When Thich Nhat Hanh enters a room, he does so silently--appearing before you as if he has materialized from spirit to matter. Wearing the traditional robes of a Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh radiates a presence that draws your full attention. He speaks slowly and thoughtfully and at such a low volume that you instinctively hold still, your eyes focused on his face, so as not to miss a word.
No matter your beliefs or the particulars of your life, when you're in the presence of Thich Nhat Hanh, you apprehend that you're in breathing distance of someone who lives in another realm of existence--as enlightened a being as you'll ever meet. As he spoke one afternoon last summer, he cradled a teacup in his hand, pausing every now and then to close his eyes and drink. That simple gesture exemplifies his teachings: Be mindful in every aspect of your life, be eternally present, and approach every act--no matter how mundane--with intention and respect.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Zen Master living in France
Originally posted by JitKiat:When Thich Nhat Hanh enters a room, he does so silently--appearing before you as if he has materialized from spirit to matter. Wearing the traditional robes of a Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh radiates a presence that draws your full attention. He speaks slowly and thoughtfully and at such a low volume that you instinctively hold still, your eyes focused on his face, so as not to miss a word.
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No matter your beliefs or the particulars of your life, when you're in the presence of Thich Nhat Hanh, you apprehend that you're in breathing distance of someone who lives in another realm of existence--as enlightened a being as you'll ever meet. As he spoke one afternoon last summer, he cradled a teacup in his hand, pausing every now and then to close his eyes and drink. That simple gesture exemplifies his teachings: Be mindful in every aspect of your life, be eternally present, and approach every act--no matter how mundane--with intention and respect.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Zen Master living in France
His metta must be very strong too :)
It is indeed admirable to read all these posts. Whenever I read it again, i will gain a new insight. Things are much simpler in a simple world, but we are living in a sophisticated world. Knowledge known will need to be put to practise to cultivate our wisdom. I used to meditate (only short session about 10minutes) a few years back but have not been doing it due to my tight working schedule and various life commitments. Now, I sometimes try to meditate while I go to work in the train but disturbing thoughts keep distracting me. However, I find easier if I were to meditate in the quietness of the night if time allows especially when my mind is not exhausted after a day's work. It's certainly is wonderful to have undeviating attentiveness to my surroundings, ie living in the present moment. Having said that, allow me to ask the difference between open awareness and meditating since I gather there are various ways for one to meditate. Is it good enough to be constantly mindful but without meditating?
Originally posted by Verdandis:It is indeed admirable to read all these posts. Whenever I read it again, i will gain a new insight. Things are much simpler in a simple world, but we are living in a sophisticated world. Knowledge known will need to be put to practise to cultivate our wisdom. I used to meditate (only short session about 10minutes) a few years back but have not been doing it due to my tight working schedule and various life commitments. Now, I sometimes try to meditate while I go to work in the train but disturbing thoughts keep distracting me. However, I find easier if I were to meditate in the quietness of the night if time allows especially when my mind is not exhausted after a day's work. It's certainly is wonderful to have undeviating attentiveness to my surroundings, ie living in the present moment. Having said that, allow me to ask the difference between open awareness and meditating since I gather there are various ways for one to meditate. Is it good enough to be constantly mindful but without meditating?
To put it simply: open awareness (awareness that takes in all experiences) IS meditation. Without mindful awareness, it is not meditation. Without mindful awareness, it is likely that one is in a state of distraction, drowsiness, agitation, or perhaps in a state of trance, but all these has nothing to do with meditation.
So, meditation is not limited to the time we spend sitting on the cushion meditating. Meditation should be 24/7, even though initially it may seem far from possible, but we should constantly come back to this present moment awareness. We must practice this regularly in daily lives, just sustaining this simple, present moment awareness... and when we notice our mind drifting, we just come back to present moment awareness without delay.
It does not mean modify or get rid of thought -- if thought arise that is fine too, but rather than getting lost in the contents and mental stories, just notice that awareness component of thought -- just like countless waves on the ocean all have the same substance of water... all thoughts, experiences, phenomena have the same essence of luminous clarity and emptiness inseparable (our buddha-nature).
Lama Surya Das: "This is the heart teaching of Mahamudra, of Dzogchen, of Zen, of all the nondual teachings: Sustaining present awareness. Recognizing the Buddha-nature through the present moment, this very moment of awareness. If it's awareness taking the form of thinking, recognize the present awareness component of the thought. If you are remembering the past, recognize the present awareness component of the memory. You're not in the past. How could you be in the past? It is present awareness remembering. If you feel distracted when remembering, bring the mind back to the present awareness. You don't have to stop remembering. Recognize present awareness, which is remembering. If you are dreaming, fantasizing about the future, about what you are going to do when you leave here, how you are going to tell everybody how wonderful it was and how great Dzogchen view and meditation is, that's fine-recognize present awareness fantasizing, planning, dreaming. Recognize who or what is doing that present awareness. Know the knower; see through the seer; go beyond me and mine, and be free"
But even though we can and should be practicing in daily living, a scheduled sitting practice of say 20 or 30 minutes every day or at least 4 or 5 days a week is very important, too. I am trying hard to keep to a scheduled sitting practice on a daily basis even though life has been quite hectic for me too. I also notice that sitting meditation does make an impact on the practice in daily living, the mind is more stable.
