A rare gift to share with the world.

 Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.

Simone Weil

Who do you care about most in this life? Who needs your help, your insight, your wisdom? How do you even begin to help those in need, the poor, the destitute, the hungry? 

Here is the secret: 

Start with attention. 

Start with being present for that person, acknowledging them, listening to them, giving them the gift of being seen. 

Attention and presence are the ground upon which change and a path to better are built. You might not know the solutions to their problems, you might now be able to see all the steps between where you are and where you would like to be, you probably don't know the next best action or the right thing to say. But you can establish that ground, you can be present and bring forth the gift of attention.  

Your presence and attention can be the ground upon which the long arc of building a better future can start to be built. 

I am a contribution.

I like to think that my local coffee shop stays open and in business because I go to it. I support their  product, the way they do their work, the atmosphere they create. The time and attention I spend (and the money I spend) keeps them in business. 

With COVID-19, we can all start to appreciate how much this is true. The places that capture our attention and energy keep us coming back for more and are more likely to stay open over the long run. We make an effort to order out from the restaurants we enjoy. You might buy a gift card from a local retailer, knowing you will buy from them again in the future. Your actions create and effect the world around you, and your actions have power. 

It is also true that many of our actions support the discrimination of black people in our society. How do the neighborhoods we choose to live in and do business with affect the black community? How does the way our cities are structured, our schools designed, our financial markets created impact black lives? What about all of the media we consume, the TV shows we watch, the dreams we are told to dream, how do those impact our view and understanding of black lives? 

Just as surely as we contribute to the success of our local retailer, we contribute to the discrimination of black men, women and children in our society. It might not be intentional, but it doesn't have to be intentional for it to have an impact. 

The answer to this problem is not easy or clearly formed. It is a small step to know that you are a contribution. Knowing you are a contribution, you can begin to reflect on your actions and the way those actions reinforce what you would like to see in the world. 

Knowing you are a contribution, your contribution to supporting black lives can take many forms: attention, physical presence, donating, listening, sharing, supporting black businesses or artists. There isn't a right way to contribute, but there is a wrong way: thinking it's not up to you and that you aren't doing anything wrong.   

The cult of productivity.

If you could choose, would you be more productive or more present?

Can you be more productive so that you can be more present?

Are the two always at odds against one another?

The cult of productivity has a large following. There is a profound loss of presence and understanding in our world.

Where do we need to direct our attention?

When the cult of productivity requests an offering of your effort and attention, how can you say no to the alms bowl that has made its way to you?

Is it possible to stay in the community and not worship at the altar of productivity? Must you be sent out into the desert with no future to look forward to?

What happens when presence sets foot in the temple of productivity and refuses to bend the knee to false gods?

Can presence fulfill the same work yet attend to different rules and metrics?

There is no easy answer to these questions. Most important is to know that you are in the cult and to decide if that is the place you want to be.

Attention follows intention.

When we direct the mind in meditation, it is important that we start out with a clear instruction. Notice the way that our intention shapes and directs our practice.

Let's use the example of meditating on the breath.

If our intention is, "I'm going to meditate on the breath." First, we start noticing the breath at the nostrils. Then our attention slowly drifts to noticing the breath at the belly. Again the attention drifts to noticing the breath as the rib cage expands and contracts.

In this instance, the mind is focusing on the breath, but it is wandering as it becomes bored with the breath at a certain area. The lack of clarity and specificity means we have given our attention permission to wander. Uncertainty leads to restlessness.

Let's try this again, this time we are going to meditate on the breath at the belly. First, we start noticing the belly rise and fall. Then we start noticing the rib cage expand and contract. Wait! We recall our intention to focus on the belly and with mindfulness, bring our attention back to the belly.

Then we resume our practice.

Gradually, with a clear intention, our attention becomes more stable and our practice progresses. Attention follows intention.

Different traditions.

