Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [167]
DZOGCHEN FIVE-ELEMENT MEDITATION
Dzogchen meditations often emphasize nature—the awesome mystery and splendor of it all. Mother Nature is like a great goddess. In the Diamond Skydancer Tantra, the Great Dakini says, “The whole universe is my body, all sentient beings my soul, my heart-mind.” The salient principle in this meditation is merging into five elements of nature—water, earth, fire, air, and space. This helps us return to our natural, innate Buddha-mind.
Let’s meditate, let’s contemplate; let’s unify ourselves with these elements. The element of water with its cooling nature and natural flow is a good way to begin.
We can practice this meditation by the ocean, a lake, a river, or a pond. We can even practice this meditation while washing the dishes. The sound of water could be the tranquil lapping of waves against a dock, the dripping of a faucet in a kitchen sink, the melodic flowing of the water in an aquarium, a waterfall, or the thundering surf. The vision of water may range from a shimmering puddle to the Pacific Ocean. Water is water. The natural element is the same.
Merging and dissolving into the natural elements helps us to go beyond ourselves. We enter into the dimension of that element, unifying ourselves and the universe. In this way we transcend our separate selves and realize our primordial nature.
Listen to the “white sound” of water. Enter into the contemplative space, the flow, the reflectiveness of water. Concentrate on the sound of water. Let it wash everything else away. Just focus on listening to the sound. Dzogchen meditation calls for the senses to be left in their natural state. And that state is Natural Great Perfection, Dzogchen. Let the sound of the water wash over you, wash through you. Leave your senses open, sensitive, and receptive. Enter the resonant spiritual dimension of pure sound.
Open your eyes. Look at the water. Let all thoughts fall into the water and dissolve into the lake of your mind, like snowflakes settling and dissolving in the ocean. All waves of thought and feeling, and emotion and energy, gradually slow down and dissolve, like gentle ripples in a stream or in the placid sea of natural awareness. The ocean’s waves come and go; watch them until you forget yourself and become one with the waves.
Contemplating the waves—just listening—let everything else be washed away. Enter into the non-dual dimension of just being. Be that sound, flow with the water. Relax into the natural state of the water element as if worshipping the spirit of nature or the deity of water. All of the elements are like embodied deities. Attend to them. Rest in their shrines. Be one with them. Enter into that sacred dimension right now.
Being at one with water is not unlike being at one with all the other elements. With the element of fire, we meditate before a fireplace, a campfire, or a candle, and we let our thoughts mingle with the flame as the inner flame warms our hearts, melts us down, and dissolves the separation between us and the world.
With the air element, we can meditate on the wind. We feel it, and listen to it sigh. We can watch the wind blowing through the long grass on a hilltop or in the swaying treetops, or we can sit near the window of a city apartment, feeling the cooling breeze. The wind of breath constantly blows through us, blowing away our cares and purifying our mind—if we let it.
For earth, we can concentrate on the supportive, solid, and powerful earth element in a garden, in the woods, or looking at a far-off mountain. Whether we are meditating with a view of the Grand Canyon or next to a rock in a city park—it’s all matter. All part of the earth element, the Earth Goddess … all one, single, divine element of our daily experience.
The principle in the Five-Element Meditation is directing our attention to nature in a way that leads us beyond ourselves and back home to the natural state of oneness. When we sit by the edge of the ocean, the incessant sound of the waves seems to wash our cares, thoughts, and worries away.