Six spheres of existence.
Four Yogas of Mahamudra.
Yoga of One-pointedness - Repentance.;
Yoga of simplicity - Contact;
Yoga of One-Taste - purify mind by proper application of the outer phenomena;
Yoga of Non-Meditation - Eight Infinite Senses.
The Four Main Deviations.
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Six spheres of existence.
1. All of us are mortal; there is no sense in enmity.
2. My body is mortal; it is foolish to gather around it unnecessary things and the signs of respect of others.
3. Death is a natural phenomenon; we are to face it being awake.
4. Death from disease happens owing to the false way of life.
5. Sudden death or death from violence happen owing to the past deeds, which has ripened like seeds, which had been sown, brought shoots and are bearing fruit.
6. Death from the old age is natural, as existence is changeable.
7. Fear and doubts accompany thinking of death because of desires cherished in one's soul.
8. Outwardly dying appears as follows: first, the body becomes breathless, then gets cold, and then decomposes until only dust remains.
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9. Inwardly dying leads to the out-bodily perception, which may be awake or perverted like in delirium, and then to rebirth in one of the six realms, in accordance with the way of life accomplished.
If realization was not attained yet, but deeds are worthy and trust is strong, spiritual beings like angels or the own spiritual teachers, taking one to the auspicious places, are seen.
10. The pleasing realm of celestial beings gives rest and pleasure to the senses, but existence in this realm is limited by the amount of good deeds committed in this lifetime. Arrogance prevents from the realization of truth in this realm.
11. The realm of the nature elements (titans) is endowed with power, but lacks peace. Merging with an element, hurricane or mountain happens because of envy and discontentment. Disappearance of a mountain or of any other element brings to being reborn in the human realm.
12. The realm of ghosts is like a mirage. The beings of this realm are constantly desiring and lusting, but never get that which they desire due to the absence of the bodily form of senses in them. This realm is limited by the bounds of lust and desire.
13. The hell realm is a place of suffering and despair, which a consciousness goes through due to the evil deeds. Their amount creates the boundaries of hell.
14. The animal realm is a world of beings capable of suffering and of pleasure, like humans, but their bodies cannot serve as means to realization. The limits of this world are ignorance and laziness.
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15. The human realm is auspicious a wise one. Here there is the possibility for gathering of necessary experience and for realization. From a position of senses, this brings to liberation. An experience in this realm is limited by anger.
16. Those, who put together wisdom and compassion, they remove all limits and untie all chains.
17. The ground for wisdom is every breath. The seed of compassion is an ordinary awareness of what's going on, without distraction of thought.
18. The obstacles for the realization of the true are the following: envy (or dissatisfaction); anger; pride (or egoism); lust (or greed, desire); laziness (or ignorance); evil deeds - altogether these are the six diseases-obstacles.
19. The six realms are in themselves the remedies for the six diseases.
20. The human birth is precious for a disciple. It leads to the cure of all diseases in the patient and well-wishing, but brings to the aggravation of the all diseases-obstacles in the ignorant and unrestrained.
21. Applying the teaching for all of your life, you'll find nothing else but experience. When a flower is opening, a bee is already on the place.
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Yoga of One-pointedness. Repentance.
1. Repentance clears the mind from all traces of the outer cognition.
2. This brings to the uncovering of mind-essence, which does not need any affirmation of the
own existence.
3. When mind-essence has been uncovered, its extensive purity does not accept the reality of suffering.
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The key moment of practice in the method of repentance is a profundity of understanding of norm.
What is norm?
Peace between people, prosperity, development of spiritual aspirations of person, supported by the society - are the norm.
Health, strength and skillfulness of the body, living until the old age are the norm.
The happy contentment, wakefulness and openness of senses are the norm.
Concentration, realization and knowing of truth are the norm.
Confidence in the attainability of all these by means of auspicious accumulations of wisdom and good deeds, being passed from life to life, is the norm.
