The Toolbox.

Meditation is a tool, and as a tool there are many different forms that it takes. Some types of meditation are better at calming the mind, others for inducing clarity or insight. Some give rise to bliss, others to peace and equanimity.

In our practice of shamatha, we have several different types of meditation that we should keep in our toolbox and gain familiarity with.

Meditation with an Object

The Breath. The breath is probably the most common meditation technique. The mind and breath are intimately linked, so as we work with the breath we work on the mind. The technique is simple, simply observe the inhale and exhale of the breath. Some people focus on the feeling of the breath passing by the nostrils, others prefer to focus on the gentle rise and fall of the upper stomach as you inhale and exhale. Whatever method you prefer, simply connect with the inhale and exhale of the breath. It isn't necessary to count, just breathe naturally.


A thigle of light. A common technique within the Tibetan tradition is to focus on an internal drop or thigle of light. This thigle is often focused on within the heart chakra or some other chakra, and serves as a visualized support for your practice. Focus on a brilliant white drop of light in the center of your heart, then connect with the inhale and exhale of the breath. As you inhale, imagine that light becoming more brilliant, as you exhale imagine it becoming more stable. There are many alternative methods for working with thigles in meditation.

Vajra breathing. Similar to focusing on the breath, you can visualize yourself in the form of your yidam or as a clear body of light. As you inhale, recognize the resonance of the breath as OM. As the breath abides, recognize it as AH. As you exhale, recognize the resonance of the breath as HUNG. In this way we connect the breath with mantra. Initially this practice can be rather conceptual and you may find yourself reciting OM, AH, HUNG. As you gain more familiarity with the practice and the sound of mantra the words will fall away and you can simply observe the breath as inseparable from mantra.

Enhancement techniques. When you are drowsy or your meditation is dull, you can focus on a white thigle of light at your third eye. Alternatively, you can imagine the white thigle at your heart shooting up through your crown and extending further and further into the sky, almost like traveling up an elevator. When you are experiencing distraction or agitation, you can visualize a black heavy thigle in your navel, pulling you down into the ground like a heavy weight. Alternatively, you can imagine it shooting down into the ground, anchoring and grounding you. These enhancement techniques can be used initially to cultivate a calm, clear mind, or they can be used as remedial techniques to work with distraction and dullness during meditation.

There are many other forms of object based meditation, including practices like Guru Yoga, mantra meditation and other tantric practices. If you have instruction in those meditation techniques feel free to use them as you have been taught. 

Meditation without an Object

Resting in the natural state. This type of meditation is unique to Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Simply relax the body, breath and mind. Don't worry about the past. Don't speculate about the future. Simply rest, without judging the present or cultivating expectations. Relax into the uncontrived natural state. In this meditation we want to recognize and rest in the nature of the mind, which is unceasing luminous emptiness. That can be difficult at first, as we learn to work with mind and its appearances. Any attempt to manipulate, correct, adjust or fix is mistaken. Simply relax in open presence.


Sitting in a comfortable meditative posture,
Our body is left open, relaxed.
The shoulders, neck and face are relaxed,
The eyes are left open, gently gazing into the space before oneself.
The breath is natural- gentle and uncontrived.
The senses are open, free from fixation,
Let whatever appears be as it is.
Don’t fixate- on feelings, thoughts, sights or sounds.
Just relax and settle, like waves on water.
Slowly, like mud settling out,
The mind will become calm and clear.
Rest in the natural state.

Any of these techniques can be used in our meditation. Become familiar with each of them. Develop your toolbox. Some you will naturally gravitate towards, others may be useful in certain situations. 

Meditation: A Panacea?

Meditation is all the rage lately.  Study after study has reported its benefits, from
health, to memory, to happiness and even sex.

Is it really the panacea that it is purported to be?

Meditation is a vehicle.  It brings you to where you want to go.  Just as you take a car to go hiking, or a plane to travel abroad, or a boat to go fishing; meditation is a vehicle.

If it is a vehicle, then it is really important that you have a clear intention for where you are going. 

The Buddha divided all types of meditation into two categories- worldly and transcendent.

Worldly meditation involves not only all of the health and wellness benefits listed above, but also includes meditation for the sake of cultivating specific mental states for your own benefit. 

Transcendent meditation is for the purpose of liberation.  Complete awakening has the function of liberating the mind from all suffering and ignorance, but its distinctive feature is the presence of great compassion. 

Great compassion fulfills its own intention by carrying out and ensuring the benefit of others.  In this way, transcendent meditation not only fulfills your own aims, it also fulfills the aims of others. 

It transcends the self.  It is greater in purpose, greater in scope.

With this type of meditation, your life becomes the vehicle for awakening in order to bring benefit to those around you.  Everything is included in your practice everything becomes part of the path.

