Homework

1. Sitting: For a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. Do your best! Keep your meditation simple —
2. Gratitude Practice: E-mail or text a classmate 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.
3. Please also share with your “practice buddy” 1 thing about Forgiveness that you noticed or explored 3-4 times this week.
4. Notice and open to forgiveness stories.
5. Bring to mind, someone you feel anger, bitterness, resentment towards—yourself, spouse, partner, parents, children, teacher, boss, co-worker, friend, neighbor—anyone or any situation that agitation arises in your heart. When you bring this person or situation to mind how does it feel? Are you holding on to any resentment? (Recollect or use the points below to assist you in the process of opening to the resistance)

Let yourself feel all the barriers you have created and the emotions that you have carried because you have not forgiven, not forgiven yourself, not forgiven others. Let yourself feel the pain of keeping your heart closed. Breathe softly into the heart.

• Acknowledge any unwillingness you have to forgive the person or situation. Let yourself experience the degree to which you prefer to hold on to your resentment, anger, bitterness even when you see how it closes you down and how you resist your openness by choosing to stay stuck in a kind of hardness.
• Bring a nonjudgmental awareness to how you resist forgiveness. Seeing clearly enables you to experience resistance for what it is. Open to and soften into any resistance. Gently turn towards any resistance
• Experience in your body how your unwillingness to forgive feels. As best you can, stay with the physical experience of resistance. This allows a sense of spaciousness to gradually develop in which the resentment can start to loosen.
• Begin to see your judgments as thoughts rather than accepting them as objective truths.

1. Sitting: For a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. Do your best! Keep your meditation simple and silent—
2. Gratitude Practice: E-mail or text a classmate 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.
3. The process of forgiveness demands courage & a continual remembering of where our deepest happiness lies. Ask yourself each day, “Where does my deepest happiness lie?”
   Reflect on the benefits of a loving heart.
   Set your intention to forgive.
   Start with the easiest forgiveness’s.
   Be willing to grieve.
4. Forgiveness perspective. Open to the understanding of the hurt of humanity-the First Noble Truth. The loss, hurt, grief, anger you feel is not just your pain. It is also the pain of being alive. Allow yourself to feel the pain of all that hurting. Feel the fullness of the pain. Perhaps, the rawness. The fact that being hurt is built into the condition of life. Then, see if you can open and feel connected to everyone in this vastness.
5. Please also share with your “practice buddy” 1 thing about Forgiveness that you noticed or explored 3-4 times this week.
6. Notice and open to forgiveness stories.
7. Bring to mind, someone you feel anger, bitterness, resentment towards—yourself, spouse, partner, parents, children, teacher, boss, co-worker, friend, neighbor—anyone or any situation that agitation arises in your heart. When you bring this person or situation to mind how does it feel? Are you holding on to any resentment? (Recollect or use the points below to assist you in the process of opening to the resistance)

Let yourself feel all the barriers you have created and the emotions that you have carried because you have not forgiven, not forgiven yourself, not forgiven others. Let yourself feel the pain of keeping your heart closed. Breathe softly into the heart.

• Acknowledge any unwillingness you have to forgive the person or situation. Let yourself experience the degree to which you prefer to hold on to your resentment, anger, bitterness even when you see how it closes you down and how you resist your openness by choosing to stay stuck in a kind of hardness.
• Bring a nonjudgmental awareness to how you resist forgiveness. Seeing clearly enables you to experience resistance for what it is. Open to and soften into any resistance. Gently turn towards any
• Experience in your body how your unwillingness to forgive feels. Begin to open to your suffering.  Feel if there is a lack of compassion. Is it possible that this suffering is not in your best interest? Sense the pain of not forgiving.  Where is it in your body? As best you can, stay with the physical experience of resistance. (like we did in class) Consider the possibility that the resistance to the pain may be more painful than the pain itself. This may allow a sense of spaciousness to gradually develop in which the resentment can start to loosen.

Please don’t forget your daily gratitude practice & asking yourself, “Where does my deepest happiness lie?”

1. Sitting: For a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. Do your best! Please keep your meditation simple and silent—
2. Gratitude Practice: E-mail or text a classmate 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.
3. Become aware of your willingness or unwillingness to forgive. (See last week’s homework.)
4. Set your intention to forgive. Practice Forgiveness of little things.
5. Practice the habit of gratitude, love, beauty, nature, forgiveness everyday (read below)

Please also share with your “practice buddy” 1 thing about Forgiveness that you noticed or explored 3-4 times this week.

