This guided meditation includes a body scan and invites the receptivity and letting-go of whole body breathing. Once we have awakened the vitality and presence throughout the body, we have access to the formless dimension, the awareness that is our source.
We are living with the threat of increasing, dramatic suffering around the globe. This talk looks at the direct ways our meditation practices, supported by findings of neuroscience, can help us find resilience and an open heart in the face of an uncertain and frightening future. It includes a number of short reflections and meditations.
We start by acknowledging the mass shooting in Texas that occurred yesterday, in the context of our practicing with fear, following up an earlier guided meditation and sharing (not recorded) related to the shooting. We then look generally at the three core ways of practicing with fear, going into some depth on each: (1) cultivating mindfulness and clear seeing (wisdom), (2) working with the heart practices, and (3) acting skillfully. We then focus on how the process of awakening typically involves at each new stage an opening to fear, and also mention some of the dynamics of the "Dark Night of the Soul." Lastly, we look at how to explore and work with fear related to our social world, in terms of the three ways of practicing with fear. There follows a period of discussion.
Impermanence is the nature of things, in our practice we have the opportunity to see it and learn to dance with this fundamental aspect of our experience.
Following a reading on the passing of the Buddha, reflecting on the truth of impermanence and how none of us are immune to it; moving into a ritual to acknowledge recent losses, and strengthen inner qualities to be able to navigate change with more ease
Exploring what Awakening or Nibbāna means, then exploring some words by Thomas Hubl to explore how sangha or community can develop mindfulness, mutuality and mirroring as a support for insight
Finding points of commonality in our own lives with the life of the Buddha, then moving into relational practice exploring what motivated us to step out of the "palace of delusion"
