Mind's content and emotions
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Originally posted by Dharmadhatu:
The For the Vajrasattva mantra, its effects also last post-chanting. It is also prescribed (i read somewhere) for those who are practising on mind-nature and still can't get much results. As it is due to our obscurations.
Vajrasattva mantra as I understand it is for purification of karmic obscurations and accumulation of merits.
This part is often not spoken by non-duality teachers or direct path teachers (including Zen, though traditional Ch'an does talk about purification), but it is spoken by Thusness (he used to 'teach me a lesson' about the importance of merits, but I digress for now - you probably have heard of it)
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Originally posted by Dharmadhatu:
all i just can say that everything that is experienced contrasts or stands out or like becomes more tangible but there is of course still the duality. sometimes it will seem also that there is a kind of whiteness or brightness visually. But that is not the important point.
Ah I see. Yes, intensity of luminosity. Everything is intensely vivid... senses are heightened, alert, have this quality of intensity and aliveness.
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Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Vajrasattva mantra as I understand it is for purification of karmic obscurations and accumulation of merits.
This part is often not spoken by non-duality teachers or direct path teachers (including Zen, though traditional Ch'an does talk about purification), but it is spoken by Thusness (he used to 'teach me a lesson' about the importance of merits, but I digress for now - you probably have heard of
lesson of importance of merits. can you share?
Vajrasattva mantra is mainly for purification. It is very helpful for purifying your energies and also for meditation on nature of mind.
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I see.
Regarding merits:
I remember years ago Thusness would have me explain the dharma to people from various forums. One time many years ago I thought it would be better if Thusness explained by himself to the others, so I told Thusness why don't you post yourself or something like that. Thusness suddenly appeared serious (he seldom talk in this tone) and asked me so are you going to do this or not? Then he told me the reason (not exact words now but along this line) he had me to do this was because I was lacking in merits to gain enlightenment. And then he said something like... you think I'm joking? Suddenly at that moment I realized why he was always taking the trouble and instructing me to do all those things... when he could have done it himself.
Not long later I had a meditation experience... he informed me it is due to my merits ripening due to a particular instance of explaining the dharma to someone some time ago. He informed me there is a direct causal relation. When asked how does he know that merits is important for experience and realization, he simply says this is his experience. He says it may not make a lot of sense to a dualistic mind, but this is how it (dependent origination) works.
Today he no longer makes me explain this and that to others, since I am in a much better position to explain myself based on my insight and experience. But even today he said one of the reasons that contributed to my quick progression of insight is the merits accrued by actively participating in Dharma discussions... apart from the practice and establishment of right view.
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There is a related article on the importance and ways of accumulating to effect the realization of Mahamudra (enlightenment) by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyatso Rinpoche: http://sgforums.com/forums/1728/topics/409161?page=1
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Very interesting thank you! But how come so many people participate in dharma discussions but few have experiences/realisations?
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Originally posted by Dharmadhatu:
Very interesting thank you! But how come so many people participate in dharma discussions but few have experiences/realisations?
There are other factors that is important... you must have right view. If you participate in dharma discussion, but your view is not really strong, then it is not very effective... in worse case it is like the blind leading the blind.
Of course, other than that, practice and meditation is very important.
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In my case I must say, it is very fortunate I am able to be closely acquinted with people who have direct realization. As a result, my path and view is steered in the right direction by my interaction with such noble men.
That is one of the Eight Conditions that lead to Prajna (Wisdom)
We have to take Buddha's words seriously and meet those eight conditions.
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that article on your other thread is very good. Thanks. Feel great joy in learning and practising the dharma.
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Originally posted by Dharmadhatu:
lesson of importance of merits. can you share?
Vajrasattva mantra is mainly for purification. It is very helpful for purifying your energies and also for meditation on nature of mind.
i can share one experience with Vajrasattva mantra. There was once i attended a group session on chanting this mantra. Afterwards for maybe a few hours, i experienced an inability to give rise to very gross thoughts. If they arose, they subsided very quickly. I'm not sure if there is subtle undercurrent of thoughts but it is mainly bright awareness. This is even when i was at a very busy place
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Originally posted by Dharmadhatu:
i can share one experience with Vajrasattva mantra. There was once i attended a group session on chanting this mantra. Afterwards for maybe a few hours, i experienced an inability to give rise to very gross thoughts. If they arose, they subsided very quickly. I'm not sure if there is subtle undercurrent of thoughts but it is mainly bright awareness. This is even when i was at a very busy place
This is very good... I think you can follow these instructions since you have had some experiences:
Very good advise by Loppon Namdrol from E-Sangha:You need to just sit and relax.
Take a proper posture. Expell the stale air.
Do Guru yoga.
Then relax. As one's mind slowly subsides, a vivid, clear and energetic radiance will emerge. This is not rigpa itself, but is instead the radiance aspect of awareness. Relaxing in this is the essence of tregchod.
If it does not arise-- it doesn't matter-- it is there anyway. If it arises, it doesn't matter, since there is nothing one can do to cause it to arise, nor will it ever subside. But it is revealed when one is sufficiently relaxed.