Regarding the types of meditation, perhaps the most common of all is Anapanasati or Mindfulness of Breathing -- which is also a practice in mindful awareness but the awareness is mostly concentrated on the breathing sensations -- means the breathe is sensed in full clarity, cold or hot, soft or hard, its texture and quality is completely 'awared' but without mental labeling or discrimination. Just pure awareness of breathing. There are many other types but I shall not go indepth here.
Here's something from "Meditation: Now or Never" by Steve Hagen the book which I think I recommended previously:
Constancy
In Chapter 7 we looked at the three legs of meditation practice: regularity, meditating with others, and non-judgments. These are essential to practicing meditation over hte ong run.
And so, in this chapter, and the two that follow, we'll look at these three aspects of meditation in more detail, in order to see and feel their vital importance.
.....
Constancy is the single most important factor in maintaining a meditation practice. If you find constancy in your practice, it's like throwing a switch that allows everything else to follow. Without it, there will be no understanding, no enlightenment.
Meditating only now and then, when the urge arises or when you've had a stressful day and feel you need it, is like trying to boil water by turning on the stove for thirty seconds at a time, whenever you're in the mood. Unless the flame is constant, the water will never boil.
Constancy means meditating no matter how we feel or what we think at the moment. We just go ahead and practice, no matter what.
Without this attitude, we're just treating meditation the way we treat most everything else. Mentally and emotionally, it's just business as usual.
In any moment, of course, we may lose our way or get distracted. But as soon as we remember, we come right back, take up this moment, and carry on -- without giving another thought to having just slipped off. This is constancy.
People new to meditation often misunderstand constancy. They think it's about not faltering, not losing your way or focus. But constancy is precisely about faltering, over and over, and coming back, over and over.
With this understanding, we let ourselves be human, allow ourselves to err and to learn, and avoid getting discouraged about our meditation practice.
So it's not that we never veer from the path, but that we waste no time in returning to it. No time for discussion. No time for excuses. Back to here and now.
.....
To establish constancy in your practice, it's essential that you set up some kind of regular meditation schedule. Just as creating a budget helps us with our finances, a regular schedule will help you with meditation.
This schedule might be as simple as half an hour every morning just before breakfast. Or maybe it's twenty minutes at midday or twenty minutes before bed on workdays, thirty minutes each morning on weekends.
It's best to meditate at precisely the same time every day. Building a regular schedule around meditation creates a solid and grounded daily routine that brings stability to your life and allows you to maintain a steady, ongoing practice. Making and keeping this regular appointment from day to day is to put your entire life in order.
The most important thing to remember is to set a schedule that you can actually follow, not one you dream of following. Often when people first take up meditation, they are excited about it and overdo it, perhaps setting up a schedule that is too ambitious. This might work for awhile, even for a few years, but if it's too much, it will only undo itself, and perhaps much of your life as well.
Even if it's modest at first, it is far better to set up a schedule you can stick to without much difficulty. After you can maintain this schedule for a few months without missing any scheduled times, you can gradually increase the amount of time you devote to formal meditation practice. The key is to never waver from the schedule you set unless you are ill, or faced with an emergency, or some other unusual situation. As my teacher used to say, life is daily routine and unexpected occurrences. To live in constancy is to take care of both.
The ideal schedule pushes you slightly, creates just a little internal resistance. This is good grist for the mill. Without some resistance, your practice will likely atrophy and die away; with too much, you may get discouraged and give up.
As long as you stay with your schedule, the meditation practice will mature. Over time, you may increase the amount of time you spend in formal meditation. And as you continue to push gently against your resistance, your practice will gradually become more subtle and profound.
.....
Sometimes people think they are too busy to meditate. But how can you be too busy to be present?
Meditation isn't a vacation from life. Meditation is simply being present -- even in the midst of tasks and obligations, urgencies and emergencies. Having a busy schedule is not a valid reason to avoid meditation. Indeed, in taking up meditation wholeheartedly, you may discover it's not necessary to be quite so busy.
.....
When we practice constancy and meditate without internally fussing or complaining, our whole life begins to change. Whereas before we might have resisted getting out of bed in the morning, now we just get up. This is much easier than lying in bed dreading the thought of having to get up and face the day.
