Bodhicitta Practice & Discussion Workshop

Parts of this text are translated from the Chinese transcript.

Bodhicitta Workshop, Day One, Session One

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.10.17

The True Face of Bodhicitta: Awareness Is the Ultimate Refuge

Opening: Your Own Understanding Matters Most

Welcome, everyone. I hope you had a good reading and sharing; it sounds like you are having a wonderful time together. For me, the sharing, the reading, having your own personal connection and your own understanding, is the most important.

I am actually very proud of this setup. It looks simple, but it has such a profound impact and benefit, especially for the students who discuss and share with one another, because you have the same background, the same culture, the same language, and there is absolutely no distance.

You can see the clear difference: when I come, you already feel, "Okay, Rinpoche has come," and there is already a little bit of distance there. But we need to remember that the core is actually the students; it is about you yourself. Everything we are trying to do, especially today's topic, is directly connected to you. So your own part, your own understanding, your own feelings and expression are very much necessary.

So once again, from the very beginning, I want you to make this a priority: make yourself comfortable and try to catch the point as much as possible. Once you are free and relaxed, your intelligence actually functions better, and I want your intelligence to be functioning. You don't need to understand every detail very clearly; just try to pick up some points. Later you will also see some emotional reactions, and slowly we can talk about them.

The Orange: Life Has Multiple Factors

Generally, when we look at life, life looks very simple. We have a very simple image, approach or understanding of life. But when we look at the details, life is not as simple as we think. Actually, there are multiple factors that come together.

It is just like an orange: there are many factors inside. On the outside is the peel of the orange, and we only have a picture of that. But inside there is the fruit of the orange. And more than that, there is the taste: whether it is tasty, whether it is sweet. But more important than that, it is edible.

We have a respect for the orange. We very easily have a feeling of closeness with the orange, because it is not just about the looks, not just about the taste; it is also nutritious and edible. There are also many fruits that look nice, smell good and are very tasty, but they are poisonous. So we don't give poisonous food the same value and respect that we give to edible food.

Similar to this, life also has multiple factors. It is just a hint I am trying to give you. Later we will slowly go into what kinds of multiple factors we have when we talk about ourselves as a life.

The Second Wave: Bodhicitta Is the Heart of the Bodhisattvas

Today's topic is actually a very big topic, a very vast topic. And I want to say it very clearly and loudly: it is very special, very precious. We will try our best to have some understanding of its essence; we cannot explore all the details, the entirety.

Especially when we talk about the Mahayana. If you look at the Buddha's story, first, during his lifetime, there was something like meditation, something we can still see in that same culture within the Theravada family. They say, "We are the oldest students of the Buddha." There is an entire meditation technique, an entire culture, which has spread far and wide, helping and benefiting people within that culture and outside of it, internationally.

Then second, gradually, another wave arose throughout India, at places such as Nalanda University. The work there had a deeper level of quality; it was not just practice alone. They had profound documentation and deep research about human emotion and about our so-called nature, reality. There is much about the emotions, much about intelligence, thoughts and thinking, those energies. India had such an international attraction, reaching throughout China, Tibet and many other regions. Actually, the greatest essence, the greatest influence of that second wave is the practice of bodhicitta.

From the outside, we can see the society, the changes, the work, the community, the style of education and so on. But what exactly does it contain? What exactly are the point and the practice it contains? Nowadays you can hear many stories about many different bodhisattvas: this bodhisattva, that bodhisattva, many different types of bodhisattvas, sometimes with one head, sometimes with two or three heads. Actually, this is the heart practice that all those bodhisattvas have.

Not Just Talk: Bringing in the Practical Essence

So I feel we should not just talk about it. Today we are going to talk about the practical essence. Sometimes I feel that if you go through the books and the texts, they also mention it, and you can easily have access to it. And many people can easily talk about it, just as simple as that. If we only talk about it on that same basis, I don't feel that is enough. So together with that, we are trying to bring in the essence.

A Dream: Ancient Ruins Full of Stupas

Last night, or rather this morning, I had something like a dream. I think that dream has a somewhat profound connection with what we should do and what we are supposed to do.

In the dream I was exploring a mountain, and surprisingly the mountain was full of ancient ruins, just like the movie Tomb Raider. Then I saw a mountain full of ancient temples and many stupas. Suddenly I saw myself climbing on a very, very large Amitabha. I looked around, and there were other bodhisattvas and other Buddhas. Because it was something like fifteen feet high, I carefully slid and climbed down and looked around.

I wondered, why this kind of dream? But later I truly felt that the content and the essence we are reaching, that we are talking about, is like that. It is as if they put all their heart essence together: a mountain full of temples and stupas, a mountain full of bodhicitta, into which they put their life essence. But it remained an ancient ruin. Which means that even though we have access, we may not be able to get the essence.

So that is the reason we should try our best to take it in, not just listen with one ear and let it go out the other. We are trying to bring a deeper level of connection with life: "Oh, this is how they are doing it," taking them as a living example.

Most of the time I will be talking about this bodhisattva and that bodhisattva, but actually, this is the essential practice they are doing. If I want to have it, I should align my energy; I should work with myself. If we manage to do that and put that effort in together, then I think today's gathering and sharing will truly be worthwhile and bear lots of fruit for the future. And in the present, we will also have good, high-quality energy together.

Ultimate and Conventional: The Two Aspects of Bodhicitta

Okay, now let's begin with what exactly bodhicitta is. Don't forget the example of the orange: the orange holds multiple factors; it cannot simply be one-dimensional. Bodhicitta is exactly the same.

I believe you may have already learned this: when we talk about bodhicitta, we divide it into two. Remember clearly: ultimate bodhicitta and conventional bodhicitta.

Normally, with the practice of bodhicitta, for us, being kind, being compassionate, having a little bit of sympathy, all these things are actually within conventional bodhicitta. And we also think bodhicitta means being kind and being compassionate. What do you think? Do you think conventional bodhicitta is actually the real bodhicitta?

A student answered: I think, just from my perspective, when you experience something of ultimate bodhicitta, there is simultaneously compassion and kindness, love and compassion towards beings who don't realize their true nature. But it is not just that. It is part of something much broader, and love and compassion are one aspect of it.

That's right. Now let me make it clear to you: the actual, real face of bodhicitta is ultimate bodhicitta itself. But when we talk about ultimate bodhicitta, what exactly is it?

Ultimate Bodhicitta: The Quality of the Buddha's Awakening

Ultimate bodhicitta is actually the quality of enlightenment that we talk about, especially in refuge. We call a Buddha the enlightened one, the awakened one. That awakened quality in that person is actually ultimate bodhicitta. It is the real face, the actual face of the Buddha himself. So it is the ultimate refuge itself. The ultimate refuge itself is nothing other than bodhicitta itself.

So I want to make it very clear: when you look at statues of the Buddha, when you look at pictures of the Buddha, we don't actually mean that person himself. That same person, before he became the Buddha, nobody called him the Buddha. Before he reached a certain level of attainment, he was not called a Buddha. You need to know that.

Finally, through many different efforts, in many different ways, he was able to land himself where he felt completely boundless, limitless. And all the qualities, like boundless love, kindness and compassion, were happening to him. People could see that. They could feel, "Oh, you have something. Can you tell us your secret?" Then he started to talk about those pure qualities.

It was there within him all along, an unexplored part of himself. Finally he had access to it, he explored it, and therefore he felt completely unshaken, unmoved.

