「八日禪我拍了一些美照，有沒有人來點讚？」開始覺得全身在癢，還是忍不住滑手機，「我就看五分鐘」，結果十五分鐘甚至一小時過了，「那明天修一小時好了」，結果第二天才念皈依發菩提心，就開始打哈欠。沒錯，第二個禮拜就變難了，小心別碰手機，也許你可以跑到另一個空間禪修，比如頂樓或山上，禪修完要滑手機再滑。
現在德噶開發了一種app，你們可以到app store下載，是免費的，你可以自己制定內容和傳送提醒的時間及頻率，然後定時寄給自己，提醒自己作禪修。以前有時做禪修做到忘了時間，會想要不要重做，現在那個App會提醒你時間。
你們回家之後都有功課要做，有一個完成功課的捷徑，就是到app設定一個時間，每天時間一到就會提醒你做功課，比如解脫道一二階功課，你可以設定禪修時間或主題。下座禪修時也要建立習慣，可以借助計數器，想到心性就按一下。或者開心禪課程中也說過，可以在家裡或辦公室貼些符號或標語，看到就會提醒自己去做禪修。
但提醒自己作禪修的「最佳app」，其實是遇到麻煩和困難。比如我小時候有恐慌症，漸漸的恐慌症好了，只剩禪修。但我還是很感謝恐慌症，它幫我做禪修。沒有恐慌症反而有時會忘了禪修，所以是恐慌症幫助了我禪修。
■ Like a dharma protector, an app can help you to build up a meditation habit
When you meditate, sometimes you may feel some energy movement. There are four types of energy movement.
1 Physical sensations. You may feel some movement at the top of the head, or some tingling at the back, or something is blocked in the chest area. Occasionally, there may be heat in your body, or your body moves and shakes. Some may cry or even make mudras with the hands. These are all energy movements and they are normal.
2 Sensory perceptions. You may hear sounds or see images. You may see buddhas and bodhisattvas coming to you and giving you special messages.
3 Emotional ups and downs. From time to time you may feel joyful and blissful, but after a while, you start feeling depressed or angry. You may even have physical pain in the body and your mind becomes unclear. Yet after a few days, the pain is gone and your mind becomes clear again. You may wonder "Wow! Maybe this time I have finally become enlightened!”
4 Perception of positive and negative energy. You start to feel "Oh! This person has good energy!" "That place has bad energy!" "I know what the other people are thinking..."
Among these four, two are real and two are not real. The physical sensations and the emotional ups and downs are real. However, the sensory and energy perceptions are not real, so don't believe in that. Generally speaking, you just have to understand that these are all energy movements, which may happen when prana, nadi and bindu are being transformed.
Actually, there are two kinds of such transformation. The first one is the transformation from the impure prana, nadi and bindu to the pure prana, nadi and bindu. The second one is the transformation from the pure prana, nadi and bindu to the wisdom of prana, nadi and bindu.
For the first one, energy movement often happens when the "impure" is being transformed to the "pure". However, during the transformation from the "pure" to the "wisdom", there will not be any energy movement. Sometimes, it is possible for both transformations to happen at the same time, but it is also possible that there is a sequence where the transformation from the "pure" to the "wisdom" comes after the transformation from the "impure" to the "pure".
However, an important point you must remember is the transformation from the "pure" to the "wisdom" is only possible through the nature of mind practice, because the nature of mind is beyond time, particle, big and small, near and far. Once you see the nature of mind, the perception of your own body will also be beyond time and particle, just like the moon reflection in the lake. The body is everywhere and nowhere. But, even though I tell you these now, you will not be able to understand. However, if you keep on practicing, these will happen naturally in the future and you will be able to experience them. During such a process, sometimes there may be "huge waves". So, don't grasp onto your experience, don't stop, and keep on practicing. Eventually, your nature of mind will become clearer and clearer.
The most important thing is to keep on practicing, but at the same time, don't set a goal too high and you must understand your capability. Don't try to compete with the others when you hear someone says he practices for six hours a day. Perhaps you can start from an hour, or even thirty minutes a day, and then practice diligently for a month.
After a retreat, in particular an 8-day retreat like this, you will find that meditating for an hour or half an hour a day is quite easy for the first week. Yet when the second week comes, you may start looking for your smartphone soon after you sit on the meditation cushion. "Oh! I took so many beautiful photos during the 8-day retreat, how many "likes" did I get?" You may feel restless, as if your hand is "itching", and finally, you grab your phone and start scrolling... "Alright, I will just browse for five minutes..." Soon, fifteen minutes, or even an hour passed by and you tell yourself "Okay, I will meditate for an hour tomorrow." When tomorrow comes, you start to yawn soon after reciting the bodhicitta aspiration prayer... Indeed, the practice of meditation becomes difficult soon after the first week. So be careful and don't touch your smartphone! Perhaps you can go to another spot to meditate, for example, go to the rooftop or the mountain. Play with your smartphone only after the meditation practice.
When the third week comes, you are getting used to the new habit, and when it is the fourth week, you may even feel good about your meditation practice. You have built up your daily meditation habit step by step, and it will become even more stable if you continue to do so with diligence for three months.
After you have returned home, sometimes you cannot continue your practice because you are sick or when you are travelling. Don't worry, but you must also continue to keep your practice close to your heart.
Apart from the formal practice, there is also the informal practice which you can do during your everyday life. This time, you can meditate while looking at your smartphone! For example, you can meditate whenever you see a "like", or you can look at the nature of mind whenever you hear the ringtone or sense the vibration each time you get a new message on the phone.
Recently, Tergar has developed an app which is free of charge and which you can download through the App Store. You can type in your own message to remind you of practice, set the time and frequency of practice, and the app will automatically send you the reminder. In the past, sometimes you might forget to write down the time you started to practice and after a while, you forgot how much time you have practiced and wondered whether you have to do it all over again. But now, this app can help remind you about the time and your practice.
After you have returned home, you all have homework to do. Actually, there is a "short cut" to finishing your homework and that is, set your schedule in the app! It will remind you to practice when it is the right time. For example, if you are in the Path of Liberation 1 and 2, you can set your reminder according to your topic and the length of time you would like to practice. It is also important for you to build up the informal practice habit. For example, you can use a small counter and press it once each time you think of the nature of mind. In the Joy of Living, we have also talked about using some images or words, and stick them somewhere in your home or in your office so that you will remember to practice everytime you see them.
Actually, the “best app” to remind ourselves to practice is when we are facing a problem. When I was young, I had panic disorder. As my panic gradually disappeared, what has remained is my meditation practice. I am very grateful to my panic because it helped me to practice. If I didn't have this panic disorder, perhaps I might have forgotten to meditate. Therefore, my panic disorder has really helped me in my meditation practice.
(Excerpt from Mingyur Rinpoche's teaching on 16 Sep 2018, on the final day of the Tergar Asia 8-Day Retreat)