When we meet with any deviation from these norms, suffering arises naturally.
Identification of this suffering with repentance is a main technical device of the practice.
Identification of suffering with repentance reveals the understanding of the causes of suffering, clearing the mind.
This means that non-satisfactoriness of ignorance, anger and attachment becomes evident.
And what is more, we come to the deep understanding of the cause of suffering.
Ignorance becomes visible as our fixation on the materiality of the body. This vision and the knowing of emptiness of the material existence arise in coherence, as an active and a relaxing phases of reflection.
Attachment becomes visible as disappointment. This vision and the knowing of emptiness of
desires also arise in coherence.
Anger is seen as our intention for retention. This vision arises in coherence with the knowing of emptiness of the conceptual thinking.
Repentance may be realized by means of identifying it with suffering, as is described above, and by means of the deepened contemplation in the following way:
I repent in evil deeds, words and thoughts, which have been undertaken by me.
I repent that my deeds, words and thoughts were not good enough to make their today's effects perfect.
I repent in false views and in ignorance, which have been hiding from me the path to liberation for a countless number of lives.
I repent in lack of good intention and of wisdom of its embodying, which give rise to all the good in this world.
The experiences of practice and realization may be brought to three main experiences: clarity, bliss and non-duality.
The mistakes are fixation, exaltation and hindering the thought-process.
The experience of clarity consists, mainly, in the deepening and refining process of cutting off the causes of suffering, that start to be perceived physically as a subtle form of suffering, being cut off (yielding the cutting off) and leaving emptiness on its place. The distinctness of comprehension of this emptiness is called the experience of clarity.
(Mentioning the cutting off suffering being perceived physically, we mean that, as due to the quality
of natural duality our thoughts are the reflection of objects of the physical world and vice versa,
operating with thought in our own heart we thus influence the phenomena of the physical world.)
Realization of clarity consists in ability to comprehend this clear emptiness as mind-essence, primordially coherent in all sentient beings.
The mistake of fixation on the experience of clarity hinders the realization that an obscured mind is given the same nature as an enlightened one.
Importance of this realization consists in deepening of the experience of clarity up to achievement of natural state, when while in contact with obscuration the clear vision on its arising, formation and cessation is carried out, which destroys the tendency to fall under the influence of deluded impulses.
In other words, the ability to perceive changes in our own mind and not to fall under the magical spell of the change of decorations of existence is called the clarity of the realization phase.
The experience of bliss consists in soft contentment and width of acceptance of the world, arising in
the course of fading away of personal orientations for success and fear of failures.
Realization of bliss consists in the path of merging of this experience with bodhicitta( the good intention ), directing our activity to the good of existence.
The mistake of exaltation consists in being charmed by the width and openness, which are not realized as the qualities of the very mind. In such case the experience of bliss is projected to the surrounding world, producing thoughts of absolutist character, like: "How beautiful this world is!", "How perfect all the existing is!"
Thus, realization differs from the experience of bliss by the firmness of good intention; this is expressed in simplicity and in interpretation of own experience without superfluous decorations.
The experience of non-duality consists in cessation of the conceptual thinking, often expressing itself as the spontaneous flow of observations.
Realization of non-duality consists in the phenomenon that thoughts by themselves are started to be perceived as object of observation, without being involved or reluctance.
The mistake of hindering the thought-process consists in opposing of thought to other objects of perception. Indeed, the intense thought-process blocks the activity of senses, but the same may be said about any intensive process of perception, absorbing all others. As hindering the thought-process brings to the disturbing of natural duality, we find out that inhibition of thoughts inhibits the existence on the whole.
Realization of non-duality of thought in relation to other objects of perception is self-knowing.
Self-knowing differs from the experience of non-thought, as emptiness of the wheel's hub differs from the emptiness of the jug.
Thus, the consciousness is cleared off the traces of the outer cognition (that are attachment and aversion), while preserving knowing and abilities of the ordinary thinking.
