Thumbnail outline of Material and Retreat

1 Thumbnail Outline of Material and Retreat Four parts to meditation practice 1.) Preparation to begin a. Types of meditation b. What is the goal of your meditation c. Mental Attitude d. Six preliminary activities necessary to begin a meditation session. 2.) Bodily posture a. Eight-point posture 3.) Mental process a. five problems that occur in meditation b. eight corrections to the five problems that occur in meditation c. nine mental stages of meditation 4.) Object of Meditation. a. Breath b. Image of the Buddha c. Text 5.) Appendix- additional suggestions for dealing with distractions Meditation is a tool; temporary pleasant side effects result from doing meditation. It is not an end, and does not have spiritual value unless focused upon a spiritual object. Mind is easily influenced. Whatever the mind is around, it becomes like that, so if we focus it on a holy object, the mind becomes holy. SESSION ONE: Preparing to meditate and sitting down on the cushion 1.) Three kinds of Meditation (Each with a different object): a. JOK-GOM: Putting the mind on an object, such as a Buddha image. This is what people normally think of as meditation. b. SHAR-GOM: Review meditation - going along certain steps of an outline with onepointed mind, so you know them backwards, forwards, in mixed order, etc. The steps of the outline are the object of meditation, which you review repeatedly in different ways. c. CHE-GOM: Analytical meditation - debating a concept with yourself. As a result of this, you will come to a conclusion, and then switch to jok-gom using that conclusion as an object. Any of these can be done as shamata (shi-ney) meditation with single-pointed concentration. 2.) Preparing for meditation a. What is your goal (three capacities of the practioner) i. Self verses others 2 b. c. d. e. Is meditation for “blissing out” What is the relationship with ethics and meditation Emptiness and meditation How does meditation relate to you daily behavior away from the cushion 3.) Six things to do before meditation (Six Preliminaries): a. NE-KANG TSANG-MA - Clean up and tidy the room - this helps to wake up and get the day going and to slow down the mind.(Do three prostrations before sitting.) b. CHU-PA - Offerings -Water bowl offerings to the five senses - Fill and empty bowls from the left. Align the bowls without the edges touching and not being too far apart. Fill the first bowl almost to the top and pour the content to the bowl to the right, almost to the point of being empty. Do the same with the 2nd bowl, 3rd bowl, etc. When you get to the end then take your water container and fill all the bowls to the top, without spilling. Empty bowls at night to signify ready to die now. Wipe bowls before filling. The offerings the bowls represent are (starting with the left) are: drinking water, water for washing feet, flowers, incense, light, perfume, and food. c. KYAB-DRO SEM-KYE - Go for refuge (fear and faith needed for proper refuge), and generate bodhichitta. Fear is that there is no escape from samsara and the three suffering and faith in the Buddhist path to take you out of samsara. d. TSOK-SHING MIK-PA - Start simply, by visualizing the silhouette of the root lama, and then begin to add features, color, and details later. See as young and vibrant without physical defects. Visualize merit field. Work up to visualizing the lamas of the two great lineages (emptiness and compassion.). Remember that you are visualizing with your minds eye, not you actual eye. So the image is not a mental photocopy of the actual image, but something more emotionally charged. e. DRIP-JANG TSOK-SAK - Purify obstacles. purifying obstacles and gathering together the power of goodness by the seven ingredients. Gather goodness by seven steps: Confession acts to remove negative energy before meditation, and the other six act to accumulate positive energy. The below is essentially the “King of Prayers,” which is the 2nd part of the yellow book (seven branch prayer). i. CHAK-TSEL: (Prostration) Folded hands touch crown, mouth, and heart to wish for body, speech, and mind of a Buddha. Go down slowly and wish not to go down to rebirth in hells. Get up quickly. Three prostrations for teacher, teaching, and for those who follow teaching. ii. CHU-PA: (Offerings) iii. SHAK-PA: (Open yourself) Confession, purification of broken freedom, bodhisattva, and laymen vows You can't concentrate if something is in your conscience. Do something like Vajrasattva visualization to help with confession. iv. YI-RANG-WA: (Rejoicing) Being glad about the good things which you and others have done. It is more powerful to rejoice about your own goodness than that of others. It multiplies your virtue and potential exponentially to be very happy about your own good deeds. v. CHU-KOR KOR-WA: (Turn the Wheel of Dharma) Requesting the holy beings to teach. vi. SOLN-DEP: (Requesting) Asking the holy beings to stay and not to break your relationship or to die. vii. NGO-WA: (Dedication) 3 f. SOLN-DEP: Requesting to give you jin-lap (potential to gain high spiritual goals) to enable your spiritual ability to increase. 