Dharma Glimpses Podcast

The importance of setting clear boundaries • start with a clear beginning • sit down, slow down, and come into your body • take a relaxed, dignified, upright posture • breathe naturally and place your mind on the breath • focus on the outbreath with a light touch, yet with persistence: out, dissolve, gap… out, dissolve, gap • when you get distracted, simply bring the mind back, without judgment • end clearly, with the intention of taking the gentle, open, dignified attitude of meditation into your day

Learning to come into our body in a simple and direct way • psychological body vs. sensory body • start with just being still • “perching” vs completely settling in like a rotting log • noticing the effect of posture on your state of mind • feeling embodied whether sitting, walking, standing, or lying down • accepting your own body and posture with tenderness and appreciation

Sitting like a mountain: solid, immovable, content • meditation posture provides a container within which you can relax • sitting with uprightness and dignity (“head and shoulders”) • senses relaxed • soft front, strong back • bringing strength and vulnerability together creates greater stability • emphasizing awareness of the space around the body • letting the space reflect back on you

Our breath is our most intimate connection with life itself • we are continually in a process of exchanging inside and outside • the inbreath is taking in, and the outbreath is letting go • the breath is the central issue that we work with in this style of meditation practice • synchronizing mind and breathing means identifying with the breath as closely and intimately as possible • in meditation we are being still, but we are also connecting with the energy and movement of the breath

We place our mind on the outbreath, and then we let go • this form of mediation is based on dissolving outward, looking beyond ourselves • a rhythm of relaxing and regrouping, relaxing and regrouping • at the end of every breath there is a little momentary gap, which is a very important part of the practice • we place our mind on the breath, and then as it goes out, we let go • every breath is a mini-meditation

Two different aspects of thinking: the content of thoughts and the thinking process • where do thoughts come from? where do they go? • stillness of mind and activity of mind • like watching children in a playground • just return to the breath • not battling or trying to get rid of thoughts, but having a different relationship to thoughts • simply note and return to the breath • the technique of labeling thoughts • reminding ourselves that thoughts are not the boss of me

The first kind of effort is just showing up • just getting to the cushion is the hardest part • simply giving in and surrendering to the discipline • soft yet strong effort is what is called for in meditation practice • letting a burnt pan soak overnight; just let it sit • soaking our fixations, obstacles, self-doubts in the water of meditation • the second kind of effort is repeated effort, steady effort, like dripping water on a stone over a very long time • sometimes it seems like not much is happening, but with steady effort over time you begin to see what meditation is all about

The story of the tree, the rock, and the blade of grass • flexibility, steadiness, resilience: these are the qualities that are cultivated in meditation practice • rooted and flexible; you may be knocked over, but you bounce back • seeming power can be quite weak and brittle, easily undermined when circumstances are hard • the porcelain cup breaks, the lacquer cup bounces • from softness comes flexibility and resilience; from stillness comes engaging the world with power and strength

Meditation as a way of making friends with yourself • inviting in all aspects of yourself to a banquet of experience • workability: staying with our experience, whatever it is, at is arises • being more present in a heartful, gentle, kind way • becoming more familiar with our patterns at an early stage, before they become overwhelming • mindfulness or “heartfulness”? • what we think we need sometimes falls away, and we realize we actually have everything we need

In meditation we are practicing being more wholeheartedly present • learning to recognize our escape valves, the ways we hide out from our immediate experience • wholeheartedly feeling what we feel • recognizing the process of checking in and checking out • training to be more present with the ups and downs of ordinary life allows us to be more present with others • each time we bring ourselves back we are strengthening our ability to stay with what is happening as it’s happening • not hiding our true experience from others

The skills we learn in formal meditation practice can be applied on-the-spot as we face challenges in our daily life • training to come back into your body; giving yourself just a moment to come back to simple physical presence • tuning in to our breathing provides a gap, interrupting the flow of habitual or panic mind • letting the situation tell us what to do • acknowledging our emotions without judging or altering them • coming into the fresh ground of the present moment • we’re able to do these on-the-spot practices because we’re training in them in our regular meditation sessions

Finding the right balance in our practice keeps us engaged with without being overly effortful • too loose = being spaced-out, indulgent, forgetful; too tight = being really hard on ourselves • sitting practice presents a dynamic, moment-to-moment set of choices: should I relax more? should I tighten up more? • this dynamic is reflected in our posture and in our thought process • when you begin a session, it’s good to tighten up a bit to set boundaries, but then relax within those boundaries • like flying a kite: holding the string with just the right amount of pressure

“Touch and go” refers to how we relate to thoughts, distractions and sensations that arise during sitting meditation • it represents a middle way between the extremes of avoiding our experience and getting seduced by whatever arises • the “touch” and the “go” happen almost simultaneously • the example of a neighbor stopping by to say hello when we are chopping wood • welcoming and appreciating whatever comes our way, but then letting the experience go • the sense of “disowning” is similar to “divesting” — disowning those qualities that keep us stuck in fixed views or habitual patterns • inserts freshness and simplicity into our meditation • whatever arises is good fuel for meditation practice

“Dharma” is everything; it is a very intimate and personal way of looking at everything we do • what are our preconceptions, our beliefs, our hopes and dreams? • have we really ever felt comfortable in our own skins? • do we even know who we really are? • dharma is every experience, from the most profane to the most profound • it includes our neuroses and our sanity, our fear and our courage • it is seeing the profundity of our immediate, ordinary experience just as it is • dharma is what is, right now, here and now • dharma is truth, which we can only access by looking immediately from our own personal standpoint • when we meditate we are learning to be here and now; we are learning to be receptive to what the world is presenting to us

When Trungpa Rinpoche first came to the West he was struck by our obsession with materialism and materialistic success  •  he referred to materialism as a “spell” or a thick black fog that traps us in a particular fixed view, one that is not very healthy or uplifting  •  generally, materialism is a deadening quality where things and people are viewed merely as objects  •  1) physical materialism: how we relate with objects  •  2) psychological materialism: how we relate with our thoughts, ideas, and beliefs  •  spiritual materialism: when we use spiritual practices not to free ourselves from ego fixation, but to boost our egos

When people hear the word “buddha” or “buddhism,” what usually comes to mind is the idea of meditation or mindfulness training • but the practice of meditation is so much richer when placed in the broader context of studying or sharpening the mind, and also the context of activities of life • discipline, meditation and study form a system of checks and balances • meditation — taming one’s mind — is the bottom line, but meditation by itself can become spaced-out and dull • when we study we are clarifying, questioning, and sharpening our minds • a quality of discipline, respect, and persistence underlies both study and practice • “grace” from a buddhist perspective is patience, persistence, and endurance

Two additional streams run through the Profound Treasury teachings: mindfulness practice and awareness practice • mindfulness, also called shamatha, means “peace” and refers to the stillness and stability of mind • awareness, also called vipashyana, is the counterbalance to mindfulness. It refers to the insight and clarity of mind • so we settle the mind, and we clarify and brighten the mind • sometimes we need to brighten up a bit more, and at other times we need to calm down a bit more • shamatha is down to earth, steady, here-and-now; vipashyana has a sense of relaxation and spaciousness • the two streams provide a sense of balance

At this level, the fundamental teachings of the Buddha can be expressed in just four small points • the first point: acknowledging the difficulties of life — the reality of pain, suffering, and confusion • instead of sugar-coating our experience, we can actually face the reality of suffering — and then do something about it • the second point: how ignorance and desire perpetuate and enhance our suffering • the third point: it is possible to experience relief from suffering; in fact, we are designed that way • the fourth point: there is a path that leads from confusion to awakening

In some ways the Buddhist teachings are all about being on a journey • in order to get anywhere, we have to have a sense of the lay of the land, and a sense of where we’re trying to go • the first thing you look for is an arrow saying “you are here” • where are you starting from? where are you trying to go, and how are you going to get there? • treasure maps place an “x” where there is buried treasure; in our case, we’re looking for buried treasure deep within us • the process of the journey itself becomes the teaching • there is a transformation from looking ahead, like a donkey with a carrot in front of its nose, to letting each step reveal the whole essence

Theism and materialism are closely related • “theism” does not simply refer to specific religious traditions, but more broadly to the human tendency to always want to be saved, to have someone else do our spiritual work for us • theism is similar to the literary device of deus ex machina • nontheism, on the other hand, constantly throws us back on ourselves • the essence of nontheism is expressed in the Buddha’s final teaching: “It’s up to you” — no one else is going to save us • it is in developing the muscles of self-reliance that we discover our own resources and our spiritual strength

The assumptions we make about human nature are an essential part of the Buddhist path • the view of Buddhism is the opposite of the view of “original sin”; it is the view of original purity, of original goodness • the Buddhist approach is that despite all the problems we face, we’re starting from a point that is not troubled, that is close to hand, intimate, and pure • while it has different names, the nature at the core of every living being is fundamentally known as “buddhanature” • the most common metaphors for buddhanature are: the sun and the clouds; a person who doesn’t realize that their hut sits atop a pot of gold; a gem covered with clay; silt settling in water; and space • what is it that separates you or me from enlightenment? exploring that question is our task as students and as practitioners of the Buddhadharma

