We focus on how practice includes that of noting impermanence, suffering, and self/not-self, leads to deconstructing the assumptions of "ordinary mind" opening us up to "extraordinary mind".
All conditioned things turn out to be unreliable and subject to change. Recognising and accepting the truth of impermanence and the insecurity of our fluid existence allows us to let go of holding and resistance, and release our limited sense of self into the flow of life.
Only by opening our hearts to change and loss can we live and love fully. Yet much of our life is organized around finding ground-- avoiding the insecurity of change, loss and death. This talk explores how our ways of grasping and resisting remove us from the spontaneity and aliveness, the love and wisdom, that is our human potential.
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.
Wisdom across many traditions is understood as a clear and deep seeing of human experience; a seeing that cuts through conditioning and delusion. We look at the relationship of wisdom to mindfulness and the caring heart, particularly at how we see more clearly suffering, its roots and impermanence.
We continue to explore the Tibetan based teaching of the Four Reflections (or reminders) which help us turn more fully to the Dharma, giving a brief review of 1) the preciousness and rarity of human life, and 2) impermanence and suffering, then moving to examine in more depth 3) how our actions and thoughts matter and leave imprints- or karma, and 4) the importance of knowing and turning always from our habitual tendencies leading to suffering.
We explore the first two of the traditional Tibetan "mind-turning" reflections on the preciousness of human life , and on impermanence and death, with suggestions on how to practice these reflections and how this may quicken and deepen our practice.
We explore how "knowledge and vision of things as they are," supported by concentration and earlier factors, brings us insight into impermanence, suffering and the roots of suffering, and not-self. We examine some of the forces and structure that lead to delusion and a lack of clear seeing, as well as how to practice to cultivate these insights.
After a brief review of the first two series, we focus on body practices to develop insight into 1) impermanence, 2) suffering and the roots of suffering, and 3)constructions of self. We suggest several concrete practices to develop wisdom through awareness of bodily experience.
