Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. The elephant tied to a post — Khensur Rinpoche uses this analogy to illuminate calm abiding in this 42-minute session from his 1990 Mahāmudrā retreat. After briefly recapping the awakening-heart motivation and Guru Yoga, he tackles a structural question: should practitioners gain the Mahāmudrā view first, or stabilise the mind through calm abiding first? Following Śāntideva, he argues for calm abiding first, and explains why the mind itself — rather than a Buddha image — is the right object here: it makes the later investigation of the mind’s emptiness natural and stable. He maps the analogy precisely: object of observation as post, mindfulness as rope, awareness as hook. He then covers how to observe the present-moment mind without drifting into memory or anticipation, and surveys competing advice on arising thoughts — suppress them, or simply hold the mind steady until they subside. A brief guided minute of silence closes the session.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 06 MR 1990 04 14.mp3
UUID: 51f7147a-cce7-47dc-8cd5-94d6350bbe72
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Mahāmudrā Retreat (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1990-04-14
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 42.0 minutes
Words: ~1,936
So if if we aren’t able to eliminate this, the negative mind which is present, we we cannot, on top of that, generate the awakening heart. We need to rid ourselves of that negative quality of our mind in order to go on to develop the awakening heart as our motivation for meditation. If we, by bringing our mind to a neutral state, on top of that we can generate the awakening heart. So having developed the motivation of the awakened heart wishing to achieve Buddhahood for all sentient beings, we then go on to as has been explained previously to the taking of refuge which is contained in the verse to the Buddha Dharma and the Sangha, I go for refuge, and then the generation and the mind generation, the awakening heart. We since we explained this refuge in the mind generation previously, we will not explain it again.
Again, as was explained previously, we then go on to the practice of Guru Yoga, the union with the spiritual master. We can make use of, for example, Tsongkhapa along with his two spiritual sons. Then the presentation of the seven-limb prayer, making requests to them, and this has been explained previously. So in that we making powerful requests to the spiritual teacher many times. And what are we requesting?
Requesting that now I’m going to meditate on Mahāmudrā and I am please help my mind that it be receptive, that I might be able to gain realizations that I have no obstacles. Having made the strong request to the Lama, the spiritual teacher that this fills the Lama with great joy and he very happily then descends dissolving into you and becomes of one nature with your mind. Same. So then then to move on to the actual meditation. The way of proceeding at this point, there are two possible ways.
One could first gain, would carry an examination of the view and then having gained the view would then proceed to meditation. Or one would meditate and then subsequent to that examine the view. Here by view we mean Mahāmudrā. That would be the gaining of a special insight. And meditation here means calm abiding.
So in which way are we to proceed? The superior of the two ways is first to proceed with meditation and in the dependence upon that meditation enter an analysis of the view of Mahāmudrā. Follow is in accordance with the method outlined by Śāntideva in which he states that in dependence upon calm abiding, special insight will arise and by means of special insight the afflictive emotions are abandoned. And by meditation, we mean calm abiding and that is to say a single pointed concentration. By view, we mean the the emptiness that is Mahāmudrā.
So first, it’s necessary to practice calm abiding and what is the method to proceed in developing calm abiding. There is the tradition set forth by Maitreya in his two texts, the first text Sublime Science, Uttaratantra, in which he sets out the five faults which are to be abandoned by means of the eight antidotes. And in the second text, the ornament for great vehicle sutras, Mahayānasūtrālamkara, in which he sets out the nine mental levels are attained by means of the five powers and the four mental applications. But we won’t explain that method. We’re going to use the method as explained in this text.
So in this procedure of gaining calm abiding within this presentation of Mahāmudrā we have completed the explanation of the preparation. Now we’re into the actual meditation. And first in the actual meditation we have to establish calm abiding. In general, in development of calm abiding we can take various types of objects for our object of observation. For example, the image of a Buddha.
Here we take the mind itself. The reason that we proceed in this fashion is because in Mahāmudrā we’re seeking to understand emptiness in terms of the mind itself. So by taking the mind as the object of observation in cultivating calm abiding, we can easily move on to realizing that same object as being empty and our Mahāmudrā will come easily and be very stable. We have dissolved the lama into our mind, she or he becoming inseparable from our own mind. Then we proceed with examination of the mind.
It’s taking in order to practice the calm abiding, observing the mind itself. We, at this point, we should not allow various conceptions to arise as to what the previous nature of your mind has been, what types of actions it has been worked on, what it has encountered in the past. Not taking any memories to mind. Also not allowing the mind to take conceptions of future possibilities, the difficulty that will arise from the meditation, what sicknesses might arise, any types of future possibilities that what could happen to the mind. But simply observing observing the mind in itself in the present moment as it exists in the present moment.
