Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this interactive session from a multi-week meditation course, Christele guides participants through the distinctions between stabilizing and analytical meditation, then introduces visualization practice. Building on preparatory techniques covered in previous weeks, she explains analytical meditation as a systematic method for examining assumptions about reality—using breath work, contemplation, and logical inquiry to penetrate misconceptions about self, death, and impermanence. She walks through two extended examples: the Dalai Lama’s analysis of selflessness and a Theravāda master’s investigation of mortality, demonstrating how to move from intellectual answers to direct experiential insight. The second half introduces visualization meditation using Śākyamūni Buddha as the focal object, explaining how visualizing oneself as an enlightened being serves as a powerful method for recognizing and embodying one’s Buddha nature. The session includes guided meditations on appreciating human rebirth and a full visualization practice with mantra recitation. Suited for students with some foundational meditation experience.
File metadata (for organising)
File: Christele – DB09_HowtoMed_wk3.mp3
UUID: 668b3ed2-1a0f-4dae-8919-9b80cf42be45
Teacher: Christele
Collection: How to Meditate (Christele)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Words: ~8,372
Yes? No? Yeah, now. Kean, do you think you can turn on the volume a bit more? On the right side, I think.
The last one, yeah, I think. Is that better? Maybe tonight, no? Okay? Yeah?
Okay. Sorry, we’re a bit late tonight. I’m just trying to get organized. So anyway, how are you? Good?
You’ve been meditating a lot? Doing your homework? Okay. So, like last time, I put the content of tonight’s session on the board. Basically, last week we learned how to arrange one’s environment before meditation, the importance of motivation and dedication.
We also went through the seven point posture when you meditate, and then we looked at the stabilizing meditation, and that the goal of this meditation is the development of a very refined, focused level of awareness, bringing it to a degree of clarity and wisdom and joy that we can’t even imagine. As I mentioned last week, stabilizing meditation also prepares the mind for other types of meditation. Tonight we’re going to talk about these other types of meditation. We’re going to talk about the analytical meditation and the meditation. So first, like last week, we’re going to set the set, getting ready with a short breathing meditation, motivation and refuge, and a stabilizing meditation.
So we’re going to try a new one tonight, but Sarah, think you wanted to do again the the nine one breathing one. Yeah. Okay. Do you wanna do it, or do you want to keep that for the question? We can okay.
What about if we do that end for the question? Maybe we can do it quickly because it’s only a few minutes anyway, this one. So questions from last week and I’ve got some of the answers from some of your questions, not all of it. Then we’re going to talk about analytical meditation and we’re going to do one on appreciating our human life. And then we’re going to talk about visualization meditation and we’re going to do Śākyamūni Buddha meditation.
Over there behind. Can you look I will move the board if you want because you have to look at it look at him before. Okay. No questions so far. So let’s get ready.
So maybe it’s a good idea to adopt the seven point posture meditation at this point. So we’re going to first getting ready, bringing our mind back into Buddha’s house, do motivation, refuge and then go straight into stabilizing meditation. Okay? So start by focusing on your physical body adopt the seven point posture. If you’re sitting on the floor, you can cross your legs in the vajra or full lotus position or half lotus with the left foot on the floor under the right leg and the right foot on top of the left thigh.
Or simply cross your leg with both feet on the floor. If you’re sitting on a chair, feet flat on the floor, buttocks to the back of the chair. Your hands loosely on your lap, the right hand on top of the left hand, palms upward with fingers aligned. The two hands are slightly cupped so that the tip of the thumb meet to form a triangle. Relax your shoulders and your arms.
Your arms are not pressed against the body. Your back must be straight, lightly upright. Relax the muscles. If you’re sitting on a chair, the back should not touch the back of the chair. Open slightly your eyes, allowing some light to come in.
Direct your gaze downwards. Do not focus on anything. Relax your jaw and your mouth. Lips are touching. Teeth slightly apart.
The tip of your tongue should touch the palate behind the upper teeth. Bend your neck forward a little, your nose in line with the navel. Feel that you are aware and aware. Feel the weight of your body, its substance, and earthy character. Become present in the moment and the place where you are.
Just breathe a few times deep in and out. Every time you breathe out, let go of all the tension you hold in your body and your mind, all the worrying about the future. When you breathe in, you breathe in. Just breathe. Nothing else.
No thoughts. No emotions. No opinion. Just breathe. When your mind is calm and settled in the present, generate a positive motivation for meditating tonight and listening to the teachings.
For example, you can think, by meditating and listening to the teachings tonight, may this help bring greater peace and happiness for all being, Or may it be the cause for me to become enlightened so that I can help all beings become free of suffering and become enlightened as well? Just reflect on your motivation for being here tonight. And if you wish, you can join me in reciting the refuge prayers. I go for refuge until I am enlightened in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the supreme assembly, for my practice of giving and other perfections may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the supreme assembly.