So we have begun to explore the orange: the orange has multiple dimensions. Right now I truly feel it is exactly like that mountain full of stupas and statues. The way we look at the Buddhas is like that too: even though the essential quality is there, we are unable to enjoy it, unable to grasp that essence. So the external appearance became so dry, but it still holds the same identity.

This can also give us a clear understanding. When we look at Shakyamuni Buddha, actually it is not the person. That person went through a certain amount of time and discipline, and somewhere deep inside he landed; something happened within him. He finally unlocked and explored where he had never been. Through that unshakable confidence, a boundless, so soothing, so comforting love and kindness happened to him as a quality.

Outer, Inner and Secret: The Buddha as a Mirror for Ourselves

Now, with that, what can we see? We can see three different aspects: his body, his inner essence, and those inner qualities. Body, inner essence, then the inner qualities.

This model is actually very important. If you have this way of understanding the Buddha, then when you look at the Buddha, it will automatically bring in part of you. The Buddha's life has these three different areas; we can also call them outer, inner and secret.

In the same way, you are able to reflect on yourself: I have exactly the same life, but what is the difference between what he is experiencing and me? Now there is an actual tasting and checking, and some essential questions arise within you automatically.

So what is the difference between us and the state of the Buddha, the being of the Buddha? We should check. It is a self-inquiry; it is a conversation with yourself. We don't need to fix or change anything. Feel the way you are, whoever you are.

The Body: Our Exhaustion and Tension, the Buddha's Ease

Now, especially, let's check the body that we are experiencing. If you really look at it, deep down we are exhausted all the time. We can feel lots of stress and tension and pain. We are very busy going around, but deep inside we are actually very, very tired. Tired, tired, tired.

Even with the technique of meditation, if you try to follow the breath, you can feel that your chest is tight, your shoulders are tight, your neck is tight, your abdomen and stomach are tight. Almost every part of the body is somewhat very tight and tense.

And the Buddha: the feature of his body is very relaxed, very free, very soothing and comforting. His sitting, his walking, his standing: people actually feel an attraction there. "Wow, look at the way he moves." The way he sits, you literally cannot see any stress or tension. He really found that level of physical freedom, very soothing and comforting.

Remember, this is one of the models we should look to. With that same model, we try to bring it into our own life. If we are able to bring it in, that is actually the essence of the Dharma. The many teachings the Buddha is trying to give, all the words and all the points, are within the framework of someone's life, your life, my life. It is about life itself.

The Mind: Unstoppable, and Not Harmless

The second part: we are not just a body. Within that body, thoughts and thinking are going around continuously, nonstop. If we really check, it is uncontrollable, uncountable, and it reaches such a far distance. On the timeline, it doesn't only look at the present; it also goes to the past and to the future, and to past events that are not yet settled. In quantity, in reach, in time, it is super active.

The first fact about the mind we already know: it is unstoppable and uncountable. But the second factor of the mind, we actually don't care about. We feel that the mind goes around too much, but it doesn't bring much problem or much trouble, so we really don't care. We allow it, and the mind goes around and jumps around. And by our common sense this is true: the mind cannot strike people, the mind cannot kill people, so it is harmless. That is how we feel.

The second factor says that this is not the case. If you are not careful, the exhaustion you feel, the tension, the anxiety, the unbearable emotions, anger, sadness, the emotional roller coaster, everything you are experiencing is actually dragged in by your mind, because of the way you think and the way you feel.

The Order of the Four Noble Truths: Examine First, Then Practice

If you really check yourself honestly and sincerely: one part of the spiritual community, I feel, is that we are very much rushing into practice: practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. And teachers are also busy: "Oh, this is a virtue, this is good, this is a practice."

But in the actual structure of the teaching the Buddha gave, especially within the framework of the Four Noble Truths, practice comes as number three or number four. First you examine, you see what exactly is happening to you, and then you will see the source. The structure of the Four Noble Truths is very beautifully laid out.

So we are rushing too much. I also spent too much time rushing into practice, and practice unknowingly became a kind of suppression. It did not go directly to my deeper level, the root, my triggers and my temptations and many other things; it never went there. You are doing something else, but it is still there.

So that sensitivity is very important. Keep exploring yourself and observing yourself with the technique of meditation; let your mind touch everywhere and see what happens to you. Then you will start to see: oh, the mind is not exactly what we used to think. We thought it was completely free and harmless. Actually, everything about my joy, my happiness, my laughter, and everything about my sadness and emotions is directly connected with the mind.

True Kindness Touches You First

With that sense, you are already very close to the practice of conventional bodhicitta, which is the being kind and being compassionate that we keep trying to emphasize.

But without actually seeing all the details of the cause and effect happening within us, we are being kind for the sake of our next life, for rebirth in a pure land, or for something far away. Then you are kind to others, you show this kind face to others, but actually you are not being kind, because you can feel it yourself.

True kindness must have its first impact on you yourself, with all your gentleness, kindness and compassion. You feel it, and it comes up from you. Whatever you are, that is all you can offer.

The Lion's Technique: Look at One Thought at a Time

Okay, now listen, this is the most interesting part. We are tortured by that mind, and we feel helpless against the mind. But actually, if you look directly at the mind, what tortures us is the bundle of the mind, a whole pack of the mind.

It is just like watching animals on an African safari. However big and powerful the lion, the lion king, may feel, if they don't calculate, if they are overconfident with their own pride and try to jump in while thousands of buffalo are stampeding, no matter how powerful they are, they will be stomped on and squished. But what do the lions do? They don't jump in there. They stay on the side and aim at the ones at the edge that look weaker. They focus, aim for one, and seize it. That is the lion's technique.

It is exactly the same when we look at the mind: we are crushed by the bundle of the mind. Of course, that bundle of the mind is very powerful. We have so many thoughts, memories we chase after and many things, something related to what we see, something related to what we hear; our five or six different senses are open. All the data and information, what is good and bad, right and wrong, everything is coming at you.

But if you really look at the mind, it is just like one single buffalo. The mind is actually very fragile, very helpless, so weak. If you look at where it comes from, we have no idea; it just comes from somewhere. Where does it stay? It doesn't stay for more than a few seconds; it keeps changing. Where does it go? It is just like a bubble coming out of the water: it pops. Actually, the real face of the mind, if you truly look at it, is so helpless, so weak.

So the meditation technique also helps us encounter it directly. All these mind things keep bothering us, and we feel very small and helpless. But when we look at it, especially in the present, in this very moment, I can see everything: oh, the mind is powerless, the mind is powerless. It comes and goes; another one comes and goes. These are two totally different things, two different stories.

Awareness: The Part That Is Always There

And right here, something magical happens. This is the real essence. The so-called ultimate bodhicitta we are talking about, the so-called awakened mind the Buddha achieved, is actually one part of you. There is one part of you that is looking at your body and your mind coming and going; there is one part of you that is always there, but you never had access to it before.

For us, we call it awareness, because we still need to deal with the body and the mind; we are not yet free. But the Buddha really went through a lot of struggle and difficulty, and for him this was the "aha" moment: that's it. This is the so-called awakening.

But for us, this is awareness, and awareness still remains a part of us. Saying it is part of us means it comes and it goes. But actually that awareness remains stable. It is like the background of everything, like space. All the stars, all the clouds and many things happen within it and return. Ultimately, no matter how many billions of years pass, even the stars break down and dissolve into space itself. That space itself is actually our true self. This is us, the real us.

