Homework

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Home Practice for Continuing with Anapanasati Session 2 (11-13-2024)

Creating Moments of Renewal in Times of Stress

We continued exploring using the breath as part of a compassion practice. In the previous session, we introduced the Tibetan practice of Tonglen as a way to use the breath to develop kindness and compassion. In this session, we talked about an alternative to changing from ‘darkness’ to ‘light’ within one cycle of inhaling and exhaling. We suggested taking several breaths, as long as you need, to soak in the feeling of difficult emotions such as despair, anxiety, or aversion, focusing mainly on the inhale. Then, while giving light and relief for an equal amount of time, focus mainly on the exhales.
People in the session seemed to prefer one of theses methods over the other.
In addition, the usual instructions for Metta can be, and often are, coordinated with the inhale and exhale. Play with this
We explored more of Thich Nhat Hanh’s technique using ‘gathas; or short mindfulness phrases which are coordinated with the breath. Just as we had, in the introductory sessions, used his technique of measuring the length of the inhale and exhale in walking meditation practice, by noticing the number of steps that each inhale and exhale takes, we tried measuring the breathing using gathas, such as ‘arriving, arriving, arriving’ on the inhale and ‘home, home, home’ on the exhale.
Finally we talking about the importance of short breathing breaks in daily life as a way to reset the nervous system and arrive back in the present moment. One practice, the acronym RENEW, (link to the upload please) can be used as a template for checking in with each of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

Home Practice for Continuing with Anapanasati

Hi everyone,

The links to the website for the the first Anapanasati class “Sixteen steps to Awakening have been restored, so if you were waiting to review what was covered in the first class you can do that now for the next week or so.

Session 1 (11-6-2024)

For this week, please try practicing the Tonglen as we practiced it on Wednesday. The home practice resource contains two different versions of the instructions. Be sure to work first with whatever is heavy and dark for you at the moment. Then, you can expand out to specific groups of people or to all other beings who are feeling the same way.

Equanimity Before, During & After the Election: Week 4 (11-14-24) Home Practices

Sitting Practice: For a minimum of 20-30 minutes per day (more if you are able). Please practice your meditation in silence.

- Before sitting – sense within yourself, listening carefully, with both an open heart & compassion, to what arises as you reflect on the following: What is out of balance in my body, heart, mind? How does this affect me? What needs greater balance in my life right now? What is needed to heal the imbalances? What energy, attention, perspective is being called for? Where will I find these?
- Then patiently, calmly, start your formal sitting practice. While In sitting meditation- notice any feelings of calm, balance, evenness. If fear or anxiety arises, recognize them, make room for what is happening, notice where it is in the body, soften, be with it. Notice any reactions to the fear or anxiety (such as adding to it or pushing it away). Gently, tenderly opening to the fear or anxiety. If it is too much gently open to the breath, sounds, touch points, or the body sitting for steadiness or eyebrow, earlobe, for as a neutral place to rest the heart and mind. When steady open to whatever is happening in the present moment.
- Practice sitting like a mountain: allowing all images, feelings, sensations to come and go as you reside in steadfastness watching it all arise and pass away. Sit like a mountain. Sit with a sense of strength and dignity. Be steadfast, be majestic, be natural and at ease in awareness. No matter how many winds, be intimate with everything- relate with awareness- notice when habitual reactions take you out of the present.

Gratitude Practice. Text, E-mail, or call your buddies from the class, 1-3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.

After the Election & Daily Life:

- Spaciousness Exercises:
  - Sky gazing outside or looking out a window-gaze at the sky. Taking in the volume of space. This can help open and rest the mind.
  - Inside, in a room, instead of focusing on objects, notice the space defined by the enclosure.
  - Try it in conversations. Notice the person with whom you are talking with and noticing the space in the room while participating in the conversation.
  - These exercises cut the visual fixation on a single object and opening up the visual field can cut mental fixations as well.
- Practice the Qualities of heart that support Equanimity:

1. 1. Virtue or integrity-( non-harming, the precepts)
  2. Confidence in practice – (Begin again offers us this!)
  3. Develop heart & mind through mindfulness, calm, steadiness
  4. Cultivate a sense well-being- practice-(Gratitude!)
  5. Wisdom through presence & balance
  6. Insight into how things are-(Impermanence)
  7. Freedom through letting go– (Recall some issue that upset you when you were younger that you no longer upsets you or you no longer react to today. Something that you are free of.) In practice, we are continually expanding the range of experiences in life in which we are free. Remember that it is possible to be free.

- Mindfulness After the Election
  - Take time to feel whatever you are feeling.
  - Whenever you find yourself in the future, gently invite yourself to return to or open to the present moment.
  - Choose to spend time in ways that nourish your well-being – body heart and mind. Practice gratitude, metta, compassion, joy, equanimity. Be in nature-walk, or look at the vastness of the sky, laugh at silly things- like squirrels, bunnies, take care of your heath: drink plenty of water, eat meals mindfully, frequently pause in your day, try to get enough sleep or rest- visit with friends, family, loved ones. Call, text friends, Play with pets, be with children in your life. Sing or listen to music. Be kind!
  - Limit news, media and social media consumption. Put your phone down. Be with others, pets, a good book, nature. Check in with others. Practice with sangha.
  - Be aware of space inside & outside of you. Open to space in a room, or the sky.

ZENJU EARTHLYN MANUEL wrote in Lions Roar (this is an excerpt)

Can we feel the freedom we already have despite things causing us to feel otherwise?

We must keep faith in those around us. We must relish and cherish the relationships of family and friends no matter their human flaws. It doesn’t mean we have to suffer other’s suffering but the way to our liberation is to forge, with our heart, all that is broken in this country into a kind of freedom we never imagined we had the power to shape. I say this because it is only us that we have and only us who will need to stand at the doors to protect our free communities, free spaces, free loved ones, and more—not as protectors of people only but protectors of what has always been sacred and that is life itself. We must value all life even in the middle of all life not being valued.
Are we ready and capable of dismantling the distorted perceptions we have of each other that are now strangling us, personally and collectively?

If possible we will live in the difficult and in the more difficult and in the difficult after that not because we are becoming stronger but because we know that freedom is tied to what we create out of what sits at our feet.

Can we change the ritual? Look into someone’s frightened or confused face today and say, “I got you. I got you.” Saying it out loud is one way but saying it in your heart silently is also a way to access innate empathy, recognize the world’s grief, for the sake of everyone’s wellbeing. Can this be our sacred campaign forever?

CONTINUE ANY EXERCISES from previous weeks that help you be balanced or spacious

PLEASE HAVE FUN WITH ANY OF THE EXERCISES!

Equanimity Before, During & After the Election: Week 3 (11-7-24) Home Practices

Upekkha can refer to the ease that comes from seeing a bigger picture. Sometimes, the word was used to mean “to see with patience.” To cultivate equanimity, it takes balance and/or spaciousness of heart-Begin to cultivate balance and spaciousness in the middle of changing events or conditions. Practice mindfulness, listen with an open heart, respond & act with kindness, care & integrity. Be aware of a larger perspective.

Sitting Practice: For a minimum of 20-30 minutes per day (more if you are able). Please practice your meditation in silence.
- Before sitting – sense within yourself, listening carefully, with both an open heart & compassion, to what arises as you reflect on the following:
  - What is out of balance in my body, heart, mind?
  - When have I been lost in the extremes of fear, indulgence or avoidance? How does this affect me?
  - What needs greater balance in my life right now?
  - What is needed to heal the imbalances?
  - What energy, attention, perspective is being called for?
  - Where will I find these?
- Then patiently, calmly, start your formal sitting practice. While in sitting meditation – notice any feelings of calm, balance, evenness. If fear or anxiety arises: recognize them, make room for what is happening, notice where it is in the body, soften, be with it. Notice any reactions to the fear or anxiety (such as adding to it or pushing it away). Gently, tenderly opening to fear or anxiety. If it is too gently open to the breath, sounds, touch points, eyebrow, earlobe, or the body sitting for some steadiness of heart and mind. When steady open to whatever is happening in the present moment.
Gratitude Practice. Text, E-mail, or call your buddies from the class, 1-3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.
After the Election & Daily Life:
- Practice Don’t Know Mind. Practicing Don’t Know Mind involves tolerating the discomfort of uncertainty. Recognize and gently open to what is happening within. Whatever it is. Do your best to connect to the moment with gentleness, tenderness, softening with caring & kindness. Come close to the present unfolding reality, one breath, one moment at a time.
- Practice the Qualities of heart that support Equanimity:
  1. Virtue or integrity – (non-harming, the precepts)
  2. Confidence in practice – (Begin again offers us this!)
  3. Develop heart & mind through mindfulness, calm, steadiness
  4. Cultivate a sense well-being– practice-(Gratitude!)
  5. Wisdom through presence & balance
  6. Insight into how things are– (Impermanence)
  7. Freedom through letting go– (Recall some issue that upset you when you were younger that you no longer upsets you or you no longer react to today. Something that you are free of.) In practice, we are continually expanding the range of experiences in life in which we are free. Remember that it is possible to be free.

- Mindfulness After the Election
  1. Take time to feel whatever you are feeling.
  2. Whenever you find yourself in the future, gently invite yourself to return to or open to the present moment.
  3. Choose to spend time in ways that nourish your well-being – body, heart, and mind. Practice gratitude, metta, compassion, joy, equanimity. Be in nature-walk, or look at the vastness of the sky, laugh at silly things- like squirrels, bunnies, take care of your heath: drink plenty of water, eat meals mindfully, frequently pause in your day, try to get enough sleep or rest- visit with friends, family, loved ones. Call, text friends, play with pets, be with children in your life. Sing or listen to music. Be kind!
  4. Limit news, media and social media consumption. Put your phone down. Be with others, pets, a good book, nature. Check in with others. Practice with sangha.
  5. Be aware of space inside & outside of you. Open to space in a room, or the sky.

CONTINUE ANY EXERCISES BELOW that help you be balanced or spacious

Each day and/or many times a day: Stop tune into your heart. That is where love, wisdom, grace & compassion reside. With loving attention feel what matters most to you. Yes, there may be anxious, thoughts, worried or fearful thoughts, grief or trauma. But don’t let your heart be colonized by fear!
Take time to quiet the mind & tend to the heart.
Go outside or look out a window at the sky. Breathe in, Open yourself to the vastness. Sense the seasons changing. Breathe Out & Rest in loving awareness. Practice steadiness & equanimity. Look at the trees, Learn from them. They remain still in the midst of it all. They are nature, you are nature. You too, can be the still-point in the center of it all! –Kornfield
Watching or listening to election talk: Drop into the experience; feel where you are standing or sitting; feel your feet on the ground or your body making contact with the chair or sofa. Be aware of where you are standing or sitting emotionally? Is there any spark of anger, worry, anxiety, fear? Is there any spark of joy, elation, relief, calm? Is there desire or aversion obscuring your attention? Become aware of your own presence in the moment.
When you find yourself in a challenging life situation: or conversations about the election, reading, listening to information about the election or about any unsettling information, do your best to be mindful of the body. Give attention to your posture & assume a posture that is grounded & balanced. Explore how dedication to being mindful of the body & posture may help you to experience equanimity.

PLEASE HAVE FUN WITH ANY OF THE EXERCISES!

Equanimity Before, During & After the Election: Week 2 (10-31-24) Home Practices

Equanimity is the capacity to meet our lives with calmness, steadiness, balance, spaciousness, and evenness. Equanimity is balance based on wisdom. It is a practice!

Please remember to vote – and remind others to vote!

Sitting Practice: For a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. Please practice your meditation in silence. While meditating, notice any feelings of calm, balance, evenness. If you don’t experience a sense of balance, then explore what prevents you from bring present and feeling equanimity with what has arisen. Mindfulness cultivates equanimity. With Mindfulness we are developing and softening the mind and the quality of acceptance with two steps. First becoming aware of what is most predominant, to just see & open. Second step notice how you are relating to whatever arises. Often we can be with an arising appearance in a reactive way.
Gratitude Practice. Text, E-mail, or call your buddies from the class, 1-3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything. If you don’t have a Gratitude buddy-please e-mail the CIMC office (office@cambridgeinsght.org) or e-mail me.
- The Election & Daily Life: Please try a few of these practices. There are many so you can practice equanimity in different ways. Try to cultivate and nourish equanimity & ease with them!

- In your daily life: Notice any feelings of balance, or evenness. If you don’t experience a sense of balance, explore what prevents you from being present & feeling a sense of equanimity.
- Each day and/or many times a day:
  Stop and tune into your heart. That is where love, wisdom, grace & compassion reside. With a loving attention feel what matters most to you. Yes, there may be anxious thoughts, worried or fearful thoughts, grief or trauma. But don’t let your heart be colonized by fear! Take time to quiet the mind & tend to the heart. Go outside or look out a window at the sky. Breathe in, Open yourself to the vastness. Sense the seasons changing. Breathe Out & Rest in loving awareness. Practice steadiness & equanimity. Look at the trees, Learn from them. They remain still in the midst of it all. They are nature, you are nature. You too, can be, “the still point in the center of it all”! (Jack Kornfield)
- With Practice you can experience suffering-dukkha with equanimity. If you receive it with understanding. Receiving dukkha is supported by 3 practices.
  - Turning the attention toward whatever suffering- we meet-anxiety, fear, worry, anger, impatience, frustration. Making our discontent an object of contemplation. Rather than try to get rid of it, we can do our best, to open to it, to allow the truth in it -to unfold, to understand it, Not to dwell on our suffering rather, it is to see it clearly, to recognize experience for what it is.
  - Cultivate an attitude of acceptance or allowing (don’t need to like or agree-allowing space-room). If you are challenged with election misinformation election fears or anxiety of the future OR some personal loss, some of us, may be able to adopt an attitude of wholehearted engagement. We can accept the reality of what has occurred, while also working to affect the best possible outcome. By accepting the facts in the moment, we can ground our hopes on the actual conditions.
  - Third & what I know as super important, we can use the balm of meditation—not the bomb, I don’t know of anything more effective in helping us be with the truth of Dukkha-, of suffering than a simple, meditation practice. Use your mindfulness practice!
Just a few words about –effort- Virya. Virya means energy, enthusiasm, vitality, the effort we make exactly in the face of the unknown results of this election results- In the face of the unknown– some of you are hopeful & some of you are in despair, hopelessness. In our practice- We’re not trying to make these states go away. We’re opening to them, softening into them; this is in a way a practice of hopefulness. Every moment of a living presence includes a future moment. & Anything can happen in that future, & nobody knows what. That’s why it’s called the future. That’s why we can always be hopeful; we never know what is going to happen. This hopefulness, this going forward, this accepting the challenge of an unknown future, is the practice of virya: Virya is an ideal. An ideal is a direction that you are going. It is a practice, It is effort in practice. It is a practice that you can actually do!
When you find yourself in challenging life situations:
Or conversations about the election, reading, listening to information about the election or about or any unsettling information, Do your best to be mindful of the body. Give attention to your posture & assume a posture that is grounded & balanced. Explore how dedication to being mindful of the body & posture may help you to experience equanimity & balance.
Uncertainty with resilience: Practice: Don’t know mind-Don’t assume a “good” or “bad” outcome-Don’t make up the future- not spinning. Just remind yourself- Don’t know.
Watching or listening to election news: Drop into the experience; feel where you are standing or sitting; feel your feet on the ground or your body making contact with the chair or sofa. Be aware of where you are standing or sitting emotionally? Is there any spark of anger, worry, anxiety, fear? Is there any spark of joy, elation, relief, calm? Is there desire or aversion obscuring your attention? Become aware of your own presence moment experience.
Or waiting for the election results: and maybe pacing back and forth in your house and there’s nothing you can do. Finally you take a seat in the midst of your fears, your sorrows, thoughts, worries. And you just sit in the middle of it all. And that’s the moment that you begin to understand the power of your practice!
Winona’s practice: When I am caught in Worldly Winds, I think of our sangha, my other sanghas, all the sanghas all over the world coming together to practice a new World into being. I remember that I am with them, and they are with me. If I need to, I can put myself in the center of this circle of healing and wellbeing.

Remember Larry Rosenberg’s words: “So, we know one of the things you can do – and I hope this may help some of you — as you practice, you use the events of the election – starting now and leading up to the vote and even after the vote – that may produce a lot of worry, emotions, resentment, and so forth – no matter who wins or loses. You use those events as a dharma door. That is, whatever is happening, you become aware of your reaction to it. Which means you watch what it stimulates, you see what it’s doing to your consciousness. It might produce fear, loneliness, futility, disappointment – whatever. It’s no different than our usual practice between people. Except you’re reacting to what’s coming out of your screens and results of the election. You’re aware of it rather than reacting to it.”

Equanimity Before, During & After the Election: Week 1 (10-24-24) Home Practices

Equanimity or Upekkha in Pali is the quality of heart -mind that when developed, allows one to meet every kind of experience with both strength and a softness or fluidity that doesn’t get caught by circumstances. To discover its power within is one of the greatest joys in practice.
Sitting practice: for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (more if you are able) Please practice your meditation in silence. (If you use apps-use them only a few times this week)
Gratitude Practice. Call, text, or e-mail your buddies from the class, 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything. Gratitude is the capacity to take delight in life, in this moment, here, now, in being alive! Gratitude is the ability to feel joy & wonder.
Equanimity can be known as: spaciousness, unwavering balance, stillness of the mind, grace, dignity, radiant calm. Equanimity literally means equilibrium or sameness of mind in all circumstances. Equanimity is not removed or separate from the causes-difficulties we can face in our lives-but it is found within them it is found in the midst of them. Equanimity is found within our willingness and capacity to meet all moments of our lives with equal care, compassion and sensitivity.
Equanimity is the capacity to meet our lives with balance. It is a practice! To find balance we need to be deeply interested in all those places where we get knocked off balance.
- In formal sitting meditation practice, notice when you feel calm & settled, then notice if you feel balanced when you feel calm.
- In daily life practice, see if you can notice any sense of balance or evenness. If you don’t experience a sense of balance, explore what prevents you from being present and feeling equanimity.
For a couple of minutes at the end of your day, Reflect if there were times you felt indifferent or disconnected from your experience. How does that feeling compare or contrast to the feeling of calm, evenness, balance you explored earlier in the your day? Do you have a sense as to what prevents you from feeling connected to your experience?
The Election & Daily Life When you find yourself in challenging life situations or conversations about the election, reading or listening to information about the election or about any unsettling information, Do your best to be mindful of the body. Give attention to your posture and assume a posture that is grounded and balanced. Feel the body and pause foe 10 seconds. Explore how being mindful of the body and posture may help you to have equanimity.
HAVE FUN!

Healing the Inner World of Thought HW Week 4 (11/11/24)

Formal Practice

Building on the practice of last and the previous weeks exploration into “What is a thought?”. Add in taking note of “how much your are believing in the thought?” A lot? A little? Somewhere in between? Or “how sticky” the thought feels. If the mind get spurred into more rumination by this exploration, you might use a short hand to guage like recognizing ‘small’ ‘medium’ or ‘large’ or using a 1-5 scale. For some this wouldn’t feel natural at all, which is fine. Simply find any simple way that the degree of belief, clinging, or stickiness toward the thought can be acknowledged without stirring up too much further rumination.
As you do this, it is valuable to become familiar with where you turn your attention to see this relationship to the thought. Where in your experience are you looking to find out whether it’s a lot or a little clinging? Is it to the current mindstate? To the felt sense in the body? To somewhere else? There is NO NEED to find words for this. Just become familiar with the gesture of looking in this place.
As we integrate this (and any) investigation into our practice. It is of the utmost importance to do so in a way that doesn’t abandon our natural contemplative strengths in favor of some idea of “how this approach should feel” or “what we should find”. If loving-kindness is a natural strength, infuse this investigation with lovingkindness, if awareness of the body is a strength, see how much of this can be discovered through awareness of the body, if noting is a strength, allow a light steady noting to accompany the exploration, and so forth.

