Our self tends to get patterned and established by what is familiar and repeated. For most, it means being shaped and formed by negative accumulations that constrict and close the heart. Using the body-mind connection we can massage in the internal body back to life, not through words but through wholesome felt sense perceptions.

Negotiating contact; gladdening the mind; the meaning of spirit; spiritual powers; consciousness creating duality; advice for Dhamma teachers; transmuting sexual energy; what is sampajañña; jhāna training

Establish and maintain core presence through the upright axis. Keep your tap root firmly rooted in your Dhamma field and resist the temptation to move out into what arises. Just by not getting stuck in what arises weakens the power of difficulties. [Instructions end 8:08]

Pāramī are described as qualities that extend and further. When cultivated, they provide steadiness to cross over the field of dukkha and confusion into the transcendent plane of Dhamma.

There is an innate interest in the body to release itself. If we can meet what arises with the right kind of invitation – a mind of goodwill, patience and trust – breathing will act as a messenger and carry these qualities into the body. These then act as healing energies.

When we make effort to disengage and avoid the unskillful, we enter the Dhamma domain, the domain of patience, clarity, sensing. Then the Dhamma potencies, not self, naturally do the work of untangling the self-saṇkhāras.

Through pūjā we take refuge not in a world of time and structure but in what the mind knows. We take refuge in knowing the heart can open to suffering.

One thing to keep in mind about wilderness training: you’re never ready, but that’s how you cultivate pāramīs. Stay in touch with your Dhamma field and you’ll always be ready to meet the uncomfortable.

Getting a sense of the tones that arise in the body. Don’t act immediately, awareness is open and non-intrusive. Noticing the tendencies towards favoring and opposing.

Training to notice the point when the “I am” is born. Allowing a fresh response. Learning to follow, not lead.