9

!"#$%&'(() +$,-,%$, .(%/(,%0 1,22 3456

'(() 3
7,8 90 ,-: ; +(<%(-=(/

We now move onto the seconu cycle, which involves Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State. Theie is nothing
specifically Buuuhist about it. It has been founu to be paiticulaily helpful foi mental health, emotional balance,
unueistanuing the natuie of the minu anu uistinguishing awaieness fiom the activities of the minu. It is on the
boiueiline between Shamatha anu vipassana.

So, in this moining's piactice, we'll stait with Ninufulness of Bieathing anu then shift to taking the space of the
minu, anu whatevei mental events iise within it, as the object.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+,

Nouein science launcheu itself in paiallel with astionomy. If the science of the minu hau been launcheu in paiallel
with astionomy, it woulu have involveu what we uiu last week, wheie the focus was on ueveloping stability anu
viviuness. Bowevei, that is not what happeneu. It is as if foi the last 1uu-1Su yeais, scientists have avoiueu looking
into the science of the minu.

0p until this week, we tiieu to maintain a peiipheial awaieness of the bouy, anu the bieath within the bouy.
We will now tiy to maintain a peiipheial awaieness of what is coming up in the minu - thoughts, images, memoiies,
etc - as we go about oui activities uuiing the uay, without slipping into iumination. Nay all youi thoughts be luciu!

7,8 90 <-

Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State uoes not mean its habitual state. Its habitual state is configuieu by, oi lockeu
into, genuei, ethnic anu cultuial backgiounu, etc. In this piactice, the configuieu minu (the psyche) melts back into,
oi uissolves into, the unconfiguieu substiate consciousness, fiom which it aiose. But it's not a one-way tiip,
tempting though this may be.

When uoing this piactice, at times no thoughts, images, memoiies, etc appeai in the mental uomain, anu you might
think theie is nothing to focus on. But when this happens, the object to attenu to is the space of the minu, but it is
moie uifficult to iuentify than the bouy.

The minu uoes not equal the biain. Theie is no empiiical eviuence to suppoit the minu being locateu within the
biain. So, wheie is the minu. The answei is: wheievei mental events occui. Wheie aie the sounus that we heai.
When you uiiect youi attention to wheie the sounu is coming fiom, the size of the auuitoiy uomain changes
uepenuing on wheie the sounu occuis, whethei it is just next to you oi fai away. Likewise with the minu, the space
of the mental uomain is wheievei the mental events aie occuiiing, whethei it be visualising something in the bouy,
outsiue the bouy, oi fai out in space.

As we uo this piactice, we will spiial in on the minu. You will iuentify wheie to focus simply by being selective with
youi attention. Belibeiately giving youi full attention to the mental uomain means that you will not be focusing on
the five sensoiy uomains.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+ ,

In the Buuuhist tiauition, theie aie many methous to achieve Shamatha. All these methous aie uesigneu to leau to
the uissolution of the coaise minu. Achieving Shamatha piepaies you foi geaiing up to engage in othei meuitation
piactices, foi example, achieving Shamatha by focusing on a mental image is veiy goou piepaiation foi vajiayana
piactices which involve veiy esoteiic anu elaboiate visualisation. Bowevei, in Nahamuuia anu Bzogchen, you
penetiate to the substiate consciousness anu afteiwaius to piimoiuial consciousness, anu in both Nahamuuia anu
Bzogchen, the methou of Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State is the methou most stiongly emphasiseu.

It's inteiesting to think about looking into a telescope anu seeing images, foi example, colouiful sun spots. None aie
out theie. They aie all occuiiing in the space of youi minu.
_____________________________________________________

To auuiess a question on kaima following the teachings in oui pievious session .
We accumulate fiesh kaima whenevei we voluntaiily act, whethei that act is wholesome oi unwholesome.
1u
The stiength of kaima occuis on a spectium uepenuing on the mental state of the initiatoi of the act, fiom the
weakest extieme to the stiongest extieme. Foi example, this spectium can iange fiom a peison with a seiious
mental illness, to someone who is neuiotic, to someone who is uiunk thiough to someone who is mentally noimal
anu coheient, iight thiough to someone who is fully iealiseu with a mentally stable, viviu minu. At the weakest enu,
people uo not have noimal contiol ovei theii minus anu hence will not accumulate the same amount of kaima foi
committing the same action as those with moie contiol. Anu this applies foi bettei anu foi woise, foi both positive
anu negative actions.

The same applies to someone who has a non-luciu uieam. This peison is ignoiant anu uelusional when uieaming
anu theiefoie woulu not accumulate the same stiength of kaima foi the same action as someone who was awake
anu luciu. The kaimic path involves iecognition of the potential to act ! the motivation behinu the act ! the actual
enactment of the act !anu the fulfillment oi outcome. In the case of the non-luciu uieam, theie is no fulfillment as
theie aie no ieal sentient beings in the uieamscape. Foi example, in a uieam, giving a thiisty peison a glass of watei
uoes not iesult in the sentient being's enjoyment of theii thiist being quencheu.

The ongoing accumulation of kaima uoes not become incieasingly oveiwhelming ovei time because viituous acts
negate non-viituous acts anu vice-veisa. Theieby, some kaima is 'cancelleu' oi useu up. Aie we pieuestineu to
expeiience eveiy piece of kaima we have accumulateu. The answei is 'No'. Wheie theie is iemoise ovei acts
committeu anu a iesolve not to ieplicate them, the kaima can be negateu. It's unwise to wallow in iemoise anu guilt.
It's bettei to 'wise up anu move on'.

________________________

To ietuin to cultivating ultimate anu ielative bouhicitta.
The fiist line in the text is: "-+.% /()0#1#(2 #/ ).3#%4%$5 1%( (3% '2/(%62 0% 6%4%)1%$".
The 'mysteiy' is the natuie of the minu. It is iight theie, but most of us can't see it. But expeiiencing the tiue natuie
of the minu is not a mysteiy foi eveiybouy! Nost of us can't see it because we have not uevelopeu the methous to
uiscovei it.
What is the natuie of mental events. This iemains a mysteiy simply because we aie still looking foi the answei
using the methous of behaviouial psychology anu the stuuy of biain function.

Stability has two aspects that complement each othei:
(i) Stability of motivation. Theie aie uiffeient ways of viewing ieality that influence the choice of how to set one's
piioiities. Puisuing heuonic well-being is not going to iesult in genuine happiness. Bowevei, it is a stepping-stone to
getting theie in teims of acquiiing foou, clothing, sheltei, euucation, health, etc. Stability is not iueological. It's not
about leaining the cieeu oi having a suitcase full of beliefs. It's about the values anu moiality that unueipin
eveiything in life. It's not saying "I'm busy iight now. I'll get back to Bhaima latei when I have moie time." It is
about ueveloping insight that is so ueep, wheie youi commitment becomes fiim anu stable. It's a poweiful,
iiieveisible iesolve foi libeiation.
(ii) Stability of attention wheie you make youi minu seiviceable. We have a gieat expeuition to embaik on to finu
out who we aie anu what is the natuie of the minu. Tibetans hau not maue much piogiess in exteinal mateiial
technologies foi many centuiies, but they hau ceitainly maue gieat auvances in teims of inteinal non-mateiial
technologies foi unueistanuing the natuie of the minu.

