Wednesday, January 25, 2012

no fixing needed

The Buddha said to investigate this body and the other foundations of mindfulness. There is nothing to solve or undo; we just need to know according to the truth.
Ajahn Cha

By "truth" Ajahn Cha is not referring to some philosophical principle, but the truth of the immediate moment - the experience we access when we are not trapped by our perceptions, our thoughts, our preconceived notions.

We can train to be aware of what is true by personally investigating the four foundations of mindfulness, outlined in the Satipatthana Sutta.

Sutta Summary:
www.consciousdynamics.com/course03/satipatthanaportal.html

Monday, January 2, 2012

who do you trust?

"...The Buddha did not teach to fix things but to see according to the truth. If you want to change things, that is not Dharma, that is not truth; it is just the habit of someone who wants to create and manipulate...For those who hear and practice there has not been any requirement to adjust or modify things, only to know and to surrender." Ajahn Chah

The purpose of a transformational practice is to let go. Release leads to relaxation. It leads to good health, to happiness, to contentment. To success in many arenas. But if these good intentions become goals that we grasp, we are no longer relaxing. We are no longer practicing wisely. The relaxation of meditation or mindfulness is much more than the release of contractions and stress. It is relaxation of grasping, the freedom from trying to make things different than they are.

This does not mean we don't change what needs to be changed or that we can't integrate mindfuless, meditation, or mind training into professional arenas; but we can't introduce them as one of hundreds of strategies for achieving our goals, attaining what we desire. Instead, we learn to let go of the struggle and strife and open to dancing with things as they are, contributing from wisdom and insight, kindness and compassion. The bottom line results are powerful, but they come from deep integrity and intelligence that are within our natural human capacities.

I can think of several human beings I know who are in touch with this human capacity. I see them as the adults in our world. The people I trust. People who mean what they say and live their lives on the line every day, simply to do what is right. Most are not famous - or in any way dramatic. But they are the rich fabric that supports civilization.

Who do you think of? Who do you trust? Lets choose these beings as models for living our own lives in accordance with our simple greatest potential.