would be good just like a pianist who can only play one piece. And you can play that one piece very well, but then you can't play other pieces. Well then, work with your strengths. So I'll address you and, so I'll just kind of focus because you'll be the condo for that. Report an error

15:22 Because I like to focus on someone, you know me. Then you say, well, start with your strengths. And so you do, you are able to calm the mind into flow and so forth when you're running. How about when you're just fast walking? So variation, variation on the theme. Can you just be walking briskly and maintain that? Report an error

15:41 Good, now you can meditate in two different ways. And then if you're fast walking, I really enjoy fast walking myself. Not because I'm in a hurry, I just like the energy of it. But then sometimes you pause. Maybe you just stop and you just gaze out on the scenery. Can you continue to do it then? Or do you have to be in motion? And then if you're doing that standing, could you just sit on a park bench once in a while? And then you could still do it then. Report an error

16:04 And so you just start increasing your repertoire, but you start from your strengths. You start from the strengths. And if the strength is, it goes very well when jogging or long distance running, start there. And then work on variations of the theme. But also, it's very easy to forget about the sequence. And the sequence is relaxation and then stability is where the mind really gets calm. Report an error

16:27 And then the clarity. And in our modern world, a lot of people, I mean, I did this for the first 20 years. Relaxation? I don't know what I need to relax on. I'm okay. I'm not stressed out. And skip it. And then we go immediately. Okay, I'm meditating, meditating. Is my mind getting calmer? Is the rumination, the chitchat, blah, blah, is that going down or not? And then we find it's not. And then we ask, okay, what do I need to do? Report an error

16:52 Because I'm meditating a lot and my mind's not calming down. Which is to say, my mind is not stabilizing. Because that's calming down. Whether everything quiets down, calms down, so forth. But then we skip the first one. And the first one is don't even ask whether your mind is calming down. It has so much momentum to not be calmed down. Don't expect you're going to flick a switch and that's going to happen. Report an error

17:16 But you can go into the supine position, for example, and you can go into complete meltdown physically, muscles and all of that, and you can then just settle your body in a state that is relaxed, still, and yet psychologically vigilant in the supine position. And then you can release with every out-breath, release muscle tension, release the breath, release thoughts. You can do that. And as much as you can, you cultivate the ability to just set your mind at ease, all your concerns. Report an error

17:45 This is the big deal. All your concerns, what are you thinking about? What occupies the mind so much? Are you worried? Are you anxious? Fearful? Fretful? Greedy? Why all the activity? What's the activity about? And usually it's about the past or the future. Very few people ruminate about the present. About 80 % of the studies have done, scientific studies, about 80 % of the time. Report an error

18:10 When people have just like a beeper or something like that and scientists study them, about 80 % of the time their thoughts are off on something not relevant to the immediate present. Off someplace else, past or future. The past hasn't happened yet. The past has already happened, finished. The future hasn't happened. So they're off into non-reality. Report an error

18:30 And then they're ignoring reality and that's what's happening right now. And so the first question I think, the criterion as we meditate, I don't think is helpful. I think it'd be counterproductive. To say, okay, is it working? Is my mind calming down? And the first question should be, or should rather be, am I more relaxed? Am I more relaxed? Report an error

18:51 If not, then find another teacher or another practice, but do something different. Because if you're not more relaxed, then it should be. Report an error

19:02 And so that's the first question. Supine position. Body, speech, mind. Set the mind at ease. Release. I mean, as much as possible. Give yourself a break. And just release the thoughts. Let them go. Not now. And just find that stillness. So the first balance, and this is the answer to the question, is never mind calming the mind. Report an error

19:24 If you're calming, running, great, run, good. But when you're in meditation, the first thing is, can you relax more deeply? That's the question. Compared to how you started the session, as you go into the session, are you unwinding, relaxing, becoming more at ease in the body? Is the breathing starting to flow more unimpededly, naturally, effortlessly? Report an error

19:46 Is the mind getting more relaxed? And if that's all happening, and you're getting drowsy and spacing out, then have a nap. Report an error

19:58 Seriously, you're probably overtired. You're probably a little bit sleep-deprived. So then have a nap and be happy about it. Then you're catching up on sleep. But if you can, sleep it off. Get back to the amount of sleep you need. And then when you relax like that, then take on the first challenge. Can you relax more and more and more deeply without losing the clarity with which you began? And that's the way you should really look for some so-called progress. Report an error

20:29 And not, is the mind calming down a lot? Because you can get the mind to calm down for a while by trying really hard. That's what I did in my first shaman retreat 36 years ago. And that is, you know, I was young and full of beans and full of enthusiasm and aspiration. And I just... Bore down, I really bore down, getting up at 3.30 every morning and just marching my way to Shantideva. With sheer willpower, sheer willpower and effort and bearing down. Report an error

21:00 And the first couple of weeks it really worked. My mind really, I think, was scared to death of me. Report an error

21:09 I'll be quiet. Don't hurt me. I'll be quiet. And then after a while you just can't maintain that level of pressure. And you just wind up getting tired. Because it's like a stern parent always frowning at his children. Be good. So everybody's exhausted. Your mind's exhausted. You're controlling the mind. You're exhausted. And so you can do it for the short term and you can't maintain it. And you start getting drained, exhausted, fatigued. Report an error

21:37 And it just doesn't work. Sheer willpower does not do the job. I know. I tried. Because I was never taught relaxation in the first 20 years. I think they were teaching. I'd never, never taught. Have you been taught? Relaxation? Yeah, from Tibetan lamas? Oh, from your mom, yeah. But from Tibetan lamas, you ever talk about relaxation? You? Report an error

21:59 Relaxation? Report an error

22:02 Relinquishment, yeah, different. So I'm not criticizing anybody. And I think I explained before, if you're a Tibetan nomad, like my teacher Geshe Ramdan, who until the age of 19 was watching yaks. Just watching yaks all summer. And then he comes from the high country of eastern Tibet where all the summer he's watching yaks. Report an error

22:22 And then he finally makes a two-month trip on horseback from Kam to Lhasa to start his monastic training. This is a slow ride. It's on a horse. And so he's been watching yaks for the last five years. Then he spends two months on horseback. Just bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop. Imagine him getting to Lhasa and his teacher saying, Relax. What? What are you talking about? Report an error

22:52 I've been watching yaks for the last five years. And then you consider, you know, our teenage years, pretty much all of us, I think, and it's just not watching yaks and riding a horse for two months. And so, I think I was, I mean, I think all of us back then, the 70s. By and large, we were being taught as if we were Tibetans. Because they'd never taught Westerners before. We were the first guinea pigs. We were. I mean, that in a nice way. Report an error