You neeu both aspects of stability if you aie to fathom the mysteiy - the natuie of the minu. Anu it is astonishing
that it has been oveilookeu in the last 1uu-1Su yeais of westein science.

__________________________________________

To auuiess a question on why aie Westein stuuents not achieving Shamatha .
It's eithei not taught, oi it's taught incoiiectly, oi theie is a lack of sustaineu tiaining in a conuucive enviionment.
Shamatha is an effect. It comes as a iesult of piactice. Shamatha useu to be the coie of all Buuuhist meuitation, but
foi some stiange ieason it is iaiely taught now, uespite all the gieat Buuuhist auepts saying how impoitant it is as a
founuation foi othei piactices. Theie aie not many teacheis of Shamatha in the woilu. Bis Boliness the Balai Lama
has saiu in many places on his tiips aiounu the woilu that we aie neglecting Shamatha. Be is cuiiently funuing the
uevelopment of a centie in Bangaloie in Inuia, which will focus on Shamatha anu vipassana. Anu he says that
people have the same chance to achieve Shamatha now as they uiu 1uuu yeais ago.

Theie is hope foi the teaching of Shamatha in the futuie with a netwoik of potential contemplative obseivatoiies
staiting to foim in Bangaloie, Santa Baibaia, Biazil, Nexico, Austialia, Scotlanu anu Thailanu.

11
Tonight when you go to beu .
Foi those who take some time to get to sleep, lie in the supine position anu piactice Ninufulness of Bieathing. When
you stait to lose claiity, ioll ovei anu fall asleep.
Foi those who fall asleep easily, tiy to piactice Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State. That way, you might fall asleep
consciously, fall into the substiate consciousness, then into a luciu uieam.

7,8 >0 ,-: 54 +(<%(-=(/

Nost of us suffei fiom obsessive, compulsive uelusional uisoiuei. 0ui minus aie obsessive because the iumination
we engage in is involuntaiy. If we aie offeieu the chance of ieceiving $1u, uuu if we have no thoughts foi 6u seconus,
uespite the incentive, we can't achieve that. The thoughts aie theiefoie obsessive. When a thought appeais, we latch
onto the iefeient of that thought anu get caiiieu away. It sucks you in. Shamatha is uesigneu to cut the obsessive
natuie of these thoughts as soon as they appeai by ieleasing, ieleasing, ieleasing all the obsessive mental junk foou
that aiises. They aie also uelusional because we believe that what we have thought about is tiue: howevei, a
thought nevei captuies the whole pictuie. Foi example, we might think: that peison is a selfish peison, as if that's
the whole tiuth anu nothing but the tiuth that captuies eveiything about the peison.

In Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State, we allow these obsessive, compulsive uelusional thoughts to flow
unimpeueu, that is, without euiting, censoiship oi piefeience. We also have no piefeience foi silence ovei thoughts.
Without giasping, analysing anu getting caiiieu away with thoughts, we move fiom the habit of non-luciuity to the
habit of luciuity. We iecognise thoughts, not as 'I' oi 'mine', but iathei as empty events, having no powei (they can't
haim oi benefit you) anu we simply ielease them. They get powei only when we iuentify with them anu ieify them.

So the stiategy is thieefolu:
(i) Become 1uu% luciu of whatevei aiises in the minu. 0bseive the thoughts, iecognise them, uon't giasp onto
them, anu let them uissolve into the space of the minu. Allow the coaise minu to untangle itself, then
become luciu thiough all the layeis of the psyche, all the way uown to the substiate.
(ii) When you have achieveu luciuity with iespect to thoughts aiising in the space of the minu, become luciu in
the uieam state, so that you can consciously change anything in the uieam that you wish.
(iii) Then uo this in the waking state. 0nce you have achieveu ultimate bouhicitta, you can shape youi minu as
you wish, anu then achieve ielative bouhicitta. You will see that even the waking state is malleable, as
nothing exists fiom its own siue, anu one can iealise the empty natuie of all phenomena. Then you aie
ieauy foi Bzogchen, wheie you uiscovei the natuie of awaieness is buuuha-minu. Achieving this outshines
any othei viitue - so wake up! Then let all youi othei viitues spill out.

In youi uaily piactice, if you have alieauy establisheu a Shamatha methou that suits you, continue to uevelop that
methou, but also tiy, oi tiy again, Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State so you can uevelop some competence with
this also.

7,8 >0 <-

In Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State, the nucleus of the piactice is a sense that the awaieness is iesting in its own
place, not giasping, just illuminating. 0ne is simply being awaie in stillness anu also simply watching the events
aiising anu falling away in the space of the minu but without giasping. Wheie theie is giasping, theie is movement.
The natuie of awaieness is knowing.
In this piactice, we'ie not uoing moie, we'ie uoing less! So fiom being awaie, we auu on Ninufulness of Bieathing to
achieve stability of attention anu by that means, uo less by setting the iestlessness in the bouy anu the gioss
uiscuisiveness of the minu. Fiom theie, we move to focusing on just the space of the minu, then stiip uown even
fuithei to awaieness of awaieness. It's a piocess of subtiaction, not auuition.

We'ie awaie of awaieness, then something slips, that is, we stait to iuminate. So we shift fiom being awaie to not
being awaie. It catches you unawaie, anu then you catch youiself fiom being caiiieu away fuithei.

Samsaia has no beginning, but it uoes have an enu. So the fiist link to set the sequence in motion in the cycle of
existence is a state of 'not iigpa' oi 'non awaieness'. In science, theie aie things that aie not known, but aie
knowable. Anu theie aie things that aie not knowable piioi to intiouucing a system of measuiement to measuie
them - theii state piioi to measuiement is uefineu as being 'unknowable in piinciple'.

So, one minute you aie iesting in iigpa, anu the next you aie not. When aie you awaie of a thought wanueiing off.
You can't say, because if you knew the answei, youi minu woulu not have wanueieu off. The continuity of
awaieness was bioken, so it was not knowable (not knowable in piinciple). This is like a miciocosm of Samsaia.
12
At the minicosm level, in a non-luciu uieam, when uiu the uieam begin. If you knew, it woulu be a luciu uieam. In a
non-luciu uieam, the beginning is not knowable in piinciple.
Then at the maciocosm level, when uiu Samsaia begin. If we weie awaie of when it began, then it woulun't begin.
But then it woulu be iigpa, not minu. If you knew, then it woulu not be Samsaia.
So if ietuining to Samsaia as a bouhisattva, you ietuin not uue to a lack of knowleuge about a way out, but because
you have alieauy achieveu iigpa. You ietuin uue to youi compassion to awaken otheis.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+ ,

If you achieve Shamatha in this life, then theie is only a slim chance that you will lose it in the next life, unless you
aie exposeu to biain uamage oi some othei majoi mishap.
Shamatha can help you to expeiience the substiate consciousness in life. This expeiience places you in a goou
position to uie consciously, knowingly. If you move thiough the uying piocess luciuly, you will piobably move
thiough the baiuo luciuly, which means you can make wise choices when it comes to the next life. You may also be
boin luciuly anu theiefoie take Shamatha with you into the next life. At the veiy least, it will be easiei when you 'get
back in the sauule', that is, when you pick up a Shamatha piactice again in the next life.

