MEDITATION INSTRUCTIONS (1979)
KYABJE DUDJOM RINPOCHE
PART ONE
INSTRUCTIONS ON SHAMATHA
On the one hand, what we call dharma is very difficult. On the other hand, it’s very easy
- because it really just depends on our own minds. So you should search for your mind
and look after it. Don’t let your mind get carried along by rising thoughts. Cut the
elaborations and conceptualizations of mind and allow your mind to relax into its natural
state. Let your mind simply be in your body and allow relaxation to enter into your mind.
What does the state of relaxation feel like? It's like the state of someone who has just
finished some exhausting work. After laboring long and hard to accomplish their task,
once it is finally over, they experience a blissful satisfaction and are content simply to
rest. Quite naturally, their mind will arrive at a state of calm and they will remain relaxed
for a while without being caught up in their usual pattern of wild and unimaginable
thoughts.
So, following this example, you should try to guard and protect your mind, even in the
midst of all kinds of turbulent thoughts. Leave your mind in its own natural state and
relax. Keep your body still, and your speech silent. Don’t think about whether or not you
should do this or that. Just settle your mind into a state of relaxation and calm in which
there is no chasing after objects and no wild and crazy thoughts. Instead you should
find yourself in a state that is vividly open and empty, brilliantly clear, and deeply
relaxed. This state of ease is an indication that the mind has arrived at its inherent
clarity - and it will simply settle itself in that clarity.
But it won’t remain like that for long. Something happens - a thought arises. When that
arising takes place, let your awareness recognize it just as it occurs. Don’t think
“somethings gone wrong”, but recognize the arising as soon as it arises. And just leave
it at that - with the recognition. If the mind is just left in its own natural state, it becomes
pacified and all of the rising thoughts naturally subside. As you leave them, they liberate
themselves.
It’s like waves in the ocean - they’re left to dissolve back into the ocean. And, that’s
really the only place for them to go. It’s the same with our minds. When from out of a
state of stillness, a movement occurs, by simply leaving it to follow its own natural
course, it will be liberated by itself. It will be naturally pacified and become clear, by
itself.
That's how you should practice this. But if instead you think “Oh! Now this thought has
arisen. That can’t be right…” And you try to stop the thought, then that, itself, is just
more thinking. Practicing like that, you only risk furthering your own confusion as the
mind follows after objects - so don’t practice in that way!
Resting in the recognition, without following after thoughts, is known as “peacefully
remaining” because it defuses or pacifies the power of thoughts and enables you to
remain in the blissful nature of your own mind. This is what we call the practice of
“shamatha” (in Sanskrit) or “zhine” (in Tibetan).
When you become somewhat familiar with this practice, you may experience a state of
physical and mental bliss or ecstasy. Or, if you’re meditating at night, you might
experience a state of clarity, as if daylight had dawned. Different experiences such as
these can occur and they are signs that you are cultivating the peace and calm of
shamatha.
There’s no fault in seeing theses as positive, but it would be a mistake to become
attached to them. If you just allow them to occur without feeling any attachment towards
them they can only assist you in your practice and no harm will come of them. so
whatever experiences of bliss or clarity occur there’s no need to grasp at them with
attachment and no need to suppress them either. simply allow them to dissolve
naturally.
You could also have what is known as an experience of absence of thought. This is a
dark, dull, and drowsy state in which there is no awareness whatsoever! You’re not quite
asleep, but you’re in a blank dullness. This experience of absence of thought does
involve some calm abiding but there are no rising thoughts and none of the mind's
inherent clarity! This is because you have drifted into the alaya, the “all-ground”, and
you will need to alert yourself and awaken from it. In order to clear it away, straighten
your body, exhale the foul air, and focus your awareness in the space in front of you.
Otherwise, if you remain in such dullness, your meditation will be ineffective and will
never evolve at all. This experience of absence of thought is a fault in meditation and
must be cleared away whenever it occurs. Then, it is also very important to sharpen
your awareness.
Practicing like this is the way to develop calm abiding.
STILLNESS, MOVEMENT, AND AWARENESS
When the mind is resting naturally and at ease in its own unaltered state, that is referred
to as the stillness of meditation.
If a thought arises out of this state of stillness, that is called movement.
And that which knows when the mind is in a state of stillness and recognizes any
movement is your awareness or rigpa.
These are known as nye ju rig sum, the three states of stillness, movement, and
awareness.
