lzr kye-rim

7/31/2019 LZR Kye-rim

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Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche

Kopan Monastery, 1984

Generation Stage of Tantra

(unauthorised editing by Gerald Blomeyer)

I am going talk about how to start skyed rim, the deep, one-pointed concentration,together with the fundamental meditation for the self-generation as a deity.

There are two kinds of one-pointed concentration for the self-generation as a deity:One is on the appearance, the other on the divine pride. You start by doing

analytical meditation on the details, one by one, from the head down to the feet.Then generate yourself as a deity, as it is written in the sadhana of either Tara,Yamantaka, Heruka or whichever sadhana you have chosen. Next you invoke thetranscendental wisdom, and the empowering deities initiate you. Finally the residualwater transforms into a Dhyani Buddha on the crown.

After that come two points: Firstly the one-pointed meditation on the self-generation deity, and secondly, at the same time as the deity appears, having thedefinite understanding that it is empty of existing from its own side.

We then meditate one-pointedly on the self-generated deity, which unifiesemptiness and appearance. After this we start the analytical meditation on the deityand run through the details.

You may not have fully understood what the lama taught, and the deity may bedifficult to visualise when you concentrate on it one-pointedly. Your mind mayneither comprehend or vividly see every single detail nor everything together.However, by concentrating one-pointedly on the general aspect of the deity, you canunderstand something of what the lama explained. After going through all the detailsof the deity, e.g. Yamantaka, Heruka and other deities that have many arms andmany other elements, you should start skyed rim, the one-pointed concentration,

and not think of anything else. This trains the mind to differentiate between thegross and subtle categories. Don't try to focus on the whole deity, when you aretraining the mind in skyed rim.

Normally, when you do a sadhana, you concentrate on the whole deity. But when youare trying to accomplish the categories ofskyed rim realisations you do it in parts.Firstly you visualise the root deity with one face and two arms, just that, without thewisdom mother, even if it has one, such as the 13 deities Yamantaka or Heruka. WithVajrayogini or Tara this is simple, as there is no elaborate visualisation to expandafterwards. Then start from the head, the upper part and the lower part andvisualise whatever comes to mind. Even if the whole general appearance is notclear, you should be satisfied, and concentrate on that one-pointedly.

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Kopan Monastery, 1984In the beginning trying visualise the object of concentration really clearly doesn't

work. In fact if you add more details, the more obscure it becomes, even if one istrying to get everything clear. This leads to a stream of thoughts like Oh, I ammissing the lotus or this part is not clear. So at the beginning a strong wish tomake things clear, can be more of an obstacle than a benefit.

The mind gets more and more relaxed as you continue. Of course this also dependson your meditation skills, and the way you practice remembrance and awareness asthey are explained in shamatha or the commentaries of tantra. By knowing thetechniques, the way to meditate becomes clearer. After some time, it becomes sounbelievably clear to your mind that you can even physically see, and maybe eventouch it. Lamas talking from experience say that this is how concentration is

developed. Then you expand the clear visualisation to include the rest of the limbsand the hands, ornaments, the wisdom mother, the mandala and finally the otherdeities, if there are any. Only after you are the deity clearly do the rest of othermandala deities become clear.

In the beginning you have to be satisfied with the general appearance of thevisualisation or whatever comes after you have gone through the details. Acceptwhatever you could see or think. It could be that only half of what is described in thetext and another part is dark or lost. It is all right if only half appears of the fourarms and legs, or even less. You have to understand that, the main aim of what we

are trying to do, is to make our concentration last longer. This is the most importantthing. This is the same in samatha meditation. If the mind gets distracted bysomething else, bring it back and focus it on the original object, 'byor sgom, again.

At the beginning, meditate on the general aspect of the deity skilfully and not tootightly. If you try to make it clear forcefully and concentrate tightly, then that cancause you to become quickly distracted. However, if on the other hand yourconcentration is too loose and you are too relaxed, then sinking thoughts can arise.So if it is too tight, attachment and scattering thoughts, rgod pa, can arise. If yourconcentration or the energy of holding the object of concentration, the self-generation deity, is too loose, then there is too little energy to hold the mind on the

object of concentration, and sinking thoughts can arise, which can develop into afoggy mind, rmug-pa, which can be followed by a very comfortable sleep. HisHoliness Zong Rinpoche said: Sleeping like this is much better, and more pleasantthan if it is done in actual time.

The best way to meditate is to place the mind on the object of concentration one-pointedly, and to hold it there neither too tightly, nor too loosely, but in a mediumway. If the image of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha or any other deity arises while you aretry to generate the realisation of the different levels ofskyed rim, generation stageof Tara, it gets very crowded. Even if that object is virtuous, stop and try toactualise the realisation of Tara. All other objects that appear, whether they arevirtuous or not, become obstacles. When concentrating one-pointedly on GuruShakyamuni Buddha and an image of Tara comes to mind, she becomes an obstacle.

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If the concentration becomes unclear while visualising the holy body of the deity, itis best to start the analytical meditation from the head down to the feet again. Justconcentrate on the general aspect, whatever comes to mind. If you continue likethis, the visualisation of the deity will become clear. Whatever details you meditateon analytically will appear. Visualise only the one faced, two armed deity that youhave gone through and don't try to visualise things that you have not meditated onsuch as the other limbs, arms or the mandala. Only the one that you clarifiedyourself with in the holy body of the deity will appear. So visualise it extremelyclearly, so that you can experience the holy body; this is more than what youphysically see. Focus on the clarity and try to stabilise your concentration withoutletting the two obstacles, the sinking thought and the scattering thought of

attachment, arise.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that 24 hours can be divided into 6 sessions of each4 hours of one-pointed concentration. In the 4 hour session concentrate as much aspossible until the holy body of the deity, that you have visualised, becomes clearwith the one face, two arms. Then try to stabilise your concentration on the clarityfor 4 hours, and try to complete the session without the obstacles of the sinking orscattering thought arising.

