Mahamudra Meditation: The Highway to Nowhere

On this article, we overview what mahamudra is, the levels of mahamudra meditation, and the way this strategy differs and matches different non secular programs. By the top, you’ll be capable of implement the primary practices, which with sufficient work will provide you with deep perception into the true nature of your thoughts, as will all critical meditation follow.

Mahamudra meditation follow comes from Tibet Buddhism and is a part of the Gelugpa college, one of many 4 Tibetan Buddhist faculties. Its aim is to take practitioners from identification with the abnormal, gross-reflecting, samsaric thoughts to identification with the empty, selfless floor of thoughts.

Let’s look extra carefully on the Mahamudra meditation path earlier than we take a look at the practices themselves.

The Method of Mahamudra Meditation

I’ll be quoting Lama Thubten Yeshe from his e-book Mahamudra, Uncover Our True Nature on this part.

Mahamudra is the identify given to “the common actuality of vacancy, of nonduality”. It means The Nice Seal, it’s “The inborn nature of all phenomena. It exists equally in all issues: natural, nonorganic, everlasting, impermanent, together with all beings…”.

Mahamudra meditation in the end comes right down to cultivating expertise of the basic innate thoughts of clear gentle. Our object of focus is our personal thoughts and its standard thoughts, and our aim is to understand its final nature, which is vacancy.

The Madhyamaka strategy to that is to analyse the 5 aggregates/skandhas as a foundation for the particular person; in Mahamudra meditation, we deal with consciousness, which is one other combination.

In Mahamudra meditation, we develop calm abiding, AKA shamatha or focus, earlier than investigating the basic nature of self, through self-inquiry practices. Calm abiding doesn’t essentially imply feeling calm or good. It’s the power to abide, to be together with your expertise mindfully.

Lama Yeshe hammers on the significance of shamatha:

To realize the conclusion of mahamudra, the truth of nonduality, we first must develop calm abiding.

Samadhi is the supply of liberation. With out excellent samadhi, then, there isn’t a manner to change into liberated from samsara and no manner to attain enlightenment.

This cultivation refines the refined ranges of consciousness and thoughts, which then permits us to see the unconscious ranges of greedy. Lama Tsongkhapa says calm abiding isn’t sufficient to chop the dualistic view. We want particular perception (vipashyana in Sanskrit; lhagtong or “further seeing” in Tibetan).

So, calm abiding/focus/shamatha/samadhi AND particular perception/vipashyana are essential to see Mahamudra.

Preliminary Practices

In Tibetan Buddhism, meditation follow is offered when it comes to levels (lamrim), as Buddha did. We progress from our restricted ideas and views to a limitless, common view.

Probably the most fundamental taxonomy tells us the tough levels we’ll undergo as a practitioner:

Preliminary practices → Primary Apply → Consequence

You’ll discover that the preliminary practices precede the primary Mahamudra meditation practices. There are 4 of them: Taking Refuge, Bodhichitta, Vajrasattva, and Guru Yoga.

Although it’d sound like we do these practices just for a couple of weeks or months then transfer on to the primary ones, I’ve discovered they change into a pure a part of your non secular life if you find yourself actually dedicated to reaching enlightenment and utilizing your realisations for optimistic ends.

That stated, if you’re critical in regards to the path of Mahamudra, I like to recommend you follow these for a couple of weeks earlier than taking over the primary practices.

I don’t go into plenty of element right here, so if you happen to’d like full directions, take a look at Lama Yeshe’s e-book or comply with the hyperlinks I’ve peppered all through the textual content.

Preliminary Apply 1: Taking Refuge

I consider this as each a one-time pledge and as an ongoing follow.

Right here, we take refuge in Buddha, Sangha and Dharma. This implies we prioritise them over different views and pursuits, and resolve to return to them after we neglect. From the second we make it, we’ve dedicated to non secular purificiation and the Buddhadharma.

We then carry this pledge ahead as a follow in our lives. We let go of momentary, transitory pleasures. We attempt to see the greedy thoughts. We glance inside and attempt to see the internal forces that pull us away from our non secular path, and resist appearing on them as finest we are able to.

Apply 2: Bodhichitta

Bodhichitta is a Sanskrit time period and is commonly translated as enlightened perspective.

In Bodhichitta, we set up the intention and vacation spot of our non secular path – enlightenment – and maintain it clear. Once more, I consider we have to repeatedly do that. We’ll neglect many occasions.

The opposite side of Bodhichitta is to ascertain the why of our enlightenment, and in the end this comes right down to service.

We might begin this path for a lot of causes… but when we keep on it, in the long run, [service] is the place we find yourself.

Shinzen Younger, from discuss given in January 2009

We follow Bodhichitta by producing this compassion early on, planting a seed that may germinate, flower and flourish over the months and years. To take action, we “Open up massively to others”, as Lama Yeshe says. We see different folks, each their fullness and their struggling, and open our hearts, however not in an imbalanced or over-emotional manner. This expands our consciousness and is itself a glimpse of enlightenment.

