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Clarifying
the Natural State
Dakpo Tashi Namgyal
Reviewed by Hugh Williams at www.ordinarymind.net
This book is a meditation manual written
by Dagpo Tashi Namgal, the esteemed 16th Century Tibetan lama
and scholar of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism, who also
wrote the much larger volume of meditation theory and practice,
Mahamudra: the Quintessence of Mind and Meditation. By comparison,
Clarifying the Natural State is a fairly thin volume with
no historical or philosophical component - it is a very precise,
'hands-on' instruction manual on how to meditate in the Mahamudra
tradition.
Mahamudra is a variation of advanced
Vajrayana (tantric) practice with its own peculiar slant on
meditation. By observing the mind, while not accepting or
rejecting anything at all, one can achieve a non-dualistic
perception of reality in a relatively short time. The emphasis
is on seeing directly into the 'nature of mind,' rather than
attempting to control the mind through the use of purificatory
practices or the use of antidotes.
As a meditation manual, Clarifying the Natural State is considered
a Buddhist classic. It is about 200 pages long, with the English
translation on one page and the original Tibetan text on the
other, which is very useful for students of Tibetan language.
Despite its brevity, Clarifying the Natural State covers an
enormous amount of ground. It sketches the path of meditation
from the initial steps of the general and specific preliminaries,
right through to the levels of attainment said to accompany
the practitioner traversing the bhumis on the way to full
Buddhahood.
The majority of the text, however, is squarely focused on
the establishment and stabilisation of mindfulness and calm,
through shamatha practice, and developing analytical understanding
through vipashyana techniques. There is plenty of practical
advice: practising in short sessions that are repeated many
times, dealing with lethargy and doubt, correct posture, breathing
techniques, what to focus on, the type of inquiry to be made
of the mind and so on. Even though there is a substantial
amount of technical detail, it is always accompanied by pithy
advice on the correct attitude, on how to employ the Mahamudra
philosophy of non-resistance, of not trying to cultivate anything,
of not inhibiting one thing and promoting another. The idea
is to let one's meditation attention be 'as it naturally is:
relaxed and free.'
It is probably true to say that Clarifying the Natural State
is most suited to experienced practitioners, for it assumes
a traditional religious framework. This is to be expected,
given Tashi Namgal's intended audience over four hundred years
ago. Instances of this are when he occasionally recommends
keeping to a mountain retreat or keeping silent for a couple
of years! Even so, his advice on meditation is impervious
to cultural distortion and at a fundamental level will inspire
meditation practitioners of all levels.
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