The Seven Line Prayer as Practice

8_Manifestations

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “The Guru Is Your Diamond”

Likewise, when the student accepts the teacher, they must honor that vow and they must make a similar vow in their own way. That vow is contained in The Seven Line Prayer. “Following you, I will practice.”  Even though the prayer is directly to Guru Rinpoche, the prayer has an inner, outer and secret level of meaning. So we recite it thinking of Guru Rinpoche on a lotus and having the intention, hopefully, to understand that even though this appears as Guru Rinpoche on the lotus, it is inseparable from our own root gurus—same nature, same taste, same essence, same uncontrived primordial essence. And so, every time we recite the prayer to Guru Rinpoche, The Seven Line Prayer, we reconfirm that entire process: recognizing that Guru Rinpoche was the one who came from Orgyen; that he was born on a lotus in an extraordinary way. This is like our saying, ‘I understand that this is not ordinary. I understand that this did not happen as ordinary births, as ordinary conditions happen. And so having understood, I also promise to follow and to practice.’  And then we ask for the Guru’s blessing, Guru Pedma Siddhi Hung. Guru Pedma, grant me your blessings.

There is so much condensed into the power of that little prayer that I make you say again and again and again. There’s so much. One can go so deeply with just that one prayer. One can move through the stages of recognition to a depth that we didn’t think we could ever reach. One can create that connection by reciting again and again and again, “Following you I will practice. Following you I will practice.”  And so those meaningful words, even though they are simple, we can understand them more deeply and more deeply and more deeply. “Following you I will practice.”  What does it even mean?  Does it mean I dress like Guru Rinpoche, or act like Guru Rinpoche, or do I wear some of his funny earrings, or what do I do?  (I’ve got some funny earrings on, by the way.)

That’s not it. “Following you I will practice.”  First, we practice the way Guru Rinpoche practiced, for the sake of sentient beings. That’s how Guru Rinpoche practiced. He came and was born into the world for no reason other than to benefit beings. He didn’t have to come and learn; he didn’t have to come and hang out. Like Lord Buddha himself, he didn’t have to come and learn or hang out. And yet he came for the benefit of sentient beings. And so that’s the way in which we promise to practice. Not only throughout this prayer, throughout this hour that I am practicing, but throughout this day, throughout this week, throughout this month, throughout this year, throughout all my lifetimes, may I follow the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and liberate beings. We’re talking here about liberating beings from suffering. This is what Guru Rinpoche did. Yes, he taught. Yes, he hid termas. Yes, he gave us the means, the method. But the intention was about liberating sentient beings. Following you therefore I will practice.

And so that’s our commitment. We take on this tremendous commitment, this tremendous opportunity to liberate beings from the clutches and the ravages of samsara. And that means we’ll live the week like that, the month like that, the year like that, the decade like that, our lives like that. And at the time of our death, we will make prayers to be reborn following Guru Rinpoche. And in our next life, we are reborn again to continue and to benefit beings. This is the method. This is the way. This is the powerhouse. We rely on this promise, this blessing.

Link to The Seven Line Prayer with audio files for practice accumulations.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo.  All rights reserved

 

Vajrayana: For This Time

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The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “The Guru Is Your Diamond”

On the path of Vajrayana, we are given something like a rocket ship, rather than a slow boat, to cross the ocean of samsara. When Lord Buddha first came to the planet and taught, when he was there as Shakyamuni, he gave teachings that were absolutely necessary for that time. During that time, we were not in Kaliyuga, which is a more degenerate age. During that time, it was easier to practice. It was easier even to speak Dharma. Peoples’ minds were more spacious and more expanded so that if one were to accomplish Dharma, it would be more easy to accomplish Dharma during that time. And yet, there was a difficulty. And the difficulty was that during that time, because there was more space in the mind, there was also more relaxation, maybe more joyfulness, less reason to feel compelled to exit samsara. So there are good and bad things in both times.

