Lotus Bloom 5 week Course
Assignment Week One:
- 1. Meditate everyday for a minimum of 5 mins. and identify at least one pleasurable sensation either at the beginning or end of your sit.
- 2. At least once a day identify a pleasurable experinece and take a few seconds to absorb the feeling. Must be at least a conscious 10 seconds or more.
- 3. Rejoice every evening before bed - Just 1-3 mins thinking about any goodness you did that day and appreciating your efforts.
- 4. Do written review.
| clear_and_spacious_homework_class_1.docx |
Meditation - Thinking Clearly
Leigh Brasington's preliminaries
Ven. Ayya Khema Loving Kindness Metta guided meditations
The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa and Matthew Immergut
Shinzen Young - Brief and clear explanation of Vipasana Style Meditation
Why Meditate:?
What is Meditation:
A formal on-going practice of working on specific mental abilities for the purpose of greater states of mental stability, insight and awakening.
Practice Tips:
Preliminaries:
Formal Practice Tips:
Post-Meditation:
What is Mindfulness?:
1. Attention, Awareness, Non-reactivity
Moment to moment non-judgmental awareness. – John Kabat Zinn
Concentration power, sensory clarity, and equanimity working together. – Shinzen Young
Dispassionate non-evaluative monitoring of ongoing experience. - Unknown
-
An optimal interaction between attention and peripheral awareness. – John Yates
Differences Between Attention and Awareness
From John Yates: The Mind Illuminated
Number of Objects
Awareness = Many objects
Attention = Limited objects
Mental Processing
Awareness = Minimal mental processing
Attention = Greater levels of mental processing
Contents
Awareness = Physical senses (percepts – the five senses)
Attention = Mind sense (concepts – thoughts, emotions, memories, etc)
Why Be Mindful?:
1. Insight into No-Self
2. Three flavors of experience
1. Somatic experiences: tightness
2. Thoughts: emotions, ideas, insights, feelings.
3. Stories: “This always happens to me, I will never get it, I will always have this pain, why me” etc.
Divide and Conquer: Shinzen’s strategy
First cleaving of the tangled mass of the experience of fear -
1. Thought
2. Somatic – Physical Body Sensation
Malaise Mote – the feeling of emptiness that immediately follows a mind wandering activity.
"Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity"
or
Attentiveness is the hidden discipline of love
Everything is Waiting for You
Your great mistake is to act the drama as if you were alone.
As if life were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden transgressions.
To feel abandoned is to deny the intimacy of your surroundings.
Surely, even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding out your solo voice
You must note the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things to come,
the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.
Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation.
The kettle is singing even as it pours you a drink,
the cooking pots have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last.
All the birds and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves.
Everything is waiting for you.
Leigh Brasington's preliminaries
Ven. Ayya Khema Loving Kindness Metta guided meditations
The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa and Matthew Immergut
Shinzen Young - Brief and clear explanation of Vipasana Style Meditation
- Why meditate?
- What is meditation?
- Practice Tips.
- What is mindfulness?
- Why be mindful?
Why Meditate:?
- Be Happy/ Avoid Suffering:
- Explore/Avidya:
- Cognitive Dissonance:
- Compassion:
- Awakening, Enlightenment or Nirvana:
What is Meditation:
A formal on-going practice of working on specific mental abilities for the purpose of greater states of mental stability, insight and awakening.
Practice Tips:
Preliminaries:
- Review – As you are heading to your meditation seat review what you will be working on today. Decide what you are working on in your meditation before you sit down.
- Sit – Refine posture (30 second)
- Relax – Enjoy yourself, feel the joy of having a few minutes of quiet (30 seconds)
- Breathe– Practice Nadi Shodhana, or another short simple breathing exercise you are familiar with. This could be as simple as 3 deep and slow breaths. (1-3 mins.)
