Buddhist Meditation

Theology 3728, L01. (Fall, 2017)

Josh Schapiro. jschapiro@fordham.edu

Wednesday, 2:30-5:15 PM. Lowenstein 526
Office Hours: Lowenstein 916E. Monday, 1:00-2:00 PM, or by appointment.

Description
What constitutes valuable knowledge in Buddhist communities, past and present? How does
meditation enable the acquisition of meaningful knowledge?
This course introduces students to a variety of strategies that Buddhist communities over the
past 2,500 years have employed in order to discipline the minds and bodies of practitioners.
The class will study both meditative techniques and the broader systems of personal
transformation within which these techniques appear. We will work to understand the theory
behind meditation practices, the purported goals of meditation practices, and the
assumptions that these practice regimes make about human potential. Students will read
about Buddhist meditation, visit meditation centers, and experiment with meditation
themselves. Course assignments are intended to help students understand what is at stake in
Buddhist debates about meditation and to prepare students to ask themselves how these
debates might be relevant to the pursuit of transformative knowledge in their own lives.
Goals
• Introduce students to influential patterns in Buddhist meditative practice. Consider
competing Buddhist ideas about the nature of the mind, the goals of meditation, and
the possibility of self-transformation.
• Experience the challenges of a daily meditation discipline first hand in order to
understand the demands of Buddhist transformative programs.
• Practice organizing and mapping challenging ideas. Engage in substantive
comparisons between programs of self-transformation.
• Interrogate our own procedures for generating meaningful knowledge by placing
them in comparison with Buddhist meditative techniques and strategies.
Requirements
• Weekly readings and participation. In addition to taking notes on readings,
students will periodically be asked to respond to questions and carry out thought-
exercises outside of class.
• Experiment with regular meditation. Students will commit to regular meditations
of their choosing (3 times a week). These meditations need not be Buddhist in any
way.
 • Writing assignments. Students will make regular entries into a meditation journal;
compose “travel guide” entries based on visits to New York City meditation groups;
generate charts that organize information discussed in class; free-write comparative
reflections on the goals of meditation; and complete a final project on a topic of their
choosing. Detailed instructions for all assignments will be distributed in time.
Grading
Participation, Reflections, Journal 30%
Meditation Group Visits (Sept. 27th) 10%
Meditation Charts (Nov. 1st) 20%
Goal of Meditation Free-Write (Nov. 15th) 10%
Final Project (Dec. 6th) 30%
Required Sources
All readings will be available on Blackboard, unless otherwise noted.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, all students,
with or without disabilities, are entitled to equal access to the programs and activities of Fordham University. If you
believe that you have a disabling condition that may interfere with your ability to participate in the activities, course
work, or assessment of the object of this course, you may be entitled to accommodations. Please schedule an
appointment to speak with someone at the Office of Disability Services (Rose Hill – O’Hare Hall, Lower Level, x0655
or at Lincoln Center – Room 207, x6282).

COURSE PLAN
Introduction: Why Meditate?
Weeks 1, 3. (August 30th, September 13th) Meditation, Liberation and Knowledge
All readings available on Blackboard.
Guiding questions and reflection exercises appear on Blackboard.
• Rupert Gethin, “Four Noble Truths”
• Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
• Anattalakkhana Sutta
• Rupert Gethin, Foundations of Buddhism pp. 112-126 (in Chapter 5, “The Buddhist
Cosmos”).
NOTE: No class on Wednesday, September 6th (School follows Monday schedule)
Weeks 4-5. (September 20th, 27th) How Do Buddhists Talk about Meditation?
September 20th (read in this order):
• Gunaratana, 1-3
• Shankman xiii-xvii, 55-56, 83-90, 101-104
• Gunaratana, 149-169
• Analayo, 44-49

