24 Hours a Day Meditation

Lord Buddha Shakyamuni said, “This is how I found the light and awakened mind. If you do it in this way, you also will awaken.” His method of explaining it was compelling, honest and clear. His accomplished followers later organized this process with Lord Buddha as the central jewel. The methods we use in the Tibetan system are sophisticated and inextricably energetically tied to the Buddhist path and unbroken lineages from Buddha Shakyamuni.

These are reproducible effects that we have not only learned, but also enthusiastically disseminated to others. To do that correctly means that even today, it will have the same results. Over thousands of years, these inner lines of transmission have been carefully preserved so that when the actual breakthrough comes, the light of dharmakaya (1) wisdom fully permeates our being. Only then will we understand perfectly what the Buddha meant by awakened mind.

Because the nature of dharmakaya is comprehensive it includes final preparation for extraordinary compassion. This allows the meditator to set aside self-cherishing as a strategy that is no longer needed. By the innate view that sees the impermanent as permanent, human beings are capable of working with their own minds in ways that other forms of life cannot. Maximum benefit should be gathered from this built in sense of separateness and feelings of caring for others should be practiced and enhanced.

Beyond beginner practices of caring for others, is learning to care for others more than we do for ourselves. However, the transitional stages of compassion training caution us to do what we can and not pressure ourselves to be more compassionate than we can tolerate. If we falter in this training we might cause fear to arise instead of compassion due to rough treatment of the sensitive instrument of the mind.

We must have good relationship with the lama to understand if pushing too hard or not hard enough. After that breakthrough, when the meditator is introduced to dharmakaya nature, it will depend on the nature of the person, how effective they will be. For the one who is careful to stabilize this breakthrough, even when they are asleep or not actively meditating or even what you might call distracted, part of them is still actively meditating and within the dharmakaya.

They have become an illuminated human being. They are an enlightened being? No, they live within enlightened way of being while in human form. A portion of their mind is absorbed in the vast sphere of dharmakaya even though they are not actively meditating on the outside. The portion of their mind which is still in transitional as a further clarification of their own awakening is seeking benefit and accomplishing benefit for myriad beings through activity inspired by the vast dharmakaya.

So, the power of the merit that comes from this kind of mind would be an amount of merit equal to the sky. This is a continuous flow of merit generated by this newly enlightened being directed toward living beings like a conduit. The dedication of the newly found source of vast merits can cause living beings to be uplifted and set free. This is the powerful benefit of your own enlightenment to your world and its inhabitants.

Footnote: (1) The Dharmakaya, or Truth Body of the Buddha, is empty. It is beyond conceptual elaboration, and cannot be posited as a Thing, a Being, or anything else. It is really beyond existence and non-existence. Yet it is posited as "having qualities," and of being of the nature of "clear light."It must be understood that these two points of view are not mutually
exclusive. (from Khandro.net)