Cutting through the mountain of our mental distortions and neurotic mind-states.

Practising meditation on your own with only yourself as a guide could be compared to wearing away a rock with water from a gentle stream – the water will erode the rock, but it will take a long time to have any great effect and the effect may lack focus.  Becoming part of a spiritual tradition and working with a teacher is like turning our gentle stream of spiritual practice into a powerful, focused, torrent that will quickly cut through the mountain of our mental distortions and neurotic mind-states.

p151,  Relaxing into Meditation   Ngakma Nor'dzin,  Aro Books Worldwide, 2010, ISBN 978-1-898185-17-8 

A vibrant, creative state of awareness

Day dreaming is not conducive to discovering mind without thought, and the nature of this empty state may be misunderstood through believing that day dreaming is meditation.  In Letting Go we are not aiming for a dampened down, thought suppressed state.  Mind without thought is a vibrant, creative state of awareness.  It is vivid with an electric sense of being awake in the present moment.  Even momentary glimpses of this vibrant state will begin to open our experience of ourselves.

p139,  Relaxing into Meditation   Ngakma Nor'dzin,  Aro Books Worldwide, 2010, ISBN 978-1-898185-17-8 

Direct experience of who we are

   
By letting go of thought we can discover the space of mind without thought.  Through Letting Go the arising and dissolving of conceptual mind can be revealed as a wave that surges and breaks on the surface of the deep, still ocean of fundamental mind.  Through discovering the quietness of fundamental mind we can gain direct experience of who we are, what we are and where we are, rather than trying to discover this through the ebb and flow of concept.

p134, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books Worldwide, 2010, ISBN 978-1-898185-17-8

Spaciousness

"The practise of Letting Go develops awareness. It also develops a sense of spaciousness in the mind and the capacity to observe thought rather than being overwhelmed by involvement with its content."

p129, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Every day view

"There is no purpose in being able to experience oneself as radiating pure light and have an intense experience of purity whilst sitting on one's meditation cushion, if one cannot display down-to-earth patience, tolerance and respect of others in ordinary life situations."

p125, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Extending the experience of meditation

"It is important to take the understanding that has been discovered during this meditation practice out into our lives. This understanding needs to move beyond our meditation cushion to be a real experience. Friend, Enemy, Stranger has a 'feel good factor' that puts us in danger of becoming satisfied with the comfortable feeling of equanimity discovered through the practice."

p101, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Reference points

"Our view is the basis of all our expectations of life, our interpretations of circumstances, and our responses to the experiences we encounter in our lives. Our view governs how we are as people in the world and causes us to create an inter-penetrating network of reference points-that is, things that support our view of the way we think things are."

p99, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Letting Go

"Let go of the busy-ness of your day and the concerns of your life. Settle into your meditation posture and bring your attention to your breathing."

p59, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Relaxation of mind and body

"To achieve relaxation of mind-as well as relaxation of body-we need to examine and understand our mind."

p58, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Learning to be fearless and at ease

"Learning to be fearless and at ease in the empty space of the mind-mind without thought-enables us to be fearless and at ease when our life circumstances thrust us into moments of emptiness."

p148, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Our view

"Having developed wisdom through our analysis of our view of a friend, an enemy and a stranger, our hearts spontaneously open with a wish to extend a kind response to them

."
p104, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Experiences with emptiness

"Our usual experiences with emptiness can be disconcerting and uncomfortable, so it is helpful to become accustomed to this experience in our meditation practice in order to find emptiness less threating when it naturally occurs

."
p135, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

All people are basically the same

"Recognising that all people are the basically the same, with the same needs, hopes and aspirations, can help us avoid feeling threatened when those needs, hopes and aspirations have different flavours and qualities from our own."

p101, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Our view

"Our view is the basis of all our expectations of life, our interpretations of circumstances, and our responses to the experiences we encounter in our lives."

p99, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Daily practice

"Simple daily practice will gradually enable us to become less stressed, less emotionally churned up by the things that happen to us, and more relaxed about who are."

p80, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Letting go

"Letting Go is the ground of meditation practice and the base from which all other methods can arise."

Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Through meditation

"Through meditation we may discover that there are qualities and aspects of our lives that are not as we would wish them to be."

p121, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Being asleep

"In Buddhism our confused and neurotic condition is often compared to being asleep-because our relationship with reality is more like being in a dream than being awake. We lack awareness because of our habitual patterns so that we are like confused and unresponsive sleepwalkers."

p152, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

The Measure of One's Purity

"The measure of one's purity is in the capacity to be kind and sensitive, to be willing to put ourselves out to help others, and to respect and appreciate the lifestyle and opinions of others in the real world."

p125, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Make a difference to how we are in the world

"If we get up from our meditation cushion feeling we have done well but do not remember it in our everyday life, the experience never extends out into our life to make a difference to how we are in the world."

p101, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178