Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using a butter lamp as his central image, Khensur Rinpoche explains in this 95-minute session why calm abiding and special insight must be cultivated together: just as seeing a painting clearly requires both a bright and a steady flame, realising emptiness requires both clarity of the object and single-pointed stability of mind. He walks through the five faults that obstruct calm abiding — opening with laziness in its three forms, then the fault of losing the object of observation — before surveying the four categories of meditation objects. Practitioners dominated by attachment, anger, or ignorance each receive different antidote objects. For Mahāmudrā specifically, the mind itself is the proper object, though Tsongkhapa recommends beginners use a Buddha image to avoid losing focus. A closing Q&A delivers the practical rule: choose one object and do not switch until calm abiding is fully achieved.
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File: 08 MM 1997 01 14.mp3
UUID: 6831b560-46ae-468b-86f8-859fe7a89f12
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Mahāmudrā 1996-97 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1997-01-14
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 95.0 minutes
Words: ~4,433
Yeah. That. Begin by meditating for a short while, developing the motivation of the precious awakening heart. We are all the same ourselves and others. We both want happiness.
We don’t we do not wish to suffer. We have to develop a determination which seeks to place and lead all sentient beings, including ourselves, into a state which is free of all suffering along with the causes of suffering. In order to achieve that state, one must come to a conclusion that I first must rid myself of all faults and bring to consummation all of my excellent qualities, that I first must achieve such a state. Once I myself have achieved such a state, then I myself must lead all sentient beings to a similar state, the state which is completely free of all suffering and has all happiness. And in order to achieve that end, I am going to listen to, reflect, and meditate upon the essence I’m beginning with the preliminary prayers, the first of which is verse number three.
Verse number two. And then the prayer of Mahāmudrā, which is toward the back. Namo Mahāmudrā. We pray to magnificent, pervading Lord vajradhara, root of all the glorious Buddha lineages, spontaneously present in the celestial mansion of the three bodies. Bless us that we may quickly attain the supreme great seal and path of unity, severing the continuum of attachment to the conception of self and bringing consummate skill and love, compassion in the awakened heart.
We pray to supremely wise Mañjuśrī, father who gives birth to the victors of the three times in the infinite Buddha fields of the ten directions of the universe. Bless us that we may quickly attain the supreme great seal and path of unity, severing the continuum of attachment to the conception of self and bringing consummate skill and love and compassion in the awakened heart. We pray to Lotsawa, along with the lineage of his spiritual children. Bless us that we may quickly attain the supreme great seal and path of unity, severing the continual attachment to the conception of self and bringing consummate skill and love compassion in the awakened heart. Bless us that we may see our holy spiritual master as the Buddha, that we may turn aside our attachment to this place of cyclic existence, and taking upon ourselves the burden of liberating all mother sentient beings, may we quickly attain the great seal, the wondrous union of ordinary and extraordinary paths.
Bless us that our body and your body, father, that our speech and your speech, father, that our mind and your mind, father, may become inseparably one. And then the offering of the Mandala, verse number five on page four. Quoting a verse by the master Śāntideva where he says, Knowing that special insight endowed with calm abiding thoroughly destroys the afflictions, one must initially seek calm abiding, as it is achieved by those liking non-attachment to the world. So here he is offering praise to these excellent qualities of the mind, those of calm abiding and special insight. So first, in saying that these are the really precious qualities of the mind, these two characteristics of calm abiding and special insight, we have to ask, well, if we were to develop these qualities of mind, calm abiding and special insight, what would be the faults?
What would be the disadvantage? On the other hand, what would be the advantage? What would be the benefit if we were to develop them? So what would be the faults of not developing these two excellent qualities of the mind of calm abiding and special insight? There are disadvantages both in temporal terms and ultimate terms.
Ultimately, we would not attain the omniscient mind or liberation. So in terms of the temporal disadvantages, first in terms of calm abiding, if we were not to develop the excellent quality of calm abiding, it would bring about the temporal disadvantage of our minds would be like churning water. That is to say, in the case of our meditation practice, our minds would be unstable. Our minds would not be able to remain upon the object of meditation. And even if it were, the object would be unclear.