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September 27th:
• Beyer 79-89
• Martin Adam, “Two Concepts of Meditation” (Recommended)
• Griffiths, “Indian Buddhist Meditation” (Recommended)
Meditation Visit Entries: Due in class (September 27th)
Part II: Meditation Programs in Focus
Weeks 6-7. (October 4th, 11th) Theravada Meditations in Focus: Meditation on the
Breath (Jhanas & Satipatthana)
For October 4th (read in this order):
• Shankman, xiii-xviii (review), 3-17
• Shankman, 67-76
• Visuddhimagga selection (recommended)
For October 11th:
• Shankman, 21-31
• Beyer, 89-99
• Analayo, 125-136
Week 8. (October 18th) Training the Emotions: The Four Immeasurables
• Patrul Rinpoche, Words of My Perfect Teacher selection (stop at “Training in the
Precepts of the bodhicitta of application”)
• B. Alan Wallace, The Four Immeasurables, 87-162 (recommended)
Weeks 9-10. (October 25th, November 1st) Nonduality: The Bodhisattva Path
• Beyer, 99-115
• Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso selection
Meditation Charts: Due in class (November 1st)
Weeks 11-12. (November 8th, 15th) Looking for the Mind: Mahamudra and Dzokchen
• Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, Clarifying the Natural State (focus on pp. 26-52)
• Garab Dorje, Golden Letters selection (pp. 39-41)
• Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, As It Is, Vol. 2 selections
• Namkhai Norbu, The Crystal and the Way of Light selections (optional)
Goal of Meditation Free-Write: Due in class (November 15th)
NOTE: No class Wednesday, November 22nd (Thanksgiving Holiday)
Weeks 14-15. (November 29th, December 6th) Meditation in America: The
Mindfulness Movement
• Jeff Wilson, Mindful America selection
• Robert Sharf, “Is Mindfulness Buddhist?”
• David McMahan, “Context Matters”
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Recommended for further reading, if interested:
• Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness
• Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever you Go, There you Are
(Is American Zen equivalent to Mindfulness?)
• Suzuki Roshi, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
Final Project: Due in Class (December 6th)

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Buddhist Meditation
Theology 3728.
Meditation Group Visit Instructions
You are required to visit 2 meditation groups outside of class during the first month of the
semester. There is a long list of suggestions for communities to visit at the end of this
document.
If possible, attend the groups with a partner, or a small group. Please be inclusive of
those around you, even if you don’t know each other! This will be a fun way to meet your
classmates. Make sure to leave time to discuss your experiences with each other and compare
notes after the visits.
Following each visit, please write a tour guide style review of the locations that you
visited (as you might read in Lonely Planet or some comparable source).
What should visitors to the meditation center or community expect?
Who attends this center?
What is the history of the group?
What form of Buddhism does it teach?
What do the directors, or meditation instructors, say about the purpose and approach
of the group?
What do other attendees say about why they attend?
I will expect each write-up to be at least two pages long. Each student must write their
own reviews, but you may share information with others in your group.
To be successful, you will have to speak to people at your chosen meditation center
and ask a lot of questions.

Additional Questions to Ask Yourself and Others!

• What meditation instructions were given (if any) at the session?
• How did the instructor or leader frame the meditation session(s)? What opened the
session? What closed the session? What split up meditations during the session?
• How did the instructor learn to meditate?
• What lineage or school of Buddhism is the center affiliated with?
• Is this affiliation important, according to the instructor or according to those in
attendance?
• What is meditation for, according to the instructor or attendees?
• What are you most curious about that you observed at the session? Most confused
about? Most excited about?
• How many people were there? Can you guess any information about their
demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, religious affiliations, level of expertise)?
• What was the décor of the center?
It may not be practical to take notes during the visit, so please write down your thoughts as
soon as possible after leaving.

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Recommendations of Centers to Visit
NOTE: Please contact these groups ahead of time, whenever possible, to confirm the
time of the sessions. I would strongly suggest attending during meetings that include
beginner’s meditation instruction. Take advantage of what these centers have to offer! They
will be thrilled that you are visiting.
Please choose meditation centers from two different affiliation-categories for your
two visits. Feel free to go with friends or classmates!