But right now, we think: I am this body, the body's reactions; I am this mind, the mind's reactions. So we are like a small point, able to be aware of the body and aware of the mind, and that awareness is also a little bit shaky. But still, for us, that awareness is there.

Awareness Is the Ultimate Refuge

So that awareness, right now, we can call ultimate bodhicitta. Now we have the true bodhicitta, ultimate bodhicitta, and this is the ultimate refuge itself. Actually, there is no practice beyond refuge itself; refuge is the ultimate practice.

So take this as a very clear point: ultimate bodhicitta is your awareness. And awareness is part of you; the mind is also part of you. We are talking about your awareness, your thoughts and thinking, your emotions, your body, stress and tension. We are talking within the framework of your own body.

Try to grasp that point very clearly, and stay connected with yourself all the time, since no one has better access to you than you do. So we need to take this approach seriously, honestly and sincerely. And with that, now we make the point clear: awareness is the ultimate refuge.

Bodhicitta Workshop, Day One, Session Two

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.10.17

Ultimate Bodhicitta: Taking the Buddha as a Model, Recognizing Our Own Awareness

The Image of Refuge: The Buddha Was a Person

I think today we have had enough sharing about ultimate bodhicitta. This ultimate bodhicitta is also connected with the essence of refuge, with the image of refuge, with Shakyamuni Buddha as our role model.

Right now, we are actually looking at statues and pictures, so we cannot feel it. If that person were right in front of you, you could see all three of these qualities, and you would feel, "Wow, I want to learn something." It would be as if you and he were communicating directly; the energy would be there.

But right now, it is like a long history, a story that is still with us. All this culture is keeping the essence, but that essence has remained as if hidden. We are somewhat exposed to the culture, and the essence is actually a little bit at a distance.

So everyone says, "Oh, I bow down to Shakyamuni Buddha," which means I take refuge in the Buddha, and that means the statue, the picture. We are not able to see him as a person.

The Buddha's Teaching: Born of Exploring Life

He put in his own life. It was his own exploration of life, his own sensitivity to life. He tried many different practices and still felt they were limited, not enough. Finally he came to the point where he felt, "Ah, that's it." So he tried to bring that message about the essence of life to all of humanity, to whoever asked.

His teaching style was also like that. He never just said, "I'm going to give you this teaching, I'm going to give you that teaching," making announcements or anything like that. No.

Around him there were some elders, and as time passed, from one month to one year, from one year to five years, many disciples gathered all around. They asked him questions about life: what is this, what is that. The teachings are based on those questions; if you look at the sutras, you will see that.

Somebody asked something respectfully. Actually, when you ask something, it means you really want something; it means something to you, and you truly value it. It is directly connected with your own intelligence and your own emotions, so you ask. Then he came with a reply and response.

The Model of Refuge: Looking at Him, Finding Ourselves

So that model of refuge is very beautiful, and through it you can also illuminate yourself.

Because the Buddha's teachings, his practice, are all about the experience of his own life; he gives teachings about what he himself achieved.

So the listeners, the followers of the Buddha, we can also relate, not just look and get lost. We look at him, we approach him, and we find ourselves. That attitude and approach towards the Dharma, towards refuge, towards the Buddha, is really very handy and beneficial.

Body, Mind and Awareness: We Too Have the Buddha's Awakening

We need to know very clearly that the true Buddha has outer, inner and secret levels. For him, he is awareness itself, the awakened mind; the state of the Buddha is the awakened mind. We still have the parts of body and mind, so we speak of body, mind and awareness, and our awareness belongs to the state of awareness.

In other words, we do have the Buddha's awakening; ours is simply still a small awakening, and we call it awareness. We have all of this, just like the example at the beginning; it is only that our body is still in a tense and tired state.

Just knowing this is already very important, because then we know that our goal is to let the body relax. And what needs to relax is not only the body but also the mind. We have never really discussed this mind properly; we always felt it would not do much anyway, it just thinks about this and that, probably not a problem. But now we know that all our energy, emotions and stress, 99.9% of them, come from this mind. So we know: oh, right, I should take good care of this mind, rather than letting it affect me.

We also know that the mind is not one big tangled, mixed-up, complicated mass. When we take out one small slice of the mind and look at it, we see that the mind is actually very flimsy. When we can see the state of this mind, we have confidence, we are sure: it is just these little slices of thought. Then it no longer affects our emotions and energy the way it used to.

Using Our Own Mind Well: Blessing the People Who Pass By

Here is something to try: when you go outside and see people coming and going, you can very simply bless them in your heart, wishing them well, a good job, a good life. Because who knows? He may be someone's father or mother, someone's grandfather or grandmother, someone's husband or wife. In any case, you simply wish them all well.

When you have this attitude, you create a different atmosphere, and that atmosphere also brings a different change within you: it changes your feelings, it changes your energy. This is one example of how to make good use of your own mind.

Awareness: The Ultimate Refuge

We not only know how to use our own mind, we also know what the characteristics of this mind are. If you can act with good intentions within it, of course that is very good. But our main point is to watch this mind. And who is watching this mind? It is our awareness. We see the mind coming and going. This awareness is our true self, and it is also the essence of life we want to find. So for now, we take this as our ultimate refuge.

Once we know that we are not our body, and not our mind, but our awareness, we know that we no longer need to create our own suffering with quick reactions the way we used to.

The Observer: Free When You Don't Take Sides

Through the technique of meditation, we know that we are awareness, and awareness opens up for us the role of an observer. As an observer, say two people are quarreling and you are watching from the side, you are not affected; you are free. But as soon as you take sides, you suffer, and that observation is cut off. As soon as you see, "Oh, this is good and that is bad," you are already involved.

So that awareness part is truly going to give us such a long and precious journey, the distance we may be able to cross in our spiritual, inner exploration.

Group Discussion: Extracting the Key Points

Okay, I think we have shared enough details and enough points. If we talk more, it will be more difficult for you to digest.

So, for whatever we just shared, I will give you half an hour. Whatever you learned and heard, you can discuss in groups, trying to familiarize yourselves with it and extract the points, making it as simple and clear as possible. You don't need to connect all the lengthy stories.

If we manage to do that, then next time another important point comes up, and especially when it comes to reflection and practice, it will be very handy.

We can also collect questions. If there are any questions and we have enough time, we will try to answer them tonight; if there is not enough time today, we will try to answer them tomorrow. Okay, then enjoy your discussion time.

(Group discussion follows.)

Now we conclude with a dedication. Please make your own aspirations and dedication. Thank you, everyone.

Bodhicitta Workshop, Day Two, Session One

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.10.18

Ultimate Bodhicitta: Recognizing Awareness, Returning to Our True Self

Opening: A Short Meditation to Continue Yesterday's Points

Let's begin with the opening prayer.

Good morning, everyone. I hope you had a good sleep and a good rest.

Today, especially for the morning session, I am thinking of doing a short meditation. That short meditation is also what we went through yesterday in great detail, especially the point and the essence of bodhicitta: ultimate bodhicitta as awareness.

The Real Face of the Buddha: Awareness

That same awareness we can now look at in Shakyamuni Buddha as his enlightened quality, the real face of Shakyamuni Buddha himself. Not the image and the body of Shakyamuni. Actually the awareness, the awakened mind, the state of the mind, as an enlightened quality, is the real face of the Buddha himself, the real representation of the Buddha himself.

