Drawing from their new book "This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership", devon and nico share practical insights on bringing mindfulness and compassion into the beautiful complexity of intimate relationships. A guided meditation is followed by a teaching.

After getting a sense of those present and a self-introduction, there is a guided meditation. We start with a few words on posture and invite a short period to connect with what is alive in one's practice. Then there are instructions for developing samadhi (concentration), followed by several short periods of guidance to cultivate awareness of the energy of the body, to tap into a sense of happiness and perhaps joy, and then a sense of peace. There is then a short period of mindfulness followed by a few minutes of reflection on (1) what is "calling" now in one's life and practice, and (2) how best one can connect formal meditation and daily life.

In this talk, Gullu reviews prior week's teachings on Wise Effort, including what supports initiating effort, the middle way between extremes, and the four wise efforts using the acronym PACE: (P)reventing unwholesome states from arising, (A)bandoning unwholesome states that have arisen, (C)ultivating wholesome states, and (E)xtending (sustaining) those wholesome states. He then briefly discusses the Seven Factors of Awakening (Satta Bojjhaṅgā)—mindfulness, investigation of dhammas, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity—emphasizing that energy naturally arises from Mindfulness and investigation. He concludes with a quick overview of the Four Bases of Power (Cattāro Iddhipādā): chanda, viriya, citta, and vīmaṃsā. Particular attention is given to viriya as the engine of awakening and to vīmaṃsā as the spirit of ongoing discernment and refinement in practice. NOTE: Group discussion has been removed.

An exploration of feeling tone/Vedanā the second foundation of mindfulness and how it relates to patterns of reactivity and entanglement.

When strong experiences such as fear, grief, shame or desire become predominate in our awareness, we can meet them with mindfulness and interest. Asking “what is happening?” rather than “why is it happening?”. With mindfulness we can feel emotions as ripples of sensations within the body that arise, peak and fade when we dont feed the story in the mind. At times we need to fortify mindfulness by turning to other parts of the body such as feet or hands to allow for more space around intense sensations. This helps us not get caught in aversive tightening in response to the emotion.

Dhamma as nature and learning to align ourself with what is true. Taking refuge and our path to liberation.

Establishing mindfulness in the body with gentle continuity. Finding an anchor for attention to support the development of collectedness.

Meeting aversion with mindfulness can lead to freedom from suffering

This guided meditation explores the third foundation of mindfulness—awareness of mind states. We bring kind, steady attention to thoughts, emotions, and moods, while gently investigating our relationship to them. Seeing how mindfulness can know these experiences without being defined by them, the practice opens space, clarity, and a more compassionate way of relating to the mind.

Mindfulness of 6 senses can lead to equanimity where we are no longer attached to pleasant experience or aversive to unpleasant experiences.

When we bring awareness to major intentions, we can make wise/wholesome choices & the practice of continuity of mindfulness, concurrence and concentration.

Mindfulness of Breathing and Body

Week Four Homework: 1. Daily meditation: 20-30 minutes. 2. Notice your “top three hits” (the thought patterns that are most recurrent). Do they preoccupy you or distract you from the present moment? 3. What helps you connect or reconnect to the present moment?

Pain is a given and suffering is optional. Mindfulness of unpleasant feelings, such as pain, can transform pain into fertile soil for wisdom and for freedom from suffering to arise.

Mindfulness of feelings plays a crucial role in our daily life and practice. The arising of feelings is beyond our control but mindfulness of them can make a difference between being in bondage and being free from suffering.