With constancy, we learn to take care of this moment whether or not it is something we want. If right now it is time to get our of bed,m then we just get up. If right now it is time to go for cancer treatments, we just go in. We're not tossed around by circumstances. We just get on with life.
Over time, you will come to see that this is the easiest, freest, surest way to live.
p.s. here's a song by my Master (圣开法师):
ä¸€æ— ä¿®æŒ�æŒ
修修修，���，
得到了��，宇宙的富�，
é�žç©ºé�žæœ‰ä¸ï¼Œæ³•æ€§é��虚空，
还有什么人我是é�žï¼Œè¿˜æœ‰ä»€ä¹ˆçƒæ�¼è½®å›žï¼›
二å…æ—¶ä¸ï¼Œå…‰æ˜Žè§‰ç…§ï¼Œ
éš�缘生æ»å�³äº†ï¼Œæ— 处ä¸�是圆通，
çœ‹ç ´æ”¾ä¸‹ï¼� 自由自在ï¼�
粗衣淡食，茅屋蔽身，
白雪当阳，万里长空，
晚上一轮明月，冬天处处和风，
å››å£ç™¾èŠ±å¼€æ”¾ï¼Œé£˜æ’万年馨香，
醒�� ��� ��� 醒��
高山的暮鼓，远处的晨钟。
Originally posted by JitKiat:Hat's off to AEN for his dedication to this forum.
Sometimes, it is probably not as simple as just living at "now". For example, you are trying to meditate or chant and suddenly your 3-year old kid is making noise or tries to disturb you ... what are you going to do? The same question is posed to Mr �炳� (a disciple of Master Yin Kuang). He said you can scold or hit your children after you finish your meditation or chanting but you should not get angry while you are chanting. And you also must not get angry when you are scolding your children later.
Well, this is easy said than done. It takes time and mindfullness to slowly improve ourselves.
that's why i don't meditate, a lot of disturbance, and seems that ,when someone disturbing you ,you tend to overreact when you are doing meditation, i think someone said, meditation is a attitude,you can meditate when you walking, when you working, but this sought of meditation is not the meditation you are talking about, anyway different people have different view.
IMOP;
Personally meditation is a must in cultivation, disturbance may arouse due to external factors...but one could make space for himself to stay away from disturbance....for starters it is always practise at quiet times...it greatly depend on one how to manage his space and time to have quiet environments...but beside external disturbance one will encounter most difficult is internal disturbance...
Meditation is good to result focus, or reach samadhi and it will help a person to evalate his cultivation, wisdom. I watch quite a few DVD talks, and most of the great preecher said there are two ways to gain enlightenment, one is to go through meditation,recitation of sutra, recitation of mantra to reach enlightenment, whom one is enlighten when he is still alive., the other method is using Pureland method, recitation of Amitabha names, and to the stage where you reach Amitabha recitation samadhi, or Amitabha make appearance, then you have a seat in his pureland after you reach the end of this life...
Originally posted by Bodhi hut:
IMOP;
Personally meditation is a must in cultivation, disturbance may arouse due to external factors...but one could make space for himself to stay away from disturbance....for starters it is always practise at quiet times...it greatly depend on one how to manage his space and time to have quiet environments...but beside external disturbance one will encounter most difficult is internal disturbance...
Meditation is good to result focus, or reach samadhi and it will help a person to evalate his cultivation, wisdom. I watch quite a few DVD talks, and most of the great preecher said there are two ways to gain enlightenment, one is to go through meditation,recitation of sutra, recitation of mantra to reach enlightenment, whom one is enlighten when he is still alive., the other method is using Pureland method, recitation of Amitabha names, and to the stage where you reach Amitabha recitation samadhi, or Amitabha make appearance, then you have a seat in his pureland after you reach the end of this life...
Yes, samadhi or 'ding' is very important -- to have a mind that is stable, centered, not lost, attached and caught up in own's experiences (of thoughts and the environment). But to add on, the other aspect that is important is awareness... without awareness, wisdom cannot develope. One can enter deep states of samadhi and absorption yet is no closer to gaining wisdom and enlightenment. Hence practice of samadhi and wisdom should go hand in hand.
