Spiritual Forums

Home


Donate!


Articles


CHAT!


Shop


 
Welcome to Spiritual Forums!.

We created this community for people from all backgrounds to discuss Spiritual, Paranormal, Metaphysical, Philosophical, Supernatural, and Esoteric subjects. From Astral Projection to Zen, all topics are welcome. We hope you enjoy your visits.

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest, which gives you limited access to most discussions and articles. By joining our free community you will be able to post messages, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload your own photos, and gain access to our Chat Rooms, Registration is fast, simple, and free, so please, join our community today! !

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, check our FAQs before contacting support. Please read our forum rules, since they are enforced by our volunteer staff. This will help you avoid any infractions and issues.

Go Back   Spiritual Forums > Religions & Faiths > Buddhism

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-03-2020, 03:52 PM
jonesboy jonesboy is offline
Master
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,732
  jonesboy's Avatar
THE NINE MENTAL STATES

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.
__________________
https://ThePrimordialWay.com/
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-03-2020, 03:57 PM
jonesboy jonesboy is offline
Master
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,732
  jonesboy's Avatar
3) The third mental slate is called the patch-like placement'
(Tib. glan. te. 'jog.pa). With the attainment of this third state,
one's degree of mental stability is even greater than before such
that the mind will remain uninterruptedly focused or the object
for. say. 10-15 minutes. It is called patch-like placement'
because, basically, the mind is focused upon the object with a
reasonably good degree of stability and yet, occasionally, it will
wander off. On those occasions, one recognizes this and brings it
back. One is 'patching-up one's samadhi. This is similar to having
a tear in one's robe - one recognizes it and says, "Oh, there!" and
just patches it up.

4) The fourth menial state is called 'close placement' (Tib.
nye.bar.' jog.pa). Having attained this fourth state, ihe mind no
longer loses the object of meditation, because the power of
mindfulness has come to completion. This is similar to a person
growing up There will be certain physical tasks that can or cannot
be performed. However, when this person becomes an adult of 20
years or so, his strength is complete and he is now able to do
whatever is necessary. In like fashion, the strength of mindfulness
is now complete. One does not lose the object, because the mind is
no longer drawn away from it
__________________
https://ThePrimordialWay.com/
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-03-2020, 03:58 PM
jonesboy jonesboy is offline
Master
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,732
  jonesboy's Avatar
5) The fifth mental state is called subduing' (Tib dul.ba.byed-
.pa). While one is abiding in the previous mental slate of close
placement, the mind becomes very inwardly directed and a high
degree of stability exists. But. on the basis of that attainment, a
very great danger of subtle sinking exists as well. For this reason,
one especially needs to cultivate an extremely acute introspective
alertness. It has to be extremely acute, because this fault of subtle
sinking is very, very subtle and difficult to recognize, in fact, many
contemplatives of ihe pasi have mistaken a concentration in which
subtle sinking has arisen with proper and extremely fine samadhi,
They stunted their practice by failing to recognize Ihe fault of
subtle sinking and thought, instead, that they had accomplished
their goal.

To draw an analogy, if one is in a household in which Ihe other
people in the house are lavishing one with kindness, praise, nice
words and so forth while, at the same time, they are robbing one
blind, it is very difficult to recognize them because ihey seem to be
one's friends. They are much more difficult to recognize than
people who come pounding on one's door is blatant robbers ot
bandits. Those, at least, are easy to recognize. In like fashion,
subtle sinking can very easily be mistaken for proper meditation,
whereas, in fact, it is a fault which must be recognized. It is
recognized through an extremely acute introspective alertness.

6) The sixth mental state is called pacification' (Tib. zhi.barbyed.
pa). While abiding in the fifth mental state, the subduing,
which is, in fact, a very fine degree of samadhi, one is giving a lot
of effort or attention to cultivating extremely acute introspective
alertness. As a result of this, the energy of the mind increases a
great deal. With this increased and perhaps excessive energy of
mind, as one goes to the sixth mental state, there is a danger of
(ubtle excitement. To guard against this, one needs o recognize it
by means of very active introspective alertness
__________________
https://ThePrimordialWay.com/
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-03-2020, 03:59 PM
jonesboy jonesboy is offline
Master
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,732
  jonesboy's Avatar
7) The seventh mental state is called the full pacification' (Tib.
mam.par.zhi. bar.byed.pa). In this state, there is not really much
danger of the arisal of either sinking or excitement. They will
occasionally arise a little bit and. when they do, they are not
difficult to dispel and can be eliminated by the force of
enthusiasm. By and large, they are not there. In the illustration of
an elephant following a winding path, depicting the course of
mental development towards the attainment of clear stillness, at
this stage, the elephant, representing the mind, has a little tiny bit
of blackness on it symbolizing the fact that the mind, at this point,
is only slightly subject to sinking and excitement.

