Hinayana or the Lesser Vehicle

The Four Noble Truths

The Truth of Suffering

To practice the path, we must have a clear understanding of the suffering that, as Impermanence, pervades all existence. It is said that to the ordinary person, this impermanence is imperceptible as a hair on the palm of the hand, but to the enlightened ones, it feels as sharp as a hair in the eyeball. Though we all admit to experiencing sadness and pain at least sometimes, it takes further examination for most of us to perceive the more subtle modes of suffering that shadow even the happiest occasion, whether it is just the awareness that the occasion must come to an end, or the persistent intrusion of minor irritations. Usually whatever we do is in constant need of adjustment: for example, either we are too cold or too hot, or we are hungry or stuffed. Wherever we are and whatever we're doing, our body or our mind is uneasy or uncomfortable in some respect, at some level.

In Buddhist doctrine, suffering is classified into three root sections and eight branches. The three root sections are: 1) the suffering of change; 2) pervasive suffering; and 3) the suffering of suffering itself. The eight branches are: 1) birth; 2) sickness; 3) old age; 4) death; 5) unfulfilled desire; 6) unexpected misfortune; 7) separation from loved ones; and 8) physical discomfort.

The Cause of Suffering

The source of all suffering is the collaboration between ignorance and karma. Suffering has karmic causes which we accumulate by our own activities performed in ignorance.

The Truth of Cessation

The Third Noble Truth is the cessation which brings freedom from suffering and the cause of suffering. It is also known as the state of extinguishment, ultimate joy, peace and relaxation, and nirvana.

The Cause of Cessation

The Fourth Noble Truth is the eight-fold path itself, which brings about nirvana.

The Dharmas or Elements of Reality*

Karma

The Buddhist term karma is a Sanskrit word meaning action, or activity. Buddha Shakyamuni taught that all karma arises from mind. Mental states are the producers and creators, while body and speech are their agents. The mind's action flows through the channels of body and speech, becomes visible outwardly by reflection, and returns back again as karma rotates

We can understand karma mostly through inference only. It creates things which, though not inherently existent, arise nevertheless. Then, in a continuous reproductive cycle, these things change and become in turn the causes of more things. In the physical world, for example, if we see a flower, we infer the causes and conditions which brought it into visible being. Though these causes and conditions may not be obviously present, we can make inferences about them, about the flower's past. We can also predict the future without being mistaken. If we see a flower seed, we can safely say that if this is a good seed, which is the cause, and it has the right conditions with which to mingle, there will definitely be a result, the flower. The flower is inevitable, whether you want it or not; the causes and conditions transcend our preferences.

A Balance between Fatalism and Essentialism

Fatalism is mistaken from a Buddhist perspective because it is an elevation of one side of a two-sided lens (a false duality) to supreme status: that everything in the universe is one single process, seemingly without individual agency, at the will of something perhaps sentient or not, but unchanging. The other side of this coin is essentialism, the view that every "thing" which identifies itself or is identified from without as a "self", as independent relative to everything else, has its own autonomous will and destiny.

Think about fatalism, to the extent that it renders reality as fundamentally unalterable, fixed, and (pre) determined, as a dogmatic investment that ONLY the vase is the "correct" viewing of this illusion. The two faces are the essentialist view, that each (perceived) self is in full control of its destiny based on the course of its idiosyncratic action. The simple fact is there is no way to capture with words the "true" escape of this paradox; they are both wrong and they are both correct.

So to the extent that a fatalist would advise a kind of calm stoicism in the face of colossally expansive forces that clearly shape and thrust you in one direction or the other, without metaphysical resistance, it is somewhat Buddhist; but to the extent that he would tell you to resign yourself to your fate, and not bother taking it into your own hands, he is fiercely anti-Buddhist, even more deluded than the poor sap who still thinks his perceived selfhood is uncomplicatedly and manifestly eternal and autonomous.

Karma and Determinism

The Buddha also rejected a purely deterministic view in his teaching on karma. Most of the Buddha's contemporaries taught that karma operates in a simple straight line. Your life now is the result of what you did in the past; what you do now will determine your life in the future. The problem with this view is that it leads to a degree of fatalism -- there's nothing you can do about your life now.

But the Buddha taught that the effects of past karma can be mitigated by present action; in other words, one is not fated to suffer X because one did X' in the past. Your actions now can change the course of karma and impact your life now. The Theravadin monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote,

Buddhists, however, saw that karma acts in multiple feedback loops, with the present moment being shaped both by past and by present actions; present actions shape not only the future but also the present. Furthermore, present actions need not be determined by past actions. In other words, there is free will, although its range is somewhat dictated by the past.

Karma, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 8 March 2011]

In short, Buddhism doesn't align with western philosophy for a neat, side-by-side comparison. As long as we are lost in a fog of illusion, our will isn't as free as we think it is, and our lives will be caught in karmic effects and our own unskillful acts. But, the Buddha said, we are capable of living with greater clarity and happiness through our own efforts.

The Five Skandhas

The five skandhas, contemplated in Abhidharma, belong to the category of compounded things, and in fact include them all. Skandha, in Sanskrit, means heap: many things piled together, like a big flea market or yard sale, not just a single, indivisible thing. In English we call the five skandhas the five aggregates.

The five skandhas are: 1) form; 2) feeling; 3) conception; 4) mental formations; 5) consciousness.

Form

Form has dimension and weight. Form has the power to block, or impede. When we say form, we are not just referring to our bodies, but to everything that has mass and offers resistance. Everything material is part of the form aggregate.

