Loving-Kindness & Compassion: Practice & Discussion Workshop

Parts of this text are translated from the Chinese transcript.

Loving-Kindness & Compassion, Session One

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.07.25

Three Kinds of Compassion: From Telling Pain and Suffering Apart to Our Innate Goodness

Opening: Making Compassion Something We Can Practice

Welcome, and a blessed day. How is your homework?

Today we are going to have quality time together. This is a very important topic, but more than the topic, we want to make it practical.

The topic is widespread; almost everyone talks about it, and it is well discussed at any Dharma event. But somehow, sometimes due to the time or the pace, we miss many points. So today we are trying to focus on this topic and make sure we are able to extract some essential points, so that it can give us a direct experience, help us to have a direct experience, and be beneficial.

If we ask ourselves again, what is compassion? For us this word is actually very simple. And the practice of compassion, if we ask ourselves again, we feel it is a very simple version: compassion is this and that, something like that.

But practically, there are still many things hidden. We feel there are many, you could say, dark zones, where we are not truly able to feel it very deeply. Those points are just some little points, some sweet talk. Beyond the chemistry, we are not really able to touch the whole of the details.

If you go to any master, they will say: practice compassion. If you read any formal bodhisattva practices and their stories, they keep talking about compassion. Even if you practice deity yoga, there is compassion. Everywhere you find compassion.

The Jewel Ornament of Liberation: Seeing the Whole Picture

But before that, today we suggested going through the Jewel Ornament of Liberation, especially engaging with the cause, which is Buddha nature; second, where we focus; and third, going through three chapters, chapters five, six and seven.

I truly suggest it, especially because the framework of the Jewel Ornament of Liberation has many chapters, but all these chapters come within six contents. Within those six contents, you may be able to have the whole big picture, a very clear picture of the whole text.

The practice of loving-kindness and compassion is one part of it that will come. If we just cherry-pick here and there, sometimes we may not be able to have a clearer picture.

That whole picture is actually every single practice that we are doing. We do deity yoga, and the yoga has many details, like offering and confession and many other things; in the Jewel Ornament of Liberation we have all of it. We put key words and key points into practice, but how they connect and what their function is, every detail, the Jewel Ornament of Liberation actually lays out in great detail. Sometimes when we read sadhanas, there are so many pinpointed words and points of practice. All these details are actually in this text, if we really need to understand them.

So I truly suggest you go through those six, not six chapters, six contents. Within those six contents there are twelve, thirteen or more details included.

Buddha Nature: The Root of All Practice

What is most surprising within this whole order? From the very beginning, it actually talks about our Buddha nature.

This should be the essential ground, the essential practice. All practice must be connected to it. It should be the ground of all your practice, all your understanding.

That Buddha nature itself is actually known as the secret of refuge, the essence of refuge. It is the ultimate refuge: yourself.

With that Buddha nature, now we know that all this practice, this book we are talking about, this practice we are talking about, has all its roots directly connected to your true nature. With that understanding, with that connection, now we try to find the connection to practice.

There is actually one very big secret within it, especially when it comes to the essential point of practice. We already discussed it when we talked about our true nature, Buddha nature, so from time to time you can also remind each other.

Awareness: The Background Behind Body and Mind

We try to separate body and mind. The mind also has thinking, emotion and identity. Everything is actually coming and going in front of the background itself. That background itself we call awareness, and it is very much connected with Buddha nature itself. We all have it.

You have this body as a part of you. This thinking is a part of you. That emotion is a part of you. That identity is a part of you. And that background, that awareness, is also a part of you. How can we forget that? We identify ourselves with one thing only: the body, or the thinking, emotion, identity.

We have that part, but we are not talking about it. Ordinary people have it, but they don't know what we are talking about. Therefore we need to put extra priority, extra value and respect on this point.

Practice in Two Directions: The Example of Going to Taichung

Based on that point, our practice must have two directions, simultaneously. One reminds you of that awareness: not forgetting, a gentle reminder of your awareness. The second actually purifies the body and the mind. These two things must go together.

It is just like going to some destination, like Taichung: make sure I am going towards Taichung. This means you clearly remember what you are doing; you are reminding yourself of the background, reminding yourself of your awareness; you clearly know. But along the way, temporarily, some people come, you fight a little, you feel a little, you need to adjust and deal with many things. These are temporary.

Otherwise, what are we doing nowadays? Our opinion becomes our biggest craving, just like a craving for food. Your sole opinion becomes your craving: I need to go find what I crave.

Right now our practice is like this: I have an anger issue, so I deal only with anger; I have a craving issue, so I deal only with craving. If your target becomes that small and that random, you can never clear those obstacles.

All emotions are coming and going, coming and going; all experience is changing. We know all these things are temporary and I need to adjust. But make sure the biggest vision always remains yourself, the ground of awareness, your true nature.

With that, you are leading yourself towards the ultimate direction. On the way, whatever ups and downs come for a moment, you will be able to solve them, knowing they are temporary obstacles.

So remember this two-direction approach to practice. It must always be there; it should be there and it is always there, especially if you are looking for a truly essential benefit and want your practice to be effective.

With that same idea, the same approach, we now begin slowly to talk about compassion itself. Within that practice zone, it is automatically there.

Three Clear Pictures of Compassion

Normally when we talk about compassion, there may be random ideas, maybe a few points, maybe many. But today when you read about compassion, how many points did you find? Did you find any points?

Then let me do it. There are three very clear pictures of compassion. The first is compassion that focuses on the suffering of sentient beings. The second is called compassion that focuses on the Dharma itself; Dharma here means the solution, the path itself. The final one is compassion that has no object of focus at all.

Focusing on the Suffering of Beings: Expanding to the Six Realms

Now let's go back to the first, compassion that focuses on the suffering of sentient beings. This time we want to give all of us not just the suffering of human beings. We are expanding our vision to include everything around us. It is a complete picture of the entire existence.

So it includes not just the human realm but the six realms. From a general perspective, we simply focus: this kind of sentient being suffers in this way, beings in that realm suffer in that way, something like that.

There is actually a special meaning behind this. Sometimes when we talk too much about human suffering, we feel bored. Some people are never moved by the suffering of human beings, but when they see animals suffering, when they see the suffering of hungry ghosts or the hells, they are really moved.

The second thing is that this is not just randomly talked about. These things really exist, seen with the eyes of enlightened beings, who can really see all of this. Now we have a very gross human mind and can only see a few realms, that's it.

Reading the Details of the Three Lower Realms: Waking Up Our Sleeping Feelings

Did you manage to read about the suffering of the hells? Did you go through the details? How many hells are there? (A student answers with the number of hells.) Then the hungry ghosts? Not yet?

Those details are actually very good. I suggest you read them sometime, so that your heart can feel something. Otherwise your emotional sensitivity is asleep. Once you feel it and then do something, the energy, the chemistry, is completely different.

Anyway, I truly suggest you go through it. It comes with four different points: What is their suffering? How long does their suffering last? What is the volume of their suffering? And why were they born there?

Especially in the hell realms, the lowest one has the longest time, the longest suffering. But even among these eight zones, some are a little lighter compared to each other.

Second, the hungry ghosts. Hungry ghosts also have many different levels. Some are very poor and very weak; some are very rich and very powerful. But they always have some limitation.

Next, the animals. Most animals are actually visible to us: the way animals suffer, wild animals suffer, domestic animals suffer. Our texts describe it very beautifully: sometimes they look very good, they have beautiful skin, and because of that skin they lose their life; because of some special feature, they lose their life. And they have no way to complain, "I want this" or "I don't want that." Once they fall into the hands of other beings, they are already done.