Reflection Practice

See, and soften the inclination to change, fix, or control any relationship to thoughts and thinking that you recognize.
- If you see very strong clinging. DO NOT try to “let go” of the clinging. Instead, aim to see/feel/know/recognize and understand the clinging as intimately as possible.
- This could be said for any relationship to thoughts and thinking that you recognize. In this practice the arising relationship to thoughts and thinking is the guest of honor, the research subject, that which we feel grateful to be able to learn from by seeing how it behaves in its natural habitat, rather than an enemy, a project, a shortcoming.
- This approach helps shift any latent tendencies to let our contemplative practice remain motivated by craving, aversion, & delusion.

Healing the Inner World of Thought HW Week 3 (11/4/24)

Formal Practice
- At the beginning of every formal practice, start to take a guess. Will this be a formal practice session where thought is more active than average or less active than average? Take a guess at the content “I’m likely to encounter thoughts of _____”
- What is a thought? Ask from a position of seeing it as the arising of nature.
- At the end of the meditation: Where my predictions accurate? How so, and how not so?
Reflection Practice
- Reflection exercise 1
  - Reflect: “How would having a radically different relationship to my thoughts change what it feels like to live through this election, or this time of life for me?”
  - Paint the picture, really imagine it. Reflect on this every day.
- Reflection exercise 2
  - When you catch yourself deeply absorbed in thinking, reflect:
    - A) For thoughts that feel urgent or important: “This is only a thought, nothing more.” (Note: don’t try to change the way you feel about the thought, simply add this light remembrance in and see what happens)
    - B) For thoughts that feel not so urgent or important: “Be Care-Full! Pay attention. This is a thought. It could influence me greatly if I’m not careful.” (The wording is slightly exaggerated here so that the intent is clear. Similarly, do not try to force a change in relationship to the thought. Simply drop this light remembrance in and see what happens)

Healing the Inner World of Thought HW Week 2 (10/28/24)

Formal Practice

We are endeavoring to support the continued strengthening of the faculty of discernment in relationship to thoughts and thinking this week. Last week we began this development by using counting and mental noting as a means to make it more clear when the mind is absorbed in thought. This week we will use mindfulness to help highlight the recognition of the arising of thoughts. And then add in a light reflection of wise discernment.
Settling attention on the sensations of the body breathing, use counting or mental noting when there is less clarity and energy available, and if you like, you may explore dropping any active verbalization in the mind. In either case, with attention settled on feeling the changing sensations of the body, the primary intent is to watch for the arisings of thoughts. Much like sitting on the edge of a lake, resting ones attention on the surface of the water, and waiting to notice when fishes jump.
Highlighting the arising aspect of the phenomenon of thought means to really appreciate the way in which, in one moment the thought was not present, and in the next series of moments, it has appear into being.
No matter at what point after the thought has arisen that you become mindful/aware of its arising, reflect on the recognition that you likely did not ask for this thought to arise, did not plan to have it, did not choose for this thought to arise.
It is of course possible to choose to have a thought, or to develop thought intentionally, but these instructions assume that because you are in the midst of your formal practice, most of the thoughts which arise will do so, without your active planning to have them arise. Notice that most, if not all of these thoughts are arising, unbidden.
After the mindful recognition of a thought’s arising, and discerning that it has arisen independent of your control, you may wish to continue the practice of noticing any conditioned response in the somatic sensations of the body. Or, you may choose so simply drop back into “watching the surface of the lake”, being steadily, mindfully ready for the arising of the next predominant thought.

Reflection

If it was useful to you, you can continue recognizing the category of thoughts throughout your days. This, very often, can offer a helpful entry point for wise and creative relationship to the thought, and the thinking energy.

Healing the Inner World of Thought HW Week 1 (10/21/24)

Contemplative Investigation: On two separate days this week, make note of the different categories of thoughts you experience
Weekly Meditation Instructions: Do this practice and explore.
- Rest your attention on the felt sensations of breathing, moment-to-moment.
- For each in-breath, and each out-breath, use a quiet verbal cue in the mind to ‘mark’ or help connect with the experience. Counting can work well (silently saying “one” on the in-breath, “one” on the out-breath, then “two” on the next in-breath, and so forth). Count only up to 10, and from there, count back down to one, and then up again. This helps counteract any misguided sense that there is anywhere to “go” or anything to “achieve” which can creep in unintentionally.
- It also works fine to use the word “in” on the in-breath, and “out” on the out-breath.
- This practice is meant to help reveal, with as much clarity as possible, when attention has moved away from its intended object (the sensations of the in-breath and out-breath). When you recognize the mind has gotten absorbed into a mind-made-world where the content of thoughts are the predominant experience: turn your attention to the sensations in the body, as you notice whatever somatic sensations are most obvious in the body, feel free to gently relax, smile a little if it suits you, and take note of the general category of thought: was it a planning thought? A self-conscious worry? A fantasy or thought of wanting? A judgment? You don’t need to get the category perfectly right, there will be MANY more opportunities to explore the type of thought that’s arisen.
- After this brief exploration, feeling whatever sensations are most obvious in the body, gently relaxing any unnecessary tension, and taking note of the type/category of thought, simply begin again freshly. Starting anew, turn your attention to the most obvious sensations of the next out-breath, or in-breath.
- Rinse and repeat
- Over the days, you may begin to notice that some bodily sensations tend to co-arise with particular types of thought. See for yourself.
- In Matthew’s words: “Thoughts seem to leave a ‘footprint’ in the body.” You may find this is, or isn’t true in your own experience. Find out!

Learn how to shift gears in meditation when needed: If you aren’t familiar with self-compassion as a meditation technique, or directing compassion toward an experience of suffering during meditation, find and do a few guided meditations on self compassion.

Bringing Mindfulness and Care to Physical Pain Week 5 (11/6/24) Home Practice

Continue using whatever practices you find helpful. Remember, when times get rough, practice is often the first thing to go. But now is when it’s needed more than ever!
Reminders on bringing self-compassion to formal practice and daily life:
- While aware of physical and/or emotional pain, silently in your mind ask the investigative question, “Can I hold this pain with compassion.” Don’t answer from your head, with words. Simply be quiet and receptive and see if anything shifts. Try this at different times, a number of times.
- Show your emotional and/or physical pain compassion by putting a hand on your heart center and saying (silently in your mind), “Oh, honey,” “Oh, sweetie,” or “Dear One.”
- Think of a being—a person or animal—who it’s easy to feel compassion for. Perhaps a child. Sit quietly and remember the felt-sense of that compassion. When the compassion feels clear, see if you can transfer that felt-sense to yourself and your pain. It might help to use one of the phrases above simultaneously (“Oh, honey,” etc.)
Compassion exercise: Imagine someone who you’re close to who understands your situation with pain and who sees you with eyes of compassion. (This could be a real person or someone you make up.) Now, imagine them saying how they see you and your situation. Write it down (in a journal, e.g., for your own benefit only) or simply imagine it in your mind.
If there are any topics or questions you want Reya to address in our upcoming—and last—session, please send them to the office no later than Monday, so Reya has time to go through them before class.

Bringing Mindfulness and Care to Physical Pain Week 4 (10/30/24) Home Practice

Continue with the home practices from last week. In formal practice, if you are practicing with mindfulness of the bare sensations of pain, here are some tips on using “investigative questions”:

To be mindful of any mind/body experience—perhaps especially the unpleasant and unwanted ones—it helps to get interested. And asking oneself investigative questions can intrigue and engage the attention. Investigative questions are not meant to be answered intellectually; they are not meant to be answered with words at all. Instead, after asking a question silently in one’s mind, one then observes the relevant experience with curiosity and mindful observation. Questions we have used in class include:

[Separate from my assumptions and feelings about them,] What do these sensations really feel like?
- You might want to follow-up this question with, Can I be at ease with this?
What is the size and shape of the area the sensations cover?
- As I observe, is it staying the same or is it changing?
Does the intensity of the sensations stay the same or does it ebb and flow?

Bringing Mindfulness and Care to Physical Pain Week 3 (10/23/24) Home Practice

Formal practice—Practice softening and/or mindfulness of the bare sensations of pain at least 3 X’s/week. With softening, you can soften around tension, reactivity, and/or pain. You can do mindfulness of bare sensations of pain right afterwards in the same session, or at a separate session. Generally, though, mindfulness of pain sensations will be easier if you do at least some softening right beforehand.

Each time you practice, I suggest you check in with yourself at the beginning of the session to see which practices are right for you at that time. If you’re unsure, you can try a practice and stop if it feels like you’re going past your growth zone. It’s never helpful to set off those alarms! However, if you are merely restless, discontented, or indecisive, then remember that when doing more than one practice in one session, it helps to stick with the first for some minutes, then to drop it and do the second for some minutes, and so on. In contrast, jumping back and forth haphazardly and/or quickly probably won’t feel as beneficial.

2) Daily life—

Continue softening around pain and/or reactivity in daily life OR
Notice pleasant sensory experiences—e.g., pleasant sights, sounds, tastes, smells, physical sensations. Be mindful of seeing, hearing, tasting, these pleasant things for a few moments. Remember: they do not need to be the ultimate, best-ever, sensory experiences. Even just somewhat pleasant will do. Getting familiar with this often-overlooked world of pleasantness can help to balance out pain’s tendency to grab our attention.

Bringing Mindfulness and Care to Physical Pain Week 2 (10/16/24) Home Practice

Continue with home practices from last week. The one addition (optional) practice is to try softening in daily life. Meaning, if you notice tension in general or specifically around pain or reactivity to pain, see if you can just soften around it in the moment.

Here are more tips for noticing reactivity to pain in daily life:

First, you have to remember to notice reactivity. If necessary, try putting up small signs around your home, tying a string around your finger, or whatever works.
Helpful investigative questions to ask include, “Can I be OK with this?” or “Can I make room for this?” If you are really getting lost in your mind’s stories, you can also try imagining that the thoughts are not coming from your own mind but from a nearby radio, blaring.

Remember to modulate yourself with the learning zones. If practice feels somewhat difficult, that’s OK—learning new skills can be that way. But it shouldn’t feel excruciating or dysregulating. For example, it’s not helpful to get panicked, on the one hand, or zoned out/disassociated, on the other. If you find something like that happening, try decreasing the intensity, perhaps by meditating with eyes open or mindfully listening to sounds until you feel more balanced. (If you practice while lying down, please note that I am using ‘zoned out’ and ‘disassociated’ to mean something distinct from ‘sleepy,’ which is the main pitfall in “prone practice.” You can bounce back from sleepiness more readily.)

Bringing Mindfulness and Care to Physical Pain Week 1 (10/09/24) Home Practice

In formal meditation: Practice softening this week. I suggest doing it at least 3 times but find what’s right for you. If you have a daily practice, you can do it then. It can be the main focus of your practice, or you can take some time for it at the beginning or end of your usual practice. If you don’t have a daily practice or if you prefer, you can devote 10-15 minutes (or as much as you want) at any point during the day to practicing softening.
In daily life: Notice times when you find yourself lost in resistance, aversion, or other reactivity to pain. This could include a sense of struggling with it or of trying to push it aside—perhaps convincing yourself that it is not a problem even as your stress level climbs. It could also include reactive thoughts and emotions about your pain (and/or health/life situation related to pain). Resistance, aversion, and reactivity also include self-judgments, blame, worry, anger, stories or narratives about the situation, and the like.

Remember, it’s understandable that these difficult mind-states arise—there’s no need to condemn them. The suffering—i.e., the “second arrow”—occurs when we get caught in them. For this reason, when you become aware of being caught or lost in a difficult mind-state, simply recognize that a reactive thought or emotion is happening. If you find it helpful, you can make a quiet, mental note like, “2^nd arrow,” “that’s just a thought,” “worry is happening,” or simply, “thinking” or “worry.” Or make up your own note. It’s about increasing your awareness of reactivity, not judging or eliminating it.

Experienced Practitioners Week 7 (10/12/24) Home Practices

Please continue with the phrases that have already been offered or you may decide to take up this new set of phrases.

May I accept change with stillness and calm.
May I embrace this moment as it is.
May I be open and balanced and peaceful.

——-

May I look after myself with ease.
May I look after my loved ones with ease.
May I look after my communities with ease.
May I look after the world with ease.

And throughout the week add the appropriate phrase in the moment…

May I look after this anxiety with ease.
May I look after this anger with ease.
May I look after this loneliness with ease.
May I look after this grief with ease.
May I rest in not-knowing.
May I rest in calm.

Call upon this list of phrases in ways that are beneficial for you.

Experienced Practitioners Week 6 (10/5/24) Home Practices

Please continue with the phrases that have already been offered which are clearly summarized in last week’s posting – see Week # 5.

As well, add the following phrases as an option:

May I rest in not-knowing.
May I rest in calm.

Call upon this list of phrases in ways that are beneficial for you.

Experienced Practitioners Week 5 (10/29/24) Home Practices

The home practice is to continue working with the phrases:

May I look after myself with ease.
May I look after my loved ones with ease.
May I look after my communities with ease.
May I look after the world with ease.

Say them slowly – Let them sink into your bones, your body, your psyche, your very being.

See if you can be sensitive as to which phrase might be most helpful at any particular time.

And throughout the week add the appropriate phrase in the moment…

May I look after this anxiety with ease.
May I look after this anger with ease.
May I look after this loneliness with ease
May I look after this grief with ease.

Experienced Practitioners Week 4 (10/22/24) Home Practices

The home practice is to continue working with the phrases offered in week #1 assignment.

For anyone struggling with the second phrase, “May I look after my loved ones with ease,” substitute or add the phrase, “I care for you deeply and I cannot protect you from all distress.”

Perhaps adding additional phrases as felt or needed, as we expand past our “dear ones” in phrase # 2 to our wider world, such as:

“May we look after this/our sanghas with ease.”
“May we look after this/our world, with ease.”

And then perhaps contemplating an expansive all-inclusive wholesomeness in “looking after the world with ease.” Perhaps just as we don’t give up on ourselves or our families in difficult times, perhaps knowing that times are always difficult. Seeing the world as nature, as interconnection, perhaps as the felt immeasurable ground or stillness which intersects and supports the impermanence of our humanity and all things in the world. Which makes everything and everyone more precious here and now.

Experienced Practitioners Week 3 (10/15/24) Home Practices

The home practice is to continue working with the phrases offered in week #1 assignment.
For anyone struggling with the second phrase, “May I look after my loved ones with ease,” substitute or add the phrase, “I care for you deeply and I cannot protect you from all distress.

Experienced Practitioners Week 2 (10/8/24) Home Practices

The home practice is to continue working with the phrases offered in the week #1 assignment.

It’s ok to change the wording to make it your own (ex. from “looking after” to “care for”

Also, if you find that one of the three phrases is more pertinent to your experiences this week than the other two, please feel free to prioritize that phrase.

Experienced Practitioners Week 1 (10/1/24) Home Practices

The home practice this week is to take up these three equanimity phrases.

“May I look after myself with ease.”

“May I look after my loved ones with ease.”

“May I look after this world with ease”

The “ease” is the equanimity.

One way to practice with them is to repeat them inwardly as part of your formal meditation practice, perhaps for the first five or ten minutes of your daily sitting.

You could also remember these phrases before you go to sleep at night or when you wake up. Also, while walking or when practicing formal walking meditation, integrating them into your life throughout the day, as well as including them in your formal sitting practice.

Please be prepared to come to class next week and be able to report on how you practiced with them.

Way of Awareness Week 4 (10/10/24) Home Practice

***Keep Practicing & Have FUN!***

Gratitude Practice: Text your buddies 3 things you are grateful for each day.
Sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day: Do your best! For at least the first 10 minutes, keep your meditation simple — focus on the body & then your anchor-the touch points or sounds or breath. To the best of your ability, when some other experience gets in the way of being with the anchor, simply let it go & come back to the touch points or sounds or breath After 5-10-minutes, continue with the anchor until something else becomes more compelling. If physical sensations, emotions, moods, hindrances or thinking predominate, let go of the anchor Open to what is happening in the present moment. Recognize, Allow, Observe. When it is no longer compelling or if nothing else is compelling, open to & return to the experience in the body- the anchor. (see thought info below)
Practice standing & walking meditation as you move through the world.
Engage in a daily activity with Mindfulness-a simple, routine activity commit to integrating mindfulness into that activity every day. Such as: brushing one’s teeth, taking a shower, riding your bicycle, or eating. This practice in addition to your daily formal sitting-standing-walking-gratitude practices is designed to bring mindfulness into your daily life.
Continue to dedicate one snack or meal a day to eating slowly & mindfully. Pay attention to the tastes, textures, and temperature of your food & to the experience of your body eating. Whenever your mind wanders, or you get caught up in reactions, pause & come back to simply eating.
Pause Meditation:
- Simply Pause
- Feel your feet on the floor
- Shift into relaxation-Soften muscles where you feel tension- ex: shoulders, jaw, around the eyes, belly
- Notice how the body feels, Pay attention as if listening to body-
- Ask, What is happening right now? “ Listen for the answer and let it go.
- Feel your feet on the floor.-Widen attention over the entire body — Inhabit the body-
Thoughts:
- Remember that the point of meditation is not to stop thinking! With mindfulness, we are not stopping thoughts or pushing away the thoughts that do arise as much as not dwelling in them or being preoccupied with them.
- Do your best to pay attention to thoughts without getting lost in their content. Instead, simply notice that thinking is happening. Often we get lost in thoughts about the past or future. Notice other aspects of the process of thinking, do you think in words or images? In color or black & white? Is your inner voice soft, gentle or harsh, critical, or accepting, easy?
- Bring an affectionate curiosity, interest and investigation into thinking-thoughts. Notice if thoughts are connected with body sensations (pressure, tension in the body?), feelings-pleasant, unpleasant, neutral or emotions. Investigate-do you control thoughts? Or do they appear & disappear whether we like it or not?
- Once during the week, for 10 minutes, find some way to remind yourself every few minutes to notice what you are thinking. Are the thoughts mainly self-referential or about others? Do they tend to be critical or judgmental? What is the frequency of thoughts of “I should”? Are the thoughts mostly directed to the future or the past? Do you tend more toward optimistic or pessimistic thoughts? Contented or dissatisfied thoughts? This is not an exercise in judging what you notice, but in simply noticing. This is an exercise in stepping outside of the thought-stream into an awareness that is bigger than the thinking mind.
Enjoy moments of your life! Have Fun, Laugh. Put the burden down, Lighten up.

Way of Awareness Week 3 (9/26/24) Home Practice

I will arrive at 6:30 pm on the day of our practice group- in case you have a question and of course, there will also be Q & A during the class as well.