As my Master (Ven Shen Kai) teaches:
人乘�音: 修禅定还�有觉
问：
请示师傅，è¦�æ€Žæ ·ä¿®æ²»æ•£ä¹±çš„å¿ƒï¼Ÿ
ç”：
è¦�修散乱的心，就è¦�ä¿®ä¸�æ•£ä¹±ã€‚çŽ°åœ¨ä½ ä»¬æŠŠçœ¼ç�›é—上，手å�ˆæŽŒï¼Œå¸ˆå‚…çŽ°åœ¨å°±æ•™ä½ ä»¬ä¿®ã€‚è¿™ä¸ªæ—¶å€™ä½ å¿ƒé‡Œé�¢ä»€ä¹ˆéƒ½ä¸�想，散乱心就没有了。（数分钟）
好，现在眼ç�›ç��å¼€ï¼Œå¸ˆå‚…æ•™ä½ ä»¬çš„å°±æ˜¯ä¿®ç¦…å®šã€‚ä½ æŠŠè¿™ä¸ªæ�‚乱妄想的心收回æ�¥ï¼Œç½®å¿ƒä¸€å¤„ï¼Œæ— äº‹ä¸�办，把这个心定在ä¸�动的地方，ä¸�动就是定，定了以å�Žï¼Œæ™ºæ…§ä¹Ÿå°±ä¼šç”Ÿå‡ºæ�¥äº†ã€‚
但是修禅定最è¦�紧的是è¦�有觉，有很多人å¦ä½›ä¿®è¡Œï¼Œå¿µä½›å�‚禅一辈å�ï¼Œä»–æ²¡æœ‰æ™ºæ…§ï¼ŒåŽŸå› å°±æ˜¯æ²¡æœ‰è§‰ã€‚æ‰€ä»¥æˆ‘ä»¬æŠŠè¿™ä¸ªå¿ƒå®šåœ¨ä¸€å¤„ä»¥å�Žï¼Œæˆ‘们还è¦�有一ç§�觉观，觉
ç…§ã€‚è§‰å°±æ˜¯ä½ è¿™ä¸ªå¿ƒä¸�åŠ¨ï¼Œæœ‰ä¸€å¾®å°˜é£žè¿‡ä½ éƒ½çŸ¥é�“，那么这个定就差ä¸�多了。
谈到觉，å�‡ä½¿ä½ ä¸�但觉了自己的心，他方世界开了一朵花，都好åƒ�åœ¨ä½ çš„æ‰‹é‡Œè¾¹ä¸€æ ·ï¼Œçœ‹å¾—æ¸…æ¸…æ¥šæ¥šï¼Œé‚£ä¹ˆä½ å°±æˆ�佛了。
所以这个修法是很ä¸�简å�•ï¼Œå¸ˆå‚…这么简å�•å°±è·Ÿä½ 们讲了，大家è¦�ç��惜。
Our moderator Thusness also explained over a year back:
Source: (Transcript of the Lankavatara Sutra sharing by Thusness)
Thusness: Ok. I think when we view consciousness, we have to understand that there are a few things. We cannot keep on thinking about the objective world first. We must see how consciousness reacts. That is if we react very intensely, strongly towards symbols, then whatever reactions will go back deep into your consciousness. This is one thing. My perspective is that when you chant, you are not dealing with our luminous clarity. We're dealing with propensities deep in your consciousness. Insight meditation (found in many various forms such as vipassana/vipashyana/zazen/shikantaza/dzogchen/mahamudra and many other derivatives) itself deals directly with this clarity. That is the luminous clarity. But if we were to continue to chant, you are actually focusing more on the deeper layers of consciousness that deals with propensities and the power of concentration. Do you see what I mean? It's not so much of the luminosity. However, the chanting itself, when it takes strength, it creates a kind of momentum. A momentum that synchronises not only with your sub-conscious or the deeper layers of your consciousness, but also your conscious level. This means it can sync the two layers into one. This syncing the two into one clears your mind, clears your thoughts. And then at this time, you ask who you are, that is, not letting the momentum take place, but just feel and sense... then you ask what is it. At that moment, you might see your reality. But your mind must be able to settle down first. But you must know there is a difference between working at the concentration level, dealing with the karmic propensities and creating new momentums, and practicing insight meditation that touch directly the clarity and the luminous nature, are two different things. You see what I mean or not?
Participant 1: Yeah I think so. This means that I still need to do insight meditation?
Thusness: Yes you have to do insight meditation. Even if you attain calmness you still have to do insight meditation. You must feel the awareness... You must sense it everywhere... That is very important for liberation. Now when we talk about awareness, we don't call it Self or we don't call it Mind. Why people call it Awareness is because they do not want to call it Self, because there is no Self. The reason they said Awareness, is because Awareness is not an entity. It is not a thing. It is just a point of luminous clarity. It is just clarity. But because we are so accustomed to thinking things in terms of object and subject, we always take Awareness as something. It must be somewhere inside, residing somewhere. Even if it is not residing inside the body it must be somewhere, someplace. This is the problem, you see. So when you say that let’s be aware. We always think of “how?” How to be aware? When we say “where is awareness”, they always look for a place, they always look for a something. This is how the mind react, this is what I call a momentum. They always behave this way. They do not know how to say “Just do nothing. Everything is expressing itself by clarity.” They always want to react, you see what I mean?