Through that, boundless love, kindness and compassion happened to him. From the very beginning it was very soothing, very comforting. Boundless love and compassion happened to him, and it was so obvious that people started to notice, and they started to ask for that quintessence. Then he deliberately gave very clear, step-by-step guidance, which helps us get in touch with that quintessence, the awakened quality.

Three Levels: Seeing Ourselves through the Buddha

In this image of the Buddha, we can now see three different structures. Like the example of the orange we used yesterday, the orange itself, we can clearly see that the Buddha is not one piece. There are multiple factors in it.

With that, we are already very rich. When we look at one person, the Buddha, you can see the outer perfection, then the inner quality, and his true face. Three different areas: your intelligence can penetrate three different areas. So with that same sharp mind of yours, when you look at yourself, you will also manage to see three different parts of yourself.

I want you to remember daily: ultimate bodhicitta is the awakened state of the Buddha, the awakened state of the Buddha's mind. And when it comes to you, you can now see three different parts of you: body, mind, and awareness. So when you are aiming for ultimate bodhicitta, you should now aim for your state of awareness.

We Are Always Reacting

It is true that awareness is always with you. But it is also true that we are very much running after our habitual tendencies. Therefore we are unable to touch that awareness part. Normally, what are we? Actually, we are reaction all the time.

We react as a mind. We react as an emotion. We react as something like that. Every single thing is actually coming and going, but we are the ones who grasp it and react to it.

So what does awareness help you do? Awareness helps you activate the observer, the observer version of yourself. You are actually delaying the time of the reaction. You see the same things, but you are not immediately reacting and responding to them.

That is a very big thing for us. Normally it is instant: a sound, you hear it, you react. You see something, you react. You feel something, you react. Something from the past, a memory comes, you react. All the time.

We are in a very accelerated mode, complete action. Therefore we are burning a lot, consciously and subconsciously; full of energy, we are burning it. But once you activate that awareness part, even activate it a little bit... Actually that awareness part is the principle, the quintessence, of the meditation technique.

The Boiling Sensation: The Difference between the Buddha and Us

I want you to clearly remember that state of awareness. The Buddha is also aware in the same way; he sees the things around him the same way. You also see the things around you the same way. Even little kids see the things around them exactly the same way.

So what's the difference? We respond, we react, we are judgmental; our mind activates, our emotions activate, and so on. The Buddha can see all that, but that mental reaction and response is not there. So that boiling sensation never happens to him. Boiling? A boiling sensation. (Laughter)

Cherishing Awareness: The Heart of All Buddhas

I am saying this because I want to give more value and respect to what we just talked about, shared and discussed: the point and the statement about awareness. Don't see awareness as, oh, it's just awareness, just a part of the meditation technique or something like that.

I want you to give it a very high level of respect, to cherish and value it. In that awareness, actually, is the heart of all the Buddhas. We don't need to fix or change anything; just allow that awareness to be present to you.

Sometimes awareness goes off and on. But in that moment, as the awareness, if you try to look at yourself, you find it immediately, instantly. You don't need to wait a long time. You can feel that a burden has been lifted. Actually this is your real self, your true identity, your true self.

Identity: The Ever-Changing "I Am"

But normally, within the mind zone, there are a few different factors. And the deepest part of the mind is identity itself. We identify ourselves: I am this, I am that.

If you keep looking at it: how can you say I am this, and a little later say I am that? Your identity is constantly changing, two or three times within a minute. So how can you keep telling yourself I am this and I am that?

So we are living in this kind of illusion. Whatever "I am" you say, there is a contradiction. Something happens to you, and therefore you feel insecure, you feel burned out, you feel something unsettling, as if something is not right.

So if you really want to find out who you exactly are: we have many parts, but we are actually the awareness, which is like space; it is always there. And mind is happening, emotion is happening, a thousand thoughts are happening.

From Mind to Body: Tension, Pain and Disease

If we are not very careful with all this mind and emotion stuff, it brings the whole mess into the body. Therefore you feel tense, you feel tight, you feel blocked. And all this tension, and then the stiffness, also transforms, slowly, slowly, first into pain and then into disease. Actually, many things develop within this body in this way.

Coming Back to Ourselves: Body, Mind and a Bundle of Identity

So far, since yesterday, we have been through the essence and the points of ultimate bodhicitta: what exactly is ultimate bodhicitta? And to talk about ultimate bodhicitta, we looked at the model of the Buddha himself, the three different parts of the Buddha.

Now, through that, we are coming back to ourselves: oh, I also have that body part. I also have that mind part.

If you look at yourself sincerely, your body seems to have just a little bit of stress. But if you look closely, your body is actually very heavily loaded and stressed. Any part: if you look at the neck area, you feel it here, and the shoulders also.

And if you keep looking: oh, actually I have been running after the bundle of the mind, many different minds. And identity, emotion and mind are also not just one piece. There is the part related to thoughts and thinking, and there is the part related to emotion: two completely different zones.

You think something, and your emotion changes. And with the emotion, you are identifying: I am this, I am that. I am sad, I am happy, I am sad. So identity, deep inside, is actually contributing, building up the bundle of identity.

The Mind Is like a Bubble: It Cannot Last

But if we carefully look at the pieces, not as a bundle, and look at the mind itself, we can also see that the mind is so helpless, so weak, so frail, just like a bubble coming out of the water: pop, and it's gone.

If you really pick up the mind as a piece and look at it, every mind holds exactly the same characteristic: it cannot last. Even your identity does not last. That's true, and that's why we are changing all the time.

Sometimes you say I am this, and you are happy: ha ha ha. Sometimes you say I am that, and you feel very low. With that, actually, the entire energy changes. This is what normally happens to us: the mind affects the body, and the body also affects the mind.

The Clothing Analogy: Whatever Changes Is Not You

Let me make it clear again. There is a part of you that can see all the emotions coming and going, all the identities changing, going here and there. We even believe we have countless rebirths; this is not just one life.

So even when we change bodies, that part of you is always there; it is the body that changes. Sensation also changes. Thoughts and thinking, emotion, everything changes. Therefore what we are saying is: whatever comes and goes and changes is actually not you. It is just a part of you.

Just like my clothes. They belong to me, they are a part of me, they are my clothes, but they are not me. We need to know that, because it has a very powerful impact.

Anything you have experienced so far is actually connected to how you identify yourself, how you believe yourself to be: I am this and that. But when you look at it, that part of you which sees everything, actually that part...

Teacher and Student in Accord: "That Is the Real You"

Many practitioners nearly cry. The teacher teaches the student for a very long time, and finally the student says something, and the teacher feels very happy and nearly cries too: oh, that's right. That's you, that's the real you.

Everything is part of you; respect it. This is very important: everything is a part of you, but that is not who you really are. You are exactly that awareness.

A hundred different realized beings, realized masters, with the same words, the same expression, exactly the same statement, the same point: oh, this is actually the real you.

Meditation: Abiding in That Truth

We can also see it: oh, I have that part. But we are struggling. That part is there, and we can see it, but due to our habitual tendencies we still cannot stay there. Therefore meditation, as a practice, came about.

Meditation in Tibetan is literally gom. Gom means trying to abide in that truth. You have seen: oh, this is me, this awareness is my true self. Now you keep reminding yourself of that truth. Never let it go.

Slowly, that awareness becomes stable and stays like a root within you. The enlightened qualities grow greater and greater: at the physical level and the mind level, kindness, compassion and fearlessness, everything starts to happen to you.

At the physical level, you start to feel more relaxed, more free, less stress and fewer blockages. Actually emotion and your judgments all have a connection with stress, tension and your blockages. Therefore pressure builds, pain comes, energy burns fast, and sickness and disease also build up.

