At this level, the fundamental teachings of the Buddha can be expressed in just four small points  •  the first point: acknowledging the difficulties of life — the reality of pain, suffering, and confusion  •  instead of sugar-coating our experience, we can actually face the reality of suffering — and then do something about it  •  the second point: how ignorance and desire perpetuate and enhance our suffering  •  the third point: it is possible to experience relief from suffering; in fact, we are  designed that way  •  the fourth point: there is a path that leads from confusion to awakening 

Two additional streams run through the Profound Treasury teachings: mindfulness practice and awareness practice  • mindfulness, also called shamatha, means “peace” and refers to the stillness and stability of mind  •  awareness, also called vipashyana, is the counterbalance to mindfulness. It refers to the insight and clarity of mind  •  so we settle the mind, and we clarify and brighten the mind  •  sometimes we need to brighten up a bit more, and at other times we need to calm down a bit more  •  shamatha is down to earth, steady, here-and-now; vipashyana has a sense of relaxation and spaciousness  •  the two streams provide a sense of balance

When people hear the word “buddha” or “buddhism,” what usually comes to mind is the idea of meditation  or mindfulness training  •  but the practice of meditation is so much richer when placed in the broader context of studying or sharpening the mind, and also the context of activities of life  • discipline, meditation and study form a system of checks and balances  •  meditation — taming one’s mind — is the bottom line, but meditation by itself can become spaced-out and dull  •  when we study we are clarifying, questioning, and sharpening our minds  •  a quality of discipline, respect, and persistence underlies both study and practice  •  “grace” from a buddhist perspective is patience, persistence, and endurance

When Trungpa Rinpoche first came to the West he was struck by our obsession with materialism and materialistic success  •  he referred to materialism as a “spell” or a thick black fog that traps us in a particular fixed view, one that is not very healthy or uplifting  •  generally, materialism is a deadening quality where things and people are viewed merely as objects  •  1) physical materialism: how we relate with objects  •  2) psychological materialism: how we relate with our thoughts, ideas, and beliefs  •  spiritual materialism: when we use spiritual practices not to free ourselves from ego fixation, but to boost our egos

“Dharma” is everything; it is a very intimate and personal way of looking at everything we do  •  what are our preconceptions, our beliefs, our hopes and dreams?  •  have we really ever felt comfortable in our own skins?  •  do we even know who we really are?  •  dharma is every experience, from the most profane to the most profound  •  it includes our neuroses and our sanity, our fear and our courage  •  it is seeing the profundity of our immediate, ordinary experience just as it is  •  dharma is what is, right now, here and now  •  dharma is truth, which we can only access by looking immediately from our own personal standpoint  •  when we meditate we are learning to be here and now; we are learning to be receptive to what the world is presenting to us

“Touch and go” refers to how we relate to thoughts, distractions and sensations that arise during sitting meditation  •  it represents a middle way between the extremes of avoiding our experience and getting seduced by whatever arises  •  the “touch” and the “go” happen almost simultaneously  •  the example of a neighbor stopping by to say hello when we are chopping wood  •  welcoming and appreciating whatever comes our way, but then letting the experience go  •  the sense of “disowning” is similar to “divesting” — disowning those qualities that keep us stuck in fixed views or habitual patterns  •  inserts freshness and simplicity into our meditation  •  whatever arises is good fuel for meditation practice

Finding the right balance in our practice keeps us engaged with without being overly effortful  •  too loose = being spaced-out, indulgent, forgetful; too tight = being really hard on ourselves  •  sitting practice presents a dynamic, moment-to-moment set of choices: should I relax more? should I tighten up more?  •  this dynamic is reflected in our posture and in our thought process  • when you begin a session, it’s good to tighten up a bit to set boundaries, but then relax within those boundaries  •  like flying a kite: holding the string with just the right amount of pressure 

The skills we learn in formal meditation practice can be applied on-the-spot as we face challenges in our daily life  •  training to come back into your body; giving yourself just a moment to come back to simple physical presence  •  tuning in to our breathing provides a gap, interrupting the flow of habitual or panic mind   •  letting the situation tell us what to do  •  acknowledging our emotions without judging or altering them  •  coming into the fresh ground of the present moment  • we’re able to do these on-the-spot practices because we’re training in them in our regular meditation sessions

In meditation we are practicing being more wholeheartedly present  •  learning to recognize our escape valves, the ways we hide out from our immediate experience  •  wholeheartedly feeling what we feel  •  recognizing the process of checking in and checking out  •  training to be more present with the ups and downs of ordinary life allows us to be more present with others  •  each time we bring ourselves back we are strengthening our ability to stay with what is happening as it’s happening  •  not hiding our true experience from others

Meditation as a way of making friends with yourself  •  inviting in all aspects of yourself to a banquet of experience  •  workability: staying with our experience, whatever it is, at is arises  •  being more present in a heartful, gentle, kind way  •  becoming more familiar with our patterns at an early stage,  before they become overwhelming  • mindfulness or “heartfulness”?  • what we think we need sometimes falls away, and we realize we actually have everything we need