meditation

[Guest guest]

sangha , " Joyce Short " <insight@s...> wrote:

>

>

> Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche: Practice in Everyday Life

> --------------------------

>

> The everyday practice is simply to develop a complete

> carefree acceptance, an openness to all situations without limit.

>

> We should realize openness as the playground of our emotions and

> relateto people without artificiality, manipulation or strategy.

>

> We should experience everything totally, never withdrawing into

> ourselves as a marmot hides in its hole. This practice releases

> tremendous energy which is usually constricted by the process of

> maintaining fixed reference points. Referentiality is the process

by

> which we retreat from the direct experience of everyday life.

>

> Being present in the moment may initially trigger fear. But by

> welcoming the sensation of fear with complete openness, we cut

> through the barriers created by habitual emotional patterns.

>

> When we engage in the practice of discovering space, we should

> developthe feeling of opening ourselves out completely to the

entire

> universe. We should open ourselves with absolute simplicity and

nakedness of

> mind.This is the powerful and ordinary practice of dropping the

mask of

> self-protection.

>

> We shouldn't make a division in our meditation between perception

and

> field of perception. We shouldn't become like a cat watching a

> mouse. We should realize that the purpose of meditation is not to

go " deeply

> into ourselves " or withdraw from the world. Practice should be

free

> and non-conceptual, unconstrained by introspection and

concentration.

>

> Vast unoriginated self-luminous wisdom space is the ground of

being -

> the beginning and the end of confusion. The presence of awareness

in

> the primordeal state has no bias toward enlightenment or

> non-enlightenment. This ground of being which is known as pure or

> original mind is the source from which all phenomena arise. It is

> known as the great mother, as the womb of potentiality in which

all things

> arise and dissolve in natural self-perfectedness and absolute

> spontaneity.

>

> All aspects of phenomena are completely clear and lucid. The whole

> universe is open and unobstructed - everything is mutually

> interpenetrating.

>

> Seeing all things as naked, clear and free from obscurations, there

> isnothing to attain or realize. The nature of phenomena appears

> naturallyand is naturally present in time-transcending awareness.

> Everything is naturally perfect just as it is. All phenomena

appear in

> their uniqueness as part of the continually changing pattern.

These

> patterns are vibrant with meaning and significance at every

moment; yet

> there is no significance to attach to such meanings beyond the

moment in

> which they present themselves.

>

> This is the dance of the five elememts in which matter is a symbol

of

> energy and energy a symbol of emptiness. We are a symbol of our

own

> enlightenment. With no effort or practice whatsoever, liberation

or

> enlightenment is already here.

>

> The everyday practice is just everyday life itself.

> Since the undeveloped state does not exist, there is no need to

behave in

> any special way or attempt to attain anything above and beyond

what you

> actually are.

>

> There should be no feeling of striving to reach some

> " amazing goal " or " advanced state. "

>

> To strive for such a state is a neurosis which only conditions us

and

> serves to obstruct the free flow of Mind. We should also avoid

> thinking of ourselves as worthless persons - we are naturally free

and

> unconditioned. We are intrinsically enlightened and lack nothing.

>

> When engaging in meditation practice, we should feel it to be as

> natural as eating, breathing and defecating. It should not become

a

> specialized or formal event, bloated with seriousness and

solemnity. We

> should realize that meditation transcends effort, practice, aims,

goals and

> the duality of liberation and non-liberation.

>

> Meditation is always ideal; there is no need to correct

anything. Since

> everything that arises is simply the play of mind as such, there

is no

> unsatisfactory meditation and no need to judge thoughts as good or

bad.

>

> Therefore we should simply sit. Simply stay in your own place, in

> your own condition just as it is. Forgetting self-conscious

feelings, we

> do not have to think " I am meditating. " Our practice should be

without

> effort, without strain, without attempts to control or force and

> without trying to become " peaceful. "

>

> If we find that we are disturbing ourselves in any of these ways,

we

> stop meditating and simply rest or relax for a while. Then we

resume

> our meditation. If we have " interesting experiences " either during

> or after meditation, we should avoid making anything special of

them.

> To spend time thinking about experiences is simply a distraction

and an

> attempt to become unnatural. These experiences are simply signs of

> practice and should be regarded as transient events. We should not

> attempt to reexperience them because to do so only serves to

distort

> the natural spontaneity of mind.

>

> All phenomena are completely new and fresh, absolutely unique and

> entirely free from all concepts of past, present and future. They

> are experienced in timelessness.

>

> The continual stream of new discovery, revelation and inspiration

> which arises at every moment is the manifestation of our clarity.

We

> should learn to see everyday life as mandala - the luminous

fringes of

> experience which radiate spontaneously from the empty nature of our

> being. The aspects of our mandala are the day-to-day objects of

our

> life experience moving in the dance or play of the universe. By

this

> symbolism the inner teacher reveals the profound and ultimate

significance

> of being. Therefore we should be natural and spontaneous,

> accepting and learning from everything. This enables us to see the

> ironic and amusing side of events that usually irritate us.

>

> In meditation we can see through the illusion of past, present and

> future - our experience becomes the continuity of nowness. The

past

> is only an unreliable memory held in the present. The future is

only a

> projection of our present conceptions. The present itself vanishes

> as soon as we try to grasp it. So why bother with attempting to

> establish an illusion of solid ground?

>

> We should free ourselves from our past memories and preconceptions

of

> meditation. Each moment of meditation is completely unique and

full

> of potentiality. In such moments, we will be incapable of judging

our

> meditation in terms of past experience, dry theory or hollow

> rhetoric.

>

> Simply plunging directly into meditation in the moment now, with

our

> whole being, free from hesitation, boredom or excitement, -is-

> enlightenment.

>

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