The idea of “ego” in buddhadharma is different from the notion of having a healthy ego boundary, which is often associated with a sense of self-confidence, resilience, and inner strength • in Buddhism, the notion of ego refers to a sense of alienation and duality, of making solid or freezing experience • egolessness is very closely connected with non-duality • imagine putting a fence across a vast, snowy field: suddenly there’s a separation between this and that • as soon as there is a quality of duality, all sorts of patterns unfold, many of which cause us pain and suffering • what we think of as a solid thing — ego — is actually a jumble of actions and habitual activities that create the illusion of one solid thing • the teachings of egolessness bring us to the richness and colors of perceptions as they arise moment-by-moment, without overlaying them with some imagined container or holder of those experiences • who owns the experiences we have? we make up an imaginary owner, which in turn makes our experience solid and unworkable • this is ego: the fundamental instigator and perpetuator of suffering

Ego isn’t so much a “thing” as it is a project — one that we’re very invested in, and one that is under constant threat • the ego is a construct or overlay, which is not that useful • however, because it is a construct, it’s also removable • ego is a paper tiger: it’s not as harmful or as necessary as it makes out • it begins with an initial split between self and others, which is like putting a fence across a vast snowy field • this fence divides “me” from “you,” “friend” from “foe” • once we identify with one side of the fence, we interpret every experience as either positive, negative, or neutral • in turn, we’re drawn towards what is positive, we flee from what is negative, and we ignore what is neutral • as we do so, we categorize and label our experiences, making our world more manageable and predictable • this process culminates in a subtle fuzzy stream of consciousness, with a sense of self that clouds over every experience

The human mind is unique in that it can observe itself • many buddhist teachings, including the teachings on ego, come from simply looking directly at the mind and taking an interest in what arises • the sense perceptions are one obvious component of mind • the thinking process is considered to be a sixth sense perception • a second aspect of mind is the unconscious, or base consciousness • a third component of mind is a very subtle but ongoing thread of self-consciousness that labels everything that arises in the mind as “my” experience • something colonizes our experience, and that colonizer is ego fixation or ego orientation • the point is to be able to discern the difference between perception that is tainted by this subtle ego acquisition from a more free-flowing or pure awareness

The buddhist tradition and training is not about adding anything; it’s about removing, or taking away • removing confusion, selfishness, conflicting emotions, ego fixation, ego absorption • when we remove obstacles what we find is that a quality of goodness or awakening already exists, like the sun behind the clouds • it’s like a sculptor approaching a solid rock: the sculptor simply removes whatever is not the point • the view is that what we are seeking is in us already; it just needs to be discovered • there is no turning away from suffering; at the same time, underneath it all is the possibility of freedom, ease, liberation, and sanity • the buddhist approach is that you just have to stop doing harmful things • each time you sit and meditate or do a little bit of study, you’re carving away what is not the point • like a sculptor, you are getting to the you that is hidden behind seemingly invincible challenges

On the surface, meditation is so simple, but somehow through that simplicity a lot of learning happens • we notice how our minds work, how we operate • it’s like inviting a mirror to help us see our potentials and our challenges much more clearly • meditation is like pure science: it is simply investigating without an agenda • post-meditation is like applied science: it is taking what we’ve learned in meditation, mixing it with our daily life, and seeing what comes back at us • at a fundamental level meditation is about coming back into balance and harmony • when our minds are confused and distracted, we lose our balance at every level — physical, mental and emotional • an unbalanced mind is either too wishy-washy or too frozen and fixed; it is marked by anxiety, heaviness, solidity, and inflexibility • through the practice of meditation our minds are brought back into balance • a balanced mind is not too firm or too soft; it is marked by harmony, agility, honesty, sincerity, and confidence • by cultivating the ability to notice when our minds go off in an unbalanced way, we are also cultivating the ability to bring our minds back to the present moment experience, which is what meditation is all about

The universal experiences of birth, sickness, old age, and death can serve as our teachers, interrupting assumptions that are not helpful in our journey • they can open our eyes to the ways in which we can either increase or reduce our suffering • birth refers to our literal physical birth, but it also refers to being thrust into new situations • we feel vulnerable but fresh; it is exhilarating but scary • the more rigidly we hold on to the assumption that our world should go on in a familiar, predictable way, the more we suffer • what is interrupted as we get older is the assumption of youthful vigor • another quality of aging is staleness; we begin with freshness, but eventually we lose interest • sickness challenges the assumption that we should always be able to enjoy full health • it provides the opportunity to investigate on the spot our state of mind when we encounter an illness • more generally it speaks to the sense that things just strike out of nowhere • “Why me?” What about “Why not me?” • Death refers to our literal death, and also to the fact that nothing lasts; it interrupts our assumptions of eternity • death also relates to our fear of the unknown, to the pain of wanting things to last

According to the Buddha, there are four main postures for meditation: sitting, walking, standing, and reclining • walking meditation is often a part of group meditation practice, where there is alternation between sitting meditation and walking meditation • it provides a way of transitioning from sitting still and simplifying, as we do in sitting meditation practice, and re-engaging with the world • walking meditation helps us learn how to mix our meditation mind with the activity of daily life that we retirm to again and again after each setting session • Walking meditation is usually done quite slowly—but not super slowly; it has a contained and mindful quality • it is a very deliberate type of walking: step by step you engage the world with mindfulness, awareness, gentleness and appreciation • walking meditation is also working with the idea of gesture: can you take one true step? can you be fully, wholeheartedly engaged in a single step? • to do so is a way of expressing your entire life—the inspiration for all that you do—in one gesture, one true step.

Samsara and nirvana are two fundamental concepts that run throughout the Buddhist tradition • Trungpa Rinpoche said it is by discovering the truth of samsara that we discover nirvana • samsara refers to an endless round of confusion, a compulsive, deadly serious approach to life • it is marked by a sense of unease, fear, and discontent, and also by things becoming frozen and solid • the way out of samsara, the way out of suffering and discontent, is by going right into it, by looking at it directly and understanding it • nirvana means the cessation of the patterns that entrap us; it is the peace that comes when we let go of fixating, when we don’t struggle so hard against the nature of things • nirvana isn’t something you construct out of effort and struggle to get out of pain; it is the relief that comes when you don’t have to try so hard

A traditional image in Tibetan Buddhism is called the wheel of life; it pictures our life as a wheel that rolls along, and that we keep pushing along • the wheel of life is held within the jaws of a demon called Yama, which represents death; so the imagery depicts a deadly approach to things • at the hub of the wheel are three animals: a rooster, which represents passion; a pig, which represents ignorance; and a snake, which represents aggression • these three energies are very much connected with how we try to mold our world to our personal satisfaction • we have an agenda, and the agenda is to perpetuate the fundamental error at the heart of things: our idea of being separate and alienated • these three tendencies — to hold on, to push away, and to ignore—perpetuate the sense of struggle, leaving no room for a sense of ease, peace, or well-being

Another section of the wheel of life breaks things down into twelve steps, which illustrate how we perpetuate samsara • the first step is ignorance, which is represented by the image of a blind grandmother • the blind grandmother has put things in motion; she has produced grandchildren, but because she is blind she has no idea what their effect is going to be • today’s focus is on the progression of three of the twelve steps: sensing, feeling, and craving • our sense perceptions—seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, and thinking—are like little pinholes through which we look at our world • when our sense organs are stimulated, feelings of pleasure or displeasure arise • this is represented by an arrow in the eye—the experience is extremely vivid and intense, and so is our reaction to it • at that point we’re susceptible to craving: we react instantaneously, before we even notice what is happening • the point is to interrupt those patterns so that we’re a little bit looser, a little bit less easily captured by the pleasures and pains that are simply part of life

Today’s topic is about how our moment-to-moment habits and impulses congeal into solid psychological realities or realms of existence • the wheel of life depicts six such realms—gods, jealous gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell beings—worlds we create through pride, jealousy, passion, ignorance, greed, and anger • the human realm is marked by passion, loneliness, and the search for connection and confirmation • the god realm is marked by ignorance, pride, and privilege: a bubble we can only stay in by ignoring the suffering of others • the jealous god realm is marked by envy and jealousy; it is the realm of competitiveness and struggle • the animal realm is dominated by a plodding kind of ignorance; it is the tendency to be stuck in routines • The hungry ghost realm is a realm of constantly needing more; no matter how much you have, you are never satisfied • the hell realm is dominated by hatred and aggression; you are ready to lash out and feel threatened at a very deep level • everything we experience, every interaction, is colored by the assumptions of the particular realm we inhabit • the good news is that within every realm there are still possibilities of awakening; every realm has its own buddha who can speak the language of that realm

What is meditation’s role in finding nirvana within samsara? • samsara moves very quickly; confusion arises instantaneously, exploding and expanding so rapidly that we are overwhelmed • sitting practice gently interrupts the speed that perpetuates samsara • any disruption of that speed proves to be a threat, because it begins to expose vulnerable gaps • in those gaps there are possibilities of interrupting the pattern before it overtakes us, before small emotional flickers escalate into full-blown emotional outbursts • we don’t have to allow ourselves to be hooked over and over again • the gentle interruption of sitting meditation practice, humble and simple as it may seem, is one of the most powerful conquerors of patterns of suffering • it could be said to be the “superpower” of the practice of meditation

The spirit of dharma is more about the process of investigating than it is coming up with the right answers • it’s based on a sense of genuine interest and curiosity about the situation we are in, and how we deal with that • there’s a refreshing willingness to look at the things we prefer to avoid • the more we are willing to do so, the more we release the tension of avoiding • “the question is the answer” • we investigate by looking directly at our assumptions, our fixed views, what we take for granted • the dharma comes alive through questioning, investigating, and practicing • it’s not there, it’s not here; it’s in the connection between the two • that kind of engagement is what turns notes into music.