To clarify this further, the Abhidharma divides the form skandha into fifteen subdivisions: four causal forms and eleven resultant forms. The four causal forms are the elements earth, water, fire, air. Space is not counted separately as it is everywhere, causes no resistance, and has no mass or material structure. It is through these four elements that ten of the eleven resultant forms have their cause, their origin and their molecular development in the material world. These ten resultant forms are further divided into five results appearing as the subject and five results appearing as the object. The former are the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body organs; the latter are light, sound, smell, taste and touch.

There is one more resultant form which comes to exist neither as an element nor as a consciousness. It is called invisible form, and is an energy, power or ability of the individual that is very special. It can exert a strong influence to guide you in daily life if you have the confidence in yourself or in your ideas to be aware of it. Invisible form exists purely at the mental-conceptual levei. It can harm you as well as help you. Examples of invisible forms are vows, decisions, names, labels, positions and titles

That is the explanation of the form skandha, comprising the roots of all visible phenomena. But there is a deeper level of understanding form and how it appears to us. The most immediate basis of the form skandha is manifest at a gross level, but this in turn arises on the basis of a much more subtle level which some Buddhists, for lack of a better term at that time, called partless atoms. Here, millions of sub-atomic particles, themselves insubstantial, come together or aggregate and give the appearance of mass. Thus, there is nothing solid on which everything rests and no final, independently existing form. Through infinite combinations of infinite partless atoms, an interdependent, caused and conditioned display arises in the form of the four causal and eleven resultant objects. This is the heap, the aggregate, the skandha, of form.

Feeling

Feeling is the second skandha. Again, feeling refers to many things aggregated together, but whereas form is mass, feeling is considered to be part of the. mind. Mass and consciousness are quite different. Because as ordinary beings we have no clear understanding about the aggregates, we may think that feelings or emotions are identical with our bodies. Of course they have a very strong connection, but in their function they are quite different.

Feeling is important because it conditions our mental aggregate and determines what, in the end, we experience. It is catego rized into eighteen types based on each of the six senses, in one of three feeling states: attraction, aversion, or indifference.

Many causes come together to create a particular feeling. We like to have happy, pleasurable feelings, and we reject feelings of sadness. Our attachment to pleasurable states is so strong that when conditions thwart us, we become angry, frustrated, or jealous. Many differing karmas result, which then become causes for future visions and experiences. Feeling is therefore one of the most important influences affecting our life in samsara.

Conception

The third skandha is the function of analysis and investigation. The multitude of impulses that make up the heap of conception can be understood as the tendency to create distinctions and cling to them within a dualistic framework. This conception of duality causes further attachment. Size, color, purity, location, sex and species all arise as concepts within the third aggregate called conception. All this happens primarily beneath the conscious level. The mind follows unconscious, habitual patterns, assigning names to experiences, and in this way fabricates a world of mental objects which cannot be said to have any substantial existence outside the stream of mind.

Some conceptions are born with us, and others we have simply added. For instance, all rules, systems, and traditions practiced in our country, village, or family are mental creations--ideas-- and thus part of the conception aggregate. All things we have learned and are learning are conceptions. What is permitted and what is forbidden are conceptions. There is nothing which we can say exists as an objective reality.

We can verify this simply by examining and observing it ourselves. We live according to judgments which solidify and add certainty to our otherwise nameless and shifting world. For example, when you were a child looking at a picture of a cow, you were told to say cow by a parent or teacher until you learned it. If you did not learn it, they would let you know you had failed or were not doing well. The word must be associated with the picture and the two mingled, until you can say cow. We must work at this because the picture of the cow and the word cow have no intrinsic relationship. They are two totally different things. The naming process results in a mere concept, or idea, which we then grasp as if it were a concrete reality.

In different countries the same cow has many different names. These reflect the different ways of thinking--all concepts. When Tibetans see that picture they are not going to say cow. They will say ba. In India they will say gais. One says cow, one says ba, and one says gais. Who is really correct? Who is wrong? Even if they go to the Supreme Court for a decision, who can really say one is true and the other is false? I think either everyone is right or everyone is wrong.

Like this simple example, everything is built upon concepts and judgments, not on objectively, independently existing realities. Notions of cleanliness and beauty change from one culture to another. In Tibet alone, the traditions and beliefs of the people in the east and west are quite opposite. But these examples are rather obvious. They are systems based upon dualistic ideas, like two different gloves, back and front, or east and west. This universe has many such arbitrary systems, more profound and varied than these. They are all part of the labeling, clinging, idea-creating skandha of conception.

Mental Formations

The term formation is used for the fourth skandha to convey a sense of bringing into being, in the realm of mind as well as body. This is the aggregate of karma, which starts in the mind and is reflected in the speech and the body. Whatever action is performed in this world is part of the fourth skandha.

The pattern of karma works the same way on the inner phenomena of our mental stream. Activity of speech and body occur on a gross level which is felt, seen or heard by others. Mental activity is more subtle and profound. It operates continuously in everyone. With concentration we can locate and observe it in ourselves, but we cannot see another's very clearly. We may feel it but not be able to see or perceive it directly. Through inference we can determine the mental activity of another person the same way we infer fire from smoke. All this activity is part of the skandha of mental formations.

Consciousness

The fifth skandha is very powerful. The functions of the skandhas of conception (third) and mental formations (fourth) arise from it. It is based upon a very subtle state known as the alaya in Sanskrit, the kunzhi (kun-gzhz) in Tibetan, or subconscious storehouse in English.