Once the mind is well-trained in the gross part of the holy body, you can expand your

concentration and include the other faces, arms and ornaments. Practise visualisingthe complete deity, seeing even the small parts and all the details. After that youcan visualise the wisdom mother, if the deity that you are trying to actualise, hasone. For the realisation of the generation stage the embrace of the wisdom mother isvisualised. After that come the other surrounding deities, the whole mandala, thegross parts, the general and also the subtle aspects. Then you have realised yourselfas a deity completely with all the gross and subtle parts including the mandala beingvividly clear.

Kachen Panchen Yeshe Gyaltsen not only wrote many collections on lam-rim but alsothe greatest thought training text, advising how to meditate on shamatha.

Concentrating one-pointedly on the whole mandala is similar to doing one-pointedshamatha meditation on the deity or concentrating one-pointedly on the nature ofemptiness, the mind, the conventional and the all-obscuring truth. Due to theirdifferent presentations, other sects regard this type of one-pointed meditation asmeditating on shunyata.

Kachen Panchen Lama founded Samdeling monastery for Gelugpa monks inBoudanath, and the Kyirong monastery in Tibet near Nepal. In his monasteries, themonks strictly follow the Vinaya teachings on all levels from the way a house is builtdown to the exact way of leading their lives. He laid it out so neatly, that eventoday, so many years later, the old monks, who did not study much, have a goodunderstanding of the Vinaya practices. They have preserved a lineage by having seenthe traditional practice of the Vinaya with their own eyes.

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Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen said: It is a great mistake if you wish to see the object ofconcentration extremely clearly at the beginning but neither put effort into thevisualisation nor know how to concentrate one-pointedly. Concentrating on thenature of the mind during that time does not help. In fact it causes distraction,which is a great obstacle when trying to concentrate one-pointedly. Little claritycomes when you meditate on the nature of mind, or deity with a lot of pressure oreffort. It might seem beneficial but actually it does not help because it does not last.Even if clarity comes for two or three seconds (snaps fingers), it then becomes acause of being distracted.

If the deity becomes clear while you are visualizing it, and you hold it very

intensively, then, all of a sudden, it can disappear. After some time you'll discoverthat you have been thinking of something else. Using force to see the deity clearlyhas no lasting effect but instead distracts you, so too much effort becomes a greatobstacle for the development of one-pointed concentration. Furthermore there is adanger that by meditating in this way, the person will sooner or later lose interestand become bored with concentrating. When he sees his meditation bed, he'll feelaversion, and like vomiting. Panchen Yeshe Gyaltsen says, It is like seeing Kopanfood on the table, you react similarly to the meditation cushion: when you see it,you do not want to meditate. So, even when you meditate one-pointedly on thenature of the mind, that is not the way to meditate. The only way is to neither hold

it unconsciously, nor sleeping. Stop thinking of anything, which means, stop yourthoughts completely. When others explain meditating on the nature of the mind, dothey say that there is no thought at all? Do you remember?

Piere: Yes, they sayRinpoche: There is no thought at all, or there is the thought of virtue mind.Piere: No, no, no. That Rinpoche: No, no, no, no. And you?Piere: The nature of the mind is there naturally. You just have it. It is not somethingthat you have to identify with, or something that you have to make up.Rinpoche: Hm, hm. Right.

Piere: You should not try to make it clear.Rinpoche: It is clear, yes.Piere:gsal ba ma dag pa stong pa.Rinpche: Yes, right. So, but what,gsal ba, by what?Piere: Gsal ba. No, they would say also by mind, they say it is no form.Rinpoche: In the Jewel Ornament they say it has no form.Piere: No form, no shape, no colour.Rinpoche: Stong pa means no form then?Piere: No obstruction.Rinpoche: No form.Piere: No form, no obstruction. It is just in the nature of clarity.Rinpoche: Clarity by what? Clarity of what?Piere: Its nature is clarity.

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Kopan Monastery, 1984Pemo: Means what?

Rinpoche: Of what?Piere: Clarity of what?Rinpoche: Water?Piere: Clarity of what?Pemo: Of what?Rinpoche laughs.Piere: What does it mean clarity of what?Rinpoche: It says clarity of something. It is clear of something. It is clear.Piere: It is void of something but not clear.Rinpoche: (laughs) Clear, because it is not stained by anything.Piere: Oh yes, it is pure.

Rinpoche: Pure, not stained by the two obscurations. However, I think it is veryinteresting: The other sects describe the preliminaries to realise the emptiness ofmind. In Sakyapa, the view is calledgsal stong 'dzin med, stong pa is form, formless,empty of form. Gsal gsal, the nature of mind is completely clear. I think there is adefinition neither obscured by sinking nor scattering thought. It is clear because itis not obscured by them. So the emptiness of form and clarity are not separate butare unified.gsal stong 'dzin med, there is nothing to hold, nothing to separate them,just clarity and emptiness: that is shunyata. His Holiness explains it like that. So, theessential way of accomplishing one-pointed concentration is to visualise the objectof concentration, and then think, that the object of concentration is oneself clarified

as a deity. Do not forget the object of concentration and to check whether the mindgets distracted or not. With these two, awareness and remembrance, one canaccomplish one-pointed concentration on the object.

The most important thing, the very root, is to focus one-pointedly on the object ofconcentration, and at the same time to have a strong memory of the deity that oneis concentrating on. Without remembering that I am concentrating on the deitycontinually, even if you start to focus your mind on the object, your mind getsdistracted without being aware of it. Then, after one hour, you realise what have Ibeen doing? You dont notice, when your mind gets distracted. When you startmeditating on a deity, the main mistake is to not remember constantly I am

meditating on the deity. While the mind is focused on the deity, we shouldremember clearly that I am meditating on the deity. Remembering thiscontinually helps to keep the awareness.

If you strongly remember, I am meditating on the deity, then, when the mindstarts getting distracted, there is an awareness (claps) that it is about to bedistracted. Something comes into your mind, such as a beautiful cake or friend.Focus on that completely. If it is about to come, or it is already there, you are ableto realise this immediately. As a result, you become aware, and recognise that themind has been distracted from the meditation object. Then you bring it back to it,and you are able to stop the scattering thought.

