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Meditation in Action
This classic teaching by a Tibetan master continues to inspire both beginners and long-time practitioners of Buddhist meditation. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche shows that meditation extends beyond the formal practice of sitting to build the foundation for compassion, awareness, and creativity in all aspects of life.
He explores the six activities associated with meditation in action—generosity, discipline, patience, energy, clarity, and wisdom—revealing that through simple, direct experience, one can attain real the ability to see clearly into situations and deal with them skillfully, without the self-consciousness connected with ego.
He explores the six activities associated with meditation in action—generosity, discipline, patience, energy, clarity, and wisdom—revealing that through simple, direct experience, one can attain real the ability to see clearly into situations and deal with them skillfully, without the self-consciousness connected with ego.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
Chögyam Trungpa
177 books833 followersVidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (Tibetan: ཆོས་ རྒྱམ་ དྲུང་པ་ Wylie: Chos rgyam Drung pa; also known as Dorje Dradul of Mukpo, Surmang Trungpa, after his monastery, or Chökyi Gyatso, of which Chögyam is an abbreviation) was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar, teacher, poet, and artist. He was the 11th descendent in the line of Trungpa tulkus of the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was also trained in the Nyingma tradition, the oldest of the four schools, and was an adherent of the rimay or "non-sectarian" movement within Tibetan Buddhism, which aspired to bring together and make available all the valuable teachings of the different schools, free of sectarian rivalry.
Trungpa was a significant figure in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, founding Naropa University and establishing the Shambhala Training method, a presentation of the Buddhadharma largely devoid of ethnic trappings. In 1963, he moved to England to study comparative religion, philosophy, and fine arts at Oxford University. During this time, he also studied Japanese flower arranging and received an instructors degree from the Sogetsu school of ikebana. In 1967, he moved to Scotland, where he founded the Samye Ling meditation centre.
Shortly thereafter, a variety of experiences—including a car accident that left him partially paralyzed on the left side of his body—led him to give up his monastic vows and work as a lay teacher. In 1969, he published Meditation in Action , the first of fourteen books on the spiritual path published during his lifetime. The following year he married Diana Pybus and moved to the United States, where he established his first North American meditation centre, Tail of the Tiger (now known as Karmê-Chöling) in Barnet, Vermont.
In 1986, he moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, where hundreds of his students had settled. That Autumn, after years of heavy alcohol use, he had a cardiac arrest, and he died of heart failure the following Spring. His legacy is carried on by his son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, under the banner of Shambhala International and the Nalanda Translation Committee.
Trungpa was a significant figure in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, founding Naropa University and establishing the Shambhala Training method, a presentation of the Buddhadharma largely devoid of ethnic trappings. In 1963, he moved to England to study comparative religion, philosophy, and fine arts at Oxford University. During this time, he also studied Japanese flower arranging and received an instructors degree from the Sogetsu school of ikebana. In 1967, he moved to Scotland, where he founded the Samye Ling meditation centre.
Shortly thereafter, a variety of experiences—including a car accident that left him partially paralyzed on the left side of his body—led him to give up his monastic vows and work as a lay teacher. In 1969, he published Meditation in Action , the first of fourteen books on the spiritual path published during his lifetime. The following year he married Diana Pybus and moved to the United States, where he established his first North American meditation centre, Tail of the Tiger (now known as Karmê-Chöling) in Barnet, Vermont.
In 1986, he moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, where hundreds of his students had settled. That Autumn, after years of heavy alcohol use, he had a cardiac arrest, and he died of heart failure the following Spring. His legacy is carried on by his son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, under the banner of Shambhala International and the Nalanda Translation Committee.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
March 22, 2018
Not especially accesible. Not dumbed down. Not for the sofa-shamans. But if you pick it up, it could give you the swift kick in your ass you're looking for. I assume you'd never pick it up otherwise.
Not for the fool-hardy.
Not for the fool-hardy.
February 16, 2019
I first learned about this book in the Shunryu Suzuki biography Crooked Cucumber. Trungpa was a friend of Suzuki, and Suzuki spoke highly of Trungpa. History has shown to be Trungpa to be... not a good man? He would often have sexual relationships with his students, once even using his 'guards' to strip students naked (see Wikipedia). To me that doesn't sound particularly enlightened, more like someone abusing their position.