Centers affiliated with Theravada

(1) New York Insight Meditation Center: https://www.nyimc.org/
(2) Downtown Meditation Community New York: http://dnymc.org/
(They have a paid intro course, but no drop-in sessions I believe)
(3) The Community Meditation Center: http://www.cmcnewyork.org/
(4) Staten Island Buddhist Vihara: http://sibv.org/
Centers affiliated with Tibetan Buddhism
(1) Shambhala New York: http://ny.shambhala.org/
(2) Shantideva Meditation Center New York City:
http://shantidevameditation.org/?doing_wp_cron=1436375080.1408619880676269531250
(3) Diamond Way Buddhist Center NYC: http://www.diamondway.org/ny/
(4) The Three Jewels NYC: http://threejewels.org/about-us/
(5) Jewel Heart New York: http://www.jewelheart.org/chapters/new-york/
(6) Kadampa Meditation Center New York City: http://meditationinnewyork.org/
(7) Tibet House: http://tibethouse.us/
Centers affiliated with Chan, Zen, and Son
(1) Chan Meditation Center Queens: http://chancenter.org/cmc/
(2) Village Zendo: http://villagezendo.org/
(3) Still Mind Zendo: http://stillmindzendo.org/
(4) Zen Center of New York City : http://zcnyc.mro.org/
(5) New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care http://zencare.org/
(6) Brooklyn Zen Center: https://brooklynzen.org/
(7) Rock Blossom Sangha (Order of Interbeing), Brooklyn: http://www.rockblossom.org/
Other Centers
(1) Sokka Gakkai NYC: http://www.sgi-ny.org/new-york-culture-center/
(2) Won Buddhism of Manhattan: http://nyc.wonbuddhism.org/
Unaffiliated or Self-Identifying as American
(1) Dharma Punx: http://www.dharmapunxnyc.com/
(2) The Interdependence Project: http://theidproject.org/

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Buddhist Meditation
Theology 3728
Meditation Charts Assignment

For this assignment I would like you to make informational charts that compare any
3 forms of meditation that we have learned about in class (samatha, vipassana, sati,
jhanas, four immeasurable or boundless qualities meditation). You may design your charts
however you like, with the aim of organizing the relevant information as clearly
as possible. You may combine all 3 programs into one large chart, or make 3 charts,
or do both.

A form of meditation is: any set of steps, along with the prerequisites necessary for
carrying out those steps, which lead to partial and ultimate goals. If you have
sufficient information from our readings and discussions to describe these steps, that
is good enough to consider the subject matter at hand a form of meditation.

Your charts should answer the following questions, though you may organize the
answers however you see fit (some answers may overlap). I will evaluate you on
how well you incorporate answers into your chart(s), written in your own
words.

(1) First compile notes with whatever answers you can find to the following
questions, rephrased in your own words.

(i) What is the source for your information about this form of meditation (where
have we learned about it in class – what texts or authors, what pages)? Are there
disagreements between your sources?

(ii) What specific steps are involved in the meditation?

(iii) What are the short term and final goals of the meditation?

(iv) What gets better, or changes, through the performance of this meditation?
(Attention, concentration, specific emotions, understanding of certain ideas, parts of
the body, aspects of the mind?) Please be specific and descriptive! This is not
obvious!!!

(v) What kind of knowledge is generated? Is generating this knowledge the goal of the
program? Is this knowledge something that leads to a further end?

(vi) How do the steps lead to the goal?

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(vi) How does the form of meditation connect up with other forms we have learned
about?

(viii) Why should we think that this form of meditation works? (You may not know,
but look carefully at our sources to see if you can generate any ideas).

(ix) IMPORTANT: What assumptions do you need to make to accept that this
form of meditation works? Why would the specific steps get you to the specific
goals? This is perhaps the trickiest question. Attempting to answer it, however, is
absolutely necessary if you would like to get into the “A” grade range for this
assignment.

(2) Once you have generated answers, feel free to be as creative as you like in
organizing your information. You may create 3 separate charts, one for each form
of meditation you choose, or 1 chart that incorporates all 3 forms. Your final product
may be either electronic or physical (using computer software or real paper, for
example).

