There are two great cycles of the Mind on the path of Awakening. Once cycle increases as happiness and freedom through the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. The other is through struggling and rejecting the experience.
Cultivating a gentle and steady meditative attention we can learn to meet difficulty, pain and suffering with kindness and self-forgiveness. With the courage to feel experience deeply, we can embrace our life with a tender heart of love and openness.
This week I will complete the Shantideva series with his final chapter on the power of dedicating your actions as an act of generosity. We often end the sittings or a period of practice by sharing any merit for the benefit of all beings. This practice can be used in very simple but potent ways as a method for brining a heartfelt sincerity to your practice for the benefit of specific individuals. For instance if you’re trying to change a habit, offering the merit of that wholesome change to someone who is having a hard time in their life.
This practice of dedicating merit both connects you with others and motivates you beyond mere self-improvement. We’ll be exploring just how this can work in our daily life to give energy and enthusiasm to our practice.