The teachings of karma are vast and profound, and they are central to the message of the Buddha • the term “karma” is often oversimplified, dumbed down, and intermingled with notions of blame and reward, judgment and punishment • but the teachings of karma are not about judgment or punishment; they connect us to a vast interconnected web of cause and effect which is totally impersonal and inexorable • a central notion of karma is that our actions matter: every action leaves some kind of an imprint or a result, and every action comes from somewhere • action in the dharma can be boiled down to a simple formula: given the situation that I am in, what should I cultivate and what should I refrain from cultivating? • the Buddhist view of karma is both realistic and visionary; without choices, without open possibility, there would be no path • to a large extent the teachings of Buddha are that we can work with whatever our situation is, no matter how difficult • the more we understand the workings of cause and effect, the more the choices that we make can further our understanding and progress on the path of dharma.

Meditation is based on the understanding that the deepest nature of human beings—buddhanature—is the capacity to grow and flourish and awaken, to express kindness and generosity and compassion • meditation is a way of removing the obstacles that block our connection with our deepest nature • in this way meditation practice is like sculpting: we are taking away everything that’s not the sculpture; we are removing everything that is not expressive of our basic fundamental nature • another image of buddhanature is that of an onion: step-by-step we remove layers of the onion; the trick here is that when we finally get to the center of the onion, there’s nothing there • yet another image is that we are scraping off all the barnacles that make movement impossible, that imprison us with kind of a crustiness of heart and mind • in one sense meditation feels like a project: we need discipline and inspiration to continue in this practice • but the irony is that in the practice of meditation, our doing is really an undoing • we don’t need to do anything • we have what we need; we just need to allow ourselves to experience it.

According to the Buddha, all sentient beings have buddhanature or bodhichitta • Trungpa Rinpoche spoke in terms of having “enlightened genes” — we have the DNA of buddhanature within us • our natural tendency is to awaken and to flourish, but how do we get a glimpse of this? • bodhichitta can be described as having three qualities: awareness, kindness, and openness • awareness refers to those moments when clarity seems to spring up effortlessly in our mind; whan that happens, that is bodhichitta saying “hello” • the second quality, kindness, also arises unconstructed when we spontaneously think a kind thought or have a little tenderness; it just appears because it is part of our nature • the third quality of buddhanature, openness or spaciousness, pops up in those moments when our heavy-handedness is suddenly seen through • it is a kind of lightness and openness, a feeling of spaciousness and possibility • these three qualities often intersect together: a moment of softness helps some clarity arise, or a moment of spaciousness breaks down a stuckness or frozen quality • these three qualities are like little doorways or peepholes through which we begin to have glimpses of the multifaceted nature of this heart of the Buddha

Loving kindness and compassion are two strong currents that run through the entire Buddhist path • they are directly intertwined with the two sides of meditation practice: shamatha, or taming the mind, and vipashyana, or cultivating insight • there is a lot of cruelty in the world, and things like loving kindness and compassion are often seen not as signs of strength, but as signs of weakness and vulnerability • but in the dharma, loving kindness and compassion are seen as the most powerful forces there are • loving kindness begins with meditation practice, with making friends with yourself • this quality of friendship is not based on struggle or striving; it’s the core of who we are • just as settling down, taming the mind, and being still can lead to greater friendship and understanding of ourselves; the other aspect of meditation, vipashyana, turns our attention to others • that stream of compassion for others is the same energy, just directed outward • the radical teaching of the dharma is that this force of compassion is the strongest force, the most reliable force there is • it is stronger than all of the aggression, anger and hatred that we find around us.

Discipline is what grounds meditation and study and connects them with our activities in the world • the Buddha said discipline should be like tuning a stringed instrument: if you wind a string too tightly you might break it, but if the string is too loose it will be off key • finding that right balance between too tight and too loose is something we work with all along as practitioners of the dharma • discipline as a practice is much more subtle and interesting than simply following some set of rules • in meditation practice, when we notice our mind is wandering and we bring it back, that’s an example of discipline • Trungpa Rinpoche advised creating an atmosphere of discipline: setting a tone for the day, then paying attention to the results of our actions upon ourselves and upon those around us, slowly bending the energy towards benefit and less towards feeding further confusion • discipline is traditionally said to be that which cools the heat of neurosis • there can be a tug-of-war quality to discipline where we decide to do something, and then immediately a big wall of resistance arises • in some ways discipline is just “carrying on.”

In Buddhism there is a lot of discussion about fixed views, which are traditionally described as a pairing of fixation (being stuck in our own particular approach) and grasping (trying to build up our territory) • there is a simple analogy about fixed views known as the three pots, or three bowls • the first image is that of an upside down bowl; whatever is poured onto it just drizzles down the sides • this is the description of a totally closed mind, an iron-clad mind that nothing can penetrate • Suzuki Roshi called this “expert’s mind,” a mind that is closed off to any possibilities of a fresh outlook • the second image is that of a bowl that’s right side up, but is cracked; the teachings come in, but they leak out • we may have an insight, but it doesn’t last; things can’t really rest within our minds, they fade away or drizzle out • the third image is probably the worst: it is the bowl that is upright, but is laced with poison • you hear the teachings, but you distort them; you cherry-pick the teachings that might further your agenda, and ignore the teachings that challenge your agenda • the ideal bowl, on the other hand, is upright, doesn’t leak, and doesn’t distort; it just holds the teachings very simply and truly as they are, without any kind of bias.

In the previous episode we looked at the analogy of the three bowls (the upside down bowl, the cracked bowl, and the bowl laced with poison), and contrasted them with the ideal bowl as an example of how to hear the dharma • this is helpful in terms of how to receive what is true; but what about when the things that are coming at you are tainted, or mistaken, or simply not true? • often, as soon as someone starts talking in a way we don’t like, we shut down immediately • the challenge is that you DO have to take it in; you have to try to understand exactly what’s being presented in in order to respond appropriately • this has to do with how to discern, which means taking things in carefully, breaking things down into their components, making distinctions between what is beneficial and what is harmful • discernment also relates to how properly to respond, how to engage in difficult conversations, how to loosen the quality of harm or ignorance that comes with information that is distorted or deceptive or harmful • discernment is about listening without bias and figuring out what is true, rather than reacting based on preconceptions.

In the buddhist teachings, body, speech, and mind are referred to as the three gates of liberation • these three gates are connecting points, or portals, between you and the teachings of the Buddha: each gate opens out to the dharma, and each gate welcomes the dharma in • these three gates point to a holistic way of accessing the teachings and working with them • “body” refers to the physical form of our body, which provides a base for the teachings • if we are not grounded in our bodies, it’s very hard to connect in a deep way with the teachings; they remain at a cerebral or conceptual level • “speech” refers not only to the spoken word, but also to the energetic side of things—the emotions and the energies of life • the buddhist teachings are an oral tradition, so spoken word is extremely important • the third gate, “mind,” is talked about as having three qualities: ordinary waking mind, the dream mind, and the unconscious mind • the teachings can come through all of these: through conceptual understanding, through dreams, and through direct nonconceptual awareness.

Buddhism is referred to as a path or a journey because it’s not just a tradition we belong to, it’s something we do—it’s a personal path that we create as we walk along it • like any path, there is a sense of forward movement; there are also side tracks and obstacles • the discoveries you make on the path are much more important than whatever destination you imagine you are going to arrive at • if we get too focused on the destination we miss what is actually happening in the process • in other words, the path is the goal—the path is the point • the path is more of an unfolding; it happens very naturally through our movement, our dedication, our interest and our inspiration • as we proceed along the path, a small glimpse of a panoramic view naturally opens out to something vaster.

