stilling the mind

bought this book on 2020-08-05 and taking notes on it here

this book expounds on dudjom lingpa's vajra essence shamatha instructions

instructions

shamatha translates to calm abiding

abide in the mind which is naturally calm regardless surrounding circumstances

master shamatha and you'll be able to focus on vipassana where you cut through the ego mind's grasping at physical objects which are empty

you are watching the mind, letting it settle to it's natural still state, this is best done on retreats in the woods

you find optimal muscular and mental tension, you do not just flop on the ground completely relaxing all muscles you want to find a balance where your muscles only have the tension required for whatever position you're using

one of alans videos says there are 9 levels, trying to find where these are in the book - 9 ways

1. with objects
2. without objects
3. visualizing buddhas?

mind arises with dependancies

1. chitta (sanskrit) psyche emerges from what Sogyal Rinpoche calls the “ground of the ordinary mind.”
2. alayavijñana (sanskrit) is translated as the “substrate consciousness.” (This corresponds closely to the Theravada Buddhist term bhavanga, or “ground of becoming.”)
3. rigpa dharmakaya buddhahood <-- accessed by practicing shamathat

eight consciousnesses

dhogzhen expands the 5/6 senses to 8

1. vision
2. sound
3. taste
4. touch
5. smell
6. mind objects
7. afflictive cognition - I am followed by craving & aversion
8. substrate consciousness

videos

definitions

vidyadhara (skt). one who has gained a conceptually unmediated, nondual realization of rigpa, of buddha nature.

vipashyana (skt). contemplative insight

nyingma - literally means ancient

eighth century during the reign of king trisong detsen nyingma is founded on the first translations of buddhist scriptures from sanskrit into old tibetan in the the tibetan alphabet and grammar was created for this endeavour s

other tibetan buddhism schools

• kagyu
• sakya

• gelug

• buddhism

  1. tibetan buddhism
     1. nyingma

• yanas (vehicles)

  1. dzogchen
     1. shamatha
     2. vipashyana
     3. tregchö (breakthrough)
     4. tögal (direct crossing-over)
  2. other 8 yanas?

notes

wisdom course

https://www.youtube.com/embed/bip1jdf_mym

stilling-charts.md