So all of our various Dharma practices could not be brought to perfection. In the course of meditation, we would have both physical and mental difficulties without having developed a pliancy on body. These are the difficulties which would arise, the disadvantages of not developing this excellent quality of calm abiding. And then if we talk about the benefits of developing calm abiding and special insight, again there are both temporal and ultimate benefits. First in terms of ultimate benefits, if we were to conjoin these two excellent qualities of the mind of calm abiding and special insight with that of the awakened heart, then we would be able to remove the knowledge obstructions or the obstructions to omniscience and thereby achieve Buddhahood.
Additionally, we would be able to abandon — not additionally, but another ultimate benefit would be — we would be able to abandon the afflictive emotions and thereby be able to achieve a state of liberation. Then in terms of the temporal benefits of first calm abiding, we would have no difficulty in the course of our meditation either physically or mentally. We would experience only a bliss of mental and physical bliss. We would be able to abide in meditation for however long we desired. Why do we need both of these excellent qualities of the mind, both calm abiding and special insight?
If we only have calm abiding and we do not develop special insight, then we will not be able to remove the obstructions to liberation, the afflictive obstructions, nor the knowledge obstructions, the obstructions to omniscience. It is necessary in order to remove these that we additionally have the factor of the wisdom, understanding, emptiness that is, say, the higher training in wisdom which is special insight. Without special insight, we will not be able to achieve liberation, what to say of omniscience. Special insight is dependent upon the development of calm abiding. It is a result of the development of calm abiding.
Without initially having developed calm abiding, we cannot develop special insight. Therefore, first we have to develop calm abiding. In order to develop pliancy of body, we must develop meditative stabilization. And this is included in the practice of the three higher trainings. Whether our practice is that of the universal vehicle or the individual vehicle, all are condensed within these three higher trainings.
There are no other practices higher than these three higher trainings. So the first of these three higher trainings is the higher training in ethics. And this, by way of example, in terms of a layperson would be assuming the vows of the layperson and acting in ways which are not in contradiction to the vows. Also would extend to the vows of the ordained, both novice and fully ordained. Within the context of the higher training of ethics, additionally to these lay vows, we would assume the vows of the bodhisattva and the vows of secret mantra.
These included within the higher training of ethics. So then, of these three higher trainings, as was mentioned previously, the second of them is the higher training of meditative stabilizations, which includes calm abiding and then thirdly, the higher training in wisdom, which would include special insight. So as has been mentioned previously, is necessary that we develop calm abiding. And this is achieved within the context of the higher training in meditative stabilizations. Now what is it that we have to attain in order to attain calm abiding?
What are the characteristics of actual this meditative stabilization? In terms of the qualification of calm abiding is in terms of both the subject and object. In terms of this object, the object must there must be an intensity of clarity, an intensity of clarity of the object. In terms of the subject, the mind must be able to abide single pointedly upon the object. So there must be an intensity of clarity of the object, and the mind must be able to abide upon that object single pointedly.
So what would be the fault if we didn’t we said that calm abiding is characterized by a combination of these two features that of intensity of clarity and single pointed abidance upon the object. What would be the fault if both of these a combination of both of these were not present? What would be the fault if only one of these two features were present? We can explain this by way of analogy. You wanted to, if there were a painting in a dark room and you wanted to examine it closely to see it clearly and you had a butter lamp, it is necessary that there be a certain degree of intensity of the light.
If it’s not bright enough, then you’re only going to be able to see the coarse features of the figure in the painting. We won’t be able to see the details of the painting clearly, so there must be an intensity or clarity or a brightness of the light itself. One. Even if we, using this, continue with this analogy of a lamp, a butter lamp in which we’re trying to see clearly a painting, the figure within a painting, even if the lamp were bright enough, had enough intensity, if the flame of the lamp were continually being moved about, blown about because it was very windy, then we would still not be able to see the details of the figure in the painting clearly. It’s necessary that there both be an intensity or brightness of the lamp and there be a stability of the flame of the lamp.