- Set Motivation – Why am I sitting today? (20 seconds)
- Goals – What stage am I on and for todays sit what is a reasonable goal? (20 seconds)
- Expectations – Let go of expectations and remind yourself that the only bad meditation is the one you didn’t do. The practice itself is the destination. (20 seconds)
- Diligence – Resolve to practice diligently for the entire length of your sit. (20 seconds)
- Distractions – Do a life scan and identify big points of stress or potential distractions and resolve to try and set them aside and not engage them when they arise. 20 seconds – 1 minute)
- Posture – Review and adjust your posture and begin your formal practice
Formal Practice Tips:
- Daily – Everyday for between 3 – 24 mins. for the next three weeks.
- Regular – Try to practice at roughly the same time and in the same place everyday.
- Empty Stomach – At least one hour after a big meal.
- Timed – Use a timer.
- Eyes Relaxed – Closed or open and unfocused.
- Equanimous – Let it be what it is not what you want it to be. Have an open heart.
- Gratitude – Be grateful towards yourself for making the effort.
Post-Meditation:
- Gratitude – Be grateful towards yourself for making the effort.
- Relax – Enjoy yourself, feel the joy of having had a few minutes of quiet (30 seconds)
- Dedicate – Dedicate your efforts to your own well being and the well being of others.
- Journal - You may want to try keeping a small simple meditation journal, noting what your working on, how long your sit was and the quality of your attention and awareness.
What is Mindfulness?:
1. Attention, Awareness, Non-reactivity
- Attention = focus, concentration power
- Awareness = scope, sensory clarity
- Equanimity = dispassionate non-evaluative monitoring
Moment to moment non-judgmental awareness. – John Kabat Zinn
Concentration power, sensory clarity, and equanimity working together. – Shinzen Young
Dispassionate non-evaluative monitoring of ongoing experience. - Unknown
-
An optimal interaction between attention and peripheral awareness. – John Yates
Differences Between Attention and Awareness
From John Yates: The Mind Illuminated
Number of Objects
Awareness = Many objects
Attention = Limited objects
Mental Processing
Awareness = Minimal mental processing
Attention = Greater levels of mental processing
Contents
Awareness = Physical senses (percepts – the five senses)
Attention = Mind sense (concepts – thoughts, emotions, memories, etc)
Why Be Mindful?:
- A wandering mind is an unhappy mind
- Mindfulness leads to insight
1. Insight into No-Self
2. Three flavors of experience
- No-Self
- Three Flavors of Experience
1. Somatic experiences: tightness
2. Thoughts: emotions, ideas, insights, feelings.
3. Stories: “This always happens to me, I will never get it, I will always have this pain, why me” etc.
Divide and Conquer: Shinzen’s strategy
First cleaving of the tangled mass of the experience of fear -
1. Thought
2. Somatic – Physical Body Sensation
Malaise Mote – the feeling of emptiness that immediately follows a mind wandering activity.
"Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity"
or
Attentiveness is the hidden discipline of love
Everything is Waiting for You
Your great mistake is to act the drama as if you were alone.
As if life were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden transgressions.
To feel abandoned is to deny the intimacy of your surroundings.
Surely, even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding out your solo voice
You must note the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things to come,
the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.
Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation.
The kettle is singing even as it pours you a drink,
the cooking pots have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last.
All the birds and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves.
Everything is waiting for you.
- David Whyte
| meditation_chart.pdf |
Bodhichitta - The art of compassion
Three texts we are looking at tonight:
1. Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life, Master Shantideva (8th CE)
2. The Three Principle Paths, Je Tsongkapa (1357-1419).
3. Commentary on the Three Principal Paths, Pabongka Rinpoche (1878-1941)
1. Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life, Master Shantideva (8th CE)
