Как выполнять ежедневную практику 17 — Основы ежедневной практики (1999, Нью-Йорк), занятие 1

[Speaker 1]
Okay, left hand down first, right hand down. You can close your eyes if you want, you can leave them open if you want, it doesn't matter. If you find yourself getting sleepy, crack them open a little bit.

I'm not going to go through everything in detail, but I'm just going to go ahead and do a daily practice, and each week we'll add a few more things, okay? First thing, by the way, sit up straight, okay? Head should be not too up like that, not like that, not like that.

I have one student who ends up like that when they meditate. Don't do that, okay? It should just be totally comfortable.

Good meditation, good concentration is very similar to the attention quality, the quality of attention you have at a very good movie, okay? Seriously, very good meditative concentration should be similar to the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed feeling you have at a very good movie when you're on the edge of your seat, you know, and you're looking, and that's actually a meditative state. That's single-pointed concentration on a movie.

You just have to try to get it when you're in meditation, okay?

[Speaker 2]
It's nothing like weird, okay? It's just good attention. Okay, here we go.

Start with your breath, watching your breath.

[Speaker 1]
The out-breath is the, you're going to count to 10 breaths. The out-breath counts as the first half, and the in-breath counts as the second half. So when you count to one, you're going to go one, okay, in your nose, with your nose, all right?

So it's not like American way where it's one breath. It's out and then in counts as one breath, okay? Do that nice.

Do it loosely. What does it mean to watch your breath? You can't see the air, right?

And your eyes are closed anyway. It means feel the air hitting the nostrils. Feel the air as it hits these two rings here, and just pretend you're standing there at the door, and you're watching the air go in and out, and it's mostly tactile.

You feel the cool air coming in and the warm air going out, and all you're doing is watching these two little rings here, okay? We'll count to 10, three times, okay? Don't try to control your breath, and in meditation, don't ever try to force anything.

It won't work, and you'll hurt yourself, okay? Just natural, breathe in and out, 10 times. Try to get your mind on your breath.

The function of this practice is to take your mind off your office, off your daily life.

[Speaker 2]
Is it a goal in itself? No, it won't get you enlightened to watch your breath. Next step is taking refuge.

These are the warm-ups, okay?

[Speaker 1]
You have to go through them to have a good meditation. Taking refuge in this case means mainly thinking about your goal, and you can take refuge in the Buddha, meaning think about what it's going to be like when you get enlightened. And I think one of the sweetest things, you can take refuge in many, many aspects of the Buddha, and the Dharma, and the Sangha, but choose something specific.

Don't make it vague. Choose some specific goal you have in mind with your own practice, and in this case, I think we could take the Buddha. Think about the Buddha's ability to read people's minds, to see their future, and to do just the right thing for them.

So think about what it would be like if you could read people's minds, if you could see their future, and if you really cared for them, and you could do the right things for them. So think about that quality of a Buddha. Go for refuge to that quality.

Think about yourself in the future having that quality. You can read people's minds, you can see their futures, and you love them so much you will do the right thing for them.

[Speaker 2]
Do each step here 10 breaths, like in the background, count 10 breaths, and then move on.

[Speaker 1]
It's very important that your meditation move on. It shouldn't get hung up or stuck on a single thought. So after 10 breaths, whether you've had a good refuge or not, whether you've had a good concentration or not, then move on.

Next step is bodhichitta, which is practicing compassion. And make it specific again. Don't think about love for all beings.

It doesn't mean much to you right now. Think about caring for some specific person who is suffering mentally or physically. So now for this step, think of someone else who is suffering physically or mentally.

I would say depression. Think of somebody who has depression, someone that you know, and think about what it would be like if you were a Buddha, you could help them, because you could read their mind, you could see their future, you could see what would help them. So think of someone you know who's having a problem with depression right now, and think about bodhichitta for them, love for them.

Next step is to invite your lama or any other holy being to come in the room, and then imagine that they're meditating with you, sitting in front of you, and ask them if they would come. It's very important to visualize a pure being, totally pure. Like if your lama is like not quite pure in your eyes, then clean them up, make them handsome or pretty, make them healthy, make them compassionate, make them shining with light, put them in beautiful clothing.

[Speaker 2]
Invite a perfect holy being to come and sit with you.

[Speaker 1]
You're not inviting a thangka, you're not inviting a painting or a statue, you're inviting a person. They have their breathing, their body is warm, their body is fragrant, you can feel the brush of their hair, their clothes on you. Imagine all of those things.

[Speaker 2]
Visualize a being and don't visualize a painting or a statue.

[Speaker 1]
Next step is to think very carefully what they've done for you in your life, even something small, but make it specific. Don't be vague. Never be vague in each meditation.

