Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Christele guides an introductory Buddhism class through the foundations of meditation practice. After a grounding breathing exercise and refuge recitation, she teaches the nine-round breathing meditation using visualized energy channels, then shifts to practical setup: arranging a quiet, dedicated meditation space; adopting the seven-point Vairocana posture for stability and mental clarity; and establishing proper motivation—distinguishing between temporary happiness, striving for liberation, and the Mahāyāna aspiration to reach enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. She explains why dedication at the end of a session anchors results, then guides the group into a stabilizing meditation focused on the clarity and empty nature of mind. Geared toward newcomers to Buddhist practice with no prior background assumed.
File metadata (for organising)
File: Christele – Intor Buddhism 28-03-09.mp3
UUID: 25151623-2416-4d63-a785-28c634aac685
Teacher: Christele
Collection: How to Meditate (Christele)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Words: ~7,732
I think we’re just waiting for a few more people, then we can start. Is it? Oh, thanks. Just let me know when it stopped working because I can’t hear from here. So I think there’s some new people tonight.
Yeah. Always new tonight. Nobody? Okay. There’s one more.
Okay. Okay. Well, I think we’re going to start because we’ve got a lot to cover tonight as you can see from the board. Basically last week we talked about the definition and purposes of meditation. What is meditation and what is not meditation?
And we came to the conclusion that in Buddhism the real purpose of meditation is to care for the mind, to habituate the mind to realistic, beneficial views, emotion and attitude which is going to lead you to have less suffering. And we also talked about that meditation is part of a three stage process in listening to the teaching, reflecting on the teaching and then meditating. Tonight we’re going to talk about the importance of motivation and dedication, how to arrange one’s environment, how to sit in the proper meditation posture, and we will talk about stabilizing meditation. So we’ve got lots to cover, as I said, and I think it’s going to be lots of very useful information. So as you can see from the board, we’re going to start with a short breathing meditation, the same one as we did last week.
Then we’re going to do a short motivation and do the refuge prayer. Sarah, would you mind giving the little yellow leaflet? Thanks. And then we’re going to do a nine round breathing meditation. And then if you’ve got any questions from last week, that would the time to ask.
And then we’ll see how to arrange one’s environment before meditation, how to arrange one’s body, to sit in the proper posture, and then the importance of motivation and dedication and what to meditate on tonight the stabilizing meditation or concentration meditation. And then we will do a meditation on the clarity of the mind, and then we will finish by a short conclusion and dedication. Okay. Is that okay for tonight? So that’s a lot.
So make sure that your mobile phone are off, and when everybody is ready, we’re going to start with the breathing meditation. Okay. So sit comfortably. Make sure that your back is straight, but relax. Your hands are in your lap or on your knees or thighs.
Breathe a few times, deep in and out. And every time you breathe out, you let go of all the tension you hold in your body and mind. Breathe out and let go everything that kept your mind busy today. Whatever has happened has happened. We can’t change anything from the past, so let it go.
Breathe out and let go all the worrying about the future. We create our future with our actions that we do in the present moment. The best preparation for the future is to be mindful of the present moment. The more we can practice it, the more control we get. Breathe out and let go of all the tension that is still left.
Tension in your body, mind. Allow yourself to be completely here at Buddha House in the meditation hall, on your chair or cushion. Feel that there is no better place to be right now, that every part of your body and mind are happy to be here. And then just breathe. Breathe naturally.
And be aware of your body. Your body is sitting. If you notice that your mind is wandering off, bring it back gently to the body. Bring the mind back to the body. Let the mind rest on the movement of the breath.
Every time you breathe out, you let go of muscle. When you breathe in, you breathe in. Just breathe. Nothing else. No thoughts.
Emotion. Opinions. Just breathe. Your mind becomes more and more empty when you enjoy the empty, quiet space. And then allow yourself to come back to your body, to your senses.
And when you feel ready, you can slowly open your eyes. Are you cold or hot? Okay. No, no, I’m okay. I was just wondering if everybody is here now.
