TRAINING COURSES HIDE   . 

7 
PREPARED   
FOR THE HIDE OF TU

Standards meet with hermitages

What criteria does a person need to practice under the yoga maha-anuttara of Vajrasattva? The basic requirement is that you are a sincere, earnest, earnest seeker who wants to have permanent realization, peace, and you are not a hypocrite. And you should practice what the teacher tells you - there is no misunderstanding, misinterpretation by your own misconceptions.

The experience of the male and female meditators in the Tibetan tradition is like this: As a general standard, you must have received the teachings of the "hierarchical path to enlightenment" and you must understand fully aware, and have, are expressing that knowledge into practice. As for the special criterion, you must have been empowered to initiate the Vajrasattva tantra yoga maha-anuttara. If you already have those standards, you can implement this practice.

The knowledge and experience of the "hierarchical path to enlightenment" is very important, because its three main categories are letting go of bodhicitta and the correct understanding of emptiness. , are indispensable axioms to attain realizations of Vajrayana. Without these three axioms, the practice of yoga will not be effective. It is purely intellectual and shallow and will never enter into your mind. With these three axioms, and if you receive the necessary empowerment from a fine piety teacher, you are fully equipped to successfully complete the hermitage according to Heruka Vajrasattva, and thus you are fortunate to have Can do that.

Where to hide?

One who satisfies the criteria, then where to hide? Is there any place or not? Not. Being in the place will give you a sense of reality, not a place of great delusion, a delicate projection of mind delusion.

Sometimes we are not wise; We try to meditate in such a place, for example, in front of the fireplace and we complain that we can not meditate for a long time. If you put your finger on the fire, your finger will burn. You can not be annoyed to say, "My finger burns." The essence of fire burns. You choose the right mandala for the way you want to deploy ... just like choosing the right shoes for your feet.

Of course if you have a good mind, you can go anywhere and your well controlled vibrations will even affect others. But if you are weak, the uncontrollable vibrations of those around you will affect you, even the light of wisdom like a small candle will blow out, and you will end up like in a supermarket. the reincarnation of birth and death. In fact, when we are hiding we try to control our minds - but we are the "babies" when we go to the hermitage, we need a long time to practice. And, the "baby" mind requires ideal conditions.

In the experience of the lama where the ideal is a natural, beautiful, there is a quiet, peaceful atmosphere, easy to relax, you can see snow mountains, wild flowers, medicinal plants Natural aroma refreshing and cool water. You should avoid dirty areas, near roads, cars, people, or dangerous places, or where poisonous plants are growing. You should not hide where you are prone to nervous tension, or feel insecure.

The places where the saints live are the best, you have good vibrations that I am sure western friends, who are very sensitive, may feel. Such ideal places are often far away, solitary. In Tibet, we have previously studied the sutras in the monasteries and cultivated them to fit the above mentioned hermit standards, and then went to a solitary place to meditate. These places are very simple, not the "luxury" of the West when the millionaires are there to avoid contact with anyone. Westerners really know how to enjoy life, even in solitude! However, it is only due to the love of oneself. The ascetic hermitage is certainly the opposite.

You can also stay in the monastery or at a learning center. In the East, many meditators have been hiding near the cemetery. In the cemetery is usually quiet. You build a hut away from the cemetery so that no one will come, and you are hiding in deep insight into impermanence and death. The place you choose to hide is very important.

Not everyone needs to choose a suitable hermitage, but for us, hermitage is very important. Our mind is like the mind of a child: external conditions affect very easily. Actually, our hearts are worse than the heart of the baby. The child just grabs whatever he sees, and we do not just grab what we see but we also intellectualize it. Our wisdom is limited. Therefore, we have to put ourselves in the right environment. If our mind escapes confusion, we do not need to choose the environment, living conditions ...; We do not even need to follow Vajrasattva.

It's important to think carefully about where to find a place to stay. It's not just for you to go into hiding, but it's also where you are going to live. Decide what you want to learn and live where you are taught it. In Western cities you can choose where you live. If you want to spend time with your movie, you can live near the cinema. You have the freedom to do that. In other words, you control and control some of your kamma, the way your life is growing. You can not say that you are powerless to choose nothing because it all depends on karma. You create the karma. Your livelihood depends on your karma and you are capable of guiding it. For example, if you want to go hermitage, you will arrange the scenery, How are you going to live? That is the creation of karma. As a result, you have the opportunity to recite and develop wisdom.

In conclusion, you have to choose the place carefully. The best place is where, according to your understanding, you feel secure from the beginning to the end of the hermitage, and there is nothing that distracts your mind. Of course, in this life of samsara there is no place of real security, but to some extent, you should feel that the place you choose is the best in your capacity and that you will be hiding there. good effect.

When to start hermitages

In general, the type and purpose of the hermit session determines the starting time. Because Heruka Vajrasattva is a mother tantra, the practice of initiating this deity must begin on the tenth or twentieth day of the Tibetan calendar. These two days of the month are especially good days for tibetan yoga because of the many movements of the dakin, dakinis and the nervous system that you are most likely to receive the blessings. Since the daka-dakin power in those two days is very powerful, you can explore the power of eternal bliss in the chakras of your nervous system fully by starting to hide in one of the two. that day. And for that reason, it is best to start a retreat about the gods of the tantra in the evening after sunset.

Some general preparation

If you are hiding alone, you may need someone to help you market and cook food. Your helper must be completely sympathetic to you and to what you are doing, and you should have a good relationship with this person. If that person thinks you are a weirdo or you are doing bad things, then you will disperse your mind. Similarly, if you are hiding from a group, do not have a friend who is not in that group. It is very important that you create the best conditions according to your ability for hiding.

If you do not have helpers or are not in a group of people who are busy cooking or shopping, then you should try to get the most of the food you need during the hiding period. Do not save too much; You would rather limit yourself to the basics as much as possible. That's how we used to be in Tibet.