The tradition of study and contemplation that took place in Tibet and now modern day India and Nepal is quite different than our own tradition here in the West. Here in the West it is quite common to read a book over a month or two, make some notes, reflect on it and then move onto the next book.

We do cursory studies.

In Tibet, it was quite common to study a single text for months or years. There was an in depth attention and application of the text at hand. The purpose wasn't to get through the material, but to do an immersive study and internalize the work.

This immersive study took place under the guidance of a dependable teacher. They made the depth and breadth of the work accessible and practical. This was the very foundation upon which the classical studies of the Buddhist textual tradition was based.

If we are looking to transform our mind and our life, it doesn't happen overnight. We cannot expect to read a book or two and to discover what is meaningful. It takes effort over the long haul. It requires that we return again and again to the same teachings, coming at them from different angles and under different situations. Over time, we discover the essence and we are able to enjoy it for ourselves.

Acknowledging our pain.

The first sermon that the Buddha gave upon his awakening was the teaching on the Four Noble Truths- the truth of suffering, its origin, cessation, and the path to eliminate suffering.

The path to awakening starts with acknowledging our pain and dissatisfaction.

Truth seems elusive these days. Everyone has their own version of the truth and there seems to be little accountability for upholding that which is true. What is truth and why is it significant?

Truth is that which is authentic and non-deceptive. To be a seeker of truth means that one pursues that which is authentic and to remember what it is that is important in life.

The truth of suffering wakes us up to what is important. The truth of suffering is a call to attention, a wake up call. By acknowledging the truth of suffering, we can discover a truth that we can live with and recall that which is meaningful. The outer drama of our suffering can awaken us from the sleep of ignorance, discovering our purpose and recalling what it is that is important and meaningful in our life.

Our symptoms, looking back, can reveal what it is that we have to do.

By denying or rejecting the truth of our own suffering, we close ourselves off to insight into our own condition. Rather than fixing our situation, we require and strive for everything else to be fixed. We fall prey to the preoccupations of our small self, trapped in a world of self-indulgence and a repetitive cycle of lies about who we are or who we pretend to be.

The opposite of living your inner truths isn't living falsely, it is living a lie. We deceive ourselves.

To awaken from the path of self-deception, first we must acknowledge the truth of our own suffering.

Eight remedial techniques.

The eight remedies are antidotes to the five flaws of meditation. 

Antidote to laziness

1.     Faith

Faith means to study and develop conviction in the teachings. This faith is based on reason and logic and our own experience of the Dharma.

2.     Intention

Intentions lead to mental actions, which eventually become habits. Be clear, be specific.

3.     Effort

Effort is the greatest predictor of progress in your practice. If it is difficult to develop a joyful effort towards practice, reexamine your faith and intention.

4.     Pliancy

Pliancy means that our mind and body become adaptable and dexterous. We become open to change, ready to change. Pliancy is like making friends with a horse and learning to ride it, at some point the horse becomes workable.

Antidote to forgetting the instructions

5.     Mindfulness

Mindfulness is strong and focused, it recalls our intention and the object of our meditation.

Antidote to dullness and agitation

6.     Vigilance

Vigilant awareness is sharp and clear. Vigilance is able to access the quality of our meditation, be aware of our mind, and notice problems as they start to come up. It notices agitation and dullness and can allow us to tighten up our mindfulness before we lose our focus.

Antidote to under-application

7.     Attention

Attention means that we recognize and respond to fault arising in our meditation. Vigilant awareness might notice dullness starting to creep into our meditation, but if we fail to pay attention that subtle dullness might turn into a lose of clarity or even gross dullness.

Antidote to over-application

8.     Equanimity

Equanimity is the mind resting naturally, free from agitation and dullness. It is a mind that is calm, clear and vibrant; like a calm lake during the daytime.

Training the Mind.

