The Pavilion, Bodh Gaya, India
January 31, 2020

On the day following the Pre-Monlam Teachings and before the Monlam proper, the vajra assembly of Rinpoches, tulkus, monks, nuns, and faithful lay followers gathered in the Monlam pavilion to accumulate 1 million feast offerings dedicated to His Holiness the Karmapa’s good health and long life. The vehicle for this activity, selected by the Monlam steering committee and translated into English and Chinese specifically for the occasion, was the practice of Sangtik Dorsem, The Single Mudra Vajrasattva, an earth-treasure revealed by the great 19th-century terton Chokyur Dechen Lingpa and part of his Sangtik Nyingpo (Essential Secret Essence) cycle.

This practice has deep roots in the Karma Kagyu lineage, as Chokyur Lingpa recovered it at Tsadra Rinchen Drak, the hermitage of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye perched high above Palpung Sherabling monastery in Kham, eastern Tibet. The practice was then committed to writing by the Eleventh Tai Situpa, Situ Pema Wangchuk, and the Fifteenth Gyalwang Karmapa wrote the opening supplication.

A simple and elegant shrine graced the stage to the left of the seated rinpoches. On its top tier, a majestic, tall deity torma, topped by a regal, snow-white umbrella, represented the deity. The shrine’s middle level held the traditional inner offerings — Dutsi (nectar) and rakta in ornate skullcups, with a tray of torma (butter sculpture food offerings) set in between. During the practice, these substances would be repeatedly offered, again and again, with several attendants working to refresh the torma trays after each repetition of the feast liturgy. On the lowest level of the shrine, in gorgeous offering bowls, the eight outer offerings were set out: drinking water, water for washing, flowers, incense, a butter lamp, perfume, food, and music. On the marble stairs flanking both sides of the spacious stage, colorful bags of tsok (feast offerings) peeped out of a dazzling array of bags and boxes —enough for everyone present to take home a generous portion. Feast practices emphasize abundance, and that quality was on full display from the start.

The gyalings, traditional Tibetan horns, sounded the arrival of the Vajra Master, His Eminence Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche, just after 8:00 a.m. Once he and the assembly were seated, opening prayers commenced. Much of the first session was devoted to generating the visualization, inviting the deity, and presenting a dazzling array of offerings. Then, after a break for butter tea, the feast accumulations began in earnest. Except during the lunch and afternoon tea breaks, the assembled devotees chanted a short feast liturgy for most of the day.

Most essential was a beautiful six-line supplication accompanying the feast offering. A note in the text stated, “It is excellent if you can repeat these six lines, since they encompass all aims.” Again and again, practitioners chanted:

Hum! Bhagavan and retinue,
Please accept this ocean of offerings!
The ocean of violations and breaches I confess!
May the ocean of sacred bonds be fulfilled!
I beseech you, grant an ocean of siddhis!
I entreat you, perform an ocean of activities!

As everyone chanted the liturgy, the chöpon (shrine master) and a group of assistants worked diligently to repeatedly purify and then offer the feast substances to the deity torma. They appeared to keep the practice fresh with each repetition; the synchronicity of their movements had a meditative quality. Long tables covered with trays of torma allowed them to prepare seemingly endless offerings, and those already offered were smoothly cleared away to make room for the next cycle.

When the practice ended with auspicious prayers, just after 5 p.m., the assembly had collectively generated 1,155,000 repetitions of the feast.These were dedicated to His Holiness Karmapa, the lineage holders of the Karma Kagyu, and all sentient beings’ welfare and happiness. Everyone left with a bag of tsok and a sense of accomplishment. They walked out into a beautiful, sunlit late afternoon, hearts and hands full.

May all sentient beings enjoy abundance and an array of good things! May the Gyalwang Karmapa live long, and may his activity flourish!