2. The Three Principle Paths, Je Tsongkapa (1357-1419).
3. Commentary on the Three Principal Paths, Pabongka Rinpoche (1878-1941)
Outline of Class
1. Defining Bodhichitta
2. An introduction to the two methods used to achieve bodhichitta
3. "Seven Point Cause and Effect" method
3. An introductory look at the complete path of buddhism in 5 stages.
4. Shantideva's "Exchanging Self and Others" techniques.
1. Defining Bodhichitta
2. An introduction to the two methods used to achieve bodhichitta
3. "Seven Point Cause and Effect" method
3. An introductory look at the complete path of buddhism in 5 stages.
4. Shantideva's "Exchanging Self and Others" techniques.
1. List the three main texts we are looking at this week, the authors and the author’s dates.
2. Define:
Bodhicitta -
A spontaneous wish to attain enlightenment motivated by great compassion for all living beings, accompanied by a falling away of the (attachment to) the illusion of an inherently existing self.
JANG = Buddhahood (short for jang- clean, chub – comprehend)
SEM mind (short for sem kye)
Buddha mind – but not Buddha nature
Bodhisattva –
JANG-CHUB - buddha
SEM mind –
PA warrior = bodhisattva
When the first moment of bodhichitta arises in the mind (in a deep way, not superficially), you are a bodhisattva.
- Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life, Master Shantideva (8th CE)
- The Three Principle Paths, Je Tsongkapa (1357-1419).
- Commentary on the Three Principal Paths, an explanation by Pabongka Rinpoche (1878-1941)
2. Define:
Bodhicitta -
A spontaneous wish to attain enlightenment motivated by great compassion for all living beings, accompanied by a falling away of the (attachment to) the illusion of an inherently existing self.
JANG = Buddhahood (short for jang- clean, chub – comprehend)
SEM mind (short for sem kye)
Buddha mind – but not Buddha nature
Bodhisattva –
JANG-CHUB - buddha
SEM mind –
PA warrior = bodhisattva
When the first moment of bodhichitta arises in the mind (in a deep way, not superficially), you are a bodhisattva.
Master Saraha
“they who find emptiness without (bodhichitta) compassion have not yet found the highest of paths; and those who are practiced only in (bodhichitta) compassion are stuck in the cycle, not headed for freedom.”
“they who find emptiness without (bodhichitta) compassion have not yet found the highest of paths; and those who are practiced only in (bodhichitta) compassion are stuck in the cycle, not headed for freedom.”
Pabongka Rinpoche
"Here in the teachings of the Buddha there are two methods given for training one's mind in this precious jewel, (Bodhichitta) the wish for enlightenment. The first is known as the "seven-part, cause-and-effect instruction." The second we call "exchanging self and others." No matter which of the two you use to train your mind, you can definitely gain the wish for enlightenment. "
"Here in the teachings of the Buddha there are two methods given for training one's mind in this precious jewel, (Bodhichitta) the wish for enlightenment. The first is known as the "seven-part, cause-and-effect instruction." The second we call "exchanging self and others." No matter which of the two you use to train your mind, you can definitely gain the wish for enlightenment. "
Prajnaparamitra: The Five Paths to Buddhahood:
Accumulation: To get on the first path, one must generate renunciation (and bodhichitta for Mahayana level).
Preparation: Preparing to see emptiness directly. The intellectual understanding of emptiness.
Seeing: Direct perception of emptiness .
Habituation: Getting used to and practicing what you saw in the direct perception of emptiness and reorienting your perception of what you see around you daily to correspond with the reality of emptiness. Getting rid of inborn habit of seeing things as self-existent.
No more learning: Nirvana or Buddhahood attained. Got rid of all bad thoughts permanently.
Accumulation: To get on the first path, one must generate renunciation (and bodhichitta for Mahayana level).
Preparation: Preparing to see emptiness directly. The intellectual understanding of emptiness.
Seeing: Direct perception of emptiness .
Habituation: Getting used to and practicing what you saw in the direct perception of emptiness and reorienting your perception of what you see around you daily to correspond with the reality of emptiness. Getting rid of inborn habit of seeing things as self-existent.
