Resting in Awareness

Resting in Awareness: Mahamudra and Satipatthana
Meditations from the Awareness Sutra based on the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's commentary and explanations by his student Sherab Rinchen
Compiled, translated, paraphrased and introduced by Svenja Schmitt

Buddha Shakyamuni once was asked by experienced practitioners of another spiritual tradition: Exactly how do physical, verbal and mental actions performed in this life lead to consequences experienced in future lives? How is it possible to see things as they really are?
In the Mahayana sutra Resting in Awareness, the Buddha answered those questions with a set of meditations. The practice of awareness that he taught in this discourse is the direct path to awakening and the realization of absolute bodhicitta. This method consists of alternating between analyzing and resting and is the Vajra Meditation of Mahamudra.
This book is intended for advanced practitioners who are competent to engage on their own in the practice of calm abiding combined with insight meditation. It contains:
- An introduction to the Awareness Sutra, its Tibetan translation, and the commentaries written by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje and Sherab Rinchen;
- 23 step-by-step lessons with advice from those two Kagyu masters;
- 70 exercises, paraphrased from the sutra and supplemented by meditation instructions from contemporary teachers of the Karma Kagyu lineage;
- An overview of how the practice of awareness is understood in different Buddhist schools;
- A Tibetan-English translation of the sutra passages;
- Key terms in English, Tibetan and Pali.