Monica Gentile
As a Santi Maha Sangha instructor, I have always been interested in the work of communication and dialogue between those who, like me, have had experience with our master and those who have not had the opportunity or have had different experiences.
Because of this I have often joined forces with some of the many instructors of the Dzogchen Community committed to communicating those valuable teachings that Chögyal Namkhai Norbu indicated as essential for human development and that can be shared with anyone, regardless of religious identification, regardless even of whether or not one is committed to a spiritual path.
In fact, in his public engagements the master always emphasized how teaching can become the basis for an individual’s evolution that of itself can bring peace. He made it clear that a path to peace cannot be based only on historical, social or political analysis or universal statements, which may be right but remain largely ineffective, but on directly understanding the workings of one’s own mind.
Understanding one’s own mind through the development of presence and awareness is thus the most central of these teachings. This is a particularly relevant issue today for those who realize how many self-limitations the mind produces, how much conflict and suffering arise because of judgments and prejudices. The mind divides, always: me, my ideas and beliefs, my interest on one side – the right side – and everyone else on the other side, the wrong side or the side that is indifferent to me.
The methods taught by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu for developing presence and awareness have great depth and richness due to the uniqueness of their holistic approach to the individual. In fact, the individual is understood as a complex organism that is the result of interaction between the material body, the voice or energy that inhabits and moves it, and the mind that directs it. The various disciplines developed in the Dzogchen Community – meditation, yantra yoga, Vajra Dance and Khaita – each work more through one of these three aspects, and this integrated approach allows one to work on oneself in a comprehensive way, not only observing and working with the mind but also with the body and life energy.
For this reason, in my opinion, courses that combine these different disciplines are very effective: a student can experience different approaches that enrich him or her and always find ‘his or her’ gateway to understanding in a way that best suits their abilities and needs. This flexibility and openness are essential to allow each individual to find their own path for growth and development.
With other teachers in the Community, I have participated in and also helped organize several such public courses. The latest of these initiatives was a valuable collaboration between teachers from the “Ling of the Ocean” in Venice, myself and Adriana Dal Borgo, an international Khaita and Vajra Dance teacher, the Atiyoga Foundation and Shang Shung Publications. Together we decided to organize firstly a public presentation of the book “Opening the Mind,” followed by a workshop on Presence and Awareness cultivated through ‘sitting’ and ‘moving’ meditation.
The book “Opening the Mind,” which came out over a year ago, is a collection of some of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s public lectures intended as a presentation of Dzogchen teachings for the public. It introduces many of the central topics of the teachings in a simple and essential way. It also contains an introduction to the figure of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, university professor, scholar and spiritual master, and also to the International Dzogchen Community with its vast worldwide network.
Monica Gentile and Adriana Dal Borgo with participants at the Experiential Workshop in Venice in May.
On the day of Vesak 2024, the full moon of May, when the most important events in the Buddha’s life are celebrated, we presented the book in the hall of one of the many ‘scuolette’ of Venice, associations that gathered artisans of different trades in the ancient Republic. We decided to set up the presentation as a dialogue between myself, the editor of the book, and the presenter, Maria Grazia Florido, a Dzogchen community practitioner and communications expert, to create a more lively and interactive presentation. In fact, the dialogue then also involved the audience, with questions and answers and even remarks from some of those present.
We were pleasantly surprised by the turnout: in this historical period when there are many activities about meditation, it is not so easy to get noticed. A great many people also purchased the book.
The teachings in the book may stimulate an interest, but it is only the practical application of the methods related to them that can lead to real evolution of the individual. Thus, together with Adriana Dal Borgo, we led the participants to an understanding of what presence is, smriti in Sanskrit and drenpa in Tibetan, a term that is also often translated as mindfulness or fullness of mind, and which our teacher sometimes called ‘ordinary presence,’ to distinguish it from the instantaneous presence that is beyond the workings of the mind.
We reflected on what the benefits are of being present and together with the participants we experienced how this presence is in fact weakened by the continuous and automatic slipping into distraction.