(3) You will be evaluated on:

• The clarity of the chart(s)
• The level of detail in the chart(s)—with entries explained in your own words
• The comprehensibleness of the entries into your chart
• Note: Be sure to come up with a way to cite your sources.
• Don’t skip the “assumptions” question!

(4) Do not be deceived, this is a challenging exercise! Please expect to be

frustrated as you think about these questions. Give yourself sufficient time to struggle
with how best to present the answers that you generate.

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Buddhist Meditation
Theology 3728.
Goal of Meditation Assignment
In this assignment, I would like you to respond to the following two questions.
You will gain credit by explaining your ideas thoroughly and using specific examples.
(1) Please choose one form of meditation that you are most interested in. How does the
goal of this form of meditation compare to the goal of any other religious practice that
you are familiar with (prayer, confession, a festival celebration, ceremonial meals, or
otherwise)? Please be specific about which kind of meditation, or which meditation
program you are referring to.
If you are unfamiliar with religious practices, feel free to substitute another activity
that you judge to be particularly meaningful, sacred, or special in your life.
Use the details that you have gained from class and your charting assignment to focus
your discussion of the goal of meditation. Please give specific examples when
discussing the religious practice, as well. Details, please! You will get credit for the quality
of your descriptions (not the quantity of ideas that you introduce).

(2) How does the goal of one specific form of meditation compare to the goal of college, in
your experience?
Please be specific in your examples. You will have to focus on one or two elements
of your college training (major/minor, certain core courses, specific classes, particular
assignments and requirements in your classes). How do the procedures you use to
generate valuable knowledge in each case compare?
The format for these responses is open. I would like you to write at last two pages in
response to each question. I would recommend that you start by free-writing, exploring
whatever ideas come to mind.
You should edit your writing to ensure that I can understand your ideas (imagine that you
are required to explain your ideas to a friend outside of class). With that said, you do not
need to follow a formal essay structure, nor do you need to make a single, coherent
argument.
Consider this assignment as an in-depth, edited brainstorming session. I will evaluate you
on the depth of the answers that you generate, which is to say that I will evaluate how
carefully you think about these questions. The goal is for you to generate ideas and explain
them as best you can, using specific examples.
I am far more interested in thoughtfulness than in breadth – better to speak confidently
about a few things than vaguely about many.
Have fun!
Buddhist Meditation
Theology 3728.

Participation Exercises & Reading Guides

Below is a list of reading questions, assignments and thought exercises to

complement your readings. Working through these assignments is easily the best
ways to learn something in this class, and doing so will help you in all facets of the
course.

Reading Questions are meant to help guide you through assigned texts. They may
help you to take productive notes.

Reflections invite you to consider larger questions more thoroughly. There are many
prompts below, so pick and choose as you like! Consider these reflections and
thought exercises as opportunities to show off your engagement with class
materials and themes.

Responses need not be formal. Your impressions will do.

Please create a single “google doc” for the semester, with your name in the
document title, and share it with me (jschapiro@fordham.edu), for ease of access.
Please put all of your responses from the semester into this document and add to it
whenever you like. I will look at it before giving you your participation grade. If you
have recently added an entry to your document and are excited about it, do feel free
to email me and let me know.

Have fun!

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Meditation, Liberation and Knowledge: Initial Readings
• Rupert Gethin, “Four Noble Truths”
• Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Reading Questions
What are the four truths? What are the three sufferings? Can you think of a concrete
example, from your own life, of each kind of suffering? Is it accurate to think of each
one as a form of suffering?
Where does “meditation” fit into the Four Truths? Into the Eightfold Path? How is
meditation part of the solution to the problem of suffering?
Can you locate any descriptions of what liberation (from suffering) is like in the
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta? What comes with liberation (nirvana)? What steps did
the Buddha take (as described in the text) to get there?
Meditation, Liberation and Knowledge: Additional Readings
• Anattalakkhana Sutta
• Rupert Gethin, Foundations of Buddhism pp. 112-126 (in Chapter 5, “The
Buddhist Cosmos”).
Reading Questions
What does “control” have to do with something being “self” (in Anattalakkhana
Sutta)? Does this make any sense to you?
What is the connection between things not lasting (being “inconstant”) and things
leading to suffering (being “stressful”)?
Can you identify the steps, towards the end of the text, for overcoming suffering? Do
these steps make any sense to you?
What is karma? What kinds of karmic causes appear in Gethin’s descriptions? What
effects of karma appear in Gethin’s descriptions?
Reflections
(1) How do you know you are here? What makes you so sure? Please explain.
(2) Does simply observing or registering that you are having sensory experience count
as knowledge? Is it valuable?
(3) What kind of practices in your life bring you “peace”? What kind of practices in
your life bring you “knowledge”?
Do they overlap? Can they overlap? Why, why not?
Which goal of meditation, peace or knowledge, is more attractive to you? Why? Are
the two related? How?

