By: Bob Zeglovitch
Last Friday, I gave a talk based on Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s meditation practice of the “three pills” of stillness, silence and spaciousness. The recording can be found on the dharma talks page of the website. Tenzin Wangyal is a highly respected teacher in the Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition. This is a practice that can be repeated many times during the day, in the spirit of “short sessions, many times” that is characteristic of Tibetan teachings. This is one concrete way of “actualizing” the continuous practice that Dogen speaks of. We turn our awareness to the qualities of stillness, silence, and spaciousness that are present, not pushing away the rest of our experience or manufacturing some special state. Instead, we are becoming familiar with what is naturally present, our original mind.
The essence of this practice is open and receptive non-doing, which seems to me to be in keeping with the core of shikantaza. While there is some directionality and intention associated with orienting toward these qualities of stillness, silence and spaciousness, it is subtle, gentle and not forced. The overall spirit is receptivity. My attempt at phrasing the “tasks” represented by the taking of the “three pills” is as follows: Come to stillness; listen for silence; and open to spaciousness. Then, as Tilopa says, rest.
I have found Tenzin Wangyal to be a refreshing and direct teacher. You can find a five minute talk by him on this practice here, and a fifteen minute talk here. If you are interested in learning more about this practice and related teachings, his book Awakening the Luminous Mind: Tibetan Meditations for Inner Peace and Joy is a good resource.