What is your intention for meditation?

Dance Standing Still

The ultimate bodhicitta slogans are instructions that are meant to allow one to recognize and cultivate ultimate bodhicitta in meditation.  

2. Regard all dharmas as dreams.

Normally, our reality and day to day affairs seem very concrete.  Our experience feels very real as we are going through it- the whirlwind of our thoughts, surging emotions, feelings of joy and our aches and pains.  We usually don't examine our experience and we just take it for granted.  Life in a nutshell.  

As we move away from our experiences, in the following hours, days and weeks we find it increasingly hard to remember what it was exactly that we were holding onto.  What did that wine and steak taste like again?  What were we arguing about?  What was it that we were so desperate to uphold, reaffirm or prove?  Was it worth all the effort?  

Regarding all dharmas- all experiences, sense objects and activities- as a dream means that we relate to them with less fixation, more openness.  Dream here doesn't mean hazy or unclear.  We can have very lucid dreams, dreams that evoke very real emotions and feelings while we are caught up in them.  The key is that when we awake from a dream we know it was just a dream and that the experience was temporary and fleeting, that it was just something that we were fixating on in our own mind. 

We can experience this sort of insight in our own meditation.  When we take our seat in meditation we become aware of an endless dance of thoughts, sights, sounds and feelings.  Our habitual tendency is to fixate on these phenomena in all their variety, but in meditation we just let them be as they are without following after them.  As we begin to relax into that illusory dance we begin to discover an underlying stillness.

Within the space of meditation, without grasping at the dynamic display that is arising in all its variety, we begin to notice and appreciate this unchanging quality.  Despite movement there is stillness.  It is here that we can look at the next slogan.

3. Examine the nature of unborn awareness.  

When we look at this awareness, we are aware of this unceasing dance of phenomena that is occurring, but since we are not getting caught up in that display we are also aware of this calm stillness.  Look at that.  Where does this come from, where does it go?

When you look at the dance you find there is nothing to hold onto, it is an endless play that can take any form at all and yet never exists as a single thing whatsoever.  When you look at the mind, there are all these things we are aware of, yet there is an underlying stillness that is lucid and alert.  When you look at that mind, you cannot find anything.  There is nothing there to hold onto, mind is unborn, yet there is this awareness that perceives very clearly.  From here we can address the next slogan.

4.  Self-liberate even the antidote.

When we look at the dynamic dance of phenomena, we find that despite the unceasing play there is this unchanging stillness which could be interpreted as nothing ever really happening.  When we look at the mind we find that while it is aware, we cannot find any particular 'thing' that is actually mind. 

The danger here is that we could come to the conclusion of 'Well, what's the point? Nothing matters, nothing ever happens.  Who cares, it doesn't matter what you do'.  This is very tricky, for we risk becoming nihilists- heartless narcissistic bastards.  Don't do that. 

Self-liberate the antidote means not to get caught up in that experience, don't solidify that experience of emptiness.  Don't fixate on that experience of not finding anything that is truly lasting.

5. Rest in the nature of the alaya, the essence.  

In meditation, we seek to move beyond our coarse level of mind and learn to rest in a more subtle level.  There are eight types of consciousnesses- five sense (sight, hearing, olfactory, taste, touch), conceptual consciousness, emotional consciousness and the alaya, or foundational consciousness.

The idea of resting in the alaya is that we are not supposed to get caught up in the dance of the other seven consciousnesses.  We don't want to follow after all the sights, sounds, smells, feelings and thoughts we are experiencing as we sit in meditation.  Learn to rest in a calm, clear, non-discursive awareness.  As we familiarize with this place of natural rest, free from coming and going, we also familiarize ourselves with ultimate bodhicitta.

It is important to understand that the alaya is not ultimate bodhicitta, but it is a much more subtle level of mind where we can begin to appreciate the qualities and characteristics of the nature of the mind.

Resting in the alaya we can see the dreamlike nature of all phenomena.   Not getting caught up in the dynamic dance of phenomena, we are able to examine the nature of unborn awareness.  Without clinging to that experience we self-liberate even the antidote, which is the empty nature of awareness.  We rest in lucid clarity, the mind open and expansive.  All of this is something that we are not creating in meditation, it becomes self-evident as we continue to sit with the proper instruction.

6.  In post-meditation, be a child of illusion.

At the end of the meditation session, don't just get up and go about your day.  Carry whatever insight or experience you have from meditation into your daily life.  Let it infuse your relationships, your work, your good times and your bad. 

Regard all situations and activities as dreams.  Don't get caught up in the dance.  We need to participate in the dance, we don't really have a choice here.  We cannot be a wallflower in the dance of life.  But as we dance we can adapt, respond; we can lead or follow; show strength or vulnerability.  We can affect the shape and the form the dance takes, a miraculous display that can appear in any way whatsoever. 

