In meditation, it is necessary to know what experiences arise and what errors must be corrected. There are five flaws that must be corrected by means of eight kinds of action, or antidotes. The first flaw is laziness. Laziness prevents the application of meditation, since after receiving instructions one does not even begin to meditate. In fact, there are three kinds of laziness. The first is sleepiness, lethargy, when nothing is of interest except sleep. The second is attachment to worldly activity, leading to a lack of desire to practice Dharma or meditation. One takes joy in this activity, becomes accustomed to it, and devotes great attention to it. In a certain sense, there is diligence here, but it is an obstacle to the practice of Dharma. This is also called “attachment to negative activity.”
Attachment to negative activity means that our actions are not woven into meditation in everyday life. Negative activity means unconscious activity based on rajas.
The third kind is despondency and self-deprecation, which lead to the thought: “Others can meditate, but I cannot; others will understand the Dharma, but not I.” It is a fact that all beings are capable of meditating and working on the path. But if one underestimates one’s abilities, this is also self-limitation.
So, the first factor is laziness. It arises because we have insufficient intention toward meditation or toward any practice. Intention is developed when our will is strengthened. When the will is developed, we can make extraordinary efforts, and then at any moment we are able to meditate sufficiently.
The second flaw is forgetting the instructions, a lack of attention to the correctness of meditation. When meditating, it is necessary to have complete clarity about what one is doing, which errors must be eliminated, and which means must be applied for this. Thus, it is necessary to remember the instructions on meditation.
The instructions on meditation and the techniques should be known almost by heart. For example, if we meditate without knowing the root instructions on overcoming dullness and agitation, on insufficient effort or excessive effort, on the three traps (bliss, clarity, and emptiness), then even if we make incredible efforts and demonstrate wonders of asceticism, we may waste a great deal of time because of ignorance of certain elementary things.
The third flaw is the obstacle of stupor and agitation. They are classified as a single flaw. In stupor the mind is obscured and dull. In its obvious form, this is the loss of mental clarity.
Here the term dullness is translated as stupor. Dullness of the mind arises because consciousness goes strongly inward. This is the scourge of those who practice for three or four years. They gradually become accustomed to sitting in a stable posture, the waves of their mind calm down a little, and they enter a habitual meditative half-drowse. Sometimes they are a little more aware, and sometimes they enter such a prostrated state of consciousness. And if such a tendency becomes established, it is not a good thing for meditation; it is the habit of meditating incorrectly in dullness. One saint even said that this is the path to the animal realm. He put it this way: “Those who like to meditate on emptiness, but at the same time indulge themselves in dullness, do not awaken brightness.”
In its subtle form there is clarity, but it is very weak. There are also two kinds of agitation. There is the obvious kind, when one thinks about what has been done or about a cheerful event. Thus, there is no ability to focus the mind on anything. In its subtle form, there is obvious stability of the mind. But still there remain subtle thoughts that continue to arise.
So, there are two kinds of agitation. The first is gross. For example, a person sits down to meditate, but his mind is so frantic that thoughts overwhelm him one after another, and he cannot switch off in any way. He sits for two hours, but these thoughts keep unfolding constantly; he cannot detach himself from them. Of course, an experienced practitioner does not allow himself this. He allows himself the second kind of agitation, a more subtle one. That is, he already has a certain stability of awareness, but at the same time some thoughts are moving in parallel, to which he still responds. And this ripple on the mental screen, which still grasps, does not allow him to enter the deep state of dhyana, of calming.
The fourth flaw is lack of application. When dullness or anxiety arise in meditation, they are recognized, but the antidotes are not applied. If the antidotes are not applied, meditation will not develop.
Thus, the fourth flaw is lack of application. Application of what? Methods for stopping blurring and agitation, the right effort to cut off these flaws. When you see that you have a flaw, for example blurring or agitation, but do nothing and put up with it, this is called the flaw of lack of application. That is, you think it will pass and remain in the same state, instead of taking some energetic measures to stop it.
The fifth flaw is excessive application. For example, dullness or anxiety arise in meditation, an antidote is applied, and the dullness or anxiety are removed. However, one continues to apply the antidote even though there is no longer any need for it. This is the flaw of excessive application.