And so on: human suffering, and the suffering of the demigods and the gods. We don't need to go through all of these, but I suggest you read about them.

The Secret Point: From Physical Suffering to Mental Suffering

If you look at the suffering of the six realms, now let me give you one secret point.

When we talk about the hells, there is no gap. Their body and mind, especially the body, are 100 percent the body, no gap, continuous pain and torture. One hundred percent, no gap, continuous pain and suffering: that is hell. Especially their body, the body's response: their body is burning.

Going up to the hungry ghosts, the body and the mind keep having a little gap. Their body is constantly in pain, but there is still some time and space for the mind to breathe.

With the animals and human beings, the level of pain in the body gradually drops. Especially with the demigods and gods, it actually becomes more mental. Even human suffering is more sorrow, in the mental zone.

So I want you to understand that when we talk about this, the volume is changing. Among the six realms, the lower realms are mostly physical, and then slowly, slowly the physical level drops. With human beings it is almost 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical, or 90 percent mental and 10 percent the body. That's it.

So for us, when we talk about suffering, the definition of suffering changes. In hell, the definition of suffering is the body itself.

Pain Is Not Necessarily Suffering

Now is a very important time for us to check what exactly suffering is in the human realm. Being human beings, what exactly is suffering for us? What do you think?

There is a body feature and a mind feature; you can see two things. Related to the body: pain, stress, pressure, all these things, whatever the body perceives.

So when we talk about pain, is pain necessarily suffering? Not necessarily. Pain doesn't mean it must be suffering.

There is much, much pain that is giving us a signal, telling us: if you keep eating like that, you are going to fall sick, or if you keep doing that, this will happen. It is full of messages. Even in the medical field they say pain is the one thing that really gives you an honest and genuine message. If you listen to the pain and try to work with it, you have the best help in your own hands.

So pain is not necessarily suffering; we really need to know that. Otherwise, sometimes without knowing it, we immediately try to reject and react to all pain. So I want you to see the clear distinction between pain and suffering.

Luxury Suffering: Human Suffering Is Mostly in the Mind

But we do suffer. If you look at it, why do we suffer? Human suffering, if you really look at it: in the hell realms, there is no choice. But if you look at our suffering, our suffering is really happy suffering, privileged suffering.

We watch the news and we suffer. We lie on the sofa and we suffer. We go and eat this and that and then we suffer. We are lazy, we don't do enough exercise or stretching, and then we suffer. Almost everything we suffer is actually luxury suffering, privileged suffering. And so on and so forth: I want that, I didn't get it, so I suffer.

So this is actually less directly related to the so-called physical. In some cases it is very serious, but that too is limited in time. Therefore it is very important for us to know the clear distinction between pain and suffering, and how we are suffering all the time.

Now it is very clear to you: the majority of the way we humans suffer is directly related to our mentality, our thoughts and thinking. That is very clear.

Immediate Reaction: A Gate With No Filter

Now we are talking about compassion that focuses on sentient beings, especially human beings. When our suffering is related to our mind, what do we normally do, what does our mind normally do?

This is connected with the three minds. We immediately judge, we immediately react.

Look at the people around you, say, watching movies: "Ah!" They see something bad: "Oh!" They react immediately. They are very quick to judge, and immediately there is an emotional reaction and a physical reaction.

That reaction is actually our most common, biggest lack of discipline. That reaction flows constantly, so actually we are struggling all the time.

Through the five different senses: you smell something, you immediately react; you hear something, you immediately react. That reaction has two kinds, good reaction and negative reaction, but most of the time it is negative reaction.

The reaction is very fast, and we don't have a chance, or we don't have the choice, the willpower, the clear power to choose: this kind of reaction is helpful, that kind of reaction is unhelpful. It is a completely open gate, with no filter in it.

So wherever we go, based on that lack of discipline and lack of clarity, we take in everything, like drinking water without filtering it.

That same functioning is there in both yourself and others. When you look around, they react very fast to their surroundings, and you yourself also react very fast. And that reaction actually carries some of your stress, tension or emotional reaction.

This can be included within compassion that focuses on the suffering of sentient beings, particularly human beings. This is how we suffer.

Compassion Focused on the Dharma: Seeing How Karma Works Through Meditation

Now the second: we focus on the number two engine, the solution. When we look, now we know: our mind is very random, running all over, and therefore I have to pay the consequences of this and that emotion.

This is where meditation practice comes in. Actually meditation, cause and effect, the practice of loving-kindness and compassion, all of this comes within the second, compassion that focuses on the Dharma.

Especially the technique of meditation: we witness it, we connect with it, but we don't respond to it. That is the habitual response happening to us, and we also see the lack of benefit it brings.

So contact, judgment, reaction, all these areas of karma come up. Within the second compassion, these things become visible to you. The second compassion, the second compassion.

Anyway, we are able to see all the causes, conditions and consequences. But essentially, the practice is actually loving-kindness.

So loving-kindness and compassion: no matter what the reason, if you are able to generate loving-kindness within you, there is no random reaction. Whatever the reaction, it is connected with loving-kindness, connected with compassion.

Because this kind of reaction also purifies; it is not a random kind of reaction. You are actually purifying, you are driving, you are shaping yourself. You have a response and reaction full of compassion, full of loving-kindness. This is the second kind of compassion.

Non-Referential Compassion: A Taste of Self-Grasping Dissolving Away

Then there is non-referential compassion. What exactly is non-referential compassion? It has no object of focus at all, which means: once that boundless love, loving-kindness and compassion arise in you, your identity, this kind of self-grasping, is bound to dissolve. So physically you feel very light and free, full of warmth; mentally you feel less sensitive about "me, me, me." Imagine it.

That little feature, right now we can even imagine having it. Of course, we don't have the completely free version; what we have is a little taste. And that taste is exactly the same as what we spoke of before, Buddha nature, awareness itself.

Practicing Compassion Toward Yourself First

So those are the three points of compassion. With that understanding, you have very clear guidance for practicing compassion towards yourself.

You understand very clearly: pain and suffering are two different things, especially in the way I experience them. So why am I still suffering? Because of my mind's reaction and response, very random reaction and response. Because of that, I have to pay all the consequences.

So there is contact, there is judgment on your part, there is the emotional reaction part. The meditation technique can give you a clear picture of karma.

Through that, you learn what a healthy reaction is, a healthy way of engaging, which is good for your energy and good for your experience. You no longer randomly pick up a reaction, so you are full of warmth.

Through that, your self-sensitivity, that negative self-talk, "Why am I so miserable?", "Why am I this and that?", "Why am I like this?", will all slowly, slowly dissolve. Your body starts to feel light, your mind starts to feel very clear, and your awareness starts to show itself.

Then Generating the Three Kinds of Compassion for Those Around Us

It is exactly the same when you look at sentient beings, especially the people around you. People are suffering exactly the way you suffered before. They don't even know the distinction between pain and suffering, or why all this pain comes, instead of emotions connected with loving-kindness and compassion.

First, they don't know the distinction between pain and suffering, and then they react instantly. So the first compassion is there.

More than that, based on your own experience and understanding, you can also offer them a warm hand: don't react in this or that way; choose this or that emotional response; choose this or that quality of response.

At the end of the day, they do have a good nature, and I do have a good nature.

Recently, when I go out, I also do this. Later we will try to put it into practice with these three points. Is that clear enough?

Summary of the Three Kinds of Compassion

So non-referential compassion is knowing that we have a good nature, and that our awareness is always pure and clear.

And compassion that knows sentient beings, that knows we do have a choice: clearly distinguishing reaction and response based on loving-kindness and compassion from mixed reaction and response. This is the second compassion.