Buddha has. So we’re going to do a short motivation and then we’re going to do the refuge prayers. So imagine that you are surrounded by all the people of your life, your friends, your family, the people you love and like, the people you do not know so well, but that you encounter in your life, and all those that you do not like, those who have hurt or harmed you. They are also part of your life. Imagine that they are really here doing this course with you, sharing the insight and understanding that you generate during this evening, opening their heart and transforming their mind just as you open and transform your mind, connecting with their essence as you connect with you.
Reflect on your reason for being here tonight. Reflect on what you want for yourself and for all those people of your life who are here in your imagination meditating with you. Make a strong determination to keep an open mind, to achieve what you said I had to do both for yourself and for all these people of your life. Now we’re going to say the refuge prayer. I go for refuge till I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly.
For my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all beings. I go for refuge till I am enlightened to 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 till I am enlightened to 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.
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 the happiness that is free from suffering. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment from friends and hatred from enemies. We’re going to do the nine-round breathing meditation.
I’m going to explain it to you first because there’s a bit of visualization to do at the same time. Anybody already done this meditation before? No? Okay. So basically what I’m going to ask you to visualize is that three energy channels within your body.
You’ve got the first one which is a central channel and it’s blue and it runs from your eyebrow to about four fingers below your navel and it’s hollow and it runs in front of your spine and it’s about the size of a straw. Okay? So from here to four fingers below your navel and it’s blue. Okay. And then on the right side, it runs from your nostril, bring a bit up like that, and down on the side of your spine.
It’s red and it meets the central channel at the point which is four fingers below your navel. Okay? So this one’s red on your right side. On your left side, same as the right one, except the other way, and it’s white. And same thing, meets four fingers below the navel and join the central channel here.
Okay? I’m going to guide you through this visualization first and I will be going to hold it for a few minutes before we start the meditation. I’ve been trying to find the best way to do it. I’m going to tell you what to do. There are three steps in this meditation.
The first step, you visualize that. Then what you do with your right index, you close your left nostril and you close your left nostril and you breathe slowly and fully through the right nostril and the air is going down this red channel and meet. Pass into the left channel, the white one, and then you exhale. And then you move your finger at the same time. So basically, inhale, it’s going down and when you exhale, it’s going through the other way.
Does it make sense? And we do that three times. And then we reverse the process. We’re going to inhale through the left nostril, so down through the white channel, and then exhale through the red channel on the right side, and three times. Okay?
And then we’re going to slowly inhale through both nostrils, and the air is going to move down the side channels. Also the red one and the white one. And it’s going to meet four fingers below your navel and it’s going to move upward through the central channel which is blue. Is that okay? It’s a bit hard.
So I’m thinking. I’m going to read you the first visualization and then I’m going to read you what you’re going to do the first step and then you’re going to do it three times after I finish reading. Okay? And then I will move through the other side and we’re going do it three times. Anyway, it’s going to be one of the exercises you’re going to have to take home tonight.
So next week, I’m going to do it again. I won’t need to read all the instructions. Okay? But there’s a lot of things to think of. Okay.
So let’s try like that. Let’s just spend just a few seconds breathing through both nostril and just concentrating on the on our brain. Visualize the three energy channels within your body through which the wind energy energy moves. The central channel in front of your spine and the two side channels. The channels are round and hollow.
The size of a straw are very fine, smooth, flexible, and luminous. The central channel is blue, the right channel is red, and the left channel is white. The left white channel and the right red channel run from the left and right nostril down along the spine and and four finger width below the navel. The central channel runs from the point between your eyebrows, down, along and in front of the spine, and also ends at the point four finger width below the navel. Visualize that the end of the right and left channels join the central channel at that point.
I’m going to ask you to close your left nostril with your right index finger, and you’re going to inhale slowly and fully through the right nostril, visualizing that the breath goes all the way down into the right channel. When your breath has reached the end of the channel, move your right index finger to the right nostril and close it while visualizing that the breath flows from the right channel into the left channel. Now, exhale slowly and fully through the left nostril, visualizing that all impurities related to attachment such as distraction move upward through your left energy channel and are expelled from your body. We are going to do that three times. Now reverse the process.
Close your right nostril with your right index finger and inhale slowly and fully through the left nostril, visualizing that the breath goes all the way down into the left channel. When your breath has reached the end of the channel, move your index finger to the left nostril and close it while visualizing that the breath flows from the left channel into the right channel. Exhale slowly and fully through the right nostril. As the breath leaves the right nostril, visualize that all impurities related to anger move upward through your right energy channel and are expelled from your body. So we’re going to do that three times.