Think of something specific you've learned from them, something you've gained from them, something spiritual you've achieved because of them, and bow down to them. If you feel comfortable, then in your mind do a prostration. The scriptures also say you can get down on your right knee and bow in front of them.

So imagine either one, but don't do it meaninglessly. Do it because you are grateful for something they gave you.

[Speaker 2]
If you can't think of anything they gave you, your practice is lousy. Make them an offering.

[Speaker 1]
And it's just like if you had a girlfriend or a boyfriend and you wanted to give them something really, really nice because you love them. Think like that, you know, you love your lama or this being and think of some beautiful thing you can give them. It's totally up to your imagination.

Very typically, there's a very holy offering called the Cloud of Samantabhadra where you you imagine the whole sky filled with flowers and you offer that.

[Speaker 2]
So if you like, do that, but any sweet thing you can visualize. Next step is very important.

[Speaker 1]
Think of something negative you did today or something negative you said and especially something negative you thought. And again, don't be vague. Be very, very specific.

Think of something very specific that you did today or said today that was negative. It's a bad karma. It's going to bring you some bad consequences.

Be very specific. Play it back like a videotape or a tape recorder. Try to get the exact words.

Try to see exactly where you were standing. What were the words that went to your mind? If you can really get good at this and if you can play back a bad thought when you're in a good mood, you can see how ridiculous they are.

Okay, so try to search your day and try to come up with something negative that you did and play it back two or three times.

[Speaker 2]
Something funny happens to me here.

[Speaker 1]
It's like I always get angry at somebody and I play it back, I get angry again. So don't do that, okay?

[Speaker 2]
You're supposed to be regretting the bad karma. In Buddhism, you're supposed to give equal air time to being happy about the good things you did.

[Speaker 1]
So now think very, very specifically about something good that you did today, some good thought you had, something you did for someone else, some pure thought that came in your mind. And do this very seriously. Be very, very specific.

Don't be vague. You know, there's a prayer that you can recite out loud. There's many of them that covers these warm-up steps.

And then people just recite it and then they try to meditate and they don't even think about the meaning of it. And they just recite it one verse real quick and then they go on to the next one and they don't even have time to think about it. Stop and think clearly about some good thing you did today.

And you should start to smile or something. You should be proud of yourself and glad that you're improving. So find something you did today, even if it's small.

It doesn't have to be like saving somebody's life, you know. It could be you just gave someone a cup of tea or you opened the door for somebody or it can be something small, but it should be specific. Don't be vague.

Something about yourself that you're proud of that you did today, even if it's a small thing.

[Speaker 2]
And play it back like a video tape a couple times. There's two more steps and then we're done with the warm-up, okay?

[Speaker 1]
In the next step, mentally you ask all the teachers in the world to teach you. You ask the formal teachers, like people who are teaching classes, you ask them in your mind to teach you. And you also ask, there's a lot of secret Buddhas around in the world.

We don't always know who they are. I think when we get enlightened we'll be very much surprised who some of them were. But they're all around the place.

They're trying to help you. There's ones that you can see, ones that you can't see. And ask them to teach you throughout this day, throughout your day tomorrow.

If you're meditating in the morning, you're asking to be taught.

[Speaker 2]
Some of the lessons will be negative, like maybe the best thing a Lama can do for you sometimes is is to get you angry or to get you jealous or to do something negative to you.

[Speaker 1]
So now in the morning you're asking for that kind of teaching if you need it. If someone can get you jealous, then you still have to work on your jealousy. So they're being kind to get you jealous and they're your teacher.

And they teach you a lot more sometimes than in all the classes you had for a month.

[Speaker 2]
So in the morning you're requesting it so you can't be upset when it comes in the afternoon. Ask for teaching. You can't learn anything without a teacher.

Even things like typing or cooking, things like that. It goes so much easier if you have a really good teacher or something like dancing.

[Speaker 1]
The last warm-up, and then we'll take a break, is to ask those teachers to stay near to you. Enlightened beings, angels, good influences in your life, friends you have who are good friends, sincere friends, spiritual friends, honest people, clean people. Ask all of these influences to stay near you.

Ask the Buddhas to stay close to you. Ask your Lamas to stay close to you. Can they stay close to you if you're being bad?

No, because you're creating the karma that will drive them away from you. So is it up to them whether they're close to you? No, it's up to you.

So what's the use of asking them to stay close? It's the good karma of asking them to stay close helps them stay close.

[Speaker 2]
So really sincerely ask them to stay close and it helps them to stay close. Okay, take a break. You can stretch.

[Speaker 1]
It's good to take a three-four-minute break. You can't really meditate more than about half an hour, okay? I mean, you can sit there for two hours, but you'll just be fuzzing out, you know.