Here we have a few collected speeches of Trungpa, and they're actually *good*, if a bit too short. I can see why his style of meditation immediately became popular in the West, it's meditation without a need for religion or spirituality: ' In fact, it is the essence of meditation. Whatever one does, whatever one tries to practice, is not aimed at achieving a higher state or at following some theory or ideal, but simply, without any object or ambition, trying to see what is here and now.'
There is an amazing discussion of how the ego is in your way, and by giving away things (even only symbolically, like a single cheap thing you are emotionally attached to) is one way of getting away from your ego - similar like having a teacher won't help you learn new things (in meditation, at least) but they're a way to protect you from your ego, as their teaching will come from the outside:
Funny enough, opposing the title there is not much advice on how to meditate 'best', Trungpa leaves that to the personal teachers.
Some other good advice:
Curiously, there's a lot of good stuff here, even if you're not looking to learn more about Buddhism or meditation.
Here we have a few collected speeches of Trungpa, and they're actually *good*, if a bit too short. I can see why his style of meditation immediately became popular in the West, it's meditation without a need for religion or spirituality: ' In fact, it is the essence of meditation. Whatever one does, whatever one tries to practice, is not aimed at achieving a higher state or at following some theory or ideal, but simply, without any object or ambition, trying to see what is here and now.'
There is an amazing discussion of how the ego is in your way, and by giving away things (even only symbolically, like a single cheap thing you are emotionally attached to) is one way of getting away from your ego - similar like having a teacher won't help you learn new things (in meditation, at least) but they're a way to protect you from your ego, as their teaching will come from the outside:
So one must also be very grateful to the teacher. And that is a great protection against the ego, since you do not look on it as something discovered within yourself, but as something which someone else has given you. He gives you this gift; although in reality the transmission is not, as we said, something given to you, it is simply discovered within oneself.
Funny enough, opposing the title there is not much advice on how to meditate 'best', Trungpa leaves that to the personal teachers.
Some other good advice:
For unless one is able to overcome this excitement, one will not be able to learn, because any form of emotional excitement has a blinding effect. One fails to see life as it is because one tends so much to build up one’s own version of it. Therefore one should never commit oneself or conform to any religious or political structure without first finding the real essence of what one is looking for. Labeling oneself, adopting an ascetic way of life or changing one’s costume—none of these brings about any real transformation.
Curiously, there's a lot of good stuff here, even if you're not looking to learn more about Buddhism or meditation.
April 28, 2015
I love the everyday application that this book offers. I especially appreciate the exercises offered that keep one humble and open to inspiration from whatever deity you receive revelation from in your life. I recommend this one highly if you are interested in getting started in mediation or if you already meditate and you need to move that skill into giving you a sense of stillness in your everyday activities.
April 14, 2013
First published in 1969 this Buddhist gem has not gone out of print for over 40 years. Clearly the author was making an strong effort to present these concepts to the Western mind and he succeeded brilliantly. For anyone interested in Buddhism this is a must read.
July 27, 2018
One of the better books by Chögyam Trungpa. I liked Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism better, but this is good too and may be worth a read as well
August 26, 2015
This book struck me as scattered and, while somewhat insightful, it introduces a lot of concepts without having a clear idea of how much the reader ought to know about Buddhism or meditation or what level the reader is at. For example, it rapidly switches from advice for new meditators about learning from scriptures to advice about how to teach wisdom to others.
I understood why this disorder happened when I listened to the afterward. It turns out that the book was transcribed from a series of lectures Chogyam Trungpa gave at his temple in the UK in the 60's. This book was one of the first books to introduce Buddhism to a Western audience and became a massive hit once it hit a Berkeley bookstore and spread around the Bay Area. Trungpa ended up moving to Vermont to start a Buddhist center there.
Today, there are much better-organized and better-written books about Buddhism. This book was interesting as a historical document in American Buddhism, and I learned some things, but I prefer more recent books.
Disclaimer: About halfway through the book I looked up the author who turns out to be a lifelong alcoholic who died from alcohol-related causes and regularly slept with his students. This seems very un-Buddhist to me--the opposite of removing attachment. This colored my view of the contents, although I didn't find the author's personal life reflected much in the book.
I understood why this disorder happened when I listened to the afterward. It turns out that the book was transcribed from a series of lectures Chogyam Trungpa gave at his temple in the UK in the 60's. This book was one of the first books to introduce Buddhism to a Western audience and became a massive hit once it hit a Berkeley bookstore and spread around the Bay Area. Trungpa ended up moving to Vermont to start a Buddhist center there.
Today, there are much better-organized and better-written books about Buddhism. This book was interesting as a historical document in American Buddhism, and I learned some things, but I prefer more recent books.
