The Dharma To Be Practised

Finding Comfort and Ease in Meditation

3. The Dharma To Be Practised

by Longchen Rabjam

In this section there are three parts: the preliminary practices, the main practices, and the concluding practices.

1. The Preliminary Practices

1. The General and Specific Preliminaries

Reflection on impermanence and feeling disenchanted are the general preliminaries
That radically counteract our attachment to the things of this life.
And compassion and bodhicitta are the specific preliminaries
That transform all spiritual practice into the path of Mahāyāna.
Train therefore at the outset in both these preliminaries.

2. The Special, Supreme Preliminaries

Afterwards, there are the special, supreme preliminary practices.
Having received all the empowerments, there are two stages: generation [and completion]:

[1] Imagining your own body as the deity and the surrounding environment and sentient beings also as the deity
Counteracts attachment to our ordinary perception.

[2] By practising the profound path of guru yoga,
Blessings beyond measure arise through the force of realization,
All obstacles are dispelled, and the two types of siddhi are achieved.
Therefore, after the general and specific preliminaries, practise the two supreme preliminaries.

Boundless qualities arise as a result of these four preliminaries:
Your mind sets out upon the unerring path,
Once you adopt the supreme path of liberation,
Realization of the natural condition swiftly arises,
It becomes easy to train in the main practices, with no obstacles,
Accomplishments are readily achieved, and so on.
Therefore it is crucial to train in these preliminaries.

2. The Main Practices

The main practice is the introduction to the natural condition,
Through meditation involving bliss, clarity and non-conceptuality.
The clear light primordial wisdom, free of conceptual elaboration,
Arises as the fundamental innate mind.

1. The Method of Great Bliss

First, there is the introduction through the method of great bliss.
After practising the preliminaries described above, consider this:
Through the centre of the four chakras, three channels rise like pillars:
The right channel white, the left red, and the central channel deep blue and hollow.
The top of the central channel is at the brahma-aperture, and its bottom is at the secret place.

Inside the central channel, at the level of the navel, visualize an a (ཨ),
Blazing with fire, and at the crown a haṃ (ཧཾ) from which nectar descends,
Filling the four chakras and the whole interior of the body.
As your body becomes suffused with bliss, the nectar from the haṃ
Flows continuously down into the syllable baṃ (བཾ) at your heart.
Meditate on this until the experience of bliss arises.

Then the baṃ becomes smaller and smaller,
Until your mind settles in a state beyond any conceptual imagery or elaboration.
Through this method, attention is focused and calm abiding arises by way of bliss.
Then a state of awareness arises, which is utterly inexpressible,
Space-like, and beyond the ordinary mind.
This is the clear light great perfection of bliss and emptiness,
The nature of reality, radiant and inconceivable.

As you become familiar with this, four types of experience will arise:
All your perceptions will dawn as an experience of bliss,
You will never be separated from the blissful state, day or night,
Your mind will remain unperturbed by painful feelings of attachment, aversion and the like,
And you will gain the wisdom of understanding the meaning of the words of Dharma.

As you continue to practise, limitless qualities such as clairvoyance, and other kinds of extraordinary perception,
Will arise in your mind, just like the rising sun.
This is an exceptionally profound and crucial instruction.

2. The Method of Clarity

Secondly, for the introduction using the method of clarity,
Begin with the preliminaries just as before.
Visualize the three main channels, with the roma and kyangma channels curving and entering the central channel
At their lower ends, and their upper ends going directly through the nostrils.
Breathe out the stale air three times, expel all illnesses, destructive influences, negativity and obscurations.
As you slowly inhale, the entire world with all its inhabitants melts into light
And is drawn through the nostrils into the central channel by way of the roma and kyangma.
Then that light dissolves into an orb of light, one inch in diameter, in the centre of your heart,
As you hold your breath for as long as you can.

Joining the upper and lower wind-energies together, hold your breath for a while, and retain a little air when exhaling.
It is very important that you allow your breathing to be slow and gentle.
Moreover, imagine all the sublime qualities of the buddhas and so on
Dissolving into your heart, without being distracted elsewhere.
With this technique, mental clarity, radiance and stability arise.

Afterwards, imagine light flowing out from the light at your heart,
Blazing inside the four chakras within your body,
And extending out to fill the whole world with light.

By meditating on this day and night for several days,
Your dreams will cease and you will see everything, inside and outside,
Pervaded by the appearance of five-coloured light and
The light of the moon, blazing fire, fireflies, stars and so on.
By focusing your mind on the state of clarity, calm abiding will arise.