23:17 They'd never taught Westerners before. And they're giving us their very best. And their very best is what they gave to the Tibetans. And it was the same. And Tibetans, by and large, don't need to know. I mean, the old ones, the traditional ones, don't need to know how to learn how to relax. If you tried to teach MBSR 60 years ago in Tibet, MBSR, nobody would. Report an error

23:40 I mean, I'm not really ridiculing anything, of course, but mindfulness-based stress reduction? They say, what? I'll watch a yak. What do I need that for? So it's very good. There's no implied criticism at all. But we're not Tibetans. We're not Tibetans. That's the bottom line. So relaxation first. Relaxation first. So that's what I would say to that. Very good question. And there's a related one here. And it doesn't have a name, but I know who wrote it. Report an error

24:08 Very good question. So during practice, I will read this one. So during practice, once stability is achieved, I feel and see everything illuminating brighter. So among the three qualities, relaxation, stability, clarity. Clarity is booming. That's taking off. As though a dimmer switch on a light is being turned up. So we all know what that's like. It's then followed by an excitable feeling that moves from around the space of my head and down my body. Report an error

24:38 So this is prāṇa. This is energy flow. Very, very common association. The intensity, the vividness, clarity of attention is enhanced. You can be certain there's some energetic correlate or correlation, movement of energy within the body. That's a given. So as I'm returning to the space, after some time I feel that I pop out of it. So you get to the high and then you pop it, then you lose it. How can I remain in that space for longer periods and how can I delve deeper into it, perhaps even move beyond it? Report an error

25:10 I mean, go where you've never gone before, to unprecedented degrees of vividness and so forth. And so, very good question, very practical. And the answer is, Report an error

25:23 Relaxation, stability and clarity. The key term for all of these three is sustainable. Sustainable. So I mentioned, if you just bear down, you have to, I mean, students for cramming for exams or the jet fighter pilot flying at Mach 2, 200 meters above the ground, you know, you have to maintain a very high level of continuity of attention. Report an error

25:47 You have to remain focused the whole time, right? I mean, intense things like that. Air traffic controllers, they can't kind of relax, you know, just space out and people die. And so there are occasions when we have to be really focused for a sustained period. And many scientific studies have done of this, and they almost always entail bearing down, concentrating, contracting, willpower, get the job done, and here's the mudrā. Report an error

26:16 Like that. And so it's not sustainable. That's the point. Yes, you can concentrate. Yes, you can maintain stability, as I did for maybe two weeks or so. And I thought I was making a lot of progress. I was bearing down so hard that I could sustain my attention for longer and longer periods just because I was trying so hard. Pedal to the metal. Report an error

26:37 But it's not sustainable. Because just after some time, even if a lot of energy and enthusiasm and I was under the direct guidance of His Holiness, I mean, what more do you want, you know? So I'm going to give it my best shot. And it's not sustainable. The stability without relaxation, not sustainable. Report an error

26:56 Stress, fatigue, drained, and then nervous disorders. We call it getting loom disorders, prāṇa disorders, or vata disorders. That's just what happens. It's kind of guaranteed. This is what will happen if you go for stability without relaxation. And not just getting relaxed, but seeing this deepening relaxation. Report an error

27:15 And then the strengthening of stability. Then you have something sustainable. Then we go for clarity. Well, that's on the top of the pyramid. And it's, I was about to say fun. Well, it is fun. It's bracing. It's invigorating. It's... To feel this enhanced sense of clarity, brightness, exactly like somebody's taken a hundred watt bulb and just turned it up to a thousand. Report an error

27:39 And when the clarity, and of course the source of this clarity, luminosity, the brightness, when that's... When that's intense, what's happening is that you're unveiling this intense luminosity, the brightness of your own substrate consciousness. Because that's really intense. I mean, it's blissful, it's so intense, when it's totally unveiled. Now, deeper than that, of course, the immutable light, the unchanging light, the unborn light of clear light mind, pristine awareness. Report an error

28:07 Well, that's the ultimate. But on a relative level, the luminosity of the substrate consciousness is dazzling. I mean with that wattage, like a thousand watt bulb, turn it on when all the five senses are shut down and you get these incredibly vivid high definition dreams. And the multimodal you can see and hear and taste and touch and so forth. That takes a lot of energy, a lot of wattage, doesn't it? Report an error

28:31 To create a whole holodeck with all the five senses going and all of them so realistic you can't imagine you're dreaming because it's just too real. You reach out and touch things, and they feel exactly as you think they will, and so forth. There's a lot of luminosity behind that, a lot of wattage, and that's coming right from the substrate consciousness. Report an error

28:52 But if that's what you're getting in your meditation, and that's the first thing you point out, is the luminosity, the clarity, like the wattage going up, well, it's not sustainable. You pop out. And then why? Not enough stability. Report an error

29:11 So the stability is not sustainable without a deep and deepening sense of relaxation. And the vividness, you're right, it can go right through the roof. I mean, you can't even imagine how. Probably literally right now, I cannot imagine the upper ceiling, if there is such an upper ceiling, of the luminosity of your unawareness, especially when you tap into Buddha nature. Report an error

29:30 You can't imagine it. So there's no upper ceiling, really. There's no upper limit. It's Upame Amitabha, it's infinite light. Upame, infinite light. Well, that's the light of your awareness. Amitabha. And so consider there's just no upper limit. But now as this intensity, the luminosity, the brightness is coming up, the brighter it is, the stronger the foundation of stability there needs to be. Report an error

29:55 And if the underlying stability is not commensurate with the heightening of the clarity, then you find the clarity can't be sustained. And you pop out. Just because it didn't have sufficient foundation. So this is why the first one is relaxation without losing clarity. The second one is enhanced stability without losing relaxation. Report an error

30:18 And then it's sustainable stability. And on that basis, enhance and keep on enhancing, you know, sky's the limit, enhance the vividness, the luminosity, the brightness, but without losing stability. Report an error

30:32 And again, the higher it goes, the greater the stability is needed. I'll give one metaphor. It's my favorite metaphor. They're coming from California, where we have, I think we have, the biggest trees in the world. The redwood trees and the sequoias, they are really quite awesome. The biggest one is like 10 meters across and 50 meters up. They are massive. And so we have these two. I think they're separate species. Report an error

30:57 The redwoods are on the coast and the sequoias up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. So they're magnificent trees. And I'm taking this as an example because somebody a long time ago gave me a little packet of redwood tree seeds. Redwood tree seeds. And they're tiny. They're tiny. They're like mustard seeds. They're little bitty things. So now imagine time-lapse photography. Report an error

31:19 You have this tiny little scene. It's much smaller than your nail. Tiny. And you imagine you sow that. You sow it and you mulch it and you fertilize it and water it. And now have time-lapse photography that goes on for a thousand years. So one frame every year or whatever. And what would you see as you see this little tiny seed germinate? Report an error

