Lam Dre: On Achieving the Goal, Serial 00068

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SP-00068
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Teaching by: Dezhung Rinpoche III

Interpreted by: Jared Rhoton (Sonam Tenzin)

Transcript: 

It is of utmost importance in undertaking any session of Dharma study to begin with the right attitude. The right attitude... in a word, consists of the Bodhicitta, a genuine resolve to strive for the attainment of Buddhahood in order to become able to remove the sufferings of all living beings. So, with the thought that through these efforts tonight, that one will strive to draw closer to one's spiritual goal of enlightenment for the sake of others, you should then listen attentively and single-pointedly to the

[01:29]

to authentic teachings which originated from the enlightened mind of Lord Buddha himself and have been faithfully transmitted through time and down to the present. Further, you should think of your own teacher who is expounding these words of the Buddha, as being none other than the Buddha himself, visualizing your teacher in the form of Shakyamuni Buddha, complete with rays of light, emanating from his form and shining especially forth from his heart to touch one's own being and all beings and thereby remove the ignorance, the emotive and cognitive obscurations from all.

[02:57]

You should upon visualizing this, I think that as you hear, as you listen to and intellectually understand the various points of discourse that I write inside, and realization have indeed arisen within your mind. That is, you should promote arising inside non-intellectual understanding. You should promote this realization at a deeper level by thinking that you are indeed, you have indeed achieved realization. And then you should visualize yourself also, not as an ordinary human being, but as none other than the golden-formed bodhisattva of wisdom, Manjushri, who seeks out the Dharma on behalf of ignorant beings.

[04:28]

And one's own form, as the Bodhisattva Manjushri, should also not be thought of as solid and tangible, but as having a nature of non-dual emptiness, non-dual voidness and appearance. That is, it is, while clearly apparent, it is not not to be thought of as a substantial form, but more like the forms, more like mental forms that appear in dreams, or the forms that appear in illusions or magic shows, those So one's own form and all appearances have, too, this nature of non-dual appearance and voidness through interdependent origination.

[05:48]

And keeping in mind this true nature of phenomena, one should thereby bring one's insight also into at least some approximation of ultimate reality and through these various visualizations and conceptualizations at the time of listening to the Dharma, one's own understanding, merit and concentration may become magnified and thereby made more effective.

[06:58]

As for the teachings of enlightenment, which one is to study? In our case, we would be concerned with those instructions which originated with the primordial Buddha Vajradhara were transmitted with the great Indian sage Virupa through a succession of great masters of Indian Tibet down to the present time. The system, in keeping with the conventions of meditators, these instructions concerning the path of enlightenment which, if followed properly, lead one from the very

[08:35]

first step to the last and the fulfillment of one's spiritual aim are, for the sake of convenience, divided into two stages of practice, preliminary and advanced stages. And our own studies as a group here are concerned with a set of two volumes of instructions, which correspond to these two stages, each volume corresponding to one of these two stages of practice. We are this month completing our studies in the first text. first set of instructions known as the nāma-sūtra are the three levels of spiritual perception.

[09:41]

And have progressed and we have progressed in our studies to a consideration of the doctrine of voidness. The doctrine of voidness, or śūnyatā, is rightly considered to be the very heart of the Buddhist religion, and most certainly it is the quintessential element in this lamdre system of meditation upon which we ourselves have embarked.

[10:46]

It is called essential because without it, without the realization of this a state of voidness or emptiness, shunyata. There can be no Buddhist liberation. Therefore it is prerequisite, it is the sine qua non of Mahayana Buddhism. It is very easy for people scholars, students, and meditators to use the word voidness, shunyata. Anyone can talk about shunyata, but its realization is only seldom attained by anyone.

