Awakening the Luminous Mind: Tibetan Meditation for Inner Peace and Joy (16 page)

A
BIDE
, D
ISSOLVE
, C
ONTINUE
: I
NSTRUCTION FOR
M
AINTAINING
A
WARENESS

Many find it hard to maintain what they have achieved in meditation. If you achieve some space, it is hard to maintain. If you connect with silence, it is hard to maintain. How is it maintained? The meditation instruction is “Abide, dissolve, continue.” To
abide
means to enter through the doorways of stillness, silence, and spaciousness and to rest in open awareness.
Dissolve
means that as the pain body manifests, nakedly observe it; directly observe the pain voice if that is what disturbs you; observe the pain mind, if that is disturbing you. As you observe nakedly and directly, whatever you observe dissolves.

There are three analogies used for the degree of effort in your practice connected with “dissolving.” When your meditation practice is well established, it is possible to experience the pain body, speech, and mind dissolving like snow falling into the ocean. The sense of abiding is so deep and vast that as things arise in the mind, they simply dissolve the way a snowflake would in the ocean. When your practice of abiding is less established, it is necessary to use some effort because the habit of identifying with the pain body, speech, and mind is still present. This effort is analogous to sun hitting frost on a windowpane. The frost, or apparent solidity of our pain, melts in the sunlight of our naked awareness. The third analogy refers to what we all may experience when we first establish a meditation practice, and describes the most effortful relationship to our pain body, speech, and mind, because our tendency to experience what arises in the mind as “me” or “who I am” is strong, and we are easily carried away with thinking and elaborating. This effort involves being mindful that, in fact, you are experiencing pain. There is strength and precision involved in bringing one’s attention directly to the stillness, silence, or spaciousness, the moment you become aware of pain. It is similar to hitting a nail on the head or threading a needle, in the degree of effort used in focusing.

When what you observe dissolves, continue in the same state—aware of the awareness of spaciousness. Most of us need to practice abiding and dissolving many times before getting a sense of continuing. Once you become more familiar with the experience of dissolving, you continue. Gradually, as you master the practice, dissolving happens effortlessly. Eventually, you simply rest in open awareness. You will need to dissolve less and less, because you are more stable in open awareness. Over time, your practice will mature and become effortless.

CHAPTER SEVEN

C
LEAR
L
IGHT
I
S
U
NION

There are two words in Dawa Gyaltsen’s advice that we need to examine more closely:
clear
and
light
.
Clear
refers to spaciousness, openness.
Light
refers to awareness, or being aware of that openness. In the example of the sky, clouds, and sun,
clear
refers to the sky, and
light
refers to the sunlight. The word
clear
implies clearing. In this case, experientially, with the work of nakedly observing the external and internal famous person, you clear the pain body, pain speech, and the pain mind, so we are experiencing openness at this point. So
clear
refers to that openness (your perception of which was previously obscured by the pain body, pain speech, and the pain mind), and
light
refers to the awareness of that openness.

Experientially, when the grasping mind and its object dissolve, you perceive “no thing” and may conclude that nothing exists—the error of nihilism. The antidote is to experience
Emptiness is clear light
. But there is another extreme you can fall into—the extreme of eternalism. As we have been working with the first three lines, we have been experiencing the dissolution of the pain body, pain speech, and the pain mind. Finding the inner clear space and recognizing the awareness of that space is like sunshine pervading a clear, open sky. Once you experience that, there can be a sense of attachment to the experience: “Oh, this is a great feeling! This is great spaciousness. This is great bliss. I want this to last forever. I want to give this to others. This will be my gift to others!” Meanwhile, you have lost the experience by grasping it. In so doing, you lose the connection to the base, ground, space, mother, essence. The moment you lose it, what you began to feel as bliss and light begins to turn to pain again. You have a short glimpse, you grasp it, and then you lose it. “Oh, I had such a beautiful and comfortable and blissful experience.” How long did it last? Usually it is very short. Why is it so short? Simply because you have grasped and not understood the inseparable state of openness and awareness. Falling into the trap of eternalism, your grasping arises. Falling into nihilism, you experience a sense of nothing. So in this fourth session, it is important not to fall into either extreme. Here, the advice of Dawa Gyaltsen is
Clear light is union
.

Clear and light—union. Sky and sunshine—union. Space and awareness—union. Openness and awareness—union. Emptiness and clarity—union. The sky and sunshine are not separate; space and light are not separate; openness and awareness are not separate. It is important to experience it without separating it, and so you rest in that inseparable state of emptiness and clarity. Philosophically, the important point here is that there is no separation between space and awareness, subject and object, matter and mind. So you abide in the inseparable state of openness and awareness. That is the key here:
Clear light is union
.