4.) Eight-point posture of Vairochana (sometimes called seven-point posture when they don't consider the last point - the breath). a. KANG-PA KYIL-TRUNG (kang lotus posture). Leg in full lotus with left leg up first and then right leg. Do a half lotus if you can't do a full one. Don't sit in a posture which will distract you from meditation. b. MIK MI - YE MI–SUM (eye not wide not far). Don't keep eyes open too wide, because that can be distracting, and not closed, because that might make you sleepy. Direct the eyes downward (about 45 degrees) on a point 6" inches in front of you. If you can't focus your mind because of distractions, just close the eyes for awhile. Have something plain in front of you, not colors, patterns, letters, etc., that will present a visual distraction. Focusing eyes on, or staring at, an object isn't meditating. The definition of meditation is to withdraw from the senses and focus the mind. It is very important for the eyes to be unfocused. c. LU DRANG-PO (body straight). It is very important to have the chest in one plane - not leaning forward or backward. When you catch yourself leaning, correct your posture slowly to not interfere with breathing and meditation. You shouldn't lean against anything (except in long retreat when meditating all day and it is necessary to rest the back occasionally). d. TRAK-PA NYAM (shoulders level). Shoulders level - left not higher than right, etc. Don't move for anything once in the posture, no matter what - itches, sleeping legs, etc. If you don't move, the feelings will go and you can then withdraw the senses. e. GO MITO MIMA (head not high not bent down). The head shouldn't be bent down or leaned backwards or to the right or left. It should be centered and straight. f. SO - CHU RANG – LUK (teeth lips natural position). Teeth and lips as they are naturally, not tight or clenched. If the mouth is closed, the corners get tight. If the mouth is open, it dries out. This position prevents excessive swallowing. g. CHE YA-SOY RANG – LUK (tongue top teeth keep in that area). Keep tongue in the area of your upper teeth, where it is naturally. This will prevent thirst. h. UK (from Abhidharmakosha) (breath). Count exhalation as one and inhalation as two, i.e., always start with exhalation. Breath watching is meant to change gears and not as an object of meditation. Should be very, very slow, so you don't hear your breath. Never force yourself to breathe slowly, and always breathe through the nose. The seat is very important. The back of the seat should be higher than the front, to straighten the back, and there should be at least a thin mat on the ground to keep the legs warm and not falling asleep. The left hand is placed down first and the right palm rests on it. Thumbs touch and elbows out slightly, with palms resting on the pit of the ankle. 4 SESSION II: Five Problems and Eight Corrections: (from Pabongka Rinpoche's Lam Rim) NYEPA NGA (problem five). Five problems which arise in meditation. They are laziness, forgetting the instruction, mental dullness and agitation, not taking action, taking action when not needed.  NYENPO GYE (antidote eight). Eight corrections to the five problems. Problems and their corrections  LE-LO (laziness) Laziness: Not wanting to meditate, not feeling like it. When we do it even though we don't want to is when we will make the most progress and attain shamatha. 1. Corrections: i. TING-NGEN-DZIN LA DEPA (one pointed focus towards faith). Having attraction and admiration for the good qualities of meditation. These include knowledge that you can only move from one path (of the five paths to Buddhahood) in a state of deep meditation, that you can't be in deep meditation without practicing daily, that you must have one-pointed concentration to attain the good qualities of Buddhism, etc. ii. DUN-PA (want it). You want shamata, because of understanding the good qualities described above. iii. TSUN-DRU (effort). Trying hard to meditate, as a result of wanting shamata. Your wanting it causes you to try to get it, so that you are willing to sit to meditate when you are tired and don't feel like it. iv. SHIN – JANG (practiced ease). By doing it over and over again, it becomes natural and easy, mentally and physically. The body becomes used to the posture. You must do it continually. If you only do it for a few weeks and then take a break, it won't work. The mind will do whatever you want. With shin-jang (practiced ease), you can force the mind to focus as long as you want. This is the actual correction for laziness. The other three lead up to this correction. When you get good at it and enjoy it, you'll want to do it regularly. Think about what you want to do instead of meditating. It is impermanent, and will be lost; it is suffering to get it and there will be suffering to keep it. Meditate instead.  DAM - NGAK JE – PA (instruction/advice to forget). Forgetting the instruction: You lose the object of concentration. The object of meditation slips away completely. 1. Antidote: i. DREN – PA (remembering). Recalling the object if you've lost it, or remembering the object before losing it. Habituate yourself to it so it's familiar and not lost. The greatest enemy to remembering is to change objects of meditation. Pick one and keep it a long time or until you attain shamata.  