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Kopan Monastery, 1984Lecture 2, 18.06.84

Yesterday I mentioned, Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsens advice on training the mind in one-pointed concentration, meditating on shamatha, or tranquil abiding. Remembranceand awareness, those two are the very root of one-pointed concentration.

To accomplish one-pointed concentration, you should focus the mind on the objectof concentration and have an alert remembrance, which means being aware that Iam meditating on this object. That is either on the nature of mind or the self-generation deity. So whenever your mind is about to be distracted, you are able torecognise that another object is about to appear. In the place of the meditationdeity you see a pizza or something else.Pemo: Pizza?

Rinpoche: Yes, pizza. This way you immediately know that is not what you aresupposed to be meditating on. Even though the mind is completely distracted, andthe object of the concentration is something different, you are able to recognisethat the mind is distracted. So you can once again focus you mind, without thedanger of spending several hours of thinking about something else. By thinking I ammeditating you alert the remembrance that I am meditating on this objectwithout any delay. This way you dont waste your time, and you get that done thatyou wanted to in that session. You are able to place the mind on the meditationobject more and longer. Automatically awareness comes as a result of rememberingthat I am meditating on this object. Without that, without the root, the alert

remembrance, it is difficult to notice, whether the mind is in danger of beingdistracted or not.

Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen says, Without knowing the importance of how to keep thememory on the object of meditation, there is no method at all to raise awareness.To develop pure one-pointed concentration you need to develop the memory, andthe practice of keeping the mind on the object of meditation. Developing one-pointed concentration means continually remembering the object of meditation. Thisis also good to understand the meaning of awareness. While holding the object ofmeditation one-pointedly, one continually remembers the object of meditation, theself-generation deity, while a part of the mind examines whether ones mind is

abiding on the object of meditation or not. This is done to identify whetherinterferences such as sinking or scattering thoughts are arising or not.

If you stop practising awareness, you'll lose the memory of the object of meditation,and another completely new thought will arise. To examine and check the newthought, when it arises, is not the correct practice of awareness. This way youcompletely loose the connection to and the memory of the self-generation deity.Then, after some time, there is a break, and another analysing thought arises. Thepractice of awareness should be continually related to remembering the meditationobject. If another new thought arises, then it is difficult for you to stop the memory,and after that the awareness follows yet another new thought.

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Kopan Monastery, 1984For example, if, while meditating on the self-generation generation deity, a thought

of a friend or some other thought arises, examining what the mind is meditating on,can lead to following that thought. If you practice awareness like that, then yourmind can't help but to continue following the memory. It lacks the understanding ofhow to practice awareness related to the memory. If your awareness follows a newthought, it does not benefit the one-pointed concentration, but causes great harm.

The skill is to hold the object of concentration, while a small part of the mindexamines whether the mind is still abiding on the object of concentration or not,whether sinking or scattering thoughts are arising or not. To accomplish one-pointedconcentration, especially at the beginning, the mind should hold the object while asmall part of it examines it.

Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen gives an example: "Two people are walking down the road.They are both watching each other out of the corner of their eyes to find out howthe other one is behaving or acting." If one person is afraid of the other, then itmight not be good to look straight at them with both eyes. While you are walking,you usually keep your eyes on the road. At the same time it easy to watch the otherperson out of the corner of your eye. While one has not stopped holding the memoryof concentration one-pointedly, another part of the mind is watching it. This iscalled awareness. Remembrance and awareness are therefore different actions ofthought.

Again and again, a small part of the mind checks whether your memory is one-pointedly abiding on the object or not. By practising awareness in this way, thememory and energy holding the object is developed. It is similar to the tummomeditations or even an outside fire. When it starts it is red, and then it starts turningblack. As you blow into the fire continuously, the energy of the hotness and burningis developed. Then it can do fire work, such as cooking food or whatever it issupposed to do. If you stop blowing, the energy of the fire won't develop, and youcan't accomplish what you wanted to do, such as cooking food.

In a similar way, when practising awareness by examining the mind again and again,

the energy of the memory and the way it holds the object of concentration getsmore developed. Instead of fading away, it gets stronger.

This way the mind is unable to be distracted from the object of concentration. Whenthe mind is examining, even when it is about to be distracted from the object ofmeditation, you are able to recognise it immediately. The awareness increases withless and less effort, whether the object of meditation is the self-generation deity,the clear light nature of the mind, or whatever, you tether your mind to.

From the beginning you should start the one-pointed concentration with very strongdetermination. "I will hold this object one-pointedly without distraction, and will notmove my mind away from the object". Start like this.

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Kopan Monastery, 1984Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen also says, do not think about anything else than the object

of meditation. Continue with the mind abiding on it and examine it frequently. Thisis the essential method for the beginners to accomplish one-pointed concentration.

In short, the skill is to protect one-point concentration from the two main obstacles,sinking thought and attachment or scattering thought. When one places the mindone-pointedly on the object of meditation, one should examine it. If I hold theobject of meditation too tightly, the mind is easily distracted, and attachment orscattering thoughts arise. If I hold the object of concentration too loosely, notintensely enough, then sinking thoughts arise.

You should be able to recognise these patterns from your own experiences. First

concentrate very intensively, and see how scattering thoughts arise. Then relax andloosen the intensive concentration on the object. Try keep the point where youthink, according to your experience, that this looseness gives rise to sinking thoughtsand fogginess. Using that experience, tighten your concentration a little, and go themiddle way, thus balancing them.

By keeping your concentration a little tighter than too loosely, and a little looserthan too tightly, you can try to make the concentration last. By keeping the mindaway both from the scattering thoughts, the attachment, and from sinking thoughtsyou can continue to concentrate one-pointedly.

For example, if you drive your car too fast you are in danger of being stopped by thepolice. If you drive it too slowly, then you don't get to work on time, and you are indanger of losing your job. So you drive your car avoiding both extremes.

Whenever you can concentrate longer on the object, such as for two, three or fourseconds, the awareness has to watch out for the mistakes of sinking thoughts, asthey are the danger of interference. The awareness has to notice whether sinkingthoughts arise or not.

