Reflections on Meditation - May 2023
Reflections on Meditation - May 2023
This months reflections on meditation. A collection of Substack notes for the month of May 2023 from Now About Meditation
Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche draws on the following analogy:
"If you’ve never seen your image before, looking in a mirror, you’d think you were gazing through a window, encountering someone altogether independent of you. But a mirror, like the mind, is reflective-it only shows you yourself."
Here Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche is drawing a comparison between looking in a mirror and the workings of the mind. He suggests that if you had never seen your own reflection before, looking in a mirror for the first time would be quite a compelling experience. If you think about this, you might perceive the image you see as someone entirely separate from yourself rather than a reflection of your own appearance. However, Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche also notes that mirrors, like our minds, are reflective. In other words, a mirror only shows us what is already there. Similarly, our minds can only reflect on what we already know and perceive about ourselves and the world around us. Thus, Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche could be implying that our self-perception is limited and conditioned by our preexisting thoughts, experiences, and beliefs.
Bodhidharma’s Teachings tell us:
“If you use your mind to study reality, you won’t understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind, you’ll understand both.”
This is because there are limitations to relying solely on the "intellect" or the "mind" to expand our understanding of reality. Why? Because our mind and intellect are full of preconceived notions of how things "should" be, and if we approach reality with preconceived notions and biases, our understanding may be limited. Indeed to truly understand reality and see things as they are, we need to surrender our preconceptions and intellectual constructs. Only this way we can perceive reality as it truly is, without distortion.
Lama Jampa Thaye, scholar and meditation teacher trained in the Sakya and Karma Kagyu Buddhist traditions, tells us:
"As long as our intentions of dharma practice remain untransformed, we only settle for more of the suffering of samsara, for life in the same old cage."
Lama Jampa Thaye here highlights the profound impact that untransformed intentions can have in the practice of "dharma." When our intentions fail to evolve and align with the principles of "dharma," we can find ourselves trapped in the ceaseless cycle of suffering known as samsara. It is through the transformation of our intentions that we can break free from the confines of this familiar and limiting existence. If we continue to cling to the same old patterns, desires, and attachments, we perpetuate our own suffering and deny ourselves the opportunity for growth and liberation. So what Lama Jampa Thaye is implying here is that to embark on a path of dharma truly, we must consciously examine and reshape our intentions and actively align them with the teachings of "dharma" to really free ourselves from the self-imposed cage of samsara and embracing a life of greater wisdom, compassion, and freedom.
Cyndi Lee comments:
"When we are happy, healthy, safe, and at ease, we can model those qualities for others as well as make choices and take action from a place of sanity and lovingkindness."
I agree with Cyndi Lee that when we experience happiness, good health, safety, and a sense of ease, we are in a position to exemplify and embody these qualities for others. When we do this, our state of being becomes a powerful source of inspiration and influence that positively impacts those around us. Moreover, in such moments of contentment, we are in a space that equips us with the tools to make meaningful, thoughtful choices and actions. This is because when we act out of a state of being where we are "happy, healthy, safe and at ease," our minds are clear and focused, enabling us to navigate challenges with a sense of sanity and discernment. Additionally, Cyndi Lee states that the lovingkindness that arises from our own well-being enables us to approach situations with compassion, empathy, and understanding and in expressing these qualities in relation to others, we can create a ripple effect, encouraging others also to embrace happiness, health, safety, and a compassionate approach towards life and people around them.
Satya Robyn tells us:
"We must encounter Great Love. We must begin to believe in the possibility of something that sees us exactly as we are, with all our deep flaws and ugliness, and that accepts us just the same."
Here Satya Robyn makes reference to the transformative power of “Great Love.” It is through encountering this profound love that we begin to grasp the profound truth that there exists something or someone who perceives us with utmost clarity, acknowledging our deepest flaws and ugliness, and yet, accepts us unconditionally. This possibility challenges our ingrained beliefs and opens our hearts to the boundless capacity for acceptance and compassion. When we allow ourselves to believe in the existence of such a love, we find solace in knowing that we are not alone in our imperfections. Great Love becomes a guiding light, reminding us that we are worthy of love and capable of loving ourselves and others just as we are.