Teaching Transcripts and Synopses 

All phenomenon, all the dharma is considered as Vipashyana practice according to the Mahayana tradition. These are the Shamatha and Vipashyana in Mahayana practice.

In Vajrayana, you have visualization, regardless of receiving initiations or doing sadhana practice. You often have to visualize the deity in front of you or visualize yourself as the deity. That is Shamatha meditation in Vajrayana. Practicing so-called Mahamudra or looking at our own mind, stilling your mind, is considered as Vipashyana meditation in the Vajrayana tradition.

Now we know that Shamatha and Vipashyana are practiced in all the different schools using different methods. Sometimes in some schools, it does not matter how you sit, but in Vajrayana, it is important to keep the body straight. The reason is as I mentioned before, sometimes body and mind are related, and sometimes they are not. They are related but also unrelated.

So now this is the time where body and mind are somehow related -- when you are not physically well and weak, you cannot concentrate. Your mind will not be that clear. This is the simple introduction on meditation.

Now, let's do the meditation at the same time. Keep your back straight because according to Vajrayana, when the body is straight, the back spine is straight, the channels in the body will be straight. When the channels are straight, wind flows smoothly. When the wind flows smoothly, you will have a clear mind, and when the mind is clear, you can meditate better. So, it is important to keep the back straight and try not to feel any tension and relax.

Now, place your thumb at the ring finger and press on it. There is a nerve there. According to the Vajrayana tradition, there is an impure nerve here. So it is important to press this spot on both hands with your respective thumbs. Now breathe in slowly. The time period for inhaling (breathing in), exhaling (breathing out) and keeping the breath in the body should be equal at this moment. At this moment, we are stretching our chest a little. As you breathe in, first breathe in towards your chest, opening your chest widely. After breathing in, slowly let. the air go from your chest towards your stomach, even lower if you can. As you exhale, try to exhale all the way from the bottom of the belly -- exhale everything out but slowly. Let's do this nine times.

This is a good practice to start with as it opens the channels in your body. If you can do it early in the morning, facing outside where there is clean, fresh air, it refreshes you and you will get these benefits for the whole day if you do it correctly. You will get the feeling like just after a shower. If you compare this with the feeling when you first get up from bed, you will feel differently. Such breathing meditation will give you effects for the whole day. Now, try to breathe normally and naturally. Don't try to breathe especially at your chest or at your stomach.

From now on, let's count our breathing. Pay attention to the sensation at your nostrils as the air touches your nostrils as you have a very subtle feeling here. Pay attention to that feeling. Now, think that light radiates with your breath. As you exhale, a blue light comes out from your nose about a meter long. As you inhale, the light comes in through your nose, goes down through the center of your body, down to the navel. As you exhale, the light comes out again from your nose. It is about a meter long, then it retracts and goes back to your nose.

Try to extend the outward length of the light to two or three meters. The length become longer outwards, and also lengthens inwards. Not only does the light come in and touch your navel, but also your limbs - it spreads in four directions, from your navel to your legs and arms. Remember to breathe in normally. People tend to breathe very slowly at this moment; don't breathe too slowly, breath normally. As you exhale at the end of the exhalation, try to pull in your stomach, try to squeeze your stomach and breathe out all the air. Now, think that there are five lights instead of one blue light. They go in the same way as the blue light. The blue light changes into five transparent lights -- they are white, yellow, red, green and blue. They extend and retract simultaneously at the same time. If you find this is too difficult, you can go back.

We have been doing Shamatha meditation, now we are moving to Vipashyana meditation. See if there is any feeling, any itchiness or pain in your body. If you find it, just focus on that part of the body. If that part of the body is itchy, look at the surface and skin of that part of the body. As you zoom in to that part of body closely, you find that there are countless cells. We believe that I am one person; each and everyone of us believes I am one person. It is a belief, but whether it is true or not is another thing. If I am one person, if I am one, I am not many. One and many are different. They are the opposite of each other. Now at the surface of your body, you find many cells. If you believe that each one of them is "me", then there are many "1"s, and there is no one "I" anymore. Now look deeper into the body from that position. Now you are touching the flesh, touching the nerves. There is no one nerve that is "I", there is no one drop of blood that is "I". There is no cell of flesh that is "I". Let's go deeper to analyze our bones. Bone is also a collection of small particles. We may believe that this is mine but not me. You may think these are my legs, my flesh, my skin, my bones, my hands. my head and my intestines. They belong to me, but what you really see is that they are not me. When something belongs you, it is something different from you; it is connected to you but is not yourself. We can accept that, but still, there is the main question: where is "I" ? To whom do all these things belong? The whole body is not me, so where is the master of the body?