The consciousness skandha is not dependent upon the five organs of sense, although when these organs are activated, consciousness functions according to each one, whether eye, ear, nose, tongue, or body consciousness. This is as if a single light were shining through five different windows. Sense objects entering these windows are gathered in the consciousness, which then judges them as good, bad, or neutral.

Without these five consciousness organs, the mental consciousness can still experience things. When we go to sleep, for example, and the five sense organs are inactive, the mind continues working in the dream state, playing itself back to itself within its own subject-object universe. The many habit patterns of its past arise, and sometimes it even experiences the future. Consciousness is quick and powerful, faster than you can imagine. It can control our experience of the three times (past, present, and future) and also it can change things.

Consciousness itself is based upon a momentary state. Hundreds of millions of moments, instants of continual change, are moving through past, present and future. It is not a single thing stretching all the way back from the beginning until now, forever unchanging. It is not a solid object. It is more like a current or continuity such as a river, composed of these billions of flowing instants.

Consciousness can be either positive and virtuous or negative and non-virtuous. Qualities such as loving-kindness, compassion, devotion and clear understanding of the true nature are all considered aspects of positive consciousness. If mind is manifesting qualities such as anger, jealousy, attachment and ignorance, it is considered negative and non-virtuous. This is the consciousness skandha.

To sununarize, the five skandhas of form, feeling, conception, mental formations and consciousness are compounded and interdependent things. No skandha is solid or single, but is rather a flux of many hundreds of things in combination. We never exist for one moment outside of these five aggregates. They are the foundation of samsara, the enablers of our clinging and attachment. They are also, however, the key to our enlightenment, for it is only by our understanding them, by our gaining a clear picture of what they are and how they function, that nirvana can become present in our mind-stream.

When this occurs, noble Avalokiteshvara's answer to Shariputra that the five skandhas are empty in nature will become clear.

Meditation in Action*

Samatha-Vypassana

Gelong, you should know that the root of all Dharma depends on mindfulness. As Lord Nagarjuna said:

Mindfulness, as it has been realized by sublime beings with wisdom body,
Is revealed as the only path to Buddhahood.
Therefore, one should be very careful to focus on and protect mindfulness,
Because all Dharma will fall if mindfulness fades.

If there is no mindfulness, the activities of hearing, contemplating, and meditating become impossible; even worldly matters cannot be accomplished. By forgetting, even the purpose of all the work of samsaric phenomena named by habit fails. By forgetting, objects are lost. By forgetting, there is delay. At a worldly level, insanity, deluded perception, being haunted by demons, and the inability to retain the meaning of words—all are said to be due to the negative results of faded mindfulness.

Mindfulness

Many Buddhists do specifically undertake practices meant to cultivate mindfulness. Others may not, but it's fair to say that the lion's share of Buddhist practices help produce in us a greater sense of awareness and connection to the people and world around us. The very name Buddha, after all, means Awakened One. So you'll find that while there's an emphasis on mindfulness in among people who practice Vipassana or Insight meditation as taught in the foundational Theravada school of Buddhism, there are corollaries found in other Buddhist schools like Zen and Vajrayana.

I can't imagine any wholesome activity that wouldn't be enhanced by mindfulness.

Sylvia Boorstein

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First, it's helpful to become familiar with the meaning of mindfulness, as well as how it relates to meditation. Mindfulness is the quality of being present and fully engaged with whatever we're doing at the moment — free from distraction or judgment, and aware of our thoughts and feelings without getting caught up in them. We train in this moment-to-moment awareness through meditation, allowing us to build the skill of mindfulness so that we can then apply it to everyday life. In teaching the mind to be present, we are teaching ourselves to live more mindfully — in the present, taking a breath, not beholden to reactive thoughts and feelings — which is particularly helpful when faced with challenging circumstances or difficult situations.

Wondering how many times a day you're in a mindful state? There's actually a 15-item questionnaire researchers use to measure mindfulness called the Mindful Attention Awareness Score (MAAS), that you can take to see where you stand — the higher the score, the greater your ability to be mindful. Scored lower than you'd like? Don't sweat it! It's simply a sign that you may benefit from some mindfulness meditation practice.

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Here's the thing that many people find confusing about mindfulness: it's not a temporary state of mind that is present during meditation and then vanishes for the rest of the day. Rather, mindfulness is a way of living in which — when we remember — we are able to step back and be in the present moment in any situation.

Mindfulness doesn't eliminate stress or other difficulties; instead, by becoming aware of unpleasant thoughts and emotions that arise because of challenging situations, we have more choice in how to handle them in the moment — and a better chance of reacting calmly and empathetically when faced with stress or challenges. Of course, practicing mindfulness does not mean we never get angry — rather it allows us to be more thoughtful in how we want to respond, whether that's calmly and empathetically or perhaps, occasionally with measured anger.

Meditation is the training ground for learning mindfulness. At first, we meditate to become familiar with the here and now for a limited period of time. Over time, however, regularly practicing mindfulness helps us develop the ability to be present throughout the day, every day.

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Mindfulness meditation doesn't only change our mindset and perspective, it actually can change the shape of our brains. Generalized neuroimaging meditation studies found that 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation also changes our brains, rewiring them towards more positive thoughts and emotions.