Before starting a retreat you should cut off all contact with the outside world and let go of all expectations. Even though you are hiding from ignorance, this inner break is a gradual process that starts with your separation from the outside world. So you have to give up your expectations of being friends, looking for letters, or expecting chocolates from your family, or something like that. In addition, before hiding you have to decide who the person you are going to meet face to face, and from the hermitage to where the meeting is far away. So, maybe you decide: "During this hermit session I just told my parents" or "During this hermitage I just go to the stream to wash." Such decisions are very beneficial to your mind. In Tibet it is called tsam war gyu, This means that you will only meet a few predetermined people, when needed, and no one else. If you meet more and more people from the outside world, the more information you collect from the cycle of birth and death, the more you will become mentally disturbed instead of wise.

Similarly, you have to stop writing and everything else before you start hiding, otherwise your hiding will not stop being disturbed by scattered thoughts like "I have to do This, "" Actually, I should do that ... "Make sure that while your body is in the hermitage, your mind does not roam the road back to your hometown.

Many Tibetan yogis leave the outside world for many years - even their whole lives - to ensure their own perfect hiding conditions. Some detained themselves in caves without doors, only receiving food through a small hole in the wall.

One of the most important preparations is your commitment to success. You should feel: "I am very fortunate to have this perfect human life, and in this life I have the opportunity to receive the realization of the eternal and blissful Heruka Vajrasattva. Therefore, during this retreat even if I experience the stories of samsara, whether good or bad, I will also control my mind. "So, if you have experience Joy or rebirth is birth, you do not react too much that you choose "middle way."

For example, one morning you wake up feeling a headache, you think this is not possible to make the course. A mild headache can not kill you! You are here for retreat. That means that you have to do the thing. You can meditate while having a headache. Or perhaps a beautiful gift, revealing the self, the gift from the parents suddenly appearing in front of you makes you miss the attention and you are too excited: "I have been waiting for this over a year Now, I have to use it right away. "You should not do that. Do not be excited. It is nothing. Please do yourself a favor.

What do you want to eat

When you perform a kriya tantra retreat, strict food abstinence. During the maha-anuttara tantra retreat you are a bit more liberated, but you should avoid foods called "black" - meat (especially chicken, pork, fish), eggs, garlic, onions and radishes. . Garlic is very heavy and disrupts your nervous system by causing the nerve to become "full" or causing too much movement in the nervous system. If not too pungent it is. The problem with turnips is that it produces a lot of "vapors" and makes you have gas disturbances. Fruits and vegetables are good and also called "white", as well as milk, yogurt, cheese, as they are considered pure. You can also use muesli, chocolates, and vegemite even if their color is not "white." I recommend keeping yourself as healthy as possible. Someone thinks: "Oh! I am practicing the Fa; I do not need anything. "That is wrong. When you enter the retreat to try to develop the Dharma, nourishing your body better is usually a meaningful undertaking - and you know how much you spend to care for your body. your death.

Sometimes the returner experiences a bliss and joy in meditation that they just want to continue meditating and do not want to stop eating. That is the will of your "baby mind". Do not believe in it. Eat as scheduled. While breakfast, lunch has nothing to say, dinner is still a matter should or should not. It is better not to eat dinner because the stomach will block the concentration. This depends on the individual. Each of us is different. People who eat less at each meal may have to eat at dinner. Anyone who can eat more at breakfast, lunch should have a light meal or no dinner. Be very flexible. Food is not all that important. Just keep your body healthy.

Sometimes people hold eight Mahayana precepts during retreat. (6) During the days of the precepts, you can not eat breakfast and eat dinner. You can choose whether to keep the gender all day or not, which is up to you. In my opinion, the best days to keep the gender are the full moon and the moon begins. Keeping the precepts will give you great power, and is a way to show purification by action.

Clean up the hermitage

Because you are about to clean yourself up, you must also clean it out. Your retreat must be very clean, and neatly organized. Do not hang or throw things around. The chaotic chaos of furniture just upset your mind. You should not distract your mind from the things that are attached to the hiding place. Do not put animals, including dogs, in it. After you clean the room you can sprinkle saffron, sanda-lwood, rose water, or any perfume around the room so that it smells good and is no longer available. no smell at all. Rather than spray your perfume on your friend, floss around the room so that when you step in, you feel a blissful experience. You should also get the nectar from the "offerings inside, "Scattered around the room. Do so before you start your retreat and early in the morning.

Meditation seat

The next is to prepare a meditation seat. It must be as favorable as possible to the extent that you feel that you can sit on it for twenty-four hours without interruption, only experiencing bliss. The seat should not be flat, you must have a small pillow under the butt so that the butt should be higher than the knee (when sitting). This helps to keep your back straight and makes you look like a needle in the leg (numbness). No need for a rugged, unobstructed seat, no padding to show the drop.

Just under the seat should draw swastikas, paint on the floor with chalk or rice, or draw on the paper. Swastika is the sign of the ancient Indians, symbol of prosperity. It is of Sanskrit origin "svasti," meaning prosperity. It also signifies that the seat can not be destroyed, like the diamond that the Buddha sat on the Bodhgaya when he was enlightened. It is not easy to reach enlightenment. You can not get enlightenment anywhere. Buddhas in this good fortune attain enlightenment in Bodhgaya. Because we are in retreat to achieve enlightenment, we must also have a firm seat like diamonds, not abnormal seats, here and now. If we are in the boat you will be ebbed up with waves. Your meditation seat can not be the same. Since we can not really place diamonds under the seat, we must use the sign with this chalk. The combination of a seat can not be ruined with a clear, clean, undistorted attitude, which makes the retreat valuable.

You also put two grass under the seat. One is kusha, the Indians used as brooms. Need to put the root of the grass under the center of the swastika, the top of the turn out. In Bodhgaya, the Buddha sat on a pad of kusha grass. The use of the same kusha to remind us of the Buddha's meditation experience, especially he decided to sit on the grass mattress until he attained enlightenment despite all obstacles. which he had to overcome. Kusha grass is shaped like many small, slender branches are parallel, very regular, close together toward one side. It symbolizes intense concentration on a point and clear vision - all your energy is flowing in one direction.