What does this mean on a personal level? Perhaps you have been working with a specific issue or appearance or object as you have been following along with the meditations in this book and on the CD. With
Vision is mind
, you discovered that the specific object or appearance dissolved as you brought naked awareness to your experience. With
Mind is empty
, the subject dissolved. With
Emptiness is clear light
, the emphasis is on awareness of that spaciousness, and now with
Clear light is union
, the guidance is to experience the inseparability of awareness and openness.

Let’s go through this again as a meditation practice: When you close your eyes and observe your vision, you find that there is nothing solid there, so the vision dissolves. The mind is the one creating it; therefore,
Vision is mind
. Next you explore: What is the mind? Looking for that mind with naked awareness, you cannot find any inherent solid existence of that mind. So mind, the subject, dissolves and you feel the presence of inner spaciousness.
Mind is empty
. Resting in that space, you are aware of that space. When clouds clear, the sun naturally shines. You see sunlight pervading the spaciousness with
Emptiness is clear light
. Now we become aware that there is no separation possible with the sky and sunlight. In the space before you, can you say this is where the space is and this is the light? No, you cannot separate the space from the light. Internally, when you experience openness and the awareness of that openness, you cannot say, “Oh, this is the awareness and this is the openness.” They are nondual. But in meditation, to discover this, you have to be aware of it. Whether or not you know this doesn’t affect the nature of mind itself. But for you, knowing this, you liberate suffering, and not knowing this, you get caught up in delusion. So in this practice of
Clear light is union
, simply be aware of that nondual, inseparable state.

When people go on vacation and lie down on a beautiful beach under a clear, sun-drenched sky, they may feel quite relaxed. Is it a good meditation? Well, you might say it is a kind of meditation, but it is clearly not what we are talking about here. There is a lack of being conscious of that spaciousness. The state of mind while lying on the beach is perhaps closer to that of a cat seated in a sunny shop window. It looks as if the cat is meditating. It is still; it appears spacious, but it is not being particularly aware of that. Awareness is the important part.
Clear light is union
, being aware of that union, that inseparable state, is key.

G
UIDED
M
EDITATION
P
RACTICE OF
C
LEAR
L
IGHT
I
S
U
NION

After reading the above section, you may wish to use the CD to follow the guided meditation. Additionally, I include the following instructions for a meditation that supports the discovery of
Clear light is union
.

Sit in a comfortable posture. Draw your attention inward. Feel stillness in your body, silence in your speech, and spaciousness in your mind. Just feel stillness, silence, and spaciousness, while you feel connected and present in your body. Allow time for this.

Now, once again, bring to conscious awareness that vision, that object of ego that you have been working with. Bring it to conscious awareness, and through naked and direct observation, look closer and closer until it disappears and you sense a clear sky. Rest for a moment in that clear sky.
Vision is mind
.

With the second practice,
Mind is empty
, look inward at who is observing that vision, that object. Look at that mind with direct, naked awareness, without further elaboration or thinking; look closer and closer until you don’t find that mind. It dissolves, becoming spacious, empty, a “nothing” that is clear and open. You experience vast, unbounded space. Just rest there for a moment.
Mind is empty
.

Avoid falling into the experience of vastness by being aware of the awareness of vastness. Just feel vast awareness, the luminosity of mind.
Emptiness is clear light
. It is clear. It is vivid. It is alert. It is vital. Be aware of the awareness of the unbounded space.

Even as you are experiencing this luminosity, this awareness, this alertness, just feel its connection with the vastness, with the experience of unbounded spaciousness. Even as your experience is energetic and vibrant and luminous, still it is connected with the vast space, the ground, the base, the mother, the inner essence. It is connected with that inner essence. There is no separation; there is union. That is why we say,
Clear light is union
.

Be aware that there is no separation. Be aware of nonduality: there is no separation between openness and awareness, no separation between clarity and emptiness. Just realize, experience, and know the nondual state. Experience awareness while experiencing emptiness. Experience emptiness while experiencing awareness. Without effort, rest in nondual awareness.

T
HE
I
NFORMAL
P
RACTICE OF
C
LEAR
L
IGHT
I
S
U
NION

You have been applying the practice informally to your everyday experiences, so let’s reflect back on what that has meant. We have talked about holding the space of stillness, silence, and spaciousness throughout the day in relation to yourself, your family and close relationships, and at work, or when involved in the larger community. In these three places—self, close relationships, and the larger world—you have been encouraged to take the three pills of stillness, silence, and space. Perhaps you have been successful with that. What might that success look like?