And then, after that, you can focus your mind towards, how do I say, little bit like a beautiful landscape of the small mountains or focusing your mind into the peak of the mountain, or whether you focus your mind into a beautiful flower, just simply witnessing it. Nothing beyond that, nothing before that, just simply witnessing that, you know? So that’s how you start.
And then after that, then you can simply listen to the sound of the river, sound of the waterfall, the echo, you know, not having an imagination where is the waterfall, where is the river, not having an imagination, rather simply being the witness to the sound itself. When there is an echo of the sound without having an imagination about “where is the water, or I need to get the water, or I need to see the waterfall”, without having any desire of having any glimpse of imagination. But simply listening to the echo of the sound and your mind is simply looking and being witness to that, and nothing beyond that, nothing before that, just simply that.
That’s how you train and then, slowly after that, then you focus into a syllable, you know, a syllable visualization. A syllable visualization, not, it doesn’t have to be six syllables. It can be one syllable, like an example Avalokiteshvara syllable, with the white HRI, HOUNG, all these different syllables and then slowly, the six syllables, then it can be eight syllables and then it can be ten syllables. Then it can be the appearance of the deities, then it can be the radiance and transmission and all of that.
But first you have to start with a more concrete. Don’t think about closing your eyes and all that and just focus into a more concrete, meditation method, first with an external breathing in and breathing out, which is a very, something that you can relate to. And then gradually you focus into this echo of the sound, then you come back into the visualization, you know, nothing before that, nothing beyond that, and simply witnessing that. And that kind of a mindset is important.
But doing all these different stages of the training, may be for some of you it can take days and weeks, you know, so the better to take much time as possible. At the same time, being in the meditative body posture with the sense of discipline, with the sense of awareness, is very important. Not having the judgment towards the losing the awareness either, you know, like if you’re saying “Oh, I got distracted, I’m a terrible practitioner, I’m distracted, I’m terrible practitioner” then that itself it may make you feel good by saying that “Oh, I got distracted”. But if you gossip with your own distraction, that you are being distracted, that itself is a distraction anyway. So instead of being remorse and being sadden due to the distraction, instead of gossiping regarding that, you know, whether focusing in that direction, try to resume back into the breathing in and out.
Kalu Rinpoche
FB Livestream – 13 December 2020 (21’ 42”)
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