How to Understand the Mind. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

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СКАЧАТЬ within our body that develops when meditation causes a pure wind to pervade the body. It purifies defiled winds and makes our body flexible and light, and this in turn induces mental suppleness.

      FUNCTION OF MENTAL SUPPLENESS

      Physical suppleness functions to overcome stiffness and inflexibility of the body, and makes our body feel light, comfortable and easy to use in virtuous actions. Mental suppleness removes the inflexibility, slowness and heaviness of the mind, and makes it light and easy to use in virtuous actions. The mental rigidity that is dispelled by suppleness is the basis of many delusions, and is a principal cause of resistance to and dislike of virtuous activities. By removing rigidity, suppleness overcomes laziness and other obstacles. However, only strong suppleness can do this effectively; weak, short-lived suppleness does not have the strength to overcome many obstacles.

      Both physical and mental suppleness develop initially through meditation, and then function to refine and improve our concentration. Mental suppleness enables us to direct our mind wherever we wish and thus helps both analytical meditation and placement meditation. Through attaining full, authentic physical and mental suppleness we will continuously experience the physical and mental bliss of suppleness, and as a result we will feel little need to seek external sources of pleasure.

      DIVISIONS OF MENTAL SUPPLENESS

      There are two types of mental suppleness:

      1 Subtle mental suppleness

      2 Gross mental suppleness

      Mental suppleness exists whenever we experience pure, virtuous concentration. However, on the first and second mental abidings the mental suppleness is so subtle that it goes unnoticed. Therefore this suppleness is called ‘subtle mental suppleness’. Gross mental suppleness first develops on the third mental abiding. From then on it gradually becomes stronger and stronger until we attain tranquil abiding, at which point our suppleness is fully developed. At this stage suppleness pervades our body and mind, and we experience the bliss of suppleness without interruption. When we have attained this unchangeable suppleness we no longer experience the physical and mental discomfort that make virtuous actions difficult, and so we become completely free from laziness. With suppleness, spiritual practice is very easy because when it arises our mind naturally becomes tranquil and positive.

      Initially, mental suppleness is developed through the force of concentration, but there is also a type of suppleness that is induced by wisdom. This is accomplished as a result of analytical meditation combined with tranquil abiding. The development of this type of suppleness marks the attainment of superior seeing. With superior seeing, our wisdom and concentration become mutually beneficial, and we attain the union of tranquil abiding and superior seeing.

      CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

      DEFINITION OF CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

      The definition of conscientiousness is a mental factor that, in dependence upon effort, cherishes what is virtuous and guards the mind from delusion and non-virtue.

      Conscientiousness prevents the mind from being influenced by a delusion. There are two ways to rely upon conscientiousness. The first is to keep our mind free from a delusion by preventing our mind from meeting the objects of that delusion. We can, for example, prevent ourself from getting angry with someone with whom we have had a disagreement by avoiding them and not thinking about them. The second way is to prevent our mind from developing inappro­priate attention when it meets with objects of delusion. Inappropriate attention causes delusions to arise by exaggerating the good or bad qualities of an object. If we prevent inappropriate attention it is impossible for delusions to arise, even if we are directly confronted with an object of delusion. Thus, for example, if we unexpectedly meet someone with whom we normally get angry we can avoid inappropriate attention, and so prevent anger, by focusing on his or her good qualities or by remembering the faults of anger.

      In Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life Shantideva says that there is no practice more important than keeping our mind free from negativity. Normally we take great care to protect our body from injury, but it is much more important to protect our mind. For example, if we are crossing a busy street we take great care to avoid being run over, but if we were to be run over the worst that could happen would be that we would lose this one life. By contrast, if we do not take care to protect our mind from negativity when we are surrounded by so many objects of delusion there is great danger of our mind being overrun by delusions, which will inflict harm on us for many future lives. Therefore, the practice of conscientiousness is of paramount importance.

      Conscientiousness should be practised in conjunction with mindfulness and alertness. With mindfulness we tie our mind to a virtuous object. A virtuous object is any object that has a positive effect on our mind, such as the objects of meditation presented later in this book and the twenty-one objects of meditation presented in The New Meditation Handbook. We should try to keep our mind on virtuous objects all the time. Alertness is a type of wisdom that understands the faults of delusions and keeps watch over our mind to check whether or not we are beginning to develop inappropriate attention. If through alertness we discover that a delusion is about to arise we should immediately prevent it by recalling the faults of delu­sions. This is the practice of conscientiousness. Shantideva said that when an elephant runs amok it can cause a great deal of harm, but this is nothing compared to the harm caused by the crazy elephant of an unconscientious mind, which can drag us into the deepest hell. By binding our mind to the pillar of virtuous objects with the rope of mindfulness we protect ourself from delusions, the source of all danger, and find it easy to make progress in our spiritual practice.

      FUNCTION OF CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

      The main function of conscientiousness is to enable us to keep pure moral discipline and to improve our concen­tration. Conscientiousness is so important that in Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life Shantideva devotes an entire chapter to it.

      Through practising conscientiousness we can reduce our delusions and thereby stop committing negative actions of body, speech and mind. As a result we will naturally possess pure moral discipline. If our delusions are diminished and our life becomes more disciplined we will develop far fewer distractions, and as a result we will find it easy to make progress in meditation.

      If our meditation is not proceeding well we do not need to seek special advice on how to improve it – we need only to practise conscientiousness. As mentioned before, in the Vinaya Sutras Buddha says that through moral discipline we will attain concentration and through concentration we will attain wisdom. Since conscientiousness is the root of moral discipline it follows that concentration and wisdom also depend upon conscientiousness. By practising conscientiousness we keep our mind pure and harnessed to virtuous objects, and so our energy is not dissipated by external or internal distractions. As a result our mind becomes settled and gathered within, making it easy for us to develop virtuous concen­tration. Virtuous concentration makes our mind lucid and powerful, which in turn enables us to improve our wisdom.

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