Mindful Bright Interlude: The Open Secret of Human Happiness

          Whether or not you have contemplatively discovered, beyond your concepts and beliefs about it, the always already present Presence of timeless primordial intrinsic awareness itself that is your innate indwelling buddha nature—let us do so for this brief eternal moment now. Buddha nature peace and happiness is always present now as a conscious mindful choice of your ‘placement of attention’ upon that selfless bright Presence.

          1) Give Thanks for the great blessing of your rare and precious life exactly as it is here and now—adversity and all. Pray that all living beings may experience happiness and the causes of happiness; and that they avoid suffering and the causes of suffering.

          2) Placement of Attention. Expel the stale breath 9 times. Now place your conscious attention/awareness upon the life force prana/lung spirit breath in your belly, your hara/do chakra. Breathe normally. Feel your bright Spirit Presence—without thinking about it.

          3) Mantra. Now begin mantra: OM AH HUM, or other mantra. Unify with Guru’s mindstream thus: AH AH AH. Feel luminous Presence of that in your sambhogakaya ‘upper room’ three feet above your crown chakra at the crown of your head. Feel your crown center open as thigle deity essence enters in and pervades your body-mind. From the life force prana in your belly experience selfless bright purity of your subtle central channel.

          4) Light Up Your Chakras. From the hara or do center in your belly place your attention briefly on the White AH at your hridyam/nyingpo heart chakra. Now your throat center (voice, speech, vishuddha). Now your ‘third eye’ ajna center, prefrontal cortex behind your forehead. Now your crown center. ‘Let there be light’. Rest here for a few moments.

          Now close your eyes and raise your eyebrows. This ‘posture’ instantly produces peaceful alpha, ‘waking theta’, and a bit of gamma brain rhythm. That is the neuroscience of meditation. Feel this subtle stirring, lifting, and peace in your forebrain. Now throughout your entire body and mind, right down to the subatomic level of your physical being, and the subtle and causal levels of your spirit being. Now relax all such concepts and beliefs. No need to believe any of it. It’s far beyond belief. Feel that quiescent bright Presence now.

          Now again move your awareness to your “great bliss crown wheel”. Without effort feel your crown center open. Now yidam deity, or your spiritual master, or the Buddha, or your own Buddha Presence dissolves and enters in your crown chakra and downward throughout your head and neck, chest, upper and lower back, gut, pelvic area, arms and hands, feet, indeed throughout your entire body and mind, all the way down into our Mother Earth. Feel your fearless stability deep in Earth. That is your full body scan. Rest effortlessly and profoundly in the dharmakaya ‘basic space’ of that luminous numinous buddha mind Presence that you always already are here and now. “The basic space of all phenomena is naturally occurring timeless awareness; awakened mind”. [Longchenpa]

          5) Energy Focus and Release. Open your eyes. Sharply focus your prana breath energy wherever you feel a physical or emotional obstruction to life energy flow: tension, pain, anxiety, anger, random desire, pride, drowsiness. PHAT! Blockage released! Surrender it all on the out-breath. Rest. Enjoy clear, blissful peace throughout your entire body-mind.

          6) Nonmeditation. Simply relax and rest your busy mind just as it is here and now, without following your thoughts and feelings into a past or a future; without trying to block thinking and feeling; without trying to meditate; without doing anything at all. Past is but a present memory. Future is but a present anticipation. Simply be present here now. You are not here seeking any particular peaceful or happy experience (nyams). You seek nothing at all. For this timeless moment now you have no goal whatsoever. You are letting your luminous mind be exactly as it is, adversity and all. As Buddha told so long ago, “Rest your weary mind and let it be as it is; all things are perfect exactly as they are.” Feel That!

          Simply observe without evaluating or judging. Thoughts, feelings, concepts naturally arise. Well and good. No need to stop them. No need to follow them. They come and they go. They are absent and empty any substance or power that ‘self’ does not choose to bestow upon them. Simply allow whatever arises in the mind to ‘self-liberate’ of its own accord leaving no trace. Patience. It all shall pass. Rest now in “bare awareness in its pristine nakedness…pure expanse of space.” Luminous Presence of primordial ground of being.

          7) Return to Your Breath. Be awareness of quiescent prana wind in the belly. Breathe normally. In this quiet space abides peace and joy that passes all understanding. Feel living Heart Presence of AH. HUM is our essential nature, ‘supreme identity’ Heart essence. Now let your mantras be in awareness background. Rest in clear pure Presence of the ground.

          8) Your Buddha Nature. Now you are aware, without thinking about it, that you are resting in selfless, open, empty, luminous awareness itself—Buddha Nature of Mind. Peace and bliss of That (tathata). You are now aware of the vast timeless, selfless, boundless space of your awareness. Self-centered ‘self reference (selfing)’ is absent. Feel clear light luminous knowing-feeling certainty of this Presence of ‘original wakefulness’. That is primordial awareness itself. Whatever arises in your mind—simply ‘let it be as it is’. Jigme Lingpa advises, “Simply observe.” No need to think or judge. This natural, clear knowing-feeling wisdom awareness is always present—awareness background or foreground. Be That Now.

          Now rest quietly for as long as you like in that sweet love-wisdom Presence that you always are now. That is the profound mindful connection to your very own essential buddha nature. Practice it “brief moments many times”. Now get up and do some good.

          Engage this essential mindfulness practice from 60 seconds to 60 minutes. Make it your own. Adapt it. That Presence you are. Don’t push the river. Relax, rest, and enjoy.

          Christians: replace ‘buddha nature’ with christos: ‘Christ nature’, ‘Presence of Christ’.

This bright, clear, selfless ‘nonmeditation’ we shall further explore in Ch. VII through the ‘stages’ of mindful shamatha practice. The “Brief Course” appears in Ch. VIII.