Meditation practice itself will not change the content of our mind but it will change the relationship we have with the content of our mind.  This is one reason why  meditation can be very boring, because you spend a lot of time just being with yourself—and actually,  we are all a bit boring!

James Low

Berlin, 11-12 March, 2006
Download the Pdf of the Retreat
Transcribed by Sarah Allen. Edited by Barbara Terris

Extracts

…What is most important about the teaching, the transmission, and the teacher is their relation to emptiness, because that is what makes the relationship with the teacher something which fundamentally alters the basis of our ‘being in the world’….
…The problem of the subject cannot be solved by the object. The emptiness and confusion, the difficulties we feel, the uncertainties about who we are, about what the meaning of our life is, what we should be doing with our existence… will not be resolved by falling in love. You may have a holiday from the difficulty, but afterwards the difficulty will still be there…
…The clarity which is produced by thoughts,  is developed by linking one thought to another thought.  But the clarity which arises from relaxation openness and emptiness, is there prior to thought. Thoughts arise as the shiny edge, like if you are looking at the sea in the moonlight and the waves arise and little drops are shimmering.  That’s what our thoughts are: little drops of beautiful energy arising from the open dharmakaya. It is the depth of the ocean, with its own luminous potential…
…Advice on observing the mind: Go like an ornithologist into the forest.  Go in and find a nice place and sit very quietly.  The bird is in the forest—and if you don’t move around too much, the bird will appear.  So just relax; your mind is there, and the one who is looking, shows you…
…The same potential tools, the resources arising from emptiness, are now being transformed towards another task, and this is the essence of tantra. The clutch if you like, to change gear, is emptiness.  We are locked in the gear of our karmic identity, driving along at this particular speed, perceiving what we perceive at that speed. Then, we change gear—we lock in—and now we’re doing Padmasambhava!…