And the first compassion: we don't even clearly distinguish between suffering and pain. Without any carefulness, without clear awareness, very randomly, very hurriedly, we immediately react and respond, like an untrained mind, like children or monkeys, spreading the mess all around. This is the cause of our suffering.

If we see this within ourselves, we will immediately be able to train and help ourselves, give ourselves a great hand. In the same way, when we look around, especially at human beings, we can immediately and easily generate compassion at three different levels.

So this is the simple and clear version of compassion. Now I want you to discuss it, to make sure you pick up the point. If any extra sharing or discussion is needed, we will do that.

Tomorrow we will have a short practice time, then short sharing and discussion, then another short practice time. Maybe the first session is good, maybe the second session is better, something like that. We are trying to polish what we learn.

A clear picture: the three kinds of compassion. Let's summarize it nicely.

Q&A: Why Loving-Kindness Is the Foundation of Compassion

A student asked: When I was reading chapter seven, which is on loving-kindness and compassion, it first talks about loving-kindness and then comes to compassion. At the very beginning of the compassion part, it says that if you have the foundation of loving-kindness, it is very easy to develop compassion. My question is: to me, compassion seems more basic, because it is helping others get away from suffering, ending their suffering. It is like a basic need: somebody wants some tissue paper, so I give them tissue paper. But loving-kindness seems more advanced to me. It is like: this person is fine, he has no pain, no problem, no suffering, but I am going to make him happy. So why is loving-kindness the foundation, taught first, and then the foundation of compassion?

Good question, thank you. The act of compassion is actually based on what we are now. We are already grown up and capable of doing things, so it is very natural to feel compassion is easier.

But if you go back to your childhood, we had no option, no choice, no chance, even for our own survival. Our life was completely helpless: no choice, nothing, a helpless state.

What we needed at that time was not what we could offer. What we needed was actually the great care of our parents, our mother, their kindness. Through that we grew up. They gave everything in their power.

You felt cold, they rubbed you warm. You wanted something to drink, they gave you a drink. Even when the sun came, they tried to shade you. Even a temperature like this, every single thing. Almost everything in life at that time was life-threatening. They truly gave to us, and because of that, we survived.

Then we gradually grow older and older. There are some things they cannot give us, and we start to feel: they cannot give me anything anymore.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Advice: Looking Back on Their Kindness

So fundamentally, if we look at it: recently His Holiness the Dalai Lama also gave an answer about family matters. Someone said: I have some family issues, could you kindly give us some advice? And he said: at this stage they may not be able to give you anything, so you feel offended, you feel angry, you fight with them.

But there were many moments when they gave everything. What you needed to survive, so many things, they gave you. Now we reach a stage where they cannot give you anything, and we get angry. So always think about that kindness. Look back.

So loving-kindness is actually very fundamental, very deeply rooted. If we have that solid root of loving-kindness, compassion is much easier for us.

So take loving-kindness deeply into your heart. And compassion is offering anything that you can. Be the vision of the three pictures of compassion.

Q&A: First Tell Pain and Suffering Apart, Then You Know How to Help

A student asked: So do you mean that taking in all the care is the loving-kindness inside, so that we can grow up and develop compassion?

Yes. But in order to help, we need to know how exactly to help. This is the way of helping: the three pictures of compassion, clearly knowing suffering and pain. We really don't distinguish them. This is not a small topic, and we are not sensitive enough to it.

Actually, now we go back to our general meditation: becoming more and more sensitive to your body. Spend a month, two months, or a week; it is very easy, depending on the quality of the time you spend.

If you are very sensitive to the body, you know pain very clearly, what is the body factor and what is the mind factor. Right now we know part of the experience, but we still don't clearly distinguish whether all this pain is caused by the body or the mind.

So that benefiting of others also includes yourself. You are able to give yourself a great hand, and at the same time you know how exactly to help others.

The Same Structure: The Heart of All Buddhas Is Compassion

So our general meditation approach also comes in here: becoming more sensitive. Then you are able to see the body and mind factors, and you can also see the distinction between suffering and pain.

Through that, seeing reaction, judgment, all of this, comes the quality of the second compassion. That quality we have already seen: that is the mind zone, I need to purify the mind. And through that, the presence of awareness comes. You see, those are the three kinds of compassion. Exactly the same structure, beautifully put.

Everything is contained in the so-called profound worth of compassion. This is how we value and respect it. That is why even the Jewel Ornament of Liberation says: if the heart of all the Buddhas were put in the palm of your hand, what would it be called? It is called compassion.

So with these three clear pictures of compassion, it really is everything, very complete.

Now let's take a break. Reflect well on the three kinds of compassion, summarize them, and make them clear.

Loving-Kindness & Compassion, Session Two

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.07.25

Non-Referential Compassion: Recognizing Awareness, Returning to Our Innate Buddha Nature

Q&A: What Is Non-Referential Compassion?

How was your sharing? Is there anything you need to ask?

A student asked: About the three kinds of compassion: compassion focused on sentient beings, compassion focused on the Dharma, and non-referential compassion. Do these definitions mean that when we give rise to compassion there is a person, an object, and that is why it is called compassion focused on sentient beings? Then there is compassion focused on the Dharma. So what is the definition of non-referential compassion? Does it mean I don't give rise to it, that I have no intention at all of generating that compassion?

A fellow student added: I think this has more to do with the Chinese translation. Anyway, there are three kinds of compassion; the first two have some reference points, but the third does not. So how do we really generate compassion without any reference point? What does that mean?

Levels of Mind: Awareness Is the Background

Before meditation we already went through the three different levels of the mind; the longtime students should know this already. As the background itself, as awareness itself, as the so-called Buddha nature itself, it is a foundation. In front of it, the other two minds are happening: emotions come, and thoughts and thinking come.

You do have this part. Today we were also reminded that you have a few different parts: a body part, a body sensation part, and the mind part. The mind has a thinking part and an emotion part. And there is an identity, the self-grasping, a deep identity part.

And there is one part of you that can see all these body and mind things coming and going, as a background. We really need to become more and more familiar with that part. At that point there are no reference points. This is what we call non-referential compassion.

Every sentient being has it, but they don't know it, they haven't recognized it, so we feel compassion for them. And that very understanding also helps you guide yourself towards that ground, your pure, innate true nature.

Meditation: Letting Awareness Become More and More Present

That is very important. We have many parts; we really need to know this. Normally we are in emotional reaction, responding and reacting as the emotions pull us; and there is the body identity, and thoughts and thinking. And that background, like space, is awareness itself.

We don't highlight it, we are not sensitive enough, we don't respond to it, we don't value it. But in meditation, what is said? Be aware.

During meditation we are doing two things. One is simply being aware. You are the one who is looking at every single thing you are experiencing, whatever you are experiencing. The presence of awareness: you go through the sensation, you go through the emotion, and so that awareness becomes more and more present to us.

It is exactly the same. When we talk about Buddha nature, it means that very ground becomes more and more visible to us. And that acknowledgment, that understanding, is actually the system of awareness.

The Example of Going to Taichung: Telling the Main Goal From the Temporary

With that, today we gave an example: it is just like making a journey to Taichung. We have a clear destination, a goal, but along the way little problems come. You never forget the destination; you make sure you keep going, and when a temporary problem comes, you deal with it temporarily and make sure you keep moving. So awareness is actually your main target. Your main target must be that awareness.

Right now, the biggest obstacle and challenge in our practice is that we have lost that priority, that awareness part. We keep dealing with my own craving, my own anxiety, my own this-and-that thoughts, all temporary; everything comes temporarily, and we are fighting with it all the time. That is why it is so hard.