Meditation Instruction: Following the Breath as Awareness

Later we are going to do a short meditation. During the meditation, I want you to connect with your awareness. Awareness as yourself, as the background of everything.

In your awareness, you start to see whether your mind is actually able to follow the meditation instruction or not. And your awareness is actually aware of your mind's activities and your body's sensations.

Especially this time, we don't work with the mind; we just allow. We don't deal with the mind directly. We simply allow the mind to follow the instruction.

The instruction is to follow the breath, your natural breath, your normal breath. If you like to take a few long breaths first to make yourself a little more comfortable, you can do it once or twice. But after that, allow your mind, first as awareness, to be aware, following the breath.

That breath should be very natural. Your body actually knows how to breathe. From birth until we die, we don't need to teach our body to breathe this way or that way. Simply allow, and try to follow the sensation of the breath.

When you breathe in, feel what you feel about that breath. When you breathe out, try to feel the sensation of the breath within your body. At that time, your awareness is present. Your awareness is aware of the breath, as if following the breath, and feels the body sensations that follow the breath sensation.

Delaying the Reaction: Not Saying "I Like It" or "I Don't Like It"

When you try to follow the sensation of the breath, it is not as simple as we expect. As soon as you start to feel something, a mental reaction comes immediately: oh, this breath; oh, there's tension; I like it, I don't like it; my breath is short, my breath is long. There are many reactions and responses like these.

Actually this is our normal self. This is who we are, day to day, whatever comes. And this is actually our limitation. This is our obstacle.

During meditation, in case you need to react, try to delay the time of the reaction; try to buy yourself a little more time. Or better still, you don't have to react at all.

Whatever sensations and feelings you are having, just know them and allow them. Don't say I like it, I don't like it. And if you have this kind of tension, a little bit of stress, a feeling like "oh, I need to react now, this is good, this is bad," then a little tense sensation also comes to you at that time.

Then gently, very gently, tell yourself to relax: I'm just breathing. There is no tiger coming, no lion coming. Just like a gentle guide.

Knocking on the Door: Going Deeper

Let me give a gentle reminder again. In meditation, we are not doing something beyond you. No. What we are doing is about your awareness, your breath, your body; it is about your breath and your body sensations.

So we are working with what we are right now, and trying to go further. Because normally we limit ourselves. We knock on the door, and there are many doors, and when there is no response, we never dare to enter.

So in meditation, if you continuously allow yourself to relax and keep following the sensation of the breath, it really brings you to a deeper part of yourself, not just the stress and tension alone.

Three Deep Breaths: Where the Union of Body and Mind Begins

Let's do it for 15 minutes first. Before that, let me test you. The technique is not difficult; even little kids can do it. Right now, try to take three deep breaths. Try to feel it.

Breathe in; feel the breath within your body. Breathe out; feel the breath within your body. As long as you are able to feel the breath within your body, that's it.

It takes only a few seconds, right? Then exactly the same: breathing in and out is one cycle of the breath. Then the next cycle starts, and the next cycle starts. So you just stay with the first cycle of the breath: breathe in, breathe out. Simply allow it and feel it. As long as you are able to feel your breath within your body, that's it.

At that moment, something magical starts; your journey has just begun there. Actually, when you are able to feel your body, it means your body and mind come together. Normally, the mind goes around and the body is somewhere else.

The Travel Video Analogy: Opening the Body's Data

So there is so much data and information we need for ourselves about this body, this life, and we are not getting much of it. We have a lot of outside information, but very little information about our body itself.

So that sensation, that feeling itself, is actually collecting and opening the data. You become more and more sensitive.

It's just like getting on a highway: as soon as you enter, you start video recording, like a travel vlog or something like that. You start recording all the scenes, and then you have the entire data of the way to Switzerland, or the way to Taitung.

Actually, if you keep allowing that sensation, your sensation is helping you gain a deeper level of access. Through that, you know what stress is, what relaxation is, what tension is, what blockages are.

Guided Meditation: Like an Ocean, like Space

Now let's prepare for 15 minutes of meditation.

Find a comfortable posture. Let's begin with a few deep breaths, and relax your body as much as possible.

Now let's begin with awareness. I am the awareness myself, the background of everything, like an ocean, like space.

Remember, you are the awareness yourself, and you are the background of everything. This is your true self. Like an ocean, like space.

Gently remind yourself: I am the awareness myself, and it is like space. Relax yourself in the awareness zone. Simply rest there for a while.

Now let's aim specifically at your body. As awareness, be aware of the body. Bring all your attention to your body.

Follow the breath, and feel the sensation of the breath within your body as fully as possible, as deeply as possible. Remember, as long as you are able to feel your body through the sensation of the breath within it, that is good enough. Breathe in, feel your body. Breathe out, feel your body.

Allow your body to take any form of breath, long or short. Don't try to correct anything; no restriction or restraint is needed. Whatever breath your body likes to take, allow it. Simply feel the sensation of the breath within your body as fully as possible, as deeply as possible.

Keep moving with the first breath cycle, then the second, the third, and the fourth. You will be surprised to see that each breath cycle offers you a different kind of sensation.

Whatever form of breath your body likes to take, allow it. Don't try to change anything, don't try to correct anything. Simply allow your body to breathe however it likes; your body actually knows how to breathe. Simply feel the sensation of the breath within your body as fully as possible, as deeply as possible.

Keep going with your breath and the sensation of the breath within your body. You will be surprised to see that the sensation of the breath can bring you to a deeper level, to the deep parts of your body. Keep simply focusing on your breath and the sensation of the breath.

Okay, now wake up your senses, and slowly and gently open your eyes. Rub your senses and slowly open them up, just for a minute.

After Meditation: Drowsiness Is a Sign the Body Is Tired

How was it? Difficult to do? Relax. It means you had a good sleep last night. (Laughter) Not only before sleep, but also chatting with friends and relaxing.

Sometimes, at the very beginning, when we try to feel the body, we can feel stress and tension, and we also feel very drowsy and sleepy. Actually it is a sign. It is a sign that the body is already very tired.

Slowly, slowly, you are now actually coming to know it. Before, we didn't know how tired we were. But we start to notice: oh, I'm very tired, I need to be more gentle with myself, kinder to myself. We start to develop these ideas, and also "I need more rest"; this kind of feeling comes.

Once you start to develop this kind of feeling and this kind of care, your body gradually becomes more and more relaxed, and during meditation also more and more relaxed and more and more clear. Clear. Clear.

Diving into the Ocean: The Longer, the Deeper

So how we do the technique is very important. If you follow the technique, it's just like taking a dive into the ocean. The longer you stay, the deeper and deeper and deeper you go.

Right now, the mind is actually following the sense objects. The surrounding sounds are affecting you, the surrounding smells, the surrounding things; a thousand thoughts about things outside your body are actually happening to you.

But once you start to feel your body, with that body sensation alone, you have actually already taken a dive. And gradually, with time, you can go deeper and deeper.

It is a completely different view. With your head above the water, you see one view; in the ocean, you see a completely different view. Just like that, you start to see: oh. And through that you also gain momentum, and you can go even deeper and deeper.

Okay, we have 20 minutes left. I think we can use these 20 minutes for sharing and discussion: anything about the technique, the practice, your understanding. If there are any questions, pass them to the interpreter.

(Group discussion follows.)