Here is a recent example of Geshe Rabkye, who was in the same
class with me. In cultivating clear stillness, he had definitely
attained the seventh of these nine stales. In his meditation for two
or three hours at a stretch, he would have impeccable concentration,
a very high degree of samadhi. At that point he died.
However, if he had lived, there seems no doubt that he would have
proceeded right to the full attainment of clear stillness. Once one
has attained the seventh state, to attain the following ones is a
matter of relative ease-

When I was in Dalhousie (another hill-station in northern India)
quite a few years back, I was living alone very, very simply with
only the most basic possessions. At that time, compared to Geshe
Rabkye, I was very wealthy. He really looked simply like a beggar;
all he had was a meditation cushion, a couple of pictures and that
was it. Sometimes Geshe Rabkye, who was very good in debate
would come to my place and talk or debate. Once I asked him
what realization had he gained and he replied, "Well, 1 have not
gained any real realization, but I have the feeling no one in the
world is happier than I am." This is an indication that he was tnily
a spiritual practitioner. His Holiness the Dalai Lama really took a
very special interest and had an especially great affection for
Geshe Rabkye. He invited him down from the mountain, where
he was meditating, into his own palace to meditate there. It is true
that His Holiness the Dalai Lama does take this very special
interest, have this special affection for people, be they Tibetans or
Westerners, who are devoting themselves very earnestly to
spiritual practice.

8) The eight mental state is called 'single-pointed application'
(Tib. rtse. gchig.tu.byed.pa). Upon the attainment of the eighth
menial state, sinking or excitement no longer arise. By this time,
at the beginning of one's sitting session, with just the slightest bit
the effort, the mind becomes focused upon the abject (in this case,
oneself as Kalacakra). One can then simply continue to abide in
the meditation for as long as one likes. For the duration of the
meditation, there is no sinking or excitement. This can be likened
to a person who falls asleep and is completely out for eight hours,
sleeping solidly the whole time without any effort. Likewise, with
just a little bit of effort at the beginning of the sitting, this person
can sit for a long time during which sinking and excitement do not
arise.
__________________
https://ThePrimordialWay.com/
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-03-2020, 04:01 PM
jonesboy jonesboy is offline
Master
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,732
  jonesboy's Avatar
9) The ninth mental stale is even-placement' (Tib. mnyam paT.
'jog.pa). With the attainment of this state, one is totally
accustomed to the practice Without any effort at all, one simply
enters the meditation, focuses upon the object (oneself as
Kalacakra) and abides in it effortlessly. This is like a person who
has recited the Om Mani Padme Padme Hum many, many times.
It becomes so effortless that, even if his mind is wandering all over
the place, his mouth is saying Om Mani Padme Hiim. Otp Mani
Padme Hum. . .

Even at this point, however, one has not yet reached the actual
state of dear stillness. This is called 'single-pointed concentration
of t h e realm of desire.' One needs to continue in the meditation
and, after some time, there arises a very special kind of joy and
bliss, SO strong that it is almost unbearable. It arises, and then it
wanes a little bit. Thereafter, there arises a physical joy due to
physical suppleness, and then a joy due to mental suppleness It is
following this that one actually reaches the attainment of clear
stillness, also called the access concentration to the first mental
stabilization.' Once one has attained this stale, the mind is an
extremely fine instrument for any type of meditation one wants lo
engage in. The mind will simply be able to focus on ihat And that
is that!

These are the nine stales one gradually passes through, regardless
of whether one is practicing the sutra or the tantra path. The way
one progresses (whether focusing on the lace or merely on an eye)
is by focusing and maintaining mental stability with good
mindfulness for, say, five minutes, gradually extending to ten,
then fifteen minutes and, in this way, lengthening the period of
stability further and further.

If one truly tackles this type of meditation, it necessitates full use
of one's intelligence lo approach i! in a variety of skillful ways.
Sometimes, one will be silting in meditation, intensely applying
oneself while, at other times, one needs to relax. Then again, at
other times, one needs to apply oneself toward accumulating merit
and purifying unwholesome imprints and obscurations. And why?
Through the meditation in which one cultivates clear stillness, one
chiefly accrues 'collection of wisdom," sometimes called 'mental
merit', whereas, through oihcr practices, for example, devotional
practices such as performing the Seven-Limb Puja, as well as
through cultivating generosity and so forth, one chiefly accumulates
'physical merit' or collection-of merit.1 Therefore, through
meditation one is accumulating only the mental merit.

If one is accumulating only one type of merit, this can create an
imbalance that can produce insurmountable obstacles. For example,
if one is just engaging in meditation, as many people
nowadays think is possible, this causes an imbalance which can
create simply one obstacle after another. And why? Because with
a deficiency of [physical| merit, it is possible that disturbances of
one's subtle winds or other obstacles might arise. In fact, even
though one is not using up merit through meditation, but is
actually accumulating mainly the collection of wisdom, it might
seem as if one were exhausting it. The reason for this is that if one
is just focusing on and cultivating this one type of merit, which is
also very much related to wisdom and intelligence, it is said that
this can decrease one's lifespan. When disturbances and obstacles
of this type arise, one needs to focus more on the accumulation of
[physical] merit and purification of unwholesome imprints, accomplished
through performing complementary practices such as the
ones mentioned above, the Seven-Limb Pujii, making offerings
and so forth.

However, if one already has a tremendous store of merit, the
situation can be different, but. nowadays, we are beings Living in
what is called the time of degeneration.' So, we must balance our
meditation or complement it with these other practices [designed
specifically for the accumulation of physical merit] Otherwise,
because one obstacle will come after another, it can perhaps seem
as if one were exhausting one s merit. In brief, one must have a
balanced practice, comprised of meditation and complementary
practices, that is, one must accumulate
__________________
https://ThePrimordialWay.com/
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 08:34 PM.


Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
(c) Spiritual Forums