For starters, meditation allows us to move from high-frequency brain waves to a lower frequency, which activates (and, potentially even more importantly, deactivates) certain areas of the brain. For example, it can decrease neurological connections to the medial prefrontal cortex, or the me center, diminishing traits such as fear, stress, and anxiety. In turn, meditation can also build new pathways to the parts of the brain responsible for traits like focus and decision-making.

And that's not all: mindfulness meditation can actually change the shape of the brain as well, a process known as neuroplasticity. Research shows that gray matter — the area of the brain responsible for emotional regulation, planning, and problem-solving — as well as the cortical thickness — responsible for learning and memory — both increase with regular meditation practice. Alternatively, the amygdala, which regulates how we feel stress, fear, and anxiety, decreases in size.

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The hype around mindfulness meditation is real. People who incorporate it into their lives often report heightened levels of happiness, patience, acceptance, and compassion, as well as lower levels of stress, frustration, and sadness.

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Here's a breakdown of eight of the more popular mindfulness techniques — all of which are used in the Headspace app. Some will sound intriguing, while others may not be your cup of tea. See which ones work best for you.

Focused Attention: Likely the most common form of meditation, this technique uses the breath to anchor the mind and maintain awareness. Focus your attention on the breath — specifically the rise and fall of the chest — and return to the breath whenever you get distracted or notice your mind starting to wander.
Body Scan: This technique, which uses meditation to connect with the body, involves scanning your body from head to toe and being aware of any discomfort, sensations, or aches that exist (which could be indicators of stress and anxiety).
Noting: This is a mindfulness technique in which you "note" a particular thought or feeling when you become distracted during meditation. The practice of noting helps to create space and learn more about our habits, tendencies, and conditioning.
Loving Kindness: Instead of focusing on the breath, this technique involves focusing on the image of different people: people we know, people we don't; people we like, people we don't. We direct well-wishes and goodwill first to ourselves, and then, as a ripple effect, to others, which helps us let go of unhappy feelings we may be experiencing.
Skillful Compassion: Similar to the loving kindness meditation technique, this one involves focusing on a person you know or love and paying attention to the sensations arising from the heart. It's aptly named because it's thought to be helpful in opening our hearts and minds for the benefit of other people, which in turn fosters a feeling of happiness in our own mind.
Visualization: This technique uses visualization, to focus on a person or something more abstract, to hold attention. The idea here is that the familiar image will help create and maintain a relaxed focus.
Resting Awareness: Rather than focusing on the breath or a visualization, this technique involves letting the mind rest; thoughts may enter, but instead of distracting you and pulling you away from the present moment, they simply leave.
Reflection: For this technique, ask yourself a question, for example, What are you most grateful for? (Note that asking yourself a question using the second person — you — will discourage the intellectual mind from trying to answer it rationally.) Be aware of the feelings, not the thoughts, that arise when you focus on the question. Here is a video with more instruction on how to use the reflection meditation technique.

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Whichever technique you choose, know that experiencing moments of mindfulness during meditation is a great first step. After meditation, while our minds will likely experience distractions throughout the day, the more our mindfulness practice is honed and developed, the more we are able to catch ourselves being distracted and the more we are able to bring our focus back to the present moment. After all, that's the whole point of practicing mindfulness meditation — to make us more mindful and less distracted throughout the day.

So how do you remember to be mindful when you're not meditating? At the end of your meditation, try to recognize how your mind feels and then make an intention to carry that feeling into the rest of your day. Some people find it helpful to form a clear idea of what they are going to do next — maybe take a shower or get a cup of coffee — and perform their next task with the same level of awareness they experienced during meditation. It doesn't matter what you do after meditation, as long as you look for opportunities throughout your day in which to recognize the space and mindfulness you experienced during your practice.

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The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, as taught by the historical Buddha and ever since, are key things that we should practice being mindful of. These are: our bodies, our feelings, our minds themselves, and phenomena / the world around us. By training in mindfulness of these four foundations, we see, more and more, how all of these things really are, outside from our conceptual ideas of them. Training in the four foundations of mindfulness is training in seeing reality with more clarity and equanimity.

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We suffer, according to Buddhism, not because there's anything inherently wrong with us but simply because we misunderstand the nature of reality. Buddhist practice helps us come to terms with reality by cultivating our awareness of the three characteristics of experience, also known as the three marks of existence. These are: impermanence, suffering, and insight—words that will likely be familiar to anyone who's read about Buddhism more than a little. Contemplating them, Thich Nhat Hanh has said, can help liberate us from fear and suffering. Living mindfully and with concentration, we see a deeper reality and are able to witness impermanence without fear, anger, or despair. For more on the three marks, read Sylvia Boorstein's Lion's Roar teaching, I Want to Be Insightful.

Engaging mindfulness encourages complete engagement with life.

Gaylon Ferguson

How to do Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness practice is simple and completely feasible, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Just by sitting and doing nothing, we are doing a tremendous amount.

In mindfulness meditation, or shamatha, we are trying to achieve a mind that is stable and calm. What we begin to discover is that this calmness or harmony is a natural aspect of the mind. Through mindfulness meditation practice we are just developing and strengthening it, and eventually we are able to remain peacefully in our mind without struggling. Our mind naturally feels content.

An important point is that when we are in a mindful state, there is still intelligence. It's not as if we blank out. Sometimes people think that a person who is in deep meditation doesn't know what's going on—that it's like being asleep. In fact, there are meditative states where you deny sense perceptions their function, but this is not the accomplishment of shamatha practice.

