Donald Rothberg, PhD, has practiced Insight Meditation since 1976, and has also received training in Tibetan Dzogchen and Mahamudra practice and the Hakomi approach to body-based psychotherapy. Formerly on the faculties of the University of Kentucky, Kenyon College, and Saybrook Graduate School, he currently writes and teaches classes, groups and retreats on meditation, daily life practice, spirituality and psychology, and socially engaged Buddhism. An organizer, teacher, and former board member for the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Donald has helped to guide three six-month to two-year training programs in socially engaged spirituality through Buddhist Peace Fellowship (the BASE Program), Saybrook (the Socially Engaged Spirituality Program), and Spirit Rock (the Path of Engagement Program). He is the author of
The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World
and the co-editor of Ken Wilber in
Dialogue: Conversations with Leading Transpersonal Thinkers.
Through reflection on just having taught a month-long retreat and several poems, we explore a number of ways to deepen our formal meditation practice through simplicity, focus, building a strong "container", developing mindfulness and lovingkindness in relation to what happens, and increased invocation of the "wise parent" (or grandparent...aka "discipline").
Heart practices and wisdom practices can appear to speak different languages and have different aims; for example, lovingkindness wishes well whereas equanimity says, "no matter what I wish for, things are as they are." We explore how the heart and wisdom connect through exploring (1) lovingkindness, (2) equanimity, and (3) how the two inform each other and are integrated.
We explore how "knowledge and vision of things as they are," supported by concentration and earlier factors, brings us insight into impermanence, suffering and the roots of suffering, and not-self. We examine some of the forces and structure that lead to delusion and a lack of clear seeing, as well as how to practice to cultivate these insights.
Delight (or joy or gladness, pamojja) is the second factor that emerges as we shift away from repetitive cycles of suffering. We explore how delight manifests as delight in practice, in our integrity, the "bliss of blamelessness," and in other ways. We also look at how to cultivate delight, how delight or joy support the deepening of our practice, and what makes delight difficult to access.
Mindfulness of the body is absolutely fundamental for our practice and was for the Buddha, both a starting point and an end point. We explore (1) why mindfulness of the body is crucial both in the Buddha's teaching and especially in our highly mental culture; (2) how we practice mindfulness of breathing and mindfulness of postures and activities; and (3) how mindfulness of the body works to transform us.
We review briefly our previous practices and investigations of body practices in the last three weeks. We then focus on the body's connection with mind and heart, how we practice individually with each of them, how we explore the dynamic relationship of body, mind, heart. We end by focusing on heart practices for our bodies and those of others, and on opening to the further mysteries of bodies.
After a brief review of the first two series, we focus on body practices to develop insight into 1) impermanence, 2) suffering and the roots of suffering, and 3)constructions of self. We suggest several concrete practices to develop wisdom through awareness of bodily experience.
We review and expand the themes from last time- the importance of body practices for our times and lives, exploring our attitudes toward the body and developing basic body practices. Then we focus on mindfulness of the body, outlining several further practices and emphasizing especially how body practices help us practice more fully and critically in the flow of the daily life.
The body is the doorway to great transformation and mystery. Practicing with awareness of the body is central to grounding our practice in a highly mental culture. We explore 1) the importance of body-based practice, 2) our cultural and personal attitudes toward our bodies, and 3) a set of initial body practices.
Lovingkindness practice ultimately works because we are evoking our deep nature - of kindness and love, the "brightly shining" citta associated with lovingkindness. We explore how we can open to our radiant hearts through (1) learning to lead with our hearts, (2) cultivating concentration, (3) evoking love and working through what blocks love, and (4) touching more and more our depths.
