In this second talk on practicing with mystery, we begin by talking more generally about the nature of mystery. We then review seven ways of practicing with mystery explored last week, while bringing in further examples of these ways of practicing, and add an additional two further ways of practicing. Reading of poems and excerpts from poems support this sense of multiple ways of practicing with mystery. The talk is followed by discussion.
This is a fairly lightly guided meditation on ways to practice with a sense of mystery, linked with the talk on this theme. After grounding in posture and intentions, basic instructions in developing stability and concentration, and then in mindfulness, are given, with later periodic suggestions on ways to practice with a sense of mystery.
Coming Home to Ourselves is about orienting towards our experience and then meeting our experience with an warm heart. To be "at home," means to be here, at ease, in the present moment. Often we're "not at home" because we are experiencing difficulties and feel like we have to go outside of ourselves to figure it out or perhaps we have patterns of avoiding or distracting ourselves. The journey of coming home and connecting with ourselves in a friendly way might be a radical one because it requires letting of the idea that what the heart is yearning for can be found outside of ourselves.
The word love, as it's used in the English language, is complicated in that it represents not only our capacity for unlimited, unconditional love but also unhealthy attachment and craving. The Buddha was clear about the pitfalls of craving, but he also pointed to the boundless heart, one free from unhealthy attachment, as part of the path of awakening