Grudges/Grievances: Practice Tools & Skills
Focusing too much attention on a hurt can make it stronger and can become a habit that can be difficult to break.

• You talk over and over about what happened.
• Your mind dwells on the grievance.
• You are/become tired of the amount of time you spend thinking about your past.

Tools: take responsibility for how you feel (doesn’t mean you have to like what happened, that you condone what happened, or that what happened is your fault. Remember holding people accountable for their actions is not the same as blaming them for how you feel.) While you did not cause these things to happen you are responsible for how you think, behave and feel right now, in the present.

Skills: not dwelling, changing the channel, -taking responsibility even though you are hurt, continue to make an effort to appreciate the good in your life. Pain is a normal part of life. Make the effort to keep it in perspective.  Instead of dwelling/renting space in mind to a grievance story, rent the space to gratitude, love, beauty or appreciation of nature. In each moment we have the choice as to where we place our attention.  If we have a habit of creating a grievance story we can have a habit of gratitude, love, beauty, forgiveness. Practice the habit of gratitude, love, beauty/nature, forgiveness everyday. (Keep reading)

Gratitude:

1. walk into supermarket-give thanks for abundance of food available
2. when driving mentally thank drivers who follow rules of the road
3. thank your friend or partner
4. at home: give thanks to all labor for furniture, appliances, food
5. wake up thanks for breath and life

Beauty and Nature:

1. when in traffic notice beauty of sky, birds, clouds
2. appreciate favorite piece of music
3. wonder of flowers-smell, color
4. favorite spot in nature

Forgiveness:

1. Look for people who have forgiven others. Ask them to tell you their stories
2. Remember when you have forgiven. Remind yourself you can do it
3. Read books about people who have forgiven hurtful situations
4. Practice forgiving the littlest “offenses” against you
5. Practice forgiving one moment at a time
6. Forgive a driver who cuts you off
7. Think of times you have hurt others and needed forgiveness
8. Notice when someone is kind to you after you have hurt him/her/them
9. Notice how often you naturally forgive those you love

Love:

1. look for people in love and smile at their happiness
2. remember the times in your life when you were loved
3. remember the times in your life when you were loving
4. call up a friend and tell them that you care about them
5. look for memories of kindness done for you by others
6. ask yourself what you can do to be a more loving person
7. ask someone else about a time when she/he/they felt really loved

Group responses

#1

Nature:

all the green plants overgrowing on my walkway

sounds of seagulls at the beach

Swift River in New Hampshire

peacefulness/harmony

summer is talking

Gratitude:

bus driver’s courtesy to me as I have trouble walking

indoor plumbing

for me disobeying my doctor’s orders to come to CIMC class

good food

farmer’s markets

pain relief from Advil for my pulled tooth

Beauty:

daylily buds

good books

great works of art

a perfectly cooked egg

Forgiveness:

amazing story of the prisoner at Guantanamo prison forging relationship with guard

forgiving a friend for a betrayal (but not condoning the action)

forgiving the guy who honked at me in traffic

forgave the T for the Red Line delays this morning

Love:

being alive

good books

people passionate about what they are doing

authentic something or other…(couldn’t read the scribe’s writing)

 

#2

Gratitude

• health
• sunshine
• Madeline’s teachings
• practice
• breath
• parents
• Skype

Beauty

• sunshine through the trees
• cat’s stomach
• pleasing colors
• photography
• music
• daughter’s eyes

Forgiveness

• letting go
• opening up
• empathy
• freedom
• smiling
• practicing equanimity
• lightness
• space in heart
• grace

Love

• fullness
• my cat
• humanity
• warm heart
• openness
• not judging
• love for my son
• acceptance
• joy

Nature

• the sea
• birds singing
• breeze
• storms
• fresh smells
• sound of waves
• pleasing colors
• life
• sunlight
• peacefulness

#3

gratitude

I’m grateful

we’re alive.

I’m grateful for warm weather.

I’m grateful for summer sunshine.

I’m grateful to be in this class.

beauty

the sounds of the birds

music

yellow flowers I can see from the kitchen window

forgiveness

I forgive a nasty deed that was done to me.

I forgive a former friend, someone I dated.

soften around the hurt feelings

opening vs. a single act

love

I love my friend’s dog.

