When desire unfolds into craving and addiction, it becomes the source of great suffering. This talk examines the nature of desire, and the attitudes and practices that allow us to relate to this energy with freedom. When regarded wisely, desire is the stream that returns us to the ocean of loving.
Contemplating restlessness and worry -- what this mind state consists of and how to recognize it; name it; embrace it; and investigate it according to the Buddhist teachings.
Our lives are always touched by the changing conditions of gain and loss, praise and blame, pleasure and pain, success and failure. How the meditator finds refuge in not clinging.
Right Effort includes developing and increasing wholesome states by recognizing them or inclining the mind to their development. The four states of loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity can be consciously developed through practice. (Includes experiential exercises.)
Through meditation practice, we become more skilled at identifying what we
are experiencing, opening to it with a loving heart, and examining it with
an eye to insight. When we connect fully with what we feel, the heart is
not troubled and the nature of experience is apparent.