Apply 3: Vajrasattva, the Purification Apply

Vajrasattva is a manifestation of all of the Buddhas, however specifically he represents the vitality of complete purity. Right here, we recite the hundred-syllable Vatrasattva mantra whereas visualising him. All 4 Tibetan traditions make use of this follow, which is highly effective for seeing by way of and past the ordinary dualistic thoughts.

Apply 4: Guru Yoga

This can be a extra concerned visualisation follow, the place the aim is to unify our consciousness with that of Buddha. Once more, Lama Yeshe offers the detailed steps in his e-book.

Making ready for Mahamudra Meditation

Now we’ve appeared on the preliminary practices, it’s time to have a look at the primary ones. First, we discuss in regards to the seven factors of posture and nine-round respiratory, which assist us arrange our meditation periods.

Seven Factors of Posture

Not like Dzogchen, its sister follow, Mahamudra offers express directions on posture. Observe the Seven Factors of Posture to take a seat comfortably and keep a posture for prolonged intervals.

• Sit on a snug seat with physique barely raised on the again
• Ideally sit in full lotus, but when not, no downside.
• Physique is upright, head bent ahead barely, eyes half closed and defocused, wanting in direction of tip of nostril. Can shut eyes if too difficult.
• Place tongue towards roof of mouth simply behind the entrance enamel, decrease jaw relaxed,
• Shoulders held again straight,
• Fingers in mudra of focus in lap: proper on left, thumbs touching to kind a triangle,
• Torso barely tight and remainder of physique pure and relaxed.

You would possibly like to take a look at my article on methods to sit completely in meditation for some additional concepts.

9-round Respiration

The nine-round respiratory isn’t a meditation follow, but it surely does assist us come into meditation in the suitable way of thinking. Spend a couple of minutes working towards it earlier than you get to the primary course.

There are three cycles, every with three in-breaths and out-breaths, making 9 complete rounds of respiratory.

Within the first cycle, we:

• Breathe in by way of proper nostril, utilizing the again of our index finger to shut the left nostril. As we do, we think about inhaling pure blissful vitality.
• We breath out by way of the left nostril, utilizing our finger to shut the suitable nostril. We think about respiratory out our impure need vitality.
• We repeat this 3 times.

Within the second cycle, we swap nostrils (breathe in by way of left and out by way of proper). We nonetheless think about inhaling pure blissful vitality, however this time we think about respiratory out our anger vitality.

Within the third cycle, we breathe out and in by way of each nostrils, and picture respiratory out ignorance vitality.

Primary Mahamudra Meditation Practices

As I’ve talked about, contacting Mahamudra depends on shamatha (focus) and vipashyana (perception, readability). Within the first predominant Mahamudra meditation, we develop the primary.

Mahamudra Meditation 1: Shamatha or Samadhi by way of Thought Penetration

Our behavior is to comply with no matter seems in our consciousness, notably ideas, and this is without doubt one of the predominant obstacles to our recognition of our innate clean-clear thoughts. We prepare the other behavior on this follow by working with ideas instantly.

After following the Seven Factors of Posture and working towards the 9-Spherical Respiration, comply with these steps:

• Let your ideas come and go on their very own accord, as they’re,
• If you discover a thought, whether or not psychological or auditory, maintain your consideration on it, understand it as clearly as attainable,
• Penetrate its important nature,
• Watch it till it disappears.
• Repeat in the course of your session.

It’s essential you let go of fears and expectations, even optimistic states. Simply do the follow and prepare your self to see your ideas with out following them. The thoughts is obvious gentle, That’s its innate nature, and we don’t want to wash it up! Simply watch your ideas: be like the daylight that shines by way of them.

Because the Panchen Lama recommends,

acknowledge as motion no matter conceptual ideas are generated and, with out blocking them, deal with their nature.

Panchen Lama

I like to recommend balancing ease with effort, and “undoing the behavior of overdoing”, as my Dzogchen instructor says. Even if you happen to expertise the clean-clear nature of consciousness, hold your focus free. Don’t strive too exhausting.

Lama Yeshe offers us a metaphor for understanding vacancy and our thoughts’s vacancy. He says consciousness is just like the solar, the air, the ocean and the total moon:

Solar: all gentle comes from the solar; all ideas come from our thoughts.
House: when it rains, house is disturbed, however the rain continues to be a part of house; when ideas come up, they disturb us, however their nature continues to be vacancy.
Ocean: waves manifest from the ocean, there’s some floor turbulence, then they fall again into the ocean.
Full moon: the moon shines no matter what occurs on Earth. Pure consciousness stays no matter our psychological exercise.

With diligence and a spotlight, we’ll uncover these properties by way of this meditation.

Mahamudra Meditation 2: Self-Enquiry

After meditating on the thoughts and creating some stage of Shamatha, we are able to now examine the ego, the way it perceives, and the way it tasks itself on to actuality. This can give us particular perception and result in Mahamudra.

With the intention to expertise Mahamudra, we have to destroy ego’s conception, the hallucinated idealistic image, the concentre view, “that is me.”

Lama Thubten Yeshe

When we’ve a couple of minutes of non-distraction by way of penetrating ideas, we are able to start. On this clean-clear, refined, undistracted state, we examine the other of mahamudra knowledge: the ego, its clinging, and our unconscious attachment to it.