My practice of giving and other perfections may become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the supreme assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all other sentient beings. May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings be inseparable from happiness that is free from suffering.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment to friends and aversion to enemies. Make sure that you are still sitting in the correct meditation posture. Spend a few minutes going through the seven point again before we start meditating. Start with your legs. Check your hands and your arm.
Make sure your back is straight. Your eyes slightly open. Your jaw and your mouth are relaxed. The tip of your tongue is touching the palate behind the upper teeth. Your neck is bent forward a little.
Meditation, we are going to engage tonight uses imagery. It’s a this technique is helpful if we are feeling very distracted or sleepy. You’re going to imagine that when you exhale, that you exhale black smoke, which represents all your mental dullness, your distractions and preoccupations, any physical or mental discomfort. And when you inhale, imagine you inhale bright white light. This light represents mental awareness, concentration and peaceful focus.
Breathe out black smoke and breathe in bright white light. If your mind wanders, bring it back gently to the object of meditation. Breathe out black smoke, your mental dullness, your distraction, your preoccupations, any physical or mental discomfort. Breathe in bright white light, which is mental awareness, concentration, and peaceful focus. When you’re ready, you can open your eye.
Okay. How was that? Good. Yeah. Yeah.
I like this meditation because I think it’s very it’s easier to focus when you breathe in and breathe out something. You got less chances. I mean, for me to my mind doesn’t wander as much as with some other meditation. Okay. Questions from last week.
Who was asking about the hand position? No? Not here? Was it you? No?
Was it you, sir? Yeah. That was you. That’s what I thought. Yeah.
I had a look. I couldn’t find much so I’m going to tell you what I found and that’s from the Government of Tibet in Exile’s website because they know what they’re talking about. Say there’s channel associated with the mind of enlightenment passes through the thumb and when you join the two thumb in this gesture it is an auspicious significance for the future development of the mind of enlightenment, so it helps you to realize the mind of enlightenment. But I couldn’t find anything for the ride, so you can ask Geshe-la on the weekend. Sorry?
Yeah. That’s what someone was saying. Yeah. But I was trying to find it on the Internet and I couldn’t. Yeah.
Maybe. Yeah. And you were asking about Mahāyāna, the Sanskrit is great vehicle. I should have done that. So great vehicle.
You’ve got three routes to enlightenment. You’ve got the Hīnayāna vehicle which is a lesser vehicle and the motivation is actually to attain nirvana for yourself alone. And also you’ve got Vajrayāna which is a tantric vehicle. I’m not qualified to tell you more about that, but as I said last week, the Mahāyāna motivation is to attain Buddhahood enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, not only for your own sake. And that’s the the main goal.
And the nine:one breathing meditation, the channels, I couldn’t find the no, you were asking about the channels, the color. Same thing, I couldn’t find it. But, Sarah, you were asking about the channel. Yeah. Yeah.
Yes. And that’s what they’re doing in or finding some other meditations actually go up and down like that on the two sides. And this one too. Yeah. No.
That’s it. Yeah. It’s a very short breathing meditation. Yeah. It’s very powerful concentrate the mind.
And then you’re supposed to be ready for analytical meditation after you’ve done that. But, of course, if you want to engage into another meditation, stabilizing meditation, you can do that. Yeah. So how did you go at home doing it? It’s just to try at the beginning because it’s hard to get the sensation.
After when you’re used to, you just do it without putting your fingers. Actually, you concentrate even more without using the finger. Because you really have to be careful to only breathe through through once. So mhmm. Okay.
Any more questions from last week? Or no? Yep. Yes. I mean, you avoid yeah, but you don’t focus on anything, so at one point you won’t be aware anymore of your eye consciousness, I mean, what you’re going to receive from that.
And if you close them, you’ve got more chance of dullness, slippiness. So it’s important that you try to try and to to do it with your eyes. A little bit open. Anything else? Okay.
One number three, analytical meditation. So there’s two types of analytical meditation. There is one to transform our attitude, for example, by understanding our problems and misunderstanding of anger, we can reduce reduce and eliminate anger ultimately. And there’s the analysis of the object of meditation to understand and perceive it directly. Kathleen McDonald, who is a FPMT teacher, says that our experiences in life depend upon how we think and feel about things.
And because most of the time we do not perceive things the way they really are, we encounter one frustrating situation after another. And according to Buddha, our mind is full of misconceptions about reality. We think that things are permanent where they are impermanent, that things happen without a cause our outside, I mean without a cause from our own side, whereas they happen because of our past actions, past karma. That our own self and all other phenomena have an inherent nature whereas they don’t. So this misconception is so deep within us that we really need to develop and through a very refined mental level of mental ability to cut through them.
