This Sunday, at our Buddhist sitting group (Losel Shedrup Ling) we had a visit from Ani Yeshe Palmo, who is a Lama. (I don't really understand what "ani" and "lama" mean.) She talked for two and a half hours, and my heart was touched a couple of times. She told us about Shinay practice, which is essentially, the form of meditation where you sweep thoughts from your mind. Prior to this talk, I had no idea that there were other kinds. She said that before Shinay, you should 1. ask for help from your teacher. You can visualize the historical Buddha here, or the Dalai Lama, or, if you have a formal teacher, you can visualize him or her. The exact words from the formal practice are:
Glorious and precious Root Lama, seated on the lotus and moon seat on the crown of my head, through your great kindness, having accepted me as your disciple, please bestow upon me the enlightened accomplishments of your body, speech and mind.
You can visualize your teacher, beyond size, seated on a white moon-disk on a lotus above your head.
The second step is the refuge prayer:
We go for refuge to the genuine, glorious Lamas. We go for refuge to the mandalas of meditation deities. We go for refuge to the Buddhas, the transcendent victorious ones endowed with all qualities. We go for refuge to the Sacred Dharma. We go for refuge to the Noble Sangha. We go for refuge to the assembly of dakas, dakinis, Dharma protectors, and guardians who possess the eye of wisdom. [recite 3 times]
Ani Yeshe Pomo suggested that we visualize all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (the Noble Sangha) as clouds, and after a while, we can differentiate the clouds into individual Buddhas.
The third step is about bodhichitta, which is about using our accumulated merit to help others. (I've posted about Bodhichitta before, quoting Pema Chödrön.)
To the Buddha, Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly, I go for refuge until I attain enlightenment. Through the merit of my practice of generosity and the others [other practices], may I accomplish Buddhahood for the benefit of beings.[recite three times.]
Now comes the Shinay meditation. Meditate, possibly concentrating on the breath, and aiming for having your eyes open, sweeping thoughts away. When a thought occurs, gently push it away.
After this you can do a different type of meditation. (I forget it's name.) Here, when a thought occurs, instead of pushing it away, look directly at it. Meditate with your own mind as the object of meditation. You can also concentrate on each of your five senses. Abide with the one doing the watching, or "Watch the watcher." Abide with the one doing the hearing. Abide with the one experiencing tactile sensations. We had candles which we smelled, abiding with the one doing the smelling. We also had a little nut or raisin that we tasted, abiding with the one doing the tasting.
After this meditation is over, you can practice tonglen. Imagine your root Lama over your head on the Moon disk over the Lotus. Imagine a beam of light emanates from this root Lama, and hits your heart (not the organ.) It converts the blackness of your afflictions into pure white light that fills your body. This is performing tonglen on yourself. Now imagine someone you love, and imagine that as you breath in you are drawing the black smoke of their afflictions into your body, where it vanishes. Their blackness disapears and is replaced by pure white light. Now, and this is harder, imagine this same process for someone you dislike, or even hate. Finally, imagins doing this for all sentient beings at once, drawing in their afflictions as a black smoke through you nose, and it disappears as it enters you, nullified by the white light filling you.
The last step is very important, and I was quite touched to hear Ani Yeshe Pomo's explanation. This step is the dedication of merit. You accumulate merit through this practice, but if you don't render it indestructible, it can be spent in an instant. She said that if you go outside and step on a spider after practicing, that can immediately dissipate your accumulated merit. So what you do is seal the deal by dedicating the merit for the benefit of all sentient beings, whereupon it becomes indestructible. The exact wording is not important, just the fact that we do it. Here are the words we used:
Through this merit, attaining omniscience, having defeated all harmful enemies (the mental afflictions), may I liberate all beings from the ocean of existence, which is swept with the waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death. The courageous one, Jampal, knows things as they are, as does Kuntuzangpo. May I train following their example, and completely dedicate all of these virtues. Through this virtue, may all beings, having perfected the accumulation of merit and wisdom, attain the two sacred bodies of Buddha that arise from merit and wisdom. Through the blessings of the Buddhas, who have attained the three bodies, and the blessings of the ultimate, changeless Dharma, and the blessings of the infinite aspirations of the Sangha, dedicating in accord with the truth, may my aspiration prayer be accomplished.