Then, as you draw the light back in, imagine the light at your heart
Growing fainter and finer until your mind settles in a state of emptiness.
Without focusing on anything, an empty, clear and radiant state of mind
Will naturally arise, free of the extremes of elaboration.
This fundamental wisdom of clarity and emptiness
Is the way of abiding of the natural great perfection.

When you grow familiar with this, four types of meditative experience will arise:
Everything that arises will seem intangible, unimpeded and luminous;
Day and night, you will remain in a state of luminosity;
Your mind will be clear and radiant, unmoved by discursive thoughts;
And wisdom will overflow from within, free of any dualistic grasping.

In addition, familiarization with this practice brings extraordinary powers of perception,
And the achievement of miraculous abilities and clairvoyance,
Including the ability to see unimpededly through solid objects.
This is an exceptionally profound and quintessential instruction.

3. The Method of Non-Conceptuality

Thirdly, there is introduction through the method of non-conceptuality,
Which is preceded by the preliminary practices as before.
The three aspects of the main practice are
Projection, presence, and purification.

For projection, the clear light nature of your mind is visualized at your heart
As the syllable ha (ཧ) or as an orb of light one inch in diameter.
As you recite ha forcefully twenty-one times,
The object of your visualization emerges from the crown of your head and is projected far out into space,
Where it ascends higher and higher until it is no longer visible,
And you rest with your body and mind deeply relaxed.
In that moment the stream of your thoughts ceases,
And you remain in a state that is inexpressible by speech or thought.
An experience arises that cannot be objectified and that is beyond the realm of ordinary thought.

For presence, turn your back to the sun,
And gently rest your gaze in the clear sky.
Breathe as softly as you can, hardly feeling the movement of the air.
Then a state of non-conceptuality, free of elaboration, will arise from within,
And a space-like experience will naturally occur.

For purification, direct your gaze undistractedly into the sky,
Settle your mind in a state of clarity, without projecting or withdrawing,
And imagine the entire environment, including earth, stones, and mountains, and all beings,
As transparent and merging with space.
While experiencing even your own body as insubstantial,
Rest in a state in which mind is indivisible from space.
With both body and mind deeply relaxed in this space-like state
In which there is no separation between outside, inside, and in-between,
And memories, thoughts, and mental activity are all naturally pacified,
Let the mind remain naturally, just as it is, without projecting or withdrawing.

At that time, there will arise a space-like realization of the non-duality
Of the nature of reality and the mind that is inconceivable and ineffable—
This is the essence of the victorious ones of the past, present and future.

By familiarizing yourself with this, four types of meditative experience arise:
Your entire perception will seem even, lacking any coarser concepts or ideas;
Day and night, you will never be separated from a state of non-conceptuality;
The five poisons will naturally be pacified, making your mindstream gentler;
And you will experience all phenomena as being just like space.

By familiarizing yourself like this with the three types of non-conceptuality,
You will accomplish the sublime qualities of clairvoyance, extraordinary perception, and samādhi.
Through the union of skilful means and wisdom, and of calm abiding and insight,
You will accomplish your own and others’ temporal and ultimate well-being.

3. The Concluding Practices

Thirdly, the concluding practices are of four kinds:
Meditative experience, enhancement, realization, and the fruition.

1. Meditative Experience

Of the two types of meditative experience, the flawless ones were explained above.
Flawed meditative experiences occur due to grasping and clinging to the respective experiences—
Attachment to bliss, attachment to clarity, and attachment to non-conceptuality,
Involving clinging to extremes, compulsive thinking, and contamination from the ordinary mental poisons.

Perverted bliss involves seminal emission, ordinary desire,
Unhappiness and excessive laxity.
Perverted clarity involves disturbed wind-energy, ordinary aggression,
Coarse thinking, and excessive agitation and proliferation of thought.
Perverted non-conceptuality involves ordinary delusion,
Mental dullness, sleepiness, and lethargy, as well as lack of discernment.
Should any of these flawed inverse experiences arise, recognize them
And correct them with the appropriate antidotes.

2. Enhancement

Enhancement includes methods for correcting errors and for improvement.
There are three methods for correction:
The superior method is to correct errors through the view, by recognizing how all phenomena
Are mental designations, like apparitions without any identifiable essence,
Even and equal, like space, free from clinging and empty of inherent existence,
And in that state beyond grasping and fixation, to reach a final decision.