The fifth stage of the nine ways of resting the mind is called training the mind. When we have arrived at the completely settled state, our mindfulness can hold our object of meditation continuously without being distracted. We still notice thoughts, sounds and sensations arising in our peripheral awareness, but those appearances aren't strong enough to distract us from our focus.

In the fifth stage, we are primarily focused on overcoming subtle dullness in our meditation. As we are resting in the completely settled state, one of the errors that we can make is that we fall into a state of dullness or numbness. We might be focused on our object, but we've sunk into a mental state that is narrow and without clarity. We are focused on our object, but not really. There might even be the comfort and pleasure of a cozy, peaceful meditative state. We should recognize this error and try to prevent it.

The main goal of this state is to prevent that subtle dullness from overtaking our meditation. The way that we do this is to maintain and strengthen our vigilant awareness. As subtle dullness starts to set in, vigilance starts to collapse and weaken. Our alert awareness starts to shrink, to close in on itself. Everything starts to collapse onto our object of meditation, and we lose the vibrancy and alertness of vigilant awareness. We might maintain our attention on our object for a bit, but eventually this subtle dullness gives way to gross dullness or even sleep.

If we can catch vigilant awareness as it starts to weaken, we can make a correction and increase the intensity or the scope of awareness. We can expand our peripheral awareness, exert a little effort to make it more clear.

As we train our mind, we can eventually notice when subtle dullness is starting to creep in and make the necessary corrections to prevent it from arising at all. When we have eliminated subtle dullness, we move a little closer to resting in the single-pointed state.

Goals for the immovable state.

There are two primary goals for the immovable state:
1. Learn how to work with appearances in all their variety.
2. Increase the power of mindfulness and vigilance.

We start the practice by settling into and abiding in the natural state, the nature of mind to which we have been introduced. We simply want to maintain this state continuously, in an uncontrived and effortless manner.

In the beginning, as we sit for a few moments or minutes, stuff starts to come up in our experience. We encounter a variety of sights, sounds and sensations. Our mind wanders to various thoughts and memories. We might experience certain emotions. We become aware of all kinds of appearances within our field of awareness.

How do we work with these appearances?

We simply rest, which is not easy to do. Our mind quickly grabs onto various appearances, chases after pleasure and pushes away pain. Our vigilant peripheral awareness notices when our mind has wavered, and with the effort of mindfulness, we return to the natural state.

This might seem similar to meditating on the breath. We simply return the distracted mind to our breath, and refocus on our object. Our attention likes to be placed on something. It likes to be exercised. The challenge is when we are resting in an uncontrived open presence, we suddenly become aware of lots of things that our attention wants to grab onto. 

As we learn to work with appearances, it is important to remember that we are not concerned with the contents of our experience. What is appearing isn't important, even if it seems to be. It is more important how we are engaging in the practice, rather than what is happening. We should be aware of the activity occurring in our field of awareness, but not concerned with what is occurring. 

This is a really important distinction. Our goal isn't to stop appearances from arising, our goal is to cut through fixating on those appearances as they arise. This isn't easy, it is counter to everything our minds normally do. Our mind wants to hold onto its experience, savor its pleasure and take another sip.

Which brings us to our second goal of this practice, which is giving rise to powerful mindfulness and vigilance. Initially, our minds are overwhelmed by appearances. Whatever is occurring in our experience is too exciting, too painful, too intense. We get swept up and carried away by all the movement of our mind. By increasing the power of mindfulness and vigilance we don't get so overwhelmed by appearances. This takes time and effort. Eventually, through practice, we start to loosen up our fixation. We start to let appearances be, just as they are. We let them arise. We let them abide, We let them cease. Eventually, appearances don't disturb our meditation. Eventually, we don't waver. 

This is what we mean by the immovable state.

The way to increase the power of mindfulness is to practice. There is no other way that to simply become familiar with the natural state. Start with short sessions. Sit for 10-15 minutes. Then break for a minute, and then meditate again. Go in and out on purpose. Develop agility for resting in the natural state, not only on the cushion but off.

