Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this two-hour talk, Kyabje Rinpoche provides step-by-step instruction in śamatha (calm abiding), the foundational meditation on mental stability. He establishes why taming the mind matters — an untamed mind drags us toward non-virtue and lower rebirth, while a stable mind brings autonomy. He walks through the core practice: selecting a Buddha form, memorizing a physical representation, generating a vivid mental image, and progressively visualizing smaller versions until it appears stably. He covers calm abiding’s two essential qualities — clarity (sharp, luminous awareness) and stability (dwelling single-pointedly on its object) — and introduces recollection and vigilance, the mental factors that anchor attention. Throughout, he addresses common pitfalls: changing objects mid-practice, meditating with eye consciousness rather than mental consciousness, and abandoning when visualization doesn’t appear immediately. For serious practitioners ready to begin meditation training.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2011-04-23.mp3
UUID: ad92df94-1491-4107-b9db-5d74676d3e01
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Calm Abiding
Date: 2011-04-23
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~4,569
So we will now meditate for one or two minutes on generating the motivation to engage in these three fold activities of listening, thinking and meditating on whichever fundamental practice we engage in. In this case, it is the teachings of Shamatha in the context of the great vehicle. And to do this, we will first reflect on the fact that we must generate a good motivation, and this motivation entails taming our minds, specifically subduing our non virtuous emotions, the non virtuous afflictions which pervade our mind. And then reflecting on the fact that mother sentient beings are as vast as space, we generate the strong wish to place them in a state of full and unalloyed bliss, the state of full enlightenment. But being aware of the fact that if our own minds are untamed, how would it be possible to tame the minds of others?
Initially, we set out to tame our own minds and to attain for ourselves the state of full enlightenment to benefit others. So, Rinpoche has great problems with his eyesight and, his left eye is no longer functional at all. As for his right eye, his eyesight has been declining very sharply. So whenever something is in a white background, he can see it only with with great difficulty, and he can only see the black letters. So Rinpoche is giving these teachings because he hopes there is some benefit for you and therefore he would like to ask you not just to hang around as if you had nothing else to do, but to try to put this into practice.
So as Śāntideva says, this wild mind of mine is more dangerous than a crazed elephant. A crazed elephant cannot harm me durably; my mind can. If our mind is untamed as this quote indicates, it is similar to a crazed elephant. It goes wherever it wishes to go, accumulating sins and non virtue and eventually casts us down to the hell realms. We see that for ourselves we have no control over how our mind behaves.
Then a wild elephant, however, is less harmful than such a mind because a wild elephant can only destroy our body. It cannot damage our mind. A wild mind, on the other hand, can cast us down to the lowest of the lower realms, the hell realms. Understanding clearly that this wild mind of the elephant in this very life can harm us and in future lives most definitely would cause a hell rebirth, we must protect the mind, training in virtue and abstaining from non virtue. There is no greater practice than this.
There is no other practice than this. In as much as we have not attained calm abiding, we are unable to tame our mind at present, and it is led away by envy, by jealousy, by competitiveness and by desire. In dependence on these, we accumulate non virtuous karma which causes lower rebirth. So the practice of calm abiding is of benefit both in this life and it is of benefit from the standpoint of the accumulation of virtue.
Generally speaking, we are constituted of body and mind. The body does not think, it does not reflect, it is inanimate. Within the body resides the mind, which engages in the activities of thinking. This mind can either have qualities and be a virtuous mind or be an evil mind. It depends on the presence or absence of afflictions.
The body itself has no power. It is not autonomous or independent. It is under the control of the mind. The body actually is controlled and tamed by the mind. The mind is not controlled and tamed by the body.
If our mind lacks independence, in other words, if our mind is itself controlled by the delusions, such as desire, envy, and benightedness, then this mind itself loses its independence. And then since the mind is controlled by the afflictions, so is the body as well. In dependence on karma and the afflictions, non virtuous deeds are accumulated, which leads to a lower rebirth. Calm abiding is simply attaining autonomy with respect to the mind. The mind becomes something which we control.