Errors and obscurations dawn as the great nature of reality,
Obstacles spur us on to virtue, and adversity aids enlightenment.
On the basis of fundamental bliss, mental well-being constantly arises.

The intermediate approach is to correct errors by means of meditation,
To make mind clear, transform one’s consciousness and hold it with mindfulness.
And, without distraction, to settle in a state of bliss, clarity, and non-conceptuality.
Since distraction and lack of attention are defects,
It is crucial to rest in a state that is undistracted even for a moment.

To counteract seminal emission, visualize a hūṃ in a vajra vase,
From which fire consumes all the elements inside the body,
And then meditate in a state of nothing whatsoever.
This is also a profound practice for cases of emission due to illness and harmful influences.
Once clinging to bliss has been eliminated, meditate on emptiness.
Look piercingly into the mind that is experiencing ordinary desire,
And by resting in an uncontrived and uncorrupted state free of hope and fear,
Desire will be freed by itself, and the wisdom of bliss and emptiness will dawn.

Unhappiness is a problem that comes from degeneration of the vital essence.
To remedy it, practise the blissful meditation of blazing and dripping.
If mental dullness predominates, it is the fault of a failure to separate the pure essence from impure residue.
To remedy it, sit upright in an erect posture,
Joining the upper and lower wind energies, hold your breath, and imagine the inside of your heart filled with light,
And meditate on the universe, luminous and empty, being filled with light.

If you fall into clinging to clarity, train in great non-grasping.
If your mind is unclear and drowsy, meditate on radiance and clarity.
If your mind is excited and agitated, close your eyes and visualize inside your heart
Light, a syllable, a lotus, a sword,
Or a double vajra descending
As if lowered on a rope from the inside of your heart
Until it descends all the way down to the golden ground at the base of the universe.
This infallible technique is sure to dispel [agitation].

When your mind is caught up in ordinary hostility, direct your attention right at it,
And it will be released into the luminous and empty state of mirror-like wisdom.

When a state of non-conceptuality arises, purify it with the technique of non-grasping.
Recognize the mind of delusion and examine it directly.
In that instant, it will be freed by itself and dawn as the wisdom of the basic space of reality (dharmadhātu).

When your mind is dull, lethargic and undiscerning,
Visualize light inside your heart ascending and emerging through your brahma-aperture,
And hovering in the space about a fathom above your head.
This is an exceptionally profound point of instruction.

In general, it is crucial not to grasp onto anything at all.
If you are without hope and fear, you will be free from all kinds of hindrance.
Rest in the radiant state of the empty and clear nature of mind,
Without mentally projecting or withdrawing,
And you will definitely be freed from the treacherous pathways of hindrances and flaws.

The lesser approach is to correct errors by means of three kinds of conduct:
Gaze, material factors, and interdependence.
The general gaze is practised while sitting in the seven-point posture of Vairocana:
With legs crossed, the eyes unmoving, breathing slowly and evenly,
With the head inclined, the tongue touching the palate,
And the eyes gazing down toward the tip of the nose, so that wind-energies and mind are brought into a state of balance,
And flawless meditation arises without dullness or agitation.
Since all the defects occur due to imbalances in the body,
Which disturb the channels, wind-energies and essences,
It is important to rest evenly without any such disturbance.
Moreover, since qualities arise when the channels, energies and essences
Are steady and functioning in the proper way
It is ever so crucial to understand this vital point.

Even more than for other yogic exercises and physical training,
It is particularly important to practise this slowly, gently and in a balanced way.
It is crucial that you practise according to your physical constitution,
Countering the gentle with the forceful and the forceful with the gentle.
Specifically, for bliss the crucial points are crossing your arms,
Lowering your gaze, and focusing your attention on the bliss itself.
For clarity, place your hands on your knees,
Breathe slowly, and gaze directly into space.
Non-conceptuality is achieved simply through sitting in the seven-point posture.

As for material factors, take the support of seasonal locations, companions,
Food, drink, and so on in order to help meditative experience.

As for interdependence, in the case of seminal emission,
By tying around the waist three-stranded thread woven by a young girl
And consecrated by reciting mantras, the bindu can be retained.
If discursive thoughts proliferate, take pills made of sandalwood powder, saffron, and "great fat",
And non-conceptuality will be achieved.
It is said in the tantras that when the mind becomes drowsy,
Samādhi will be achieved by ingesting pills of saffron, camphor and bodhicitta.

