Tiger meditation
If there is nothing to put pressure on the citta, it tends to become lazy and amass kilesas until it can barely function. A tiger can help to remove those kilesas which foster such a lazy and easy-going attitude that we forget ourselves and our own mortality. Once those insidious defilements disappear, we feel a sense of genuine relief whatever we do, for our hearts no longer shoulder that heavy burden... To say a monk has confidence that Dhamma is the basic guarantor
of his life and practice means that he sincerely hopes to live and die by
Dhamma. It is imperative that he not panic under any circumstance.
He must be brave enough to accept death while practicing diligently
in fearful places. When a crisis looms – no matter how serious it seems
– mindfulness should be in continuous control of his heart so that it
stays steadfastly firm and fully integrated with the object of meditation.
Suppose an elephant, a tiger, or a...