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(4) Please consider an example of sensory stimulation that you actually experience
during your day (in class we will discuss the experience of walking by a store with nice
looking shoes in the window). What are the potential consequences of this sensory
experience? What are some of the short-term and long-term consequences of having
such an experience? Are you in control of your emotional responses to the
stimulation? Are you in control of your judgments about whatever you are sensing?
How might the idea of karma (actions, within cause and effect relationships) help you
to explain the consequences that your sensory experience might have on your future?
(5) In your experiments with meditation, have you had experiences of attachment?
Are you attached to being “good” at meditation? To doing it right? To accomplishing
something practical? What do you hope meditation will do for you?
How Do Buddhists Talk about Meditation? : Initial Readings
• Gunaratana, 1-3
• Shankman xiii-xvii, 55-56, 83-90, 101-104
• Gunaratana, 149-169
• Analayo, 44-49
Reading Questions
Can you find definitions for the following terms in the readings (please note page
numbers for future reference)? What does each term demand from a meditator?
What steps does a practitioner take, with respect to each?
• Samatha
• Samadhi
• Jhana
• Sati
• Vipassana
Reflections
(1) Are there any procedures, outside of meditation, that you are familiar with for
generating non-distracted concentration? Are there any procedures, outside of
meditation, that make use of “single-pointed” concentration? How are they valued in
our culture? What are they good for?
(2) Do we value “blissing out” (getting to subtle states of pleasure where once cannot
be distracted by other concerns) in our culture? Can you come up with concrete
examples? How might these examples compare with jhanas?
(3) What kinds of truths have the capacity to change how you view reality? Can you
list an example? What kinds of knowledge constitute realizations—such that once
you have them, you can never “undo” the consequences? Can you come up with any
concrete examples?

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(4) What is so valuable about noticing that things change? Can you come up with
some concrete examples?
How Do Buddhists Talk about Meditation? : Additional Readings

• Beyer 79-89
• Martin Adam, “Two Concepts of Meditation” (Recommended)
• Griffiths, “Indian Buddhist Meditation” (Recommended)
Reading Questions:
What are some of the prerequisites necessary for meditating in the first place,
according to the Beyer translated reading? What conditions are necessary for success?
Who meditates, in this text?
Which of the kinds of meditation that we have learned about (samatha, samadhi,
jhana, sati, vipassana) appear in this reading? Where? In what order?

Theravada Meditations in Focus: Meditation on the Breath (Jhanas &

Satipatthana)
• Shankman, xiii-xviii (review), 3-17
• Shankman, 67-76
• Visuddhimagga selection (recommended)
• Shankman, 21-31
• Beyer, 89-99
• Analayo, 125-136
Reading Questions
What are the differences between each of the jhanas, as described in Shankman?
Which of these subtle meditative states seem most attractive to you? Does Shankman
seem to think that they are valuable? Why?
What is the difference between mindfulness (sati) and the single-pointed
concentration of samatha?
Do Shankman, Beyer, and Analayo all describe mindfulness in the same way? Does
the Beyer translation itself offer a singular view of what counts as sati meditation?
What confuses you most about these descriptions of mindfulness?

Reflections
(1) Does noticing that things change in Vipassana meditation (as described by
Gunaratana and Shankman as “momentary concentration”) strike you as an objective
observation of the true nature of reality?