True that this is Kaliyuga. True that this is the time of degeneration. There are many false teachers and many false paths. And sometimes delusion rises up like a tsunami flood, and it is a difficult time. We look to the people that even guide this country, and you wonder where is the clarity, where is the morality. So it’s difficult. Even this country that was once the prince of countries, and can still be the peacemaker, the one who guards the little guy, instead now we’ve changed. So these are all indicative of this time of delusion.

Yet at the same time, we are so pressed because of our delusion, our neuroses, which means an inappropriate response to something that is not understood well anyway. Our neuroses also thicken and deepen, and with that comes an increase in pain, fundamental pain. Maybe not even a particular pain about something, but rather an all-pervasive sense of suffering.We are more unhappy, really, now when things are happening faster and materialism is in some ways more attainable, in many ways more attainable. Still we have become more and more unhappy and continually create the causes for unhappiness. So this pushes us to find a solution. And for some people, we look to psychology or psychiatry; and for other people, we look towards creating the causes for happiness through walking the path of spirituality. But many of us are seeking, and that’s important. That is something that is useful and to be treasured during this time.

For many of us, we’ll think that what drives us to seek is this pain, this angst, this modern angst that we all seem to carry around. That pain, on the one hand, seems sometimes unbearable, and then other times, just there. And we are uncomfortable and we can’t say exactly why. We feel wobbly, unguided, unknowing and we really can’t understand why that is. That suffering, of course, even though painful, can ultimately become part of the blessing that brings us to the Path. Maybe we didn’t even come here thinking, ‘What I need is a good Path.’  Maybe we came here for some other reason: Because we heard about this place; or we’ve heard a little bit; or we’ve read some books about Dharma; or maybe His Holiness the Dalai Lama has given us some wonderful teaching through his books; and something has just hooked us a little bit. Maybe we heard about the crystals. That brings people!  Whatever it is, it’s that sense of things not being wholesome or right. It’s that sense of fundamental unhappiness that drives us forward.

And so, in the beginning, that’s how it feels. It can be a very poignant kind of search and we feel deeply moved by it. So when we begin to examine the Path of Vajrayana, we find that rather than being the gentle ship that crosses a relatively gentle ocean as was in the time of Lord Buddha’s physical life, now we have a different situation. We are propelled by the depth of our feeling, by our discomfort; and we’re looking for something. And we seem to, in this time, connect with something that is more potent, maybe a little fiercer in a certain way, more condensed definitely, than the original teachings of Lord Buddha.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo.  All rights reserved

Supplication to Mandarava’s Emanations


The following is an excerpt from “The Lives and Liberation of Princess Mandarava”

Eh Ma Ho!

In the previous aeon of Bhaskara,
As the daughter of King Indradeva known as Pandaravasini,
She trained on the path to abandon samsara and actualize buddhahood.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Later in the aeon known as Ratnavistirna,
Se was born into the holy caste as the princess Natyendri,
Suryagarbha and his entire kingdom was placed on the path of Dharma.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

In the Bright Aeon of Buddha Kanakamuni’s revelation of the doctrine,
With the blessings of the buddhas of the three times,
She naturally emanated the five embodiments as manifestations in
the five continents to tame the minds of beings.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Born as the princess of the god Brahma and consort,
She was known as Ozer Nangyen.
All the people of the kingdom of Kanika, in India, were placed on the path of Dharma.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

By the blessings of the aryas, in the land of Damaru,
She was born from a lotus and summoned Hayagriva as her aid.
The the peaceful and wrathful means the kingdom was turned to the path of virtue.
To the feet of Mandarava, I pray!

In the abode of the god Indra, in the land of Kangkari,
She was the mother of the Buddha Dampa Togkar, and she tamed the hordes of demigods.
She was famed for her subjugation of the entire country, which was transformed to the path of the Buddha.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

In the subterranean region at the peak of the jewel mountain,
She manifested as a nagini to cure all rampant diseases among nagas.
Known as Dharmindra, she placed all the nagas on the path to enlightenment!
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

As an emanation of the princess of demigods,
She tamed the hordes of jealous demigods,
As the one known as Samantabadri, she brought the hosts of demonic demigods to maturity and liberation.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

In the presence of Buddha Kashyapa,
She generated the bodhicitta and emanated as the daughter of
King Sukhapala named Shri Sagara.
She was responsible for the perfect enlightenment of one hundred thousand nuns.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

During the time of Shakyamuni Buddha,
She manifested herself twenty-five times; her further emanations are utterly inconceivable,
Such a one opening the door to the path of the secret mantra vehicle.
To the feet of Mandarava, I pray!

