Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A story about a yeti — who knocks out mice one by one but sits on each in turn until the earlier ones wake and escape — anchors Khensur Rinpoche’s 49-minute commentary on mindfulness and stabilization. The image captures the session’s central concern: without mindfulness, accumulated understanding vanishes. Rinpoche analyzes mindfulness through its three qualities (familiar object, non-forgetfulness, non-distraction), then distinguishes three simultaneous factors a meditator needs: mindfulness holds the mind on its object, awareness checks whether it remains there, and conscientiousness corrects any drift. He compares forgetfulness to a daily thief who robs the store of good qualities we have built up. The session closes with stabilization — the factor that gradually extends single-pointed placement — illustrated through the practice of visualizing oneself as the deity Tārā.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 24 AK 1988-12-08.mp3
UUID: 19ffe4cc-600d-462e-8566-1c86e10eb2d2
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Awareness and Knowledge 1988-1989 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1988-12-08
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 49.4 minutes
Words: ~2,603
So this is really important to think about this. The fact that we do have the seed of Buddhahood within us, that in the future that we can attain Buddhahood. That the cause is within us right now. That simply the cause at present is obscured or covered over by the afflictive emotions. But through our making effort, cultivating the path, then we can begin to diminish the obscuration of the afflictive emotions and the cause of enlightenment will become more and more apparent to us and the conditions for it will can be provided, and then the sprout of actual Buddhahood will arise.
And the third determining factor is mindfulness. So mindfulness has three qualities. It has as its observed object, a familiar thing, something which we’re familiar with, is object of observation. It has an entity or nature of non forgetfulness and has a function of, not allowing the mind to be distracted. Not allowing the mind to be distracted, non distraction.
So it has three qualities. The quality of the object of observation being a familiar object, the entity of nonforgetfulness, and the function of nondistraction. So with respect to this first quality, that is the object of observation and being a familiar object, The object of mindfulness must be something that we have known previously. There are other in that mindfulness we can translate it as recollection or even memory. So we cannot remember something or, let’s say, we cannot be mindful of something that we have not previously known or that we have not previously seen.
There’s no way that we can recall an object, recollect an object, if we haven’t understood it, seen it before. So it must be a familiar object. So it’s necessary that the object of mindfulness be something that was known previously. If not having met or seen, understood the object before, we cannot recall it. We cannot bring it back to memory.
When we talk about mindfulness, we’re talking about a subsequent cognition. Subsequent cognition, which we’ve explained before. Now, you know, that is, we’ve had a prime cognizer of an object previously, and now we’re simply recalling it, having a subsequent cognition of that same object. You know, if we simply were to meet an object for the, newly for the first time, then, and understanding it, this would not be a moment of mindfulness. This would simply be a moment of realizing the object.
So therefore, we’re talking about something that we’ve cognized previously, and now we’re recognizing it. We’re remembering it. So it’s something that we’ve come in contact with met with before. It doesn’t have to be a concrete object. It could be some type of action that we did.
You know, I did remembering, oh, I did this yesterday. Or I did that this the day before. And this would be a matter of mindfulness of some activity that you previously did and therefore that you had some understanding of before and now you’re recognizing or remembering it. So it has the entity of non forgetfulness that is simply, you know, having done some kind of work or action before, being able not forgetting that you did it before, being able to recall it. This would be its entity or nature.
Then it has the function of non distraction. This would be the function of mindfulness is not allowing the mind to drift to another object. Not allowing the mind to drift to another object. Not allowing it to be distracted from the object of observation is its function. So with respect to this function of nondistraction, within our meditation, it is the factor of mindfulness which prevents our mind from being distracted to various other objects which allows other thoughts to arise which are not the line of thought that we’re trying to abide in.
It has the, you know, it is the factor which brings about the single pointed abiding on a particular object. For example, if we were meditating calm abiding and we were meditating on the Buddha, it would be that the factor of mindfulness would not allow our mind to drift to any other object other than the Buddha, no matter what the object might be. The factor of mindfulness would prevent our mind from drifting or being distracted to any other object. If, it is like, you know, if you have some kind of animal and you, you know, it’s running all around and you tie it with a rope and, you know, you keep it in one place so it can’t go off anywhere else. This is this is the factor of mindfulness.
