Although Dhamma practice is often geared to dissolving the sense of being a person, ‘the person’ is a required entity in the everyday world. The firm center and open awareness developed in Dhamma practice work together to support this person. They provide stability and allow duties, purpose and engagement to arise straight from the heart rather than from mental habits, or from the idea of a person. Then the beauties, steadiness and generosity of Dhamma practice and Dhamma fruitions arise in our everyday lives.
We are engaging in a world that is innately unsatisfactory. Yet, within that it’s important to find an accurate sense of purpose, ethical orientation and belonging. These are areas where the self-critical ‘inner tyrant’ quality will inevitably be activated. The Tyrant’s ‘I’m not good enough’ message can be recognized as a program rather than a meaningful description of ‘who I am’. Through the practices of disengagement, embodiment and goodwill, the program can be dismantled.
Instructions begin with dissolving: guidance for disengaging from contact, soothing and steadying the mind. Instructions end with consolidating: determining what I want to move forward with in the future, and what’s been learned or left behind.
In meditation we’re stepping back from sense consciousness, dipping beneath it to find something deeper, balanced and bearing value. This is where the wealth of our life lies, and it naturally comes forth when we disengage from sense data.
Beginning with chanting the Karaniyametta Sutta in English as an invitation to orient towards kindness while settling into mindfulness of the body and mindfulness of breathing