Disclaimer: About halfway through the book I looked up the author who turns out to be a lifelong alcoholic who died from alcohol-related causes and regularly slept with his students. This seems very un-Buddhist to me--the opposite of removing attachment. This colored my view of the contents, although I didn't find the author's personal life reflected much in the book.
May 14, 2012
The parts about the Manure of Experience and the Ego Bubble were worth reading the entire book. Wicked short! The version I read was 74 pages.
December 29, 2011
Loved it, but then I read this book seeking the precise formula of "answers" described by the author, so I am biased to say the least. Though it's organized in chapters, it reads more like a train of thought monologue seeking to address particular subjects. This is a short book, but it took me a couple of weeks to get through it because it was so densely packed with insight that I had to stop and contemplate. I anticipated a guide or commentary on sitting meditation but the author's aim, which he achieved successfully, was application of meditation as a way of living. Simple enough in concept: being in the present moment and all that. But it requires a significant amount of rewiring and that is the true work. I think a reader would experience this book and either toss it away for life or study it in depth over a longer period of time thereafter. I'm definitely in Group B. You read a widely regarded author or spiritual leader and almost hope to not be blown away like "everyone else." In keeping with the themes and theories of this text, I'm just going to be okay with being blown away, regardless of what others would think or say, and appreciate the experience. I love a book that doesn't shatter my world, but manages to shift it, because so much truth is simply stated.
November 24, 2008
In the highly sensitive and spiritually inclined cultures of India there are a number of forms of Yoga (union-with-the-beloved). One is Bhakti or devotional yoga, another is Karma yoga or the practice of selfless work in service (also called Seva). The ultimate yoga is called Raja yoga or the yoga of kings whereupon, the student is given extensive practices to perform, dietary regulations to adhere to, prayers and words to memorize, and a whole catalog of proscriptions, prescriptions, and inscriptions to guide the seeker through a life time of practice. These will lead to their liberation if all goes well. There are a number of reasons this system is called Raja or Kingly yoga and one of them is practical. It requires the wealth of a king to have the time required to practice these complex and demanding disciplines. In American terms, Raja Yoga is best suited for the independently wealthy or those who can look forward to years of free time. This book reminds me of such a system, a philosophy of Kings. For those who are inclined to complicate the obvious or look to exotic far away lands in order to find what already exists in their innermost hearts this book is must read.
January 5, 2014
I dunno...i'm going through my shelves of "Eastern Spirituality" and trying to sort the wheat from the chaff, and am not really sure what to do with Trungpa. This time out, I'm leaning "chaff", I'm afraid. One wants to get beyond "concepts", but the Tibetan tradition (for me, at least) overcomplicates with its own conceptual grid. He's a smart guy, just not a great fit for me at present. And too heavy on the guru principle.
January 30, 2008
Just a taste...
"We never allow anything to really happen or take place in our mind. One thought comes and almost before we finish that another one comes in and overlaps it and then another."
It's a quick read and a nice overview of Tibetan (yes?) buddhism. Sometimes it felt like stream of consciousness and a little hard to follow, but there were some gems like the one above.
"We never allow anything to really happen or take place in our mind. One thought comes and almost before we finish that another one comes in and overlaps it and then another."
It's a quick read and a nice overview of Tibetan (yes?) buddhism. Sometimes it felt like stream of consciousness and a little hard to follow, but there were some gems like the one above.
October 3, 2016
Trungpa's first dabbling in what became in my opinion the most well rounded aspect of his teaching career. After the accident it seemed he lost his birthright , and in personal interviews always had dreary demeanor cast over...In meditation the healthy body is essential, especially in the higher schools of Tibetan and Vajrayna..
September 5, 2015
Astonishingly simple explanations of the deepest things of life. The stories of Buddha and the great teachers are woven into the rest of his explanations in a way that does not seem didactic. He has a grace and depth which is beguiling and nourishing. I've learned a lot.
January 15, 2015
This little book is a powerhouse. I'm early in my buddhist meditation studies, but the ease in which Trungpa tackles complex topics like the self and the ego is perspective-shifting. The humility of the words is striking. The colorful stories sear in the mind. This book will be read again.
May 26, 2015
As much as Trungpa's book "Smile at Fear" resonated with me, this book (being one of his more widely read) did not manage to generate the same effect. Perhaps because it is less exotic, explaining meditation in a more down-to-earth fashion.