And for that, we need to use analytical introspection. This is so intuitive, that we need to work very hard to cut through them. So as I mentioned in session one, it’s very important to first listen to some teachings, to read about it, reflect, to study and think about it and analyze it and then meditate. When doing analytical meditation, we shouldn’t take for granted the first quick answer that comes up. You need to look at your initial answer and you need to ask yourself why, when, how, and again and again go through this process.
And by doing that you may discover the real underlying answer. And your answer shouldn’t come only from your intellect. It is important that you also check your feelings and your emotions but not to be aware to get I mean, don’t get caught into them when you do that. Lama Yeshe, who is the founder of FPMT, said that this is an extremely scientific process, analytical meditation. He says that we take whatever topic we want to develop insight into and we analyze it, deconstruct it, arguing with the ego’s deluded deluded view.
We think about it. In this way, we gradually familiarize ourselves, we develop insight into the way things actually are. And by doing that, we’re going to cease our own suffering and we’re going to develop compassion and benefit other beings. Kathleen McDonald also says that analytical meditation helps us to develop a more realistic view of our inner and outer world. It also helps to recognize and cut through the mistaken attitude and ideas that cause unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
And the goal of analytical meditation So the goal is to realize the ultimate nature of the mind. So what I’m going to do, I’m going to give you two examples of analytical meditation that explain the way it works, and the first one is from his holiness, the Dalai Lama. So and in this one, he’s talking about how to determine the nature of the I, its selflessness. I’m just going to read through that. It’s two pages.
When we say John is coming, there is some person who is the one designated by the name John. Is this name designated to his body? It is not. Is it designated to his mind? If it were designated to his mind, we could not speak of John’s mind.
Mind and body are things used by the person. It almost seems that there is an I separate from mind and body. For instance, when we think, Oh, my lousy body, oh, my lousy mind, to our own innate mode of appearance, the mind itself is not the I. Right? Now what John is there who is not his mind or body?
You also should apply this to yourself, to your own sense of I. Where is this I in terms of mind and body? When my body is sick, when my body is not I, due to the body’s being sick, it can be posited that I am sick. In fact, for the sake of the well-being and pleasure of the I, it sometimes even becomes necessary to cut off part of the body. Although the body is not the I, there is a relationship between the two.
The pain of the body can serve as the pain of the eye. Similarly, when the eye consciousness sees something, it appears to the mind that eye perceives it. So what is the nature of the I? How does it appear to you? When you do not fabricate or create any artificial concept in your mind, does it seem that your eye does it seem that your I has an identity separate from your mind and body?
But if you search for it, can you find it? For instances, someone accuses you, you stole this or you ruined such and such and you feel I didn’t do that. At that time, how does the I appear? Does it appear as if solid? Does some solid, steady and strong thing appear to your mind when you think or say I didn’t do that?
Then seemingly solid concrete independence self instituting I under its own power that appears at such a time actually does not exist at all and this specific non existence is what is meant by selflessness. In the absence of analysis and investigation, a mere I as in I want such and such or I’m going to do such and such is asserted as valid, but the non existence of an independent or self powered I constitutes a selflessness of the person. This selflessness is that is found when one searches analytically to try to find the I. Such non inherent existence of the I is an ultimate truth, a final truth. The I that appears to a non-analytical conventional awareness is a dependently arising I that serves as the basis of the conventions of actions, agents and so forth.
It is a conventional truth. In analyzing the mode of subsistence or that status of the I, it is clear that although it appears to exist inherently, it does not, much like an illusion. That is how the ultimate nature of the I, emptiness, is analyzed. Just as the I has its nature, so all other phenomena that are used by the eye are empty of inherent existence. When analyzed, they cannot be found at all, but without analysis and investigation, they do exist.
The nature is the same as the I. The conventional existence of the eye as well as of pleasure and pain make it necessary to generate compassion and altruism. And because the ultimate nature of all phenomena is its emptiness of inherent existence, it is also necessary to cultivate wisdom. When these two aspects, compassion and wisdom, are practiced in union, wisdom grows more profound and the sense of duality diminishes. Due to the mind’s dwelling in the meaning of emptiness, dualistic appearance becomes lighter, and at the same time, the mind itself becomes more subtle.
As the mind grows even more subtle, reaching the subtlest level, it is eventually transformed into the most basic mind, the fundamental innate mind of clear light, which at once realizes and is of one taste with emptiness in meditative equipoise without any dualistic appearance at all mixed with emptiness. Within all, having this one taste, anything and everything can appear. This is known as all in one taste, one taste in all. So selflessness is a pretty difficult topic, but impermanence is a way that you deconstruct and look into it. So I’m going to give you another example which is a bit easier.
It’s about death and that’s from a Buddhist master of the Theravāda tradition. So when you ask, will I die? The immediate answer will be yes and it seems you are finished. But take some time to check with yourself if you really live your life consciously in the realization that you can die any minute. Asking yourself, How would it feel to die right now?