JING – GU (mental dullness agitation) Mental dullness and agitation: 1. Dullness: It can be obvious or subtle. Obvious dullness is when you have fixation on the object and it has lost its clarity. With subtle dullness, you have fixation and clarity, but no intensity. This kind of meditation makes you forgetful, and you lose intellect. Dullness or sinking is the worst enemy of meditators, because it can be mistaken for progress, while actually it is causing detriment. i. Example of the cup: You can hold a cup firmly or loosely. Holding the cup is having fixation. Holding it loosely is fixation and clarity; holding it tightly is fixation, clarity and intensity. Clarity refers to the subject (the meditator),  5  not to the object of meditation. It doesn't refer to how clear the picture is, but to how clear your mind is, how alert, bright, and fresh it is. Increasing clarity brings the mind back to an alert state. It doesn't mean trying to see the Buddha's fingers more clearly or with more detail. Intensity refers to the degree of clarity. Having intensity means having a greater degree of clarity. ii. Agitation is mental wandering toward a virtuous object, a desire, or an adverse object. iii. Antidote for agitation and dullness:  SHE-SHIN (watchfulness). You watch your mind to see if dullness and agitation are present. Not continually watching mind (you wouldn't be able to meditate if you did), but checking it occasionally, such as every five minutes. The only way to completely eliminate or destroy anger and afflictive emotions is by seeing emptiness directly. Once you see emptiness directly, you will be totally enlightened within seven lifetimes at the most. This is the main incentive to meditate. It can only happen from daily meditation. Use common sense; if posture or a practice cause pain for months and prevent meditation or concentration, then change it. DU MI-JE-PA Not taking action: It takes effort to change the state of dullness and agitation. 1. Antidote i. DU JE-PA: (Taking action). Antidote for dullness: DRIM-PA, tightening up on your concentration. You can tighten concentration on the object of meditation, in order to return intensity and clarity. Loss of confidence or depression also results in loss of clarity and intensity, so you may need to uplift and encourage yourself. If you can't tighten concentration on the object of meditation, then shift to another object of concentration. ii. Objects to act as antidotes for dullness:  The best object is the thought of how lucky we are to be alive, healthy, and to have dharma and perfect human conditions in a joyful way. When uplifted, shift back to the original object.  The thought of the benefits of behaving well toward your lama will accumulate virtue while your focus is away from the original subject.  Focus on a bright light.  Think of the good qualities of Buddha.  If these don't work, then : a. Break the meditation and stretch. b. Go to a cold place to get refreshed. c. Go to a wide open place to look at the sky or at wide vistas something to uplift the spirit. d. Pace back and forth, get exercise. e. Splash face with water. f. Then go back to meditate. iii. Antidote for agitation: HLU-PA (loosen up). When concentration is too tight, the mind will go off to other objects. Agitation may be caused by ungrounded, giddy happiness. You need to come down.  Mentally loosen up on the object and bring the mind down. 6  If that doesn't work, shift to another object, such as the inevitability of death or the three types of suffering in life.  Count your breaths. Counting breath meditation is used to shift the mind to neutral before going to an object of meditation, or to bring the mind down when it's holding too tightly to an object of meditation. DU JE-PA: Taking action when it's not necessary. 1. Antidote: i. Leave it alone.  ____________________________________________________________________________ Session III: Nine levels of progress in meditation (SEM NE GU (mind state nine)) As you encounter the five problems and apply the eight corrections, you attain nine levels of progress: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > concentration 1.) SEM JOK PA (mind putting) Putting the mind on the object in meditation. Learning the object from your lama and putting your mind on it is the first step. You have very little ability to hold the object except for a brief moment now and then. (You'll think your mind is worse than it was before you meditated because of lack of focus. You're just seeing the mind clearly for the first time.). The dots signify the amount of time on the object. concentration 2.) GYUN-DU JOK PA (in a stream putting the mind on the object) Putting the mind on an object in a stream. You can keep the mind on the object for a short while (like the amount of time needed to say a rosary of OM MANI PADME HUM). At this stage you keep the mind on the object a minute or two, and then it seems the distractions surge back to the mind in great force. The periods of distraction are longer than the periods of concentration. Dullness and agitation are predominant at this stage. The lines replace the dots to signify length of focus. concentration 3.) LEN-TE JOK-PA (patch putting the mind on the object) Patch-like fixation or putting the mind on the object. You are patching your continuity. You have a stream of concentration, and it breaks, so you patch the break in concentration to continue the stream of concentration. Characterized by shorter breaks in concentration at this stage. You have gained pretty powerful dren-pa (recall, recollection) at this stage - a strong ability to go back to the object readily. The lines become longer than in #2, due to the increased length on concentration on the object. 