Author: Payton Swick

Typically, we approach the Buddha Dharma with the intention of gaining something: a quiet mind, a lofty insight, a new sense of identity.  With luck and a supple frame of mind, we can learn to observe what is actually currently happening in this mind of ours, which is both vast and tranquil and leaping from thought to thought, like a monkey swinging from branch to branch.  Is there a way of seeing Citta – Luminous awareness – that encompasses both these possibilities, and points us to the ground of Mind itself?  Drawing on a talk by Ajahn Sucitto, Don S. guided our reflections this Sunday.

You can listen to the talk by Ajahn Sucitto here: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/9/63606.html

“Remove the veil, so that I may see what is really happening here, and not be intoxicated, by my stories and my fears”

Elizabeth Lesser

Teaching through stories and a deep understanding of human psychology, Tara Brach describes how our brains are wired to turn away from what is truly happening and fixate on anything else. Particularly when it comes to observing our own selves, we often engage in subtle or overt blame and judgement — often in the name of self-improvement. Any self judgement prevents us from seeing what is true and real. Buddhism describes the importance of practicing both sides of the sword of awareness: keen self awareness, AND radical acceptance of what we find.  In seeing, and accepting what is true and real inside ourselves, we find true safety, and can live more openly, spontaneously, and love more freely. 

This week, Lorilee guided our sangha, making space for a deep conversation about the ways in which we react to and hide from the world around us through fear, aversion, and doubt. She played an excerpt from a talk by Tara Brach entitled, “Radical Self-Honesty: The Joy of Getting Real”, which you can listen to here:

https://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/175/talk/65005/

Practice “off of the cushion” is every bit as instructive as quiet sitting.  So for this week’s discussion, Andrea presented one aspect of the eightfold path that’s a clear call to apply mindfulness in our daily lives: right speech (also sometimes translated a “wise” speech).  We also broke into pairs in which members of the sangha were given the opportunity to bring mindful awareness to their own speech in the moment.

Andrea played excerpts from two talks, which you can listen to via the links below:

Andrea Fella: https://audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/2066.html
Tara Brach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXo0OBYdTXc

At first or even second look, Buddhism is not quickly associated with Faith.  In fact many look upon it as free of that which was least appealing in their religious upbringing, the insistence on things unseen, accessible only by belief.  But it turns out that Saddha, usually translated “Faith”, is one of the five most important spiritual faculties to the practitioner of Dharma, though its meaning and the perspective it introduces will different from what we might assume. 

Sam guided our reflections on Faith this Sunday, drawing on a guided meditation by Ajahn Sucitto and talks by Andrea Fella and Yanai Postelnik.

The full guided meditation is available here: https://www.dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/9/62970.html

You can listen to Andrea’s talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/20/talk/13903/

You can listen to Yanai’s talk here: https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/193/talk/26011/

“The way of love is not
a subtle argument.

The door there
is devastation.

Birds make great sky-circles
of their freedom.
How do they learn it?

They fall, and falling,
they’re given wings.”

Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

Much of the time, as we see life through a lens of our perceptions and thoughts, we are so caught up in our mind’s stories and made-up reality, that we can’t see things as they really are. There is great freedom in being able to let go of long held, distorted views; and there is great liberation available when we can be intimate and honest with ourselves—connecting not only to ourselves, but also to other beings and to the earth. 

Dharma Teacher Kaira Jewel Lingo brings a new focus to cultivating Right View through Deep Listening.  Evelien led our discussion this past week on drawing on our innate capacity to practice such Listening and experience the clarity it can bring.

The played talk can be heard here: https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/1012/talk/63884/

Eveline began our meditation by inviting us to bring into our hearts and minds an attitude of kindness, which had an effect on a number of people in the sangha.  Michael let her know that he had at hand a copy of the poem “Kindness,” by Naomi Shihab Nye, and Eveline requested that it be read.  Several people asked where they might find this poem, which is often read in spiritual circles of all kinds.  Among many places, “Kindness” appears in her first collection of poetry, Different Ways to Pray. 

A video of the poet herself reading it can be found here:   https://youtu.be/8UF3NolGSHg

Last week Michael A. discussed  the significance of the Buddha’s last steps, last words, and lasting legacy. Part of that legacy is the importance of holding close the impermanence of all things, including the body itself. This week, Jeffrey presented one aspect of the Buddha’s Mindfulness of the Body, one of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. 

