Following our opening chants, we began the practice of śamatha (calm-abiding meditation). We can also think of this formal meditation practice as resting at ease or slowing down the mind. In addition, two key points were emphasized: having a beginner’s mind and our physical posture.
Beginner’s Mind
Some might feel very familiar with śamatha practice, others feel it is very new to them, or for others as something in-between. What is important to remember is what is known from the Zen-tradition as “beginner’s mind.”
While slowing down and taking a step back from the usual rhythm of our lives, which often just takes us along, we can bring curiosity and wonder towards Atiśa’s question that we asked ourselves during our last session: What is the state of my mind, right now, this very moment?
Having a beginner’s mind also means we look at the movement and state of our mind without any judgment—without evaluating it as good or bad, positive or negative. As Acharya Lhakpa Tshering often instructs during our practice: “Be aware; simply be aware.”
Importance of the Posture of Body
Not so much as a precondition but as part of the practice of śamatha, we pay attention to our physical posture. That, by itself, helps to let the mind slow down and bring clarity. This way, we can see the state of our mind clearly and work with it.
Therefore, we sit well-grounded and balanced, with our hands resting on our knees or in our lap. We straighten our spine, which in one way can be understood as making sure we are centered. Our shoulders are slightly pushed towards the back, opening our chest. We tuck in our chin, and our tongue slightly touches the upper palate. Relaxing the jaw, our mouth typically opens slightly. We relax our forehead and our eyes. Our gaze is resting in front of us without looking at a particular object. We gently notice the movement of our breath.
In some traditions, it is taught that our physical posture is half of the work or even more than ninety percent. In any case, it is clear that paying attention to our physical posture is of great importance.
Having established our physical posture, we can look again and ask: What is the state of my mind, right now, in this moment?
Connecting with the Wisdom-Intent and Our Capability on the Path
While remaining seated in our posture of body, we recited the homage, purposes of the composition, and first ten verses of Ngulchu Tokmé’s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva. By doing so in this manner and by looking carefully at how the words impact us, we can connect deeply with the wisdom-intent.
Before contemplating Verse 10, we briefly reviewed the two verses we contemplated the previous week.
- Verse 8: This one focuses on the fact that all our actions of body, speech, and mind, are in a chain of cause and effect. As taught in the Sūtras by Buddha Śākyamuni, no karma is “wasted,” meaning that whatever action we perform will, sooner or later, have a result. Therefore, Ngulchu Tokmé teaches us with this verse to never commit any negative actions because, at some point, these will only lead to suffering.
- Verse 9: If we don’t commit negative actions of body, speech, and mind, but engage in virtuous activity, we will increasingly find ourselves in comfortable places, with wealth in both material and immaterial ways. In a worldly sense, we may feel happy and at ease. However, Ngulchu Tokmé points out in the ninth verse that none of these pleasurable states of being offer any lasting happiness. Rather, the things we enjoy are fleeting and very quickly fade away, like a “dewdrop on a blade of grass.” Therefore, we should strive for the supreme state of liberation to be fully free of pain, despair, and suffering — the state of samsara.
These two verses, as explained by Acharya Lhakpa, show the lesser and middling types of being or capability, respectively. The tenth verse points to the highest capacity. We can also think of these in terms of potential. For most of us, if not all, we move between these three, depending on the day or week. Sometimes even within one day or a single formal meditation session.
Making a Connection
Reminding us of the importance of our physical posture, we continued contemplating the three types of potential or capability, focusing on the highest one as expressed in the tenth verse of Ngulchu Tokmé’s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, as translated by Christopher Stagg:
“From beginningless time, my mothers have loved me.
If they suffer, how can I worry about my own happiness?
Therefore, in order to liberate sentient beings, which are boundless,
To engender bodhicitta is the practice of a bodhisattva.”
In his commentary on this verse, the twentieth-century master Dzatrul Ngawang Tenzin Norbu explains that recognizing all sentient beings as having been our mother gives us all the reasons to follow the example of past bodhisattvas by practicing in the same way for the benefit of others. Acharya Lhakpa further clarified that the notion of “mother” serves as an instruction to find a way to connect with every being without exception. This connection forms the basis upon which loving-kindness, compassion, and ultimately the resolve to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all (bodhicitta) can be cultivated.
Sevenfold Cause-And-Effect Instruction to Generate Bodhicitta
From the perspective of making a connection, we engage in a slightly adapted version of the sevenfold cause-and-effect instruction from the Kadampa tradition to engender or cultivate bodhicitta. In brief:
- Bring someone to mind who has been kind to you in this life and feels close to your heart. This could be your mother, father, brother, sister, relatives, a teacher, anyone.
- Feeling the presence of this person, recollect or remember the kindness you received.
- Realizing the kindness that person gave to you, connect with the feeling and intention to repay this kindness and offer something in return, material or immaterial.
- Having the wish to repay the kindness of him/her/they, give rise to the thought: “How wonderful would it be if this person knew nothing but peace and joy in life.” Gently smile and imagine their life to be so. Free of any hardship. This is the quality of loving-kindness.
- Remember a time when things were not easy for this person or visualize the possibility of such a moment or period. Give rise to the thought: “Oh no, what can I do to help?” We feel the urgency and think: “May this suffering be dispelled. May this person be completely free of this hardship.” This is the quality of compassion.
- Realizing that, like this person, everyone — every creature we know or don’t know, seen or not seen, maybe different in appearance but equal at this fundamental level — wishes nothing but happiness and does everything they can to avoid suffering; and by seeing this equality, we give rise to the thought: “I will do whatever I possibly can to remove the suffering of beings and bring all of them to a place for genuine freedom and happiness.” This could be called the quality of the highest resolve or altruistic aspiration.
- With each single step being the cause for the next, all six together are taught to become the cause for the highest result or effect of the sevenfold instruction: bodhicitta.
This powerful meditation practice aims to cultivate genuine compassion and engender the heart of awakening as Ngulchu Tokmé instructs in the tenth verse.
In this way, we deepened our connection to these three kinds of capabilities and the ways to contemplate them as support for our practice. Having expressed gratitude to everyone for joining today’s practice, we concluded with the dedication of merit and wish to cultivate this highest resolve that is the basis for bodhicitta and the practice of a bodhisattva as taught from verse 11 onwards.