Heart of Freedom Mindfulness Meditation Instruction

Fear and Awakening

You are invited to join as we explore ways of being mindful and compassionate with fear. It is difficult living in a time of turmoil, violence, and of fear.  The challenge becomes finding a way not to be consumed by it. As we deepen spiritual practice, we inevitably encounter all our fears. Being alert and curious about fear allows it to become our teacher as well as to serve our spiritual growth. 
"Fear, the primordial emotion of samsara, is the active expression of ignorance. Ignorance is usually too subtle to see, but fear is something we can all relate to. This ignorance is basically unfamiliarity, not knowing who we really are. By becoming familiar with (the very definition of meditation) who we are, we transform ignorance into wisdom, darkness into light, and replace fear with fearlessness."  Andrew Holecek Tibetan Buddhist Teacher
"What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it" Jiddu Krishnamurti
"Intelligent practice always deals with just one thing: the fear at the base of human existence, the fear that I am not"  Charlotte Joko Beck,  Everyday Zen
Please join us for guided and silent meditation, a Dharma talk exploring ways we can bring mindful compassion to fear, and a blessing circle.

Being Peace

At its core, the Dhamma is about peace, and being peace. An early Buddhist collection of verses on practice in everyday life, the Dhammapada, makes this abundantly clear. Verse five of the text (of 423 verses) states:
"Hatred is never appeased by hatred.Hatred is only appeased by Love (or, non-enmity).This is an eternal law."
“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
From the time of the Buddha to our modern times, the above Poem of Peace and its variations has been evoked in times of conflict and war. All too many conflicts arise out of hatred and then reinforce hatred. For conflicts to come to a true end, love and friendship are needed, otherwise the continued divisions fester. With hatred, others are viewed as obstacles or foes, as wrong or evil. Those who hate are always blind in not seeing the full humanity of those who are hated. Hatred perpetuates itself. To end hatred, one must learn to love wisely and strongly.
Those who love wisely see clearly because they know the full humanity of others, including both the good and the bad. Love heals division as it views others as kin, as fellow companions on our human journey. Many conflicts dissolve in the presence of love; those that don’t are transformed into problems to be resolved, not battles to be won.
“When you try to conceive metta as love, loving something in terms of liking it, it makes it impossible to sustain metta when you get to things you can’t stand, people you hate and things like that. Metta is very hard to come to terms with on a conceptual level. To love your enemies, to love people you hate, who you can’t stand is, on the conceptual level, an impossible dilemma. But in terms of sati-sampajanna, it’s accepting, because it includes everything you like and dislike. Metta is not analytical; it’s not dwelling on why you hate somebody. It’s not trying to figure out why I hate this person, but it includes the whole thing – the feeling, the person, myself – all in the same moment. So it’s embracing, a point that includes and is non-critical” (Ajahn Sumedho, ‘Intuitive Awareness’, p.25)
You are invited to listen to this podcast for guided and silent mediation, group sharing, and a Dharma talk on being the peace we seek.  

Letting Go and Letting Be

Please listen to this podcast for silent and guided meditation, group sharing, and a Dharma talk exploring the compassionate and wise practice of letting go and letting be.  This practice leads to the joy of spiritual freedom. 
One of the best ways to benefit spiritually from seasonal change as we move into autumn is to explore how we can live more mindfully in the present moment.  This can include letting go of (letting be) the past. The unobserved mind tends toward grasping.  Often this is grasping or clinging to things that bring momentary pleasure or security, but don't last.  The result is dissatisfaction, disappointment, despair, and grief.  With mindfulness practice we are invited to look at this process.  To really investigate and observe the process of change and let go of what is not ours to grasp or cling to. 
The Buddha said, “whatever is not yours: let go of it. And what is not yours? Form is not yours . . .” (that’s the body and stuff) “Feeling is not yours . . .” (feelings come and go; they’re not who you are) “Perception is not yours . . . Fabrications” (or “mental formations”) are not yours . . .” (your thoughts) “Consciousness is not yours: let go of [all of] it. Your letting go of it will be for your long-term happiness and benefit” (Majhima Nikaya 22).
"Renunciation is not giving up the things of the world, but accepting that they go away." — Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
"For minds obsessed with compulsive thinking and grasping you simplify your meditation practices to just two words--- "let go”, rather than try to develop this practice, and then develop that, achieve this, and go into that. The grasping mind wants to read all the suttas, to study the Abhidhamma, and to learn Pali and Sanskrit, then the Madhyamika and Prajna Parimita, get ordinations in the Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, write books and become a renowned authority on Buddhism. Instead of becoming the world's expert on Buddhism and being invited to great international conferences, why not just "let go, let go, let go"?  Ajahn Sumedho
 

Mindfulness Of Speech

This podcast explores mindful speech as  a rich domain of practice. The invitation is not only to practice awareness of what we say and how we say it; but at a deeper level we can begin to notice the impulse, the driving force that propels us into speech and how our state of mind and our energy are affected before, during, and after speaking. This practice shifts the precepts from being a standard used to modify our behavior to a way of working with our state of mind, the source of all speech.
"At first, precepts [ethics] are a practice.  Then they become a necessity, and finally they become a joy.  When our heart is awakened they spontaneously illuminate our way in the world.  This is called Shining Virtue.  The light around someone who speaks truth, who consistently acts with compassion for all, even in great difficulty, is visible to all around them". Jack Kornfield
 In his commentary on kind speech, Dogen (Zen Buddhist tradition) wrote, "‘Kind speech’ means that when you see sentient beings you arouse the mind of compassion and offer words of loving care. It is contrary to cruel or violent speech.... You should be willing to practice it for this entire present life; do not give up, world after world, life after life. Kind speech is the basis for reconciling rulers and subduing enemies. ...You should know that kind speech arises from a kind mind, and kind mind from the seed of a compassionate mind.... kind speech is not just praising the merit of others; it has the power to turn the destiny of the nation."
The podcast includes guided meditation, group sharing and a Dharma talk on skillful speech.

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.