Resting the mind in its natural state

[Seeker of Wisdom]

I've tried this method of shamatha practice using instructions from The Attention Revolution by Alan Wallace a little here and there. I just finished my first proper session of it - my main meditation practice is still anapana sati, but now I've replaced my metta bhavana session with resting the mind. I have ordered Alan's Vajra Essence book for more detail on this and look forward to digging into that.

 

Initial thoughts - this is an awesome practice. The space of the mind and what happens in there is very interesting, and I can definitely see the segue into vipasanna this practice has.

 

I could sort of vaguely perceive that there were subconscious mechanisms operating determining what would happen next and accessing memories, extremely brief and small mental events, etc, and I look forward to uncovering these.

 

Keeping the eyes open meditating was easier than expected. The interesting object of this practice and the subtle challenges of it meant I wasn't drawn off into external distraction much. I think having eyes open did help increase my vividness and reduce the delusional impression of the mind being 'inside the skull'.

 

This meditation is definitely a step up in subtlety. Watching the space of the mind and mental events without controlling, judging or identifying is breaking the habits of years... well, actually eons I guess.

 

I'm keeping anapana my main practice, and this my minor, until I reach around stage 4 shamatha, because anapana is especially good for reducing coarse excitation, then I will swap them round.

 

Does anyone else do resting the mind - any tips or insights?

[C T]

Wonderful practice, resting the mind is.

 

 

 

 

 

May you experience profound expansion, friend.

[steve]

 

Does anyone else do resting the mind - any tips or insights?

 

It is a very valuable practice.

It's absolute simplicity but not at all easy to do.

It does get easier with time.

Not a tip or an insight, but once you get a feel for it I would challenge you to take it off the meditation cushion and into every possible aspect of your daily life.

Enjoy!

[idiot_stimpy]

 

Does anyone else do resting the mind - any tips or insights?

 

There is no difference between awareness and thoughts, All is a refelction of your true nature. Recognize this in the moment.

[idiot_stimpy]

The recognition can happen right now. You don't need anything.

 

 

Right now, this is it.

 

 

A thought will then arise.

 

The thought is also it.

 

Many different thoughts can come.

 

They're all it. A projection of your true nature.

[Tibetan_Ice]

I've tried this method of shamatha practice using instructions from The Attention Revolution by Alan Wallace a little here and there. I just finished my first proper session of it - my main meditation practice is still anapana sati, but now I've replaced my metta bhavana session with resting the mind. I have ordered Alan's Vajra Essence book for more detail on this and look forward to digging into that.

 

Initial thoughts - this is an awesome practice. The space of the mind and what happens in there is very interesting, and I can definitely see the segue into vipasanna this practice has.

 

I could sort of vaguely perceive that there were subconscious mechanisms operating determining what would happen next and accessing memories, extremely brief and small mental events, etc, and I look forward to uncovering these.

 

Keeping the eyes open meditating was easier than expected. The interesting object of this practice and the subtle challenges of it meant I wasn't drawn off into external distraction much. I think having eyes open did help increase my vividness and reduce the delusional impression of the mind being 'inside the skull'.

 

This meditation is definitely a step up in subtlety. Watching the space of the mind and mental events without controlling, judging or identifying is breaking the habits of years... well, actually eons I guess.

 

I'm keeping anapana my main practice, and this my minor, until I reach around stage 4 shamatha, because anapana is especially good for reducing coarse excitation, then I will swap them round.

 

Does anyone else do resting the mind - any tips or insights?

 

[PRACTICE] 15

RESTING IN THE STILLNESS OF AWARENESS

 

Settle your body in its natural state and your breathing in its natural rhythm, and then with your gaze resting vacantly in the space in front of you, steadily focus your attention up into the space above you, without desire and without bringing any object to mind. Relax again. Then steadily, unwaveringly direct your awareness into the space on your right, then on your left, and then downward. In this way, begin to explore the space of awareness, noting whether it has any center or periphery.

 

At times, let your awareness come to rest in the center of your chest and evenly leave it there. At other times, evenly focus it in the expanse of the sky and leave it there. By shifting your attention in this way, you will allow your mind to gradually settle in its natural state. Following this practice, your awareness will remain evenly, lucidly, and steadily wherever it is placed. Due to the force of the attention being focused single-pointedly inward, the physical senses become dormant, and with the settling down of involuntary thoughts, the mind dissolves into the substrate consciousness. Your consciousness now rests in peace, pervaded by a sense of luminous wakefulness and an even sense of well-being.1

 

Wallace, B. Alan (2009-06-05). Mind in the Balance: Meditation in Science, Buddhism, and Christianity (Columbia Series in Science and Religion) (Kindle Locations 2223-2234). Columbia University Press. Kindle Edition.

