Heart of Freedom Mindfulness Meditation Instruction

Spiritual Love and Wise Effort

On this podcast we will explore how wise effort in dharma practice is an expression of spiritual love.  

"What can truth or reality gain by all our practice? Nothing whatsoever, of course.   But it is in the nature of truth or love, cosmic consciousness, whatever you want to call it, to express itself, to affirm itself, to overcome difficulties.   Once you've understood that the world is love in action, consciousness or love in action, you will look at it quite differently.   But first your attitude to suffering must change.   Suffering is primarily a call for attention, which itself is a movement of love.   More than happiness, love wants growth, the widening and deepening of awareness and consciousness and being.   Whatever prevents that becomes a cause of pain, and love does not shirk from pain".   Nisargadatta Maharaj,

That's an amazing thing to say, that love doesn't shirk from pain, that what love wants is not pleasure. There is something deeper or higher, that's richer, that is our capacity, or our birthright, or our deepest need.   Please join us in a supportive community as we deepen our understanding of loving and wise effort.  We belong to each other and all are welcome to belong. 

Finding True Refuge

Life can be really difficult at times, and it is helpful to know where we can find true refuge. There are so many places that we are drawn to seek it like power, belief systems and ideologies, money, fame or social position, relationships, family, children, sexuality, food, drugs or alcohol. Do they really work to reduce our suffering?  

A way to think about refuge in spiritual practice is that we become refugees. A refugee is someone who leaves a country or homeland because life is no longer tenable there. When we take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, we are acknowledging that a life based on habituated patterns is no longer tenable for us. We are prepared to set out into the mystery that relies on awareness, wisdom, and kindness, wherever it may lead us.

 “The biggest illusion about a path of refuge is that we are on our way somewhere else, on our way to becoming a different kind of person. But ultimately, our refuge is not outside ourselves, not somewhere in the future - it is always and already here....We find true refuge whenever we recognize the silent space of awareness behind all our busy doing and striving. We find refuge whenever our hearts open with tenderness and love. We find refuge whenever we connect with the innate clarity and intelligence of our true nature.” Tara Brach

Listen to this podcast as we look into this question of finding true refuge and what the Buddha had to say about it.   

Awakening Through Understanding

This podcast is an invitation to discover and/or renew our commitment to the path of awakening. It begins with a step the Buddha called right or skillful understanding. This fold in the eightfold path asks a deep question of our hearts. What do we really value, what do we really care about in this life? Our lives are quite short. Our childhood goes by very quickly, then adolescence and adult life go by. We can be complacent and let our lives disappear in a dream, or we can become aware. In Dharma practice it is very helpful to ask what is most important to us. What do we care about most? What are our deepest values? What brings us to Dharma practice?  We can explore, discover and remember our answers to these questions together.

"At the time of death, people who have tried to live consciously ask only one or two questions about their life: Did I learn to live wisely? Did I love well? We can begin by asking them now" Jack Kornfield

"Right understanding is the understanding of things as they are, and it is the four noble truths that explain things as they really are"  Joseph Goldstein

"This understanding is not mere intellectual understanding. It is instead a thorough penetration of the Four Noble Truths. Theravada scholar Wapola Rahula called this penetration "seeing a thing in its true nature, without name and label." (What the Buddha Taught, page 49)

"Our happiness and the happiness of those around us depend on our degree of Right View. Touching reality deeply -- knowing what is going on inside and outside of ourselves -- is the way to liberate ourselves from the suffering that is caused by wrong perceptions. Right View is not an ideology, a system, or even a path. It is the insight we have into the reality of life, a living insight that fills us with understanding, peace, and love." (The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, page 51) Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh 

 

The Power of Faith

This podcast includes silent and guided sitting meditation, group sharing, and a Dharma talk on faith as a spiritual power in Dharma practice. 

"It is a great turning point in our spiritual lives when we go from an intellectual appreciation of a path to the heartfelt confidence that says, “Yes, it is possible to awaken. I can, too.” A tremendous joy accompanies this confidence. When we place our hearts upon the practice, the teachings come alive. That turning point, which transforms an abstract concept of a spiritual path into our own personal path, is faith".  Sharon Salzberg

"Faith is not equivalent to mere belief.  Faith is the condition of ultimate confidence that we have the capacity to follow the path of doubt to its end.  Faith in the Buddhist understanding is not the opposite of doubt.  Faith is embracing doubt with mindfulness and wise reflection.  It is bringing doubt to wise counsel".   Stephen Batchelor,  

"Belief…is the insistence that the truth is what one would will or wish it to be…Faith is an unreserved opening of the mind to the truth, whatever it may turn out to be. Faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown. Belief clings, but faith let’s go…faith is the essential virtue of science, and likewise of any religion that is not self-deception" 
Alan Watts

Invitation to Investigate

Spiritual freedom can be found in the mindful and compassionate investigation of present moment experience. It involves letting go of fixed ideas/opinions/judgements/biases and opening up to new possibilities about the nature of existence. It is relatively easy to be curious about the aspects of life that inspire us, bring us joy and ignite our passions. The invitation in spiritual practice is also to be curious about that which causes us (all of us) pain, discomfort and suffering. Curiosity is another way of describing investigation, which is one of the factors of enlightenment. Investigation is central to Vipassana meditation practice, and can be considered an equal partner to mindfulness. In fact, everything we need to learn on the path to freedom can be discovered through our own powers of investigation

 

"Bringing interest and investigation to an experience can change our relationship to the experience because it changes the ecology of the mind, so to speak. Investigation brings a wholesome quality to the mind, which can initiate a significant shift in the mind when it is otherwise filled with unwholesome thoughts and reactions. Investigation can also “lubricate” the mind, that is, loosen it up when it is stuck or tight, obsessing about something or feeling constricted" Gil Fronsdal

 

Please join us to explore this important factor in the process of awakening through guided and silent meditation, group sharing and a short Dharma talk. Being curious about suffering is often supported by spiritual friends and community sharing.