It is no longer controlled by the afflictions, and in turn, the body acquires independence. Then in dependence on this, since the body is free, it can fly in space, it can rise, it can go wherever it wants. And therefore, when one attains this mental independence, one has attained what is known as Dhyāna or also calm abiding. Attaining this, Tsongkhapa says in his prayer of realizations, having attained Dhyāna, my mind is like the king of the mountains. Whatever I set it upon, it stays upon.
Body and mind become serviceable. I have attained thus. You too should practice in this way. The meaning of this stanza is that once one has attained mental autonomy, mental independence, the mind can be placed on any virtuous object on bodhicitta or on the view as one wishes. In the same same way, as if we are the servant of a powerful lord, and he looks at us and says, you, go there and do that.
We simply obey, go there and do that. Our mind behaves in the same way. Here, when one refers to setting as a mountain, this refers to the extreme stability of the mind when it is when it is set on bodhicitta and the view, and the serviceability of body and mind refer to the fact that they do whatever we ask them to do with great delight, with great bliss, and with great happiness, enjoying actually great bliss. So if one analyzes the etymology of the Tibetan term for calm abiding, it has two syllables, zhi and gnas. Zhi actually means in Tibetan to pacify, to calm.
It refers to the fact that we must pacify this mind which is always running outside, and which is circling endlessly towards exterior phenomena. We must put an end to this. We must eliminate that tendency. This is pacification. And ne means to dwell or to abide.
This means that once pacified, the mind must dwell on its object of observation. And therefore, the component of abiding within calm abiding refers to dwelling on an object. Now calm abiding is from within the twofold division of main minds and mental factors, in mental factor. Main minds are principal minds, mental factors are secondary minds, and as a mental factor, it necessarily needs an object of observation. The object of observation can be for the non-Buddhist practitioners pebbles and twigs or the syllable AH.
It can also be emptiness, the body of a deity, or for that matter in the practice of Mahāmudrā meditating on the actual nature of the mind. Now going to page five of your English translation at the very bottom. The Bhagavan taught four objects of meditation for yogis, the four prevailing objects of meditation which must be realized, non analytical placements, analytical objects of observation, and so forth. These are specific objects of observation for, for instance, practitioners who have great desire, great anger, or great ignorance. There is unfortunately no time to enter into this, and therefore we will jump onwards to the bottom of page seven, the crux of the presentation here identifying occasional objects of observation.
So should one think now in what object of observation should I attain calm abiding? Generally speaking here, it is recommended to attain calm abiding on the basis of a body of the Buddha, whether this body is a painted body, a cast body such as a statue, or so forth, it must be visualized as very beautiful. This leads to the accumulation of great benefits and the accumulation of inconceivable qualities. Moving onwards to page eight. The specific purposes in visualizing the body of the Buddha are first generating immeasurable merit through recollecting the Buddha.
Secondly, there is a great difference in observing, relying on a clearly visualized field in the aspect of that body as a field for the accumulation of merits such as prostration, offerings, prayers, and so forth, as well as a field for the purification of obscuration through confession and with restraint. So here, one can practice offerings once one has engaged in this visualization well. One can also confess the faults one has accumulated. But one of the most important qualities is given on point three, which is that one can recollect the body of the Buddha at the time of death. Now if one does so, it is certain that one will not be reborn in the lower realms.
Therefore, this is of great significance since this is a case irrespective of the thoughts we have accumulated. And there is, in addition, great benefit in this at the level of Mantrayāna. Then the passage from the king of concentration sūtra, the Samādhi Rāja Sūtra in the middle of page eight. This is a fundamental sūtra on the practice of concentration. In this in this passage, it is said, ravishing lord of the world with a body the color of gold, a bodhisattva whose mind engages that object is said to be in meditative equipoise.
So here, the lord of the world refers to the Buddha who is the lord of sentient beings. Color of gold means the body is yellow, and the meaning of the passage is that bodhisattvas should meditate on the body of the appearance of the body of the Buddha. And there are several ways to do this. One can visualize upon one’s crown, one’s root guru in the form of the Buddha, and then one visualizes a beam of light entering into one’s heart and meditates on the root guru seated on in the form of the Buddha seated on a lotus and a moon disc. However, such a visualized object of meditation is not very stable.
