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Practice ~ Stability Of Meditation by Rinpoche
Stability of Meditation
It is important to note that, during any practice, if you have trouble getting your mind clear and settled, do not give up and get up from your meditation. Always try to end with a quality, clear, perfect meditation, even if it’s just for one minute.
Don’t be forceful. Just relax and try to focus clearly for one minute before concluding your session. If you make a habit of ending at before concluding your session. If you make a habit of ending at a bad time, you will have more trouble getting into quality meditation.
Gradually, through this practice, our mind becomes more stable, focused, calm, and clear. The more peaceful and stable our mind is, the more we will get the clear, inner experience of our mind.
Great practitioners are eventually able to maintain this experience for very long periods of time.
Zhine, is an important tool, but we should not waste too much of our life only in these concentration or mindfulness meditations.
Some people feel that when they experience a certain quality of Zhine that they reach an ultimate state of meditation. Because Zhine can give rise to such feelings Zhine that they reach an ultimate state of meditation. Because Zhine can give rise to such feelings of openness and clarity, they enjoy the experience and stay in that state. If we only spend our life focusing on the breath or being mindful, without the wisdom of realization or the meditation view, we have a big risk of wasting our life. These practices have great quality and are important.
Without Zhine, our practice will not be as stable or clear. But alone, Zhine will not awaken the deep realizations required for attaining enlightenment.
There are various states of zhine, and at each level, we may experience pleasurable feelings of peace, comfort and joy – both physically and mentall peace, comfort and joy – both physically and mentally. There are many good qualities, so it is easy to get confused, thinking we are in the Dzogchen view, the great Natural State of Mind. But the experience of space or openness is not necessarily emptiness. Many practitioners seem satisfied by simply experiencing a vast field of openness. If they aren’t careful, they may spend their whole life practicing that.
The texts clearly warn about this. While Zhine can lead to a joyful experience, it will not lead to the full wisdom of realization – the wisdom that cuts the roof of suffering. Once we have a good stable experience of Zhine, we use that stability for our other meditations, whether they be with the view of experience of Zhine, we use that stability for our other meditations, whether they be with the view of Dho, Ngog or Dzogchen.