Good evening. The three prajnas, in relation to the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, is our topic of discussion. Generally speaking, mindfulness in the path of the Mahayana tradition is regarded as wisdom, as transcendental knowledge, which is known as prajna in Sanskrit. This prajna of mindfulness is divided into a three-stage process of development in the path of Buddhism.  We have the prajna of listening, the prajna of contemplating, and the prajna of meditation.  This three-stage process develops the three prajnas, and the development of these three prajnas is very crucial on our path. For that reason Gampopa, the great lineage holder and master of the Kagyu lineage, said in his instructions that if we combine these three prajnas together, if we accumulate these three prajnas without missing any one, then we have a complete path. Then we are on the path. Not just on the path, but we are genuinely on the path, at that point. Gampopa said that when one adopts these three prajnas, when one reveals or uncovers these three prajnas altogether, then one develops the genuine understanding, experience and realization of the path of the dharma. He said that if one is missing, any one of these three, then one is not honestly on the path. One's path is not complete, and one's realization is not full and perfect. Therefore, the development of these three prajnas is very much emphasized in the path of Buddhism in general, and specifically in the path of Mahayana Buddhism.

Prajna of Listening
 
Listening, Contemplation and Meditation:
the Three Prajnas
Transcript of a talk by The Dzogchen Ponlop, Rinpoche

Good evening. The three prajnas, in relation to the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, is our topic of discussion. Generally speaking, mindfulness in the path of the Mahayana tradition is regarded as wisdom, as transcendental knowledge, which is known as prajna in Sanskrit. This prajna of mindfulness is divided into a three-stage process of development in the path of Buddhism.  We have the prajna of listening, the prajna of contemplating, and the prajna of meditation.  This three-stage process develops the three prajnas, and the development of these three prajnas is very crucial on our path. For that reason Gampopa, the great lineage holder and master of the Kagyu lineage, said in his instructions that if we combine these three prajnas together, if we accumulate these three prajnas without missing any one, then we have a complete path. Then we are on the path. Not just on the path, but we are genuinely on the path, at that point. Gampopa said that when one adopts these three prajnas, when one reveals or uncovers these three prajnas altogether, then one develops the genuine understanding, experience and realization of the path of the dharma. He said that if one is missing, any one of these three, then one is not honestly on the path. One's path is not complete, and one's realization is not full and perfect. Therefore, the development of these three prajnas is very much emphasized in the path of Buddhism in general, and specifically in the path of Mahayana Buddhism.
 

Prajna of Listening

If we look briefly at this three-stage process and at the prajnas connected to each of them, the first stage is the "stage of listening or studying" the dharma, which is totally dependent on conceptual mind, on communication, language and form. In this stage of hearing, listening or studying, we are developing the prajna of understanding. This is the primary prajna required for us to go further into the path. Sometimes when we say "study," we connect ourselves with the notion of a regular study environment such as college, university, or other schools. Many of these have been painful experiences. As a result, when we come to a spiritual path we often say, "I've had enough of that stuff," of studying.  Now we want to just simply sit and be there on the spot, in meditation, whatever that means. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding of this process of hearing or studying or listening, because studying, we feel, is not practice, right? Studying is not dharma practice. So we say, "Yes, I've had enough studies. Now I want to practice. I don't want to study anymore."  We are separating the notion of study from practice. We are connecting the notion of practice with meditation, and study with something else. This is a misunderstanding as far as Buddhism is concerned, as far as this spiritual journey is concerned. In the spiritual path of Buddhism, and especially in the Mahayana path, studying or hearing is practice, studying is meditation, and studying is path.

Through study, we also involve ourselves in the first stage of the path, which is known as the Path of Accumulation. Both the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom are connected with study. Without study or hearing, there's no way we can accumulate these two, and without these accumulations, we are not entering any path. So, studying is a great practice in Buddhism. Studying is a meditation, and hearing and studying are the most profound ways of accumulating merit according to Buddha Shakyamuni. You can question his thoughts; there's no problem, but as far as Buddha is concerned, the most profound and effective way of accumulating merit is through studies. That is why, in the Mahayana sutras, Buddha said that in the practice of Buddhism, if one studies one stanza of dharma, if one learns one verse of wisdom and if one shares this with others, then the merit you accumulate through this practice is immeasurable.  Whereas if you practice such compassionate activities as generosity or charity, if you feed all the poor, or offer something very precious to all the Buddhas in the ten directions, if your generosity fills the universe with precious stones, the Buddha said the merit of that is limited.  The merit of that is measurable. Whereas the merit of sharing one verse of dharma, or learning one verse of dharma, is immeasurable.

