We begin with a period of settling, developing greater samadhi or concentration, and then move to mindfulness practice, including giving some attention to noticing moderate or a little greater levels of pleasant or unpleasant feeling-tone. When we notice pleasant or unpleasant feeling-tones, is there any tendency toward grasping or pushing away, in habitual or automatic ways? We then explore gratitude as a practice, simply reflecting on ways that we are grateful, first for aspects of our own lives, and then for aspects of the wider world. This is followed by opening with mindfulness to some difficult or painful aspects of our world, whether close to home or farther away, inspired to see and be with what is painful through wisdom and care. We end with a return to mindfulness practice for a short time. (This guided meditation is related to the talk that follows, honoring the life and work of Joanna Macy.)

The essence of compassion is honesty about suffering. Compassion is what naturally arises when we turn towards hurts, pain, suffering with love.

How do we change the habits that continually bring us suffering? This is a reflection based on SN 3.13 "A Bucket of Rice" and a personal experience providing some ideas on how to let go of sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair, anger, resentment, righteous indignation, and so on that keep us bound up in suffering, pointing to Nibbāna here and now.

Mindfulness of breath opening into mindfulness of the whole body, including working with the feeling tones and pain

How true can we be so we don’t have to lie? Not just in what we say or think but also in how we live this precious life both in our doings on the outside, and also what goes on inside the mind – where no one can see! But we see. We know the state of the heart. When we turn away from self- deception to the inner shining, we are set free from our deepest pain – with pure love. So live caring for yourself as for others – spiritually in tact and whole, with measureless kindness and compassion. Sitting in the school of Truth, more than pilgrims, we are stars crossing space. We shine, even in the dark.

Gullu explores Vendana (Hedonic Tone) which is a central and vital Buddhist teaching and the speaks about the Sallata Sutta which explores how we make our suffering worse with resistance, seeking pleasure to cover over the pain, and over-identifying with pain. Sutta text can be found at: https://links.gullusingh.com/8d6c9a

The workings of not-knowing – the workings of attentional habits. Involuntary attentional patterns seem to govern much of our experience. Yet training is possible, training is needed. Such training entails acknowledgement, attentional tasks and specificity. Negotiating pain.