31:40 Little dinky seed. You'll see a little taproot come down, a little sprout will come up. And then over time, so let's say a thousand years, fifteen hundred years, they're old trees. Then what would you see as you just saw this massive tree appearing within a matter of a minute or two? As you would see then, That little tiny tap root would get extended, extended, extended, extended, and then extend out into a vast network that goes very broad and very deep. Report an error

32:08 That's what you'd for sure see. A very deep, elaborate network of roots really going deep and broad into the soil and holding the soil. While you're seeing that develop, this root system, then you're seeing that little tiny sprout coming up. Well, that's turning into a trunk. And that trunk is getting higher, but it's also... Report an error

32:29 Instead of being so tiny slender, it's getting to be a quarter of an inch wide and half and then gradually out to five meters and so forth, up to ten meters across. And so you're seeing this trunk come up. It's going up, of course, but it's also really getting massive. And you see that happening simultaneously with the root system. Report an error

32:48 And then you turn your head up and then you see, oh, there goes that trunk and it's going up 20 meters, 30 meters, 40, 50 meters. I mean, really high. And there is the foliage way up there. Taking in the photosynthesis, taking in the energy of the sun. And so you're seeing three things there. You're seeing the root system develop, you're seeing the trunk develop massively, but you're also seeing it reach to the heavens and the foliage up there, way up in the sky. Report an error

33:11 And so that's a nice metaphor, is the root system is relaxation, the trunk is stability, and the foliage reaching to the sky, that's clarity. But the higher the tree is, it better have a very, very strong trunk. Otherwise, we'll blow it and break it. But if you have that massive trunk, it better have a really, really good root system. Otherwise, again, when it comes, it'll just push right over like a palm tree. Report an error

33:38 Right there, it'll be down. So that's the metaphor. The more deep, if you want greater stability, look for deeper relaxation. If you want really sky's the limit type of vividness, go for really strong stability. That's the key. Okay? Wallace. Yes, please. Your name comes. Report an error

34:01 Elaine, the microphone is coming. We'll be right with you. Report an error

34:16 I wanted to ask for compassion for eagledoers. Eagledoers, yes, very good. 18 months ago, there was a retreat in the meditation you were leading. I was thinking about the people who were in jihad activities. Yes, indeed. And at that stage, you suddenly said, may they have their heart's desire. And I went, phew. I am. So for 18 months of being... Report an error

34:45 Oh yeah, we have to be very careful there, because we don't want to be stupid. Report an error

34:56 Yeah, so I'm very happy to respond to raising very important issues, and if we err on these issues, we're really erring seriously. So I do try to choose my words carefully, and it came up today as we are engaging the compassion problem. so I've also noticed in here even-doer, more worthy of compassion than a person who's physically... Report an error

35:15 Compassion practice, the lin, the taking, is may your heart's desire be fulfilled insofar as it's authentic. But if the jihadist is simply wanting to kill everybody who doesn't believe like them, well that may be what they think is their heart's desire and I do not share it and I do not want them to succeed. Report an error

35:34 I would say may your heart's desire not be fulfilled because this is going to be terribly harmful to other people and you can't even imagine how damaging this is to you. You think you're in heaven for this? You are profoundly wrong. I don't care what. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care whatever source that they have. Nobody goes to heaven after massacring children. I don't care. Report an error

35:54 It never happens. It doesn't matter what the belief is. I don't care. It's not true. And whether it's a Buddhist, or a Christian crusader, or a Hindu fanatic, or just a communist or whatever, nothing good comes from violence that is driven by malice. Report an error

36:14 Period. Report an error

36:17 And so when we look upon the evildoer, and boy do we get a lot on the news these days, so much. Report an error

36:26 Why that statement? And I received that statement many, many years ago. Gishadaptam, one of my earliest teachers, he said, take two people. Imagine one is a real evildoer, really doing awful things. And the other person is a person in a wheelchair. So maybe the legs don't work at all. Which person is worthy of more compassion? And the answer immediately is the evildoer. Report an error

36:48 Because a person who's crippled is simply experiencing the fruit of past karma. And it's getting exhausted. You're using up that karma. It'll be done. But you're not doing anything. If you're simply crippled and living a decent life and so forth, then you're not doing anything. You're not sowing poisonous seeds for the future. You're just getting the harvest from some bad seeds from the past. Report an error

37:08 And it'll wear off. Don't worry about it. So compassion, yes. But here's a person here who's killing children and so forth and all the inconceivable things. Boko Haram, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, all these people. That, of course, they're really harming other people. This is terrible. But if we look at this in the big picture, the common consequences of that are going to be inconceivably awful for those who are perpetrating it. It'll be actually much worse than what they're inflicting on other people. Report an error

37:42 And so, we went through the layers, because I think about terror sometimes. And I look at layer upon layer upon layer of their attitudes, their desires, their beliefs and so forth. And layer after layer, I see myself, them and myself, and I say, dissimilar. I don't want to convert other people to my views. Dissimilar. No, I'm not willing to kill people. Dissimilar. And I see many points where, boy, I can't empathize with you. Report an error

38:11 I can't empathize with what you're doing. You think it's justified. And I can't empathize with that, with that behavior, that attitude, those desires. I can't. And so we keep on going, I cannot, I cannot. Different, different, different. And then there's a point at which the jihadist may say, and deep down what I really want is that we all live in harmony with each other. Report an error

38:36 And we're following, he would say, the will of God. And we're living in peace. And we're following, you know, following the divine. Report an error

38:46 And if it gets down to that level, without all of these distorted permutations of that, then I can say, and they would like their children to grow up happy and healthy. Many of them are married, they'd like their wives to be happy, have a harmonious relationship. They'd like to be in good health. They'd like to actually be happy. So I get down to that level. Report an error

39:10 And they say, well, I can empathize there, I can empathize there, I can empathize there. So it's looking at all of that, and on that level, no empathy, and no, I don't want your desires to be fulfilled. No, that'll be only harmful for everybody else and for yourself. But then if we can imagine that it's not rotten all the way down to the core, that nobody's born as a jihadist wanting to blow up other children. Report an error

39:33 Nobody's born that way, ever. That there's something deeper down, that there were jihadist three-year-olds who became jihadists, or ISIS and so forth, but they were three-year-olds at one point. And they were not putting bombs on themselves at that time. But they wanted to be happy. They wanted to be free of fear and anxiety and so forth. Report an error

39:55 And then they got encumbered. Their minds became poisoned by various sources. And so if we went back, though, beyond all this indoctrination and the fouling of Islam itself and the fouling of your incredibly awful views, is there something deeper down that is more the heart's desire and not a learned desire? Report an error

40:16 Because they learned all of that. They learned it from somebody. They weren't born with that. And their mothers, when they were children, probably didn't teach them that either. When you grow up, I hope you blow up people. I don't think so. And so we go deeper. What is your heart's desire that is not yet poisoned by what you learn to aspire for and what you learn to justify? Report an error

