18381367 Awakening the Buddha Within Four Dzogchen Meditations

Meditation Traini 35*

Four Dzogchen Meditations

A R U S H E N M E D I T A T I O N :

D I S C E R N I N G D I F F E R E N C E S

Part of the unique preliminary practice for Dzogchen is called rushen.

It includes analytical contemplations that employ the rational powers

of the mind; in these contemplations we use the well‐honed, focused

mind like a sharp tool to penetrate further into reality. This special

self‐inquiry helps us recognize the essential nature of mind.

The word rushen literally means ʺdiscerning the difference be‐

tweenʺ—traditional images are separating the wheat from the chaff or

a kernel from its husk. We use the practice of rushen to distinguish

between the dualisms that confront and confuse us: between samsara

and nirvana; between bondage and freedom; between small mind and

Big Mind, or Buddha‐mind; between finite conceptual mind and

infinite awareness; between finite self and our true Buddha‐nature.

Now lets use the self‐inquiry part of rushen practice. Letʹs

penetrate further into heart and soul, and perceive the essential nature

of mind. We can use investigative self‐inquiry to unmask ourselves

and deconstruct the illusory prison that ego built, thus gaining insight

and the wisdom of awareness.

Exploring the age‐old question ʺWho am I?ʺ is an open‐ended

inquiry that takes us beyond thoughts and mere concepts. This is one

of the very best practices to help you get to know your true nature,

beyond your illusory conventional self. Recognizing our natural mind,

Buddha‐nature, helps us live freely in the present moment, without

preconceptions about what weʹll get out of it. Letʹs discern the

difference between the ego, which strategizes and manipulates, and

the spontaneous natural heart‐mind. The heart

Step Eight: Right Concentration 359

and mind are beautiful in their natural state. We can afford to leave

them alone. The better we come to know and accept ourselves, the

more at home and profoundly at peace we can be, wherever we are.

Whoever we may be.

Who or what is experiencing your present experience? Rushen

meditation helps us to discern the difference between what we seem to

be and think ourselves to be, and our original nature— who we really

are. We identify ourselves with our body, but are we really our body?

We identify with our thoughts, but are we really our thoughts and

states of mind? This analytical meditation brings to bear the

microscope of discriminating awareness.

Practice self‐inquiry now by asking yourself:

Who or what is experiencing my present experience? Is it my

body? Do the eyes and ears hear? (Remember a corpse has eyes and

ears, but it doesnʹt see and hear.) Where is the experience^ the

perceiver? Is it in my head? my torso? my heart? Perhaps within the

body and also all around it, like a nimbus, an astral body or a luminous

sphere?

Mind is the knower. Consciousness animates the sense doors,

perceiving all that transpires through the gates of the senses. What is

the essence or nature of this mind? Peer into the nature of your own

mind in this very present moment. Know the knower. See through the

seer, and be free.

Does the mind have a particular shape or form? A color? A size or

weight? Is it always the same or simply a stream of consciousness, a

collection of various mind‐moments and mental events—like the

ever‐changing weather, dependent on fluctuating circumstances and

conditions? Do I have one mind, several, or many? Is it separate from

the mind of another being and of all others—or is it connected? Is it

perhaps part of universal cosmic consciousness?

In a moment of no thought, how is it, and what is it? When one

dies, where does it go? Can you tell me? Can you say? Where do your

thoughts come from? Where do they go when they pass on? Where

does thinking stem from? Try to say something about this. The effort

could be extremely revealing. You could have a close encounter with

yourself.

Who is thinking, hearing, seeing, wondering? Who am I? What am

I? What is happening right now, this immediate instant?


Turn the mind back upon itself with this laser‐like question: Who

is experiencing your experience right now? And then let go of

thinking. Sec what comes up. Sense directly.