Now inhale slowly and fully through both nostrils while visualizing that the air moves down the side channel. At the end of the channel, it enters the central channel and moves upward through the central channel while you exhale. Visualize that all negativities, especially those related to ignorance, are expelled from your body through both nostrils. We can do that three times. Now imagine that the three channels are completely clean and luminous.
Keep breathing gently and even, imagining that your breath flows freely through the channels. Is it okay? Good. That’s going to be the exercise for next week. I’ve got some handout on the table over there.
Okay. Number two. Any questions from last week? No? Okay.
Okay. So as I mentioned earlier, tonight we’re going to talk about how to set up your meditation. Meditation. This includes the motivation, the dedication, and arranging your room and your posture so that you can set up your own meditation at home. And then we will talk about the stabilizing or concentration meditation.
The other meditations will follow next week. There will be the analytical meditation and visualization meditation. Lama Yeshe says that Buddhist meditation doesn’t necessarily mean sitting cross legged with your eyes closed. Simply observing how your mind is responding to the sense world can be a really perfect meditation and bring perfect result. But to be able to do that in your day to day life, you need to have some practice on your meditation cushion.
Okay. And one of the I’m just looking at something. Yeah. Okay. And one of the very important point before beginning a meditation session is to arrange one’s environment.
So I’m going to make you walk now. So what do you think is a conducive environment for meditation? Go ahead. Yep. That’s a good idea.
So, yeah, basically, all what you said is correct. It’s conducive for meditation. It’s best to reserve a room or corner for your meditation session. You set up a seat or a cushion depending on how comfortable you are. It’s good to have a table or a lower bench in front of you so you can put your books or the things that you might need like a picture of a Buddha, nice stone or a glass of water.
It’s good to make the place as comfortable as possible and neutral to your senses so that it doesn’t distract your mind too much. It’s also very important that you feel safe and you want to come back to this place. As you say, it should be quiet and clean and you can set up an altar so you can put a picture of the Buddha, a stupa, a text, a picture of your teacher. Basically, that’s it for this point. Also the best time to meditate is usually in the morning when you just get out of bed and your mind is still very clear and alert.
For some people it’s not possible, so basically, anytime during the day if you can for those who can’t do it in the morning. It also helps not to have eaten too much the night before and to sleep too much because that’s going to make the mind lighter and sharper the next morning if you don’t eat a lot and don’t sleep too much. Okay. So that was one point. The second point is arranging one’s body, and it’s a very important point.
I might get it for you. And we’re going to do an exercise after to just position. Okay. There are seven points that you need to be mindful regarding the posture. That’s the Vero Shana posture.
Why is it important? It’s because the mind and the body are interdependent. The mind affects the body and body affects the mind. So the aim of this posture is to make the body stable and comfortable and to balance our physical energy so there’s neither too much which will lead to restlessness and not too little and then you can be dull and sleepy. So in order for the mind to be calm, the body must be still and comfortable and this seven point posture has been used for centuries by experienced meditators.
So the seven points, the first one is the leg. So here it depends if you’re sitting on a cushion and even there, there’s three position you can take or if you’re sitting on a chair. So I’m going to start if you’re sitting on the floor. So you can cross your leg in the Vashra posture, the full lotus. Anybody can do that here?
No? Well, I can’t do it. So so each foot is placed the sole upward on the side of the opposite leg as you can see on the on medicine Buddha over there. So the alternative position is the half lotus which is a left foot on the floor under the right leg and the right foot on top of the left thigh. Okay.
And if you can’t do that, just cross your legs. Okay. Both leg cross, posture both feet on the floor. Okay. That’s the alternative.
Well, that’s good. It’s half. The left foot on the floor, right under the right leg, and right foot on top. Yep. Yeah.
Well yeah. Yeah. And then, eventually, you might be able to put it. I mean, I I can’t I can’t do that. Yeah.
That’s good. That’s the hard lotus. Yeah. Yes. But the more you train, the more you can do it.