40:39 Because the Nazis in that case, you know what they always find? A justification. They think this is for the higher good. They always do. Whatever it is. Whether it's child molesters, whether it's mass murderers, whether it's people practicing genocide and so forth, in their minds they all find a way to justify it. Report an error

40:57 That is really quite a flight of imagination. So the simple point then, with fewer words, is in terms of empathy, finding a level where you resonate. On this level I can. On all of this, no. And no, I do not wish you success. But on this level, may you be free of suffering. May you be free of mental afflictions. Report an error

41:16 And then we really get to it. May you be free of hatred. May you be free of thinking your views are the only ones and everybody else is inferior and they should be killed as a result or pummeled. Report an error

41:29 What is your innermost heart's desire before all of the contamination, the toxicity and wishing for that? And may you be free of anger, of greed. Report an error

41:40 And then it can be sincere. So it's very, we have to do it correctly. And then it can be sincere. I found for myself and I think I'm not alone as I read this scene like. Who doesn't? Every day. There's just one more. Every day. And some of them just are so off. The one that really got me, the barrel bomb on a funeral for people who died in a barrel bomb, that was like, boy, this is really, this is over the top. Report an error

42:07 We hear so many bombings, so many, but that one, that one really got to me. Report an error

42:16 And may the people who did that, may they be free of anger, free of hatred, free of vengeance. May they be free. And then how happy everybody would be. No more barrel bombs. Report an error

42:32 So that can be sincere. Report an error

42:53 Which is the idea that if I'm in a lucid dream, and I know that it's a dream, I shouldn't kill people, but is there karma from, I mean there's a dream, you can't just kill people. Report an error

43:11 I understand, sure. And that relates to what you were saying before about if you're awake in the pristine awareness, if you're truly, truly awake, and it's all just a ration, naturally arise. Report an error

43:26 I just missed that, the last part. If you're in that pristine awareness, you know absolutely that it's a dream which Report an error

43:38 naturally arise if they're all just a No, I understand. So the first point is a good point. I never quite phrased it that way myself. If I couldn't have open season on humans, there's a buck. Report an error

43:56 There's a doe. It's a novel question. But it's a perfectly good question. And that is there's nobody there. In other words, this is like a video game. Report an error

44:07 So I feel like a really 3D, and of course this is coming, you know. Right now it's video games. If you're watching the news, the next big one, we had, remember a long time ago, we had television, then we had internet, we got video games, and the next one is virtual reality. It's looming large really, really quickly. So you're not dealing with a flat screen anymore. You put on a helmet and you're 3D. And of course you get audio-visual. Report an error

44:30 They're already looking into tactile and olfactory and gustatory. In other words, the whole nine yards. And that is the whole thing, maybe all five. So you slip, and so it's like Star Trek in the holodeck, where you're seeing, touching, feeling, everything there. And it's all computer generated. Because you might wear kind of a bodysuit to give you the tactile sensations. It'll just stimulate the nerves so you feel that you're touching people and so forth and so on. Well, you see, this is going to be very big for the porn industry. Report an error

44:57 Just for starters. Because then it can be very vivid. And so that's going to be a big moneymaker. If you want to invest money in a very... Report an error

45:06 Non-virtuous way. This is going to be a money maker. But the point here being that a dream, a lucid dream, is very much like a 3D video game, a virtual reality. So the question comes, you know, that's a little bit in the future, but not very far ahead. But right now, there are plenty of video games. I don't play any of them, but I read about them. And some of them sound grotesquely violent. Report an error

45:27 And I've heard some really sexually very vicious as well. So I hear. Actually, no interest, but I'm interested in what other people are doing. And I've heard some of the things sexually as well as just sheer brutality are utterly grotesque. But, you know, teenage boys and so on get a kick out of it. And they might very well say, but, you know, what's the problem? There's no woman there. Or if I'm, you know, shooting all these people, seeing their guts spewed all over the screen, there's nobody there, so what's the harm? Report an error

45:55 And so then it's the same in the dream. There's nobody there, so why don't I just, you know, shoot people? What's the problem? And so, for karma there's four aspects. Now you're going to get a little lesson on karma. Classic. There's such a thing as a complete karmic action. So it's the whole package, the whole deal. It's done. It's full. And in Tibetan, the basis is I've got a gun. Report an error

46:30 I want to shoot people. There's a person. That's a basis. classic. Report an error

46:35 And then the Jorwa is preparation. Can I get him in my sights? Here's the trigger. Can I get a bead right there? Okay, that's preparation. I haven't pulled the trigger, but you're really in motion now. You're getting the job done. You're moving towards that. I think I'm just about ready to pull the trigger. And then there's the actual act, where you pull the trigger and you succeed, and the person falls over dead. Report an error

46:56 Then you've succeeded. And the success is the foundation, the preparation, the enactment and then the culmination. So you pull the trigger with the intent to kill and then somebody's dead and that's the culmination. So now it's the full karma. And if you do that in the waking state then there'll be the full ramifications of that karma. Report an error

47:20 Well, mature and nobody will like the results. But in a dream we can ask, okay, now that's for the full karma but is there such a thing as partial karma? Because there's karma without being full. It's still karma. So in a dream, there can be the intention to kill a person and seeing a person having a gun, so that you've got the basis. Report an error

47:40 And then you're tracking the person with the gun, ready to pull the trigger. The preparation is there. And then you pull the trigger and you shoot the gun. So you actually did it. And the only thing missing is nobody died. Because there's nobody there. Like in a video game. But you did everything else. Report an error

47:59 The foundation, the preparation, the enactment. And the only thing that didn't happen was the culmination. It would be like going out and deer hunting and pulling the trigger and missing the deer. And then the deer runs away. Well, you had everything else. The basis, there's the deer, I want a bag of deer, as they say, and then you do the preparation, you track it, and then you pull the trigger and you miss. Report an error

48:20 Is there any karma from that? If you go out hunting and you miss the deer and then it runs away. The answer is yes, there is. Report an error

48:30 But the first three elements are all real. Well, the point here is that even if you're in a lucid dream and you know there's nobody there, there is still an intention which is an aggressive, malevolent intention. Report an error

48:55 Well, in a dream you don't need spontaneous compassion for the people there because they're not there. In a dream you know, especially if you're lucid dream, there's nobody there anyway. So you don't really need to feel compassion for holographic images. You don't need to feel compassion for... individuals in a video game because there's nobody there. Compassion is for sentient beings and they're not sentient beings, right? Report an error

49:18 This is a concern for the many, many video games that are making an enormous amount of money for the people producing them and getting millions and millions of young people all over the world, young and old, engaging in these practices where they are focusing in a gacha. And if you watch the face and watch the mentality and the emotion and the aggression, that emotion, that aggression, that malevolence, that wish to kill, that's real. Report an error