May 7, 2015
A collection of philosophers, writers, thinkers, Native American wisdom, which shows that the spiritual side needs as much attention as the physical side. It's about feeding the soul, evolving spirituality...forward by Duncan Goodhew
May 29, 2007
While there is no substitute for a real teacher, this book offers some solid advice for those seeking to learn about the practice of meditation.
January 26, 2008
A very clear modern presentation of some of the basic ideas of Buddhism, but in a way anyone can benefit from. A helpful book.
October 13, 2012
The quintessential book on mindfulness by one of the most profound teachers of Tibetan Buddhism this century has seen.
Want to Read
September 3, 2014h
January 4, 2018
A must read for anyone getting into meditation and a great introduction to buddhist way of thinking.
August 4, 2015
This was a wonderful and still relevant introduction to the six paramitas, and the purpose of meditation in one's life.
May 11, 2015
This is a good introduction to the Buddhist philosophy and meditation.
June 11, 2015
Not about how to meditate, but what meditation is. Also about Buddism, lamas and the mindset. Bit too slow and philosophical. I wanted more info about how to meditate.
March 1, 2019
"It is said, I think in the Lankavatara Sutra, that unskilled farmers throw away their rubbish and buy manure from other farmers, but those who are skilled go on collecting their own rubbish, in spite of the bad smell and unclean work, and when it is ready to be used they spread it on their land, and out of this they grow their crops. That is the skilled way."
"Discipline is in fact the key to everything. And there are two schools of thought: according to one, discipline is necessary and only through discipline can one learn and find the right way: according to the other, things should be allowed to develop in their own way and if there is less discipline, if things are left to the individuals choice\instinct, then he will develop a personal interest in the subject and there will be no need to impose anything on him. Both are extreme views. Not that Buddhists like to compromise in every case; it is more a question of seeing very clearly. Whenever there is too much discipline it is invariably being imposed by someone else. There are rules and regulations and one is always being watched and told what to do, in which case one is not really being what one is- somebody else is merely expanding his Ego and imposing his idea on you. That would be a kind of dictatorship rather than discipline, because it would be trying to force things to grow, as opposed to allowing them to grow naturally. On the other hand, if discipline is left entirely to the individual and he has to feel his own way, he would find it very difficult- There is usually a neurotic pattern of thoughts, opinions and emotions. Which is not to say that most people are mad or psychologically disturbed but this element is in everyone. There is usually a neurotic aspect which causes us in some way or another to react to a given situation and develop a neurotic way of dealing with it, which is not at all the true way. That is acting according to one's conditioning rather than according to what is."
"Discipline is in fact the key to everything. And there are two schools of thought: according to one, discipline is necessary and only through discipline can one learn and find the right way: according to the other, things should be allowed to develop in their own way and if there is less discipline, if things are left to the individuals choice\instinct, then he will develop a personal interest in the subject and there will be no need to impose anything on him. Both are extreme views. Not that Buddhists like to compromise in every case; it is more a question of seeing very clearly. Whenever there is too much discipline it is invariably being imposed by someone else. There are rules and regulations and one is always being watched and told what to do, in which case one is not really being what one is- somebody else is merely expanding his Ego and imposing his idea on you. That would be a kind of dictatorship rather than discipline, because it would be trying to force things to grow, as opposed to allowing them to grow naturally. On the other hand, if discipline is left entirely to the individual and he has to feel his own way, he would find it very difficult- There is usually a neurotic pattern of thoughts, opinions and emotions. Which is not to say that most people are mad or psychologically disturbed but this element is in everyone. There is usually a neurotic aspect which causes us in some way or another to react to a given situation and develop a neurotic way of dealing with it, which is not at all the true way. That is acting according to one's conditioning rather than according to what is."
September 22, 2019
I'm flying through these Trungpa books because they're pretty short, but I've finished each one thinking about how I really should revisit it sometime soon. There are few "spiritual" teachers I've come across quite as worldly as he seems to be. There's a negative amount of New Agey bullshit here—it's just a no nonsense guide to how the practice of meditation is one of humanity's greatest tools to achieving greater awareness, clarity, equanimity, insight, wisdom, and more. It definitely encouraged me to continue on with meditation myself and hopefully with a little more humility and understanding about the path forward.
April 5, 2021
This is a book that I maybe need to return to. I was distracted at times in my car journeys ( ironic I know) and so didn’t always get concept of this or understand the background. However when I could concentrate I found it really inspirational and made me think differently. Maybe a book to read I think than listen to. Maybe at a different time.