From inside that very state of clear equipoise, examine intelligently with refined consciousness the essence of the person who’s meditating, identical to a small fish that strikes in lucid waters with out inflicting any disturbance.

Panchen Lama

A key tenet of Buddhist follow is that our true self is empty. So what is that this fantasy I that we’ve concocted? It seems to be only a imprecise notion with no actual substance, but our superficial thoughts by no means tries to uncover this fact.

2.1 Watching The I

Within the first self-enquiry follow, which you’ll be able to for a part of your meditation or for a full meditation session, we merely watch our self-sense as it’s.

Attempt to watch the ego, the self-sense, because it seems and disappears in your consciousness. It seems as psychological chatter, psychological pictures, physique sensations, and feelings, both individually or collectively. You’ll discover it comes and goes in these varied kinds.

If you discover these impressions, penetrate them, as you probably did together with your ideas.

Lama Tsongkhapa says that when we’ve recognized the false conception of I, it’ll take a few minute, a second, to find its vacancy. Be alert for it, as a result of it is going to seem and abruptly you’ll be misplaced in it. It’s a must to be prepared!

Your refined analytical knowledge, your mindfulness fish, watches intently, able to seize the best way that the ego-mind perceives the self-existent I and simulate comprehend the non–self-existent I.

Lama Thubten Yeshe

2.2 Searching for the I

Now, as an alternative of watching the I because it comes and goes, we go searching for it within the 5 Aggregates. In reality, I counsel you utilize Shinzen Younger’s taxonomy (See In, See Out, Hear In, Hear Out, Really feel In, Really feel Out) to search for the self. Is it in psychological pictures? Psychological discuss? My feelings? My bodily physique? You would possibly wish to undergo all six classes in flip.

Simply watch, with out disturbing the readability. The place is your self? The place is it?

Should you discover one thing, irrespective of which class it seems in, penetrate to its important nature. Ask your self if that’s actually you. You’ll discover that it isn’t.

Proceed till you actually realise that you may’t pin down this self and see that it’s a sort of hologram or optical phantasm. Don’t consider me, or Lama Yeshe, or the Panchen Lama. See it for your self, till you’re satisfied it’s nowhere to be discovered.

However seeing the ego self come up and move, and realising it’s not in these six classes, will not be the identical because the realisation of vacancy.

These experiences are good. However you haven’t but recognized the nuclear vitality of ego, the self-existent I, which doesn’t exist however which produces all the issues.

Lama Thubten Yeshe

2.3 Penetrate the Innate I-Sense

What ego-mind is actually holding is an I that exists from itself. It completely believes that someplace, someplace deep inside you, solidly inside you, past the physique, past the thoughts, there may be the concrete identification “me.”

Lama Thubten Yeshe

As Lama Yeshes says, although in Apply 2.1 we’ve seen the ego to be transitory and fleeting, and in 2.2 we’ve been unable to search out it wherever, our actual self sense is subtler than this. You actually consider it exists past the 5 aggregates or six classes of sensory expertise.

This sense is so intrinsic, so ordinary, so deeply rooted. It regularly holds this I.

Attempt to determine this I that you just completely consider exists someplace. It feels strong, goal, unconnected. If you assume you’ve discovered it, penetrate it, and it’ll disappear.

Each time you expertise the nonexistence of your I, you’re experiencing vacancy. You’re contacting Mahamudra.

The view of the concurrently born ego that holds such a projection of ego—the idea of I, the fantasy that you’ve constructed up—dissolves. You the seeker and the factor being sought dissolve; topic and object dissolve.

If you penetrate, the sense of the self-existent I disappears. That’s the actual mahamudra expertise

Lama Thubten Yeshe

It’s possible you’ll really feel worry, and that is regular. For thus lengthy you might have believed on this phantasm.

And although you;ve seen the non-existence of the ego, and the vacancy of the true self, these practices are doubtlessly lifelong endeavours. We so habitually make one thing out of nothing – make an ego out of sense impressions – that we have to follow the other for a very long time till we actually inhabit our true empty self.

You may strive every of those practices as you’re going about your day. Particularly while you’re experiencing feelings, which are inclined to inflame our sense of self. This can deepen and solidify your insights.

Mahamudra Meditation 3: The Vacancy of All Phenomena

Mahamudra describes the truth of all existent phenomena, not simply the self, as do the unique teachings of the Buddha. As soon as we’ve skilled the vacancy of ourselves, we lengthen it to all phenomena within the 5 aggregates. 

After repeated experiences of Mahamudra by way of thought penetration and self-enquiry, examine the character of any expertise within the 5 aggregates, and also you’ll realise the way it actually exists. Don’t grasp at how they seem like: penetrate their nature, and also you realise that they’re basically empty. On this manner, they’re all a part of a single essence.

As soon as we’ve achieved that realisation [of empty self], experiencing the truth of every little thing else is straightforward. Having found the nonduality of our personal self, we are going to uncover the nonduality of your entire universe.

Lama Thubten Yeshe