Apparently, I know that. There’s no way I’d be able to do that. Okay. A tip is to have a firm cushion under the buttocks that will enable you to keep your back straight and sit longer without getting pins and needles in your legs and feet. You can experience these different height and cushion.
So if you’re sitting on a chair, feet flat on the floor, buttocks to the back of the chair. We’re going to go through that after. I’m going to lead you through the posture. That’s the first point. The second one is the arms and hands.
So your hands loosely on your lap about two inches below the navel, the right hand on top of the left hand, and then your thumb touching to form a triangle. Shoulders and arms should be relaxed and the arms not pressed against the body. It’s just to for the air to circulate and to prevent sleepiness so you don’t fall asleep. So like like a bird. Okay.
The third point. I’ve got a hand out for you, by the way, with a posture so I don’t need to write everything. The back. So the back is the most important point here. It should be straight and slightly upright.
Just imagine that your vertebrae is like a coin stacked in a column. So straight and lightly upright and your muscles relax. And This will allow the energy and breathing to flow more freely. If you’re sitting on a chair, the back should not touch the back of the chair. So do not lean backwards.
The fourth point is the eyes. So slightly open just little bit, allowing some lights to come in. Direct your gaze downwards, gazing in the general direction of a spot. So if you are on the floor about one meter in front of you and do not focus. Do not look at your nose.
Do not look at the point on the floor. Just gaze in between and if you’re on a chair, it’s about one point five to two meters you should look at. Just look in between. This one, the jaw and mouth. So it should be relaxed.
Lips touching and teeth slightly apart, not clenched. Just relax, basically. It’s not finished with the teeth. The tip of the tongue should touch the palate behind the upper teeth. This will reduce the flow of saliva and the need to swallow so you will not dribble everywhere when you meditate.
Usually it looks better. And the last point is the head. So your neck should be bent forward a little so that the gaze is directed naturally towards the floor in front of you. The nose in line with your navel. Do not turn your head.
In line. If the head is too high, you may have problem with mental wandering and agitation, and if you drop too low, you could experience mental heaviness and you might fall asleep. Okay? So just slightly bend forward. So the most important point in this posture is that it should be firm, stable and relaxed.
You should express a body language of purposefulness and that you can maintain comfortably for some period of time without moving. Basically, don’t be too uptight with not trying to move. It will make the mind uptight. But do not follow every tendency to move because if you do that, you follow the mind of attachment and you constantly look for comfort. So just be aware of the need to change that arises in the mind but do not follow it.
You could label this as unpleasant feeling, you know, my leg is hurting, arising in my mind. So just try to do that but of course if you really need to move away, just move. Otherwise, it’s gonna distract your meditation. But just try to level it and look at it first before moving. So as I said, the mind rides on the wind energy of the body like a rider on his horse.
If you agitate the body, you’re going to agitate the mind. So if you move too much, you’re going to agitate your mind. Venerable Antony is a teacher, an FPMT teacher. He said that position of this position is an antidote to, for example, the cross leg is an antidote to jealousy. The right hand on top of the left hand is an antidote to anger.
The spine is an antidote to confusion and ignorance. The tongue touching the palate is an antidote to attachment and the eye focused on the floor is an antidote to pride. So it might be difficult to hold this position at the beginning but the more you’re going to do it, the more it’s going to be natural and then you start noticing the benefit of this posture. So it’s a good idea before you start your meditation that you go through all the seven points and just check if you are applying them correctly but also during your meditation you can always go back to the posture making sure that your posture is correct And then you adjust it if you feel it’s not correct. And for example, I mean, so during mindfulness meditation you’re going to monitor your mind.
So if you notice that you’ve got dullness and you feel sleepy, you should check your body because your mind needs to straighten your back and lift up your eyes. So let some more light come in and if you notice some excitement, you should check if there’s no more not too much tension in your body and then you just relax your body. Basically, if you notice that you are dull, straighten up, and Okay? So do you want to go through the posture a few times? I’m going to guide you.
Yeah. So do I skip the posture or anybody’s doing it? Nobody? Okay. Sorry?
You want to try? Okay. Do you want me to move the table, or are you okay if I just guide you or you want to see what I’m doing? Sorry. Okay.