The winter solstice in our culture sometimes is close to busy and even frenzied times, yet in most cultures has been a time of deepening, stillness, and silence, like the earth. We explore four ways to practice with the darkness of the time: 1) Through stopping and stilling our habituated minds; 2) Through opening to the unknown; 3) Trhough being with what is painful or difficult; 4) Through allowing the light and the creative to emerge from darkness
The Buddha's teaching on views and beliefs is radical, pointing to how we might investigate our attachments to and grasping after views and come to hold views much more lightly. How do we practice with views? We offer a number of further perspectives, from the Buddha and Nagarjuna, and practices to work with views.
We explore the nature of "views" (or strong beliefs or opinions) and how to practice with them by 1) grounding ourselves in some of the famous passages on views in the teachings of the Buddha, 2)identifying why and how views can be problematic and lead to suffering, and 3) offering practices this week to explore our views, whether personal, political or religious/spiritual.
We look at the nature of distraction- not attending to what is our intended focus- in three main ways, each of which we can respond to: 1) our distraction moment to moment and how we train in mindfulness, 2) our distraction in our everyday lives, and 3) how our lives become distracted in relation to our deeper intentions.
After a short account of emptiness and how we cultivate a deeper understanding of it in very practical ways, we explore the nature of compassion. We look at how it can be developed and what forms it can take, all the time pointing to how mature compassion invloves a deep sense of emptiness and interconnection (and vice versa).
We review the teachings on emptiness in the context of the broader teachings on the centrality of developing wisdom and compassion, expanding our examination of these teachings from last time. The last part of the session involving doing several exercises, partly explaining experience as a flowing "stream" (and seeing what obstructs the flow) and partly doing a series of four exercises with "ordinary objects" designed to take us out of our ordinary way of constructing things.
Preceded by a short chant by Rebekkah La Dyne, our yoga teacher for the retreat, we explore two main modes of transformation - one going into suffering, one involving beautiful states. We then focus on the latter, as expressed in the practice of the Brahmaviharas, the cultivation of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity - examining their near and far enemies, and how the four interpret each other in the mature heart.
We examine how mindfulness is distinguished from, yet leads to wisdom. We explore wisdom especially through the life story of the Buddha, moving from comfort and and illusion to deep wisdom and compassion, and through his first teaching of the Four Noble Truths - the most basic expression of wisdom in the tradition.
Transformation in practice, whether in mindfulness or metta practice, occurs through repetition, patience, understanding and faith, in a sometimes mysterious way. Using poems and stories, we explore the nature of lovingkindness (metta) and the kinds of transformation that occur as we practice.
On this first evening of the retreat, we explore the nature of mindfulness in general and how we practice mindfulness of the body in particular. We then examine the five "difficult energies" (nivarana or "hindrances"), and how they make mindfulness difficult and how to practice when they are present.
We first review basic perspectives on emptiness and compassion and then explore three basic ways to access emptiness: 1) being with inner flow of experience and seeing where self and fixation occur, 2) opening to the "flow experience" in activities and relationships and 3) cultivating a sense of interconnection
We examine the teaching of seeing the emptiness of self and things and how this, in its mature expression, is compassionate activity. We suggest simple practices to explore this sometimes confusing teaching, and everyday examples of how emptiness and compassion come together.
In the context of previous talks, we explore intention practice in three ways: 1.) understanding the importance of intention in our practice and in life 2.) cultivating intention as aspiration- being in touch with deeper intentions, and 3.) working with intentions moment to moment and in specific activities.
We continue to look at work and service as a path, naming some key aspects of this path: 1. general intention that our work and service be practice for ourselves and others, 2.connecting inner and outer practice, 3. identifying core challenges and "obstacles", 4.developing awakened qualities and 5. establishing community support for this path.
We may understand and express our spiritual practice as helping others. What does such a path look like? What are some of the challenges and issues? We name burnout, self-righteousness, being overwhelmed, attachment to outcome, etc. and begin to explore how to work with these challenges.
We continue to explore 1) being mindful when a wind is present; 2) the nature of the winds; 3) responding skilfully.