Jeffrey read some writings and poems on death followed by the Corpse Meditation that is part of the Mindfulness on the Body reflection from the Pali canon.

“When the Buddha talks about the importance of the present moment, he often portrays it as a place where work has to be done: the work of improving your skills in how to construct it. And the motivation for doing the work is provided by contemplation of death—the message being that if you don’t do the work needed to get your mind under control, you have no idea where the mind will take you at death, and the work won’t get done unless you do it right now.”

Thanissaro Bikku

Maraṇa sati (mindfulness of death, death awareness) is a practice of keeping close the thought that death can strike at anytime, and we should practice with urgency in every moment, even in the time it takes to draw one breath.

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Genesis 3:19

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Shakespeare, MacBeth, upon learning of the death of Lady MacBeth

He also read When Death Comes by Mary Oliver and Antidotes to Fear of Death by Rebecca Elson.

Finally, some fun facts:

Teeth are the hardest part of animal bodies.

Oldest dinosaur teeth are 230 million years old. The oldest hominid teeth are 7 million years old, and only survive under very special conditions. Mine won’t be so lucky.

Looking forward. All life ceases on Earth in 2.8 billion years, due to increased luminosity of the sun.

If that doesn’t do it, in 7.8 billion years… Earth swallowed by the Sun

The sun is on its own trajectory from dust to dust. It will take trillions of years to completely cool off.

Most of us are familiar with the early events of the life or legend of the Buddha – his shock at the grim realities of living, his departure from the palace, his wandering, awakening and spreading the Dharma.  But close of his teaching career, his choice of where and how to die, and his final teachings may be less familiar.    

Michael A guided our reflections this week on the significance of the Buddha’s last steps, last words, and lasting legacy. We broke into groups to discuss the question, “the Buddha vowed to overcome old age, sickness, and death; did he succeed?”.

This Sunday, Wendy presented Mark Nunberg’s talk “Allowing Impermanence and Uncertainty to Transform the Heart”. We explored the mind’s habit of ignoring impermanence and taking false refuge in a fixed self. The practice of bringing awareness to the changing nature of things, including the self itself, is a path to alignment with reality and freedom from attachments. As Thich Nhat Hanh put it, “It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not.” 

You can listen to the talk by Mark Nunberg here:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/543/62655.html

There’s also a guided meditation which we partially listened to during our gathering:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/543/62654.html

Here is a link to the “Long Live Impermanence” article by Thich Nhat Hanh referenced in Mark’s talk:

https://stillwatersanghamn.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/long-live-impermanence/

In several recent gatherings we have focused on the practice of metta or “loving-kindness” with a focus on the “how” of the practice; the phrases one uses, for example, or the order of each of the subjects.  This Sunday we again considered metta, this time focusing on the “why”, that is, metta as an integral part of insight practice, and not just a sort of extra activity added to vipassana. Specifically we looked at metta practice as an antidote to ill will and aversion, and the relation to the arising of self. Margaret skillfully guided the discussion, drawing on a talk by Christina Feldman.

For those unfamiliar with metta practice or desiring a refresher, Margaret provided this short guided meditation by Chas DiCapua.

Christina’s talk is available here:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/44/15696.html

Margaret also sent along several quotes related to metta, included below.

A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is asleep on his shoulder.

No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.

This man carries the world’s most sensitive cargo
but he’s not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.

His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy’s dream
deep inside him.

We’re not going to be able
to live in this world
if we’re not willing to do what he’s doing
with one another.

The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.

Shoulders, Naomi Shihab Nye – 1952

“Even
After
All this time
The Sun never says to the Earth,

“You owe me.”

Look
What happens
With a love like that,
It lights the whole sky.”

Hafiz

We all struggle with the “three poisons” of Greed, Anger, and Delusion, but may be more likely to gravitate toward one of these than others. There are some elements about how a practice of mindfulness can transform these hindrances into possibilities for presence and liberation. When stripped of their attachment, Greed imparts a sort of optimism and faith, Anger imparts clarity and wisdom, and Delusion imparts equanimity and calm.

This week, Mike B led our Sangha’s exploration of how Greed, Anger, and Delusion manifest in our lives, how we might better understand their conditioned nature, and how they all change on their own. We discussed how important it is to remember that these feelings are subjective and that any given experience can elicit any of these reactions from different people, so we must take care to avoid assuming our perception is the “right” one.

We listened to a talk by Sharon Salzberg on this topic, which you may find here:

https://dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/venue/undefined/165/16055.html