No more learning: Nirvana or Buddhahood attained. Got rid of all bad thoughts permanently.
Two ways to develop bodhichitta:
1.) GYUN - DRE MEN - NYAK DUN
cause result personal advice seven
2.) DAK - SHEN NYAM - JE
I, me, self others equal exchange
1.) GYUN - DRE MEN - NYAK DUN
cause result personal advice seven
2.) DAK - SHEN NYAM - JE
I, me, self others equal exchange
The seven-part instruction in cause and effect:
0.) TONG - NYOM equanamity
This must be present at the beginning for the rest to follow.
1.) MAR - SHE
as your mother - recognize
Recognize (not pretend) all others as your mother. This does not mean to think of them as, or pretend that they're your mother, but gain that realization.
2.) DRIN - DREN kindness remember
Remember the kindness of your mother. (Does not refer to whether you like her, but the fact that she carried you for nine months, and suffered pain without choice for you). She gave up her freedom for you. You wouldn't be alive without her.
3.) DRIN - SO kindness- repay
Repay the kindness of your mothers.
4.) YI-ONG JAM-PA lovely, pretty - love
Being spontaneously concerned with taking care of others.
5.) NYING - JE – CHEN PO heart - lord - great
Have great compassion. (Compassion is wanting to remove suffering.)
6.) HLAK - SAM - NAM - DAK extraordinary - state of mind - totally - pure
The feeling that I will help everyone myself, even if nobody else helps. This is the feeling that comes just before and is the direct cause of bodhichitta. Not being discouraged.
7.) JANG-SEM bodhichitta
The state of a bodhisattva - wanting to be a Buddha to be able to help other people.
0.) TONG - NYOM equanamity
This must be present at the beginning for the rest to follow.
1.) MAR - SHE
as your mother - recognize
Recognize (not pretend) all others as your mother. This does not mean to think of them as, or pretend that they're your mother, but gain that realization.
2.) DRIN - DREN kindness remember
Remember the kindness of your mother. (Does not refer to whether you like her, but the fact that she carried you for nine months, and suffered pain without choice for you). She gave up her freedom for you. You wouldn't be alive without her.
3.) DRIN - SO kindness- repay
Repay the kindness of your mothers.
4.) YI-ONG JAM-PA lovely, pretty - love
Being spontaneously concerned with taking care of others.
5.) NYING - JE – CHEN PO heart - lord - great
Have great compassion. (Compassion is wanting to remove suffering.)
6.) HLAK - SAM - NAM - DAK extraordinary - state of mind - totally - pure
The feeling that I will help everyone myself, even if nobody else helps. This is the feeling that comes just before and is the direct cause of bodhichitta. Not being discouraged.
7.) JANG-SEM bodhichitta
The state of a bodhisattva - wanting to be a Buddha to be able to help other people.
Classifying bodhichitta by level of spiritual understanding (four types)
1. MUPA CHUPAY SEMKYE
belief act wish for enlightenment
Person acting out of belief that things aren't self-existent - has enlightened wish to help all sentient beings, and hasn't seen emptiness. Want to help sentient beings and wants to become Buddha to do so. Realizes that they see things as deceptive reality and has belief that emptiness exists. Thinks things are self-existent, sees things as self-existent, and believes that things are not self-existent. (This kind of bodhichitta occurs on paths of accumulation and preparation.)
2. HLAKSAM DAKPAY SEMKYE
takes absolute personal responsibility
pure wish for enlightenment
Someone who has experienced emptiness directly and sees things as they really are, so that bodhichitta is more intelligent and stronger. Has given up intellectual belief in self-existence as a result of seeing emptiness. Knows things are not self-existent, but is forced to see them that way outside of emptiness meditation. Has innate belief/view of self-existence. Sees things as empty in meditation and self-existent out of meditation. Person who permanently no longer has any belief in self-existence because of having seen emptiness directly. Doesn't believe in self-existence, but still sees things as deceptive reality and has the seeds to see things as deceptive. (Occurs on paths of seeing and habituation.)