Creating a Favorable Environment for Mindfulness Meditation

There are certain conditions that are helpful for the practice of mindfulness. When we create the right environment it's easier to practice.

It is good if the place where you meditate, even if it's only a small space in your apartment, has a feeling of upliftedness and sacredness. It is also said that you should meditate in a place that is not too noisy or disturbing, and you should not be in a situation where your mind is going to be easily provoked into anger or jealousy or other emotions. If you are disturbed or irritated, then your practice is going to be affected.

Beginning the Practice

I encourage people to meditate frequently but for short periods of time—ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes. If you force it too much the practice can take on too much of a personality, and training the mind should be very, very simple. So you could meditate for ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes in the evening, and during that time you are really working with the mind. Then you just stop, get up, and go.

Often we just plop ourselves down to meditate and just let the mind take us wherever it may. We have to create a personal sense of discipline. When we sit down, we can remind ourselves: I'm here to work on my mind. I'm here to train my mind. It's okay to say that to yourself when you sit down, literally. We need that kind of inspiration as we begin to practice.

Posture

The Buddhist approach is that the mind and body are connected. The energy flows better when the body is erect, and when it's bent, the flow is changed and that directly affects your thought process. So there is a yoga of how to work with this. We're not sitting up straight because we're trying to be good schoolchildren; our posture actually affects the mind.

Often we just plop ourselves down to meditate and just let the mind take us wherever it may. We have to create a personal sense of discipline.

People who need to use a chair for meditation should sit upright with their feet touching the ground. Those using a meditation cushion such as a zafu or gomden should find a comfortable position with legs crossed and hands resting palm-down on your thighs. The hips are neither rotated forward too much, which creates tension, nor tilted back so you start slouching. You should have a feeling of stability and strength.

When we sit down the first thing we need to do is to really inhabit our body—really have a sense of our body. Often we sort of prop ourselves up and pretend we're practicing, but we can't even feel our body; we can't even feel where it is. Instead, we need to be right here. So when you begin a meditation session, you can spend some initial time settling into your posture. You can feel that your spine is being pulled up from the top of your head so your posture is elongated, and then settle.

The practice we're doing is very precise: you should be very much awake even though you are calm.

The basic principle is to keep an upright, erect posture. You are in a solid situation: your shoulders are level, your hips are level, your spine is stacked up. You can visualize putting your bones in the right order and letting your flesh hang off that structure. We use this posture in order to remain relaxed and awake. The practice we're doing is very precise: you should be very much awake even though you are calm. If you find yourself getting dull or hazy or falling asleep, you should check your posture.

Gaze

For strict mindfulness practice, the gaze should be downward focusing a couple of inches in front of your nose. The eyes are open but not staring; your gaze is soft. We are trying to reduce sensory input as much as we can. People say, Shouldn't we have a sense of the environment? but that's not our concern in this practice. We're just trying to work with the mind and the more we raise our gaze, the more distracted we're going to be. It's as if you had an overhead light shining over the whole room, and all of a sudden you focus it down right in front of you. You are purposefully ignoring what is going on around you. You are putting the horse of mind in a smaller corral.

Breath

When we do shamatha practice, we become more and more familiar with our mind, and in particular we learn to recognize the movement of the mind, which we experience as thoughts. We do this by using an object of meditation to provide a contrast or counterpoint to what's happening in our mind. As soon as we go off and start thinking about something, awareness of the object of meditation will bring us back. We could put a rock in front of us and use it to focus our mind, but using the breath as the object of meditation is particularly helpful because it relaxes us.

As you start the practice, you have a sense of your body and a sense of where you are, and then you begin to notice the breathing. The whole feeling of the breath is very important. The breath should not be forced, obviously; you are breathing naturally. The breath is going in and out, in and out. With each breath you become relaxed.

Thoughts

No matter what kind of thought comes up, you should say to yourself, That may be a really important issue in my life, but right now is not the time to think about it. Now I'm practicing meditation. It gets down to how honest we are, how true we can be to ourselves, during each session.

Everyone gets lost in thought sometimes. You might think, I can't believe I got so absorbed in something like that, but try not to make it too personal. Just try to be as unbiased as possible. Mind will be wild and we have to recognize that. We can't push ourselves. If we're trying to be completely concept-free, with no discursiveness at all, it's just not going to happen.

So through the labeling process, we simply see our discursiveness. We notice that we have been lost in thought, we mentally label it thinking—gently and without judgment—and we come back to the breath. When we have a thought—no matter how wild or bizarre it may be—we just let it go and come back to the breath, come back to the situation here.

No matter what kind of thought comes up, you should say to yourself, That may be a really important issue in my life, but right now is not the time to think about it. Now I'm practicing meditation.

Each meditation session is a journey of discovery to understand the basic truth of who we are. In the beginning the most important lesson of meditation is seeing the speed of the mind. But the meditation tradition says that mind doesn't have to be this way: it just hasn't been worked with.

What we are talking about is very practical. Mindfulness meditation practice is simple and completely feasible. And because we are working with the mind that experiences life directly, just by sitting and doing nothing, we are doing a tremendous amount.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche| July 28, 2017

Mindfulness, the Ocean of Qualities, by Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa

Prostrations to the All-knowing Ones.

