Against The Stream

Finding a reliable refuge in uncertain times.

Rachael Savage from Rebel Saints Meditation in Seattle.

There is a way to navigate this human-ness this being-ness without suffering about it, without taking it all so seriously, so personally, so gravely.

The path of freedom is a gradual loosening of the misidentifications that create our suffering. The Buddha referred to the process as being like the fraying of a tightly wound rope: little by little the rope begins to fray and come apart. These misidentifications are traditionally referred to as the skandhas— “heaps” or “piles”—in Buddhism. The piles result in five different aspects of life that we tend to cling to as our fixed identity or mis-identity:

• the body itself

• the sense impression or feeling tones of the body

• the mind or objects of the thinking mind (which include thoughts and the roots of emotions)

• perception (which includes memory), and consciousness

As long as we hold to the incorrect view that any of these processes of the mind or body comprises who we ultimately are, we are chained to the causes and conditions that give rise to suffering.

Taking any of these experiences as who we are at our core is inevitably going to be a cause of suffering. Why? Because of the uncontrollable and unreliable nature of these ‘piles’ of life. When we believe that we are our bodies, we inevitably feel betrayed by the natural processes of sickness, old age, and death. When we believe that we are our minds, we suffer the fate of almost constant judgment, comparison, and fear.

Freedom comes from the meditative disciplines that allow us to see clearly the impermanent, impersonal, and unsatisfactory nature of these five factors of existence.

I invite you all to join me for the next few months - a Monday night course – on my book “Heart of the Revolution”.⁣

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⁣⁣⁣⁣Links in episode notes below.

Holding in mind a positive regard even for those that piss you off.

This book is about loving-kindness and compassion, forgiveness, generosity, equanimity, what we call the ‘brahmaviharas’ or ‘the heart practices’ of Buddhism.

Week by week I'm going to take the different chapters and I'm going to give Dharma talks based on the structure of this book and focus in on this revolutionary practice of learning to love ourselves and each other, learning to forgive and to have more of a sense of joy – not only joy in our own lives but what we call ‘appreciative joy’ which means developing this attitude of taking pleasure in the happiness and success of others, enjoying and focusing on the beauty and all the goodness in the world as well as compassion.

And, we’ll be focusing on developing more mercy and friendliness, forgiveness and compassion for all of the pain, ignorance and confusion in the world.

I invite you to read the book these next couple of months, as I’ll do a kind of like Monday night study practice course, and you can follow along.

My sense is that it's the Dharma is timeless. It's always appropriate no matter what's happening in the world, and with what's happening in the world right now the need for compassion, the need for forgiveness, the need for more loving-kindness is so obvious. It's so urgent now. I kind of hate to say that because it always feels urgent, and it always has been, and it always will be…but right now, especially with all of us stuck at home more, and the financial stresses, and the emotional difficulties that people are going through with the pandemic, with the politics, with reality, with the world…It seems like a really good way to start this calendar year by focusing on uncovering, developing and re-committing to kindness.

I invite you all to join me.

https://www.againstthestream.com/dharma-punx-merch/the-heart-of-the-revolution-book

https://youtu.be/2JQc0EW1llo

The link to purchase a copy of ‘Heart of the Revolution’ is in the episode notes below.

Strengthen Practice Through Setting Intention

Have you thought about your intention? What in intentions lead to suffering? What intentions lead to liberation? Rachael Savage will offers a talk and meditation from Rebel Saints Meditation Society, Seattle, WA.

30-minute guided meditation followed by a dharma talk.

Bearing the challenges.

30-minute guided meditation followed by a dharma talk on patience.

The Buddha had a really, really radical proposal for humanity. And that is, that all living beings have the power, the potential, the ability to free themselves from suffering through their own actions – through our own efforts – in this lifetime, no matter where you come from, what you've done.

All living beings – even the worst of us – even the best of us – regardless of the circumstances of our birth or our life experience so far, no matter how traumatized, no matter how privileged.

I want to reflect on worthiness and ability.

So, there's this really radical proposal that says everyone has the “ability”. So that means all of us. And I'd imagine that a whole bunch of people's minds are thinking, “I don't think I can do it. I don't I don't think I have the ability to free myself from all forms of suffering.”

Maybe before I go too far into this, I should define what I think the dude meant by, “freedom from suffering”, because so often we think it's going to mean life is easy and pleasant all of the time, because it's the lack of these things and the lack of pleasantness that makes me suffer, right?

That's not what the Buddha was talking about. He was talking about developing the skill, the ability, to meet all of the difficulties that are going to continue to happen in our lives with compassion, with understanding, with forgiveness. Not the end of pain, not the end of difficulties, not the end of death and loss and drama, not a drama free existence, but a suffering free relationship to all of the drama that our own mind’s create, and with relationships in the world, politics, environmental devastation and the reality of the world that we live in. Responding with compassion and forgiveness; the wise response which also is non-clinging, that we can – in this lifetime – develop these skill, these wise responses.

We can become non-reactive.

All of our suffering is created out of reactivity, aversion to the unpleasant, judgment, resentment, anger, rage, frustration, rather than response.

Is your reaction ever non-attachment? Is your reaction ever compassionate?

I want to make this distinction between that reactivity which almost always causes suffering and the wise response which we develop. The skill. We have the power. We have the potential. We have the instructions. We have the map.

This is how you end suffering; by accepting pain, by learning to care about pain.

This is how you end suffering; by understanding that it's all impermanent and learning to meet in permanence with non-attachment.

It's simple to say but this is ******* radical, so radical that the Buddha was a little hesitant. He said, “how many people are going to really take on? This is completely counter instinctual”, because our human instinct is to suffer. Our human instinct is to be reactive. If you're suffering; normal, totally ordinary. Not suffering is a really radical proposal. Letting go rather than clinging, caring rather than hating – both internally and externally.

I hope that makes sense? What we're talking about is not the end of pain, just the end of suffering. Also, not the complete avoidance of pleasure. Learning to enjoy pleasure without clinging to it, not suffering about it. Take it or leave it when it's appropriate, when it's available, but not suffering about it.

Now I ask you to reflect on ‘worthiness’, because I feel like so many people come with these stories. We believe our minds that question, “am I worthy of this? Can I really do this?” Some of the questions are about, “do I have the ability to do this?”

Everyone has the ability, and if you don't believe you have the ability, you're wrong you are mistaken my friend. You actually do have the ability, whether you have the willingness, whether you have the willingness to apply the instructions and follow through long term with applying the instructions, that maybe is another issue, but the ability is here. Human beings have the ability to wake up, to see clearly, and to learn to respond in this incredibly radical counter instinctual subversive rebellious way; with kindness rather than anger and hatred.

How to use loving-kindness to show up for life.

Rachael Savage gives a talk and meditation from Rebel Saints Meditation Society in Seattle.