REMAINING IN CALM: ZHINÉ
If the changing mind quiets down completely, it dissolves into the nature of the mind.
How to Free Ourselves from the Limitations of the Mind
When we speak of liberation, we do not mean freeing ourselves from another person, but freeing ourselves from the limitations of our own mind. Since the mind is the source of everything, we must understand and control it. "Control" is not a very pleasant word, but initially, discipline is control. In Eastern traditions, the first thing to do is to calm the mind and achieve inner peace, find self- understanding, and from there begin to move. What do you need to calm? You need to calm your thinking, your thinking mind. Imagine how many thoughts you have per day; some traditions say we have 84,000 thoughts per day and that they travel like waves. It is very important to find a way to remain in calm, to achieve tranquility of the mind. The meditative practice to achieve this is called Zhiné [zhi means tranquility, ne means to achieve or maintain], which means: to acquire calm, to remain in a state of calm, to give consciousness a place of calm, and it is the basis of most practices. As long as you have a mind, that will be your practice. If you have a mind and your mind is restless, then you need the practice of residing in calm. To do anything with your moving mind, you first need to calm it. This emphasis on calm or Zhiné is very important.
To calm your thoughts, you must use: the body, speech, and mind. Calming the Body, Speech, and Mind
The first thing you do is adopt a good bodily posture, follow your breath, and try to calm your mind. It is important that the body, breath, and mind go together; in this way, they can act effectively. I give a simple example: when you go to the bathroom, you have a correct posture and adequate concentration; you cannot be preoccupied; your mind is focused on the prana of elimination, and in this way, you obtain results. If you forget any aspect, you cannot obtain the results.
The same happens with meditation: you must calm the mind, adopt an appropriate posture, try to follow the body, breath, and mind. I will suggest the appropriate posture, but if you find it difficult, you can find the position that is most comfortable for you.
Bodily Posture
Cross-legged.
Straight back.
Expanded chest. Chin slightly tucked in (this ensures the spine is straight, which facilitates energy flow up and down more smoothly). Hands in the equanimity posture (thumb lightly pressing the base of the ring finger, and the left hand resting on the right). Speech Posture
Remain silent, with the tongue slightly raised and the lips slightly parted to breathe easily. Mind Posture
Do not dwell on the past. Do not plan the future. Do not change the present. The point is that you are in the moment with yourself, finding yourself. It is about being conscious. At this level, you need to fix your attention, have clarity and sharpness; it is not about falling asleep.
In our tradition, there are two stages of meditation: one is known as remaining in calm [Zhiné], and the other as direct and profound understanding of the natural state [Lhag tong].
Remaining in calm means calming our mind and developing a strong sense of bodily and mental stability. Bodily stability is equivalent to feeling like a mountain, with a solid and stable body, and the mind feels the same way, very stable. Within that space, an understanding of the natural mind develops; that understanding of the natural mind is called direct and profound understanding. Lhag tong is the result of Zhiné. In Zhiné, one does not necessarily have to experience Lhag tong, but Lhag tong is indeed a result of the experience of Zhiné. Therefore, to experience Lhag tong, the direct and profound understanding of the natural mind, you must develop Zhiné. The purpose of remaining in calm is to discover that direct and profound understanding and to have a connection with the natural state of the mind.
The practice of Zhiné is very important because to discover something very profound within ourselves, we need to achieve a state of deep calm in the mind, a calm introspection. The mind always goes outward and very rarely inward. When you want to reach a deep state of meditation, you want your mind to be calm, not agitated.
Three Levels of Remaining in Calm
There are three different levels of Zhiné. You have surely experienced driving a car; to explain the three levels of Zhiné practice, I use the example of the three stages of driving a car:
The first level is called Zhiné with effort and involves total effort. The first day you drive a car is a day full of effort: total effort. When I learned to drive, I learned in a manual car, not automatic; the friend who taught me said, "Now you can change gears," and I replied, "No!" For that day, I had had enough: if I changed gears, I would crash into the wall. There was a lot of energy in the car, and in the end, my friend was all red. This is called total effort because all the thoughts in that activity become as powerful as when we hear the sounds of a clock: those tick- tocks almost destroy the space. That is what we call total effort. It's like trying to learn to drive: at first, you can't do much; you have to concentrate and not get distracted by changing the CD, you can't be looking at other things.
The second level is natural Zhiné. The reason the second is called natural Zhiné is that it becomes natural once you have worked with effort. Following the same driving example, when you already have experience, you can drink coffee and read the newspaper when the traffic light is red, and you can integrate your life into driving; all those experiences do not affect your driving.
The third level, absolute Zhiné, is when you are already driving and then you can put on lipstick and eye makeup, read the newspaper (people do many things in the car). That is called absolute Zhiné. Truck drivers must definitely have absolute Zhiné, because trucks are very difficult to drive. Similarly, during meditation, when thoughts arise, it is still possible to maintain presence and one can say, "Yes, there is a thought; but I won't worry too much about it." A thought arises like, "I should have done that; well, I'll do it later," or "But I also have to do this other thing." When many thoughts arise, but they are not very long, and you can continue to maintain presence, that is called absolute Zhiné. Basically, the definition of absolute Zhiné is the ability to integrate thoughts and experience with the natural state of the mind.