Bhante Gunaratana also says in 'Mindfulness in Plain English':
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe1-4.html
Within the Judeo-Christian tradition we find two overlapping practices called prayer and contemplation. Prayer is a direct address to some spiritual entity. Contemplation in a prolonged period of conscious thought about some specific topic, usually a religious ideal or scriptural passage. From the standpoint of mental culture, both of these activities are exercises in concentration. The normal deluge of conscious thought is restricted, and the mind is brought to one conscious area of operation. The results are those you find in any concentrative practice: deep calm, a physiological slowing of the metabolism and a sense of peace and well-being.
Out of the Hindu tradition comes Yogic meditation, which is also purely concentrative. The traditional basic exercises consist of focusing the mind on a single object a stone, a candle flame, a syllable or whatever, and not allowing it to wander. Having acquired the basic skill, the Yogi proceeds to expand his practice by taking on more complex objects of meditation chants, colorful religious images, energy channels in the body and so forth. Still, no matter how complex the object of meditation, the meditation itself remains purely an exercise in concentration.
Within the Buddhist tradition, concentration is also highly valued. But a new element is added and more highly stressed. That element is awareness. All Buddhist meditation aims at the development of awareness, using concentration as a tool. The Buddhist tradition is very wide, however, and there are several diverse routes to this goal. Zen meditation uses two separate tacks. The first is the direct plunge into awareness by sheer force of will. You sit down and you just sit, meaning that you toss out of your mind everything except pure awareness of sitting. This sounds very simple. It is not. A brief trial will demonstrate just how difficult it really is. The second Zen approach used in the Rinzai school is that of tricking the mind out of conscious thought and into pure awareness. This is done by giving the student an unsolvable riddle which he must solve anyway, and by placing him in a horrendous training situation. Since he cannot flee from the pain of the situation, he must flee into a pure experience of the moment. There is nowhere else to go. Zen is tough. It is effective for many people, but it is really tough.
Another stratagem, Tantric Buddhism, is nearly the reverse. Conscious thought, at least the way we usually do it, is the manifestation of ego, the you that you usually think that you are. Conscious thought is tightly connected with self-concept. The self-concept or ego is nothing more than a set of reactions and mental images which are artificially pasted to the flowing process of pure awareness. Tantra seeks to obtain pure awareness by destroying this ego image. This is accomplished by a process of visualization. The student is given a particular religious image to meditate upon, for example, one of the deities from the Tantric pantheon. He does this in so thorough a fashion that he becomes that entity. He takes off his own identity and puts on another. This takes a while, as you might imagine, but it works. During the process, he is able to watch the way that the ego is constructed and put in place. He comes to recognize the arbitrary nature of all egos, including his own, and he escapes from bondage to the ego. He is left in a state where he may have an ego if he so chooses, either his own or whichever other he might wish, or he can do without one. Result: pure awareness. Tantra is not exactly a game of patty cake either.
Vipassana is the oldest of Buddhist meditation practices. The method comes directly from the Sitipatthana Sutta, a discourse attributed to Buddha himself. Vipassana is a direct and gradual cultivation of mindfulness or awareness. It proceeds piece by piece over a period of years. The student's attention is carefully directed to an intense examination of certain aspects of his own existence. The meditator is trained to notice more and more of his own flowing life experience. Vipassana is a gentle technique. But it also is very , very thorough. It is an ancient and codified system of sensitivity training, a set of exercises dedicated to becoming more and more receptive to your own life experience. It is attentive listening, total seeing and careful testing. We learn to smell acutely, to touch fully and really pay attention to what we feel. We learn to listen to our own thoughts without being caught up in them.
The object of Vipassana practice is to learn to pay attention. We think we are doing this already, but that is an illusion. It comes from the fact that we are paying so little attention to the ongoing surge of our own life experiences that we might just as well be asleep. We are simply not paying enough attention to notice that we are not paying attention. It is another Catch-22.
Sila, Samadhi, Panna
There are two methods: The first is ' concentration develops wisdom', and the second method is 'wisdom develops concentration.' But we don't need to worry about both methods just yet, if we try the first and it does not work, then we will try the other method. The most important thing is that whichever you choose you must do it seriously to be successful. The genuine thing has to come from earnest striving, as you will see for yourself. The result will depend on your effort. The more often you do it, the more you will develop it.
The book also mentions about understanding our temperament and habits. Unfortunately, i can't really summerise everythings to give a good overall picture.
