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     Zac led our session this Sunday, centering on Tilopa’s Mahamudra Instruction to Naropa, also known as The Ganges Mahamudra, which elucidates the path of relaxing into clarity, wisdom and our innate awakened state. 

The clip we listened to was  Jaya Rudgard reading Naropa’s Song to Tilopa from 2019-11-13 Doors To The Deathless 43:52   

The door of non-clinging is always open. Readings from verses on the Faith Mind and Tilopa’s “Song Of The Maharudra”

Insight Meditation Society – Retreat Center :  Three-Month Retreat – Part 2

https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/566/talk/59461/

We started listening at minute 28

The text of Naropa’s Song to Tilopa can be found here http://wearebuddhamind.blogspot.com/2008/07/tilopas-song-to-naropa-from-mother-of.html and here http://wanderingstarrs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Tilopas-Song-to-Naropa.pdf

Some definitions of Mahamudra:

Mahāmudrā literally means “great seal” or “great imprint” and refers to the fact that “all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable”. (Gampopa’s Mahamudra: The Five Part Mahamudra of the Kagyus by Tony Duff – via Wikipedia)

Mahamudra: The special nonconceptual meditation that is a specialty of the Kagyu lineage. Mahamudra was developed by the Indian mahadissas Saraha, Shacvaripa, Maitripa, and Tilopa (Modern Tantric Buddhism by Justin von Bujdoss)

Mahamudra: Literally, “Great Seal”; meditation on the mind’s innate clarity (Psychology of Buddhist Tantra by Rob Preece)

On Sunday we reflected on the current uncertainties and anxieties in the US and worldwide, and the role of our practice in helping to navigate these, and in providing refuge.  

Margaret guided our reflections, and used a talk by Thanisara to guide our reflections.  Thanisara was cofounder of a retreat center in Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa, and has done extensive work in the area.  She incorporates the wisdom of indigenous people in her analysis of the problems of our times.  And living in South Africa, she has lived through the extremes of national uncertainty and anxiety.    

Links forthcoming.

As we move towards winter and the turning in of the natural world, we can draw from the season’s qualities of stillness, introspection and dormancy to contemplate death as an advisor. When we attune to the reality of death, we can illuminate what is most important to us and strengthen our ability to come into presence and wakefulness. Carina guided us through an exploration of impermanence through personal story, an excerpt of Tara Brach’s talk, “The Four Remembrances” and discussion.

The following resources were offered:

The Four Remembrances – Tara Brach: http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/175/talk/55486/

The Wisdom of No Escape – Pema Chödrön (Carina read a passage from the chapter, “Joy”)

Considering our current political climate, and the upcoming holidays where people who have very different opinions may be gathering, Denise guided our reflections to focus on Views and how much they impact how we interact with our internal selves as well as others. Excerpts from Shaila Catherine’s talk titled “Opinions and Truth” provided useful perspectives for the discussion.

The talk is available here: https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/163/talk/19183/

An under-appreciated but deeply valuable theme in the dharma of early buddhism is cultivating the ability to see the world, others, and oneself as beautiful. 

Practices that cultivate opening to the experience of beauty were the theme of our explorations on Sunday, and we explored them in several ways, ranging from reading, listening to recorded teachings, experimenting with Sensory Awareness, and discussion. 

Michael guided our reflections, with help from Gil Fronsdal, Jack Kornfield, Galway Kinnell, and Charlotte Selver.

Here are links to the media used:

• St Francis and the Sow – Galway Kinnell https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42683/saint-francis-and-the-sow
• Gil Fronsdal – Walk with Beauty  (Michael used a 7 minute excerpt; the whole talk is worthwhile) https://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/ scroll down to Walk with Beauty    2019-7-29  (41h.13m)
• Jack Kornfield – Sacred Perception https://jackkornfield.com/sacred-perception/

This past Sunday, Evelien drew from a talk by Sally Clough Armstrong on Intention.

Sally Clough Armstrong led an IMS talk about Equanimity, Intention and Karma. “We are the heirs of our actions” is a liberating realization that our choices along the way have led us to be right where we are. With wisdom and compassion we can understand how we got here and with intention we can choose how to respond, rather than react, to it.

“All beings are the owners of their own actions/karma.  Even though the past may account for the suffering and inequalities in life, our measure as human beings is not in the hand we’ve been dealt but in the way we play the had we’ve got.” 

The talk is available here:

https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/153/talk/56913/

This past Sunday, Stephen guided our reflections, exploring how effective practice can lead to a mind prepared to achieve insights into the nature of the self.  Using a short talk by Culadasa, we discussed the specific process by which lasting transformations can be achieved.

Joy is a central part of the Buddhist Path, and cultivating it is a key element in our practice.  Denise guided our reflections this past Sunday, focusing on this “song of the awakened heart,” and drawing on a dharma talk by Christina Feldman.

The talk is available here:

https://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/44/talk/10583/

This Sunday Patrick guided our reflections, on the topic of Karma and Reincarnation, drawing on a talk by Joseph Goldstein about the role that karma plays in our everyday lives and the consequences of our volitional acts, including some consideration of reincarnation. 

We explored the different beliefs people have about reincarnation, the role it might have in our spiritual and meditation practice, and the sometimes confusing fit between the practical and numinous aspects of Buddhism.

The talk Patrick played can be found here: https://www.dharmaseed.org/talks/audio_player/96/42615.html

To what extent do we create our own reality with our perceptions and ruminations?  This week Margaret guided our reflections, using excerpts from talks by Christina Feldman to explore the ways in which mindfulness of moods can help us discern when our experience is clouded and when it is sharpened by our mental processes and our conditioning.

The talks that were played were from a retreat, so they are not publicly available.

We began the sitting by reflecting on our underlying mood at that moment, and on how such moods affect how we view and interact with what is around us.  In addition, based on the talk by Christina Feldman, we considered two models that give some insight into how we construct our reality. The first of these goes as follows:

Where there is contact, there is feeling tone; What we feel we perceive; What we perceive, we think about; What we think about, we proliferate about; What we proliferate about, we dwell upon; What we dwell upon, becomes the shape of our mind; And the shape of our mind becomes the shape of our world.

The second model goes as follows:

Where there is contact, there is feeling tone; Feeling tone is the condition for craving; Craving is the condition for clinging;  [identification] Clinging is the condition for becoming.