To increase the experience of flawless bliss, clarity and non-conceptuality,
It is said to be best to focus the attention on some object.
If at first you meditate by focusing upon an object,
Later you will naturally reach a state beyond focus.
This point is extremely profound and sublime,
So all you fortunate ones should take it to heart!
To reject a practice by saying, “It is conceptual!” is the path of fools,
A tendency of the inexperienced and something to be avoided.

In particular, a sublime practice for enhancing bliss entails drawing the lower wind-energies upwards,
Pulling the essences (bindu) up from the secret place,
Dissolving them into the crown,
And resting in a state beyond any focus whatsoever.

After that, hold the upper and lower wind-energies joined together,
And, while focusing your attention at the heart, rest in the unborn state.
This is to remain in the state of bliss and clarity free from conceptual elaboration.

From time to time, practise the crucial points of the yogic exercises in accordance with the visual transmission,
Including descent and reversal, drawing upwards and diffusion, and final resolution,
By shaking in the lion posture and so on.

Descent involves adopting the mudrā of embracing,
And shaking the upper parts of the body and pressing down on the lower parts.
bodhicitta descends from a visualized syllable haṃ,
And when it reaches the secret place attention is focused on the bliss.
Reversal means to draw it upwards,
Pressing the hands down on the hollows and joining the "ocean" against the "rocky shore."[1]
Drawing the lower wind-energies upwards, press your tongue against the palate.
Roll your eyes back and turn your head as if you were trembling.
For the visualization, imagine the bindus, strung together as if by a gossamer thread,
Dissolving one into another, up to the crown of the head.

Diffusion entails flexing your arms and legs powerfully as if drawing a bow,
Then exhaling with a hissing noise, the tip of the tongue pressed against the teeth.

Final resolution entails lying on your back breathing gently with the mind at ease.
Not thinking of anything at all, nor clinging to anything whatsoever,
Rest in the natural state, free from any conceptual elaboration,
And you will achieve the great bliss of enlightenment without any hindrance.

A sublime method for enhancing clarity with the breath
Entails alternating gentle and forceful breaths,
And in particular to alternate breathing in and holding the breath and breathing out and holding.
It is important to combine this with the crucial point of [the breath being] slow and gentle.

Although there are teachings on many techniques,
Including counting, colour, touch, and shape,
This is an essential instruction in which one method accomplishes all,
So to train like this is the sovereign of all key points.

For the body, the crucial point is not to move, like before.[2]
Let your breath be very slow, passing evenly through the mouth and both nostrils,
And rest effortlessly in a state of ordinary, natural release.
For the mind, the crucial point is not to grasp onto anything, but be natural.

Afterwards, lie down on your back with your limbs outstretched.
Utter a forceful "Ha!" and direct your attention toward the centre of the sky.
Undistractedly, without projecting or gathering your thoughts, rest gently and naturally.

By resting in the primordial state, in which breath and mind are released by themselves,
Boundless sublime qualities can arise without any hindrance.
The body feels light, there is no movement [of breath],[3] and conceptual elaboration is pacified.
The mind becomes very clear and radiant, and extraordinary powers of perception arise.
Fleetness of foot is accomplished, the complexion becomes lustrous, samādhi arises,
And the signs of the wind-energies and mind entering the central channel arise.[4]
This is a most profound and sublime crucial point, and extremely secret.

As for enhancing space-like non-conceptuality,
Relax your body and mind from deep within and focus single-pointedly on the object of meditation.
By focusing on that alone, without being distracted by anything else,
Other discursive thoughts will dissolve into that state.
Even discursive thoughts pertaining to the meditative object will be fully pacified,
And then realization in which there is no grasping onto appearances will arise.

This is a crucial point. Moreover, you should train like this:
At times, focus your attention outside, exhale,
And by holding your breath, non-conceptuality will arise.
From time to time, hold your breath inside and focus directly and without distraction
On some object of meditation in the upper or lower part of the body.

At other times, allow your mind to settle by itself with no object,
And remain in a state without grasping onto objective appearances.
This wisdom mind of the non-conceptual dharmakāya
Will arise naturally from within by relying on the key instructions.

As for the general enhancement of bliss, clarity and non-conceptuality,
To gather the accumulations, purify the obscurations, cultivate the generation and completion phases,
And practise the profound path of guru yoga is praised as supreme.
This, the ultimate and most crucial of instructions,
Should be taken to heart by all those fortunate ones who long for liberation.