Actually, the priority must be that clear picture: being aware. Sometimes we lose it. You find yourself in the emotion zone, in the thinking zone: okay, fix it there. What comes temporarily, deal with temporarily, but always remind yourself to return to that awareness. Then practice becomes very smooth and easy. This is very important. That is the main secret.

Temporary Obstacles, Permanent Awareness

Pain is temporary, so deal with it with a temporary mindset. Emotion is temporary, so deal with it as a temporary emotional problem. Thoughts and thinking are exactly the same: they come temporarily, so deal with them as a temporary problem.

So what is permanent? Your awareness is permanent. Your Buddha nature, just like space, is permanent. Make sure you don't lose your true identity, your true ground.

You see awareness: this is me, my permanent part. Only temporarily am I distracted; only temporarily am I dealing with this. So deal with all obstacles as temporary.

Don't take it as, "Oh, I have a permanent self, I have permanent suffering." Then it will make you feel that way, because you are already going against your true nature; that side of your true nature is already gone.

The Secret of Ignorance: Losing Touch With Our Ground

So this is actually the secret. Ignorance, too, we divide into outer, inner and secret. The secret level, the most fundamental part of ignorance, is that you lose touch with your own innate nature, your true nature, your own ground.

That is why, from the very first chapter, the Jewel Ornament of Liberation speaks of Buddha nature: to give it that meaning, that importance, that emphasis. It is given to us from the start. Through that, we then face our temporary problems.

Secret Refuge: Buddha Nature Itself

This is also how a sensible practitioner should approach practice: knowing their own ground. We still need to clean up a lot of mess, because we still rely on both body and mind. But we know our true identity, and that itself, the so-called Buddha nature itself, is the essence of refuge. The secret refuge is Buddha nature itself.

If we don't have a truly proper, clearer understanding of refuge, that sense of "my true nature, awareness, Buddha nature" already being known, then beginning from refuge, we have actually already messed up our way of practicing.

After that, any practice we follow is actually making that Buddha nature shine brighter and brighter: whatever form of bodhicitta practice, Mahayana practice, shunyata practice or deity yoga practice we do. Actually the ultimate practice is refuge itself, especially ultimate refuge, the secret of refuge: having the clear presence of your own Buddha nature.

Is that clear enough? This is a very important point.

The Three Kinds of Compassion Include All Practice

With these three pictures, every essential point, every practice is included. The practice of refuge is within it, the practice of bodhicitta is within it, the deity practice is within it. They are not separate.

Actually these three kinds of compassion really include everything about practice, very beautifully. So make sure your intelligence, your thinking mind, has very clear details of this compassion, that compassion, and the other compassion.

Then see and feel it within yourself. The same view and experience you can also see around you. Exactly with this three-compassion approach, you are able to help and heal yourself very effectively, and through that, you also know how to give your hand to others.

Understanding and Experience Polish Each Other

So, as an instruction, now is the time to make the conceptual point very clear. Tomorrow we will try to practice a little, then reflect on it, and polish what we get.

Because when things are clearly visible, you can easily generate the feelings. Intellectually, if things are not very clear, if you don't see a clear direction, you cannot feel it.

So that visible, clear understanding helps you have a better experience, and with experience, your clear understanding becomes even clearer. So we can discuss again, practice again, discuss again, something like that.

I think today's time is up. Today's gathering was wonderful, and I hope it really gives you some clarity in your mind. But a few steps still remain on your side: responding and practicing. Experiencing it yourself is the key.

Okay, now let's do the dedication.

Loving-Kindness & Compassion, Session Three

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.07.26

Reviewing and Practicing Compassion: Going Through Body and Mind to Recognize the Real You

A Clear Map: First Know, Then Experience

This time today is very important. For my part, I don't want to miss any opportunity, such a special opportunity to discuss and share about that essential point, and to make sure we didn't miss the point. We are also trying, to some extent, to bring it into our experience, into our practice.

And from your part, first there is knowing. Knowing is very important. You read many books, but there is no clear map, no clear picture. You don't know what to follow. You don't even know what to recall. Sometimes even when you try to recall, there is no clear point.

So once things are very clear at the level of your own intelligent thinking mind (we have three minds, right?), after that, real practice comes into the experiential zone. Then emotion becomes pure, and emotion changes.

In the Dharma, the Buddha always said, "I am showing you the way, the path of Dharma, but it is truly up to you. I cannot help you there." So the instructions, his experience, how to put both body and mind into the essential point: the key is that the instructions are clear.

With clear instructions, we may be able to generate better experiences, easier experiences. And with that experience, your self-grasping drops. Your self-blame also drops. Otherwise we always have that self-blame: "Oh, I want something but I'm not getting it. I this and that, this and that..." It is something deep inside.

Training the Mind, Taming the Mind, Transforming the Mind

So through that, this is what we are saying: training the mind, taming the mind, transforming the mind. We are working directly with our intelligence, with the emotions we experience, and with our deepest grasping, or the imprints. We are dealing with those parts of ourselves.

So reading a hundred volumes of sutras cannot benefit much. Or you may receive a hundred thousand different empowerments, and there may be some indirect benefit. But your thinking mind is not changing. Emotion is not changing. Identity is also not changing.

So take this as a key and connect it with any form of practice, no problem. Then anything can help you: it gives you clarity in your own intelligence and purity in your emotions, and frees you from all these limitations, from self-grasping and self-blame. You are able to be present within yourself. And your true nature, the zone of awareness, becomes very bright and clear for you.

Review and Practice: Starting from Your Own Experience

Yesterday we had a rather lengthy talk, sharing the three points of compassion. Today we will try to summarize and review a little. Together with that, we try our best. Give yourself your best. Settle your mind, and make sure your mind is able to follow. We will also try to do a short practice.

Slowly, but during that time, all you need to do is put your heart into it. Relax. Try a little, 5 to 10 minutes. Once you experience something, once you taste something, the next step will be much easier.

So I want to repeat the same technique, the same point, a few times. Based on your understanding and your experience, you try your best. Just try your best. Based on your own experience, you will also see what you are lacking, what your problem is, your limits, where you stand, or that you are able to experience this and that.

But the good thing is that these things come straight from your own experience. So they are not just random thinking; they come with your own direct experience. So it is very raw, very natural, very organic, according to your own practice. In your state, it is sometimes raw, sometimes organic. So we need to learn how to increase and improve it.

The First Compassion: Human Suffering Lies in the Mind

Now, a short review. The first compassion focuses on the suffering of sentient beings. When we talk about sentient beings, there are six realms; we went through the six. But for us, the point is the suffering of human beings.

What is the difference between the lower realms and human beings? The lowest, the hell realm, is 100% body: torture, pain, continuously. As it goes further up, such as hungry ghosts and animals, it is body and mind: the body becomes a little less, the mind a little more. When it comes to human beings, the mind becomes dominant, as in the three upper realms; especially in the human realm, the mind is about 80%. The other two, demigods and gods, are 100% mind.

Now when it comes to human beings, I want you to see the clear distinctions. We have a body and a mind. When we say the mind is dominant, there is a body part and a mind part.

When we talk about the body, so-called suffering, what exactly is suffering? There are two things going on. One is physically related: pain, stress, tension. But stress and tension are not necessarily called suffering. So what exactly is suffering? It is completely mind. The majority of human suffering nowadays is very privileged, very luxurious. And we are unable to understand the function of the mind, how it affects the body, your energy, your emotions, everything.

So actually we are suffering right now. Nobody comes and knocks us on the head. In our generation many people were randomly beaten, but now nobody is. We just open up the phone, see many things, good news, bad news, and do all sorts of things. The mind is completely loose, and it creates chaos.

