Contemplation: Always Beyond Thoughts

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation:

What is called the essential nature of Mind is always beyond thoughts. It is, therefore, defined as 'immutable.'

The Awakening of Faith, p. 50

Contemplation: A Sense of Humor

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take the following as your object of contemplation:

Q: Is sense of humor related in any way to the experience of instant enlightenment, satori?

A: Certainly. There is the story of a person who died laughing. He was a simple village person who asked a teacher the color of Amitabha which, traditionally, iconographically,is red. Somehow, by mistake, he thought the teacher said Amitabha's color was the color of ash in a fire. And this influenced his whole meditation practice; because when he practiced visualizing Amitabha, it was a grey Amitabha.

Finally the man was dying. As he lay on his deathbed he wanted to make sure, so he asked another teacher the color of Amitabha. The teacher said Amitabha's color was red and the man suddenly burst into laughter: "Well, I used to think him the color of ash, and now you tell me he is red." He burst into laughter and died laughing. So it is a question of overcoming a kind of seriousness.

There are many stories of people who were actually able to see the awakened state by breaking into laughter--seeing the contrast, the irony of polar situations.

Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, p. 117.

Contemplation: Intrinsic Qualities

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation:

[I]f such men allowed their minds to hold on to anything they would be cherishing the idea of an ego entity, a personality, a being, or a separated individuality; and if they grasped and held on to the notion of things as having intrinsic qualities they would be cherishing the idea of an ego entity, a personality, a being, or a separated individuality. Likewise, if they grasped and held on to the notion of things as devoid of intrinsic qualities they would be cherishing the idea of an ego entity, a personality, a being, or a separated individuality. So you should not be attached to things as being possessed of, or devoid of, intrinsic qualities.

from The Diamond Sutra, chapter 6

Contemplation: Like Images in a Mirror

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation:

It should be understood that [the conception of] the entire world of objects can be held only on the basis of man's deluded mind of ignorance. All things, therefore, are just like the images in a mirror which are devoid of any objectivity that one can get hold of; they are of the mind only and are unreal.

The Awakening of Faith pp. 48-49

Contemplation: Letting Go

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation:

Long-associated companions will part from each other. Wealth and possessions obtained with effort will be left behind. Consciousness, the guest, will cast aside the guest-house of the body. Letting go of this life is the Bodhisattva's practice.

from The Thirty-Seven Bodhisattva Practices of Ngulchu Thogme Zangpo

Contemplation

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take the following as your object of contemplation:

At this time when the difficult-to-gain ship of leisure and fortune has been obtained, ceaselessly hearing, pondering and meditating day and night in order to liberate oneself and others from the ocean of cyclic existence is the Bodhisattva's practice.

from The Thirty-Seven Bodhisattva Practices by Ngulchu Thogme Zangpo

Contemplation: The Teacher

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation (here, Buddha Shakyamuni is addressing Bodhisattva Universal Enlightenment by name):

Universal Enlightenment, you should know
that sentient beings in the Dharma Ending Age
who wish to seek a good teacher
should find one with correct views
whose mind is far away from the Two Vehicles.
The Dharma [he actualizes] should be free
from the four faults of
contrivance, stopping, allowing things
to be as they are, and annihilation.
Approached by the teacher, the should
not be arrogant and proud.
Left by the teacher, they should not be resentful.
When witnessing different conditions displayed by the teacher,
they should regard them as precious rare occurences,
like a Buddha appearing in the world.

from The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment, p. 57