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Is witnessing pervasive impermanence a self-fulfilling procedure (where you notice it
because you are looking for it)?
Does it matter whether Vipassana is objective or a product of one’s expectations?
(2) Is non-conceptual knowledge possible? If it is possible to access states of
awareness that precede judgments and thoughts (seeing the color blue without
judging it to be attractive or non-attractive, nor labeling it “blue,”), would you
consider such an experience to be “knowledge”? Would you consider it valuable?
As Gunaratana describes it, sati is a “pure experience interlocked with the rest of
reality” that is simultaneously a “deep knowing.” What do you think he means?
(3) Where have you come across talk about “mindfulness” and “being present in the
moment” in your life (outside of class)? Do the goals of such talk seem to you to
accord with what we have learned about sati practice? Please consider specific
examples.
(4) Does it make sense to you that, as Ajahn Brahm claims, that our minds are
naturally still (review the video posted to Blackboard)? How, then, would you explain
all of the busyness of thoughts and emotions?
Does meditation bring you to a “natural” state, or artificially change your mood and
state of mind? What do the words “natural” and “artificial” mean, in this context?
(5) What does Jon Kabat-Zinn (see the video posted to Blackboard) mean when he
suggests that “paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-
judgmentally, as if your life depended on it” is a way to “reclaim your life”?
Why would it “give us freedom to navigate” our relationships? What could that
mean?

Training the Emotions: The Four Immeasurables

• Patrul Rinpoche, Words of My Perfect Teacher selection (stop at “Training in the
Precepts of the bodhicitta of application”)
• B. Alan Wallace, The Four Immeasurables, 87-162 (recommended)
What are the four boundless (or immeasurable) qualities described in the Patrul
Rinpoche reading? What images, or examples, does he provide to help you to
understand what they entail?
What are the steps for meditating on loving kindness, as described in the Wallace
reading? How do these steps help you to build impartiality (or equanimity), as well?
Reflections
(1) Where, in our culture, do we train emotions and attitudes (such as loving-
kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy)? How do we do so? Is it necessary to
practice generating these attitudes in order to be good person?

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(2) Is it possible to pursue justice while also having an attitude of impartiality (having
an equal attitude or motivation of love, compassion, and sympathetic joy for all
beings)? Can you think of examples to support your intuition?
(3) What is it like to spend a morning imagining that everyone you encounter has
been your mother in the past or cared for you in the past?
What is it like to spend a morning noticing that whatever everyone around you is
doing, they, like you, are pursuing happiness and freedom from suffering?
How do these experiments change how you look at others, if at all? How do they
change how you interact with others?
(4) Please gather together movie or television clips, or popular videos, or books that
have the capacity to help us get in touch with, familiarize ourselves with, and train us
in the four boundless qualities: loving kindness, compassion, joy, impartiality.
How would this clip/book/video teach us about the specific quality you have
chosen?
Which books/movies/television programs (non-fiction included) in our culture
counteract the four boundless qualities? Please be specific.
What alternatives to these qualities does our culture valorize? Can you think of
specific examples?
(5) Please find two examples of journalism (news coverage or feature stories) that
model impartial yet compassionate coverage of its subjects.
Please find two examples of journalistic stories that are impartial yet free of
compassionate understanding of its subjects.
What are the responsibilities of journalists with respect to emotional impartiality and
understanding?

Nonduality: The Bodhisattva Path

• Beyer, 99-115
• Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso selection
Reading Questions
Why, in the Beyer reading, is compassion a prerequisite for the rest of the path? What
metaphors does he use to describe compassion’s importance? Can you locate the
“boundless qualities” meditation practice in this reading?
Where does study and learning fit into the path, in the Beyer reading? Is it possible to
be liberated just by meditating? Why is meditation necessary? What would happen if
one studied, without applying meditation?