Gratitude Practice: Text or e-mail your buddies 3 things you are grateful for each day.
Practice sitting meditation for a minimum of 10-20 minutes per day.
When you are sitting, rest your attention on the felt sensations of the body: the touch points or sounds or the breath, when the mind wanders & you notice it. Delight that you are present. Gently, drop the story & open to the touch points, sounds or breath. You can always begin again. When physical sensations or emotions, arise in the background, let them be in the background. When an emotion, mood, mind state, hindrance becomes compelling enough to make it difficult to be mindful of the touch points, sounds, breath or if you are experiencing a struggle– then bring the emotion, mood, mind state, hindrance into the focus of your mindful awareness. Observe it’s changing nature. When it no longer calls your attention, return to your anchor. (You can also practice RAIN- below)
- Practice RAIN (any of these)
- R=Recognizing what emotion is arising.
- A=Accepting, Allowing, opening to, making room for the emotion just as it is. Not adding, not subtracting.
- I=Investigating. Dropping any fixed ideas you have about the emotion. Seeing it in a fresh way. Seeing what makes up the emotion- where is it in the body? What are the sensations, Is it pleasant, unpleasant, neutral, got any attitudes? –Not analyzing, not fixing, more a sensory understanding. Let the body be the container for the emotion.
- N=Non identification. Not claiming the emotion to be who you are or how things are. Instead nurturing & resting in awareness.
Practice standing & walking meditation at least once in your day.
Gently notice when you can, if experiences are pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. (Be mindful of the habit to hold on to the pleasant, push away the unpleasant & space out the neutral). ALSO, Do your best to get to know desire, aversion, sloth & torpor, restlessness & doubt. They are common sources for distraction. Are any of these more common for you than the others? What is your relationship to these hindrances when they appear? By noticing their presence, does that change how you get pulled into them? Mindfully observe and get to know any hindrance. Experiment with RAIN or if strong cultivate the opposite (desire-impermanence, aversion-kindness, sloth & torpor-raise energy-stand, open eyes, pull on ear lobes, restlessness-increase calm, steadiness count 1-3, deep breath, doubt- doubt the doubt) or 3 E’s (eyebrow, earlobe, elbow) steady in the neutral & then return open to connect to hindrance)
Dedicate one snack (or meal a day) to eating slowly & mindfully. Pay attention to the tastes, textures, temperature of your food & to the experience of your body eating. You might want to put down the spoon or fork between bites. Whenever your mind wanders, or you get caught up in reactions, pause & come back to simply eating.
Continue engaging in a daily activity with Mindfulness a simple, routine activity commit to integrating mindfulness into that activity every day. Such as: brushing one’s teeth, taking a shower, riding your bicycle. This practice in addition to your daily formal sitting-standing-walking-gratitude, eating practices are designed to bring mindfulness into your daily life. ***

HAVE FUN!

Way Of Awareness Week 2 (9/19/24) Home Practices

I will arrive at 6:30 pm on the day of our practice group, in case you have any questions.

Gratitude Practice. Text or e-mail your buddies from class 3 things you are grateful for each day.
Sitting practice: Try sitting for a minimum of 5-10 minutes per day (more if you are able). Please practice your meditation in silence. When you are sitting, rest your attention on the felt sensations of breathing. When you notice the mind has wandered gently bring the attention back to the experience of your anchor:
- EITHER touch points, sounds, breath.
- If a strong physical sensation makes it difficult for you to stay with the touch points, sounds, breath, bring your awareness to this new predominant experience and sense or feel the physical experience. Simply allow it to be there. Drop whatever comments or evaluations you may have about the experience and get to know the experience directly. Is the experience pleasant, or unpleasant? What are the actual sensations of this physical sensations? (heat, cold, tingling, tightness, pulling, hardness etc.). Are there any edges? Is it changing? Once a sensation is no longer calling your attention or has disappeared, return to or open your anchor Touch points, sounds, breathing.
- The goal is not to sit without pain. Some sittings you may have joy, calm, others discomfort, pain-In meditation & life get about equal measure- We are not trying to minimize, get rid of, ignore, run away from pain- because if you do you may spend ½ of your life running away! Better to learn hoe to RELATE to pleasure and/or pain with compassion, tenderness, understanding.
Walking meditation: Practice walking meditation at least once during the day as you move through the world. Simply, find a pace that gives you a sense of ease as you walk. Let your attention settle on the base of your feet. Feel the contact with the ground.
In the midst of your regular daily activities: Dedicate two 5-minute periods during the week to being mindful of your body. Notice your shoulders, stomach, face or hands. If you find tension in any of these places open, soften and bring in some ease if possible.
This practice is a practice of remembering, so when your mind wanders and you notice it wandering or you wake up from the story/trance you are in. Delight that you are awake, ground in the body and gently, simply escort the attention back to whatever you are doing. Every time you bring your attention back to the present moment, you are developing mindfulness.
Please practice – “beginners mind” – to find your way to a quieter mind is to start a new, a fresh, to begin again to open your heart & to be here, in this present moment, over & over. To let go of the stories, agendas, opinions, views, bias, projections, conclusions – to begin again!
***Engage in a daily activity with Mindfulness-a simple, routine activity commit to integrating mindfulness into that activity every day. Such as: brushing one’s teeth, taking a shower, riding your bicycle. This practice in addition to your daily formal sitting-standing-walking-gratitude practices is designed to bring mindfulness into your daily life. ***
HAVE FUN!

Way of Awareness Week 1 (9/12/24) Home Practice

I will arrive at 6:30 pm on the day of our practice group- in case you have a question and of course, there will also be Q & A during the class as well.

Gratitude Practice. Text or e-mail your buddies from class 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything. (If you haven’t sent me your group names, please do)
Sitting practice: Try sitting for a minimum of 5-10 minutes per day. (more if you are able) It is helpful to find a quiet space or room, a consistent time, and a chair or cushion that best supports your sitting practice. It is helpful to use a timer (if using your phone, place it a distance away from where you are sitting)
Please practice your meditation in silence. (if you use an app, try using it only a couple times a week)
Experiment with different postures and meditation supports — a cushion, a chair, or a bench. (if lying down-change sides, if possible) Find what works best for your body to help develop an alert and easeful posture. One that supports your attention to the present moment experience of the body/breath or body/touch points or body/sounds.
Bring an attitude of kindness, curiosity, and interest into your sitting (lying down) practice. As you meditate, begin by settling into the body. Aware of sitting (lying down) and the sensations such as the body making contact with the sofa, bed, mat, the floor, or your sitting bones on the cushion or chair. (if lying down notice the body making contact with the bed) Then gently bring the attention to rest on the breathing either at the nostrils, the chest area or the abdomen. Using the breath as an anchor. Feel the sensations of breathing. You can also use touch points- hands, feet, sitting bones, lips as your anchor. Simply receive the sensations Or you can use sounds as your anchor. Sounds near/far, all around you, spaces between sounds, tone, pitch, length, loudness. Simply listen- Please choose just one anchor, breath, touch points, or sounds. Stick with the one that is the easiest for you as the anchor.
This practice is a practice of remembering, so when your mind wanders and you notice it wandering or you wake up from the story/trance you are in.
Delight that you are awake, ground in the body and gently, simply escort the attention back to the breath, the touch points or the sounds as your anchor. The anchor is a place you return to when the story pops. Please let go of any judgments about returning to opening to the anchor. Every time you bring your attention back to the present moment, you are developing mindfulness.
HAVE FUN!

Session 8 (10/30/24) Home Practice

This home practice page offers an opportunity to give you the last handouts from our class. This includes our chant in the last class, the Reflection on Universal Loving Kindness. We have recently been talking about the ‘objects of mind’ or dhammas and how the last four of the sixteen steps of this sutta contemplate the impermanence of these objects of mind, how we can approach them with viraga, or dispassion leading to the cessation of clinging and attachment, which leads to release. We also talked about how Anālayo highlights two lists of dhammas that are consistently mentioned in all the renderings of the fourth foundation of mindfulness in Chinese and other languages. Those are the Five Hindrances and the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. Last time I handed out some reference information on the Seven Factors. This last handout is a printout about the hindrances from Anālayos book, Satipațțhāna The Direct Path to Realization. A link to the pdf of the whole book was included in your booklist.

Thank you all for your interest and participation in the Ānāpānassati practice group. You supported each other in your practice together. Although you have no ‘homework’, here are a few suggestions to keep your practice going.

As I said in class, I have read quite a few books on Ānāpānassati, and each one gives a different variation on the instructions for the 16 steps. This is because the steps are meant as an outline for practice. Had we lived in the time of the Buddha, we would have benefited from more detailed instructions from some senior monastics.

In this group, we have taken an approach based on the text of the sutta, what we know about the steps for developing samatha and vipassana, and our actual experience of what happens when we practice these steps in sequence.

You will always be the final judge of whether your practice is leading to the “great fruit and benefit” described in the Ānāpānassati Sutta. If your practice, over time, leads to greater calmness of heart and clarity of mind then Keep going! In my experience, the results of this practice can lead to greater confidence, which leads to more momentum in your practice, generating a positive feedback loop! And it may also be that, after giving this practice a good test, it may not be what you need at this time – No problem!

The sixteen steps are invaluable, but remember that the resting places, or “abodes” as we called them, are perfectly good places to stop when you don’t have time for all 16 steps.

Remember that over time, the steps blend together, becoming more integrated.

The sixteen steps can be condensed into two: calming and investigating, or in the elegant ‘three steps’ outlined by Larry Rosenberg: Whole body breath awareness, Breath as anchor, and Choiceless Awareness.

As you practice, you’ll find that the breath is an excellent companion when you are off the cushion. Even when you are not practicing the 16 steps as we do in the formal sitting practice, you can always turn to the breath in day-to-day activities for a moment of refreshment, nourishment, and re-centering.

May you maintain your ease and well-being, for the benefit of all.

Jim Austin jim@jimaustin.net

Session 7 (10/23/24) Home Practice

Begin to move into the last tetrad, by noticing the qualities of impermanence in everything that comes and goes in our meditation. Every train of thought eventually ends, What is that cessation like? Can we practice “viraga”, dispassion, an evenhanded mindfulness that can let things come and go without grasping?

As you practice the four tetrads, begin to let them flow together. We have already been blending the first 4 steps together. Can we allow step four to flow into steps five and six? It might be helpful to think of the different resting places along our journey of the 16 steps, rather than 16 individual steps, once we have some practice with the individual steps. The last two tetrads flow together easily as the practice shifts to a vipassana practice and employs choiceless awareness. The last tetrad is a shift in focus where we notice the impermanent nature of all that arises.

Continue your formal daily practice through the steps, but remember, even though you must start at step one each time you sit down to practice, you do not have to go through all the steps. Practicing through steps 4, 6, 8 or 10 are natural stopping places for a shorter practice.

Reflect on the sequence of the seven factors of enlightenment and how they align with the steps of this sutta.
Use your breath to anchor you throughout the day, as you walk, clean, or cook, for example.

Here is some reference material from session 7, including the reading list:

The Fourth Tetrad
Ānāpānassati Practice Group Book List, including free downloadable links
Seven Factors of Enlightenment from Tarchin Hearn

Session 6 (10/16/24) Home Practice

Try to practice every day for at least 30 minutes. If you don’t have 30 minutes, then practice the first two tetrads if possible. You may wish to try practicing the first tetrad while lying on your back.
Continue to go through the steps all the way through the third tetrad. Remember sometimes just saying the step can be an invitation for the mind to incline into it, for example, “Sensitive to mental formations, breathing in, breathing out” or “Gladdening the mind with gratitude, breathing in, breathing out.” The “stabilizing the mind” (step 11) in this tetrad means to be present with whatever presents itself. The breath is still present in the background, but we are firmly in vipassana practice now, being with what is.
Step 12, the last step of the third tetrad, is about “liberating” or “freeing” the mind. We discussed the first fetter to liberation, the “personality view.” We also read some excerpts from a talk given by Ajahn Sumedho in 2003. Here is a copy of the entire talk. This talk was given to the English monastic community of monks and nuns, which explains the British spellings, the hierarchical positions listed, and the reference to celibacy.

Click here and here for some reference material from our sixth session. The reference material this time is 1) a summary of what we covered and also 2) a comparison of how we practiced compared to other condensations of the 16 steps: Buddhadassa’s two-step condensed method and Larry Rosenberg’s Three Steps to Awakening.

The third tetrad moves more fully into Vipassana

Click here for some reference material from our fifth session.

Also, here is a Youtube link to the Ajahn Sucitto Qi Gong videos

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmkiZCRWurGBwKkP9_v_Q6xnkF1SAsxal

Session 5 (10/9/24) Home Practice

As we move into the third tetrad, we become more aware of the quality of our awareness, (such as whether the mind feels tight and small or large and spacious), or knowing when our mind is colored by greed, aversion or confusion. Notice these qualities, as you attend to the breath. Notice that certain thoughts, such as thoughts of gratitude can ‘gladden’ the mind. We move now into choiceless awareness, a moment to moment attending to what is the arising. This momentary concentration is what is being talked about in Step 11, steadying the mind.
In daily life practice checking in throughout the day not just with your body and thoughts, but also knowing how dull or bright the mind is, or how tight or spacious it feels. Know when you are distracted and when you are not. Observe when you are focused. What contributes to that?
Notice when we are wrapped up in ‘our stories’ and, on the other hand, how it feels when we are not so sucked into what is called ‘personality view’. Is this a kind of liberation of the mind?

Session 4 (10/2/24) Home Practice

Click here for some reference material from our fourth session.

Practice up through the second tetrad on your own as we did in the last session, starting with an awareness that is more narrowly focused on the breath centers and then moving to a more flowing, broad awareness of the breath sensations and energy in the whole body. I have recorded a guided audio practice to help you use the optional Tibetan ‘tools’. Rest in this first abode of a “relaxed and calm body and breath,” noticing and appreciating any feelings of ease in the body. You can drop the counting at this point, but you may still want to use a meditation word or a phrase. Invite Joy and Happiness as you shift to the second tetrad. Phrases such as “May I be sensitive to joy as I breathe in” or “Just as I have felt joy before, may I be open to joy in this moment.” The main ‘abode’ in this tetrad is Step 6, Sensitive to Happiness (sukha). Steps 7 and 8 help us return to the resting place of Step 6 when the mind wanders.
Take a look at the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, and compare the sections there with the way the tetrads are practiced in Ānāpānassati. You don’t need to do an in-depth reading or analysis; instead, just notice, for example, how long each foundation is, compared to the same Foundations in Ānāpānassati, or the differences and similarities in the practices. The sutta can be found here.
Take a look at this short Thich Nhat Hahn video from Plum Village. Notice what he says about the relationship between Samatha and Vipassana.

Our first tetrad is mostly Samatha = calming or to even out – “calm abiding”

The second tetrad moves into Samādhi = collecting, bringing together, making steady, concentrating containing the elements of non-sensual pleasure, refreshment and ease (Pīti, Sukha). It moves more into Vipassana.

Session 3 (9/25/24) Home Practice

Click here for some reference material from our third session.

Continue the work with the first tetrad, the body, by continuing to notice when there is tension in parts of the body, and when the body is relaxed. During the day, when you sense tension, try feeling the breath energy around that area, bringing awareness to the tension and the soothing qualities of the breath.
For formal practice, try moving through the steps of the first tetrad in varying lengths of time: 15 minutes, 20 min, and 30 minutes. Remember to transition between a more spotlighted awareness at the beginning, and end up with a broader more spacious awareness by the end of your session. Try dropping the counting in the last few minutes of your session, but continue using directed thought, by using a phrase or note along with your awareness of the flowing breath.
As we move into the second tetrad, notice throughout the day when there is something you are excited about or that you are looking forward to – how does that feel in the body? When you are resting or relaxed, (but not napping), how does that feel in the body? Does anything stand out?
If you want to try practicing the second tetrad, at the end of one of your shorter sessions (#2 above), pay attention to whatever ease is present in the body and mind as you ‘abide’ in step 4, Say a phrase or two to yourself that might invite more joy and ease, such as:

- “Breathing in, just as I have felt joy before, may I be open to joy in this moment” / “Breathing out, just as I have felt joy before, may I be open to joy in this moment”
- “Breathing in, just as I have felt ease before, may I be open to ease in this moment” / “Breathing out, just as I have felt ease before, may I be open to ease in this moment”

Session 2 (9/18/24)Home Practice

Click here for some reference material, based on our work in the First Tetrad.

This week, for home practice:

Try to use the roadmap we have used in class to visit the breath centers in the body
Follow along with this guided audio file if you would like
Notice at times in daily life, where it is that the breath is felt in the body as you breathe.
Some of you requested a video to help you remember the energizing practice we did in class. This video and audio track is a little older. Now, as we did it in class, I like to relax the shoulders more on the first squatting motion, with the palms facing down. Then I hold the palms facing each other as I lift through the chest and raise the arms for the full chair pose.
Breath Center Energizer
- The password to view this Vimeo file is ‘breathingCIMC’

Session 1 (9/11/24) Home Practice

Here are the links to the first session’s handouts:

Home Practice

Become aware of the connection between the breath and the body in terms of energy. Which ways of breathing feel calming? Which ways of breathing feel energizing?
If you already have a meditation practice that uses awareness of breathing, try feeling the breath in a location other than your usual or favorite location.
Spend five to ten minutes (or longer) feeling the breath in each of the breath centers in this ‘map’:
- Below the navel
- Above the navel and below the sternum
- Center of the chest at the breastbone
- Feeling the flow of breath at the throat
- Somewhere in the head, at the tip of the nose or farther back in the nasal or sinus cavities
Count the length of the inhale and the length of the exhale. To count five breaths in each area, you can count like this for each round of inhalations and exhalations:
- (inhale) “1 2345…” (exhale) “1 23456…”
  (inhale) “2 2345…” (exhale) “2 234567…
  (inhale) “3 23456…” (exhale) “3 23456…” and so on for 4 and 5

Thank you all for your practice.

Seven Factors of Awakening – A Year Living These Treasures – Home practices #10
***(Next class is a workshop 12/7/24 at 10:00am– 4:00pm). HAVE FUN with these practices!

Click here for a pdf of the home practices.

Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (More if you are able) Practice your meditation in silence. Start your sitting practice remembering your intention to be

- Mindfulness is, the 1^st factor of Asking: “What is being know right now? Is Mindfulness present right now or not? (laugh if not).
- The 2^nd is investigation. Asking: Is there interest & curiosity about your experience? Begin to understand what wholesome/skillful states of mind are & what are not. “What is this?” or “What is happening in this moment?
- The 3^rd is energy. Asking: Is there energy right now or not? “Is this suffering or not suffering? Is this wholesome or not wholesome?” Check & see, are you applying effort by striving or by softening?
- The 4^th is joy. Asking: Is there joy or rapt interest, right now or not? Is there a spark of joy-delight or not?
- The 5^th is Tranquility. Asking: How is the mind right now? Is there some sense of Tranquility, Calm, Stillness, Ease, Quietness arising right now or not? If there is some sense of agitation how might that release? As the agitation settles down, the mind/heart becomes quieter and quieter. If Tranquility feels like a stretch connecting to what registers as calm may help us connect to the experience.
- The 6^th is Concentration. Asking: So right now is the mind calm, stable, steady, undistracted or not? If it’s a bit scattered, can you (soften) so you can release whatever it is that is preoccupying you? As you practice softening, opening, loosening or softening, releasing, letting go, coming home to the object then you can experience deeper levels of steadiness. Samadhi is satisfying.
- The 7th Factor of Awakening is Equanimity. Asking: How is the Equanimity right now? Equanimity is the profound balance, spaciousness & non-reactivity in the heart and mind. It is accepting what is. The mind is steady, stable, allowing, not wanting anything, there is no not wanting anything, deep acceptance, deep allowing. Equally near all things. Strength, courage & balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena without grasping or aversion. Simply noticing when asking is there equanimity right now?

THIS MONTH: EXPLORE ALL 7 FACTORS –

Reflections:
- By recognizing the 7 factors as mental states operating in daily life we can then understand that meditation relies on ordinary capacities we already have rather than the introduction of new abilities foreign to our experience. In this way we may be able to access these seven mental states as they already live inside of us. Once accessed, we can develop them further.
- Just as the 7 factors are useful in daily life, they are helpful in meditation practice. In daily life they support a wholehearted involvement with what we are doing. In meditation they support a wholehearted engagement with the practice. The more they are present, the easier it is to be fully engaged with the practice. They help make meditation more satisfying and beneficial.
- The 7 factors also work together to find balance between the energizing and the calming aspects of meditation. Investigation, effort, and joy are energizing and can be called on when energy is too low; tranquility, concentration, and equanimity are calming and can be called on when energy is too high. Mindfulness itself is called the ‘great balancer’ because the clear recognition of imbalance by mindfulness helps bring the other factors into balance.
Practices:
- Recognizing the factors when they are present in us helps to develop them. It also gives us the opportunity to cultivate them further. Since the factors are sources of inner well-being, they reinforce the momentum to deepen and to develop one’s practice.
- These factors create the conditions in the mind so the mind can do the kind of letting go that leads to Liberation. Prior to Liberation, the seven factors can be developed to the point of becoming inner strengths that facilitate the process of gradually releasing clinging. Experiences of non-clinging help us make different choices about how we live our lives. This, in turn, can support the process of developing the seven factors and further reducing clinging.
- Share with your buddies the ways you recognize the 7 factors. Ways you learned how to stay with them, deepen, strengthen and nourish them.

