We step back to look at how we develop the three meditative path factors separately, and how, as practice deepens, the factors become interwoven, and we move forward a kind of mindful, concentrated, effortless effort.
The Buddha clearly described consciousness as an impermanent part of the mind. Yet many people feel that awareness has some kind of lasting or ongoing nature. How can we understand this seeming contradiction? How can we make awareness itself part of our meditation?
Aversion and desire work together to entrap the mind within its own projections and divide the whole into parts. The opposite of what I desire is feared and visa versa. Because the mind is a single whole, when we pit what we like against what we do not, repetitive aversive and desiring images noisily dance through the mind in opposition to the contentment of the abiding wholeness.
Metta practice makes the heart more sensitive to the joys and sorrows that sentient beings are subject to. This tenderness becomes the avenue for us to discover our deep connection to all of life and end a sense of isolation.
Our lives are the raw material for liberating insight to arise. Even outside of meditation, the three characteristics of conditioned things -- impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and not-self -- are present in all experience. Understanding this directly and continuously, in the context of the Buddha's core teachings, leads to liberation.
A reflection on the comparing and judging mind highlighted with stories and readings. Includes a useful practice based on a quote from the 3rd Zen Patriarch: "The burdensome practice of judging brings annoyance and weariness." The evening ends with a brief discussion with the sangha. This talk was also given at the February 2011 month-long retreat at Spirit Rock:
Working with the Judging Mind
When difficult emotions arise in our practice, developing a skillful and willing relationship is an important part of the path. Emotions are the natural human response, and a natural and important part of the path.