So if we take an analogy to help us easily understand what we’re talking about. So, we’re trying to make use of analogy, comparing the mind to an elephant. And, the elephant naturally simply would run wild. It would go wherever it wanted to run. But we’re going to, if we tie the elephant to a post, then we’re beginning to restrict it.
And we then we then at this point, mind though is restricted can, the elephant though it’s restricted can move anywhere within this to the place where it’s tied. It can move to the right and left. It’s still not of use. We then the but if a trainer, I think a mahout, mahout I think it’s called, uses a hook in order to direct the elephant to whichever way it wants to go. If it wants to go here it directs it making use of this hook and then the elephant is easily directed to whatever direction it wants to go.
The mahout wants it to go. This hook is awareness and in dependence upon this awareness then the elephant will abide calmly and will be directed in any direction. So the meaning of this analogy is that the the mind is being compared to an elephant and the elephant is first tied to a post and that post is the object of observation. And it’s tied to the post by means of a rope and the rope is mindfulness. That is to say non-forgetfulness.
And it is then controlled in order to direct it wherever it’s wish by a hook and this hook is awareness. So in the meditation on developing calm abiding, the mind is placed upon its object. If the mind does not naturally abide upon its object, then we have to bind the mind to the object by means of mindfulness. We then make use of awareness to examine whether the mind is actually abiding upon the object or whether the object is about to be lost or in fact has been lost. If the mind is not abiding upon the object then it is awareness which understands that it’s not and bring into play mindfulness again.
Bringing in more mindfulness to bind the object to the object. And in this way we develop a single-minded placement of the mind upon the object. Taking the mind itself as our object of awareness and holding the awareness to the object by the means of mindfulness, one examines the mind. And one will come to see that there are tremendous number of thoughts arising. Continually.
Many, many conceptions arising. Observing the mind with the mind or the awareness is now observing the mind. And it’s the mind is being so that the mind this awareness is not distracted outside of the mind. The mind is being held bound by mindfulness to the object of mind itself. And as we said, that at this point one will come to see that many thought constructions arise, thoughts, conceptions are arising.
And at this point there are many different explanations of how to proceed according to the very spiritual teachers. One way is that it doesn’t matter. Whatever thoughts arise, whether they’re negative, positive, whether they’re wholesome, unwholesome, whatsoever. We don’t want to cease them. We simply want to be aware of them.
Now, there are some spiritual teachers who at this point would give it a different approach. Having recognized all of these various thoughts now arising that they would explain that one should not allow these thoughts to arise, that one should try to stop them. That one should clear your mind of all thoughts. That’s good. Clear your mind of all thoughts to not allow them to arise in your mind.
Just as in the case if you had many possessions in your house and not wanting anyone to come in, one could build an iron fence around the house blocking anyone coming in. Another mode of explanation would be that one is simply to to continue to, we are not to stop the thoughts, we simply to hold the mind to the mind. And though there are many thoughts arising, to not to seek to block them, but allow them to decrease by themselves, that they will solely decrease in number and that the mind will eventually in the intermediate time will become clear of them. So there are many different explanations on how to proceed at this point but if we were to explain them all then we would simply become confused. We’re going to actually meditate and we’re going to use our mind as the objects of observation.
We should not allow the mind to dwell, to return to past happenings nor to future arises what could happen in the future. We should observe the present mind as it exists now and we are going to hold the object of observation by the means of mindfulness. This is mindfulness which causes us not to lose the object and it is awareness which examines whether we’re losing the object, whether the object has been lost or not. So making use of these we’re going to simply look at our mind. So for one minute for one minute, we’re just trying to recognize what is your mind.
Where is it? What is its nature? Did you find So in trying to find the mind, throughout your body, legs, are they your mind or the various parts of your body, your lungs or your liver? None of those are mine. Those are all form, physical.
We question, well do I have a mind at all? We know we have a mind because we’re always thinking. Moment by moment we’re thinking. But to try to find out what this mind is, to find it, what is it? So in a way should meditate and proceeding in this fashion, trying to understand what is our mind, where is it, what is its nature and not to let the mind to repeatedly drift outside to other objects.
To use the hook of mindfulness to maintain the rope of mindfulness to hold the mind to the mind itself as its object. You know the reason our mind is continually flitting around to other objects thinking about other things. And it’s due to that we never we experience all our dissatisfaction. We can never attain these other things that we’re always constantly seeking but the mind simply abiding on the mind itself naturally becomes stable. No.
No. No. O’clock. Just a normal. Just enough for that.
Yeah.