I love all the dogs at Fresh Pond.

babies and puppy dogs

nature

walking on tracks at Walden Pond and being in the middle of the pond

the plants and trees at CIMC

the breeze on my face by the ocean

bunny rabbits that eat expensive shrubs

 

#4

gratitude

• my daughter
• my family
• having a job

beauty

• the rain
• a ripe peach
• little kids’ voices

forgiveness

• annoying sounds
• misunderstanding
• people who talk too much without awareness

love

• my sister
• plants
• people with whom I have complex and sometimes confusing relationships

nature

• birds
• the trees in my garden
• storms
• scent in the garden
• warmth from the sun
• breezes

1. Sitting:For a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. Do your best! Please keep your meditation simple and silent—
2. Gratitude Practice:E-mail or text a classmate 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.
3. Practice the habit of gratitude, love, beauty, nature, forgiveness everyday. (see below)

Please also share with your “practice buddy” 1 thing about Forgiveness that you noticed or explored 3-4 times this week.

4. Become aware of your willingness or unwillingness to forgive.
5. Ask yourself: What allows me to forgive? What stops me from letting go?
6. Remember: To forgive does not mean we condone the misdeeds of another.
   Remember: Forgiveness is about practicing with and healing resentment. The resentment that blocks our aspiration to live from our true nature. Forgiveness is about loosening our hold on the one thing we often want most to hold onto-the suffering of resentment.
   Remember: To let yourself feel the barriers and the emotions that you have carried because you have not forgiven yourself, not forgiven others. Let yourself feel the pain of keeping your heart closed. Remember: Forgiveness is for your own sake, a way to carry the pain of the past no longer. It is forgiveness that can bring the peace we long for.
7. Set your intentionto forgive.
8. Practice Forgiveness, whenever we forgive, in small ways or in great ways we free ourselves from the past.
9. Please use the forgiveness Handout from class. Do your best to try forgiving in all 4 directions during the next two weeks. (you don’t have to do all of them at once)
10. Next class is July 11^th

Gratitude:
1) remember to be mindful
2) relief the anger after kicking the basket
3) a rich conversation with a friend
4) for my feet that allow me to do things all day

Beauty:
1) simple non clutter space
2) the small snails in her yard
3) a fruit salad cook with love
4) a beautiful heart of the teacher

Forgiveness:
1) Forgive self
Love:
1) meditation teacher
2) a meditation room to practice
Nature:
1) the cemetery near my house
2) the tree outside the restaurant
3) talking to a tree; we have the same body

1. Gratitude
   * The ocean; it is grounding and provides release
   * Having an adoring partner
   * Knowing I can survive my mistakes

   2. Beauty
   * My window view of river and greenery
   * Art and objects in my home give me joy
   * Other people’s art

   3. Forgiveness
   * I have forgiven my mother
   * I am forgiving my boss for failing as a manager
   * I am forgiving myself for just being where I’m at

   4. Love
   * I adore my niece and nephew
   * I meditate to practice love towards myself
   * We love our pets

   5. Nature
   * I saw a bunny hopping across the street mid-Cambridge
   * My herb garden is flourishing

 

GRATITUDE

Waking up in the morning.

Hearing a person sing while walking done the street.

I’m grateful for my home.

I’m grateful that I live close by to CIMC

 

FORGIVENESS

I forgave my mom.

Ho’oponopono the Hawaiian forgiveness practice

I forgave my brother

I forgive morning commuters

 

BEAUTY

Shadows and colors

The Charles River

Walking along the Greenway to work

The view from any mountain top.

 

LOVE

Unconditional love for my grandchild.

Seeing my daughter for the first time.

Gratitude

– lovely handwriting

– our practice group

 

Beauty

– New Hampshire Swift River

– library

– geese by the Charles River

 

Forgiveness

– while biking, splashed by a car driving through a puddle — heart inclined towards forgiveness

– truck honking at a driver

 

Love

– cat

– daughter

– sangha, Thursday practice group

– son

 

Nature

– this body breathing – air

– Merrimack River in spring — a hawk

As you have time read the chapters on the First Noble Truth and Material Elements, Feelings and Perceptions from Mindfulness a Practical Guide to Awakening.  If you have extra time and an interest, you might want to read Food for Awakening https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/foodforawakening.html . It is a pretty deep article so take in what you can and revisit it in the future.