The idea of being on a path is a deeply positive one: instead of just trying to get through the day, the ups and downs of life become a pathway • it is also a challenging one: yes there are guidelines, pathways to walk along, but nothing will happen unless you actually do the walking • the fundamental Buddhist path is very straightforward, leading from struggle and suffering to ease and clarity; but there is no path until you actually step foot on it • in the Tibetan tradition, there are three vehicles to carry us along the path of dharma: the path of individual liberation, also referred to as the narrow path; the path of wisdom and compassion; and the path of indestructible wakefulness • these three are all aspects of one unifying path, which is simply the path of human life, the path of trying to awaken from confusion • it is very much an “up to you” approach, which is referred to as the non-theistic view.

So much of what happens on the Buddhist path depends on what we notice and what we question • the Buddha’s path to enlightenment began with noticing and questioning—noticing the stages and the challenges of life, noticing the pervasive nature of suffering • we have to examine for ourselves: why do we think and act the way we do, why is the world this way or that way, how can we move through our lives in a sane and compassionate way? • as a young boy, the Buddha noticed that as a plow turned over the earth in a field, the tiny beings that lived in the soil were completely disrupted • the Buddha was quite touched by this, and it led him to ponder deeply how to live lightly on this earth, and how to be of true benefit • in our own lives, realizing the far-reaching implications of whatever we do can be a catalyst for finding true connection and compassion, and can lead to an awakening of tenderness • how do we best live, how do we best serve, how do we best realize this precious human life?

Post-meditation practice focuses on how we mix the dharma with the challenges of everyday life • the four supports for right action provide guidelines for acting in a way that is skillful, that does not lead to further harm, and that leads to some benefit for ourselves and others • the first support, mindfulness, gives us the ability to insert a small pause between the trigger and the reaction, which gives us a chance to come from a more sane or positive place • the second support, awareness, flows naturally from mindfulness • while mindfulness is focused more on our inner experiences, awareness is focused on others, on the space around us • we can avoid a lot of harm simply by paying attention, by being more aware of others and our surroundings • the final two supports work as a pair: knowing when to refrain from harmful actions, and when to cultivate beneficial actions.

In buddhism the principle of refraining from harm is not about heavy-handed moralism  •  it’s based on mindfulness and awareness: noticing what causes us to feel good and what causes us to feel bad, what causes us to harm others and what causes us to benefit others  •  while we can’t go through life without causing a certain amount of harm, the principle of refraining is about lessening the harm we cause  •  the five precepts help bring awareness to our state of mind and heart when we cause harm  •  taking the five precepts means refraining from killing, stealing, lying, a harmful approach to sexual life, and intoxicating substances  •  it is a very straightforward and honest assessment of one’s actions: did you do an action or not?  •  this practice is based on the four supports for right action: mindfulness, awareness, refraining, and cultivating.

We never know day to day what we will have to face; some days are smooth, but other days we feel completely overwhelmed  •  but there is always a chance to start fresh, to disrupt the painful pattern of feeling overwhelmed, stuck, and hopeless — as well as to disrupt the smug feeling that arises when things are going well  •  we can draw on the quality of interruption and fresh start in the middle of a situation, or in the middle of our meditation practice • the notion of “freshness” has a healthy and dynamic quality; the notion of “start” is that we can begin again  •  produce from the grocery store has an expiration date beyond which it’s not healthy any more  •  our experiences are like that, but the expiration date of our experiences is immediate: once you’ve experienced something, it’s no longer fresh  •  making a fresh start is like cleaning the refrigerator, throwing out the stale produce and making space so the fresh, nourishing produce of the present moment can nurture a healthy, sane, and open state of mind and heart.

The practice of stopping and reflecting has to do with paying attention to the beginnings and endings of things  •  when you first wake up, taking just a minute or two to regroup yourself: what are your plans for the day? what are your aspirations?  •  a sense of pointing yourself in a direction where your life and your spiritual practice  meet  •  then, at the end of the day, instead of just collapsing, taking a moment to stop and reflect: what happened today? how much was I able to stay true so that my life was enriched by my practice, and my practice was enriched by my life?  •  having some sense of intelligence about how we spend our time, what we make our priorities  •  valuing and respecting each day, each challenge, and taking them as our guru  •  life is our teacher; if we attune ourselves, if we open our ears and our eyes, we can receive those teachings.

In the buddhist tradition, the three jewels represent the three supports for one’s spiritual journey: the buddha, the dharma, and the sangha  •  they are called jewels because they are colorful, multi-faceted, and very precious  •  the idea of buddha in this case refers to Gautama Buddha, the founder of this tradition who set the wheel of dharma in motion  •  it also refers to living teachers — those who represent the potential of awakening — as well as to the quality of awake within each of us  •  the second precious jewel, the dharma, refers to teachings — not just the teachings in the Buddhist tradition, but any words that are true  •  it refers to the scholarly, conceptual insights and breakthroughs that can be so helpful in our practice and in our daily life  •  the third of the three jewels is the sangha, or community  •  whether you are a buddhist or not, it’s very hard to stick with any kind of discipline our training totally on your own  •  the sangha represents your fellow practitioners, those you can rely on to support you in developing the wisdom and compassion and skill needed to help this troubled world.

In the buddhist tradition, “eternalism” and “nihilism” are known as the two extreme views • they describe two different ways of hiding out, of removing ourselves from the rawness and intensity of immediate experience • eternalism is like escaping into a fantasy world where everything is OK; we choose to see only those things that make us feel secure • it’s kind of like living in a mental gated community where we don’t go past the gates: within the gates things are fine, and outside, who cares? • nihilism, on the other hand, retreats from pain by assuming nothing will work out, by not investing in or caring about anything • if you don’t care about anything, how can you be hurt? • in both cases, blindness is required • the path lies in facing life in all its richness and complexities without hiding out • we may find ourselves drawn to one extreme or the other in response to what arises, but the idea is to come back to the middle, not to hide out or be stuck in either extreme.

A general assumption or bias about meditation is that it’s all about calming down, taming the mind, and getting more chill  •  but in fact meditation has two components: one is a sense of calming, settling, and being; and the other has to do with enhancing our clarity, our critical thinking, and our ability to question and investigate  •  critical thinking is especially helpful when we are faced with conspiracy theories of all kinds — both the ones we encounter out in the world, and the ones we ourselves cook up  •  meditation practice reveals the jungle of assumptions and thoughts and inner conspiracies that we all have; critical thinking is a way of cutting through that, cutting that underbrush down so that you get to a clearer, more straightforward, and more accurate state of mind  •  we learn to not to be caught in our thoughts, not to believe everything that pops into our mind  •  step-by-step, as we strengthen our mind, we become less gullible, less dull, less caught in negativities, and better able to relate to fresh moments as they arise.

My own teacher liked to use the analogy of making bread when talking about living traditions versus traditions that have become dead or static • watching a great master making bread could be so inspiring that you decide to take one of those loaves of bread, cast it in bronze, and put it in a place of honor in your house; but that would not have any real transformative value • you only enter a living tradition when you yourself are making the bread; that is when the spark or transmission from one generation to the next really happens • but you can’t just do it once; in order to have fresh bread, you need to bake it over and over again • bread is made from just a few simple ingredients; in terms of our meditation practice, we also require just a few simple ingredients: our body, emotions, heart, and mind • our dharmic bread may be a little strange at first; it may not rise properly, it may be burnt on the bottom, it may just look kind of odd • but by practicing over and over, we create something that is fresh and delicious and nourishing for ourselves and others.

Buddhist training is not just about clarifying and taming the mind; it is also about cultivating the heart • loving kindness is the wish that all beings enjoy happiness and the desire to remove the suffering of others • generally speaking, our happiness is dependent on circumstances: when circumstances are just right, we feel happy for a while; but then the circumstances change, and we don’t feel happy any longer • is there such a thing as happiness that is not so fickle or unreliable or temporary? • is it possible to not need to close off awareness of suffering and pain in order to feel happiness? • is it possible that actions coming from a base of happiness and love and kindness can be more effective than actions based on hatred and frustration? • my teacher preferred to use the word “cheerfulness” instead of happiness because happiness is so linked with unhappiness and suffering • cheerfulness has less of a sense of the conditions needing to line up; there can be some kind of cheerfulness in the midst of pain, in the midst of suffering, in the midst of all the unsolved problems of the world.

Happiness seems to be something we all want but don’t often get; and when we do get it, it doesn’t seem to last  •  the search for happiness can seem like a receding horizon: we keep trying to get there, but it keeps eluding us  •  is there such a thing as lasting happiness?  •  what is the role of happiness within the path of meditation?  •  the Buddha saw that it’s possible to be happy in this world just as it is, with all its pain and suffering  •  this is different than struggling to force some kind of happiness, which never seems to work  •  it is also different than “if-then happiness,” which puts us at the whim of circumstances  •  is there a third option, a middle way?  •  in the practice of mindfulness meditation, when we are not doing anything or trying to get anywhere, we connect with something that goes beyond the ups and downs — we are connecting with a kind of ease  •  there is a traditional Buddhist short prayer for developing loving kindness which goes like this: May all beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness  •  by making this aspiration we arouse kindness and concern for others, which puts us on the right track.

