Mahamudra:
The Ocean of Definitive Meaning
 

Table of Contents

Foreword By The Seventeenth Karmapa,
     Ugyen Trinley Dorje............................................... xv

An Open Letter From H. E. Tai
Situ Rinpoche.......................................................... xviii

Introduction To Mahamudra By
      The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche........................... xix

Translator's Preface................................................. lxxiii

Note From Nitartha International................................ lxxix

Note From Nalandabodhi......................................... lxxxii
 

The Introduction.......................................................... 3

Part I

The Preliminaries................................................................ 7

A.    The Four Common Preliminaries................................... 9

1.  Precious Human Existence............................................. 9

2.  Death and Impermanence.............................................. 15

     Death and Impermanence: Further Reflections................. 21

3.  Karmic Causes and Results........................................... 23

     The Classifications of Karma.......................................... 27

4.  The Faults of Samsara................................................... 31

     The Faults of Samsara: The Sufferings of
the Higher States............................................................... 35

B. The Four Uncommon Preliminaries.................................. 39

1.  Refuge and Bodhichitta.................................................. 39

     Bodhichitta: The Extensive Explanation........................... 43

2.  Vajrasattva Meditation.................................................... 53

     Vajrasattva Meditation Instructions.................................. 57

3.  Mandala Offering............................................................ 59

     Mandala Offering Practice Instructions............................. 63

4.  Guru Yoga..................................................................... 66

     Guru Yoga Practice Instructions...................................... 78

C. The Four Special Preliminaries......................................... 83

1.  The Causal Condition...................................................... 83

2.  The Empowering Condition.............................................. 84

a) The Guru Who Is an Individual in a Lineage........................ 84

b) The Guru Who Appears As the
Words of the Sugata........................................................... 85

c) The Guru Who Manifests As Symbolic
Appearances...................................................................... 85

d) The Guru Who Is the Ultimate Dharmata........................... 86

3.  The Object Condition...................................................... 87

4.  The Proximate Condition................................................. 88
 

Part II

The Actual Practice...................................................... 91

A.    Shamatha................................................................ 93

1.  The General Explanation................................................... 93

a) The Essential Points concerning the Body........................... 93

     The Purpose of the Essential Points concerning
the Body............................................................................... 96

b) The Essential Points concerning the Mind............................ 99

     Quotations: The Way to Rest the Mind.............................. 100

2.  The Detailed Presentation................................................. 113

a) Settling the Mind That Has Not Settled............................... 113

i)  Concentrating Using an Object........................................... 114

(a)... Concentrating on Something External............................. 114

(i)    Concentrating on Something Impure................................ 114

      Quotations: How to Rest................................................. 115

      Concentrating Using an Object:
Additional Techniques........................................................... 118

(ii).. Concentrating on Something
Pure.................................................................................... 119

(b)... Concentrating on Something Internal.............................. 120

ii) Concentrating without an Object......................................... 121

iii)   Concentrating on the Breath............................................ 121


     Settling the Mind: Additional Instructions........................... 121

     The Three Levels of Resting.............................................. 122

b) Stabilizing the Settled Mind............................................... 125

i)  Holding the Mind............................................................... 125

(a)... Holding Above.............................................................. 125

(b)... Holding Below.............................................................. 125

(c).... The Yoga of Alternating................................................ 126

ii) The Nine Methods for Bringing the Mind
to Rest................................................................................ 126

     The Remedies for Dullness and Agitation........................... 127

c) Enhancing the Stabilization................................................ 131

     General Instructions for Removing Hindrances
and Enhancing Practice........................................................ 133

     The Supreme Way to Remove Hindrances
and Enhance Practice........................................................... 137
 

B. Vipashyana............................................................... 139
 

1.  Looking at the Abiding Nature, the Essence of Mind............ 139

     Analyzing the Resting Mind and the Moving Mind................ 140

2.  Cutting through a Basis or Root of Mind.............................. 141

     The Eleven Applications.................................................... 142

3.  Pointing Out the Nature of Mind by Means of
Determining Awareness-Emptiness......................................... 144

     Pointing-out Instructions to Be Given through an
Actual Determination of the Mind's Nature............................... 146

     Pointing-out Instructions to Be Given According to
the Students' Experiences..................................................... 146

a) Pointing Out the Nature of Mind on the
Basis of Conceptual Movement............................................... 149

     Pointing Out That Resting and Movement Are
the Play of Mind.................................................................... 150

     Pointing-out Instructions for Bringing the Five
Poisons onto the Path............................................................ 151