1. Sit at least 10 minutes a day or longer. In sitting practice use mindfulness to remember to keep coming back to the focus of attention. When your attention is stable use mindfulness to remind you to bring Wise Attention which is attention based on Wise View (seeing things in terms of the Four Noble Truths or Four Tasks) and to remember to act skillfully on those views. Notice when Dukkha occurs.  How can you tell (contracted mind, tight body, and/or sense of heaviness, aversion, clinging to: unpleasant and pleasant physical or mental experiences, sense of identity are some possibilities)?  What are you clinging to as you or yours (bodily sensations, views and perceptions, feeling tone (pleasant or unpleasant physical sensations or emotions), thoughts and emotions, the knower)?
2. If you are new to practice you might find the material at https://app.box.com/s/c2nb5gmqnzptgw9q2smm7307kmigpibs  helpful, in particular https://app.box.com/s/alo4nxs7ulb9jait0y5dvbyp769tveby and https://app.box.com/s/b2xyx8sh8lrtx17ymlndwftfgfsfmild
3. Use mindfulness to remind you to bring Wise Attention (seeing things in terms of the Four Noble Truths or Four Tasks) and Wise Effort (acting skillfully within the four noble truths) to your daily life. Use the same instructions as in the first practice.  What do you do when you have an unpleasant sensation or emotional experience?
4. Determine your primary causes of dukkha are and be prepared to share what you have found and how you respond to these forms of Dukkha. (What do you cling to as you or yours?)

The first noble truth can be found at https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/truths.html#first

If you like to listen to talks there are a set of talks on the aggregates at https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/96/?search=aggregates

Read the chapter on the Second Noble Truth from Mindfulness a Practical Guide to Awakening.  If you have time, you might find it helpful to read the sections on craving, clinging, becoming, birth, and death from Dependent Origination by Christina Feldman. https://app.box.com/s/1d8sbmmo1dgawatkdtej3600eklm9xkg  The article is an accessible description of the Buddha’s profound explanation of the “world” is created.

1. Continue practices from last week that you find helpful.
2. Explore what triggers (craving) the process leading to dukkha. Often, it is an unpleasant experience (sense or emotion). From this relatively simple experience, actions to get away from the experience, thoughts and emotions arise. As the process unfolds, a sense of identity is created that perceives things as happening to me or that has to be protected. Then the mind generates stories seeing to protect the identity.Sometimes you can stop the process by labeling or noting that this is an unpleasant experience and then see if you widen your attention so that you can allow it to be there and it observe its changing nature.  You want to be with but not lost in the experience.  This involves widening and softening your attention.  Being drawn to pleasant experience or lack of interest in experiences that don’t have much charge trigger similar processes.
3. Much of the dukkha that was discussed this week was drive by the perception of time and solid you that has a past and future. But the future is a mental projection that is happening now and the past is a memory happening now. Explore how to work with recognizing these projections are concepts.  This might involve grounding yourself in the body and watching the thought process and noticing thoughts have their own life.  One way of looking at them is as programs or another parts of our selves.  These are habitual patterns that we believe are what we are.
4. Another way to work with the practice above is to ask what is it that you believe you are? What is it that doesn’t change?  This is one of purposes of aggregates which a model of looking at what we are.  The model is that what we perceive as self is a group of changing interactive processes.  Clearly material elements (or the body), feeling tone, perceptions, thoughts and emotions are constantly changing.  If they can be observed and they are impermanent, can that be what you are?
5. Next week we will break into small groups to discuss how practice is going.

Read the chapter on the Third Noble Truth from Mindfulness a Practical Guide to Awakening.  Also there is an excellent brief article that points to freedom by Ajahn Chah http://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Training_this_Mind1.php .

1. When you notice craving/clinging (note this can be aversion or wanting), come to the body, pause and explore the gratification, drawbacks (alternative translations are dangers, defects, and disadvantages) of the craving/clinging. Some drawbacks are impermanence, unskillful actions (harm to yourself or others), and the agitation of craving.
2. Much of the dukkha that was discussed was driven by the perception of time and a solid you that has a past and future. The future is a mental projection that is happening now and the past is a memory happening now. Explore how to work with recognizing these projections are concepts. They are driven by a craving to be something solid- someone with certain qualities (a good teacher, artist, writer, someone who is bright, attractive, kind, inadequate, depressed,  someone who has a past and future). The exploration might involve grounding yourself in the body and watching the thought process and noticing thoughts have their own life.  Or ask what is happening now and how do I care for this moment?
3. When you are craving (wanting to get or get rid of), investigate what the craving feels like and then notice how it feels when the craving passes away. Cessation is the end of craving, this is the third noble truth which is freedom from dukkha or conditions.
4. When you have moods and emotions bring to mind Ajahn Chah’s teaching, is the mind that is at peace being tricked?
5. Come prepared next week to offer one specific aspect of the explorations over the last few weeks that has been freeing. We may do a go around.

