Martin explores different personality styles of resistance and rejection, the ways anger functions and the importance of letting ourselves feel negative emotions as a way of freeing them up and letting go of our personal hard luck story. He also explores the way practice can transform anger into fearlessness as an important force against injustice, oppression and inequality.
On this summer solstice evening out under the trees at Gaia House, Martin reflects on the importance of trees in the Buddhas life, the disingenuousness of the term mindfulness and what it means to be embodied.
How can we be skillful with our speech practice in difficult or challenging situations? We examine a number of principles and capacities, particularly deep listening, that can guide us.
Our preconceptions and assumptions have a significant effect on how we perceive reality--what gets taken in and what gets filtered out. A rich area of practice is being aware of this so that we truly see clearly to the best of our ability. As we bring more awareness to our filters, we can also see others' Buddha nature inside them, and help it come out, even if they can't see it themselves.
We explore the possibility of taking radical responsibility for our thoughts and emotions at the ability to respond skilfully, rather than react. We look at three ways of practicing with thoughts and emotions.
1. coming back to balance when out of balance.
2. cultivating mindfulness of thoughts and emotions.
3. working more actively with thoughts and emotions, including habitual
patterns.
Communicating our vulnerability and learning to listen - seeking to understand another’s experience - are the keys to discovering the truth of our connectedness. This talk explores the challenges and gifts of dedicating ourselves to becoming more real, present and open in our relationships.