Excessive application means that we cannot let ourselves go even when there is neither blurring nor agitation. We are too tense and try to advance our meditation through a rigid volitional process. And even when the mind is calmed, we constantly try to control it too much. As a result, our mind becomes constricted. We attain a certain calmness, but genuine depth of meditation and openness do not occur. At this stage, one should abandon excessive effort and trust inner awareness without effort, relaxation, when the brightness of consciousness is no longer lost.
Antidotes should be used only when anxiety and dullness or other disturbing feelings arise. When they are removed, it is necessary simply to rest in equanimity. Although dullness and anxiety have their individual characteristics, their obstructing influence on meditation is the same. And they can be considered one flaw.
Meditation as Ascetic Practice
Sitting meditation is always an ascetic feat, because a person who begins to meditate always encounters the karmas that are present in his subtle body. The karmas are not allowed to manifest, and then these pranas give rise to various visions, desires, pains in the legs, and so on. Before the channels and pranas are purified and the mind calms down, the yogin undergoes a serious inner struggle for stable meditation. Therefore, sitting meditation has always been considered ascetic practice.
I read a conversation between Zen monks. One of them said: “Things are still not too bad with koans, but with meditation on emptiness, it seems, things are not moving at all.” Another monk, who had meditated for twenty years, wrote: “In my opinion, I manage to control thoughts a little in meditation.” This shows that during sitting meditation everyone experiences quite great difficulties in calming the mind and achieving a truly stable state. However, there is no other way.
Why is it important for us to practice sitting meditation? From the absolute point of view, sitting meditation is still not the main practice for us. The main practice is contemplation in any state, and especially in movement, with perception. Nevertheless, without stable sitting meditation there will be no foundation, so such practice is basic, creating the necessary foundation.
Dhyana and Prajna
Whether we can realize deep states of dhyana and prajna depends on how much we apply the instructions. Dhyana and prajna are two sides of the same coin, which are very important for the practice of the natural state. Dhyana, or mahashanti, is also called shamatha. It is the calming of the mind, when we slow down the brain wave activity in sitting meditation. Prajna is all-pervading wisdom; it is contemplation in movement, when we maintain presence despite the fluctuations of thoughts and perception. Dhyana and prajna go together like two wings of one bird. Dhyana is the foundation for prajna, for penetrating wisdom.
When we begin to meditate, various subtle karmas are revealed—causal seeds contained in our subtle bodies—and they come out. For example: various stresses, past sins, bad memories and mental imprints, attachments, old illnesses stored in the channels, the habit of dullness, and coarseness of consciousness. Previously we did not see this, but all of it exists and begins to manifest. When we meditate, we come face to face with it. However, we must be fully prepared, that is, we must be able to oppose it with an antidote.
Eight Antidotes
Eight antidotes.
In order to develop meditation, it is necessary to eliminate these five flaws. First, it is necessary to recognize what they are. Then it is necessary to apply the antidotes that remove them. These means are called the eight antidotes.
The first flaw mentioned was laziness—a major obstacle to meditation. There are four mental events that serve as antidotes to laziness. The first of these means is the presence of inspiration or interest in meditation. This means that there is a desire to meditate and joy in doing so.
A necessary condition, as we recently said, is bhava. Bhava is a very capacious concept, but inspiration is one of its aspects. You should always have inexhaustible inspiration for practice. In fact, you should be a fountain of inspiration. You will not get far on a sense of duty alone or on fear of death. This will, of course, provide some inspiration, but it is not enough, because there must be something positive. Such inspiration, like a passion, must impel you constantly to conquer new heights by sitting down on the meditation mat. It includes faith, enthusiasm, the aspiration to attain liberation, the desire to develop all qualities within yourself, to know the mystery of the Absolute, and the desire to emulate the saints. Without such inspiration, there is nothing to do in practice at all. If there is no inspiration, then one must strive to develop it.
All great saints were God-inspired charismatic personalities. One could say that they were mad for God in the good sense of the word. This means that they were very fiery, inspired individuals. This is an indispensable condition when you undertake any practice. And if you do not have such inspiration, then think about how to give rise to it before you begin to practice.
There is some incentive within you because of which you entered the path of Dharma. If inspiration has disappeared, you need to remember this incentive, understand why you lost it, and awaken it again. This incentive must under no circumstances be lost. It happens that a person has inspiration due to certain reasons, but then he encounters difficulties in sadhana, sees that the path is great and boundless, or sees that he is not particularly successful in practice, and therefore his inspired state is lost; he simply follows the beaten track. But if we constantly awaken inner inspiration, it will reveal new levels or new potentials of your consciousness. In this way laziness, obstacles, and so on are eliminated.
