When difficult emotions arise in our practice, developing a skillful and willing relationship is an important part of the path. Emotions are the natural human response, and a natural and important part of the path.
Our lives are the raw material for liberating insight to arise. Even outside of meditation, the three characteristics of conditioned things -- impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and not-self -- are present in all experience. Understanding this directly and continuously, in the context of the Buddha's core teachings, leads to liberation.
Metta practice makes the heart more sensitive to the joys and sorrows that sentient beings are subject to. This tenderness becomes the avenue for us to discover our deep connection to all of life and end a sense of isolation.
The Buddha clearly described consciousness as an impermanent part of the mind. Yet many people feel that awareness has some kind of lasting or ongoing nature. How can we understand this seeming contradiction? How can we make awareness itself part of our meditation?
Our minds have many mixed motivations, and they can be at play in meditation practice. This talk discusses some of the common "ulterior motives" which can be present, how to recognize them and how to re-frame them to make them into skillful supports-not distractions.
Delusion, one of the three kilesas, is in some ways the fundamental cause of our suffering -- because we don't see clearly the way things truly are. Our experience of ourselves and the world is distorted by our conditioned views and perceptions.