Okay. So just close your eyes. Half open. So if you’re sitting on the floor, you can sit in the half lotus position, the left foot on the floor under the right leg, and the right foot on top of the left thigh. Or you can simply cross your leg with both feet on the floor.
If you’re on a chair, feet flat on the floor, buttocks to the back of the chair. Your hands are loosely on your lap, about two inches below the navel. The right hand on top of the left hand, the palms upward with fingers aligned, the two hands slightly cupped so that the tips of the thumb meet to form a triangle. Relax your shoulders and your arms. Make sure that your arms are not pressed against the body.
Your back should be straight and lightly upright. Relax your muscle. If you’re sitting on a chair, try not to lean. Your eyes slightly open, allowing some light to come in. Direct your gaze downward.
If you’re sitting on the floor, about one meter in front of you without focusing on anything. If you’re sitting on a chair, one point five to two meters. Do not look at the floor or at your nose. Look in between. Relax your jaw and your mouth.
Your lips are touching. Your teeth are slightly apart. The tip of your tongue touches the palate behind the upper teeth. Bend your neck forward a little so that the gaze is directed toward the floor in front of you. Your nose is in line with your navel.
Neck is bent forward a little. Your tongue, the tip of your tongue is touching your palate behind the upper teeth. Relax your jaw and your mouth. Your lips are touching. Your teeth are slightly apart.
Your eyes are slightly open, allowing some light to come in. Not focus on anything. Your back is straight and lightly upright. Your muscles are relaxed. You do not touch the back of the chair.
Your hands are loosely on your lap. The right hand on top of the left hand, so palms upward with fingers aligned, the two hands slightly cut so that the tips of the thumb meet to form a triangle. Relax your shoulders and your arms. Your arms are not pressed against the body. On the floor under the right leg, and the right foot on top of the left thigh.
Or your legs are crossed with both feet on the floor. If you’re on a chair, your feet flat on the floor, buttocks to the back of the chair. Okay. So when you when you as I say, when you start your meditation, just go through the posture a few times, starting from your legs to your head, and then you come down. And during your meditation, just scan your body a few times too.
Any question at this point? Well, you’ve no choice. You’ve got to breathe through your mouth. Well, it’s not the best, but if you’ve got no choice, I think I mean, I think it’s better to do the meditation even if you can’t breathe through your nose. Yeah.
Get it a bit hot. Let me put some spray before. Okay. So I’ve a handout for you with with this posture. Yeah.
Are you coming for the meditation day? Because you could ask Geshe la because I don’t know. I can look at it if you want. I’m sure there’s a meaning but I don’t know the meaning. Yes, There might be that.
That’s what I was looking at. I don’t know. Know. I mean, I can have a look at it and if I can’t, I mean, we can always ask Geshe-la during the meditation day. Are you going to ask him?
Okay, great. That’s the energy channel. Usually in Buddhism, the white one is the mind when we do the visualization with the deity. Red one is the speech and the blue one is the body, the red one is the speech and the blue one is the mind. Always say this is the same here, but I’m not too sure.
Are you coming for the meditation then? There you go. That’s a good question. But I wish that this is that, but I’m not sure. Okay.
So the next point is the importance of motivation and dedication. So before you start a meditation session, it’s important to check on your thoughts and ask yourself why do I want to meditate? What do I hope to achieve? Whatever your motivation is, you should think clearly about it before proceeding with your meditation. It’s like with any activity, the clearer the more firmly you set your goal, the stronger your motivation and the more likely you are going to achieve this goal.
And also the more far reaching the positive intention behind your meditation, the more beneficial the result will be. It’s like with any activity, I guess. In Buddhism we say that doing any activity just for the happiness of this life alone is not good enough because this motivation is a cause for suffering in this and future life. If we want instant happiness for meditation, we are motivated by the same mind that hasn’t been able to bring us happiness so far. That’s what we saw last week.
We also went through it last week. We have tried to engage in many activities in an attempt to find happiness and if we use the same motivation as always, it will just become another kind of activity. That won’t bring us a different result than we have experienced experienced before. Well, if you do that, that might give you some relief from suffering and that you are going to experience that as happiness, but this happiness will not be stable. Stable.