It is like the rope of mindfulness, not allowing the mind to drift to any other object. If we don’t have mindfulness, then we don’t have a good meditation because our mind will go all over the place. So it said that in if we’re going to meditate well, we need three factors simultaneous factors. We need mindfulness, awareness, and conscientiousness. So in in order for our meditation to go well, we need these simultaneous three factors of mindfulness, awareness, and conscientiousness.
If we take an example, perhaps we’re meditating on emptiness. It is mindfulness which holds our mind single pointedly abiding on the object of observation, emptiness. It which is which plants our mind, brings our mind to rest and holds our mind on this single object of emptiness, not allowing for it to be distracted. It is but if but bringing the mind to rest upon this single object, it is awareness which tells us whether the mind is actually abiding on the object of observation. It looks.
It sees whether or not our mind is actually abiding on the mind, on the object of our position, emptiness. So mindfulness is bringing our mind to rest on emptiness. Awareness is looking to see, to make sure that our mind is actually resting on this object, emptiness. Is it going to another? Is it drifting off to another object?
And then conscientiousness, when awareness tells says, Ah, we’ve drifted off to another object, conscientiousness brings the mind back and places it again upon the object emptiness. So it’s necessary for in order to have a good meditation to have these three factors simultaneously working. Mindfulness is extremely important. Know, without mindfulness we really can’t practice, no matter if we study something. But through study we become familiar with an object and therefore we do not forget about it.
And this is the function of mindfulness. But if we don’t we initially we understand something, if we don’t have the power of mindfulness, we’re going to forget it. Forgetting it, it’s as if we didn’t understand it to begin with. We have the same consequence. We don’t understand the object, even though perhaps we might have understood it previously.
And we have to learn it all over again. So, in this way, can never get ahead in our practice. If we continually forgetting what we have learned before, we keep making the same mistakes and we don’t get anywhere. So mindfulness helps us to hold in our mind to remember what we have learned previously. Without mindfulness, we really can’t practice.
And so therefore, mindfulness is extremely important not to forget what we have previously learned. Now as an example of this, I’m I think it’s it might be it might be a yeti. A yeti. Do you know what a yeti a yeti is? They run around the pole.
So it’s said that a yeti, it catches It likes to eat one particular rodent, like a mouse, something like a rat or a mouse or something. But it really likes these type of animals. And so it digs up there into their home, into their home where live. And many of these little, we’ll say, rodents in this. And grabs one, and it knocks it out, and puts it and it doesn’t eat it at that particular it sits on it.
And put and then it it’ll grab another one, knock it out, and and it’ll sit on that. And while it’s going through this, catching they they they regain consciousness, and they start they all run away. So so he’s he’s knocking these mice. He’s putting them back. And then when he’s finished, he looks down and it’s all gone.
There’s nothing there. They’ve all run away. That’s what happens if we don’t have mindfulness. I think. The moose.
Then the The moose. The yeti has lost everything. I think it’s a Yeti. So through the power of mindfulness, we’re able to hold on to what we learned before and not forget it. So the way that we achieve Buddhahood is through the elimination, the cessation of our various faults and the development until completion of all the excellent qualities.
Through, you know, develop, through beginning to collect, to gather together within yourself qualities, good qualities. And we, through this process, we amass a collection of good qualities, becoming great qualities. We keep amassing qualities, holding on these with our mindfulness, and when these are brought to fulfillment, we attain Buddhahood. There’s no other way to attain Buddhahood but this eliminating our faults, developing, holding on to good qualities, amassing them, and finally attaining Buddhahood. So it’s necessary that we hold onto our good qualities through the factor of mindfulness.
Yes. So it’s just like It’s as if we, you know, are saving up our money and each day we’re adding some money to our pile of money. But, one day a thief comes and takes part of our money. The next day a thief comes and takes a little bit more of our money. And the next day it goes on like this until finally we have no more money.
