Nikki Mirghafori: Recorded: 2017-05-31

Gil Fronsdal: In our practice when there is a lot going on inside of us -- physical, emotional, mental -- it's helpful to have a reference point of stillness: not to stop the movement, but to allow everything to settle down and come to rest. Just seeing the mind clearly can allow it to settle. Part of how this works is when we start not identifying so strongly with the movement. Often, we’re reacting to it, or we identify with it and latch on to it. But if instead we focus on the stillness that is here, it helps us to dis-identify, to unlatch ourselves from this world of movement and activity. And when we unlatch ourselves, the mind has a chance to settle down and quiet. As you sit, you might look for some sense of stillness that you can find. It can be as simple as the body not moving. Or it could be a still place inside that feels like a grounded post, or a place where you are centered. And you start identifying with the stillness and start resting there, more than in the movement. This can also be done in walking meditation.

Gil Fronsdal: Recorded: 2017-05-31

Gil Fronsdal: Recorded: 2017-05-31

Andrea Fella: Exploring the sense of self through practice. Andrea gave a description of how she worked with an identity of self-hatred.

Gil Fronsdal: Recorded: 2017-05-29

Andrea Fella: Recorded: 2017-05-25

Gil Fronsdal: One of the first tasks in this practice is to arrive in the present moment. But the mind is busy, spinning out, concerned with the “there and then” rather than the “here and now.” To arrive in the present moment, we need to understand all the ways in which we do not arrive, but are still traveling. ‘Saṃsāra’ literally means ‘wandering.’ Our thoughts are endlessly traveling. We need to see how fear, anxiety, ill will, doubt, etc. drive us to travel on and on. It can be compassionate to turn towards what's happening now, and this is the movement towards arriving *here*. Then the energies of the mind are really available. It is exquisite to harness the mind – being settled, composed, grounded, here. When we are caught up in our thoughts, we are really diminished. It is a radical thing to learn to be *here*.

Gil Fronsdal: Recorded: 2017-05-24

Gil Fronsdal: Recorded: 2017-05-24