Bodhicitta Workshop, Day Two, Session Two

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.10.18

Body, Mind, Awareness and Bodhicitta: From the Body's Sensitivity to the Expansion of the Mind

Meditation Instruction: Resting in Our True Self

I hope everyone had a good rest. Shall we begin? Are there any questions?

About the meditation instruction: in that practice, all the essence we share is meant to connect with life itself. So for a little while, just a few minutes, you can try to rest yourself in awareness, and remind yourself again and again: okay, this is my real self, this is my real face.

All the Buddhas say it; all the realized beings say it. I have a body part, a mind part, and awareness; this is actually my real self. Then let yourself rest there a little, reminding yourself a little, again and again.

Body Observation: The Highway of Personal Realization

After that, slowly try to go with the body's sensitivity, which we call body observation: following the technique of the breath and trying to feel your body as much as possible. Your oxygen, your breath, reaches every corner of your body, but we are not sensitive enough to feel it, because the mind is normally very busy.

So try to connect; try to feel your body by following the breath. You don't need many things. Tell yourself mentally: I don't need many things. As long as I can feel my body, it means my body and mind have come together.

Normally I cannot feel my body. Even though the blood is still flowing and many things are still there, we cannot feel it because the mind is very busy. So it is about the mind coming back to our body. This is actually the highway of your personal discovery and personal realization.

We normally say that many practitioners have high realization, great realization. But when it comes to our own practice, it is actually about going deeper: from the joints, the muscles, the organs, to the channels and the energies; slowly, slowly you are able to feel them.

What is the benefit of staying on the highway? Why do we take the highway? Because the longer you stay, the faster you can cover the distance. Personal discovery is just like that: as long as your body and mind come together, you don't need to do anything. Just keep your feeling.

If you extend the duration, to 5 minutes, 10 minutes, half an hour, the more you allow, the more you are able to feel the best sense of yourself, deeper and deeper. In that, relaxation comes, and a little calmness also comes.

But for us, the prime focus is not realization. Realization will happen to you. Keep on going until you are completely free.

The Sutra Instruction: Experiencing the Whole Body Point by Point

Actually, in our sutras, the Buddha gives a meditation instruction. It says: breathing in, experience the whole body; breathing out, experience the whole body. But many people sometimes cannot do that, so many instructions came about: okay, focus here, with a smaller focus; okay, now focus here; and slowly, slowly, point by point.

With that, slowly, slowly, you start to feel your whole body become tranquil. Otherwise, we also start to feel a little blockage here and a little blockage there.

Body and Mind: Grabbing Each Other by the Collar

All these practices and techniques are based on this framework: make your body and your mind very clear. Remember, you are with this body all the time; you are with this mind all the time.

And awareness rarely, very rarely, appears to you. Actually, your whole problem lies within that body and within that mind. You need to know that.

For us, sometimes the body makes the mind miserable. When the body starts to choke, when blockage, stress and pressure come, the mind cannot think clearly; it is not creative at all.

But sometimes you find your body's energy flowing well, the doctor says you are healthy, and you also feel, yes, I'm good. And at that time, it is the mind that wants to build up all the stress, tension, pressure, burnout, everything.

So what does this mean? We are body, mind and awareness, but awareness rarely shows itself to us. And body and mind are actually grabbing each other by the collar; they are not working very well together.

Harmony of Body and Mind: Bringing Pure Energy

So what do we need to do in that practice? Actually we are trying to harmonize body and mind: how your body can help your mind become this and that, and how your mind can bring such a sense of joy, realization and freedom within the body.

Actually, in meditation we are observing this, and later we come to know: once your body becomes more and more sensitive, you know this kind of mind is not good. You also know this tension is because of the mind: these thoughts and beliefs, this judgment, this mental reaction.

So through that, once we see the body becoming more and more sensitive, we know how harmony between body and mind is possible. And once your body and mind are harmonized, wherever you go, you have such a healthy mind, which can actually bring a lot of energy, a lot of pure energy.

Questions and Answers: Who Takes Rebirth?

Okay, if there are more questions, let's move to the next one.

A student asked: I have heard that all things are manifestations of our own mind. I always thought that at rebirth, after the body and mind separate, this consciousness goes on to the next life. But today I heard about body, mind and awareness, so I am a bit confused. Who is it that takes rebirth? Shouldn't it be the consciousness?

In this part, we are still very much reliant. Awareness is not yet free; it is not yet pure awareness. It is awareness, but we still rely on and depend very much on body and mind: the body, and many ideas related to the body and the senses.

So in this life, if we are unable to become truly free from dependence on the body's sensations, then in the next life there is rebirth.

Meditation Is Not Just about Feeling Good

So for us, meditation practice is not just about feeling good or feeling relaxed. We need that feeling good, and that is why we look for it, because we are very tired. But once you start to follow the technique, you first start to feel very calm and relaxed.

Then slowly, slowly, joy comes, bliss comes, and a kind of compassion, a kind of boundless love. Outside things, outside views, nothing can bother us much. Many different emotions, or the many different images we see around us, cannot affect or bother us much; what we hear around us also cannot bother us much.

However the five outer sense objects move around, they no longer bother us. Inner experience is also very free and comforting. Slowly, slowly, you start to have a boundless, unshakable confidence, and love or kindness, something like that.

And that actually eradicates all dependence on the body. Dependence on the body means the body's reactions, reactions to sense objects. So slowly, slowly, we are able to abide in the zone of pure awareness. Once that happens, there is no more rebirth.

Otherwise, as long as we are still dependent on the body, as long as we have not completed the work with body and mind, there is rebirth.

Wow, we went very deep, eh?

Knowing Where We Are: Dominated by Sense Objects

Actually we need to know the state we are in right now. We are mostly dominated by sense objects: most of the time our mind is on videos, on the phone, reels, the news, many things, and sounds, the realm of the sense objects.

And in meditation, actually right now, we are taking a big break. We are hooking back into our body, into body sensation; it is a big break. That acceleration is completely gone, and we are in another zone. But we don't know how precious it is.

The Real Secret: Knowing How Precious It Is

That is actually the secret. Even little kids can feel their body; anybody can do it. Sometimes even dogs can feel it: they feel good, or they feel not good. But the secret is how precious it is, how special it is.

Even though we can feel our body from time to time, we don't know how precious it is. But many sensitive people, such as highly realized beings, those who have truly dedicated their whole lives, say: oh, you are in another zone already, you are on the highway already.

So how about allowing yourself an hour, or a certain period of time? The longer you stay on the highway, the more surely you will reach the destination. Otherwise we sometimes wander around; there are many side roads and many routes, and it takes longer.

So practitioners say: oh wow, you are already on the highway, you are in another zone. This is the secret, how important it is.

This is the difference between the ordinary way, the way a little kid feels the body, and us as practitioners in meditation. When we can feel our body, we know: oh, this is precious. Many teachers say it; many realized beings say it.

Living Examples: Value and Respect

Those who have truly walked the path are actually not teachers; they are realized beings, living examples. Teachers like us bring their words and try to convey them. But they are expressing it; they are living examples themselves, and their energy is completely different.

When we talk about those values, those points, we can also feel that a sense of value comes and respect comes. For us, it is not just a topic to share, come here, circle around a little, and then leave. So the real secret is how valuable it is, how precious it is. We are already in another zone.

Tilopa's Analogy: From the Canyon to the Ocean

Through that zone, many practitioners, even Tilopa, have said: the beginning practitioner is like a river rushing through a canyon, loud and deep.