August 8, 2021
Interesting little book on the concept of meditation, but even more on the progression, or path, that you should go through to evolve in the Buddhism way. It bring the concept in a very concise and easy to understand way to help you bringing practice into your life. Not the deepest book on theory, but very good for the practical part. Well done!
January 27, 2020
Very wise words
October 13, 2021
Meditation In Action is a succinct and wise introduction to Tibetan Buddhist practice. Tibetan Buddhism relies much more on oral teaching / at which Trungpa excelled / than does Zen meditation (with which I am more familiar). I’ve gained a lot from this book / both by adopting some of its mindsets and practices / and through arguing against others.
In the chapters called “The Manure of Experience and the Field of Bodhi” and “Transmission” / Chögyam Trungpa teaches that we might want to help someone because it will benefit us as well / but says that is not quite true compassion. For reasons such as this / we must use concepts to look inside ourselves / and that the skilled bodhisattva will acknowledge and accept all these negative things. We then have to work on these terrible things inside us. Speaking of a student of Buddhist practice – Having studied all these concepts and negative things, when the time is right he does not keep them anymore, but scatters them and uses them as manure. So out of these unclean things comes the birth of the seed which is realization. My way of putting it would be to say that we should neither struggle against the negative things within us / nor try to grasp or hold onto the positive ones. We should let them go. Trungpa puts things differently – At this stage there are good things and bad things, but this collection contains good things disguised as bad and bad things disguised as good. He says further / and I think usefully / that – The point of realization is not to try and understand only the awakened state and pretend not to understand the other side, because that becomes a way of cheating yourself. Why would we want to remain familiar with the bad as well as the good? I suppose so we don’t lose contact with suffering / I would even say intimacy with it / so we can better help others who are in this same human condition. Trungpa teaches that we should go back as far as our childhood and / if we’re able / back to our past lives / in order to understand them. We still have not attained anything, we have just started the basic collection of manure, and now we have to study it and see how to put it to use. … And then you begin to discover not only the positive things you have done, but also the element of bodhi which is in you. Bodhi means Buddha-nature / which as far as I’m concerned is not different from our own everyday nature. You see, you are your own best friend, your own closest friend, you are the best company for yourself. That is why Trungpa taught that / in his terms / we must befriend our neuroses. (I have a friend and Buddhist teacher / Richard / who told me a story – He went to his teacher / Seung Sahn / and told him that although he’d been practicing yoga and meditation for many years / he still had in his gut something that didn’t feel quite right. Seung Sahn told him that was a good thing / that it was the source of compassion.) At this stage one has reached a kind of feeling; the imagination becomes a kind of feeling. And with that feeling it is as though one has reached the entrance hall. Trungpa writes that it is then necessary to seek input and guidance from a teacher and to ask the teacher to manifest for you the enlightened state. (Whatever that is?!) Also the teacher acts as a kind of mirror, the teacher gives back one’s own reflection. Then for the first time you are able to see how beautiful you are, or how ugly you are. You are asking the teacher to give you what you already have / your true self / which to my way of thinking is none other than the “good” and “bad” traits you have been investigating with your imagination. But / paradoxically / you are to regard what is returned to you as something of the teacher’s / a gift. He gives you this gift; although in reality the transmission is not, as we said, something given to you, it is simply discovered within oneself. All the teacher can do is to create the situation. He will create the right situation and because of this situation and environment the pupil’s mind will also be in the right state, because he is already there. … In this way the disciple will mentally open himself. And when he has opened himself the teacher will say a few words, which probably do not mean very much. Or perhaps he will not say anything. The important thing is to create the right situation both on the teacher’s part and on the student’s part. And when the right situation is created then suddenly the teacher and pupil are not there anymore. According to Trungpa / the teacher may use a variety of means to effect this transformation / which might be described as being from self-self to true-self. When realization does occur / it may happen suddenly but it does so in the context of practice time / time spent with the teacher. The teacher acts as one entrance and the pupil acts as another, and when both doors are open there is a complete emptiness, a complete oneness between the two. This is what is known in Zen terminology as “the meeting of two minds.” … And there is a moment of silence. That is transmission—creating the right situation—that is as much as an external guru can do.
