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the beginninglessness of mind, there would not be much point in his discussing
beginninglessness in general. It's on the basis of beginningless mind that we get the discussion
of the relation of mind to the body in terms of karma. Within the overall continuity of
beginningless mind, various types of bodies come and go, both on an individual and a world
level. The discussion of beginningless lifetimes and beginningless mind must be based on
logic and reasoning, and it is something that can definitely be established in that way. So it is
important to put a great deal of effort into investigating these points with logic.
Absorbing the Mind in Positive States
Since we each have an individual, beginningless mental continuum, in what direction is it
going? What are the factors that influence the contents of its experience? We find that, from
beginningless time, we've been under the influence of attachment, hostility, and naivety. This
is what is meant by the expression "other-powered" or "being under the influence of other
factors." In other words, the mind is not under our control, it is controlled by these other
factors: various disturbing emotions, delusions, unawareness (ignorance), and so forth.
Because our minds are not tamed, we perform all sorts of destructive actions and they build up
the various types of karmic aftermath, which perpetuate these patterns of behavior and bring
Absorbing the Mind in Positive States 24
A Commentary on Attitude-Training Like the Rays of the Sun - His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
us more problems. We experience unhappiness and suffering as what ripens from the negative
karmic force that has come as the aftermath of our destructive actions. We acted in those ways
because of the destructive karmic impulses that arose in our minds. And where did they come
from? They came from our minds not being under our control. So it is necessary to bring our
minds under control, and not let them go under the influence of disturbing emotions and
attitudes. We need to have them under the control of constructive, positive emotions and
attitudes.
To be able to apply our minds to constructive aims, we need to make them flexible and
serviceable, so that we can apply them at will to whatever we wish. To make them
serviceable, we need to employ the various procedures of training the mind through
meditation. Through repetition and familiarization, meditation builds up as a habit certain
positive states of mind. These states make our minds flexible so that we can apply them to
further constructive states. If we want to do this, however, our minds need to be stable. No
matter what object or mental state we take as our object of focus, if our minds cannot stay
focused on it with stability, we will be unable to familiarize them with this state and integrate
it as part of our minds.
For example, if we are trying to develop a habit of compassion, our minds have to actually
stay focused, with stability, in that state. If the mind is totally immersed into an emotion,
attitude, or state of mind in general, it builds up great force to stay in that direction. When we
are trying, through meditation, to make compassion a very strong habit, if thoughts of
impermanence or of suffering and problems arise, although such thoughts theoretically can be
a help, at the particular time of trying to build up concentration on compassion, they are
hindrances. We need to immerse our minds and absorb our concentration totally,
single-pointedly, in the object of the meditation.
Before we will be able to immerse and absorb our minds in the state that we want to build up
as a positive habit, we need first to ascertain the actual nature of that state of mind. We need to
know what it is, correctly and with certitude. Only on the basis of this strong recognition and
ascertainment of this state can we feel confident to immerse our minds in it. Likewise, we
need to have strong confidence in the necessity for developing that state of mind. Consider the
example of compassion. With discerning (analytical) meditation, we need to think beforehand,
"Compassion is something I definitely need to develop for this and that reason." When we go
through all the reasons for developing it, we develop a very strong, confident belief in
compassion. Only then can we absorb our minds completely in it during concentrated
meditation and know it is very helpful.
The text discusses the benefits of doing three sessions of meditation during the day and three
at night. It is also necessary to be in an isolated and quiet place during the meditation sessions
and the periods in between them. If we hear loud and disturbing noises and have disturbing
types of thoughts, our minds will be upset and we won't be able to concentrate properly. Also,
as I tell the monks and nuns, we need to take care about the state of our minds in general.
Regarding this, the text also says that another circumstance conducive for meditating is not to
eat at night. Of course, if we find that our bodies are not getting enough nutrition and feel very
weak from not eating after lunch, then that is a different situation. We have to take the
physical realities of our bodies into consideration. However, if we're able, then it is more
conducive to meditation if we don't eat at night. More detailed explanations on this can be
found in the two lam-rim texts of Tsongkhapa.
Absorbing the Mind in Positive States 25
A Commentary on Attitude-Training Like the Rays of the Sun - His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
The Preliminaries: The Precious Human Rebirth
The first of the seven points for training the mind is the preliminaries, which are the
supporting basis. These are thinking about:
" the precious human rebirth,
" death and impermanence,
" behavioral cause and effect, or karma,
" the sufferings or problems of uncontrollably recurring existence, samsara.
The text now speaks about the first preliminary, the precious human rebirth. First we need to
recognize the eight respites and the ten enrichments. Respites, or leisure, are temporary states
of freedom from the eight situations of no leisure.
[From among the eight situations with no leisure that prevent Dharma practice, the four
nonhuman situations are rebirth as
" a trapped being in a joyless realm (hell-creature),
" a desperately clutching ghost (hungry ghost),
" a creeping creature (animal),
" a long-lived divine being (god).
The four human situations of no leisure are rebirth as
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