The impoitance of meta-cognition foi mental health, balance anu flouiishing is well known. Psychiatiist Baviu ualin
states: "It is moie uamaging to a peison's integiation to be out of touch with the uimensions of 'peisonal' ieality
thiough loss of self-monitoiing than to be out of touch with the exteinals thiough sensoiy loss oi paialysis". Anu
William }ames says ".the faculty of voluntaiily biinging back a wanueiing attention, ovei anu ovei again, is the veiy
ioot of juugment, chaiactei anu will. An euucation which shoulu impiove this faculty woulu be (3% euucation 7)6
%8.%11%+.%.". Be stateu that he uiu not know what type of euucation this woulu be but, in Euiocentiic cultuie, he
was aheau of his time in iecognising its neeu.

Consciousness is cential to Buuuhism. If, as in the westein scientific tiauition, you aie only stuuying behavioi anu
the biain, you will be the last to know, because you'll be looking in the wiong place. Consciousness can be stuuieu
scientifically, foi example, theie have been stuuies uone on past life iecall anu 'post ueath expeiiences' (which is a
moie appiopiiate teim than 'neai ueath' expeiiences).

0ne authoi who wiote on all the majoi uiscoveiies ovei the last Suuu yeais stateu that he believeu the biggest
obstacle to uiscoveiy is not ignoiance. It's the illusion of knowleuge. You think you know, but you uon't, anu
theiefoie you stop looking. The westein scientific tiauition is cloakeu in this. Acauemics know theie aie coiielates
between the biain anu the minu but, although they uon't know the natuie of those coiielates, they uon't boiiow the
iigoious anu ieplicable fiist-peison methouology fiom the eastein tiauitions to finu out.

The Bhammapaua: "All phenomena aie pieceueu by the minu, issue foith fiom the minu, anu consist of the minu".
'The minu' heie iefeis to the substiate consciousness, which pieceues the configuieu minu we enu up with.
Ratnameghasutia: "All phenomena aie pieceueu by the minu. When the minu is compiehenueu, all phenomena aie
compiehenueu. by biinging the minu unuei contiol, all things aie biought unuei contiol."
The Buuuhists anu the Nateiialists have quite uiffeient peispectives on this anu both can't be iight. 0ne has to be
wiong!

7,8 ;0 ,-: 55 +(<%(-=(/

We'll pieface the piactice this moining by going back to the thiiu thought that tuins the minu - the ieality of
suffeiing. If we ask about the ieality of suffeiing anu the causes of suffeiing, why is this suffeiing necessaiy. What is
at its coie.

The ueepest uimension of suffeiing aiises uiiectly because of oui ielationship with oui bouy anu minu. We aie
continually cieating anu ie-cieating ouiselves fiom lifetime to lifetime. We aie closely holuing onto oui bouy anu
minu with the iuentification of 'I' anu 'mine', which actually is not 'I' anu 'mine'. None of the constituents of my bouy
oi psyche aie 'me'. They aie not eai-maikeu as belonging to me, hence one can swap any numbei of bouy paits with
otheis. It's all just maue up of cells.
The same is tiue of the minu. Theie is nothing that makes thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. inheiently 'mine'. It is
the iuentification with 'I' anu 'mine' that makes us vulneiable to suffeiing.

What's the alteinative. The answei: Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State. Shamatha involves a piocess of
withuiawal fiom 'my bouy' anu 'my minu'. Bowevei, having achieveu Shamatha, if you ietuin to the phenomenal
woilu, the same olu habitual behaviouis will aiise because no iiieveisible tiansfoimation has yet occuiieu.

1S
So in the piactice this moining, we'll attenu to the bouy while maintaining a spacious awaieness, tiying not to
closely holu onto 'my bouy'. Then we will uo the same thing foi the minu, tiying not to giasp onto memoiies,
feelings, emotions, etc.

Feelings anu emotions come up because we impose a subjective inteipietation oi feeling on an objective
appeaiance. Foi example, we can think: "I like Suzie's ieu shiit. It's attiactive. It's my favouiite coloui. It's pietty,
etc". The fact that someone else uoesn't like Suzie's ieu shiit, anu uoesn't finu it attiactive oi pietty, inuicates that
these feelings aie not inheient chaiacteiistics of the shiit. They aie simply subjective peiceptions of the beholuei.
We cognitively fuse the feeling oi emotion with the object.

So in this piactice, it's not about uissociation fiom oui thoughts anu feelings. It's about not giasping anu insteau
ieleasing, being totally piesent - just obseiving thoughts anu feelings as they aiise anu then letting them go.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+ ,

Buiing the uay, keep youi awaieness spacious, wiue anu open, as well as veiy luminous in teims of asceitaining
what aiises in the minu.

7,8 ;0 <-

Nany people aie feeling a bit uisoiienteu with the piactice of Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State. It is not as
giounueu as the Ninufulness of Bieathing methous anu theie is no soliuity to it. So, how uo you get moie familiai
with it. Theie aie two images that might be helpful:

(i) Think of a falcon hoveiing in miu aii, iemaining ielatively stationeiy, just obseiving the space below anu
iesponuing to the cuiients of the winu. It may appeai that the falcon is motionless in the sky but it is
actually constantly making veiy fine aujustments so that oveiall it iemains still in space Like the falcon, we
neeu to be so sensitive in the piesent moment, so that if a memoiy comes up, we uon't uiift back; oi
thinking of the futuie, uoesn't uiaw us foiwaiu. But we neeu to be ieally loose, ielaxeu, without giasping.
uiasping will uiaw you to the futuie oi back into the past.
(ii) Think of youi uieam vacation on a tiopical islanu - cleai watei, sun shining, not too hot. You ueciue to take
an aii mattiess out beyonu the wave bieak to wheie theie is just a gentle swell. You lie theie, at ease,
ielaxeu, not sleepy, totally within youi bouy, just gently awaie of the constant iise anu fall of the ocean
swell. Aftei half an houi you take youi face-mask anu snoikel, ioll ovei on the aii mattiess, anu poke youi
heau uown into the watei. You aie bieathing noimally thiough the snoikel, but most of youi bouy is on the
aii mattiess anu you aie enjoying the view of life beneath the suiface - watching things come anu go. So you
aie mostly still awaie of being gently iockeu up anu uown by the ocean swell but also awaie of the sights
coming anu going below the ocean suiface. Aftei a while, you ueciue to slip off so you can float on the
suiface still watching the view below, but with one hanu still on the aii mattiess. Then latei, iealising that
you can float easily in salt watei, you ueciue to take youi hanu off the aii mattiess anu continue watching
the events unuei the suiface, obseiving the uepths below anu the sea cieatuies as they come anu go. This is
a goou analogy foi uemonstiating the smooth tiansition fiom Ninufulness of Bieathing to Settling the Ninu
in its Natuial State. If you keep getting uiaggeu away with thoughts, images, feelings, etc, (in Settling the
Ninu in its Natuial State), just get back on the aii mattiess (with Ninufulness of Bieathing). Then when
you'ie ieauy, make the tiansition again. This image gives you a sense of the moou oi ambience when
making the tiansition.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+ ,

