1 THE ELEPHANT ON THE PATH The elephant represents the meditatorʹs mind. The elephant also has very big footprints. untrained elephant. but once trained will obey and do hard work. who is following the path consisting of the stages of meditation that ends in the accomplishment of a calmly abiding mind and the beginning of the practice of insight meditation. chasing after an elephant led by a monkey. At the bottom we see the practitioner. The same holds true for the mind.2 The painting here represents an aspiring meditator. a wild or untrained elephant can be dangerous and wreak enormous destruction. Any suffering that we have now is due to the mind being like a wild. these symbolize our mental . who holds a rope in one hand and a hook in the other. our attention is distracted by sensory objects of taste. perfume. The monkey leading the elephant represents distraction. musical instruments. inner peace will be the reward. If we work at improving our minds.3 defilements. sound. and a . From the suffering of the hells to the happiness of the Buddhas. touch. it is the mindʹs activity that gives rise to them all. A monkey cannot keep quiet for a moment‐it is always chattering or fidgeting and finds everything attractive. which represents dullness or sinking of the beginning meditatorʹs mind. smell. and vision. cloth. Just as the monkey is in front leading the elephant. These are symbolized by food. At the start of the path the elephant is black. It will flare up again at the eleventh stage.4 mirror. Fire is shown at different points along the path to represent the energy necessary for concentration. . Notice that the fire gradually decreases at each of the ten stages of calm abiding. The rope in the meditatorʹs hand is mindfulness and the hook is awareness. as less energy is needed to concentrate. The person behind the elephant represents the meditator trying to train the mind. Using these two tools the meditator will try to tame and control his mind. In the beginning. when we start practising insight meditation. just as the elephant following the monkey pays no attention to the person chasing after it. symbolizing subtle dullness. but now can be recognized for the harmful factor that it is. where the mind can be restrained a little by mindfulness. who has almost caught up with the elephant. is able to throw the rope around the elephantʹs neck. In these early stages we have to use mindfulness more than awareness. . which might earlier have seemed to be a state of concentration. the practitioner. In the second stage. this is the third stage. Here a rabbit appears on the elephantʹs back. It looks back.5 the practitioner has no control over his or her mind. At this point we are not much disturbed by distracted attention. the sixth stage of practice is depicted with the elephant and the monkey both following obediently behind the practitioner. which . and the absence of the rabbit shows that the subtle dullness. In the painting. This means that the practitioner does not have to focus continually on controlling the mind. mostly we have to use awareness instead of mindfulness.6 At the fourth stage the elephant mind is more obedient. who does not even have to look back at them. so it is less necessary to restrain it with the rope of mindfulness. By the fifth stage the elephant is being led by the rope and hook and the monkey is following behind. the elephant can be left to follow of its own accord and the monkey departs. has now disappeared. At the ninth stage the practitioner can actually sit in meditation while the elephant sleeps peacefully nearby.7 appeared at the third stage. this shows that the mind is obedient and there is no sinking or scattering. At the eighth stage the elephant has turned completely white and follows behind the practitioner. Upon reaching the seventh stage. although some energy is still needed to concentrate. the practitioner has no more use for the rope and hook—distracted attention and dullness occur only occasionally and mildly. at . eleventh. stage. where we see the meditator sitting on top of the elephant.8 this point the mind can concentrate without effort for long periods of time—days. At this point the practitioner begins a new kind of meditation called ʺhigher vision. The tenth stage. signifies the real attainment of a calmly abiding mind. or even months. Description provided courtesy of Norbulingka Institute.ʺ or insight meditation with which he seeks to realise the nature of reality. weeks. At the last. . the meditator is sitting on the elephantʹs back holding a sword.