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THE WAY OF SHAMBHALA
Contentment in Everyday Life
The Way of Shambhala
Contentment in Everyday Life
Teacher’s Manual
CIEL Class 1
CIEL Class 2
CIEL Class 3
CIEL Class 4
Introducing
Contentment
Contemplating
Contentment
Suffering and
the Four Noble
Truths
“Friendly to
Oneself”
“Nowness”
Working with
Emotions
and
Buddhist
Psychology
“Meeting
Suffering with
Gentleness”
CIEL Class 5
The Confidence of
Contentment
Celebration
Introduction
The purpose of Contentment in Everyday Life is to introduce an experience and
understanding of contentment as the foundation for both the spiritual path and a sane life.
We are going directly to personal and accessible experience in an ordinary way. We
want to connect with people’s everyday life, circumstances, and emotions.
Many of us relate to our own mind with a sense of aggression, lack of respect, and selfcriticism. We ignore our fundamental sanity and wakefulness. Such aggression and lack
of friendliness to oneself often transfers over to the meditation seat. Many practitioners
are extremely harsh, judgmental, and impatient with their meditation practice. This may
be a natural extension of a view of original sin or “basic badness.” It is important that
from the very beginning, the Way of Shambhala allows participants an opportunity to
gently rest in basic goodness. The primary method to experience gentleness is
meditation. “That mind of fearfulness should be put in the cradle of loving-kindness.”
Teachers should know that the Tibetan for “meek” (chok she) also means contentment.
Literally, it means to know (she) contentment or what is sufficient (chok). The analogy of
the tiger symbolizes the sense of mindful, patient, inquisitive contentment. Basic
contentment can be understood as the foundation for the path. The key words to describe
the qualities of contentment are: mindful, simple, open, curious, gentle, kind, and relaxed.
This is how one begins the path of Shambhala. It is also how to begin anything that we
wish to learn and explore. It is the opposite of thinking we already know; having preconceptions about someone or some subject.
The four dignities begin from this humble and dutiful but vast vision, which at the
same time sees the details with a sense of meticulousness... Meek here does not
mean being feeble; it just means resting in a state of simplicity, being
uncomplicated and at the same time approachable. Whether others are hostile or
friendly, the warrior of meek extends a sense of kindness to himself and mercy to
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others…The beginning of the journey is this natural sense of fulfillment that
doesn’t need to beg from others.
—Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior “Authentic Presence.”
Basically, meek means having a sense of gentleness, genuineness, inquisitiveness,
and interest. All of those qualities are connected with being without arrogance,
being very soft but percolating at the same time. —Dignities Sourcebook pg 28
The CIEL course is an experiential training in contentment as well as an exploration of
the obstacles or challenges to experiencing simplicity, gentleness, and mindfulness in
everyday life. The course responds with practical suggestions to the question “How can I
bring the contentment of meditation into my everyday life?”
Overview of the Classes
Class One introduces contentment and emphasizes gentleness and friendliness to oneself.
Class Two emphasizes mindfulness. We introduce the practice of contemplating
contentment.
Class Three presents the truth of suffering, and how we can meet suffering with
gentleness, nowness, and inquisitiveness.
Class Four focuses on working with emotions.
Class Five presents teachings on trust and being free from arrogance. We review the
course and celebrate contentment.
See the Teacher’s Summaries at the end of this manual for outlines of each class.
Teaching Method: Bringing out the Student’s Prajna
The Way of Shambhala employs various teaching methods to engage the participants’
prajna, and bring the teachings home to them, rather than emphasizing the director’s
“brilliant long talk”. Here, talks are short and “essential.” The Sakyong has asked us all
to “say less and mean more”—to make shorter talks that are even more potent and clear.
There are also several contemplative methods recommended during each of the classes to
bring out the genuine experience and insight of the participants, and inspire them to be
active learners.
Many people are extremely busy, under tremendous pressure or experiencing great
difficulty when they arrive at the Shambhala Center for the class. Therefore, in addition
to practicing meditation for some time, we need to use methods to bring our teachings
into personal experience. This means allowing the students an opportunity to explore the
teachings in a direct way.
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In most classes, a main theme will be presented. We will then explore this theme
experientially, using a contemplation, a dialogue, or another exercise. “Contemplation”
is a formal practice where we explore the theme meditatively, by mixing the stability of
shamatha with an aspect of the teachings. We think about and investigate the dharma.
