Leah Zahler

Leah Zahler, a poet and scholar, graduated from Smith College and received a PhD in Buddhist Studies from the University of Virginia.

Leah Zahler

Leah Zahler, a poet and scholar, graduated from Smith College and received a PhD in Buddhist Studies from the University of Virginia.

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SNOW LION NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

The Gelug Tradition of Breath Practice

Gelug presentations do not explain why the exhalation and inhalation of the breath is considered the best object of observation for “purifying” discursiveness. Simply, it works; the choice seems to be an empirical one, based on a long tradition of Buddhist practice. The governing principle seems to be that in systems asserting six consciousnesses, different conceptual consciousnesses of a similar type cannot operate simultaneously in the mental continuum of one person. Therefore, meditation on the inhalation and exhalation of the breath is able to pacify discursiveness, even though it is “not an actual antidote” to discursiveness and, thus, cannot eradicate it. Meditation on the exhalation and inhalation of the breath pacifies discursiveness because it causes “all other minds” to “settle down into a neutral (lung du ma bstan pa, avyakrta) state”; from that ethically neutral state, “it becomes easy [for the meditator] to develop a virtuous attitude.”

As a basic explanation for beginners, Lati Rinpoche gives a simplified presentation of breath meditation similar to the one Gedün Lodrö gives under the topic “the settling down of the winds.” However, Gedün Lodrö presents the settling down of the winds as a three-stage process in which the first two stages are watching and counting, whereas Lati Rinpoche distinguishes between watching and counting according to the faculties of the meditator; according to him, meditators of dull faculties have to count, whereas meditators of sharp faculties are able to watch the breath without counting. Both Gedün Lodrö’s and Lati Rinpoche’s explanations are intended to serve not only as introductory presentations of the Ge-luk system according to their respective colleges’ textbooks but also as practical instruction for beginning meditators.

—Adapted from Study and Practice of Meditation

Study and Practice of Meditation

$39.95 - Paperback

By: Leah Zahler

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Setting Motivation: Breathing Exercises with Leah Zahler

Setting Motivation

Breathing Exercises with Leah Zahler

adapted from

Study and Practice of Meditation:

Tibetan Interpretations of the Concentrations and Formless Absorptions

 

Afflictive Emotions body, channels, winds, and mind, the breath becomes a means of purifying the meditator’s motivation

Study and Practice of Meditation

$39.95 - Paperback

By: Leah Zahler

Because of the interdependence of the body, channels, winds, and mind, the breath becomes a means of purifying the meditator’s motivation; Gedün Lodrö refers to the process as “the settling down of the winds.” The winds in question here are those of the afflictive emotions—that is, “the coarse winds that serve as the mounts of impure motivations and coarse thoughts”—which are expelled with the breath.

Meditation and Breath_impure_motivations_coarse _thoughts_expelled_breath

The simplest method, explained by Lati Rinpoche, is to pacify any afflictive emotion that is present by counting “three, five, seven, nine, or twenty-one” breaths, beginning with the inhalations; the sharper the meditator’s faculties, the fewer breaths will be required. Then, when the mind is “somewhat neutral” (lung du ma bstan pa, avykrta), the meditator establishes a pure motivation by cultivating the altruistic mind of enlightenment before turning to his or her usual object of observation.

Gedün Lodrö presents three methods of meditating on the breath, in increasing order of difficulty; these can be used either by one person, who “progresses from one to the next as he or she increases in capacity,” or by different persons, according to their initial capacity. The first method involves attention to just exhalation and inhalation, not to how one is breathing—whether in long or short exhalations and inhalations—but simply to the fact of exhalation or inhalation; the meditator thinks, with each breath, either, “I am exhaling,” or, “I am inhaling.”

The second method, called the “twenty-one cycles,” is, essentially, the same method set forth by Lati Rinpoche, except that the number of breaths counted is always twenty-one.Breathing meditation, the settling down of the winds

The third method is known as “the nine-cycled dispelling of wind-corpses”—that is, of bad winds. Gedün Lodrö explains that “it is as if the coarse winds that serve as the mounts of impure motivations and coarse thoughts are expelled” with the breath. This method involves inhaling through the left nostril and exhaling through the right three times, inhaling through the right nostril and exhaling through the left three times, and then inhaling and exhaling through both nostrils three times; beginners can use the fingers to press closed the nostril not being used, but, according to Gedün Lodrö, this is unnecessary for advanced practitioners. There are other systems that instruct the meditator to do each type of inhalation and exhalation once and then to repeat the series twice more.

impure motivations and coarse thoughts, meditation, breathing exercises

According to Gedün Lodrö, “This practice does not mainly rely on the exhalation and inhalation of the breath but on the imagination of it,” since “in order to purify bad motivation, it is necessary to make it manifest.” Here “making it manifest” means visualizing it.