Another grass is Tibetan tsa dur-wa. It's like kikuyu. The arrangement of this type of grass is similar to the head, branching towards the center of the swastika. Look for this grass that has many eyes. This grass represents the good of long life.

Once you have settled your seat, you can not for any reason change the seat. Westerners always want to shake the butt of a mattress or put it out in the sun, but in the hermitage you can not do that. You will not be displaced once the hermitage begins. You have to control, control your "schizophrenia".

Staying in the group retreat, there should be a gap between the seats of the two successive. Do not sit together like in puja ceremony in Tibet. I remember having a retreatant retreat in trouble because he had chosen a seat on a damp place in the floor and a mattress that was moldy and rotten. So you have to be careful at the start, should know the appropriate place to put the mattress to sit.

At home, too, you should have a separate meditation seat, better not to stay in the bedroom because it tends to have very strong samsara vibrations. If you set up an altar in a private room, or in a certain place in the house for meditation, then that would be good for you. The path of Dharma and path of birth and death are completely different, these two paths can not go together unless you get great realization of bodhicitta.

In front of you there should be a small table to place the diamond, bell, damaru, cup "kapala" and if need a sadhana text. Kapala contains water that has been offered inside, which is usually black tea with a special tablet blessed with offerings inside, dissolved in tea water. However, if you hide in groups, you do not need everyone to have these. Only one or two people in the group have these. If you do not have real diamonds and real bells then you draw those.

Stringing

You should have a special bead necklace that you use only in retreats and not be seen by others. Some retreats require you to use beads made of bone or other special material. Piercing should be used with respect, not worn around the wrist or neck. Once the retreat begins, you can not bring the bead out of the room, leaving you on the table. You do not have to put a chain into the bathroom, toilet. Before beginning the retreat, be sure to have a venerable lama, and every morning before the beginning of your first meditation, be vigilant with OM RUTSIRA MANI PRAWA TAYA HUM. You read it seven times and blow it into the string.

Placement of the altar

After you have cleared the room, arrange the altar. Leave the statue of Heruka Vajrasattva on the altar, if it is a picture, hang it on the wall. You should not place any other statue on the altar. During the retreat, Heruka Vajrasattva is the most important divinity - the manifestation of your cosmic reality - and you do not need any other image.

Ideally, you should use three types of tormas. (7) In Tibet we used barley flour to make tsampa, but in the West you can use chocolates, sweets, biscuits, or other foods.

The donut (torma) is your offering to Heruka Vajrasattva. You chant it with Heruka Vajrasattva's super-bright wisdom through the Vajrayattana yoga methods and leave it on the altar until the end of the retreat. (8) When we make tsampa Usually add a little wine, the nature of the wine has the capacity to spread strong and flourish, the purpose is to symbolize the proliferation of the kundalini capacity of the meditator through the yoga method. (9) Torma This is the middle of the table, on top. The second torma (just below the first one) is the offering of Heruka's special anger. It is his practice to silence all unmanaged power. Once you put the cake on the altar, do not take it until you finish the retreat. (10)

The third cake, regardless of your retreat, has local spirits, shi-dak, who occupy and govern the area so that they do not resist entering you. and let them not harm you, you should offer them. You do not necessarily have to do Tibetan torma, can use the rice or the food mentioned above. You place the cake - the third torma - this is to the right of the second cake. The cake is also left on the altar during the retreat. (11) Think of the offerings as everything that the bewitches need and will enjoy and will feel that you It is also offering your body and speech to these beings, as you are dedicating yourself to the benefit of all living beings.

While you make offerings of torma, think like this: "Please, let me be done here, what you have to do is to purify your body and mind and gain wisdom and compassion. for the benefit of all beings. I'm not trying to snatch this place out of your hands, I only use this place for a short time. Therefore, please do not be annoyed or angry, angry, or afraid. Please for your compassion, help me and do not interfere with me. Please accept this donation as well as whatever you need. "Think of the gods offering offerings, they are very happy and pleased and allow you to use this place. safe way. In the Hinayana sutras, the Buddha explained that, before the construction of a monastery, the local gods, the gods, the gods, and the other gods should be allowed. If we do not offer offerings, the gods can be angry and harm us spiritually and physically. Even if the gods can not harm us in the day time, they can also cause us to have nightmares or harass us in other ways at night.

The offerings seem to be cups, candles, butterflies, or other lit offerings, flowers, and food placed on the altar. Replace the water and light incense before the meditation. The light you offer symbolizes the inner light of the wisdom you are trying to develop, the incense that will symbolize your pure virtue.

Why do you offer so much water? Of course not because Heruka is always thirsty. There is no such thing as a real deity that eats these offerings. The problem is at our stingy stinginess. We often let go, but with this attachment, and this "hidden" temperament, in some way, is in full harmony with our offering. So when you give water, you naturally do not stick to anything and thanks to the water offerings, you will learn to give away without regret or desire. Therefore, offering with water is very beneficial; You do not cost anything, you will get great benefit by such a small job. In addition, the water has precious qualities, and it contains the power of all the rare jewels in it. (12) Please pray the water with the mantra OM AH HUM, manifestation of the body, speech, mind of Vajrasattva. Therefore, although you are putting the cup of water on the altar, in fact, thanks to the transformation of the prayer you are offering the blissful bliss of wisdom and compassion.

As I mentioned before, giving gifts is very beneficial if done as often as possible, as often as possible. When the mind is lazy, you think, "The real offering is in the heart, so I do not have to do ritual offerings to the altar." Do not be lazy. You offer much better gifts, unless you are completely in samadhi - I can say so. Only when often in the new dynasty do not make frequent offerings. Taking time to immerse yourself in one-pointed focus can be more important. But when you have the time to do other things without the time to prepare for a decent altar, it tells how wrong your values ​​are.

Again, a small portion of your food and drink should be venerated and offered before you use it. Offer some morning tea in a small cup, a portion of lunch in a fork. This is very useful to reduce attachment, selfishness and to develop generosity.

