I spoke earlier about the four Brahmaviharas.  I think when we have a certain level of freedom, we’re available to whatever life brings us, and I think that availability is a kind of empathy.  So, if I’m caught up in my own fears and desires, I certainly have to work on them.  As you begin to let go of fear and process fear and purify fear, then the heart is obviously much more in touch.… Read the rest

Study is not the same as gathering information.  So, when you study a text or some piece of the Dhamma, you usually have to go over it a lot.  If you memorize Dhamma teachings, then they can be like an echo that comes up in consciousness.  Then, that echo comes up as you live your life and it becomes a kind of Dharmic lens through which you look at life.… Read the rest

When the Buddha was asked who his Dhamma heir was, he didn’t appoint one.  Instead, he left the Dhamma-Vinaya.  The Dhamma is something that the laypeople hear a lot about.  The Vinaya seems to be something that is the domain of the monastics because it’s the rule that we live by.  As bhikkhus, we all adhere to, surrender to, and venerate that.  No seniour bhikkhu can override the Vinaya.… Read the rest

One of the images that I’ve always liked is this idea of craft of the heart as opposed to say just some kind of experience that you get.  In the writings about craft, there’s this common number that keeps coming up.  If you want to develop a craft, it takes 10,000 hours.  So, if you want to develop the craft of the heart, it can’t be a kind of weekend affair.  It obviously has to be a lifetime affair.… Read the rest

If you consider how you develop interest–you’re stimulated by life in some way.  So, if you like to read a novel and you find a really riveting storyline, the novel grabs your attention and you can’t put it down.  Your attention is stimulated by something.  Normally in life, we’re stimulated by events and suchlike.  But here (on the retreat), we’re not stimulated in the same way.  We don’t have objects of interest.  We don’t have things that we’re absorbing into.  So, we have to bring up energy from our own resources, not because things are exciting.… Read the rest

As always, we’re awakening to the way things are.  So, what’s the mood of the mind if you didn’t sleep well?  If it’s negative, then right from the moment you wake up, don’t believe in those negative thoughts.… Read the rest

When I talk about listening, I’m not just thinking about audio.  I’m using listening also as a synonym for awareness, beyond the hearing part through sound.  So, when I suggest listen, then go to sound first, but just let go of sound as well, so there’s just pure awareness.  So, we go to the heart and we listen from the heart.… Read the rest

One of the questions that comes up oftentimes is how much concentration do you need to do this work?  So, you get various debates in Theravada Buddhism about how much you need to get to various levels and so on.  Sometimes you’ll hear opinions about that, which are grounded in meditators’ own insights, or assumptions, or readings, or whatever.  Obviously you do need some concentration.  Concentration is a very important part of developing the mind.… Read the rest

Notice the mood of the mind right when you wake up.  Just see how thoughts are generated by a mood.  Then notice how the mind goes to these pre-occupations continually.  Then learn to drop these pre-occupations with past or future.… Read the rest

Right from the moment you wake up, know the mood of the mind.  Rather than trying to analyze your dreams, which can also be useful, you can just try to look at the tone or the mood.  So if you wake up in a kind of an anxious state or a joyous state, just know the mood of the mind rather than the particular narrative.… Read the rest