So we can see how studying or how learning becomes the path, and how learning becomes practice. It's not just simply listening or simply talking. It's not simply chatting. It's supposed to be much more precise than chatting. Much more sharp. Sharply concentrated. And so this aspect of practice, which is the first process known as the prajna of hearing, listening or studying, is the process of learning our journey, learning our path of meditation, learning our path of wisdom. Through study we also accumulate wisdom. There is no way we can really accumulate wisdom without engaging in genuine studies or genuine listening or hearing.

This stage of learning is like learning a cookbook. We're suffering from hunger. We have the basic suffering of hunger in samsara. We would like to have a remedy for this hunger. At this point, we realize that cooking and eating food would be the best remedy to overcome our pain of hunger. The first step that we have to take is to learn cooking.   We have to learn cooking in the most basic sense.

First we pick up a cookbook. By the way, this is not a cookbook. (Rinpoche picks up his book. Students laugh.) This is a Bible. (laughter) And so we have to pick up a cookbook and learn the basic skill of cooking, the basic skill of being healthy, the basic skill of solving our temporary and ultimate pain, ultimate hunger. In that process, we first have to pick up the cookbook and read through it, learning each word and line. That process is the process of learning, the process of hearing and studying. Going through that process, we still have a great separation between ourselves as students and the wisdom of the book, or the teacher.   We have a separation and a strong sense of duality at this stage. There's a strong sense of conceptualization. You read the name of one vegetable and you conceptualize that vegetable and where you might find that vegetable.   You read about one spice and imagine what that spice would smell like, and wonder how, not only your mouth, but your stomach would like that spice. Therefore, you have to go through the whole process of conceptualization through reading, through learning, and through hearing. Through that hearing, we develop the wisdom of understanding, understanding how to be healthy, understanding how to heal our suffering of hunger, and pain of hunger. In that process we are developing the first prajna, which is known as the prajna of learning.

Have you all heard of Tibet's greatest yogi, Milarepa?  That strange yogi, Milarepa, said in one of his songs that understanding is like a patch, like putting a patch on your clothes. Understanding is like a patch that could fall off anytime. This prajna is most important at the beginning. But at the same time, we can't just live with this prajna with satisfaction. We can't just simply say, "I have great knowledge. I have great wisdom, great intellect. I have studied all the dharma. I know all the dharma."  It's not enough yet, because that simple understanding is a dry understanding. That understanding is a very conceptual understanding, which is like knowing the cookbook very well. You've learned the cookbook very well at this point. That doesn't mean you're free from hunger.  That means you have a great knowledge about cooking.

The Prajna of Contemplating
 

 The second stage that we go through is the process of internalizing that knowledge.  The wisdom or prajna that we have developed through hearing or studying is, as Milarepa said, like the patch of understanding.  This means that, even though it can cover the hole temporarily, it doesn't mean that the patch has become one with the original cloth. It still stays separate. It still has not become one with the continuity of that fabric, the basic fabric. In a similar way, this knowledge, this understanding that we have accumulated through the process of hearing or learning has not become one with our stream of mind. It is  there like a patch.  Whenever we have some doubts, we can simply apply an intellectual patch, but that's not really solving or healing any of our problems at this stage. We can tell that from our stomachs. We're still hungry.

In the second stage, we have to go to the grocery store and get the vegetables that we have imagined, that we have conceptualized, and then come back home and engage in cooking.  At this stage, the best thing is to leave the cookbook aside and totally engage in cooking, totally engage in internalizing. If we are reading and cooking at the same time, we will burn the food, right? It will not be real food. It will not smell, not taste like it says in the cookbook. Therefore, it's important for us to master the cookbook first, before we come to the actual stage of cooking, which is the second stage, which we call "reflection or contemplation."  True reflection or contemplation will develop the prajna of experience. At this stage, we're developing the prajna of experience, which is getting closer to our hearts. We are internalizing our prior learning. At this point, what we are doing is cutting through a certain sense of duality. We are no longer separated from the cookbook like we were when we first read it. At this stage, we have become the cookbook.  We, ourselves, cannot be separated from the cookbook. We are like a living cookbook.

Yes, so at this stage we have become the cookbook, a living cookbook. There's no separation between oneself and the cookbook. We have come one step closer to the non-dual experience. We are internalizing whatever dharma we have learned, whatever dharma we have studied through the first stage. We are contemplating and reflecting on that, precisely. It is still conceptual because we go through conceptual meditation, conceptual reflection and contemplation. But still it is very profound. It is very profound in the sense that we're internalizing our intellectual knowledge. We're not leaving the intellectual knowledge as an intellectual property. We're internalizing that property and becoming one with that intellectual understanding. There's a profound experience taking place here that is known as the prajna of experience. At this stage we're cooking and smelling the food. We're maybe baking chocolate chip cookies and smelling these beautiful, delicious chocolate chip cookies from the oven.  We're not only conceptualizing how cookies would smell, but we're really smelling them. We're not just conceptualizing the cookies, the chocolate and the dough  together in the oven, but we have really done it. We have done it in our own experience. We also have an experience of taste through smelling, through just simply being there with the cookies. It's a great experience. (Rinpoche laughs.)

