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MMThe Ocean Of Definitive Meaning · Six Modules · Twenty One Lessons

Mahamudra

The Highest Secret Teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. A lesson by lesson path through calm abiding and direct insight into the nature of awareness, and the four yogas that ripen it, following The Ocean of Definitive Meaning of the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchug Dorje.

By Zachary A. Perlman Intermediate 21 Lessons · 6 Modules About 10 Hours

About Course

6 MODULES · SELF-PACED · ONLINE COURSE

Mahamudra: The Highest Secret Teachings of Tibetan Buddhism is a self-paced online course in the Kagyu tradition’s direct path to recognizing the nature of awareness. Lesson by lesson, it follows the map of The Ocean of Definitive Meaning, the most extensive of the three graduated Mahamudra manuals composed by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchug Dorje, in the sixteenth century.

The path unfolds in six modules. It begins with the preliminaries that turn the heart toward practice, continues with calm abiding, which settles the restless mind, and opens into superior insight, where you look directly at awareness itself. It ripens in the pointing out of the nature of awareness and matures through the four yogas, from one-pointedness to nonmeditation, before closing with the practical wisdom that guards the path: meditative experiences, enhancement, and the subtle errors to avoid.

Each lesson pairs a clear teaching with guided practice steps or points for contemplation, so that reading and doing stay close together. You do not need to be a Buddhist, to have taken any vow, or to belong to any lineage. If you have ever suspected that awareness itself, and not its passing contents, is the more interesting question, this course was made with you in mind.

A Necessary Word

This course is a study companion, not a transmission. Mahamudra is a living instruction, and its decisive recognition is traditionally introduced by a qualified teacher who can see your practice and respond to it. Treat what you find here as a trustworthy map, and let it send you toward the mountain, and toward a living teacher, rather than stand in for either.

What Will You Learn?

  • Turn the mind toward practice with the four thoughts and the special preliminaries of the Kagyu tradition.
  • Settle the restless mind through calm abiding, with a support, with the breath, and finally without any support at all.
  • Recognize and correct dullness and agitation, the two obstacles that make up most of the skill of meditation.
  • Look directly at stillness, movement, and appearance through the investigations of superior insight.
  • Prepare the ground for the pointing out of the nature of awareness, empty and vividly knowing at once.
  • Chart the deepening of recognition through the four yogas, and learn the experiences, enhancements, and subtle errors along the way.

Course Content

6 modules  ·  21 lessons  ·  one nature

  • What Is Mahamudra?Ngondro
  • The Four Thoughts That Turn The MindNgondro
  • The Four Special PreliminariesNgondro
  • Posture And The Ground Of PracticeShamatha
  • Calm Abiding With A SupportShamatha
  • Calm Abiding Using The BreathShamatha
  • Calm Abiding Without A SupportShamatha
  • Resting The Mind, Dullness And AgitationShamatha
  • Looking At Awareness Within StillnessVipashyana
  • Looking At Awareness Within MovementVipashyana
  • Looking At The Awareness That Perceives AppearancesVipashyana
  • Are Stillness And Movement One Or Different?Vipashyana
  • Searching For Where Awareness Arises, Dwells, And GoesVipashyana
  • Pointing Out The Nature Of Awareness Within StillnessNgo Sprod
  • Pointing Out Within Movement And AppearanceNgo Sprod
  • The First Yoga: One-PointednessNaljor Shyi
  • The Second Yoga: Freedom From ElaborationNaljor Shyi
  • The Third Yoga: One TasteNaljor Shyi
  • The Fourth Yoga: NonmeditationNaljor Shyi
  • Experiences, Enhancement, And Removing ObstaclesBogdon
  • Glossary Of Key TermsReference

Material Includes

  • Six Modules Of Teaching
  • Guided Practice Steps
  • Points For Contemplation
  • Interactive Journaling
  • Glossary Of Key Terms
  • Certificate Of Completion

Requirements

  • No prior study of Tibetan Buddhism is required. A willingness to sit, and to look directly at your own experience, is enough.
  • A study companion, not a substitute for a living lineage or a qualified teacher.

Audience

  • Contemplatives Of Any Background – anyone drawn to look directly at their own experience. No vows, beliefs, or lineage membership are required.

  • Beginning Meditators – a beginner settling the breath will find the path laid out step by step from the very first sitting.

  • Longtime Practitioners – experienced meditators returning to first things, or approaching the classical Mahamudra map for the first time.

  • Students Of Nonduality – students of our other courses who want the Tibetan tradition’s complete path to the nature of awareness.