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October 10 - October 14, 2018
“I want, I need, I must have.
We can see it in the planning mind, in the act of imagining ourselves in some future situation.
how often do we seem to be leaning forward into the next moment, as if somehow the next step, the next breath, the next sensation or thought, will resolve everything, complete everything.
Because something is unpleasant, we desire its nonexistence, which leads to a craving for something pleasant, or wanting to experience a future existence different from what is happening.
Rather than understanding the end of craving only as some far-off goal, as the end of the path in the distant future, or as some special meditative state to try to sustain, I understood it as being a practice to experience right now, in each moment.
cessation of conditioned consciousness.
This consciousness has no center or reference point of self; it is unsupported, unconditioned, unconstructed.
But what happens when there is no object at all on which the light can land? The light then is unmanifest, unborn.
“Realized is the unconditioned, achieved is the end of craving.”
how to live the path rather than just read about it, this teaching took on an ever-expanding richness and depth. It began to reveal its own internal logic and consistency. Each step on the path leads to the next, culminating in the transformation of ignorance into liberating wisdom and awakening.
the wisdom factors are both the beginning and the end of this noble path.
The first stage of awakening to which the path leads, the first actualization of this Noble Eightfold Path, is called “stream-entry.”
The caution is that we can become attached to the idea of attainment, either before or after different experiences, and thus simply be strengthening the habit of self.
Mindfulness of the four noble truths is, in fact, the last set of instructions in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta.
five aggregates of clinging are dukkha.”
What is quite amazing is that even in the face of recognizing impermanence, which is not an esoteric, hidden truth, even in the face of something so obvious as the truth of change, the habit of clinging is so strong.
we spend energy and effort gratifying the self, defending it, holding on to it. And yet all of this potent karmic activity is revolving around something that isn’t even there. This is the obscuring power of delusion.
We take what is impersonal, the feeling tones, to be “I” or “mine.” “I want to do this, to see this, to hear this, to go there” are all delusions about the mental factor of desire to do. We add the “I” and “mine” to the working of an impersonal factor. “I make an effort” or “I have concentration” is wrong view about those two qualities.
The first is distortion of perception; the second, distortion of mind; and the third, distortion of view.
We hold on because we forget that there is nothing that lasts or is ultimately satisfying. We become attached because we claim things as being “I” or “mine,” and in our attraction to the beautiful, we usually don’t perceive its decaying nature.
“And what, monks, is Right Thought? The thought of renunciation, the thought of non-ill-will, the thought of harmlessness. This, monks, is called Right Thought.”2
cultivate a clear discernment of the kinds of thoughts that arise in our minds. We can notice which thoughts are rooted in desire, ill will, or cruelty, consciously reflect on the karma that they cause, and then abandon them, letting them go. And we can notice those thoughts inclining toward renunciation, goodwill, and compassion, reflect on their value, and then strengthen them in our lives.
developing the parami of renunciation is still a gradual process.
points to the depth of our conditioning and the value of repeating practices of renunciation until the rewards and happiness from them become the default understanding of our lives.
Because there is no expectation, mettā is not dependent on external conditions, on people, on ourselves, being a certain way. For this reason, mettā doesn’t easily turn into disappointment, ill will, or jealousy, as love with desire and attachment so often does. What gives lovingkindness its great expansive power is that in the end, when developed and practiced, it makes no distinction between beings. It’s not a feeling limited to those closest to us.
more patient and caring
It could be the wanting of pleasure, of fulfillment, of acceptance, even the wanting to be loved. The energy movements in our heart of these two states are really opposite to one another. One is an offering; the other is a taking, a holding on. As we pay close attention to our experience, both in formal meditation and in our lives, the distinction between mettā and desire becomes increasingly clear.
cause for lovingkindness to arise is focusing on the good qualities in people,
When we don’t see the good in people and focus instead on their annoying, irritating qualities, it’s easy for ill will, judgments, anger, and even hatred to arise. But if we make it a practice to seek out and relate to the good in each person, then the feeling of lovingkindness grows quite naturally.