Then, in the western paradise of Sukhavati,
Here a million manifestations reveal the secret mantra,
Her dakini emanation appears with each of them!
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Light from the five places of the supreme consort Pandaravasini
Radiated into all the paradises to become the manifestations of the five dakinis of the sphere of truth.
Blessing and empowering the syllable HRIH, this light emanated into the land of Zahor.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Through her miraculous powers, her father and mother, the king and queen, had astonishing indications in their dreams.
In the male wood-horse year, on the tenth day of the month,
She was born and immediately recited the sounds of the vowels and consonants!
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

At the very moment of birth, she prostrated to her parents to repay their kindness,
And sang a pleasing song for all who had gathered.
The gods came to bathe her, and her fame encompassed this world.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Seeing the suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death, she felt deep repulsion,
Her mind turned from samsara, and became well-trained
In the five sciences of the holy Dharma.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Into the land of Gautala, in accordance with the prophecies of
Master Drime and Vajravarahi, she debated the heretic Kyabsel.
She defeated and subjugated all heretics at that time.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

In the land of Zahor, she brought three hundred women to the path
and transformed the suffering of the king and queen at the death of Prince Palde.
She discovered the flesh of the holy sage, which became the chief object of the people’s devotion.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

She reconciled Bheta and Zahor, ending their war.
in accordance with the prophecy of Pandaravasini, she brought her entourage to the Dharma.
She generated fervent prayers to remain in samsara for the welfare of others.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Meeting with the king, she discussed the requests for her hand in marriage from the royal suitors of every direction.
Without attachment to samsara, she received a prophecy from Vajrasattva.
Skillfully escaping, she took the vows of ordination before the Abbot preceptor.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Thoroughly investigating the scriptures, she studied the Tripitaka,
And in the pleasure grove she taught the Dharma to her five hundred attendants.
She received prophecy directly from the emanation of Guru Padmasambhava.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Arriving in the flower garden, she actually met face to face with the guru.
When she invited him to her palace to teach Dharma, a wandering cowherd took notice.
Rumors ensued, and the king took action to punish them.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Despite the king and queen’s attempt to burn Guru Padmasambhava alive, he revealed his miraculous powers.
The king and ministers were filled with deep remorse.
The guru stayed with the king and queen, at which time the king formally offered Mandarava as the consort of the guru of Oddiyana.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

All the males in the land of Oddiyana became disciples of the guru;
And Mandarava revealed the Dharma to all the females, who achieved liberation.
She reached perfect maturity through receiving the master’s pointing-out instructions.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Receiving the profound Dharma of indication,
She went to Maratika cave together with the guru
And truly accomplished the deathless state of becoming an immortal pure awareness holder.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

In the land of Kotala, she tamed the beings through miraculous means
And achieved great victory over the magic of heretics,
In the charnel ground of Yogndu, she placed the hordes of obstructors under oath.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

In accordance with the prophecy of Padmasambhava,
She went to the land of Chamara, where she placed all the male and female cannibals upon the Dharma path.
They accomplished the rainbow body, and the entire country was emptied!
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

In Ngampatsal and the eight great countries,
And in Kailadrog and the eight minor power places,
She revealed eight major and minor miraculous, enlightened physical deeds.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Then the Guru Padmasambhava and consort went together
To the land of Oddiyana to banish all perverted views through skillful means.
They turned the wheel of Dharma, and everyone was liberated in the rainbow-light body.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

In accordance with the prophecy of the guru,
She went to Shambhala and, with her great skillful means, tamed beings in the twenty-five paradises.
One million, three hundred thousand fortunate disciples were liberated in the rainbow body.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Then she traveled to the peak of the highest mountain in Bheche, India.
Where all remaining transmissions, without exception, were given.
She manifested herself as two utpal flowers of white and red — one in Tibet and one in Nepal.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Dissolving in the expanse of space like a rainbow, without remains,
She departed to the Akanishta Paradise of Padmavyuha.
She transformed into the embodiment of the supreme consort, the secret primordial wisdom dakini.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

Together with nine hundred pure awareness holder disciples,
After dissolving into a rainbow body, she manifested herself once again for the benefit of others.
Mandarava emanated unceasingly, manifesting herself as a dakini to tame the minds of beings in every essential way.
To the feet of Mandarava, I supplicate!

