Sat, 26 Sep 2009
Two Talks by Lama G
I've put my notes from two of Lama Gursam's talks up on his website. The first talk is on calm abiding meditation and the second is on Green Tara practice Here's an excerpt from my notes on the calm abiding neditation talk.
Calm abiding meditation has different levels and techniques. It is important to sit comfortably and in silence. Try to be calm in body, speech, and mind. Calmness of the body means that everything the body wants is given up for a time. So you need to be patient with that. The senses want to be active. These desires arise, especially in a long retreat. Garchen Rinpoche has said many times, when you look at the true nature of the mind, you will see it doesn't need anything. Only the body needs to be protected. Calming the speech means not speaking. Calmness of the mind means relaxing. The mind will not remain calm, so it requires some technique, such as watching the breath go in and out. Our inner energy has a strong connection with the breath. So how do we know if the mind is calm? During our meditation, suddenly thoughts will arise. When you truly recognize this happening, that is a beginning of calm abiding. When they go unrecognized, that is not calm abiding. But still thoughts will arise again and again. We chase after all the thoughts that arise. So that happens when we start calm abiding, but that is not a problem. Just keep at it and do not chase after or judge the thoughts. Just be aware and bring the focus back to your natural breathing. That will bring back your natural calm.
