Ocean of the Ultimate Meaning (eBook)

FromChapter2: Essential Points of the Main Meditation

Themain meditation is composed of shamatha, or tranquility meditation, andvipashyana, or insight meditation. Happy and unhappy thoughts arisecontinuously in the mind. When we examine them, we see that the majority of ourthoughts are unhappy. Therefore, reducing the number of thoughts is beneficial.Through the practice of shamatha we can make the mind more peaceful and stable.

Wehave to think, and we have lots of thoughts. We have thoughts that areunnecessary and thoughts that are necessary. When we look at our mind, we seethat most of our thoughts are unnecessary, while the necessary thoughts arevery few and brief. Yet from morning until night we have one thought afteranother, and most of those thoughts are meaningless. When we have achieved thestate of shamatha, all these purposeless thoughts cease while the meaningfuland purposeful thoughts become stronger and clearer, so that we know what needsto be done, we gain understanding, and so on. At present we are caught betweenmeaningful and meaningless thoughts, and the latter are more powerful. With thedevelopment of shamatha, the meaningful thoughts increase so that we know whatwe have to do. We achieve understanding, wisdom, and clarity. This is calledthe wisdom that arises from meditation. This wisdom is not like the ultimatewisdom of a buddha, nonetheless, all unnecessary,

meaninglessthoughts are diminished, and the meaningful, purposeful thoughts become morepowerful and clear.

EssentialPoints of the Body: Posture

Wehave a body and a mind. We meditate with the mind, yet the mind and body areinterconnected. Machig Labdron said that in terms of the physical posture, thebody, the muscles, and all the channels should he relaxed. There are keyfactors of the posture of the body that are beneficial for the mind'sstability. These are taught as the seven aspects of the posture of Vairochana.

Thefirst of these seven aspects concerns one's sitting position. Sit on a cushionin a cross-legged position so the mind doesn't go to sleep. The mind needs tohe stable but not dull—,one needs clarity. Standing up does not providestability, and lying down is too relaxed and produces stupor. So one sits on acushion if one is able, or in a chair if one has problems with the legs or body.

Thesecond point concerns the placement of the hands. The hands should be restingevenly, placed together below the navel with the palms facing up, right hand onleft. This discourages the arising of thoughts. Or, alternatively, the handsmay rest evenly on the knees, as taught by the third Karmapa in TheDirect Recognition of the Three Kayas.

Theupper arms should be lifted slightly upward, which creates firmness andalertness for the meditation. This is the third point.

Thefourth point is that the throat should he pulled in. In the Zen tradition it istaught to pull the chin in, in the Tibetan tradition it is taught to pull thethroat in. These instructions are the same. This is because if one is having alot of thoughts, the throat extends outward.

Theback should he straight as an arrow, not bent over or leaning to the side. Thiscreates stability for the mind. If the body is straight, the channels will bestraight. If the channels are straight, the airs will be straight and the mindwill be calmed. This is the fifth point.

Thesixth point has to do with the eyes. The eyes should look beyond the tip of thenose. Look into the space in front of you, four finger-widths in front of thenose. This basically means looking straight ahead. Don't look up like those whobelieve...