The context for talking about happiness in the Buddhist tradition comes from an aspiration that has four parts:  •  may all beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness  •  may they be free from suffering and the root of suffering  •  may they not be separated from great happiness or joy devoid of suffering  •  may they dwell in great equanimity, free from passion, aggression and prejudice  •  in the first aspiration we want both kinds of happiness for people—we want them to be healthy and happy, but there is also a wish that they uncover a deeper level of happiness, the root of happiness  •  the second aspiration is for people to be free from suffering, but also that they find a deeper root of well-being that is not captured by suffering  •  the third aspiration is about joy, which comes about from celebrating the happiness and success of others  •  the fourth aspiration is that we wish for others equanimity—a grounded stability, like a mountain, where you don’t cover over pain and you don’t avoid pleasure; you are just settled, stable, and content  •  the final point has to do with looking at limits: what do we exclude from our loving kindness, from our compassion, from our joy, from our equanimity?

What are aspirations? are they just thoughts? and if so, what benefit could they possibly have? • we have lots of empty thoughts, dreaminess, and ideas; even in one session of sitting practice all sorts of aspirations may arise, none of which actually result in anything • which leads to the question: what are thoughts, what is their role, and how should we relate to them? • when we practice, we look at our thoughts from a different angle: we don’t get rid of them, and we don’t feed them • we just regard them as the environment, like the weather, and return to the technique • but as we go about our day we have thoughts, and those thoughts have a lot of power • so how do we work with thoughts in that context? that’s where the notion of aspiration comes in • rather than getting into a kind of battleground mentality with ourselves, we plant something positive in our mind • we just plant positive thoughts in our mind like little seeds, almost like providing a landing pad for positive actions to grow and flourish.

Aspirations like the Four Limitless Ones are based on the recognition that our actions stem from simple thoughts in our mind; so why not put benevolent thoughts in our mind and see what comes of it?  •  but aspirations also present a challenge: how do we manifest and live up to those aspirations in our daily lives?  •  we begin by looking at ourselves — looking in an honest and curious but not harsh or judgmental kind of way — to see what is blocking those qualities from manifesting in us  •  we need to make an honest assessment of our thoughts, actions, behaviors, preferences and blind spots  •  instead of trying to be perfect, we are actually inviting in and digging up and recognizing our imperfections, because the only way to be liberated from them is to address them  •  when we see a disconnect between our aspirations and our actions, it gives us something to work with; it creates a possibility of bridging that gap to allow the power of the aspirations to bubble up within us.

Can you think of moments in your life when you’ve had a glimpse of something that might feel profound beyond words, and maybe slightly disturbing? • in those moments when we are stopped in our tracks we enter a different kind of space • it is as though there are two levels of reality operating at the same time • there is the conventional level, where we spend almost all of our time, just getting through the day • but underneath that is another level, some kind of underground rumbling below, that seems to be separated from conventional reality by a veil • there are times when that veil is lifted, and we are admitted to this other hidden reality, one that is just as real and just as true, and deeply affecting • such sacred moments seem to come up unexpectedly in the strangest circumstances, and also in the most ordinary circumstances • an interesting thing about meditation practice is that it has so many benefits on the purely conventional level, but it is also a portal, a doorway, into this second dimension — one that can heal the rift between the conventional and the profound.

The idea of teacher on the simplest level is the need to connect with people who know more than we do about something • in some ways a teacher in the contemplative world is more like a coach than a teacher, training people in a particular skill or role • a spiritual guide or teacher is someone who has actually practiced that field themselves, and understood from the inside out how to work with a particular discipline • many of us can recall people in our lives who have said the right thing at the right time, or pointed in the right direction at the right time, and even redirected the course of our lives • sometimes a teacher is just someone who knows a tiny bit more than you • the notion of teacher is not without controversy • I have deep gratitude for all those teachers in generations past who did the hard work of transmitting what they learned to others, thereby carrying on this amazing tradition of buddhadharma • I’d like to encourage you to reflect on the teachers in your life, and on how your actions and speech are teaching as well, impacting everyone you encounter.

Loneliness is a familiar experience, but it can feel very vulnerable and slightly threatening  •  we do lots of things to hide that feeling  •  my teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, emphasized the value of relating to our loneliness but he also emphasized the value of being in community  •  this may seem like a contradiction, but in fact, by developing the strength to accommodate our own fundamental aloneness, we can actually be in community in a much stronger and more loving way  •  without that, if community were based solely on people leaning on one another, we could be knocked over very easily  •  loneliness is a fact  •  there are certain things in this life we have to do all by ourselves  •  we are born alone, and we die alone  •  a deep-rooted loneliness comes baked into life itself  •  one way of accommodating the reality of loneliness is to take loneliness as an ongoing default position, rather than as a mistake or a failure  •  we could recognize loneliness as a thread that runs through our life from the very beginning to the very end  •  but in order to accommodate the reality of loneliness, we have to actually get through the sometimes extreme pain of loneliness  •  showing up for our own loneliness can give us the courage we need to show up for others who are struggling with loneliness and abandonment.

We are all familiar with meditation as a way to tame and quiet the mind  •  another important aspect of meditation is clear seeing, or insight: the power of meditation to reveal the intricacies of the workings of our minds  •  a traditional image for untamed mind is that of a pond stirred up by the wind: all the silt in the pond is mixed with the water, making it murky  •  as the wind dies down—when we sit still and practice mindfulness—the water begins to clarify, and we can see more layers of what’s really going on within us  •  some things are quite beautiful, yet other things are painful to look at  •  it’s important to realize this power of meditation, because there’s a reason that we hide certain parts of ourselves  •  it’s not that easy to come to terms with the different corners of our being  •  it’s so important to be gentle and steady, and not immediately try to overcome all our hesitations about our own experience  •  step-by-step, through the practice of meditation, we are exposing who we are to ourselves  •  by removing firewalls and moats and protective mechanisms that deplete our life force and our energy, we can relax our guard and live more wholesomely and more full-heartedly.

The attitude that’s encouraged whenever we embark on a spiritual journey is not to approach it simply as a means of self improvement, but to switch our normal way of operating so that we are thinking about others  •  traditionally this is talked about as beginning by raising bodhichitta and ending by dedicating the merit  •  when we sit down to practice meditation, or to begin any project, we start by connecting with tenderness of heart and the desire to use our actions in order to benefit others  •  arousing kindness and compassion is the beginning point, and it’s also the ending point  •  when we dedicate the merit, rather than regarding what we have just completed as our own private accomplishment, we take it as a further statement of commitment to all other beings  •  piece by piece, action by action, we are gathering a certain kind of power and energy that we can then turn outward  •  many of our actions, good or bad, start with little flickers of thought  •  we can work with the thinking process, deliberately shaping our thoughts in the direction of greater openness, kindness, and awareness.

The word “compassion” can seem so overwhelming in the face of all the suffering in the world that it can stop us in our tracks  •  while we’re imagining all the great gestures of compassion that we might do, we can miss the small, ordinary, daily acts of compassion that really do affect our world  •  some of the hardest compassion to feel is just being present with suffering that isn’t fixable  •  this is what people in the hospice setting often do: they simply sit with someone who is passing from this life  •  that simple act of being present with someone can bring about a quality of deep acceptance  •  compassion can also be a momentary thing that completely shifts the energy—a smile or a glance, a simple recognition of a human being who, like you, is suffering  •  such little moments of connection are so subtle, but they ripple forward and can change our feeling for the whole day  •  at its core, that simple connection is really the seat of compassion; it may be even more important than the grand compassionate heal-the-world projects that we may imagine  •  it’s on the spot, it’s immediate, it’s not a big deal—but it can change everything for ourselves and for those we encounter.

Today I’d like to explore the problem of becoming an adult  •  the world of children is filled with magic and fantasy and stories, with vivid perceptions and playfulness, but as we grow up we’re supposed to get over all that, and develop adult-like qualities  •  gradually, year-by-year, the magical world of childhood fades away; all of that playfulness gets subsumed into the busy, “important” work of being an adult  •  yet many of the great spiritual masters say what we really need to do is to become more like children, and less like adults  •  in many ways spirituality is reconnecting with some kind of innocence and play and curiosity, and a certain kind of fearlessness that is a part of the childlike experience  •  we could take a lighthearted approach, a childlike approach; our spiritual practice could be less of another project that we take on with earnest determination, and more of an exploration of curiosity and interest and delight  •  I thought of a new word: “curiodyssey” (“curious odyssey”) — if we soften our earnestness, something more childlike, playful, and delightful can emerge in our meditation practice.