     Quotations: The Nature of Thoughts.................................... 152

     Pointing-out Instructions to Be Given on the
Basis of Eradicating Hidden Flaws........................................... 156

b) Pointing Out the Nature of Mind on the Basis
of Appearances...................................................................... 159

i)  Pointing Out Appearances to Be Mind.................................. 159

     Examining the Body-Mind Relationship................................ 161

     Quotations: Pointing Out Appearances to
Be Mind................................................................................. 162

ii) Pointing Out Mind to Be Empty............................................ 169

iii)   Pointing Out Emptiness to Be Spontaneously
Present.................................................................................. 171

iv)   Pointing Out Spontaneous Presence to Be
Self-Liberated......................................................................... 172

     Quotations: Vipashyana Meditation..................................... 174

Part III

The Concluding Topics................................................ 181

A.    Enhancement.................................................................. 183

1.  Correcting the Five Types of Mistaken Ideas......................... 183

a) Correcting Mistaken Ideas about Objects.............................. 183

b) Correcting Mistaken Ideas about Time.................................. 184

c) Correcting Mistaken Ideas about the Essence....................... 185

d) Correcting Mistaken Ideas about the Nature.......................... 186

e) Correcting Mistaken Ideas about Knowledge......................... 187

2.  Training in the Three Skills................................................. 189

a) In the Beginning: The Skill in Initiating
Meditation............................................................................. 189

b) In the Middle: The Skill in Suspending
Meditation............................................................................. 190

c) In the End: The Skill in Sustaining
Experiences.......................................................................... 191

3.  Eliminating Deviations and Strayings................................... 194

a) Eliminating the Four Deviations............................................ 195

i)  Deviating from Emptiness As the Basic
Nature of Objects of Knowledge............................................... 195

ii) Deviating from Emptiness As the Seal.................................. 196

iii)   Deviating from Emptiness As the Remedy.......................... 197

iv)   Deviating from Emptiness As the Path................................ 197

b) Eliminating Strayings.......................................................... 199

4.  Crossing the Three Difficult Passages.................................. 202

a) Emptiness Arising As an Enemy.......................................... 202

b) Compassion Arising As an Enemy........................................ 203

c) Cause and Result Arising As an Enemy................................ 204

B. Removing Hindrances.......................................................... 205

1.  Removing the Hindrance of Illness........................................ 205

2.  Removing the Hindrance of Demons..................................... 208

3.  Removing the Hindrances to Samadhi.................................. 208

C. The Way to Progress on the Path........................................ 211


1.  The Yoga of One-Pointedness............................................. 212

Intermediate One-Pointedness................................................. 214

Greater One-Pointedness........................................................ 214

2.  The Yoga of Freedom from Elaborations............................... 215

Intermediate Freedom from Elaborations................................... 216

Greater Freedom from Elaborations.......................................... 217

3.  The Yoga of One Taste....................................................... 219

Intermediate One Taste........................................................... 221

Greater One Taste.................................................................. 222

4.  The Yoga of Nonmeditation................................................. 223

Intermediate Nonmeditation..................................................... 225

Greater Nonmeditation............................................................ 226

The Correspondence between the Four Yogas and
the Path................................................................................. 226

     The Correspondence between the Four Yogas and
the Paths: Further Explanations............................................... 234

D.    The Way the Result Manifests.......................................... 247

Part IV

The Supplementary Topics....................................................... 249

A.    Identifying the Essence of Mahamudra............................... 251

B. The Classifications.............................................................. 255

1.  Ground Mahamudra............................................................ 255

2.  Path Mahamudra................................................................ 257

     Quotations: View, Meditation, and Conduct.......................... 259

3.  Fruition Mahamudra............................................................ 267

C. The Explanation of the Term................................................. 271

D.    The Difference between Mahamudra and Connate
     Union................................................................................ 279

E. The Way the Result Manifests from Practice......................... 282

Concluding Remarks............................................................... 286

Dedication of the Rumtek Monastery Woodblocks..................... 287
 

Appendix I

Summary Root Verses by Wangchuk Dorje............................... 291
 

Appendix II

Opening the Door to the Definitive Meaning
by Bokar Rinpoche................................................................. 303
 

Appendix III

Götsangpa's Table of the Four Yogas....................................... 335

Appendix IV

Text Outline, Teaching Session List, and Meditation Session
List....................................................................................... 337

Glossary I

English-Tibetan...................................................................... 349

Glossary II

Experiential Words................................................................. 383

Glossary III

Tibetan-English...................................................................... 395

Reference I

Endnotes.............................................................................. 421

Reference II

Index.................................................................................... 441

 

An excerpt from Mahamudra: The Ocean of Definitive Meaning