Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur Rinpoche, a recognized Tibetan meditation master and author, discusses his childhood panic attacks, his journey into meditation and science, and how he learned to transform fear into a tool for self-awareness. He shares practical, secular meditation techniques for cultivating joy, compassion, and wisdom.
Deep Dive Analysis
17 Topic Outline
Mingyur Rinpoche's Childhood Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Learning Meditation and Early Struggles
Three-Year Solitary Retreat Experience
Making Friends with Panic: Breakthrough in Meditation
Techniques for Working with Strong Emotions
Becoming a Meditation Retreat Teacher at 17
Engagement with Modern Science and Brain Research
Synergy Between Buddhist Philosophy and Science
Reconciling Reincarnation with Scientific Inquiry
Understanding Secrecy and Prayer in Tibetan Buddhism
The Role of Women in Tibetan Buddhist Tradition
Tergar's 'Joy of Living' Secular Meditation Program
The Concept of Enlightenment in Buddhism
Differences in Eastern vs. Western Meditation Students
Four-and-a-Half Year Wandering Retreat Experience
Near-Death Experience and Profound Awareness
Transformative Benefits of the Wandering Retreat
6 Key Concepts
Experiential Lineage
A tradition in meditation learning where practitioners regularly report their experiences to their teacher, and based on these reports, they receive further instructions or teachings.
Making Friends with Panic
A meditation approach where instead of resisting or being overwhelmed by panic, one accepts it, faces it, and eventually uses it as a support or object of awareness for meditation practice.
Awareness
An innate quality present in everyone, which can be recognized and connected with through practice. It allows one to be aware of sensory objects, thoughts, and emotions, making everything a support for meditation.
Mind of Not Knowing
An attitude of balance regarding metaphysical or unprovable concepts, where one neither fully believes nor disbelieves, but remains open and refrains from definitive judgment.
Basic Innate Goodness
A core Buddhist belief that every individual possesses an inherent, pure, and awesome nature, which serves as the foundation for qualities like love and compassion.
Enlightenment
In this context, it refers to the complete and full recognition of one's true nature, rather than achieving external powers or reaching a specific physical destination.
11 Questions Answered
Despite a loving family and beautiful environment in Nepal, he suffered from severe anxiety and panic attacks starting around age 8-9, triggered by things like snowstorms, fireworks, and cars.
He struggled for five years after starting meditation at age nine, finding it difficult to sustain practice and often giving up when panic returned, even during a three-year solitary retreat.
He had a breakthrough by deciding to "make friends" with his panic, accepting it and using it as a support for meditation rather than trying to get rid of it.
He sees many parallels between science and Buddhist philosophy in exploring the nature of reality, and believes combining the "intelligent brain" of science with the "warm heart" of Buddhist practice can benefit society.
He views reincarnation as a nice tradition and is not against it, but emphasizes the importance of the present life and living well, aligning with Buddha's teaching not to overly worry about past or future lives.
The secrecy is primarily due to concern about ego, as revealing special experiences or capabilities can lead to showing off, selfishness, and becoming a "bad person" or "Mara" (evil).
Prayer is seen as a powerful speech act that brings together thought, body movement, visualization, and motivation, creating positive interdependent connections. It can be directed towards deities, sentient beings, or one's own true nature.
It's a secular meditation program offered by Mingyur Rinpoche's organization, Tergar, designed to help people find happiness and joy in everyday life through practices focused on awareness, love/compassion, and wisdom, without requiring specific religious beliefs.
Enlightenment is defined as completely and fully recognizing one's true nature, which is inherently good and pure, rather than achieving supernatural abilities or reaching an external destination.
The initial period was extremely difficult; he ran out of money, slept on the street, and became severely ill from food poisoning, almost dying before having a profound experience of open awareness.
It led to a profound experience of open awareness, a deep sense of gratitude, appreciation for life, and a significant reduction in his fear of death, making him feel more connected to the world around him.
14 Actionable Insights
1. Accept and Befriend Panic
Instead of trying to get rid of panic, accept it and learn to live with it, facing it directly. This shift in mindset can lead to panic becoming a ‘friend’ and eventually dissipating.
2. Use Panic as Meditation Support
Once you have some experience, use panic as a support for meditation, just like you would your breath. By observing panic, you create space between yourself and the emotion, indicating freedom from its grip.
3. Shift Focus from Overwhelming Panic
If panic is too overwhelming to observe directly, try focusing on a different strong emotion (like anger) or sensory input (like sound) to build awareness, then gradually return to observing panic for short periods.
