By: Andy Karr
Most of us approach Buddhism with a certain respect for meditation, and an appreciation for studying the teachings. On the other hand, the importance of contemplation might be less obvious. It is an essential activity, yet one that is often overlooked.
Contemplation reveals our own intelligence to us, often in surprising ways. Profound teachings can clarify themselves simply through the process of repeated examination. What at first is unclear becomes clear. Details that we’ve overlooked jump out at us. You might think that you can’t understand something, but by contemplating it you find that you can understand. With contemplation, you can understand the implications of the material, not just what is actually said.
We have all experienced reading or hearing teachings, understanding something for a moment, and then discovering later that it’s gone. Sometimes parts of the teaching are not clear and we skip over them. Profound teachings don’t really penetrate until you make them part of your personal experience—take them in, chew on them, reflect on them, ask yourself, “Is this true?” “Do I experience it this way?” “What is the point of this teaching?”
Thinking about the teachings in this way may seem to contradict the emphasis on “nonconceptuality” found in many Buddhist instructions, but there is no contradiction. We need to use thought to get beyond thought. Real nonconceptuality arises from recognizing the true nature of conceptuality, not through blocking thoughts or getting rid of them.
From Contemplating Reality: A Practitioner’s Guide to the View in Indo-Tibetan Practice. Andy Karr is a senior teacher in the Tibetan tradition. He was a student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. Karr is skilled in taking complex Buddhist philosophical teachings and rendering them in very clear English.