[11:52]

That is because it is a profound a profound perception attainable only by dint of persistent effort, great compassion and sincerity. Rather than sincerity, say purity of heart. The attainment of this view of voidness, which is called the door to liberation, presupposes that a meditator will have all these qualities as well as a sufficient accumulation

[13:01]

of merit. Now, the, as we apply ourselves also to the study to an approach to this concept of boredness, we should understand that, first of all, the realization of boredness is, as we have said, essential. Therefore, it is not something that can be sidestepped or neglected. One must be prepared, one must come prepared to make all necessary efforts to achieve its realization.

[14:13]

One must also come prepared to make practical efforts in attaining that realization on a succession of stages of practice. That is, before one can expect to achieve a direct agnostic insight into of what is meant by this term, voidness, one must first have acquired right understanding through diligent study, through the study of Buddhist literature, through

[15:27]

relying upon learned teachers through making repeated inquiry and through attentive listening and reflection, one should acquire, one should painstakingly acquire an intellectual, theoretical, understanding of what Buddhist sages are talking about when they use this term emptiness. And then one must be prepared to apply oneself to persistent repeated efforts in right meditation, so long as one has not attained the realization one seeks.

[16:41]

There is a right way to meditate on voidness. There is a right way to achieve only to achieve as an individual, this profound insight. Though profound and rarely attained, this view of voidness is not unattainable. It is attainable if the conditions are met on one's part. Therefore, after one has learnt all that one can, one should apply oneself diligently and regularly to meditation and pray often to one's teacher that through his added blessings that one might

[17:55]

that right understanding, right realization of oneness may also arise within one's own mind. Do you recall that we have categorized a threefold a succession of insights into the nature of ultimate reality. That is, we said that On a practical level, the meditator must first attain a recognition of the nature of mind.

[18:59]

Secondly, he must place his mind in a state which is away from all extremes. And finally, he must develop certainty. about the nature, about the ineffability of that experience. Without repeating our discussion of these three stages, let us apply, let us in the context of those three,

[20:23]

of the experience of those three successive stages, apply the following instructions for the meditation, for the right meditation on voidness on an individual level. After you have had, after you have achieved theoretical and meditative insight into these three stages, you must be mindful while engaged in the state of meditative absorption, not to cling to the realization of non-dual clarity and voidness, to the non-dual clarity and voidness of one's own mind.

[21:42]

That is, even though one perceives it, one must not apprehend it. Remember the The fourth line of the Shambhaya Siddhal teaching, it says, if grasping ensues, you haven't the view. If you grasp even at this ultimate view and try to cling to it, to apprehend it and to rely upon that realization, then you lose it automatically. So, while engaged in meditation, don't cling to this view of non-dual clarity and coherence. And in your post-meditative experience also, post-meditative here means in the periods, if you're in retreat, the periods between sessions of formal meditation,

[22:53]

Or it can mean, it can mean anytime when you're not sitting in formal meditative practice, anytime that you're going about your daily affairs, walking, sitting, eating, whatever, Then, during those times, you should maintain an intense feeling of great compassion for for all these whirlings whose minds are bound by attachment to reality, for those minds who do engage in

[24:27]

grasping at reality, grasping at views, and thereby inflict upon themselves great suffering through ignorance of true reality. Then, for the meditator who thus who practices rightly in these two ways and is wholeheartedly intent upon attaining omniscience after he has purified his mind is her mind of the two kinds of obscurations that is emotive and cognitive and together with their mental impressions he should he or she should apply himself diligently to the

[25:54]

of meditation of, of, to the, he should apply himself diligently to the inside meditation on the nature of awareness. This accords also with the, writings of the great Shantideva who wrote, emptiness or voidness is the antidote to the darkness of the obscurations of the darkness of the emotive and cognitive obscurations.

[27:01]

Whoever aspires quickly to attain omniscience should. Why then should not anyone who aspires quickly to attain omniscience not meditate upon this doctrine of boredness. Moreover, if one is sincerely intent upon attaining this realization of emptiness, of voidness, one must also be prepared to make diligent efforts also in accumulating

[28:19]

a vast store of merit. This is to be done through the four foundation meditations, the 100,000 refuges, the 100,000 prostrations, the 100,000 mandala offerings, the 100,000 guru yogas, the 100,000 One should train oneself equally in the accumulation of merit. Why? Because Otherwise, it would be extremely difficult to achieve the realization of voidness.