3. Realization

The realizations that arises from meditating in these ways
Are of one equal taste and cannot be differentiated.
The three approaches all come together in a single destination,
Just like separate rivers converging in the ocean.

Whichever of the three techniques you practise—whether you cultivate bliss, clarity or non-conceptuality—
When mind’s ordinary activity is pacified thoroughly and dissolves into
The space-like state of the unborn nature of mind,
Bodhicitta, which is free from the conceptual notions of existence or non-existence,
The sun of natural clear light, will dawn from deep within.
This unchanging realization, in which there is nothing to achieve and nothing to eliminate,
Is the nature of the essence of the buddhas—the sugatagarbha—as vast as space.

At that time, in the ocean of samādhi transcending calm abiding and clear seeing,
One-pointed, radiant, clear, and immaculate,
Everything appears without bias or clinging, like reflections devoid of inherent nature,
All phenomena are inseparably united in the essence of realization.
And there is no grasping onto appearances, which are illusory and empty.
This inseparable unity, the vast expanse of realization,
Clear light arising through the crucial points, dawns from deep within.

Naturally arising wisdom, inspired by the blessings of the guru,
Is seen when you have transcended verbal expression and conceptual ideas.
What is seen in this way, at that time,
Is beyond the three times, beyond outer and inner,[5] and beyond any division or exclusion.

It is the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom (prajñāpāramitā) and the Middle Way,
It is the Pacification of conceptual elaborations and suffering, Mahāmudrā,
The essential nature of phenomena, the Great Perfection,
Primordial cessation in which all dharmas are exhausted, the fundamental nature of things,
And the clear light nature of mind, naturally arisen wisdom.
Although they are given different names, in essence they are one.

Bodhicitta, the nature of mind, which is beyond words and concepts,
Is the space-like non-duality of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa,
Beyond clinging to any position at all, and beyond the pitfalls of philosophical constructs,
It transcends limitations and duality, and is the supreme state of equalness and perfection.
This is to be comprehended thoroughly by the yogins
In the vast expanse of the wisdom mind of the victorious ones, free of extremes.

4. Fruition

As you reach the culmination of these practices, the stages of fruition are as follows:
In the shorter term, through the union of bliss, clarity and non-conceptuality,
You will achieve clairvoyance, extraordinary powers of perception, and boundless qualities,
And ultimately, you will achieve the wish-fulfilling three kāyas and all the qualities of the victorious ones,
Spontaneously bringing about your own and others’ welfare.

This completes the third section, describing the stages of the samadhi to be practised from Finding Comfort and Ease in Meditation on the Great Perfection.

Dedication

Through the merit of explaining the vast and profound,
The essential meaning of this approach to the Dharma and tranquillity,
May all beings attain the two sublime aspects of awakening
And gain the limitless wealth of wish-fulfilling enlightened activity!

The heir to the victorious ones, Drimé Özer, composed this
Clear explanation for the sake of future generations
By synthesizing the key points of his own practical experience,
On the slopes of Gangri Tökar.

All who seek liberation should apply themselves
To practising in accordance with this text,
And, with abundant benefits on a temporal and ultimate level, for both themselves and others,
They will swiftly find happiness and joy in the sanctuary of supreme bliss!

This completes the text Finding Comfort and Ease in Meditation on the Great Perfection, which was composed on the slopes of Gangri Tökar by the yogin Drimé Özer, a follower of Tsokyé Dorjé, the great and glorious master of Oḍḍiyāna. May it be virtuous! May it be virtuous! May it be virtuous!

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, based on an earlier, unpublished translation of Finding Comfort and Ease in Meditation on the Great Perfection by B. Alan Wallace and Adam Pearcey, prepared for HH the Dalai Lama’s teachings in Lerab Gar, France, 2000.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

klong chen rab ʼbyams pa dri med ʼod zer. “rdzogs pa chen po bsam gtan ngal gso.” In rdzogs pa chen po ngal gso skor gsum dang rang grol skor gsum bcas pod gsum, 1999. Vol. 3: 1–25

Secondary Sources

Guenther, Herbert V., Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Part Two: Meditation. Berkeley, California: Dharma Publishing, 1976.

Dalai Lama, Mind in Comfort and Ease: The Vision of Enlightenment in the Great Perfection. Wisdom Publications, 2007.

Version: 1.1-20250107