Go dancing, be a child of illusion. 

Five flaws of meditation.

There are five flaws (Tib. nyes pa lnga) of meditation that prevent us from developing a calm, clear mind.

1.     Laziness

Laziness is a flaw because it ensures that we don’t start. We may want to start a meditation practice, but when we try we run into the inertia of our own indolence. There are three types of laziness- lethargy, obsession with pointless activity, and discouragement.

2.     Forgetting the instructions

Forgetting the instructions means to not know the object of your meditation or how to meditate. We have sat down to meditate, but we have forgotten how to meditate properly.

3.     Dullness and Agitation

Dullness and agitation are the main problems that we experience during meditation.

4.     Under-application

Under-application means not correcting your meditation when you are aware of the faults of dullness or agitation. Failing to apply the remedy, our mind wanders and our meditation deteriorates.

5.     Over-application

Over-application means continuing to apply remedies when it is no longer necessary. When our minds are naturally resting on our object of meditation, we should not continue to manipulate or try to augment our meditation.

Buddhism in a nutshell.

How do you orient to your practice? 

A lot of times we think of our practice as being one part of our day, like when we are meditating or doing yoga.  Practice in that sense is rather isolated and we can struggle with how to bring that practice into the rest of our day. 

Buddhist's tend to think of their practice in terms of view, meditation and conduct.

View.

Your view is how you see the world.  What is your relationship to the world?  How do you understand yourself and the world around you?  How does your perception influence your experience?  Is your view based on the truth or is it based on assumptions and bias?

Meditation.

Meditation is based on the view.  We stabilize our understanding and experience of the view.  We familiarize ourselves to seeing clearly and eliminate distortion in our lens.  We cultivate mental states that are beneficial like compassion, and learn to let go of mental states like anger and anxiety that bring us suffering.

Conduct.

Conduct is how we bring the view that we have cultivated in meditation into the world.  What posture do these teachings embody?  How do we walk through our day?  How does our view and meditation benefit our family and community?  What does your view look like in action?

Using this triad of view, meditation and conduct, you can develop a complete practice that includes all aspects of your life.  You can clarify your view through study, contemplation and seeking out teachings.  You can deepen your practice of meditation by receiving further instruction or going on meditation retreats.  You can share the fruits of your practice in the communities in which you live and work. 

Clarify your view.
Deepen your meditation.
Share the fruit.

That's the practice of the Buddha's teachings in a nutshell. 

A complete practice.

As a practitioner, we all struggle to integrate our practice with our daily life.  We struggle to carry our daily practice off the cushion and into the world.  We struggle with trying to figure out how to act in the world after we no longer buy into the rat race of money, status and power.

These are problems that we try to solve as practitioners.

In order to relieve the tension we often feel between our practice and our daily life, we need to develop a complete practice.  A complete practice isn't just what you do on the cushion.  It starts with how you see the world, includes your meditation, your activity in the world and the result of your practice.

View.  Meditation. Conduct. Result.

View.  How do you see the world?  Is it possible to transform your vision?  What is your outlook and your intention?  Is your view informed by wisdom or by biased perception?  Your view can be like standing on the top of a mountain in which you can see everything below very clearly.  It can be like a vast expanse of space without border or limit.

Meditation.  Your view leads to meditation.  If you see how all things are dependently arisen, you will see subtle connections in meditation.  If you appreciate the impermanence of all phenomena you won't fixate on meditation experiences.  Meditation deepens your appreciation of the view and cuts through conceptual constraints.  Meditation is a vehicle.  It elicits your buddhanature in all its fullness- originally pure and naturally present.  As we gain confidence with this unique state, we awaken to timeless freedom and great compassion.

Conduct.  How do you carry your view and meditation into your daily life?  What does that look like?  What do you do with the freedom that you have gained?  We engage in the conduct of the bodhisattvas- we share generously, know how to work with our emotions, have patience to work through resistance and problems, and joyously persevere with a focused mind.  We carry wisdom into our homes, communities, work, life. 

Result.  Your life is your spiritual practice, the result is the path.  Every step you take.  

Never finished, yet never bound; such is the complete practice of the bodhisattvas. 

Living with pain, not in pain.

Chronic pain is a very common and often debilitating condition that affects young and old alike. Western medicine struggles with pain management, we encourage modalities like physical therapy, massage, accupuncture, exercise, but often end up turning to opioids and other medications to manage chronic pain. Meditation has made its way into the treatment of pain, but even that has mixed results. 

Meditation seems to be touted as a cure-all these days, recommended for everything from treating hypertension, to mental illness, chronic pain, and improving overall well-being. There is a lot of good data supporting the practice of meditation for these purposes, but I think it is important to recognize that meditation is not a cure-all, but rather manages to make everything workable. 

