An undistracted mind
Although the word is the same, the meaning is different. The undistracted mind that has mindfulness and attentiveness - the continuity of undistracted naturalness - is called awareness.Ībove we used the word mind when discussing looking at the nature of mind, and here we are using mind for the distracted aspect that must be given up. There are small thoughts that start without us knowing how or when. In some meditation manuals, this is called the undercurrent. It is as if we don’t know when we got distracted. Then many thoughts arise and the mind becomes unclear. When we rest within the nature of mind, that is what Khenpo Gangshar calls “the continuity of undistracted naturalness,” but when we get distracted, we forget that experience and lose it. The reason we need to distinguish mind from awareness is that there is a nondistracted aspect that recognizes the nature of mind and a distracted aspect that has forgotten its nature.
![an undistracted mind an undistracted mind](https://miro.medium.com/max/1104/1*WpTOIWs5M1Jpgq8Pggq5RA.png)
In addition to recognizing the nature of the mind, we also need to know when we are experiencing resting in awareness of the nature of mind and when we are experiencing mind, the confused aspect. This is the difficulty that can arise if we do not distinguish between mind and awareness - between the distracted and undistracted mind. This is why they are said to be far away from the natural great perfection - they are unable to practice dzogchen meditation.
An undistracted mind free#
If they could come to a place where it was clear and light, they would be able to see and to free themselves, but they do not know this and instead wander about in the confused darkness of delusion. People who think they are in the midst of darkness. Actually, all of these discursive thoughts circling through their minds are the confused appearances of samsara, not ultimate bodhichitta, and to think they are wisdom or ultimate bodhichitta is actually complete delusion. They think it is the dharma nature, the way the mind-essence is: they think they have realized the nature of all phenomena. When such people practice dzogchen, a thought happens and then they follow it, thinking that the movement of thoughts in the mind is all ultimate bodhichitta. They don’t know what is good and what is bad. If they try to meditate, they don’t know how. Such people are actually just big, stupid.
An undistracted mind how to#
Such ignorant people, in their realm of darkness,Īre far away from the meaning of the natural Great Perfection.Īlthough many people think they are practicing atiyoga or dzogchen, many of them do not know how to differentiate between mind and awareness.
![an undistracted mind an undistracted mind](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/undistractedmindteachingrinpoche-120625144006-phpapp01/95/undistracted-mind-teaching-sogyal-rinpoche-8-728.jpg)
His wife's letters hope were compiled into a book (found on Google Play).The big oxen pretending to know ati nowadaysĬlaim that discursive thinking is awakened mind. I have recommended the book to friends who also were deeply impacted. Read his biography (also available for purchase in softcover form from under the title of "Thirty Years Among South Seas Cannibals") if you read nothing else this year. When he left as an old man, there were no pagans. It was said of John Paton that there were no Christians on Aniwa when he landed. Not only did the Patons make disciples on Aniwa, they cared for many orphans over the years along with their own children. The people of the two islands shared kinship ties, but the Aniwans were generally much less violent.