Continuing Equanimity with this month-, Upekkha– the Seventh Factor of Awakening
- Equanimity experienced as cool, restful, easeful, even-mindedness, spacious, unshakable balance of mind, The 8 worldly winds are gain & loss, praise &blame, fame & shame, and pleasure & pain. When equanimity is developed, we can ride the waves with ease-balance. Without equanimity we are tossed about by the winds, crashing into life’s circumstances. Practicing equanimity with no preferences supports all of the awakening factors and strengthens the three characteristics. (Impermanence, Imperfect, impersonal) We can develop equanimity through non-attachment, association with wise people, and practicing wise attention with continuous mindfulness.
- Election Equanimity: Sky gazing outside or looking out a window-gaze at the sky. Taking in the volume of space. This can help open and rest the mind. Inside, in a room, instead of focusing on objects, notice the space defined by the enclosure. Try it in conversations. Notice the person with whom you are talking with and noticing the space in the room while participating in the conversation. These exercises cut the visual fixation on a single object and opening up the visual field can cut mental fixations as well.

Below are reflections & practices for Equanimity in daily life & formal meditation- Just in case you need them this month- from last month!
- Practices: During your daily formal meditation practice, see if you can notice any feelings of poise, balance, spaciousness, evenness. If you don’t experience a sense of any of these, then explore what prevents you from being present & feeling equanimity with what has arisen.
- Practices: When you find yourself in a challenging situation apply yourself to be mindful of your body. Give attention to your posture & assume a posture that is grounded & balanced. Explore how a dedication to being mindful of body & posture helps you to be more equanimous.
- Practice: In formal and daily life meditation practice notice when you feel calm and settled, then notice how balanced, spacious, poised you feel when you’re calm. Also notice the relationship between feeling agitated and your ability to hold experiences with equanimity.
- Reflection & Practice: Equanimity is a quality of mind and heart that when developed, allows one to meet every kind of experience with both strength & softness or fluidity that doesn’t get caught by circumstances. To discover its power within is one of the greatest joys in practice.

**Pause Practice: Each day or many times a day
Stop tune into your heart. That is where love, wisdom, grace & compassion reside. With a loving attention feel what matters most to you. Yes there may be anxious, thoughts, worried or fearful thoughts, grief or trauma. Don’t let your heart be colonized by fear! Take time to quiet the mind and tend to the heart. Go out-side or look out a window at the sky. Breathe in, Open yourself to the vastness. Sense the seasons changing. Breathe Out & Rest in loving awareness. Practice steadiness & equanimity. Look at the trees, Learn from them. They remain still in the midst of it all. They are nature, you are nature. You too, can be the still-point in the center of it all!

Continue this month of practice-.
When the awakening factors are present there is no room for the hindrances. The hindrances are absent. One simple way of understanding our practice is to nurture or let go-to release or let go of the hindrances and to strengthen or cultivate the awakening factors. It is possible to be mindful of the hindrances as an object of meditation Both in formal practice & daily life practice! Explore how Equanimity can be a stabilizing factor with Restlessness and worry or how it can become a hindrance of desire.
Recollect that the awakening factors point to freedom-free from greed, hatred, delusion- We can experience that in clear moments when the hindrances are absent. Might be nano-seconds and those moments can begin to grow .Awakening is a verb, a process!

Walking Meditation: Be Mindful when you are walking.

Gratitude Practices: 3 things you are grateful for daily. Email or Text your buddies.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s book, Factors For Awakening, Please read pages 44-58

Please read daily, The Seven Factors of Awakening: Notice in sitting practice & daily life when any of the above states of heart or mind are present in your body, heart, and mind.
1. Mindfulness (sati) Being aware of what is happening in the present moment
2. Investigation (dhamma-vicaya) Investigation supported by wisdom. Understands what are skillful/healthy/beneficial states of mind and what are not.
3. Energy (viriya)-Diligence, effort. Increased engagement with practice, especially freeing oneself from unskillful states.
4. Joy (piti) Feeling of delight, rapture. Touching that which is refreshing and beautiful, both within and without. Arises when attention is absorbed
5. Tranquility (passaddhi) Calming and stilling of body/ mind, Ease, quietness of mind, relaxation
6. Concentration (samadhi) The mind is focused, settled, steady and composed. The mind becomes unified around what we’re concentrating on, one-pointedness of mind.
7. Equanimity (upekkha) Balance, spaciousness, and non-reactivity of mind, balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena w/o grasping or aversion. Sublime and extremely satisfying state of heart/mind

Please get to know, The Five Hindrances: Can you surround each with acceptance?

- Sense-desire: wanting, lust or greed, craving-fantasy.
- Aversion: ill will, hatred, anger, fear, boredom, annoyance, irritation, impatience, judging- guilt.
- Sloth & torpor: sleepiness, sluggishness, dullness, fogginess, lack of vitality.
- Restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness.
- Doubt: Uncertainty, self doubt, skeptical doubt, uncertainty/indecision
  A Gentle Hindrance Hint: How did-do we relate when these Hindrances arise in meditation & in our daily life? The best way is to relate with skillfulness is to recognize, know what is happening in the present, to be mindful. Simply acknowledge the hindrance is that has arisen in this moment in your life, in your practice. If possible, touch them with your heart. Connect with tenderness or caring, befriending – do your best not to judge.

Click here for a PDF of the home practices.

Seven Factors of Awakening –A Year Living These Treasures- Home practices #9
***(Next class 11/8/24 at 6:00-8:30pm).

HAVE FUN with these practices! Happy Autumn!

Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (More if you are able) Practice your meditation in silence. Start your sitting practice remembering your intention to be
- Mindfulness is, the 1^st factor of Asking: “What is being know right now? Is Mindfulness present right now or not? (laugh if not).
- The 2^nd is investigation. Asking: Is there interest & curiosity about your experience? Begin to understand what wholesome/skillful states of mind are & what are not. “What is this?” or “What is happening in this moment?
- The 3^rd is energy. Asking: Is there energy right now or not? “Is this suffering or not suffering? Is this wholesome or not wholesome?” Check & see, are you applying effort by striving or by softening?
- The 4^th is joy. Asking: Is there joy or rapt interest, right now or not? Is there a spark of joy-delight or not?
- The 5^th is Tranquility. Asking: How is the mind right now? Is there some sense of Tranquility, Calm, Stillness, Ease, Quietness arising right now or not? If there is some sense of agitation how might that release? As the agitation settles down, the mind/heart becomes quieter and quieter. If Tranquility feels like a stretch connecting to what registers as calm may help us connect to the experience.
- The 6^th is Concentration. Asking: So right now is the mind calm, stable, steady, undistracted or not? If it’s a bit scattered, can you (soften) so you can release whatever it is that is preoccupying you? As you practice softening, opening, loosening or softening, releasing, letting go, coming home to the object then you can experience deeper levels of steadiness. Samadhi is satisfying.
- The 7th Factor of Awakening is Equanimity. Asking: How is the Equanimity right now? Equanimity is the profound balance, spaciousness & non-reactivity in the heart and mind. It is accepting what is. The mind is steady, stable, allowing, not wanting anything, there is no not wanting anything, deep acceptance, deep allowing. Equally near all things. Strength, courage & balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena without grasping or aversion. Simply noticing when asking is there equanimity right now?
This month, Equanimity, Upekkha- in Pali, — the Seventh Factor of Awakening
- Equanimity – is the last calming factor. It is an open, spacious, even mindedness to whatever our experiences are- An unshakable balance of heart a deep spaciousness. Equally near all things (not detached) Equanimity is a result of calm and concentration coming together. It arises when instead of reacting or flaying about, seeing if we can be more aware and lass reactive to our experiences.
- The opposite of Equanimity is our friend and hindrance restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness. Also, keep in mind -What looks like Equanimity and isn’t are indifference or dullness or a sense of rejecting life or someone else- and having it look like calm, balance, spaciousness. Equanimity is fully engaging in life with out reactivity. Equanimity has a deep understanding that things are as they are. This creates strength and courage of the heart and mind that allows us to be present without withdrawing into resentment, blame, self- pity. Equanimity’s strength comes from understanding change. Knowing that change is inevitable- Knowing we can’t control the uncontrollable world. We learn to trust, understand that all things are impermanent, Imperfect, Impersonal knowing this we live in freedom
Below are reflections & practices for Equanimity in daily life & formal meditation- Please choose & experiment with at least 2 of the following:
1. Reflections: Recollect a time when you felt present, poised, balanced, spacious while in the midst of an exciting or difficult activity? Recollect a time when you felt very present for what was happening & yet able to also see the bigger picture of what was occurring? How did it feel to not be caught up & lost in the activity, yet to still experience it? How did it feel in your body?
  - Practices: During your daily formal meditation practice, see if you can notice any feelings of poise, balance, spaciousness, evenness. If you don’t experience a sense of any of these, then explore what prevents you from being present & feeling equanimity with what has arisen.
2. Reflection: Some are put off by their ideas of equanimity, fearing that it asks us to have a cool aloofness, indifference to our experience & the world around us. What are your ideas about equanimity? How do you distinguish it from indifference or dry neutrality?
  - Practices: When you find yourself in a challenging situation apply yourself to be mindful of your body. Give attention to your posture & assume a posture that is grounded & balanced. Explore how a dedication to being mindful of body & posture helps you to be more equanimous.
3. Reflections: In the list of the 7 Factors or Awakening equanimity is last, after concentration. Why do you think this is? Do you experience a relationship between concentration & equanimity? How might these factors contribute to your development?
  - Practice: In formal and daily life meditation practice notice when you feel calm and settled, then notice how balanced, spacious, poised you feel when you’re calm. Also notice the relationship between feeling agitated and your ability to hold experiences with equanimity.
4. Reflection & Practices: Equanimity is a quality of mind and heart that when developed, allows one to meet every kind of experience with both strength & softness or fluidity that doesn’t get caught by circumstances. To discover its power within is one of the greatest joys in practice. What did you notice this month?

**Pause Practice: Each day or many times a day
Stop tune into your heart. That is where love, wisdom, grace & compassion reside. With a loving attention feel what matters most to you. Yes there may be anxious, thoughts, worried or fearful thoughts, grief or trauma. Don’t let your heart be colonized by fear! Take time to quiet the mind and tend to the heart. Go out-side or look out a window at the sky. Breathe in, Open yourself to the vastness. Sense the seasons changing. Breathe Out & Rest in loving awareness. Practice steadiness & equanimity. Look at the trees, Learn from them. They remain still in the midst of it all. They are nature, you are nature. You too, can be the still-point in the center of it all!

Continue this month of practice-.
When the awakening factors are present there is no room for the hindrances. The hindrances are absent. One simple way of understanding our practice is to nurture or let go-to release or let go of the hindrances and to strengthen or cultivate the awakening factors. It is possible to be mindful of the hindrances as an object of meditation Both in formal practice & daily life practice! This Month explore how Steadiness or concentration can be a stabilizing factor with Restlessness and worry or how it can become a hindrance of desire.
Recollect that the awakening factors point to freedom-free from greed, hatred, delusion- We can experience that in clear moments when the hindrances are absent. Might be nano-seconds and those moments can begin to grow. Awakening is a verb, a process!
Walking Meditation: Be Mindful when you are walking. Notice rushing– when we are ahead of ourselves just walk, when standing just stand.)
Gratitude Practices: 3 things you are grateful for daily. Email or Text your buddies.
Pause Meditation: (Several times in your day)
Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s book, Factors For Awakening, https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/#FactorsforAwakening Please read pages 39-38
Please read daily, The Seven Factors of Awakening: Notice in sitting practice & daily life when any of the above states of heart or mind are present in your body, heart, and mind.
1. Mindfulness (sati) Being aware of what is happening in the present moment
2. Investigation (dhamma-vicaya) Investigation supported by wisdom. Understands what are skillful/healthy/beneficial states of mind and what are not.
3. Energy (viriya)-Diligence, effort. Increased engagement with practice, especially freeing oneself from unskillful states.
4. Joy (piti) Feeling of delight, rapture. Touching that which is refreshing and beautiful, both within and without. Arises when attention is absorbed
5. Tranquility (passaddhi) Calming and stilling of body/ mind, Ease, quietness of mind, relaxation
6. Concentration (samadhi) The mind is focused, settled, steady and composed. The mind becomes unified around what we’re concentrating on, one-pointedness of mind.
7. Equanimity (upekkha) Balance, spaciousness, and non-reactivity of mind, balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena w/o grasping or aversion. Sublime and extremely satisfying state of heart/mind

Please get to know, The Five Hindrances: Can you surround each with acceptance?

- Sense-desire: wanting, lust or greed, craving-fantasy.
- Aversion: ill will, hatred, anger, fear, boredom, annoyance, irritation, impatience, judging- guilt.
- Sloth & torpor: sleepiness, sluggishness, dullness, fogginess, lack of vitality.
- Restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness.
- Doubt: Uncertainty, self doubt, skeptical doubt, uncertainty/indecision
  A Gentle Hindrance Hint: How did-do we relate when these Hindrances arise in meditation & in our daily life? The best way is to relate with skillfulness is to recognize, know what is happening in the present, to be mindful. Simply acknowledge the hindrance is that has arisen in this moment in your life, in your practice. If possible, touch them with your heart. To connect with tenderness or caring, to befriend the hindrance, do your best not to judge them.

Click here for a PDF of the home practices.

Seven Factors of Awakening –A Year Living These Treasures- Home practices #8
***(Next class 10/4/24 at 6:00-8:30pm).

HAVE FUN with these practices! Happy Autumn!

1) Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (More if you are able) Practice your meditation in silence.

Start your sitting practice remembering your intention to be

Mindfulness is the 1^st factor of Asking: “What is being known right now? Is Mindfulness present right now or not? (laugh if not).
The 2^nd is investigation Asking: Is there interest & curiosity about your experience? Begin to understand what wholesome/skillful states of mind are & what are not. “What is this?” or “What is happening in this moment?”
The 3^rd is energy. Asking: Is there energy right now or not? “Is this suffering or not suffering? Is this wholesome or not wholesome?” Check & see, Are you applying effort by striving or by softening?
The 4^th is joy. Asking: Is there joy or rapt interest, right now or not? Is there a spark of joy-delight or not?
The 5^th is Tranquility. Asking: How is the mind right now? Is there some sense of Tranquility, Calm, Stillness, Ease, Quietness arising right now or not? If there is some sense of agitation how might that release? As the agitation settles down, the mind/heart becomes quieter and quieter. If Tranquility feels like a stretch connecting to what registers as calm may help us connect to the experience.
The 6^th is Concentration. Asking: Concentration better known as a stability of mind or non-distractibility or absorption as a sense of the mind-being completely and fully with whatever it is paying attention to. So right now is the mind calm, stable, steady, undistracted or not? If it’s a bit scattered, can we (soften) so we can release whatever it is that is preoccupying us? As we practice softening, opening, loosening or softening, releasing, letting go, coming home to the object then we can experience deeper levels of steadiness. Samadhi is satisfying and absorbing.

2) This month, Concentration, Steadiness, Samadhi- in Pali,-–the Sixth Factor of Awakening

Concentration is the next calming factor. It is the ability of the mind to stay wherever we want it to stay. The mind is steady not wavering. The image is of a candle that is lit, and the flame isn’t wavering because there is no wind. It’s a focused mind. Both settled and composed. The mind is unified and one-pointed. Concentration is translated as calm, tranquil, serene, still, at ease, and composed. With Samadhi– Sam- means together, a- is bringing to a certain place, and -dhi is the energy of the mind. We collect the energy of our mind and direct it toward an object. With concentration, the mind is one-pointed, still, steady & quite naturally it stays focused on the object. To have mindfulness we need concentration. Once mindfulness is developed, concentration, in turn, becomes stronger.

Some obstacles to concentration

Thinking that we should be more concentrated than we are
Fear that we are failing at concentration feeling
Thinking we need to succeed at Concentration- as if it’s something that we need to get creates tension, pressure

Remember for concentration to arise there does have to be some degree of ease, softening, some gentle sustaining of attention, on the breathing or brahmavihārā phrase, the sustaining of the attention whenever we get a chance. This awakening factor reminds us that happiness of heart and strength of mind comes from within so we are not so dependent on external conditions!

3) Below are reflections & practices for Concentration in daily life & formal meditation. Please choose & experiment with at least 2 of the following:

Reflections: Can you remember a time when you felt present, composed, calm, absorbed? This may not have occurred in formal meditation, but perhaps when you were in nature or waking up after a nap. How did it feel to be calm-absorbed? How did it feel in your body? How was your mind state?

- Practices: During your daily meditation practice, see if you can evoke the feeling you had earlier in your life of being really present, composed, calm absorbed. You can use that feeling to guide your meditation by noticing when you feel more composed and less composed and the conditions that precede it.

Reflection: It is difficult to become concentrated, absorbed when our minds are filled with hindrances (1) sensual desire, (2) ill will, (3) sloth/ torpor, (4) restlessness/worry, (5) doubt. Hindrances operate in everyone and are not a personal failing when they arise. What is your relationship to the hindrances? Are you aware when they are present? What is your attitude towards them? Is 1 hindrance more persistent-prevalent than the others?

- Practices: Notice when the Hindrances are present and take the opportunity to investigate them. What are their emotional, physical, energetic, cognitive aspects? What is the difference in your experience when any hindrance is present and not present?

Reflections: Memorization and concentration are related skills. How do you feel about focusing, memorizing something, whether grocery list or poem? Do you feel you don’t have the capacity or don’t need to memorize things?

- Practice: Memorize something that is meaningful to you and supports your practice. It could be a poem, a passage from a sutta, how does it feel to make the effort to memorize something meaningful? Does what you memorize affect you in any way?

Reflections: Do you intentionally cultivate one form of meditation, or do you allow your meditation practice to unfold organically? Do you prefer choiceless or open awareness or concentration practice? Do you have any hesitation around becoming concentrated or entering states of absorption?

- Practice: Intentionally practice concentration during meditation. Focusing exclusively on your breath. (count your breaths from 1-5 repeatedly). Repeat Brahmavihara phrases while meditating.

4) Continue this month of practice:

When the awakening factors are present there is no room for the hindrances. The hindrances are absent. One simple way of understanding our practice is to nurture or let go-to release or let go of the hindrances and to strengthen or cultivate the awakening factors. It is possible to be mindful of the hindrances as an object of meditation Both in formal practice & daily life practice!
This Month explore how Steadiness or concentration can be a stabilizing factor with Restlessness and worry or how it can become a hindrance of desire.
Recollect that the awakening factors point to freedom-free from greed, hatred, delusion- We can experience that in clear moments when the hindrances are absent. Might be nanoseconds and those moments can begin to grow. Awakening is a verb, a process!

5) Walking Meditation: Be Mindful when you are walking. Notice rushing– when we are ahead of ourselves just walk, when standing just stand.)

6) Gratitude Practices: 3 things you are grateful for daily. Email or Text your buddies.

7) Pause Meditation: (Several times in your day)

8) Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s book, Factors For Awakening, especially pages 35-38

9) Please read daily, The Seven Factors of Awakening: Notice in sitting practice & daily life when any of the above states of heart or mind are present in your body, heart, and mind.

10) Please get to know, The Five Hindrances: Can you surround each with acceptance?