In the chapter called “Meditation” / Trungpa describes it as putting the teachings into practice. Meditation is something that is active / not passive / and for him it involves interacting with the world. Such meditation is based on devotion. In other words / practice is not without sincere effort. My Korean Zen teacher / Seung Sahn / used to talk about hard practice. He often said – “Practice, practice, nonstop, ten thousand years, soon gain enlightenment and save all beings from suffering.” In fact / at least in the Mayahana way of thinking / enlightenment is saving-all-beings-from-suffering / and saving all beings from suffering is enlightenment. Trungpa says – The achievement of this kind of meditation is not, therefore, the result of some long-term, arduous practice through which we build ourselves up into a “higher” state, nor does it necessitate going into any kind of inner trance state. It is rather what one might call “working meditation” or extrovert meditation, where skillful means and wisdom must be combined like the two wings of a bird. This is not a question of trying to retreat from the world. In fact without the external world, the world of apparent phenomena, meditation would be almost impossible to practice, for the individual and the external world are not separate, but merely coexist together. Therefore the concept of trying to communicate and trying to become one with some higher Being does not arise. Trungpa grounds meditation in the world of our mundane and quotidian existence / denying any claim that it transcends that world / or that it has something to do with connecting with a god or god-like being. This present moment is what exists for us – it is now and here that our meditation takes place / and it takes place as we develop generosity and compassion. In order to become aware in the present moment he suggests that concentration on breathing be used as a technique. This is based on developing the knowledge of newness, for each respiration is unique, it is an expression of now. Each breath is separate from the next and is fully seen and fully felt, not in a visualized form, nor simply as an aid to concentration, but it should be fully and properly dealt with. … And for the breathing itself it is not a matter of concentrating, as we have already said, but of trying to become one with the feeling of breath. The point of this practice is / as he puts it / to transcend concepts / after having used them. These might be thought to also include preconceived notions and habits of feeling. I would rather say that we should completely be these habits and thoughts and preconceptions / not in order to transcend them / but to know them / to be them / to let them go. To talk about transcending suggests that there is something wrong with them / a notion Trungpa has already endorsed when speaking about good and bad feelings / good and bad habits. In my experience it’s much better to let go of whatever comes up in “our” mind and in “our” experience. To label things is to hold on to them. Holding on to them is / as Shakyamuni taught / the root of suffering. Trungpa himself said – One should not try to suppress thoughts in meditation, but one should just try to see the transitory nature, the translucent nature of thoughts. He cautions against making demands on the guru / and against fear that the ego will fall apart. Fear is one of the weapons of ego. It protects the ego. We have to overcome the fear of losing our egos. And basically ego isn’t bad. Good and bad doesn’t really exist anywhere, it is only a secondary thing. Ego is, in a sense, a false thing, but it isn’t necessarily bad. You have to start with ego, and use ego, and from there it gradually wears out, like a pair of shoes. He says that eventually we can do without the techniques of practice / which will naturally drop away. Dōgen / great 12th century Japanese Zen teacher / talks repeatedly about dropping away mind and body. Trungpa says that his own form of meditation is based on three fundamental factors: first, not centralizing inward; second, not having any longing to become higher; and third, becoming completely identified with here and now. It’s a bit difficult to know what he means by not centralizing inward when he has spent so much effort encouraging students to look inwardly / to examine their good and bad aspects / to befriend their neuroses. Perhaps he sees that effort as resulting in not centralizing inward. He has at the same time spoken about an outward-tending or extroverted meditation. One of the most salient Buddhist teachings is contained in these words from the Heart Sutra – no attainment with nothing to attain. They certainly second his second point / one that I think most of us have a strong tendency to lose track of. We all want something / most of us want a bunch of things / and we came to meditation practice in the first place wanting something like relief from our suffering. Without leaving those wants behind we must let them go / in order to have less to give / which is more giving. We should probably remember also / vis-à-vis his third point / that here and now are also just concepts. There’s no more a here or a now than there is a past or a future – they’re all concepts / they live only in our minds. But we do have to use words to communicate / which includes teaching or / better yet / sharing. So we use them. Until we experience beyond these words and concepts and thoughts / we haven’t experienced what-is. When we have experience of what is beyond or underlies them / we find that what-is is not different from what is. It certainly doesn’t transcend it. Dōgen calls this what-is uji / which has been translated as being-time / or time-being / or existence-time. For him / time and what-is are not two – that is the point of the term uji. Trungpa – The whole point is to cultivate the acceptance of everything, so one should not discriminate or become involved in any kind of struggle. That is the basic meditation technique, and it is quite simple and direct.