 At this stage, we're not trapped in the intellectual understanding. We're not frozen in intellectual theory.  We are clearly experiencing what we have learned. And we do that through analytical meditation. Analytical meditation develops the second prajna, the prajna of experience, in which we go through the process of cutting through duality.  In this process, our intellectual understanding becomes part of our being, rather than part of our brain or part of our notebook or part of our computer. At this stage, we are internalizing that whole understanding of dharma, the whole understanding of hearing, studying, and we are meditating on what we have learned. It is still conceptual but very important conceptual meditation. This conceptual meditation in the traditional path of Mahayana is known as analytical meditation. It was practiced in the past at Nalanda University in India. It is still done frequently in the great institutions in India, such as Nalanda Institute, and in most of the Tibetan monastic institutions.  We do a lot of analytical meditation.  This is a very important method of developing the second prajna and also an important method of processing through the second stage of development.

Milarepa said that our experience is like the morning mist. At the time it seems so thick, so dominant, so solid, so real. We have seen the mist this morning.  It seemed so real, so thick, so beautiful. But in the daytime, when the sun comes out, it just disappears. Milarepa said experiences are like the morning mist. They will disappear. He doesn't mean that you will lose them completely, but that experiences come and go like the morning mist and the morning mist comes and goes and comes and goes. This means that we can't simply be satisfied or simply be proud of our experience and say, "Look I have this great achievement. I have a meditative experience which is so powerful, so real, so beautiful."  When we get this kind of pride, it's like inviting the sun and that causes us to lose the existence of our morning mist, the beautiful fog.

 There's a story from 19th century Tibet about a great master who taught the meditation on emptiness, which all of his students were practicing.  One day the teacher had this beautiful experience of emptiness.  While meditating, he leaned backward in his cave.  When he came back from the meditation, he clearly saw a hand print in the solid rock cave, which came out of his meditative experience. He said, "Wow. This is a great sign of achievement, a great experience of meditation. I must show this achievement to my students." So one day he invited all the students to meditate together.  During that meditation, he slapped his hand very hard on the rock in front of him, with the intention of leaving a handprint. They all looked, all the students were watching. (Rinpoche slaps his hand)  He slapped very hard again on the rock, and when he lifted his hand they just saw a pink palm. Therefore, such experiences of meditation come and go. There's nothing to be proud of. Nothing to be surprised about.  Nothing to cling on to.  As Milarepa said, these experiences are like the morning mist, which comes and goes. And he said that you should not be satisfied. You should not be proud of the experiences. They're very good, but you shouldn't be stuck at that stage. You should go on to the next stage of this process, which is the third stage, developing the prajna of realization.

The Prajna of Meditation
 

The prajna of realization is developed through the process of meditating. The third stage is the meditation known as "resting meditation." That's what we are most familiar with, the notion of meditation. As soon as we say meditation, we think about resting meditation, which goes beyond conceptual meditation. We're trying to go beyond concept and simply rest in the state of non-dual experience. The third stage is necessary because we're still suffering from our hunger. We're still going through this pain of hunger even though we have had a beautiful experience of smelling chocolate chip cookies baking. But our stomach is still empty. We haven't eaten anything.  Therefore the third stage or process, which is meditation, is the actual remedy. This is like eating our food, chewing it properly and then swallowing.  Going through the whole process, the whole stage, we can heal our hunger. We can heal the suffering of hunger. Chocolate chip cookies are probably not a good example for our health (laughter) or to learn cooking. However, we go through this third stage, which is the actual sitting meditation. In this stage, we experience the remedy for our suffering. The real remedy for our pain is non-conceptual meditation. In order to reach that non-conceptual meditation, we must go through the first two stages of this process.  There is no easy  method for simply jumping into the third stage of sitting, of resting without concept.  To simply get into that stage is very difficult without going through the first two stages.

The third stage, resting in the actual state of the non-dual nature, comes from contemplation, from analytical meditation, which gradually leads us to the stage of non-dual, non-conceptual meditation. And that meditation is the actual cause of producing the genuine prajna of realization. That prajna of realization, as Milarepa said, is like unchanging space, like the sky. Milarepa said the sky or space is always the same. There is a changeless quality.  This means that once you have reached that level of prajna, of realization, if you have attained any sense of this prajna, if you have any realization, then, that realization is unchanging. That realization is always there. It's not like the morning mist, which comes and goes. This is more stable, more permanent, so to speak. Therefore, developing these three prajnas is very important for the practice of mindfulness, because the nature of mindfulness is the nature of prajna. There is no sense of really developing mindfulness without going through this three-stage process. When you have gone through this three-stage process of developing the three prajnas, you have naturally become familiar with your mind.  You have naturally developed a certain degree of mindfulness at this stage.

