The Workshop is in the Mind

Ego-driven logic can get us in real trouble. It tells us to flatter our friends; be cold to people who don't give us what we want; and feel complete indifference for all the rest. The Buddha uses systematic logic to help us uproot these self-absorbed values. Consider that all beings want happiness – equally, just like you. We can empathize a little at that point and question our habitual hierarchy. Consider how our enemies just want to be free of suffering. Once we open our minds to equanimity, we can practice compassion.

11:22 | Part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 7)

If you look honestly at your mind, you will see anger, irritation, or craving. These negative mental states are called disturbing emotions because they do just that, disturb our well-being and get in the way of real practice. How does Buddha address this? He laid out four simple steps to purify negative karma. The four stages are Regret, Refuge, Remediation and Resolve. Take care of your own karma first, then you can open your potential for a much larger sense of compassion.

23:39 | This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 6)

Attending to the little things throughout the day, we can be aware of our subtle mental disturbances. That way we can deal with things as they come up. We identify what they are, and we talk ourselves through it. We get used to working with adversity. So when the big things come, we will suffer, but we won't lose our direction.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 5)

Be careful about what you expect from meditation. It's not a magic pill that will suddenly make you happy. We learn meditation to familiarize ourselves with our own minds. To clear out the trash. It takes exertion and diligence to learn proper stability meditation technique.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 4)

The Buddha asks us to take responsibility for our own situation. That's tough when it comes to suffering. It's easy to slip into a victim mentality, blaming everyone but ourselves. Rather, muster the courage to make our own decisions based on a solid understanding of reality, so you can increase your virtuous qualities. That's what we learn in Junior School.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 4)

We feel a sense of entitlement about "deserving" happiness. But it's more practical to look at our own craving and learn from it. Self-pity can impair our ability to access that information and use it to grow the true causes of happiness.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 3)

When we cultivate habits of awareness, we discover the causes of our deepest hurt. The regular, worldly awareness mostly ruminates about the past and frets about the future. Check your own mind. These are the habits of ego-clinging, seeing yourself as distinctly separate from all others. However, awareness of the present reveals this impoverished and lonely "I" as a mere conceptualization, part of an interdependent and dynamic process, mostly created by habit.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here.

Our deeply-ingrained mental habits help feed a profound sense of dissatisfaction. That's what Buddha calls suffering, or samsara. This emotional hunger, or craving, we call attachment. When attachment doesn't get what it wants, then we experience anger. If we break down the karmic steps in the situation, we can see how our mental precursors can be reversed.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Buddha observes a simple moral framework of non-harming. The way we relate to others really creates the kind of person we become. It shapes how we experience the future in very particular ways. If the mind is habituated or oriented toward morality, then disturbing emotions won't arise. If it is habituated in non-virtue, then we suffer a great deal. Everything we experience is stored, ripens, and helps shape how we experience the present. Therefore, logically, I should sow the seeds of happiness, (benefit others), and avoid sowing the seeds of suffering, (harming others).

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Everything we experience and everything we become, stems from our previous actions. It's not just random. There is some structure and consistency to the law of cause and effect. Check with your own experience. That's karma.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.