We add an emphasis on resting in what is deeper and examine several issues that arise in practicing with the winds
An examination of how we practice with pleasure and pain, gain and loss, fame and disrepute, praise and blame; with stories referring to Buddha's teaching + discussion.
How do we take our service as a path of practice? Most basically, we take helping others as the center (or a major part) of our lives, and we examine, in our service, what helps develop “selfless” service and the barriers to such service, especially a sense of duality between self and other. We explore how a connection between “inner” and “outer” practice structures a life of service, and how such practice can also be understood as the development of particular qualities—we focus on the development of (1) clarity of intentions, (2) generosity, (3) gratitude, and (4) compassion, and on some of the challenges that arise when cultivating such qualities, and in service generally.
One interpretation of Jewish mindfulness connects mindfulness with the Jewish prophetic tradition. This suggests an understanding of spiritual practice as involving both "inner" transformation toward liberation and "outer" transformation toward a liberated society; actually, the two are intimately connected. We first explore, partly through music, the prophetic tradition. We then examine how both our inner and outer practice can be understood in similar ways, following the core principles, in terms of development in wisdom and mindfulness (the mind), compassion and love (the heart), and courage and skillful action (the body).
We review and fill out some of the themes from part I, why it is important and yet often confusing to work with anger; and several guidelines and tools (mindfulness, reflection, heart practices) for practicing with anger individually. We add an overview of how to practice with anger in relational an social contexts with others, focusing especially on skillful speech.
For many of us, it is hard to know how to practice with anger. We explore some of the reasons for confusion about anger, including the mixed messages we get about anger in many settings, the different connotations of what is translated as "anger" East and West, and the conditioning around anger. We then outline three ways of more "inner" work with anger, through 1) mindfulness, 2) reflections and 3) heart practices like lovingkindness, compassion and forgiveness.
How do we find depth, focus and support for an engaged path? And why do we need such a path? Aren't traditional Buddhist paths complete and adequate for our times? In this talk, we explore these issues, identifying 1) the structure of the traditional path of training in ethics, meditation, and wisdom; 2) what an engaged path adds or extends and the way that it meets the needs of our times; and 3) five core training areas for engaged paths.
We first revisit the exploration of the shadow, how it forms, and how we work with it, we then look into the nature of collective shadow phenomena, how the personal and collective shadow inter-penetrate, and how we work with the collective shadow. The key, as always, is to establish a relatively safe space to develop awareness, compassion and wisdom, leading to skillful action.
The shadow as it relates to spiritual practice. That which does not fit the self image is excluded and becomes part of one's shadow. Reactivity as in indication that shadow material is in play. We explore ways in which a fixed self of is linked to shadow.
Exploring the shadow - personal, relational, and collective - is one way to work through the deep structure of ignorance. We explore the nature of the shadow, the phenomenon of projection, and several ways to practice with the shadow.
We continue to explore the cultivation of equanimity by focusing especially on how we keep balance and, increasingly, unshakability with the eight worldly winds of pleasure and pain, gain and loss, fame and disrepute, and praise and blame. We also focus on the qualities of understanding, joy and faith found in mature equanimity, with stories from Martin Luther Kind, Jr., Etty Hillesun and more treatment of multiple near-enemies of equnimity.
Mudita practice both opens us to joy and extends that joy beyond our usual boundaries, transforming our conditions that limit joy to a limited circle and focus on the negative. We explore some of the roots of this personal and social conditioning and end by identifying some of the qualities of mature joy.
We explore the practice of Mudita in the context of the other three Brahmaviharaas; seeing how it goes again both self-centered joy and tendencies to focus on problems or what is "wrong" in a situation. There is some guidance in the formal mudita practice, as well as more general cultivation of joy.
We continue to explore the practices to develop, examining the nature of compassion - its relationship to the other brahmaviharas, the receptive and active dimensions of compassion, the near and far enemies; how we might practice compassion in the world - interpersonally and socially; and the relationship of compassion and wisdom.