At the end of the day, you take the food offered, take it off the altar, and you will eat it the next day. You can offer anything other than what I said. And, by your own heart, you transform the offerings into immeasurable offerings, the best of all kinds such as nectar, flowers, incense, lights, perfumes, food, sounds and things. And again, with all these offerings, everything in the universe is transformed into the ultimate blessing as we do when we offer the mandala.

All these things are not necessarily the most important thing you can do but they are very helpful in your spiritual development.

8  
THANKS

Daily schedule

In general, it is best to begin retreat with most of the short meditation sessions that last one hour. Experience as such because if you do short meditation, you will do well. If during the meditation periods you stay awake and your concentration is intense, it is better than meditation in which you are tired and sleepy. We have been asleep in countless lives, now is the time to wake up!

It is said that the time of meditations is shaped like a grain of rice, narrow at the beginning and the end, but wide at the middle. As the retreat is taking place and your meditation is at a high level, you then increase the length of each meditation session. Near the end of the retreat, when you are about to return to the old world, you shorten the time of meditation. If you do not shorten, if you maintain a long meditation period, with a strong concentration, there is the danger that you may experience discomfort or illness from the everyday world when you leave the retreat home. . Vibration will be so different from what you have experienced through the shelter.

Short meditations will give you plenty of energy. You do not have to stop meditating when the time is up. But you should stop. Because, if you just stop concentrating when you are tired, you are not excited about the next meditation. You can see when the cushion is sitting. And that's not good. Or as I said before, sometimes you are so blissful and full of energy that you just want to keep meditating all day. But if you do, surely the next day you have the opposite feeling, you do not want to meditate at all. Increasing the amount of time for each meditation session will keep you awake at the end of the meditation period and keep the desire for the next meditation. Know how to handle your "child mind" wisely.

A Tibetan Lama advised to have eighteen meditations each day! We should probably start with eight. Get up early when you finish your first meditation session before dawn. Drink tea, coffee breaks and do the second meditation before breakfast. From breakfast to lunch, you arrange two more meditation sessions, the third and fourth intervals, fifteen minutes apart. After lunch you can rest, work, study the lam-rim teachings or discuss Heruka Varasattva or your own work. Then you do two meditation sessions fifteen minutes apart, two before tea time. After the afternoon tea, you perform the seventh meditation, then eat dinner and then perform the last meditation of the day. The best time to organize a group discussion is after lunch until the fifth meditation. Negotiations can not be held after the eighth or the eighth and the talk time. Because it's a bad time because there are scattered ideas. Of course, what is said here is just general guidelines, general. As the meditations last longer, the number of meditations of the day will be less.

In the middle of the retreat, you can have only four times a day, the first before dawn, the second between breakfast and lunch, the third between lunch and dinner and the last time after dinner. But do not go into meditation at dawn, noon, sunset and midnight. At that time, changes in the external environment will affect your nervous system, making you prone to distraction. You must avoid meditation at those times.

Tibetan monks usually get up at two or three o'clock in the morning while they are in hiding, but in hot weather it is very difficult to wake up early and you are not comfortable getting up early enough. If you try to wake up very early, you are likely to get tired and that will ruin your meditation. You should keep good health and sleep in bed, not in the couch meditation! No matter what job you should do well.

To conclude, the best way is to unintentionally urinate yourself. You can not imitate Milarepa - and do not try to do so. Be relaxed, relax! Make sure the hermit is comfortable and worth it.

Just before meditation

Wash before you meditate and clean your body. If you can not wash your whole body, you must wash your face, neck, arms, armpits and feet at least. This helps your mind from falling out and falling asleep during meditation. When cleaned, you will be alert, feel good, and be able to concentrate on meditation with clear mind.

In time meditation: You must enter the meditation room five minutes before the start time, especially when you have to arrange the altar. Do not rush into the meditation room, panting and sweating because of failure, the meditation is about to begin. Go slowly, lightly, bow to the three bowed and sit down gently. Your mind is calm and calm. You think, "On this cushion, I will purify myself completely to receive the state of enlightenment of the Vajrasattva for the benefit of sentient beings." Then, with that sanity, Purify your nervous system with the offerings in your prayers. Dip your fingers on the ring of your left hand into the object inside your kalapa, touching the tip of your tongue and feeling the energy that is being fed through the nervous system.

Do not disturb others: Do not talk to people who are going to meditate in the room, or harass them in other ways. The meditation room should be kept quiet during retreat. If you have to do something in the room such as cleaning the room, arranging the altar, do it in silence, do not disturb others.

Arrange the altar: As I said before, change to offer a new offering every time you start meditation. I suggest if in a retreat group you offer five candles or butter lamps for each meditation session. Offer your sincere, pure thought, you think: "I offer this offering, asking for the eternal, eternal bliss of Heruka Vajrasattva to flourish in me so that I can lead. All sentient beings to discover this realization in their minds. "

Start meditation

Prior to the meditation I noted that it was necessary to remain silent. And as soon as meditation begins, absolutely no talking. You begin by taking refuge in bodhicitta and sadhana, but as I have emphasized before, refuge and bodhicitta are the states of transcendent mind from speech; Be sure to get the state of mind you enter into one with refuge and bodhicitta. When the sentence ends, do not do it right away, keep a moment in meditation on refuge and bodhicitta. If you combine this practice with your mind at the beginning of your meditation, the power of that combination will be present throughout the meditation, spreading throughout your practice and so forth. will make the practice more beneficial.

Generally about meditation

I emphasized the importance of one-pointed meditation. This meditation is very important during the recitation period. The emphasis is not excessive. For a long time, our minds have been overwhelmed by superstitions, delusions, and we create karma according to their dominance. So the most important thing is, at least during retreat, we do not allow those delusions, those thoughts arise even for a moment, otherwise we will not achieve realization that they we seek. Therefore, be vigilant to ensure that, during the retreat, these delusions of delusion arise in your mind. This is not only important in meditation but also vital in the recitation.

You also avoid other distractions such as talking, eating, standing up, going to the toilet or anything else. You should go to the bathroom before entering meditation.