For example, I feel very strongly inspired twenty-four hours a day; this gives me the ability to write books, engage in management, plan the spread of the Dharma, and many even fantastic things and projects. My dharma nourishes me and gives me genuine inspiration. What “Divya Loka” represents now is perhaps only a pale reflection of what I have in my soul with regard to “Divya Loka” or spiritual life as a whole. It is another matter that the embodiment of all this requires time.
In the same way, if you are inspired toward inner practice, then this inspiration will inevitably manifest in everything.
It must be said that here there is attachment to meditation, but this attachment is positive. We use the word “inspiration” because attachment is regarded as something negative and harmful. If there is attachment to something positive, such as meditation, then a positive result is obtained.
Here, passionate attachment (in the good sense of the word) to contemplation, to the realization of the Absolute, that is, the tendency to move forward, to increase the potential and depth of consciousness, is chosen as a synonym for inspiration. And if it is correct, without deviations, without rajas, without rushing ahead and setting false goals, without fixation on the ego, then it can always be used on the path.
The second remedy is zeal. If there is interest and motivation for practice, then there is no need to force oneself to practice meditation, because there is a natural inclination toward practice.
Every time you begin seated meditation on the mat, you should think something like this: “Wow! I am meditating just like Milarepa. I am also practicing like the ancient mahasiddhas, like saints, like Zen patriarchs. I am no different from them in terms of conditions; I have the same conditions, the same monastery, the same mat, and the same kurta. How am I different from them? I am so blessed, I have such an opportunity that I do not even understand myself how great it is. Now everything depends only on me, on my diligence.” And when you attune yourself in this way, you decide: “I absolutely must try to derive the maximum benefit from this session.” This is inspiration. Or you think: “Into what world will I make a breakthrough next, how far will I be able to go? Yesterday I reached the world without forms; will I be able today to reach the world of infinite consciousness?” And then your breath is taken away by new prospects.
The third remedy for laziness is faith. Although this is similar to the first remedy, inspiration means that there is something inspiring, whereas faith implies trust in something valuable.
Faith means a certain irrational commitment to your practice of Dharma, even when there is no inspiration. It is easy to practice when there is inspiration. Even a layperson, in a burst of inspiration, can sit down in meditation. But faith is something more. It is when you practice even if you have despondency and dullness, and there is no inspiration. Faith is the practitioner’s last stronghold, his fortress. Relying on faith, one can reveal the greatest inspiration, but if there is no faith, then inspiration, of course, will no longer come. This can be called samaya, commitment, and everything that we place into the most innermost state. Even when there is no inspiration in practice, you can think that thanks to faith it will arise in you.
The fourth remedy is literally called “well trained.” It can also be translated as “flexible” or “pliant.” This means that our mind is ready to meditate at any moment. We do not think: “Oh, now I have to meditate! How difficult, what a heavy meditation.” Without such flexibility or good training of mind and body, there will be no true shamatha, but only a one-pointed state of mind. We can force our mind to be one-pointed, but when we have flexible meditation, our mind rests naturally, one-pointedly, and effortlessly. This and the three previous remedies destroy the defect of laziness.
Flexibility means that you do not need to warm up for a long time in order to enter meditation, into retreat, because you are constantly meditating. You do not need to calm the mind for a long time in order to enter dhyana. It develops with regular practice.
The fifth remedy is mindfulness. It prevents the forgetting of meditation instructions. We develop a meditative state in which the instructions are not forgotten. Mindfulness has three characteristics. The first is the presence of sharpness and clarity of mind, in which the instructions do not disappear from memory.
Mindfulness is when we do not lose sight of the instructions. When we understand: “This is distraction — it must be stopped,” or: “This is dullness — effort must be applied,” or: “This is subtle mental agitation — it must be worked with,” or: “I seem to be applying too much effort, the mind is contracting — I need to let go.” When we meditate, we catch all these ambiguities; we have a clear understanding of the meditative process.
The second is when, with the sharpness and focus of the mind, few thoughts arise, since meditation is non-conceptual. That is, there are few thoughts in the mind, and it is naturally and one-pointedly focused on the object.