The Pavilion, Bodh Gaya, India
January 30, 2020

In this ninth and final teaching session on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche fleshed out the framework he had been developing over the three-day teaching, giving the assembly a glimpse backward with a pithy summary of the key earlier points and a glimpse forward into new terrain. Having covered the meditation methods of the Foundation Vehicle and the Mahayana or Greater Vehicle, he briefly delved into the Secret Mantra Vajrayana practices that enable tantric Buddhists to swiftly traverse the paths and levels of realization. He reminded us of the extremely special and profound instructions of the Karma Kagyu, the lineage of practice, even though— as he had commented earlier — it was not appropriate to convey advanced meditation instructions to the assembly at this time. This brief glimpse of advanced Vajrayana practice served to underscore Rinpoche’s earlier emphasis on the importance of a strong foundation, especially by making use of the Foundation Vehicle teachings on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. Having devoted much of the teaching to the foundation, Rinpoche now briefly suggested what kind of magnificent edifice one might build on such a strong base.

Rinpoche reminded everyone to give rise to bodhicitta, remembering all sentient beings as we listened to the dharma, before summarizing the shamatha and insight instructions previously covered. He noted that there are three levels of insight meditation: Foundation Vehicle (Theravadin) teachings, Mahayana, and Vajrayana insight practices. The insight of the Foundation Vehicle, as previously explained, is mainly concerned with impermanence, suffering, emptiness and selflessness. The Mahayana insight emphasizes selflessness of persons (egolessness) and selflessness of phenomena; the union of appearance and emptiness is the particular purview of Mahayana insight meditation. Then, in the Secret Mantra Vajrayana, we have creation phase and completion phase practices, as well as the special form of insight known as Mahamudra.

Rinpoche gave a brief, lucid summary of the main goal and emphasis of creation-stage practice, in which one visualizes oneself as a particular deity with a particular realm and qualities: “Out of the inherent emptiness of phenomena, we arise in the luminous nature of the deity. It is like a reflection in a mirror, like a rainbow in the sky, like a dream.” Visualizing the deity in this way, as luminous and empty, is the “emptiness of the object.” When we rest with our awareness during the practice, that is shamatha. When we experience these two together, this is the union of shamatha and insight. Rinpoche explained that the creation stage always begins with arousing the two forms of bodhicitta — loving-kindness and compassion (relative) and emptiness (ultimate). Then, from a seed syllable, the deity arises with those innate qualities inherent in its appearance. Also innate to the deity are the qualities of purity, ripening, and completion. For this reason, deity practice is an extremely swift and profound path. The practitioner-as-deity embodies all the qualities of buddha-hood, purifies all realms, ripens all sentient beings, and perfects all aspirations. So, Rinpoche summarized, “Within the creation phase, there is loving-kindness, compassion, and bodhicitta; there’s shamatha and insight in union; and there are the resultant qualities, the bodies of the buddha.” The practice cuts through dualistic concepts and swiftly brings results. This is Vajrayana insight in the creation stage.

In the completion stage, where the practitioner dissolves the visualization and rests in emptiness, we work with the channels and winds, binding impure elements within the “vajra body.” Gradually, as we progress through the levels with this practice, thoughts stop at this stage and we are able to rest; this allows for the emergence of the wisdom of bliss and emptiness. Rinpoche intimated that initially, there is an effort here, but that eventually it is a natural process: “This is the path of analogy. From that, actual wisdom arises.”

Rinpoche next gave a brief overview of mahamudra, the profound practice of nature of mind meditation specific to the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. He explained that within mahamudra, there is Sutra mahamudra, Tantra mahamudra, and Essence mahamudra. Generally, the most well-known is Sutra mahamudra, taking the meaning taught in the King of Samadhi sutra and the points on buddha nature taught in the Sublime Continuum by Maitreya. For the actual practice, we follow the path Lord Gampopa laid out for us, uniting the Kadampa lineage of mind training (lojong) with mahamudra practices brought to Tibet from India by Marpa the Translator. Our usual progression in Sutra mahamudra involves the Four Ordinary and Four Extraordinary practices (Ngondro), followed by pointing-out instructions from our lama. These include recognizing mind when it is still or in motion, recognizing appearances, and recognizing the mind during thoughts. We can realize coemergent wisdom through these methods.