Seeing Your Own Weakness, and Seeing Others the Same Way

So if we clearly know these things, I see where my own weakness is. This is the first compassion, which focuses on the suffering of sentient beings, particularly human beings.

You see that weakness within you, and with that same eye you look around: they are also experiencing exactly the same. Therefore you generate compassion for others, with a very healthy and very balanced mind, a pure mind.

So what exactly are we doing? That mind brings a lot of suffering. Now, through this, we are able to see that thinking mind, the judging. Whatever picture comes, the thinking mind immediately takes it over and manipulates it: "Oh, this is it." First judgment, first reaction. Randomly saying, "Oh, this is good, this is bad. Oh, he or she said this is good, this is bad."

Immediately we conceptualize it. We put our own concept on it: "Oh, this is good, this is bad," or something like that. Based on that, your emotion changes. Now that emotion goes deeper; it is a vertical form. Based on your belief, you experience. And with that emotion, the experience you are having, it keeps accumulating.

That "I like it, I don't like it," that "I, I, I, I," self-grasping, strong self-grasping. Then that self-sensitivity, negative sensitivity, grows within us. "Oh, I'm not happy." "I, I'm the priority." Always coming up: that "I, me first."

The Second Compassion: Choosing Good Causes and Conditions

So in this mental function, actually every point of cause, condition and result is happening there; we just didn't know it. Just like little kids who don't know what is healthy and unhealthy, putting everything in. But cause and effect is not necessarily good and pure. There is negative cause and effect and positive cause and effect. Kids don't know; they randomly pull in many things. But good things happen because of good causes, conditions and effects. Bad things happen because of bad causes, conditions and effects.

So here the second compassion is highlighted. The second compassion focuses on good conditions, good cause and effect. Whatever people say, it doesn't matter.

Normally our mind is very random. It's just like a little kid putting everything into their mouth. Later we learn that all these things bear consequences: this pain, this and that problem, something like that. So they choose something that can help them, something that can give them good energy, good health, something like that.

Among all causes and conditions, the essence of causes and conditions, especially from the practical point of view, is kindness, compassion, gratitude and gentleness. When you feel it, all of this is actually more suitable.

Take emotion, for example. There is anger. Whatever the reason, people say you have a right to be angry. But when you feel it, you know it has no healthy effect. You should be your own witness.

So compassion comes. Forgiveness comes. Kindness comes. Gentleness comes. Gratitude comes. This is the purest version of cause and effect. So we choose this sort of cause of happiness: happiness and the cause of happiness.

Garchen Rinpoche also often says that compassion is the cause of happiness. If you really want happiness and the cause of happiness, compassion is the cause of happiness. Kindness is the cause of happiness.

The Feeling of Compassion: Free and Undisturbed

You feel happy, and you also have that cause. If you have that feeling of compassion, that feeling of kindness, your body, your blood circulation, your energy, everything feels different.

Right now, when we go outside, that feeling is sometimes very mixed: a little angry, anxious, a little jealous, something like that. So when something changes very nicely, if you feel, "Okay, relax, kind," with all these things, you actually feel free.

And with the presence of that very soothing, very liberating, very free, pure essence of cause and effect, of karma, such as compassion, your awareness becomes as if you are not bothered at all. And the self-blame, the self-talk, that voice naturally drops. This is where you come close to your true awareness, your true nature.

Can you get that? That awareness part.

Exercise: Seeing the Many Parts of Yourself

Now let's try to do an exercise. Before jumping into the topic, I want you to see the multiple parts of you.

Awareness is one part of you. It is the fundamental part of you. It is the real you. And there is the mind part of you; the mind has thinking, emotion and identity. And there is the body part of you: the body and its sensitivity, its sensations.

So this time we prioritize all parts of us. We go through every part of us, not just saying "this is the important one," because everything is part of us.

Now let's begin with awareness. It is the most fundamental. It is your true ground, your true identity. It is always there, but nobody talks about it. It's just like going to the movies: you pick up on the many movies, stories and characters, whatever shows on the screen, but the screen itself, nobody talks about it.

Guided Meditation: Awareness Itself

So now, can you try to feel yourself? You have that part, so-called awareness. With it, you look at the body and you look at the mind. There is a part of you that is always looking at the body and also looking at the mind. Are you able to find it? That is awareness itself.

For the next few minutes, just try to feel the presence of that awareness. Within me there is a part of me that is seeing the body, feeling the body, and looking at my mind.

You are looking at the body and the feelings, but there is the one that is awareness itself: aware of the body, the sensations and the mind. So it is awareness itself, not the object of awareness. There is one part of you that is looking at things. Like space, like a cinema: many characters come and go, but that awareness is there.

Now let's be aware, objectively, of what you feel. What exactly are you feeling? What different types of feelings are you having? A few, or many? Whatever form of feeling it is, just be aware of any feeling in front of you.

Now let's focus on your thinking mind. Let's see how active your thinking mind is. Is it very active, mildly active, or not active at all? Are any thoughts or thinking happening to you, or is it okay? Just know it; no quality check is needed. Especially this time, your awareness is present here. Always remember that.

Now let's focus on the body part. Body here means body sensation, any form of sensation. Sensations and feelings are two different things. Now try to have your body sensitivity; be aware of body sensation. Just feel your body sensitivity alone.

Now, if thoughts and thinking come to you, let's focus on the thoughts and thinking coming and going. Just track them; no quality check is needed. Thoughts come and go, thinking comes and goes. And if you are feeling something anywhere now, try to be aware of anything you are feeling. Good feeling, bad feeling, any form of feeling is fine.

Gradually you will notice that everything falls back into the background. Feeling is temporary, thoughts and thinking are temporary, sensation is also temporary. And the presence of awareness is always there: before a thought arises, while it arises, and after it arises.

May I acknowledge, may I know, that this awareness is the ultimate, my true nature.

Okay. Slowly and gently, open your eyes.

Body, Mind and Awareness: Three Main Points

How was it? Some of you had a good nap. Many of you already fell asleep, very comfortable.

What we did: from awareness, we went to the zone of experience and emotion; from there, to the zone of judgmental thoughts and thinking; and from there, back to the body zone. Body means natural, pure sensation, body sensitivity.

While spending a little more time on body sensitivity, we also saw the spark of thoughts and thinking, so we moved back and checked the thoughts and thinking. There were also hidden experiences, the emotions, and you went through those too. Through that, we slowly went back to the ultimate ground, awareness itself, the background itself.

There are three main points here: the body part, the mind part, and the awareness part.

Body Sensitivity: Body and Mind Run in Parallel

But the deepest secret is this: right now, look at it, we see body, mind and awareness as different things.

But actually, if you are really able to have that body sensitivity, you see that the mind is a subtler form of the body. The deeper the body sensitivity you are able to have, the purer the sense of mind you are able to experience. And awareness is the purest.

So body sensitivity is very important. But for us right now, body and mind are completely two different things, like two hands or two feet, two different things. So with more sensitivity of the body, we will be able to understand that body and mind are actually parallel.

So this method is clear. Is that clear enough? If we just put in a little more effort. Actually this practice contains all practices, any yoga, the essential point, any form of practice. It is the foundation of everything. On top of it, anything can be built very easily.

Most importantly, it is about yourself, your parts. Make sure you are able to go through every part of yourself.

Let's have a short discussion. I know you won't talk to me directly, so maybe you need some discussion among yourselves.

(Group discussion follows.)

Q&A: Staying Aware When Drowsiness Comes

A student asked: While you're falling into drowsiness, this is already a dilemma: you're already drowsy, therefore you have no awareness. So how do you pull yourself out of it when you're already going unconscious?

