Q: How can we maintain continuity without being distracted?
A: How to maintain our awareness without being distracted … How to maintain consistency without being distracted.
I think the most important is, recognizing the distraction, is important. The moment you are distracted, there’s no retrieving back. There’s no such as a time retrieving. So having awareness to the distraction itself is very important.
But when people talk about awareness, they tend to have this idea that, “Ah, I cannot distracted, I have to focus!” little bit like playing a sport, like a multibillion and multimillion sport. Little bit like you are in a centre of all the network. You start to think like that. Little bit with so much pressure, “I should not, I should focus, I should not be distracted”, If you have that kind of an idea, and conceptual idea about the meaning of not being distracted, then you are completely wrong.
So the definition of not being distracted, when it comes to a Buddhist practitioner, means simply a continuity of the visualization, continuity of, like an example, you put a simple Buddha statue in front of you, you put a simple flower in front of you. Then you visualize, you imagine nothing beyond that, or nothing before that, you simply focus your mind into that state of mind. You simply look at the Buddha. Nothing before that, nothing beyond that, simply that.
And then whenever there is some reflection and projection of thought that arise in your mind, it’s possible, there’s no denial on that. So when things arise, and then you simply look at the projection of thoughts, you can call it distraction, you can call it the projection of thoughts, you simply witness that. And then do not gossip with that, and do not say “Hey! Look at me! I managed to recognize”, you don’t have to do that also. You don’t have to say “Oh, it’s terrible, I didn’t recognize it”, you don’t have to do either of that. Just simply see it as it is, and then it will melt, and it will dissolve by itself, over time. And then you don’t have to investigate where it dissolve to.
Then you come back to that continuity, of that concentration. And then more you maintain like that, in the beginning, maybe for 15 minutes, 10 minutes, and then once there is a quality, and then the time will increase by itself.
Time will increase by itself. So you don’t have to say “I need to do this long, that long, maybe this will be more helpful” just make sure the quality is there, with a minimal distraction and if ever there is distraction, recognize it, do not ignore it, do not reject it, just simply recognize it and let that distraction and the reflection of the thoughts dissolve by itself. You don’t have to show urgency, you don’t have to show remorse, you don’t have to show a guilt, you don’t have to show appreciation, just nothing, just simply witness, and then come back to the Buddha, simple Buddha statue, or maybe a flower, maybe a piece of stone, or maybe a piece of bamboo, or beautiful lake, it can be anything, it doesn’t matter the size of the object. What it matters is that you having the mindset. Nothing before that, nothing beyond that, and simply that.
And that is the beginning training that you have to initiate. So that’s that.
Kalu Rinpoche
FB Livestream – 24 January 2021
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