 

TI

[rex]

Does anyone else do resting the mind - any tips or insights?

 

This is an excerpt on the difference between meditation as a technique and meditation as a way of being is worth repeating:

 

ESSENTIAL ADVICE ON MEDITATION

 

Excerpts from Teachings by Sogyal Rinpoche

 

When you read books about meditation, or often when meditation is presented by different groups, much of the emphasis falls on the techniques. In the West, people tend to be very interested in the "technology" of meditation. However, by far the most important feature of meditation is not technique, but the way of being, the spirit, which is called the "posture", a posture which is not so much physical, but more to do with spirit or attitude.

 

It is well to recognize that when you start on a meditation practice, you are entering a totally different dimension of reality. Normally in life we put a great deal of effort into achieving things, and there is a lot of struggle involved, whereas meditation is just the opposite, it is a break from how we normally operate.

 

Meditation is simply a question of being, of melting, like a piece of butter left in the sun. It has nothing to do with whether or not you "know" anything about it, in fact, each time you practice meditation it should be fresh, as if it were happening for the very first time. You just quietly sit, your body still, your speech silent, your mind at ease, and allow thoughts to come and go, without letting them play havoc on you. If you need something to do, then watch the breathing. This is a very simple process. When you are breathing out, know that you are breathing out. When you breath in, know that you are breathing in, without supplying any kind of extra commentary or internalized mental gossip, but just identifying with the breath. That very simple process of mindfulness processes your thoughts and emotions, and then, like an old skin being shed, something is peeled off and freed.

 

Usually people tend to relax the body by concentrating on different parts. Real relaxation comes when you relax from within, for then everything else will ease itself out quite naturally.

 

When you begin to practice, you center yourself, in touch with your "soft spot", and just remain there. You need not focus on anything in particular to begin with. Just be spacious, and allow thoughts and emotions to settle. If you do so, then later, when you use a method such as watching the breath, your attention will more easily be on your breathing. There is no particular point on the breath on which you need to focus, it is simply the process of breathing. Twenty-five percent of your attention is on the breath, and seventy-five percent is relaxed. Try to actually identify with the breathing, rather than just watching it. You may choose an object, like a flower, for example, to focus upon. Sometimes you are taught to visualize a light on the forehead, or in the heart. Sometimes a sound or a mantra can be used. But at the beginning it is best to simply be spacious, like the sky. Think of yourself as the sky, holding the whole universe.

 

When you sit, let things settle and allow all your discordant self with its un-genuineness and un-naturalness to dissolve, out of that rises your real being. You experience an aspect of yourself which is more genuine and more authentic-the "real" you. As you go deeper, you begin to discover and connect with your fundamental goodness.

 

The whole point of meditation is to get used to the that aspect which you have forgotten. In Tibetan "meditation" means "getting used to". Getting used to what? to your true nature, your Buddha nature. This is why, in the highest teaching of Buddhism, Dzogchen, you are told to "rest in the nature of mind". You just quietly sit and let all thoughts and concepts dissolve. It is like when the clouds dissolve or the mist evaporates, to reveal the clear sky and the sun shining down. When everything dissolves like this, you begin to experience your true nature, to "live". Then you know it, and at that moment, you feel really good. It is unlike any other feeling of well being that you might have experienced. This is a real and genuine goodness, in which you feel a deep sense of peace, contentment and confidence about yourself.

 

It is good to meditate when you feel inspired. Early mornings can bring that inspiration, as the best moments of the mind are early in the day, when the mind is calmer and fresher (the time traditionally recommended is before dawn). It is more appropriate to sit when you are inspired, for not only is it easier then as you are in a better frame of mind for meditation, but you will also be more encouraged by the very practice that you do. This in turn will bring more confidence in the practice, and later on you will be able to practice when you are not inspired. There is no need to meditate for a long time: just remain quietly until you are a little open and able to connect with your heart essence. That is the main point.

 

After that, some integration, or meditation in action. Once your mindfulness has been awakened by your meditation, your mind is calm and your perception a little more coherent. Then, whatever you do, you are present, right there. As in the famous Zen master's saying: "When I eat, I eat; when I sleep, I sleep". Whatever you do, you are fully present in the act. Even washing dishes, if it is done one-pointedly, can be very energizing, freeing, cleansing. You are more peaceful, so you are more "you". You assume the "Universal You".