Sense-desire: wanting, lust or greed, craving-fantasy.
Aversion: ill will, hatred, anger, fear, boredom, annoyance, irritation, impatience, judging- guilt.
Sloth & torpor: sleepiness, sluggishness, dullness, fogginess, lack of vitality.
Restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness.
Doubt: Uncertainty, self-doubt, skeptical doubt, uncertainty/indecision

A Gentle Hindrance Hint: How did-do we relate when these Hindrances arise in meditation & in our daily life? The best way to relate with skillfulness is to recognize, know what is happening in the present, to be mindful. Simply acknowledge the hindrance is that has arisen in this moment in your life, in your practice. If possible, touch them with your heart. To connect with tenderness or caring, to befriend the hindrance, do your best not to judge them.

Click here for a PDF of the home practices.

Seven Factors of Awakening – A Year Living These Treasures – Home practices #7
(Next class 9/13/24 at 6:00-8:30pm). HAVE FUN with these practices! Happy Summer!

1)Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (More if you are able) Practice your meditation in silence.

Start your sitting practice remembering your intention to be Mindfulness is, the 1^st factor of awakening. Asking: “What is being know right now? Is Mindfulness present right now or not? (laugh if not). The 2^nd is investigation Asking: Is there interest & curiosity about your experience? Begin to understand what are wholesome/skillful states of mind & what are not.

“What is this?” or ”What is happening in this moment? 3^rd is energy. Asking: Is there energy right now or not? “Is this suffering or not suffering? Is this wholesome or not wholesome?” Check & see, Are you applying effort by striving or by softening? Asking: Is there joy or rapt interest, right now or not? Is there a spark of joy-delight or not?

This month, Opening to Tranquility, Passaddhi, in Pali,- the Fifth Factor of Awakening… (also, please continue with joy & try some of the reflections you didn’t try last month. You have two wonderful months! July & August!) see below…

Tranquility is the first of the three stabilizing factors. (the other two are concentration and equanimity) Passaddhi is translated as calm, tranquility, serenity, stillness, composure, ease.
It is the soothing factor of the heart/ mind. It quiets disturbances or can maintain tranquility in the midst of disturbances. It can manifest as peacefulness or coolness in the body, mind/heart. Like a shade tree in the heat wave.- both physical and mental tranquility. The quality of calm or ease that can keep the mind unruffled in times of stress. Other qualities are lightness, know-how or competence, sincerity, authenticity, honesty.

Some ways we can support these qualities of calm or tranquility is by nurturing, caring for, and developing our attention to the breath in the body, through inner ease and restfulness. Allowing the breath-receiving and letting go. Or doing just one thing at a time, letting go of trying to control, ourselves, each other, the moment. Trying to control brings agitation.

The Buddha spoke about ways to develop calm. Internally- wise or careful attention- and Externally-good friendship.. Remembering, to recognize calm, Tranquility for what it is:
When the mind is tranquil, free of desire, even for a nanosecond, a kind of happiness and ease arise. Subtler than joy or rapture. There is a sense of serenity and peace. Calm can counteract the hindrance of Restlessness & Worry. Look out for clinging and attachment- our hindrance friend-Desire- Understanding all these states are impermanent, impersonal imperfect- insight- understanding what is the path and what is not.

Asking: How is the mind right now? Is there some sense of Tranquility, Calm, Stillness, Ease, Quietness arising right now or not? If there is some sense of agitation how might that release? As the agitation settles down, the mind/heart becomes quieter and quieter. If Tranquility feels like a stretch connecting to what registers as calm may help us connect to the experience.

2) Below are In reflections & practices for Tranquility in daily life & formal meditation-
Please choose & experiment with at least 2 of the following in July and 2 in August.

a) Reflections: What helps you feel tranquil, calm, easeful or peaceful? What are the activities that most easily bring you a sense of tranquility? Do you generally feel more peaceful indoors or outdoors? When you’re alone or with others? Do you feel more tranquil while talking or listening?
Practices: At the end of each day, reflect on when you felt the most calm or peaceful. Reflect on the conditions that supported that feeling & then reflect on the conditions that disrupted that feeling. Reflect on whether your level of calmness affected the calmness of others around you.

b) Reflection: How does it feel to be tranquil? What is the feeling in your body? How is your mind state when you’re tranquil? How is feeling tranquil different than feeling “spacey” or complacent?
Practices: Spend more time than you normally would with activities that support a feeling of calmness or easefulness. Notice how your body feels when you feel at ease. Notice your mind state & emotional state when you have this feeling. Is the feeling of tranquility consistent or does it fluctuate?

c) Reflections: Come up with a list of easy ways that you can increase the frequency & amount of calmness during your daily life. What are some of the easy ways you can avail yourself of more serenity? What are some of the obvious things in your daily life that you often overlook which would support a feeling of calmness if you really noticed? Are there activities in your life that detract from your sense of calmness that can be easily minimized?
Practice: Spend more time than you normally would -doing activities that support a sense of calmness. Notice how you feel before, during & after the activities. Notice how your meditation practice is affected by your degree of calmness. Also notice how your meditation practice affects your peacefulness in daily life.

d) Reflections: During meditation do you find that tranquility or calmness arises? Do you value your meditation sessions based on the amount of calmness you experienced? Do you think it was a “bad” meditation if you felt restless?
Practice: During your meditation practice notice if you feel calm or tranquil. Notice whether you feel attached to the calm feeling. Also notice if you feel agitated or restless. Can you calmly note the agitation?

3) Continue this month of practice-
When the awakening factors are present there is no room for the hindrances. The hindrances are absent. One simple way of understanding our practice is to nurture or let go-to release or let go of the hindrances and to strengthen or cultivate the awakening factors. It is possible to be mindful of the hindrances as an object of meditation Both in formal practice & daily life practice! This Month explore how Tranquility, calm can be a stabilizing factor with Restlessness and worry or how it can become a hindrance of desire.
Recollect that the awakening factors point to freedom-free from greed, hatred, delusion- We can experience that in clear moments when the hindrances are absent. Might be nanoseconds and those moments can begin to grow. Ahh… Awakening is a verb, a process!

4) Walking Meditation: Be Mindful when you are walking. Notice rushing– when we are ahead of ourselves or energetically toppling forward. See if you can allow for ease, composure, tranquility of heart/mind. (Hint: when walking just walk, when standing just stand.)

5) Gratitude Practices: 3 things you are grateful for daily. Email or Text your buddies.

6) Pause Meditation: (Several times in your day)

7) Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s book, Factors For Awakening, Please read pages 27-34

8) DON’T FORGET IN AUGUST-JOY & TRANQILITY PRACTICES

Below are In reflections & practices for joy in daily life & formal meditation-Please choose & experiment with at least 2 you didn’t try in July of the following 5 Reflections & Practices

a) Reflections: What helps you feel ease, contentment or joy? What are the activities that most easily bring you joy? Is it some kind of physical activity? Are you more likely to feel joy when you are with others or when you are alone? Do you experience joy that is not dependent on any particular activity? If so, what conditions bring about that joy? How easy is it for you to be in touch with the sources for your joy? (from class)
Practices: At the end of each day reflect on when you felt the greatest sense of well-being, joy or contentment. Is there a rhythm of your sense of well-being on most days ; e.g. do you feel the most ease in the morning or evening ? Or does your sense of well-being depend mostly on the activities you’re doing? If possible, try meditating at different times in the day. Is there a time of day when you feel more of a sense of well being and ease in your meditation?

b) Reflections: How do you know when you have a sense of well-being, contentment or joy? Is it more of a physical sensation or a mental sensation for you? How is feeling joyful different than feeling ill-at ease or uncomfortable? What affect does joy have on you? What happens to your thinking & level of pre-occupation when you are joyful? (from class)
Practices: Spend more time than you normally would with activities that support a feeling of well-being or joy. Notice how your body feels when you feel content. Notice your mind & emotional state when you have this feeling. Is the feeling of joy consistent or does it fluctuate?

c) Reflections: Please come up with a list of easy ways that you can increase the frequency and amount of joy during your daily life. What are some of the easy ways you can help yourself to have more delight? What are some of the obvious occurrences in your daily life that you often overlook which would bring some degree of joy if you really noticed?
Practices: Spend more time than you normally would doing a hobby or activity that requires you to be focused & engaged. Notice the sense of well-being you have before, during & after being absorbed or engaged in an activity . When did you feel the most ease? Notice whether you have any beliefs, judgments about or resistance to the activity & notice how that mind – set affects your feeling of contentment or well-being.

d) Reflections: During meditation do you find that contentment or joy arises? How can you tell whether you are creating conditions for joyfulness or repressing joy due to an underlying belief that joy should not be experienced during spiritual practice?
Practices: Just before meditating, reflect on those things that inspire your practice. In the course of your meditation, notice any feelings of joy, well-being or pleasure that occurs. Be sensitive to the physical sensations that come with the joy. Allow yourself to enjoy those feelings. Gently, patiently, let those feelings grow as you continue your meditation. If possible, have the sensations of joy be a source of biofeedback for your steadiness, encouraging you to continue to practice After the mediation, briefly reflect if there is a relationship between your daily behavior & the experience of joy during your meditation.

e) Reflection: How is your sense of well-being, when you are present in the moment?
Practices: Experiment with applying more mindfulness to your life. This can be done either by increasing the time in formal meditation practice or by applying more mindfulness during particular daily life activities; e.g. while brushing your teeth or doing the dishes. Notice whether your sense of contentment or well – being increases or decreases when you’re mindful.

9) Continue from last month of practice-.
When the awakening factors are present there is no room for the hindrances. The hindrances are absent. One simple way of understanding our practice is to nurture or let go-to release or let go of the hindrances and to strengthen or cultivate the awakening factors. It is possible to be mindful of the hindrances as an object of meditation Both in formal practice & daily life practice! This Month explore Joy & how it can be an arousing factor with slough & torpor or how it can become a hindrance of desire.
Recollect that the awakening factors point to freedom-free from greed, hatred, delusion-Experience that in clear moments when the hindrances are absent. Might be nano-seconds and those moments can begin to grow .Awakening is a verb, a process!

10) Please read daily, The Seven Factors of Awakening: Notice in sitting practice & daily life when any of the above states of heart or mind are present in your body, heart, and mind.

Mindfulness (sati)
Being aware of what is happening in the present moment
Investigation (dhamma-vicaya)
Investigation supported by wisdom.
Understands what are skillful/healthy/beneficial states of mind
and what are not.
Energy (viriya)-Diligence, effort.
Increased engagement with practice, especially freeing oneself from unskillful states.
Joy (piti)
Feeling of delight, rapture.
Touching that which is refreshing and beautiful, both within and without.
Arises when attention is absorbed
Tranquility (passaddhi)
Calming and stilling of body/ mind,
Ease, quietness of mind, relaxation
Concentration (samadhi)
The mind is focused, settled, steady and composed
The mind becomes unified around what we’re concentrating on,
one-pointedness of mind.
Equanimity (upekkha)
Balance, spaciousness, and non-reactivity of mind,
balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena w/o grasping or aversion
Sublime and extremely satisfying state of heart/mind

11) Please get to know, The Five Hindrances: Can you surround each with acceptance?

Sense-desire: wanting, lust or greed, craving-fantasy.
Aversion: ill will, hatred, anger, fear, boredom, annoyance, irritation, impatience, judging- guilt.
Sloth & torpor: sleepiness, sluggishness, dullness, fogginess, lack of vitality.
Restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness.
Doubt: Uncertainty, self doubt, skeptical doubt, uncertainty/indecision
A Gentle Hindrance Hint: How did/do we relate when these Hindrances arise in meditation & in our daily life? The best way is to relate with skillfulness is to recognize, know what is happening in the present, to be mindful. Simply acknowledge the hindrance is that has arisen in this moment in your life, in your practice. If possible, touch them with your heart. To connect with tenderness or caring, to befriend the hindrance, do your best not to judge them.

Click here for a PDF of the home practices.

Seven Factors of Awakening –A Year Living These Treasures- Home practices #6
(Next class 7/12/24 at 6:00-8:30pm). HAVE FUN with these practices! Happy Summer!

1) Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (More if you are able) Practice your meditation in silence.

Start your sitting practice remembering your intention to be Mindful, the 1^st factor of awakening. Asking: “What is being know right now? Is Mindfulness present right now or not? (laugh if not). The 2^nd is investigation Asking: Is there interest & curiosity about your experience? Begin to understand what are wholesome/skillful states of mind & what are not.

This month, open to Joy-(Pali is Piti) the Fourth Factor of Awakening.

Piti is translated as joy or rapture and is the last of the uplifting or arousing factors. It’s an aliveness, joyful or rapt interest. It’s a state of happiness, delight, gladness of the heart in seeing truth clearly. The joy that comes out of being open to life as it is. In practice, we discover joy. There is a willingness to let go of concepts, agendas, ideas, conclusions of how we think things are for the knowing how things are and being in the present moment. To know things as they are, in the present, we can know joy, delight, contentment, and ease.
Remembering, to recognize joy, rapture for what it is: usually pleasurable in the body, delight in the mind, heightened interest- please see what is our relationship to it. Any clinging? This is mine or it has arisen in me? This is who I am? I am like this. I want this to continue? Now I know.? Or even if a sense of disappointment or longing arises when joy or rapture fades. Or an attempt to create the conditions again- walk a certain way, sit a certain way. Yikes- clinging and attachment- or our hindrance friend-Desire- Understanding all these states are impermanent, impersonal imperfect- insight- understanding what is the path and what is not.

Asking: Is there joy or rapt interest, right now or not? Is there a spark of joy-delight or not?

However, If joy feels like a stretch knowing that all these factors have a range of intensity- maybe simply noticing a sense of appreciation, or gratitude, or just connecting to what registers as pleasant can help us connect to the experience of rapt interest or joy.

2) Below are In reflections & practices for joy in daily life & formal meditation-Please choose & experiment with at least 2 of the following 5 Reflections & Practices

a) Reflections: What helps you feel ease, contentment or joy? What are the activities that most easily bring you joy? Is it some kind of physical activity? Are you more likely to feel joy when you are with others or when you are alone? Do you experience joy that is not dependent on any particular activity? If so, what conditions bring about that joy? How easy is it for you to be in touch with the sources for your joy? (from class)
Practices: At the end of each day reflect on when you felt the greatest sense of well-being, joy or contentment. Is there a rhythm of your sense of well-being on most days ; e.g. do you feel the most ease in the morning or evening ? Or does your sense of well-being depend mostly on the activities you’re doing? If possible, try meditating at different times in the day. Is there a time of day when you feel more of a sense of well being and ease in your meditation?

b) Reflections: How do you know when you have a sense of well-being, contentment or joy? Is it more of a physical sensation or a mental sensation for you? How is feeling joyful different than feeling ill-at ease or uncomfortable? What affect does joy have on you? What happens to your thinking & level of pre-occupation when you are joyful? (from class)
Practices: Spend more time than you normally would with activities that support a feeling of well-being or joy. Notice how your body feels when you feel content. Notice your mind & emotional state when you have this feeling. Is the feeling of joy consistent or does it fluctuate?

3) Continue this month of practice-.
When the awakening factors are present there is no room for the hindrances. The hindrances are absent. One simple way of understanding our practice is to nurture or let go-to release or let go of the hindrances and to strengthen or cultivate the awakening factors. It is possible to be mindful of the hindrances as an object of meditation Both in formal practice & daily life practice! This Month explore Joy & how it can be an arousing factor with slough & torpor or how it can become a hindrance of desire.
Recollect that the awakening factors point to freedom-free from greed, hatred, delusion- We can experience that in clear moments when the hindrances are absent. Might be nano-seconds and those moments can begin to grow .Awakening is a verb, a process!

4) Walking Meditation: Be Mindful when you are walking. Gently aware of the feet making contact with the ground. Take a moment to notice your surroundings. If outside, notice the sky.

5) Gratitude Practices: 3 things you are grateful for daily. Email or Text your buddies.

6) Pause Meditation: (Several times in your day)

7) Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s book, Factors For Awakening, https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/#FactorsforAwakening Please read pages 23-26

8) Please read daily, The Seven Factors of Awakening: Notice in sitting practice & daily life when any of the above states of heart or mind are present in your body, heart, and mind.
1. Mindfulness (sati)
Being aware of what is happening in the present moment
2. Investigation (dhamma-vicaya)
Investigation supported by wisdom.
Understands what are skillful/healthy/beneficial states of mind
and what are not.
3. Energy (viriya)-Diligence, effort.
Increased engagement with practice, especially freeing oneself from unskillful states.
4. Joy (piti)
Feeling of delight, rapture.
Touching that which is refreshing and beautiful, both within and without.
Arises when attention is absorbed
5. Tranquility (passaddhi)
Calming and stilling of body/ mind,
Ease, quietness of mind, relaxation
6. Concentration (samadhi)
The mind is focused, settled, steady and composed
The mind becomes unified around what we’re concentrating on,
one-pointedness of mind.
7. Equanimity (upekkha)
Balance, spaciousness, and non-reactivity of mind,
balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena w/o grasping or aversion
Sublime and extremely satisfying state of heart/mind

9) Please get to know, The Five Hindrances: Can you surround each with acceptance?

Sense-desire: wanting, lust or greed, craving-fantasy.
Aversion: ill will, hatred, anger, fear, boredom, annoyance, irritation, impatience, judging- guilt.
Sloth & torpor: sleepiness, sluggishness, dullness, fogginess, lack of vitality.
Restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness.
Doubt: Uncertainty, self doubt, skeptical doubt, uncertainty/indecision
A Gentle Hindrance Hint: How did-do we relate when these Hindrances arise in meditation & in our daily life? The best way is to relate with skillfulness is to recognize, know what is happening in the present, to be mindful. Simply acknowledge the hindrance is that has arisen in this moment in your life, in your practice. If possible, touch them with your heart. To connect with tenderness or caring, to befriend the hindrance, do your best not to judge them.

Click here for a PDF of the home practices.

Seven Factors of Awakening –A Year Living These Treasures- Home practices #5
(Next class 6/14/24 at 6:00-8:30pm). HAVE FUN with these practices! Happy Spring!

1) Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (More if you are able) Practice your meditation in silence.

Start your sitting practice remembering your intention to be Mindful, the 1^st factor of awakening. Asking: “What is being know right now? Is Mindfulness present right now or not? (laugh if not). The 2^nd factor is investigation Asking: Is there interest & curiosity about your experience? Begin to understand what are wholesome/skillful states of mind & what are not.

“What is this?” or ”What is happening in this moment?

This month, open to Energy-(Pali is Viriya) the Third factor of Awakening.

Viriya is translated as energy, effort, strength, courage, vigor, perseverance & persistence. Energy is a sense of wakefulness, alertness, clarity. In the willingness to turn towards the present moment over & over again– the result is more energy. Energy Increases engagement with practice, especially cultivating wholesome, skillful, beneficial states & actions and letting go of unwholesome, unskillful states & actions. We are learning how to cultivate the skillful and learning how to abandon the habits that we get caught in that create suffering.
Remembering, it’s the energy-effort to turn toward our experience & allow, accept whatever our experience is. It is not the energy -effort to try & change anything, not the effort to attain anything in particular, not trying to become anyone. It’s the energy-To turn towards our experience, to sustain the energy, to see something different, something new-

Asking: Is there energy right now or not? “Is this suffering or not suffering? Is this wholesome or not wholesome?” Check and see, are you applying effort by striving or by relaxing? How do you know if you are applying the right amount of effort?** Too much, agitated? Restlessness? Not enough, sinking into sloth or torpor? Is it possible to come back into balance? Being present, neither too tight or too loose attention- OR…

**Reflect: Do you find that you are applying effort by striving or by softening, relaxing? How do you know if you are applying the right amount of effort? **Experiment with applying more effort in meditation. By mentally being alert & mindful of what is happening during the meditation or By sitting up straighter or by brisk walking meditation before sitting – If lying down raise your arm bending at the elbow, or your hand, or a finger. If applying more effort is agitating, try to match the increased effort with increased calm.

