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

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 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