Mindfulness here is a method on the path of working with our mind. Mindfulness is the prajna of recollection, mindfulness is the prajna of watchfulness and mindfulness develops into the stage of awareness. If you look at this mindfulness and the notion of awareness, there's not much difference. The difference is very slight.  Shantideva said, in his Bodhicharyavatara, that awareness is the continuity of mindfulness. So mindfulness is something that we have to generate. We have to develop the discipline of mindfulness. Once you have developed the discipline of mindfulness, then awareness is simply the continuity of that mindfulness.

So what is this mindfulness exactly? We have a beautiful example from Shantideva. He said that our mind, our samsaric consciousness, is like a wild and crazy elephant. Mind is like a wild and crazy elephant, and mindfulness is like a strong chain that ties this elephant down to the earth. So mindfulness is the chain that brings this wild crazy elephant to some sense of groundedness. Therefore, in Shantideva's example, mindfulness is the tool to tame our crazy and wild elephant. This crazy and wild elephant is in a beautiful treasure house of precious human birth. If you do not really chain down this wild and crazy elephant, it can destroy this great treasure in one minute, one second. The process of chaining down and taming this wild crazy elephant is actually the practice of mindfulness; and that practice of mindfulness, in a basic sense, is simply being watchful.  Being watchful is one quality of being mindful.  Being chained down and being more grounded is another element of this mindfulness practice. In order to understand this notion of mindfulness, we can look at it from different angles. We can look at different qualities of mindfulness, qualities of the path and qualities of the practice of mindfulness.

According to Shantideva's instruction on the practice of mindfulness, what we are actually engaged in is the practice of watching the door or gate of mind very closely. We're always being watchful. We're always being mindful to lock our door, so that no harmful beings can enter our state of mind. We're being very watchful in closing the door and opening the door.  Whenever we have a guest at the door ringing the bell, if we have locked our door, we will hear the ring. If we have not locked the door, if our door is open, we never hear a ring, and we always get surprise visits. When our mind is not being mindful, we always get surprise guests of kleshas. But when we're mindful of watching and closing our door, being sure that our door is locked, then we don't get surprise guests. You know our kleshas always ring--loudly. (laughter) Our kleshas always ring the bell. We're disciplining them, making sure they understand that it's our property.  Each time we go to the door, we look through the peephole to make sure that we identify our guest.  Who is our guest this time? This is Mr. Anger. (laughter) We acknowledge, we recognize our guest, and then we open the door. We're not closing ourselves in. We should open the door with dignity, with respect, with mindfulness. We open the door. We let our guest in, and we talk about whatever he or she wants to talk about. Then we escort the guest to the door. We open the door, let it go.

Don't hang onto your guest. Don't be too close. Don't develop any close relationship. Just let it go. Open the door. Let it go, and make sure that you have locked the door again so that you'll hear the bell ring whenever the guests are there.

That's basically what mindfulness is. It's pretty simple. The practice of mindfulness involves four mindfulnesses, which are widely known in all three yana Buddhist practices.  They are mindfulness of body, mindfulness of feeling, mindfulness of mind, and mindfulness of phenomena. These Four Foundations of Mindfulness, which we will discuss in future talks, are generally taught in relation to the practice of mindfulness.
 

Developing Prajna through Practicing
Mindfulness
 
We now have briefly discussed the nature of prajna, the basic meaning and basic principle of prajna, which we are trying to develop on our path of genuine spiritual practice. That basic prajna includes the three principal prajnas, which are the prajna of listening, the prajna of contemplating and the prajna of meditation. In the Mahayana tradition, mindfulness is regarded as wisdom, as transcendental knowledge, which is known as prajna in Sanskrit. The mindfulness practices we are about to discuss are the basic method of developing these three principal prajnas. A more clear and detailed expression of the three prajnas is found in the practices of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
 

Five Points of Mindfulness

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, in the tradition of the Mahayana path, are explained in five basic points. These are the five basic stages we go through as we study, cultivate the wisdom of prajna, integrate that into our experience, and develop that experience into the full state of realization or prajna. We begin by looking at this mindfulness practice at the most fundamental starting point of hearing, or learning, and contemplating. There are five points to contemplate in order to understand this notion of mindfulness, the Foundations of Mindfulness practice.

