mind itself be examined, we see it has neither color nor shape, and hence is neither a single entity nor manifold. This is the second line of the meditation, and it refers to the second stage of developing Mahamudra insight. Mind, we said, is the source of all external appearances. And yet, when we turn and focus our attention upon mind itself, we see that it too is not like we thought, just as we learned not to accept external appearances at face value.

[01:17]

So when we investigate the nature of our own mind, we see that it too is not as we had thought. All of us are endowed with mind, Very few of us take the trouble to get to know the nature of this mind we possess. We all take it for granted and use it like we use our body. We make use of the mind. We take it for granted. But very few bother to know the mind for what it is. So, in the second stage of Mahamudra insight, we are instructed to investigate this mind of ours.

[02:19]

First of all, we should, in order to investigate it, we have to find it. Where is the mind located? Is it within or without the body? Or is it somewhere in between? Or is it any other place? One has to locate it. If it is within the body, as is usually thought, where exactly is it located? And when you've found the place, what What does this mind look like? Has it size or any other dimension, any color or shape? Is it red, green, blue, round, square? Or what? If it is a thing, It should have some attributes, because we are using our mind as if it were a thing.

[03:22]

We treat our own minds as if it were just another phenomenon, another entity, another thing, like so many other things. But if it is a thing, you should be able to identify, you should be able to to find something which corresponds to your notion of my mind. So what is, what is the purpose of the second stage of Mahamudra Enso? Find the mind and see what's there. There were three diligent disciples of a lama who were given this task of mahamudra meditation. He told them, after instructing them in this very meditation, he told them to go back to their cells and meditate. And on the morrow they were to come and tell him what was the

[04:27]

what they had discovered about their mind. If they had found that mind had a size, shape, or color, to come and tell him about it in the morning. So they did go back and meditate and return in the morning. He asked the first disciple, what color? might as might be. He said, my mind is white in color. The second one spoke up and said, my mind is black in color. the third disciple burst into tears because he had not been able to discover any color to his mind at all. He had seen nothing. No matter how he had spent the night searching for his mind, he had come up with absolutely nothing.

[05:34]

And he was very disheartened and depressed about it. But the Lama said, these other two are merely lying. You yourself have discovered the truth. what there was to discover, and that is that no matter how long or how you seek for it, you cannot discover the mind. There is no object that corresponds to our notion of mind. This is the first glimmering of Mahamudra's insight. That is, it teaches us to put aside our our habits of treating mind as a thing. It is a no-thing. Mind is neither a single entity nor a metaphor.

[06:35]

We said that mind is not an entity, a thing, because the word, we could discover it upon that examination. Also, when we observe the way in which our mind functions, that is, consciousness is mental energy of a single instant duration. Consciousness is consciousness of something. Based upon the presence of an object of cognition, cognition arises. But that moment, that instant of cognition, changes into a second instant of cognition. And that one turns into a third instant of cognition. So in all of this, what do we have but a series of discrete moments or flashes of cognition, flashes of mental energy?

[07:45]

but they are not one and the same, one moment of cognition. Does that constitute the sum of mind? Is mind something other than these single discrete instants of cognition, one leading to the next? Or is mind simply a mind stream, a continuum composed of these discrete moments of cognition? If it is something other than these flashes of mental energy or cognition, then it should be obtainable. One should, upon searching for it, be able to find, mind is something other than these instants of cognition. But failing that, if it is only these instants of cognition,

[08:50]

that is the sum total of mind, what mind might be, then how do we think of it? Does the mind arise? Do we say that mind arises to last only for a single instant, perishes, rises again, perishes, rises again? Is that the nature of our mind? If so, do we have if we don't have a single mind, if there is not a mind that remains the same, the same thing throughout our lifetime, then it must be that we have a series of countless mini-minds, mini-instances of cognition. So mind then would be manifold.

[09:52]

It would rise and perish, rise and perish, rise and perish continuously. Is that what we mean by mind? But if so, then there would not be any mind would not be anything beyond these single instances of cognition. And even if it were, if mind were nothing more than a single instance of cognition, there should be some object, some theme there that we could identify. But apart from the fact that we can say that I feel that I am having moments of cognition, of consciousness, one right after the other. And yet when one searches for the mind where these events are taking place, one can find nothing.

[10:55]

So in this way we cannot even say that mind is either a single thing or manifold, that it is composed of many things. So in these ways we establish that mind is truly a no-thing, is empty of any inherent identity of its own by which we could objectify it, isolate it, and say, this is what I need by my mind. This is established as mind. So Since it is not an entity, not a thing, then how can we treat it like a thing? Like we can say that things come into existence, they endure a while, and then they perish or pass away or are destroyed and seized. This is the usual sequence of events when it pertains to phenomena.

[12:01]

Can we say this of mind? That mind is a no-thing, not a thing. Ever and whenever might a no-thing arise, how does it ever come into existence? What is the origin of mind? If mind itself cannot be obtained, then what are we talking about? What comes into existence? And if nothing ever comes into existence, then what are we talking about when we say that mind perdures, mind adheres or remains? However, fleetingly, it has no meaning. And it is even more meaningless to say that nothing having arisen remains a while and then ceases. The mind does not go anywhere. Nothing goes anywhere. In this way, we learn to cease treating the mind as if it were an object, a thing.

[13:08]

But if we then substitute for that mind we thought we had, the idea that we have no mind, that there is nothing whatsoever, that we're dealing really with something like blank space, that also would be missing the point. Mind is empty of being a thing. and yet its nature of luminosity, that is, its cognitive aspect, is never stopped. Mind is empty like space, and yet its emptiness also has the nature of consciousness, of cognitive ability. This cognitive ability is described in the Buddhist teachings as the luminosity of mind.