Will it get you into another level of mind? How will I die? How will I feel? By asking yourself this simple question about death, it becomes intensely acute and serious. Then ask for example yourself, why will I die?’ And you may answer negative karma.
But rather than giving just a textbook answer, check how these things feel. What is negative karma? How does negative karma feel? Do I really believe in karma or do I act that way? Analytical meditation is not just about giving the instant logical answer from the book, but verifying what your own answers are.
He also said that often the real answers appear to be stored away in emotions and is hiding behind the logical straightforward answers. After doing the analysis in a very slow and calm way, one should pointly focus on the conclusion made in the end with that analysis. Just look at the conclusion. This really works to let your own conclusions sink in and make them part of your understanding and wisdom. As example, using the above meditation you may conclude that you are really not so sure whether you believe in karma.
The conclusion may well be something like, I have to check about karma more. I need to check why I often don’t act as if I believe in karma. That’s what they said. I’m going to do a little drawing about a summary of how analytical meditation works, and then moving to engage in one. So was that clear, these two examples?
Okay, so what we do first, we analyze the object. Okay. So we analyze the object. So that could be death, impermanence, karma, selflessness, emptiness, whatever topic. And you do that by using information that you have read, right?
So maybe the teachings, readings but not only that, you also have to use your thoughts. I’ve got a handout for that with a drawing. Your thoughts, your feelings, your memory. Use all that to analyze the object of meditation. When you’ve done that, at some point an intuitive experience or conviction about the object will arise, hopefully.
You’ve got an intuitive experience or conviction about the object. At this point, you stop analyzing. Can you see what I’m saying? Okay, so what do you do here? What you’re going to do, you’re going to focus the attention single pointedly on the feeling.
So you’re going to use your stabilizing meditation to concentrate or to soak your mind in this experience. So it’s not the object. It’s on the feeling. Okay? This is direct non conceptual experience or insight.
Is that clear so far? Yeah. Okay, so you try to stay here as long as you can. When the feeling fades, you’ve got two choices. You can stop meditating and conclude the session or you can go back into analyzing the object.
Okay? So this method of so here it’s stabilizing meditation. You use your concentration here and that’s an entity called analytical meditation. So it’s a combination of the two kinds of meditation and what it does, it causes the mind to become one with the object of meditation and the stronger your concentration is going to be, the deeper your insight will be. So to realize that it’s important to learn to analyze the object of meditation, not only conceptually, we need more than to fully understand the object and your conceptual understanding will eventually turn into a direct non conceptual experience.
So analytical meditation cannot exist without stabilizing or concentration meditation because you will never get at this point. Actually, you might not even be able to focus on this one. So if the mind is more refined, more focused, it is more capable and this is due to stabilizing meditation, the analysis will trigger an insight which we then hold with our concentration. So when you’re going to start meditating on very subtle objects or subjects as impermanence and emptiness, really need calm abiding in order to realize this subject conceptually and perceptually. You will also hear that combining these two types of meditation is called Vipassana meditation and it is defined as a correct discernment of the object of meditation coupled with single-pointed concentration, a combination of analytical meditation and calm abiding.
And the Buddha said that like fire rises from two pieces of wood rubbed together, so does analytical wisdom arise from the friction of sticks. And just like the fire increases and burns away all the wood, analytical wisdom increases and burns away all conceptual states. Any questions? Mhmm. Well, what do you talk what what do you think he’s feeling?
I I see emotions as, like But that pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. Like Yeah. Sad, mad, bad, pleasant. Yeah. But here, if if you Feelings.
Yeah. No. It’s not because if you’ve got anger arising here, what you call emotions, is not an intuitive experience. This is not a conviction about it’s not about the object. It’s an insight, it’s like a realization.
For example, you’re a kid and you learn two plus two. You don’t know it’s four and then suddenly you go, oh, I know and I know why. This is more this kind of feeling, you know, arising that it’s an insight. It’s a it’s a realization. Yeah.
It’s very hard to describe, but you’re right. It’s a kind of thing. Yeah. Okay, so remove that. Just concentrate on the intuitive experience.
Does it make more sense? What mean by the feeling on this experience, because you’re right, because I was feeling you go neutral. On the experience, not on the feeling. Yeah. You’re welcome.
But, yeah, it’s hard to describe because it’s it’s kind of out of concept at this point when you experience that. It’s not conceptual. So maybe it’s a question for Geshe. Yes. That’s good.
Yeah. It’s a good way. Okay. But you are I shouldn’t have used this this wall here. On the handout, you can remove the feeling and put experience because, yes, that can be confusing.
Okay. Shall we try to do that on the human what did I say? What are we gonna do? Precious human rebirth, I think, we’re going to do. So I’m going to guide you through that and I’m to take it from a Kathleen McDonald book.