It will not last. So if we want our motivation to be the cause of a more stable, long lasting happiness, our motivation for engaging in the meditation is crucial. In Buddhism we can set three types of motivation that are looking for happiness beyond this life, but that does include also this life. Okay, so the first motivation is the happiness of future life. And that’s the lesser of these three motivations.
So if we do meditation with this motivation in mind, we are motivated by the wish to achieve a higher rebirth in our next life. Let’s say we birth in the higher realms which can be the demigod, I mean the gods, demigod and the human realms. So basically we wish to have a pleasant life with not too much suffering and also an opportunity to practice the Dharma again. You can only achieve that in the higher realm. If you go into the lower realm like the animals, the hungry ghosts and all the other ones, the hell realm, you will experience a huge amount of suffering and you will not have the mental intellectual capacity to actually practice the Dharma and that would be very hard to create the causes of happiness.
So basically with this motivation we create the causes for a good life with the opportunity to create the causes for a good life again and again. And that’s the lesser motivation of the three. The second motivation is striving for liberation from saṃsāra or cyclic existence. So for this one, we have to recognize that the pleasure that we experience is not real pleasure in the sense that it is in the nature of suffering. It is not lasting.
It is a mere relief from suffering and discomfort or dissatisfaction. And by seeing the shortcoming of the pleasure of cyclic existence, we give up our attachment to the pleasure. We develop renunciation. So we give up our attachment to the pleasure. It doesn’t mean we give up the pleasure because the pleasure themselves are the result of our virtue and to be fully enjoyed, but we give up our attachment and we strive for the bliss of liberation.
And the bliss of liberation is a feeling that arises as the suffering of cyclic existence is removed from our mind stream and the feeling is part of the natural state of mind, but at the moment it’s obscured due to the obscuration of karma and delusions. And the higher or more supreme motivation, the third one, is the mind that strives for full enlightenment. That’s the highest of the motivation. Enlightenment is a state of mind in which all obscurations, the gross and the subtle are removed and all qualities that can be developed are developed. And we can only develop this mind if we recognize that all sentient beings without any exception are caught up in the suffering of saṃsāra just as ourselves.
And that they all just like us would like to be happy and they don’t want to suffer. We think about the fact that we have a relationship with all sentient beings due to which we have responsibility for their sufferings and their liberation from suffering. So we are responsible. When we see that our mother, brother, sister are suffering, we naturally generate the wish in our mind to help them and we want them and we will do whatever is needed if it’s our mother or sister or our kids. If we realize a similar relationship with all sentient beings and if we can generate this wish for all sentient beings, we develop bodhicitta.
In order to be able to help all sentient beings, we first have to know how to help ourselves and we have to develop wisdom and compassion to its fullest extent so that we have the skills to know what is right for each and every sentient being. Lama Yeshe said that this motivation, which is called the bodhicitta motivation or just bodhicitta, is necessary for success in meditation because of self grasping, of selfish grasping. So basically here need to become enlightened before you can help with a sentient being but you need to develop bodhicitta and you need to realize that everybody wants to be happy and nobody wants to suffer. And as all sentient beings, even your worst enemy are the tiny creatures. The Lama Yeshe says that if you have a good motivation but you don’t have bodhicitta, you will grasp at any little experience of bliss.
Me, me, me, I want more, I want more. Then the good experience disappears completely. Grasping is the greatest distraction to experiencing single pointed awareness in meditation. And with it, we are always dedicated to our own happiness. Me, me, me, I’m miserable.
I want to be happy. Therefore, I meditate. It doesn’t work that way. For some reason, good meditation and its result, peacefulness, satisfaction and bliss just don’t come if you only think about yourself. Grasping is the greatest distraction to experiencing single pointed awareness in meditation.
So here you’ve got a higher vision. You don’t think only about yourself. You do a meditation to become enlightened for benefit of all sentient beings because you know that when you reach this point of being fully enlightened, you’ll be able to assist all sentient beings. And by doing that, your motivation will have much more meaning and you will reach further. Is that clear, those three motivations?
