Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Chapter 1

  1. Types of awareness

    • Normal awareness = day-to-do activities cluttered with thoughts and emotions 

    • Meditative awareness = more refined and see things without clutter of awareness 

    • Pure awareness = non-dual, ultimate state of mind, free of habitual reactivity and conceptual thinking 

  2. Explaining awareness

    • Innate equality of mind 

    • Vast and immeasurable

    • Like sky and ocean — present even amidst chaotic emotions and thoughts 

  3. Explaining differences between each type of awareness

    • Different clarity

    • Different degree of entanglement with mental constructs

    • Normal awareness is completely cluttered, meditative awareness less so, pure awareness is completely free from dualistic thoughts 

  4. Example of throwing wood into the fire 



Chapter 2

  • Impermanence of life and experience 

  • Transient nature of all phenomena 

  • One shouldn’t get carried away by “waves” of thoughts and emotions, and should remain in “ocean” of pure awareness.



Chapter 3

  • Privilege I associate with and what I need to do to break the mold 

  • How does breaking old mold connect to teachings of Dharma

    • Dharma emphasizes the realization of no-self and breaking free from samsara

    • Breaking ties from conditioned responses and societal roles 



Chapter 4

  • How would you react differently if you are to die tomorrow

    • Inevitable death and death and impermanence reminds us to live more presently

    • Fully to realize the preciousness of every moment

    • Prioritize meaningful relationships and truly valuable things without fear 

  • Impact your role with someone you’re close with, someone you’re enemy with, and stranger 

  • Explain what does keep the view as vast as space and keep actions as fine as flour mean to people knowing nothing about Buddhism

    • Maintain a broad perspective but act with greater details and care. 

    • Balance vision and actions to employ the practicality of Buddhist wisdom



Chapter 5

  • Buddha nature idea and Rinpoche — our awareness is the most precious thing we have 

    • Buddha Nature suggests that all beings inherently has the seed of enlightenment but does not realize it

    • Often, the things we’re looking for are already within our own self. We don’t need to look elsewhere for additional, external things. We just need to look within ourselves. 

    • Awareness suggests that instead of looking outwards or run after each thought, or seeking external solutions, we should just observe our mind and look inward. We don’t need anything else outside of our own awareness.

  • Awareness contains impermanence and not the other way around 

    • The nature of impermanence — that nothing lasts and everything decays, everything is in constant state of flux and change — is realized within all conditioned things.

    • Awareness is much broader and has a much more fundamental reality than the one that the property of impermanence is observed.

    • While impermanence suggests that everything is transient and observable, the capacity to observe these changes itself — awareness — is not subject to change itself 

    • Awareness is a steady, unchanging background that impermanence occurs at and does not rise or pass away 



Chapter 6

  • Shorter moments, many times 

    • Cultivate awareness briefly but repetitively throughout the day 

    • It’s more easy and effective for beginners to not aim for prolonged sessions of meditation but brief and momentary acknowledgement of awareness that they can just rest in their minds 

    • Sometimes people find meditation very difficult and give up because they can’t do it “perfectly”. Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche suggests that repetition is important for meditation and that the quality of your sessions can be improved over time. 

    • Repeatedly realize the awareness throughout the day will eventually extend and stabilize it and have these glimpses compound to be a continuous, stable, and pure awareness 

  • Responding and explaining Yonge Mingyur Rinpoche’s excerpt

    • A steady mind is one that implies equanimity and mindfulness free of external disturbance and internal emotional reactions 

    • In uncomfortable situations, we always have two choices — to be reactive and implode through emotions or maintain steady mind

    • We cannot control the external situations but we can control ourselves 

    • Imagine these uncomfortable situations pushes one to confront these difficulties upfront and train their responses 



Chapter 7

  • 6 classes of beings 

    • There are 3 higher realms of rebirth and 3 lower realms of rebirth. 3 higher: human, demigods and gods. 3 lower: animals, hell beings, hungry ghosts. 

    • The karmic consequences of actions in one’s current life and path affects the realm of rebirth that they will be in. 

    • God realm is a pleasurable realm that often results from more merit karmic actions, but is dangerous as ones are not prepared for their eventual sufferings when bright karma runs out. This realm has danger of attachment to comfort and pleasure 

    • Demigods realm is a realm with jealousy and enviousness, often towards the Gods. This realm reflects our competitiveness and aggression towards those who we perceive as having more than us. Suffering occurs from constant comparisons.

    • Human realm has a mix of happiness and suffering. This realm has a unique capacity for self-reflection and can choose a way to liberation. Pursue spiritual practice and wisdom.

    • Animal realm — ignorance and base instincts dominate. Human behaviors are driven by primitive thoughts and it is important to rise above these tendencies.

    • Ghost realm — intense cravings and unfulfilled desires. Addiction and insatiable longing for material goods, emotional states, or experiences 

    • Hell realm — most painful realm with intense suffering and aggression. Urge compassion, patience, and forgiveness to combat these emotions. Hatred, ignorance and despair.

