1 The Essential Teachings of the Buddhadharma

Shamatha meditation. The antidote for one habit is another habit, and here we reverseunhealthy habits with healthy ones. A Japanese saying is that when eliminating one smell youreplace it with another; you break through one habit by having another habit, the purpose ofmeditation practice. I want you to know that developing one particular habit is a remedy foreliminating another habit; one habit can be replaced by another habit.The difference between proper and improper habits is that the former is free fromexpectations, doubts, hopes and fears. Shamatha meditation relates to the relative truth ofreality. The purpose of Shamatha is to develop mental stability and a single-pointedconcentration. Vipashyana relates to the ultimate truth. It is out of a single-pointed mentalstability that one begins to see the non-conceptual and non-referential nature of the mind. It isvery important to note that without having cultivated a very healthy ground of a stable mind,it is rather difficult to experience Vipashyana, or “special insight.” Just as the two truths are inessence inseparable, there should be no separation between Shamatha and Vipashyana.The Tibetan term for Vipashyana is lhaktong and means “seeing more and what is greater”;one sees a greater meaning, one wins a more correct picture of things as they appear and are.In order to see things more vividly one must first have a calm and stable mind, whichsharpens one’s perception and makes one open. In other words, I am looking at the brocadecloth in front of me, which is very precise and fine. Upon first glimpse I only see it as a coarsecloth, but looking carefully, I begin seeing the details more vividly. With insight there is nodistinction between coarse and subtle seeing, everything becomes alive. Again, it is importantto understand and appreciate that Shamatha and Vipashyana are inseparable.QuestionsQuestion: Your Eminence, I would like to question you further about the inseparability ofVipashyana and Shamatha to the extent that as a practice experience it is not uncommon tohave your mind seem to rest without particular concentration and not to be one-pointed, somuch so that the mind goes out and hangs out. That can go on for an extended period of timeand it does not mean that it is an undisciplined practice. It seems to be co-extensive and goesalong with discipline. In my understanding, that experience of going out and hanging out, orjust resting the mind there, Vipashyana and Shamatha seem to just suspend for a while. Whatam I talking about?Rinpoche: That seems to be fine – hanging out without a reference point and withoutbeing distracted. It wouldn’t be particularly wrong to call it Vipashyana, but it would be moreproper to call it “path-Vipashyana,” because Vipashyana is discussed from the point of view offruition. What we really mean by Vipashyana ultimately is the experience of selflessness.Student: I would like to return to the original question in just this sense. Does this not8