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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
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Dharma Talks
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2012-10-16
Fundamentals of the Dharma: Self-Uncertainty
55:44
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Rodney Smith
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One of the more common emotional responses to practice is that at times we feel like we are failing in meditation. Nothing seems to be going according to the instructions. We try diligently and then hear that striving will not get us anywhere. We want to like ourselves but are full of self-contempt. We would like to wish everyone lovingkindness, but we do not feel that in our hearts. All of this has us feeling like a spiritual failure. One way to sidestep the thought that our practice is not going well is to remember that our practice is about self-knowledge, and self-knowledge is always working. Like a mirror that always reflects what it sees, it may not be showing us what we want to see, but it is always reflecting back what it sees. The practice is to accommodate what we see, no matter what is reflected back. Just let the reflection show us the state of affairs. Now comes the hard part. Do not attempt to change, judge, or get over what we see. If we want to do something, relax with what we see. Let the built up tension be dispelled. If we try to get over a problem before we understand what the nature of the problem is, we will further complicate our struggle. Much of our struggle is arising from the sense of being a personal failure. In a culture built upon evaluations and comparisons, many of us feel like we are defeated before we begin. We lead with self-uncertainty and for a Dharma practitioner that is the worst possible assumption. Awakening needs everything from us, and self-uncertainty holds us back in timidity. We have to address this assumption head on to end its tyrannical rule.
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Seattle Insight Meditation Society
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In
collection:
Fundamentals of the Dharma
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2012-10-08
Freeing The Mind
64:20
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Catherine McGee
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With ethics as a foundation and some access to samadhi, we can begin to work with the mental patterns that bind us. We can learn to investigate and handle these forces without being pushed and pulled around by them, and we learn through clear seeing how they come to arise and what lets them cease.
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Gaia House
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Insight Meditation and Qi Gong Retreat
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2012-10-04
No Credit, No Blame.
56:40
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James Baraz
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"In this world no one escapes from blame," said the Buddha. How can we deal with blame from others skillfully without getting crushed by criticism or react to it in a way that causes more suffering for ourselves and other? The key to not being lost in Praise or Blame is non-identification, not taking ownership of your experience. This includes not identifying with your body or mind. We can appreciate the gifts we've been given as well as our shortcomings without taking them personally. This is the natural by-product of understanding anatta, the selfless nature of existence.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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IMCB Regular Talks
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2012-09-27
No Place to Land
57:17
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James Baraz
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Advaita teacher H. W. L. Poonja spoke of emptiness as "No place to land." This follow-up talk on Praise and Blame, discusses how understanding the Buddha's teaching on Emptiness—the selfless nature of the process—we can appreciate the positive impact we have on others without taking personal credit when praise comes our way.
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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IMCB Regular Talks
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