4. Step Back from Aversion to Panic
If direct observation of panic or shifting focus doesn’t work, ‘step back’ and observe the emotion behind the panic, such as resistance or aversion to the panic itself, as these can be stronger than the panic.
5. Take Breaks from Intense Practice
When meditation on strong emotions becomes too difficult, take a break by walking, reading a boring book, or doing physical exercise, then return to meditation later.
6. Seek Lasting Happiness Within
Do not look for peace in external reality; understand that lasting happiness is found within oneself, a fundamental shift in perspective for cultivating inner calm.
7. Practice Secular Awareness Meditation
Engage in ‘Joy of Living Level 1’ practices to introduce and connect with your own awareness, recognizing that it is always present. Use sensory objects, thoughts, and emotions as support for this awareness to live joyfully under any circumstances, meditating anywhere, anytime, even for a few seconds.
8. Cultivate Love and Compassion
Practice ‘Joy of Living Level 2’ by recognizing that the essence of love (wanting happiness) and compassion (wanting freedom from suffering) are innate. Nurture these qualities and expand them to all living beings.
9. Develop Innate Wisdom
Engage in ‘Joy of Living Level 3’ to recognize innate wisdom, understanding impermanence and interdependence. The goal is to go beyond concepts, liberating the unhealthy sense of self while manifesting a healthy one.
10. Examine Teachings, Don’t Blindly Believe
Adopt the Buddha’s advice: do not take words on faith just because they are spoken. Instead, examine, contemplate, and meditate on teachings before accepting them.
11. Practice Humility in Sharing Experiences
Moderate discussions about personal meditation experiences to avoid showing off, which can lead to ego and selfishness. Share only with your teacher or trusted spiritual peers who practice the same teachings.
12. Engage in Positive Prayer
Utilize prayer, believing that words have special power to create positive, interdependent connections. You can pray to a deity, for other sentient beings, or by connecting with your own true nature, without needing a supreme being to fulfill the prayer.
13. Prepare for Dying through Meditation
Practice ‘dying meditation’ by resting your mind in open awareness when facing extreme challenges or the prospect of death. This can lead to profound experiences of clarity, openness, and a reduced fear of death.
14. Embrace Life’s Challenges for Growth
Seek out difficult challenges in life, as they provide opportunities to develop meditation practice and learn about life beyond your usual circle, fostering personal growth and becoming ‘more human’.
7 Key Quotes
If you see the river, that means you are out of river. If you fall into river, carry by river, you cannot see it.
Mingyur Rinpoche
Don't look the peace in the external reality. The lasting happiness is within us.
Mingyur Rinpoche
Intelligent brain and warm heart together, and also we can maybe help for the society, for the bigger society and for the world.
Mingyur Rinpoche
The Buddha said, don't worry too much about past and the future, past life, future life, whatever. So, this life is very important, the future, present life.
Mingyur Rinpoche
If you meditate, you can fly. Fly is not so important. Nowadays, everybody can fly, right? I flew from India to here with more than 300 people.
Mingyur Rinpoche
The unhealthy sense of self will liberate, but the healthy sense of self will manifest.
Mingyur Rinpoche
I'm now thinking that I've become more human than before.
Mingyur Rinpoche
2 Protocols
Making Friends with Panic Meditation
Mingyur Rinpoche- Accept panic and learn to live with it, seeing it as a support for meditation rather than something to get rid of.
- If directly watching panic is overwhelming, create and be aware of another strong emotion (e.g., anger) to build the habit of practicing with strong emotions.
- Slowly, try to be aware of the panic for short durations (e.g., three seconds).
- Alternatively, change your focus between the panic and another object, such as your breath or a sound.
- If these methods don't work, 'step back' and observe the emotions behind the panic, such as resistance or aversion.
- If still overwhelmed, take a break from meditation by walking, reading, or exercising, and then return to practice later.
Joy of Living Program
Mingyur Rinpoche- Level 1: Calming the Mind: Introduce and practice recognizing your own innate awareness, connecting with it, and eventually being aware of form, sound, smell, taste, sensation, thoughts, and emotions as support for awareness.
- Level 2: Opening Heart: Introduce and practice recognizing your innate love and compassion, then expand these qualities to all living beings.
- Level 3: Wisdom: Introduce and practice recognizing innate wisdom, aiming to go beyond concepts to liberate the unhealthy sense of self and manifest the healthy sense of self.