The Oral Instructions of Mahamudra. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

called ‘continual placement’.

      Then we meditate continuously with the concentration of the second mental abiding. Each time the mind wanders and we forget the object of meditation, our very subtle mind, we again remember it and meditate on it. By practising like this again and again every day, eventually through the force of our familiarity we will attain a concentration that is able to immediately recall the object of meditation whenever we forget it. This concentration is the third mental abiding, called ‘replacement’.

      Then we meditate continuously with the concentration of the third mental abiding. Because this concentration is able to recall the object of meditation immediately whenever it is forgotten, by meditating again and again every day with this concentration, eventually through the power of familiarity we will attain a concentration that never forgets the object of meditation throughout the entire session. This concentration is the fourth mental abiding, called ‘close placement’.

      Because at this point our concentration is very stable and our mindfulness is very strong, once we have attained the concentration of the fourth mental abiding observing the very subtle mind, for the purpose of attaining the higher paths there is almost no difference from if we had attained actual tranquil abiding. Therefore, from this state we can engage in the second stage of the actual practice of Mahamudra – having realized emptiness, meditating on superior seeing.

HAVING REALIZED EMPTINESS, MEDITATING ON SUPERIOR SEEING

      The practice of the second stage has two parts: realizing emptiness and meditating on superior seeing. The root text of the Mahamudra says:

      Therefore, with respect to this, there are two systems:

      Seeking meditation on the basis of correct view

      And seeking correct view on the basis of meditation.

      Here we are following the second system.

      The way to seek correct view on the basis of meditation is first to attain the concentration of actual tranquil abiding, or at least the concentration of the fourth mental abiding, and then to realize emptiness based on this meditation.

      How do we realize emptiness? In general, Buddha taught many different levels of the meaning of emptiness according to different people’s mental capacities. It was Nagarjuna and his disciple Chandrakirti who explained Buddha’s actual intention, and Je Tsongkhapa who clarified it unmistakenly.

      The practice of Mahamudra is the instruction of the oral lineage. It has many instructions that are especially superior to others, such as:

      • How to identify the object of negation of emptiness and how to meditate on its negation, emptiness

      • How to meditate on superior seeing as preparation for the path of seeing directly realizing emptiness

      • How to generate a special realization of the path of seeing, that is non-dual bliss and emptiness

      If we take the first of these, how to identify the object of negation of emptiness, we contemplate the meaning of the words of the great scholar and Yogi, Norsang Gyatso, quoted by the first Panchen Lama in Lamp for Clarification – the autocommentary to the root text of the Mahamudra. The meaning of these words is as follows:

      Although there are many stars who are followers of the great sun of Je Tsongkhapa

      Who say that the great middle way, emptiness,

      Is the mere absence of inherent existence,

      In their hearts they believe that the things we normally see actually exist.

      Dream things such as dream mountains and dream houses

      And the horses and elephants that are created by magicians

      Are all mere appearance to the mind –

      They do not actually exist.

      In the same way, all living beings from gods to hell beings

      And all phenomena that we normally see or perceive

      Are also mere appearance to the mind –

      They do not actually exist.

      If we fail to negate all the things that we normally see,

      Our view of emptiness is simply our own creation;

      It has no function to solve our delusion problem.

      Je Phabongkhapa

      Because we may previously have had great interest in emptiness, read many books, asked many questions and received many answers, if someone now asks us what emptiness is we do not need to give it much thought, we naturally reply, ‘It is empty of inherent existence’, as if we have realized emptiness ourselves.

      In truth, we are not like someone who has eaten their fill and is satisfied. The reason for this is that we are unable to negate the phenomena that we normally see or perceive. Normally, we point to an emptiness that negates a fabricated object of negation and say, ‘This is emptiness’. We should know that no matter how much we analyze this we will never move away from an incorrect view. No matter how much we meditate on such an emptiness, this will not help to solve the problems of the delusions.

      The actual object of negation of emptiness is the phenomena that we normally see or perceive. We should know this through our own experience by applying great effort. In general ‘emptiness’ means the non-existence of something. For example, when we say, ‘My purse is empty’, here ‘empty’ is the non-existence of money in our purse. Similarly, when we say ‘emptiness’, this ‘empty’ is merely the non-existence of the phenomena that we normally see or perceive.

      In the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras it directly says that all phenomena do not exist. It says, ‘There is no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no tactile object, no phenomenon’, and we have no disagreement with Buddha. In the same way, I directly say that all the phenomena that we normally see or perceive do not exist, so why would you disagree with me?

      I am not saying that all phenomena do not exist. All phenomena do exist. The way they exist is as mere name. Anything other than mere name does not exist. But all the phenomena that we normally see or perceive do not exist even as mere name because they are all mistaken appearance. This is a conclusive reason because if something actually exists there would be no reason it would be mistaken appearance, and no reason it would be false.

      In the context of Mahamudra, following Nagarjuna’s intention, first the instruction is given to realize the emptiness that is selflessness of persons, and then the instruction is given to realize the emptiness that is selflessness of phenomena.

      HOW TO REALIZE THE EMPTINESS THAT IS SELFLESSNESS OF PERSONS

      We should know that if our self that we normally see exists, it must exist in our body, in our mind, as the collection of our body and mind, or somewhere other than these. There is no other way it can exist. In the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra Buddha said: ‘If you search for your body with wisdom you will find nothing.’ This implies that if we search for our self or I with wisdom we will find nothing.

      How do we put this instruction into practice? We contemplate and think:

      If my body is my self or I then it follows that after death because my body becomes non-existent my self also will become non-existent, and so there are no future lives. Since this is impossible it is clear that my body is not my self or I.

      If my mind is my self or I, then it is nonsense to think and say as we normally do, ‘My mind, my mind’, because my mind is the possession and my self is the possessor, and possession and possessor cannot be one. Therefore, it is certain that my mind is not my self or I.

      Since my body and mind individually are not my self or I, it is impossible for the collection of these two to be my self or I. For example, because a goat and a cow individually are not sheep, it is impossible for the collection of the two to be sheep. Since this is true, the collection