The other chapters deal with “The Life and Example of Buddha” / “Generosity” / “Patience” / “Wisdom.” I suggest you explore them on your own. I hope you will take up this book and incorporate its teachings into your practice / into your life. But remember that books are not a substitute for practice. If you were hungry / would reading a cookbook satisfy you? Neither are oral teachings. Again / would hearing about food fill your stomach? So – “Practice, practice, nonstop, ten thousand years, soon gain enlightenment and save all beings from suffering”.
/ copyright © 2021 Alan Davies
In the chapters called “The Manure of Experience and the Field of Bodhi” and “Transmission” / Chögyam Trungpa teaches that we might want to help someone because it will benefit us as well / but says that is not quite true compassion. For reasons such as this / we must use concepts to look inside ourselves / and that the skilled bodhisattva will acknowledge and accept all these negative things. We then have to work on these terrible things inside us. Speaking of a student of Buddhist practice – Having studied all these concepts and negative things, when the time is right he does not keep them anymore, but scatters them and uses them as manure. So out of these unclean things comes the birth of the seed which is realization. My way of putting it would be to say that we should neither struggle against the negative things within us / nor try to grasp or hold onto the positive ones. We should let them go. Trungpa puts things differently – At this stage there are good things and bad things, but this collection contains good things disguised as bad and bad things disguised as good. He says further / and I think usefully / that – The point of realization is not to try and understand only the awakened state and pretend not to understand the other side, because that becomes a way of cheating yourself. Why would we want to remain familiar with the bad as well as the good? I suppose so we don’t lose contact with suffering / I would even say intimacy with it / so we can better help others who are in this same human condition. Trungpa teaches that we should go back as far as our childhood and / if we’re able / back to our past lives / in order to understand them. We still have not attained anything, we have just started the basic collection of manure, and now we have to study it and see how to put it to use. … And then you begin to discover not only the positive things you have done, but also the element of bodhi which is in you. Bodhi means Buddha-nature / which as far as I’m concerned is not different from our own everyday nature. You see, you are your own best friend, your own closest friend, you are the best company for yourself. That is why Trungpa taught that / in his terms / we must befriend our neuroses. (I have a friend and Buddhist teacher / Richard / who told me a story – He went to his teacher / Seung Sahn / and told him that although he’d been practicing yoga and meditation for many years / he still had in his gut something that didn’t feel quite right. Seung Sahn told him that was a good thing / that it was the source of compassion.) At this stage one has reached a kind of feeling; the imagination becomes a kind of feeling. And with that feeling it is as though one has reached the entrance hall. Trungpa writes that it is then necessary to seek input and guidance from a teacher and to ask the teacher to manifest for you the enlightened state. (Whatever that is?!) Also the teacher acts as a kind of mirror, the teacher gives back one’s own reflection. Then for the first time you are able to see how beautiful you are, or how ugly you are. You are asking the teacher to give you what you already have / your true self / which to my way of thinking is none other than the “good” and “bad” traits you have been investigating with your imagination. But / paradoxically / you are to regard what is returned to you as something of the teacher’s / a gift. He gives you this gift; although in reality the transmission is not, as we said, something given to you, it is simply discovered within oneself. All the teacher can do is to create the situation. He will create the right situation and because of this situation and environment the pupil’s mind will also be in the right state, because he is already there. … In this way the disciple will mentally open himself. And when he has opened himself the teacher will say a few words, which probably do not mean very much. Or perhaps he will not say anything. The important thing is to create the right situation both on the teacher’s part and on the student’s part. And when the right situation is created then suddenly the teacher and pupil are not there anymore. According to Trungpa / the teacher may use a variety of means to effect this transformation / which might be described as being from self-self to true-self. When realization does occur / it may happen suddenly but it does so in the context of practice time / time spent with the teacher. The teacher acts as one entrance and the pupil acts as another, and when both doors are open there is a complete emptiness, a complete oneness between the two. This is what is known in Zen terminology as “the meeting of two minds.” … And there is a moment of silence. That is transmission—creating the right situation—that is as much as an external guru can do.