 

One of the fundamental points of the spiritual journey is to persevere along the path. Though one's meditation may be good one day and not so good the next, like changes in scenery, essentially it is not the experiences, good or bad which count so much, but rather that when you persevere, the real practice rubs off on you and comes through both good and bad. Good and bad are simply apparitions, just as there may be good or bad weather, yet the sky is always unchanging. If you persevere and have that sky like attitude of spaciousness, without being perturbed by emotions and experiences, you will develop stability and the real profoundness of meditation will take effect. You will find that gradually and almost unnoticed, your attitude begins to change. You do not hold on to things as solidly as before, or grasp at them so strongly, and though crisis will still happen, you can handle them a bit better with more humor and ease. You will even be able to laugh at difficulties a little, since there is more space between you and them, and you are freer of yourself. Things become less solid, slightly ridiculous, and you become more light-hearted.

 

This is worth repeating too:

 

 

The Tibetan name of the Buddha of Compassion is

Chenrézig. Chen is the eye, ré is the corner of the eye, and zig

means "see." This signifies that with his compassionate eyes

Chénrezig sees the needs of all beings. So direct the compassion

that radiates from your meditation, softly and gently,

through your eyes, so that your gaze becomes the very gaze

of compassion itself, all-pervasive and oceanlike.

 

There are several reasons for keeping the eyes open. With

the eyes open, you are less likely to fall asleep. Then, meditation

is not a means of running away from the world, or of

escaping from it into a trancelike experience of an altered state

of consciousness. On the contrary, it is a direct way to help us

truly understand ourselves and relate to life and the world.

Therefore, in meditation, you keep your eyes open, not

closed. Instead of shutting out life, you remain open and at

peace with everything. You leave all your senses—hearing,

seeing, feeling—just open, naturally, as they are, without

grasping after their perceptions. As Dudjom Rinpoche said:

'Though different forms are perceived, they are in essence

empty; yet in the emptiness one perceives forms. Though different

sounds are heard, they are empty; yet in the emptiness

one perceives sounds. Also different thoughts arise; they are

empty, yet in the emptiness one perceives thoughts." Whatever

you see, whatever you hear, leave it as it is, without

grasping. Leave the hearing in the hearing, leave the seeing in

the seeing, without letting your attachment enter into the perception.

 

According to the special luminosity practice of Dzogchen,

all the light of our wisdom-energy resides in the heart center,

which is connected through "wisdom channels" to the eyes.

The eyes are the "doors" of the luminosity, so you keep them

open, in order not to block these wisdom channels.

 

When you meditate keep your mouth slightly open, as if

about to say a deep, relaxing "Aaaah." By keeping the mouth

slightly open and breathing mainly through the mouth, it is

said that the "karmic winds" that create discursive thoughts

are normally less likely to arise and create obstacles in your

mind and meditation.

 

Rest your hands comfortably covering your knees. This is

called the "mind in comfort and ease" posture.

 

Later edit/additon:

 

Got this from a podcast, can't remember where (the punctuation may be way out too):

 

All meditation just clouds the heart of the matter;

what is experienced has no beginning or end.

Your misconceptions twist what is formless into form;

sliding away from what is true you become confused and reactive.

Some people cut off the ebb and flow of thoughts and feelings and construct an emptiness practice corrupted by goal seeking;

they are worn out from pushing a forced practice.

Big problems occur when you misdirect energy into the life channel.

Others do not see original presence, misled by descriptions of presence;

their practice ineffective, taking an intense dullness that conceals thoughts and feelings as the essence of practice, they are very confused.

 

edit: inevitable tpyos

Edited August 12, 2013 by rex

[Seeker of Wisdom]

Rex - the Tibetan word for 'achieving' also means 'practising'.

[RongzomFan]

There is no difference between awareness and thoughts

 

Maybe for you. But for us, we distinguish between rigpa and sems.

 

Loppon Namdrol says:

 

1. "If you think concepts are dharmakāya, your practice is screwed before it has even begun.

 

In Ati these days, conceited elephants [claim]

the mass of discursive concepts is bodhicitta.

 

chos dbying mdzod"

 

2. "But if you want to consider your discursive thoughts to be dharmakāya, go ahead and be my guest. It's your practice and not mine."

Edited August 12, 2013 by alwayson

[RongzomFan]

We do something called rushan to identify the conceptualizing mind.

[Seeker of Wisdom]

Can this thread not get derailed with arguments irrelevant to the actual topic out of a minority's pathological need to make everyone else agree with them and join the one true tradition, as though they are omniscient and someone else being wrong about a little thing is the end of the friggin' world - when most of the time the other person was right anyway but used different terminology or was making a subtle point which the antagonist minority couldn't be bothered to consider, or maybe did consider but deliberately strawmanned to be an awkward trollish nuisance?

