Against The Stream

All beings, including you, including me.

If we want it. If we are willing to work hard, we can purify all of our karma.

We can wake up to what’s causing our suffering and change our relationship so radically to what's causing our suffering that we find peace, we find ease. We end our suffering.

All beings have the ability. All of us. As they say in AA, “no matter how far down the scales your life has gone, you have the ability to recover.”

The Buddha says, “no matter how confused you become, no matter how bad your karma is based on your actions in this lifetime.”

I know for myself when I first came to Buddhism I thought, “I don't know. I've hurt a lot of people. I've hurt myself. I don't know if I can be free.” It sounded a little far-fetched.

And enlightenment? Freedom? Liberation? It all sounded a little too mystical to me. Still does in some ways, although my definition, my experience has sort of changed.

If your idea of freedom is that you're going to experience bliss all of the time, you'll be disappointed. If your idea is that you will be comfortable all of the time, that you will not have pain anymore, that's not possible.

That's not what the Buddha's teaching.

He's saying - and this is very important to get our mind around - that there's a huge difference between pain and suffering.

30-Minute Dharma Talk & Guided Meditation at Against The Stream Meditation Center, Venice, CA.

“Lighten up Francis”

What are some of the funny things that your mind does that often don't feel that funny?

Things that you take personally and you suffer about, but in a wise moment you realize, “It's so ridiculous that my mind...”

There can be an urgency in the beginning of our practice. It’s not funny. At times it's one of life or death. I know if I heard somebody saying this **** when I was brand new I would think, “what the **** are you talking about? I'm trying to stay out of prison, not trying to laugh. I'm not trying to go to comedy. I just want to stop smoking crack.”

But eventually, I assure you, it becomes a necessity if we're seeking the third noble truth, what we call ‘Nirvana’, which often is called ‘enlightenment’. Some have reflected that part of this is just lightening up you know?

It's like the quote from ‘Stripes’, “lighten up Francis”.

If you're just too uptight, trying too hard to be good, trying too hard to be spiritual, and you become uptight about it, then you suffer about it and you create an expectation that you can't live up to.

I'm not trying to give a free pass on just like being a complete ****** *** all of the time and saying, “I was just joking.” We talk a lot about intention and the importance of trying to be careful with our speech and our actions, but I’m also talking about keeping a sense of humor.

The Cause of Suffering.

30-minute guided meditation and dharma talk at Against the Stream Meditation Center, Venice.

30-minute guided meditation and dharma talk at Against the Stream Meditation Center, Venice.

What can we be certain about?

Reflect for yourself, what can you really be certain about?

The Zen master Suzuki Roshi said the best attitude is the attitude of being a beginner.

A kind of “I don't know mind - beginners mind.”

He said something like, “there's very few options for experts”… when you know it all, but if you can have that attitude of “not knowing,” of having “a beginner's mind”, there's so many more possibilities.

Endless possibilities if you don't know it all.

You have to create a whole kind of false sense of security by knowing it all.

Just don't know.

I really love that. In developing the attitude of, “we'll see,” you are connected with this uncertainty.

Rather than you have all your plans and your expectations and how much have you suffered in your life about things not working out the way you thought they were going to, but if you can train your mind in such as a way that rather than, “it's going to be like this”… to …. “don't know what it's going to be like. We’ll see”

Think of like 5 ways that you create suffering for yourself most days?

5 ways you reject what's happening or are praying for it to be different, or in judgment, or in fear.

How does your mind create suffering for you most days; Stress, anger, anxiousness, self-centeredness, a fear or loathing, low self-esteem, insecurity?

How does your mind hurt you most days?

How do you create suffering for yourselves?

It's not like you can just decide, “I'm going to be compassionate”….especially towards our own internal experience. It's one thing to be kind and empathetically compassionate to others, but the ultimate goal is to be able to bring that response to yourself, to your own mind, to your own body, to your own internal experience as well.

Karma is our only true possession.

This is why it’s important to remind ourselves every day, “I better be careful with how I speak. I better be careful with how I interact and how I react because I'm going to own all of that.”

There's no karma free zones you know….

Reflections on body awareness and impermanence.

30 minute guided mediation and dharma talk at Against The Stream Meditation Center, Venice, CA.

The Buddha said the highest form of human happiness is integrity.

Blamelessness and integrity.

Not doing anything that you feel guilty about, and so part of the frame of the precepts

✶The five precepts:

Don’t kill

Don’t steal

Don’t use drugs

Don’t lie

Refrain from sexual misconduct

…is that if you kill, you're going to probably have some remorse, some guilt.

If you cheat, you know when it comes to sexual misconduct if you engage in an inappropriate relationship; breaking your own commitment or engaging with someone else who is breaking their commitment - if you have any kind of awareness and moral compass - there's going to be some level of regret.

It will feel like, “I'm not in integrity. I was dishonest.”