So for meditation practitioners, we never suggest meditating when one is very exhausted and tired. Before meditation, make sure you are relaxed and rested enough.

With that, slowly, slowly, even the very gross mind needs to settle down, and then you can enter the practice.

But drowsiness is actually a very serious point: all the elements are shutting down, withdrawing, and we are nearly asleep. Actually, even mid-level practitioners cannot control it; even if they start with good meditation, they still cannot control it. For that we really need constant reminders of awareness, day-to-day mindfulness and many things. Practicing during sleep is actually a high-level practice.

When you go to sleep, your body starts sinking and you begin to feel drowsy; your elements, we have that stage, right? It is exactly the same process, and you are able to see it: "Oh, I'm unable to move. Oh, something is happening." Then awareness keeps shining, and sometimes awareness is gone, into a dark zone, and then you are in the dream zone.

So for this request, for general drowsiness, we suggest having better rest before practice. But for constant practitioners, when they try to face drowsiness and want to check their awareness, they actually need good skill and good confidence in their own practice.

Q&A: Drilling the Weak Spot, Like Piano Practice

A student asked: I'd like to compare our meditation to piano practice. Let's say I'm playing a five-minute piece, but somewhere in the middle there's a point where I get stuck. Usually my piano teacher tells me to drop the whole piece and just do this three-second drill. You practice the drill, you get muscle memory, then you go back and play the piece and it's smoother. In meditation, is there a tip like that you can teach us? Say I had a really good night's sleep and then I take a nap; I'm just giving an extreme example. Before I go into the nap and fall into unconsciousness, is there a tip so we can start practicing, like, "I'm going into this 30-minute nap, but I don't want to lose consciousness in the first five seconds"? Then we can bring that into our practice and focus on that weakest point.

Piano teacher. Yes, piano teacher. I think that needs discipline and consistency. You're talking about dream yoga, right?

A student said: I'm not talking about dream yoga. I had a good night's sleep, but I still fall; it's almost like taking a nap. It's not really dreaming, it's in between. I just want the falling into drowsiness to happen less and less. I want to focus on that, because otherwise it takes too long to improve my normal meditation.

Oh. So normal meditation easily triggers your drowsiness. You get too relaxed and fall asleep.

A student said: When I relax, I lose control.

Do you usually not sleep well and only slept well yesterday, or do you always sleep well?

A student said: That's too detailed. I want this to apply to everybody, so I don't want to focus on my own case. I'd just like to ask something more specific: I want to practice that process of falling asleep, or that gap. Is there a special drill we can focus on and include in our practice? I'm not that greedy; I'm not at the level of dream yoga, so I'm not fishing for that. Just: what do we do when we know we are falling into drowsiness? Is there any technique?

Clear Instructions, Five Minutes at a Time

Yes, yes. I think it is the same method we have been repeating. First, the instructions must be clear. For any form of meditation, we suggest keeping it short, about five minutes, not more than that. But the instructions must be clear.

If the instructions are not clear, it automatically becomes an unfamiliar zone, and darkness and drowsiness come. So make the instructions clear, so you can follow them very easily. Make sure it is easy for you to go in and come out.

And without any pressure, without any force. Actually, we sometimes force ourselves: "I need to achieve something." That also brings a certain kind of stress into the body, so immediately we feel sleepy.

So instructions first: make them clear, and make them simple and easy for yourself. You can summarize them in your own words and familiarize your mind with them. Before starting, calm yourself down: "Okay, five minutes. Not a big deal. You can do it, just five minutes. I am with myself. I'm with you, I'm with you. It's okay." Something like that, very slowly and gently.

Let Loving-Kindness Touch You First

Actually, we need that gentleness, that slowness, that care and carefulness. This is also one part of loving-kindness and compassion: kindness.

First, let kindness touch you, so that we can share it with others. Right now it hasn't even touched here, yet we are trying to talk about sharing it with others. First let it touch you.

Be gentle. Be kind. Very, very genuinely try to help yourself, as if giving yourself a very gentle and kind hand.

And actually the biggest support, awareness, is there. You use it: the inner will, the inner purity of yours that it represents. It says, "Okay. Be gentle. Be kind. Relax, it's okay." This voice is actually very healthy, very powerful.

Applaud Yourself: Trying Itself Deserves Recognition

Within those five minutes, sometimes mistakes happen and you lose control. Tell yourself, "It's okay, it's okay. Okay, now let's come back." Call yourself back within the five minutes.

Afterwards, give yourself a little applause: "Oh, you wandered off three times, but it's okay, you did well. You tried your best." Like the muscle memory mentioned earlier, when we are learning we also need that reward system. At least you tried. "You did it" doesn't mean perfection. That trying needs our acknowledgement and support.

If we do that, five minutes is no longer a problem. That is the quality we may be able to experience. Then the next five minutes. If you feel bored in the next five minutes, okay, stop, and continue tomorrow.

Start now with two or three five-minute sessions. Because there are many things to do, your mind cannot stay long. Give yourself half an hour and do two, three, four five-minute sessions; that is good enough. Then you will see: at that point, something a little longer, 10 minutes, is no problem.

Try it. Clear instructions, summarized by yourself and made easy for yourself; this helps your mind settle. Then try it within a five-minute frame, very carefully, relaxed.

The important point, I see, is reviewing it yourself. The instructions are clear, but review them yourself: simplify them into your own version. Sometimes we think, "Oh, this is what the teacher said. Oh, the Buddha said it." And actually our mind has not yet settled; we are somewhat forcing ourselves. So make sure things are very easy and clear for you. Second, this helps your mind settle, so when you try, things will be much easier.

A Tour Through Yourself: Awareness Is the Real You

We will have a short discussion before lunch. What we just did: starting from awareness, we went through different parts of ourselves. From awareness, experience and the thinking mind, to the body and sensation; then from body sensation back to the thinking mind, emotions and experiences, and finally back to awareness.

Remember, all these things are part of us; we never go away from ourselves. This is the body. Within it, sensation. Within it, thoughts and thinking are coming. Within it, emotion is coming. And within all of it, there is awareness.

I want you to be clearer about these four or five different parts of yourself. It's like a review or a tour: a few minutes spent here, a few minutes there, a few minutes there, always with the presence of awareness.

The most important thing: that awareness is you. This is your true self, your true nature. This is the real you, because it is always there. Before thoughts come, during, after. Before emotion, during, after. Before the pain. Even before this life. This is the one that travels through lifetimes.

So we really need to take it as, "Okay, this is the ground, this is me." But there are also the other parts. It's a very good tour and review, from the soles of the feet to the top of the head, and from the head back down.

A Good Mechanic Doesn't Blame the Car

The biggest advantage of doing this is that whenever you see a problem, if it is in the emotion zone, you know where to deal with it. When it comes from the thinking zone, you know where to deal with it. And when it is the body and its stress and tension, you know where to deal with it.

Otherwise, we normally blame ourselves out of nowhere, with no clue where to fix things. In general we just say, "I am this and that," with no clear clue at all.

Just like a good mechanic: they know the exact problem and never blame the car. They go straight to that part, that area, and fix it. So it is easy to fix, and the area is easy to find.

The real fixing is between your body and mind. For your true nature, awareness, you don't need to do anything. Only the body and mind parts need to be dealt with.

(Lunch break follows.)

Let's make it a friendly sharing. Share what we learned today and yesterday. Discussion, sharing, whatever is needed. Make sure we are having a good time and learning something.

Loving-Kindness & Compassion, Session Four

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.07.26

Awareness, Mind and Body: From Harmonizing Body and Mind to the Three Kinds of Compassion

Guided Meditation: The Three Zones of Awareness, Mind and Body

Take it as a tour, a survey. Think of everything as part of us.