Now for the opposite of the sinking thought: Make the object of concentration clear

and make the mind hold it intensively. 'Clear' does not mean that the object is clear,and clarity alone is not sufficient to avoid the mistake of gross sinking and the subtlesinking thoughts. When you meditate on the self-generation deity, the 'gross sinking'thought makes the object foggy. It is not clear.

After some time, when the concentration is more developed, you are able toexperience the 'subtle sinking' thought. At first the object of meditation, the self-generation deity is very clear. However, it lacks energy, as the mind doesn't haveenergy to hold it intensively. Even though it is clear, the mind holds the object in aweak manner. That is called 'sinking thought'.

One-pointed concentration is both clear, and it holds the clear object intensively.This way we can avoid both the gross and subtle sinking thoughts.

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Lecture 3, June 20th, 1984

Attachment and scattering thoughts can also be divided into gross and subtle. Thegross one refers to completely forgetting and loosing the object of concentration.You can't see the meditation object, and without it being held with continuousremembrance the object of concentration is lost.

There are six types of scattering thoughts on virtuous objects, and there are alsoscattering thoughts on that which is non-virtuous. There are also thoughts ofBuddhas, mandalas, Three Jewels teachings, and thoughts of bodhicitta. While one is

concentrating on the self-generation deity, then, like a nice cake, any of thesevirtuous or scattering thoughts can arise. Or they can arise on non-virtuous objects,for example, the mind can be distracted by an object of anger or an object ofignorance. These scattering thoughts are notg.pa, they are not scattering thoughtswith attachment.

Most of these interferences are scattering thoughts on the object of anger, andignorance. But they are not the main ones. The main scattering thoughts which arisesmost of the time, and doesn't allow one-pointed concentration, is attachment, orscattering thought.

So you can see, it depends on how strong your renunciation, and how relaxed yourmind is. The whole thing depends on how strong the renunciation is of seekinghappiness in this life. The less one clings to worldly concerns and this life, the lessinterference, and scattering thought there is. That person is able to achieve one-pointed concentration, calm abiding, and shamatha more easily.

I think the same applies to the Hindus who accomplish shamatha, and tranquilabiding meditation. When they see the shortcomings of the sense pleasures, andworldly desires, they develop aversion. When they even get bored with the higherrealms, the world of form, that, they develop aversion. Then they even get bored

with the inner pleasures of the Formless Realm, the "Infinite Sky", "InfiniteConsciousness", "Nothingness", "the very point of samsara", the four levels ofconcentration, and finally the inner pleasure that is derived from the meditation:they even develop aversion to these. Then the desire for equanimity causes them tobe born in the world of formless.

Hindus basically do the same, and can achieve the shamatha. They are able to seethe shortcomings of this life's sense pleasures and turn them into aversion, whichstops scattering thoughts and attachment from arising.

To avoid the mistake of sinking thoughts, which interferes with accomplishing thestainless, pure one-pointed concentration, one should see the object clearly and holdit intensively. By finding the clarity of the object, and knowing that attachment and

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Kopan Monastery, 1984scattering thought is a mistake, one should try to keep the mind on the object of

concentration. This stops the rising of the attachment / scattering thought whichinterferes with your accomplishing the stainless one-pointed concentration.However, when your mind is able to abide on the object of concentration, try tomake it clear by holding it intensively. Then, when you find clarity, try to continueto let the mind abide on the object of concentration, and be careful not to letsinking thoughts interfere. When there is clarity, then by using remembrance andawareness, be careful not to allow the attachment / scattering thought interfere.

By practising these two, the continuously abiding on the meditation object, and theintensively holding the object of meditation clearly, one is able to accomplishstainless one-pointed concentration.

I ought to mention a few more details on the generation stage of of the path, thatPabongka Dechen Nyingpo explained.

One can skilfully practise shamatha, and tranquil abiding on the Maha-anuttaratantra path. Every sadhana starts by taking refuge and generating bodhicitta. Thenmost sadhanas continue to absorb the refuge object into oneself, doing very shortmeditation on all the three kayas, generating oneself into the deity, and blessing theinner offering. Vajrasattva is then visualised to purify the interferences. This isfollowed by the merit field, then making offerings, the immeasurable practice to

accumulate merit, and the seven limb practice. Some sadhanas do not follow what isin "Jor Ch", the Maha-anuttara tantra, exactly.

After that, one meditates on the dharmakaya, which is like the evolution of the firstemptiness. First of all this earth is empty, then it gradually starts by generating theplace, and then the beings. The dharmakaya is related to the outer evolution of theworld, which is then followed by the mandala, and the deity. The Cittamani Tara hasno outside mandala but only the inner body mandala. This is followed by theinvocation of the transcendental wisdom, making offerings and doing the recitation.

The long sadhanas describe the process of generating oneself as the deity They go

though each part of the holy body, the meaning of the implements and colours, andemphasise practising the yoga of the profound, non-dual clarity. The profundity is toremember the nature of dependent arising, that the holy body being visualiseddoesn't exist from its own side and that the existing form of the deity is empty.While one's mind is focusing on the clear appearance of the deity, we are aware atthe same time, that it doesn't exist from its own side.

While practising clear appearance and divine pride, there are not only the pureaggregates of the deity that one has visualised, but on that there is an 'I' existingfrom its own side. On this pure base, the deity's holy body, there is a truly existentand independent 'I'. Believing that is true, we could make the mistake to say: "This isa truly existent me". But it is not like that.

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Kopan Monastery, 1984Whatever our past life was, if we were a horse, the 'I' formed when the consciousness

took it's place in the fertilized egg. The 'I' of the living being, which is called 'horse',is a label applied to the association of the consciousness and the fertilized egg of thehorse. So now, where did the consciousness 'me' from? That horse's past life body wasleft, and the stream of that consciousness is now associated with this humanfertilized egg, and human body, associated with this. The continuation of thatprevious 'I', which was a horse, is merely labelled. It exists by labelling thecontinuation of this consciousness associated with the fertilized egg of the humanbody. So the 'I' merely labels this group of elements. Before, the 'I' was labelled onthe group of the consciousness and the horse's body. After we have left this physicalbody, then our consciousness migrates and takes on another body. Then that 'I', theperson or living being exists by being labelled on that group of aggregates. This is the

way the 'I' exists in reality. It is nothing more than a label on a group of aggregates.This is dependent arising.