[29:34]

Those who are weak in merit cannot expect to attain the realization of voidness. Or even if one manages to acquire some level of realization of voidness, one will still fall into the into the hinayanist perception of the truth of cessation. Well, I'd better elaborate a bit on that, that if it's a cardinal teaching of the Mahayana that the bodhisattva must develop methods and wisdom in equal measure. If he fails to do this, then he will attain a spiritual result or a realization not only

[30:42]

Mahayanist level, he expected, but will fall, relatively fall, into a Hinayanist realization. That is, he may acquire, through his realization of emptiness, he may become quite freed from the prospects of rebirth and worthy existence. But because he didn't develop sufficient merit and compassion, he's not able to attain the the Mahayana stages, that is, the Bodhisattva stages, and the stage of perfect enlightenment. So, he is liberated, but on a much lower level. Therefore, this is something to be avoided. as the Arya Sanchaya Gata Sutra also warns us.

[31:45]

So long as, so long as merit has not been perfected, so long as one has not So long as one's merit has not been made sufficient, so long will one remain unable to realize the truth of voidness.

[32:53]

And Sakyapandita also has written that even the Shravakas, even the disciples, the Hinayana's disciples, meditate voidness. And as a result of their meditations, achieve the realization of cessation, the truth of cessation. Remember this is the... It's one of the Four Noble Truths, the third one. Yes. All right. So, the point that all these sutras and instructions are trying to make is that

[34:05]

Even at this stage of insight meditation, one must never lose sight of the heart of Mahayana's practice. essential part, the essential element of practice which makes it peculiarly Mahayanist, and that is this non... this non-separation of methods and wisdom.

[35:14]

That is, that when one develops insight, one is always careful to develop compassion as well. When one develops compassion, one develops emptiness as well. One doesn't separate the two. One doesn't allow, in one's practice, one doesn't allow one's mind to become weak in one or the other of these two essential elements. So, practice which never separates these two methods of wisdom is the what is called in the sutras the heart of Mahayanist, of the Mahayanist.

[36:18]

Surely, thanks for coming. Yes, now we have As our next topic, we have instructions on the way to practice this meditation on boredness. It says, first of all, you should find a suitable place of solitude and there begin one's meditation with invocation, with taking of refuge in

[37:27]

in the Masters of One's Traditions and in the Three Jewels and also an invocation of their blessings and praise to them for assistance in attaining this realization. And then, with Through intense compassion, one should meditate a while, one should meditate a very long while upon the bodhicitta, that is the resolve to win enlightenment for the sake of all living beings. Next, one should proceed to meditate a while upon the One should meditate a while upon a suitable object to achieve a single-pointedness of mind.

[38:56]

That is, one should practice concentration meditation for a short while until one's mind becomes tranquil and single-pointedly focused. And after one has achieved this desirable state of mind, you should then proceed to reflect along these lines. Alright, so you should proceed to think along these lines. Alas, we beings have Let's see, alas, even though we beings have as our real nature, have had as our real nature from the very beginning, this

[40:19]

Let's see, this nature of clarity and dwell, and from the very beginning dwell in non-dual, in the non-duality of clarity and awareness which is free from from partisanship, literally, free of distinctions and partisanship, that is, without the mind in that true state, doesn't identify with either itself or its circle of friends or whatever, but is completely non-partisan, non-attached.

[41:38]

Alright. Even though we have this, we have from the very beginning, we from the very beginning dwell in this nature, in this true nature, yet because we do not realize it, we rely instead upon the belief and an ego, and consequently roam about endlessly in samsara. And there, in samsara, we take to be real.

