..續本文上一頁l be straight.” And so, if the body is crooked, then the channels will not be straight. Therefore it is important to keep the body straight so that the channels are straight. If the channels are straight, the winds will be straight. In that case, the winds will not go back and forth but go as they should in the body. When hearing about wind, one takes it to be the coarse breath. In this context, the subtle wind is the quality of motion and movements in one”s body. Motion is the characteristic of wind. If there is a lot of wind moving in one”s body and is not moving well, then there will be a lot of different thoughts that will arise in one”s mind. And if there are a lot of thoughts in one”s mind, this will harm or hinder mind”s ability to rest. So, for this reason, in order to develop deep holding, i.e., good samadhi, it is important to hold one”s body straight by sitting straight.

　　There are two sections for the points of the mind, the general and specific instructions. There is a quote that describes the general instructions for the mind during meditating, which reads: “Do not follow after the tracks of the past. Do not send out a welcome to the future, rather rest in equipoise in the present moment.”

　　“Do not follow after the tracks of the past” refers to the fact that all things change from moment to moment – things change every instant. Things go from being in the future; in the next moment they are in the present, and in the next moment they belong to the past. So, every moment things change and go by in a momentary fashion. When looking at external objects, it can be difficult to see that external things change so quickly and in every moment. But when looking at one”s own mind, one can see that thoughts first arise and then they go into the past, i.e., in one moment thoughts are in the future, in the next moment they are in the present, and then they are in the past. When they have gone into the past, they have ended. So, whatever thought there is, when it is in the past it has ceased and is no more. Whether it is a thought of one of the three afflictions of hatred, greed, or delusion, or whether it is a good thought of faith and devotion, when it goes into the past, it is gone. Likewise, thoughts of the future concern things that have not happened yet, so they, too, cannot be objects of observation. One can only look at present moments. But present moments are extremely short and belong to the past very fast. If one can rest in the space of the short time of a present moment, without being distracted and leaning away by following after thoughts, then it is good. If one can look at the present, without many thoughts happening, then this is enough. This is all one needs to do in meditation. These are the general points of the mind that are taught in the text.

　　In the instructions, Pointing Out the Dharmakaya, the Ninth Karmapa then explained the specific points and first said to use an external object of form for meditation. He offered instructions on using the external objects of sound, smell, taste, or touch as the bases for meditation. Then he taught tranquillity meditation without a support. Following, he presented instructions for doing meditation by using the breath. These are all described very clearly, so you can read them. I thought that it would be more beneficial to spend a bit of time explaining how to rest with the mind better. If you understand how to rest with your mind, how your mind is and what to use when meditating, then it would be very beneficial.

　　The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, wrote a treatise entitled, Distinguishing Consciousness from Wisdom.5 In this treatise, he describes the eight different collections of consciousnesses that we have. Which consciousness does one use when meditating

　　 How i…

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