In our school of Buddhism and the Mahāyāna, we go for this one. By not expecting any immediate result for ourselves, our meditation becomes much more successful. So after having set up the motivation, you can also take refuge by doing the refuge prayer and contemplating the meaning. Venerable Jamyang in a later module, establishing a daily practice, will talk about the meaning of the refuge prayer. So you set your motivation, you do your refuge prayer and then you engage into your meditation.
Don’t forget your posture. And at the end, there’s dedication. When you finish your session, when you finish your meditation, you need to dedicate. Lama Zopa Rinpoche says that dedication prayers are extremely important. He says that each time we pray and generate a wish, it builds power because everything, healing, alignment and everything in between comes from the mind.
For example, let’s say each day you pray to have the same qualities as Lama Tsongkhapa. Lama Tsongkhapa is here. He was born in Tibet in thirteen fifty seven and he is the founder of the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism which Buddha House belongs to. So if you pray to have the same qualities as Lama Tsongkhapa and to offer benefits to sentient beings and to the Buddha’s teachings just as he did. This makes preparation so that in all future lifetimes you will be able to practice correctly and offer extensive benefit like Lama Tsongkhapa did by having its same quality within you.
If you want to make your life most beneficial, pray like this. Prayers bring results because everything depends on the tip of the intention. Everything depends on your mind, your attitude. Attitude. So at the end of the session, before you leave your meditation seat or cushion, take a few minutes and reflect on the reason for and the motivation behind the session.
So why did I sit here? What do I want to achieve? And then you dedicate the positive energy that you have created during your meditation and any insight that you have gained through your practice towards a beneficial end. So it depends what your motivation was at the beginning. So whatever your motivation was at the beginning, you dedicate towards that.
Basically, dedication helps in stabilizing the result and that will ensure the result comes. So as I say, if your motivation for doing this session was to strive for the happiness of your future life, then you need to dedicate your session to this happiness of future life for a higher rebirth. If your motivation for doing this session was to strive for liberation from cyclic existence, you dedicate that all the positive energy generated by doing this will become the cause cause of liberation. And if your motivation for doing this session was to strive for full enlightenment, you dedicate that all the positive energy generated by doing this session will become a cause for enlightenment to reach Buddhahood. Usually what we do, we say the dedication prayer at the end of the session.
Venerable Jamyang told me that it’s actually a good example. It’s like not dedicating is like not locking the door of a house full of treasures when you leave it. Open for thieves to come in. So make sure you lock your house when you leave. Not a real one, but yes.
Okay, any questions for the dedication or not? What does Mahāyāna mean? I might be wrong in what I am going to say so I am going to have to look. It’s a school of Tibetan Buddhism, if I am correct. And the aim is to reach full enlightenment to become a Buddha, to benefit all sentient beings.
I’m sure there’s much more to say about that. The way it is. Oh, I don’t know. You can ask. Don’t know.
Yeah. Okay, so what are we going to meditate on? As I said earlier, there are numerous types of meditation, but it can be divided into two basic types: the stabilizing meditation or concentration meditation, calm abiding meditation, placement analytical meditation or insight of Vipassana meditation. The first practice we’re going to talk about it tonight is a calm abiding or single pointed meditation. Why don’t I put all the names on it because you might come across it.
So stabilizing, meditation, concentration, meditation, calm abiding meditation, concentration, placement, absorption. The other one, as I said, the analytical one, so this one refers to the calm abiding or single point mind and the second one to the practice of analysis. In both cases, for this one and the analytical meditation that we’re going to see next week, in both cases you need to have a firm foundation in mindfulness and alertness. I’ll come back to these two terms a bit after. And these two, they are provided by the practice of morality.
For example, for those who have taken refuge, when we take vows and also when you watch your mind and you’re preventing it from going towards non virtuous action like killing, stealing, etc, you have to be mindful of what you are doing and what you do not want to do. As soon as the mind goes in unwanted direction, it is alertness that notices it. So alertness is going to notice that your mind is going to go in the wrong direction and it’s going to bring it back to mindfulness. Morality is the basis or the foundation of the two higher trainings of concentration and wisdom because by practicing morality, we train the mind in mindfulness and awareness and we purify the mind which leads to greater clarity of mind. So I’ve got an easy example for the mindfulness and alertness.