3. NAMPAR MINPAY SEMKYE - ripening bodhichitta
Someone who looks at sentient beings and wants to help. When looking at sentient beings, doesn't see them as self-existent, but still has seeds to see them as self-existent. Has given up innate belief of self-existence; no longer sees self as self-existent. Outside of meditation, sees everything as empty. Has given up the inborn habit of seeing things as self-existent. Can never again see things as self-existent, although still has the seeds to see things that way. Not a Buddha yet, because there are still karmic seeds in the mind to see things as self-existent. Doesn't think things are self-existent, doesn't see things as self-existent, but has the seeds to see things as self-existent. (The path of habituation has this kind of bodhichitta. Bhumis eight through ten occur here.)
4. DRIPPA PAKPAY SEMKYE
obscurations eliminated bochichitta
This person doesn't think things are self-existent and doesn't see them as self-existent. There are no more seeds to see self-existence. This is a Buddha.
1. MUPA CHUPAY SEMKYE
belief act wish for enlightenment
Person acting out of belief that things aren't self-existent - has enlightened wish to help all sentient beings, and hasn't seen emptiness. Want to help sentient beings and wants to become Buddha to do so. Realizes that they see things as deceptive reality and has belief that emptiness exists. Thinks things are self-existent, sees things as self-existent, and believes that things are not self-existent. (This kind of bodhichitta occurs on paths of accumulation and preparation.)
2. HLAKSAM DAKPAY SEMKYE
takes absolute personal responsibility
pure wish for enlightenment
Someone who has experienced emptiness directly and sees things as they really are, so that bodhichitta is more intelligent and stronger. Has given up intellectual belief in self-existence as a result of seeing emptiness. Knows things are not self-existent, but is forced to see them that way outside of emptiness meditation. Has innate belief/view of self-existence. Sees things as empty in meditation and self-existent out of meditation. Person who permanently no longer has any belief in self-existence because of having seen emptiness directly. Doesn't believe in self-existence, but still sees things as deceptive reality and has the seeds to see things as deceptive. (Occurs on paths of seeing and habituation.)
3. NAMPAR MINPAY SEMKYE - ripening bodhichitta
Someone who looks at sentient beings and wants to help. When looking at sentient beings, doesn't see them as self-existent, but still has seeds to see them as self-existent. Has given up innate belief of self-existence; no longer sees self as self-existent. Outside of meditation, sees everything as empty. Has given up the inborn habit of seeing things as self-existent. Can never again see things as self-existent, although still has the seeds to see things that way. Not a Buddha yet, because there are still karmic seeds in the mind to see things as self-existent. Doesn't think things are self-existent, doesn't see things as self-existent, but has the seeds to see things as self-existent. (The path of habituation has this kind of bodhichitta. Bhumis eight through ten occur here.)
4. DRIPPA PAKPAY SEMKYE
obscurations eliminated bochichitta
This person doesn't think things are self-existent and doesn't see them as self-existent. There are no more seeds to see self-existence. This is a Buddha.
Quotes:
"Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire."
-- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“Mind-wandering precedes unhappiness but unhappiness does not precede mind-wandering.” -
-- Dr. Matt Killingsworth
“There are now a plethora of data showing that when individuals engage in generous and altruistic behavior, they actually activate circuits in the brain that are key to fostering well-being. These circuits get activated in a way that is more enduring than the way we respond to other positive incentives, such as winning a game or earning a prize.”
-- Dr. Richard Davidson
"Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire."
-- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“Mind-wandering precedes unhappiness but unhappiness does not precede mind-wandering.” -
-- Dr. Matt Killingsworth
“There are now a plethora of data showing that when individuals engage in generous and altruistic behavior, they actually activate circuits in the brain that are key to fostering well-being. These circuits get activated in a way that is more enduring than the way we respond to other positive incentives, such as winning a game or earning a prize.”