Dialogue
A “dialogue” is an exercise where two or more people discuss their understanding and
experience of the topic. It is something like an open-ended warrior exchange. It may be
akin to a moment when your teacher asks you a direct question about yourself, and you
have to answer genuinely, on the spot. The process of talking and listening can bring the
topic of the class into experience, requires that the student use their own words, and
begins to mix the topic with everyday life. It also allows for students to learn about
themselves in a very direct way. For example, when presenting the teaching of “friendly
to oneself,” a dialogue would ask the students to consider how they experience gentleness
toward themselves and how they experience aggression toward themselves. While
talking about this challenging question, the student has to connect the teaching with their
own emotions, their own life experience, and their meditation practice. When leaving a
class, it is often this experience of talking and listening that will stay with the student,
sometimes even more than the content of the class.
Following a dialogue or contemplation, we always come back together as a group and
discuss the experience. Therefore, each class has 1) a teaching, 2) a method to bring this
teaching into experience, and 3) a discussion. In order to leave time for these dialogues
and contemplations, talks need to be precise and evocative. It will be a challenge for us
to present the material, bring in personal examples, and use the time skillfully. However,
it is important to find a way to give shorter and more potent talks, and leave time for the
students to work with the dialogues and contemplations.
Using the Manuals
These manuals are very complete. This curriculum has been written out in a way that
clarifies the experiential approach of The Way of Shambhala. The manuals for each class
list an order for the class and give detailed comments and quotes for each section. See the
Teacher’s Summaries at the beginning of each class for more concise outlines of each
class.
The various components of each class, such as the talk and the dialogue, are presented in
this manual. In the beginning of the overview of each evening class, there is a
description of the main theme, the threefold logic for the class, and a list of the
components of the class. The components are numbered with Roman numerals (I, II, III
etc.). These are a suggested order of events for the class in order to present the topic,
then do an exercise, then discuss etc. They may not be the exact order that you choose to
present; they are a suggestion.
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Directors may take the basic outline, and bring to it their own depth of understanding and
skillful means. The manuals are meant to be a support for teachers, not a constraint. We
all teach with our own style, emphasis, and approach. It is essential that we teach from
our own experience and use our own language. These manuals can be springboards for
your own expression. In this way, we can support the experience of the students.
Those with years of experience in teaching Shambhala Training, the Buddhadharma, and
the dignities, will be challenged to express the heart essence of the topics in very little
time and in very few words. There remains for all of us the ever-present challenge of not
presenting the material as if it were distant enlightened qualities; and yet not making it so
homey and domestic as to diminish its power. Let the teachings speak for themselves.
Format of the Manuals:
Everything in italics is a message to the teacher, rather than a part of the talk or dialogue.
Shamatha Yoga
Many participants are tired or weary after a busy day, and really find that their ability to
focus and participate is enhanced by including a few stretches or 5-10 minutes of
shamatha yoga as part of the class. It is not necessary to talk through the yoga—someone
with experience could simply say that people who wish could participate in this short
yoga sequence, being careful not to exceed one’s capacity. It could be mentioned that
yoga could be practiced as a shamatha practice, gently bringing one’s awareness to the
movements and postures rather then the breath.
Introducing Our Various Forms and Chants
At different points in The Way of Shambhala, forms will be introduced that are in accord
with the subject taught. For example, bowing will continue to be formally introduced at
Level III, acknowledging the basic goodness in others as taught in Level III: “Warrior in
the World.” In Meditation in Everyday Life and the Contentment in Everyday Life
course, the shrine is lit, and the director could say something (at some point) very brief
about the shrine and what it represents for the benefit of totally new people.
Like all shrine imagery in the non-theistic traditions of Buddhism, the Rigden thangka
aims to remind viewers of qualities inherent in themselves and their lives. The details of
the iconography of the shrine are highly symbolic, and are meant to remind us,
provoke us, to wake up from our confusion. Each aspect of the shrine points to an
aspect of the view, the training, or the full realization of one’s basic nature—basic
goodness.
The director could then briefly describe the main elements of the shrine and what they
represent.
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Directors should familiarize themselves with the symbolism of the shrine and the
Rigden thangka. (there is a very nice booklet available through Shambhala Media
about the Rigden thangka, and what it represents, that might be of interest to directors
and students). Students will be introduced to the Rigden in greater detail during the
Rigden weekend.
