Short moments, many times
Train in brief, genuine moments of non-distraction repeated through the day, rather than long sessions you strain to hold.
Por que funciona
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche describes three steps: recognising, training and attaining stability. Once the nature of mind has been pointed out by a master, training is, in his words, short moments of recognition repeated many times, supported by devotion and compassion; the gaps between thoughts grow longer on their own through familiarity, not through force. Patrul Rinpoche adds that until stability is reached it is vital to practise in proper sessions away from distraction, because a vague understanding slides back into old habits. Brief, frequent practice keeps each moment fresh and uncontrived, which is what the texts ask for, and avoids the strain of trying to prolong a state.
Como fazer
- Choose a few short sessions each day — a few minutes is enough — at times you can keep.
- In each one, settle and rest without contrivance for as long as it stays genuine, then stop.
- Between sessions, take a few seconds now and then — on a staircase, waiting for a kettle — to drop distraction and rest.
- Do not try to stretch a good moment out; let it end and begin again later.
- If you have received instruction from a teacher, use these moments for exactly what they taught, and ask them how to extend practice as you go.
Evidência
The three steps and the short-moments instruction are in an excerpt from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s Rainbow Painting published by Tricycle, which also says that devotion and compassion support the training. Patrul Rinpoche’s root text and commentary give the counterweight: until stability is attained, practise in proper sessions away from busyness. (anecdotal)
Tulku Urgyen gives the instruction for someone whose nature of mind has already been pointed out. Without that, short sessions are still a sensible way to build a settled, uncontrived practice, but they are not yet what he means by training in recognition. No study has tested the instruction.
Fontes
- Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Tsoknyi Rinpoche (1999). As the Clouds Vanish — an excerpt adapted from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s Rainbow Painting (Rangjung Yeshe Publications), with an interview with Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Winter 1999.
- Patrul Rinpoche. The Special Teaching of the Wise and Glorious King — Root Text (Garab Dorje’s Three Statements That Strike the Vital Point), trans. Rigpa Translations, 2008. Lotsawa House.
- Patrul Rinpoche. The Special Teaching of the Wise and Glorious King — Commentary (Patrul’s own commentary on the Three Statements), trans. Rigpa Translations, 2008. Lotsawa House.
Erro comum
Hearing “short moments” as permission for only short moments — skipping formal sessions altogether. Patrul is explicit that until there is stability, real sessions away from distraction are vital.
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Mais práticas para Dzogchen: Rigpa, the Great Perfection and How It Is Practised
- Settle and rest: neither scattered nor concentrated
Let body and mind settle into an easy, uncontrived rest — the ground Patrul Rinpoche says has to be calm before anything can be introduced.
- Look for the mind: where a thought comes from, stays and goes
Examine your own mind the way the Dzogchen preliminaries do — searching for where a thought arises, where it stays and where it goes.
- Let thoughts free themselves, like writing on water
The third of Garab Dorje’s statements: neither suppress nor follow a thought, and recognise it so that it leaves no trace.
- Bring the view into conduct: view, meditation and action
Let what you understand in practice shape how you act — with the bodhisattva’s care for others, and without the hope and fear that usually drive you.
- Find a qualified teacher and understand what transmission is
Recognition of rigpa is traditionally introduced by a qualified teacher — so the honest practice before it is learning what that means and seeking one carefully.
- The white A and guru yoga: what the “Ah” practice is
In Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s community the white A guru yoga is called the essence of Dzogchen — and it is received with transmission.
- Understand trekchö and tögal, the two main practices
Know what the “thorough cut” and the “crossover” are, why tögal is kept for advanced students, and why neither is learned from a page.
- When open, objectless practice starts to feel unreal: ground first
If resting in open awareness leaves the world feeling dreamlike or you feeling absent, come back to the body and ordinary life first, then talk to a teacher.
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