A real support such as the representation of Buddha Śākyamūni behind is more stable and preferable. This is the meaning of the passage on page eight below with the quote. Moreover, from within the two visualizing a Buddha’s bodies regenerating it newly mentally and visualizing a Buddha’s body as if it were naturally present, The latter has greater great advantages in giving rise to faith. And since it is compatible with practice on the occasion of the shared vehicle, practice the latter. In other words, use a naturally present Buddha’s body.
And at the bottom of page eight, we now address each issue of seeking for a basis of observation. So having decided to engage in meditation, we have to find the object which we are going to meditate upon. Initially, when seeking for a basis of observation, this can either be a physical representation of the Buddha’s body cast or painted, or alternatively one which is described to us. We must visualize it as very beautiful. Having searched out an excellent body of a teacher, a painted or a cast representation, and having repeatedly stared at it, memorized its features.
So here, one sets the representation in front of oneself, and one looks at it very carefully until one has completely memorized its features, and then one closes one’s eyes or one stops observing it, and one causes the meaning generality of the object to appear to the mind. Now here, one is not meditating actually on the mere appearance of the cast or the painted representation of the Buddha. One is using that as a support to generate a visualized image of the Buddha, which must be extraordinarily luminous, limpid, and radiating light. So some other teachers consider that one generates calm abiding through observing a Buddha statue, for instance, with the eye consciousness. This is not the case.
Calm abiding is generated with the mental consciousness. It cannot be generated with the visual consciousness or with any sense consciousness, since sense consciousnesses lack the autonomy of perception. So it is after carefully observing the object of observation that one causes it to appear to mind, and then with the mental consciousness one apprehends it as being clear, limpid, and radiant. It’s the same thing as if one goes to the market to shop for something, and one sees what one wants to shop for with one’s eye consciousness, but then turning away one makes one’s mental list. Now when one does this, the meaning generality or the generic image of the object which one has seen appears to the mind, and that is what the mind engages.
Here it is the same thing. One first observes the object one wants to meditate upon with the visual consciousness, but then one meditates upon it on the basis of the meaning generality or the generic image appearing to the mental consciousness. And then moving onwards to the first section of page nine, after the CGL two fifty five in the margin. Also, since in keeping with the experience, it is easy for the coarse features to appear, one must incrementally take the coarse features of the body as object of observation. So here, initially, one can meditate on a coarse or a subtle body.
Experience shows that if we try to meditate on a subtle or a small body, we will lose the object of observation. So one starts with a larger representation, and if that goes well, then one aims to end up by meditating on a body of the Buddha the size of the thumb. Now one must train in this with enthusiasm. Otherwise, it will not give rise to any results. So initially, one starts by meditating on an image of the Buddha, which is the size of the stretched out hand.
Then if that goes well, one moves down to one which is the size of the stretched out index, and then the size of the upper part of the thumb. So we have to train in this. It’s not easy.
So for us, this is difficult because we are not accustomed. If we were accustomed, it would become easier. So as Rinpoche explained, we start with a larger body and progress to the visualization of smaller bodies. In the same same way as when someone starts to play the piano, he has to search out the notes individually and look for each note, but eventually, he can play the piano while engaging in a conversation. So in practice, how should one start training one’s mind?
One should procure oneself a representation of the Buddha, set it carefully in front of oneself, observe it very carefully memorizing the features, and then setting oneself in the posture of meditation, one should visualize in front of oneself or on top of oneself this Buddha’s body, starting with the Ushnisha, the protuberance on the crown of the Buddha. And once that is clearly visualized, moving down to the level of the two eyes, then moving down to the two shoulders, then moving down all the way to the begging bowl, which the Buddha holds in his left hand and which is filled with nectar, as well as the right hand in the Bhumisparsha Mudra, then move downwards to the two knees of the Buddha, and downwards again to the Lotus disc and the moon disc. And then move back upwards in sequence again, and then proceed up and down, up and down. And through proceeding in this way, at a certain point, the body of the Buddha will appear suddenly in front of us in visualization. Now at this point, one concentrates single pointedly on it.
So to practice calm abiding, first, we need the appearance of the body of meditation. Otherwise, there is no beginning to the practice. And therefore, to start meditating, one must first actually visualize, one must encounter in visualization the object of meditation. Without that, there is no beginning to the practice. Now for some, this is very difficult or impossible.