But I don’t want you to trust me when I’m going to tell you, you know, when I’m going to analyze the object and, you know, Catherine might not want to come with some conclusion. I don’t want you to trust me. I want you to think about it. I want you to analyze it and don’t take my I mean, her words for for an answer. So deconstruct it.
Yep. So this meditation is is an antidote to negative states of being of being such as depression and hopelessness. And it help us to recognize and rejoice in our good fortune and in our extraordinary and unique potential to achieve true happiness and satisfaction. And to understand how, how should I lucky we are to have this precious human rebirth because because of it we are able to attain enlightenment. And there’s not that many sentient beings in the universe got such a precious birth.
So let’s start by adopting the seven points posture. We’re just going to do a bit of breathing, mindfulness meditation on the breath in order to bring our mind to a clear calm state. So let’s just spend a few minutes just breathing in and out. You can concentrate on the sensation of the air on your nostril Or you can do the breathing in the white light and exhaling the black smoke. We’re going to begin preliminary contemplation.
We’re going to check how check how you feel about yourself, about your life, your personality, accomplishments, your abilities. Are you satisfied, or do you find many thoughts, much to be desired? Can you detect feelings of inadequacy, discouragement, or hopelessness? Even if your present state of mind is positive and things are going well for you, Recall past times of depression and discouragement. Determine to get rid of this dark sense of hopelessness.
To help you develop a better perspective on your own life, first compare it with the lives of others worse off you. Try to imagine what it would be like as an animal, deeply ignorant, with no potential for mental and spiritual development, controlled by others, experiencing the perpetual round of hunger, thirst, heat, and cold, and living always in fear of death. And a few moment to reflect on this point. Now imagine being a beggar in the street of Calcutta or living in the desert of Africa, constantly in need of food and water with no time to think of anything else. If you’re you’re sick, there’s no medicine, no food to give to your kids.
human always little more opportunity for the development than an animal. Imagine being this person. Now imagine having several mental or physical handicaps And the lack of freedom this will mean. Or imagine living in a country where there is political and social oppression, allowing you little freedom to pursue interest. Is easy enough to read and repeat these words, but to really put yourself in one of these situations is another matter.
And thinking deeply about the plight of the beggar, the fear, and the paranoia of an animal. The hopelessness of the person in the desert can be very frightening and painful. But by understanding the agony of each of these situations, We learn to appreciate how miniscule our present problems are. Compare your problems to what others undergo. Be thankful for what you have and feel compassion for all those hardships.
Now bring to mind all the good qualities and advantages of your life. You are a human being with an intelligent mind, loving heart, and healthy body. Your friends and family support you. You have the good fortune to live in a country free of social and political oppression. You have countless opportunities to pursue your creative, intellectual, and social interest.
Opportunities to go anywhere and do anything. You enjoy a good standard of living. But most of all, you have the potential, an opportunity because of all the other benefits to investigate, understand, and transform your mind. Think now how few people or creature on earth share these freedoms and chances with you. When you have considered this deeply, you will realize how rare and precious a life like yours is.
Really appreciate your good fortune. Once you have seen the disadvantages your life is free of and the advantages you enjoy, you must decide how best to use your precious opportunities. Think of all the possibilities open to you: work, travel, enjoyment, study. And these are simply the mundane opportunities. The greatest benefit this life can bring is a chance for spiritual development, transformation of your mind.
Try to see the limitations of a lifestyle geared solely to materialistic gain. Think of the insignificance of fame, worth, reputation, sensual indulgence when compared to the goal of enlightenment. Why aspire to only temporal achievements when we are capable of so much more? Contemplate all these points slowly slowly and carefully. Look at them from various angles.
Your power to control your mind and through it to achieve enlightenment should become clear. How is such power? Can you possibly feel hopeless and depressed? Then we can dedicate the energy and inspiration that we have gained from doing this short meditation to the ultimate happiness of all beings. So I wanna be quickly, but so you can spend a lot of time thinking about the different points and looking at it through different angle.
Like, if you look at fame, how, you know, impermanent they are and insignificant and how they can transform very quickly into suffering. Anyway, I hope we all are glad to have this precious human rebirth. How was it? Yes? Good.
There’s some there’s a homework for next week if you want on the table and handout with the and you got the book from Lama Yeche? Yeah. Can’t feel my foot anymore. The high of the cushion must been mustn’t be correct. Okay.
So that was analytical meditation. I mean, quickly because it’s a pretty big topic, of course. But so now we’re going to move on to visualization, if I can find my notes. Here they are. So there’s no question at this point?
No? Okay. For this type of meditation, we use both stabilizing and the analytical meditation. And I’m going to tell you why why stabilizing meditation and analytical. Okay.