“Sometimes I do get angry, but deep in my heart I don’t hold a grudge against anyone.” By focusing on the good in ourselves and others and feeling gratitude for the good others have done for us, we can more easily open to a place of forgiveness, not holding on to old grudges and hurts. Sometimes we let go of these in a moment; sometimes letting go of them is part of a longer process.
Sometimes this quality of cruelty seems contagious, with whole populations involved in killing fields of destruction.
Mountains Beyond Mountains,
We can simply plant the seeds of this great motivation of bodhichitta, that our lives and our practice be for the benefit of all, and water and nurture those seeds until they gradually become a force for great good in the world.
Lying is a great corrosive force both in our relationships and in society. It undermines our ability to trust.
emotional tone in our minds and hearts, and how it conditions and flavors the words we use.
The intent here is not to suppress whatever feelings we may have, but to communicate them in a way that fosters connection rather than divisiveness.
As with Right Speech, we cultivate these steps not only for their ethical value, but also as essential means of awakening. It’s impossible to separate meditative wisdom from the moral understanding that makes it possible.
acts of killing can be driven by greed, hatred, or delusion and that killing driven by hatred is the most serious, particularly if it is premeditated, because there have been many intense mind moments that have gone into planning and thinking about it.
It’s possible to develop the attitude of service in whatever work we might do. Are we simply doing a job to support ourselves and our families, or are we watching the attitudes in our minds as we work? Do we work with care, with attentiveness to others, with a genuine desire to be helpful? Right Livelihood is not only about what we do, but also how we do it.
This is the functioning of what are called “latent defilements,” mind states that are not present in the moment, but that have the potential to arise whenever the conditions for them to reappear are present.
as long as there is attachment to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant, liberation is impossible.
The second great endeavor is to abandon those unwholesome states that have already arisen.
Mindfulness of them is always the first strategy; if we’re not even aware that they are present, there’s not much possibility of abandoning them.
All these teachings remind us that meditation is an art. On this step of the Path, Right Effort, it’s not a question of simply following any one technique or thinking there is only one correct approach. Rather, we understand the mind as a vital, vibrant, ever-changing interplay of different mental qualities. If we have a strong commitment to awakening, then we investigate, experiment, and test different ways of abandoning that which is unskillful. The Buddha was the ultimate pragmatist. The teachings are not about dogma, but about skillful means, about understanding what works.
As a way of understanding the difference between this black Lab consciousness and mindfulness, pay careful attention to the moments of awakening after being lost in a thought. Just in that moment of transition, we can get a very clear, immediate experience of what mindfulness means. In one moment, we’re lost, carried away by a thought, and in the next, we’ve become aware that we’re thinking. We are waking up from the dream of our lives.
When mindfulness is directed toward stabilizing the attention on a single object, it leads to deepening states of calm and tranquility, culminating in what are called the jhānas, or meditative absorptions. When mindfulness is directed to a precise noting/noticing of changing objects, the concentration brings increasing clarity of the three characteristics: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness.
The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand each other. When we investigate the nature of suffering in our own lives, the more compassionate we are in seeing the suffering of others. And as we understand more deeply the possibility of freedom in ourselves, the more we understand that all beings share in this possibility. The refrain reminds us to also contemplate the arising and passing away of all elements of our experience. When we experience the impermanence of phenomena, internally, externally, or both, we also understand their unsatisfying and selfless nature. We can then see
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“And what, bhikkhus, is the unconditioned? The destruction of lust, the destruction of hatred, the destruction of delusion: this is called the unconditioned. . . .”1 “And what, bhikkhus, is the path leading to the unconditioned? The emptiness concentration, the signless concentration, the undirected concentration: this is called the path leading to the unconditioned.
regard to dhammas
standing,