Meditation Instruction for CIEL
Shamatha continues to be the main practice, as taught in Level II. (See The Heart of
Warriorship Teaching Guide.) In addition, the practice of contemplation is introduced.
This is the foundational practice of the hinayana and connected with the mindful walk of
the tiger in its prime. As The Heart of Warriorship Director’s Guide states, “Level II
teachings present the power and wisdom of investigating and knowing the cocoon and the
nature of fear as a way of releasing ourselves from habitual patterns. This exploration
calls for a more focused meditation practice—continuity of the whole breathing process,
mindful of both in and out breaths. This technique is not tight, but relaxed, stable and
grounding so that the participant can witness the ways in which habitual patterns are
created.”
Reading Assignments
The Contentment in Everyday Life course is not based upon a single book. The classes
have their own logic and development. We have chosen readings that are most
appropriate for the reading assignments. However, there will be topics covered in the
readings that we will not address in the class, and topics covered in class that are not in
the reading. Over the years, as more books from the Vidyadhara and the Sakyong
continue to emerge, we will update the readings with the best selections. There are
“assigned” readings for each week as well as “additional” readings for students who
would like to study more and be exposed to different perspectives. The “additional”
readings are optional.
Here is what we suggest for purchasing books:
1. Shambhala Centres should try to purchase and maintain several copies
of the main books for your centre¹s libraries. These are fairly inexpensive
on amazon.com or amazon.ca, where they often have second hand copies.
2. The directors of the courses should communicate the following to the
participants when the reading list is handed out: “If you have the time and
inclination, here is a complete list of the best readings for each class.
You can buy or borrow the books from the Shambhala Centre library or the
public library, and do some or all of the readings. If you don’t think that
will be possible for you, and you would prefer to read one source for each
course, Ruling Your World, “the Path of the Tiger,” is a good book for this course.”
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For CIEL, if participants want to purchase more than one book, these are the main
sources:
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
The Sanity We Are Born With
Turning the Mind into an Ally
Ruling Your World
The Truth of Suffering and the Path of Liberation (a new book from Shambhala
Publications by Chögyam Trungpa, edited by Judith Lief)
(Permissions are needed from Shambhala Publications to copy and distribute excerpts of
books published by them. For information about requesting permission go to this web
page - http://www.shambhala.com/html/about/rights.cfm)
Reading Assignments:
1. For Class One:
No reading
2. For Class Two:
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chapters 2, 3, and 7 “Discovering
Basic Goodness,” “The Genuine Heart of Sadness,” and “The Cocoon”
Additional Reading: Turning the Mind into and Ally, Chapters 12 and 13
“Turning the Mind” and “The Joy of Being Human”
3. For Class Three:
Turning the Mind into an Ally: Chapter 2 “Bewilderment and Suffering” and hand
out from The Truth of Suffering, “Introduction and Chapter 1: “Recognizing the
Reality of Suffering”
Additional Reading: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, “The Four Noble
Truths” and The Wisdom of No Escape, by Pema Chödron, “Weather and the four
Noble Truths”
4. For Class Four:
The Sanity We Are Born With: “Prelude: The Meeting of Buddhist and Western
Psychology” and “Chapter 4: An Approach to Meditation”
Additional Reading: handout The Myth of Freedom: “Working with Emotions:
The Dualistic Barrier”
5. For Class Five:
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Ruling Your World: “The Path of the Tiger” especially Chapter 9, “The
Confidence of Contentment”
Directors’ Resources for the Course
The Heart of Warriorship Directors Guide, “Level II”
The Sacred Path of Warriorship Directors Guide, “Meek”
Shambhala and Buddhism: A Director’s Sourcebook
The Letter of the Black Ashe, Dorje Dradül of Mukpo terma
1978 Kalapa Assembly, Dorje Dradül “Letter of the Black Ashe I”
Ruling Your World, Sakyong Mipham, Section “The Path of the Tiger”
2003 Kalapa Assembly, Sakyong Mipham, Talk 5 (Section on Meek)
The Sanity We Are Born With, Chögyam Trungpa, “The Meeting of Buddhist and
Western Psychology” and “An Approach to Meditation”
The Dignities of Shambhala, A Sourcebook for the Sacred Path
Warrior Training and The Scorpion Seal Path
The Way of Shambhala allows people from many diverse backgrounds a thorough
introduction to the Shambhala Buddhist teachings. Some participants are not searching
for a life-long spiritual journey, and the Way of Shambhala can serve as a complete path
of training that is sufficient in itself. Therefore a warrior could end their training after
Level V, the Wisdom in Everyday Life course or the Rigden Weekend and have a stable
background in the practice of meditation for the rest of their lives.
