Meditation, what is there to achieve? By Hian Ngyuen, student of Parisha Taylor

Meditation, what is there to achieve? By Hian Ngyuen

, student of Parisha Taylor





I always love listening to Grandmother Parisha tell stories about her times being initiated into the highest paths of Tibetan Buddhism, at the Monastery above the Clouds in Bhutan. The whole story of her coming there, of being a red-headed and white skinned female in a community of the most devout and advanced students is amazing in itself and often , studying under who has been called a Master of Masters His Eminence Kalu Rinpoche, who achieved many great feats as an eminent lineage holder in the Kagyu Buddhist tradition, including as a meditation teacher to the current Dalai Lama. Grandmother spent years studying under His Eminence, and he recognized Grandmother as an emanation of the Bodhisattva Tara. I have had the privilege to see the pictures, relics and memorabilia

The story today stemmed after I gave some advice to a friend who had recently had bypass surgery, on the positive and beneficial effects of simple meditation techniques to stimulate the Relaxation Response, to increase coronary blood flow, induce production of potent vaso-dilators, to decrease blood pressure, to upregulate protective gene expression and decreasing cellular metabolism to form a crucial component of any self-healing programs following heart disease. We got into a deep discussion of what meditation was, and here was a good opportunity for me to get a glimpse into a lesson with the esteemed master.

She talked about when she first came into the meditation hall to study with the master. Her and her small group of about 9 other students sat in meditation posture whilst waiting for the great master. Finally he arrived, and sat on his meditation cushion and simply sat there, open eyed, looking into the distance. The students also sat, but were wondering what they should be doing. Should they be moving into a state of meditation? Were they to do a particular exercise or take a particular posture or to recite a particular mantra? They didnt know and simply sat there watching this esteemed master, who was to instruct them in meditation, sit open eyed and unresponsive. 3 hours passed and suddenly Rinpoche changed his posture, and dismissed the class. He said, "Well done. We will return tomorrow." Grandmother and her group of students were confused and did not understand. They felt they had missed something. They left, determined to find out what it was that they were supposed to be doing the next day. The next day came and Rinpoche returned, only to follow the exact same procedure. After 3 hours of sitting open eyed and providing no further instruction to the students, he dismissed them, saying "Well done!". The students regrouped and after about a week, had resolved to achieve for themselves the lofty states that Rinpoche was obviously the master of. On that day, all the students determined to really focus, and let go of all distractions to attain the Supreme states. They all were able to focus that day and all had felt they really achieved a deeper state. All proceeded as it had, except at the end, Rinpoche dismissed them, this time saying "Today a very bad session. tomorrow we will return." The students were confused.

Finally, one student was able to ask Rinpoche, "Master, what should one do in the practice of meditation?" and he replied curtly and simply, "Sit still."

The lesson was one which lies at the heart of all the major mystic traditions, from Buddhist, to the Vedas, to mystic Christianity, which is essentially this: that which is your True Essence, your One True Face, that which is Ever Present and Ever Existent, that which is truly One without a Second, your True Self is not something that can be achieved or reached. It is your True and Fundamental Nature, present in this moment before even any modifications occur. This is the essence of Non Dual Vedantic teachings, and of the Tibetan Dzogchen teaching, as well as espoused through mystic Christians such as Meister Eckhart and in the Cloud of Unknowing. That True Meditation, reaching That which is the Ground of all Life and all Being, which some call God, is something that is a fundamental and primordial aspect of our very Nature, it must only be recognized. Most practice then, is simply the cultivation of this Right View or Right Perspective, that we may properly perceive our true Divine Nature.

What about siddhi, subtle states, qi, prana, and all the rest? Well, they are awesome manifestions of the play of Spirit-in-Nature, but where would we be without the first recognition of that One Unchanging Truth?

By Hian Ngyuen, student of Parisha Taylor

Meditation, what is there to achieve? By Hian Ngyuen, student of Parisha Taylor

By: Parisha Taylor

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