The practice of compassion can occur both as a formal practice - one of the four practices of the Brahmaviharas - and as an everyday practice in the context of our lives. Compassion practice works because it helps us to to open to our deeper being. Yet to do this, we have to learn also to open to pain - and suffering - understood as the reaction to pain.
How do we bring our metta practice out from retreat into the world and our everyday lives. We look at (1) some guidelines and ways of practicing metta in our personal formal practice; (2) practicing metta in our relationships with others; and (3) the importance of metta for social healing and transformation.
Metta works, partly in a clear way, partly mysteriously, to help us lead with our hearts, develop deeper concentration, unergo an often challenging process of purification and touch the depths of our being. As we practice, we work through a number of challenges - distraction, sleepiness, the restless mind and body, and the near and far enemies of metta - attached love and ill-will for enemies, particularly harsh judgment of self and others.
In this time of darkness between Solstice and the New Year, it is a wonderful time for reflection, quiet and renewal - in our practice and in our lives generally. We explore a number of factors and practices that support renewal and post three questions at the end to help open us up to what renewal means for each of us
After a review of four guidelines for practicing with fear, we explore more deeply the nature of fear, including many of the more unconscious ways that we carry fear, as well as the biological basis of fear. We also examine the relationship of fear to a sense of self, and of opening into fearlessness.
We continue to explore the nature of fear and how to practice with fear, with several stories and a deeper look at how fear appears. Fear is not the problem - our unskillful way of reacting to fear with confusion and repetitive negative stories is what we explore and transform.
The challenges and crises of our times are immense - at the current time, there are economic, political, ethical and ecological crises, among others. To face these crises as practice demands, however, the same qualities demanded by the immensity of awakening -- (1) wisdom expressed as the ability to hold together opposites, (2) a deep listening for our calling, (3) a toolbox of skillful means, (4) a heart to transform difficult emotions, such as anger, fear and sadness, and (5) continual persistence and growing confidence in liberation.
Fear is a very powerful force in our lives- personally, interpersonally and socially. What is fear and how do we work with it? Here we explore the nature of fear and its complex nature as involving intelligence and an urge to action, but also commonly reactivity and delusions. We suggest several main ways of practicing, 1) coming back to balance through antidotes such as metta, beauty and refuges in our deeper values; 2) mindfulness; 3) wisdom and 4) active inquiry and engagement with our own fear.
What resources and perspectives help us to practice wise speech when the conditions are difficult? We focus especially on developing a strong "container" (both internal and in the community), and on learning better to work with difficult thoughts and emotions, in the context of speech, giving a number of stories and examples.
In cultivating wise speech, we train in many capacities. Among them is training to listen and speak with an open, loving heart. We explore the nature of the open heart and training in lovingkindness. We then examine what it means to listen, both generally and in speech, and what it means to speak from the heart, including reflection on some typical distortions of such speech.
For this retreat on wise speech, mindfulness, and non-violent communication, we begin with examining the place of wise (or "right") speech in the Eightfold Path, and how it is linked to training and development in wisdom, ethics, and meditation. We then reflect on the importance for this path of speech, and the four ethical guidelines for speech given by the Buddha: (1) truthfulness, (2) helpfulness, (3) warmth/kindness, and (4) appropriateness.
How do we keep our practice fresh? If we are stuck, how do we renew our practice? Reflecting on a just completed time of retreat, we explore four ways of renewing our practice: (1) finding ways to touch our deeper motivations, (2) cutting through habitual psychological patterns, (3) grounding further in the body, and (4) touching our awakened qualities.
We explore five aspects of bringing our practice to conflicts - inner, interpersonal, group, or social:
1. At the heart of such practice is transforming reactivity and responding skillfully.
Also crucial are different ways of:
2. grounding and centering in the body,
3. resting in the heart,
4. maintaining a non-dual vision, and
5. continuing to be deeply engaged and acting without attachment to immediate outcomes, once we have acted responsively.