Anyway all the best for your practice
Hi, lately I have been trying to adopt an open awareness and feeling the present moment. Of course, my mind still drifts off but it doesn't wonder that much with mindfulness. I need to consistently remind myself to "live in the present moment" ie the present "now". I would certainly like to think that i am hitting the right note for a beginning on open awareness and the "now" experience. One question that still puzzled me is how can one stay in the "now" (present moment) when one is in thought (eg: thinking about a work process, planning an event, etc.) and meanwhile also trying to adopt an open awareness. Take for instance, when I am strolling, I know I am doing this action (being open awareness) but my mind may be planning on other things while strolling. So, how can my mind be in the present moment when i am in thought? I find that i got to constantly give myself a mental shake to live in the present moment. By the way, aside from the wisdom factor, may we equate "alertness" to be the same as "open awareness" ? Thanks
Originally posted by Verdandis:
Hi, lately I have been trying to adopt an open awareness and feeling the present moment. Of course, my mind still drifts off but it doesn't wonder that much with mindfulness. I need to consistently remind myself to "live in the present moment" ie the present "now". I would certainly like to think that i am hitting the right note for a beginning on open awareness and the "now" experience. One question that still puzzled me is how can one stay in the "now" (present moment) when one is in thought (eg: thinking about a work process, planning an event, etc.) and meanwhile also trying to adopt an open awareness. Take for instance, when I am strolling, I know I am doing this action (being open awareness) but my mind may be planning on other things while strolling. So, how can my mind be in the present moment when i am in thought? I find that i got to constantly give myself a mental shake to live in the present moment. By the way, aside from the wisdom factor, may we equate "alertness" to be the same as "open awareness" ? Thanks
When you are practicing awareness you will feel vivid, alert, clear and yet natural, open, spacious and relaxed. When we let go of our self we might also have the feeling the awareness is not confined within our body-mind, but that requires our bond/attachment to loosen enough. It becomes permanent only after certain insights/awakening... I am far from that of course.
We can still practice mindful awareness when thinking. Why? Thought itself is occuring within and as present awareness. Thought does not belong to past or future, even when we are thinking of past and future, the thought occuring presently in present awareness and AS present awareness. So we should just look at thought as a phenomena like any others (i.e. sights and sounds) -- they are all occuring in the present and is the display of pure awareness.
Thoughts have no existence apart from awareness. It is only when we are completely fixated on our mental stories and contents that we apparently lose sight of awareness, but awareness is actually never lost at any moment, so we just have to keep coming back and notice it. Our Buddha-Nature, emptiness and awareness inseparable is never born and never ceases. It is always present. In the same as without water there are no waves on the ocean, and waves can never depart from the ocean, without awareness you cannot even be aware of the thought so thought is inseparable from awareness. So stillness and movement are all evidence of Buddha-Nature -- and all phenomena and thoughts are the activities of Buddha-Nature.
When we practice observing present awareness, the bond of thoughts seem to loosen and we are not so caught up with them. Instead of chasing after our thoughts, we are attentive to what is presently happening, yet not grasping on them. Practice observing the vivid presence when there is no thoughts and even in the thought if thoughts arise.
When we chase after our thoughts, when we are lost in our thoughts, we lose our attention and become agitated and lose our peacefulness. Instead of simply paying attention to what is presently occuring, we are fixated, attached to certain repetitive patterns of thoughts in our head. We feel contracted as an individual, stuck in our repetitive thoughts and feelings and lose 'alignment' with open spacious awareness.
When this occurs we should just pay attention to these thoughts without further reacting to them, and in doing so we relax our holding/clinging/dwelling and in this way we step out of the thought repetitions and just watch whatever manifest arise and pass away by themselves.
Thoughts themselves are made of the same substance as empty-awareness -- just like countless waves on the ocean are all made of the same substance as the ocean: water. The waves no existence apart from the ocean, apart from water.
Hence it is said: no matter how many waves may arise,
They never depart from the ocean even in the slightest.
Similarly, whether still or in movement,
The
mind never departs from awareness and emptiness even in the slightest.
Here's a passage from the Flight of Garuda:
http://www.deepspring.org/library_other_transcripts/070424EIdzogchen.htm
Song 15
Emaho! Once again, noble children, listen carefully!
Rest your mind loosely in naturalness and
See how the mind is when calm.
Observed, it rests calmly in the continuity of awareness.
Calm, and yet empty, thus is the state of awareness.
Fortunate heart-children, you must understand this.
This is how calm resting is the mind’s ornament.Give rise to a thought and observe how it arises.
Since it does not depart even in the slightest
From the state of empty and luminous awareness,
Arising and yet being empty is thus the state of awareness itself.
Fortunate heart-children, you must understand this.
This is how arising is the play of mind.To illustrate this, no matter how many waves may arise,
They never depart from the ocean even in the slightest.
Similarly, whether still or in movement,
The mind never departs from awareness and emptiness even in the slightest.
So rest, since whatever rests calmly is the state of awareness.
Rest, since whatever arises is the manifestation of awareness.To believe that meditation is only when the mind rests quiet,
And maintain that there is no meditation when the mind moves
Is proof of not knowing the core of stillness and movement,
And of not having mingled stillness, occurrence and awareness.For this reason, fortunate and noble heart children,
Whether moving or still, mind is the continuity of awareness.
