The Secret Rushans

 

Now we come to the secret Rushans. All things are created by our thoughts. When we look within ourselves again, we see how good things are, like the activities of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and how bad things are, like the sufferings of the samsaric beings, all of which are created by the mind. Thus Samsara and Nirvana are equally created by the mind.

 

Now we visualize a white Tibetan letter A in the space in front of us. We now focus on this one and do so for as long as possible without movement or distraction. Then we look back and see who it is that is concentrating on that white letter A. We discover that the observer and the observed disappear simultaneously.

 

Again we focus on the empty space, just the location in space where the white A has been, but without visualizing anything. Just staring into space without thinking anything. And we're trying to figure out where the mind is. When we focus on an object like the white A, we notice that the mind becomes calm and one-pointed.

 

Now let's try to find the ghost. Where is he? Is it in or out of the body? Does it have a color, shape or form? What qualities does he have? We should do this research and scrutiny to discover for ourselves what the mind is and where it is. What do we find? In this way we try to search for the nature of the mind.

 

We should do this until we are satisfied. We observe our thoughts: Where do they come from? Where are they staying? Where they go? Do they come from within or do they appear outside of the body? We just fix our gaze in the empty space and stay that way for some time.

 

We simply observe; we only look at where the thoughts arise, where they stay and where they go. What is their nature? What are their characteristics? We should keep doing this until we are satisfied.

 

We should only do this practice in short sessions and then stop. Then, after a pause, resume it. Gradually, if we are not distracted or disturbed, we can increase the time. In retreat we do four sessions during the day and four sessions at night. If we stay in the session too long in the beginning or try to force ourselves, we will lose our focus.

 

But if we only practice in short sessions, things will turn out much better. Whenever we feel disturbed, we take a break, go outside and, facing east or west, focus on looking up at the sky with the sun behind us, and try it again.

 

When the mind isn't distracted much, we try to keep it focused of a point. We discover that the mind never goes away; he is always present. And although we find a perpetual movement of thought, the mind is not material.