This is a rather minor but significant shift. Meditation won't solve all your problems, but it will help make all your problems workable. Problems of all kinds are solved when we see them as workable. When we know that we can experiment, play around with things, try something new in a maybe slightly different way, we can solve problems. Maybe the problem goes away, maybe it just becomes less of a threat. 

Most of the power that problems have, and this is especially true of chronic pain, is that they seem inescapable. The pain doesn't go away, and it doesn't seem likely that it is going to go away tomorrow. This persistent experience in our lives is exhausting and drains a lot of our attention and energy. When we fight our pain, it always wins, because it gains power when we resist it. Try to escape its presence by using drugs and alcohol, and we just find it again on the other side of our stupor. Escape seems hopeless, we seem powerless, and it is very easy for depression to set it. 

The solution that meditation provides is to find some space with the pain. In meditation, we find that we can experience pain, but not be overwhelmed by the pain. The pain is there, dancing, doing its thing, but it is also a little distant from 'us'. We find that we don't need to identify with the pain, that we can live with the pain, rather than in pain. Pain in this sense becomes like a companion with us on the journey of life. Sure, it is often a nagging companion that we don't really want to hang out with, but alas, here we are. If they are going to join you on this journey, you might as well figure out how this relationship is going to work. 

If you are feeling stuck with a chronic problem like pain, start by trying to find a space where you can be present amidst the pain. Set out to discover a sense of peace and calm, a solid ground to stand (or sit), amidst the experience of pain. This ground is the basis of exploring and understanding your relationship with pain. When you start to realize that you can experience pain but not be dominated by its presence, then you have made the problem workable. Gradually, your presence overpowers the presence of pain. Sit with that, your presence overwhelms the presence of pain, rather than the other way around (the old way of our relationship with pain).

Then, like the Buddha said, our pain becomes like a teaspoon for salt in a large body of water, rather than a small cup. The salts still there, but not as distasteful.  

My last thought on the use of meditation for working with pain. Often, we are asked by the doctor how much pain we are in, 0-10. If the pain is held as a constant level of experience, what if we change our relationship to that pain. How can we move from a 7 to a 5? Or even a two? That's what meditation can do, I'm confident of that. 

Dharma practitioners don't just meditate.

The Buddha's teachings get a lot of press about meditation. A lot of people may even equate the Buddha's teachings with meditation. That's what the Buddha did, right?

The Buddha did not just teach about meditation.

Meditation is a critical step in a much larger process of developing insight and wisdom. The development of wisdom evolves through three phases- study, contemplation and meditation.

When we study, we learn key concepts and principles. We are exposed to ideas and use reason and logic to determine their validity.

Contemplation is the process of building connections, coming at the material from different angles and reflecting on our experience of the teachings we have been studying. Contemplation involves deeper aspects of our mind and heart, often within the sphere of contemplation we will experience flashes of insight or meaning that seem to come from outside our own conjecture.

Meditation is the process of moving beyond concepts and into direct experience. We can talk about what chocolate tastes like, we can compare it to other regional varieties, but at some point we need to actually taste the chocolate. Meditation is a direct experience of the teachings.

We gain a certain type of knowledge and wisdom through study. We gain a different type of knowledge and wisdom through contemplation. The wisdom of meditation is the wisdom of direct experience.

The fundamental problem that all dharma practitioners are trying to resolve is the human condition complete with all of its negative and positive aspects. We as humans experience a lot of pain and suffering. Mental illness runs rampant through our communities affecting both young and old. But we also see great examples of virtues like compassion, generosity and wisdom. As dharma practitioners work to solve this problem, they rely on the process of study, contemplation and meditation. Over and over again, they cycle through these processes, continuously trying to resolve the nature of their own human life, and sharing that wisdom with others.

Slowly, and tirelessly they gain wisdom about how to work with suffering and practice virtue.
Slowly, and tirelessly they gain wisdom about how to live with suffering and share virtue.
Slowly, and tirelessly they discover freedom in the midst of suffering and learn how to embody virtue.
Slowly, and tirelessly they learn how to embody virtue and discover freedom in the midst of suffering.

Nine Ways of Resting the Mind

There are nine stages that we pass through when cultivating a calm, clear mind through the practice of shamatha, or calm abiding. These nine are:

1. Settling the Mind.
We focus the mind on some object, whether an outer form like the image of a Buddha or an inner object such as a drop of light or the breath. This might be only for a moment.
2. Continuous Settling.
We prolong our focus on our object of meditation. We maintain our mindfulness for another breath. We aren't distracted by the first thought that floats through our head. A small stream of the present opens up.
3. Continuously Resettling.
We become distracted, recognize it as such and come back to our object of meditation. Vigilant awareness recognizes that we have wavered, that our attention has strayed. Mindfulness brings us back to our object. We wander, we come back and resettle.
4. Completely Settled.
Our mind is settled and our focus doesn't waver as thoughts, emotions or sensations rise and fall. Our meditation is more calm and clear. A more refined and subtle mind is apparent, but we still experience agitation and dullness, distraction and heaviness.