The Dzogchen Master Rangjung Dorje, with devotion to the Three Jewels and weariness with samsara, was once staying in the sacred mountain retreat of the glorious Deathless Valley with secret samadhi practitioners who had abandoned the world. Gelong Lama, from the chain of southern peaks in East Bhutan where the rocky slopes of the mountains are covered with forest, respectfully made this request:

I entered the door of the Holy Dharma at the age of thirteen. In Central and Western Tibet, I studied branches of the arts and sciences and was ordained as a novice and monk. I learned to perform rites from the speech of Vajradhara, the hidden treasures, the eight sections of the mandala, and so on, as well as some others. I also received teachings on the commentaries of the essential tantras. I learned a little about the drawing and measurements of the Do, Gyu, and other mandalas, and many ritual activities.

Then, renouncing the world and fervently practicing austerities, I meditated in remote mountain retreat for many years. From excessive completion stage meditation that I did not do correctly, the crown center of my head opened and I nearly passed on. Because I kept mindfulness too tightly, obstacles of vital air energy also occurred. In order to develop my practice, I communicated with and sought the advice of many noble Lamas, meditators, and fellow Dharma friends, yet no one except you has shown me the natural understanding of instantaneous mindfulness, which is the essence of meditation.

Some time ago, while looking through The Treasure of the Supreme Vehicle, I had greater devotion than ever before to the Conqueror Longchenpa. I had seen the prediction that an emanation of Vimalamitra would teach the extraordinary view of Dzogpa Chenpo every hundred years, so I had always prayed to hear this. I realized that all my previous hardships were only rigidity. Now that you have introduced the inexpressible, inherently born view to me, is it right just to abide in that natural mind with only mindfulness?

Gelong, you should know that the root of all Dharma depends on mindfulness. As Lord Nagarjuna said:

Mindfulness, as it has been realized by sublime beings with wisdom body,
Is revealed as the only path to Buddhahood.
Therefore, one should be very careful to focus on and protect mindfulness,
Because all Dharma will fall if mindfulness fades.

If the activity of the path of enlightenment is considered, without first remembering the difficulty of obtaining a precious human body, there cannot be any auspicious, interdependent circumstances in which to meet Dharma. Furthermore, even if one enters the path of Dharma through the force of incidental circumstances, one immediately turns back through lack of mindful awareness of the Buddha's teaching, and also through not remembering from the heart the impermanence of life. When the importance of death is forgotten, everything that is done is lost because it is only for the purposes of this short life. Therefore, because the mind is in an indifferent stupor, the cause and result of the ten nonvirtuous actions that should be abandoned and the ten virtuous actions that should be accepted are forgotten, so the fear of the suffering of samsara and the inspiration of the benefits of liberation are not remembered. The mind is completely distracted by worldly activities and the duties of home. Pride arises from these concerns, and one loses and forgets the meaning of future lives, just like an intoxicated fool.

Regarding this, it is said in The Sutra of the Ornament of Qualities:

For example, there was a man who became drunk and angry. That man could not even find his home or find his way. He was not even aware of his parents, wife, sons, and daughters, and did not remember the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Because of the intoxicating power of the wine, he was not even afraid to be in a cemetery, thinking, What is there to fear from so-called gods, nagas, and yakshas? Likewise, one can be intoxicated by attachment to worldly life and totally deluded by staying at home. Those who are intoxicated by distraction do not search for the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and do not think about being generous, being reborn in the higher realms, or becoming a noble king. By not seeking to be born in the Buddhafields and by wandering in the endless circle of samsara, the sufferings of the hell realm, the animal realm, and the world of the Lord of Death will be experienced.

As this sutra says, when the next life is forgotten, one cannot remember to give alms. Even if one has immeasurable wealth, if one cannot remember to use it for merit, one goes empty-handed when one dies. For example, even at the time of being in the presence of Lord Buddha, who is like precious land, the mother from Lower Waters neglected that opportunity to gain merit through worship. Because of the karma of miserliness, she was reborn as a hungry ghost.

Therefore, when hearing about the qualities of Dharma, from that point on, the mind can be placed in full awareness by giving, great giving, and total giving, so that the power of the mind becomes stronger and stronger until everything has been given. In order to lead others on the path of Dharma, sadness and weariness can be conquered by remembering the meaning of particular Mahayana and Vajrayana vows. Even when seeing and hearing about others who are frightened, one should remember, I am a Mahayana Buddhist, and then should give them refuge through many skillful means. Or, if one cannot actually do this through one's own power, one can still have compassion and take their immeasurable burden of suffering upon oneself.

When mindfulness has faded, one cannot have either compassion or realization, even though one considers oneself to be a Mahayana Buddhist. Some say they have realization, but their compassion cannot be aroused. Though they may have some understanding of Buddha's teaching, this is a definite sign of not having any realization. As Phadampa said:

Without compassion, realization cannot be born.
Fish are in water; they are not on dry land.

It is so true.

Also, morality that has faded comes from not remembering to be ashamed and not having awareness. If one remembers to prevent what should be abandoned of body, speech, and mind, and to collect what should be accepted of the correct, virtuous dharmas by being ashamed of acquiring a bad reputation and of cheating one's teachers, the vows to work for the benefit of sentient beings are not broken.

Through decreasing mindfulness, even someone like Gelong Dri-me Ö was deluded by the potions and powers of a prostitute, so his morality was ruined. After regaining his mindfulness, however, he felt deep regret. Weeping, he related the story to his fellow monks, and they took him to Manjushri to have his sins purified. Manjushri took him to Buddha. Buddha introduced the nature of absolute truth to him, and he realized the truth of the sublime view.