 

Cheers.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Seeker of Tao

[joeblast]

naturally outflowing from longevity breathing, no need to conceptually arise anything, just practice the techniques, fix the spirit at the seat of awareness, and cultivate until and past the point at which this arises. rote-ness.

[RongzomFan]

Can this thread not get derailed with arguments irrelevant to the actual topic out of a minority's pathological need to make everyone else agree with them and join the one true tradition

Yet this thread references lama Allan wallace and sogyal rinpoche.

 

Seriously, look into seperating samsara and nirvana.

[Apech]

Yet this thread references lama Allan wallace and sogyal rinpoche.

 

Seriously, look into seperating samsara and nirvana.

 

What do you mean by this?

[Seeker of Wisdom]

So Alan Wallace compared resting the mind to very deep free association, and I can see why.

 

The chain of thoughts, memories and quite elaborate images that come up is surprising, and really shows how much inadvertently repressed gunk there is in a normal person.

 

The average person is so badly misusing the incredible capacity of their mind.

 

Dive deep into the crazy!

Edited August 12, 2013 by Seeker of Tao

[Seeker of Wisdom]

Let's not make this another alwayson vs. the world thread.

[rex]

Rex - the Tibetan word for 'achieving' also means 'practising'.

Thanks! Didn't know that. I suppose when the result is taken as the path they would be the same : )

What's the word?

[Seeker of Wisdom]

...

No idea. Alan Wallace, who is fluent in Tibetan, said it and that Tibetans therefore say "I am practising/accomplishing shamatha" in The Attention Revolution.

 

It's like the tree is latent in the seed, but it's still got to be planted and watered to really have a tree. It's important to just enjoy doing the practice while doing it, and afterwards recognise that the seed is sprouting and look forward to that tree. Also, even in poor sessions obscurations are being rubbed off.

[RongzomFan]

 

What do you mean by this?

Which part?

[Apech]

Which part?

 

Nevermind see post 18

[RongzomFan]

separating samsara and nirvana, rushen

 

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=seperating+samsara+and+nirvana&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-Address&ie=&oe=#bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&fp=e70a163e76c42268&hl=en&q=separating+samsara+and+nirvana+rushen&rls=com.microsoft:en-US%3AIE-Address&safe=images&tbm=bks

Edited August 12, 2013 by alwayson

[Jetsun]

You probably need less advice than more, so I will add to the potential confusion with my 2c which is that if you are trying to do anything then you are not resting the mind. The inclination to do is a difficult one to relax especially in our culture and when most of our spiritual training has involved doing.

 

These instructions by the great Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche I find very precise

http://www.turtlehill.org/ths/dilgo.html

 

"The everyday practice is simply to develop a complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions, and to all people, experiencing everything totally without mental reservations and blockages, so that one never withdraws or centralizes into oneself.

This produces a tremendous energy which usually is locked up in the process of mental evasion and a general running away from life experiences."

 

"Don't mentally split into two when meditating, one part of the mind watching the other like a cat watching a mouse".

 

"Everything is perfect just as it is, completely pure and undefiled. All phenomena naturally appear in their uniquely correct modes and situations, forming ever-changing patterns full of meaning and significance, like participants in a great dance. Everything is a symbol, yet there is no difference between the symbol and the truth symbolized. With no effort of practice whatsoever, liberation,
enlightenment, and buddhahood are already fully developed and perfected. This is natural perfection."

 

"The everyday practice is just ordinary life itself. Since the underdeveloped state does not exist there is no need to behave in any special way or try to attain or practice anything.There should be no need of striving to reach some exalted goal or higher state"

[Tibetan_Ice]

The recognition can happen right now. You don't need anything.

 

 

Right now, this is it.

 

 

A thought will then arise.

 

The thought is also it.

 

Many different thoughts can come.

 

They're all it. A projection of your true nature.

Hi IS

Some people here have missed the boat on what you have said. They were not able to distinguish between "a thought", a "multitude of thoughts" and the "thoughts of the conceptual mind", that is the proliferation of thoughts from feeding them energy by focusing on their content.

 

I thought I would point this out, which is saying in essence, the same thing that you are saying, that thought is the dharmakhaya: (this is from the Ninth Karmapa, he agrees with you)

 

A similar idea to looking at the mind within occurrence is found in dzogchen empowerments, in which you are often told, “Send your mind to the east. Does it go anywhere? And is there anything going there? Send your mind to the south. Does it go anywhere? And is there anything going there?,” and so on. You are instructed to send your mind out to the four directions and then to look at the experience of doing so. This is essentially the same idea as looking at the mind within occurrence.