Point One: The Object of Intention

Four Objects

The first point is the object of intention, or the object of our meditation. In the path of the Four Mindfulnesses, there are four objects of intention or meditation. The first of the four objects is the body. Feeling is the second, and the mind is the third. The fourth object is called phenomena or dharmas in Sanskrit.

When we relate with these four objects in a samsaric way, we are clinging to them, each in a different style. We have different samsaric relationships with each of these four objects. Because of clinging onto these four objects and because of the persistence of our basic tendencies to relate with these four objects in a most neurotic way, the whole universe, the whole world of samsara, is created.  For that reason, in the practice of mindfulness we use these four objects as the objects of our meditation, as the objects of our intention, and by using them we develop a sane, a more profound relationship with these objects. We develop a more profound understanding of these four objects and more profound ways of dealing with them. Through the development of this deeper understanding and more skillful methods, we are trying to transcend our relationship with these four objects.

The four objects are referred to, in the ordinary samsaric sense, as body, feeling, mind, and phenomena. The object of body is related to as the basis of clinging to oneself as an entity, as an existent, permanent ego. The body serves as the basis of that clinging, to which we add feeling, which is seen as something to be experienced, something to be enjoyed by this self in the most basic sense. Then we have mind in the third stage, which we relate to as the real self. When we try to point to the self, the ego, we usually point to our consciousness, our basic stream of mind or basic sense of mind. That becomes the actual object of self-clinging, the actual object of ego-clinging, which cannot exist without body and feeling. Mind cannot really express itself without the existence of body (body here is referring to form), and the object of feeling. Therefore mind, as the third object, the third stage of mindfulness, is the basic notion of consciousness.  It is the basic notion of awareness. Then we have the fourth object, the object of phenomena. Ordinarily, we relate to that object as the basis of all confusion. However, from this perspective, all confusion arises from these phenomena, and all aspects of liberation also arise in these phenomena as well. So phenomena is seen as the basis of confusion and liberation, or samsara and nirvana. Samsara or nirvana appears or is experienced on the basis of the fundamental phenomena, the basic sense of dharmas or existence.

 These four unhealthy relationships, or misunderstandings of these four objects, lead us in a vicious circle of samsara.   We are involved in a continual game of illusion. The game of illusion arises from a lack of prajna in our relationships with these four objects. Therefore, we're trying to develop the understanding of prajna in order to realize how we can relate with these four objects more profoundly, as well as more basically. The main point presented in the first stage of mindfulness practice is to recognize these four objects.

Point Two: Understanding the Essence

The second point of mindfulness practice is understanding the essence, understanding the true essence or true nature of mindfulness. What is mindfulness? What does it mean? This practice of mindfulness is actually the nature of prajna, as we discussed earlier. The essence or the nature of mindfulness here is the prajna of seeing, the prajna of understanding, the prajna of experiencing the true nature of form or the body, the true nature of feeling, the true nature of mind, and the true nature of phenomena. That prajna is the nature of mindfulness. This mindfulness is known as dran pa in Tibetan. It's called dran pa nye bar zhak pa (dren pa nye war bzhag pa). It's very simple. Dran pa literally means  "recollection" or "mindful" or "being watchful." And that dran pa is the wisdom, the prajna of seeing, the prajna of simply experiencing without any labels.  Zhak pa means "placing" and nye bar means "utterly or closely." And so it means closely placing your mind, closely focusing your mind, closely relating your mind with these situations and objects more directly. Dran pa nye bar zhak pa is basically the wisdom or the prajna of seeing and relating with these four objects closely. Relating with these four objects most directly with our prajna, with our mind, is what we call the practice of mindfulness. It is simply seeing what form is, simply experiencing what form is, simply being there with the form, simply going through these experiences with all of the four objects.

If you look at the nature or the essence of these mindfulness practices, you will see that their essence is simply the prajna of relating with these four objects very directly. It is the prajna of understanding or experiencing these four objects without any barrier between you as a knower, you as the experiencer, and the experienced object.  The absence of any barrier is what prajna is here. The actual prajna is also without coloring.  Therefore, we see the objects' most basic, fundamental state and relate with that. The fundamental state of simplicity of the object is the essence or nature of mindfulness.

Point Three: Assistant or Support

This leads us into the third stage, which is called the assistant or support. Mindfulness of the four objects of intention, body, feeling, mind, and dharmas, is practiced through the two supports of mindfulness and awareness. We must maintain these two supports, these two assistants. Without having these two disciplines developed in our practice, in our mundane experiences, there's no way we can really truly be mindful. There's no way we can really truly relate to the four objects with prajna. Therefore, the real tool or support, so to speak, is the development of the discipline of mindfulness and the discipline of awareness. These two disciplines are known as the assistants or the support for our practice of mindfulness and for the development of our relationship with the four objects.