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As repentance connects an object and a reaction to it (causes and phenomena), it is, in fact, impossible to draw boundary between "me" and "others".
This means, that mind-essence that is discovered in practice of repentance, is not limited by the individual ideas and qualities.
In the course of practice of repentance, with the refinement of ability to perceive the causes of suffering and the deepening of realization of the non-permanency of existence, the effect of the ability to repent in every suffering, in whomsoever it is inherent, is noted.
Properly speaking, contemplation over the non-permanence of existence exposes every suffering we meet or even information about any suffering as insufficiency of abiding in the ocean of poisons of ignorance, anger and attachment.
Deepening of this contemplation-repentance with the help of the outer stimuli cuts off the inner causes, awakening thirst for liberation, good intention and sensible self-knowing.
Refinement of the perception of causes, occurring on the inner plane, reduces the unhealthy
sensitivity to the outer irritants, opening in our consciousness a new possibility of repentance in the roots, that gave birth to sufferings we meet. On this stage repentance becomes a pure mental act, gaining accuracy and power. This process is a process of giving.
When the mind-essence manifests its qualities through the practice of repentance, the need in
conformation of its own existence (that is clinging to thoughts, emotions, outer objects and the like without realization that our own mind produces all these) declines, being absorbed by the capacity for acting.
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Because, as the result of gaining confidence in the mind-essence, the soil, seed and sprout are seen separately, the suffering stops to be a subject of faith and the feeling of the possibility to attain the freedom arise.
The soil is a primordial nature of mind, non-apparent, formless, giving place for everything, possessing the only one quality of the self-knowledge.
The seed is a complex of remnant impressions, becoming apparent as desires-attachments, fear-anger and indifference-ignorance, or as good intention, wisdom of self-knowledge and freedom.
The sprout is a patterns of enjoyment and suffering, that are assimilated from the all-containing soil by the seed according to its inclinations.
Thus, the confidence in and the insight into the capacity of complete liberation are gained, which is identical to the direct perception of mind-essence.
Concerning the results of such practice the following may be said:
Its results are absolute in the intermediate state between death and new birth (the bardo), where the mental action instantly cuts off the very suffering.
Its results depend on the phase of forming of suffering in the ordinary world, where the forming factor may be in three phases – of mental activity (arising), acceleration (stabilization), and relative disappearance (together with the circumstances, that are forming it physically).
If the forming factor is in the phase of arising – the repentance would be most effective.
If the forming factor (image, disease and so on) has rooted in, accreted with individuality, then, to achieve success in practice, it is necessary to form a possibility for the disclosing of potential of auspicious accumulations in this person. If such are available, then repentance in their non-revelation will bring to success. If the auspicious accumulations are insufficient, then it's necessary to repent in the lack of tendency to form them in this individual. Then cessation of suffering should be achieved stage by stage, duration of which depends on the degree of conditioning by the traces of outer cognition, i.e. on the degree of attachment and aversion, and the conditioning itself is a subject to repentance.
The above-stated shows that in the ordinary world the success of repentance depends on how wisely we manage to apply the method of the stage-by-stage liberation from suffering.
The truly wise repentance should not be tense. If the repentance concurs with the necessary form of action, it reminds drawing water from the well or from the shallow reservoir (depending on the duration of practice).
Though repentance begins as feeling of getting rid from sufferings, in its mature form it is like the revealing the good or the way to it.
That is why a contact with repentance at first is painful, but blissful in the end.
The wisdom, perceiving sensations of pain and bliss as a seed, and objects that cause their rise as the all-supporting ground, brings to the realization of identity of mind and phenomena. Though this realization brings to the cutting down of the actual practice of repentance, if the practicing one has rightly understood the value of goodwill, then the practice would be carried out naturally, according to its appropriateness.
Such is a result of conscious repentance, not limited by conceptual thinking.
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Yoga of Simplicity-Contact.