In the Realm of Great Bliss, she is known as the secret wisdom consort Pandaravasini;
In the realm of Khechari, as Natyendri;
And in Zahor, as Dungmen Karmo.
To the feet of Mandrava, I supplicate!

The Seven Line Prayer: An Introduction

Guru Rinpoche

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Experiencing the Hook of Compassion”

The Seven Line Prayer is so important. It is a magnificent prayer. It was not made up or composed by an ordinary person. It was miraculously manifested when primordial wisdom dakinis appeared literally from the sky to devout practitioners and told them, “This is how one calls the Guru. This is how one practices.”One will actually move toward enlightenment and can achieve enlightenment merely by reciting this prayer. Whenever a student asks me formally to be their teacher, I ask them to repeat this prayer many, many times. In fact I hope that each student will repeat it a hundred thousand times. Now that sounds like a piece of work, doesn’t it?  In fact, it is. But eventually you will learn to say the prayer so well that you can say it really quickly. You don’t have to say it slowly; you can say it very quickly and you can do a whole mala, that’s a whole prayer beads’ worth, in maybe ten, fifteen minutes. That’s pretty easy to do. That’s pretty easy to do. And then you can get to eight minutes. I don’t know what the world record is, but you can do it. You can, but you’re a blur. Your lips go “bluhbluhbluh..”.

Actually you can feel the wind on your nose.

This prayer actually occurs on three different levels. It has three different levels of meaning. The most profound level of meaning is so profound that the teachers do not give that level of meaning until you have accumulated three hundred thousand repetitions of that prayer. Isn’t that amazing?  This prayer has in it everything. It has refuge; it has bodhicitta. There is every kind, every element of practice within this prayer; but it’s in such a succinct form, that it’s just a prayer. It isn’t really a practice. You know, pujas in the Tibetan tradition take hours and hours and hours. There are all kinds of mudras that you do, and instruments that you play, and all kinds of amazing technologies that you apply. But this prayer, in a very succinct form, really has the seed of everything.

On the most external level, it is, according to the translation, an invocation to Guru Rinpoche, who is the actual emanation and display of Lord Buddha who brought Vajrayana to Tibet; and he is supremely realized. On a deeper level, there are so many different levels of meaning, layer upon layer of meaning. The syllables that are in this prayer are power syllables. They have some particular power due to the way in which they were given through miraculous means, and due to the vibrational quality that is associated with these syllables. As you sound the syllables, they actually purify the inner, psychic channels, winds and fluids, that in sentient beings are polluted and kinked and distorted and actually blocked. The sounding of these syllables begins the process of purifying them and unkinking them, and actually changing you in some profound way, some psychic way, that is really extraordinary, actually extraordinary. Plus in a hidden and symbolic secret way, all the elements of practice are in this prayer, including extraordinary devotion to one’s guru . As you begin to sound it with faith that this miracle will take place, the change begins to occur, even though you are not doing the full practice. So if you want to begin, learn how to say this practice. Learn how to say this prayer.

See the prayer and listen to Jetsunma recite it by clicking here

The Teacher

Guru Rinpoche Face

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Experiencing the Hook of Compassion”

The teacher is considered to be the very door of liberation. The students are looking to walk through, just as they’re wanting to exit that burning house. They want to walk through that door. And it’s a really amazing thing.