The Foundations of Mindfulness
 
Point Four: The Method of Practicing the Four Foundations of Mindfulness

This leads us to the fourth stage, which is the actual point of our discussion. The fourth stage is the method of practicing the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. That method begins with working with the mindfulness of body, working with the mindfulness of form. If you really examine these four mindfulnesses, you will recognize that they are in the nature of working with the five skandhas. The first mindfulness, which is the mindfulness of body, relates to the skandha of form. The second mindfulness, the mindfulness of feeling, relates to the skandha of feeling. That is very straightforward. The third mindfulness is also very straightforward.  The mindfulness of mind relates to the skandha of consciousness, which is the fifth skandha. And the mindfulness of dharmas, or phenomena, relates to the other two skandhas, which are perception and concept or formation.  So mindfulness of phenomena is working with these two skandhas. Keeping this in mind helps us to fully understand these four mindfulnesses.

First Foundation: Mindfulness of Body

We begin with the mindfulness of body. There are two ways of viewing the practice of mindfulness of body. The first is the general Buddhist approach, which is the most fundamental way of looking at this mindfulness. The second approach reflects the more specific Mahayana point of view. To begin with the most basic and general approach, the mindfulness of body or form relates to our fundamental sense of existence, which normally is not stable, not grounded, due to our samsaric pattern of tendencies. Our existence is very wild. It's very crazy, like the mad elephant that we talked about earlier. For that reason, we work with our form, the existence of form, at the first stage of mindfulness practice. In particular, we work with three different levels of form. These are the outer form of our physical existence, the inner form of our perceptions, and the innermost form, which is related to the Mahayana understanding of the selflessness of body.

The General Buddhist Approach: The Outer Form of Body

In the most basic sense of the general Buddhist approach, we're working with the outer form of our physical existence. With this method of mindfulness, we're trying to bring our mind to the realization and understanding of what this existence is, what this physical form is. We're trying to bring it to the state of mindfulness, bring it to the most physical level of our experience of body. Usually, we experience our physical body as existing "out there" somewhere. We generally feel that our body exists outside of our mind. We feel that the body exists in a definite form, in a very solid way, of our mind. That is our fundamental experience of body, and that experience of body goes wild in our usual situation of life. In this path of mindfulness, we're bringing the wildness of our physical existence down to a level of calmness, to a certain level of groundedness. By simply bringing it into the present, we're bringing it to what it actually is, rather than thinking about what it actually is.

What we are working towards, at this level of mindfulness, is to see the outer form, outer existence, outer nature of our body, regardless of whether it's matter or mind. Forget about such philosophical or theoretical divisions. We're simply relating with what it is, and that is the mindfulness of body. Simply being there with our body, with our physical sense of existence, is the mindfulness of body. If we approach this with too much philosophy, too much analysis, it becomes too complicated. Trying to see if body is mind or matter, if it's a projection or not, becomes an obstacle and prevents us from directly relating to what it is. The Buddha talks about this basic approach in the sutras when he says things like, "When you see, just see. When you smell, just smell. When you touch, simply touch. And when you feel, simply feel."

We are using very basic logic here in order to relate to the most fundamental level of our experience. For example, when we sit down on a meditation cushion, we have a basic sense of feeling, of the sensation of our body, of our existence, of this gravity.  Just simply being there with that, just simply being there with our existence, is what we call mindfulness of body, in the most basic sense. That mindfulness is not just simply being there, but it also involves a certain prajna of understanding what it actually is.

General Buddhist Approach: The Inner Form of the Body

That experience takes us into the inner state of physical existence; which is seeing the true nature of our body, seeing the true reality of the relative existence of relative self.  This begins with seeing the most fundamental level of the presence of our body. That is to say, we're experiencing the most fundamental existence of our presence. That is a very simple experience. We just simply sit and be with our body, not with our mind, so to speak. In that exercise, it's possible for us to have some sense of this profound existence, the profound presence of our body, the profound experience of just being whatever it is. Simply being that experience is the inner experience of the physical self, the physical existence. At this stage of the mindfulness of the inner form of body, we go further into the depth of experiencing that being, that presence. We're going into the subtlety of our physical nature. We're seeing our own impermanent nature, and seeing that is a very profound level of mindfulness.

Experiencing the impermanent nature of our body is the subtle experience of the mindfulness of body. That experience is a profound understanding and a profound realization. Buddha said that of all the footprints that the animals make in nature, the deepest imprint is the footprint of the elephant. And Buddha said, in a similar way, the most precious and the deepest impression that any thought can make in the progress of our path is the thought of impermanence. It leaves a very strong impression. It is a very strong and deep experience on our path. And therefore, the realization of the impermanence of our body is a very profound mindfulness practice.