You know, we have all had this experience and we can see this clearly for ourselves. So if we explain this analogy, the movement of the flame of the butter lamp is likened to the present state of our mind whereby we don’t have calm abiding, and due to the lack of calm abiding, our mind is continually being moved about by the force of afflictive emotions and conceptuality or discursiveness. And thereby we’re not able to see clearly emptiness. So we’re trying to see emptiness clearly but our mind is in a continual state of flux due to the force of afflictive emotions and discursiveness or conceptuality, and therefore we’re not able to see the object clearly. So our minds abide in combination with wind energies, that the mind rise or depends upon these wind energies.
When these winds are continually shifting about, it causes the mind to likewise, in the same manner, shift about. That our minds are continually moving about due to the movement of these wind energies, that due to the winds of conceptuality continually arising, our minds are never stable, that always fluttering out, momentarily abiding upon various objects up and down and from side to side and various objects continuing fluttering from various objects due to the fluttering shifting nature of these winds. It’s like a flag fluttering into the wind and therefore we are not able to see clearly the objects of our meditation. We’re not able to practice in that way. So this isn’t a case of trying to see the painting clearly.
It’s necessary that we have both the combination of intensity, of brightness of the lamp, a steadiness of the flame. Likewise, in order to see the object of emptiness, it’s necessary that we have both the clarity, that the object appear clearly to our minds, and that we are able to abide stably on the object simultaneously. So it’s necessary in order to see emptiness clearly that we have a combination of both of these two factors: that of the intensity of clarity but also the single-pointedness of abidance. So if we have a combination of both of these two features, then special insight can be attained very quickly without any difficulty because we have gathered together necessary causes. Once we have developed special insight, then we can readily abandon the afflicted emotions.
What we are seeking to achieve through our meditation, it is necessary that we have calm abiding. If we don’t have it, then there’s no attainment of liberation. We won’t attain our goals: the goals of liberation, the goal of omniscience, the goal of eliminating our suffering and achieving complete happiness. Without these qualities of mind there’s no way to achieve these goals. So in the presentation of our text on the great seal Mahāmudrā, in which we are trying to develop a special insight of having as its object emptiness.
It is necessary that we, as a preliminary to developing that, that we first achieve calm abiding. Therefore, the text now presents an explanation of the means of achieving calm abiding. So in the means by which we the means we make use of in achieving calm abiding is a combination of the methods set out by the superior Maitreya in his text Discrimination of the Middle and Extremes and the Ornament for Clear Realizations. And the method in combination with the method as set out by Asaṇga in his Hearer’s Grounds. And these two methods were combined as a means for achieving calm abiding by Tsongkhapa.
First, in accordance with the method set out by Maitreya in Discriminating the Middle and the Extremes, it is necessary that we abandon the five faults and this is done through application of the eight activities of antidotes or you can just simply say by application of eight antidotes. So what are these five faults which is necessary to abandon? As a preliminary for the actual development of calm abiding, it’s necessary that we overcome the first of these five faults, and that is the fault of laziness. So the first of the five faults is laziness. You know, if we have great laziness, we won’t even begin.
Not applying this to all activities, but particularly here to the dharma activity of developing calm abiding. If we have laziness, we’re not even going to wish or even we won’t have a liking for calm abiding. We won’t have any faith in calm abiding. Within laziness, there are various types. For example, the laziness of inadequacy or self defeatism where one puts oneself down.
I can’t do this. There’s no way I could ever achieve calm abiding. To this is a form of laziness. So are these various forms of laziness: first, having no particular desire to even begin, and secondly, having a sense of inadequacy about oneself and achieving it. Thirdly, even having once begun the process of developing calm abiding and one’s going along and perhaps when things aren’t going as you expected, and finally you give it up and it’s not you haven’t achieved what you want, so you just after some time, you quit making any effort.
So the laziness of abandonment, of giving up. So these are all obstacles to the actual development of calm abiding, whether we don’t begin for one reason or another, or we give up having once begun. So therefore, this is first this is set forth initially as the first of these five faults, that of laziness. So the second of the five So laziness mainly applies to the preliminary to the actual development of calm abiding as an obstacle. Now the next of these five faults is that of forgetting the advice.
