Part 1a - The lesser path of accumulation

Now as for the particular paths and their divisions which should be known:

We are liberated by treading the five paths.
On the lower level of the path of accumulation
We meditate on the four-fold objects of mindfulness.
These four objects are body, feeling, mind, and dharmas.^[1]

Since all the buddhas attained enlightenment after having traveled over the five paths, their details are described here. The first, the path of accumulation, starts from the time of first meditating on arousing bodhicitta, the attitude directed towards supreme enlightenment. Until heat arises in our being, its realizations of hearing, contemplating, and meditating and so forth along with the virtuous accumulations of samadhi are the path of crossing to the land of liberation. The cause of this path is arousing the bodhicitta of the Mahayana, the newly arising support of awakening the gotra, the enlightened family. The fruition is the four subsequent paths.

Semantically, it is called the path of accumulation because it chiefly “accumulates” hearing, contemplating, and merit.

Of the three divisions, in the lesser we chiefly meditate on the four objects of mindfulness, body, feeling, mind, and dharmas, both in meditation and post-meditation.

Here, in meditation, meditate on the bodies of oneself and others as being like space. Post- meditation is like illusion. Also, as an antidote to desire, meditate on perceptions of impurity.

Feelings too in meditation are not conceptualized, and in post-meditation are meditated on as hollow and insubstantial like a banana tree. Turn the attention to suffering.

Meditate on mind as unborn and impermanent.

Meditate on dharmas as only names and merely illusory. The Sutra Teaching the Topic of Enlightenment (byang chub kyi phyogs bstan pa’i mdo) says:

Mañjushri, whoever sees body as being like space, has the object of mindfulness of looking at the body with the body. Feelings are not internal. they are not external. Aslo they are not conceived as both or neither. This is the object of mindfulness that looks at feelings. Mind is merely a name. By its nature it is unborn.

Whoever sees this has the object of mindfulness of mind. Whoever sees all dharmas as non-dual has the object of mindfulness of dharmas.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

According to Trungpa Rinpoche the third is effort. The point is still emptiness of mind, but rather than analytical or illusion-like emptiness, spontaneous presence and activity is emphasized.