[42:44]

These appearances of non-existent entities which have arisen from our own mental impressions, of mental impressions of an erroneous apprehension of subject and object. Yes, menang means that even though they appear to exist,

[44:26]

and are so taken to exist and believed in as real and substantial, yet by their own nature they really do not exist as they appear. For example, a person who has an eye disease or a cataract might perceive two moons or falling hair or something, might have some very clear mental impression of the appearance of something which really does not exist at all and would not be perceived at all by someone whose eyes were not afflicted by disease. In the same way, so unenlightened beings have very clear mental impressions of things as real, things appearing to be real, and they so take them to be real, whereas the enlightened ones, whose perception is pure and accurate, does not at all perceive those very things as existing.

[45:41]

So that's what we're talking about here. appearances are insubstantial, substanceless, devoid of substance. And yet, through our apprehension of them, we have, like madmen, become wealthy only in errors, wealthy only in delusions, and constantly made wretched by sufferings. But now,

[46:46]

through relying upon the instructions, relying upon the instructions of my holy teacher. Yes. I am going to I am going to attain an understanding, an insight into this incomparable, profound, secret, incomparable and most profound secret of the mind. this realization of voidness, which is the import of all the teachings, which is the true import, which was really what

[48:22]

the Buddha was talking about in all his 84,000, let's see, which is what all the Buddhas of the three times were talking about in their 84,000 articles of doctrine. and I must deport myself so as not to come under the sway of the demon of the belief in things as real. Okay, so you should reflect in this way as above for a while and then you should take up proper posture meditation and

[49:44]

think this one also, that through… That by having acted a self-indulgent role this while, I have erred in forming the notions

[50:53]

of I and mine, based upon these five grasping skandhas." Okay, that's the literal translation. In other words, that, as Rinpoche says, the ordinary happy man, or that is, the person who owns me, whose main motive in life is the accumulation of pleasure, takes as his base, in his pursuit of pleasure, he takes as his base this false belief in a real person, in the existence of a self, somebody who is going to experience this pleasure and gain the results of his efforts on me in seeking pleasure. This is the ordinary happy man's approach. Now, and as a result of his believing that there really is such a personal self within these five empty skandhas, he will develop these concepts of I and mine and proceed on the basis of these delusions to experience

[52:12]

wonderful sufferings. Now, this is of course a rehash of the refutation of personal non-self. Remember the two kinds of non-self, personal and phenomenal. And at this first stage in your meditation, one turns one's attention to the reputation of personal non-self. All right. So why is it a delusion, an error, as we said, to apprehend self, to apprehend I and mine with relation to these The skandhas?

[53:15]

All right. Okay. If there were a self, if there were an inherently really existent self as the object to which all of these notions, concepts and actions refer, then there would be no way to realize a non-self. There would be no way to get rid of the self if it were a really existent thing. But what we, instead of having a really existent thing, we have only, when we search for it, we find that it can only be one of three things within this consciousness. That is, it can either be name, form or mind. All right. Now, it's hardly a person's name.

[54:22]

Though the I or the ego identifies with name, yet name is not the self, not the ego, because it is merely... Name is nothing more than a chance. a scripture, it is just a label that one acquires in some manner or another and has no characteristic other than being an adventitious label. So it can hardly be what we mean by self. Now the body also is not the Self because it is simply a composite of many components such as flesh, blood, bone, etc., none of which components either are alone or taken together.

[55:50]

and constitute what we think of when we use the concept self. From the head down to the foot. If one searches for the self from the top of one's head down to the sole of one's foot, inside and out, you are not going to find a self. Now, the mind is also not the self we are searching for because the past mind, meaning the mind of the past moment, the preceding moment and all other preceding moments of cognition, is obviously not the self because all those moments of cognition are extinct. The future mind, is not the Self, because those future moments of cognition have not yet come into existence.

