Reflection on Gen-la Kelsang Jampa’s
teaching in Taipei
2016/12/21 /Nancy Lin
“What is happiness?” begins the
question by Gen-la Kelsang Jampa.
Before answering this question,
I retrospectively reflects on what happened to me minutes ago when I rush to find
where the center is and find that I got lost and felt angry how come I couldn’t
be on time and lost my direction again. Instead of blaming myself, I blamed my
boyfriend.
We
just visited National l Palace museum, and I could have plenty of time to get back
downtown and make it happen to be on time. Instead, I decided to have Ramen at
the Shilin night market. The consequence was being late. As I subsequently
attended the two consecutive classes hosted by Jampa and Tonglam on 12/24 and
12/25, I was late for both classes despite the distance from Yonghe to Dongmei
MRT station was not far.
Back
to the question of being happy, this episode of being late and blaming others
trigger anger inside me, I am intrigued to know how I could not be disturbed
under whatever circumstance.
On
12/21, Jampa distinguished the difference between lasting happiness and
reduction of suffering. Euphoric activities related to possession of property such
as more money, better car, bigger house can be categorized to reduction of
suffering. Even the act of eating, once basic need of hunger is met, will only
lead to suffering instead of satisfying. On page184 of “How to Transform Your
Life” G.K. Gyatso states that
“The
experience of suffering will never be changed by the same cause,
But we can see the experience
of happiness will be changed by the same cause.”
Thus, differentiating lasting happiness and temporal
happiness resembles telling the difference of real gold and artificial gold. On
page 18 of the same book, G.K. Gyatso reveals:
“The
essential point of understanding the mind is that liberation from suffering cannot
be found outside the mind. Permanent liberation can be found only by purifying
the mind. ”
Elusive happiness
might originate from attachment to pleasures, resentful feelings from
competition, and disappointments of unattained goals. Developing peaceful mind
could start from stop having these negative thoughts, stop saying bad words even
out of anger. As long as negative thoughts are recognized, they can be reduced,
disposed of and eventually merged into positivity. And then, start to contemplate
Buddha’s teachings, develop good intentions and engage behaviors beneficial to
self and others.
In relationship to
self and others, good intention is the seed of fertile land cultivated by
determination for wisdom. Good actions sprouts from the well-attended seed; in
the process happiness is experienced and wisdom is felt.
The state of everlasting
happiness originates from peaceful mind which can be attached by continuous practice.
Love and Passion as well as Patience assist in perseverance of spiritual
practices. Gradually, deluded mind can be transformed into permanent peaceful
mind.
On 12/24 and 12/25,
Jampa and Tonglam first lead the group to mediate on breathing and then on emptiness.
The first day is relatively easy when coming to having a meditation object
which is tangible while the second seems like a headache to me since I can’t
imagine mind as a formless, shapeless and colorless object. I guess some other
have similar difficulties, so Jampa receives much more questions on 12/25.
The postures of meditation
should be conducive to training mind. Straight back is highly recommended. Eyes
should remain slightly open to keep certain light; however, I personally found
it easier to close my eyes. You will follow the instructions of meditation
guidance. At the same time, distraction persistently intrudes without
invitation. Jampa always knew when audience is getting distracted and he would
timely announce the time to let go of distraction.
The framework
comprises of
Step1: Postures
Remain alert instead
of falling sleep or dozing off.
Step2: Determination
Strengthen mindfulness moment by moment not forgetting
the meditation object which is breathing itself in this instance.
Step3: Awareness
Be aware of distractions. Once distraction
arises, immediately let go of it.
Eventually mindfulness
should last longer than distraction. Effective meditation can enhance stable
and harmonious relationships. Lasting happiness will also arrive at due time.
In the initial stage of practicing, steady and frequent practicing ensures
stability and encourages confidence. 10 to 15 minutes per time, 2 to 3 times
per time can build up determination of mindfulness meditation.
It all sounded sweet
and easy until Jampa said “let’s mediate a formless object which is mind.” As
far as I was concerned, I was so distracted during the process I started to
doubt if I could make it to take another meditation practice. The framework is
the same as meditating on breathing, but the difference is that you would need
to consider the mind as formless as if the sky. However, mind doesn’t have
color or shape in physical term. To help us imagine a non-physical mediating
object, Jampa asked us to think “Does dream mind reside in the body or pervade
the dream?” “Is dream mind obstructed by dream?”
Nature of minds is emptiness
and formless continuum while its function is to perceive and cognize object. If
a practitioner relates to form habitually, he or she might not be able to
cognize formless. Root mind resembles ocean and other layers of mind are like
waves. They are the same entities. The vastness of mind can be thought of as a
rough image and can be contemplated through training. The intricate part The
intricate and delicate part is the subtle shift from contemplating into not contemplating
of mind. Another way around is starting from a thought of “I must attain
enlightenment for the benefits of others,” which is an object of contemplation.
With determination, a practitioner remembers the meditation object moment by
moment without dropping it. Once the process is familiar, the meditation object
as formless, shapeless and colorless mind will dissolve like waves into ocean.
I guess I know these
words but don’t feel them yet. It’s a battle field of physical and metaphysical
wrestling. There is no winner and no loser just levels of attainment of
different levels of understanding and feeling in the practicing process.