However, the Contentment in Everyday Life course is also the beginning of potent
warrior training in the fearless, gentle, and intelligent mind necessary to enter the
Scorpion Seal. It firmly establishes a daily meditation practice that is steady enough to
look into the face of fear, and friendly enough to inspire contentment and ease with
oneself. This is a furthering of the participant’s relationship with basic goodness and the
theme of Level II, working with fear.
Whereas the hallmark of the Joy in Everyday Life Course would be more of a vipashyana
approach to meditation and daily life, here the warrior becomes steeped in the
mindfulness of the Tiger. The Tiger’s environment, the jungle, is analogous to our daily
life, untamed minds and the speediness of our society. The directors and assistant
directors are powerfully influential in helping warriors establish mindfulness in all
activities as a foundation for the journey. At the end of each class there will be an
opportunity to remind participants of the practice of mindfulness in each moment of their
lives, as they make the beds, tie their shoes, turn on their computers, or engage in the
practice of just “being” in their car without the distraction of the radio, and so on. Should
mindfulness become truly part of your participants’ foundation, this will ultimately
quicken their journey and realization, and potently ready them for the more advanced
warriorship practices to come.
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Summary of Class One: Introducing Contentment
Main Theme: “Friendly to Oneself”
Threefold Logic:
Ground Basic Goodness
Path
“Friendly to Oneself”
Fruition Contentment
I.
Opening Remarks
• An Open Path
• The Source of the Teachings
i. What is Shambhala?
ii. What is Buddhism?
iii. Joining Everyday Life and Awakening
II.
Ground: Basic Goodness
• Meditation Instruction and Sit
Path: Friendliness to Oneself
• Out of the practice of meditation arises a greater ability to be
unconditionally friendly to oneself.
Fruition: Contentment
• Through friendliness toward ourself, we can let go of the constant
struggle with our present situation. Contentment means knowing that
all that is needed it contained in the present moment.
III.
Dialogue (in groups of three, each person speaks for 5-7 minutes)
In general, what are you experiencing after hearing this talk on
friendliness and contentment? What is coming up for you?
In particular,
“How do you experience friendliness or gentleness to yourself?”
“How are you aggressive to yourself?”
“If you have been meditating for a while, how does friendliness and
aggression affect your meditation practice?”
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IV.
Group Discussion.
• Present readings and contemplative assignments for next week.
Contentment in Everyday Life
Class One: Introducing Contentment
Main theme of the class: “Friendly to Oneself”
“A great deal of chaos in the world occurs because people don’t appreciate
themselves. Having never developed sympathy or gentleness toward themselves,
they cannot experience harmony or peace within themselves, and therefore what
they project to others is also inharmonious and confused.”—Shambhala: The
Sacred Path of the Warrior
Threefold Logic of Class One
Ground Basic Goodness
Path
“Friendly to Oneself”
Fruition Contentment
Components of the class:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Opening Remarks
Ground, Path, Fruition (Including Meditation Instruction)
Dialogue
Discussion
Suggestions for the Schedule:
(Announce in advance that registration for the class begins at 6:30, class begins at 7:00)
7:00 I Opening Remarks
7:15 II Ground: Basic Goodness, Meditation Instruction and Sit
8:00 Path and Fruition: Friendliness and Contentment
8:20 III Dialogue
8:45 IV Discussion
Refreshments
I.
Opening Remarks:
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This inaugural evening of the Contentment In Everyday Life class welcomes participants
to the approach of The Way of Shambhala. There will likely be participants attending
this course who have not yet taken Meditation In Everyday Life, Levels I or II, nor
received meditation instruction. They may have never heard the terms “warrior” or
“cocoon” or “hinayana.” Therefore, this first class should be geared toward them. This
welcoming section should be brief and not a lengthy talk. We simply want to provide a
basic context for the Way of Shambhala.
The Way of Shambhala is a sequence of weekends and classes that aims to provide an
experiential and structured introduction to meditation practice, to a contemplative
approach to our lives, and to the teachings of Shambhala Buddhism.