So we use stabilizing meditation to get clarity on the object. Maybe I should tell you what the object is. But okay. Get the get clarity you can visualize the historical Buddha, Śākyamūni Buddha. You can also visualize other deities like Medicine Buddha, Green Tārā, Chenrezig, Mañjuśrī.
There’s plenty of other deities that you can use for this type of meditation. Yes, stabilizing meditation to get clarity of the object and analytical meditation to get all the details of the visualization correct. In more advanced practice, you’re not going to only visualize a deity, you’re actually going to visualize whole universe, the palace, the retinues, so it’s extremely, extremely complex and you really have to have a very stronger concentration to do that. I mean to hold it but also to see all the details. So why do we do that?
Why do we this meditation? A Buddha is a being who is fully awake. So there are a numberless enlightened beings who have all completely transformed their minds and they have eliminated all the negative energy and obscurations and they have achieved all the realizations and they become whole and perfect. So they are no longer bound by karma and transient physical body as we are and they are free from uncontrolled rebirth and death. So they can abide in a state of pure consciousness or appear in different forms like a sunset, a dog, a human being, a breeze.
And they do that in order to communicate with ordinary beings and communicate their wisdom and love. So the very essence are compassion and wisdom and the energy is with us all the time around us, but at the moment because of our obscurations we cannot see it. So every living being, by virtue of having a mind, is able to become a Buddha and the fundamental nature of the mind, as you saw last module, is pure, clear and free of the clouds of disturbing conceptions and emotion, but now it’s all obscure. So as long as we identify with this confused state of mind, like I’m an angry person, I’m a depressed person, I’m this and that, but we don’t even give ourselves a chance change. So it’s not denying that our problems are not complex and there.
I mean, they are here, but they’re not as solid and real as we think they are. And we also have the wisdom to recognize our mistaken thinking and the capacity to give to love. So it is just a matter of identifying with and gradually developing with these qualities, so with the qualities of the Buddha. So they can arise without any effort. So, powerful way to do that, to actually identify with these good qualities, is to do visualization meditation and to discover our own Buddha nature and with continual practice our ordinary self image gradually falls away and we learn instead to identify with our innate wisdom and compassion our own Buddhahood.
It’s actually bringing the result to the path. Okay, is that clear? So instead of Result to the path. So you actually identify with these good qualities and bring them here now. This is what you want to achieve.
But at the moment, we actually identify with other state of mind. Is that okay? No? Which bit? The philanthropic relief.
So you look at the qualities of the Buddhas, their wisdom, compassion, love, the way they are and you begin to imagine this is visualization you begin to imagine this is what you are at the moment. So instead of identifying with the wrong state of mind or not correct state of mind like anger or depression, you’re going to identify with a more positive state of mind. Is that clear? Yes. So then you’re going to become more in touch with your own, with your innate wisdom and compassion because we all have the potential to become a Buddha.
So you want to identify with that. It’s a really powerful meditation and tonight we are going to do Śākyamūni Buddha because it is teaching on this planet at the moment so it’s a good way to start, especially if it’s the first time you do a visualization. It’s pretty powerful. Anybody’s done Śākyamūni Buddha visualization before? So there’s a mantra that we’re going to say, I mean if you wish to join.
I’m not a very good singer, so it’s not that we sing as chanting. So I actually asked venerable Jamian to to record it. So we’re going to hear her voice tonight, which is nice. Yes. She’s got a much better voice than me.
So what I’d like you to do actually is actually look at Śākyamūni Buddha and try to visualize him in your mind. I’m going to guide you through it anyway, but it’s actually better if you during the meditation, you don’t look at him, but try to visualize him. And if you can’t hold the visualization, that’s okay. You just imagine light. That’d be okay at this point.
The more you do it, the more you’ll be able to see actually all the details of the visualization which is not easy. So I’m going to write the mantra. It’s pretty long. I think that we lost about twenty to thirty minutes. It’s already quarter to nine, so is that okay?
I can do a short version if you want. Do we do the practice here? Yeah. Do you actually visualize yourself at the Buddha? Or No.
No? Not in the whole world. Okay. Because we’re gonna do it tonight if that’s okay. Yeah.
Okay. Okay. Oh, yeah. That’s what I was going to write the mantra. Doesn’t work very well.
So it’s tayata om muni maha I mean, you can just listen anyway. We’ll have a go. Well, you know what? I was going to actually look at it and I forgot. Sorry about that.
I will have it ready for next week. Yes. I don’t know how. I did look in there before if there was anything, but I couldn’t find it. Do you know, Sarah?
Yes. Okay. Okay. When Nick find your I will find yeah. I will try to find that for you.
Sorry? Yes. It’s a very powerful mantra. Do you wanna do that? Okay.
Walking? So as before, we’re just going to take a few few moments to to calm our mind. Just breathe in and breathe out. Let’s generate love and compassion by reflecting briefly on the predicament of all beings. They wish to experience true happiness with inability to obtain it, and they wish to avoid suffering but continue encounter with it.