49:50 That's real. The only thing that's not real is there's nobody out there. But all this stuff subjectively is real. So I don't know here in Australia, you heard it was maybe 10 years ago, Columbine, Columbine was a middle school in Colorado. So the boys, they were, I think, adolescent boys, they came in with their semi-automatic weapons, and they were superb marksmen. Report an error

50:12 It was pretty much poof, kill, poof, kill, poof, kill. I mean, they were like FBI. They were so effective. How did they get so effective? They're kids. Video games. They trained with video games, so it was kind of like kill, kill, kill, like that. So those video games, did they have anything to do with the boys actually killing a bunch of children in the schoolyard? Report an error

50:33 Yeah, there was preparation there. So full karma, no. But is there karma in a dream if you're killing people with a malevolent intent? Yes, even though there's nobody there. Video game with malevolent intent? Because you're like that? Yeah, there is. Now the one exception that I've let you off is if you're totally lucid in the dream and for whatever reason you kind of decide these are all just empty appearances and I would just like to have the fun. Report an error

51:02 Of shooting empty appearances with an empty gun, because it's kind of fun, like paintball shooting, like that. And it's just kind of fun, because nobody's there. If you get hit by a paintball, that apparently stings a lot. But nobody gets stung. And so if that's the attitude, people have different interests. Report an error

51:25 You just kind of have fun shooting illusory people with an illusory gun, shooting illusory bullets. And that's your intention. It's just kind of like, this is sport. Some people like tennis, and I just like shooting imaginary people with imaginary bullets, with no malevolent intent at all, just kind of placeful and cheerful. Report an error

51:45 I think there would be no negative karma from that. No malevolent intent. Report an error

51:59 Karma is intention, above all. Karma is intention. If the intention is there, even if you don't succeed, if people are building a bomb to blow up a whole bunch of people, and just before they get to set it off, the police come in and take it away, there's karma. They already have karma. And this is true in terms of the Buddhist laws of karma, that is, they're not Buddhist laws, but discovered by the Buddha, but also in the eyes of the law, Australian law, the legal system. Report an error

52:24 If you're caught making a weapon of mass destruction in your garage, And maybe even they see the maps of who your target is. And they catch you before you're able to take it. What's that, maybe five or ten years? Could be, huh? And you say, but I didn't harm anybody. I just was making a bomb and I just didn't harm anybody. And they said, we know. You intended to. And you would have. And you're going to jail for ten years. Report an error

52:48 Or more. I don't know what the exact sentencing is. But yeah, you are culpable. You are going to prison. And he said, I didn't harm anybody. You had the intent and that's all that's needed. So both of them in terms of Legal system and both the same. Please, go ahead. Angela. Report an error

53:11 about non-meditation. Report an error

53:16 idea is to settle into not going near or outer, settle into the stillness, then do nothing, relax into that non-conceptually. Report an error

53:25 then, when I'm doing that, just watching, Report an error

53:32 I be watching and observing? There's a couple of questions in here. Should watching and observing, anything arises, do nothing, don't engage, just sit. In the stillness, watching myself drop off and wake up, and watching myself disallowing and things go translucent and non-cleaned. Report an error

53:54 There's a little bit of analysis over there and a little bit of this here and that arises. You're still doing nothing, nothing, nothing. Sometimes engaging and stopping and then starting again. So it's kind of two questions. One is sometimes I feel like I'm starting to cling on to doing nothing. Clinging to doing nothing. What does that mean? Preferring it? Like the stillness maybe. Actually more clinging to the stillness maybe. Clinging to the stillness. Report an error

54:24 Stillness of your awareness or stillness of the mind or both? Stillness of awareness. Which I think in non-meditation is different to awareness of awareness. It is? Yes. So it feels quite different. The other thing is also, is allowing myself to fully drop off. It's important to not stop myself from dropping off. Is that right? And remaining lucid in everything as the field of phenomena just arises. Report an error

54:53 Is that on track? You Report an error

54:59 can only judge by your words. Judging by your words, not quite, no. It's subtle. It's subtle. The point here is stillness and motion. Always come back to that one. It's a good starting point. And that is... Your awareness is dropping off. Maybe dullness is setting in. But you're not dropping off. If you're dropping off, then you're in motion and you're just getting dull. In which case, you're not practicing. Report an error

55:27 Because there's cognitive fusion with a mental state. Which means you're sucked up in your mind, which means it's ordinary mind falling asleep. Report an error

55:37 And likewise, if thoughts are arising and you have any sense of thinking them, then you activated your mind and you're just thinking thoughts. If at any point you're directing your attention to, like a vector, You're sitting there and then it goes, whoop, and I'm focusing on. You've just set up a subject-object duality. That's not it. Report an error

55:58 You're doing something. You are focusing on that. You've activated your mind again. So this is where this is very subtle. This is why the Dalai Lama says, this can all come from resting in complete inactivity, but it's not easy. Because it sounds on the surface like, what could be easier? Succeeded. Report an error

56:24 But it's not that simple. It's not that simple. And that's why there's, you know, for most people, there's the drum roll of, number one, the four thoughts that turn the mind, to really get all four powerful engines going for liftoff, to escape, you know, for the escape velocity of the gravitational field of your mind. Report an error

56:42 That's what it kind of really is like. Because if you don't have enormous thrust, Then you'll start the practice and then the gravitational field, speaking metaphors, of course, of your mind will suck you right back in again. And your mind will get dull and you'll get dull. And your mind will start thinking and you're thinking. And the mind goes into this and thinks about it and you're doing that and it'll suck you right back in again. So that's why that big emphasis on those four attitude reversals, it's going to take a great aspiration. Report an error

57:13 And a very deep sense of letting go of attachment. To the activities of this life, the mundane, the hedonic and so forth. It'll pull you back. It so easily pulls you back. Or you'll do it for a little while and get a little pooped out and then you go back and then you... Like you got all four inches away and then you go, ooh, gets up, you know, a quarter of a mile. And then, ooh, you know, a one month retreat. Report an error

57:40 And so when they speak of these four as being important, they're talking about so much thrust. I like the metaphor, so I'm just going to stick with it. So much thrust. That you head out beyond the stratosphere. And then you can turn them all off. And you keep going. And you're often heading off into the solar system. Report an error

58:00 Maybe you're heading on beyond the solar system, out into deep space. But that's the kind of thrust you need. And if you don't have it, you'll start doing Vajrayana practice, Dzogchen, Mahamud, or whatever, and your mind. Report an error

58:13 And then often in the service of hedonic pleasure. And so, what is the subtle point here? It is very subtle. Because you're not stopping anything if your analytical mind starts going away and running on some problem. And the memory comes up here, and the mind's getting a bit dull here, and a bit agitated, distracted there. Report an error

