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Mahamudra is a set of superior non secular teachings from the Gelugpa faculty of Tibetan Buddhism. Its objective is to assist practitioners attain the realisation of Mahamudra, which we’ll discuss intimately. It’s one in all Buddha’s most superior doctrines, and is usually known as the sister observe of Dzogchen.
Essentially the most elaborate textual content on this custom is Mahamudra: The Moonlight by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal. I’ve used that guide for this text, together with Lama Thubten Yeshe’s Mahamudra: The right way to Uncover Our True Nature and The Dalai Lama’s Dzogchen: Coronary heart Essence of the Nice Perfection.
Mahamudra… represents a particular path that embodies a view of the last word actuality and an instantaneous self-realization course of. The Mahamudra teachings signify the essence of the huge doctrine of Buddha.
Lobsang P. Lhalungpa
What’s Mahamudra?
The phrase Mahamudra represents each the strategy and its finality. The strategy is the Buddhist custom of Mahamudra, and the finality is enlightenment.
The phrase is Sanskrit for The Nice Seal (maha = nice, mudra = seal) and is the identify given to the common actuality of vacancy, nonduality and non–self-existence. This actuality is unavoidable. It’s the inborn nature of all phenomena, whether or not ourselves, others, or inanimate life.
Simply as a royal seal wields unchallengeable authority, so the all-encompassing voidness of the last word actuality prevails upon the cosmic phenomena. It additionally stands for the trail of self-realization, which integrates genuine view, contemplation and motion into one good perception.
Lobsang P. Lhalungpa
And although it has deep philosophical roots relationship again 1000’s of years, Mahamudra in the end comes all the way down to the expertise of the elemental innate thoughts of clear mild. It’s a system designed to assist us realise The Nice Seal in ourselves. On this method, its objective is similar as that of all different esoteric traditions the world over.
This custom dates again to the Buddha. However earlier than the seventeenth century, it wasn’t taught publicly. It was an oral custom, handed from lama to scholar. The First Panchen Lama wrote the oral directions down, and his textual content grew to become the basis textual content of the custom.
Within the root texts of Dzogchen and Mahamudra, the character of thoughts is known as “uncompounded clear mild”. Uncompounded means a phenomenon that doesn’t depend upon causes and situations. It’s not contrived, nor short-term, nor. It’s primordially current, uninterrupted. So, Mahamudra is our innate nature, able to be remembered and recognised.
The Mahamudra custom consists of the usual Madhyamaka insights: that the person persona lacks true self-nature, as do all phenomena, and that each one phenomena are empty, as is all of actuality.
But it goes one step additional than Mahdyamaka, including the perception that “the basis of all these phenomena, the supply from which all of them spring, is the thoughts.”
There are additionally totally different ranges: there’s the mahamudra frequent to each sutra and tantra; the third empowerment (wisdom-knowledge), or the observe of clear mild; and the union of illusory physique and clear mild.
Take a look at my article on Mahamudra meditation to get going along with your Mahamudra observe.
The Approach of Mahamudra
Evaluating with Different Tibetan Traditions
Mahamudra meditation includes each the sutras (gradual self-realization) and the tantras (instantaneous self-realization). The custom represents the instantaneous, non-mystical, direct path, however doesn’t use tantric strategies per se.
Its root custom is similar as that of Dzogchen and Mahyamaka: the basis yana or the Elementary Automobile, whose core perception is that each one struggling has its origin within the thoughts.
Mahamudra and Dzogchen in the end converge, however at preliminary phases there are variations in emphasis.
In Dzogchen, the main target is on discovering the place the peculiar, samsaric thoughts comes from, which is the self-arising state of primordial consciousness. It begins on the high, with enlightenment, then works again. In consequence, “Dzogchen is also known as the consummate consequence, the last word fruition of observe.” It assumes we already possess this consciousness totally and doesn’t emphasise phases of development, in contrast to Mahamudra.
The Methodology
The standard method to realising vacancy is to analyse and domesticate consciousness of all 5 aggregates or skandhas. In Mahamudra, we solely use one: the combination of consciousness. That’s, our object of focus is our standard thoughts. Our objective is to grasp its final nature, which is vacancy.