Rinpoche commented here that there is nothing different or unique about the nature of the object — the mind — in these practices. It is still the mind of luminous emptiness, selflessness, impermanence, and the other forms of insight discussed in previous parts of the teaching. But in working with the subject — the practitioner or perceiver — Vajrayana methods are uniquely swift and potent.

As for Tantra mahamudra, this is associated with the Six Yogas of Naropa, and Rinpoche didn’t elaborate on it further. Essence mahamudra is based on the guru’s pith instructions, which he said “reveal the unadulterated, coemergent wisdom that is already currently with us.” The guru points out the nature of our mind, and if we are ready, we recognize it. To be ready, Rinpoche commented, one needs a strong foundation in the earlier practices, especially Tantra mahamudra; one must go in stages, beginning with the preliminaries. Of Essence mahamudra, Rinpoche commented, “I could explain it here, but we don’t have a lot of time. But I could put a seed, and if you continued to practice, at some point you would definitely pacify the afflictions. These pith instructions have particular blessings and a particular lineage in our Dakpo Kagyu. We have a protector lineage of meditation and practice. So if you practice with real effort, you will definitely develop experience and realization in stages. Please keep this in mind.”

Having completed this exquisite overview of Vajrayana insight practices, Rinpoche devoted most of the rest of this final session to short, guided meditations intended to help us leverage and apply the various methods he had introduced in prior sessions. In particular, he asked us, “With all these practices, how do we change afflictions and suffering?” He began by walking us through the practices emphasized in the morning, resting and analytical meditation. Rinpoche suggested taking any thought, emotion, or mind poison as an object of meditation. He had us simply look at the object: “If you find it, examine it. If not, rest. Then you analyze again. You just go back and forth until they become unified. Grasping, afflictions and ego-clinging will decrease. Eventually, your experience will become realization.” The emphasis on guided practice in this final session instilled confidence and also refreshed our understanding of the morning’s presentation of analytical meditation — inquiring into the nature of the mind and its creations. Always a gentle and encouraging teacher, Rinpoche recommended that we avoid objects of meditation that overwhelm or scare us — perhaps strong anger or emptiness of self. He once again reminded us that as long as we are aware, we don’t have to arrive at any specific outcome as we meditate, find any specific thing, or change, discard, or create anything in our experience.

Rinpoche also sketched in a way to measure our progress. He described three progressive levels of insight — understanding, experience, and realization — using the traditional Kagyu analogy of the moon: understanding is like seeing pictures of the moon in a book; experience is like seeing the reflection of the moon in still water on a clear night; and realization is like looking up and seeing the moon in a clear sky. Rinpoche commented that the first stage of realization is like seeing a sliver of crescent moon, and that full buddhahood would entail seeing the full moon. Rinpoche commented, “If we only use the sutra methods, emptiness of the object, it takes three innumerable aeons using that kind of insight. But the focus on the emptiness of the subject is quick.”

Perhaps tying up loose ends or addressing material he felt he’d not quite fleshed out, Rinpoche briefly returned to the Mahayana levels of insight. He commented that there is debate about whether realizing the egolessness of self means one also realizes the egolessness of phenomena, and to give us a taste of the latter, he walked us through an analytical meditation of the composite appearance of his face. This was fun, and it was also a skillful refresher on the all-important methods of analytical meditation.

Finally, returning to the theme of settling the afflictive emotions, Rinpoche ran us through a quick scan of our new tools. We can use shamatha to look directly at a negative emotion. We can use the Foundation-Vehicle insight of looking at the changing sensations of the affliction. We can see its many parts, its emptiness, impermanence, and interdependence. Applying Mahayana insight, we can ask, “Who’s experiencing this anger?” We can see it as a dream experience. Rinpoche commented, “You can alternate these so as not to get bored. You can cycle through them; they enhance each other.”

He ended with a request: “So please continue to practice. You’ll develop peace in your mind, loving-kindness and compassion, and the realization of emptiness.” He then asked us to dedicate to all sentient beings the merit generated by listening to the dharma for these three wonderful and precious days. During the ensuing tea break, a fortunate group of disciples presented elaborate offerings to Rinpoche, and the assembly chanted, as with one great voice, aspiration prayers for the realization of mahamudra and the welfare of Tibet.