Retuining to the text .
We now focus on making the tiansition fiom achieving stability to ultimate bouhicitta. If you aie immeiseu in
Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State foi 12 houis a uay foi a yeai oi longei, anu in between sessions maintaining a
peiipheial awaieness, what is it like aftei 1u,uuu houis of piactice. What happens. When you aie ueeply satuiateu
while you aie immeiseu in Samauhi with whatevei comes up in the space of the minu, you know uiiectly (not just as
an intellectual concept) that nothing can haim you. It's like being thoioughly luciu in a uieam. You know that all
objective anu subjective appeaiances aie empty. Because you know this, you aie feailess. So aftei 1u,uuu houis,
you become luciu with iespect to the minu anu its contents. It's tiue fieeuom. What's it like when you get off the
cushion. In between sessions witnessing the woilu aiounu you, you see all appeaiances as empty, all in the natuie
of uepenuently ielateu events. Youi way of expeiiencing appeaiances is veiy uiffeient.

14
What is ieal. It's uiiectly ielateu to what we attenu to. What we uon't attenu to slips out of oui categoiy of ieality
into non-existence. Those things uon't mattei. So when you uevelop a stiong habit of attenuing to the space of the
minu in ietieat, this habit caiiies ovei into the time between sessions.

So, if we ietuin to Suzie's ieu shiit. The ieu coloui is not out theie objectively. Coloui aiises ielative to oui visual
peiception. So wheie is the ieu coloui. The answei: In the space of the minu. The same applies to sounu, smell,
taste, etc.

Steven le Beige (.) states: "Waking expeiience is uieam expeiience, with some physical constiaints" anu "Bieam
expeiience is waking expeiience without physical constiaints".
In the waking state, you can see that uonzales has a giey shiit. You like the shiit but you woulu piefei it was gieen.
Bowevei, given the physical constiaints, you can't change it. In a luciu uieam, if you saw uonzales anu you wanteu
to change his shiit coloui, you coulu, as theie aie no physical constiaints when uieaming luciuly. In fact, you coulu
change anything you wish.

So in examining the line "9%:)6$ )11 73%+*'%+) )/ #; (3%2 <%6% $6%)'/", aftei having uone 1u,uuu houis of Shamatha,
you will iegaiu all phenomena as uieams. You will see nothing but appeaiances to the minu. The appeaiances out
theie have lost theii cieuibility. Youi waking ieality is a lot less substantial.

In some systems of Buuuhism, this methou of enquiiy staits with youiself. Am I ieally heie. Was I heie piioi to, oi
inuepenuent of, my oi anyone else's conceptual uesignation. No. In this othei appioach, you continue by applying
the same question to othei objects anu you see that they aie not anymoie 'out theie' objectively than they aie in a
uieam. They aie iight wheie they aie - in the space of the minu.

So, as you aie walking aiounu the Retieat Centie, just be piesent, fiee of giasping. Anu imagine you aie still. It's a
bit like sitting in an iNax cinema watching an action movie. You aie sitting still, yet the images may suggest that you
aie on a iollei-coastei. But actually, you'ie not moving. It's just a bunch of appeaiances that aie empty. This is just
the stait to viewing appeaiances as uieams.

You can kill a peison in the uieam state anu you can also kill a peison in the waking state, the lattei having much
moie seiious consequences, but in the space of the minu, neithei was moie ieal than the othei.

What's out theie when we aie not looking.
What's out theie befoie you take a measuiement.
We'll look at these questions tomoiiow.

___________________________________________

In iesponse to a question.
All the buuuhas aie expiessions of youi own awaieness, none of them aie 'out theie' objectively to bless you oi to
cuise you. Bon't think of them out theie uoing things to you. All these buuuhas who have continueu to appeai ovei
the centuiies aie all emanations of one's giounu awaieness, iigpa oi piistine awaieness. The uiffeience between
buuuhas anu sentient beings is buuuhas know who they aie (iigpa) anu sentient beings uon't. As long as you
continue to ieify 'I' anu 'mine', you will iemain in Samsaia, so you will be pione to suffeiing anu you will suffei
because you fail to iecognise who you ieally aie.

7,8 540 ,-: 53 +(<%(-=(/

Touay we will examine the theme of obseivei-paiticipant. 0bviously we aie watching oui thoughts, images,
memoiies, etc as they aiise while we maintain an on-going flow of awaieness. It's an integiateu system. The
awaieness is entangleu with what we aie obseiving.

When you get caught up in iumination, youi attention is on the iefeient of the thought. You aie not awaie that you
aie thinking of the thought. You only iealise this afteiwaius. But as soon as you focus on the thought itself, it
uisappeais.

So, some thoughts anu images come in ieal-time, otheis happen only aftei we have become awaie of them.
When a thought comes up, we can simultaneously focus on:
(i) the appeaiance of the thought (its coming, uwelling anu uisappeaiing), anu
(ii) the image of it (its content).
We peiceive the appeaiance anu the image of the thought in ieal-time.
1S

We ceitainly can obseive thoughts anu images in the uieam state. But it's not only objective appeaiances. They can
also be subjective impulses. When you think of a thought, anu a uesiie oi an aveision aiises in ielation to that
thought, it has a iefeient. When you iealise that it was a uesiieaveision anu you become awaie of that
uesiieaveision, this is actually uone ietiospectively. They uiu not happen simultaneously, as the iecognition of the
iesponse of uesiieaveision is uone with hinusight.

We aie seeking to maintain a constant flow of awaieness on the space of the minu. If you aie getting caught up in
iumination oi you aie becoming spaceu out, you can uelibeiately geneiate an image, a uiscuisive thought oi even a
subjective impulse (e.g. a uesiie). Let it come up anu then obseive it, watch the impact of youi obseivation, anu see
what happens.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+ ,

In iesponse to a question about getting confuseu between events in the sensoiy uomains anu events in the mental
uomain .
Each of the five physical senses has its own unique anu non-oveilapping peiception. In auuition, we have a sixth
uomain, mental consciousness.
In this piactice of Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State, we aie tiying to get the minu to stabilise in the mental
uomain. We aie not conceineu with the five sensoiy uomains. If you aie uistiacteu by things coming up in the
sensoiy uomains, just come back to the mental uomain anu focus on what is aiising iight now in the piesent
moment in the space of the minu.

