[jonesboy]

A COMMENTARY ON THE
KALACAKRA TANTRA
Taught by
Geshe Lharampa Ngawang Dhargyey
Translated by
Gelong Jhampa Kelsang (Allan Wallace)

1) At the beginning of the meditation, one cultivates the first
mental state, 'mental placement" (Tib. sems jog.pa). At this
point, the mind has very little stability; one finds the object and
then very swiftly loses it The mind wanders elsewhere. Thus, it is
going out and being drawn in again and again When one actually
engages in the cultivation of clear stillness, eventually one feels
that, as a result of meditation, one has more wandering thoughts
than before. It seems that the meditation is increasing mental
distraction. When this recognition occurs, one should not regard it
as a fault, but rather as a good sign that one now has a greater
awareness of what is happening in the mind.

To draw an analogy, one might be outside somewhere and, as long
as one is not paying any special attention but is simply sitting there
with a wandering mind, daydreaming about this and that, one
would not necessarily notice if many cars or people pass back and
forth. One would not especially notice, or even know, whether or
not a lot of traffic passed by because one would not be concerned.
But if, one another day on the same spot, one really paid attention
to the number of people and cars passing by, one would notice a
great deal of traffic. One might conclude, "There is a lot more
traffic today than before," whereas, in fact, there is not. At this
time, instead of being oblivious one is being aware.

2) The second of the nine mental states preceding and leading
to the attainment of clear stillness is called the 'continual
placement' (Tib. rgyun. du.'jog. pa). Before this attainment, one
continues practicing a great deal and, again and again, brings the
mind in after it has wandered off. Eventually, sufficient stability
does arise in the mind so that the attention will remain
uninterruptedly focused on the object for, say, five, six or seven
minutes, When that degree of stability has been attained, one has
reached the second mental state called continual placement.