The third is that, because there is confidence and the flexibility of good training, meditation becomes pleasant, with a sense of comfort and enjoyment. These three qualities of our meditation lead to the instructions not being forgotten.
The third flaw is dullness and agitation. First, it is necessary to recognize that dullness and agitation have arisen during meditation. When it is found that either one or the other is present, it is necessary to apply the antidote to it.
By what do we detect dullness and agitation? By vigilance. Vigilance checks our mindfulness. About once every ten seconds, a certain faint impulse arises in consciousness that looks: “Where is my mind?” It is like an inspector coming to see whether the workers are doing their job well. When such vigilance emerges and scans the situation in consciousness a little, you suddenly discover: “It turns out my mind has become distracted. My mind has become dull.” Then vigilance gives mindfulness the command to enter the proper state, and mindfulness begins to carry it out. In this way, we periodically check the meditation.
A golden mean is needed here. If we do not check the meditation at all, we will definitely fall either into dullness or into agitation; that is, we will waste an hour of sitting meditation. Of course, this must not be allowed. But if, on the contrary, we apply checks very often, if we try too hard to control and cannot calm down in any way, then our mind may become too agitated. In other words, if you check your mind every three seconds, you will fall into another deviation — agitation.
Methods for Eliminating Flaws in Meditation
Visualization of Lotuses
There are three methods for eliminating these flaws. First, when one experiences dullness, one can visualize in one’s heart a four-petaled white lotus with a white tigle in the center. Then imagine that it rises upward to the crown of the head, to the level of the hair, and then four fingers above the crown.
Here, as a remedy for dullness, a lotus is visualized in the heart, which then rises to the crown of the head. Thanks to this, the mind and subtle prana rise, and therefore consciousness becomes brighter and dullness is overcome.
“When agitation or too many thoughts appear, visualize an inverted black lotus with four petals in the heart, with a small black tigle in the center. Imagine that it descends to the level of the seat, and then four fingers lower.”
The means for overcoming agitation, on the contrary, is when you visualize an inverted black lotus in the heart and then imagine it descending first to the level of the floor, and then four fingers lower. Through this, the pranas and winds are calmed, and agitation disappears.
Managing the Gaze and Body Position
The second remedy for dullness is to keep the eyes wide open, direct the gaze upward, and tense the body.
To get rid of agitation, one looks downward, with the eyes half-closed and the body relaxed.
Through the gaze, one can control the pranas. There are five types of tantric gaze, but we will not speak about them now. If you want to lower the pranas downward, you need to direct the gaze downward, and then the pranas and the mind will become calm. Conversely, if you want to invigorate your mind, you should look slightly upward. Prana in the body follows the gaze.
Environmental Conditions
The third remedy for blurriness is to be in a bright place. Open all the windows and make the room bright and cool, and also wear light clothing. In the case of agitation, the room should be warm and darkened.
If it is not possible to be in a bright place, then one should imagine light within. For example, one should imagine a solar disk. In this way, one can quickly dispel dullness and lethargy in meditation, tamas.
The Proper Application of Antidotes
The fourth flaw is the lack of application. For example, when lethargy or anxiety is experienced during meditation, but nothing is done about it. When one gives in to such a situation, it is obvious that it is impossible to progress toward enlightenment. When it becomes clear that lethargy or anxiety is present during meditation, it is necessary to remember the antidotes and apply them diligently. Thus, the use of the proper remedy eliminates the defect of inaction.
The fifth flaw is the defect of excessive activity. This means that when one meditates and does not have the five flaws, there is no need to do anything other than calmly remain in this meditative state.
We have a monk who meditates approximately like this: “So, I enter the screen. This space opens up here. Something deepens from below. There is light there; I integrate with it. It goes down, but I raise it. Blurriness arises here.” That is, his meditation is some kind of continuous computer game. This cannot be called meditation. I tell him: “Stop these games. Of course, it is necessary to correct blurriness and agitation, but you should not do anything artificial, because this will not give you the opportunity to refine the mind and enter dhyana. You need to detach yourself from all this, since it is excessive effort. Otherwise, you will always be sliding on the mental level in meditation, even if there are images and visions.”
So, when you know what the four flaws and the eight antidotes are, and apply them correctly, it is simply impossible for you not to achieve success in practice. These are precious instructions of the great saints of the past. One could say that they were won through their many years of samadhi experiences. Therefore, by applying them, you too can get rid of the flaws in your own meditation.