We can increase the power of vigilance by expanding our awareness.  You can see that when you are experiencing dullness, peripheral awareness closes down and has a sinking feeling. Everything is losing energy and shrinking, and you simultaneously lose clarity and alertness. To increase the power of vigilance, imagine expanding your field of awareness. Imagine your awareness is a transparent glass that can see everything inside and out, above and below.  This vast, powerful vigilance awareness simply witnesses the extent of space, both inside and out. Everything is clearly apparent, appearances naturally unfolding in all their variety.

Combining a powerful mindfulness with clear and alert vigilant awareness, we simply rest in the uncontrived natural state. As we continue to learn to work with appearances, we gain more and more stability such that we no longer waver. As stability further increases in this immovable state, we transition to the state of unification. 

Unique Dzogchen Mindfulness and Vigilance

Everyone is familiar with mindfulness. Mindfulness is often described as focus or attention directed towards a particular object. We can be mindful of our breath, mindful of the way we walk or our daily activities, like washing the dishes. In this sense, mindfulness is synonymous with attention or focus.

Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as paying attention on purpose, in the present and without judgment. That is a useful definition, but again here the indirect meaning is that we are paying attention to some thing.

In Dzogchen we also employ mindfulness, but in Dzogchen there is no object of focus. The practice of Dzogchen is said to be without support. 

How do we be mindful, but not mindful of any thing?

We can define mindfulness in the Dzogchen tradition as an uncontrived, open presence free from judgment.

It is uncontrived because we are not directing our attention towards anything in particular and we are not trying to make anything happen. It is open presence because we are alert and aware, here and now. It is without judgment because we are not concerned with the contents of what is arising in our experience, whether it is good or bad, painful or pleasurable.

We simply rest in uncontrived, open presence free from judgment.

At first this takes a lot of effort. The habitual instincts of our mind is to be engrossed and fixate on our experience. We chase after sights and sounds. We follow trails of thought and get caught up in a web of stories. Our attention picks out objects, clings to them and gets caught up in distraction. This is where vigilance comes into play.

Vigilance is a clear, alert peripheral awareness that guards our meditation. Vigilance can be both extrospective and introspective awareness. We are aware of various appearances to our senses, but we also clearly see the array of thoughts and emotions coming up in our internal experience. In this way, vigilance is like a transparent looking glass, it sees everything but doesn't react to it. It is mindfulness which does the fine tuning, when it is necessary.

Vigilance notices when our attention has strayed towards an object or appearance. Noting that we have strayed, we use mindfulness to again rest in the uncontrived, natural state. As we train ourselves to rest in the natural state, the wandering of attention becomes less and less, eventually giving way to effortless mindfulness.

In effortless mindfulness, the strength of vigilance becomes further intensified and more powerful. It is like a sharp razor that cuts through appearances in all their variety. As we continue our training, eventually effortless mindfulness gives way to baseless mindfulness and the actual path of Dzogchen.

Working with uncertainty.

You will experience uncertainty on the path.  We can turn and hide from it, or learn to carry it into our practice.   

In the beginning, turn it into a question.  Use it as a marker for curiosity.  Try to resolve it.

In the middle, allow it to refine your practice.  Use it to find the edges and break them down.  Allow it to give rise to dissonance and resistance so you know where to focus your attention.   

In the end, no one has walked this path before.  You are forging an new trail, uncertainty lies just around the next bend.  Keep going. 

Following in their footsteps.

In the beginning, we give our teacher our attention and interest
by listening, contemplating and deepening our understanding.

In the middle, out of respect and devotion we offer them our support-
investing our time and energy because of the impact their teachings have had on us.

In the end, it is our responsibility to preserve and share the teachings,
so we choose to embody the teachings, to become their working basis.
That is the way of commitment and generosity, the way in which we follow their example.
This is the greatest offering we can make to our teachers.