Stages 5-7 address how we work with this agitation and dullness. The completely settled state isn't inert. It is vibrant, dynamic, full of movement. The radiance of the mind continues to unfold. How do we continue to work with that experience and go deeper?

5. Training the Mind.
As we rest in the completely settled mind, we may experience various degrees of heaviness or dullness. Our mind is calm, but there is no light. We lack the fuel, the enthusiasm or the inspiration to continue to progress in our meditation. Reflecting on the positive qualities of meditation, engaging in virtuous acts, cultivating devotion or reverence for your teacher, all of these can breath fresh air into your meditation.
6. Calming.
Resting in the completely settled mind, we may experience restlessness and agitation. Thoughts stir, memories unfold, emotions rise and fall. We should recognize the faults of distraction and pacify any resistance to developing our meditative absorption.
7. Completely calming.
Interruptions are few and far between. Little of what we experience pulls us away from our focus. Our minds are not as enraptured by good or bad feelings, thoughts are like small clouds that float through the sky or like water bubbles.

As we gain agility in resolving agitation and dullness in our meditation, we progress to the final stages of shamatha.

8. Single-pointedness.
Whereas once our meditation involved a lot of effort and struggle, now it is without interruption and stable. There is still some subtle effort at play in this stage, still some remedial work using various applications to resolve distraction.
9. Resting in equanimity.
Our minds rest naturally in evenness, without the effort of having to apply any remedies. The mind is calm and clear, like a candle flame unstirred by the breeze. One rests in the state of total mental and physical pliancy, endowed with well-being, clarity and the absence of concepts or mental stirring. 

Upcoming Meditation Workshop: New Location!

Meditation Workshop:
Bringing the Mind to Rest

Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:  Sunday, November 24, 2019 from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM (PST)  Phinney Neighborhood Center Brick Building- Room 32 (Third floor) 6532 Phinney Ave N Seattle, WA 98103 View Map

Attend Event

Share this event:

Join us for a weekend workshop on the stages of meditation. Learn how to meditate, ask questions, engage in dialogue with other practitioners. Learn the foundational practices for calming your mind, recognizing your own nature, and cultivating your own personal practice.

No prior meditation experience necessary, all students welcome.

• Be introduced to the key points of meditation
• Learn how to bring the mind to rest using various techniques
• Learn how recognize the innate qualities of the nature of mind
• Understand how we stray in the practice and how to eliminate errors in our meditation
  

Location details for Phinney Neighborhood Center

We are located in the lower Brick building at the Phinney Neigborhood Center. Parking is available for free onsite in both the upper lot by the Blue building, and in the lower lot by the Brick building. Meditation cushions and chairs will be available for use.

November Meditation Workshop

Meditation Workshop:
Bringing the Mind to Rest

Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:  Sunday, November 24, 2019 from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM (PST)  Phinney Neighborhood Center Brick Building- Room 32 6532 Phinney Ave N Seattle, WA 98103 View Map

Attend Event

Share this event:

Join us for a weekend workshop on the stages of meditation. Learn how to meditate, ask questions, engage in dialogue with other practitioners. Learn the foundational practices for calming your mind, recognizing your own nature, and cultivating your own personal practice. No prior meditation experience necessary, all students welcome. Be introduced to the key points of meditation Learn how to bring the mind to rest using various techniques Learn how recognize the innate qualities of the nature of mind Understand how we stray in the practice and how to eliminate errors in our meditation Location details for Phinney Neighborhood Center We are located in the lower Brick building at the Phinney Neigborhood Center. Parking is available for free onsite in both the upper lot by the Blue building, and in the lower lot by the Brick building. Meditation cushions and chairs will be available for use.

Equanimity.

The four foundations of Dzogchen naturally unfold in our meditation if we are able to maintain the uncontrived natural state. Each stage is marked not by a sense of accomplishment or progress being made, but rather by what we are not able to resolve in our meditation or where we are getting stuck.

Initially, we are distracted by the play of appearances and the diverse experiences that arise in our meditation. As we gain agility in working with appearances, we can have a very clear appreciation of our meditation moving from the immovable state to single-pointedly abiding in rigpa. As we continue to cut through dualistic appearances and to not fall prey to subtle distraction or dullness, the single-pointed state becomes like a vast limpid ocean. This is the state of equanimity.

In the state of equanimity, stability and clarity are equal. Whatever arises in our meditation is equal in being the dynamic energy of awareness, or rigpa tsal.