Then think in order to help all beings and lead them to the perfect peace of unhappiness of alignment. I myself must attain enlightenment. For this purpose, I shall practice this meditation. Now we’re going to visualize Śākyamūni Buddha. Every aspect of the visualization is of light, transparent, intangible, and radiant.
At the level of your forehead and between six and eight feet away is a large golden throne adorned with jewels, supported at each of its four corners by a pair of snow lions. These animals, in reality manifestations of bodhisattva, have white fur and a green mane and tail. On the flat surface of the throne is a seat consisting of a large open lotus and two radiant discs representing the sun and the moon, one on top of the other. These three objects symbolize the three principal realizations of the path to enlightenment: the lotus, renunciation, the sun, emptiness, and the moon, bodhicitta. Seated upon this is Śākyamūni Buddha who has attained this realization and is the embodiment of all enlightened beings.
His body is of golden light, and he wears a saffron robe of a monk. His robe do not actually touch his body but are separated from it by about an inch. He is seated in the Vajra or full lotus posture. the palm of his right hand rests on his right knee, the fingers touching the moon cushion, signifying his enlightened realization.
His left hand rest in his lap in the meditation pose, holding a bowl filled with nectar, which is a medicine for curing our disturbing states of mind and other hindrances. Buddha’s face is very beautiful. He’s smiling. Compassionate gaze is directed at you and simultaneously towards every other living being. Feel that he is free of all judging critical thoughts and that he accepts you just as you are.
His eyes are long and narrow. His lips are cherry red, and the lobes of his ears are long. His hair is blue black and each hair is individually curled to the right and not mixed with the other. Every feature of his appearance represents an attribute of his omniscient mind. Rays of light emanate from each pore of Buddha’s pure body and reach every corner of the universe.
These rays are actually composed of countless miniature Buddhas, some going out to help living beings, others dissolving back into his body having finished their work. Feel the living presence of Buddha and take refuge in him, recalling his perfect qualities and his willingness and ability to help you. Make a request from your heart to receive his blessings to help you to become free from all your negative energy, misconceptions, and other problems, and to receive all the realizations of the path to enlightenment. Your request is accepted. The stream of purifying white light, which is in the nature of the enlightened mind, flows from Buddha’s heart and enters your body through the crown of your head.
Just as the darkness in a room is instantly dispersed the moment a light is switched on, so too is the darkness of your negative energy dispersed upon contact with this radiant white light. As it flows into you, feeling your body completely, we’re going to recite the following prayers three times. To the guru and founder, the one transcendent, the one thus gone, the foe destroyer, the completely perfected, fully awakened being, the glorious conqueror, the subduer from the Shakya clan, I prostrate, take refuge, and make offerings. Please bestow your blessings. To the guru and founder, the one transcendent destroyer, the one thus gone, the foe destroyer, please bestow your blessings.
To the guru, the founder, the one transcendent destroyer, the one thus gone, the foe destroyer, the completely perfected fully awakened being, the glorious conqueror, the subduer of the Shakya clan, I prostrate, take refuge, and make offerings. Please bestow your blessing. Now we’re going to recite the Buddha’s mantra. We’re going to repeat it aloud seven times, and then we’re going to say quietly to ourself for a few minutes. Feel that all your negative energy, problems, and subtle obscurations have been completely purified.
Your body feels blissful and light. Concentrate on this feeling for a while. Now visualize that a stream of golden light descends from the Buddha’s heart and flows into your body through the crown of your head. The essence of this light is the excellent qualities of his pure body, speech and mind. He can transform his body into different forms, animate and inanimate, to help living beings according to their individual needs and particular states of mind.
With his speech he can communicate different aspects of the dharma simultaneously to beings of various levels of development and be understood by them in their respective languages. His omniscient mind sees clearly every atom of existence and every occurrence, past, present and future. And know the source of every living being, searches its awareness in each moment. These infinite good qualities flow into every part of your body. Concentrate on this peaceful experience while again repeating the mantra where you visualize the golden light, altering through the crown of your head and filling up your body.
Feel that you have received the infinite excellent qualities of Buddha’s body, speech, and mind. Your body feels light and blissful. Concentrate on this for some time. Now visualize that the eight snow lions absorb into the throne. The throne into the lotus.
And the lotus into the sun and the moon. Then turn, absorb into the Buddha who now comes to the space above your head, Melt into light and dissolve into your body. Your ordinary sense of being unworthy and burdened with fault, and all your other wrong conceptions disappear completely. In that instant, you become one with Śākyamūni Buddha’s blissful omniscient mind in the aspect of a vast emptiness. Concentrate on this experience for as long as possible, allowing no other thoughts to distract you.
