Day 1 The Preliminaries

Welcome!

Pabongka Rinpoche wrote three books (Liberation in Our Hands: Volumes 1, 2 and 3) to cover the Lamrim Meditations. The first entire book (Volume 1) is dedicated to the Preliminaries. Having a solid practice of the preliminaries is the foundation for success in your meditation; a direct uncontrived realization of the topic of the day.

For now, I recommend 30-40 minutes per meditation session. The preliminaries will make up about 10 minutes of that meditation session, so you will have at least 20 solid minutes to rest your mind on that day's topic of meditation.

Today, we will use the entire meditation time to go through the preliminaries, so that they become comfortable enough for you to go through with ease over the following days and weeks.


Every detail in the preliminaries exists to benefit every complexity of our minds. Everyday, you will become more proficient with the preliminaries so that what today may take you 35 minutes to go over, will only take you 10 minutes in the coming days...

Know that all of the teachings in the Lamrim are the authentic teachings of the Buddha, who I personally feel is the greatest yogi that we know of, whose teachings have miraculously been preserved and passed down over generations...whose teachings have survived despite the destruction of monasteries and temples throughout India, Nepal and Tibet throughout history. Let's be grateful that these teachings have appeared in our lives, handed down with such respect and care and vision for each of our Liberation.

Preliminary #1: Clean!

Clean your meditation space - not to satisfy the desire to live in a comfortable, attractive surrounding, but for the purpose of serving and honoring all the holy beings of the past and present, from every spiritual tradition and every corner of the globe, so that they may bless our minds and our practice.

By cleaning, our own mind becomes clear. You can think of sweeping your floor like sweeping your mind free of anxiety, jealously, and any ill feelings towards others and yourself. Once we rid ourselves of impure thoughts, our minds are ready to receive teachings.

Other benefits of cleaning:
-Your mind and the minds of other people around you become clear.
-Holy beings across time and space are pleased.
-You plant beautiful seeds to be in clean surroundings in the future.

Preliminary #2: Offerings!

In your meditation space, you may want to create an alter. This is not necessary, but, completely your choice, something you can have fun with, something that will simply make you feel good. Remember, this is not about being religious, this path is about clearing and training our minds to experience things beyond the physical, to ultimately experience the clear light of truth and bliss, a light which can take us beyond the ups and downs of daily life, beyond illusions, beyond mental afflictions like fear and sadness. This is a practice to develop our minds.

On your alter, you may place flowers or candles to simply honor yourself and all holy beings. If you have someone in your life that you admire, place a photo of them on your alter - someone like Jesus, the Buddha, Krishna, Allah, St Teresa of Avila...or someone like your Grandmother or Mother or Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Beethoven, Jimi Hendrix, William Blake! Whoever you perceive as holy is perfect. It can even be a photo of the ocean or mountains --- anything that brings peace and calm to your mind...you are free - be creative and happy! This is for the benefit of your mind -- give yourself this time -- we have such amazing guidance to step by step make our minds light, open, happy...

Once you have an image on your alter, place an offering such as a flower or candle, fruit or even just water or a simple leaf! The actual item does not matter...what matters is your motivation...to gain control of your mind so that you can experience full freedom, pure truth and a lasting bliss for yourself and for all beings. (Everything you do now in these meditations is for this purpose.) Having the blessings of holy beings is priceless.

Preliminary #3: Sit on your meditation cushion!

Be comfortable. You don't have to sit in lotus! Half lotus or simple cross legged position is fine. And, sitting on a chair is also just fine. Please be comfortable...we are going to sit for at least 30 minutes!

If you are sitting on the floor, invest in a nice meditation cushion. (You can find one on www.sunandmoonoriginals.com)
A cushion is important because when you sit, your back should be slightly higher than your front. This will have special purpose in the practice of tantra.

A few important points on your meditation posture:

-The body's midsection should be held erect so that the vertebrae are lined up like a stack of coins. When the body is erect, the channels become aligned. This allows the psychic winds to move through the channels more freely, thus promoting mental fitness. Actually, through one-pointed concentration, which we will engage in, you will attain states of mental and physical ease - you have to experience it to believe it... :)

-The head should be bent forward so as to press lightly on the larynx. (Slight engagement of Jalahandhra Bandha).

- Lower the eyes to the tip of the nose or gaze with your eyes slightly open to the space on the floor in front of you. I tend to close my eyes, but, the scriptures recommend keeping the eyes slightly open to avoid languor and excitation.