So when you start to observe, you can start to feel. It's like exploring your new property, a new house: there is dirt here, there is this and that there. Just like that, you are able to see some stress and tension.

But without mental reaction, if you continuously allow, the water in the canyon becomes like a river, a big river. Slowly, slowly it flows down; its stability is different, and there is no sound. Finally it merges into the ocean and becomes vast and grand.

Simply Allowing: No Need to Do Anything

Even within your own zone, there will be some areas, a little turbulence. Okay, okay, you need to stay calm. Remind yourself of the technique and the principle a little, again and again, and allow yourself. Just simply allow. You don't need to do anything.

Actually, we want to do something all the time; the mind wants to change everything. But we don't actually need to do anything. Simply allow. The mind is very itchy, wanting to do something: I need to do something. This is reaction and judgment coming up.

Oh, that is really good: it starts to become like a river, a great river. Then slowly the entire stream reaches the ocean and becomes so vast and majestic. Then you are that vastness.

Conventional Bodhicitta: Intention and Action

Now, how about we add the remaining points? Because so far we have been discussing and sharing about ultimate bodhicitta, and conventional bodhicitta has been left out. Shall we add the path of conventional bodhicitta, or do you think it's too much?

Okay, then listen carefully. Conventional bodhicitta, if you look in the texts, has two kinds. One is driven by your intention, your aspiration. The second is carried out physically and intentionally: now you are using your mouth, you are using everything you have.

What is the most unique, most special thing about this practice? Actually, this practice includes everything. You are not practicing for yourself. You are not practicing just for your family. Whatever practice you do, you are trying to include all, all your mother sentient beings, countless sentient beings, all the same.

Whether we are able to do it or not is up to us. But you still need to know: this is the way, the vision and the practice of the bodhisattvas.

The Expansion of the Mind: Leaping from the Body into the Mind Zone

Actually this is a very advanced practice. What this practice focuses on most is the expansion of your heart, the expansion of your mind. Right now, in the first step of meditation, we focus on the body's sensitivity, right?

If we stay long enough with the body's sensitivity, we are able to see its connection with the mind, the emotions, everything. The more sensitive we become, the more we start to see that your mind is actually connected everywhere, literally connected everywhere, not just to this body alone.

That is the reason: that sensitivity actually upgrades you, takes you up a level, and you leap into the mind zone. In that practice, once your own sensitivity reaches that point, your attitude toward practice changes: it is for the expansion of your mind, the expansion of your own sensitivity. This is actually the unique quality and approach of bodhicitta practice.

You Are Not Just a Bubble: You Are the Ocean

We may think: we are practicing something for the benefit of sentient beings, and that idea is actually beyond ourselves. Sometimes we may wonder about that. Actually, if you look very carefully, this practice emphasizes the entirety of yourself. You are not just a single bubble; you are the ocean itself.

How so? When you open your eyes and look around, there is an entire field of light, a beam of light. There is light, and within that light we are able to see everything around us. And that light, through your own vision, is a part of you. This entire light is part of you.

Even when you close your eyes, you can still see that there is light, the entire light, and beneath it there are many memories and many thoughts. All of this is a part of you. So when you look around, you are actually seeing that part of yourself.

You are not here alone. It is exactly the same from one person to the next; everyone has this. The way you look at the things around you and the way I look at the things around me are completely different, which means I own everything I see, not just as an object, as objective things: with the entire light as the background, everything is actually connected to me.

Cutting the Connection: Borders and Defensiveness

If I try to cut it off: oh, this has nothing to do with me. Then you already have a borderline; subject and object are already separated. So you feel it is unrelated to you, and coldness comes; you feel a little offended, and a defensive character automatically appears.

Now, for the benefit of all sentient beings within that light, whoever has feelings, we are actually holding them with admiration, with the most positive and effective thoughts: aspiration and dedication, something like that. So when you practice alone, you are not alone. You are joined with the entirety of yourself.

So whenever you look around, the atmosphere no longer bothers you, and the people moving around you no longer bother you. That is a joy, a comfort, a love. Because that thought is your real wealth. And it is the same idea; everyone holds it.

Helping Others: Equal like the Rain

Now, when we try to help them, the idea of helping also becomes very clear. Normally we try to help people in the way we want to see them change, right? Now, with this greater, broader perspective, we don't want anyone to change the way I expect.

We naturally see them as they are. Just let them know. When they are ready, they open up to it. When they open up to it, it is very natural, and it bears fruit for everyone equally.

It's just like rain falling: if you have a bigger container, your bigger container fills up; if you have a smaller container, only the smaller container fills. The rain doesn't distinguish who you are. So it depends on our effort, and on their effort. That effort is what we call dependent arising, what we call good karma and bad karma, the karma.

So whether you are able to do it or not, just know this point: the bodhisattvas have this kind of vision, this kind of quality and practice, and they actually abide in it.

Natural Sensitivity: Feeling Oneself as the Ocean

But some people are actually blessed by the way they are born; they have that inner sensitivity. When we say "your mind reaches everywhere": you are within your own bubble, the bubble of thinking "I am", which separates you from everything around you.

But if we allow ourselves to go beyond that bubble, you are the ocean itself, the entire wave. Some sensitive, blessed people, actually very rare, can enjoy this immediately. They can change the way they see everything around them. They can relate to everything.

So they don't feel like something tiny; they feel like an ocean. They may drift away from it sometimes, but they also know: "I am the ocean myself." That energy, that confidence and those qualities are unshakable; it is actually beyond.

Not a Competitive Mind: Grounded in Actual Practice

Those who cannot feel that, just know it. And this is also very practical. It is not somebody randomly saying, "Oh, this one has a bigger virtue. Okay, how about I make something even bigger? I'll put all mother sentient beings into it."

It is not that kind of aggression, that kind of "I can do it, I will compose something bigger and greater." It is based on reality, and very practical for us, especially with the body's sensitivity.

If we really, truly allow that body sensitivity to arise, if we let that sensitivity become very effective, then you start to see: a little thought comes, and your heart rate changes. "Oh, a little thought is coming, my energy is changing. Oh, a little good thought. Oh, okay, okay." Then wherever your mind touches, you can feel that too.

So you start to see that when you open your eyes, in a vast expanse, there are not just the figures alone; there is the entire light as the background, and it is actually part of you, reaching and touching everywhere. So together with that light, we now try to send out boundless love, kindness and compassion.

The Bodhisattva's Practice: Reaching Everything through the Body

So this is the bodhisattva practice. Like the practice of refuge, it is also the practice of ultimate bodhicitta. Here is the refuge practice itself.

The Theravada tradition, for example, is very much dedicated to the body's sensitivity. Through it you have access to feelings; through it, access to the mind; through it, access to all phenomena. The four foundations of mindfulness are structured in exactly this way.

Once you see, "Oh, everything is connected," your attitude changes. It is no longer just about sensing the breath. We have already spent time on that sensitivity; we don't need to stay stuck forever in body sensitivity alone. There is the mind's work, and it is very powerful. Next comes the expansion.

Like little birds: at first they stay in the nest and are nourished. Now slowly, slowly, the birds are ready to spread their wings, to go to the next level. The coverage is so big, and the benefits are actually boundless.

Okay, I think that's enough, right?

Bodhicitta Workshop, Day Two, Session Three

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.10.18

Summing Up Bodhicitta: Returning to Our Own Framework of Body, Mind and Awareness

Body and Mind Interconnected: Calm Abiding Also Happens in the Body

Once the mind is completely calm, your body also feels completely relaxed. Once your body is completely relaxed, your mind is naturally very calm.