And this is a fault in the actual course of development. When one is actually involved in the process of developing a calm abiding, this is the second of these five faults. So what does it mean by the second fault, forgetting the advice? This is in terms of losing the object of observation. It’s in order to we mentioned that in the features of meditational stabilization that the mind abides upon an object, and this is the object of your meditation.
So the mind loses its object of observation. It loses the object upon which an issue was placed upon. So this is the forgetting the advice. So if, in terms of objects of observation, or the basis upon which we’re going to develop calm abiding, the Buddha mentioned a variety of objects amongst which we can make use of, but these are categorized into firstly, pervasive objects; then secondly, objects for purifying behavior; thirdly, objects for developing skill, or objects of skill; and fourthly, objects for purifying afflictions. So these are the four categorizations of the objects of observation for the development of calm abiding. So the first of these four categories of objects of observation is pervasive object. And that is to say the objects of calm abiding and special insight pervade all objects, or all phenomena are pervaded as by being an object of observation, of calm abiding and special insight.
Therefore it’s termed pervasive objects. So the second of these categories was objects for purifying behavior or conduct. Within individuals who are seeking to cultivate calm abiding there are a variety of types and amongst them would be those who have a predominance of, or are dominated by attachment, desirous attachment those who are dominated by anger or hatred and those who are dominated by obscuring ignorance. So within those individuals who are cultivating calm abiding, there would be these different dominant types. So first, an individual cultivating calm abiding who is dominated by attachment, desirous attachment.
With a great deal of desirous attachment, it would be difficult to achieve calm abiding. So how are we to achieve it if it’s going to be an obstacle? We have to reverse the quality of desirous attachment, and we can do this by meditating on, for example, someone that you have a desire’s attachment for in terms of their physical appearance, seeing them in the aspect of a skeleton. So meditating on that aspect of them or meditating on repulsiveness of them. So we’re talking about someone that you have a craving for, not just anybody.
So someone that you have a craving for, seeing them first in the aspect of a skeleton or seeing them in a repulsive aspect as being skin being sallow or yellow or blue in color, different colors of a corpse, full of pus blown up. All of these putrefying colors and shapes that the body goes through in the course of deterioration. This will help to reverse the attachment toward them, their body. So having brought to a stop attachment, desire attachment for that object, you know, by making, by reflecting upon their aspect as being seen as a skeleton or some repulsive quality of their physical form. Once having reflected in that way, once you’ve stopped desirous attachment, that mind which has stopped that attraction towards that object, once it’s stopped, that mind is now taken as the object upon the basis of which we’re going to cultivate calm abiding.
So you do it by means of reflection upon repulsiveness and seeing in terms of the aspect of the skeleton, etc., desirous attachment toward that object, that person’s body is stopped. That mind is now taken as the object of observation for the cultivation of calm abiding. The same would hold true for this second category or type of individual who is dominated by anger or hatred, that they, as a means for overcoming the anger and hatred, which would act as an obstacle, they would reflect upon love and compassion, caring toward that individual who they felt anger toward or hatred toward. Once they’re able to generate a compassion or a love which is able to stop the hatred, then that compassion is used as the object of observation for the cultivation of meditative stabilization.
So we have to stop the hatred or the anger, so we cultivate, for example, love and we then, that love which is able to bring a stop to the hatred, we use that as an object for the cultivation of meditative stabilization and while that is being used, the mind is unable to generate hatred again while that love is being observed. Hatred cannot arise, cannot be generated. And the third type of person was the individual who is cultivating calm abiding, who is dominated by obscuring ignorance. Such a person should cultivate an understanding of dependent arising the twelve links of dependent origination, or the way in which results arise through causes and conditions. Making use of these, reflecting upon these, one generates an understanding which is able to bring a stop to the obscuring ignorance.
So that is the object in terms of the various objects we can make use of for the development of a calm abiding. That was the object for purifying behavior or purifying behavior. The third type category of objects was objects for developing skill or objects of skill. And these are objects which are listed, for example, within the category of the textual category of abhidharma or that of knowledge. For example, would observe these are said to be skillful objects because they are objects which explain the way things exist.