The wakefulness of the senses is a healthy condition of practice (where by practice we mean the all-Buddhist concept of the Eight-Fold Path).
In spite of the variety of objects we perceive, all the sensations arising in the course of contact may be reduced to five groups. Using a metaphor of the sea, let's conventionally name them as the following:
- Surface
- Diving
- Ascending current
- Descending (downward-moving) current
- Bottom
The metaphorical definition of life in terms of the sea, contemplatively, may be based upon the comparison of the phenomena of the world with waves, raising and fading away; the mental precondition of our metaphor is the origination of life from water and the initial development of the fetus in water, which predetermines the subconscious presence of this image in our thoughts.
Finally and analytically, the water element intensifies energy's contact, as we have learned from electro-conductivity.
Here we describe the method of liberation, by observing sense activity:
1.The Surface is a state of lightness and joyous peace, as if we are floating on gentle waves, not far from the shore.
2.Diving is like swimming in the thickness of water, beneath the surface, where even things we are familiar with look shaky and unstable.
3. The Ascending current is a flow bringing us up, to the surface.
4. The Descending current is a flow forcibly drawing us down and stormy by the nature.
5. The Bottom is the heaviness of our own being, routine and of limited perception.
The perverted attitude of these experiences causes five unnatural states to arise, which are explained later:
- "Well"
- "Dependency"
- "Absence of communication"
- "Mist"
- "Pit"
The root of the perverted attitude toward our own experiences lies in distrust and in the fear and attachment arising from it. Attachment draws us to the pleasant and familiar, while fear obstructs our contact with the unpleasant and unfamiliar. In other terms, this situation may be defined as a basic conflict, rooted in the simultaneous co-existence of hope and fear. A struggle between these two opinions ties our energy, causing these perverted states. As both fear and hope are based upon the objectification of outer circumstances, appearance of one necessarily brings about the appearance of the other.
2. The method
The principle of trust consists of a deepened awareness of an experience we are going through. This principle may be applied to inner experiences only. Regarding the phenomena by themselves, selectivity should be the case.
Now, what is a practical application of the principle of trust to the five groups of senses?
1. Do not strive to hold or to produce the joyous peace of the surface. This may cause the appearance of a "well" - a state of fixation, that builds a wall between our perception and objects. Experience is transient. Seek to widen your realization until it comes into contact with those phenomena that you'd like to perfect. For the same reason, it makes no sense to stay in bed in the mornings. A moment of silence ,however, is very valuable: discover; do not suppress it.
2. When diving, swim without forming dependency by clinging to sensual (outer) objects. Clinging produces the sense of stability at the cost of independence.
Move in a chosen direction, not being distracted by the analyses of phenomena. We find an example of this in tales, where one should pick an apple without touching the leaves and so on.
If you have difficulty choosing a direction, realize with clarity that everything is subject to change, but everything may change for the better. Then you can perceive and realize the changeable nature of existence as a slow but ever existing movement of all phenomena in space, very steady in its width.
3.With the appearance of an ascending flow one must have a high level of skill to avoid clinging and repulsion.
If we cling to a stimulus (sex, food, or emotions) when approaching the surface, the current will turn, throwing us down. That is why the stimulus is usually talked about as a "temptation". However, the true temptation is our attachment to the stimulus. (That may come even in the form of thought).
When the ascending flow of energy is unconsciously suppressed, a phenomenon of an absence of "communication" arises. This means that our emotions are still absorbed with the feeling of a rejected opportunity and that one does not feel a connection with higher sources and with people who direct his/her spiritual path.
A trust of the ascending flow is expressed by recognizing the following experiences:
- here the ascending flow opened up my consciousness and made it active and clear;
- here are these phenomena, which I perceive in a clearer and deeper way (we are to apply the technique of alert observation);
- here the current stopped carrying me up; I start to perceive the heaviness of my body and all the emotions in my heart in a more distinctive and attentive way.
