Unbroken practice is like a watchful guard.
It is simply unscattered and is free from acceptance or rejection.
There is no duality of things to be abandoned and their antidotes.
This is my heart's advice.
This verse and the following instructions concern how to continue with
Mahamudra practice. Once we have received instructions, we have to accomplish
them and perfect the practice. Continuity of practice is essential for the
perfection of enlightenment.
Unbroken practice means that one is mindful all the time, like a watchful
guard. Thieves and robbers may come at any time, so the guard of a mansion
containing great treasure must be alert twenty-four hours a day. In the same
way, it is important to watch our mind since the thieves of attachment,
desire, anger, and forgetfulness can come at any time and steal the wealth of
our compassion and wisdom, along with our realization of Mahamudra.
Once mindfulness is continuously established, an unscattered mind is "just
there," on the spot, whether we are walking, eating, driving, or performing
other activities. We can watch the mind and see how our mental state shapes
our world. But when we watch it, we should just relax. Milarepa advises us
in a vajra song:
Rest naturally, like a small child.
Rest like an ocean without waves.
Rest with clarity, like a candle flame.
Rest without self-concern, like a corpse.
Rest unmoving like a mountain.
-- Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, "A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path",
edited by Khenmo Trinlay Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications
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