We come to know the mode of abidance of all the various phenomena by observing these types of objects. For example, we observe the five aggregates or the twelve sources or the eighteen constituents. So these various types of objects, we develop skill toward them. So then the fourth category is objects for purifying afflictions. And meditative stabilization, it is common to both Buddhist and non-Buddhist practitioners.
So though meditative stabilizations are common to both non-Buddhist and Buddhist practitioners, the nature of these meditative stabilizations are different. Those of non-Buddhist practitioners are able to only bring a temporary halt to arising of afflictive emotions. The meditative stabilizations of non-Buddhist practitioners are only able to bring a temporary halt to the manifesting of the afflictive emotions, but those the Buddhist practitioner are seeking to completely abandon the afflictive emotion along with their seeds. So, though the Buddha presented methods for cultivating calm abiding on all of these various objects which may be used, here specifically in the development of the great seal or Mahāmudrā, the object of observation which is to be used in the cultivation of calm abiding is the mind itself. The mind is used as the object of cultivation of calm abiding.
Abiding. Using the mind as the object of cultivating, object of observation, the cultivation of calm abiding can be extremely difficult initially for those who are beginners, those who have not trained their mind. The mind itself is extremely subtle. It’s difficult to identify it. It’s something which is not physical.
It doesn’t have any form. So for those who have trained the mind, then it’s an excellent object of observation to make use of. But for those who haven’t trained the mind, then it is, as is mentioned in the second of these five faults, forgetting the object forgetting the advice that is to say, there’s a great danger of forgetting the object upon which we’re observing to develop calm abiding, forgetting the object of observation, forgetting the advice. So there’s a great danger that we’re going to continually lose the object, that we’re going to forget the advice. So Tsongkhapa advises for those who are beginners that they make use of the image of a Buddha as a basis of observation, that we’re able to see the image and it will appear easily to the mind, that we won’t as readily lose the object of our observation if we’re using a Buddha image, and therefore we will not there will be less danger of incurring the fault of forgetting the advice, and therefore this is an excellent object to make use of.
So there are many advantages to making use of a Buddha image as the object the basis of which we cultivate calm abiding. Making use of the image of a Buddha and calling it again and again to one’s mind, there is the immediate temporal advantage of accumulating a vast collection of creative potential. Also in the future, due to having brought the Buddha to mind again and again in such a manner, in the future you will again and again meet with Buddhas, and that at the time of one’s death, one will be able to recall the image of a Buddha and therefore avert being reborn in an unfortunate realm. So here in this listing of these five faults, the second of which we said was forgetting the advice, What is meant here is losing the object of observation and so this is a great fault so we should try to make effort in overcoming this fault so we don’t lose the object and overcoming forgetting the object of observation or the advice. So, we’re going to stop there for the evening.
If you have some questions, maybe we can take those. Yes. So the Buddha mentioned all of these various objects of observation dependent upon which we can cultivate calm abiding. So it is never meant that we are to use them try to use them all. They are just simply mentioned for different types of individuals.
Having once established a type of object for yourself, then it will be the benefit of not changing the object will be that you will achieve common quickly. That if you change the object, having initially taken an object, if in the course of cultivating calm abiding you change the object, you will have difficulties. This is a fault. So it is most appropriate, most effective to choose an object initially and to stay with that same object until having actually achieved calm abiding. Then, of course, once having achieved calm abiding, we can observe any object that we wish.
There’s no problem. We can change the object to whatever is desired. So this is the advice of Je Tsongkhapa in saying that we should stick with the same object throughout the cultivation, having chosen an initial object to make use of that object until calm abiding is actually achieved. If we change the object, it will only lengthen the time necessary until we achieve calm abiding and therefore it is a fault. Yes?
So is that saying that the mind of the beginner doesn’t change its object and the mind of a non-Buddhist doesn’t change its object. In the cultivation of calm abiding, and over the course of the cultivation of calm abiding.