Practice Suggestions

Read the section entitled Right View (Liberation) from Mindfulness a Practical Guide to Awakening.  If you have the time and interest, read the sections entitled, The  Fourth Noble Truth  and Right View (Worldy Ease). However, I think that much of the material in these sections isn’t important for what we will be doing over the next two weeks. If you just want to skim the material, my Kindle notes are at https://app.box.com/s/h8n7dul8x7f6qx2033q6a544dsf1o8xn

1. Continue practices from the previous weeks that you find freeing.
2. When you use or think the words “I” or “You” investigate what aggregate you are claiming as who you or someone else is (See the section entitled Subtlety of Wrong View). (The aggregates are Form, Feeling Tone, Perception, Thoughts and Emotions, and Consciousness). Use mindfulness to keep your attention on the aggregate long enough to see that it changes.  It is often helpful to soften and widen the attention so that you are not overwhelmed by the experience. At times you might notice how the mind is contracting around something and then you can use a phrase such as “the sky is blue” to widen attention.  At other times it might be more helpful to ground your attention in the body and find parts of the body that feel pleasant or neutral.
3. Notice how the view of self-drives fear and actions to protect your identity. This could be in the form of: resentment or guilt), actions to gratify (the constant effort to obtain pleasant physical and emotional states) or trying to present an image (competence, being a good person, looking a certain way etc.)
4. We will probably break into small groups next week for a discussion of practice.

The section Right View (Worldy Ease) from Mindfulness a Practical Guide to Awakening points to a skillful view of living in the world and Right Intention a way to act upon this view.  There is an article that describes this view is at https://app.box.com/s/8qgooiil5t1bbn6vr3wzou4nmehtpmba  Practice suggestions are below:

1. Continue practices from previous weeks that you find helpful. We are all result of causes and conditions and from one perspective we couldn’t be any other way. Bring this view to yourself and to others. When you meet someone bring the intention to wish them well.  Do the same with yourself. Explore what it feels like in the body and heart-mind when you meet the world this way.
2. While we are a result of causes and conditions, we can learn to pause and evaluate whether our actions of body, speech (internal and external), and heart are skillful and lead to a peaceful and harmonious life for ourselves and others or are unskillful and lead to being shut down, contracted and hopeless. Skillful and unskillful are not judgments but refer to a felt sense. Actions of kindness, compassion, and generosity lead to bright results, a sense of something opening, of softness, tenderness and joy. Actions of ill will, greed, and being lost in the delusion of me and mine cause dark results, being shut down, contracted and hopeless.Each time we act, we form an inclination to behave that way in the future. In this way we establish programs made up of learned patterns of behavior. Often what we see as self and others are habitual patterns and they can be changed.

   Recognize patterns that claim as who you are.  Inquire whether they are skillful or not.  Then form the intention to release unskillful patterns and cultivate skillful patterns.  Over time unskillful patterns can be released by coming to the body and making room for the patterns to be released. Similarly, pausing and coming to the body, is a helpful aid to cultivating skillful patterns. Notice when you act in a kind and compassionate way how it feels.

Course Overview

This study group is a six-part series during which we will apply contemplative and embodied practices to explore:

• Our racial identity as white people, and our reactions to being labeled white.
• The historical origins of whiteness.
• Present day dynamics of racism.
• The costs of racism for white people.
• Reclamation of the indigenous cultures and ethnic origins of our ancestors.
• The operation of racism in our sangha, our communities, and our organizations,
• and ways we can interrupt this karma.

Pre-work for Session 1

Seeing Ourselves as Racialized Beings

Please click here.

 

Pre-work for Session 2

Historical Racism

Please click here.

 

Pre-work for Session 3

Structural Racism

Please click here.

Pre-work for Session 4

How White Supremacy Hurts White People

Please click here.

Pre-work for Session 5

Beginning to Heal Through Wholeness: Ancestral Recovery

Please click here.

Pre-work for Session 6

Going Forth: Applying Our Spiritual Practice, Thoughts About Being An Ally

Please click here.

Click here for the Samādhi handout.

Click here for the Paññā handout.

Click here for the Sīla handout.