Phadampa Sanggye, a famous yogi, said that you have to pay close attention to the five things if you want to achieve perfect retreat. And if you do not pay attention to these five things, your retreat will be almost futile.

The first thing is the force of the body. During meditation you have to maintain a constant visualization of the deity. If you lose that visualization, if you let the projection of birth and death of your delusions arise, "I am like this; I am hungry and thirsty. "Then you lost the power of the body. The second is the force of the mouth. If you say during the meditation session, you directly interrupt the force of the speech. Next is the force of the mind. You lose it as soon as one-pointed concentration is broken. The fourth is the force of the signal. During the retreat there are signs that appear in your mind. If you come in contact with people who are not in retreat, the signal strength will be lost. Finally, the force of power: There will be bad consequences if you let people outside your hiding place visualize your deity or see how to chant on your food. So do not let them see things.

We also mention the hermitage of body, speech, and mind. Hiding the body means you cut off the connection with illusion projections of your body. And, during the retreat you will not lose the strength of your body. For example, when you meditate on a woman you do not want to ejaculate.

Hiding means that you avoid any of the usual chatter as it will lead to a disturbance in your mind. You have to maintain the power of the passage that you will be explained when we discuss the recitation. You are not allowed to spit.

Hiding the mind means that you cut off all superstitions - it is the delusion of karma. You hold the power of the mind by not letting the thoughts of superstition, delusion, arise in the mind.

Sadhana

This book is accompanied by sadhana Heruka Vajrasattva (see Appendix 1) that I edited for the retreat. You can read in English or Tibetan. If you read in Tibetan, make sure the translation is correct so that you can understand the meaning clearly. You can read in English, but somehow, Tibetan has a good feeling, and a kind of blessing power combined in it.

Uncle uncle

The Heruka Vajrasattva spell is tremendous. Reading only once has shaken the evil of you to the root. But to be effective, you have to read the mantra for clarity: reading once with perfect pronunciation is more than a hundredfold. I want to say that the perfect sound means that each sound must be pronounced in each syllable distinctly, in clear, clear, mellow, with a rhythm and pitch equal. Do not read the wrong pronunciation, irregular with some of the rapid clusters, and some of the clusters slow down, not high in this tone and then low in the other. Pay attention to this. When you sing, you read as whispers, enough to hear yourself hear the sound but your neighbor sitting next to not hear. Do not worry about your neighbors.

If you focus appropriately - in one-pointed concentration and clear visualization, it truly becomes transcendent and transforms you into a blessed spiritual body that spreads throughout the body, transforming it Your speech is the blessed word of bliss. If, on the contrary, your mind is occupied by unwholesome energy, you will not gain much energy during the retreat and everything is the same as in life. So you have to know, besides the unclear chanting, the factors that prevent the mantra from becoming transcendent.

Do not read too loudly, or read too small, too fast, or too slow. You have to be in a state of alertness, and make sure that the total number of notes you read is properly read, and there are some penalties you have to bear when there are some mistakes that interrupt the meditation. So if you leave the meditation room, or even just stand up from the couch or talk in the middle of the time, you can not calculate the mantra of that meditation. Ideally, once meditation begins you can not move your legs at all. If you fall asleep, fallen into chains, distracted, frustrated, or know your chanting wrong, then you can not count any mantras you have chanted in the chain. You must return to the first bean and recite it. Losing focus is one of the worst mistakes.

If you get rid of the penalty, you have to go back to seven beads and start reading from there. Similarly, you will also be penalized for five coughs if you cough, sneeze, cough for neck, snort, hiccup, belch ... while chanting. Mentality blesses the words and breath for you and you should not waste precious energy. This means that you should not waste your energies like blowing off butterfly lights, blowing fire, whistling ... during hermitages.

There are two ways to decide when to hide: either by time or by the number of mantras. The Vajrasattva hiding time is usually three months or the amount of time for you to keep a hundred thousand notes. In fact, you have to add up to ten percent of the mantras you made yourself in the retreat to make up for the wrong verse. Hence, one usually recites one hundred and ten thousand mantras. (14) It usually takes three months.

An issue that often happens when you commit yourself to chanting a certain number of mantras is that you are obsessed with numbers and this number makes you insecure when hiding. It is better to commit to reading less, but to be more serious than to recite more but carelessly, read enough. And you count on the total number of mantras only, and the mantras are read during the meditation period, not the mantras read outside the meditation period.

I remember once in a retreat group with up to a hundred in our refugee camp in West Bengal. We commit to keep reading a certain number of mantras and, once each increase has completed the number of mantras, the retreat is completed. There was a monk who had many difficulties while pronouncing mantras, so when we finished the volume, he still had a large number of unread verses. He was so confused, he did not want anyone to see him so he sat reading his uncle and covered his face with a veil. We had to stay there for another five days waiting for him to finish reading. I suppose he should not react like this. The projection of the number of mantras is not the focus. You can do another kind of meditation also. It is important that you take advantage of the hiding situation to do what is right for your needs. (15)

Complete the meditation

At the end of sadhana, just before the divination, Heruka Vajrasattva melts into you and you become one with him. At this point, you should undertake a short, glimpse of the lam-rim as the teachings of Lama Tsong Khapa: Three Principles of the Path, Meaning of the Lamb the stages of the path, or the foundation of all the wonders, you find these teachings in the book of Geshe Wangyel called the door of liberation. In the hermit group the group leader reads the meditation and each meditates on it. Then you dedicate merit. The dedication in each final day of meditation must be particularly intense. Then sit back and sit on the cushion for a few more minutes, think of your union with body, speech,

9  
MORE RECOMMENDATIONS   
ABOUT HIDE HIDE

Between meditation sessions

For serious hermits, the short break between authentic meditation is as important as the time in meditation. Actually, break time should be considered a meditation time. You put a lot of effort into creating a nice surrounding in the meditation room and you develop your mind during meditation; Make sure that during breaks between two meditations you do not destroy everything you have. While meditation you have a very good concentration of mind and you feel blissful, but when you stand up you become unconscious and return to the kind of unconscious mind as it usually does, like having a walker By sandy beaches, he tries to cover his feet while walking, while simultaneously creating other footprints along the way. Therefore,

During meditation, while you are very attentive to the deity, thoughts of the world can not be penetrated, so during your meditation you are free of these secular thoughts. You should maintain that concentration after meditation. In this way you can eliminate the whole cycle of samsara. The old habits are still there waiting for the opportunity to emerge, so you have to pay attention not to give up.