-- Dr. Richard Davidson
Karma - Thinking Bigger
Texts:
1. Illumination of the Path to Freedom, TARLAM SELJE, by the first Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gendun Drup (1391-1474).
2. Treasure House of Higher Knowledge, Abhidharmakosha, Chu Ngunpa Dzu Vasubandhu (350 A.C.E)
1. Illumination of the Path to Freedom, TARLAM SELJE, by the first Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gendun Drup (1391-1474).
2. Treasure House of Higher Knowledge, Abhidharmakosha, Chu Ngunpa Dzu Vasubandhu (350 A.C.E)
Karma - DE-NI SEM-PA DANG DE-JE SEMPA YIKYILE YIN-NO
“Karma is the movement of the mind (mental karma) and what follows (includes speech and deeds.)”
“Karma is the movement of the mind and what it motivates (makes happen).”
“Karma is the movement of the mind (mental karma) and what follows (includes speech and deeds.)”
“Karma is the movement of the mind and what it motivates (makes happen).”
4 Noble/Arya Truths
1. Truth of Suffering
2. Truth of the Cause of Suffering (there is a cause to suffering)
3. Truth of Awakening
4. Truth of the Cause to Awakening
1. Truth of Suffering
2. Truth of the Cause of Suffering (there is a cause to suffering)
3. Truth of Awakening
4. Truth of the Cause to Awakening
Karmic Path: LE LAM
karma path
There are four parts to a path of action, or karmic path (ex. killing):
1.) SHI basis The object involved (ex. the person you killed)
2.) SAMPA The thinking involved, your intention or motivation (did you kill with premeditated anger or accidentally while trying to help someone).
Kinds of sampa:
a.) DU-SHE - correct identification. Is the person you kill the one intended?
b.) NYON-MONG - bad thoughts. Were you under the control of attraction, dislike, or ignorance when you committed the deed?
c.) KUN-LONG - motivation or intention. Did you want to kill or was it an accident?
3.) JORWA - undertaking the deed. Taking the weapon and going after the person.
4.) TARTUK - completing the deed. You collect the karma when the person actually dies.
LE LE KYILAM
karma karma of path
A path of karma (or action) motivates the mind to shift to its object. For example, ill- will, craving, and wrong view are a path of karma. They motivate the mind to move, which is karma. The seven non-virtues of speech and body are karmas.
Karma is a movement of the mind.
karma path
There are four parts to a path of action, or karmic path (ex. killing):
1.) SHI basis The object involved (ex. the person you killed)
2.) SAMPA The thinking involved, your intention or motivation (did you kill with premeditated anger or accidentally while trying to help someone).
Kinds of sampa:
a.) DU-SHE - correct identification. Is the person you kill the one intended?
b.) NYON-MONG - bad thoughts. Were you under the control of attraction, dislike, or ignorance when you committed the deed?
c.) KUN-LONG - motivation or intention. Did you want to kill or was it an accident?
3.) JORWA - undertaking the deed. Taking the weapon and going after the person.
4.) TARTUK - completing the deed. You collect the karma when the person actually dies.
LE LE KYILAM
karma karma of path
A path of karma (or action) motivates the mind to shift to its object. For example, ill- will, craving, and wrong view are a path of karma. They motivate the mind to move, which is karma. The seven non-virtues of speech and body are karmas.
Karma is a movement of the mind.
Four Principles Of Karma:
1.) Karma definite Like produces like.
2.) Karma increases, gets bigger – like a seed.
3.) If you didn't do the karma, you will never meet a result.
4.) If you did do the karma you will experience the results.
1.) Karma definite Like produces like.
2.) Karma increases, gets bigger – like a seed.
3.) If you didn't do the karma, you will never meet a result.
4.) If you did do the karma you will experience the results.