Then imagine that from this empty state, there appear in the place where you are sitting the throne, the lotus, the sun, the moon, and open this yourself as a Buddha. Everything is of the nature of light, exactly as you had visualized before in front of you. Feel that you are Buddha. Identify with his enlightened wisdom and compassion instead of with your usual incorrect self view. Surrounding you in every direction and filling all space are all living beings.
Generate love and compassion for them by recalling that they too want to achieve happiness and peace of mind and freedom from all problems. Now that you are enlightened and you can help them, at your heart are lotus and the moon. Standing upright around the circumference of the moon, reading clockwise, are the syllables of the mantra. The seed syllable MUM stands at the moon’s center. Rays of light, actually your wisdom and compassion, emanate from each letter and spread in all directions.
They reach the countless sentient beings surrounding you and completely purify them of their obscurations and delusions and fill them with inspiration and strength. While imagining this, again recite the mantra. Now think: now I have led all sentient beings to enlightenment by fulfilling my intention for doing this meditation. Visualize that everyone surrounding you is now in the form of Buddha and is experiencing complete bliss and the wisdom of emptiness.
You should not worry that your meditation is a scam and that you have not helped even one person achieve enlightenment. This practice is known as bringing the future result into the present path and is a powerful cause for our own enlightenment. It helps us develop firm conviction in our innate perfection, our Buddha potential. That what we have just done in meditation, we would definitely accomplish one day. We can dedicate all the positive energy and insight that we have gained by doing this meditation to our eventual attainment of enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.
How is it? You cannot visualize yourself as other deities. I mean with some deities you actually need to have initiation but with Buddha Śākyamūni Buddha it’s okay to visualize yourself as being Śākyamūni Buddha. It’s not a tantric deity. I actually double checked with Geshe-la that it was okay for us to do it tonight, but it’s a pretty powerful meditation.
I don’t know what I know that you had a good it was pretty powerful for you. Any questions? For those who have got the book on how to meditate, it’s in it from Kathleen McDonald. Otherwise, there’s practice also that with Śākyamūni, I’m practicing. Okay.
Okay. Yeah. Are we ready for either conclusion or? Yes? Okay.
Yes. Because I mean, the teaching that are on as I say, on this this planet at the moment is is from Śākyamūni Buddha. That’s why. But, yes, I would be able to to explain to you a bit more. But I mean, that’s how I understand it, that he’s the one who actually gave the teaching on the four noble truths.
He’s not the first Buddha, but as I said, at this moment on this planet, this is his teachings. A short I did bring a short oh, actually, hold on a second. This is going to be about it. Was born as a prince, Siddhartha, into a vastly wealthy family and actually he was very sheltered during all his childhood. His father was told that his son, who was a prince, would become a good king or a good warrior or he would become a The father wanted his son to become the king.
Basically he was very sheltered. He was very protected. He was kept away from all the suffering and then when he became older, he actually decided to go and have a look at what was happening outside and he was very shocked by seeing sickness, death, anger, jealousy and then from this point he decided that he wanted to find out why. So he went on search and he tried lots of things, a lot of different paths. And then one day he decided that he would sit under a tree and will not move until he found out why.
That’s well, after meditating for, I don’t know, maybe years or I don’t know, I don’t have to look. He became enlightened and then he started teaching. And he started with the Four Noble Truths. And, yeah. I’m just trying to put some more information here.
Okay. It’s a bit late. I’m sorry about that. Yeah. So, okay, so tonight we talk about analytical meditation and we learn that the goal is to realize the ultimate nature of the mind.
With analytical meditation, our conceptual understanding will eventually turn into a direct non conceptual experience and . We also learned that analytical meditation cannot exist without concentration meditation or stabilization meditation. We talk about visualization meditation and that this meditation uses both stabilizing and analytical meditation and that this type of meditation is powerful way to discover our own Buddha nature by opening ourselves to the enlightened Buddha, by learning to identify with our innate wisdom and compassion our own Buddhahood. So next, we will talk about the common problems and obstacles and the antidotes that we can encounter during meditation. We will also talk about the attitude of meditation.
Any questions that you’ve got, I will try to answer. I will get the answer for you. So, yeah, that’s it for tonight. There’s oh, no. We’ve got to dedicate.
Sorry. Okay. So let’s spend some time remembering our initial motivation and why we came here tonight. And we came here to transform our mind, to remove our negative attitudes, emotions, develop our wisdom and our compassion in order to become enlightened, to benefit all sentient beings. As the merit of this virtuous action may quickly attain the state of the lofty Guru Buddha, may I lead all living beings without exception into that enlightened state.
Sorry. With the precious bodhicitta that has arisen, may it not deteriorate and grow but increase more and more. Sorry. I I was blank for a few seconds. I couldn’t remember.
Anyway, good work. Thank you for There’s a book from Lama Yeshe and there’s a reading from this book too.