4.The stormy descending current is not to be confused with the process of resolving the ascending current and being drawn down by one's own heaviness. It is a state of mind, characterized by obsessive ideas and thoughts or by anxiety and fear which one is unable to control. These conditions, being manifested either as excessive joy or as excessive sorrow, usually lead to depression, as one's energy becomes suppressed by an uncontrollable flow of thoughts.
An escape from the descending current brings one to "the mist" - a loss of orientation.
When encountering the stormy current be aware: here the stormy current that brings one down has appeared. Recognize this current as a confusion of the mind, looking for support. If you not look for it, the strength of the current will subside. Realize this confusion as the co-existence of two different opinions in your heart. Separately investigate the influence coming from your intellect and the influence coming from your emotions, forbidding any discussion between them. Be the third.
The spiritual success of such self-investigation depends on how much an analysis and its conclusions are based upon the two following axioms:
- the cause-and-effect connection between the actions and their results (the law of karma);
- the attainment of liberation by means of the purification of the mind.
5. When the bottom is sensed, to trust would be to use that physical sense of being grounded, which accompanies a limitation of perception. The bottom may also be the result of falling under the influence of a downward-moving current. This may be followed by the recognition of a mistake. This recognition is best way of correcting it and will begin your ascension: if you walk on the bottom of the sea, sooner or later you'll come to the surface near the shore.
When we suppress the direct realization of the bottom, there appears a "pit" - a feeling of disappointment and guilt that turns into bitterness and depression.
To avoid this, recognize the lowering of self-appraisal as a sense of value of the surrounding world, which deserves your loving warmness.
Obsessive tiredness is a consequence of our defeat in struggles. Value ordinary existence and your senses will open up again, this being similar to holidays in the countryside. Avoid an inclination for clambering, which is the result of the objectification of a "pit". A pit is just an emotional experience, no different from our mind. So clambering arises together with a "pit".
This experience may also arise as the result of the idea of spiritual progress being misinterpreted as a run on the celestial staircase. The staircase will always lack the lower stairs.
Spiritual ascension is an increase in our ability to give. An experience in the raising of energy develops into the openness of the all-containing emptiness. The idea of ascending to the higher realms is correct only when it is followed by the realization of the openness of these realms and by the uninterrupted, compassionate attention to the entire existence.
3. Antidote
What are the methods of working with the perverted states?
1. " The well",- Visually try to estimate the height and width of the wall that is in front of or surrounding you, as well as the material it's made of. Then investigate it by using your tactile imagination (how does it feel to touch it? Does it yield to bumps?). Again, come back to the visual investigation. Repeat until you feel contact with the surrounding world.
2. "Dependency"- Realize that the stimulus (thought or object) of the phenomenon that you're dependent on is present in your consciousness no matter if you are in contact with it or not. More than that, fighting this mental object merely wastes power for its suppression and your non-receptivity to its presence in your mind.
Realize that you are forming this image unconsciously, wasting energy to fill and suppress it.
Realize that this object is just a tiny part of your mental world, infinite in its nature.
At last, let the image take place, corresponding to its value in this infinity, trusting the realization of the type of feelings that you actually experience now.
3. "Absence of communication",- Realize that the feeling of isolation from the higher realms is nothing more than our own indifference to higher ideas or to the Path itself. Everything depends only on our awareness of the higher, while grace is always grace, never subject to wavering.
4. "The mist"- Not knowing of the Path results from our unwillingness to investigate the problem of a downward moving current, continuing to be present in our consciousness.
The descending current is present this time not in the form of confusion, but as a contradiction.
We should investigate those opinions that are forming a contradiction in a role of the third, having powers to decide.
5. "The pit"- Identify the feeling of depression with the emptiness of diamond, something indestructible and transparent. This diamond-like emptiness is a foundation of existence. Prefer something that are already disappointed in to something that you will become disappointed in later.
Think of the diamond-like emptiness as a great refuge, giving place for everything, and as well for you
as a being and a person.