Mahayana Approach: The Innermost Form of the Body

Through the practice of reflecting on our physical self, our physical existence, we develop the mindfulness of body, which is seeing with awareness. When we are working with that physical experience, then we are getting into the depth of the Mahayana approach of working with the mindfulness of body. At that level, we go beyond the simple physical presence of a body. At that point, we are relating with the way the body is experienced by an individual being. The way we experience the existence of our body is simply our perception, simply our reflection, our projection. There's nothing really solid beyond that; there's no real existence of a physical body outside, as far as the Mahayana path is concerned. At this point, we are seeing a much deeper level of physical self, physical presence of mindfulness. We're discovering that mindfulness is seeing the true nature of that experience. We're approaching the level of absolute reality, rather than remaining on the relative level, where we are seeing the relative nature of mind, the relative nature of our body, the relative nature of our mindfulness. We are going more into the depth of mindfulness, which is the absolute truth. Therefore, when we talk about this mindfulness, in the Mahayana sense, we are talking about the selflessness of the body, which is very different from the general Buddhist approach.

The Dream Example

At this level we are dealing with our projections. We are dealing with the understanding and mindfulness of our projections. We're seeing that the physical world that we experience here is not necessarily solid and real. This can be understood clearly through the example of the dream. When we are dreaming, we have subject, we have object, and we have the action between the subject and the object, which is the experience of the threefold situation. As long as we remain in the dream state, those three things equally exist. We experience these three things as solid. We experience a real world, real phenomena, real body. Our own physical existence is there, the physical existence of the object is there, and the physical existence of the action is there. All three are simply existing in the dream state.

But if you look at your dream from the point of view of waking up, of the awakened state, it does not exist, right? If you look back at last night's dream, and if you look back at yesterday's experience of life, which is not really a dream (like yesterday's experience of this shrine room, yesterday's experience of our sitting, yesterday's experience of our talking), if you look back, they both equally do not exist. Your experience of yesterday is not solid; your dream of last night is not solid, as far as today is concerned. If you look back from the point of view of today, which is the awakened state, relatively speaking, then both of those equally do not exist, you know. There's no solid reason to say yesterday was more solid than last night's dream. There's no solid logical reason, so to speak, except that we cling to our dream-like experience of yesterday more than to our experience of last night's dream.

Therefore, in the Mahayana path, our whole experience of the body, our entire experience of the physical world, is simply a projection of our mind, a projection or a production of our karmic mind, and that experience is simply existing as long as we remain in this dream of samsara.

Two Aspects of the Dream

For that reason, in the Mahayana path, we talk about two aspects of dream. We talk about the "real dream," and we talk about the "exemplary dream." So what is the real dream? Here, the real dream is our daily life experience, and the exemplary dream is the dream that we have at night when we are sleeping. These are the examples that show us which dream is the real dream. The real dream is this experience of our life, this experience of our body, this experience of our physical presence and existence. The real dream is this experience of a solid self, and therefore, our physical existence is simply regarded as a dream in the Mahayana Path. Maintaining the discipline of seeing the dream-like nature of our body and bringing our mind back to the awareness of that experience is the mindfulness of body in the Mahayana path. The Mahayana discipline of mindfulness of body is strongly related with the notion of selflessness, strongly related with the notion of the non-existence of body, rather than relating with the existence of body. Consequently, there's a very big difference between the Theravadin meditation of mindfulness of body and the Mahayana meditation of mindfulness of body. There's a big difference in its approach to its meditation technique.

The Four-Fold Emptiness

Thus, mindfulness of body in the Mahayana sense refers to the original vipashyana meditation on selflessness of form, emptiness of form. The mindfulness of body here is the practice of the four-fold emptiness in the Heart Sutra, which says, "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Form is no other than emptiness, emptiness is no other than form...." That four-fold emptiness of form taught in the Heart Sutra by Lord Buddha is the Mahayana discipline of mindfulness of body. It is simply relating with the dream-like nature of our physical existence, the physical world of body, and relating with the notion of emptiness of body, the notion of selflessness of form. That practice is what we call the mindfulness of body in the Mahayana tradition.