The Pavilion, Bodh Gaya, India
January 30, 2020

Question and answer session
The first question concerned how to maintain the stability of awareness in meditation.
Mingyur Rinpoche advised that the primary way to stabilise meditation is to meditate over and over again. It’s impossible at first to maintain awareness for a long time. The rule is “short periods, many times”. At the beginning, if we try to focus on one object for too long, we will experience dullness, torpor or agitation. As soon as we become distracted, we should stop and begin again. Gradually our meditation will transform from the river gushing down the mountain to the river flowing through the plains. Using the sound of his bell, Rinpoche demonstrated ‘short periods, many times’ and explained how our ability to meditate for longer periods will extend naturally but should not be forced.
The second question was about the three possible experiences in meditation that Mingyur Rinpoche had previously detailed. One of the young rinpoches described how sometimes it felt as if he were falling into an abyss, and then suddenly the awareness became clear.
Mingyur Rinpoche explained that this was an experience of emptiness. When this is very strong, you might see things, hear things, and smell things and so forth. This is the experience of the movement of the prana, he explained. There were four types of experience which could occur: seeing flashes of light like fireflies, deities and experiences through all five senses; feeling high or low; a feeling of electricity or warmth moving up and down your body—you can start shaking or crying; you feel the power of the guru. In general, he commented, this is good, because the channels, winds and drops within our body will transform from impure into pure, and eventually transform into wisdom, but it is essential not to become attached to these experiences. In particular, the appearances to the five senses are not true. If you feel strong movement and start shaking it is better to stop meditating for some time, do lots of exercise and drink lots of water, he recommended.
The third questioner asked how it was possible to direct attention towards a thought if that thought had disappeared and couldn’t be found.
Mingyur Rinpoche reminded everyone of the two experiences which can happen when meditating on thoughts: either you can look at them or you can’t. If it’s the latter, when you look at the thought you lose the thought, just rest right there in that lack of thoughts. It doesn’t imply lack of attention or awareness because you are aware that there is no thought. “There is no focus that you are directing your attention to, but you are resting without a focus.”
The next question concerned what to do when unpleasant or uncomfortable feelings arise in shamatha meditation. How can they be a focus for meditation?
Their primary cause, Mingyur Rinpoche commented, is attachment and aversion. If you feel that you must pacify them or make them go away, you have aversion, and that can make the uncomfortable feeling stronger. Sometimes there are feelings of attachment. As a beginner, if strong feelings arise, you may have to shift your focus.
A monk then asked three questions: about watching the breath in shamatha meditation; non-distraction in analytic meditation; and whether adopting the seven-point vajra position used in meditation constitutes ‘altering body and mind’.
Taking each question in turn, Rinpoche responded. In shamatha meditation, when you focus on the breath, the breath is impermanent and constantly changing. Your awareness should rest on that changing itself. The Treasury of Abhidharma talks about breathing in and out and not about staying whereas the Mahamudra describes four parts: breathing in; staying in; breathing out; resting out. This is the nature of the breath, going in and out all the time.
When practising the mindfulness of mind, thoughts constantly change because they are impermanent. Non- distraction here means one-pointed. It’s impossible to grasp one thought so our focus is on the constant change. When the object goes away, we look at that. If the object changes we focus on the change.
As to ‘altering body and mind’, Rinpoche explained that the body’s natural alignment is straight not hunched over, but when we first begin to meditate the body is out of alignment and the seven-point posture brings it into its correct line.
Focussed meditation brings on a headache, was the next concern. That’s the movement of the winds, Rinpoche explained, and suggested resting for a while and relaxing.
The final two questions were: Where do atoms go? How do we meditate on the breath and the impermanence of the breath simultaneously?
In the Foundation vehicle, particularly in the Great Exposition and the Sutra schools traditions, the ultimate truth is that part-less atoms and indivisible moments of cognition exist. The atoms are not lost; though the atoms change, the continuum does not. With reference to the flower that is burnt, some atoms go up as smoke, some become ashes, but they are not lost.
Replying to the second part, Rinpoche explained that as we breathe the breath is constantly changing, and if we know that it is changing, that is the basis of impermanence, which is the insight meditation of the Foundation vehicle. If, at the same time, we are aware of the breath, that is shamatha. So this is the union of shamatha and insight meditation.