The break should last at least fifteen minutes so that you have the opportunity to exercise, walk, stretch, relax your back. However, do not relax calm awareness, try to keep your mind stable and flat to the extent that you achieve in meditation. Maintaining this is relatively easy during short breaks, but it will be difficult during long breaks - like lunch time and night time. So you have to take advantage of the short breaks to practice this kind of "meditation break".

As I said before, at the end of meditation, Heruka Vajrasattva vanished into you, you become "one" with him, and before you stand up, leave the room, you should sit for a moment to meditate On this blissful union, your body of speech forms one with the divine body of Heruka Vajrasattva. You should have a clear form of yourself as the deity and spiritual pride that is Vajrasattva itself. This is the concentration that you have to maintain between the two meditations. You never think, "I am so, so, here and there" as your "me" usually has the habit of projecting. As soon as you start to think so, the trouble begins. If you can not maintain the thought: "I am Heruka Vajrasattva" then at least you should think:

During the retreat you should be very fortunate to have the opportunity to practice this supreme yoga tantric practice and transform the six transcendental pagans into reality for the sake of all living beings. Please be aware that this is the first time in your life you are doing a really meaningful job. If you analyze your life honestly, you will find that most of life's time has passed in the effort to satisfy your illusory, false mind with the illusory objects of the senses. Your dualistic delights never let you take a moment of space to practice your wisdom.

From waking up in the morning, the desire to enjoy a cup of coffee, or many other things to satisfy the sensory tastes, until bedtime, as well as lust for sex, so throughout the day. You have done all the things that motivation is greed clinging. Lack of awareness, you enjoy the small pleasures that you find, and you believe that the illusory objects of your dualistic mind as well as the projections of your false consciousness are real. There is no moment you let your wisdom work. Yes, that's it, your life is rolling until it ends in misery.

Now, you have the good fortune to do something for the rest of your life, which is the command that you do not waste any more time. Therefore, you must remain awake throughout the day and night, not just during meditation. If you think that time in meditation is French and the time you eat is when you are in the cycle of birth, then you misunderstand. What makes vajrayana yoga so intense is that it makes one not to spend time in samsara. There is no way for a Vajrayana practitioner to practice the dharma, but to say, "I am practicing the Fa," another time said, "Oh! My actions belong to samsara. "The Vajrayana has all the necessary methods to transform any small kamma into the wisdom of the Dharma.

If you believe that meditation is the way to eat, drink, go shopping ... is the cycle of birth and death, then you will never reach liberation. The amount of time you spend meditating - what you believe is the Dharma - the way to liberation - will be too little compared to the rest of the day. But if you are skilled in applying wisdom and means, everything you do, including those you consider mundane, can also be the path to enlightenment. Therefore, your whole life becomes tantric yoga and there will be no place for birth and death. And once you have ceased to be mindful of life, how can you not quickly achieve complete liberation?

In polytheism, wishing is considered bad. About Vinaya: "You can not do this, you can not touch that." Sometimes you feel that you can not get even one drop of water. The vigorous methods of yoga Vajrayana inherit the desire to be one of the resources to attain enlightenment quickly. You transform whatever sensuality you have into the experience of the blissful wisdom of the deity. You should not feel guilty because you are enjoying the things you have or because others do not. That does not help anyone.

Enjoy what you do with pleasure. When you eat or drink, please eat food or drink with OM AH HUM, thereby transforming your food and drink into the nature of the body, speech, and spirit of Heruka Vajrasattva and offering it. It comes to yourself that you have been assimilated as a deity. Feel the blissful power of the well-intentioned substances that spread throughout your nervous system. If you do this with wisdom, it can quickly help bring about the realization of transcendental bliss. But if you eat, drink only with desire and show experience in the ordinary way, then you have only a very tied experience, very birth. All that depends on your mind. When you go to bed, do not let your own projection of the "I" rise, But let's sleep with a feeling of great harmony with Heruka Vajrasattva. When you wash your face, visualize yourself as Vajrasattva and think: "The divine body of Heruka Vajrasattva has absolutely no defilements at all, but I am washing to purify my duality."

Your daily vision of yourself is projected by your "me". Instead, between the meditations you must recognize yourself as the manifestation of Heruka Vajrasattva - the blessed supernatural wisdom. So, whatever you see is the sight of this non-duality and in the non-duality. In this non-dual world, the whole world is acting. You feel like it's like a show on TV. The world no longer looks as concrete as usual and therefore can not bother you anymore. It's like a dream, an illusion. Therefore, you should affirm that whatever appears before your senses is not real, as opposed to what you previously believed.

General retreat

You may have thought that hiding was too easy. Right now, I'm sure you can see that if done properly, hiding is not easy. However, the desecration deserves to be taken seriously. The more you practice seriously, the better. Hiding is the only way to truly transform your mind, because while in retreat you are putting the teachings into action rather than simply gathering more information. The solution to your problem will appear along with this transformation. Do yourself a meditation according to Heruka Vajrasattva instead of just like you are here, look sadhana in the book over there. When there is this type of separation, there is the risk that your mind will start thinking, "You are a Westerner, This is Tibetan ... why are you doing this? "All kinds of doubts will arise. But when you hide and achieve the results, there is no doubt.

Therefore, you should make your hermeneutics as serious as possible and keep your mind constantly in the realm of transcendental progress. Sitting in a cave where the mind wanders home can not be called a hermitage. Your body, speech, and mind should focus on the same thing. In the ordinary life most of the time your mind is distracted and you can not be in a state of mindfulness while doing worldly things. When hiding, you have to learn how to combine these two things - earthly and sublime.