In the chapter called “Meditation” / Trungpa describes it as putting the teachings into practice. Meditation is something that is active / not passive / and for him it involves interacting with the world. Such meditation is based on devotion. In other words / practice is not without sincere effort. My Korean Zen teacher / Seung Sahn / used to talk about hard practice. He often said – “Practice, practice, nonstop, ten thousand years, soon gain enlightenment and save all beings from suffering.” In fact / at least in the Mayahana way of thinking / enlightenment is saving-all-beings-from-suffering / and saving all beings from suffering is enlightenment. Trungpa says – The achievement of this kind of meditation is not, therefore, the result of some long-term, arduous practice through which we build ourselves up into a “higher” state, nor does it necessitate going into any kind of inner trance state. It is rather what one might call “working meditation” or extrovert meditation, where skillful means and wisdom must be combined like the two wings of a bird. This is not a question of trying to retreat from the world. In fact without the external world, the world of apparent phenomena, meditation would be almost impossible to practice, for the individual and the external world are not separate, but merely coexist together. Therefore the concept of trying to communicate and trying to become one with some higher Being does not arise. Trungpa grounds meditation in the world of our mundane and quotidian existence / denying any claim that it transcends that world / or that it has something to do with connecting with a god or god-like being. This present moment is what exists for us – it is now and here that our meditation takes place / and it takes place as we develop generosity and compassion. In order to become aware in the present moment he suggests that concentration on breathing be used as a technique. This is based on developing the knowledge of newness, for each respiration is unique, it is an expression of now. Each breath is separate from the next and is fully seen and fully felt, not in a visualized form, nor simply as an aid to concentration, but it should be fully and properly dealt with. … And for the breathing itself it is not a matter of concentrating, as we have already said, but of trying to become one with the feeling of breath. The point of this practice is / as he puts it / to transcend concepts / after having used them. These might be thought to also include preconceived notions and habits of feeling. I would rather say that we should completely be these habits and thoughts and preconceptions / not in order to transcend them / but to know them / to be them / to let them go. To talk about transcending suggests that there is something wrong with them / a notion Trungpa has already endorsed when speaking about good and bad feelings / good and bad habits. In my experience it’s much better to let go of whatever comes up in “our” mind and in “our” experience. To label things is to hold on to them. Holding on to them is / as Shakyamuni taught / the root of suffering. Trungpa himself said – One should not try to suppress thoughts in meditation, but one should just try to see the transitory nature, the translucent nature of thoughts. He cautions against making demands on the guru / and against fear that the ego will fall apart. Fear is one of the weapons of ego. It protects the ego. We have to overcome the fear of losing our egos. And basically ego isn’t bad. Good and bad doesn’t really exist anywhere, it is only a secondary thing. Ego is, in a sense, a false thing, but it isn’t necessarily bad. You have to start with ego, and use ego, and from there it gradually wears out, like a pair of shoes. He says that eventually we can do without the techniques of practice / which will naturally drop away. Dōgen / great 12th century Japanese Zen teacher / talks repeatedly about dropping away mind and body. Trungpa says that his own form of meditation is based on three fundamental factors: first, not centralizing inward; second, not having any longing to become higher; and third, becoming completely identified with here and now. It’s a bit difficult to know what he means by not centralizing inward when he has spent so much effort encouraging students to look inwardly / to examine their good and bad aspects / to befriend their neuroses. Perhaps he sees that effort as resulting in not centralizing inward. He has at the same time spoken about an outward-tending or extroverted meditation. One of the most salient Buddhist teachings is contained in these words from the Heart Sutra – no attainment with nothing to attain. They certainly second his second point / one that I think most of us have a strong tendency to lose track of. We all want something / most of us want a bunch of things / and we came to meditation practice in the first place wanting something like relief from our suffering. Without leaving those wants behind we must let them go / in order to have less to give / which is more giving. We should probably remember also / vis-à-vis his third point / that here and now are also just concepts. There’s no more a here or a now than there is a past or a future – they’re all concepts / they live only in our minds. But we do have to use words to communicate / which includes teaching or / better yet / sharing. So we use them. Until we experience beyond these words and concepts and thoughts / we haven’t experienced what-is. When we have experience of what is beyond or underlies them / we find that what-is is not different from what is. It certainly doesn’t transcend it. Dōgen calls this what-is uji / which has been translated as being-time / or time-being / or existence-time. For him / time and what-is are not two – that is the point of the term uji. Trungpa – The whole point is to cultivate the acceptance of everything, so one should not discriminate or become involved in any kind of struggle. That is the basic meditation technique, and it is quite simple and direct.
The other chapters deal with “The Life and Example of Buddha” / “Generosity” / “Patience” / “Wisdom.” I suggest you explore them on your own. I hope you will take up this book and incorporate its teachings into your practice / into your life. But remember that books are not a substitute for practice. If you were hungry / would reading a cookbook satisfy you? Neither are oral teachings. Again / would hearing about food fill your stomach? So – “Practice, practice, nonstop, ten thousand years, soon gain enlightenment and save all beings from suffering”.
/ copyright © 2021 Alan Davies
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