The foundation of the mindfulness of dharmas
Rinpoche began the second part of the session by reviewing his exploration of selflessness from the previous session, which maintained that there is no permanent, singular, or autonomous self, which is the insight of the Foundation vehicle.
In the Mahayana tradition of vipashyana, when we examine objects, we discover that they are multiple, dependent, and impermanent, which correlates with the Foundation vehicle’s findings. However, the Mahayana then goes on to establish that multiplicity, dependency and impermanence is also not ultimately true. We understand that ‘Mingyur Tulku’ does not exist; it’s a mental projection onto the parts. The hand is made up of many parts, none of which is the hand. If we then dissect the parts, we arrive at the atoms and then at the indivisible atoms. The Great Exposition and Sutra schools maintain that these indivisible atoms truly exist. Beginning with the Mind Only school, the Mahayana traditions say that these indivisible particles cannot be found because it is impossible for a single atom to exist on its own. Vasubhandu, for example, states that when six are joined together, the part-less atoms would become six. Using six apples to symbolize six atoms, Rinpoche constructed a pyramid. Coarse objects are constructed of atoms. But if they are not assembled, coarse objects are not possible. And if mind were truly existent, it would have to have three parts: past, present and future. How then could it change? Modern Science began by maintaining that an atom could have no parts, but then they discovered sub-atomic particles, and further that they were constantly changing. This is a different way of looking, but the same meaning, Rinpoche stated. For the last ten or twenty years, scientists have learned that within a single atom 99% is empty. Within that 1%, 99% is also empty, and so on.
Mingyur Rinpoche continued with the theme of emptiness. “If age is emptiness, how then do we get older?” he asked. Because, he explained, alongside emptiness, there is appearance. Emptiness does not mean nothingness. Because of emptiness, everything is possible and all phenomena can occur. Without emptiness, nothing could happen. It is important to understand that emptiness and interdependence exist in union. When we talk about the logic of the great interdependence, it means that because nothing is truly existent, all phenomena can occur. We give names to mere appearances. At the same time that they appear, their essence is empty. Getting older is like an illusion.
As the Heart Sutra states: “Form is empty. Emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form. Form is not other than emptiness.” The meaning is that form, feeling, formation and consciousness are all empty. They do not truly exist. But this is not the view of nihilism because ‘emptiness is form’ ie. because of emptiness, forms are possible. When we look for ‘me’ we can’t find it. All phenomena are mere appearances. Rinpoche presented a conundrum. When you have a dream about receiving a new i-phone, then being mugged for it, you feel very distressed. But was it real or not?
The phone in the dream is not real in comparison to our waking, day-time life. But in the dream it was true, even though it didn’t have one atomic particle. All phenomena in samsara and nirvana are like that dream phone, “Appearing in union with emptiness. As they are appear, they are empty. As they empty, they appear.” We grasp at them as true because we do not recognise the union of appearance and emptiness. We continue in the cycle of samsara, birth, ageing, sickness and death, because we do not understand emptiness. We see the appearances of the nirmanakaya of Lord Buddha, but he himself was beyond the conceptions of birth, ageing, sickness and death. At the level of buddha, inconceivable wisdom, love and power become manifest. But we are enveloped in clinging to appearances. Even when things don’t exist we project them. Good and bad, subject and object do not exist. We are trapped within our own conceptual elaborations, like a silkworm in its cocoon. The basis of this is ignorance.
In order to free ourselves from samsara, we must realise the prajna of selflessness. There is nothing else that can liberate us. If we practise the true dharma of emptiness and compassion, we can liberate ourselves form samsara. No one else has the power to do that. If we directly know the nature of emptiness, we do not need to be afraid of anything.
“What is the best method to free ourselves from the fear in a nightmare before we wake up?” Rinpoche asked. Various solutions were posited but the most important answer according to Rinpoche is to recognise that the dream is a dream, as then, whatever dangers occur in the dream will have no effect on you. If you jump in fire, it cannot harm you. If a dream tiger eats you, there is no eating. If you jump off a 100-storey building you can fly. If you know it is a dream, you are liberated from all the sufferings of the dream and achieve control over it. But the dream doesn’t go away.
When you realise the ultimate meaning of emptiness, you know that all phenomena in samsara and nirvana are dreams as they actually are. You realise that the table is emptiness and see it as a dream or illusion. Your body is a dream or illusion; you do not actually experience birth, ageing sickness and death in your own perceptions.
When you achieve liberation or buddhahood, Rinpoche continued, it’s not referring to another place. ‘Samsara and nirvana are the same flavour’. When we experience samsara and realise emptiness, that itself is nirvana. However, it’s not as simple as recognising a dream as a dream. We can’t liberate ourselves from samsara immediately because of our strong imprints from the beginning of samsara and such strong attachment to dualistic appearances. In order to develop an understanding of emptiness, we have to meditate on it and practise over and over again until we experience emptiness on the path of joining. Then, on the path of seeing, we actually realise emptiness. Even then, we still have to progress through the bhumis to the tenth level. Only when we achieve buddhahood do we have control. We are liberated from birth, ageing, sickness and death and dualistic appearances. The greed, hatred and delusions of the obscurations, the cognitive and afflictive descriptions, are all purified. Like the lotus opening, we develop all the qualities of buddhahood—love, wisdom and power.
The morning teaching concluded on a high note when Rinpoche promised that even beginning to contemplate emptiness or to think that emptiness might be true has the power to purify the obscurations of many aeons.

