When properly aligned with interconnectedness, meditation does not sustain the need to be somebody. There are no goals or direction, there is nothing for the self to feed upon, and everything is represented equally. Experience itself is sufficient; it does not point beyond the moment in which it occurs, and does not mean something beyond … Continued
Interconnection is about connecting with all things through awareness and eliminating what separates us from experience. The point of meditation is to see what we are bringing to experience, and then to see that whatever we bring is extra and needs to be discarded. The relationship we bring to an experience is based upon what … Continued
When we meditate with one view and live from another, there is inevitably an inherent conflict between our spiritual and worldly strategies. There is no synthesis or integration possible because the two views are diametrically opposed. When we apply mindfulness using the dualistic way we relate to the world, it feels mechanical and artificial. Practice … Continued
To align with this new orientation, we only need to accept what life is offering. It is possible to simply stop believing in the validity of the view of separation and free it from its isolated position by bringing the view of separation itself into awareness. This means we are cued to the subtle pain … Continued
The world we have made, as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them.—ALBERT EINSTEIN
If we think of ourselves as outside the moment needing to get in, this is working our practice from the wrong view, intention, and effort. If we want to interconnect, we have to relax and see what is there before we created the assumption we were outside anything. It dawns on us that we are … Continued
First, as the Buddha pointed out, a mind that has cultivated some samādhi has more malleability. It is more able to look at things in different ways, finds it much easier to learn and develop novel approaches and practices, and can move between these with more agility.
samādhi involves more than just holding the attention fixed on an object with a minimum of wavering. And it certainly does not necessarily imply a spatially narrowed focus of the mind on a small area. Instead here we will emphasize that what characterizes states of samādhi is some degree of collectedness and unification of mind … Continued
The possibility of fear occurring at times during these meditations we will address later as the practices develop.4 Sometimes though, this fear arises even when simply hearing about the voidness of the self or of things. It is important then to point out right here that we are not trying to annihilate the self through … Continued
When this profound knowing of the voidness of all things is absorbed, beyond mere intellectual understanding, there is liberating insight into the heart of reality. There is an awakening which fundamentally alters the way in which we perceive the world. This is the realization necessary for enlightenment.
Why do we crave? And the answer the Buddha gave and wanted us to understand is that craving is based on a fundamental mistake in the way we see and intuitively sense our selves and the whole world of inner and outer phenomena. We feel and take for granted that selves and things are as … Continued
Unquestioningly but mistakenly then, we intuitively sense and believe in this inherent existence of phenomena, in ‘real’ experiences of a ‘real’ self in a world of ‘real’ things. Now, in itself, this may strike some as a rather abstract or irrelevant piece of metaphysical philosophizing. But as alluded to earlier, the complete dissolution of this … Continued
To the degree, depth, and comprehensiveness that we can realize the emptiness, the illusory nature, of phenomena, to that degree, depth, and comprehensiveness is freedom then available to us.
Association with people of integrity. Because the Dhamma consists primarily of qualities of the mind, any written account of the Dhamma is only a pale shadow of the real thing. Thus, to gain a sense of the Dhamma’s full dimensions, you need to find people who embody the Dhamma in their thoughts, words, and deeds, … Continued
Inquire whether love lives within death. Notice whether love renews itself in your thoughts or in stillness. Where is its natural home, and from what does it spring forth? Can you prolong love through your narrative? Does love arise within the moment or is it a product of your thinking? Live love and see for … Continued
The Buddha’s decree was simply this, “Death does not exist.” He proclaimed the Deathless, which is not a different life: it is this life lived from a different perspective. He suggests awakening to death as an advisor and allowing it to reveal our miscalculations, misplaced identity, and misunderstood truths. We are asked to use death … Continued
Those who are physically close to death can remain distant from the subject as well by placing a lifetime of mental content between themselves and their death. They worry about their loved ones, their lack of forgiveness, their remorse and grief, their religious convictions, or the symptoms they may be facing as death approaches. Each … Continued
Settle yourself into a quiet position and ask what cannot die. When you ask that question what usually floods the consciousness is everything that can and will die. You may start thinking and emoting about the question, you may get nervous and become restless, or you may become fearful of this line of inquiry. Let … Continued
Love needs to be refreshed moment after moment, and protracted thinking inhibits love’s renewal. All the heart qualities like caring and kindness are immediate expressions of the heart and are accessible here and now as long as the mind is not obstructing the heart with a narrative. From our personal point of view it appears … Continued
We invest so much expectation into the body that we will not allow it to show us its dissolution, but death is the gateway through which form returns to the formless.