This talk focuses on a style of practice that could be called “training in opposites.” We deliberately engage contrasting functions of the mind in order to broaden and stretch, or opposing viewpoints in order to hone our understanding.
a guided meditation given as part of the Third Sunday program with the Aloka Vihara community that usually meets at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery. June 2020
An untrained mind has no choice, it goes straight into dukkha; the trained mind has the possibility to turn away from patterns that the mind creates. The hinge-point is nibbidā – disinterest, disenchantment – to no longer be gripped by the play of the mind. Through this, mental patterns can be acknowledged as they arise but not entered into. Through remaining with dispassionate awareness, liberation can be realized.
*Sutta references - AN10:2; SN35:28