བསོད་ནམས་དབང་རྒྱལ་ནས།

The Pavilion, Bodh Gaya, India
January 30, 2020

Rinpoche greeted everyone, “Good morning, please listen with the motivation of bodhicitta,” and explained that today was a continuation of the teachings on shamatha and insight – the preparation, main practice, and follow through.

When we talk about the four foundations of mindfulness in insight meditation, the object of our focus is body, feelings, mind, and dharmas, Rinpoche noted.

The specific characteristics of body are made out of bodies, feelings are experience, mind is clear awareness, and dharmas hold their own characteristics. We can meditate on this or we can meditate on the universal characteristics: body is impermanent by nature, feelings are suffering by nature, the mind is empty by nature, and all phenomena have the aspect of selflessness.

Summarizing from his previous sessions, he emphasized that when we meditate on all of them as being impermanent, generally, this topic is the insight common with the Foundation Vehicle.

He then asked, “How many people did their homework?” — to meditate on the scent and flavor of food while eating dinner. When eating and meditating at the same time, this is what we do during the informal meditation or the breaks. Rinpoche gave a humorous demonstration of slowly raising an invisible spoon up to his mouth and very, very slowly opening his mouth. He laughed and explained that we do not eat like this or else we would be so tight we could not swallow our food. Rather, you relax your body. You pay attention to the flavor and the scent – but not for a long time. The mind cannot stay on a single object for more than a minute when we are beginners, and that is fine.

As rain began to pound heavily outside, Rinpoche polled the attendees, “Should we begin with insight of the Mahayana or experiences we have during meditation? Raise your hand.” The raised hand responses indicated a preference to begin with experiences we have during meditation.

Rinpoche described the three stages of meditation experience as follows: at first, it is similar to water running down a steep mountain, or like the rain that is falling now; the second stage is like a river flowing through a plain; the third is like an ocean or lake that is free of waves. Rinpoche clarified, “When we get to the last stage of experience, an ocean without waves, then you are able to rest your mind one-pointedly on the object you desire.”