Utilizing our personal thoughts as the thing of focus is the distinctive attribute of mahamudra meditation that makes it such a strong technique for eliminating our dualistic considering.
Lama Thubten Yeshe
We are inclined to consider the precise reverse of Mahamudra: we seize on to the thoughts, which creates an illusory self: a self-existent, separate me. This perception in a “me” creates the idea of different, and this self-other hole results in all samsara, your complete cycle of existence that could be a core pillar of the Buddhist path.
Lama Yeshe teaches that although Mahamudra is about vacancy, the emphasis is on meditation: on expertise, not clarification. It’s no use studying the phrases and the scriptures: we should straight realise it.
Although programs in Mahamudra supply philosophy and a guided framework, and although monks spend a lot time analysing texts, the background data is all the time a bridge to your individual first-person, instant comprehension of the Nice Seal.
When you’ve skilled the elemental nature of your individual self—and your individual consciousness—it’s goodbye to all of the philosophical ideas.
Lama Thubten Yeshe
Let’s take a look at a core facet of the Mahamudra technique: shamatha and vipashyana.
Shamatha & Vipashyana
Tibetan Buddhism presents meditation observe when it comes to phases (lamrim), as Buddha did. We progress from our restricted ideas and views to a limitless, common view. We start with the preliminary practices, then we get to the principle practices, which result in the consequence:
Preliminary practices → foremost observe → consequence
In the principle practices, we develop two important abilities:
- shamatha, which implies tranquility, focus, calm abiding, quietude, good ease, and “turns physique and thoughts right into a tractable and environment friendly non secular automobile.” There are 9 phases of shamatha.
- vipashyana, which implies particular perception.
To attain the conclusion of mahamudra, the truth of nonduality, we first must develop calm abiding.
Lama Thubten Yeshe
By growing shamatha or calm abiding, we refine the refined ranges of consciousness and thoughts and start to see our unconscious ranges of greedy. Don’t prohibit the time period tranquility to a state of peace or calm or completely satisfied: fairly, it’s the means to watch our physique and thoughts with out being shaken or emotionally affected.
“If the meditator concentrates one-pointedly in his tranquil meditation, he’s certain to realize calmness, for this focus integrates the fragmented inside forces in a pure method.”
Lobsang P. Lhalungpa
But Lama Tsongkhapa says calm abiding isn’t sufficient to chop the dualistic view. We want particular perception (vipashyana in Sanskrit; lhagtong or additional seeing in Tibetan).
“Solely good perception (in meditation) can result in an woke up knowledge that perceives the falsity of the centralized self (or ego-entity) and on the identical time the reality of the nonselfhood of persona as being the legitimate nature of man’s stream-consciousness.”
Lobsang P. Lhalungpa
This contemplation will not be the identical as Mahamudra, however it leads there. Ultimately, we unify samadhi with particular knowledge, and we uncover non-duality.
The End result of Mahamudra
Lobsang P. Lhalungpa says the check of Mahamudra is whether or not we’re spiritually mature, have tamed our worldly thoughts, eradicated fundamental malaise like selfishness, greed and hatred, gained perception into actuality, and developed a priority for the well-being of others. These factors are a easy and highly effective measure of your observe, and so they underlie the three excellences:
Three Excellences of Mahamudra
1. Excellence to start with: wanting well-being and enlightenment of others,
2. Excellence within the center: Reorienting one’s meditation state to transcendence and nonconceputual consciousness,
3. Excellence ultimately: Sharing of non secular deserves with others.
And it’s all the time value remembering that:
It’s troublesome to understand nonduality not as a result of it’s hiding from us however as a result of our ideas are so thick.
Lama Thubten Yeshe
Take a look at my article on Mahamudra meditation to get going along with your Mahamudra observe.
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The publish Mahamudra: Background, Approach & Fruit first appeared on Deep Psychology.
The publish Mahamudra: Background, Approach & Fruit appeared first on Deep Psychology.
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