In the language of the mind, this is calm abiding; that is how we say it in meditation. But that calm abiding also happens to your body. If you check, you will find that you are actually at ease, very free, very light and relaxed.

Looking Back over Two Days: The Full Picture of Bodhicitta

With these two days of sharing, I think we have more or less managed to wrap up the ideas, the concept and the overall picture, and also tried to draw a little closer to it based on your own experience. We talked about what bodhicitta exactly looks like.

Normally, when we talk about bodhicitta, we feel it is just about being kind, or just about being compassionate, or something like that. But actually it has a bigger picture, and some details as well.

We also managed to take a complete tour of the concept of bodhicitta. We tried to see its essence in the Buddha, and finally within the framework of your own body, mind and awareness. After all, being able to discuss this point, seeing all these qualities in the Buddha, and at the end of the day being able to come back to our own side: this is going to change everything.

Practice Is Application: Everything Comes Back to Yourself

Our practice is also rooted in the framework of your own body, mind and awareness. So I truly suggest to you: never forget that framework of yourself.

Whatever practice you follow, sometimes we run to this practice and that practice, going here and there, and it feels like being lost; we keep running after something. People also say this one is great, that one is great. But actually all these practices, these instructions, all these stories are for us.

We also call practice an application. Application is like putting cream on your hand and applying it yourself. So all the essence must be able to come back to yourself.

Once that happens, you can see that even with five minutes of sitting like that, realization is possible: working with the body, working with the mind, and remaining in awareness. Try it once, try it twice, try it three times, and you will see your sensitivity growing more and more sensitive.

Ultimate and Conventional: Awareness and the Harmony of Body and Mind

As for ultimate bodhicitta, try to remind yourself that awareness is actually the ultimate reality, that is, ultimate bodhicitta. Then conventional bodhicitta: how your body and mind can be completely harmonized.

However far your vision can see, your mind can reach even further than that. That is the coverage of your mind; actually it extends out here too, the entire coverage. And you are actually with that coverage. You are with that light.

Within that, if there is any mental division, if we mentally say "oh, this is good" or something like that, we are actually creating a mess within our own bubble.

The Mind's Sensitivity: The Creativity of One's Own Mind

So we can also call it growing the mind's sensitivity. Wherever your mind goes, if you try to feel it a little there, that is actually growing the mind's sensitivity. Or there is another approach in the meditation technique: growing the body's sensitivity.

As for the blessed ones, some people have that mind sensitivity. They can jump directly into the mind: "Oh, my mind is connected everywhere. Now I am going to adorn it, to be creative." It's just like a part of you: if you put dirt around, you feel bad; if you clean it up, you feel good.

That creativity, for bodhisattvas and practitioners, we can call the creativity of your own mind. Everywhere you are adorning: "Oh, this is this, oh, this is this, oh, this is this."

Because whatever you think, the echo comes back to you. Everything you think matters to you. If you think good about it, you feel good; if you think bad about it, you feel bad.

The blessed ones have that mind sensitivity, and some of you may have it too. If so, just enjoy the play of your own mind, with all the kindness and compassion.

The Body's Sensitivity: The Highway to Union

For those who don't have it, I suggest spending less time on that and simply helping your body become more and more sensitive. It is simply the highway: once you are able to feel your body, it means your body and mind have come together. And in this unification, miracles and magic start to happen.

Therefore some special teachings even say: the path of unification, the path of union, is actually where all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas were born.

I think this is the end of our sharing on bodhicitta. I wish and hope it can truly bring a lot of benefit to your personal life and your practice life, in whatever your life encompasses.

Next, if we need another discussion group, we can take time for one more discussion. Those who have questions, I will take them even before the discussion, and questions after the discussion are also welcome.

Questions and Answers: Hum Syllable Visualization and Deity Yoga

A student asked: Rinpoche just talked about the union of body and mind. May I use the method taught by Garchen Rinpoche, the hum syllable visualization, for the union of body, mind and wind? Body, mind and wind, meaning the air: body, breath and mind.

That would take a long, long time again. But when we talk about the hum and things related to mantra, we are entering another zone, especially the path of deity yoga. And the path of deity yoga is actually nothing other than the awareness zone; it is the awareness zone. I am just giving you some clues; more would be too much.

Those practices are very special techniques, very special access. Even though I find them beneficial for myself, nowadays I also come back, from time to time, to the body and the breath, to body sensation, because I am not sensitive enough. So: good enough, but not good enough.

We do not allow our body to experience natural body sensation. You can see it during meditation too: the mind always tries to correct and change. Simply allowing things to feel the way they feel, a natural body sensation, is actually very rare for us.

Doing this has helped my bodhicitta practice and my deity yoga practice tremendously and profoundly. I can feel that a deity is not someone flying around with five different heads or something like that. It is possible for you, because deep inside, you are actually entering, slowly and gradually, into an energy field, and through that there are many special approaches. It is actually a deeper level of sensation.

Harmony of Body and Mind: Awareness like the Sun from the Clouds

But culturally and traditionally, we are exposed to those practices, so we call ourselves: we are Vajrayana practitioners; we are Mahayanists, we are higher, they are lower; they are Theravadins.

But practically, without that physical sense, you cannot really see what kind of mind it is. All the causes and effects are beautifully combined, and you can see them harmonized between body and mind. Once complete harmony happens, awareness becomes just like the sun coming out from the clouds.

The Final Discussion: Just Listening

If we need one final discussion, let's use this time. Try to sum it up, try to listen: whatever you have heard, whatever you have learned.

Each and every individual has a different understanding and a different experience, and your experience may help someone around you. So sharing and discussing this way can actually bring a lot of meaning.

And remember, it does not have to be about right and wrong, and you do not have to agree with anything. Just listen: oh, they have this kind of experience; oh, they have this kind of idea; oh, wow. Just listen.

The techniques you have already heard, you can practice again and again yourself. And remember: your body, your mind and your awareness. Don't forget. Your awareness, don't forget.

Respecting What You Know: Not Just Chasing the Unknown

Whatever you already know, respect and value it. Don't just run after what you don't know. There are many things I don't know either. So if there is something you really need to know, you can ask; no problem.

Take time to stay more with what you already know and give it more respect. Sometimes we keep asking questions and running around, but we already have many good techniques.

A student asked: How should we show respect?

Respect means you need to feel the value of this technique. Many bodhisattvas, hundreds of masters, have come out teaching the same technique, because this technique is found in many different texts.

Keep Feeling: The Mind and Its Awareness Are Here

Feel as much as possible, as deeply as you can. Keep feeling, which means you are awake; otherwise you may get sleepy. Keep feeling: it means your mind is here, the mind's awareness is here. Very powerful.

Allow your body to relax as much as possible, then start to feel that your body is actually relaxing.

Sharing and Dedication: Opening the Heart to Experience

Just say it. Sometimes you only listen and don't speak; you just listen to what others say. Sometimes you speak but don't listen. You know what you feel; there is no need for right and wrong, no need to agree with what he or she said.

This is also very good: your heart is opening, and your heart is opening to these experiences. This is also good energy, and it is also part of the practice.

(Group discussion and sharing follow.)

Any questions are most welcome.

Now it is time for dedication. Please make your own aspiration and dedication.

Thank you, everyone. And don't forget to thank our volunteers, our organizers and our interpreter.