Rest without a support and let thoughts become the object
Drop the object, rest in open and relaxed attention, and when a thought comes, look right at it instead of chasing it or stopping it.
Por qué funciona
The Karmapa’s manual moves from a support to “no object”: eyes resting in the space ahead with nothing to focus on, alertness posted lightly as a lookout, the mind relaxed, soft and uncontrived. When thoughts arise, the instruction is to recognise them at once, look directly at them, and take the thoughts themselves as the object — neither stopping them nor following them out. Tilopa’s Ganges instruction describes the same move: release the mind “neither confining nor allowing it to roam,” and thoughts arise and subside on their own like ripples. Because thinking is now the object rather than the enemy, a wandering mind stops counting as failure, which is the tradition’s bridge from calm into insight.
Cómo hacerlo
- Begin with a few minutes on a support until the mind has settled somewhat.
- Let go of the support and rest the gaze in the space in front of you, eyes open and relaxed, focused on nothing.
- Keep a light background alertness that notices if you drift, without tightening.
- When a thought arises, recognise it and look straight at it, neither following it nor pushing it away; then rest again.
- If you find yourself straining to keep the mind empty, loosen: the text’s advice for a stirring mind is to let it stir and look at it.
Evidencia
Resting without a support and taking thoughts as the object are the fifth and seventh points of the Ninth Karmapa’s shamatha instructions, and Tilopa’s Ganges Mahāmudrā gives the root image of thoughts subsiding like ripples on water. The support is textual and experiential; the method has not been studied separately. (anecdotal)
Objectless resting resembles modern open-monitoring meditation, which has its own research literature, but this specific Mahāmudrā method has not been tested.
Fuentes
- Wangchug Dorje, Ninth Karmapa. Mahamudra: Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance (Phyag-chen ma-rig mun-sel), Part 2: Mahamudra Shamatha Meditation. Trans. Alexander Berzin (1977, rev. 2008), according to explanations by Beru Khyentse Rinpoche. Study Buddhism.
- Tilopa. The Ganges Mahāmudrā Instructions (Mahāmudrā Upadeśa, Toh 2303). Trans. Ina Bieler, ed. Kay Candler (2017, rev. 2021 & 2023). Lotsawa House.
Error común
Treating “no object” as blanking the mind. The Karmapa’s text warns against taking a blank void for the practice; the resting is relaxed but awake, and thoughts are allowed to come.
Practica esto con IX Coach
Más prácticas para Mahāmudrā: Looking Directly at the Nature of the Mind
- Settle the mind on a support, in many short sessions
Rest attention lightly on one simple object — a pebble, a statue, a flame, a sound — and end each session while the mind is still clear.
- Look for the mind: its colour, shape and location
From a settled state, ask what the mind actually is — does it have a colour, a shape, a place? — and look for the answer instead of thinking it.
- Know the still mind, the moving mind, and what knows both
Notice when the mind is quiet, notice when thoughts move, and notice the awareness that is present in both.
- See thoughts and feelings as the mind’s own display
Meet a thought or emotion as something the mind is showing — a wave on water — rather than a message you must obey or fight.
- Use the four yogas as a map, not a scoreboard
Know the traditional sequence — one-pointedness, freedom from elaboration, one taste, non-meditation — so teachings make sense, without grading yourself against it.
- Lay the ground: the four thoughts, devotion and a teacher
Reflect on the four thoughts that turn the mind toward practice, and look for a qualified teacher for the preliminaries and the pointing-out instruction.
- Carry it into ordinary activity and conduct
Keep the thread of mindfulness between sessions, and let how you treat people and consequences be the test of the practice.
- If looking at the mind becomes unsettling, ground first
If searching for the mind leaves you feeling unreal, frightened or unsteady, stop looking, come back to your senses and ordinary activity, and get support.
Conceptos relacionados
- Shamatha: la práctica budista de la permanencia serena
Entrenar la mente para reposar: las nueve etapas y sus paralelos neurológicos modernos
- Conciencia No-Dual, de Forma Práctica
Mindfulness sin esfuerzo y el reconocimiento de la presencia abierta y consciente
- Meditación de Monitoreo Abierto, en la Práctica
Conciencia sin elección, presencia abierta y la ciencia de la atención receptiva
- The Progress of Insight: The Stages of Insight in Vipassana
The Burmese insight map of what meditators say they pass through — read as a map, not a ladder