In the Vajrayana tradition, we are taught that when a tulku appears in the world, a tulku is considered to be an emanation of Lord Buddha or Guru Rinpoche’s enlightened compassion. The teacher is considered to be an extension of that. Guru Rinpoche himself said, “I will appear in the world as your root teacher.” The root teacher is defined as the one with whom you have such a relationship that upon meeting this teacher, upon hearing this teacher, you have immediately understood, or perhaps over time, have understood something of the nature of your mind. You have seen something; you have recognized something. And -perhaps through some words that the teacher has given you, perhaps simply through being with the teacher; perhaps through some experiences that you have had while you are with the teacher,  you have come to understand something of your own mind. You’ve come in some small way to see your face. That may not necessarily be pleasant at first. You see?  You think that that should be a beatific experience, and you’re waiting for the Hallelujah Chorus . That may not be the way it happens to you. It may be painful at first. You may realize how puffed up you are at first. You may realize how vapid your life has been thus far. That’s painful. Of all realizations, that’s the most painful. And you may take account of yourself; and the account may not be so good. And suddenly, suddenly you have this urge and this yearning. That’s your face. That’s your face just as surely as if you had been struck enlightened immediately upon seeing your teacher. That is your face. That face that turns you around and moves you… That’s your face too.

So when you meet your root teacher, that relationship becomes so fantastic, so wonderful. And that is the display of Guru Rinpoche’s touch. That is how Guru Rinpoche has appeared in your life. You cannot doubt that. That is how the Buddha has appeared to you, because that is the beginning. That is the face; that is the movement; that is the method of enlightened awareness. That is the beginning of the awakening. So that must be the Buddha. That must be the Buddha appearing in your mind.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved

 

Our Best Hope

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The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “This Time is Radical”

When we practice meditating on emptiness and non-duality, we think we should come out of that feeling oh so peaceful, like milk. And then after that, we should be so peaceful. And I think, “Right on. Whatever.”  Mostly, I think, let’s gather together and be of benefit. I think that’s the most important thing.

At this time, there are people who have come in contact with Dharma. From this time forward, there are those who have the karma to practice but will not have the opportunity because the darkness is getting thicker.For them, we will record mantra and we will send it out to the world. And if it can wake them up, it will wake them up and they will come. And if you don’t know that His Holiness gave his blessing to this, then I’ll tell you that he has.

His Holiness is interested in this. He doesn’t care what it sounds like. He’s not a big rock and roll fan. Not into Hip Hop. Wouldn’t know 80s music from Sub Dub. Just doesn’t know. But His Holiness said, ‘We’ve got to get it out and we’ve got to get it out now.’  And so for me in my practice and in my activity, and that includes the music, we have two streams going here. I’m going to go up to New York and record with John Ward on Monday; and then we have another stream that is in the studio. We are going to do more and more and more and more until everyone who can hears it, and they will come. I find that there is no way to reach out to them because they have, through the thickness and the darkness and the delusion, become too dense to hear. But my determination, our determination, is to call to them so loudly and so clearly in their language, which is today’s language, that they can’t resist us. And they will come. And with every effort that we make, we will continue to practice and pray. And I believe that because of that, they will come in droves.

So I wanted to tell you that. Not because I wanted to put out energy before its time or to brag or anything like that. It’s not like that really. I’m not ambitious in that way. I’m only ambitious in one way, and that is, get it out. Sound the call. So while it’s so dark they can’t see, still maybe they can hear.

I want you to know that when people hear me doing this, they won’t know that His Holiness wants me to do it. They’ll think, ‘What is this?  A tulku?  A reincarnate lama from a throne singing whatever? Blues or hip-hop or whatever?’  But if you listen to it, there’s mantra in it, and there’s Dharma in it, and it’s real. And so I say to you that I have permission, first of all, and I have the heart for it, second of all. God, I hope I have the voice for it. I feel that this is a time of either despondency or empowerment. You are either getting left behind or you’re climbing onboard now. Things are going to get really exciting around here really fast. So I want you to keep your heart practice, and never be swayed by anything you see, no matter what you see. Even if someone says, ‘Well, why is a Dharma teacher making this music?’  Then you can repeat the teaching, “All sounds are the Dharma.”  Learn it. Learn it well and speak it, because that is the truth.

