The Relaxed Mind by Dza Kilung Rinpoche

Author:Dza Kilung Rinpoche
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shambhala Publications

REFLECTION I

A DEEPER LOOK INTO TOPICS COVERED SO FAR

This chapter and its counterpart—Reflection II—are optional to this meditation manual. Readers ready to “get down to business” with meditation can skip them. All the information necessary to develop a strong meditation practice is contained in the seven chapters on meditation itself. However, there may be some people new to meditation who are curious to know the original sources of these seven styles. And those with some experience in Tibetan Buddhism may wish to connect the less-traditional approach presented here to the standard practice sequences and philosophies as they are usually presented.

Since the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni (also called Gautama and Siddhartha), taught in the fifth century B.C.E., many Buddhist traditions have come into being. The Buddha taught for forty-five years. Some of his students developed powerful memories, and shortly after his parinirvana (death), a conference was held to record what the Buddha had said. From those teachings over a dozen schools developed, with only one of them surviving to this day—the “teaching of the elders,” or Theravada. This school, whose main practices include shamatha and vipassana, is found today in Southeast Asia. Later the Mahayana (“Great Vehicle”) and then the Vajrayana (“Diamond Vehicle”) developed in India and spread to China and Japan and, beginning in the eighth century, to Tibet. Tibetan Buddhism combines all three major Buddhist traditions—Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana—into a seamless whole. Beginners usually start with the practices of the Theravada, continuing on to the Mahayana and Vajrayana, which are considered more subtle, refined, and powerful.

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