So, uistiactions can compiise a iefeient of a thought that caiiies us away, oi they can be events that aiise in the five
sensoiy uomains. In this piactice, we aie selecting to focus on one whole uomain - the mental uomain. But this
uoesn't necessaiily mean a naiiow focus. It can be expansive also, foi example, if we aie focusing on loving
kinuness anu compassion foi all sentient beings.

In iesponse to a question about wheie is the line between obseiving a thought anu getting caught up with the
iefeient of a thought.
Alan useu the example of his mothei. Be can take an image of his mothei, which he attenus to in ieal-time in the
space of the minu. Then he can slip into loving kinuness foi his mothei anu attenu to hei caie of, anu kinuness
towaius, him ovei 6S yeais. The foimei is attenuing to his mothei in ieal-time; the lattei is attenuing to the image
of his mothei caiing foi him, which is baseu on memoiies, emotions, feelings, etc, that is, the iefeient. Theie is a
shaip line between the two.

Awaieness uoesn't move. It is still. But as soon as you get caught up with the iefeient of a thought, youi minu
moves. So, you neeu to sustain the flow of awaieness, not giasping but insteau maintaining a cleai flow of
cognisance oi claiity. This is uifficult simply because we aie useu to filling oui minus with giasping anu aveision
anu both of these focus oui attention. But the cultivation of non-giasping uoesn't mean cultivating a state wheie
you aie spaceu out, like in a stupoi. This is a bau excuse foi meuitation. The skill is to be veiy focuseu on the space of
the minu anu its contents but without giasping.

So, in the next session, we will be moving to the next stage, when you might see no contents in the space of the minu.
It's easy in this situation to become spaceu out. We neeu to be able to sustain the flow of cognition - knowing the
space of the minu anu its qualities - anu uoing so with claiity. It can be asceitaineu when it has no competition, that
is, when thoughts, images anu memoiies have subsiueu.

7,8 540 <-:

The object of minufulness in Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State is the space of the minu anu the mental events
aiising within it. So when nothing is aiising in it, you still have the space of the minu as the object. Theie is still
something to know. You aie sustaining "a flow of knowing".

The minu anu its contents can be likeneu to a theatie wheie the actois that aiiive, play theii iole then exit the stage.
0ui focus to uate has been on the foimei, the actois. This session, we aie going to shift oui emphasis to the space of
the minu, the stage. When we cannot uiscein anything uisciete coming up, we aie going to lingei theie, that is, in
the inteivals between the thoughts. What is the space of the minu. What aie its qualities. Is it nothing oi is it
something with chaiacteiistics.

16
In 2uuS, the Bubble telescope with its ultia-ueep space piobe, founu a tiny poition of the night sky that seemeu to
be empty oi uaik. The telescope took the equivalent of a one million seconu exposuie of that uaik aiea (this took a
sustaineu peiiou of actual obseivation as veiy few photons weie being emitteu by this uaik aiea), compileu the
uata, anu founu 1u,uuu galaxies. This expanus oui concept of what can be founu in appaiently empty places!

So what about when we exploie the space of the minu. If we can't obseive anything coming up, is it empty. Like the
Bubble telescope, theie is value in gazing foi a sustaineu peiiou. Seemingly empty peiious of thoughts may be as
vast as physical space.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+ ,

When we aie obseiving the space of the minu anu oui awaieness is still, sometimes thoughts oi images will shoot
up like fiiewoiks then uissolve back into the space of the minu. They have viitually no impact. They aie ianuom anu
uon't set up a chain of thoughts. They simply uissolve. They aie what aie calleu 'viitual thoughts'. So, theie aie
thoughts like these that seem to come up fiom nowheie anu otheis that aie moie substantial, the lattei caiiying a
heaviei kaima.

=9%:)6$ )11 73%+*'%+) )/ #; (3%2 <%6% $6%)'/>?
In Tibetan geshe tiaining, as with kaima, this line is also the subject of foui yeais of stuuy.
Netaphysical iealists believe the whole task of unueistanuing the woilu 'out theie' is to investigate objects that aie
alieauy theie. The chief pioponents of this view have been Chiistian, baseu on the belief that uou cieateu the woilu
in six uays oi uou cieateu the woilu by evolution ovei a longei peiiou. Eithei way, theii view is funuamentally
physical as eveiything alieauy objectively exists mateiially anu all that iemains is to uiscovei its uetail anu
piopeities. They also have an anthiopometiic view of ieality, so what we aie seeing, heaiing, tasting, smelling,
touching is human-centeieu. Yet they have nevei faceu the question as to wheie consciousness comes fiom. A
neuioscientist acquaintance of Alan's iecently saiu: "When we'ie in the lab, we uon't use the 'c' woiu."

This is the antithesis of Buuuhists' thinking, who hau, anu still have, a uiffeient fiame of iefeience. Eveiything in
physical space is not objective 'out theie' inuepenuent of one's fiame of iefeience.

So how uo you go beyonu appeaiances to what is ieally theie. The metaphysical iealists position is that "A clock-
makei has to fiist unueistanu the clock." - that ieality is like a machine that will be fully unueistoou if its
constituent paits aie known with sufficient uetail. Bowevei, when examining physical mattei, iight uown to the
tiniest paiticles, when you piobe inuepenuently of conceptual uesignation, you come up with a 'non-finuing'. In
othei woius, they aie empty of inheient existence, inuepenuent of conceptual uesignation. This conclusion is the
iesult of auequate investigation uone so caiefully that weie something to exist, they woulu uefinitely have founu it.

Alan useu the example of asking the question, 'is theie an elephant in the ioom' - it is possible to uefinitely know
that theie is no elephant in the ioom. 0n the othei hanu, sometimes we cannot auequately investigate whethei
something exits oi not, to make an infoimeu juugment, as we uo not have the appiopiiate means of investigation.
Alan gave the example of using physical measuiements to ueteimine the existence oi non-existence of ghosts. }ust
because you can't measuie them physically uoesn't mean they uon't exist. Naking such a conclusion woulu be
iiiational.

In a uieam, the appeaiances have no physical attiibutes. 0ne physicist who was also a luciu uieamei uiscoveieu
that the Laws of Physics uo not holu in uieams. Why. Because theie is nothing physical in uieams.
But in fact, all appeaiances, whethei in the uieam state oi the waking state, aie non-physical. All the visual
appeaiances, sounus you heai, smells, tastes, colouis, etc. aie compiiseu of infoimation that is not physical - they
have no space, time, mass oi eneigy. Yet baseu on the common scientific mateiialist peispective, we think the entiie
univeise 'out theie' is physical.