So admit it, take a little stretch, you know, make sure you're loose. Generally in our tradition they say it's not useful unless it's extremely hot or something to take food or drink while you're meditating. It is good in the morning, you can take a little bit of water or some tea or juice before you start your practice, but not good to eat breakfast before you practice.

If your nose starts doing something, don't be shy, just blow it, get it out, okay? If you have to pick it, pick it, okay? But don't be shy, you know, it has to be clear.

Those two passageways have to be clear, okay? If it starts dripping, let it drip. Don't move, okay?

See what I mean? Very important not to move while you're meditating. It's not such a big deal, you can, you'll survive.

It's not like you're going to cripple yourself for life in 20 minutes, okay? If it's too hot, just ignore it. If it's too cool, just ignore it.

If your stomach starts grumbling, ignore it. Now you get to the actual meditation. We're going to do a meditation which is very, very, very important.

You can do it from the very first day you ever start and probably the day you get enlightened, you'll probably still be doing it, okay? It's called tong len. Tong means, well, len means taking on other people's suffering, removing other people's suffering, and tong means giving them happiness.

This is a very important meditation from the beginning of your Buddhist career. It is taught as a way to develop compassion. I mean, everybody would like to be compassionate, you know?

I think it upsets you or me that we can't be more compassionate. There's a human need to be compassionate. You know, you would like to feel more compassionate, you know?

You'd like to be one of those people that has this huge capacity for love, you know? And then you feel sort of bad or guilty sometimes that you can't or you don't have it. This is a method that if you just keep doing it every day, you'll get more compassionate and you'll feel, like, fantastic.

And by the way, you'll get enlightened, okay? Also, it links a breathing practice with a compassion practice. So this particular kind of breathing practice becomes very important in the highest teachings of Buddhism.

So later on, you'll need these practices to practice very special teachings of Buddhism. So this is a case where as a beginner, at the very beginning stage, you get to use a practice which is going to help you way down the road just before you get enlightened, okay? So it's very important that at the same moment, you're doing a compassion practice and a breathing practice, okay?

So I'll take you through that. We're going to stop promptly at 8.30, and I have a big date at an Indian restaurant. I hope I survive.

But it's not good to go too long when you meditate. It's good to move. The meditation should move, and then you should reach the end, and you should get to work on time, okay?

And that's very useful. People tend to get bogged down in their daily practice, and then they don't get anywhere, and then the time is up, and they have to jump up and run off to work. We don't want to do that, okay?

All right, back into the position. Put your mind in neutral. The classic method is to count some breaths, okay?

[Speaker 2]
We'll count 10 breaths to put mind back in neutral. This meditation begins by focusing on yourself.

[Speaker 1]
If you're doing it in the morning, focus on yourself throughout the day. Since we're doing it in the evening, we're going to be focusing on ourselves tomorrow. So think about where you're going to be tomorrow, and try to anticipate mentally what will be your worst moment tomorrow, physically, socially, you know, occupationally, mentally.

It doesn't matter. Pick what you can guess will be the worst moment of your life tomorrow. For example, I could think that I might have jealousy if I see a certain person, or I might have anger if my boss yells at me, or something like that.

I might have a fight with someone. My back might start to hurt again the way it hurts, or something like that. Try to clearly visualize a place, a time, a day, and you're sitting there, and you're having some very great mental or physical pain, something that's very likely to happen tomorrow.

[Speaker 2]
Now visualize that pain as a black, small black ball, like the size of a marble in your chest tomorrow.

[Speaker 1]
The person tomorrow, you tomorrow. Picture them sitting down, standing up, doesn't matter, laying down, whatever. But all of that pain seeps out of their body or their mind, and it concentrates as a black sphere, a little tiny black ball, like the size of a marble, or a pea in their chest, you know, like where their heart would be.

And it's like really ugly, sticky tar, like tar, something very ugly, pure black, suffering, pain.

[Speaker 2]
It's all concentrated in one small area, like a tumor. Each step should be timed on your breath, 10 breaths, and then you must move on. Don't force the breath, don't try to hold the breath, don't do anything, just let it go naturally.

[Speaker 1]
Next step, really, really think about removing that pain from that person who is you tomorrow. Like normally we're so short-sighted, we don't even think about this kind of thing. But imagine yourself tomorrow, and really, really imagine what it would be like if you could take that suffering away from them right now.

[Speaker 2]
Now on your in-breath, take 10 breaths.

[Speaker 1]
On each in-breath, visualize or imagine that that ball, that tumor comes up, you're like drawing it towards you, you decided you want to take it away from them. By the way, you're not going to take on their pain per se, you know, don't worry about it. It's not like you're taking that evil thing into yourself.

