How do we accept ourselves or others when our actions are causing harm? Does acceptance mean passivity? Does it undermine our efforts towards change? This talk responds to these questions with a simple, illuminating and challenging principle about genuine transformation: Acceptance is the prerequisite of true healing and awakening. Only when we've paused to recognize and allow this moment's experience to be fully as it is, can we respond from our intelligence and compassion to prevent future suffering.
This talk examines the way that states of mind form and shape the world we experience in each moment, and how we can transform that world by knowing the state of our mind from moment to moment, and changing our relationship to it.
We cannot talk about the fundamentals of Dharma without mentioning honesty. All we have to do is meet a truly honest person to know that honesty is infectious. We sense that it must take courage to live with honesty and integrity, but what it really takes is a love of the truth. Honesty in Dharma practice is simply the love of what is true. It is behind all of our inquiry and Dharma investigation. "What is going on here?" is the soul searching question that opens the doors of the heart. We release our deceptions for two reasons: first, it is painful to deceive, and second, we have a profound urge to know the true causes and motivations for our defensiveness. That urge, when properly honed, will be our vehicle for the completion of the spiritual journey.
Attending unwisely to the moment keeps us trapped in the delusion that experience is personal, me and mine. Wise attention keeps us on our toes - for example: we are not pulled into those little thoughts, believing them to be real. Check to see in any moment are you attending wisely or unwisely?
Developing a wise relationship to our body is an important part of our meditation practice. We often have a distorted, even aversive attitude to the body.
