Mindfulness Meditation Teaching by His Holiness Khenchen Lama Rinpoche

There are many different kinds of Mindfulness meditation. I’m teaching mindfulness meditation here because three years ago, I was at a Mindfulness Meditation scientist class. I understand Buddhism mindfulness meditation. There is Mindfulness of samsara meditation and Mindfulness of nirvana meditation.

First, I will teach samsara Mindfulness meditation. Samsara Mindfulness meditation is the focusing of the six consciousnesses – vision, touch, hearing, smell, taste and mind. Then do positive meditation. For example, you first control yourself. You look at yourself and take care of your six consciousnesses. And take care of the environment.

For example, to do meditation of samsara mindfulness, while eating a banana. First you look at the banana. Notice its color and shape (rectangle, square, circle, triangle). Then you touch the banana. How does it feel? Is it warm, cold, soft, hard? Is the skin smooth, rough? Then you listen to the banana and you speak to the banana. “Hello banana. May I eat you please?” Imagine the banana agrees and says, “Yes, you can eat me now”.

As you open the banana, check the smell. Is it a good or a bad smell? If it is a good smell, put your tongue on the banana and taste it. Then eat. In this example, you have looked, touched, listened after you asked a question, smelled, tasted with your tongue, and then eaten. This is eye consciousness, touch consciousness, ear consciousness, smell consciousness, taste consciousness, and mind consciousness control all focused together. For example, you can also eat other foods next such as an apple, orange, lemon, or watermelon.

Then you think back, what foods did you just eat? How many foods did you eat? What was the first, second, third, fourth, fifth food you ate? Do you remember what color and what was the shape of each food? What did each one feel like? What did you hear? What did each smell like? What was the taste of each one? Did you like it or not like it? Do this mindfulness meditation.

It will help your memory. When you eat, carefully look, touch, listen, smell and taste. Carefully eat. And do the same for all food, vegetables and other food. Also do the same for drinking. Look, touch, listen, smell, and taste, is the food clean or not clean? Eat this way. Everything you know and you can control. Then it will help your memory, concentration and focusing of mindfulness. This is samsara scientist Mindfulness Meditation.

Nirvana Mindfulness meditation is we don’t think while eating, drinking, walking, sitting, sleeping. Don’t think of small samsara things. Instead, think that you have a precious human life and especially now you are not in hell; you are not an animal, hungry ghost, jealous god, or god. But you have a special, precious human life.

Very differently understand that you are better than an animal. Think of what is useful for this life time and next life time – our precious human life.
Then you know that this physical body is temporary. Think of past, present, and future – everything changes. Whether you are rich, poor, a hero, all kings, countries, and families – everything is impermanent.

And at any moment, things can change and we will pass away. A long life might be 100 years and then we are not here in this world. This body is temporary, everything is temporary. Think that when you die, you will lose everything. If you are rich, poor, a king or a queen, you leave everyone and everything behind.

Understand that you will go to the bardo and then to one of the different realms because you didn’t do meditation. You didn’t control yourself. You didn’t save good virtue for next life. Also, it is more difficult when you die if you don’t do these things.

Then now think carefully: you have a precious life, and everything is impermanent. After you die, it isn’t like when a fire dies and nothing happens. This isn’t what happens for a human. If you did good things this life, then you will have a good life next time. If you didn’t do good things this life, you will go to animal, hell or one of the other realms. This is karma. And, all of the six realms of samsara are suffering.

For example, a dog can take care of a family. He or she can do this and then they can be born as a human next life. Humans, if they do negative things and don’t save virtue, can go to one of the other samsara realms which are all suffering. The Hell realm is due to too much anger and here one suffers from too much heat. The Hungry Ghost realm is due to too much desire and here one suffers from not eating for 1000 years. The animal realm is due to ignorance and the suffering here is from being eaten by other animals. The human realm is due to ego and the suffering is birth, old age, sickness and death. The Jealous God realm is due to fighting and the suffering is more fighting. And the god realm is due to laziness and the suffering is falling from this realm. These are the realms we can be born into if we don’t use our precious human life in a positive way. It is important that we think of and take care of our karma this life and for next life.

Then think of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Also think of and do the Four Roots meditation of Guru, Yidam, Dakini and Dharmapalas. Think of your body, speech and mind – the Three Kayas. Also do consort practice mindfulness, blessing yourself. Also, Thodgal meditation, and Great Perfection mindfulness meditation including for Rainbow body. Nirvana Mindfulness meditation, are all of these from precious human life and impermanence to nature of mind, primordial pure, kadag meditation.
The most important of these is the Four Roots meditation. It is important for people who are new to Buddhism as well as long time practitioners. Whether you are young or old. And, it is easy to do. It is very important to always do Four Roots meditation mindfulness.

In nirvana Mindfulness meditation, we think of these Four Thoughts of precious human life, impermanence, karma and suffering. Nirvana Mindfulness meditation also includes the way out of suffering through the different Buddhism meditation practices.

These are samsara Mindfulness meditation and nirvana Mindfulness meditation.

Inner Mindfulness. Khenchen Lama.