«Дар освобождения», курс 40 «Магия пустотных медитаций и тонглен», занятие 3

[Говорящий 1]
We'll just do about ten minutes, and we'll do another meditation in the second hour today. But I, at least once this week, I would like to take you through how to start a meditation. And I know you did it a hundred times, but I want to make sure everyone's doing it.

So just once this week, we'll do a proper preparation for meditation, a mental preparation. And I've been doing this for almost 50 years. And I still enjoy doing it.

It's very beautiful. I don't meditate without doing this. So I'll do it every day.

When I meditate, I do this every day. I think it's a beautiful way to, it's beautiful to do it once a day. So I spend a lot of time to get ready for a meditation, mentally.

And it takes about, I don't know, 10, 15 minutes just to go into a meditation. So I strongly advise you to do it and get used to it. And you don't have to do it every day if you're on a short schedule.

If you're the treasure of some major city in Colorado, you can shorten it or go straight to your meditation. But maybe a couple times a week, do a nice preparation. After almost 50 years of meditating, actually, it is more than 50 years.

I still think it's good to start with a breathing practice. And 10 breaths just doesn't do it for me. I need a hundred breaths.

It's about five minutes. We're going to do a hundred breaths. You're going to lose count three or four times.

That's okay. Come back. Focus on the exhale first and then on the inhale.

[Говорящий 2]
Then we'll go through the seven steps preparation.

[Говорящий 1]
The first step is supposed to be prostration. Personally, I like to choose someone that I've been around in the last week or so who is an inspiration to me. And I do a mental prostration.

Oftentimes, they are not a Buddhist. They're just someone who is acting in a very good way and who inspires me and somebody I would like to be like them. So I do a mental prostration by thinking of someone who is inspiring to me.

And it's not necessarily a famous person or something. Oftentimes, it's just someone I met who's doing something beautiful for other people. The next one is prostration or offering.

PHYAG SONG CHOD So I like to imagine that I'm offering them something. I always come back personally to offering them something good I did in the last week or so. I make a small offering of something that I did good in the last few days.

The third step here is confession or admitting some mistake I made in the last week or so. So try to think of some mistake you've made and be honest about it. It helps a lot to purify a karma, to admit a mistake that we made.

[Говорящий 2]
In the last week or so.

[Говорящий 1]
Eventually it helps a lot to tell somebody else. It's good to do it in your meditation, but it's nice to have some friends that you can share your mistakes with. Then you can really improve quickly.

Then share something good you did with this person in the last week. People have a natural tendency to focus on their mistakes and we all have some trouble to admit when we're doing something right without pride. So don't be afraid to admit that you're doing a lot of good things and just choose one good thing and without pride rejoice and be happy.

[Говорящий 2]
Then the next step is to ask for teachings, number five.

[Говорящий 1]
For me, teachings might come in two different ways. One is oftentimes when I'm looking at the great books, the great Buddhist books, I see beautiful teachings for my day. I see things that are going to help me today.

Then oftentimes I'll get teachings from other people. Either somebody will say something sweet and I'll get a teaching from it or someone will challenge me. Someone will cause me some trouble and then I will take a teaching from that.

So ask for those teachings and pray that you get positive teachings and teachings through difficult things and difficult people.

[Говорящий 2]
Number six, ask your teachers to stay.

[Говорящий 1]
I have a lot of teachers who come to me in the world or who come to me through the great books, but I also have some very, my dearest teachers are still alive and ask them to stay in your life. Then normally we would start our meditation, whatever is our meditation that we're working on, and then after that we would dedicate the good karma. I like to think of specific people I know who are having a hard time.

Maybe they are sick or maybe they're having a hard time. Personally, in their family life or something, and then I will send the good karma of the meditation to them.

[Говорящий 2]
So let's dedicate the karma. And then slowly open your eyes.

[Говорящий 1]
Take a stretch. Drink something. If you're in Arizona, you have to drink.

The blood goes through the brain. The blood is mostly water. If you don't drink, you get stupid.

Seriously.