Similarly to this, you purify these impure aggregates in shunyata. Then, bymeditating in the dharmakaya, you create your pure mind base, that then takes onthe form of the sambhogakaya aspect, and finally the nirmanakaya aspect. When wetalk about different lives, that 'I' changes each time. The consciousness is continuousand settles in the different bodies. So the 'I', the being, exists merely by beinglabelled on that.

Dependent arising is similar to this. When we reincarnate in the six realms, the 'I'arises dependently, and exists merely by being labelled. The same applies to youryour mind: First you actualise the pure base by meditating on dharmakaya, and thenit manifests in the sambhogakaya aspect, then on that, the label 'I' arises: "I amTara". "I am Heruka". This is dependent arising.

Training the mind on the Maha-anuttara tantra path, the graduated paths ofgeneration and of accomplishment, will completely stop the subtle dual view. Theimpure view of the five aggregates completely ceases and transforms them into theFive Dhyani Buddhas. By practising Maha-anuttarayoga tantra you develop the subtlemind and winds. The qualities or powers of the subtle body and mind completely cut

off the subtle dual view. Then this subtle, completely pure wind, which is the vehicleof the subtle mind, becomes Guru Vajradhara's holy body. Similarly the completelypure subtle mind becomes Guru Vajradhara's holy mind, which appears as a pureform in the sambhogakaya aspect.

When those two are inseparably unified, one has achieved Guru Vajradhara. With thisinseparable union of the pure holy body, and subtle wind, the holy mind of GuruVajradhara, one is able to guide others, in whichever aspect or method that subdues.

By accomplishing the power of the subtle mind and body we eliminate the impureconception of true existence. The other sects also say that this is Buddha,and thesubtle mind is the clear light, dharmakaya. However, you can't recognise thedharmakaya until the defilements have ceased.

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After finishing the description of the deity with all the implements andsignifications, then, as it is said in the long versions of the sadhanas, one is supposedconcentrate one-pointedly on the gradual path of generation and try to accomplishthe gross or the subtle generation stage. When one gets bored of meditating single-pointedly on the self-generation deity, one does the recitation.

Firstly, one meditates on the gross and gradual generation, and when that iscompleted, one practices the subtle graduated generation. By meditating on thegross generation, one tries to accomplish the clear appearance by analysing and bydoing this one-pointedly on the object to accomplish the abiding. Then one practisesdivine pride. This meditation should be both clear and non-dual, remembering that

the deity does not exist from its own side.

If one has accomplished shine, tranquil abiding, without kye.rim, the graduated pathof generation or tantra, one can accomplish it very easily.

If one hasn't accomplished this tranquil-abiding before, one is actually trying togenerate the path of the secret mantra. During the graduated path of generation,one was training the mind and should accomplish shine, tranquil abiding. So first youshould accomplish tranquil abiding, and after this, by depending on the subtlegraduated generation, one should accomplish the actual, perfect tranquil abiding.

The ways to accomplish either by the similar one or the actual perfect one, onlydiffer in the object of concentration, not in the method. The method is the same, asexplained by Asanga, avoiding the five shortcomings and practising the remedy, theeight compounding methods. One achieves shamatha from this practice. The way ofachieving shamatha should be taken from the lam rim commentaries, and then youshould do the meditation with the graduated stages of generation.Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo says: "When meditating on the yoga of the deity, mostpeople just rely on recitation. Most of them just take refuge and only recite, withoutexperimenting with the divine pride and the clear appearance, which is, however,the main thing to practise. Some people trying to complete the experience of the

graduated path of generation, are satisfied with just following whatever is explainedin the sadhana and are satisfied with that. But not knowing shamatha, not knowingthe profound, the important points of the commentary of the lam rim teachings thatneed to be brought here, they miss the important points. Shunyata, lam rim orshamatha need to be applied here in the dag.kye, the practice of self-generation.Therefore people, who are able to accomplish the experience of the gross generationstage, are like stars in the daytime: very rare."

Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo also says: "The way to meditate on tranquil abiding isexplained in the commentaries oflam rim. Lama Tsongkhapa set up all the importantpoints to accomplish concentration. That is explained in the teachings, written bythe pandits, the 'uta', 'nyensa' and 'kuntu'. The "sgom rim" or gradual meditation hasbeen translated into English. I think Geshe Sopa Rinpoche's student, who served him,

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Kopan Monastery, 1984translated it. This sgom rim was written by Kamalashila, who defeated Hashan, the

Chinese Han who came to Tibet to spread wrong views: 'du-lta nyen-sa kun-du'. Theother two are probably by Asanga. The sgom rim is by Kamalashila is an incredibleeffective and clear teaching on shamatha and shunyata.

Lama Tsongkhapa defined all the important points on how to accomplish one-pointedconcentration in these basic scriptures. It shows how the lam rim can be practised.Lama Tsongkhapa explained the way of meditating on tranquil abiding in hiscommentary on the lam rim. That is very profound advice. If one practises shamathaaccording to Lama Tsongkhapa's lam rim teachings, then one is able to generate theconcentration ofshamatha as it is explained in the great scriptures of the Buddh,and taught by the pandits.

Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo says: "If one practises shamatha according LamaTsongkhapa's lam rim, then the perfect realisation, the complete generation ofshamatha comes very easily. It has many particular profound points, much higherthan other teachings on shamatha. Therefore, if one wishes to accomplish pure one-pointed concentration in sutra or tantra, then one should rely on Lama Tsongkhapa'slam rim teachings.

Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo also says: "If one feels pride or is satisfied with some smallteachings or advice and feels they are profound, then, even if one tries to practise

generating stainless concentration without a mistake for one's whole life, it is almostimpossible. One's concentration will go the wrong way, as one has not understoodLama Tsongkhapa's explanation of shamatha meditation in lam rim. Even if someonetries to do shamatha for a whole lifetime who doesn't know this, it goes in the wrongdirection. The concentration doesn't come and the person cannot accomplish perfectconcentration without mistake. He can only accomplish mistaken concentration.

Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo gives a brief description of how to achieve shamatharelating to the graduated generation. Laziness is a shortcoming, that does not allowyou to accomplish one-pointed concentration. As a remedy for that, one practisesthe eight compounded methods. This is integrates the hindrances by thinking about

the qualities and benefits of one-pointed concentration. First you should generatedevotion, and from that arises the wish to accomplish it. From perseverance theextremely refined bliss arises. This completely changes and stops the laziness. Thevery first time the beginners do not experience the extremely refined bliss, but evenso, by faith, wishing and inspiration they can and should stop the laziness.

Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo said that it is extremely important to generate happinessby thinking about the qualities and the advantages of one-pointed concentration inmany different ways as explained both in the great and the middle lam rim, as wellas Lama Tsongkhapa's great commentary on lam rim. Lama Tsongkhapa explainedthat without accomplishing shamatha and lhag stong, the higher seeing, thepenetrating insight, the Mahayana, and all the realisations of all the yanas, theHinayana, Mahayana, the Prajnaparamitayana, Vajrayana, are stopped. There is no

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Kopan Monastery, 1984way to achieve all the rest of the realisations without this. So when one enters in the

concentration, forgetting the advice to stop the laziness, is a shortcoming.

The remedy for that is to practise remembering the advice how not to forget theobject or four general objects of concentration. The particular emphasis, which ismore advantageous, in regard to the object of concentration, is focusing the mind onBuddha's holy body. By remembering the Buddha, as it is explained in mahamudra,the mind focuses on clear perception, the nature of the mind.

Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo says, "During the gradual path on generation, one shoulduse the holy body of the deity. The self-generation should be the object ofmeditation. Starting from the top, one sees as oneself clarified as Tara. From the top

of her crown down to the lotus and moon-disc, one should meditate analytically -here is this, there is that. One should visualise each different aspect, from the tip ofthe hair and the crown to the lotus and moon disc, and back again from the lotus andmoon disc to the crown.

For beginners, it is very difficult to have a clear appearance of the whole aspect.However, by doing this back and forth several times, maybe half of the head, or thehand, feet, arms, and the general holy body will appear in the mind. At that time,one has found the object of concentration. One should not expect it to be anyclearer, and be satisfied with that. Then one should hold the object of meditation

very tightly with remembrance, focussing the mind and abiding on the object one-pointedly, without coming under the control of the scattering thoughts /attachment, or sinking thoughts.

Similarly, if it becomes more and more unclear, then try to make it clearer with theanalytical meditation. Whatever appears after the analysing meditation, hold thatone-pointedly. This is extremely important. When there is clear appearance after theanalytical meditation, one tries to accomplish abiding. The sinking and the scatteringthoughts arise while one is trying to accomplish clarity and abiding alternately.During the abiding sinking thoughts arise, when there is clarity, then there is thedanger of attachment and scattering thoughts arising. These two are shortcomings,

that must be renounced.

Sinking thoughts and the attachment / scattering thoughts, can be cut offimmediately by practising awareness, that is whenever the sinking thoughts andattachment / scattering thoughts arise. When one focuses the mind on the objectthere is both clarity and abiding. Without having the intensive energy of clearness,the mind will hold the object of concentration too loosely. When that happens, it isdifficult for us to recognise this. Even if we have clarity for two seconds whileabiding on the object of meditation, we can recognise the gross sinking thought. Itis, however, quite difficult to recognise the subtle sinking thought at the beginning,as it comes from the development of the concentration, and particularly from theclarity.

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Kopan Monastery, 1984Sometimes you can visualise the Buddha very clearly, but your mind doesn't have the

energy to hold it intensely.

The subtle sinking thought arises when the object of concentration is held tooloosely. To stop the subtle sinking thought, one doesn't need to stop the session orre-focus on the object. While focusing on the object of meditation, the mind justneeds to hold the object of meditation a little tighter.

If holding it a little tighter doesn't stop it, then it is a gross sinking thought. Insteadof feeling discouraged and thinking, "I am hopeless, I can't do it", one should stop theconcentration, generate happiness and think, "this time I have achieved a bodyqualified with the eight freedoms and ten richnesses. This is really meaningful. I can

accomplish the three great purposes at any time, and as often as I like, within anhour, or a minute. Only now do I have this perfect human body, which is so difficultto find again".

It is also important to remember the particular qualities of the object of refuge andthe benefits of bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is the most powerful way to purify any negativekarma, and it is also the quickest way to accumulate merit. The advantages of theone-pointed concentration are the extremely refined bliss and ecstasy and not justthe peace of mind. By achieving this, one can quickly accomplish the remainingrealisations of all the three yanas. Without this, nothing happens. It is like a tree

without roots. By achieving shamatha, even tantric realisations come as easily asrainfall.

Rinpoche: Do you feel that your eyes get exhausted? Many people say they feel painin the eyes when they meditate.Piero: I generally feel pain in the eye, when I do this kind of meditation. My eyesstart to itch.

Lecture 4, June21st, 1984

Sinking thoughts

When the mind is in a very low state, and you feel hopeless or discouraged, thensinking thoughts like "I am incapable", "I can't do anything", or something like thatarise and distract the one-pointed meditation. With a sinking thought you can't seethe object of meditation clearly, as the mind is foggy. That is called a gross sinkingthought. Both body and mind get very exhausted in this meditation state. And even ifyou try to meditate, the mind remains dark and the object of meditation doesn't getclearer. This state is similar to sleep. The fogginess in the concentration is calledrmug pa, and after three minutes it causes you to fall down. That is rmug pa,fogginess, and not bying ba, sinking thought, which is more subtle than rmug pa.

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Kopan Monastery, 1984When bying ba, sinking thoughts, arise, and you feel discouraged, incapable, or

hopeless, then you should think: "Now I have received a precious human body, thehighest possible, qualified with the eight freedoms and ten richnesses. With this Ican receive the three great meanings. I have this precious human body qualified withthe eight freedoms and ten richnesses only once. With it I can achieve the threegreat purposes in any minute, at any time and as often as I wish. But this is onlyhappening now, as it is so difficult to find a perfect human rebirth.