58:34 And then there's the sound of birds going by, or some of your very raucous Australian birds. Our California birds are much more polite, I have to tell you. Report an error

58:47 Your birds are very Australian, I think. Very Australian. really, you know, make it. Report an error

58:52 Bunch of rowdies. And so all that stuff comes up. And if your awareness is flickering, if your awareness is flickering, think of a candle flame. If any of that stuff happens, the noise, the thoughts, the dullness, anything, within the five domains of the five senses and the mental domain of all of the stuff that goes on there, if any of those cause your attention, the flame of your awareness to flicker. Report an error

59:20 That's called grasping. So the central theme was rest without distraction. Without being carried away, without grasping. So thoughts are coming up and you're not thinking them. Desires are coming up and you're not attending to the reference of desires. So you're not desiring. And emotions come up, but you're not emoting. You're not attending to the object of emotion and so forth. They're coming up free flow, unimpededly. Report an error

59:45 Just no editing, no censorship, just unimpeded flow. And all your five physical senses, wide open. Sound, visual, tactile, everything, wide open. And in the midst of all of that, open to all, but not open to all like this though, and not like this. Report an error

1:00:08 Not like that. Because as soon as that, you're locked right back into the dualistic grid. So they're arising, you're aware of it, but your awareness is unflickering, unmoving. Aware of, but not vectored at. And not moved by anything. So it's subtle. So some teachers would suggest try this for a very short time. Report an error

1:00:28 Because it sounds... It's deceptively simple. It is simple, but it's not easy. So to be able to do that, I remember Sokni Rinpoche, I was at a conference with him years ago, and he said, okay, he teaches Sokchan a lot, and he says, okay, we're going to have a session now. I'd like you just to rest in the nature of mind. He said, are you ready? So when I snap my fingers first time, we start. And then when I snap the fingers second time, the session's finished. Report an error

1:01:00 Okay, are you ready? Let's start. Report an error

1:01:06 Can you do that again, please? I wasn't quite ready. Maybe it goes on for three seconds, but it's really, really short. And if you can actually get the taste of that, Report an error

1:01:21 that's something. Or one of the most common techniques, this probably will be even less than that. But let's just try it, just for fun here. So just not to completely relax. A little tiny experiment. No big deal. You don't have to change positions. Just totally relax. Everybody change positions. You have to change position to relax, right? I'm warming up to relax at night. Report an error

1:01:47 Just relax. So just relax. Don't make a big deal of it. Stop laughing. Just relax. Report an error

1:01:58 So just set your body, speech and mind at ease. Just totally relax. That's all. Just relax. Report an error

1:02:12 If you cannot laugh and just have the pet come in, suddenly it's like a guillotine coming down in your mind. Want to try it one more time? And don't laugh. People are really... Rascally Australians. Just try to relax because when you're laughing, you're not relaxed. You're getting all giggly. So just relax. Report an error

1:02:36 A Report an error

1:02:56 little respite from mind. It doesn't last too long. But even getting a taste, that was awareness without the mind. So be used that too. Report an error

1:03:17 If your awareness is in motion, that's not Rigpa because Rigpa never moves. It's beyond the very possibility of motion because it's not in time. Report an error

1:03:27 Therefore, it's beyond coming and going. And how do you get there is either have a sudden Like flicking from non-lucid dream to lucid, often that's something, a startle, something that jars you. Or in real life, you've probably heard the story, because I've told them many times, is who was it? It was Tilopa, Tilopa and Naropa, Tilopa and Naropa, Naropa the great Pandit who taught Marpa and so forth. Report an error

1:03:55 And his teacher, I think it was Tilopa during the Marpa, I'm pretty sure. And, or maybe it was... I think it was, I think it was Tilopa to Naropa, pretty sure, yeah. And so here's Naropa, great scholar, one of the greatest of his time, of one of the great monastic universities, tremendously erudite, but he's still caught up in his mind, in the intellect, in his mind. Report an error

1:04:16 And then he recognizes, you know, I'm a great scholar of Buddhism, but I really have not tapped into, I've not tasted, I've not explored, ascertained, Rigpa. So he seeks out Tilopa, who looks like he's just kind of like a common traits person. But in fact, he's a profoundly realized Mahamudra master. And then Tilopa recognizes, well, this is a great scholar, but I think I can actually tame him, I can bring him there. Report an error

1:04:41 And so he trains him, he trains him, he gives him some pretty arduous tasks. But the story goes that finally when Naropa's ready, when Tilopa sees that Naropa, his student, is now, he's just about there. He's kind of like, okay, just about on the brink, you can get it. Then Tilopa takes off his sandal. Report an error

1:05:02 Wax him in the face. Smacks him in the face with a sandal. And then that was it. That was, instead of peh, it was... And that shattered his mind. And he cut through his mind and he realized Rikpa. So sometimes it's very abrupt like that. Like a smack with a sandal. Well, I have two... I was just about to say, I have two nice Birkenstocks. So if you get smacked with a Birkenstock, you're not getting hit with a very good sandal. But probably not, because I'm afraid of lawsuits. Report an error

1:05:37 So the guru and the disciple both have to be ready for that one. It has to be wielded with great care and to the right person at the right time. But sometimes it's not like that. But it comes in different ways. Sometimes it's just seeing the sunrise. Sometimes it's a sample. Sometimes it's just resting, resting in awareness. And then it slowly dawns. Report an error

1:05:56 And sometimes it's something abrupt. You Report an error

1:06:03 have a question on the iPad. Oh, over there. So high tech. Report an error

1:06:17 I've heard about these. Report an error

1:06:22 It's like a little computer, isn't it? This is cool. Report an error

1:06:35 So the homework you've given, this one, the first one. Oh, you have multiple questions. Report an error

1:06:42 So the homework you've given that I've been doing, I saw a bright luminous dot. I've had this experience many times before falling asleep. Previously when it occurred, the luminous dot expands and then I see people I don't know. Just living their life, last night I saw the luminous dot. Do you have any idea what I'm experiencing? Any idea of what I'm experiencing would be? Report an error

1:07:01 I do. It's a luminous dot. Report an error

1:07:18 It's a luminous thought. There's no sarcasm here at all. There really is. Absolutely zero. There's nothing. It's just you described exactly what happened and that's exactly what happened. And it's quite sufficient. It's bright. Yep. Luminous. So you've done a marvelous job. But I have nothing to add because you said it exactly as it was. Report an error

1:07:41 So for me to read deep meaning into this, like this would actually be a visitation of Amitabha or something like that. I can't do that. But it's perfectly fine. I would take it at face value. Seriously. I take it at face value and simply be present with it and see how it unfolds. That's actually much more interesting than my giving some esoteric interpretation. Report an error

