Our mind /body is held in the grip of kamma, framed by anxiety, grief and other forms of dukkha. Mindfulness replaces this frame with clear, emphatic awareness.
Liberation is signless not a sensation, emotion or thought. The gates are signless, desirelessness and emptiness. "uncertainty" is the approach to these gates.
The acronym RAIN is a powerful tool for interrupting habitual patterns of emotional reactivity and discovering the freedom of an awake, compassionate presence. This talk explores the components of RAIN, how it works, what makes it transformational and typical challenges people encounter. The teachings include a guided RAIN meditation.
This is a dharma talk that Donald gave for our volunteer sangha on the theme of "The Path of Service," which is also the theme that Spirit Rock staff are working with this year.
After a review of foundational, intermediate and advanced daily life practices, we focus on several central practices, working with intention, using the imagination, grounding in the body and taking difficulties as practice.
Faith in awakening is the heartfelt initiator of the practice. It envisions that the process of Dharma is beautiful in the beginning, the middle - the end