There is no need for other methods. There is no doubt, no excitement. Everything is equal.

Clarity and dullness are equal in nature, equal in experience. Clarity and emptiness are equal. Stability and clarity are equal.

Often in meditation, too much stability can lead to dullness. Here, abiding in equanimity, stability induces clarity.

Often in meditation, too much clarity can lead to agitation. Here, abiding in equanimity, clarity induces stability.

It is here that the subtle Dzogchen mindfulness that we employed moves from effort to effortless. Mindfulness here is really mindfulness of the instruction, of the pointing out. While previously, as we struggled to resolve appearances, we employed a subtle mindfulness that allowed us to cut through appearances. Here, that mindfulness becomes completely effortless.

As we gain greater stability in the state of equanimity, we eventually cut through to baseless spontaneous presence, naked awareness beyond mind. 

Digging Up the Roots

Previously we have discussed dependent origination and how we get entrapped in the cycle of conditioned existence.  It may seem hard to determine how we can apply these teachings to our life, what their usefulness is to us right now and especially how to apply them at times when we are caught up in the cycle. 

There are two points at which we can attack this cycle, 1) fixation and 2) ignorance.  There is some debate about this within different Buddhist schools, but we can say that if we cut through fixation then we can indeed be free from suffering because we cut through the rest of the process of birth, aging, sickness and death.  Now, this is not to be equated with being a Buddha, because even though we may be free from suffering, we still have the conceptual veils which obscure our vision, we still have duality, subject and object. 

There was the question, what would life be like without any fixation, is that even possible to conceive of?  Indeed, that is difficult to conceive of, but we should contrast fixation with enjoyment.  We can conceive of a situation where we enjoy in something without being fixated on it.  Normally, in our process of enjoyment we reinforce our fixation, further craving to have that experience again and again.  But it is indeed possible to enjoy whatever it is that manifests, free from trying to make it better or worse, just enjoying in things as they are.  It is this process of spontaneous enjoyment. The manifestations never stop.  In fact that is part of the nature of the mind- that arising is unceasing- but we don’t need to cling to that, we can spontaneously enjoy whatever manifests.  

The Metaphysical Scientist

The easiest way to attack fixation is in our meditation, or own personal laboratory.  When we meditate we want to have an open, expansive mind.  We want to have control over our mind so that we can work with situations in our life.  Normally we grasp at all the appearances of mind, whatever it is that is arising- thoughts, feelings, sights, sounds- we always make these subtle investments into them, like adding pennies to your saving account.  It doesn’t seem like they are adding up much, but by fixating on those appearances of the mind, we are never going to be able to recognize and rest in the nature of the mind.  We are instead stuck in this process of taking births, again and again.  I want to make a little disclaimer here about the nature of the mind.  You are never going to ‘see’ the nature of mind, you are never going to be able to say ‘Aha, this is it.’  In fact, you can examine in the context of this discussion what proclaiming ‘this is it’ would imply.  The nature of the mind can only be experienced, we can talk about chocolate all day, but until you taste it you don’t really know it. 

In our meditation, we can discuss two methods so far, 1) resting in the natural state and 2) riding or watching the breath.  Both of these methods can be used to attack fixation, in the first it is non-referential and without an object which is much more difficult at the beginning.  Right now we have this mind that has this tendency to fixate on things, this monkey mind that is constantly jumping from object to object, never sitting still.  So we can use skillful means, we can intentionally choose an object like the breath to fixate on.  When meditating on the breath, if we are distracted and fixate on something else like our thoughts, the moment we recognize that distraction we cut through our fixation and bring it back to the breath.  It is through this process that we tame the mind and develop a strong meditation, continually cutting through fixation.  But we also want to practice resting in the natural state, which is without any particular object.  

 

Using this technique, we are still having thoughts, feelings, sights and sounds arising, but we are not grasping at them.  We are letting our mind rest naturally- an open, expansive mind- in which we are aware of appearances but not fixating on them.  Simply by shining the light of our awareness, or illuminating appearances as they arise, they naturally subside on their own.  This method is more difficult, but we want to get started on it, laying the foundation for this type of meditation.  If we always use an object for our meditation, eventually, we are going to need to cut through that object. 

 

That is fixation, the second place we can attack the cycle is at ignorance, the root.  This is much more difficult and takes a lot of studying, contemplation and meditation before the wisdom of non-duality can arise.  When we are meditating in the natural state, any time that we are correcting or fixing our meditation we are in fact moving away from our true, authentic condition.  In fact, if we continue this type of subtle fixation we will never find genuine lasting freedom.  Our tendency is to always create something anew, this addiction to taking births that we talked about before.  If we think about how we treat addicts, the first thing is awareness or to recognize that there is a problem.  Most of us are completely unaware we even have a problem, we just go on investing in conditioned existence and turning that wheel.  There is a key instruction from the masters of the past and present- Let it be, as it is.  This exemplifies what we have been talking about, letting whatever it is that is manifesting be just as it is.  

