"How do we do this bodhichitta meditation? It is so simple. Just don't do anything, simply watch. Say a thought comes about a mirror: just watch. Don't think, "Oh I am distracted". Just watch. As you watch this thought, this mirror, the Tate Gallery, or whatever, don't get caught by "Ah, I know that I am thinking about a mirror". That is also a distraction. Leave behind all these judgements and fabrications. Just watch. This is the essential Buddhist teaching, and it is so simple.
The more you leave it alone, the less you judge, the less you fabricate, then the true nature of the mind will become stronger and more vivid. The more you fabricate, delusion will grow. This is its characteristic: you touch, you move, and delusion grows. If you leave it alone, delusion disappears and the true nature of mind comes out. I've told you many times that our ego--out of its insecurity--is always looking for distraction. We cannot be alone. Loneliness is the worst thing that can happen. Boredom is the worst thing that can happen in our life. We cannot sit still one minute alone without a friend, without TV to watch, without books to read, without Buddhist meditation. We have to do something. Occupation is so important. We may think that in order to see the nature of the mind, we should be occupied with certain things, but it has a reverse effect. It has the effect that our mind gets more and more stuck with these occupiers. If we leave it alone, if we just leave it alone, the true colour will grow.
As you are beginning to see the true nature of the mind, there will be lots of fear. If you are going to see a high lama or high person, or an important man with whom you are applying for a job, you will get a little nervous, especially if you are not familiar with this person. There will always be a bit of anxiety if this is your first meeting. "Will I act properly, will my tie not fold?" You might like to check if your fly is unzipped. There is always a little bit of carefulness. This is because seeing something new is always frightening. And here, you are beginning to see yourself--who is completely new for you, who is not what you think you are. You have thought you are this and that, you have called yourself this and that. Now you are told those are not you--there is something else. As you get closer to this, lots of fear will come. It is this point where many practitioners fail; they get distracted, collapse, and retract. They can't cope with such fear.
One example in hand is dying. One of the reasons why people are afraid of death is that you are losing many, many of your reference points. Not by the power of your practise, but by the power of the force of nature, You are no longer Bob. You are no longer Tashi Coleman. You are no longer American. You are losing your eye and ear consciousnesses. You are losing all these references as you are getting closer and closer to that something which is very subtle, that you have not seen before. This is why you are afraid of death. Right now we are talking about doing a meditation that is almost like experiencing a near-death situation. It is kind of difficult. Don't be afraid. Here again the guru plays an important role. We can pray to him and lean on him. To practise this I have no more instructions than: just watch and don't judge. Because the more you "do" things, the more it will fall apart.
The antidote will vanish of itself.
The nature of the path is to rest in alaya.