Rinpoche then further elaborated on each of these stages. Regarding the first stage, just as water rushes very quickly off a steep cliff and drops are sprayed everywhere, in the beginning, we have a lot of thoughts and afflictions. Everything comes into our mind. When we are meditating, we think we should be peaceful, quiet, subdued and comfortable, but the thoughts keep coming. Often, we do not realize this is a good sign, but when we are able to recognize this, it is actually very good. We assume that we lack the ability to meditate. Rinpoche used an analogy to explain: in the summer, when there is a lot of silt in the fast flowing river, we cannot see the fish, whereas in the winter when the water is clear, we can see the fish. The fish are there in the summer, but we do not see them. Similarly, the mind is enveloped in all the thoughts and afflictions, but we cannot see them. However, when we are able to direct our awareness, by the power of awareness, we can distance ourselves slightly from the thoughts and afflictions so we are not carried away by them. Then, the mind becomes a little clearer and more peaceful, just as when the water becomes clear, we can see the fish.

As you continue to practice, at a certain point, the mind becomes at ease, clear, peaceful, and vivid. And for a second or two, you may have one of three experiences: bliss, clarity, or non-conception. When you are meditating, you may be really comfortable and clear. This is what we call the experience of bliss. Or, the mind is very brilliant. Your mind might be like a sun shining in the sky with no clouds. This is called the experience of clarity. Sometimes, we have no thoughts at all. The mind is very peaceful and all appearances seem like dreams or illusions. We think, ‘What is this?’. This is called non-conception. When we have these gentle experiences, it is important not be attached to them. Generally, these experiences of bliss, clarity, and non-conception are good, but we should not cling to them as permanent or supreme.
We may have an experience of bliss, clarity, or non-conception, then a few hours later we may have the experience of dullness or agitation. We must realize that these experiences are impermanent.

Lower experiences are dullness or agitation. We know we are breathing but we do not feel like it is meditation. With dullness, we will fall asleep; and with agitation, we have really strong, coarse thoughts and afflictions. When we have too many thoughts, sometimes we question, “ Is this worse than before?” Rinpoche encouraged everyone, “When this happens, this is a really good sign. And sometimes, we have awareness, but we are not quite satisfied. Then, this is the experience of dullness. So what do we need to do?”

Rinpoche offered solutions:

We can counter either with our posture or behavior. With dullness, you can open your eyes, look up, go to a place where there is a good breeze, or walk, or meditate as you walk back and forth. Don’t eat a lot of food! When you have the experience of agitation, look down, close your eyes, wear warm clothes, eat heavy nutritious food and when you act – do things slowly and leisurely. The best thing is to use samadhi and to look at dullness or agitation itself. Let them become the support for the mind to be non-distracted.

Normally we have dullness and agitation, but we do not examine them. We need to look more closely. Whatever we look at becomes awareness. It becomes meditation.

In order to gain some experience of this, Rinpoche followed with a guided meditation on either dullness or agitation. Sitting comfortably with eyes closed, we had to scan our bodies repeatedly.

Just be aware of your body from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet and relax the muscles and ligaments in your body. Whatever feelings arise from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet, merely be aware of the feelings in your body – whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral – just direct your attention to them…
Whatever happens, just look at it.

We had to direct our awareness to any dullness or agitation. With feelings of dullness and agitation, when you are aware of them, they go away. Then, just rest in that. He again reminded us that when we look at thoughts there are two possibilities: they go away or they continue. Either way is fine.

Having concluded his teachings on the experiences of meditation, Rinpoche began instructions on Mahayana insight meditation which is the prajna of realizing selflessness. The object that we focus on is the thought, ‘me.’ We need to look at the nature of ego clinging. When we look at the subject and object and determine what its nature it is, we will realize prajna.

First we say, ‘This is me. This is mine.’ We cling and get attached to things saying, “This is my meditation, my phone, my momos”, and so forth. The root of this and all the afflictions comes down to the thought, ‘Me! Me!’.

If we consider the affliction of hatred, we think, ‘He did something to me’. Then, we get angry. The basis for getting angry is when it is about ‘me’. If we see someone giving us a hard time, we think, ‘He’s taking away my opportunities’. Or, if we see something attractive, we think ‘I need that’. Then, we have pride. We think, ‘I am the first person in my class or I am from a good family or I have prajna’. This is grasping at yourself as superior. This is pride.

Then, there is envy. We think things like, ‘Before my Dharma friends and I were about the same, but now they are more popular. They have more opportunities. They have a nice phone.’ There is also delusion. We think we do not know anything.