Someone recently asked me, “Am I spiritually bypassing?” •  I took that term to mean using one’s practice or spiritual path as an escape, or relief, from the responsibilities of regular life in this world  •  it is a relief in a way, to take a break from the relentless struggles of daily life  •  is it possible to practice meditation in a way that’s not bypassing all of that, while at the same time recognizing the need to have some relief from the relentlessness of life?  •  I think there is actually a parallel, or opposite, form of bypassing, something I would label “material bypassing”—avoiding our own spirituality our spiritual yearnings and insights by keeping busy and constantly occupying ourselves with an endless stream of worldly concerns  •  the challenge is to find some way of being skillfully and wholeheartedly engaged in both your life and your meditation practice—appreciating that we need to take a break from worldly concerns, but then we need to re-energize and engage fully in the world again.

Effort plays a very important part on the Buddhist path; it’s one of the three main components of discipline, meditation, and knowledge  •  effort is where the rubber meets the road; it’s where things get tested and become real  •  Trungpa Rinpoche talked about effort in terms of combining discipline and delight  •  he used three analogies to describe three different approaches to effort  •  the first is a jack rabbit, racing along with a burst of enthusiasm and then collapsing in exhaustion  •  the second is a worm that’s eating its way through a tree, just plowing along with no vision, no sense of where it’s going  •  the third is an elephant walking through the jungle: steady and slow and dignified, with a sense of vision, mindful and aware of where it’s going  •  the walk of an elephant is an example of right effort  •  another aspect of effort is being genuine  •  someone who is genuine doesn’t say one thing and do another; their speech is true, and it manifests in how they act in the world.

The eight everyday preoccupations are eight ways we occupy our minds in order to avoid experiencing things directly  •  they act as a kind of a central filtering mechanism, separating out the things that feed our ego from the things that challenge it  •  because of this filtering mechanism, we get jerked around into a very reactive way of living and thinking  •  all of our thoughts and actions curve inwardly to a kind of self-centered preoccupation: what’s in it for me? how does it affect me?  •  the eight preoccupations are divided into four pairs: pleasure/pain; fame/insignificance; gain/loss; and praise/blame  •  for example, why do we feel so lifted up and inspired when we are praised, but we feel so insulted and deflated when we are blamed?  •  the ego is a bit of a paper tiger: it presents itself as very strong and fierce, but in reality it is very vulnerable and weak  •  without the constant reinforcement of pleasure, gain, fame, and recognition, the ego just deflates and collapses  •  when the experiences that come to us—good and bad, up and down—are not recruited as tools to cover our anxiety, we can deal with them straightforwardly, with no agenda.

I recently had a problem with my computer—whatever I put in my “trash” would just stay there; I couldn’t empty it  •  I started thinking about how that could describe our personal “trash”—our freak-outs and obsessions, our worries and regrets, as well as what we read in the news  •  we can shove that stuff deep within us, and sometimes it’s not so easy to know how to let it go  •  one approach is not to take anything in: closing our hearts, closing ourselves to the pain and confusion within us and around us  •  but the notion of letting go is based on actually opening our hearts and taking something in fully, but then not dwelling or holding onto it, but releasing it  •  as we let go, we bring ourselves more completely into the situation  •  when you can let go and open to a situation, you can connect with something that is sacred and holy, something beyond our small world of self-fixation and self-absorption.

Emotions are a natural part of who we are   • they can be powerful—even overpowering—or they can be subtle, almost an undercurrent  •  they can be very inspiring, or they can be very disruptive  •  if you trace negative emotions back to their source, you discover that they arise from an ongoing battle where everything is taken personally  •  if you trace that battle back to its source, you find a sense of duality  •  it’s almost like the emotions are the army of ego: the troops, the scouts, and the fortresses of defense and offense  •  because emotions are filled with energy, the ego can deploy them to further its aims  •  meditation practice is one way to explore this emotional landscape; when we are meditating we can observe the emotional world in a more dispassionate way  •  in Buddhist practice the guideline is to honor and respect the power and energy of emotions, while neither suppressing them nor feeding them.

I used to carry around a cartoon that depicted a beautifully robed monk with a Japanese shoji screen behind him, everything perfectly in its place—and behind the screen everything was complete chaos  •  it’s very tempting to create a façade of tranquility and peacefulness in our meditation practice and ignore what’s behind the screen: the roiling emotions and thoughts, the confusion and history and regrets  •  how do we unify our world so there’s not a front and a back, a side we present to ourselves and others, and a side where everything is hidden?  •  it’s tempting to think we can create some kind of pristine experience for ourselves, and just ditch the rest—the messiness, the embarrassment, the regrets—so we can hang out in a peaceful and serene place… but we still have this lingering, lurking collection behind the screen  •  but here’s the twist: to the extent that we begin to let go of clinging to our “front of the screen” experience of serenity or peace, to the extent that we loosen our attachment to a particular state of mind, we discover a deeper kind of peace and tranquility, one that comes from incorporating the whole thing  •  I call this “peacefulness in the midst.”

Since we are the only ones who know what’s really going on during any session of meditation, or in life generally, we have a responsibility to be our own meditation instructors, working with the patterns that capture our particular mind from time to time  •  many years ago I was introduced to pairs of qualities that can help us in identifying different kind of traps, or extremes, we can fall into, as ways to bring ourselves back into balance  •  the first pair talks about the two poles of anxiety and tranquility  •  in this example, we are working to find a middle ground where we are not falling into anxiety, and we are not becoming overly tranquil to the point of being disengaged or blasé  •  the second pair is agility and heaviness  •  the third pair is inflexibility and pliancy  •  the fourth pair is too firm and too soft  •  the fifth pair is self-doubt/uncertainty and a rigid sense of proficiency  •  the final pair is insincerity and genuineness/uprightness.

In the dharma a great deal of emphasis is placed on integrating meditation practice and study  •  interwoven throughout is the need for discipline, the need to apply our training to the real challenges of life  •  if you look at the role of discipline in terms of meditation practice and study, it’s very simple: you have to do it  •  it takes effort and commitment to stick with study, to stick with practice  •  even when we are not studying or practicing, discipline is the thread that ties it all together  •  it’s a long-term vision, not a short-term bandage or a magic pill  •  discipline in the Buddhist understanding is not a heavy-handed thing—there isn’t a set of commandments or rules; there is no particular punishment and no particular reward  •  all we have is our actions, our ability to notice the results of our actions, and our ability to learn from them and make decisions based on what we observe.

The phrase, “When you lose your mind, come back” describes a lot of what happens in meditation: repeatedly losing our minds, and repeatedly bringing ourselves back  •  the moment we’ve noticed we’ve lost it is the moment we can return  •  what are we returning to? the simplicity of the present moment  •  another phrase Trungpa Rinpoche used quite a lot was, “Don’t think too much”  •  what are the benefits and what are the limits of thinking and conceptual understanding?  •  in the Buddhist tradition scholarship is highly valued  •  however, to be a realized person, to live a dharmic lifestyle, you don’t need to be a scholar; you don’t need to be all that clever  •  “coming back” in this context could mean coming back from the tangle of conceptual notes and fascinations to something immediate and basic and close to the heart  •  Trungpa Rinpoche used the term “intellect and intuition” when referring to these two streams  •  they are not in opposition or at war; there’s a sense of sophistication in the interplay between these two.

When people go into meditation retreat, they often practice something called “noble silence” — the decision simply not to talk for a period of time, and explore how that affects one’s perceptions and way of being in the world altogether  •  through such practices, people have discovered that in order to touch the sacred, we need to be still; we need to be quiet  •  when we are still in that way, sacredness kind of descends upon us  •  silence usually means refraining from speech, but there are other kinds of silence as well: silence of movement; visual silence; mental silence; emotional silence; and spiritual silence  •  the point of such practices is to invite a kind of silence into our life altogether, so that the busy actions that we need to do to get by in the world are infused with a different kind of quality  •  you could call it “silence within action,” a quality of sacredness that is just pure, deep silence.

Recently I came across a disturbing study indicating that people who spend a lot of time in silent meditation practice can actually become less loving, less generous in their interactions with others  •  that made me think about the importance of balancing the simplicity of meditation with the cultivation of friendship, love, and kindness  •  my teacher, Trungpa Rinpoche, emphasized that meditation practice, at its essence, is a form of kindness: making friends with yourself  •  he stressed that making friends with yourself is the basis for making friends with others  •  basic mindfulness is the ground for doing pretty much anything; but we need more than mindfulness alone  •  we need to infuse the spaciousness that develops through meditation practice with love and warmth  •  it said that if the mind is still and clear, like a clear glass of water, even a tiny thimble full of color can change the tint of the entire glass  •  if we drop just one drop of loving kindness into that glass, it pervades the whole thing  •  by cultivating mindfulness or clarity of mind we are providing a landing spot for drops of compassion to fall and pervade throughout the entire system.