You're going to draw it towards you, and when it gets about an inch away from your body, you're going to stop it in space and just hold it in space. So with 10 breaths, on each in-breath, imagine that you're sitting fairly close to them, and it starts to dislodge from their chest, and you're drawing it up their throat, up out of their nose, it's coming up out of their nostril, and then it's coming towards you, and then stop it in space, about an inch in front of your face, in front of your nose, because you're going to breathe it in, but very quickly, but not now, so don't let it touch you yet, okay? So with a real desire to remove that pain from them, and imagining how good they would feel if they didn't have that pain, then suck it towards you in 10 breaths.

[Speaker 2]
Now concentrate on your own heart, your present person's heart.

[Speaker 1]
Tonight, look inside your chest, see a small red flame, and in the scriptures it says, this flame is your selfishness. There's a state of mind called grasping to self-existence. It's not what we're talking about tonight, don't worry about that.

Tonight we're talking about plain old selfishness, where you had a chance to help somebody, you didn't. Somebody needed something, you didn't do anything, there was only enough of something for one person, you took it, you got on the bus first, you pushed in front of other people, anything selfish is that red flame at your heart. Again, don't ever let your daily practice become vague, and platitudes, and some kind of mouthing some words that you're not even thinking about.

Very specifically, try to remember some event in this day today where you were selfish. It's much more powerful to think clearly about one two-minute period when you were selfish with a cup of tea, than it is to try some vague cosmic selfishness. Be very specific and think about a case where you were actually selfish today, and then represent that as a red flame at your heart.

[Speaker 2]
It's about an inch high. It doesn't have to be like killing somebody, it could be just eating the last of the Cheerios or something.

[Speaker 1]
Hold the flame in your vision, hold the blackball outside your face, and we're going to take one slow deep in-breath. When I say go, the blackball is going to come into your nose, down your throat, and you have to keep your concentration on it as it approaches the flame. It's going to come in contact with the flame, and then it's very important to imagine a very strong white burst of light.

The flame will go out and disappear, and the blackball will be vaporized, and there won't be anything left but a little wisp of smoke. With your mind's eye, follow that wisp of smoke until it vanishes into nothing. So, one deep breath in, and then you're going to touch the red flame.

There's going to be a burst of really beautiful white light, and then it's going to be like a photo flash, and then the smoke is going to be there, like cigarette smoke in the wind. It's just going to fade away, and all of that suffering of that person is gone, and they feel the white light, and you feel the happiness of giving them that. Then focus on the white light like it's going to spread through your chest, and it's just going to be something beautiful and warm, and some kind of holiness in your own heart.

So, when I say go, take your breath, and then just enjoy the light. The light is touching other people. It's lighting up other people, and it is something beautiful that you've done, even just in your imagination, because that's where everything starts, is in your imagination.

[Speaker 2]
Okay, go. Okay, that's really nice.

[Speaker 1]
Then, actually, you should sit and enjoy it for a while, but I have to get to the Indian restaurant, so it's important to dedicate the goodness of your daily practice. You made a really good karma. By the way, you can relax now, okay?

[Speaker 2]
It's important. The final thing is to dedicate it.

[Speaker 1]
Take a moment. It's considered bad luck or inauspicious to leave your Lama. Remember you invited your Lama there?

It's considered bad luck to just jump up and leave him there stranded. So, you sincerely ask them to come and stay with you in your heart, and they start to come up off the ground, and they come to the top of your head, and when they get there, they're about three inches high, and then they start to shrink more, and they melt down into the top of your head, and they come straight down along your spine into your heart. Imagine a little chamber there, and it's full of this nice, beautiful, golden light, and there's a huge flower there, and they're sitting on the flower.

[Speaker 2]
And do that now, okay? It's very important to think that they're very, very happy, very pleased.

[Speaker 1]
You just spent one of the best hours of your life, and they're very, very happy. Like in your mind, you're asking, please, can you hang out in my heart the whole day today? And they're like, oh, I was already intending to.

And they're very happy to be there, and they know what you want, and they're very pleased with you. So imagine that.

[Speaker 2]
When you have a bad moment at work or something, you can go run away into your heart and sit with them for a while. Then you dedicate it. You've collected a lot of good karma.

[Speaker 1]
You should dedicate it to something important. And in this case, remember we started out, we were thinking about Buddhas who can read people's minds and know their future, and they know the best way to help them. So dedicate it to the goal that you could become like that.

Take this virtue, wrap it up, and ship it like FedEx to your future enlightenment, okay? Purposely and consciously dedicate it to the ability to read people's minds and help them because you can see their future.

[Speaker 2]
And then we'll do a short dedication.

[Speaker 1]
We'll do a prayer.