2) In daily life: The energy & effort of learning how to cultivate that which is skillful, wholesome — which means awareness, kindness, or caring for the world around you, or living more in the present and the energy, effort to abandon the habits, the fears of things that we get caught in that create suffering that keeps stuck, and the energy-effort to sustain them. This is a teaching that applies to our sitting & daily life;. Our life is made up of little activities, little habits, And we can begin to work with the way we drive our car, ride our bike, walk. The way that we relate to people at work, or the way we eat, what we choose to eat,— to make activities more conscious. To make our approach to daily life with greater mindfulness, awareness, attention, with more caring, kindness. Reflect: What are a few things in your own life that could benefit by bringing a little more of this energy, this effort- more attention? or the energy-effort to let go and abandon? What could you use in some way to wake up more, to awaken?

Please do your best with at least one of the following Reflections & Practices (a-c).

a) Reflections: How easy is it for you to stay with a task until it is completed? How do you relate to obstacles or difficulties that arise? Do you have the persistence to be with them? Do you work on tasks past a point of diminishing returns?
Practices: This week decide to complete a task that you have been intending to do, but haven’t. Notice your energy level when you think about doing this task, when you’re about to begin the task, while you’re doing the task & after you’ve completed the task. When did you feel the most energetic? Which part required the most energy? Did any give you energy? How might this affect your practice?

b) Reflections: Which requires more energy for you- releasing or acquiring? Which gives you more energy – releasing or acquiring? How does this affect your meditation practice? How does this affect the quality of your life?
Practices: This week decide to let go of an object or a habit that you believe hinders your meditation practice. It doesn’t have to be a big item or habit, but a meaningful one. Notice your energy level as you contemplate letting go of this item, as you let go and after letting go. What took the most energy? Which step gave you the most energy?

c) Reflections: In the list of the Seven Factors or Awakening, energy is listed after investigation & before joy. Why do you think this is? Do you experience a relationship between investigation and energy? Do you experience a relationship between energy and joy?
Practices: Explore or study something that is interesting to you. It could be as simply as looking something up in Google or Wikipedia, or talking to an “expert” about something you’ve been curious about. While investigating, notice your energy level & your sense of well-being. Have they increased or decreased since you’ve started investigating? During the week, pay attention if a sense of well-being arises. How is your energy level when you have a sense of well-being?

3) Continue this month of practice-.
When the awakening factors are present there is no room for the hindrances. The hindrances are absent. One simple way of understanding our practice is to nurture or let go-to release or let go, of the hindrances and to strengthen or cultivate the awakening factors. It is possible to be mindful of the hindrances as an object of meditation Both in formal practice & daily life practice! This Month explore energy & Restlessness & sloth or torpor.
Recollect that the awakening factors point to freedom-free from greed, hatred, delusion- We can experience that in clear moments when the hindrances are absent. Might be nano-seconds and those moments can begin to grow .Awakening is a verb, a process!

Hindrance Hint: If a hindrance arises- get to know it And If what is arising is too difficult in this moment-open to your anchor or the 3 E’s- eyebrows, earlobe, elbow. Sometimes it is skillful when something is very strong to put it aside, especially if you’re willing to open to it when there is more steadiness of heart & mind. Requires patience.

4) Walking Meditation: Be Mindful when you are walking. Gently aware of the feet making contact with the ground.

5) Gratitude Practices: 3 things you are grateful for daily. Email or Text your buddies.

6) Pause Meditation: (Several times in your day)

7) Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s book, Factors For Awakening, https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/#FactorsforAwakening Please read pages 18-22

8) Please read daily, The Seven Factors of Awakening: Notice in sitting practice & daily life when any of the above states of heart or mind are present in your body, heart, and mind.

Mindfulness (sati)
Being aware of what is happening in the present moment
Investigation (dhamma-vicaya)
Investigation supported by wisdom.
Understands what are skillful/healthy/beneficial states of mind
and what are not.
Energy (viriya)-Diligence, effort.
Increased engagement with practice, especially freeing oneself from unskillful states.
Joy (piti)
Feeling of delight, rapture.
Touching that which is refreshing and beautiful, both within and without.
Arises when attention is absorbed
Tranquility (passaddhi)
Calming and stilling of body/ mind,
Ease, quietness of mind, relaxation
Concentration (samadhi)
The mind is focused, settled, steady and composed
The mind becomes unified around what we’re concentrating on,
one-pointedness of mind.
Equanimity (upekkha)
Balance, spaciousness, and non-reactivity of mind,
balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena w/o grasping or aversion
Sublime and extremely satisfying state of heart/mind

8) Please get to know, The Five Hindrances: Can you surround each with acceptance?

Sense-desire: wanting, lust or greed, craving-fantasy.
Aversion: ill will, hatred, anger, fear, boredom, annoyance, irritation, impatience, judging- guilt.
Sloth & torpor: sleepiness, sluggishness, dullness, fogginess, lack of vitality.
Restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness.
Doubt: Uncertainty, self doubt, skeptical doubt, uncertainty/indecision
A Gentle Hindrance Hint: How did-do we relate when these Hindrances arise in meditation & in our daily life? The best way is to relate with skillfulness is to recognize, know what is happening in the present, to be mindful. Simply acknowledge the hindrance is that has arisen in this moment in your life, in your practice. If possible, touch them with your heart. To connect with tenderness or caring, to befriend the hindrance, do your best not to judge them.

Click here for a PDF of the home practices.

Seven Factors of Awakening –A Year Living These Treasures- Home practices #4
(Next class 5/10/24 at 6:00-8:30pm). HAVE FUN with these practices!

1) Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (More if you are able) Practice your meditation in silence.

Start your sitting practice remembering your intention to be Mindful, the first factor

of awakening. Asking: “What is being know right now? Is Mindfulness present right now or not? (laugh if not) Is it possible to connect with any quality of Mindfulness? Or to notice how the mind feels, when mindfulness is present. Get to know a sense of awareness, alertness, presence, or even a subtly pleasant quality of mindfulness.

This month, open to Investigation, the second factor of Awakening.
Investigation allows us to look at our experience in a very fresh, inquiring way-it’s being with our experience with openness. Investigation has to do with a silent inquiry of our experience- We are not analyzing or trying to fix anything, or trying to figure it out- Instead we are learning what’s wholesome, skillful, beneficial (kusala-)& what is not (Akusala) **More info on investigation at the end of home practices

Asking: Is there interest and curiosity about your experience? Asking the question itself is a form of investigation. Helps us not to assume that things are a certain way-not to draw conclusions without inquiring if they are true.

Technically this factor is known as investigation of Dharma’s – the 3 characteristics of all experiences- Knowing Impermanence– that everything changes–
Knowing Imperfect– experience is unsatisfactory, often we are discontented –we want more, or afraid of losing it, or don’t like it so we push away, or neutral- space out- just not satisfied Knowing impersonal—not self -it doesn’t belong to me, I am not in control of it. These 3 help us to release whatever the clinging is. Investigation discerns & illuminates the truth through discriminating wisdom-Knowing what’s what. Is there interest & curiosity, about your experience, right now or not? Begin to understand what are wholesome/skillful states of mind & what are not. It’s like we are turning on a light in a dark room & seeing clearly. Investigation can be understood as turning on the question, “What is this?” or ”What is happening? & letting the light of that question reveal the particulars of the present moment experience. (also see how we react to what is happening)

2) Continue this month of practice-. (Investigation can counter the hindrance of doubt)
When the awakening factors are present there is no room for the hindrances. The hindrances are absent. One simple way of understanding our practice is to nurture or let go-to release or let go, of the hindrances and to strengthen or cultivate the awakening factors. It is possible to be mindful of the hindrances as an object of meditation Both in formal practice & daily life practice! Recollect that the awakening factors point to freedom-free from greed, hatred, delusion- We can experience that in clear moments when the hindrances are absent. Might be nano-seconds and those moments can begin to grow .Awakening is a verb, a process!

3) Walking Meditation: Be Mindful when you are walking. Gently aware of the feet making contact with the ground.

4) Gratitude Practices: 3 things you are grateful for daily. Email or Text your buddies.

5) Pause Meditation: (Several times in your day)

6) Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s book, Factors For Awakening, https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/#FactorsforAwakening Please read pages 13-17

7) Please read daily, The Seven Factors of Awakening: Notice in sitting practice & daily life when any of the above states of heart or mind are present in your body, heart, and mind.
1. Mindfulness (sati)
Being aware of what is happening in the present moment
2. Investigation (dhamma-vicaya)
Investigation supported by wisdom.
Understands what are skillful/healthy/beneficial states of mind
and what are not.
3. Energy (viriya)-Diligence, effort.
Increased engagement with practice, especially freeing oneself from unskillful states.
4. Joy (piti)
Feeling of delight, rapture.
Touching that which is refreshing and beautiful, both within and without.
Arises when attention is absorbed
5. Tranquility (passaddhi)
Calming and stilling of body/ mind,
Ease, quietness of mind, relaxation
6. Concentration (samadhi)
The mind is focused, settled, steady and composed
The mind becomes unified around what we’re concentrating on,
one-pointedness of mind.
7. Equanimity (upekkha)
Balance, spaciousness, and non-reactivity of mind,
balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena w/o grasping or aversion
Sublime and extremely satisfying state of heart/mind

8) Please get to know, The Five Hindrances: Can you surround each with acceptance?

Sense-desire: wanting, lust or greed, craving-fantasy.
Aversion: ill will, hatred, anger, fear, boredom, annoyance, irritation, impatience, judging- guilt.
Sloth & torpor: sleepiness, sluggishness, dullness, fogginess, lack of vitality.
Restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness.
Doubt: Uncertainty, self doubt, skeptical doubt, uncertainty/indecision
A Gentle Hindrance Hint: How did-do we relate when these Hindrances arise in meditation & in our daily life? The best way is to relate with skillfulness is to recognize, know what is happening in the present, to be mindful. Simply acknowledge the hindrance is that has arisen in this moment in your life, in your practice. If possible, touch them with your heart. To connect with tenderness or caring, to befriend the hindrance, do your best not to judge them.

9) **More on Investigation: Investigation is awakening from ignorance. It is the wisdom factor of the mind, the investigation of truth. This factor discerns & illuminates the truth by discriminating wisdom. It distinguishing between what is skillful to the development of our practice & what is not. We discern to abandon the unwholesome & to cultivate the wholesome. We can choose to cultivate the wholesome & let go of the unwholesome. Example: If you feel an inclination to be generous, you can choose to water the seeds of generosity by following through on that inclination. Or you may be able to distinguish mean-spirited feelings & choose to let them go.
Questions to explore:

Is this experience/action skillful or unskillful? Unskillful actions stem from desire, aversion, delusion. Skillful actions are rooted in generosity, compassion, loving-kindness. This can be our moral compass.
Is this a habit pattern, a tendency?
Are you taking this personally?
Do you understand the nature of thought?

Click here for a PDF of the home practices.

Seven Factors of Awakening –A Year Living These Treasures- Home practices #3
(Next class 4/12/24 at 6:00-8:30pm) . HAVE FUN with these practices!

As you begin this month of practice- Get to know the reciprocal relationship between the 5 hindrances and the 7 factors of Awakening. When any of the Hindrances are present, by definition the awakening factors are absent. The opposite is also true. When the awakening factors are present there is no room for the hindrances. The hindrances are absent. One simple way of understanding our practice is to nurture or let go-to release or let go, of the hindrances and to strengthen or cultivate the awakening factors. It is possible to be mindful of the hindrances as an object of meditation Both in formal practice & daily life practice!

Recollect that the awakening factors point to freedom-free from greed, hatred, delusion- We can experience that in clear moments when the hindrances are absent. Might be nano-seconds and those moments can begin to grow .Ahh..Awakening is a verb, a process!

1) Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (more if you are able) Please practice your meditation in silence. Experiment with not using apps.

Recollect: Mindfulness helps us to see things as they are. Mindfulness deconditions the mind. In practice, we are meeting our past, our conditioning, our habits, tendencies-With Mindfulness we are meeting our conditioning & we are letting go. We are not reinforcing that which led to sorrow, agitation, worry, fear- instead nourishing awakening- Every moment of Mindfulness is a moment of awakening.
Start your sitting practice remembering your intention to be Mindful, the first factor

of awakening. Ask: “What is being know right now? Is Mindfulness present right now or not? (laugh if not) Is it possible to connect with any quality of Mindfulness? Any foundation of Mindfulness? With Mindfulness, begin to notice how the mind feels, when mindfulness is present. Perhaps, in getting to know a sense of awareness, alertness, presence, you might recognize a subtly pleasant quality of mindfulness. HINT: If a Hindrance arises- get to know it And If what is arising is too difficult in this moment-open to your anchor or the 3 E’s- eyebrows, earlobe, elbow. Sometimes it is skillful when something is very strong to put it aside, especially if you’re willing to come back to it when there is more steadinesses of heart and mind. It requires patience.

2) Walking Meditation: Be Mindful when you are walking. Gently aware of the feet making contact with the ground.

3) Gratitude Practices: Write down, 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything. Email or Text them to your buddies.

4) Pause Meditation: (Several times in your day)

Simply Pause
Feel your feet on the floor
Shift into relaxation-Soften muscles where you feel tension-
Notice how the body feels,
Widen attention over the entire body — Inhabit the body-
Pay attention as if listening to body- and float the question, “What is happening right now?”
Listen for the answer and let it go. Feel your feet on the floor.

5) Continue to Practice your Mindful activity of add another one in – Just pick an activity that you engage in daily—a simple, routine activity. Commit to integrating mindfulness into that activity every day. Such as: brushing one’s teeth, taking a shower, driving, standing, eating, walking, (up & down stairs), lying down, etc.

6) Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s book, Factors For Awakening, https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/#FactorsforAwakening Please read the chapter, pages 1-8 and Mindfulness 9-12 (if you haven’t already!)

7) Please read daily, The Seven Factors of Awakening: Notice in sitting practice & daily life when any of the above states of heart or mind are present in your body, heart, mind.

Mindfulness (sati)
Being aware of what is happening in the present moment
Investigation (dhamma-vicaya)
Investigation supported by wisdom.
Understands what are skillful/healthy/beneficial states of mind
And what are not.
Energy (viriya)-Diligence, effort.
Increased engagement with practice, especially freeing oneself from unskillful states.
Joy (piti)
Feeling of delight, rapture.
Touching that which is refreshing and beautiful, both within and without.
Arises when attention is absorbed
Tranquility (passaddhi)
Calming and stilling of body/ mind,
Ease, quietness of mind, relaxation
Concentration (samadhi)
The mind is focused, settled, steady and composed
The mind becomes unified around what we’re concentrating on,
one-pointedness of mind.
Equanimity (upekkha)
Balance, spaciousness, and non-reactivity of mind,
balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena w/o grasping or aversion
Sublime and extremely satisfying state of heart/mind

8) Please get to know, The Five Hindrances:

Sense-desire: wanting, lust or greed, craving-fantasy.
Aversion: ill will, hatred, anger, fear, boredom, annoyance, irritation, impatience, judging- guilt.
Sloth & torpor: sleepiness, sluggishness, dullness, fogginess, lack of vitality.
Restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness.
Doubt: Uncertainty, self doubt, skeptical doubt, uncertainty/indecision
A Gentle Hindrance Hint: How did-do we relate when these Hindrances arise in meditation & in our daily life? The best way is to relate with skillfulness is to recognize, know what is happening in the present, to be mindful. Simply acknowledge the hindrance is that has arisen in this moment in your life, in your practice. If possible, touch them with your heart. To connect with tenderness or caring, to befriend the hindrance, do your best not to judge them.

Click here for a PDF of the home practices.

Home Practices #2

***(Next class 3/8/24 at 6:00-8:30pm)

HAVE FUN with these practices!

Get to know the preciousness of this life, of this moment

1) Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (more if you are able) Please practice your meditation in silence. Experiment with not using apps.
Start your sitting practice by calling to mind the qualities of Mindfulness:
Not forgetting what is before the mind in the present moment,
Presence of mind is standing near,
Remembering what is skillful, beneficial and what is not,
Close association with Wisdom through attention and clear comprehension. Listen to and be Mindful of whatever presents itself.
Also be Aware of any of the 4 Foundations of Mindfulness:
The body and it’s sensations (Sitting-touch points, sounds breathing) Or
The feeling tone, texture of your experience (Pleasant, Unpleasant, Neutral) Or
The condition of the mind clarity, alertness, quietness, busyness, greedy or not greedy, angry or not angry, deluded, confused or clear and stable OR an activity of the mind thinking about past of future, OR
Mindfulness of the Dhammas or Laws of Nature-Any Factor of awakening* arising or any hindrance* arising. (*see end of home practices for the lists of them) You can also simply sustain a present moment attentiveness- to know what your experience is.
Ask: “What is being know right now? Is Mindfulness present right now or not? (laugh if not) Ask, “How can I connect with this quality of Mindfulness?”

2) Walking Meditation: Be Mindful when you are walking. Gently be aware of the feet making contact with the ground.

3) Gratitude Practices: Write down, 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything. Email them and if you all prefer to Text –exchange text info via e-mail and text your 3 gratitude’s daily. They can be 3 words or a phrase or a sentence.

4) Buddies and Groups: Make contact with you buddies. Decide how you will work together, what day & time you will meet, how frequently (could be monthly, once a month, twice a month, every week) Decide zoom, phone call, etc. Take time to discuss the practices you practiced in this second home practice sheet. If you don’t have a group, please let CIMC office know.

5) Practice the Mindful activity you wrote in the chat- Just one that you engage in daily—a simple, routine activity. Commit to integrating mindfulness into that activity every day. Such as: brushing one’s teeth, taking a shower, driving, standing, eating, walking, (up & down stairs), lying down, etc. This activity is designed to help bring mindfulness into your daily life.

6) Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s book, Factors For Awakening, will be our shared text. https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/#FactorsforAwakening Please read the chapter, Factors For Awakening pages 1-8 and Mindfulness 9-12

First Home practice:

7) Please read daily, silently or out loud, The Seven Factors of Awakening:

Mindfulness (sati)
Being aware of what is happening in the present moment
2. Investigation (dhamma-vicaya)
Investigation supported by wisdom.
Understands what are skillful/healthy/beneficial states of mind
And what are not.
3. Energy (viriya)-Diligence, effort.
Increased engagement with practice, especially freeing oneself from unskillful states.
4. Joy (piti)
Feeling of delight, rapture.
Touching that which is refreshing and beautiful, both within and without.
Arises when attention is absorbed
5. Tranquility (passaddhi)
Calming and stilling of body/ mind,
Ease, quietness of mind, relaxation
6. Concentration (samadhi)
The mind is focused, settled, steady and composed
The mind becomes unified around what we’re concentrating on,
one-pointedness of mind.
7. Equanimity (upekkha)
Balance, spaciousness, and non-reactivity of mind,
balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena w/o grasping or aversion
Sublime and extremely satisfying state of heart/mind

8) Notice in sitting practice and daily life when: (Please be gentle with this exercise. We are starting slowly.

any of the above states of heart or mind are present in your body, heart, mind. Even for a moment.
any of the above they are not present even for a moment.

9) Please read daily, silently or out loud, The Five Hindrances:

Sense-desire: wanting, lust or greed, craving-fantasy.
Aversion: ill will, hatred, anger, fear, boredom, annoyance, irritation, impatience, judging-mind, guilt.
Sloth & torpor: sleepiness, sluggishness, dullness, fogginess, lack of vitality.
Restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness.
Doubt: Uncertainty, self doubt, skeptical doubt, uncertainty/indecision

A Gentle Hindrance Hint: How did-do we relate when these Hindrances arise in meditation & in our daily life? The best way is to relate with skillfulness is to recognize, know what is happening in the present, to be mindful. Simply acknowledge what the hindrance is that has arisen in this moment in your life, in your practice. If possible, touch them with your heart. To connect with tenderness or caring, to befriend the hindrance, do your best not to judge them.