As a beginner, unless you do this practice formally (in proper meditation sessions), you
won’t be able to remain at peace. But, once you become more familiar with it, you’ll be
able to remain undistracted even while you are walking about! And when you are sitting,
you will sit without being distracted from awareness. You should apply the practice to
whatever you do, and then it will develop and improve.
Was that okay?
(practice)
THE TWO TYPES OF SESSIONS
When we rest for a while in the natural state like this, it’s called meditative equipoise.
This is what we refer to as a “formal session” of meditation. Then, when we rise from
that state and we resume all our normal everyday activities such as walking about,
sitting, reciting prayers or mantras, and so on, all activities such as these fall into the
period of “post meditation”. So, post meditation refers to the period after you have
arisen from a state of formal meditative equipoise. If you're able to maintain an
awareness of the present moment without losing it throughout the post meditation
period, you will quickly gain stability in your formal meditation - so you should try to
guard this awareness, and never lose it.
PART TWO
In meditative equipoise, we allow the mind to settle calmly into its own nature - like the
ocean unruffled by the wind. Then, when a thought arises (as an expression of the
mind's energy), and a change occurs, that rising takes place upon the mind itself.
Mental distraction is only a movement or “change” that takes place within the mind.
Whatever turbulent thoughts arise, if you allow the mind to settle into its own nature,
they will pacify themselves just like waves in the ocean dissolving back into the ocean.
That is how to practice formal meditation.
HOW TO CONDUCT ONESELF IN POST MEDITATION
In post meditation, which includes the activities of eating, sleeping, moving around and
so on, you shouldn’t just jump up like a startled rabbit the moment you finish your formal
meditation. Get up slowly, and then, if you need to leave your home and go outside,
walk with your body relaxed and your mind at ease. Focus your gaze lightly on the
ground, a few feet in front of you, at about a “plow’s length” (as it’s said in the
teachings), and walk calmly so your mind is not disturbed.
If, on the other hand, you just wander around aimlessly, turning your head from side to
side as you go, you will become agitated. So, when you walk, you should move slowly
and steadily: taking slow steps and looking at the ground a few feet in front of you. That
is how to walk about.
When you sit down, don’t fall to the ground like a sack of earth or heavy stone. If a
stone is suspended above the ground and the rope that holds it in place is cut, it
crashes to the earth with a “THUD!” Rather than sitting down like that, ourselves, we
should sit slowly and calmly.
As for how you should act when encountering other people, it’s said “when I look upon
another being, may my gaze be honest and filled with love.” So, when you encounter
someone, gaze at them straightforwardly and honestly from a state of natural calm.
Look at them with a sincere and loving gaze. If your mind is loving, and you have
bodhichitta, then that will lend a particular expression to your gaze and convey an
atmosphere of peace and calm. So, when you look at other beings, look at them
honestly and with love.
When you talk, don’t just chatter away meaninglessly about whatever comes to your
mind. Speak truthfully and gently, in a way that suits your listeners and is agreeable to
them. When you eat, don’t make all kinds of noises like a cow chewing the cud or a dog
gobbling up its dinner. Eat and drink calmly and mindfully, in a state of natural
relaxation.
And when you go to the toilet, find a suitable location to do it in. One that’s hidden from
other people and away from popular gatherings and sacred sites such as temples.
When you go to sleep, lie down gently and in a relaxed way. Then pray to the Master
and the Three Jewels: the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. That is how to go to sleep,
with your mind at ease and in a state of prayer.
And then, when you wake up, bring the Three Jewels and your Master clearly to mind
and get up in that state of devotion. In this way, it is said, “devotion should rise in your
mind just as you, yourself are rising.”
Then, throughout all of your daily activities: walking, resting, eating, or sleeping, your
body should be relaxed. you should move calmly and slowly. your speech, too, should
be calm, with as few words as possible, and yet disciplined, pleasant to the ear, and
agreeable to the mind.
THE MEANING OF DHARMA
If you act like this, then all of your daily activities will accord with the teachings and,
most important of all, your mind will be in harmony with the Dharma. Here, in this
context, Dharma means taming our minds and pacifying all our disturbing emotions.
DEDICATION OF MERIT
By this merit, may all obtain omniscience
May it defeat the enemy, wrongdoing
From the stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death
From the ocean of samsara
May I free all beings
Transcribed and compiled by Isaac Wostrel-Rubin for Do Ngak Dzong at the request of
Ngakchang Karma Yeshe Namgyal Dorje Rinpoche.