Then we turned to the Shine or Shamatha practice for ‘quieting the mind’ through the method of ‘fixation with an object’ as taught specifically in the Dzogchen teaching, in which it is applied as a first stage or approach to the practice of contemplation. In Buddhism and also in other traditions there are many practices in which attention is placed on an ‘object’ so as to maintain a steady presence and develop a calm state. Breath-centered meditation is perhaps the best known of these. In Dzogchen, on the other hand, we learn to calm the mind and govern it through the method of fixation with an object. In fact, when one becomes able to focus on an object with a certain focused attention through this practice – alert and at the same time relaxed – without exerting any voluntary effort, thoughts automatically stop or at least slow down. Then, in the calm state that has come about, there is the possibility of noticing when thoughts immediately resume.
Noticing one’s thoughts in this way is a first step toward loosening the tyranny of the mind in our lives. When we notice them it means that we are no longer unconsciously immersed in the flow of mental events, but rather witness them. When we learn to constantly observe these real-time mental workings, the ability to not react passively and unconsciously to all these elements naturally arises. A classic example to illustrate this concept is the difference between being immersed in a rushing torrent and instead observing it once you get out of it. Presence is like a neutral observer, not overwhelmed by the current: through it we learn not to react automatically to the contents of the mind, including emotions, as we tend to do. In this way we begin to free ourselves from the incessant flow of thoughts that dominate our mind.
Through this direct understanding, we can gradually develop the ability to be constantly present to the condition of the mind, the body and the energy of the breath even in daily life. This mindful presence can in fact be maintained in all circumstances; it is not necessary to be seated in formal meditation. We train ourselves to carry out all our daily activities in a state of full mindful presence that prevents us from automatically slipping into distraction, or at least helps us immediately recognize when we are distracted. When we practice presence in a fluid and relaxed way there are many benefits and because of these benefits even the West took an interest in the scientific study of meditation.
During the course, in order to make it easier to apply presence in daily life, during which we are mostly on the move, we paired sitting practice with the mindful movement practice of the Vajra Dance. That is, we alternated the method of fixation on an object, in which we practice while sitting in the ‘controlled’ position of the seven qualifications of Vairochana, with presence applied to movement through the Vajra Dance.
After briefly introducing the characteristics and purpose of this method, Adriana Dal Borgo invited students to chant the Six Spaces mantra together, paying attention to the rhythm and melody. She then taught the “tshom,” a key step in the Vajra Dance, guiding the group to discover movements that were in harmony with the notes of the music. This way of applying presence to movement helps extend presence to every movement we perform in daily life, allowing us to live with more fullness and awareness.
We also discussed how the constant maintenance of presence nurtures awareness in behavior, so that it becomes the basis for understanding from time to time what is appropriate to apply in the circumstances in which we live. This is another fundamental pillar of the Dzogchen teaching. In this historical era, we are witnessing profound conflicts between people and peoples due to the encounter and clash of different cultures and ways of seeing, which often result in violence. The clear light of presence allows us to develop an awareness of the nature of reality as it is: to truly understand, not just on an intellectual level, that everything is relative, impermanent and our judgments are often misleading and distorted. We can understand this in our lives, through what happens to us, simply by observation. When this awareness is alive, the continuous effort to accept or reject loses its basis and dissolves spontaneously, like clouds dispersing in a windy spring sky, and we behave in a more spontaneous and natural, yet responsible way.
The experience shared during these events showed once again how Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s teachings on presence and mindfulness can be made accessible and relevant to all. Through a combination of seated practice and movement, we were able to convey the importance of presence and mindfulness in a practical and applicable way to daily life. Our wish is that this integrated and flexible approach will continue to prove its effectiveness in promoting real evolution of the individual.
At the same time we must remember that the development of ordinary presence is a very important basis for those who want to access an even deeper understanding, that of our most essential nature, completely beyond mental processes, as explained in the Dzogchen teaching. In it there are many methods, more or less direct, for arriving at the condition in which this essential nature of ours – total perfection – manifests itself completely and irreversibly. But the development of ordinary presence, and in particular the method that begins precisely with fixation on an object and proceeds through the four contemplations, is one of the very important ways in which Chögyal Namkhai Norbu gave us the ‘mind series,’ the Semde, for accessing the state of contemplation in which instantaneous presence or rigpa fully arises.
Monica Gentile, a long-standing student of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, became a Santi Maha Sangha Instructor in 2016. Recently she has also worked with the Atiyoga Foundation’s Meditation department, Shang Shung Publications and the International Gakyil. She conducts both public and community courses.