 

Buddhas, or awakened beings, always recognize and abide in the authentic condition, the true nature of mind in which there is no duality.  Before we talked about dependent origination and this vast web of interconnectedness.  That is the vision of Buddhas, they see that everything, all beings and all environments are this vast web.  They abide in spontaneous fulfillment, fulfilling their own benefit and the benefit of others at the same time.  

There is a common example used to describe this, we can compare the awakened mind to the orb of the sun.  The sun (from its own side) is always fully manifest, completely radiant and utterly lucid.  The sun shines impartially, radiating light in all directions, not preferring some areas over others.  The warmth that radiates from the sun is like the love and compassion that naturally radiates from awakened mind, instantly and effortlessly accomplishing their own and others wishes.

Meditation Workshop: Bringing the Mind to Rest

Meditation Workshop:
Bringing the Mind to Rest

Event to be held at the following time, date, and location: Sunday, July 7, 2019 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM (PDT) Wise Orchid Taijiquan & Qigong 2002 East Union Street Seattle, WA 98122 View Map

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Join us for a weekend workshop on the stages of meditation. Learn how to meditate, ask questions, engage in dialogue with other practitioners. Learn the foundational practices for calming your mind, recognizing your own nature, and cultivating your own personal practice. No prior meditation experience necessary, all students welcome. Be introduced to the key points of meditation Learn how to bring the mind to rest using various techniques Learn how recognize the innate qualities of the nature of mind Understand how we stray in the practice and how to eliminate errors in our meditation

Three cornerstones of your practice.

Discipline.
Meditation.
Wisdom.

Discipline gives you structure.  It gives your practice form.  It provides reinforcement and direction. 
Meditation allows you to dig deeper, cut through the layers.  It allows you to let go, gain stability and clarity.  It is your workshop.
Wisdom allows you to make connections, draw out the implications.  It is insight and clear seeing.  It is direct, no BS. 

Discipline without meditation or wisdom and you become rigid, narrow minded and overly analytical.  You become confined, bound by rules.  You become like a well trained rat in a cage of concepts. 

Meditation without discipline and you lack the skills to act.  You are like a carpenter without tools, confident sure, but unable to construct anything meaningful.

Meditation without wisdom and you get stuck in absorption.  You are like a circus elephant in the mud- happy, joyful, relaxed- never wanting to leave.  All your pride has you confused and you forget that the circus still owns you.

Wisdom without discipline and you are like a madman, unable to connect and relate to others.

Wisdom without meditation is like a flash of lightening in the night, it will illuminate the darkness for a brief moment but it is unlikely to set anything ablaze. 

Meditation retreat: this weekend!

Daylong Retreat:
Resting in the Nature of Mind

Event to be held at the following time, date, and location: Sunday, October 20, 2019 from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM (PDT)  Private Residence 515 N 64th St Seattle, WA 98103

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Join us for an immersive meditation experience in a supportive environment. This daylong retreat focuses on the foundations of the Dzogchen view and meditation. Dzogchen, or the Great Perfection, is the heart essence of all of the Buddha's teachings. These teachings reveal how we can live more deeply in the world in a simple but direct way.

• Be introduced to the unique Dzogchen view
• Learn how to recognize and rest in the nature of mind
• Learn how the practice of resting unfolds to reveal pure presence
• Understand how we stray in the practice and how to eliminate errors in our meditation
  

Retreat includes:

• Tea, snacks and vegetarian lunch
• Guided seated and walking meditation
• Learn structure of personal retreat

Limited spots are available. No prior meditation experience necessary, advanced students welcome.

Retreat Guide: Preparing for a solo retreat

A meditation retreat is an opportunity to immerse yourself in practice. A daily meditation practice is very powerful and can bring a lot of benefit, but doing occasional immersions can transform and deepen your practice in ways that a daily practice often doesn't accomplish. Many people that I know and have went on retreat with have shared a similar experience- it takes about two or three days to really settle into a retreat. If you cannot devote an extended weekend or a week to retreat, it can also be very powerful to do one day a week or one weekend a month. These shorter immersions can allow for greater depth and over time we are able to enter into the retreat with much more familiarity.

You don't need to go anywhere to do retreat. You can do it at home if your housing companions are supportive. You can also rent out a cabin or go to an actual meditation retreat center. I have done retreats in my bedroom, at cabins, and at retreat centers. They all work just fine. The best environment is one that supports your practice- ideally it would be quiet and peaceful, with all the resources necessary for your daily activities.