D Z O G C H E N F I V E ‐ E L E M E N T

M E D I T A T I O N

Dzogchen meditations often emphasize nature—the awesome mystery

and splendor of it all. Mother Nature is like a great goddess. In the

Diamond Skydancer Tantra, the Great Dakini says, ʺThe whole

universe is my body, all sentient beings my soul, my heart‐mind.ʺ The

salient principle in this meditation is merging into five elements of

nature—water, earth, fire, air, and space. This helps us return to our

natural, innate Buddha‐mind.

Let’s meditate, letʹs contemplate; letʹs unifyʺ ourselves with these

elements. The element of water with its cooling nature and natural

flow is a good way to begin.

We can practice this meditation by the ocean, a lake, a river, or a

pond. We can even practice this meditation while washing the dishes.

The sound of water could be the tranquil lapping of waves against a

dock, the dripping of a faucet in a kitchen sink, the melodic flowing of

the water in an aquarium, a waterfall, or the thundering surf. The

vision of water may range from a shimmering puddle to the Pacific

Ocean. Water is water. The natural element is the same.

Merging and dissolving into the natural elements helps us to go

beyond ourselves. We enter into the dimension of that element,

unifying ourselves and the universe. In this way we transcend our

separate selves and realize our primordial nature.

Listen to the ʺwhite soundʺ of water. Enter into the contemplative

space, the flow, the reflectiveness of water. Concentrate on the sound

of water. Let it wash everything else away. Just focus on listening to

the sound. Dzogchen meditation calls for the senses to be left in their

natural state. And that state is Natural Great Perfection, Dzogchen. Let

the sound of the water wash over you, wash through you. Leave your

senses open, sensitive, and receptive. Enter the resonant spiritual

dimension of pure sound.


Open your eyes. Look at the water. Let all thoughts fall into the

water and dissolve into the lake of your mind, like snowflakes settling

and dissolving in the ocean. All waves of thought and feeling, and

emotion and energy, gradually slow down and dissolve, like gentle

ripples in a stream or in the placid sea of natural awareness. The

oceanʹs waves come and go; watch them until you forget yourself and

become one with the waves.

Contemplating the waves—‐just listening—let everything else be

washed away. Enter into the non‐dual dimension of just being. Be that

sound, flow with the water. Relax into the natural state of the water

element as if worshipping the spirit of nature or the deity of water. All

of the elements are like embodied deities. Attend to them. Rest in their

shrines. Be one with them. Enter into that sacred dimension right now.

Being at one with water is not unlike being at one with all the other

elements. With the element of fire, we meditate before a fireplace, a

campfire, or a candle, and we let our thoughts mingle with the flame as

the inner flame warms our hearts, melts us down, and dissolves the

separation between us and the world.

With the air element, we can meditate on the wind. We feel it, and

listen to it sigh. We can watch the wind blowing through the long grass

on a hilltop or in the swaying treetops, or we can sit near the window

of a city apartment, feeling the cooling breeze. The wind of breath

constantly blows through us, blowing away our cares and purifying

our mind—if we let it.

For earth, we can concentrate on the supportive, solid, and

powerful earth element in a garden, in the woods, or looking at a

far‐off mountain. Whether we are meditating with a view of the Grand

Canyon or next to a rock in a city park—itʹs all matter. All part of the

earth element, the Earth Goddess. . . all one, single, divine element of

our daily experience.

The principle in the Five‐Element Meditation is directing our

attention to nature in a way that leads us beyond ourselves and back

home to the natural state of oneness. When we sit by the edge of the

ocean, the incessant sound of the waves seems to wash our cares,

thoughts, and worries away. This is like a natural meditation. In this

way nature—which we all love, enjoy, and can easily relate to—helps

us moving toward the wholeness and completeness of non‐dual

awareness.


S K Y ‐ G A Z I N G M E D I T A T I O N

This is another example of a natural, elemental Dzogchen meditation.

The sky, which represents the element of space, is without shape or

color. No one can say exactly where it begins or where it ends. It just is.

Meditation leads us into a way of being that is in perfect harmony,

attunement, and oneness with nature, including everything and

everyone around us—and with our true nature too. In this sky‐gazing

meditation, we dissolve into the infinite by becoming one with the

open sky.