So when you have fully comprehended stillness, occurrence and awareness,
Then practice these three as one.
This is how stillness and thought occurrence are nondual.
http://www.dzogchen.org/teachings/talks/SustainAware10694.html
This is the heart teaching of Mahamudra, of Dzogchen, of Zen, of all the nondual teachings: Sustaining present awareness. Recognizing the Buddha-nature through the present moment, this very moment of awareness. If it's awareness taking the form of thinking, recognize the present awareness component of the thought. If you are remembering the past, recognize the present awareness component of the memory. You're not in the past. How could you be in the past? It is present awareness remembering. If you feel distracted when remembering, bring the mind back to the present awareness. You don't have to stop remembering. Recognize present awareness, which is remembering. If you are dreaming, fantasizing about the future, about what you are going to do when you leave here, how you are going to tell everybody how wonderful it was and how great Dzogchen view and meditation is, that's fine-recognize present awareness fantasizing, planning, dreaming. Recognize who or what is doing that present awareness. Know the knower; see through the seer; go beyond me and mine, and be free.
I think Thusness and Longchen can advise much better than me... I myself have much to learn.
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:When you are practicing awareness you will feel vivid, alert, clear and yet natural, open, spacious and relaxed. When we let go of our self we might also have the feeling the awareness is not confined within our body-mind, but that requires our bond/attachment to loosen enough. It becomes permanent only after certain insights/awakening... I am far from that of course.
We can still practice mindful awareness when thinking. Why? Thought itself is occuring within and as present awareness. Thought does not belong to past or future, even when we are thinking of past and future, the thought occuring presently in present awareness and AS present awareness. So we should just look at thought as a phenomena like any others (i.e. sights and sounds) -- they are all occuring in the present and is the display of pure awareness.
Thoughts have no existence apart from awareness. It is only when we are completely fixated on our mental stories and contents that we apparently lose sight of awareness, but awareness is actually never lost at any moment, so we just have to keep coming back and notice it. Our Buddha-Nature, emptiness and awareness inseparable is never born and never ceases. It is always present. In the same as without water there are no waves on the ocean, and waves can never depart from the ocean, without awareness you cannot even be aware of the thought so thought is inseparable from awareness. So stillness and movement are all evidence of Buddha-Nature -- and all phenomena and thoughts are the activities of Buddha-Nature.
When we practice observing present awareness, the bond of thoughts seem to loosen and we are not so caught up with them. Instead of chasing after our thoughts, we are attentive to what is presently happening, yet not grasping on them. Practice observing the vivid presence when there is no thoughts and even in the thought if thoughts arise.
When we chase after our thoughts, when we are lost in our thoughts, we lose our attention and become agitated and lose our peacefulness. Instead of simply paying attention to what is presently occuring, we are fixated, attached to certain repetitive patterns of thoughts in our head. We feel contracted as an individual, stuck in our repetitive thoughts and feelings and lose 'alignment' with open spacious awareness.
When this occurs we should just pay attention to these thoughts without further reacting to them, and in doing so we relax our holding/clinging/dwelling and in this way we step out of the thought repetitions and just watch whatever manifest arise and pass away by themselves.
Thoughts themselves are made of the same substance as empty-awareness -- just like countless waves on the ocean are all made of the same substance as the ocean: water. The waves no existence apart from the ocean, apart from water.
Hence it is said: no matter how many waves may arise,
They never depart from the ocean even in the slightest.
Similarly, whether still or in movement,
The mind never departs from awareness and emptiness even in the slightest.Here's a passage from the Flight of Garuda:
http://www.deepspring.org/library_other_transcripts/070424EIdzogchen.htm
Song 15
http://www.dzogchen.org/teachings/talks/SustainAware10694.html
I think Thusness and Longchen can advise much better than me... I myself have much to learn.
Firstly, will like to state that I am still learning... so this is just a sharing.
To me, the 'Now' concept can be quite misleading.
What is more important for me is to expereince no-self in what is happening. It doesn't matter whether there are thoughts or not. There is a difference in experiencing the world through a self and one without it. This to me is more important.
The Now concept can put one into a state of wanting to get into such a state. This will cause a thinking that there is a Now state and a non-now state... and that the Now state is better.
However, the insight of spontaneous manifestation will change this view. Spontaneous manifestion need a clear understanding and experience of no-self. Here, it doesn't matter whether there are thoughts, feelings or not... these expereinces are arising not from a self... and cannot be stopped by a self.
From the practice point of view, meditation is essential. It is also important to have the ability to realise one's blindspots... that is when one is unconsciously caught up. This can be very very subtle... and hard to discover... and presented the main difficulties for me.
The conceptual understanding is much easier that the realtime practice.
