Dhamma Notes No.1

THE MEDITATION PRACTICES

“Indeed, the very word Buddha comes from the sanskrit root budh, meaning “to know” or “to be aware.”

“Wherever the centre of a thing lies, there lies its heart, for the word ‘heart’ means centrality.”

Buddha explained that even one moment's thought of this mind dedicated to enlightenment for the sake of others can destroy a hundred thousand lifetimes' negative karma. We have attachment that makes us tight and uncomfortable. But even a tiny spark of bodhicitta's heat makes the heart warm and relaxed.

The hero

In mythology and folklore, the hero’s journey is a metaphor for an individual’s quest for inner realization. The quest typically begins with a call to action—an event, circumstance, or inner propulsion that draws one to the threshold of a journey. Because what is before us is a break with the ordinary, we may encounter challenges as we draw closer to the threshold. Crossing the threshold is only a beginning, however. To progress the hero invariably needs a special power or force, often provided by a guide who appears at just the right time. Then comes the work, an extensive period of training that challenges, tests, and shapes the hero. The battles may seem to be with external foes, but the real struggle is within. After enough battles are won comes the symbolic return, a reengagement with the world. The return does not so much mark the end of the journey as it does a new phase, a continuation, only now with a transformed outlook, perspective, and strength. Buddhist training is a means to undertake this journey. It contains all the elements: a threshold, empowerment, training, and reengagement. On the Buddhist path, there is perhaps no better expression of the hero’s journey than the bodhisattva, the spiritual warrior driven to self-transformation for the betterment of the world. The ideal of the bodhisattva is immortalized in The Way of the Bodhisattva, the ancient text by the famous Indian Buddhist sage, Shantideva. In it, Shantideva composed a pledge, as beautiful and hopeful today as it was when it was written fifteen hundred years ago. It reminds us that each one of us is the hero, and it links us with generations of enlightened heroes who have come before us: Just as those before me have embraced the spirit of awakening And trained in the ways that unfold it, So will I too for the sake of others embrace that very same spirit And step by step unfold my mind’s potential. 

In mythology and folklore, the hero’s journey is a metaphor for an individual’s quest for inner realization. The quest typically begins with a call to action—an event, circumstance, or inner propulsion that draws one to the threshold of a journey. Because what is before us is a break with the ordinary, we may encounter challenges as we draw closer to the threshold.

Crossing the threshold is only a beginning, however. To progress the hero invariably needs a special power or force, often provided by a guide who appears at just the right time. Then comes the work, an extensive period of training that challenges, tests, and shapes the hero. The battles may seem to be with external foes, but the real struggle is within. After enough battles are won comes the symbolic return, a reengagement with the world. The return does not so much mark the end of the journey as it does a new phase, a continuation, only now with a transformed outlook, perspective, and strength.

Buddhist training is a means to undertake this journey. It contains all the elements: a threshold, empowerment, training, and reengagement. On the Buddhist path, there is perhaps no better expression of the hero’s journey than the bodhisattva, the spiritual warrior driven to self-transformation for the betterment of the world. The ideal of the bodhisattva is immortalized in The Way of the Bodhisattva, the ancient text by the famous Indian Buddhist sage, Shantideva. In it, Shantideva composed a pledge, as beautiful and hopeful today as it was when it was written fifteen hundred years ago. It reminds us that each one of us is the hero, and it links us with generations of enlightened heroes who have come before us:

Just as those before me have embraced the spirit of awakening

And trained in the ways that unfold it,

So will I too for the sake of others embrace that very same spirit

And step by step unfold my mind’s potential.

MANTRA

The ancient yogis experimented with sound vibration and began to utilize special sounds which they found useful in the process of expansion of mind. They found that there are seven principle psycho-spiritual energy centers in the human body. They further learned that there are 50 sounds which emanate from the centers. These sounds are found in the alphabet of Sanskrit, and certain combinations of the sounds were used in ancient processes of concentration and meditation. During Tantric meditation the meditator is concentrating on the mantra and trying to keep only one sound vibration (and its associated idea) in his or her mind. Constant repetition of the mantra leads a practitioner to higher states of consciousness.

Not any sound can be chosen at random for use in meditation, rather there are certain qualities which the mantra must possess in order for it to be effective. First of all the mantra must be pulsative, that is, there will be two syllables which are repeated in synchronization with the inhalation and exhalation of breathing. In addition the mantra must have an idea associated with it. The general idea of the mantras used in meditation is that "I am one with the Supreme Consciousness". The mantra thus helps the individual to associate his or her own individual consciousness with the totality of consciousness in the universe.

The final characteristics of the mantra is that it must create a certain vibration which acts as a link between the individual vibration of the meditator and the vibration of the Supreme Consciousness. As people are not all alike, the mantras which are used in meditation are also not all alike. The meditation teacher chooses a mantra which matches the particular vibration of the individual and can link this individual vibration with the universal rhythm of the Supreme Consciousness.

ANAPANA NOTES

Working with one’s breath however provides keys to both mind’s energy and its awareness. To develop the former, it is useful to meditate that sixteen fingers in front of one’s nose, the general essence of space is picked up. Twelve fingers in front, one obtains the energy of air. Eight fingers ahead is the vibration of heat. Four fingers away rests the nature of what is fluid, and where the air touches the nose, one receives the power of what is solid. One’s nostrils are thus the point of contact between outer and inner energies and are very important.

Tulku Thondrup

"Phenomenal existences are unborn, of equal nature in which the originally liberated appearances and mind prevail evenly without apprehensions. Concerning that marvelous sovereign, Naturally Liberated Mind, Listen while I tell you what I have realized: "All phenomena are primordially pure and enlightened, so it is unborn and unceasing, inconceivable and inexpressible. In the ultimate sphere purity and impurity are naturally pure and Phenomena are the great equal perfection, free from conception. There is no separate emptiness apart from apparent phenomena. The notion of their distinctness is a division made by the mind. In the mind which has no essence, various things arise because of the objective conditions, like reflections appearing in a mirror or in the ocean. The emptiness essence, unceasing nature, and variously appearing characteristic, the magical display, is the dual projection of samsara and nirvana within a single Mind. The primordially empty Mind, which has no root, is not defiled by the phenomenal appearances of samsara and nirvana. The nature of samsara is the essence of the mind, which is primordially unborn and enlightened. So by seeing the Mind, realization of the nature of existence is attained. For the Buddhahood which is totally and naturally pure, do not search anywhere but in your own mind. For people who want enlightenment, the meaning of the unmodified absolute is to let the mind be at ease without effort."