4. The conclusion
These teachings are significant for the maintenance of the stability of practice. They are also important to give friendly help to those who are willing to accept it. Anyway, they are useful for understanding the needing mind of a person near by, which in case of the skillfulness and wisdom of compassion may bear a worthy fruit.
For highly perceptible people, exercise in these methods may become the main link of their practice for either an extended or definite period, depending on the peculiarities of their nature.
Being aware that you press with the weight of your body on the ground, sitting is an important part of many different meditation systems. When you work with the "bottom" in such way, don't be confused by prolonged observation and by the awareness of this sensation, as well as of the feeling of sinking after dispersing an ascending current.
The moments before and after sleep or those during the interruption of daily activities for rest are the best moments for studying and practicing the method. At such times, it's easier to investigate our feelings that have accumulated and are coming up in our heart and mind. Besides that, in such situations you are less affected by ordinary judgments.
The main outer attribute of progress in these methods is a penetrating quality to observe, arising while practicing.
The main inner attribute of progress in these methods is a quality of loving warmness, spontaneously arising while contacting other beings.
These methods certainly belong to the highest rank, giving freedom.
When considering the liberation in the moment of death, the increased awareness of senses while in contact with outer objects and the awakened awareness of the mental objects (the antidote) merge together in the subtle body, like in a dream.
When considering the liberation as a result of accumulation of good deeds, the next birth has to be auspicious due to the growth of wisdom and kindness (manifesting as a result of realization).
When considering liberation as a mental fact of our present life, the ability of the direct perception of one's own experiences is liberation from emotional suffering
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Yoga of One-Taste - purify mind by proper application of the outer phenomena
In general, one-taste means the stability of practice. In practical aspect it is the optimum way of interaction of the inner and the outer (of our perceptions and of the objects, which cause them).
Then, as we are talking about contact again, what is a difference between one-taste and simplicity? In the contact of simplicity we are learning to interpret rightly that, which is going on in us aroused by the objects of the outer world; we are watching the own mind and are learning to react to the events of the outer world rightly. In one-taste we are directly applying different outer phenomena to spontaneously purify our mind with their arising.
The two very important moments in the yoga of one-taste are ridding oneself of lust and of arrogance.
Lust is a sign of the weakness of a vessel: either body-vessel, or mind-vessel, or the both.
Weakness causes the flowing out. It's the flowing out of liveliness of perception, the flowing out of the essence.
To prevent the flowing out we are to concentrate upon three following stages of realization:
1. Realization that the very sense of pleasure by its own nature is more pleasant than the objects that cause it.
2. Realization of the moment of lust as the moment of the vessel's weakness. Such very understanding preserves from the flowing out.
3. Realization of the very essence of lust as the diamond-like quality of mind, since just desire and lust reveal the richness and liveliness of this world in us.
If our meditation embraces all the three stages, then:
1. At the first stage we attain the right approach of the mind and the right attitude to our practice.
2. At the second stage the self-restoration is attained, as the ego undergoes the process of shrinking. It can be compared to the ability of trees to shrink their pores to lessen evaporation when it is hot, which protects them from drying up.
As a result of such shrinking we gain the more sober understanding of the own needs, the healthier proportions. Our desires become of more rational and controlled character.
3. As the innate light of our mind lightens the richness and liveliness of all phenomena, the flowing out would be ceased due to the spontaneous concentration on the richness of the own mind's nature. Thus the quality called non-deviation from the own nature is attained.
When one is on the path, arrogance usually becomes the factor that distorts it (the path). On one hand, spiritual progress makes the arising of superiority-sense unavoidable, on the other, it is vitally important to correct it. And the pride of the path is the subtlest and the most hardly exterminated.
The method we use to exterminate arrogance of all kinds (emotional, mental and the pride of the path) is just to observe as it rises up in us whenever we are in contact with the world (for example, watching passers-by and getting aware of emotions this arouses in us). And the moment we become aware of it we are to realize that the superiority-sense is nothing else, but suffering. We are to realize that this feeling is more evil then the evil of the world that arouses it. In such way the outer evil washes away our inner evil, the phenomena of the world purify our mind.
