they are thoughts. Suppose we are planning another Sunday walk - and we are so absorbed in these thoughts that we are already almost on a walk, not even realizing that there are only thoughts. And if we see that it is only a thought that creates such a picture, we begin to discover that it has a lesser quality of reality. During meditation one should not try to suppress thoughts; you just have to try to see their transient, transparent nature. Don't get carried away with them; there is no need to discard them; just watch them and then come back to awareness of the breath. The whole point here is to cultivate acceptance of everything; we should not discriminate, should not be involved in any kind of struggle. This is the basis of the technique of meditation; it is quite simple and straightforward. There should be no deliberate effort in it, no attempt at control, no effort to become calm. That is why they use the breath. It is easy to feel; no need to take care of yourself, try to do something or perform some action. This is the reason why technique is important to begin with. This is the original way, this is the beginning; and usually meditation continues and develops in its own way. Sometimes it turns out that we meditate in a slightly different way than when we first started it, and this happens quite spontaneously. The meditation technique is not classified as an advanced or beginner technique. It's just that meditation itself gradually grows and develops.

Chapter 7. Wisdom

The word "prajna" means "wisdom". Perhaps the English word has a slightly different meaning; but the Tibetan word "sherab" is quite accurate: "she" - knowledge, knowledge; "slave" is final. So, "sherab" is not some kind of special knowledge in a technical or educational sense, it is not knowledge of Buddhist theology, not the ability to do certain things, not knowledge of the methods of the logical aspect of teaching. Here is the word means knowledge of the situation, penetration into it, and not actual knowledge. It is knowledge without the "I", without the egocentric awareness of what we know, which is connected with the "I". So, prajna or sherab is a vast and far-reaching knowledge, although at the same time it has tremendous insight and accuracy; and it enters into every aspect of our lives. Therefore, it plays a very important role in our development, as well as the "dropping" method, i.e. skillful means, the right approach to the situation. These two qualities are indeed sometimes compared to the two wings of a bird; and in the Scriptures the upaya is also likened to a skillful hand, while prajna, sharp and penetrating, resembles an axe. You can't cut down a tree without an ax, we'll just break our hands. Thus, it is possible to have skillful means, but not be able to use them. But if there is also prajna like an eye or a light, then we are able to act correctly and skillfully. Otherwise skillful means may become foolish, because only knowledge will make a man wise. In fact, the downaya itself can make a person the greatest fool, for everything will still be based on the "I". One can see the situation down to the smallest point and be partially able to cope with it; but we will not see it with full clarity without the influence of past and future; and then we will miss its momentary reality.
But perhaps we should consider how to develop this insight, or sherab, before we go into further details. So, there are three methods necessary for cultivating sherab, and in the Tibetan tradition or are called te-pa, sam-pa and gom-pa. "Te-pa" means studying a subject, "sam-pa" is contemplation on it, and "gom-pa" is meditation on a subject, developing into samadhi. Thus, te-pa is primarily a study, usually associated with technical knowledge, reading scriptures, and the like. But the real, as we have seen, goes much further. And the first condition necessary for te-pa is to develop a kind of courage, to become a great warrior. We have mentioned this concept before; but it may be better to consider it in more detail. So, when a warrior goes to battle, he does not think about the past, does not remember his past greatness and power, he does not think about the consequences for the future, he does not occupy himself with thoughts of victory and defeat, pain and death. The greatest warrior knows himself, and he has great faith in myself. He is simply conscious of his adversary; he is completely open and fully aware of the situation, not thinking about it in terms of good or bad. He has no opinions and that is what makes him a great warrior; he is just alert. Meanwhile, his opponents are emotionally caught up in the situation; and they are not able to stand against him, because he acts right, moves, overcoming their fear; he is able to successfully attack the enemy. Therefore, te-pa, study and understanding, requires the quality of a great warrior. We must try to develop theoretical knowledge without thinking about the past or the future. At first, our theories may be the result of the inspiring effect of the books we read, so that we do not completely abandon the study and study, which are very important and can be a source of spiritual uplift. But books can also become just an escape from reality; they can turn into an excuse for not making an independent effort to truly verify things in detail. Reading can be like eating: up to a point, we eat out of necessity, but then we do it for pleasure, because we like the taste of food or just the opportunity to fill time with something, whether it be breakfast, lunch, lunch or dinner. It is clear that in the process of development we do not read simply for the sake of accumulating information. We need to read with a wide open mind, no judgment, just trying to get. Sometimes here you can draw an analogy with a child who ended up in a toy store. He is so interested in everything that he becomes, as it were, one with all the toys in the store, and in the end it turns out to be very difficult for him to decide what to buy. He has lost the very concept of opinion and cannot say: "I want to buy this, but I don't want to buy this." He has become so one with everything around him that he is simply unable to decide what he needs. The teaching should be the same - no opinions ("I like this, I don't like that") - we just accept; and not because we have read it in the scriptures, or so some teacher says, but we need to take his words as authority, not because we have no right to criticize. We accept by virtue of complete openness, the absence of obstacles. So read, learn, get some kind of inspiration from it. You can get a lot from all sorts of books; but there is some limit here; and when you have developed a special kind of general inspiration and confidence in yourself, you must then stop reading.
This is the first stage of te-pa, when we develop theoretical knowledge. And it often happens that at a certain point such a theory seems almost to be clothed in experience, so that we may feel that we have reached a state of spiritual ecstasy or enlightenment. There is a big lift here, we almost feel like we have seen reality itself. We may even become so caught up in this upsurge that we begin to write great works on the subject. However, great care must be taken at this stage to avoid overemphasizing our belief that we have made some new and remarkable discovery. Enthusiasm should not acquire excessive strength; the main thing here is to translate knowledge into action, otherwise we will become like a poor beggar who has just found a bag of gold. He is overwhelmed with excitement about the find, for in his mind gold is somehow vaguely connected with food. But he has no idea how to use gold by buying and selling goods to truly support himself. He has never dealt with this side of life before, so for him the right course of action is perhaps a problem. In the same way, one should not get excited about one's revelations. Some restraint must be exercised, although the experience can be even more exciting than attaining Buddhahood. The trouble here is that we attach too much value to this knowledge; being overly excited, we thus prevent our going beyond the dualistic approach to the situation. We attribute too much importance to our achievements, and as a result, arousal is still based on the personality, on the "I". Therefore, we need to approach the matter with skill and even apply sherab, wisdom, to understand the situation. So whatever we find needs to be put into action immediately; it should not become a kind of tool that we only show to others. You can't get attached to him either; should only be used when needed.
Of course, this theoretical knowledge is very interesting. So much can be said about him, using so many words; to tell others about it people have great fun. You can spend whole hours talking, you can argue, demonstrate your theory and prove its strength. We even develop a