Now, begin with relaxation. Simply relax your mind.

A gentle reminder: we are going to go through three different areas. First the awareness zone, then the mind zone, and the body zone.

The Awareness Zone: The Pure Background

Now let's find the awareness zone, the ground of your ultimate state. On top of it, your mind is happening. Awareness can be aware of the mind and aware of the body. There is a part of you that can look at both body and mind. That part is awareness, the background.

Simply find the part of you that is purely background, like the screen in a movie theater, or like space itself. This is what we call awareness. This is what we really are: our truest form, our truest and purest identity.

The Mind Zone: Watching Feelings Come and Go

Now, from awareness, we take one jump onto what you are feeling and experiencing. This is the mind zone.

Any sort of feeling is fine this time. It is not for us to decide what is good and bad. Whatever feeling you are experiencing, just know it. Whether there is one feeling, two different ones, many or few, just know it. Good or bad doesn't matter at all.

Just follow the incoming and outgoing feelings, and keep looking at the nature of every form of feeling. I am the awareness; I am aware of any form of feeling. Just be aware of their nature: one feeling, two feelings, good or bad, all the same. Whatever you are experiencing now, just be aware, and look at the nature of feelings arising and going away.

Thoughts: Dissolving into Awareness

Now let's shift our focus to thoughts, the part of you that is thinking. There are many small thoughts, good thoughts and bad thoughts. Whatever form of thought, just keep looking at the nature of thoughts arising and going away.

If you are able to see many thoughts, it's okay; if only a few, that's okay too. Just keep looking at the nature of the thoughts themselves, and go into the nature of the thoughts. If you keep aware of the nature of the thoughts, gradually you start to notice that no more thoughts arise. They slowly dissolve into the awareness zone.

The Body Zone: Sensation and Sensitivity

Now let's shift our focus to the body: its senses, sensations and sensitivity.

Keep aware of your body sensations and sensitivity. Any type, any form of sensation is okay. Keep aware of it, keep experiencing it. Let's stay there for a while. If your thoughts and thinking disturb your awareness, move back to the sensation, the sensitivity.

Moving Back and Forth Between Body, Thoughts and Feelings

While you are aware of body sensitivity, maybe some thoughts and thinking arise. If your awareness of body sensitivity is disturbed by thoughts, now move back to your thoughts and thinking.

Let's face them and see them, putting all our awareness directly on those thoughts. Whether there are many thoughts or a few, no matter what your thoughts are, just keep looking at the nature of thoughts arising and going back. Let's stay there for a while. Keep aware of the nature of thoughts arising and subsiding.

Now let's move down to whatever you are experiencing in feeling. Any form of feeling, any form of emotion: just keep aware of it, and look at the nature of emotion forming and dissolving. Any form of experience, any feeling, is fine; you don't need to fight with it. Just keep observing the nature of how each of your feelings forms, especially incoming feelings and outgoing feelings. Naturally it arises, naturally it subsides.

Everything Returns to Awareness: Your Ultimate Nature

All these good experiences you have been through give you, to some extent, a clear sense that everything falls back into your awareness.

Before any feeling, while the feeling arises, and after the feeling, awareness is there, the background is there. The same with thoughts: before thoughts arise, while they arise, and after they arise, the background is always there, and that background is awareness itself.

So this is a very clear indication, a very clear case, that you now have for yourself: before the body, before the mind, your awareness existed. So you are awareness, and awareness is the bigger picture of yourself. This is your ultimate true nature.

Resting in Awareness: I Am Like Space Itself

Now let's stay with awareness for a while. As you can notice, everything arises from the ground of awareness, and everything subsides back into the ground of awareness itself.

Keep holding to that ground of awareness, where all feelings, thoughts, sensations, the body, everything arises, and where all sensations, the body, thoughts, thinking, experiences and emotions subside.

And gently remind yourself: I am awareness, I am the background, I am like space itself. This is my true identity, my true self. This is Buddha nature itself. It does not have, and never has had, any limit, any shortage, any compromise.

And the things we are dealing with, such as suffering, are temporary, within the body zone and the mind zone. So make sure that while you deal with those temporary obstacles, you never forget your ultimate ground. With clear consciousness of the ultimate ground, let's temporarily deal with both body and mind.

Okay. Now slowly and gently open your eyes.

A student asked: When we're doing this process, should we close our eyes, or just let it be?

Let it be. Whatever suits you.

Echo Reactions: Everything Becomes Double

How was your journey? It's very interesting, right?

On the basis of that awareness, everything arises. But if we look at the nature of emotion, the nature of thought, and the sensations, the body part, everything is actually instant.

The problem is that we hold on to it; we react and respond to it. So everything becomes double. It's just like an echo, an echo response: a "hello" comes, and we say "hello" back.

The Real Problem: Between Body and Mind

Everything also falls back into awareness, so from this point of view, awareness is ultimate. Now this is a very clear point: what exactly is my limitation? Where exactly is my difficulty? Very clearly, it is in our body and mind. This body and mind is where our real problem lies. My body and my mind are my real problem; your real problem is your own body and mind.

The problem is that body and mind are not working well together, and you are not sensitive enough to your own body and mind, so they cannot function well together.

As you can see very clearly, your awareness never has a limit. My awareness never has a limit. The Buddha also has the same awareness, never limited. Our awareness is exactly the same.

Now from that awareness, we come to body and mind: my body and mind problem, your body and mind problem. Actually your real problem is between your body and your mind. We need to know that. You need to know that.

The Mind's Footprints: Bringing Garbage into the Body

The mind is somewhere else, the body is somewhere else. The mind thinks many things, but it always leaves footprints in the body. Your mind can jump around anywhere, no problem, but there are consequences: you will have stress and tension within yourself. So if your mind is not careful, it will bring a lot of garbage into your own body.

So when we observe with this meditation technique, what are we doing? Actually we are learning how my mind can help the body, and how my body can actually purify the mind.

That combination of the two is always there. Because of this body, because the body feels stress, tension and pain, we know the mind is doing something bad.

The Body Is the Proof: Checking Your Virtue

Sometimes we say, "Oh, good karma, good purification," many things, and we believe in them. We believe we do many good things: "Oh, this is a virtue, this is this and that." But there is no guarantee. The best way of seeing is to check your body.

Virtue means your mind is doing good things, which means it must allow your body to feel free. So the body literally proves whether my mind is doing good or bad, virtue or non-virtue.

So this is a very beautiful combination. This is how the body should learn to purify the mind, and how the mind should help the body: first kindness and compassion, all this pure energy spreading within yourself, and then slowly extending to humanity and to sentient beings, sending all the energy out.

What the Buddhas Show: Enlightened, Yet Still Remaining Here

This is how the Buddhas do it too. Under the Bodhi tree they generated all of this, touching everything with warmth and purifying everything. Through the five senses, wherever it touches, their aspiration is there, their prayers are there, their kindness and compassion are there.

So remember one thing very clearly: the Buddha has a heart to benefit all sentient beings. He himself became enlightened, yet he still remains here.

So what are we learning? We are with life: I am in my own bubble, you are in your own bubble. Your awareness, and your body and mind; my awareness, and my body and mind.

So I really need to fit them together properly, and the Buddha showed us the way. With that, we now know: there is my awareness zone; the mind, the zone of experience and emotion; and the zone of body sensation. Ultimately I need to learn how to harmonize and balance body and mind. With that, you are able to help yourself.

The Third Compassion: Offering Awareness

The same idea applies now when it comes to focusing on the suffering of sentient beings, the three kinds of compassion. We need to pass this message on to each person in their own bubble.