Why is it so difficult to bring practice into situations of conflict? We look at five reasons for these difficulties, each of which suggests an aspect of our practice in the midst of conflicts. We then explore some resources for nondual conflict transformation, particularly the middle way of the Buddha and a "both-and" vision for working with conflicts.
Transformation Beyond the Constricted Self
After a review of teachings about not-self, and an exploration of the ways that the self appears as an overlay on, or constriction of, the flow of experience, we look in this final talk at what si there when a constrictive self is absent: 1) individuality without identification, 2) awareness, 3) wmptiness of phenomena and self, and 4) compassion and responsiveness.
We first review the basic teachings on self and not-self, exploring the possible confusion and the paradoxes, as well as the teaching of the five skardhas. We then explore three main forms through through which the self appears.
Is there a self?? To explore these questions is to enter the territory of paradox. We investigate how to understand both conventional and conceptual approaches to self....
Mindfulness of the body goes against the grain of our culture yet is fundamental for most of us to bring awareness, compassion and wisdom to daily life. We explore some of the transformation possible through mindfulness of the body.
It's very challenging for our daily lives to be places of deep transformation, yet many of us want this. After looking at one of the challenges, we explore three ways to meet the challenges: 1) knowing what is important 2) taking "our bodies as our monasteries" 3) learning to "break the mirror", get unstuck, over and over again. For each of the three ways, a dharma reading and a poem are given.
Metta is a powerful practice that helps us lead with our hearts, develop concentration, and "purify" our bodies, hearts and minds, working through obstacles to metta and touching our deep luminosity. Yet metta sometimes seems opposed to wisdom and mindfulness practice, and particularly to equanimity. We explore the qualities of equanimity and then how mature metta requires equanimity and mature equanimity requires metta.
The earth at the winter solstice invites us to embrace the darkness - as a stopping and stilling, an entry into the unknown, a being with difficulty, a fertile and generative source - and invite the light that comes out of the dark. We connect these themes with our practice and suggest particular further ways to practice at the solstice.
The earth at the winter solstice invites us to embrace the darkness -- as a stopping and stilling, an entry into the unknown, a being with difficulty, a fertile and generative source -- and invite the light that comes out of the dark. We connect these themes with our practice and suggest particular further ways to practice at the solstice.
It is helpful to identify four broad phases of transformation, whether in the context of intensive meditation practice, everyday life, or engaged practice in the world: (1) building resources (perspectives, tools, methods, the ethical “container”); (2) opening to and honoring our suffering; (3) coming to see in a new way; and (4) the integrative work of stabilizing, grounding, and expressing our insights and learning as we go forth into the world.
In the second session on practicing with thoughts and emotions, we complement the first session's focus on the more receptive practice of mindfulness. After a review of mindfulness, we explore three more active approaches: (1) deepening mindfulness through inquiry, (2) invoking wisdom through clear comprehension, (3) providing antidotes through invoking lovingkindness, compassion, and other beautiful states.
Mindfulness of thoughts and emotions gives us one of our great resources for applying our practice in daily life -- in the midst of work, relationships, and family. Here we explore some general qualities of mindfulness, then explore the guidelines of "RAIN" -- recognition, acceptance, inquiry and non-identification -- applying this approach to the experiencing of anger. Next week we explore skillful action with thoughts and emotions.
Practicing mindfulness and metta in the United States is definitely challenging for a variety of reasons which are explored briefly. We outline a number of basic supports for practice (daily practice, community, study, etc. ) and then focus on four main ways of deepening daily life practice - (1) Finding regular ways to break habits, (2)Working with a mentor or teacher, (3) Grounding in the body, and (4) Learning to take obstacles and suffering as opportunities.
(note: There is a 15 minute gap about 11 minutes into this talk and cuts out again at 53 minutes, due to technical difficulties.)