  • What stood out about Milarepa’s story 

    • Perseverance, redemption, dedication and transformation 

    • Early life was full of hardship — father died, got betrayed by relatives, left him broke, mother and sister in despair.

    • Milarepa turns to sorcery and seeks revenge, commits grave acts 

    • Milarepa realizes his sins and sufferings he had caused and was propelled for redemption. Learns Dharma and purify his negative karma. 

    • Marpa imposes trials and hardships on Milarepa — including refusing to teach and harsh treatments — though was designed to purify negative karmas and test his dedication 

    • Milarepa receives years of teachings and solitary practice (asceticism and devotion)

    • Milarepa attains enlightenment and composes beautiful and deeply meaningful songs



Chapter 8

  • Where is my mind

    • The mind is a vast sky and ocean, and emotions and thoughts are clouds or birds that fly across the sky. Mind is not these thoughts but the space they appear at.

    • The mind is not a physical location. The mind = the awareness that observes thoughts are not confined in physical space. 

    • Non dual — there is no separation between the observer and the observed. 

  • If you asked yourself the question, “Where is my mind?” throughout the day, what might you notice?

  • Mingyur Rinpoche discusses the bardos or states of “inbetweeness.” Can you recall a moment of becoming that has transformed you and why do you see it as so?

    • Inbetweenness suggests bardos — the intermediate states and transitional states through life. 

    • Impermanence suggests that all things are constantly in flux and changing, nothing lasts and everything decays. 

    • My example: after I had graduated from high school, there were a few months before I had to enter university. I was in between these two states — the end and the beginning of major life phases. I had the opportunity to explore how I can shed my old patterns and direct my new ones. Not being attached or fixed to either end gives me flexibility to explore my potential. Fluidities allow me to be fully present in the current moment, exploit it, and respond swiftly. 



Chapter 9

  • Mingyur Rinpoche explains emptiness

    • Emptiness = dependent origination. 

    • Nothing exists on its own. Every phenomenon is produced by its causes meeting its conditions. Everything we experience are interdependent on other factors. 

    • Our mind is not a fixed entity because our thoughts and emotions arise based on the conditions and dissolves. Hence, we shouldn’t cling onto these impermanent things. 

    • Emptiness is not nothingness — things do not exist in typical ways we see them = exists in fluidity and movements 

    • As the external world is not fixed or inherent, we can reduce our attachment to it and reduce suffering. 

    • Being more flexible and open-minded in approaching life’s challenges reduce our rigidity in reactions. 

    • Cultivating compassion is important because understanding that everything is interconnected leads to compassion and kindness. We form connectedness and concern for others’ wellbeing. 

  • What are the bardos

    • Bardo of life 

      • From birth until onset of death

      • Karma performed at this stage effects future exercises 

    • Bardo of meditation 

      • Transcends ordinary consciousness 

      • Experiences glimpses of enlightenment

    • Bardo of dream

      • Gain insights on subconscious mind 

    • Bardo of dying 

      • Onset of process of dying extending to death 

      • Might realize nature of mind 

    • Bardo of Dharmata 

      • Experience intrinsic pure nature of reality after deaths 

      • Mini death?

    • Bardo of becoming 

      • Between new and old experiences 

      • Invoke karmic visions to choose new birth influenced by past lives’ karma

  • “How can we live in a world with no certainty, where not one single entity remains dependable for even one second?”  

    • World with no certainty means everything in our lives is impermanent. Everything is constantly changing and nothing is inherently stable. Every entity exists depending on each other — conditions and causes — and everything is subject to change

    • Everything is transient. Everything is in continuous state of flux 

    • Accepting change as a natural part of life, we can fully appreciate the present moment without clinging onto past or future. 

    • Non-attachment meaning no more clinging onto things that are inevitable 

    • Rejecting external instability cultivates dependability within ourselves through stability of our own awareness and peace of compassion



Chapter 10

  • In your opinion, what Buddhist idea relates to the Mingyur Rinpoche’s “If you see something, say something.”?

    • Right speech 

    • Part of noble eightfold path — part of prescription to end suffering and achieve enlightenment 

    • Communicate with truthfulness — as lies are one of five precepts — timeliness and relevance, compassion, and promote peace while preventing harm 

  • How does he explore not-self and emptiness in this chapter?

    • What is considered as “self” is actually a collection of five mental constituents, skandhas — form, sensations, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. In other words, self does not exist without these constituents meeting each other.

    • Emptiness suggests that nothing exists on its own and everything is interconnected. Each phenomenon happen only due to its conditions and causes have met 

    • Nothing is inherent or self-contained

  • Responding to quote

    • Dukkha = suffering, Anicca = impermanence, Samskaras = mental formations 

    • Dukkha: clinging onto impermanent things as solid states create sufferings 

    • Anicca = everything is in constant state of flux and all conditioned phenomena are transient. There is no permanent substance. Rejecting this reality creates suffering for ourselves because we are not confronting who we truly are

    • Samskaras = habits and comforts from past actions and intentions (karma). Repeated sufferings caused by habitual patterns