The Tibetan term for compassion, “karuna,” can be translated as “noble heart”  •  in the Buddhist teachings, compassion is almost always linked with another quality that actually changes the sense of what it might mean  •  in this episode I will talk about three such pairings: compassion with emptiness, compassion with wisdom, and compassion with skillful means  •  linking compassion with emptiness places it in a perspective that is less dualistic and less heavy-handed; there is a sense of playfulness, spaciousness and spontaneity  •  pairing compassion with wisdom introduces a certain accuracy, and the intelligence to know when to act and when to refrain from acting  •  without wisdom, we risk falling into “idiot compassion,” where were you just launch into a situation thinking you are going to be helpful, but end up actually making it worse  •  and thirdly, compassion is often linked with skillful means, or effective action  •  this pairing emphasizes the fact that compassion is not something we just dream about, but it shows up in our actions.

Random labeling, or kuntag in Tibetan, is a two-step process: first we select some portion of our perception and give it a label; then, once we’ve done that, we fixate on it and make it solid • we make something that really doesn’t exist into something that’s seemingly solid, and we do that over and over again • there’s a famous saying: “Fish don’t exist” • there are lots of things swimming around in the sea that do exist, but “fish” don’t really exist; “fish” is just a label • it’s natural to group things into categories and then give those categories names • the problem arises when labeling leads to fixating—making what is arbitrary seemingly solid and unchangeable, something to be fought over and obsessed about • where did the label come from? It came from a random thought • random labeling is no joke; it closes up the open expanse of mind • it perpetuates our own suffering, and the suffering of those around us.

In Buddhism some practices are designated as meditation practices, such as working with mindfulness and awareness  •  other practices, called contemplative practices, are focused on working with the concepts in our mind  •  one of the most important of these is the contemplation of impermanence, change, and death  •  we often have difficulty accepting the reality of impermanence; we create various coverings to mask this raw, basic truth  •  but this contemplation isn’t intended to make everyone morose or obsessed with death  •  in fact, this kind of contemplation actually frees one from the fear of change, and provides a basis for being able to accommodate change  •  the following four approaches are often given for helping us to broaden our understanding of impermanence: 1) everything that is born will die; 2) every meeting leads to a parting; 3) every gathering leads to a dispersing; and 4) everything created eventually dissolves, or is destroyed.

Impermanence applies not only to the world around us, but to our internal world as well  •  we assume that we are a solid reference point, and everything else around us is changing  •  in reality, it’s more like changing is observing changing  •  if we turn our attention inward, we see that there is no solid point from which to observe all of this, because our inward experience is filled with change as well  •  this becomes very obvious during sitting meditation, where we notice our mind, our body, our moods, our thoughts, and our sensations are changing  •  our world is a changing and dynamic world; it is a world of birth and death, arising and dissolving  •  it is within that world—the world as it is—that we find ourselves; and it is within that world that we can find true freedom, relaxation, and awakening.

Bodhisattvas are those who dedicate their lives to attaining enlightenment themselves, and to providing situations that lead to the enlightenment of everyone  •  in approaching this high aspiration, bodhisattvas do not look to some heavenly figure to provide examples of how to accomplish the goals of the bodhisattva path  •  instead, they look to the elements of this ordinary world: the elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space  •  like the earth, we can aspire to support all life, and provide a base of support that is non-judging, strong, solid, and reliable  •  like water, we can aspire to cleanse impurities, join things together, and relieve a world thirsty for love and compassion  •  like fire, we can aspire to burn away the distinctions we cling to so strongly, and purify whatever we come into contact with  •  like wind, we can aspire to provide a cool breeze of delight, sweeping away possessiveness, egocentric clinging, and obstacles  •  like space, we can aspire to accommodate everything.

In this episode, and in the next few episodes, we will explore the paramitas—what Trungpa Rinpoche referred to as “techniques of non grasping”  •  these techniques help us cultivate the two foundational qualities of wisdom and compassion  •  wisdom is cultivated through stillness, and compassion is cultivated through action  •  on the bodhisattva path, the six paramitas are considered supreme because they carry us from a conventional, moralistic point of view to an approach that truly expresses wisdom and compassion  •  the paramitas are generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, meditation, and knowledge  •  they are called transcendent because they take us from the world of duality to the world of non-duality, where our beneficial actions are not strangled or twisted by the needs of ego, but are free and spontaneous  •  with paramita practice, we are engaging with powerful techniques that undermine the force of grasping and allow true compassion to come forth.

The English word “generosity” comes from the Latin meaning “noble birth”  •  in talking about the bodhisattva path, this doesn’t mean elitism or nobility in the sense of being kings and queens, but nobility in terms of a noble way of being in the world—with dignity, with skill, with love and with compassion, and with a sense of respect for one’s own life and the life of other beings  •  of the six paramitas, generosity is fundamental; it is about the quality of your very spirit, your inner workings, your heart and your mind  •  it refers to a sense of inner richness combined with a sense of outer connection and invitation toward other beings  •  in the practice of cultivating generosity, we’re looking at the contrast between what one could call “poverty mind”—a pinched mind, an imploded mind, a shrunken mind—and “generous mind”—a bigger mind, a more relaxed mind, a mind expanding and opening outward.

[Continuing our exploration of the paramita of generosity]  •  generosity is like the expanding universe: it just keeps expanding and expanding without limit  •  the practice of generosity challenges us to stretch beyond our fear and territoriality and sense of impoverishment  •  Buddhist teachings recommend working with three dimensions of generosity: material generosity, psychological generosity, and the generosity of offering the dharma or the teachings  •  material generosity refers to giving what is needed, whether it be food or clothing or any other material object  •  psychological generosity refers to giving the gift of confidence or fearlessness; it has a tone of empowering others, supporting others, giving others the strength to face life  •  the generosity of offering the dharma means offering others inner support for their spiritual development  •  in all three cases, we are working in the realm of relationships; we are learning to tune into situations so we can respond with what is most appropriate.

Coming from the vast and expansive ground of the first paramita, the paramita of generosity, we now turn our attention to the second paramita, the paramita of discipline  •  discipline has to do with meticulousness of behavior and a sharpening of mindfulness and awareness  •  when we work with generosity and discipline, we’re really working with a fundamental challenge: when do we need to tighten, and when do we need to loosen up?  •  when do we need to think large, and when do we need to draw in and pay attention to the specifics of what is right in front of our nose?  •  the challenge is not to lose the vastness in the details, and not lose the details in the vastness  •  the point of the paramita of discipline, like the point of all of the paramitas, isn’t about self-improvement; the bottom line is that it allows us to be better able to benefit others.

In the English language, the words “patience” and “patient” derive from the same word, meaning “to suffer”  •  the Tibetan term for patience has more of a sense of forbearance; in Sanskrit, it has more to do with a of a sense of equilibrium  •  the practice of patience has to do with boycotting our addiction to rushing through things, aggressively trying to force life to move in the ways we would like it to  •  patience is not inaction; in fact, the paramita of patience points to the possibility of addressing problems in the world more effectively because our actions are not based on anger, panic, speed, or aggression  •  three traditional guidelines for working with the paramita of patience are: 1) not getting sucked in by others’ disruptiveness; 2) understanding the causes and origins of other people’s anger; and 3) examining the many little points of irritations in your life, and being willing to face your own states of mind.

In the Buddhist tradition there’s a lot of talk about practice, which is connected with the paramita of exertion  •  practice is something that you do over and over again, and as you do so, hopefully you get better and better, and develop more and more understanding and sophistication about what you’re doing  •  in the paramita of exertion, the development is from a kind of self-conscious or imposed approach to a more natural approach, even reaching a point where exertion is actually joyful  •  instead of making a division between when we’re having fun on the one hand and doing hard work on the other, the paramita of exertion is pointing to something almost upside down from that  •  it’s suggesting that continuing our exertion in the midst of pain or obstacles or setbacks or disappointments actually increases our happiness and well-being  •  exertion is just keeping going, and delighting in that keeping going.

The topic of meditation reminds me of the old saying, “all roads lead to Rome”  •  in the Buddhist tradition, all teachings seem to lead to meditation  •  sometimes we think of meditation as just stillness, but as one of the six paramitas, meditation is considered to be one of the skillful actions of a bodhisattva, essential for cultivating wisdom and compassion  •  meditation helps us to settle and to open; it helps us to hold our mind steady and not simply react impulsively when we are challenged by other people and the pressures of life  •  with meditation, you can hold steady and then respond appropriately—and then you can let go and move on  •  in meditation practice, we begin to see through some of our preconceptions, and we witness how easily we solidify our experiences  •  meditation draws us out of ourselves and turns us towards others; in doing so, the inspiration to work for the benefit of others arises.