 

Following these three practice sessions, and given to support these three stages of practice, are two further teaching sessions. To begin with, these are concerned with how we relate to thoughts. Usually, as meditators, we regard thoughts as something unwanted. We do not want thoughts to arise because we view them as impediments to meditation. Here, because thoughts are an opportunity to look at the mind, thoughts are not regarded as a problem. Whatever arises in the mind is treated equally. You simply look at its nature, even if it is a klesha. By looking at its nature, it is self-liberated. Even if it is intense delight or misery, it is self-liberated when its nature is seen. It does not interfere with meditation. And even the arising of an image or generalized abstraction in the mind can be self-liberated as well.

 

It is, therefore, of some importance that we learn not to regard thoughts as a problem, not to regard thoughts as enemies, but to regard them as supports for meditation. About this, Lord Gampopa said, “See thoughts as necessary, as valuable, as helpful, as kind, and cherish them.” The kindness of thoughts, the value of thoughts, is that they reveal our own nature, mahamudra, to us, which is a great help. Obviously, if you follow thoughts, if instead of looking at their nature you follow them, then that will impede meditation. But if you see their nature, and the thoughts are self-liberated, that is a great help. Therefore, Gampopa said, “If you know how to rest within whatever thought arises and it is therefore self-liberated, then, since that itself is the dharmakaya, they are indeed worthy of being cherished. If you do not have this attitude, if you do not regard thoughts as opportunities for insight, meditation becomes very difficult and inconvenient, because it becomes a battle against thinking, which among other things, makes the meditation unclear and unstable.”

 

Speaking to his students, Gampopa also said, “Meditators seem to want to have no thoughts, but they cannot stop thinking, and therefore they become exhausted. However, even if a lot of thoughts are present within the mind, this is not a problem as long as you can look at and see their nature. Therefore, it is appropriate to abstain from any attempt either to get rid of or to follow thoughts.”

 

Rinpoche, Khenchen Thrangu; Namgyal, Lama Tashi (2011-04-01). The Ninth Karmapa's Ocean of Definitive Meaning (p. 96). Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.

 

 

TI

[idiot_stimpy]

A good way to allow the thoughts to come and go is to see there is no difference between thoughts and awareness.

 

Whatever thought comes it is still a display of your true nature and is not an issue.

[Tibetan_Ice]

Hi SoT

I thought I should mention, that method that I posted from Alan Wallace which is 'settling the mind in the natural state', is not an instruction on how to become enlightened, nor how to break on through and realize the big rigpa (or mother clear light as is defined in the text called "Naked Awareness".) It is just a way of settling the ordinary coarse mind in it's natural state. It doesn't get you out of samsara.

 

It is actually a very good practice. I have been doing it for months as a fun thing to do at the start of my meditation sessions. It is particularily effective and useful when you just can't seem to calm the mind down from too many thoughts bombarding the mind stream. It settles the mind (and body) very quickly.

 

What I do is this: I start with my awareness in front of me, eyes closed, and then slowly move my awaress to the left, in a full-sweep circle around the body. I do this three times. The I go from the front and move my awareness to the right in a full circle (around the body, right, back, left then back to the front). I also do that three times. Then I point my awareness at the front and do a full sweep going up and over the top, around the back, around the bottom and then back to the front. I also do this three times.

 

Then, I move my attention to all the points in the body, and then the psychic points (chakras, sushumna etc). Then, I make circle eights in front of my face, moving the attention around, down, up, around, down.. I do that with great care and make sure my eyes don't follow the movement. Then, the last thing I do is I take the awareness and shoot it straight from the last circle-eight back through the third eye into the 'me' that is watching. Makes a direct hit to the source of the subject, the watcher... This is very effective, believe me. Not only does it settle the mind, the body becomes very relaxed, the breathing is nice and calm, and that last part about shooting your awareness back at the watcher helps to get you deeper and closer to the source. (Actually, that is one of the techniques is very similar to one of the later meditations in Alan Wallace's Dzogchen retreat podcasts).

 

One of the main things that I learned using this technique is that you can control your awareness. The other interesting thing is this: If you move your awareness around like I just explained, and you can see things through your closed eyes (using your third eye), and you expand your mental vision to go further and further, eventually you start to see the surrounding room, the neighborhood, the city, the earth, the galaxies... it expands. And, sometimes it seems that you have expanded your awareness because what you are looking at is so vivid and clear that it makes you think that you are actually viewing the real thing, just by expanding and moving your awareness around.. It also helps if you can 'love' the scene of the universe, the stars, the lights, the galaxies etc.. I know I do. Such awesome lights..

 

All in all it is a great technique.

 

TI

Edited August 13, 2013 by Tibetan_Ice