There are several key aspects to having a successful retreat experience. What does a successful retreat looks like? It is one in which we actually do the practice. We actually sit and meditate. We encounter all the resistance of not wanting to meditate. We struggle, let go, battle, and relax. A lot of stuff can come up during retreat, being prepared and having everything in order can improve the whole experience.

Preparation
Preparation is one of the major keys to a successful retreat experience. Plan your schedule, your food, your activities. Have all your retreat materials squared away. Resolve all of your everyday tasks. If you have to send someone an email, do it before retreat. You don't want to scheme and plan while on retreat. Do your scheming and your planning beforehand.

Schedule
Traditionally, meditation retreats follow a four-session schedule. You may adapt or adjust the times, and may change the focus for each session, but in general a four-session schedule keeps you focused on practice and not being idle or caught up in distraction. Here is a typical retreat schedule:

6-8am Morning Session 
8-9am Breakfast
9-12pm Mid-morning Session (15 minute tea break at midpoint)
12pm-2pm Lunch and Break
2-5pm Afternoon Session (15 minute tea break at midpoint)
5-6pm Break
6-8pm Evening Session and Dedication
9pm-5am Sleep

Food
Keep it simple. Plan your meals ahead. You don't want to plan and think about what you are going to eat or try to find a recipe while on retreat. Stick with nutritious and easy to digest foods. Drink lots of water and tea. Coffee is totally fine. For breakfast, I like to do oatmeal with some fruit- quick, easy and satisfying. For lunch and dinner, think about making a big pot of soup before the retreat and live off of that for a few days. You may even consider only eating breakfast and lunch, which is one of the pratimoksha vows a monk would uphold. If you are going to cook on retreat, integrate it with your practice. Be mindful, relaxed, present. Don't rush, simply cook.

Sleep
Sleep is important while on retreat. Go to be early and rise early. I usually try to go to bed by 10 pm and get up around 5am. Take a nap in the afternoon! Keep it short, but a 30 minute nap after lunch is refreshing and allows your mind and body to rest. You may find as you sustain your awareness into sleep that you will have more vivid dreams and sleep lighter. Retreat is a good time to practice Dream Yoga and to rest in the clear light nature of mind.

Activities
Retreat isn't a time for many activities, your time should be devoted to your practice. Turn off your cell phone and internet. Don't check email or your social networks. During the break between sessions, you may want to write, reflect, read, or simply be present and attentive to your surroundings. Sit outside. Today is a day for not doing.

Exercise
Movement and exercise are both important during retreat. Most of us are not used to sitting in meditation for extended periods during the day. You will likely find that your knees, hips and back can feel pretty tight. When our body is tired, our meditation becomes like a thick fog and we end up constantly fighting our bodies. Spend some time during breaks walking outdoors. Do yoga, qi qong or tai chi. Stretch, do some muscle stimulating movements. Do prostrations. Spending twenty minutes twice a day on exercise and movement will dramatically improve your overall experience. If you already have a strong practice routine like yoga, you could do an hour out of the mid-morning and afternoon sessions and devote it to that practice.

Silence
A major component of retreat is slowing down and being more present and attentive. Taking a vow of silence or having silence play a part in your retreat can be very powerful. If you are doing a retreat by yourself, silence may seem easy, but we still may find that we are singing, talking to ourselves, listening to music or just making noise. Try to cultivate silence for at least a portion of the day, preferably the morning if nothing else. Pour your tea, stir your hot water into your oatmeal, and enjoy your breakfast in silence. Use your eyes, your ears, your nose, your taste buds, your touch, but not your words.

Arrival
Your arrival to the retreat is a time of transition and change. Enter the retreat setting with mindfulness and presence. Unpack your stuff if you are traveling and setup your retreat space as planned. It is best to arrive the evening before your retreat officially starts, so you can take all the time you need to setup and get acquainted with the setting. It is also nice to do a brief session in the evening, making aspirational prayers and other offerings like Riwo Sang Chod to establish a positive connection and set the tone for the retreat.

Departure
Your retreat is finished and it is time to transition back to your normal routine. Dedicate your practice. Take some time to contemplate and write. Maintain your continuity of awareness and mindfulness as you return to your normal daily life. Retreat never really ends, it is we who eventually turn off and tune out. What does it look like to carry open presence, availability and responsiveness into your daily life? It looks a lot like compassion, generosity and kindness. Everything becomes practice, your life becomes the path.

A meditation retreat is often a very powerful and transformative experience. You don't need to live the way everyone else does. You can embody the teachings, even in our busy and distracted culture. If you have a teacher, consult them before the retreat for advice and some practice instructions. If you don't have a teacher, feel free to reach out to me or someone that you trust and feel comfortable discussing your practice with.

We all benefit through your practice. Thank you for your dedication and commitment.