The sixth and final paramita is the prajna paramita  •  the sanskrit term “prajna” means supreme knowledge: the best of knowing, the best of cognitive mind  •  even though the Buddhist tradition is widely known for non-conceptual practices such as sitting meditation, there is also a great reverence and respect for learning and for knowledge at all levels  •  prajna is not just about knowing this or that; it is seeing without bias  •  prajna is fresh and on the spot; it is sharp, and it is direct  •  prajna is a way of seeing without any capturing or storing; it is the first thought, the first insight  •  it is what our perceptions can be when we’re not trying to hold onto them or put them in our bag of experiences  •  prajna is often represented by a razor-sharp two-sided sword—one that cuts through duality altogether  •  by cutting through dualistic thinking, a much fresher and clearer way of knowing is liberated.

In continuing our exploration of the prajna paramita, I’d like to focus on the inseparable trio of prajna (knowledge or wisdom), shunyata (emptiness), and compassion (karuna)  •  according to Trungpa Rinpoche, the freshness of prajna insight and the warmth of compassion are always connected  •  this challenges some common assumptions: that intelligence or sharpness of mind is harsh and aggressive; that compassion and love are fuzzy, soft, and weak; and that both compassion and sharpness of mind are solid and fixed  •  in the famous teaching called “The Heart Sutra,” the three main characters embody this inseparable trio  •  there is the Buddha, who is sitting in meditation; there is Avalokiteshvara, who is the embodiment of compassion; and there is Shariputra, who is the student asking questions  •  to embody and practice the prajna paramita, we need to empty ourselves of our preconceptions, and we also need to let go of our sense of attainment in having done so.

The six paramitas challenge the mistaken view that we can make ourselves secure by grasping more and more tightly  •  to practice the paramita of generosity, we need to make a point of letting go, of giving away  •  the paramita of discipline challenges our attachment to sloppiness and comfort, to cruising through life in a superficial way  •  the paramita of patience works with our attachment to speed and aggression as a way to sustain or protect ourselves  •  the paramita of exertion addresses our attachment to laziness, inertia, and the avoidance of effort and hard work  •  the paramita of meditation deals with our attachment to our thoughts as solid and real, challenging their power and their influence  •  the prajna paramita is an assault on our deep-rooted tendencies of denial and ignorance  •  each paramita gives us ways to chip away at the deep-rooted habit of trying to secure ourselves through our grasping.

Of all the contemplative practices of Buddhism, it is said that the contemplation of impermanence is the most useful • dealing with change isn’t easy: we’d like to put things together and have them stay together • we tend to see change as disruption rather than as the way things are • but in reality, change is not a disruption, it is fundamental • change just is; it is the nature of everything • trying to hold onto the non-reality that one can prevent change creates a burden that depletes our strength and energy • traditionally, four different ways are presented to contemplate the truth of impermanence: every birth leads to a death | every meeting leads to a parting | everything created eventually is destroyed | every gathering eventually disperses • each of these contemplations brings us back to immediate experience, to a deeper understanding of what impermanence is really all about • we begin to not only accept change at a deeper level, but to actually appreciate and even celebrate the the vivid, life-filled reality of constant change that marks our existence.

When we contemplate impermanence, we’re basically looking at the facts of life • the fact is that we all die; we all have losses, sorrow and heartbreak • we don’t contemplate impermanence as a way to overcome it, but as a way to figure out how to live with it—and even how to honor it • this is the world that we have, and without this ever-changing world, none of us would be here • impermanence is not only about loss; it is also about fresh arising • it is about possibility • there are occasions—for example, at the moment of birth and at the moment of death—when we encounter that meeting point of the falling away and the fresh arising on the spot, and those moments are very powerful • we’re at that edge where the two sides meet • the contemplation of impermanence can help bring us to that experience of fresh arising • it can help acquaint us with that edge, that non-dual point • we can begin to have glimpses that whatever arises is fresh; whatever arises is the essence of realization.

In Buddhism there is a lot of interest in the sense perceptions  •  traditionally, it is said that there are six senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking (in Buddhism, the way we perceive thoughts is similar to the way we hear sounds or see sights)  •  the sense perceptions can be compared to the windows of a house: if the windows are clean, you have a clear perception of your world; if the windows are dirty or distorted, the world that you see is also distorted  •  we often think we’re just passive receivers through the senses of what is going on in the world around us, but actually that’s not the case  •  in addition to the sense organ that comes in contact with a sense object, there is also what is called a sense consciousness  •  if you observe your perceptions closely, you can also see how the senses have little hooks on them: we continually try to capture the world through our senses  •  our sense perceptions can access so much of the power and beauty of our world; but at the same time, the early arising of subtle grasping that links to almost every perception we have is the seed of many of the obstacles and problems that make our life one of struggle rather than of ease.

Continuing our discussion of the sense perceptions, and how they are connected with a subtle kind of grasping  •  in Buddhism we talk about the senses as having three components: the sense organ, the sense object, and the sense consciousness  •  every sense perception we have is a meeting of those three elements  •  it is an active process, one that involves a great deal of selection and interpretation; we are creating our world as much as we are responding to it  •  there is a form of walking meditation that highlights how easily the sense perceptions are distorted  •  you begin by just simply walking outside, without talking, without any particular agenda  •  one of the walkers has a bell, and when the the bell is rung, everyone stops  •  you let go of the sense of coming from somewhere and trying to get somewhere, and just stop — just letting the senses sense, instead of trying to observe anything  •  notice the grasping of the sense perceptions and the relaxing of the sense perceptions, the heightened sense of duality and the softening or dissolving of that duality  •  in exploring the senses, we are exploring our way of being in the world altogether.

Many people associate the practices of Buddhism with stillness; but actually the path of dharma is one of continual movement and growth  •  it’s an organic process, one where everything cycles and everything is interconnected •  it’s like having a seed in the earth that grows and bears fruit and flowers and produces new seeds, and then another cycle begins  •  in my tradition, the different ways of moving forward on the path are described as three vehicles, because they carry us along in three stages  •  the first stage is a narrowing down, getting down to bare bones; it is starting with ourselves  •  if we want to help the world, we have to first help ourselves; we have to develop a little mindfulness and awareness  •  the second stage is one of opening out, extending our heart, extending our vision  •  having pared down and simplified, it’s time to extend; it’s time to test that training in our relationships with the world  •  The third or final stage is like a great leap of confidence and trust; it is like taking command of the tools that we’ve been cultivating, and not hesitating to apply them if they are needed and are of benefit.

Trungpa Rinpoche often spoke about the importance of a sense of humor on the spiritual path, but what did he really mean by it?  •  he was obviously not referring to telling jokes or being some kind of a comedian  •  instead he seemed to be pointing to a kind of a carefree quality or lightness of being — something very different from how seriously we take ourselves and everything we do  •  spirituality or religion is often thought of as a very solemn affair, something so deadly serious, so important, that we fall prey to religiosity  •  we don’t always know how to have genuine respect for something without getting puffed up about the whole thing  •  there are many examples in the Buddhist tradition of how we could combine a sense of gravitas, a sense of regal, dignified demeanor or quality of being, with a quality of innocence and youthfulness and playfulness and humor  •  I think of a good practitioner, a good teacher, as someone who is incredibly dedicated, but who has a twinkle in the eye  •  so humor plays a very important role: not only does it serve to cut through our pretensions and our self-absorption, but it transforms our practice from a solemn, grinding drudge to something more vivid and alive.

We tend to think of hope and fear as opposites, but they are intimately entangled with one another • they are both based on our desires and our hopes, our expectations of what the future might bring: what we want to happen, what we don’t want to happen, and what we fear might happen • sometimes hope describes a positive outlook, one that is connected with a certain kind of confidence • but it also could be connected with a certain kind of naivete that things will just work out — just hoping for the best • the more positive kind of hope is a present attitude: instead of focusing on what we want to happen and fear that won’t, it’s a kind of a confidence that whatever happens, we can see it in a positive light • it’s useful to recognize the difference between this positive and helpful kind of hope, and one where we find ourselves trapped in the roller coaster of hope and fear • we can acknowledge our wishes, our fears, and all our projections and expectations • we can acknowledge them but not get trapped in them; we can rest with the current situation as it is right now, right here.

One of my favorite nursery rhymes contains quite a bit of wisdom: “Row row, row, row your boat gently down the stream; merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream”  •  if we think of the stream as a stream of teachings, then we could consider the Buddha as the source of the stream  •  from that beginning a great river continues to flow over thousands of years  •  where does this stream flow? It flows into an ocean, which you could say is the awakening of the practitioner  •  you have a boat to carry you down this stream, and you have a set of oars to row with  •  what kind of effort do you apply? it’s a steady effort, but it’s also a relaxed effort: you’re rowing gently, but regularly and persistently  •  and how are you doing all this? you’re doing it merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily  •  it’s not a big struggle; there’s a sense of delight  •  in fact it could be dreamlike because it’s not so solid, it’s not so frozen  •  we’re in a shifting and changing world; it’s so dreamlike and so unreal in so many ways, but so beautiful and colorful at the same time.