An Open Path
These courses and weekend retreats are open to people from any religious background or
no religious background. They are grounded in basic human wisdom and are relevant to
anyone interested in living a more sane, genuine, fearless, and joyous life. You may be a
Jew, a Christian, a Muslim, a Hindu, etc. or non-religious and still learn more about
yourself through this training.
The Source of the Teachings
The teachings and practices presented in the Way of Shambhala are based upon the
ancient tradition of Shambhala and an authentic lineage of Buddhism. These teachings
are thousands of years old, and come from an unbroken lineage of teachers who have
brought the path into our society in a fresh and accessible way.
What is Shambhala?
Shambhala teachings are grounded in ancient teachings and practical knowledge from
many traditional cultures, especially teachings from ancient Tibet. These teachings begin
with the understanding that all beings are basically good, and that life is worth living. We
call this a path of spiritual warriorship, which here means living a life of fearlessness,
gentleness, and intelligence. The Shambhala teachings emphasize being in the world, and
bringing together everyday life, work, family, and social action with the path of
meditation. In Shambhala, we do not withdraw from society—we engage society. The
teachings focus on how to help this world. We work to bring about more sanity and
compassion in the world as part of our path. In essence, Shambhala is about living a full
human life, right in the midst of challenges.
“The Shambhala teachings are founded on the premise that there is basic human
wisdom that can help to solve the world’s problems. The wisdom does not belong
to any one culture or religion, nor does it come from the West or the East. Rather,
it is a tradition of human warriorship that has existed in many cultures at many
times throughout history.”
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—Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
What is Buddhism?
Buddhism is the body of teachings given by Shakyamuni Buddha, a person born by the
name of Prince Siddhartha who lived approximately 2,500 years ago in India. He
followed a path that resulted in his enlightenment, and then began to teach others for
many years. The Buddhist teachings present a subtle and sophisticated understanding of
psychology, perception, and meditation practices. Buddhism is a non-theistic tradition,
which primarily means that it is up to us to work with our mind and our life. It is a path
of personal transformation that leads to greater freedom and understanding of the human
situation. With this freedom and understanding, we open up to others with compassion.
Buddhism is about awakening to our own enlightened nature, and helping others to
awaken to their enlightened nature.
Joining Everyday Life and Awakening
In the Way of Shambhala, we bring together Shambhala teachings and Buddhist
teachings to support a path of awakening within everyday life in modern society.
Some religions emphasize leaving or transcending the world. Other approaches
emphasize effective or successful living within the world. The Way of Shambhala brings
together the sacred and the secular and views everyday life as an opportunity for
awakening.
Our lineage of Shambhala Buddhism comes from a direct line of masters from Tibet,
continued by the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Sakyong Mipham
Rinpoche. The teacher may want to point out their pictures on the shrine.
II.
Ground: Basic Goodness
As Contentment in Everyday Life may be entered before attending a Level I or II, it will
be necessary to briefly introduce the ground of basic goodness during this first class.
For those who have already attended Level I, a review of basic goodness will be
welcome. This could be a simple and brief introduction.
The path of meditation is based upon an understanding that all beings can experience a
sense of being that is open, fresh, and simple. We call this basic goodness.
“If we are willing to take an unbiased look, we will find that, in spite of all of our
problems and confusion, all our emotional and psychological ups and downs,
there is something basically good about our existence as human beings...Every
human being has a basic nature of goodness, which is undiluted and unconfused.
That goodness contains tremendous gentleness and appreciation.” —Shambhala:
The Sacred Path of the Warrior
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We can discover a sense of being which is unconditionally good. Underneath our
habitual mind and the speed of our life, our nature is awake, aware, clear, and tender.
This tenderness and clarity allows us to see and appreciate the world. We can appreciate
simple things: seeing color, tasting food, touching another person. Moment by moment,
we can glimpse that this world is basically a good one.
However, basic goodness is more than a theory. It is something that we can personally
recognize and experience.
We do not need to convince participants of basic goodness. We are simply clarifying
this view as the ground of meditation. Rather than thinking that we are fundamentally
flawed, and that meditation will “fix” us, our understanding is that we are basically
good, and meditation can help us rediscover this goodness.
Meditation
As Contentment in Everyday Life may be entered before attending a Level I or II, it will
be necessary to give brief meditation instruction at this first class. For those who have
already attended Level II, a review will be welcome.