Close your eyes. Still your hands. Have a seat. Take a deep

breath, and let it out. And another. Relax. Let go. Drop everything.

Rest naturally, and at ease.

Just for a moment, let everything pass by like waves in the sea,

like clouds in the infinite sky.

Simply observe. Be still. And know. Everything is right here.

Let it be.

Let go and let be.

At ease. Nothing more to do. Nothing to figure out, understand or

achieve. Simply present. Natural. At home and at ease. Know

yourself.

See things just as they are in the present moment. Breathe in and

out. Deeply and slowly. Letting it in, letting it out. Letting go a

little more with each breath.

Let everything quiet down naturally, by itself.

Let the body settle naturally in its own place, in its own time. Let

the mind set naturally, in its own way, in its own time. Let everything

go naturally for a few moments.

Moment by moment, one moment at a time.

Breathe, Smile, Be Aware



Now.

Open your eyes. Raise

your gaze.

Elevate the scope of the 360‐degrce sphere of total awareness.

Look at the sky.

Gaze evenly into space, with a soft focus. (No eye strain necessary.)


Space, like mind, has no beginning and no end.

No inside and no outside. No actual form, no color, no size, no

shape.

Mingle the gaze with space; merge mind with infinite, empty

space.

Dissolve into space—spacious awareness.

Cast the breath into space, following the out‐breath— out, out, out,

out. Allow all thoughts, feelings, sensations, and emotions to come and

go freely, casting everything off into vast space.

Gaze freely in vast space, into the open sky, in the crystal clear

sphere of pristine awareness.

And let go, let go, let go.

Breathe out.

Breathe the sky in and out, and breathe and dissolve into the sky

with your out‐breath. Follow the out‐breath— out, out, out. . .

Breathe out.

Open up.

Unfurl your infinite Buddha‐mind. Let it all go. Let be.

Drop everything, past and future. Drop off body and mind.

Mingle with the sky and slowly dissolve totally into the

spacious luminous

joy of meditation.

After this melting into the sky you can just sit. Sit and enjoy the

infinite luminous emptiness. Maybe a thought will arise, but now you

know how to watch it come and watch it go. A feeling may present

itself. It, too, passes away. Perhaps your concentration begins to flag.

You know how to bring attention back, refreshing yourself, by

observing anew the in‐and‐out motion of the natural breath, with more

attention on following the out‐breath, while letting go.


A H H H M E D I T A T I O N

To further enhance the sky‐gazing meditation, we chant the

user‐friendly Dzogchen mantra Ah.

Take a deep breath, and with the exhalation, open your eyes and

mouth wide, raise your gaze and chant a resounding, relieving

Ahhhh . . .

Again, breathe in deeply, and again exhale like a great, orgasmic

release,

Ahhhhhhh . . . As far as

you can go. Watch the

breath. In, out; in, out.

Now chant Ah; Ahhh; Ahhhhhh following the out‐breath, dissolving

into space. Chant Ah again; then Ahhh; then Ahhhhhh, with a huge

exhalation, a cosmic out‐breath. Chant Ah, Ahhh, and Ahhhhhh at

different volumes in different tones,

emptying yourself totally while dissolving outward with each

out‐breath. Ah, Ahhh, Ahhhhhh.

What a relief.

What a release!

A h . . . Ahhh . . . Ahhhhhh.

Mingle mind with space, space with awareness.

Let everything dissolve in vast, open space.

Simply rest in the view, at ease and precisely as is.

Let the sound of the seed mantra Ah resound itself away

into nothingness,

both within and without.

Rest

in the utter silence and simplicity of the natural state of just

being.

If thoughts arise, chant a few lengthy Ahs, following the

out‐breath. Dissolve a little more each time.

Then again rest in spacious openness and clarity.

Alternate this dissolving and resting, at your own pace, in your

own natural way.

Dissolving. Resting,

Dissolving. Resting,


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Aha! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . .

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18381367 Awakening the Buddha Within Four Dzogchen Meditations