[56:54]

And it's not possible to say either that the present moment of cognition, this present mind or present instant of cognition constitutes what we mean by self, because these moments of cognition, these flashes of cognition are just that, momentary, that within a milli-instant of their arising, those present minds are extinguished. So that would these present moments could hardly constitute a self. In that case we would have only a series of, an endless series of discrete selves, each one arising almost as soon as they had, each one perishing almost as soon as they had arisen.

[58:04]

And this is, this does not correspond to people's notion of self. So the upshot of all of this cogitation is to fix within one's mind the clear understanding that this notion of a self that we all have individually is based in error. It is without foundation and it is nothing more than an error.

[59:08]

He was just dramatizing his plea to each one of you to meditate and examine the nature of your own mind. He was asking you, with a flourish, What is your mind? Try to turn within and see exactly what is your mind. What is the mind? Search within until you have gained a recognition of the true nature of your mind. Without that recognition, There is no way that anyone is going to get any kind of liberation. So that was what all of that was about. He was pointing to a few outstanding people and urging them to look within.

[60:25]

Now, to return to our text. Yes, now, after having undertaken an examination of body, name, body and mind in order to ascertain the nature of ones, to ascertain the true state of affairs with regard to the a personal non-self, one then should proceed to investigate in order to realize the non-self or the godness of self within all phenomena, internal, external, animate, inanimate, you name it, whatever they are,

[61:34]

they are void by nature. All dharmas have voidness of self as their true nature. So, therefore, a good Buddhist does not attribute the existence of these phenomena, external and internal phenomena, to the creatorhood of some deity, whether it be Ishvara or Chah. Chah is a Bambu deity and so forth. Whoever, nor does the good Buddhist attribute their existence to a concatenation of atoms. He doesn't take a materialist approach that things just exist by chance and they're the result of a chance encounter among atoms, etc.

[62:43]

But he or she will take this view that all these phenomena merely I'd say, oh, there. Always got to be the first to know. interrupt this lesson to bring you a message that you must understand the nature of your own mind. That is, that your mind has the nature of non-dual clarity and voidness.

[63:51]

If you recognize this, there is hope for you. You will be a Sankipa. If you do not recognize this non-dual clarity and voidness of your own mind, you are not a Sankipa. If you are not going to recognize this non-dual clarity, you will disappear in mind. The reason why we are urging you to recognize this aspect of your mind is that there is an immeasurable benefit, there is great benefit to be gained if you will only see it.

[64:52]

Then if you... All right. Now, what a Buddhist will say, he will not attribute the existence of these phenomena to, we said, atoms or deities or creators or gods or whatever, but he will say that all of them owe their existence, their appearance, merely to the to false appearance, that is, that they appear to be real while in reality they are nonexistent, and that this false appearance of theirs comes about as a result of one's own mind having been

[65:59]

Stained. Stained, polluted, what? Stained by worldly mental impressions. For example, you are having a dream and in the dream you will see a city. or horses, elephants, etc. And during the dream state, you will think all of those appearances to be quite real, just as they appear. and you will experience them as real so long as you are in a dream state.

[67:02]

Upon awakening, however, you will realize them not to have had any existence of their own at all from the very beginning, but they were merely projections of one's own mind. So too these worldly appearances have a similar nature. You should think of this again and again until you have awakened within your mind intense certitude about the truth of this. Now, since these objects of apprehension are similar to these appearances in dreams, one's own

[68:04]

one's own subjective mind, one's own consciousness also, which subjectively apprehends those dreamlike appearances, is similarly very much like the mind, the subjective mind in those dream experiences, which has those dream experiences. that mind, that deluded mind, the mind which deludes itself in dream and thinks that there are real objects, tigers, cities, etc., and has this flow of perceptions, cognitions, actions and emotions based upon those really non-existent appearances, is therefore just a mind going on on false premises and is absolutely deluded, and apart from... and if it weren't for its perception of these objects it's projecting, it wouldn't arise at all, it wouldn't be having these moments of cognition, these experiences, subjective experiences.