If thoughts occur, it doesn't matter, since thoughts do not exist outside of this state. If there are no thoughts, it doesn't matter, since this radiance is not product of stillness, no more than the lustre of clear water is a product of the settling out of detritus.
When one can "see" the radiance of awareness even in the midst of the chaos of concepts, then one's tregchod is moving ahead.
Otherwise, just relax and integrate into your primordial state.
A few words of advice on tregchod written by a so called "dzogchen pa" named Namdrol. -
By the way, just curious, who is your teacher?
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thank you for your advice. Based on your model, i should be following the gradual path though i am quite enthusiatic about trying the self-inquiry too. But just wondering how i should be balancing both.
my teachers are in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. There are many of them, i can't pin down to just one main teacher. But in terms of the path of discovering the mind-essence, it can be said to be one or two particular Nyingma teachers (they are not well-known). I could send you the names in private but i dun think it will make much difference
my present slant is towards non-sectarian and openness, freedom of too much religio-political or school concepts... the truth should be like that. All phenomenon can be my teacher.
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I see... If you wish to take up self-inquiry, then do self-inquiry as much as possible. Let it grow into a big ball of doubt.
The advice here is good:
http://www.hsuyun.org/chan/en/essays/bychuanzhi/759-huatoupractice.html
- Select a hua-tou. If you like Pure Land practices, choose the first one, if one of the others seems to hit a meaningful target, choose that one. Once you choose your hua-tou, stick with it and don’t switch to another one. If you are concerned that you may have chosen the wrong one, that’s the ego interfering with things. Don’t let it manipulate you! Once you get going with the practice you’ll come to see that they are all the same and you can use any of them and even come up with your own, but when starting out, it’s essential to work with only one.
- “Lock in” your hua-tou. If you have a regular sitting meditation schedule (always a good idea!), use this hua-tou for your entire sitting period. Focus your entire being on it. Don’t give in and give yourself some artificial answer to the question like “I am just sitting here trying to figure out this hua-tou.” Open your mind, allow great doubt to overwhelm you. Perform this “lock in” session daily for three weeks. After that time the hua-tou will be firmly implanted in your mind and will be with you all the time, to greater or lesser degrees depending on what you are doing.
- Let the hua-tou consume you day and night but push it back when you have to do things that take concentration in other areas – caring for a child, driving a car, typing an email, etc. Just because it’s not at the center focus of attention doesn’t mean it’s not still working on you. I liken this to an experience we’ve probably all had – we lose a key or something else of importance and spend a long time looking for it without success. In frustration, we finally give up and do something else, but a few hours or days later we have a eureka moment and suddenly know where to find it, and there it is. The question of where it was had lingered in the back of our minds even though it wasn’t dominant in our attention. The hua-tou does this too. Work the hua-tou intensely whenever you are doing something that doesn’t take a great deal of attention, like washing dishes, walking down the street or along a mountain path, getting dressed, etc. Apply it to whatever you are doing. If you find yourself forgetting to attend to it, just bring your mind back to it non-judgmentally. The amount of effort it takes to force yourself to do it will lessen as you continue the practice. In a short time the practice will happen automatically.
- Be merciless! If you feel the hua-tou practice is not working for you, ask yourself “Who is it who thinks the hua-tou practice is not working?” Your mind can be your worst enemy with this practice and can sabotage even the best of intentions. When it fights you, turn the hua-tou back onto it. Be merciless!
- Observe the results of practice. Notice as you do the practice how your mind becomes stronger, your attention more keen, your awareness more expansive. You will also find that the practice itself changes, first in subtle ways, and later in more dramatic ways.
- Take the practice seriously, but lightly. It should not be a chore or a burden but something to enjoy doing (although perhaps in a somewhat perverse way!) .
- Avoid preconceptions. Everyone has his or her own experiences to tell about this practice. Don’t develop expectations of what will happen for you based on accounts from others.
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Thanks! i think this 'self-inquiry' is also a technique used in Dzogchen too. I read it somewhere from an author practising under Lama Surya Das's lineage, John Maransky or something like that.
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Yes I know Lama Surya Das equates Dzogchen's rushan (separating rigpa from sems) with self-inquiry Hindu style.
I'm not too sure if traditional Dzogchen teaches rushan this way, maybe one day I'll find out when I have access to those teachings. Lama Surya Das used to learn under a Hindu master so it could have influences from there.
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Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
I'm not too sure if traditional Dzogchen teaches rushan this way, maybe one day I'll find out when I have access to those teachings.
do you have a Dzogchen teacher too?
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i received transmission online in 2008 but never really contacted the local dzogchen community. i might acquinted with them and receive transmission again, then i should have access to their restricted books.
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oh btw i mean chogyal namkhai norbu rinpoche
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If you do that, let me know, i am also interested in it.
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Originally posted by Dharmadhatu:
If you do that, let me know, i am also interested in it.
I have received an email informing me that that on 8/03/2012 is World Wide Transmission of Guru Garab Dorje.
They shall arrange for 2 sessions of explanation before the 8/03/2012 to help new and long time students to receive the direct introduction concretely.login to www.atiyoga.org regarding DCS programs and updates.