Mindfulness of Expectations

Without being mindful of it, we may be afflicted from the myriad ways in which our expectations can trap us in negative reactions and stress. This is sometimes referred to as the tyranny of expectations. They can plague our daily life, causing us to be tense, irritable, disappointed, and disillusioned. The good news is that we do not have to continue to suffer from this tyranny.  It is one of the most troublesome areas of life, yet it is also changeable. Even a little mindful effort makes a huge difference. But first we must penetrate the nature of expectations, observe how they manifest themselves in our lives, and be able to access another way of approaching the future. To truly be in the moment, to not be defined by expectation, requires mindful clarity; a heart conditioned by love, compassion, and empathetic joy for others; and equanimity that allows us to receive life however it unfolds

 

You are invited to listen in and join us as we do meditation practices and hear teaching that invites freedom from the tyranny of expectations.

Touching The Earth

In this podcast we will explore what meaning there might be for us in Siddhartha Gautama's ( the Buddha to be) touching the earth just before his enlightenment. This is a powerful moment in the mythology of the Buddha's awakening. How can we touch the earth in our own way when we feel challenged in practice and in life?  

"In one of Buddhism's iconic images, Gautama (the Buddha to be) sits in meditation with his left palm upright on his lap, while his right hand touches the earth. Demonic forces have tried to unseat him, because their king, Mara, claims that place under the bodhi tree. As they proclaim their leader's powers, Mara demands that Gautama produce a witness to confirm his spiritual awakening. The Buddha simply touches the earth with his right hand, and the Earth itself immediately responds: "I am your witness." Mara and his minions vanish. The morning star appears in the sky. This moment of supreme enlightenment is the central experience from which the whole of the Buddhist tradition unfolds". by John Stanley and David Loy

We will explore how this touching of the earth is symbolic of one of the cornerstones of the Buddha's teachings, the concept of interdependent co-arising. The Buddha himself explained it very simply:

"This is, because that is. This is not, because that is not. This comes to be, because that comes to be. This ceases to be, because that ceases to be". (FromThe Heart of the Buddha's Teachings by Thich Nhat Hanh, p. 221)

 

Buddhism teaches that nothing exists independently. Instead, all phenomena and all beings are caused to exist by other phenomena and beings. The existence of all things is interdependent. Our existence as human beings depends on earth, air, water, and other forms of life. Just as our existence depends on and is conditioned by those things, they also are conditioned by our existence.

'The entire cosmos is a cooperative. The sun, the moon, and the stars live together as a cooperative. The same is true for humans and animals, trees, and the Earth. When we realize that the world is a mutual, interdependent, cooperative enterprise — then we can build a noble environment. If our lives are not based on this truth, then we shall perish.” —Buddhadasa Bhikkhu  

Awakening Through Understanding

As we begin this new year I invite you to join us to discover and/or renew our commitment to the path of awakening. It begins with a step the Buddha called right understanding. To start with, it asks a question of our hearts. What do we really value, what do we really care about in this life? Our lives are quite short. Our childhood goes by very quickly, then adolescence and adult life go by. We can be complacent and let our lives disappear in a dream, or we can become aware. In the beginning of practice we must ask what is most important to us. What do we care about most? What brings us to Dharma practice.  We can explore, discover and remember our answers to these questions together.

 

"At the time of death, people who have tried to live consciously ask only one or two questions about their life: Did I learn to live wisely? Did I love well? We can begin by asking them now" Jack Kornfield

 

"Right understanding is the understanding of things as they are, and it is the four noble truths that explain things as they really are"  Joseph Goldstein

 

There will be time for silent and guided meditation, group sharing,  and a Dharma talk.  

Loving and Wise Intention

This podcast explores skilful intention through a guided meditation practice and a Dharma talk.  Right or skilful intention is about coming home to ourselves and aligning actions with the deepest part of the human heart that is loving, wise and compassionate.  It can be helpful to reflect as the year comes to an end on the values that guide our intentions and to cultivate the resolve to live by them. Right intention is organic; it thrives when cultivated and wilts when neglected.

 "Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & mind."
 Anguttara VI.63  

 

Freedom and Forgiveness

The name of this podcast is Heart of Freedom.  It comes from the understanding that the heart of our practice is the direct experience of freedom and the realization of our true nature as love. The Buddha said: "Just as in the great ocean there is but one taste — the taste of salt — so in the Dharma there is but one taste — the taste of freedom"  as translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi.  Another way of understanding this comes from Matt Flickstein: "you are already free, don't believe anything to the contrary". 

Maintaining resentment towards others or towards ourselves is one of the greatest impediments to working with our minds on the deepest level and realizing freedom. Resentment acts as a barrier that prevents us from seeing things as they really are. 

This podcast includes silent and guided meditation, a Dharma talk, and a blessing circle. Please listen as we support each other in practices that invite relinquishing resentment and attachments to the past.  Lily Tomlin referred to this as "giving up all hope for a better past"