Compassion is not necessarily like giving money. Actually the Buddha never gave money. They give this pure gem, this nectar-like quality, to let beings connect with their own life: "Hey, you have your own bubble; you need to know that."

We have the ocean; we are the ocean itself. It's just that right now we are temporarily dealing with this and that little thing that pops up.

So offering awareness, helping others understand the vision of awareness, is the third compassion, non-referential compassion. This compassion does not have any focus, any object of focus.

The Second Compassion: The Secret Chip in Our Emotions

Within karmic experience, within emotion, things come and go. But within that there is something like a secret chip. Among all the emotions and experiences, the experience of love, the experience of kindness, the experience of compassion, these experiences of gratitude, are like a secret chip: you put it in, and your entire system functions very healthily. Knowing this very carefully is the second compassion.

Compassion that focuses on Dharma means the solution. It is the compassion that arises from focusing on the Dharma path and on practice; sometimes we call it practice.

And also karma: knowing the clear distinction between good karma and bad karma. This is actually also the second compassion.

The First Compassion: No More Fast Reactions

Then the first compassion. Because of carelessness, our thoughts react. That is the state without the principle of meditation.

Right now we are aware of it and looking at it, so we are able to see the coming and going nature of the mind: emotions, thoughts or whatever else. Then there is no fast reaction, just pure observation. Intelligence is very clear, emotion is very clear. That is the first compassion: simply, purely understanding and being aware.

If we look at ourselves and look around, actually everybody is in very fast reaction. Whatever everybody does, whatever they engage in, they react immediately. This is how we live our day-to-day life.

So if we are a little wise and careful, we don't need to react that much, unless something is life-threatening. But we act as if a mad dog were always chasing us and react immediately, when in fact we are in a very safe zone.

Next, take some time to discuss and share, and then we will do one more round.

Loving-Kindness & Compassion, Session Five

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.07.26

The Journey of Awareness: Returning to Our True Nature, Resting in Ultimate Confidence

A Short Tour: Back to the Background of Awareness

Let's relax a little and take one more short tour, feeling the parts of our being. This is a short guide to remind us that we have many layers of ourselves.

Now let's fall back to your awareness, the background of everything, just like space, just like an ocean. This is the real you, your true identity. Buddha nature is also called awareness itself.

From awareness you are able to see your body and feel your body, and see thoughts arising. From awareness you are able to experience the mind, the emotions coming and going. Everything arises from the ground of your awareness and subsides back into the ground of awareness itself.

Like the Ocean, Like Space: Resting in Our True Nature

Just stay in that ground, the foundation of everything, pure background, our true identity. This is our true nature.

Just stay there for a while, like an ocean, like space. All the big and small waves arise from the ocean and go back into it. All the big and small clouds come out of space and dissolve back into space. Similarly, in the presence of your awareness, emotions come and go, thoughts and thinking come and go, sensations come and go.

Remember, this ground is called your true nature, your true identity. This is the real you. "This is my true identity. This is the real me; everything is coming and going. I must root my confidence in it."

Being Aware of Emotion: The Natural Process of Arising and Dissolving

Okay, now with the presence of awareness, let's look at whatever you are able to feel, especially emotion. Simply be aware of any form of emotion.

Every incoming and outgoing emotion is a natural manifestation, arising and subsiding, sometimes one, sometimes many. Just keep aware of the natural process of all emotions. Simply be aware of the natural manifestation of any experience, any emotion, the coming and going, arising and subsiding nature of them.

As you notice, you may experience any form of emotion. There is no trace of where it comes from or where it goes. There is no solid root and no solid ground. It just naturally arises and naturally subsides.

Facing Thoughts: No Need to Fight Them

Okay, now let's move our focus and awareness to any form of thoughts and thinking. Let's try to see very clearly any thoughts and thinking that arise. Let's face them and look at them: how they arise, how they subside, where they come from, where they go. Look at the natural formation of incoming thoughts and outgoing thoughts.

Keep aware of the natural process of your thoughts, every single thought.

As we are aware of the natural process of thoughts, you come to realize that we don't need to fight with any form of thought. There is no trace of where thoughts arise from or where they go. A thought comes by itself; there is no need to fight it, and it will also go by itself, just like a cloud arising from space and dissolving back into space.

Being Aware of the Body: Sensations Coming and Going

Okay, now let's focus on the body and feel the sensations, the sensitivity of your body. Keep aware of any type of sensation. Whatever form of sensation you are experiencing within your body, be aware of it.

Whether there is one sensation or several, a pleasant sensation or an unpleasant one, any form of sensation, just try to be aware of the sensations of your body. Let's stay here with the body sensations for a while, keeping aware of any form of sensation and sensitivity within your body.

The Spark of Thought: Coming from Nowhere, Going Nowhere

Okay, now if you experience any spark of thought, look directly at that spark of thought. Face any form of thought directly.

Be aware of the natural process of any form of your thoughts and thinking. Where does it come from, where does it go? Is it one, a few, or more? Where does it arise from, where does it subside? Just keep aware of the natural process of thoughts arising and going.

Gradually you may be able to witness that thoughts come from nowhere and go nowhere. So we don't need to fight with them. They come from nowhere and go without any trace. Keep aware of the natural process of thoughts.

Beneath the Thoughts: Being Aware of Feelings

Okay, now beneath the thoughts and thinking, whatever you are experiencing now, try to feel it. Be aware of any form of feeling you are having.

Positive feelings, negative feelings, good feelings, bad feelings: is it one or many? Keep aware of the natural process of feelings arising and subsiding, coming and going.

I Am Awareness: Awareness Is Ever Present

Now gradually, naturally, everything falls back into the background, that awareness. The ocean, space, awareness, your true nature, the ground of your true being, your innate nature.

On that ground, all feelings arise, thoughts and thinking arise, body and sensations arise; and all sensations subside, thoughts, thinking and feelings subside.

So I am awareness, and awareness is that. It is there before the thoughts, during the thoughts and after the thoughts. Awareness is ever present. Awareness is like space itself; it is the ultimate, my true nature, my true identity.

The Essence of Practice: Ultimate Confidence, Temporary Remedies

But temporarily we forget. Temporarily we get distracted by emotions, thoughts and thinking, and by bodily sensations, both body and mind.

So now root your confidence in your true nature, awareness itself. And deal with body and mind as temporary obstacles, with temporary solutions.

So the essence of any form of your practice is this: ultimate confidence placed in awareness; and temporarily, the obscurations, temporary purification, temporarily dealing with body and mind. Never forget your ultimate confidence while you are dealing with the temporary obscurations.

Now let's fall back to your awareness, your ultimate ground, and see and feel all thoughts and emotions arising and subsiding.

Okay, now slowly and gently open your eyes.

Taking the Tour Often: The Most Complete Teaching and Practice

Is it okay? Take a short tour like that, okay? Take a short tour from time to time, just a little, through your own mind zone and body zone.

Actually, there is no deeper, more complete and clearer teaching and practice than this. All I need to do is practice myself and see the result, see the effect. How dedicated I am, how serious I am, depends on me. The same goes for you.

Dharmakaya and Secret Refuge: Both Are Awareness Itself

Once you learn this, every practice actually becomes the same. Even with deity yoga, we only change the terms; like dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya, we change the terms, but actually it is the same.

Awareness itself is the dharmakaya; Buddha nature is the dharmakaya. And among the outer, inner and secret refuges, the secret refuge is awareness itself.

Dedication: Sincere Aspiration and Dedication

Okay, now we do the dedication. Please each make your sincere aspiration and dedication.

All auspicious. We are auspicious, we are auspicious. So auspicious.