[14:13]

luminosity or clarity or lucidity of mind. It is, even though mind is empty, is nonetheless luminous. Even though it is luminous, it is nonetheless empty. These two are one and the same. They are truly non-dual, just as one cannot separate heat and fire. They are all the same. Fire is hot. They are one and the same. The same with fire. with mind. It is both luminous and empty, both empty and luminous. Yet even this recognition that mind is not a thing but has a nature of the non-duality of luminosity and emptiness cannot be seized upon, cannot be isolated in grasp, cannot say, at last I have found.

[15:39]

I have found the nature of mind in this visit. It can be directly perceived. non-dually, directly, intuited, perceived, and experienced. And yet one cannot seize upon this state of mind and say of it, either that it exists or does not exist, that it is this thing or that thing, this way or that way. It cannot be described. It cannot be apprehended. Yet it can be directly experienced. So this ultimate nature of life is away from all extremes. non-duality of the luminosity and emptiness of mind is likened to an experience of space.

[16:52]

It is likened to space in that space in itself is nothing. Space itself has no attributes, it has no... It is nothing, and yet it is unobstructed, it is unlimited. Space is truly boundless. The nature of mind is empty in the same way space is, and yet it is at once endowed with this aspect of luminosity, so that one, in experiencing this insight into the nature of one's own mind, is at once liberated from the delusions about the nature of mind, the delusions of identification with the ego principle, and the other sullied and false notions about one's own nature.

[18:04]

had kept one in illusion before, just as a limpid pool reveals itself in its entirety when waves and other disturbances have ceased. So one sees clearly into one's own nature, and one achieves this Mahamudra insight. Mahamudri insight cannot be described but it can be directly experienced and it is the saving insight which is known to us as enlightenment or the attainment of Buddhahood.

[19:08]

It is subtle and profound. It is attained with difficulty only through right efforts in meditation. So one should, in each session of meditation, first discursively reflect upon the stages of this Mahamudra meditation as we have outlined in here this afternoon. Enter into a short discursive session of Mahamudra meditation and then begin your practice of non-discursive meditation, that is, in which you focus your attention on mind itself, not about the contents of mind, but in meditation or with attention about the nature of that mind in which these thoughts arise.

[20:22]

one should put aside all artifice, that is, all formations about oneself, all impulses and ideas about oneself and what one is doing, and about the meditation, without trying to without any artifice, without any contrivance at all in one's efforts, just without even trying to meditate, just let the mind abide in its own nature and try to discern that true nature, just as water, when undisturbed, remains limpid. So the mind, by its very nature, is clear and can be discerned as clear. as clarity if it is not roiled by words, thoughts and actions.

[21:25]

So practically one should just be seated in a relaxed way, observing the correct posture for meditation and just get to know one's mind. It is one should also be aware of the obstacles to right meditation. Meditation is not an easy task. It is easy to become distracted or for the mind to grow unruly, refuse to remain in right meditation.

[22:27]

Or conversely, the mind may fall asleep and you'll find your mental energy growing sluggish. And before you know it, you'll be asleep. So one should avoid these thoughts of meditation by awareness, being aware of these obstacles to practice as they arise and apply to them the antidote, the appropriate antidote to each. And also be aware of the... the... Oh, yes. There are even more subtle hindrances in the practice of Mahamudra meditation.

[24:50]

Once one has learned to discern these aspects of the true nature of mind, its emptiness and its clarity, and the non-duality of these two, one may become attached to one or the other of these aspects. If you develop attachment, for example, to the luminosity, the luminous aspect of mind, and dwell on that aspect excessively, This will not lead to liberation, but to rebirth in the realms of form, in the formless realms. Pardon me, the form realms. If you become attached to the empty aspect of mind, you will be reborn in the formless realms.

[25:53]

If you become attached even to the non-duality of emptiness and luminosity, you will be reborn in the realms of desire, the sensual realms. So the point is, don't become attached to any aspect of your meditation, not to yourself as the meditator, not to the object of your meditation, not to the process of meditation, but in a non-attached way, meditate. For beginners, the best way to enter into this Mahamudra meditation is to take it easy. Don't embark on a crash course. Just learn to, just learn to become familiar, allow your mind to become familiar with the process of meditation through short but frequent periods, sessions of practice.

[27:04]

Five minutes or ten minutes, then stop. Return to the meditation again when your mind is rested, clear, eager to practice. Never force the mind. in meditation. In this way, you must remain on good terms with your meditation. Your mind and your meditation must be good friends. So never force the mind to meditate. And when your mind becomes tired of focusing upon itself, then relax. You might want to You might want to turn outward to just look at the sights around you, to look at a picture or turn your attention elsewhere. And then, after your mind is rested and feeling at ease again, then return to your meditation and again enter into meditation of the nature of mind for a few minutes.

[28:17]

Then leave it. Also you can, when your mind does not want to focus on this particular mahamudra practice, meditate something else, meditate on compassion, focus on other aspects of the practice. And when you practice in this way, gradually your mind will become familiar with the practice of meditation, you will come to recognize the obstacles and not be overcome by them, you become skilled in the Mahamudra practice. And as you persist in practice, in this kind of practice, over a period of time, you will find that that there begins to dawn in your mind this realization which we are talking about.

[29:23]

From time to time you will begin to see what is meant by the emptiness and luminosity of mind. And as these intervals of insight dawn, they increase in their length and in their profundity. until finally this state of enlightenment, which is one's own true nature, becomes an old friend, and finally one recognizes it to have been one's true nature all along. This is the The result, the highest result of the Mahamudra practice, it is attainable through right efforts in meditation and only through those right efforts .

[30:23]

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