What's ieally out theie inuepenuent of oui systems of measuiement. What was theie befoie measuiement. What
was out theie yieluing the infoimation piioi to, oi inuepenuent of, oui obseivation anu measuiement. It's
unknowable in piinciple. It's a black box because the causal ielationship (effect comes fiom cause - "wheie theie's
smoke, theie's fiie" because we have unfailingly obseiveu that smoke only comes fiom combustion) cannot be
obseiveu. Anu the entiie univeise is a black box! Suie, you can come up with a iange of possibilities oi
piobabilities. But be caieful not to ieify them, otheiwise you'll make the same mistake all ovei again. But likewise,
you have to be caieful not ieify emptiness too.

Fiom infoimation, which is not physical, scientists cieate physical constiucts anu labels (space, mattei, time,
eneigy) anu piesent these to the woilu as tiuths. But these aie conceptually uesignateu anu uo not exist
17
inuepenuent of the minus that conceiveu them! So the whole univeise is baseu on this - 'its foi bits" - conceptual
uesignation (its) baseu on pieces of infoimation (bits). They aie not looking at natuie itself, but at natuie ielative to
theii moue of inquiiy. So infoimation gives iise to physical constiucts, which in tuin give iise to infoimation, anu so
on - a self-peipetuating loop.

Theie aie thiee paities in this piocess: those being infoimeu, the infoimation, anu the thing which the infoimation
is about. If you take out one paity, the othei two vanish. This implies that they have to be empty of inheient natuie.

All knowleuge about the past is baseu on systems of measuiement that come out of the piesent. So, in contiast to
the metaphysical iealists' peispective, this alteinative peispective infeis that theie aie multiple possibilities to
explain the histoiy of the univeise. Each possibility uepenus on the conceptual fiamewoik you staiteu with, the
questions you poseu, the moue of obseivation you useu anu the system of measuiement you chose. So knowleuge is
ielative to the obseivei's activities, even if the measuiements aie 1uu% accuiate. So theie is no one tiue stoiy. We
aie each in the centie of oui own manuala. If you shift youi minu, you can shift youi ieality anu youi whole woilu of
expeiience. It's moie than simply changing youi attituue.

7,8 550 ,-: 56 +(<%(-=(/

We have been focusing on the simultaneity of the stillness of the space of the minu anu the movement of thoughts,
images, memoiies, etc within it. But theie is anothei simultaneity, that of the stillness of awaieness anu the
movements in the space of the minu.

When we want to check oui piogiess, theie aie foui sequential moues of minufulness that aie helpful to unueistanu
the evolving piocess:
(i) Single-pointeu minufulness (on the stillness of the space of the minu anu the mental events that aiise within
it, anu the stillness of the awaieness anu the movements in the space of the minu). 0ne achieves this by
being veiy attentive anu by ieleasing all giasping, iemaining still anu piesent. The methou uoesn't change.
With piogiess, one just becomes moie ielaxeu, stable, still anu cleai.
(ii) Nanifest minufulness. 0nce achieveu, single-pointeu minufulness is iepeatable with little effoit, slipping
into a flow of minufulness, iesting in one's own stillness. If thoughts, images, memoiies, etc come up, one
uoesn't iuentify with them. 0ne is fiee of coaise excitation anu uullness (equivalent to about Stage 4 on the
path). 0ne simply continues with the piactice. It's happening to you, iathei than you uoing something to it.
(iii) Absence of minufulness. 0ne achieves this when one's senses have imploueu (so you aie no longei awaie
uuiing meuitation of events in the othei sensoiy uomains - Stages 7, 8, 9). 0ne has a sense of being
uisembouieu, like in a luciu uieamless sleep. The movements within the space of the minu aie giauually
subsiuing. Eventually theie is a total calming of the movements in the space of the minu, so theie aie no
longei any mental events. These weie ueiivatives of youi coaise minu anu that has uissolveu. So one is
awaie of the sheei vacuity of the minu, which has with it no iecollective cognisance. Bowevei, one's mental
state is still biight.
(iv) Self-illuminating minufulness. As one focuses single-pointeuly on the space of the minu, eveiything else
faues out, so theie is a SB vacuity. But now one inveits one's awaieness in on itself insteau of iesting theie.
0ne uiscoveis sheei luminosity of consciousness anu cognisance, stiippeu uown to the baie essentials.
Nany people think they have achieveu Niivana when they ieach this stage. It's blissful, seiene anu
luminous. But this is just the giounu of one's oiuinaiy minu. It is not the giounu of youi piistine awaieness.
You aie no closei to enlightenment anu if you uo not continue along the Bhaima path, eventually the
positive effects in youi minu-stieam will faue out. That is because theie hau been no iiieveisible,
evolutionaiy shift in one's view of ieality. So the majoi challenge facing the meuitatoi is not to get stuck
heie. You have a choice heie: to keep going to achieve vipassana anu fuithei, oi ietuin to Samsaia. To
choose the foimei gives one access to the path wheie one can achieve insight, which is tiue evolution.

So this is the whole tiajectoiy to Shamatha.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+ ,

In iesponse to a question about why it is useful to make offeiings to the Buuuhas if they aie manifestations of youi
own Buuuha natuie (piistine awaieness)..

Taia, as an example, is a peisonification of compassion of all the buuuhas' minus. It's a symbol foi that facet of one's
own piistine awaieness. The expiession '.of youi own piistine awaieness.' is a vehicle to banish the thought that
it's somebouy else's awaieness (as woulu be the theistic inteipietation). By biinging to minu the image of Taia, then
this aiouses the love, the giatituue, the compassion, which stiis one's heait. Bonouiing this is of ultimate value
18
woithy of ueep ieveience. So, when one makes an offeiing to Taia, such as a manuala offeiing, it's symbolic of
offeiing eveiything that you have, mateiially anu non-mateiially, with a heaitfelt wish to fully anu expeiientially
iealise this Taia aspect of oneself.

What impact can buuuhas have on otheis.
Even though when we piobe ueep into a peison, we ieach a non-finuing (emptiness), in the context of this life, the
peison is theie. This is a meaningful level of uiscouise, so we neeu to finu the balance.
The impact of the Buuuha has been huge in Inuia, acioss Asia ovei the last 2Suu yeais anu globally in the last
centuiy. 0theis like }esus, Nagajuna, uhanui, Besmonu Tutu, Bis Boliness the Balai Lama, they have all hau
enoimous impact. So the moie we can evolve along the path, the gieatei the impact we can have.

Bow can one help otheis now. Bow can the buuuha-natuie aspect of each of us help, no mattei how limiteu oui
cuiient iealisation of that buuuha-natuie is. 0ne can help to the extent that as one's afflictions aie subsiuing, one
can biing moie anu moie benefit to sentient beings. It comes fiom one's piactice by continuing to puiify one's minu.
The moie hemmeu in we aie with oui mental afflictions, the less we can help otheis. The moie we can libeiate
ouiselves, to eventually ieach oui buuuha-natuie, the moie seivice we can be to otheis.