One should also remember the particular qualities of the object of refuge. We canthink of Buddha's qualities, or that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha was in samsara as weare, with all the disturbing thoughts and an unbelievably uncontrolled mind. He waswithout one-pointed concentration, full of attachment, sinking and scattering

thoughts and all sorts of interferences. Only by continuing the meditation and usingthe advice on how to achieve tranquil abiding, and by practising, and applying thesemethods, was he able to cut off attachment, sinking and scattering thoughts toachieve shamatha and penetrative insight. Then he generated all the rest of thepath, became enlightened, and achieved an omniscient mind.

Sometimes it might be difficult to relate ourselves to the Buddha, his qualities orparticular ones of the dharma. One of the main inspirations are the qualities of theabsolute sangha, as illustrated the life-stories of previous pandits and Tibetan yogis,such as Milarepa, Marpa and Lama Tsongkhapa. The way they practised dharma,

tranquil abiding and penetrative insight, and finally achieved shamatha made themthe recent lineage lamas oflam rim. Their life-stories show how each one attainedthe realisations of lam rim, shamatha and how, after that clairvoyance, so they wereable to see things from a distance etc. This also applies to present day meditators,ascetic monks and lay persons who practise dharma purely, and are experimentingwith shamatha and penetrative insight.

I think that especially those living today, and who have accomplished theserealisations, are very inspiring. Many meditators' holy minds have reached a very highlevel of tantra, or second stage realisations. You should remember these living yogis,their life-story, how they achieved these realisations and how they had to bear so

much hardship in their practice. Their qualities are very inspiring.

If you can recognise this, you can't justify not achieving this as well. The nature ofyour mind is unstained, and not mixed with obscurations, just as those of themeditators who accomplished shamatha, penetrative insight, and the differentstages of tantric realisations is. Just as their minds were temporarily obscured,similarly, our minds are also temporarily obscured. However, with great, continualperseverance and a lot of patience, one is able to bear the hardships of practisingdharma. Then, through understanding the skilful methods, and the correct, completeteachings of shamatha, one is able to put them into practice.

Why shouldn't you be able do the same? There are no reasons why one cannot go thesame way and do it. If you can't find something that they could, this is due to a lack

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Kopan Monastery, 1984Rinpoche: Hm?

Piero: Actually went through the nine rounds.Rinpoche: He didn't say "I have achieved shine or the nine rounds" or a definitestatement like that. On the other hand it was dependent on the person with whomhe was speaking. Some of the meditators talk about everything they have achieved.But he is very strict.Piero: Did Geshe Tobden achieve shine?Rinpoche: I think everybody is experimenting with shamatha. For Geshe Tobden andmany meditators in Dharamsala, the main thing in the beginning was shamatha.Pemo: Did His Holiness find anyone who achieved shamatha?Rinpoche: When I go to Dharamsala, I don't hear much. When meditators go down tosee His Holiness once a month or when there is a problem, sometimes they might

speak about some attainment. For instance, Geshe Thubten lived in Australia: I heardhe went to His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche, where he offered the realisation ofimpermanence, death and Guru devotion that he had achieved. HH Trijang Rinpochetold us about it many years ago. Then His Holiness told Gen Jampa Wangdu to makeofferings to HH Trijang Rinpoche. Others, who have a deeper connection to HH DalaiLama go to him.

Piero: Did Geshe Thubten have realisations of guru devotion, death andimpermanence.Rinpoche: (laughs) Why do you think that?

Piero: Well, if he says so, it must be the case.Rinpoche: (laughs) Geshe Thubten is very good, and always speaks about his ownmistakes. It shows he is a great practitioner.

It was the same with Geshe Rabten Rinpoche. Whenever something went wrong hewould say, "Oh, I made a mistake". Talking about his own mistakes is a sign of a greatthought-training practitioner. In Dharamsala, Geshe Thubten was very much likethat, so people thought he was a bit strange, when he talked about his mistakes. Ashe was able to compete with his self-cherishing thoughts, he was not afraid to speakabout his own mistakes.

When Gen Jampa Wangdu wore good clothes, the other meditators would say, "Youshouldn't wear that. An ascetic should wear simple clothes." I think people accept,whatever they complain about. Ascetics are supposed to dress poorly, so everyonecan say "He's ascetic monk". However, this worldly concern that people expect, isactually not good for dharma practice. For inner wisdom to develop, it's not good topay attention to the meditator's worldly concerns, or to believe that he is holy.

On the other hand, the meditators were worried about being criticised for wearingnice clothes: "Oh now he looks so good, and dresses so well. That might notbeneficial for a monk. Actually, thinking that he is not holy, might be beneficial forhis practice, because if people think: "Oh, he is so holy, and blah, blah, blah, andmake a lot of offerings, it doesn't help his practice.

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Kopan Monastery, 1984After the chu.len advice I asked Geshe Jampa Wangdu, to give some essential advice

on lam rim, for instance how to develop lam rim realisations and to eliminateobstacles quickly. Gen Jampa Wangdu answered that he was against self-cherishingthoughts. "If I wear very good clothing, people don't like that. They think I amwealthy, and have lots of everything. For this reason people would not come, and ifthe did, they wouldn't bring many offerings.

A Tsangpa, Geshe Tobgay, who used to live with Geshe Thubten, reacted similarly.As long as he lived in the mountains, everybody respected him: "Oh, he is such anascetic...". At the beginning of the course they had to live up there, but later GesheTobgay moved to McLeod Ganj and worked for others. He delivered parcels andmessages to people in Dharamsala. Because of this people thought that he was not

meditating, the Tibetans believed: "He is no longer living up there." They say this is"not so good", and don't recognize him as a meditator. As people left him in peace, itwas helpful for his practice that he choose to move.

Gen Jampa Wangdu told me that HH Dalai Lama sent Gen Rabten Rinpoche toDalhousie to check if anyone had achieved or was experimenting with shamatha. Atthat time the Kangyur Lama passed away. He was Gen Jampa Wangdu's guru and theleader of all the ascetic monks. Geshe Nyima Rinpoche was there. When he took theblankets out at night-time, he saw a small white light, sparkling on the tip of thelama's nose and there were many other signs, that indicated the level of his tantric

realisations.