Gratitude and Generosity

• 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.
• Ajahn Sucitto’s book, Pāramī: Ways to Cross Life’s Floods, will be our shared text. Please read the chapter, “Crossing the Floods,” starting on page 11-29 and Generosity 31-40.

The Paramis

• Initially one brings the topic to mind – this is helpful and useful – it means that the parami gets built-in as a frame of reference. Do your best to build in Gratitude and Generosity.
• The gathering stage is when you apply the parami in the face of its opposition (Something in you doesn’t want to bother, other people don’t see the point, not convenient to do so). Do your best to apply Gratitude and Generosity in the face of opposition.
• Ask yourself each day, “What is going to take me out of stress and discontent right now?” Listen to the answer.

Gratitude Parami Practices

• Write down, say to partner or friend or text a classmate three things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.
• Thank someone every day

Generosity Parami Practices

• For half of each day, try offering respectful attention to everyone you meet or talk to. Take the other person’s point of view. Let the person on the bus, T, desk next to you, your neighbor, child, partner, be the most important person around.
• Give your full attention to them physically. Put your device(s) away. Look at the person. Listen carefully. Open your heart. Be there without pushing an agenda. Simply listening.
• Text or e-mail your buddy. Share what you learned.

HAVE FUN!

Virtue

• 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.
• Gratitude practice. Write down, say to partner or friend or text a classmate three things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.

Recollect Parami Practice

• Initially one brings the topic to mind -t his is helpful and useful – it means that the parami gets built-in as a frame of reference. Do your best to build in non-harming this month.
• The gathering stage is when you apply the parami in the face of its opposition (something in you doesn’t want to bother, other people don’t see the point, not convenient to do so). Do your best to apply non-harming in the face of opposition.
• Virtue Parami – Guidelines that invite us to live a life of loving kindness through an exploration of our actions, speech, thoughts. Please read the precept handout every day.

Reflections: record in your journal.
Share with your buddy via e-mail, in person, on the phone.

• Our attitudes towards ethics or virtue are often conditioned by how ethics was viewed or practiced in the family and culture in which we grew up. Spend some time considering how you may have been influenced by this conditioning. What are the foundational influences that shaped your relationship to ethics? What ethical training and teachings did you receive growing up? If you can, talk with someone from your family of origin to help you understand how your family related to ethics. And/or you might talk to someone from a different cultural background to you and explore the similarities and differences in how ethics is viewed in your two cultures.
• When in your life do feel you were most ethical and when do you think you were least ethical? What personal and social conditions existed that encouraged you to be ethical or unethical? What important lessons did you learn from times you were most ethical or most unethical?
• Which ethical virtues are strongest in you? Which are weakest for you? To help, here is a list of some ethical virtues: caring, compassion, generosity, truthfulness, honesty, integrity, service, gratitude, unselfishness, justice, morality.
• Spend some time considering the ways you and others benefit when you are ethical.

Ajahn Sucitto’s book, Pāramī: Ways to Cross Life’s Floods, will be our shared text. Please read the chapter, “Crossing the Floods,” starting on page 40-45 and 50-53.

Renunciation

• 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.
• Gratitude practice. Write down, say to partner or friend or text a classmate three things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.

Recollect Parami Practice

• Initially one brings the topic to mind – this is helpful and useful – it means that the parami gets built-in as a frame of reference. Do your best to build in letting go this month.
• The gathering stage is when you apply the parami in the face of its opposition (something in you doesn’t want to bother, other people don’t see the point, not convenient to do so). Do your best to apply letting go in the face of opposition.
• Renunciation Parami – Is not getting rid of the things of the world, but accepting that they pass away. The only choice is to let go. The truth of impermanence teaches us that no matter how desperately we hold on to anything, it is already in the process of leaving us. Our choice is whether or not we suffer in the un-avoidable arrivals, departures, beginnings and endings in our lives.

Reflections: record in your journal.
Share with your buddy via e-mail, in person, on the phone.

• It is often said that people resist teachings on renunciation. What are your concerns or views about the value of renunciation? What fears do you have about renunciation? What is appealing to you about the practice of renunciation? In what ways do you understand renunciation differently than the practice of letting go?
• In what areas of your life could you benefit from practicing renunciation? What motivations or impulses would renunciation help in those areas? What motivations and understandings would make renunciation easier?
• Under what conditions is it difficult for you to let go of things you want to let go of? In what conditions is it easiest? What inner states support letting go? What inner states make it difficult?
• What would be the single most useful thing for you to let go of? Share with your buddy why this would be useful and what makes it difficult to do.