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Yoga of Non-Meditation - Eight Infinite Senses.
The practice consists of the eight stages and reminds going upstairs. Each stair has its basic line (it is to be taken as a result of ascending) and its auxiliary line - a concept helping us to go up a stair, to arouse and to comprehend the feelings of the basic line.
The first stage
Gratitude leads to joy.
Realize, that all what you possess, all what you value in yourself and for yourself - all these connect you with others, with those who had once passed on you something: be it a thing, an idea or an initial material for their coming into existence. Feel gratitude for that which you'd received.
This makes a good beginning for the development of interrelation with reality, and this is an essence of yoga of non-meditation. An arising of joy in such circumstances may be caused by any, even little, success or by just a removal of unreasonable demands.
Seeing the nature of joy is a basic for further growth. It is like a recognizing of the one intimate to you.
The second stage
Tolerance leads to peace.
Ripening, an experience of joy makes us able to accept the following understanding: though Buddha-nature is inherent in every man, most of people, including those ones who are the most intimate to us, may hardly share our convictions.
This leads to tolerance. Tolerance leads to peace. Peace is just the feeling of the own potency. Peace gives openness and space for the surrounding world in our mind, while the own troubles become a working material for us.
An appearance of such peace out of tolerance is a matter of arising of successful thought or just of giving up the old delusions.
The third stage
Generosity leads to benevolence.
Out of peace generosity arises. The possibility to share own experience and warmth of the own heart arises. Generosity gives rise to benevolence. You are no more to fear for yourself; you already have so much and you are able to pay attention to that, which is going on around you.
Since benevolence requires means which correspond to the particular type of the good, the key to its development is an ability to observe. The most important orientation for the development of benevolence is in the three wishes:
May the ignorant keep away from evil
May the weak be strengthened by good faith
May the deserving ones take refuge on the path of giving
The forth stage
Liberation from suffering leads to compassion.
For some time you are feeling that getting free from pain, troubles and worries is possible.
This feeling is a perspective, which has been created by the own benevolence. An experience of freedom brings to realization of insufficiency of ignorance. Observing this experience, we may say that compassion is a moment of awakening and concentration. To bring compassion and wisdom together means to cultivate it in unity with seven noble senses mentioned above.
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The Four Main Deviations.
The main idea of the Path is the cessation of suffering.
What are the main deviations - errors?
1. To take life as a game is a deviation, as such a point of view ignores the very existence of the realms of suffering.
2. To take life as work for the attainment of heavenly realms is deviation, as such a view overlooks the possibility of the very insight - the freedom from conditioning.
3. To see practice as an escape from suffering is deviation, as fear on its own is a basis for new suffering.
4. To see practice as struggle with egocentrism is deviation, as this strengthens the belief in the reality of the emotional- intellectual entity ("I"- the soul), which is subject to suffering.
What are the errors in the course of practice?
1. If there is an extreme point of view, which is bound up with action, the error is not to apply the contrary point of view for neutralizing the prevailing one.
For instance, if the concept of "struggle" is strong and the direct realization hasn't been ripened, then the idea of "game" would be effective. If "game" prevails, then you are to apply the idea of "work". If the idea of "work" has fascinated you with grandiose projects, then thinking of "escape" would be effective. And, at last, if "escape" has brought the mind to the state of anxiety, which seems to be unyielding to the direct realization, you are to be inspired by the idea of "struggle."
2. To apply an unsuitable medicine is an error. For instance, to apply the idea of "game" or "work" to a state of unaccountable anxiety is an error.
Summing up, we may say that common errors arise from the conceptual replacement of the idea of Path by ideas as medicine. Errors on the Path occur from the neglect and the ignoring and careless application of the ideas as medicines.