When Gen Nyima saw these signs even though his guru was sitting in meditation, hewas overcome with unbelievable devotion. Geshe Nyima told the other meditators: "Ididn't have that much faith before, but after seeing a white light sparkling on hisnose and many other signs of maha-anuttara bliss and voidness, when my guru wasdieing, I recognised his great attainment. His Holiness mentioned that this lama hadachieved the clear light of the tantric path, the second stage of clear light.

Piero: He was going in and out of the mountain and in Lhasa...Rinpoche: Yes, that's right. He and another disciple, Serkong Dorje Chang, passed

their Geshe Lharampa exams at the same time with HH Trijang Rinpoche at the greatMnlam festival. Afterwards D. Rinpoche left with Geshe Rabgye, who achievedshamatha just before Gen Jampa Wangdu did.

A lama was born, very high up in the mountains, in Pembo Minrol Tsering, where itwas always foggy. D. Rinpoche found a cave there with Geshe Rabten. He alwayscarried a copy of the lam rim chen mo, a mandala and ch.gu. One day somebodywas throwing stones. Following the path of the stones, he came to a cave with askeleton sitting in it. He sat down and offered a mandala to the skeleton. After LamaD. Rinpoche offered a mandala, the skeleton sitting there collapsed. Then hedecided it was the right place to do his meditation.

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Kopan Monastery, 1984Each meditator did his own practice, and experimented with their path. Sometimes

they met and discussed their practice, their mistakes, and whatever was important.Geshe Rabten came to check as His Holiness wanted identify as many as possible ofthose who have achieved this experience. For instance, His Holiness sent GesheRabten Rinpoche to Dalhousie to check the monks and meditators, and also toencourage people to practise shamatha. Geshe Rabten went there and was impressedby the way Gen Jampa Wangdu spoke about a dream he had, when he startedshamatha. He dreamt that he was riding a horse, and it fell down. Gen JampaWangdu said that in the beginning he had interpreted it as being unsuccessful inshamatha. I thought it was a good sign, because riding on a horse and falling down,could mean the end of intensive, attachment, scattering thought. And Gen JampaWangdu used to say: "If you don't achieve shamatha, then everything you call

meditating is not really meditation". He admired the extremely refined bliss, thegreatest ecstasy, and used to say: "In the West you have the best football games, butwhen you come to the East it is different. Here you experience the generation ofextremely refined great bliss, that is both incredible, and incomparable to otherpleasures.

One meditator came from the army. He had children, and a family. When his wifedied, he moved to Dharamsala. He hadn't studied philosophy. He took lam rimteachings from Geshe Nyima, the previous abbot of Namgyal Dratsang, and HH DalaiLama ... but very few. Within three years, he had generated renunciation of

samsara, bodhicitta and shunyata. Then he experimented with the tantra path,Naropa's Six Yogas. He offered of his tantric attainments to HH Dalai Lama.

Piero: Was this recent?Rinpoche: Yes, quite recent, just a few years ago.Piero: Did he become a monk?Rinpoche: He became a monk and was very skinny. He also took lam rim teachingsfrom HH Ling Rinpoche and the four commentaries from HH the Dalai Lama. Youcould see that he was serious, straight forward and very different from all theothers. He thought of nothing else except Dharma and practising.

I think there are many meditators who didn't study much in this life but who havevery strong impressions from past lives. When they put in a little bit of effort, dosome purification, and meditate, then just the realisations just come. His Holinesssaid that one Nyingma-pa meditator, even remembered Milarepa's lifetime.

Pemo: What did he remember?

Rinpoche: I'm not sure. Maybe he was a disciple but he his memories came back. HisHoliness said one day he felt an unbelievably great devotion to his guru, and at thattime, he remembered. When the unbelievable devotion came, all the other grossthoughts stopped, and his mind became very very refined, extremely clear, andpeaceful, like very fine calm water. Then he remembered the impression on hissubtle mind.

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Main thing has to do with devotion. The other gross thoughts block you from seeingthings. The life stories we read in lam rim and those of the present meditators, whohave achieved shamatha, show that the quality of the sangha is very high.

In The Lines of Experience Lama Tsongkhapa points out: "If you let the mind go, thenit naturally goes to all the virtuous objects". After achieving shamatha, it is soincredibly easy for the mind to be virtuous continuously, as the non-virtuous anddisturbing thoughts cease to rise. By remembering the qualities of meditation andone-pointed concentration the sinking thoughts are cut off.

Padampa Sangye's advice is: Mix the wind and the mind with the sky. To do this

you first visualise the channels inside your body, and then the wind. Theconsciousness is like a pea inside the cental tube. As with powa or chd, you shoot itup the central channel from the navel through the crown into the sky, like shootingan arrow up into the sky, and then being one with the sky. Stay there for some time.This is helpful for the clarity of mind. Visualise the consciousness as a white,sparkling light, the size of a pea, and then with word PHAT, you shoot it up into thesky.

He suggests to practise visualising a sparkling light the size of a sesame seed on thetip of the nose. The same form of light can be applied to stop attachment and

scattering thoughts, but you visualise it lower, at the navel. To stop sinking thoughtshis advice is to visualise it higher.

As explained in the commentary, Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo concentrated on a smallwhite light or a small Tara on the tip of the nose. However, by placing your mind onthe object of meditation the sinking thoughts are cut off. If the mixing of theconsciousness with the sky doesn't stop the sinking thoughts it means that they areextremely gross. Then it is advisable to stop the session for a while, and to gooutside. If you walk around to refresh yourself, all the heavy, sinking thoughts will goaway. Then you can continue the session.

It is very good for the mind to practise shamatha on a very high mountain, forexample Namo Buddha Kagyu-pa monastery or Lawudo, where you have so muchincredible space.

Also look at the very clear light or some bright things, at the distant, high mountainsor look at something bright inside. From here one should look at the top of those farmountains. It is said that this will cut off the sinking thoughts, and when they are cutoff, then you can do the session.

There are about twelve different methods to stop sinking and scattering thoughts,and to accomplish shamatha without interference.

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