The other thing that His Holiness said is that the Dharma can’t be broken. You can’t break it. You can’t break something that is not of this world. The meaning of that is that in whatever context we can put the Dharma out to sentient beings, so long as it is with good motivation and completely respectful, it will manage. It will do its job. The way it works, as I’ve instructed you before, is that the very vibration, the very sound of Dharma, which is why you have to speak the mantra out loud, the very sound of it reverberates and corresponds with the winds, channels, and fluids within your deepest nature. So if one hears mantra, or sees some connection with the Dharma, even though they may be ordinary and kind of down in the dust and living a very secular, commercial, ordinary life, the power of mantra is such that boom!  they can wake up. It is an ancient resonance that comes to them and they change quickly because of that. I see that happening. And I see that in this time, that’s our best hope. It’s our best hope.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved

The view and purchase music produced by Jetsunma please visit http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Jetsunma

Free download of “The Promise

Wisdom on Social Media

mosquito

The following are excerpts from teachings offered by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo on Facebook and twitter:

Jetsunma’s Tweet: We have all types of karma. We have killed – ever killed a mosquito?

Facebook User: Are you saying that killing a mosquito is wrong?

Jetsunma’s response: Killing is always wrong but cannot always be avoided.

Facebook User: Why is killing a mosquito wrong? Does it have a soul? I understand the part about killing being wrong and that it cannot always be avoided.

Jetsunma’s response: We don’t think of “souls” in Buddhism. We feel that all sentient beings have the same primordial nature – all sentient beings are made of the same stuff.

A twitter teaching from the same day:

As I get older I have come to realize how precious life is and how little we do to live long. We don’t think of kindness or charity or that other sentient beings are suffering just like yoy and I. How sad! We don’t understand the connection at all. We think things just happen to us. Ha! Like we had nothing to do with this at all. Good grief!

How to Meditate

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From teachings given by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

What is meditation?

Meditation is the natural state of mind when it is relaxed, stable, and open.  When our mind is calm and settled, there is a spaciousness that allows time between action and reaction.  The trouble is that the mind more frequently runs wild like a monkey. That is what happens when the mind is too agitated, wound up, or out of control. The mind controls you rather than the other way around.

The point of meditation is to create space in your mind.  The mind is like a muscle.  In the same way that you do physical fitness training to keep your body strong, the mind needs to be trained to be calm and relaxed, yet also alert and wakeful. For Buddhists, meditation is the means by which to experience wisdom directly.

Meditation Techniques

Meditation can be practiced by anyone, regardless of religious tradition.

The following are some simple meditation techniques as explained by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Posture

While there are more elaborate explanations for how to hold the body, in general it is beneficial to sit comfortably with one’s back straight. A firm cushion is useful to lift the body some. In our tradition, we meditate with our eyes slightly open.

Watching the Breath

A very simple, yet powerful, technique is to watch the breath.  You can take very uniform relaxing breaths.  Four beats in, hold one, four beats out.  Let your mind rest on the rhythm and feel of your own breath. For a person whose mind is too active and angry, it is very restful, very peaceful to do this.

Single-pointed concentration

Single-pointed concentration is a beautiful practice.  Take an image of the Buddha, or flower, or candle, and concentrate on that.  Let everything else go completely.  Sit and watch the image.  You are filled with the image and you take note of the image, looking at the finest parts of it.  If you use a candle, focus on the nature of that flame.  Simply see what it is.  See only that.  Let the mind rest on the image or candle or flower.  When the “I left the iron on” thoughts come into your mind, you dismiss them and go back to the concentration.  If you have trouble dismissing thoughts, you can use a visualization of cutting them with scissors, and throwing them away.  You always return to your single-pointed concentration.  Come back to rest.  If you have thoughts, no matter what they are, just laugh at yourself, drop them and come back to the concentration.  It is extremely relaxing and healing to let the mind rest.  The resting will get longer and longer as you practice.  Once you learn to apply meditation or concentration, the mind has more control, more “muscle.”

Jetsunma gives the background on her experience with meditation in Stablizing the Mind, a collection of teachings and practical instruction.

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