When they try to meditate, nothing appears to the mind, and then there is a great temptation to change objects of observation and to pass from the body of a Buddha to a flower, a twig, or whatever. This is to be resisted since this leads to mental agitation, And on the basis of mental agitation, the afflictions such as anger arise because one thinks this doesn’t work and there’s no point. So instead of that to generate a stable mind, one keeps on trying to cause the object of meditation to appear to the mind as Āryadeva says in the quote in the middle of page nine, relying upon one object, in this case, the body of the Buddha, give rise to a stable thought. So here, one focuses single pointedly on this one object until it appears stably. Through flowing with many objects, the mind will be troubled by afflictions.
The mind is troubled, and then in dependence on this anger and desire arise. The afflictions, in other words, arise. And as Atisha says, moving on within the text, in the lamp for the path, the Bodhipathapradīpa, in the verses, place a virtuous mind on any one object. So this means to place the mind on a virtuous object. And Tsongkhapa comments on this, and states this by means of the definite term one.
The definite term one here refers to the fact that no other object must be used. So Rinpoche has therefore explained that one must focus on one object of meditation without forgetting it and then meditate. And moving onwards to page 10. The body should be visualized and should appear in the way we wish it to appear. So if you wish a body which is yellow in color to appear, it should appear as yellow and not as red.
If we wish a body which is small to appear, should appear as small. If we wish it to appear as large, it should appear as large. And then, reading onwards, in the middle of the page, although in the context of the practice of deity yoga and secret mantra, the aspect of the deity must appear clearly, and until it does so appear, one must apply numerous means for it to occur. So this passage refers to the fact that when one trains in secret mantra, it is extremely important for the body of the deity to appear clearly, and one must use numerous means to cause this to happen. If the body does not appear clearly and one is meditating, that is in Yamāntaka, Vajrayoginī, one causes half of the body to appear and uses whatever means one has to create a complete visualization.
And we are at present gonna move onwards to the following outline on page 10, middle of page 10, the manner of focusing the mind thereon. So this is subdivided into three. First, our own system, which is positing the fortress manner of setting the mind. Then the systems of others, dispelling faulty manners of setting the mind. And finally, teaching the duration of the sessions, whether the session should be long or short.
So the first outline positing the faultless manner of setting the mind, the concentration which is to be attained here has two features. Concentration or Samādhi here refers specifically to calm abiding. The first feature is it has an intensity, which is a factor of clarity of an extremely clear mind. Here, intensity actually means that this is a forceful mind. This is a mind which has force.
This is a mind which is extremely clear and which in addition is limpid in the sort of same way as water is limpid when there are no pollutants in it. So this limpidity refers among other things to the absence of any afflictions. The second characteristic of the mind of calm abiding is that it has a factor of abiding, which dwells non conceptually and single pointedly on the object of observation. So here, if we analyze the components, the object of observation at the end refers to the deity body which we are visualizing, the body of Buddha Śākyamūni. Single pointedly refers that the mind does not waver to other objects.
Instead, it is single pointed in the same way as a needle is single pointed on whatever it is placed upon. Nonconceptually means that this is not an investigative mind. In the context of calm abiding, investigation is an interference. It is a hindrance. The mind dwells non conceptually on its object, and it has a factor of abiding, which is which means that it actually is set upon its object.
So to summarize things, calm abiding has two components, the component of clarity and the component of stability. The component of clarity means that the mind is not dull. It is a limpid and forceful mind, and the factor of stability or abiding means that this is a nonanalytical mind which dwells upon whatever object it is set upon. Now at the bottom of the page, some other practitioners assert that in addition to these two features of clarity and stability, either bliss is also needed or in addition to that, limpidity to get four features, this is unnecessary. So moving downwards to the middle of page 11, He will not be able to cover everything because of time.
Now, although concentration is the factor of abiding single pointedly on the mental object of observation, in addition, it must dwell continually on the object of observation. So here, calm abiding is not merely a mind which dwells single pointedly on the object of observation. It must also dwell continually, in other words, instant after instant. Both factors are necessary. And the final line of that paragraph, for that, a means for the mind not to waver from its fundamental object of observation, as well as an awareness of whether or not distraction is occurring or necessary.