Method of Practice: Analytical Meditation

How do we practice this? The Mahayana path is strongly connected to the practice of analytical meditation. There's no way we can really practice mindfulness of body, in the Mahayana sense, without understanding and practicing analytical meditation. Because of this, the development of the three stages of prajna becomes extremely important for the Mahayana path. In order to really practice mindfulness of body, we must begin with the Theravadin approach of simply being there in the physical sense, experiencing the presence of our body, first. This begins with sitting in the meditation posture. It begins with meditation or reflection that focuses on every aspect of feeling, every sensation of the body (a more detailed description of the sensation of feeling will come with the next stage). For example, when we sit in the meditation posture with our hands resting on our knees, there's a sense of touching. There's a sensation, a feeling. There's an experience of body here, right here, in our hands. There's an experience of body when we touch our meditation cushion. There's an experience of our whole body sitting upright in the Seven Point Posture, right? The Seven, or Eight Points of Posture, or the Five or Seven or Eight Points of Posture of the meditation technique. (laughs) Yes, there are different ways of counting, you know. Our legs are crossed, so there is the sensation of body there. Our backbone is straight and upright, and there is a strong sense of body there. Our shoulders are evenly stretched, and our hands are in the meditation mudra. Relating with that complete sense of being there is what we call mindfulness of body in the most basic sense.

That mindfulness of body does not happen if we are not participating fully in our sitting posture, with all of these Seven Points. Just being there, just simply breathing with your body, is the mindfulness of body. We don't have to acquire something new. Mindfulness of body is just simply being with your body, being aware and mindful. Going further into the experience of body is seeing the illusory nature, the dream-like nature of your body as a reflection of your mind. Then going into the depth of that experience, you are seeing it as the four-fold emptiness, and that is the complete practice of mindfulness of body in general. That is the practice of the first mindfulness. Practices such as sitting or walking meditation are situations where we can have strong experiences of this mindfulness. In contrast, we usually go mindless in our regular existence in the world, and we do not really experience our own presence on the physical level.

The Second Foundation: Mindfulness of Feeling

General Buddhist Approach: Fear and the Three Objects

The second stage of mindfulness is the mindfulness of feeling, which is simply relating to or working with our basic existence in the world as samsaric beings. In the general Buddhist approach, "feeling" refers to the feeling of working with our basic fear. That feeling is the fear of suffering, or the fear of fear. Actually, fear itself is not fear, but the fear of fear becomes the most troubling presence in the realm of our feeling. Therefore, the mindfulness of feeling relates with the three objects of our existence in the samsaric world, that is the pleasant object, the unpleasant object, and the neutral object. In relation to these three objects, we experience three different states or aspects of fear. Towards the pleasant object, we have a fear of attachment. We have a fear of desire. Towards the unpleasant object, we have a fear of hatred. We have a fear of aggression. We have a fear of anger. And towards the neutral object, we have a fear of neutral feeling.  We have a fear of becoming numb, of getting into a state of numbness, a state of stupidity, so to speak. We regularly experience these three aspects of feeling in just surviving our daily existence in the samsaric world.

In relation to these three feelings, Buddha taught that we have to relate to the three objects properly, by understanding them and working with their nature. He said that when we examine the nature of these three feelings and their three objects, we discover that their fundamental nature is suffering.  The pleasant object, the unpleasant object, and the neutral object all exist in the same nature of suffering, regardless of whether we're relating to attachment, aggression or a neutral state of mind, such as ignorance. Consequently, practicing mindfulness of suffering is the mindfulness of feeling. And relating with the three objects is the means of relating with the three levels of suffering that are so frequently talked about.

The Three Levels of Suffering

The mindfulness practice here is to contemplate or meditate on suffering and the three expressions of suffering, and to therefore experience their nature. So what is the nature of suffering here? Buddha said there is one word that can describe the meaning of suffering, and that is "fear." Fear is what suffering means. But what is this fear? It is the fear of losing something that is very pleasant, something that is very pleasurable, something that is very dear and loving, something to which you have become attached. It is the fear of losing that. Fear is also the fear of gaining something. That fear is the fear of gaining something that is unpleasant, something that you don't want. You always get what you don't want, and you don't get what you really want. That's what suffering here is. Fear is being expressed in these two manifestations, so to speak. The second manifestation of fear is gaining something that you don't want, that you don't expect. That begins with the flu and goes all the way up to whatever experiences we might go through. These three natures of suffering are connected with the nature of fear, basically, and therefore, we have three levels of suffering, which we call the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change, and the all pervasive suffering. These are the three sufferings.

All Pervasive Suffering

The nature of all pervasive suffering is this fundamental fear, which exists within every level of our feeling, whether we're feeling really high, really feeling happy, or whether we are really feeling down with suffering. All of our feelings are pervaded by this fundamental fear, and that's why it is called "all pervasive suffering." This is explained in the traditional Buddhist literature with various examples. First, it is similar to developing a fatal disease, which is not yet fully ripened. The disease is growing, but you haven't really seen it. You haven't really experienced it yet, but its presence is there all of the time. Every minute, every second, it's growing. It's developing. That kind of fundamental situation is known as all pervasive suffering, which grows into the suffering of change.

The Suffering of Change

The traditional example for the suffering of change is like having a very delicious cookie baked with poison. It's very delicious, but it's deadly poisonous. When you eat that c