There are two main approaches in our practice - mindfulness and invoking beautiful and exalted states. They complement each other in important ways. After considering these two approaches, we explore the nature of each of the divine abodes, their near and far enemies, and their complementary nature - each requires the other three for its mature development.
How do we live and act wisely, whether in our meditation practice or in the rest of our lives? The core of our practice is to come back to wisdom moment-to-moment. The main teaching on wisdom that can guide us is the Four Noble Truths. We explore this teaching as a practical guide, requiring an understanding of causes and conditions. Yet wisdom ultimately must also be connected to to two further qualities to be whole - to compassion, and to courage.
Metta is generally described and set in the context of the Brahmavihara - the divine abodes. A number of stories are told illustrating the quality of metta and four ways that metta transforms us are identified - (1) We learn to lead with our hearts; (2) We develop in concentration; (3) We purify our being; and (4) We connect more fully with others.
After a framing of why we practice and how this intensive practice can inform our wider lives, and a short account of the qualities of mindfulness we explore how to practice in states of mind and heart. Using the model of RAIN (Recognition, Acceptance, Inquiry, Non-identification), we examine a number of ways to work with states of mind and heart, using as case studies, working with anger, judgment (harsh reactive judgment) and others.
We sometimes feel very connected with our love, wisdom, and mindfulness. At other times, we may feel disconnected from these qualities, stuck in what the Buddha called the five "difficult energies" (or hindrances). We explore compulsive desire and aversion, sloth & torpor, restlessness, and doubt - suggesting how to respond to these when they arise, both in meditation and daily life.
In this retreat, we are cultivating clear seeing especially through development of mindfulness and wisdom. In this talk, we focus on mindfulness- exploring its qualities of bare attention, directness, non-reactivity, present centered-ness, and interest. We introduce the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, with a particular focus on mindfulness of the body, and how this leads to wisdom.
We continue our exploration, with a review of why, in the contemporary west, it’s important to develop a fuller sense of relationship as practice, and what the prerequisites for this practice are, in terms of Buddhist resources. Then we explore how in relationship there can be a full sense of inner awareness and roundedness (the “I”), awareness of and xxx toward the other (the “you”), and a third “body” (the feid of the “we”. We use experiential exercises to explore this.
Much of our meditation practice in the west has been focused on individual practice, in silence and often solitude. While there are many traditional Buddhist resources for taking relational, communicative interactions as practice, there is also a need for developing forms to deepen such practice. We identify the Buddhist resources for this practice and offer some beginning exercises.
As we begin a new cycle after Labor Day, it’s helpful to identify the basics of our practice, which I do with reference to a just-completed 3 weeks on retreat in the mountains. We look at 1. Foundations – ethics, intentions, creating a space away from habits. 2. Development of concentration and awareness. 3. Heart – practice and 4. Integration in our everyday lives.
We review the nature of the Bodhisattva, in its archetypal expression, its manifestation in extraordinary and ordinary human exemplars, and in ourselves. We focus on the qualities of wisdom and skillful action especially and end with a short ceremony in which the participants develop their own version of the Bodhisattva, and express some of them publicly.
After an overview of the Bodhisattva path, and of the perfections of vow – intention, patience, and meditations, we look at the perfections of wisdom and skillful action. We end with an experiential exercise designed to a different situation.
In this second session, we first review the path of the Bodhisattva, exploring both the Theravada and Mahayara roots and the qualities (paramis, paramites) developed. We focus on vow – intentions, patience, and meditation, looking at how to make the Bodhisattva training real in our daily lives.
The path of the Bodhisattva is both a traditional and contemporary way of connecting inner practice and helping others. After an overview of the Theravada and Mahayara roots, we explore the practice of (1) intention - vows, and (2) patience.
Thich Nhat Hanh has written of how the encounter of Dharma and democracy will bring something new and exciting to the world. We explore 1. the beauty and dream of democracy and its resonance with the Dharma, 2. what currently needs attention in our would-be democracy and 3. a vision of how the connection of Dharma and democracy mature is vital for ourselves and our world.