Our minds are somewhat crazy and "rebellious," so we need to deal with our mind consistently. But the rigorous training of the retreat is completely different from the superficial control that often coerce people in the West into mental confusion. You can not bring about a radical change in the mind of the person through institutionalization or the use of shock, drug therapy or the spread of education. Instead, it must be done voluntarily, honestly, and skillfully. Sometimes practitioners have not been clever. They imagine that they are great ascetics meditators, and they want to become famous like that. They change their appearance and force themselves until their nervous system explodes. You can not change your mind by simply changing the color of your shirt, dye your clothes. Practice yourself wisely.

So if you want the hermit to succeed you should have a proper attitude about the hermitage. You should not feel it as a kind of punishment in prison where you are locked up for some time, can not go to the cinema, visit friends, chat freely ... In contrast, you should Feel like enjoying yourself, being fortunate that you finally have the opportunity to do good deeds for yourself and for others, a rare opportunity that you have never been able to experience in the past. I will not get it again. But do not expect things like "Oh! Unbelievable ! Heruka Vajrasattva is about to appear in front of me and says, 'My son ...!' "This wish is unrealistic and will become an obstacle to your meditation. You should relax, but have a strong determination that: "On this cushion I am going to implement the Heruka Vajrasattva yoga practice. I will not stop this hermitage until I receive the signal of success. "

In order for you to have the best chance of achieving results, you must reduce the concentration of the mind to the smallest level. You have to create a situation around you to adapt what you need. When doing business you set up your office in a certain way. Now your job is to be a hermit and you have to act accordingly. Meditation should be convenient, clean, orderly. Similarly, the bedroom you sleep should not hang pictures or place furniture that can provoke your evil deeds. You should avoid talking to outsiders as little as possible. The information they bring and their vibrations only interfere with your concentration. It's best not to talk about whether it's a co-worker with you until lunch - and if you talk about talking about France only, Should not talk about past experience, future plans or gossip. If you feel too stressed and need to talk to relax - such as the kind of healing - that might be acceptable; But you have to be careful not to waste your energy and others.

You should not write or receive mail. Even if your best friend unexpectedly does not anticipate, naturally, you should not see them; Remember that before you start hermitages you have to decide in advance who you will meet and who will not meet, keeping in touch with outsiders to the minimum. If there is something urgent or important to say, you can write a small piece of paper sent out. If there is a beautiful gift you should not receive it until the hermit session ends. You have to be very careful about the readings during the hermitage, and avoid reading all the daily publications such as newspapers, magazines, novels, technical books, poetry, astronomy, etc.

Even Buddhist scriptures should be avoided during hermitages. The books of the doctrine are too dry and pure and may make you more confused, superstitious instead of helping you to strengthen your spiritual practice as the purpose of the retreat is aimed. But you can read the books on "The Noble Path to liberation - lam-rim", or the yoga books; However, these books should not be read much. Please read only the help books for you. It will also be beneficial for you to do "meditation" on the lam-rim during the break because that will lead your energy to the right path. Sometimes while in hermeneutics you can turn to the extremes, "The rational way - lam-rim" will bring your mind back to the heart.

There are many other binding rules that have been found helpful to you in preserving the capacity of the retreat. Do not bring anything out in the retreat room or take it out of the room, especially string instruments and ritual instruments such as bells, pens, and outsiders as well as animals should not enter the hermitage. Do not let anyone sleep in your bed or sit on your cushion. You do not have to wash it, put the cushion in it, you just dust off it. You should not touch the weapon such as a gun or a bomb, nor put anything in your mouth such as a knife, arrow, etc. You should not use food items such as knives, spoons, spoons, nor let anyone use it. And if you fight with other people in the hermit group will be the worst; That means that you really break the hermit.

There are also many things you can do while hiding. If you are in the group, "Karma yoga" is good. Everybody has a small job to do to help the French center or serve the people in the group. However, all these assignments must be planned before initiating the retreat, and this assignment must be made known to the public in order not to have too much discussion before the retreat. Who will arrange cleaning the altar, clean the room before each meditation meditation. Also help in cooking and serving food. Some people like to take care of the garden. Other people may translate tapes or books of teachings. These things are also good to help you balance your mind, but in doing so, you must maintain attention to what I have described.

During non-meditation you can do other things: everyday work, or prostration ... You can also take care of Vajrasattva, but remember not to count the total number of mantras during the retreat.

One of the most important things you can do to ensure the success of your retreat is to stay healthy. Some consider hiding as much as they imagine austerity as unfavorable living conditions, inadequate health, poor food, hunger and thirst, sleeplessness, dressed up ragged ... This is completely wrong. First of all, this is not a ascetic practice. Second, as I said before, tibetan yoga has the means to transform all the comforts, your sensual pleasures into a quick path to enlightenment. As long as you know how to use it wisely, you can have what you like. You should be in a clean, clean room, have a nice, bright room, a comfortable cushion or comfortable chair, a good place to sleep and plenty of good food.

Treat yourself with respect - after all you are Heruka Vajrasattva! Please provide yourself with proper clothing and complementary food. This does not mean you have to eat much. If you eat too much you will not be able to meditate. The food you eat should be clean, healthy. Do not share food with people who are infected, such as tuberculosis. And as I said before, avoid "black" foods such as meat, eggs, onions, garlic, turnips, especially when you are hiding from the tierra of the four tantras. On the other hand, there are not many restrictions on food. Some people like to eat vegetarian food during the hermit period. During the long hermitage, you should be vegetarian with moderate level.

If you do not eat well then there is the risk that your nervous system and vibrancy of your body will be disturbed. A vigorous hermeneutic self tends to create disturbances, and if bad eating increases the risk. Such disturbances often manifest as nervous breakdowns, such as "emptying out," or physical pain, especially in the heart chakra. Sometimes you experience pain in the heart because your visualization of nectar flows from the heart of Vajrasattva into your central channel, that visualization is too specific. You are concentrating on your heart and you think that something specific is touching your heart. This is a fundamental error, which is more likely to occur and increase if you do not care for your health.

