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.
Why it works
Mipham Rinpoche’s short Mahāmudrā instruction defines three terms: when you look within and the mind abides without movement, that is stillness; when thoughts occur, that is movement; and in either case the mind’s own capacity to know is awareness. Sustained, he says, this shows how joy and sorrow arise from the mind and dissolve back into it. The Ninth Karmapa’s fourth vipashyana point asks whether the still and the moving mind are really different, and answers with the image of water and waves. The practice changes what a session is measured by — from how quiet it was to whether what happened was known.
How to do it
- Settle for a few minutes with or without a support.
- When the mind is quiet, know it as stillness.
- When a thought moves, know it as movement — no need to follow it or stop it.
- In both, notice that knowing is present; this is what Mipham calls awareness.
- Later in the session, look, as the Karmapa’s text asks, for any real difference between the still mind and the moving mind — in colour, shape or place.
Evidence
The three terms come from Mipham’s text and the still-and-moving examination from the Ninth Karmapa’s manual. In a laboratory imaging study, Josipovic and colleagues found that the usual anti-correlation between the brain’s externally and internally oriented networks was weaker during nondual awareness meditation and stronger during focused-attention meditation, compared with plain fixation — evidence that these are distinct modes of practice at the level of brain organisation, not evidence of benefit. (mechanistic)
The imaging study is a single laboratory study of a related nondual practice; it did not test Mipham’s method and measured no outcomes.
Sources
- Mipham Rinpoche. The Mahāmudrā Practice of Stillness, Movement and Awareness. Trans. Adam Pearcey (2021). Lotsawa House.
- Wangchug Dorje, Ninth Karmapa. Mahamudra: Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance, Part 3: Mahamudra Vipashyana Meditation. Trans. Alexander Berzin (1977, rev. 2008). Study Buddhism.
- Josipovic, Z., Dinstein, I., Weber, J., & Heeger, D. J. (2012). Influence of meditation on anti-correlated networks in the brain. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 5, 183.
Common mistake
Ranking stillness as good meditation and movement as bad. Both texts treat movement as part of the practice; what matters is whether it is known.
Practice this with IX Coach
More practices for 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Related concepts
- Shamatha: The Buddhist Practice of Calm Abiding
Training the mind to rest: the nine stages and their modern neurological parallels
- Non-Dual Awareness, Made Practical
Effortless mindfulness and the recognition of open, aware presence
- Open Monitoring Meditation, Made Practical
Choiceless awareness, open presence, and the science of receptive attention
- 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
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