[69:32]

In the same way, our own experience here in this realm is very similar. The mind is quite deluded. And it has, and ultimately the subjective mind itself has, is in no way, can in no way be established as valid. That is, when you examine it, you can't find the mind to be anywhere existent in its own right. So... What you should understand is that all of these phenomena are deceptive, they are false, they are delusion. All of them, all phenomena which can be found anywhere in this this, anywhere in this, oh well, whether they're subject or object, yes, say what?

[70:55]

Phantasmagoria. Phantasmagoria, yes. Yes, very good. Thank you. Next. Gauri. What does Gauri mean? Gauri? Love you. Okay. In any case, this subject, this duality of subject and object, all of the, anything that is either a subject or an object is just, whether it's one or the other or both, it is going to be false delusion, delusive, deceptive, so forth. So, having understood this, turn the mind within, become introspective, and this consciousness of the present moment, one's present consciousness should be perceived.

[72:12]

One should focus on the mind, not as either subject or object, or subject with an object or whatever, but just upon the nature of mind itself. Just turn, become introspective, look within, see that mind as it is free from these obscurations of subject and object. See its own nature of naked clarity. and remained in this recognition for a long time. Yes. When you recognize this true nature of mind, you see that since it is not a thing, as we think of it, it is not an existent thing, an entity in itself, because of its nature of emptiness, and of course we've already explained how it is simply not blank space because it nonetheless has this nature of consciousness or a condition of clarity, that it is...

[73:51]

Because it is not something that has an existent nature. It has, from the beginning, it has no cause. It is not something that is produced, is arisen. It comes from somewhere. It is not an existent thing to come into existence. it doesn't, from the beginning it has no, it doesn't come into existence. That's what it says. And, all right, it is So at first you have to look at it to see how it is that you can't find any cause for this mind to come into existence.

[75:00]

And without a cause it doesn't come into existence, therefore it is birthless, unarisen. Now, secondly, or in the middle, you look at the mind to see its khandu, You look to see where that mind is located and where that mind doesn't have any existence is located. You look inside the body, outside the body, or somewhere in between, and you learn that the mind doesn't reside in any of those three places. Not only that, it has neither color nor shape, etc. And no matter how you may search for it, you'll never find it. Therefore, it is not only birthless, but it is locationless.

[76:05]

Finally, you look to see where it where it goes, when the mind, when consciousness disappears, thoughts are ignition, sees, where do they go? And you see that since the mind itself is not a thing, it is in no way ever checked or caused to cease. There is nothing to cease. Therefore, the mind never ceases. The true nature of mind never ceases. Therefore, it is cessationless. In this way, one gains insight into the birthless, the birthlessness, the bitinglessness, and the cessationlessness of one's own mind.

[77:26]

So, in this way you've gained a... you've examined the mind from a from the point of view of cause and result and see that it is quite free from all the ordinary characteristics of cause and effect. And since it is nowhere to be established as a real thing, therefore its nature is just one of naked voidness. Nonetheless, one who has direct experience of the emptiness of mind does not experience the cessation of the clarity or cognition or consciousness aspect of mind.

[79:02]

Even when one sees the mind, when one pinpoints the clarity of mind, when one focuses the clarity of mind, even then, one cannot establish, one cannot then seize upon mind and say, aha, it is clear, it has cognition, therefore it is real, it does exist. And even when one perceives the emptiness, the boredness of mind, one cannot then seize upon upon that voidness and say, ah, the mind is only void, that it has no clarity. But it is a mercy. So therefore it is said that So, therefore, the correct approach is said to be the saltoṁ dzinme, the non-apprehension or the non-clinging to emptiness and clarity.

[80:42]

That is, one doesn't seize a bone, try to divide and seize a bone, either or both of two aspects of mind. What's that? Salton zinme. Zin. Very good. Write it down. He says, I'm very pleased somebody pipes off salton zinme. It's great. He says he likes it when people ask it. Ask it. Note down these important words. How did you know that was important? I just read it. I was just reading. Thought I would read it. All right. It is away from extremes.