She also said that it was important to practice every day, even if you abbreviate it to two minutes, but that you should include all of the steps (omitting the second type of meditation (mind,sense) and/or tonglen if necessary). In particular, the dedication of merit should always be included, even if all you say is "I dedicate this merit for the benefit of all sentient beings."
I hope I didn't garble this too much. Ani Yeshe Pomo was a soft-spoken unassuming woman with a powerful message, and I hope I have communicated it to some degree.
7 comments:
I forgot an important part. At the end, after you dedicate the merit for the benefit of all beings, you make an aspiration prayer. You pray for something you aspire to do. For example you can pray to refrain from a certain behavior. According to Ani Yeshe Pomo, these prayers are tremendously powerful, predicated as they are on this wish for the well-being and liberation of all sentient beings.
In a different context, in the standard ceremony at Losel Shedrup Ling, it is suggested to vow to refrain from a certain behavior for a selected, realistic period of time. It is important to choose a realistic period of time so that you can keep your vow.
There are some behaviors, such as drinking alcohol, that need to be abstained from absolutely, at least for an alcoholic like myself. Other behaviors, like being rude and eating too much, I believe can be approached by slowly changing my habits.
It sounds like Buddhism being practiced as a religion. Praying to ancestors, praying for banishment of evil spirits.
I guess I like Pema b/c of the rational way she describes things. I have a physical reaction when supernatural elements are brought into play.
In my understanding, there is no such thing as the accumulation of merit. Accumulation itself is an illusion, isn't it. When each moment is eternity, what good one has done before is of little import compared to present action.
The regimented practicing of steps puts me off as well. One of the attractions of meditation for me is its simplicity.
It sounds like I'm putting down your experience, but for some reason, it has sparked deep feeling in me.
Another aspect of this feeling may be my intense distrust of authority and authority figures...
Regardless of my reactions, I am glad you were moved by the experience. I certainly am interested in the differing forms of meditation: I, too only practice zazen.
What school/lineage was this teacher from?
Strange how I also posted about prayer this week, without having read your entry until today.
Hi B. I don't believe in the supernatural. However, I have lost the desire to refute it at all costs. Why should I spend so much time on negation? Thus my post about God earlier. Really it's about open-mindedness. By being willing to accept the supernatural, I can calmly accept its non-existence. However, if I tenaciously cling to its non-existence, immediately clamping down on any thoughts about it, immediately being resentful of others who talk about it, et cetera, et cetera, then I am harboring an emotional thunderstorm. Today I am not threatened by the idea of the supernatural, even though I don't believe in it.
Regarding the trappings of religion, I think these can be used effectively, even though they weren't my first choice. For example, this idea of dedication of merit, which I find so powerful. I agree that there is no disembodied field of merit that is created by practice, which can then be supernaturally manipulated. Rather, we have to accept the fact that our minds can be hard to communicate with. Visualizing the merit as being produced and dedicated to the benefit of other beings can have a powerful psychological effect. I have noticed this effect in me. I am friendlier to others and more open to helping them.
A Buddhist principle is that all is delusion. Once we recognize that fact, we can be truly free.
Having said that, the Zen tradition does offer a cleaner path. But the problem I have with it is that it can be so clean that it's hard to find my way. I suppose having a good Zen teacher helps a lot. Still I think Zen and Tibetan Buddhist practice are both rafts to the same destination. Both are examples of mahayana Buddhism which emphasizes both detachment and compassion. The hinayana traditions emphasize detachment only, and I think those lead to a far different place.
I really like this idea of dedication of merit. How about, B., if instead of saying "I dedicate this merit for the benefit of all beings," you were to say "I vow to use what I've gained to help all sentient beings."?
I could ramble on and on. Let me just say this, and I'll shut up. Buddhism has a lot of very practical aspects. Not just things like, "I pray to some deity that he make me better," but actual practices such as meditation and some ceremonies which have a very practical down-to-earth effect of making us better people, and thereby making us happier. They are tools by which we can clear away our cloudy delusions and reveal the vast blue sky of our inherent Buddha nature.
Very well said.
However, if I tenaciously cling to its non-existence, immediately clamping down on any thoughts about it, immediately being resentful of others who talk about it, et cetera, et cetera, then I am harboring an emotional thunderstorm.
That thunderstorm is exactly what happens in me.
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