1:08:00 Then question two. I have enrolled in an online course, Intro to Dzogchen. I have watched all the videos and also reading book. I feel that the crossroads of my practice, my heart is drawn to Dzogchen practice. I'll be taking the Bodhisattva vow and Bodhgaya. Report an error

1:08:22 feel that taking tantric initiatives would not be wise until I have successfully achieved samādhi. Also, I feel that I wish to head down the path of Dzogchen rather than the Gelugpa path. My motivation is of great compassion, and I do feel my intuition that this can be achieved in this life. This Report an error

1:08:41 is a subtle issue. And that is, on the one hand, there's clearly lamrim. There are stages of the path. There's just no question about it. You know, there are. And that in terms of the gradual sequence like relaxation, stability, vividness, there's a real sequence and it's a very meaningful one. So we go to the lamrim and there's developing pronunciation, there's developing the great compassion, Mahakurna, the bodhicitta and then we turn to the shamatha, ideally achieve it. Report an error

1:09:10 On that basis we turn to Vipassanā. Achieve it, gain profound realization of emptiness. And at that point you can do various, you have a lot of options. And one would be to set out on the path of Vajrayana, receive Vajrayana empowerment like Vajrayogini, Yamantaka and so forth. That's an absolutely authentic path. Alternatively, when you get to that point, you may then turn to Dzogchen. Report an error

1:09:36 And there are Dzogchen empowerments that can be received, a number of very fine Lamas who can have them. And so you may receive Dzogchen empowerment and then set out right there, Samadha Vipassanā, already some authentic experience, then go right into Dzogchen and be introduced to the view, the meditation way of life. Report an error

1:09:54 Or you can do both. Because when we look at the great Dzogchen masters of the past, virtually all of them, they were doing some Siddha generation, some Vajrayana practice, and they were doing Dzogchen. Jujung Lingba himself commented at the beginning of his This monumental tweet is his great masterpiece, the Vatra Essence. He says right there, he says it of his own experience, that I'd done some stage of generation practice. Report an error

1:10:19 He's very modest there, but he said I'd done some. And with that basis then I ascertained Rigpa. I ascertained Rigpa. And then out of that ascertainment of Rigpa occurred this pure vision where he witnessed Padmasambhava giving teachings. And then he was able to listen to all those teachings, he wrote them down. Report an error

1:10:43 And they're incredibly profound, authentic Dzogchen teachings. And it's not just my saying so, but then people put them into practice. This is where the rubber hits the road. And that is, people put those teachings into practice. His disciples, he taught them. The teachings that he'd received in this pure vision, he taught them. Report an error

1:11:01 And 13 of them achieved rainbow body. Then you say, well, then they had to be authentic. It's like medicine. It healed 13 people completely. Then it has to be good medicine. And whether you believe in pure visions or not, it worked. So you may as well just say, it is what he said. And so the point there being that, there is that sequence on the one hand. Report an error

1:11:22 On the other hand, when I was receiving the Dzogchen teachings very intensively for seven years from Gyatron Rinpoche and translating for him, and translated five books during that time, he made a very strong point. He was teaching a text called Natural Liberation. Padmasambhava, his commentary, it's a beautiful book. I simply translated it. Report an error

1:11:42 And there he's laying out the whole path. Extensive teachings on the preliminary practices, beautiful teachings of Samatha, and then Vipassanā, and Dream Yoga, and Texture, and Poha, and all the way to Thutgyal, the highest stage of meditation in Dzogchen, the direct crossing over. The whole path is there, there in one book. And then I asked Gautrin Rinpoche, this is more than 20 years ago, I asked him how strict, I won't say rigid, How strict should one be in terms of the sequence? And that is, should one not move on to the next stage until you've finished the earlier stage? Report an error

1:12:19 Like, you don't go to second grade until you finish first grade. It's kind of like that. And he gave me an unequivocal answer, and it's the answer I received in different contexts from my other teachers. And that is, don't be too strict. And that is, don't set yourself to the bar. I won't receive any empowerment until I've achieved such and such via samādhi. Because if you have an authentic Lama, In whom we have very deep trust. And it's an empowerment for some manifestation of the Buddha. In whom we really have faith and devotion. Report an error

1:12:50 Really heart connection. And they're all there. And if there's a commitment, it's not one that you don't want to take on. Maybe it's quite concise, it's fairly brief, to the point and really meaningful. If those are all there, that this is the path you want to follow. The guru is there. The empowerment is there. And you do have faith and a real connection. Report an error

1:13:11 Then don't wait. Don't wait. Don't wait. Because you feel, I've not achieved sufficient samādhi. Don't wait. That is, there is a sequence that's true, but the higher can bless the lower. Just like if your mind is very calm and stable, that will make you more relaxed. So it goes down, downward flow, right? And if the mind is very, very clear, then it can make everything so interesting that you want to stay focused, and that can enhance stability. Report an error

1:13:41 So I had this first impressed upon me when I was about 23, still almost wearing diapers when it comes to Dharma, really young. And one of my principal teachers told me, and two other of my Dharma friends, about the same age, he said, OK, now you should go to His Holiness and ask for tantric empowerment. Report an error

1:14:03 And we knew, we were really young in the Dharma, really just beginners. And he said, go to His Holiness. Time to receive tantric empowerment. And he knew better than anybody, I think, where we were, that we're not bodhisattvas, we're not achieve shamatha, not realize emptiness. And nevertheless, he said, no, it's His Holiness and this empowerment, I think, would be really helpful. And so he said, go. And you go for the blessing. Report an error

1:14:33 You go for the blessing. But those elements have to be there. If you don't have this real deep trust and devotion to the Lama, then don't go. Report an error

1:14:45 And if it's a particular yidam, or manifestation of the Buddha, in which you don't feel any real strong connection, even if it's very rare, I would say, don't go. Report an error

1:14:56 But if those are there, the nature of empowerment itself, and then you might want to check out the commitment. Is the commitment something you're happy to take on? Back in the old days, the commitments could be quite awesome. Like, this will take you one hour a day for the rest of your life. And you do it every single day. I never took on that one. But there are some like that. And I never did that, because I never wanted the commitments to be a burden. Report an error

1:15:17 I never wanted the commitments to be a burden. I don't want harmony to be a burden. And so I've taken on commitments. But I'm happy with the ones I've taken on. It's not a lot of time. Because I specifically avoided taking on a lot of commitments. So I wouldn't feel them as a burden. But that's the words of my precious teachers. Report an error

1:15:39 Is that yes, there's a sequence. But does this mean you shouldn't practice vipassanā until you've achieved shamatha? No, start vipassanā and that will help. And does this mean you shouldn't go into Vajrayana until you have perfect bodhicitta? No, that can actually help you develop bodhicitta. Does it mean you shouldn't go to Dzogchen until you've had really deep realization, you know, of lower levels? Report an error