7 4.) NYEWAR JEK-PA (closely mind is placed on object) The mind is placed closely on the object. Recollection is so strong that your mind can't lose the object completely. You can lose clarity or intensity, but not fixation. Still lots of coarse dullness and agitation. You no longer struggle to keep the object, but struggle with the quality of meditation. Your ability to recall at this point is completely matured and complete. The tendency at this stage is to bring the mind in too forcefully, and subtle dullness results. 5.) DUL - WAR JE-PA (bring under control to do it) Bringing the mind under control. You need very strong watchfulness to catch the subtle dullness. Watchfulness is powerful at this level. This level is different, because you have fixation and clarity, but not intensity. 6.) SHI-WAR JE-PA (peace make it) Make the mind calm by correcting subtle agitation which results from overcorrecting subtle dullness in step five. When correcting dullness, you may get too up, and need to bring yourself down. There isn't much subtle dullness at this level. You need very strong watchfulness to get to levels five and six. Watchfulness is complete at this stage. 8 7.) NAM-PAR SHI-WAR JE-PA (totally peace make mind) Here you make the mind totally calm. Because watchfulness and recollection are totally complete, it is difficult for dullness and agitation to occur. You must still make an effort to focus the mind, however. You don't have to be very concerned about subtle dullness and agitation occurring, but still it requires effort to wipe them out. They are no longer attacking you. You are attacking them. 8.) TSE CHEK-TU JE-PA (one-pointed make it) Bring the mind to one-pointedness. At the beginning of the session, you make a small effort to place the mind on the object, and then it remains there effortlessly. 9.) NAM-PAR JOK-PA (even place mind on object) Place the mind in deep meditation. There is effortless entering and abiding in deep meditation. Practicing meditation over and over again leads to this level. You can't perceive emptiness directly without this level of concentration. In stages one and two, you are not concentrating very well. In stages three through seven, meditation is pretty good, but you have dullness and agitation. In stages eight and nine, you don't need watchfulness anymore. Session 4:Guided meditation Guided Meditation on the Buddha Image: At the level of your forehead about two meters in front of you is a large golden throne. It is beautifully adored with jewels and supported at each corner by a pair o snow lions (signifying Buddha’s quality of fearlessness). On the throne is a full developed lotus (signifying Buddha’s holy body and mind, which are unstained by the shortcomings of samsara) and on that are the sun and full moon disks (the sun signifying wisdom and the moon signifying method. The two together signify the unification of no-more-learning, and the Buddha sitting on them signifies his achievement of this unification. The louts, sun, and moon also signify the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment. Upon the louts, sin, and moon is seated Shakyamuni Buddha, who has achieved all perfect realizations. He is the manifestation of the omniscient mind of all the Buddha, the ultimate guru. He 9 is inseparable from your root guru, who shows the unmistaken path and is bound with infinite compassion to you and to all sentient beings. His body, in the nature of golden light, is very magnificent, and he wears the three robes of a monks. His face is beautiful and has a loving smile; his compassionate eyes look toward you but simultaneously encompass all sentient beings. His mind free of all judgmental critical thoughts, he accepts you fully. His eyes are long, narrow, and fine; his gaze is very peaceful. His eyes are halfclosed (signifying that the holy mind is in a meditative equipoise in the sky of emptiness, the ultimate nature of phenomena) and half-opened (signifying that the holy mind, while in the meditative equipoise on ultimate nature, the emptiness of all phenomena, is at the same time, out of compassion, working for sentient beings, who equal the limitless sky, by manifesting in various forms of the rupakaya according to whatever is of benefit). His lips are red (signifying that he reveals the Dharma to other sout of compassion). His hair is blue-black; each hair individually curls to the right. On the crown of his head is a crown pinnacle. The palm of his right hand rests on his right knee, the middle finger touching the moon cushion (symbolizing his great control over Mara, desire). His left hand rests in his lap