Practice: record in your journal.
Share with your buddy via e-mail, in person, on the phone.

• Choose one thing you do regularly to renounce for a whole day (Examples: social media, TV watching or streaming, drinking caffeine, texting, eating sweets, etc). Throughout that day, investigate and consider how this renunciation might benefit you. For example, does the act of renouncing help highlight things about yourself that you had not previously seen?

Ajahn Sucitto’s book, Pāramī: Ways to Cross Life’s Floods, will be our shared text. Please read the chapter “Letting Go” pages 55-67.

Wisdom

1. Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. Please practice your meditation in silence.
2. Gratitude practice. Write down, say to partner or friend or text a classmate three things you are grateful for each day.

Recollect Parami Practice

• Initially one brings the topic to mind – this is helpful and useful – it means that the parami gets built-in as a frame of reference. Do your best to build in wisdom this week
• The gathering stage is when you apply the parami in the face of its opposition (something in you doesn’t want to bother, other people don’t see the point, not convenient to do so). Do your best to apply wisdom in the face of opposition.
• Wisdom Parami – Buddhism is known as a wisdom tradition. The practice of awakening is supported by and expressed in a deep understanding of life. Recollect: Wisdom arises from practice; without practice it is lost. Knowing these two ways of gain and loss, conduct yourself so that wisdom grows.

Reflections: Record in your journal. Share with your buddy via in person, e-mail, phone, text. (In writing, not too long)

• Reflect on who are the wisest people you know. What makes them wise? What qualities of wisdom do you admire in them? How do they behave that expresses wisdom? Under what conditions, do you have access to wisdom? Under what conditions do you have access to some of the same qualities as the wise people you know?
• What is wisdom for you? How is it different from knowledge? How do you think a person acquires wisdom? What supports access to wisdom?
• Asking questions is an important foundation of wisdom. Please spend some time coming up with questions about formal practice or your daily life practice. Write down as many of these questions as possible. Then consider what might be your single most important question. Bring it to class.

Practices: Please share with your buddy what you learned.
Wisdom is sometimes called discriminating wisdom when it helps us see more clearly our experiences & the choices that we have.

• In your formal meditation, look carefully at your experience. Instead of following the breath look more carefully to notice the details of the breathing. Or notice a mood or mind state you are in and distinguish any physical, mental, emotional aspects of the mood. Or if something is uncomfortable, take an interest in looking at the distinct aspects of what is happening. As you make finer distinctions, notice how this might translate to a wiser understanding of what is happening.
• The intentions we have for our practice are supported by wisdom when our discernment shows us how to best follow through on those intentions. During meditation and in some daily life situations set your intention to become more calm and easeful. With that as a reference point, try to avoid doing the things that make you less calm and instead, do the things that help you become increasingly calm. Afterward reflect on how having this intention helped you to be more discerning and wise.

Ajahn Sucitto’s book, Pāramī: Ways to Cross Life’s Floods. Please read the chapter, “Crossing the Floods,” pages 73-87.

Energy – Part One for the entire month of May10- June 14
Look for an e-mail on May 24 for part two of this month’s work.

1. Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 20-30 minutes per day. Please practice your meditation in silence.
2. Gratitude practice. Write down, say to partner or friend or text a classmate three things you are grateful for each day.

Recollect Parami Practice

• Initially one brings the topic to mind – this is helpful and useful – it means that the parami gets built-in as a frame of reference. Do your best to build in energy.
• The gathering stage is when you apply the parami in the face of its opposition (something in you doesn’t want to bother, other people don’t see the point, not convenient to do so). Do your best to apply energy in the face of opposition.

Viriya or Enthusiastic Energy Parami – Viriya is a Buddhist term translated as energy, effort, diligence, enthusiasm or perseverance.

Reflections: Record in your journal. Share with your Buddy via in person, e-mail, phone, text. (In writing, not too long)

1. Reflect on: How you experience physical vitality? Mental vitality? What makes you feel more energetic? What drains your energy? Does spending time with other people bring you energy or drain your energy? Is spending time alone energizing or not? Is meditation energizing or not? What activities bring you a balanced sense of vitality?
2. What is the relationship between your interest and your level of energy? What motivations tend to energize you? What emotions tend to increase or decrease your vitality? How does desire, fear, aversion play in how energized you are? What role does compassion have?
3. Reflect on: How do you decide what to apply effort to? Of all the things a person could do, how do you choose where you apply your energy?

