Four kinds of mindfulness according to mahamudra

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bhava
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Four kinds of mindfulness according to mahamudra

Post by bhava »

Hi, do you know any more elaborated teachings on four kinds of mindfulness according to mahamudra, as mentioned by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal in Moonbeams of mahamudra? I find Lobsang Lhalungpas translation a bit difficult. however he seems to differentiate: vigorous mindfulness, spontaenous mindfulness, and then reflective mindfulness, mindfulness of nonduality and non discriminatory mindfulness. Thank you.
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anjali
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Re: Four kinds of mindfulness according to mahamudra

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bhava wrote: Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:43 am Hi, do you know any more elaborated teachings on four kinds of mindfulness according to mahamudra, as mentioned by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal in Moonbeams of mahamudra? I find Lobsang Lhalungpas translation a bit difficult. however he seems to differentiate: vigorous mindfulness, spontaenous mindfulness, and then reflective mindfulness, mindfulness of nonduality and non discriminatory mindfulness. Thank you.
Here is Traleg Kyabgon's alternative translation of the relevant passages from Moonbeams, p237, that may help clarify the terms.
There are different kinds of mindfulness: 1) mindfulness that directs your attention to the relevant object of meditation, and 2) mindfulness that rests with the object of meditation. The first kind of mindfulness is for beginners learning to direct their minds towards an object of meditation. The second kind of mindfulness is for meditators who have developed some preficiency in maintaining mindfulness without distraction for a short time. At the beginning, these two types of mindfulness arise successively but as time goes by they become integrated. The ability to direct the mind to the object of meditation will then arise simultaneously.

The mindfulness that rests with the object of meditation can be divided into two kinds: 1) mindfulness with effort, and 2) spontaneous mindfulness. Mindfulness with effort has two aspects: (i) the ability to rest the mind during certain meditative experiences, and (ii) awareness that comes from realising emptiness. Spontaneous mindfulness has these two aspects (i) transcending any effort to apply mindfulness because awareness had given rise to wisdom so that mindfulness can now arise spontaneously, and (ii) realising that the distinction between meditation and meditator is an illusion and there is never a time when we are not meditating. At this point, meditation has become completely integrated and mindfulness occurs spontaneously without any thought of its generation.
There is an excellent, lengthy discussion of mindfulness in Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche's commentary of Moonbeams on this section.
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