in the mudra of meditation (symbolizing that he has overcome the mara of disturbing attitudes. In his left hand he is holding a bowl filled with nectar (signifying that he has overcome the mara of the samsaric aggregates). His body is the vajra posture (signifying that he has destroyed the mara of the lord of death; thus, he has destroyed his own four mara and is also destroying the mara that attack other sentient beings), and he sits peacefully in the center of interlacing beams of light (signifying that he works for sentient beings with whatever means will benefit them). Each feature of his holy body represents an aspect of his omniscient mind and so forth, his inner attainments; each feature also demonstrates the causes, that is, the merit that was collected in the past. No matter how much one looks at Shakyamuni Buddha, one never feels satiated. The supreme refuge, Shakyamuni Buddha, encompasses the guru, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. From the holy body beams are emitted in all ten directions; numerous manifestations of Shakyamuni Buddha are carried on each beam to ripen infinite sentient beings. Looking at me with compassionate eyes, Shakyamuni Buddha says, “son or daughter of the lineage, if you want to be liberated from the suffering of samsara, I will guide you.” He happily promises that and frees me from the breathless state. 10 Western Roadmap to Distractions Below is basically what you are going to go through, more or less, as you start your meditation. Meditation can often cause a “Buddhist depression” in that until you actually sit down to meditate you never realize how distracted you really are most of the time. To make matters worse, the more you try the meditate, the worse you often get! This can be very discouraging, but nothing new in meditation. Meditators often work through a series of distractions until they reach calm-abiding, which is only half the battle. Once you calm your mind, the real work, the hard work, is insight meditation. The ultimate goal of which is to understand emptiness. But don’t start there!!! Start with counting fingers, not advanced physics. Below is the typical progression most of us go through in developing calm abiding. While the list is in linear order, the graphic doesn’t mean that is the way we all go or we don’t bounce around from one to the other. The Distraction Roadmap Daily life Subtle Thought Fantasies Emotions Discursive thoughts Calm Abiding Distractions dealing with daily life are very obvious, but very hard to avoid. They include thinking about what you are going to wear, eat for lunch, need to do around the house, work, and so one. These distractions are what keep you away from your consistent practice. Not having enough time to practice due to being too much is never a good answer. If there is too much going on during the day, then get up in the morning or stay up late. Laundry, dishes, and so on will never be done for good, so doing them in place of your practice is not going to get you the karma and realizations needed to enter the next life at a higher level. If you find yourself thinking of your “to do” list, simply say “later” in your head and return to the object of meditation. That way you acknowledge the thought, calm your anxiety about it since it will be dealt with, and then return to meditation. Another good way to get out of thinking about daily life is to honestly do the preliminaries. Sometimes meditation is seen as a chore, something we have to do. As a result, we burn through the preliminaries, don’t bother to visualize, and then set the timer and wait for it to go off so we can begin our day. Don’t do this. It will happen at 11 times, but the more you can slow yourself and get into the right attitude, the more meditation will seem a purpose for your life rather than a distraction from it. Fantasies are much more fun and really much more dangerous. In fantasies you go over what it would be like if you were appreciated more, switched to a different job, had more money, or was mistreated less. All these fantasies have two things in common, an “I” and a desire. The “I” is the most dangerous thing in Buddhism in that it is never satisfied. It is always on the lookout for me. If it isn’t material things, it is interpersonal desires that form the foundation of this “I.” You may think that you aren’t greedy and that you are happy with what you got, but if that was so why are you still having fantasies? Just like thoughts about you day, there is no way to block out fantasies, they are going to come. That is just a simple fact. But what you do with them is up to you. If you engage them, you aren’t going anywhere. Sometimes they can get tricky and encourage you to analyze them. That is just distractions backdooring you. Don’t get fooled. Analyzing thoughts is part of meditation, but not calm-abiding meditation. When you are in the session and you catch yourself fantasizing, gently acknowledge what you were doing (just by saying “fantasizing,” “day dreaming,” or “distracting”), tell yourself that it is okay and part of the process, and return to the object of meditation. After the meditation, and only after the meditation, reflect on the subject