- Place the right hand over the left, thumbs touching and held at the level of the navel.

- Shoulders level

Once you have you are comfortable in your seat:

1. Calm the mind through a brief breathing meditation. Take your gaze inwards and begin to listen to your heart beat. Make the inhale 4 heartbeats and the exhale 4 heartbeats. Like this, steady your breath and begin to steady your mind. 10 breaths like this. If the mind is being unruly, imagine that you exhale your negative, distracting thoughts, and you inhale the pure light within and around you.

2. The holy being(s) you thought of while doing your offerings in prelim #2, think of them now and ask them to protect you from the illusions and dangers of worldly life and to bless you to have higher experiences.

3. In your heart, state your motivation firmly. We want to have a direct realization of ultimate truth for our own welfare as well as that of all beings. This feeling that we are meditating and practicing for others as much as for ourselves is crucial. It is common for all of us -- of course, myself included -- to think of ourselves more than we think of others. When we practice lamrim and later tantra, the motivation must be firm in our beings that we are practicing to bring truth and bliss to ourselves and others.

Preliminary #4 7-limbs to accumulate worthiness for Wisdom and to purify obstacles

1. Call to mind that person or teacher- or set of people on your alter- that you admire, that is holy to you...that being(s) that has all the qualities that you want to cultivate within yourself - wisdom, love, beauty, generosity. Whoever that person/teacher is to you - whether they are living or have passed on -- imagine them in the space in front of you. With your eyes closed, imagine that being in front of you. Feel that they are really present in front of you. Stay seated on your meditation cushion with your eyes closed, heart open, ego gone, and bow to them. In your heart -- without physically moving -- bow to them simply to show your respect and appreciation that they have given you something to aspire towards. Feel your heart swell. Feel the joy of letting your ego go.

2. In your mind, present an offering to this being. This time use your imagination. It can be a simple flower like before or it can be an entire garden or luxurious feast or a world free of hunger and hatred. Let your mind expand. Use your imagination. My teacher suggests to use this time to offer one good thing you did in your life. For example, a moment that you battled anger. Perhaps you gave into anger and then you apologized. This is an example of something you can offer to this being - one good think that you did. Offerings have an incredibly beneficial effect on our mind, creating a vast amount of merit for the teachings and also countering any tendency towards miserliness. Remember, these teachings take into account the many complexities of the human mind.

3. Confess something to this being/teacher that you are not proud of. Confession is a powerful too in many traditions for purification. If you have something on your conscience, you can't concentrate. Just get rid of it! Give it to your teacher or any high being!

4. Rejoice in one good thing that someone else did that inspires you. Think of the great things that will come to that person's life because of their good action, and rejoice for them. Now, think of one more good thing that you did and rejoice for yourself too! Rejoicing for other's good things is a great way to overcome jealousy and competitiveness...all obstacles to our goal of experiencing ultimate truth :)

5. Ask that special teacher in your life to teach you, guide you, inspire you, help you. If you don't have a teacher yet - close your eyes, go deep inside your heart, and from the core of your heart, ask your teacher to come to you. With all sincerity, with pure motivation to want to progress on this path for the benefit of all beings, ask your teacher (even if you don't have someone specific in mind) to enter your life. Say that you are ready and ask them to please come, to please stay, to please bless you.

We each have a guide out there that is perfect for us. If you already have one, use this time to remember them and cultivate a strong heart connection with them, wherever they may be. If you don't have one yet, ask them to come, ask daily with pure love, and they will come.

6. Ask your teacher to stay in your life, in your heart, even if they are on the other side of the world.

7. Dedicate all the goodness of this 7-limb practice towards attaining our goal of having a direct perception of Truth for the benefit of all.

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Now that we have purified our mind, accumulated merit and received blessings, we are ready to go to the actual meditation object. We will go into that tomorrow. For now, acquaint yourself with these preliminaries, which are perfectly preparing our minds for profound meditations.

If you have Liberation in Our Hands, read as much of the first volume as you can. If you have Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's Meditation handbook, read pp 3-27.

Thank you for your patience and practice! Rejoice in your great efforts! Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy! Feel your mind expand and enlighten, your heart break open, your ego disappear.

Practice the preliminaries twice today. Two 35 minute sessions!

Namaste,
Reema