Thanks for sharing with me, I appreciate it. I have taken a quick glance at the linkage to Dzogchen teachings and the Pure Awareness. It cetainly requires me some time to digest it. My thought is that the "no self" is really too abstract, afterall Buddhism teachings are indeed profound and the concepts are not easy to grasp. Meantime, I will be happy if I can always remind myself to be mindful and strive to maintain present awarenesss. Occassionally, I am also afraid to dwell too much in thoughts that may create negative karma in me. Well, need to sign off now, Cheers!
Reflection and Presence: The Dialectic of Awakening
Excerpt:
The ultimate practice here is learning to remain fully present and
awake in the middle of whatever thoughts, feelings, perceptions, or
sensations are occurring and to appreciate them, in
Mahamudra/Dzogchen terms, as Dharmakaya -- as an ornamental display
of the empty, luminous essence of awareness. Like waves on the
ocean, thoughts are not separate from awareness. They are the
radiant clarity of awareness in motion. In remaining awake in the
middle of thoughts -- and recognizing them as the luminous energy
of awareness -- the practitioner maintains presence and can rest
within their movement. As Namkhai Norbu (1986) suggests:
"The essential principle is to ... maintain presence in the state
of the moving wave of thought itself ... If one considers the calm
state as something positive to be attained, and the wave of thought
as something negative to be abandoned, and one remains caught up in
the duality of grasping and rejecting, there is no way of
overcoming the ordinary state of the mind.” (p. 144)
It is a dualistic fixation, the tension between "me" -- as self --
and "my thoughts" -- as other -- that makes thinking problematic,
tormenting, "sticky," like the tarbaby to which Brer Rabbit becomes
affixed by trying to push it away. Thoughts become thick, solid,
and heavy only when we react to them. Each reaction triggers
further thought, so that the thoughts become chained together in
what appears to be a continuous mind-state. These thought-chains
are like a relay race, where each new thought picks up the baton
from the previous thought and runs with it for a moment, passing it
on again to a subsequent thought. But if the meditator can maintain
presence in the middle of thinking, free of grasping or rejecting,
then the thought has nothing to pass the baton on to, and naturally
subsides. Although this sounds simple, it is advanced practice,
usually requiring much preliminary training and commitment.
When one can rest in presence even in the midst of thoughts,
perceptions, or intense emotions, these become an ongoing part of
one's contemplative practice, as opportunities to discover a
pervasive quality of even awareness in all one's activities. As
Tarthang Tulku (1974) describes this:
"It's possible to make thought itself meditation... How do we go
into that state? The moment you try to separate yourself from
thought, you are dealing with a duality, a subject-object
relationship. You lose the state of awareness because you reject
your experience and become separate from it.... But if our
awareness is in the center of thought, the thought itself
dissolves... At the very beginning... stay in the thoughts. Just be
there... You become the center of the thought. But there is not
really any center -- the center becomes balance. There's no
'being,' no 'subject-object relationships': none of these
categories exist. Yet at the same time, there is... complete
openness... So we kind of crack each thought, like cracking nuts.
If we can do this, any thought becomes meditation... Any moment,
wherever you are, driving a car, sitting around, working, talking,
any activities you have -- even if you are very disturbed
emotionally, very passionate, or even if your mind has become very
strong, raging, overcome with the worst possible things and you
cannot control yourself, or you feel depressed... if you really go
into it, there's nothing there. Whatever comes up becomes your
meditation. Even if you become extremely tense, if you go into your
thought and your awareness comes alive, that moment can be more
powerful than working a long time in meditation practice. (pp.
9-10, 18)"
Here no antidote need be applied: no conceptual understanding, no
reflection, no stepping back, no detachment, no witnessing. When
one is totally present in the thought, in the emotion, in the
disturbance, it relaxes by itself and becomes transparent to the
larger ground of awareness. The wave subsides back into the ocean.
The cloud dissolves into the sky. The snake naturally uncoils.
These are all metaphors that say: It self-liberates.
Self-liberation is not a dialogical process, but a "straight heart"
realization of being-emptiness. It makes possible an intimate
knowing of reality, as Nishitani suggests when he writes that
"Things reveal themselves to us only when we leap from the
circumstance to the center, into their very [suchness]" (1982, p.
130). This "knowing of not-knowing" is a complete openness and
attunement to the self-revealing qualities of self, world, and
other beings.
For one who can remain fully present even in the middle of deluded
thoughts and emotions, the distinction between samsara and nirvana,
conventional and awakened consciousness, duality and nonduality is
no longer of great concern. This is known as the awareness of 'one
taste'. When one is no longer trapped in divided consciousness, the
relative duality, or play of self and other, in daily life is not a
problem. One can play by the conventional ground rules of duality
when appropriate, and drop them when they're not useful. The
interplay of self and others becomes a humorous dance, an energetic
exchange, an ornament rather than a hindrance.