The first is recollection, and the second vigilance. So here here, that factor, mental factor, which places the mind single pointedly on its object is called recollection or memory, and the second mental factor, which actually checks whether the continuum of placement is interrupted or not, is called vigilance. Both are necessary. So this second factor functions a little bit as the police. It investigates whether or not the mind has left its object of observation, which is the Buddha statue or the representation of the Buddha, and gone away to something else or not.
If one has strong recollection, strong memory, then the mind will be stably placed on the object of observation. And if one has vigilance, the mind will not wander away, and one will be checking, does it wander away or not. And moving on. So would like you to take notes during these teachings. Otherwise, you would not be able to remember.
So moving onwards to page 12, the definition of recollection or memory. It is said in the compendium of knowledge of Asaṇga that recollection has three features, three characteristics. If one inquires about recollection, in other words, one asks what recollection is, it is the mind’s non forgetfulness of a familiar thing and has a function of thorough nondistraction. So the three features of recollection are, first, that the mind recollection focuses on a familiar thing. A familiar thing refers to an object with which one has previously been acquainted.
It is not possible to recollect something with which one has not previously been acquainted. So in our case, for instance, it is impossible for us to recollect emptiness since we have no prior acquaintance with emptiness. However, we can recollect our parents since we have prior acquaintance with them. The second characteristic is the mind’s non forgetfulness. Non forgetfulness here means the mind’s not forgetting through have through being placed single pointedly on its object.
We know very well that if we want not to forget something, we just have to bring it back to mind again and again. And through the force of habituation, we will not forget it. In our cases, we forget the texts which we study because we study them once and then put them aside and never look at them again. Finally, the third characteristic of recollection is thorough nondistraction. When the mind is distracted, the mind leaves its object of observation and, for instance, reflects on conversations or what movies one saw.
It basically leaves the body of the Buddha, which one is visualizing, and moves on to something else.
Typically, it moves outwards. This is a characteristic of distraction. So we will now jump onwards to page 17 where we will cover the definition of agitation. At the bottom of page 17, in keeping with Asaṇga’s Abhidharmasamuccaya, the compendium of knowledge, Rinpoche would like you to continue to take notes because this is important. Should one inquire what agitation is, it is a thoroughly non pacified mind which belongs to the factor of desire and which follows the marks of the beautiful.
Its function is to interfere with calm abiding. So in this definition of agitation, the marks of the beautiful refer to the characteristics of bodies or phenomena which we consider beautiful, such as, for instance, women, our wives, and so forth, whom we consider attractive, or objects for which we have desire and which we value in dependence on that. It is characterized by the factor of desire, and the mind of agitation is a thoroughly non pacified mind. This mind has three features, as is explained at the bottom of page 17. Its object is pleasing and beautiful.
On page 18, the aspect is a mind in a non pacified aspect. This refers to a non relaxed mind, a tense mind, which is dispersed outwards. And finally, its function is to interfere with the mind dwelling on the object of observation. Will briefly explain as well sinking since this is important. We’ll be moving onwards on page 18.
So even though one has recollection, when the factor of clarity, the factor of concentration are absent and the mind loosens up, then it is said that one suffers from sinking, the mind sinks. As Rinpoche explained, for concentration not only is clarity required, but intensity and limpidity as well in the mode of apprehension of the object of observation are necessary. Now if the factor of clarity is absent in the mode of apprehension of the object of observation, it is not possible to give rise to calm abiding. When sinking arises, not only is there no concentration, but there is no clarity as well. And then in this context, there is no particular benefit because clarity itself is absent.
And regarding vigilance, vigilance is actually of the component of wisdom and examines what the body and the mind are doing. As Śāntideva says, that factor which examines over and again what body and mind are doing, that and none other is vigilance. So vigilance checks whether the body and the mind are virtuous or nonvirtuous. So Rinpoche has explained today the features of agitation, of sinking, and of vigilance. He has not entered in the details of actual calm abiding.
Tomorrow, we will study how to generate calm abiding through eliminating the five faults by the antidotes. So tomorrow, we’ll start meditating on calm abiding. Okay. Thank you.