The root of all afflictions comes down to the thought of ‘me’ because we think of ‘me’ as permanent, singular and autonomous. Chuckling as he continued, Rinpoche asked:

Do you have this thought of me? Do you have it or not? We almost always have this thought of of ‘me, me’. Look at that thought of me. How do you look at that thought? When you look at the breath – in and out – then look at thought of ‘me, me,’ in a similar way.

Leading us into another guided meditation, Rinpoche instructed, “Sit up straight, but also relaxed. The mind should also rest. Look at the thought, ‘me, me’. Eyes open is fine. Eyes closed is fine.” When the mediation concluded, Rinpoche asked, “When you look at the thought of ‘me’, do you find it or not?” Rinpoche then polled everyone asking those who found ‘me’ to raise their hands and then those who did not to raise their hands. He then joked, “You’ve realized selflessness, right?”

The moment we look for ‘me’ we often cannot find it, so then we rest in that. If you are able to find the thought of ‘me’, that is excellent. He gave some examples: If you fall in a river, you do not see the water flowing quickly. When you are watching a movie, you are outside the movie. When you see the thought of ‘me’, then you are not being controlled by it. But, this is temporary – only an instant or two and then we go back into ego-clinging. Generally, this thought of ‘me’ is everywhere.

Where is the ‘me’? Is it around the heart, the head? Everyone has a different feeling. But, if you look at it, you cannot find it. If you do find it, you rest in the finding. At the beginning of insight meditation, we start with resting meditation, then we move on to analytical meditation. Insight meditation is primarily analysis, investigating with mindfulness and awareness. That awareness is shamatha and analysis is insight. Shamata and insight are in union. There is no insight without shamatha. When we consider this is impermanent, we are giving a particular job to our minds and making them work. When we analyze impermanence, that is the insight of the Foundation Vehicle. Then, we have to find the ‘me’ and the way we grasp at it as singular and permanent.

Rinpoche then posed, three questions: 1) Did you eat food yesterday? 2) Where is Mingyur Tulku sitting right now? 3) Are you singular or are you many when you are listening to the instructions?

In response to the first question, Rinpoche explained that if you answered, “Yes,” to the first question, this is clinging to permanence. The reason is, “Yesterday’s me is not here right now.” In our minds, we think, ‘I am eating or I ate’. This is clinging to the thought of ‘me’. We are not always aware of everything changing because we cling to a continuum of singularity and grasp that as being autonomous and permanent. To give an example: Can cross the same river twice? You cannot, because the water is flowing and every step you take you are going into a new river.

In response to the second question, Rinpoche clarified the response by asking for another person’s name. “Karma Tsangpo. Karma Tsangpo has a head, arms, and legs. When we think, ‘my body, my mind – the me,’ we think it is something other than the five aggregates. It is autonomous, single. It is alone and in control of itself.”
Regarding the final and third question, Rinpoche noted that, “We think we are one. We cling to singularity.” When we cling to the ‘me’, it is because we think of it as permanent, singular, and autonomous.

Rinpoche humorously honed his point on impermanence and selflessness with a vivid demonstration. He covered his face and only extended his arm out of his golden chögu and asked, “Is this arm Mingyur Tulku?” As if playing a game of hide and seek, his head popped out as he re-situated the robe and then only stuck out his thumb. “Is this finger Mingyur Tulku?” If the arm is Mingyur Tulku and the thumb is Mingyur Tulku, then there are many! They are all parts so there is no single Mingyur Tulku. The head, the arms, the fingers are not me. If we look, we do not find a singular self. We only project a singular self mentally. When we look at the actual nature, it is not permanent, singular, or autonomous.

To conclude the morning session, Rinpoche led everyone through an analytic meditation examining the thought of ‘me.’

We grasp at ourselves as autonomous. We grasp at an independent me. Look at that thought. We think we are singular, but we are many different parts aggregated together. Look and see it as it is…when our conceptual mind grasps, this is ego clinging. We get happy or sad in a moment as we wander through samsara.

As the session ended, Rinpoche instructed everyone to continue with this awareness of the thought of ‘me’ throughout the tea-break.