All our money that we saved up is completely gone. Likewise, forgetfulness is like a thief that we make effort in studying, developing excellent qualities, trying to collect them, get them together. But through the power of forgetfulness, the lack of mindfulness, then the thief of forgetfulness comes each day and robs us of our collection of good qualities that we have, and we end up with nothing. So it’s just in the same way that we build up excellent qualities by learning the alphabet A, B, C. That, you know, we, through the kindness of our teachers, we learn A and then we learn B.
And we try to hold onto these to the power of our mindfulness. This gives us some ability, more possibility of further advancement holding onto these. If we lose those, then we can’t go any further. And so our collection of good qualities, holding onto them leads to greater and greater qualities, more excellent qualities. And we can develop more benefit for ourself, more benefit for others, and develop great qualities.
Now, when we talk about meditation, what we mean is simply becoming accustomed to an object. Accustoming ourselves or familiarizing ourselves with a particular object. And this familiarization is brought about through mindfulness. That through this mindfulness that the ability to cultivate a familiarity, an accustoming, a habituation to a particular state becomes stronger and stronger and stronger, and our afflictive emotions become less and less and less until the excellent qualities are brought to fulfillment. So then the next determining factor is stabilization.
This is the mental factor which is able to, taking as an object observation an imputed thing, taken as an object of observation, a imputed thing is able to remain on that object single pointedly. Is able to remain on that object single pointedly. The mental factor yeah. The mental factor which is capable of remaining upon the mental factor which is which is capable of remaining upon an imputed object of observation, an imputed thing of observation, imputed object of observation single pointedly is what we mean by stabilization. Now, when it talks about imputed object, what do we mean by that?
And when we meditate, we meditate, we take an object to mind. We do not use these sense faculties. We do not look at an object with our eye. For example, when we meditate on Tārā, the deity, we don’t look at an object with our eye. We’re creating an object within the mind, Tārā within the mind.
So that’s why it’s called an imputed thing. It could be said to be a projected or created thing. So we’re taking it as an object of our observation, a created or in this literally imputed thing, and and remaining and remaining upon that single pointedly. This what we mean when you know, when we actually meditate on Tārā, Tārā is not really there. We’re creating an image of Tārā within our mind, observing an image of Tārā within our mind.
If we accustom ourselves again and again, cultivating, meditating, meditating, then actually Tārā will arise in our mind rather than being merely imputed or created. So when we actually, you know, meditating a in this case, the deity Tārā, we’d said that we arise as the deity. We instantly, in one moment, arise as the deity. That, you know, when we’re doing cultivating the appearance of our self as Tārā, that we have, you know, we imagine that we have our legs are such and such, our hands are held in such and such a position, that we have all the, our hair is like Tārā, we have all the various ornaments of Tārā. These are all imagined, they’re imputed.
We don’t, we’re not actually Tārā, but we think as if we are. We think I am Tārā. That is, we’re imputing or projecting upon ourselves this image as if we were tar. But through the power of our meditation, cultivating this image, through our understanding of emptiness and the power of the awakening mind, then we can actually develop this. It will no longer be merely a projection.
We can actually attain the embodiment of Tārā. So thinking and cultivating the thought, I am Tārā. You know, single mindedly dwelling upon the thought that I am Tārā, remaining in the equipoise for a sustained duration is the function of stabilization, allowing us to remain in, for a sustained duration singled pointedly, in this case, in the in the imagination of oneself as Tārā, and then developing the stability of this. Now, you know, we can cultivate the stability in one day that we are able to abide in this for only a few minutes. And maybe the next day, cultivating more and more, few more minutes, a few more minutes, a few more minutes, developing the stability and the duration of being able to sustain this single-minded placement is the function of stabilization.
So it’s this quality of meditative this quality of stabilization is quite important. It is what gives us the ability to sustain over a duration a single-minded placement upon any particular object. You know, now we can’t, perhaps, can’t remain upon an object for five minutes. It’s our minds as if are as if like the flag in front of Buddhahouse, you know, flapping in the wind. I can always waving about due to the force of afflictive emotions.
But if we cultivate this, develop our stabilization, perhaps we can develop our mind to where it can remain for a duration, single pointedly for five minutes. And continuing cultivating, cultivating maybe ten minutes, and fifteen minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes. So this is what is going to bring us all the excellent qualities. The ability to sustain