Mahamudra Teaching - Dharma Media

In the beginning, when you do this meditation, particularly when your mind is busy, it is better to
gaze the eyes downwards. Gaze in the general direction of the tip of the nose, not looking too closely
or too far away. Then if you are getting a little sleepy or feel like you are “sinking,” gaze upwards a
little. This helps to uplift the mind. Then apply this kind of mindfulness practice not only during the
sitting session time but also when you walk, when you sit, when you jog, when you eat, at any kind
of place or time. Your mind is always with you; maintain it in a relaxed manner. Then do all different
activities mindfully, with awareness, and with relaxed state. Tilopa said, “Use many different
methods to relax your mind, to bring your mind to the right place, not just one.” Sometimes you need
to reflect on impermanence, sometimes you may need to reflect on the suffering of samsara or on
cause and effect, or maybe you need to reflect on the essenceless of mind or on how precious the
Dharma is. Use all these different methods to bring your mind to the right place. So the emphasis
should all be placed on how to bring the mind to the right place. This is very, very important.
Naropa got a “special method” teaching from Tilopa called “way of kind of holding the mind”
method. It is like a chain, very, very complex. Apparently Naropa’s mind was so wild! In order to
tame it and bring it to the right place, there’s a special method called “metal-like chain” which is put
together in a very complex way!
So you should practice this calmly abiding meditation or shamatha until the time comes when you
feel so comfortable with your meditation and you can set your mind in the right place very easily. Or,
if you release that meditation, that also takes place very easily. Sometimes when you have such a
meditation [Khenpo: Maybe a few, not many people maybe!], when you get such a state of calmly
abiding meditation, then you feel so blissful. You feel such a peace and harmony, and sometimes you
attach to that. One thinks, “Oh, I don’t want to get out of this, I just want to stay there.” That also is
not right either. It is not right for the special insight. This kind of shamatha is very good, but if you
are attached, then you cannot actualize the special insight. If that happens then you just have to break
that attachment. A sign of having this happen is that when one achieves it, it is very easy to meditate,
but very difficult to come out of the meditation. [Khenpo: For us maybe there is no problem with
that!] Anyway, with support meditation you just have to achieve a supple state of mind. Mind
becomes so flexible. When you meditate, you can meditate. When you get out of that, then you can
get out of it. This is what you need to achieve. After that, then you can start shamatha or calmly
abiding meditation without support.
Shamatha, Calmly Abiding, Without Support
So when one achieves this supple state of mind by applying meditation with support, then one can
start with the calmly abiding meditation without support. To do so assume a bodily posture, as
described earlier, in a relaxed state. Then when we do this meditation, here in the West we often have
all of the things we need. In contrast, in the Himalayan Mountains when you get cold, the upper part
of the body is cooler, fresh, while we may have warmer clothes on the lower part of the body. In the
West you can use a heater, isn’t it that so? When you get cold, there is a heater. When you get hot,
then you use air conditioning. So usually, when it is a little bit cooler, that is good. When we get
warmer we get sluggish, we “sink,” a little more lethargy rises, things seem a little unclear. Then
before long we are ready to go to sleep. So these are some of the obstacles for the calmly abiding
meditation. So you can look a little more alertly with your eyes. You can be a little tenser, a little more
alert. In this case, basically, your mind should be a little more alert or tense.