[81:44]

It is non-partisan. It is ineffable. It is It is beyond the mind. It is a state beyond the mind. It is beyond the mind. Allah, a state beyond mine. They say that the ultimate reality is even Shantideva is a certain being. It's not an object of mine, it is beyond me. But I don't understand it. Genoa, it is naked. It is... Can you think of another word? Naked.

[82:45]

Raw. Raw, yeah, I thought of that one. It's like a lullaby. [...] Tuesday, if you want to hold off on the tea, I'll bless you. Never. Never, never. to you by James Arzuti and Helen Mendoza.

[83:54]

You didn't do it? Rinpoche, under the impression that I had finished, announced that he was going extend to you all his own best wishes for the New Year and to invite you to join him this coming Sunday in celebrating the Tibetan New Year. Though Tibetans do eat a lot of momos during the New Year celebration, that on certain days they do not. Therefore, he can't offer you momos on Sunday. It is because it is one of the holidays that he, that Dr. Nima and some other Tibetans who are going to be present, will make the traditional Tibetan khanze, the Tibetan biscuits.

[85:06]

But it won't be momos. It will be bread. a bad omen in place. Maybe it was on this first day for some reason. We didn't hear it. Sometime mid-afternoon. Mid-afternoon. Let me finish this up. We have a few more lines that you should know about. Okay. All right. Meditation. Don't follow after them. Don't allow them to... Don't elaborate upon their thoughts. That is, don't follow after the train of your thoughts. But... But apply oneself to remaining in this state of non-grasping.

[86:33]

In other words, don't let the mind start grasping and running off and thoughts arising. Keep it on an even keel in this state of non-grasping once you've attained it. Then, at first, at first in the meditation you should, by applying the right methods, you should be very strict with the mind, be very firm in controlling the mind. Then in the middle, you should be very, you should let the mind relax and ease. In the middle of your meditation, once you have attained the desirable state, you relax it and allow it to abide at ease. Finally, you should let the mind be absolutely free from all fears and doubts, no, all hopes and fears.

[87:37]

That is, you shouldn't have any expectations about your meditation. You shouldn't be hoping to experience something better than this, something good, something joyful. You shouldn't have any anticipation about your meditation at all, nor should you have any apprehensions or anxiety that perhaps you won't be able to maintain it, perhaps something will go wrong or whatever. In other words, without any fear or hopes, you should just let the mind remain in this state once it's going to die. In brief, the mind should never waver from this perception of the non-dual of the non-grasping recognition of the non-dual clarity and boredness of mind.

[88:42]

And you should put your mind in this, you should apply your mind to meditation without any sense of of effort at all, just effortlessly place the mind into meditation without having any concept of an object of any meditation, without having any concept at all of an object of meditation. In other words, you don't, at this point, you want effortlessness and ease, and since you've gone through this realization that there's no subject and object, you should not be thinking in terms of a meditation or an object of meditation or a meditator. Then... Yes.

[89:55]

The frequency of practice also should be that you start out meditating very briefly, frequently but briefly. Don't overdo it. As Milarepa said, at first don't meditate for long periods of time until you're able. And then when you're engaged in the state of meditative absorption, in the course of your, how do you say, dhyana, meditation,

[91:17]

you should, your perception, if you practice as we've said above, would be one that the ultimate nature of all phenomena is away from all extremes. They are without attachment, they are free, they are inexpressible. They are Beyond the limits of mind, they are not objects of mind. They are without a substratum, without a base. They are without any foundation. They are like space itself.

[92:20]

And through failing to realize this, through failing to realize this So, these beings are bound by the fetters of belief in a self and belief in a subject and object. beings, these same beings who are like my old mother to me, are accumulating, accumulate or experience, experience only, only deluded, deluded,

[93:42]

appearances, false appearances, for their sake. for their sake I shall, no matter what happens, attain the stage of enlightenment, stage of omniscient, perfect enlightenment.

[94:25]

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