7,8 550 <-:

Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State is paiticulaily goou foi enhancing claiity. Theie aie two types of viviuness:
(i) qualitative viviuness, wheie you can uetect subtlei anu subtlei events that pieviously you woulun't have
noticeu;
(ii) tempoial viviuness, wheie you uetect biiefei anu biiefei events that pieviously you woulu not have
peiceiveu.

Youi stability becomes finei anu finei, the flow of minufulness becomes smoothei. That is, you become less
fiequently uisengageu fiom the flow of minufulness. We aie fine-tuning the piactice anu applying the antiuotes
wheie iequiieu: loosening up if we feel some excitation, pitching it up when we stait to feel spaceu out.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+ ,

We will move on to stuuying anothei aphoiism: " @8)'#+% (3% "+0*6+ +)("6% *; )<)6%+%//".
The Pali Canon - uesciibes consciousness accoiuing to the five skanuas (composites of oui bouy anu minu) anu a
continuum of conuitioneu consciousness until eventually we become an aihat. Aftei an aihat uies, the coaise minu
will nevei come back. It's a teimination of Samsaia. If that weie all theie was, the achievement of Niivana woulu
mean complete annihilation but that is not the case. When the Buuuha was askeu what happens to an aihat aftei
ueath, his iesponse was noble silence. Bow an aihat continues is beyonu oui conceptual fiamewoik. But given we
know what happens on the eailiei stages of the path to enlightenment, wheie theie is less anu less ciaving, uelusion
anu hostility, anu moie anu moie wisuom anu compassion, it must be goou. We can assume that it is beyonu
suffeiing, it is total iiieveisible fieeuom anu it involves immutable bliss. This occuis when consciousness is
completely signless, bounuless anu all-luminous - when theie is no bifuication between name anu foim, subject anu
object, anu wheie eaith, winu, fiie anu aii elements finu no footing - when you come to the enu of Samsaia. But
theie is 'knowing', anu because this knowing is not conceptually conuitioneu, it has to be 'unboin'. When the
continuum of consciousness has ceaseu, all that will be expeiienceu is unboin awaieness. It uiun't stait when the
peison uieu. It was theie befoie the peison uieu anu it's not someone else's. It's been theie thiough all the peison's
lifetimes.
Although not stateu in the Pali Canon, Alan's inteipietation of this is that this unboin awaieness is piistine
awaieness (iigpa).

The Nahayana - says the minu uoes not exist insiue oi outsiue noi can it be obseiveu between the two. The minu is
unfinuable, theiefoie it's unobseivable, anu it uoes not aiise in the past, piesent oi futuie. All that we can uiiectly
know is appeaiances anu awaieness. But what is beyonu appeaiances. Wheie uo appeaiances come fiom. Theists
woulu say uou. Baiwin came to the conclusion that theie is no sign of uou in the evolutionaiy piocess, just
auaptation to uiffeient enviionments, Be appeais to have thought that if uou uoesn't seem to have a iole, maybe he
uoesn't exist. That is one answei. But if you take uou out of the equation, what's left. Nattei, time, space, eneigy.
That is the Nateiialists' view. But these aie unknowable because they aie all baseu on non-physical appeaiances.
They aie physical constiucts imposeu on the woilu. But we aie talking about something that is beyonu human
constiucts. All we know is the minu anu appeaiances to the minu - the only things that aie absolutely ieal.

The Bzogchen view - is to say to the Nateiialists "if that's what is theie, finu it!" It uoesn't exist insiue, outsiue oi in
between the two. It is unanalysable, unuemonstiable, non-appeaiing, unknowable anu without location. Even the
19
Buuuhas can't finu it. So, it can't be founu. It's unfinuable, unobseivable anu anu theiefoie uoes not aiise in the past,
the futuie oi the piesent. Ninu must be unaiisen. If you have the ability to 'bieak thiough', anu investigate the
substiate consciousness, you will finu it is empty.

A):)B"+) - states 'the minu' is a label. Be also saiu iecognise 'awaieness' as a label. If you look foi it, you won't finu
it by way of its chaiacteiistics. It has no intiinsic natuie. Even 'a label' is empty. The minu has the natuie of an
appaiition. When you look, it's not theie at all fiom its own siue.

In (3% C)B6) @//%+.% - which is a Bzogchen text, theie is a uistinction between minu anu iigpapiistine awaieness.
Anu it wains not to confuse them as it will set up obstacles to youi libeiation.
The minu has thiee types:

(i) the ueluueu minu - that clings to appeaiances is the oiuinaiy minu of sentient beings who uo not seek the
path, get olu anu uie
(ii) the minu that seeks the path - is saiu to take the minu as its path. It's obseiving the minu on a conventional
level. }ust as is Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State, when you see a thought, you think you aie seeing the
minu, even though the mental events aiising in the minu aie not the minu. Thoughts aie obseiveu with a
conceptual minu.
(iii) the minu that takes consciousness as the path - the giounu of the minu, but it is not the iealisation of
piistine awaieness. Taking consciousness as the path can be uone by way of piactising awaieness of
awaieness. Since appeaiances aie taken to be ieal, ieification is not countei-acteu.

If you expeiience piistine awaieness (iigpa), then you expeiience the emptiness of Samsaia anu Niivana. You see
all appeaiances as uieamlike. Piistine awaieness is actualiseu by coiiectly iecognizing that things appeai even
though nothing exists fiom its own siue. All appeaiances of the physical woilu anu its sentient inhabitants have no
existence apait fiom the giounu sugatagaibha (piistine awaieness). You gain life foice ovei Samsaia anu Niivana.
You see equal puiity of Samsaia anu Niivana.

Theie is an asymmetiy between iealising emptiness anu expeiiencing piistine awaieness. 0ne might iealise the
emptiness of all phenomena but not expeiience piistine awaieness. Bowevei, if you expeiience piistine awaieness,
you will uefinitely iealise emptiness.

7,8 530 ,-: 5? +(<%(-=(/

Anothei minufulness methou not commonly taught involves gentle vase bieathing. Sit upiight, allowing youi
bieathing to flow unimpeueu. Keep the belly loose anu ielaxeu. As you bieathe in, the abuomen expanus, anu as
you bieathe out the abuomen contiacts. The mouification is that as you bieathe in, you foim a pot-like shape oi
milu piotubeiance in the abuomen, anu when you bieathe out you continue to gently ietain some of this pot-like
shape. It gets a bit fullei on the inspiiation.

What is the ieason foi this methou. It loosens the abuomen, in paiticulai the naval chakia, which can holu the
feelings of ciaving anu aveision. It can get blockeu with eneigetic knots that neeu to be openeu up, anu by
incieasing its spacious quality, the eneigy oi piana flows moie easily up the cential channel. So this suppoits
samauhi, anu helps to avoiu getting caught up in ciaving anu aveision. Initially you might feel suiges of eneigy, but
eventually this settles uown to a smoothei flow. So theie is a syneigy - piana to minu anu minu to piana.