Click here for a PDF of the home practices.

Home Practices #1

***(Next class 2/9/24 at 6:00-8:30pm)

1) Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (more if you are able) Please practice your meditation in silence. (Newer to practice 10 minutes a day– & check out CIMC”S Beginner Drop-in, Beginners workshop, Way of Awareness.)

2) Gratitude Practices: Write down, 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything. When Buddies are assigned: Email them and if you all prefer to Text –exchange text info via e-mail and text your 3 gratitude’s daily. They can be 3 words or a phrase or a sentence. (More buddy info in next class)

3) Setting A Year Long Intention, Vow, Dedication: Finish writing your year long intention, vow, dedication. (What is my motivation in the Seven Factors of Awakening-A Year of Living these Treasures? What is my aspiration in life? What is my intention/vow right now?) Then put it someplace where you keep special things. Then, as you go through the year, let it be your compass, your underlying direction, in spite of changing outer circumstances. Let it carry you.

4) Please read daily, silently or out loud, The Seven Factors of Awakening:

Mindfulness (sati)
Being aware of what is happening in the present moment
Investigation (dhamma-vicaya)
Investigation supported by wisdom.
Understands what are skillful/healthy/beneficial states of mind
And what are not.
Energy (viriya)-Diligence, effort.
Increased engagement with practice, especially freeing oneself from unskillful states.
4. Joy (piti)
Feeling of delight, rapture.
Touching that which is refreshing and beautiful, both within and without.
Arises when attention is absorbed
Tranquility (passaddhi)
Calming and stilling of body/ mind,
Ease, quietness of mind, relaxation
Concentration (samadhi)
The mind is focused, settled, steady and composed
The mind becomes unified around what we’re concentrating on,
one-pointedness of mind.
Equanimity (upekkha)
Balance, spaciousness, and non-reactivity of mind,
balance in the face of change, being aware of all phenomena w/o grasping or aversion
Sublime and extremely satisfying state of heart/mind

5) Notice in sitting practice and daily life when:

any of the above states of heart or mind are present in your body, heart, mind. Even for a moment.
any of the above they are not present even for a moment.
Please be gentle with this exercise. We are starting slowly.

6) Please read daily, silently or out loud, The Five Hindrances:

Sense-desire: wanting, lust or greed, craving-fantasy.
Aversion: ill will, hatred, anger, fear, boredom, annoyance, irritation, impatience, judging-mind, guilt.
Sloth & torpor: sleepiness, sluggishness, dullness, fogginess, lack of vitality.
Restlessness and worry: anxiousness, agitation, nervousness, jumpiness.
Doubt: Uncertainty, self doubt, skeptical doubt, uncertainty/indecision

HAVE FUN!!

7) Book & Guidelines: No reading this month Factors For Awakening – (for those who want a book) It can be found online here (in HTML, PDF, epub, mobi,etc.)

8) Agreed upon Guidelines for Yearlong Program. Practicing the ways below, together, every month can support us in our everyday lives thru noticing our immediate reactions. Remembering that we have an opportunity to pause, check in, & choose how we respond.

Show up. Pay Attention. Speak your truth without blame or judgment. Let go of outcome and be open to outcome.
All perspectives are welcome here. Notice your reaction to what is shared and have that be your practice in that moment.
Everything we do here is voluntary. It is a courageous & generous act to share. It is a compassionate & generous act to deeply listen.
Speak about what’s alive for you in this moment from your heart, your own experience, refrain from intellectual or philosophical sharing or long story telling, notice if may be judging or blaming another’s perspective. Is it possible to talk from a place of kindness and love?
Notice what arises as you speak. Are we in touch with what is true and alive or we wanting to impress, to feel important, to be liked?
Listen deeply; notice what arises within you as you listen. Where do we go when someone says something we agree with? When we hear something that triggers us?
Please be lean of expression, meaning be mindful to stay on point vs. going tangential. We are a large group, and it would be good to hear from as many voices as possible. WAIT “Why Am I Talking?”
If you’ve already spoken, think twice before choosing to speak again as it would be good to hear from those who have not yet
Please refrain from offering advice unless it is specifically solicited or unless you ask the person’s permission.
Please honor confidentiality. If you need to share with others out-side of this circle, please share from your own direct experience not that of other members in the sangha.-community

The next two were added from the workshop-chat ( I changed the second one to fit the program)

Assume best intention from others.
Share the learning you understood from the teachings & practices, not the personal story.

Elder’s Home Practice for Nov 12, 2024

We are buddhas, sitting in sangha, attending to dharma.

Rebecca Solnit, “Hope in Darkness.”

You have a role no matter what, and right now good friends and good principles are worth gathering in. Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember what love is.

You can be heartbroken or furious or both at once; you can scream in your car or on a cliff; you can also get up tomorrow and water the flowerpots and call someone who’s upset.

Gather up your resources, the metaphysical ones that are heart and soul and care, as well as the practical ones.

Olivia Hoblitzelle, “Aging with Wisdom.” The elder years are our most heroic years.

Matty Weingast, “The First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns.”

VIRA ~ HERO

Truly strong
among those
who think themselves
strong.

Truly unafraid
among those
who hide their
fear.

A hero
among those
who talk of heroes.

Don’t be fooled by outward signs—
lifting heavy things
or picking fights with weaker opponents
and running headfirst into battle.

A real hero
walks the Path
to its end.

Then shows others the way.

Majjhima Nikaya 141: Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives…

So what can help us remember? Remember who we are, the person we want to be?

Take a timeout, to meditate, spend time in nature, journal or write, hug a pet, call a friend.
Remember a vow, mantra, or totem.
Remember the Thich Naht Hanh smile, the small upward curve of our mouths, our inner smile
Remember the Three Treasures, take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. Our own capacity for awakening; the teachings everywhere in all things; the whole of all beings, the great circle of being.

Thich Naht Hanh, “Being Peace.”

“When we say, ‘I take refuge in the Buddha,’ we should also understand that ‘The Buddha takes refuge in us.’ … The Buddha needs us for awakening, understanding, and love to be real things and not just concepts.… We are all buddhas, because only through us can understanding and love become tangible and effective.”

From “The Essential Rumi.” (trans. John Moyne and Coleman Barks)

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

HOME PRACTICE for October 22, 2024 Elders Sangha

Instructions for Opening Meditation: Affectionate breathing taken from Christopher Germer/Kristin Neff – Mindful Self Compassion Training – 20 – 30 minutes

Please find a posture in which your body is comfortable and will feel supported for the duration of the meditation. Then let your eyes gently close, partially or fully. Take a few slow, easy breaths, releasing any unnecessary tension in you body.
If you like, placing a hand over your heart or another soothing place as a reminder that you’re bringing not only awareness, but affectionate awareness, to your breathing and to yourself. You can leave your hand there or let it rest at any time.
Now beginning to notice your breathing in your body , feeling your body breathe in and feeling your body breathe out. Breathing in and breathing out
Perhaps noticing how your body is nourished on the in-breath and relaxes on the out-breath
Just letting your body breath you. Breathing in and breathing out………..There is nothing you need to do
Noticing the rhythm of your breath, flowing in and flowing out (Pause) Taking time to feel the rhythm of your breathing
Perhaps incline your attention toward your breathing as you might toward a beloved child or a dear friend
Feeling your whole body subtly moving with the breath, like the movement of the sea
Your mind will naturally wander like a curious child or even a puppy. When the happens, just gently returning to the rhythm of your breath, feeling it move through your body
If you notice there’s a sense of watching your breath see if you can let that go and just be with you breath, feeling it
Allowing your whole body to be gently rocked and caressed – internally caressed – by your breathing
Just breathing. Being breathing. (Long pause)
And now, gently releasing your attending to your breathing , sitting quietly in your own experience, allowing yourself feel whatever your are feeling and to be just as you are
When you are ready, slowly and gently opening your eyes

HOME PRACTICE for September 10, 2024 Elders Sangha

Books:

The Magnanimous Heart: Compassion and Love, Loss and Grief, Joy and Liberation by Narayan Helen Liebenson
Awakening Through Love: Unveiling Your Deepest Goodness by John Makransky

Other suggested reading:

The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions by Christopher K. Germer
Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive by Dr. Kristin Neff
Compassion by Christina Feldman

Suggested programs:

Cambridgeinsight.org: The Magnanimous Heart: Loss and Grief, Love and Compassion, Joy and Liberation (hybrid: online) with Narayan Helen Liebenson Saturday, September 28 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
sustainablecompassion.org Meditations to access unconditional qualities of love, compassion, and wisdom. Sustainable Compassion Training supports people in caring roles and professions, modern Buddhists, and people of other spiritual traditions who want to access a power of unconditional love, compassion and wisdom for living, service and action.

HOME PRACTICE for May 28, 2024 Elders Sangha

We picked up on the theme of gentleness and kindness in our practice, which was sounded during the last session in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, who always reminded us that happiness was close at hand by touching the present moment with our mindfulness.

We introduced this poem, or Vajra Song, which Larry Rosenberg would often hand out near the end of his 9-day IMS retreats as a reminder to release our grasping and relax our striving.

“Free and Easy” – A Spontaneous Vajra Song
by Venerable Lama Gendun Rinpoche

Happiness cannot be found through
great effort and willpower,
but is already present,
in open relaxation and letting go.

Don’t strain yourself,
there is nothing to do or undo.
Whatever momentarily arises
in the body-mind
Has no real importance at all,
has little reality whatsoever.
Why identify with,
And become attached to it,
Passing Judgment upon it and ourselves?

Far better to simply
let the entire game happen on its own,
springing up and falling back like waves
without changing or manipulating anything
and notice how everything
vanishes and reappears, magically,
Again and again, time without end.

Only our searching for happiness
prevents us from seeing it.
It’s like a vivid rainbow which you pursue
without ever catching,
or a dog chasing it’s own tail.

Although peace and happiness
do not exist as an actual thing or place,
it is always available
and accompanies you every instant.

Don’t believe in the reality
of good and bad experiences;
they are today’s ephemeral weather,
like rainbows in the sky.

Wanting to grasp the ungraspable,
you exhaust yourself in vain.
As soon as you open and relax
this tight fist of grasping,
infinite space is there –
open, inviting and comfortable.

Make use of this spaciousness, this
freedom and natural ease.
Don’t search any further
looking for the great awakened elephant,
who is already resting quietly at home
in front of your own hearth.

Nothing to do or undo,
nothing to force,
nothing to want,
And nothing missing.

Emaho! Marvelous!
Everything happens by itself.

HOME PRACTICE for May 15, 2024

Why do I meditate? What calls me to sit? Does Meditation help me to manage suffering?

Thich Naht Hanh in Tricycle (June 28, 2017) talks about the energy of mindfulness helping us to no longer be afraid of being overwhelmed by the energy of suffering.

Mindfulness can be defined as learning to bring our attention to the present moment and seeing what arises, without judgment or bias. Paying attention to exactly what is, and being able to be with what arises from that seeing.

Meditating is a training ground for mindfulness. We learn it on the cushion, and slowly move it into a way of life, off the cushion.

Pema Chodron, in The Wisdom of No Escape, talks about three qualities we can cultivate, in our mindfulness meditation, and in our living a mindful life. They are precision, gentleness, and the ability to let go.

Precision – to see clearly ourselves and our world, with honesty.

Gentleness – to incline ourselves, our attitude, to gentleness, relaxation. No critic.

Letting go – to notice our mind is telling a story, is part of the narrative, and let it go.

We soften ourselves, our attention, our breath, with precision and gentleness. We learn to befriend ourselves. By befriending ourselves, we can befriend the world.

Sebene Salassie: “Our practice is our whole life. It’s not about the fifteen or thirty minutes on the cushion; it’s about seeing how much presence, awareness, kindness, joy, and freedom we’re bringing to each moment.”

Things to ponder:

Why do you meditate? Do you feel that you can take your mindfulness off the cushion and into your daily life?

Do the terms “precision, gentleness, and letting go” resonate with anything you’re experiencing or have experienced – in your meditation practice or in your life? Or conversely, are any of the terms off-putting or simply don’t work for you?

Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, called “With Astonishing Tenderness.”

When, in the middle of the night,
you wake with the certainty you’ve
done it all wrong, when you wake
and see clearly all the places you’ve failed,
in that moment, when dreams will not return,
this is the chance for your softest voice—
the one you reserve for those you love most—
to say to you quietly, oh sweetheart,
this is not yet the end of the story.
Sleep will not come, but somehow,
in that wide awake moment there is peace—
the kind of peace that does not need
everything to be right before it arrives.
The peace that comes from not fighting
what is real. The peace that rises
in the dark on its sure dark wings
to meet you exactly as you are.

Practice and Compassion

There are times when things seem to fall apart, times we need to remember our practice, and compassion. It’s often useful to remember the Buddha’s First Noble Truth – There is suffering. And that all is impermanent, one of the Buddha’s Three marks of existence. And the Five Recollections: We age, we can get ill, we will die, we will know loss, my actions are my only true belongings.

We seem to suffer most when we are attached to the way things are, when we are full of aversion to change, to impermanence.

From Tricycle, Cultivating Courage (intro, Feb 8, 2024):

We must become brave in the face of all we fear. The Buddha as an embodiment of Compassionate Courage. We must learn to not turn away. To stay present. To meet every challenge and difficulty with compassion…. That courage isn’t about battling our demons so much as it is about dropping our armor – opening our hearts to embrace all of our experience.

Pema Chodron’s book – When Things Fall Apart. She talks how the practice of metta, and of compassion, can create a steadiness and peace, that is independent of condition. And as we steady and ground ourselves, we offer it to others.

Which requires Attention, Intention, and Effort, to support this steadiness.

From Pema: We need room for it all, the entire gamut of our feelings, of life. We are vulnerable, we are tender, and we can touch in on that vulnerability, that tenderness. We can hold ourselves with compassion.

What is compassion? From Sharon Salzberg: “Compassion is known in Buddhist teaching as the quivering of the heart in response to pain or suffering.” Which requires bearing witness, to our pain and the pain of others. Even when it feels unbearable. We can offer kindness rather than withdraw.

Things to ponder:

What does compassion mean to you? Self-compassion? Compassion for others.

When compassion feels too hard, how might you use practice and sangha to help?

Allow – Danna Faulds

There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt, containing a tornado.
Dam a stream and it will create a new channel.
Resist, and the tide will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry you to higher ground.
The only safety lies in letting it all in —
the wild and weak —
fear, fantasies, failures, and success.

When loss rips off the doors of the heart
or sadness veils your vision with despair,
practice becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your known way of being,
the whole world is revealed to your new eyes.

2/13/24

We talked about viewing things in new ways. For example Sayadaw U Tejaniya says the mind “never wanders, where would it go?”.
Even though we have all used that language of the ‘wandering mind’, since it feels experientially true, U Tejaniya says that the mind is merely becoming absorbing into our thinking instead of absorbing into our breath, body sensations, or whatever object we originally chose. Does using that language give us a different perspective?

Another example is the wonderful way that Thich Nhat Hanh has used language to describe the steps of meditation practice. This video, called “Stop Running,” which was mentioned in our session, is a wonderful example of using the word “stopping’ to describe the practices of calming the mind, traditionally called Samatha practice.

Also mentioned was this technique, called the Six R’s, that describes the steps of coming back from the “wandering mind” or the “mind absorbed in thinking” when this inevitably happens:

Six R’s – Ven. Vimalaramsi

Recognize – What we are attending to: A plan, scheduling, a memory, a fantasy, a brilliant idea?
Release – the energy around thinking about that now. It can be done later.
Relax – Any tension in the body that resulted from the thinking
Re-smile – Came back to resting in the present moment
Reconnect – your attention to the breath or your meditation object
Resume – wash, rinse, repeat!

Refuge and Sangha

Traditional Buddhist Precepts ceremony: Taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha.

Sangha as a refuge, a way to be connected, be supported, a way to offer support to others.

Thich Nhat Hanh: “Members of your sangha may be your child, your partner, and a beautiful path in the woods. The blue sky and beautiful trees are also members of your sangha.” (Tricycle, The Next Buddha may be a Sangha, Jan 22, 2023)

Sangha as an essential part of our practice; it can hold us, make a container for us.

Thich Nhat Hanh: “The next Buddha may take the form of a community, a community practicing mindful living. And the practice can be carried out as a group, as a city, as a nation.” (Tricycle, Jan 22, 2023)

Zen Peacemaker’s Order, Three Tenets: Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, Loving Action.

In Sangha, we bear witness to others; they bear witness to us.

As elders, we can be held, and we can hold others. Sharing the wisdom of aging.

Larry Rosenberg: Our Practice is the Practice of Intimacy. Intimacy with ourselves, with others, with the present moment. (CIMC Newsletter Jan 31, 2023; Mar 3, 2023.)

In Sangha, we can be reminded of our own Buddha nature.

Thich Nhat Hanh poem, from (from “Call me by My True Names – The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh”, Parallax Press, 2005.)

You are me and I am you.

Isn’t obvious that we inter-are?

You cultivate the flower in yourself

so that I will be beautiful.

I transform the garbage in myself

so that you don’t have to suffer.

I support you – you support me.

I am here to bring you peace,

you are here to bring me joy.

November 28, 2023

We discussed using the Four Noble Truths as a daily refuge and actual framework for exploring stress, (Dukkha), and the cessation of Dukkha, in other words, as a practice instead of a view.

Readings from a wonderful little book from Ajahn Sumedho were discussed.

Here is the link to download a free copy of his revised book on the Four Noble Truths. This site is a rich treasure of Dharma writings and talks from Ajahn Sumedho and the other U.K. forest sangha.

November 14, 2023

Intentions, Effort, and Hooks.

We have intentions, aspirations, things we wish to do, ways we wish to be. This is often hard, especially in times of inner and outer distress, of high emotion. We need effort, often, to stay true to these intentions, to help us to make them manifest. And so we work with Wise Intention and Wise Effort, path factors on the Eightfold Path.

How do I use my practice to support my intention? How can my practice help me to notice what I’m doing, where I’m distracting myself from my intention? We come back to the breath, to our body. We come back to attention, noticing what is attracting us, what we’re pushing away. And being with that, accepting even our resistance.

From the early suttas:

Wise Intention: Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis on which your mind is established. (SN 12.40)

Wise Effort: And when we notice our tendency is towards the not-so-skillful, or the non-beneficial, we need to Rouse the will, make an effort, stir up energy, exert our mind, and strive. (MN 141)

From Pema Chodron –

Don’t Bite the Hook (audiobook).

“How we get hooked, and how we can unhooked.” (Lion’s Roar, Jan 13, 2023).

Shenpa, the urge, the hook, that triggers us into tightening, into contraction, into habit. How can we not get hooked? We use effort to remember our practice of being with what is. With effort, we practice not contracting; by accepting that realities of impermanence and change.

By noticing, and accepting, we create space, and allow for possibility of not biting that hook. The global hook; personal hook. Both so important. We practice being with what is, seeing how we might be resisting, and loosening into the reality of what is.

We use our practice to not get hooked, to remember our intentions, and to use our effort to come back to the breath, to our body, to our wholeness. And just be, right here, right now.

—

The CIMC Sangha Life Committee (SLC) is a group that represents different sanghas of the CIMC community. See more about them on the CIMC website:

https://cambridgeinsight.org/our-community/sangha-life-committee/

Kathy Holmes represents the Elders Sangha on the SLC. She invites any of the Elders Sangha who have questions or concerns, or are simply curious, to contact her via email. Please include “Elders” in the subject line. kholmes45@gmail.com

Adrift (Mark Nepo)

Everything is beautiful and I am so sad.

