moment, miracles are being created.
We breathe this energy in and breathe it out, being ever so sure to breathe all that energy out.
And then we are simply together in the silence for a moment. We know there is nothing our Holiness cannot do.
Say it to yourself, “There is nothing my Holiness cannot do.”
We are a blessing unto the world.
Doing these various Tonglen practices will be an enormous blessing to others, many of whom you will never meet, and in its practice you, like Geshe Chekhawa, will be growing in compassion.
When you do reenter everyday life, let the wisdom, insight, compassion, humor, fluidity, spaciousness and detachment that meditation brought you pervade your day-to-day experience.
—SOGYAL RINPOCHE
RIGHT CONCENTRATION
IN 1973 I WAS first exposed to Buddhist meditation practices. My young mind (or “beginner’s mind,” as Buddhist teaching would call it) took to meditation, as the saying goes, “like a duck to water.”
Soon after that I became the “subject” in biofeedback meditation presentations. A number of electrodes were hooked up to my head, and in a few minutes I would slip from outer awareness (beta) into inner stillness (alpha). Then I would go much deeper (theta). I always remained conscious but totally detached from any outside stimulation such as sounds or noises or temperature changes. At such times part of my mindfulness meditation training was to silently repeat, Sounds, sounds, I am hearing sounds . Then I would consciously breathe in and breathe out, returning full focus to my breath. I was a real “whiz kid” of meditation. As I look back on those days, it seems I brought that energy and knowing with me from previous lives, because I so easily and quickly went into such deep meditation.
Practicing Right Concentration is to cultivate a mind that is “single-pointed.”The initial form of meditation I was engaged in is called “active concentration.” There one observes in a very detached manner whatever presents itself and then lets it go and refocuses on the breath—always returning to the present moment, the now.
The second aspect of Right Concentration is “selective concentration.” You choose one object and direct your full focus on it. The object could be a flame, a flower or a deity.
The more skilled we become in our meditation practices in Right Concentration, the more enriched our lives become, the happier we become. For nearly 2,600 years hundreds of thousands of monks and nuns have spent their lives solely dedicated to their spiritual practices. What evolved were certain formulas, such as meditations, that we can take and superimpose on our present spiritual understanding and practices and receive consistent results.
The first time I attended a teaching of the Dalai Lama was 1991 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. During a question-and-answer time, he was asked the question: “How long should we laypeople meditate daily— not the monks and nuns—but the average American practitioner?”
His Holiness reflected on the question for several very long moments and then responded, “Four hours, four hours would be good.”
There was an audible gasp that rose from the nearly four thousand attendees. At that time I made an inner commitment to meditate two hours a day. On only a few occasions have I spent four full hours in meditation within a twenty-four-hour day. Four hours is a very long time. Two hours is a very long time. If you are a newcomer to meditation, don’t even attempt two hours, because in all likelihood you will grow weary and quit, probably after only a few days. And that is not the goal.
Since that time in New York I have endeavored to meditate two hours daily. People ask me how that is possible since I have such a full life. At least one to one and a half hours is dedicated to Right Concentrationduring the night. Not sleeping through the night does not mean counting sheep. Counting breaths and mantras can be far
We breathe this energy in and breathe it out, being ever so sure to breathe all that energy out.
And then we are simply together in the silence for a moment. We know there is nothing our Holiness cannot do.
Say it to yourself, “There is nothing my Holiness cannot do.”
We are a blessing unto the world.
Doing these various Tonglen practices will be an enormous blessing to others, many of whom you will never meet, and in its practice you, like Geshe Chekhawa, will be growing in compassion.
When you do reenter everyday life, let the wisdom, insight, compassion, humor, fluidity, spaciousness and detachment that meditation brought you pervade your day-to-day experience.
—SOGYAL RINPOCHE
RIGHT CONCENTRATION
IN 1973 I WAS first exposed to Buddhist meditation practices. My young mind (or “beginner’s mind,” as Buddhist teaching would call it) took to meditation, as the saying goes, “like a duck to water.”
Soon after that I became the “subject” in biofeedback meditation presentations. A number of electrodes were hooked up to my head, and in a few minutes I would slip from outer awareness (beta) into inner stillness (alpha). Then I would go much deeper (theta). I always remained conscious but totally detached from any outside stimulation such as sounds or noises or temperature changes. At such times part of my mindfulness meditation training was to silently repeat, Sounds, sounds, I am hearing sounds . Then I would consciously breathe in and breathe out, returning full focus to my breath. I was a real “whiz kid” of meditation. As I look back on those days, it seems I brought that energy and knowing with me from previous lives, because I so easily and quickly went into such deep meditation.
Practicing Right Concentration is to cultivate a mind that is “single-pointed.”The initial form of meditation I was engaged in is called “active concentration.” There one observes in a very detached manner whatever presents itself and then lets it go and refocuses on the breath—always returning to the present moment, the now.
The second aspect of Right Concentration is “selective concentration.” You choose one object and direct your full focus on it. The object could be a flame, a flower or a deity.
The more skilled we become in our meditation practices in Right Concentration, the more enriched our lives become, the happier we become. For nearly 2,600 years hundreds of thousands of monks and nuns have spent their lives solely dedicated to their spiritual practices. What evolved were certain formulas, such as meditations, that we can take and superimpose on our present spiritual understanding and practices and receive consistent results.
The first time I attended a teaching of the Dalai Lama was 1991 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. During a question-and-answer time, he was asked the question: “How long should we laypeople meditate daily— not the monks and nuns—but the average American practitioner?”
His Holiness reflected on the question for several very long moments and then responded, “Four hours, four hours would be good.”
There was an audible gasp that rose from the nearly four thousand attendees. At that time I made an inner commitment to meditate two hours a day. On only a few occasions have I spent four full hours in meditation within a twenty-four-hour day. Four hours is a very long time. Two hours is a very long time. If you are a newcomer to meditation, don’t even attempt two hours, because in all likelihood you will grow weary and quit, probably after only a few days. And that is not the goal.
Since that time in New York I have endeavored to meditate two hours daily. People ask me how that is possible since I have such a full life. At least one to one and a half hours is dedicated to Right Concentrationduring the night. Not sleeping through the night does not mean counting sheep. Counting breaths and mantras can be far
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