How to Understand the Mind. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

in nothingness, with no gross feelings or discriminations. When these practitioners die they may be reborn as non-discrimination gods of the form realm, commonly known as the ‘long-life gods’, where they remain in absorption without discrimination for very long periods of time.

      By preventing discrimination of gross objects these meditators make it impossible for gross delusions to manifest. However, they do not actually eradicate delusions in this way and so they do not attain liberation from samsara. Although it is possible to suppress gross feelings and discriminations associated with gross levels of consciousness, and thereby temporarily to avoid all the problems that they create, it is not possible to abandon the subtle feelings and discriminations associated with the subtle mind. When we fall into a deep sleep all the mental activity of which we are normally aware ceases and it seems as if we have become mindless, like an inanimate object, but what has actually happened is that our mind has become very subtle. Some practitioners attain a similar effect through the force of meditation and mistake it for liberation. In reality, however, they are merely temporarily absorbed in a state that resembles a long, deep sleep. Eventually, when their karma to remain in that state ends, their gross mental activity will resume and they will ‘wake up’.

      At the time of the third Buddha, Buddha Kashyapa, two Hinayana meditators entered into absorption without discrimination, and through the power of their concentration remained in that state for millions of years without dying. It was not until after the fourth Buddha, Buddha Shakyamuni, had passed into parinirvana that these meditators were discovered beneath the ground near Varanasi. As they rose from their subtle level of consciousness and developed gross feelings and discriminations again, they asked where Buddha Kashyapa was, and Buddha Shakyamuni’s disciples had to explain that Buddha Kashyapa was no longer in this world, and that even Buddha Shakyamuni had appeared and passed away! After hearing this, both meditators died. Through the force of their concentration they had managed to isolate themselves for a long time from the problems of samsara, but they had not had any opportunity to make progress in their Dharma realizations while they were absorbed. Thus, when they finally rose from meditation they had received no benefit from their prolonged absorption.

      Instead of trying to stop all discriminations it is more useful to try to develop correct discriminations. If we wish to overcome delusions completely, instead of just withdrawing our mind from the objects of delusion we should clearly identify the object of self-grasping, refute it with logical reason­ing, and then meditate on actual emptiness. We also need to cultivate many correct discriminations with respect to the method side of spiritual practice.

      As followers of the Mahayana we should not become too interested in meditation on the absorption of feelings and discriminations because it has no long-term benefit. It does not help us to develop renunciation, compassion, bodhichitta, the correct view of emptiness or the realizations of the two Tantric stages. Sometimes it may be helpful to practise this absorption for a short time when our mind is very disturbed or anxious, but we should not regard it as our principal meditation.

      INTENTION

      DEFINITION OF INTENTION

      The definition of intention is a mental factor that functions to focus its primary mind on an object.

      It is only through the mental factor intention that our ­primary mind is able to focus on its object; without it our mind would be motionless. Although our body remains in our room, our mind can travel wherever it wishes because it has the mental factor intention associated with inner wind. Just as the movement of a candle flame depends upon external wind, so the movement of the mind depends upon the mental factor intention and inner wind. Our mind moves to an object by connecting with it, or becoming involved in it. For example, when we think of a distant city our mind ‘moves’ to that city by taking the city as its object.

      FUNCTION OF INTENTION

      The principal function of intention is to create karma. Of the three types of karma, or action – bodily actions, verbal actions and mental actions – intention itself is mental action. However, it is also the cause of bodily and verbal actions, because all our bodily and verbal actions are preceded by mental actions.

      If a tree falls down and kills someone it does not accumu­late the karma of killing because it lacks the mental factor intention. All the karma created by sentient beings depends upon intention. If our intention is virtuous we create virtuous karma, if our intention is non-virtuous we create non-virtuous karma, and if our intention is neutral we create neutral karma. Intention plans the actions that we undertake, directing our action towards a particular goal. Since the quality of our experiences depends upon the quality of our actions, and the quality of an action depends upon the quality of the intention with which it is performed, ultimately all our happiness and unhappiness depend upon the mental factor intention. Even if someone is a great scholar, if he has bad intentions his knowledge will have little value and he will experience many problems.

      According to the Sautrantikas and the Chittamatrins, only the mental factor intention is karma, but according to the Madhyamika-Prasangikas and the Vaibhashikas, bodily and verbal actions are also karma. However, whether these actions are virtuous, non-virtuous or neutral depends upon the intention that motivates them.

      DIVISIONS OF INTENTION

      There are three types of intention:

      1 Non-virtuous intentions

      2 Virtuous intentions

      3 Neutral intentions

      There are three types of non-virtuous action – non-virtuous bodily actions, non-virtuous verbal actions and non-virtuous mental actions – and most are included within the ten non-­virtuous actions. Of these, the first two are easy to recognize, but the third, non-virtuous mental actions, are more subtle and therefore more difficult to identify. The mental action covetousness, for example, is a type of desirous attachment that wishes to obtain the friends or possessions of others. Whereas desirous attachment in general may be a neutral mind, covetousness is necessarily non-virtuous. As with all complete actions, covetousness must have four conditions: the basis, intention, preparation and completion. The basis of covetousness might be someone else’s partner; the intention, the wish to obtain that person motivated by desirous attachment; the preparation, planning how to obtain that person for ourself; and the completion of the action, making a definite decision to obtain that person through our chosen method. This decision is the actual non-virtuous mental action of covetousness.

      The four conditions must also be present to commit the actual non-virtuous actions of harmful thought and holding wrong views. Thus, the basis of harmful thought is another person whom we see as our enemy; the intention, the wish to harm them motivated by anger; the preparation, planning how to inflict harm on them; and the completion, making a firm decision to harm them. The basis of holding wrong views is any object, such as the existence of past and future lives, that must be understood to attain liberation; the intention, the wish to deny it motivated by ignorance; the preparation, thinking of reasons to prove that it does not exist; and the completion, making a firm decision that it does not exist. It is quite difficult for Dharma practitioners to ­create the actual karma of holding wrong views, but we still have many imprints or tendencies of wrong views and these often function to obstruct the development of pure faith.

      There are many virtuous mental actions. Meditating on compassion is both a virtuous mental action and the mental factor intention, as is meditation on love. Whenever we listen to Dharma teachings, contemplate Dharma or meditate on Dharma, we are accumulating virtuous mental karma. There are many times when we cannot accumulate bodily and verbal virtuous karma, but we can always accumulate virtuous mental karma, even while we are relaxing, eating, enjoying ourself or sleeping. Mental karma is more important than bodily or verbal karma because it is our mental intention that determines whether a bodily or verbal action is virtuous or non-virtuous. If we do not have a virtuous intention, then even if we perform positive bodily actions they will not neces­sarily be virtuous karma because virtuous actions must have a virtuous motivation.

      There are many intentions that are neutral mental actions, such as deciding what to eat for breakfast or deciding what to wear.

      Intention can also be divided from the point of view of its effect:

      1