We explore in general the Seven Factors as a guide to our practice and as an experience of awakened being and presence. We examine each of the seven: mindfulness, investigation, effort, rapture or joy, stillness, concentration and equanimity, with suggestions of what to do to cultivate each quality.
The qualities of the summer solstice: stillness (between days with more or less light), light and clarity, openness and space, warmth, and abundant energy, parallel in many ways the factors of enlightenment in the teachings of the Buddha. We explore these qualities through teachings, poetry and suggestions of practice.
We continue exploring the nature and methods of inquiry, the freshness, openness, interest and energy it can bring to practice. We explore (1) mindfulness – based inquiry, (2) deep listening, (3) working with teachings (here particularly the Four Noble Truths and Precepts), (4) radical questions and (5) deconstructing fixed beliefs, with more time on numbers 3 – 5.
In this second talk on inquiry, we review some of the material from last time, including the Kalama Sutta, inquiry as a factor of awakening, and the inquiry methods of (1) mindfulness, (2) deep listening and (3) working with teachings to help inquiry. Then we explore (4) radical questions and (5) deconstruction of fixed beliefs.
Because we live in such a mental culture, we sometimes interpret meditation as getting rid of all thinking. But inquiry and investigation, often aided by language are crucial to Buddhist practice. We look at three practical methods of inquiry, using (1) mindfulness (2) deep listening, and (3) the lens of particular teachings.
Beth Gendler, author of Notes On The Need For Beauty, reflects in dialogue with Donald Rothberg and the Sanga, on the nature of beauty, “cleansing the doors of perception, and the place of beauty in transformative practice.”
We use Dogen’s famous passage to explore issues of self and not-self, by looking at 1. how we study the self, 2. how, in studying the self, we forget the self, and 3. how, in forgetting the self, we are most ourselves and most fully with others.
Right livelihood, one of the factors of the Eightfold Path, is primarily focused on the ethical qualities of our work. We explore this factor, as well as the related sense of vocation or calling – to have one’s life and work express one’s gifts while contributing and providing a path to universal Dharma.
The path of the Bodhisattva is both a traditional way of practice and an evolving contemporary way of linking awakening with helping others. We look at the history of the Bodhisattva and five qualities that the Bodhisattva develops. 1. intentions/vow 2. patience and commitment 3. meditation 4. wisdom and 5. skillful action.
In this second talk on inquiry beneath the surface through working with difficulties, we look at the basic conditioned reactions to pleasant and unpleasant, and look at how to practice and inquire on a personal and interpersonal level
A review of the traditional four “wise efforts,” formulated also in everyday (Kayalcins) language, followed by a discussion of some of the visible hazards of ‘wise effort practice” and of “effortless effect.”
Developing energy and effort in our practice is crucial. In its mature form, effort becomes “effortless” but on the way, we need to support our practice’s energy both generally and moment-to-moment. We look at the traditional teaching of the four “wise efforts,” adding some contemporary metaphors, especially drawn from Kayakins.
We review some of the main themes of transforming judgments – the nature of judgments and four main ways of working with judgments, using mindfulness, inquiry, and heart practices. We add some exploration of the cultural dimension of judgments and how to combine inner work on judgments with outer response and how to combine inner work on judgments with outer response.
Working with judgments is a kind of “royal road” of transformation, taking us into our deep and often unconscious views, sense of self and pain. We look at the importance of this work, and the speaker tells personal stories illustrating four ways of working with judgments: 1. mindfulness 2. seeing core patterns of mind and heart 3. metta, compassion, joy – using heart practices, and 4. deep inquiry.
We focus, in this record of two talks, on the nature of Papanca or “conceptual proliferation” its roots in compulsive craving and aversion, and a number of different ways to work skillfully with Papanca.