Meditators should imagine or manifest their own impure motivation in the form of smoke, and with the exhalation of breath should expel all bad motivation. When inhaling they should imagine that all the blessings and good qualities of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, in the form of bright light, are inhaled into them. This practice is called purification by way of the descent of ambrosia (bdud rtsi ’bebs sbyang).

Meditators manifest impure motivation form of smoke, exhalation of breath expel all bad motivation. Breathing Meditation

According to Lati Rinpoche, who discusses this type of breath meditation in the context of the objects of observation for purifying behavior, this practice originated in Tibet and “is not mentioned in the Indian texts”; for that reason, although Lati Rinpoche considers it “helpful,” he does not regard it as mandatory.

body, channels, winds, and mind, the breath becomes a means of purifying the meditator’s motivation

To explain why observing the breath makes possible the establishment of a pure motivation, Gedün Lodrö, relying on Dharmakīrti’s Commentary on (Dignaga’s) “Compilation of [Teachings on] Prime Cognition” (prama - navarttikakarika, tshad ma rnam ’grel gyi gshig le’ur byas pa), points out that “when strong desire manifests, hatred will not manifest and vice versa because desire and hatred are…different conceptions of a similar type”—similar in that both are mental factors—and therefore, in systems asserting six consciousnesses, cannot operate simultaneously in the continuum (rgyud, samtana) of one person. Similarly, it is impossible to have discursiveness or manifest afflictive emotions and, simultaneously, to focus on an object of observation. Gedün Lodrö emphasizes the importance of this initial period of observing the breath:

As much as you are able to withdraw the mind during this period of meditative stabilization on the breath, so great will be your ability to do as you wish in meditative stabilization [on your main object of observation].

Setting Motivation: Breathing Exercises

Meditation on the breath pacifies all afflictive emotions somewhat; it especially pacifies discursiveness, or coarse conceptuality, thereby increasing the meditator’s ability to focus not only on the breath but also on other objects of observation. Thus, although there are many possible objects of observation, this initial period of observing the breath for the sake of purifying motivation is important to a meditator’s progress in observing any of them.

Leah Zahler, a poet and scholar, graduated from Smith College and received a PhD in Buddhist Studies from the University of Virginia.

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The Gelug View on Choosing an Object of Observation

The Gelug View on Choosing an Object of Observation

from

Study and Practice of Meditation

study and practice of meditation

by Leah Zahler

Study and Practice of Meditation

$39.95 - Paperback

By: Leah Zahler

To choose an object of observation, a meditator may “investigate among various objects such as a Buddha image to see what works well”—that is, the meditator may try them out—or “read texts to see what objects of observation are recommended,” or “seek the advice of a virtuous spiritual friend, or guide (dge ba’i bshes gnyen, kalyanamitra)—a lama (bla ma, guru) who can identify a suitable object of observation”; although meditators of sharp faculties are able to choose an object of observation by studying the texts and trying out the objects of observation set forth in them, most people need to rely on a teacher.

Book cover

Ge-luk-pas, however, refute the position that that any object of observation that seems easy or comfortable will do. Rather, the object of observation has to be one that will pacify the mind. Therefore, an object that arouses desire or hatred is not suitable. According to Gedün Lodrö, the erroneous position that any easy or comfortable object of observation is suitable stems from a misinterpretation of a line from Atisha’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, which Gedün Lodrö interprets in the context of changing the object of observation as, “One should set one’s virtuous mind on any one object.” It can also be understood as an exaggeration of the valid position that for an inexperienced meditator, the cultivation of calm abiding is difficult and that, therefore, the object of observation should not also be difficult.

Meditators who have one of the five predominant afflictive emotions—desire, hatred, obscuration, pride, and discursiveness—must pacify the predominant afflictive emotion by using the specific object of observation that is an antidote to it; they are unable to use any other object of observation successfully until they have done so. The objects of observation that pacify the five predominant afflictive emotions are called objects of observation for purifying behavior. However, someone whose afflictive emotions are of equal strength or who has few afflictive emotions may use any of the objects of observation set forth in the Ge-luk system. Since the body of a Buddha is considered the best object of observation in this system, it would be seen as the most suitable object of observation for such a person.

Leah Zahler, a poet and scholar, graduated from Smith College and received a PhD in Buddhist Studies from the University of Virginia.

Recent Books on Meditation and Mindfulness

...
Continue Reading >>