matter. What were you fantasizing about? Was it one of the eight mundane concerns? If it is a consistent theme in your daydreams, then it has to be something that plays a part in your life. If you don’t see it, then look harder. If you are keeping your vows, pay special attention to this desire because it is often a karmic imprint you are going to have to take of. Emotions are the minefield in meditation because they are so powerful. You may get feelings of bliss and tranquility, which are great, but are really side effects that become distractions in themselves. They often become an object of desire (Why can’t I meditate like I did last Tuesday, it was such a great session?). This is the point where meditation seems to make us worse because we have all these negative emotions come out that we never knew were there. But they had to be there, we are still in samsara, aren’t we? Meditation is just showing us the nature of the beast, the self-centered mind that is on the prowl for what it desires. It takes courage to work through this period, many meditators end up stopping at this point and try to avoid dealing with this portion of their mind (often blaming others for it, or justifying it in some other way to make it more acceptable). Fortunately you have been practicing letting go with other distractions, and this is no different. When you find yourself getting angry, for example, simple say “anger” and return to the object. If you notice your muscles are tense, say “tension,” relax them, and then return to the object. Some texts suggest contemplating where this anger comes from (or sadness, jealously, or whatever), but this is dangerous for westerners. We are experts on ruminating, he have it down pat!! We take our emotions and hurts and go over and over them again, like a cow chewing its curd. We talk to others in hope to find affirmation in 12 our feelings and if we don’t get it, we add this lack of support to our justification. Ruminating is just like rolling a snowball in the snow, the more we move it around the bigger it gets. The bigger it gets, the more it becomes a focus for us. Unlike a snowball, he can’t just drop the ball of emotion we developed. It quickly becomes a central focus because we never leave it, eventually coloring everything we do. At this point you should be thinking of karma. Does this “snowball” become a cause for how we react to others? Does the effect of our actions then become a cause for the snowball to get bigger? If we never had the snowball, how would our reactions be different? So if you have to meditate on your feelings, meditate on them in relation to cause and effect, dependent origination, and emptiness, not if they are right or not. A good test of if you are meditating on the emotion incorrectly is if you are more upset after the meditation. If you are angry and feel justified, you are going in the wrong direction. If you feel more compassionate towards others, become motivated to watch you ethics more, and get a greater sense of how you are planting the seeds to experience the same situation over and over again, then you are going in the right direction. Please keep in mind if you can just acknowledge it, name it, gently accept it without judgment, and return to the object of meditation, which is the safer path. Discursive thought is just a fancy way of saying rambling thoughts. At this point the mind does not really focus on something developed like fantasies or emotions; it’s like a random collection of thoughts, feelings, and anything else. Think of flipping through TV stations where you hear a few things, but not anything too long. At this point you have likely developed a sense of humor about your distractions and you might think to yourself “here comes the whirlwind again, back to ……..*object of meditation+;” You will just have to be sure that the methods of dealing with distractions don’t become distractions themselves. That is, there are likely to be so many underdeveloped thoughts going through your head that labeling them all will keep you off the object of mediation more than the thing that was labeled! At this point be pleased with the progress made Subtle thoughts are the minds way to let you know how habituated you are. No matter how much you fight the “I” it always fights back. Your winning, the “I” just won’t go down. These thoughts are not a huge issue anymore, as long as you accept them without judging. If you are able to sit and meditate for about an hour and keep on the object of meditation for about an hour, then you have it down pretty well. If you meditation is mildly distracted with discursive and subtle thoughts, then you are ready for analytical meditation. 13 REFERENCES The resources uses for the sessions 1 through 4 are as follows: Je Tsongkapa's Great Book on the Steps of the Path Pabongka Rinpoche's Liberation in the Palm of your Hand Asian Classics Institute: Class 3: Applied Meditation Roadmap for the Western Mind is an essay written by a Sangha member of DGI, it is not a Tibetan text (which is obvious). Principal resources used were: Chogyam Trungpa’s The Path is the Goal Sakyong Mipham’s Turning the Mind into an Ally Henepola Gunaratana’s Mindfulness in Plain English