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