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Can you locate Samatha in this reading? Samadhi? Sati? Jhanas? Vipassana?
Can you explain “The Dream Example,” on page 23 of the Khenpo Tsultrim reading
to yourself, in your own words? Can you explain it to a friend? What about “The
Dream Example” on page 41-42?
Reflections
(1) What things are you dependent on, on a daily basis? What is your body dependent
on? Who are you dependent upon?
Where would you look for the part of you that is “independent” from everything that
is not you? Is any part of your body independent? Is any part of your mind? Are your
memories? Are your senses? If so, please explain how.
(2) How do you know that you are not dreaming right now?
What is different about waking experience and dreaming experience? Why are you so
sure?
When you look at something, are you accessing something material, outside of
yourself, or just a mental impression? Please use a concrete example to think about.
When you listen to something, are you accessing something material, outside of
yourself, or just a mental impression? Please use a concrete example to think about.
(3) Are you sure that you experience the same world as your friends? How so? How
not? Are you confident that you all have the same experiences of “blue” or “red” or
“yellow”? Of “hot” or “cold”?
(4) Is your mind one thing, or many things?
Is your mind inside of you, or outside of you?
Where are the boundaries of your mind? Where is the middle of your mind?
What color is your mind? What shape is your mind? What size is your mind?
Is your mind in the present? In the past? In the future? If it is in the present, can you
experience it there? How long does the present last?
Where does your mind, in the present, come from?
(5) Can the experience of “non-conceptual awareness” (reflexive awareness—
awareness that is aware of itself—that makes no judgments whatsoever about what it
is aware of) be considered knowledge? Is it valuable? Would you like to spend your
life living like that? Why so, or why not?

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Looking for the Mind: Mahamudra and Dzokchen
• Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, Clarifying the Natural State (focus on pp. 26-52)
• Garab Dorje, Golden Letters selection (pp. 39-41)
• Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, As It Is, Vol. 2 selections
• Namkhai Norbu, The Crystal and the Way of Light selections (optional)
Reading Questions
What are Dakpo Tashi Namgyal’s suggestions for exploring the nature of the mind
(beginning on page 27)? What qualities of mind does he suggest meditators look for?
Can you make sense of his directions, on page 32, for looking at “anger”? Can you
explain the wave and water metaphor on page 33? The mirror metaphor on page 35?
How does the comparison of our mind to a mirror work on pages 97-99 of the
Namkhai Norbu reading? Why is a mirror is never changed by what it reflects? Why
does a mirror always reflect (or always produce reflections)? Why can anything be
reflected in a mirror that is placed in front of it? How is your mind like a mirror
according to Namkhai Norbu?
Reflections
(1) The Mahamudra tradition suggests that, beneath (or within), every experience—
whether a thought (good/bad) or a perception (tree, table, friend, enemy)—there is
the same inexpressible yet experienced mind. Tibetans call this the “one taste” of all
experience (all experience is a manifestation of inexpressible yet aware mind).
Why would it help to notice the “one taste” in one’s experience of anger and
happiness? In one’s experience of something that smells good or smells bad? In one’s
interactions with someone you like or dislike? What might be the consequences of
practicing doing so?
(2) Is it possible that your mind, by nature, is compassionate? What could that
mean? Is there a relationship between the mind’s boundless capacity to “go out” and
experience the world and the feeling of compassion? How are they related?
(3) Why might compassion be necessary for true understanding of the nature of
reality? Is it actually necessary for understanding?

8
Meditation in America: The Mindfulness Movement
• Jeff Wilson, Mindful America selection
• Robert Sharf, “Is Mindfulness Buddhist?”
• David McMahan, “Context Matters”
Recommended for further reading, if interested:
• Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness
• Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever you Go, There you Are
• (Is American Zen equivalent to Mindfulness?)
Suzuki Roshi, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
Reading Questions
What are the problems, or debates, surrounding “mindfulness” in the Wilson, Sharf,
and McMahan readings? What do people disagree about?
Are there different estimations of the value of mindfulness? Are there different
estimations of the authenticity of the way that mindfulness is taught in America? Are
there different estimations of who mindfulness is for?
Do any of these disagreements concern you and your experiments with meditation?
Reflections
What would have to be true about mindfulness meditation to make it worth it for you
to spend your time on it?
What would be most valuable about mindfulness, for you?
Do the readings raise any doubts or concerns for you, personally?