1:16:00 If you have faith, you have the teacher, the transmission. Padmasambhava himself says, I found it really moving, and it comes up in my book, Still in the Mind, but it's citing Padmasambhava by way of Dujjum Lingma. Report an error

1:16:16 When it comes to Dzogchen, we hear so often, this is the pinnacle, this is... The highest there is. So it's very easy to feel daunted. You say, but I'm not ready for that. I should be working down here. Report an error

1:16:30 And then Padmasambhava himself addresses that with respect to Dzogchen. And he said, here are the Dzogchen teachings. I'm about to reveal them here. And he said, if you have the faith that you'd really like to receive the teachings, put them in practice, you have the faith, the appreciation, the reverence, the wish to put them into practice, Report an error

1:16:53 don't Don't second-guess yourself. Don't turn around and say, you're probably not ready. But that indicates you're ready. If the faith is there, the aspiration, the wish to put them into practice, then he said, let's go for it. Report an error

1:17:08 He said, very gentle. Very gentle. It's not denying there's a sequence. It's just saying, don't make that too rigid. And when it comes to natural liberation, what lays out the whole path, Gautam Rinpoche said, taste all of the levels. Taste all of the levels. You know, right to dream yoga and bhoa and so forth. Report an error

1:17:25 Taste all of them and review them and taste again. But while you're tasting, when you're taking in the big picture in all the stages, and he taught us Thut Gel on a number of occasions, Thut Gel, direct crossing over the highest stage of Dzogchen and meditation. He taught us this 20 years ago. So you do that a little bit, you get a taste. But in the meantime, if you're really fully devoted to Dharma, then you build your foundation. Report an error

1:17:50 And so you're flavoring it, you're enhancing it, blessing it. With the higher practices. But then you're building, building, building. If all you do is kind of a smattering of all of them, then you just wind up a beginner indefinitely. Because you're not really laying the foundation. You're not really laying the foundation. So to my mind, I think it's a massive oversight that shamatha is so widely neglected, marginalized or misunderstood. Report an error

1:18:20 And it's really, really common. And so then people do all the other practices. Vipassanā, Mahamudra, Dzogchen, Vajrayana and so forth and so on. They get all the empowerment, they get transmissions, they get it from this Lama and then another empowerment from this Lama and this one and this one. And then they're doing all these practices of the most esoteric advanced level. They're doing it with a dirty bowl and dirty cutlery because the mind they're bringing to it was never purified or refined or balanced with shamatha. Report an error

1:18:48 And so I just can't help but feel this is a massive oversight. And over the last five to ten years, His Holiness now, Holiness the Dalai Lama, has been traveling all over the world, saying, we've been overlooking something. We've been overlooking something. He did so at Chenrezig, he did it in Estonia, he did it in Washington, D.C., he did it at Depung, I don't know how many other places. To lay people, to Westerners, to Tibetan monastics, all over the place. Report an error

1:19:15 He's saying, we've been overlooking something, we've been overlooking something. Practice shamatha, achieve shamatha. Do everything else, too. But we have not been giving enough attention to this. And so, he's my guru. So I think we have been. But then, again, I'm about to wrap up. It's very late now. But unlike many other practices, like Lojong, you don't need a special environment. You want that cultivated bodhicitta, you don't need special. Report an error

1:19:40 Four immeasurables, don't need special. To practice four applications of mindfulness, you don't really need a special environment. And so on. There's a lot of them. When it comes to, and if you just simply want to practice on that a bit, Do it in your meditation room. No big deal. And do it anywhere you can. But if you want to achieve shamatha, you need a special environment for that. Report an error

1:20:03 Just like an astronomer needs an observatory and a neuroscientist needs a laboratory. If you actually want to achieve shamatha, you need a conducive environment. And they don't grow on trees. You'll probably have to make it. You'll probably have to create it. You probably won't be able to find it. So you have to create it. That's going to take some effort. Report an error

1:20:22 And then it would be optimal to have some fellow travelers. You do it entirely on your own, that's fine if you're really an experienced meditator. But if you're not, having some other fellow travelers there, same vision, good ethics, strong motivation and so forth, that's going to help a lot. Having a teacher in person there, available, offering guidance, counseling, receiving blessing, that can help a lot, really speed things up a lot. Report an error

1:20:46 We've seen this, we've seen this. So if you have a conducive environment, you have fellow travelers, you have a qualified teacher there, With pure motivation, really simply helping everybody do as well as they can, then you can make really quite a lot of progress in a short time. But take out any one of those three, it could be much longer. Report an error

1:21:07 So that's why I'm in the mandala that I am, why I'm placing a big priority on this. Because many Lamas, Eastern and Western, are doing so many good things in so many different ways that it's covered. It's covered three retreats, getting a geshe, geshe mas, women who are becoming geshes and so forth, people coming kempos and so forth. Report an error

1:21:30 I mean, a lot of things are being done so well. And then there's this one thing that I think is almost not being done at all, and that's creating the environment, the circumstances for people to actually achieve shamatha and then have their practice go up three million times. I don't see many people doing that. So that's... Report an error

1:21:49 That's kind of fundamentally why I'm still active, and not just filling my own little meditation hut 24 hours a day. Because I feel maybe I can do something helpful. We'll see. So it's a bit late now, but why don't we just round off. Dedicate merit. Dedicate merit. Let's do that. Report an error

· · ·

1:23:18 So there's another possibility. There are in fact many, but here's just one, again, more and more possibility. When the day's over, you've slipped into bed, you're in the Shavasana. So you know about mindfulness of breathing, you know about attending to the mind if you're a very easy sleeper. But another possibility that's not quite as relaxing as mindfulness of breathing and not so arousing as attending to all the novel things arising in the mind from moment to moment, something in between, is there lying in the supine position and then just resting your awareness. Report an error

1:23:52 So shamatha without a sign, just resting. And not attending to anything. You're not attending to anything that's going to rouse you and keep you awake. But you're not having this kind of almost soporific, oh, and then fading out. There's nothing wrong with that. It gets you a good night's sleep. But it's something in between of just resting in the stillness and not deliberately attending to any object of the mind, not deliberately attending to the breath, just resting in stillness, that unflavorable candle flame, resting there. Report an error

1:24:24 And see how long that clarity of awareness. That simple presence can remain clear. And when it does clearly get veiled, obscured and feeling drowsy, then you get a good night's sleep. Report an error

1:24:37 But you can see how far you can keep the light on as you're falling asleep. And one of these days, sooner or later, you might find that your light is still on and your body is asleep and you may hear yourself snoring. Report an error

1:24:52 And you'll know that your mind has fallen asleep too. And the only thing that hasn't fallen asleep is your awareness. That can be interesting. Report an error

1:25:01 Have a good night. Sweet dreams. Report an error

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Talk by B. Alan Wallace. Original at Vajrayana Institute via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/retreatmindtraining. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.

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