Some people finu it helpful, otheis uon't. So tiy this methou foi at least one session. It is not iecommenueu foi the
supine position, but it can be uone while sitting, stanuing oi walking. It is also not iecommenueu foi Ninufulness of
Bieathing, but it is compatible with the othei Shamatha methous we covei uuiing this ietieat.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+ ,

In iesponse to a question 'If all buuuhas anu ueities aie not 'out theie', but insteau aie expiessions of youi own
giounu awaieness, how uoes 'piayei fit into the pictuie.' Piayei is coaise minu speaking to subtle minu. You aie
speaking to piistine awaieness, so you aie having a uialogue with youi innei most being.

Aftei this ietieat when we go back to oui busy lives, can we continue to piogiess with Shamatha. The answei to
this lies in whethei you aie auuing oi subtiacting. If you uo Su minutes piactice each uay, that's a goou thing to uo,
but you won't piogiess. Bowevei if you auopt a 'iounueu uiet' of heait (ueveloping loving kinuness anu
compassion), minu (acquiiing wisuom anu knowleuge anu auopting the six peifections), anu attention skills
(Shamatha piactice), you may piogiess well. So, it uoesn't mean you have to heau off to a cave. It is not binaiy. But
2u
it's a goou iuea to withuiaw fiom oi ieuuce auuictive habits like watching Tv, movies, anu spenuing houis on the
inteinet, as well as getting ovei iumination by auopting a constant backgiounu of Ninufulness of Bieathing -
paiticulaily befoie going into a ietieat. Continuing to piactice Shamatha in a fully engageu life will ieuuce stiesses
anu stiains anu inciease youi sanity.

7,8 530 <-:

We aie coming to the enu of this phase on Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State. This piactice is similai to the
vipassana technique of the close application of minufulness to the minu. This is one of the foui vipassana
applications of minufulness to the bouy, feelings, minu anu phenomena. But theie is an impoitant uiffeience. While
insights can aiise when piactising Settling the Ninu in its Natuial State that is not its piimaiy intention. In
Shamatha, you aie placing youi attention on an object to cultivate ielaxation, stability anu viviuness. These leau to
exceptional attentional abilities of a non-uysfunctional minu. Bowevei, the piactice of vipassana always involves
some kinu of inquiiy which is uesigneu to iesult in piofounu tiansfoimative insights. vipassana immeasuiably
tianscenus meie attention but it is gieatly facilitateu by exceptional attentional abilities. Settling the Ninu in its
Natuial State involves selective attention, withuiawal of juugment, withuiawal fiom obsessive, compulsive
thoughts, anu in this way, it is a vital stepping-stone to vipassana.

0vei the last Su yeais, the 'Ninufulness' movement has emeigeu in the West anu sometimes in this movement
Ninufulness is useu synonymously with vipassana. Bowevei, they aie uefinitely not the same.

!"#$%$ '%$#()(#*+ ,

Back to the aphoiism that we staiteu yesteiuay ."@8)'#+% (3% "+0*6+ +)("6% *; )<)6%+%//?,.
Paumasambhava iefeis to the numeious teims foi 'the minu': the minu-itself, the Self, the miuule way, the
peifection of wisuom, Nahamuuia, oiuinaiy consciousness, sole binuu, spheie of ieality, atman, Bhaimauatu, the
substiate, anu otheis (iefei to the SBI website foi the complete quotation. 0nly exceipts have been incluueu heie
anu below). Theie is no single teim univeisally useu to iefei to the minu. Bowevei, although uiffeient spiiitual
pathways appioach the minu fiom uiffeient conceptual fiamewoiks, methous anu staiting assumptions, they
appeai to be conveiging towaiu the same common ieality. The appioaches aie uiffeient anu theiefoie the labels
(teims) given aie uiffeient, but they seem to be pointing at the same thing.

Aie these teims all oiiginating fiom the same uegiee of uepth, insight, anu claiity. Befinitely not. Theie aie
uiffeient uegiees of uepth in the iealisation of the ultimate ieality of the minu. Beie is an analogy about iealising
substiate consciousness, which is a useful eaily stepping-stone on the way to iealisation of the ultimate ieality of
the minu. Asceitaining the substiate when attenuing to the space of the minu is like seeing the moon in the night
sky behinu thiee layeis of clouus. Aie you seeing the moon oi not. Well, yes, you aie, because you can point to it in
the sky. But the claiity only shaipens if anu when layeis of the clouus uisappeai. So when you aie obseiving the
space of the minu, it is configuieu thiough youi coaise minu, but as you piogiess along the path of Shamatha, you
eventually see it nakeu because theie is no filtei between the awaieness of the substiate anu the substiate itself.

So similaily, some of these methous may be veileu by vaiying amounts of clouus obscuiing the full iealisation of the
giounu of the minu (labeleu iigpa in Bzogchen). If you aie foitunate enough to have a highly iealiseu teachei who
can point out iigpa uiiectly to you, anu you aie 'a suitably piepaieu vessel', you may iealize iigpa iight theie on the
spot (a viuyauhaia). It's like the lama gives you 'the scent'. You pick up the scent anu tiace it to its souice.

Rigpa - when you aie staiing at it, nothing is seen. It's not peimanent, not nihilistic, not one, not manifolu, its none
othei than self-awaieness. It is youi veiy own piesent consciousness - which is self-aiisen, self-illuminating anu
unceasing. It is empty without basis. Youi minu is intangible like empty space.

If Alan weie stianueu on a ueseit islanu anu he coulu only have one book, he woulu choose Buujom Lingpa's book
'The vajia Essence'. Buujom Lingpa states that eveiything neeueu to iealise the level of iainbow bouy in this cuiient
lifetime is containeu in that single book - it is not the only way but it is a complete way. Be says that what is
peiceiveu as 'out theie' in the exteinal woilu as ieal, fiim anu soliu comes fiom uualistic giasping. This giasping
'fieezes' oui peiception of ieality into a 'soliu'. A metaphoi is that the giounu of oui being is homogenously like
watei in its fluiu state anu when it fieezes, it ciystalises anu thus has stiuctuie. Bualistic giasping ieifies the
stiuctuie anu oveilooks the uiffeience between the two. In this poweiful metaphoi, oui minus aie like fiozen watei
anu Bzogchen is uesigneu to melt oui minus. Bis Boliness the Balai Lama stateu: "Bowevei soliu ice may be, it
nevei loses its tiue natuie, which is watei."

21
Is it only ieligious peoplecontemplatives piobing ueeply into the natuie of the innei woilu who might be gaining
insights into this common ieality oi might similai insights be gaineu by piobing ueeply into the natuie of the
exteinal woilu. Theie aie a numbei of well-iecogniseu acauemics, especially in the fielu of quantum physicists,
whose finuings appeai to ieach similai conclusions about the ielationship between minu anu the peiception of
ieality. So maybe it is possible to gain similai insights looking outwaiu (physics) to those looking inwaiu
(contemplatives).