Practices: Please share with your Buddy what you learned.

1. In your formal meditation, spend time experimenting with applying more effort in formal meditation. This can be done physically by sitting up straighter or by doing brisk walking meditation before sitting. It can be done mentally by putting more effort into being alert and mindful of what is happening during the meditation. If applying more effort agitates you, try to match the increased effort with increased calm or inner stillness.

2. During the next several weeks, consciously do a couple of generous & compassionate activities, notice your energy level before, during, and after doing these things. What affects the amount of energy you have for these activities? How can you can you appropriately apply more energy in these activities?

3. Choose some ordinary household chores you often do. Give your full attention to wholeheartedly doing them. Engage in these activities with your whole body. Turn off technology phone, radio, TV, etc., and in same way you might let go of distracting thoughts to return to the breath in meditation, let go of distracting thoughts that take you away from being present for your chores. How does working in this way affect your energy level?

Ajahn Sucitto’s Pāramī book, Pāramī: Ways to Cross Life’s Floods. Please read pages 93-110. https://forestsangha.org/teachings/books/parami-ways-to-cross-life-s-floods?language=English

This Homework is the only homework till next class on July 12^th.

Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 20-30 minutes per day. (more if you are able) Please practice your meditation in silence.

Gratitude Practice. Text or e-mail a classmate 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.

Recollect Parami Practice:

• Initially one brings the topic to mind-this is helpful and useful-it means that the parami gets built-in as a frame of reference. Do your best to build in
• The gathering stage is when you apply the parami in the face of its opposition. (Something in you doesn’t want to bother, other people don’t see the point, not convenient to do so) Do your best to apply PATIENCE in the face of opposition.

Khanti or Patience Parami- Khanti is a Buddhist term translated   as forbearance, endurance, forgiveness, Theravada- gentleness, kindness, compassion, strength.

• Gentle forbearance: when impatience is triggered, can you tap into a deeper reservoir of intention/motivation to do no harm?
• Calm endurance: in a frustrating situation, it helps to ask the question, “What would being patient mean right now?
• Acceptance of the truth- accepting experience as it is—rather than how we want it to be. Remembering that everything is continually changing and acceptance of “things as they are” can take a long time to evolve. It is skillful to develop a long-enduring heart—

More Patience Practices:
Be aware of impatience & patience in your sitting & daily life Begin patience practice by: Practice Patience and not hurrying (what’s the hurry?), Pausing (10 seconds-connect to whole body & float question, “what is happening right now?”)  When impatient gently ask: Where is ease & freedom in this moment? What is important in my life? What do I truly value, right now?

Reflections, Formal 7 Daily Life Practices:
Record in your journal. Share with your Buddy via in person, e-mail, phone, text. 2-3 times a week (In writing, not too long.)

Patience Reflections:
a) Reflect on what personal obstacles you might have that interfere with persevering with a challenging activity. What abilities and understanding do you have that help you to stick with doing something you have committed yourself to?
b) Reflect on how you generally respond to anger and insults directed at you? Under what circumstances are you most reactive to anger toward yourself? What abilities, practices, understandings do you have that helps you to be patient or non- reactive to anger and insult? What benefits come from being patient while being insulted?
c) Reflect on what attitudes you have toward forgiveness? Under what circumstances are you willing to forgive someone? When is forgiveness difficult for you? Are there areas in your life where it would be useful to forgive?
d) Are there things that you are not willing to look at, to be honest about? Are there some things you believe are true that you resist? When can acceptance of the truth help you to be more at ease?

Patience in Formal Practice and Daily Life:
a) In sitting meditation, at a time of unpleasant or what seems like uninteresting experience, focus on bringing the quality of patience to it. Notice any resistance to the experience. Mindfully, bring the quality of patient kindness into the experience.
b) Choose a task, that you regularly avoid doing or which you often procrastinate about. Engage in the task and stick with it until it is done. When you are done, reflect what that was like.
c) If you become angry, do your best to not do or say anything out of anger. What happens inside of you when you hold your anger in check? What do you have to do in order to keep your anger in check? What are the benefits and disadvantages of this?
d) Choose one person, you are angry or irritated with, or who you feel hurt by. Reflect on what it would take for you to be able to forgive this person. (You don’t have to use your most difficult person)

Ajahn Sucitto’s book, Please read Bearing with Life pages 113-130.
https://forestsangha.org/teachings/books/parami-ways-to-cross-life-s-floods?language=English