Absolute truth has been explained in many relative teaching sutras and absolute teaching sutras, such as The Finger Rosary Sutra. Yet ultimately, if all teachings are completed, then what should be abandoned and its antidote, what should be accepted, are automatically self-purified by wisdom. Then the essential transformation of the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana vows can be known.

Thus, the basis of the three vehicles is the vows, and the basis of all vows is the mind. The vows of the three levels of teaching corresponding to the three lineages exist in the mind, ornamented by the different rituals of abandonment and their antidotes. When the three vows are accompanied by extraordinary method and the wisdom of actual liberation, then there is no going, no coming, no remaining, no increasing, and no decreasing whatsoever within the relative appearance of vows, because there are no obstacles to prevent the truth from being seen, and so the essential transformation is accomplished.

It is said in The Sutra of Completely Clear Intelligence:

A monk practitioner who has various conceptions about moral discipline, losing moral discipline, and protecting moral discipline will experience the pleasures of the god realms and then wander again in the lower realms of samsara. If someone does not have either the pretension of keeping vows or not keeping vows, there is no conception.

So it is said. This is the pure morality of enlightenment.

Nevertheless, even though vows and moral discipline are spoken of like this, the Great Mendicant from Kashmir considered those who hold the twelve qualities of practice to be living according to the Buddha's teachings from the Tripitaka.

Also, for the important purpose of preventing the misuse of vows, Atisha prohibited the higher secret empowerments for monks because of the circumstances of time and place. Those who practice the siddha activities of secret mantra but only with devotion should also accept this as the absolute teaching.

Those who dispute intellectually, who are eager to insult other doctrines, who are clever only with words, or who refrain from only a single false activity, such as keeping their celibacy mainly out of false pride, are only protecting their vows up to the first layer of foreskin. With their own words and the ego of moral superiority, they have misinterpreted the teachings of the great guides who see the true meaning of the uncontrived essential nature. They change the extraordinary, absolute teaching of the supreme Vajradhara into their own ordinary, relative meaning. These intellectual philosophers cannot understand the essence beyond the limits of their own minds, but all sublime beings who have the qualities of the accomplishments of abandonment and realization, all Buddha activities, siddha actions, and the ability to perform miracles are the same as Buddha. The self-accomplished Vidyadhara Padmasambhava was perceived as the true second Buddha by all those who were honest and wise in the Snow Mountain Ranges. And beyond at the river Ganges, the incomparable great siddha Saraha said:

Until yesterday, I was not a fully ordained monk.
From today, I am. The superior monk is a glorious Heruka.

If the essential transformation of vows cannot be remembered from these truth-revealing words, and one continues to say that a fully ordained monk, skilled in the Tripitaka, exceeds Vajradhara in the three disciplines, then this would be a new conclusion that has never been uttered before. This would deprecate the supreme, pure-result stage of accomplishment of the unequaled Vajrayana. Furthermore, those who speak in this way break their own vows by distorting whatever behavior they indulge in as well, so refrain from this.

By remembering the inconceivable truth of the absolute nature, it should be understood how to join it with skillful means, because those who have perfectly accomplished siddha actions of Vajrayana practice do not hold the Hinayana point of view.

From the sutras:

Manjushri, it is like this. For example, when the newborn king of birds, the kalapingka, is in the broken egg, even before coming out of the shell, the kalapingka still naturally sings its beautiful song. Manjushri, likewise, when a Bodhisattva remains in the egg of ignorance, even though he has not conquered the belief in the existence of a self and even though he is not released from the three realms of existence, he still sings the sound of emptiness, the sound of characteristiclessness, the sound of nonwishing, and the sound of not collecting fabrications; and the sound of Buddha Dharma is revealed. Manjushri, it is like this. If the kalapingka goes among peacocks, he will not sing the kalapingka song. Only if he is among kalapingkas will he sing the kalapingka song. Manjushri, in this way, a Bodhisattva will not teach the inconceivable sounds of Dharma among practitioners of Hinayana and Pratyekabuddhas, but when he goes among the Bodhisattvas, he will reveal the inconceivable sounds of Buddha Dharma.

Thus it is said that great Bodhisattvas should understand the essence of the vehicle as explained predominantly in the Vinaya according to the six extremes and four methods.

A monk who considers entering the path and takes the three vows should keep each one individually. He should guard the different aspects of each of the vows without mixing them. If he combines the vows, he should bring the lower vow up to the higher vow. If he breaks the vows and needs to correct them, he should do so according to each of the three individual doctrines and instructions. Then he will be able to restore the broken vows. If, however, he does not do this with awareness and mindfulness of the instructions, he will not be able to restore the purity of his vows. For example, from the Bodhicharyavatara:

Those who wish to keep the vows
Should watch their minds very carefully.
If the mind is not watched,
The vows cannot be kept.

It is also said there:

Those who wish to watch the mind
Must make every effort
To guard mindfulness and awareness.
I join my hands in request that they may all do so.

Also, if mindfulness is impaired, the armor of patience is flawed. Even if one has the ability to endure the harm inflicted by enemies, this armor [of patience] will be broken if there is no mindfulness at the same time that an obstacle is encountered. Before an incident is over and what has happened cannot be changed, it must be instantly remembered, These harmful beings are controlled by passions. If I did not exist, there would be no cause for them to harm me, because when there is no object to harm, how can there be anyone who harms? The skandhas, elements, and sense gatherings are root circumstances, and the favorable or adverse qualities such as the unmindful behavior of body and speech are contributing circumstances, making me become a target that can be harmed by others. Others are responsible for this and cannot be blamed. I myself took this karmic body, was born in such and such a country, was given this name by parents, and reside in this place. These skandhas come from me and my grasping mind. Remember this and do not reflect on the faults and behaviors of others.