Let’s say that you drive a car, you’ve got the fifty kilometers sign. Okay, so the driver needs to be mindful to drive at fifty kilometers. If you go over fifty kilometers, your alertness is going to flag it and then it’s going to bring it back to mindfulness. You’re mindful of the fifty ks. Okay, is that clearer like that?
And regarding morality, if you take the example of a soul. Let’s say your soil is not fertile and you’re going to pliancy a seed in this soil. Whatever you’re going to do, if you water it, if you give it fertilizer, nothing’s going to happen because your your soil is not fertile. It’s the same if you do not have morality, whatever you’re going to put in, you’re not going to go anywhere. If your soil is fertile, if you plant your seed and you water it and fertilize it, the plant is going to grow.
Okay? Yep. Is it? Yep. Okay.
Yep. I think it’s because was it for the course the module before? Because it’s because we we you didn’t go through the seven points posture, so I think that’s why she did that. So now that we know what to do Yeah. No.
No. She must have done that because we didn’t go through the posture. No. No. No.
We that’s a position to adopt. Yeah. Okay. So maybe I’m going to guide you through the posture one one time before. So so just head up your meditation posture.
The half lotus posture if you want to. Your left foot on the floor under the right leg and the right foot on top of the left thigh or simply cross your leg, both feet on the floor. If you’re sitting on a chair, feet flat flat on the floor, buttocks to the back of the chair. Your hands closely on your lap, right hand on top of the left hand, palms upward with fingers aligned, the two hands slightly cupped so that the tips of the thumb meet to form a triangle. Your shoulders and your arms are relaxed.
Your arms are not pressed against the body. Your back is straight and lightly upright. Relax your muscle. If you’re sitting on a chair, the back should not touch the back of the chair. Your eyes, slightly open, allowing some light to come in.
Do not focus on anything. Your jaw and your mouth are relaxed. Lips are touching. Teeth slightly apart. The tip of your tongue should touch the palate behind the upper teeth.
Your neck is bent for a while a little. Your nose is in line with the navel. Begin by breathing in deeply through both nostrils, bringing the air down to your stomach, holding it for a moment, and then exhaling slowly and gently through your pursed lips. Repeat this twice. And breathe normally.
Observe your breathing without thinking, without conceptualizing. Once your awareness has become sharp, turn your attention to the clarity of consciousness. Your consciousness or your mind is whatever you’re experiencing at the moment, sensations in your body, thoughts, feelings, perception of sound, and so forth. The nature of each of these experiences is clarity without form or color, like space, pure awareness. Focus your attention on this clear, pure nature of the mind.
Might be difficult to find the actual object, which is a clarity. If so, meditate on a mental image of clarity. One way to generate such an image is to visualize space. Imagine lying on a hilltop and staring up at the sky that is completely clear and free of clouds. Concentrate on this vast unobstructed emptiness.
Imagine that it flows down and embraces you and your surroundings. Everything becomes empty like space. All this experience feel the nature of your mind is like this clear empty space. Thoughts and distractions will arise, but do not react to them. Remember, they are clear by nature without substance.
Simply watch them come and go, and return to the awareness of the mind’s clarity. Do not think about anything during this meditation. There is no need to wonder what is the mind. Simply observe it, its clear nature, which is like infinite empty space that is sufficient, be natural. Meditation is simple, natural.
It is nothing special. Okay. So I thought that I’ll do a brief conclusion before we dedicate the positive energy that we have created tonight. Tonight we have learned about how to arrange one’s environment before meditation and the importance of motivation and dedication. We have also gone through the seven points posture to adopt, to meditate.
Then we have looked at the stabilizing meditation and the goal of this meditation which is a 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. This meditation also prepares the mind for all the types of meditation. Next week we will go through analytical meditation and we will also learn about the visualization meditation. So we can dedicate positive energy. We can say prayer the yellow leaflet.
Due to the merits of these virtuous actions, may I quickly attain the state of the Guru Buddha and lead all living beings without exception into the enlightened state. State. May the Supreme Jewel bodhicitta that has not arisen now arise and grow, and may that which has arisen not diminish, but increase more and more. Before I forget, oh yeah, there’s some homework. I didn’t get a copy with me.
It’s that side. It’s the start side. What did you you don’t have to do it if you don’t want. Let me go grab it.