Joy, Healing, and Liberation

Commence your journey into mahāmudrā meditation with Yangsi Rinpoche. In this lesson, you’ll be introduced to tools for holding your attention on the subject—the mind—and observing the nature of this meditative experience without judgment. In particular, Rinpoche explores techniques for reducing undesirable mind states such as anxiety and depression by opposing the eight worldly concerns, which he characterizes as “visions” arising from self-grasping.

Enhance your understanding of mahāmudrā’s extraordinary potential. In this lesson, you’ll discover how mahāmudrā and other meditations might be used in working with depression and associated afflictions. Additionally, Rinpoche explains the etymology of mahāmudrā, the importance of practices such as refuge and generosity, and the need to practice in accordance with the teachings of all three turnings of the wheel of Buddha-dharma.

Discover advanced Mahāmudrā practices to reorient your perception. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to engage in crucial guru yoga practices, abiding in the experience of “indistinct appearance” (snang ba ban bun). Rinpoche discusses how such an abiding can create a form of “cognitive reset” as well as a window in which the nature of your mind can be observed, free of manifest self-grasping.

Mahāmudrā is pursued by two distinct types of practitioners: one who establishes the view of emptiness first and another who discovers that view through mahāmudrā meditation. In this lesson, you’ll gain familiarity with the latter of these two approaches (finding the view through meditation), which involves deconstructing afflictive emotions by observing their nature. Rinpoche provides commentary on how these afflictions are ultimately to be seen as akin to waves on an ocean, how to integrate conventional and ultimate analyses, and how to examine the arising, abiding, and passing of thoughts to challenge your innate grasping at intrinsic existence.

Harness the transformative potential of mahāmudrā meditation to overcome anxiety and similar mental afflictions. In this lesson, you’ll delve deeper into the technique of observing thoughts without judgment and developing the mental pliancy to applying antidotes to afflictions. Rinpoche highlights the role of self-grasping in creating anxiety, the importance of gradual engagement in the preliminary practices, and the use of techniques such as deep breathing and utilizing the “indistinct appearances” experience to see the primordial nature of awareness.

Familiarize yourself with the cultivation of calm abiding (śamatha) in a mahāmudrā practice context. In this lesson, you’ll learn about some of the recommended objects to base your calm abiding practice upon as well as the level of mental pliancy necessary to achieve such concentration. Rinpoche again emphasizes the practice of guru yoga to disrupt the flow of self-grasping, the correct amount and timing of “indistinct appearances” to avoid disorientation, and how these methods help you develop calm abiding, pacify anxiety, and overcome dualistic conception.

Further refine your mahāmudrā practice and transform your inner world. In this lesson, you’ll discover how to address authentic entreaties to the guru, transform obstacles such as frustration into valuable learning opportunities, and apply a gentleness of awareness to strike the optimal balance between tension and relaxation in calm abiding meditation. Rinpoche also discusses the importance of personalizing the seven-limb practice, loosening the knots in your mind to ease mental unrest, and relating to your śamatha meditation object without excessive force or expectation.

Connect more deeply with your innate, primordial awareness. In this lesson, you’ll gain greater confidence working with Mahāmudrā-related techniques to identify and release deep-seated mental tension. Additionally, Rinpoche touches on the nature of suffering, the concept of “all-pervasive suffering,” and practical methods for observing the causes of such suffering.

Retain focus and inspiration without succumbing to tension in your meditation practice. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to differentiate between healthy aspiration and unhealthy expectation and how to cultivate awareness and clarity while avoiding the twin pitfalls of excitement and dullness. In particular, Rinpoche considers how mahāmudrā practice can be employed to overcome excessive fear and expectations as well as how such obstacles arise out of self-grasping.

Maintain mindful presence in daily life and relaxed awareness in advanced meditation. In this final lesson, you’ll discover tools for developing a “full-time” meditative mindset. Rinpoche concludes the course by providing clear instructions on how to integrate stillness and movement (gnas pa and rgyu ba), avoid the extremes of grasping or spacing out, and achieve a calm, productive, and unpolluted state of mind.