This is how the heart makes a duet of

wonder and grief. The light spraying

through the lace of the fern is as delicate

as the fibers of memory forming their web

around the knot in my throat. The breeze

makes the birds move from branch to branch

as this ache makes me look for those I’ve lost

in the next room, in the next song, in the laugh

of the next stranger. In the very center, under

it all, what we have that no one can take

away and all that we’ve lost face each other.

It is there that I’m adrift, feeling punctured

by a holiness that exists inside everything.

I am so sad and everything is beautiful.

She Let Go (Rev Safire Rose)

She let go.

She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear.

She let go of the judgments.

She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.

She let go of the committee of indecision within her.

She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.

Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice.

She didn’t read a book on how to let go.

She didn’t search the scriptures.

She just let go.

She let go of all of the memories that held her back.

She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.

She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.

She didn’t promise to let go.

She didn’t journal about it.

She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.

She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.

She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.

She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.

She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.

She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.

She didn’t call the prayer line.

She didn’t utter one word.

She just let go.

No one was around when it happened.

There was no applause or congratulations.

No one thanked her or praised her.

No one noticed a thing.

Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort.

There was no struggle.

It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.

It was what it was, and it is just that.

In the space of letting go, she let it all be.

A small smile came over her face.

A light breeze blew through her.

And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…

She Let Go (poem by Rev. Safire Rose, c. 2003)

She let go.
She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.
She let go of the fear.
She let go of the judgments.
She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.
She let go of the committee of indecision within her.
She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.
Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.
She didn’t ask anyone for advice.
She didn’t read a book on how to let go.
She didn’t search the scriptures.
She just let go.
She let go of all of the memories that held her back.
She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.
She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.
She didn’t promise to let go.
She didn’t journal about it.
She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.
She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.
She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.
She just let go.
She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.
She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.
She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.
She didn’t call the prayer line.
She didn’t utter one word.
She just let go.
No one was around when it happened.
There was no applause or congratulations.
No one thanked her or praised her.
No one noticed a thing.
Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.
There was no effort.
There was no struggle.
It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.
It was what it was, and it is just that.
In the space of letting go, she let it all be.
A small smile came over her face.
A light breeze blew through her.
And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…

Homework

Besides continuing or renewing your daily meditation practice, (Fall is a great time to recommit whole heartedly!) bring awareness to experiences of change:

Changes in outer circumstances

Changes in the body, changing emotions, recurring thought patterns, etc.

Watching the dance between resistance and letting go

Quotations from the talk on “Dealing with Change:”

N.Y.T. Op Ed “Stop Resisting Change,” Brad Stulberg

Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is Changing – Including You, Brad Stulberg

“You have to become a chaos to give birth to a dancing star.” – Nietzsche

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and join the dance.”- Alan Watts

“The sanctity of now” – Rupert Spira, You Are the Happiness You Seek

“When you’re completely in the now, you’re always standing in the middle of a sacred circle.” – Pema Chodron

Experiment with your personal ways of homecoming, centering.

It may be helpful to list them, knowing clearly what really helps.

Your daily practice, both meditation and throughout the day, moments of remembering, coming home to yourself, shifting from the world of distraction – (both external and within)

2) Hokusai (Most famous 19^th century Japanese artist) Also most famous exponent of positive aging:
“Everything I have done before the age of 70 is not worth bothering with. At 75, I will have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects. When I am 80 you will see real progress. At 90 I shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself. At 100, I shall be a marvelous artist. At 110, everything I create […] will jump to life as never before. […] I used to call myself Hokusai, but today I sign myself ‘The Old Man Mad About Drawing.”

7 Homecomings:
1) Breath
2) The body, beginning of meditation, including subtle body or energy body
3) The body in movement: Gentle stretching, etc.
Walking: slow, mindful walking or walking for exercise
Personal practice: “With great respect & love I bow to this body:
Home of the self (essence self), Vehicle for awakening
Abode of pure awareness
4) Sacred place
5) Natural world Finding refuge in nature
6) Daily practice: meditation ideally 20-30 minutes and awareness practice throughout the day
7) 3 words from Shiva Sutras: “Remembrance is Bhairava” (Bhairava means the Lord, Mystery, That which is beyond words, God)

**Any moment of remembrance is sacred (the inner shift to remembering your refuges, homecoming)**

Two more this morning: 1) Stopping 2) Awareness to the heart center

Inspiring interview with Brother David Steindl-Rast (97 years old)

Poem: https://poets.org/poem/morning-i-pray-my-enemies

Lessons from the Dharma for coping with a significant loss

1) The Five Recollections:

I am of the nature to age.
Aging is unavoidable.

I am the nature to get ill.
Illness is unavoidable.

I am the of the nature to die.
Death is unavoidable.

All that is dear to me and everyone I love
are of the nature to change.
There is no way to escape being separated from them.

My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot avoid the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground on which I stand.

2) Read The Magnanimous Heart by Narayan Helen Liebenson

3) Read Awakening Through Love: Unveiling Your Deepest Goodness by Lama John Makransky

HOME PRACTICE for June 13, 2023 Elders

Our elder years are so often times of aging and separation and loss, often times of experiencing fear, and finding the courage to face that fear. How might we meet those fears, what can we practice to help us remember courage?

We can practice the Buddha’s Five Recollections, or Five Remembrances.
1. I am of the nature to grow old; there is no way to escape growing old.
2. I am of the nature to have ill health; there is no way to escape having ill health.
3. I am of the nature to die; there is no way to escape death.
4. All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
5. My deeds are my closest companions. I am the beneficiary of my deeds. My deeds are the ground on which I stand.

In those recollections, we are reminded to let go of self, and to remember that what is happening to us is part of life, not personal nor punitive. We experience all that life offers, pleasure and pain; we are not exempt from the full gamut of life’s experiences.

We can practice Right View, the first of the path factors of the Eightfold Path. Right View can be a way of alleviating suffering. By seeing that what is happening is simply what is, we can alleviate the extra suffering we often add with our second arrows, by wanting things to be other than they are.

Thich Nhat Hanh: Right View is not an ideology, a system, or even a path. It is the insight we have into the reality of life, a living insight…

Right View is a compass, an aspiration, a reminder. It is an insight and an acceptance of the reality of things, of how life is.

We can accept being in the in-between place, and not knowing.

Pema Chodron: The in-between place: …We aren’t told all that much about this state of being in-between… The challenge is to let it soften us rather than make us more rigid and afraid. Becoming intimate with the queasy feeling of being in the middle of nowhere only makes our hearts more tender. When we are brave enough to stay in the middle, compassion rises.

Compassion for ourselves, for those we might be caring for, for all beings also experiencing the whole gamut of life.

Koan: Not-knowing is most intimate
It takes courage to be in this in-between place, this place of not knowing. We can remember to soften into intimacy, with ourselves, with the moment, with this in-between place.

Poem: Allow, by Danna Faulds: There is no controlling life.… and practice becomes simply bearing the truth… (You can access the entire poem via Google.)

From Larry Rosenberg:

May we continue to look into ourselves.
May we see things exactly as they are.
And may such clear, direct seeing free us.

May 9 Homework – Kate Beers

The Wisdom of the Body

Your body is always present:

1. Think of a time when your mind and thoughts told you one thing but your body reactions told you something else. For example, denying you are angry to yourself and others but your body reactions reveal that you angry.

2. Take sometime to discover and experience your own body sensations. For example, when angry, perhaps your jaw tightens, your breathing becomes forced, your eyes narrow, etc.

3. List a few words that reflect your deepest values; and, using them as a mantra, discover your body sensations. For example, Integrity; kindness, gratitude, grace.
Let yourself appreciate how your mind/body is fully connected.

References:
Awake Where You Are: The Art of Embodied Awareness by Martin Aylward
The Wakeful Body: Somatic Mindfulness as a Path to Freedom by Willa Blythe Baker

Website:
Dialogue between John Makransky, Lama in Tibetan Buddhism and Richard Schwartz, Family systems therapist and founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Becoming Our Compassionate Self: Integrating Parts of Ourselves into the Process of Spiritual Awakening
A Conversation Between Internal Family Systems and Tibetan Buddhism

April 11 Homework – Kate Beers

Bring kindness to your body

Suggestions:
• Metta / Body Scan
• Gentle Yoga
• Massage

Reference: Sharon Salzberg – Aging Wisely

Discover your own embodied wisdom

Meditate on a word or words that reflect a deep value and note your own body sensations. Allow yourself to experiment. Stay with words that fully resonate in your body. Let go of words that may feel conflicted. What do you discover?

Examples:
Gratitude, kindness, compassion, grace, integrity, authenticity, love, etc

References:
Martin Aylward – Awake Where You Are: The Art of Embodied Wisdom
John Makransky – Awakening Through Love: Unveiling Your Deepest Goodness

Our body is the first of the four foundations of Mindfulness – from the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha’s Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness. Often it’s our body where we first notice signs of aging, of becoming an elder.

The practice of acceptance, of ourself, of our body, of kindness towards ourselves, even our losses, is crucial. To accept, to witness ourselves, without judgement, and with care; to love them, to lean towards them, to embrace them.

Thich Nhat Hanh in his book No Mud, No Lotus, talks about the Sallatha Sutta, the Arrow sutta. The first arrow is that which happens, causes pain; the second arrow is fired by our own selves, is our reaction, our storyline, our anxiety. We add to our suffering with these second arrows.

Sharon Salzberg as she was turning 70 wrote a Tricycle article, Aging Wisely, with much the same themes – what happens to the body as we age as the first arrow, and “our tendency to rehearse some catastrophe, and thereby live it several times.” This rehearsing as the second arrow. One way to work with these, a doing a body scan along with the loving-kindness meditation; may each part of the body be happy.

Ruth King, in a Tricycle podcast, writes about kindness. “Kindness is a decision, a decision to incline the heart toward goodwill for all beings.”

Narayan tells of a Zen teaching:

A student asks his Zen master: How to be happy. The teacher replies: Complete unrestricted cooperation with the unavoidable.

Nancy Mujo Baker – “Living Without Why,” from Meister Eckhart. Without “why me, why now, why this?” Depersonalize the suffering that is innate in nature – the First Noble Truth: There is suffering. Personalizing our suffering is another form of second arrow.

How do we cooperate with those hard parts? What can we count on, rest in, to see us through, to sustain us. We come back to the first foundation, to our body, to our breath, to our center.

TNH poem – This Body is Not Me: (first lines)

This body is not me; I am not limited by this body,
I am life without boundaries.

Rumi poem –

I am not this hair
I am not this skin.
I am the soul
That lives within.

February 14, 2023 Homework

Focus on bringing metta or loving -kindness into both your meditation and at other times, perhaps using one of the traditional phrases. Examples: (create your own phrases)
May I and all beings live with loving-kindness
May I and all beings have ease of heart
May I and all being live with peaceful hearts

Refresh your practice. Always an invitation to re-commit to a daily practice of sitting meditation even if it’s for a short time. Increase your sitting to 20-30 minutes or more.

Remember how helpful it is to start with the body: a few minutes of gentle stretching or yoga shifts your energy and eases you into meditation more easily.

Simple exercise: breathing in metta, breathing out and sending metta to others

Reflections from the talk on Metta – loving kindness

Thich Nhat Hanh:
“Love is made of four elements: loving-kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), joy (mudita) and equanimity (upeksha). If your love contains these elements, it will be healing and transforming, and it will have the element of holiness in it. True love has the power to transform any situation and bring deep meaning to our lives.”
–From his little book How to Love

Love is a verb – it’s the energy of the heart

Unconditional love: Tulku Thondup’s book titled: The Heart of Unconditional Love: a Powerful New Approach to Loving-Kindness Meditation

“The good heart practice”
We can simply do what’s called ‘good heart practice,” called sampa zangpo in the Tibetan tradition.Tibetan Buddhist masters consider it the most important thing on the spiritual path, the dharma in a nutshell… It’s the universal dharma that can set our heart free from the constraint of self-centeredness, and from the inner poisons, like hatred and envy.” Anam Thubten

Rumi quotation:
“Always check your inner state with the lord of your heart.
Copper doesn’t know it’s copper until it’s changed to gold.
Your loving doesn’t know its majesty until it knows its helplessness.”

Thich Nhat Hanh:
“You need your own love very much. You have to be there for yourself . When you sit for meditation, you practice love.

January 10, 2023 Homework

Heroism, Courage, Love and Fear

Olivia Hoblitzelle: “The later years are most heroic.”

Heroism often requires effort and courage.
How do we remember to be the Heroes of our own lives?
How do we respond to our fears?

Metta – Love or Loving-Kindness – one of the four Brahmaviharas, the four Immeasurables, the Divine Abodes. The Buddha gave his Metta Sutta as the antidote to fear.

Metta as the antidote to fear. To confront Fear with Courage requires Love.

Here are some traditional Metta Sutta and phrase variations. Find or create what works for you.

May all beings be happy.
May they live in safety and joy.
All living beings,
Whether weak or strong,
Tall, stout, average or short,
Seen or unseen, near or distant,
Born or to be born,
May they all be happy.
– From the Insight Meditation Center in California

Some sangha versions:
May I be happy. May I be safe. May I be free.
May we be happy. May we be safe. May we be free.
May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be free.

May all beings be safe
May all beings be happy
May all beings have strength of heart.
May all beings know ease of well-being.

Poem by Michael Leunig:
Love and Fear
There are only two feelings, Love and fear;
There are only two languages, Love and fear;
There are only two activities, Love and fear;
There are only two motives, two procedures,
Two frameworks, two results,
Love and fear, Love and fear.

Krishnamurti: “Fear is an extraordinary jewel … which has dominated human beings for forty thousand years and more. And if you can hold it and look at it, then one begins to see the ending of it.”

Rumi poem: The Guest House – last stanza:
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Even fear is a guest to be welcomed and treated honorably, an extraordinary jewel, a guide. To be welcomed and offered Metta. An extraordinary practice.

Galway Kinnel poem extract, from Flying Home:
From then on, love is very much like courage,
perhaps it is courage, and even
perhaps
only courage.

Reflections:
– Is the word “heroic” meaningful to you? Useful? In what way? Or not at all?
– Was there a challenging situation where you felt afraid, and managed to remember love, find courage?
– How might you have witnessed courage in another/

Homework for Elders:
Most important is your daily meditation practice. Focus especially on bringing awareness to subtle mood/emotional states.
Sometimes helpful to label: “worried” “content” “frustrated,” etc.
Pause practice: stop several times during the day, tune into your body, your feelings, and breathe with loving awareness

3rd Foundation of Mindfulness: emotions

Ajahn Chah: “Anything which is troubling you, anything which is irritating you, that is your teacher.”

“The Guest House” by 13th-century Sufi mystic Rumi (searchable online)

6 Steps for dealing with emotions
1) “welcoming practice” or “handshake practice”.
2) “Entertain them all” Invitation to investigate. Bring awareness to the body; come to the breath.
3) Bring awareness to emotions is a process of purification:
4) Meditation: most important ally: creates space. Every emotion has its wisdom — something positive to be discovered. “like a tiny flame of love in the heart waiting to guide you”
5) Expand your field of awareness: Tune into vast field of interconnectedness.
6) Metta/lovingkindness: “May I/you be free of fear and have ease of heart.” Whenever you turn your attention away from self to others, heart feels lighter. Transforms darkness of separation into feelings of connection

Hafiz, Sufi mystic, called it: “the encouragement of light”

Isabel Allende: “We all have an unsurpassable reserve of strength inside that emerges when life puts us to the test.”

Follow up to Emma’s’ presentation:
Link to Google Groups Tutorial
Link to join Elders Group
Link to join other Google Groups

Key points for review:
• “This Precious Human Body:” key contemplation in Buddhist tradition
• View: body as a mandala– a sacred universe
• Experiencing “the body in the body”
Reference to the subtle body, or the energy body
Includes chakra system from yogic traditions
Breath: bridge between the physical & subtle bodies

• Honoring the body before yoga, tai chi, chi gong, etc. (the words I use)
Hands in namaste: “With great respect and love I bow to this body, abode of pure awareness, vehicle for awakening.”

Feel free to experiment with phrases that feel right to you.

Pain meditation with Stephen Levine:
https://www.livingdying.org/softening-pain-meditation/

Grace and Grit: A Love Story, by Ken and Treya Wilbur

The Wakeful Body: Somatic Mindfulness as a Path to Freedom, by Lama Willa Blythe Baker
Hevajra Tantra says: “Great wisdom lives in the body”

Homework: Find ways to practice mindfulness of the body through your day

Remember the “Pause Practice:” stopping for 3-4 breaths, dropping awareness into the body.

Experiment with taking more time with the body scan at the beginning of meditation, or returning to it, as a way to bring awareness down into the body.

Remember to open, soften, and embrace whatever is happening and send kindness and compassion to your body.

Homework:
Bring careful attention to the nature of thoughts arising in meditation:
Do thoughts tend to go into the past or toward the future?
Notice when there is clinging/attachment or aversion.
Identify recurring mental habits that cause the most distraction, stress, suffering.
What quality do you need to cultivate in working with the mind?

Three resources:
Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness
Bhante Gunaratana, The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English
Joseph Goldstein, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

Click here for the Elders Sangha listserv/google group.

Click here to learn more about kalyana-mitta groups at CIMC.

Play with the concept of centering, finding your center

Notice how meditation strengthens that, even if the mind is busy

Recommit to your practice: both sitting meditation and cultivating mindfulness throughout the day

Reflect on the phrase “the courage to suffer.” How do we find meaning in suffering, and where does our practice come in?

Remember to pause: stop! and simply come to the body and breath, centering yourself.

Quotes: “A mandala is a secret realm… Let’s each try to regard ourselves as a mandala, the sacred dimension that is made up of many sacred components….Because we are this living, intricate mandala made of so many components, we are ready to fall apart at any given moment…

This Mandala, this sacred universe, is who we are… This realization — knowing that there is no singular self in each of us, and instead we are this complex, beautiful, living

Mandala — is very liberating. It can give rise to courage, love, and joy in our hearts”

Anam Thubten

“There was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a (person) had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer. What is to give light must endure burning.” Viktor Frankl

Google link for Elders Sangha: http://groups.google.com/group/cimcelders?hl=en

Link to sign up for CIMC Newsletters: www.tinyurl.com/cimcaffinitygroups

Five Wisdom Treasures: Reflections on Practice

1) Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay)
“Approach your practice with a joyful heart. For me, breathing in and out is a great joy. Organize your practice so it is very joyful.”

2) Thay “Bring a unique dimension of love and devotion to your practice. You need your own love very much. When you sit for meditation, you practice love.”

3) Inspiring our practice: how do you do that? Know all your sources of inspiration: teachers, teachings, books, friends, situations, nature, etc.

4) Cultivating the quality of acceptance toward whatever arises either in meditation or during the day. A spontaneous mantra: “accept the losses”

5) Thay’s response to someone in pain: “Trust in the energy of mindfulness to hold everything that arises… Your wounded heart, your pain – that’s what brings you to the heart of the Buddha.”

Contemplate and experience the subtle power of Thay’s phrase “the energy of mindfulness”

Richard Rohr: “Your True Self is Life and Being and Love. Love is what you were made for and love is what you are.”

Homework:
** Choose a couple of ways to inspire your practice.

** If your meditation practice has been intermittent, make a commitment to deepen it. Even 5-10 minutes a day (best at the same time and in the same place), is better than no meditation at all.

** Remember: you can come home to yourself at any moment by simply pausing and tuning into the preciousness of your breath.

** When challenged by difficult circumstances or emotions, remember Thay’s phrase “the energy of mindfulness” and trust that it is stronger than the pain.

Remembering wise view: see impermanence of everything
Seeing world as play of consciousness
Everyone is a holy mystery:
Lakota Chief Noble Red Man
“Everyone is sacred. You are sacred. I am sacred. Every time you blink your eye or I blink my eye, God blinks Her eye. God see through your eyes and my eyes. We are sacred.”

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