Be kind to yourself. When you do a good meditation, pat your back and congratulate yourself. Reward yourself a delicious meal. If you do a bad meditation, lightly yell at yourself and promise to do better. Make sure you get enough sleep. If you sleep well at night and concentrate intensely in meditation then it is better to drown in meditation.

If you encounter many obstacles during the retreat, you can do a puja of Mahakala or special meditation on emptiness, it is really the best protection. You should be aware that bad signals, nightmares are just illusions and so you should not take these things seriously. Nevertheless, you should record those signs, dreams in a notebook, write down everything that has gone through good or bad. This book is very beneficial not only to yourself - to remember what you experience yourself - but also to others when they plan to hide.

If you practice conscientious hiding, strictly following the conditions set forth above, you can ensure that you will receive the signs of enlightenment. The different parts of sadhana have been specially arranged to guide your mind in a sequential way so that when you reach the time of recitation it will be naturally focused. You can not jump straight into concentrated meditation, you have to build up gradually to that place. If you do this properly, following all the training conditions described, there are signals - if not in the daytime, in your dream at night. You should not expect those signals! As I said before, You just have to be comfortable in the determination that there will be a moment when you extract the essence of this precious human life, and you feel very lucky to be doing something that is not for pleasure. birth and death Then do your best but do not push yourself. And when the signals come to you do not cling, do not oscillate, self-restraint, do not grab them by emotion. Do not tell anyone, do not tell anyone about your realizations. Be simple, humble, lower yourself to the ground and be realistic. In this way, life will be much easier. Do not tell anyone, do not tell anyone about your realizations. Be simple, humble, lower yourself to the ground and be realistic. In this way, life will be much easier. Do not tell anyone, do not tell anyone about your realizations. Be simple, humble, lower yourself to the ground and be realistic. In this way, life will be much easier.

Hiding in groups

I observed that many Westerners cultivate through the various stages of spiritual enlightenment, and I find that when they cultivate in groups they are more likely to succeed than when they are alone. This discovery is not true for all, but certainly for the majority. Especially when they are new practitioners and when the hiding time is long, for example three months, the practice of group retreat is better. When you are hiding alone, it is easy to do otherwise. This day you can meditate very well so you try to meditate all day without meditation. But the next day you collapse and can not meditate. In the morning, you feel tired so put the first session to sleep again. Either your legs or head hurt so you free yourself from meditating. These things will not happen if you are in a group,

In the group of beneficiaries of the sharing of energy: you help each other. If you are frustrated, consult your friends and their sympathetic comments to get you excited. When anyone is experiencing difficulties you have encountered and have experienced pass, you can help explain what they should do. We are not completely intoxicated and can be better off to help others. Therefore, I recommend hiding in groups until you have enough experience to retreat alone.

Conclude

If you have the chance - or arrange a time for hermitage, you are really lucky. There is little to gain in retreat. With the vigorous renunciation of the cycle of birth and death (samsara) you realize that you have been everywhere, doing all kinds of things, and doing the same things over and over again is very unhelpful. Surely not take me anywhere. That perception prevents your mind from wandering. If you are dreaming about going back to the old town or a place you have been dreaming of, you can say to yourself, "I know what I would do if I returned to that place. I've done that all my life. The bottom line is, there is nothing new there. Why are you passionately chasing the journey of samsara and the uncontrolled samsara?

So by recognizing the nature of cyclic existence and by having the earnest determination to cut off the whole root of the cycle of birth and death, you will no longer expect the pleasures of the world to come to an end. space. Even if your best friend comes up and says, "Come on, let's go out and enjoy!" You could say, "Sorry. I have all that already. "

You do not need to be agitated and then force yourself in a small hut and lock the door. Better, you should really let go of the cycle of birth and death with a strong wisdom. You know the sunk in the family, friends were a kind of nonsense, friends you should arise a strong motive: "I will not stop this hymn until I am unified body I mean with the body of the words of Heruka Vajrasattva. "

We often do not work enthusiastically. That is because our minds are divided. When there is a conflict by opposing mental tendencies, we are very susceptible to mental breakdown. So you really need to know why you are in retreat and you have to make sure your motivation is intense. You should feel that hiding is necessary and worth doing and you are lucky, extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to hide. "I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to stay for a few months in my life, working in the strong influence of wisdom, without having to keep abreast of it. "Do you know what I mean when I put my hand in the bile? When you touch the bile it will stick to your hand and into everything else you touch, causing chaos, confusion, and difficulty in getting out.

So start hiding with a high determination and do not have any expectations. "I have received all enlightenment, it is not a problem. It can be said that it is enough if I try to control my mind and relax in a quiet atmosphere. "It was a great result to reach such a conclusion. All life in the cycle of birth and death is only a waste of time because only create more and more trouble obstacles. If you are deeply aware of the nature of samsara life, you will have no obstacle or distraction during the retreat. But if you are hesitant, your mind will wander and trouble you. "Ồ! If I was at home I could go to a restaurant or go to a movie with my girlfriend ... "

As for the way of thinking in the cycle of birth and death, it is a time of pleasurable play, but it is only a delusion. Please check back with wisdom! Even though you say, "I've been playing with pleasure," but if you are honest you will admit that it's just a life-and-death cycle like last life. We have experienced such experiences in countless past lives, but then our minds are still confused, irretrievable, unmanageable, uncontrollable.

So do not hesitate. Cut off the wandering mind by emitting a powerful, passionate motive: "I am really lucky, at least in this life, have drawn the decision that the precious thing is now My body, speech, and mind, and have the opportunity to resolutely put myself on the path leading to total peace. "

Then, when you sit down on the cushion before each meditation, you may think, "I must attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, my mother, right here on this seat. I will not leave this place until I am the "one" with Guru Heruka Vajrasattva. "END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.THE MIND OF ENLIGHTENMENT.VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN LOTUS MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.23/10/2017.