It is said in The Teachings of Great Compassionate Mind:

The patience of practicing and the patience of comprehending Dharma are two things to remember.

First:

Even if beings come again and again to a most brave Bodhisattva and insult him, say unpleasant things, use obscene language, or throw rocks and beat him with weapons, the bodhichitta of that perfect Bodhisattva will not be even slightly disturbed, and he will not experience any ill will toward them, wishing to accomplish the transcendent activity of patience. He will have compassion for those sentient beings and say to himself, Alas, generally these sentient beings are tormented by the karma of their passions. I should not allow any negative conception toward them to arise in my mind. This harmful activity has occurred because I have taken these hostile skandhas. Thus it is said in order to increase compassion for all beings.

So it is said. Second:

If one's own mindfulness has been distracted toward the power of delusion, and if these deluded phenomena mix with the object of perception, then the imagination can create the idea that it is the object that is harmful and increase the power of this association between the object and one's deluded phenomena. As an antidote to this, it is thought, If these sentient beings do not even exist in absolute truth, then who is there to abuse me, say unpleasant things, use obscene language, or throw rocks and beat me with weapons? As it says, I, and all sentient beings, and life, and going, and surviving, and so on, and all compounded phenomena are illusory, empty gatherings and essenceless, like the sky.

Everything should be perceived as having compounded and magical characteristics.

In regard to praise and blame, ignorant beings do not naturally know how to praise others even though they see their positive qualities. They are not sure whether to blame others even when they see their negative qualities. Instead, they are conceited, and the only sound from their mouths is unpleasant blurting. Also, they probably cannot bear to see the wealth and perfect qualities of others, which disturb them. When a Bodhisattva is on the Bodhisattva path, he helps those who wish to be his servants and friends to enter the gate of Dharma, and they learn Mahayana teachings and the profound rituals of Vajrayana from him. However, others who are overpowered by emotions may denigrate the Bodhisattva in many ways. As it is told in the history of Patient Sage, especially our Buddha did not lure anyone for the purpose of gain or attachment, neither tricking others with wealth nor bewitching them with mantras or anything else.

But when the time ripens to subdue beings, the power of wisdom phenomena is victorious. As it is said in The Great Skillfulness Sutra:

When a Bodhisattva practices Bodhisattva activities, he can take young girls into his service in order to completely bring them to liberation. And so it was that having stayed in the home of the Bodhisattva, forty-two thousand girls were brought to the result of enlightenment.

Thus it is also said.

The low-caste girl Noble Body, who expressed desire for Ananda, was ordained as a nun. Disregarding the truth of this, the people from Shravasti created gossip about the two that was never true.

Also, Stainless Renown appeared as an ordinary layperson in order to subdue beings by intelligent skillful means, yet he was inconceivably wise with a history of measureless qualities. Even the two excellent disciples of Buddha could not be compared to him. As with these saints, the Bodhisattva activity of subduing measureless beings cannot be understood by ordinary beings. So therefore, pitiful and unguided sentient beings will have no refuge if Bodhisattvas are not particularly tolerant toward these situations that cause denigration.

Some people think of themselves as great or holy, as described in The Precious Gathering:

A woman from Mon is not seen;
What is seen is her coral.

Thus, as this example shows, these people try to receive as many teachings as they can without having devotion and reverence. Raising their heads proudly, they conceal the identity of the Lama from whom they received instructions on the positive qualities of abandonment and realization as though he were an outcast. Since this will become a great obstacle to their accomplishment, one should have even more compassion for them and keep a vow of patience toward their ingratitude. Also, the patience of incisive thinking about Dharma comes from remembering the Three Jewels. The patience of enduring hardships develops from remembering the stories of the previous lives of Lord Buddha and the life histories of supreme beings. One must resolve to remember these examples. Likewise, whatever work is done in the Dharma must be joyfully continued with mindfulness or concentration, which is the essence of diligence.

When Buddha was about to pass into parinirvana, he held the hand of Ananda and said:

Protect the treasure of my precious Dharma with strong aspiration, diligence, and conscientiousness.

As he said, strong aspiration means remembering whatever the aim is again and again; diligence is actually engaging in the aim; and being conscientious is the way that one engages in that aim. This is because all the teachings of the Buddha should be a support to a mind that is completely weary of worldly matters.

As it is advised in The Sutra of Applying Mindfulness:

Monks, meditate in solitary mountain places, caves, cemeteries, and roofless places, seated on a heap of grass. Do not remain in carelessness, so that you have no regret later, at the time of death. This is my advice to all of you.

Thus he revealed his last words.

If there is no mindfulness, there is no support for either diligence or conscientiousness. Even if someone has the armor of diligence like King Ashoka or the three ancestral rulers, whose courage was like a covering of sky over the earth, antidotes must be used to maintain this diligence on the path. Mindfulness is thinking this way persistently without discouragement, conflict, or self-satisfaction, and using these antidotes to laziness.

Tripitaka

Tripitaka, literally three baskets, is the earliest Buddhist canonical text, consisting of three sections: 1) Buddha's discourses (sutras), 2) Rules of Discipline (Vinaya), 3) Analytical and explanatory texts, or commentaries (sastras). It is usually referred to together as the Pali Canon.