The way that we uncover basic goodness is the sitting practice of meditation.
“Wishful thinking or simply talking about it does not help. In the Shambhala
tradition, the discipline for developing both gentleness towards ourselves and
appreciation of our world is the sitting practice of meditation.”—Shambhala: The
Sacred Path of the Warrior
The whole path is based on meditation practice. Meditation becomes the way to
experience the teachings for ourselves, and test their truth. We do not simply talk about
basic goodness. Rather, we can uncover a state of being that is fresh, open and
uncluttered by habits. This meditation practice is called “shamatha,” a Sanskrit term
meaning peaceful abiding. We abide in the present. We practice simply being. We rest
in this simplicity that is basically good.
By meditation here we mean something very basic and simple that is not tied to
any one culture. We are talking about a very basic act: sitting on the ground,
assuming a good posture, and developing a sense of our spot, our place on this
earth. This is the means of rediscovering ourselves and our basic goodness, the
means to tune ourselves in to genuine reality, without any expectations or
preconceptions. —Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
In meditation practice, we are training in resting the mind in natural peace. This allows
for a personal and experiential sense of gentleness towards our self. We simply rest in
the present, without needing to improve or fix our self. Instead, we learn to abide or
dwell in natural peace. This peace comes from gentleness and simple acceptance.
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By simply letting yourself be, you are developing genuine sympathy toward
yourself.—Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, “The Genuine Heart of
Sadness”
“Peaceful abiding” describes the mind as it naturally is. The word peace tells the
whole story. The human mind is by nature joyous, calm, and very clear. In shamatha
meditation we aren’t creating a peaceful state—we’re letting our mind be as it is to
begin with. This doesn’t mean that we’re peacefully ignoring things. It means that
the mind is able to be in itself without constantly leaving.—TMA, “Peaceful Abiding”
Give thorough instructions on the technique and the attitude (especially gentleness) and
sit for 10-15 minutes. See Appendix A of this manual: “Complete Meditation
Instructions.”
Path: Friendliness and Contentment
After sitting for a period, take questions and answers about meditation. Next, introduce
the theme of Contentment in Everyday Life. This is both an introduction to CIEL as a
whole, and the main theme for this evening. The basic intention in this talk is to transmit
a quality of friendliness, gentleness, and contentment as the basis of the path. Teachers
can work with embodying these qualities.
In expressing the importance of friendliness as the foundation for the path, we are
encouraging warriors to allow themselves to be where they are. This quells the
aggression of wanting things to be anything but what they are. This brings a sense of
relief and simplicity. Basic goodness is already what we are.
Friendliness to Oneself
Out of the practice of meditation—which provides a cradle of loving kindness—arises a
greater ability to be unconditionally friendly to oneself. This is also an attitude that we
can assume during our mediation practice and throughout our life: We can become more
interested in what is taking place in our mind and body right now, rather than wishing we
were someone else or somewhere else. There is a sense of being genuine and mindful of
one’s moment to moment experience. The strength of meditation comes from gentleness,
not self-aggression. This gives rise to gentleness and friendliness throughout our whole
life, not only in meditation.
If one begins the spiritual journey with an attitude that rejects moment to moment
experience in the present, it will be difficult to rest. We will always think that basic
goodness is somewhere else, later on the path, in an advanced program etc. Or we may
think that basic goodness will be produced after a lot of effort. This is a form of spiritual
materialism—an attempt to grasp after spiritual experiences.
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In everyday life, we may think that happiness and contentment will come from a different
relationship, a career change, more money, losing weight etc. We think that we need
“gain, victory, and good fame” in order to be acceptable.
When you don’t punish yourself or condemn yourself, when you relax more and
appreciate your body and mind, you begin to contact the fundamental notion of
basic goodness in yourself. So it is extremely important to be willing to open
yourself to yourself. Developing tenderness toward yourself allows you to see
both your problems and your potential accurately. You don’t feel that you have to
ignore your problems or exaggerate your potential. That kind of gentleness
toward yourself and appreciation of yourself is very necessary. It provides the
ground for helping yourself and others. —Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the
Warrior, “Discovering Basic Goodness”
When discussing the fruition of the dignity of Meek, the Dörje Dradul says:
We usually just put up with ourselves. From the minute we get up from our beds
and brush our teeth and take a shower, we feel so critical of ourselves. We don’t
actually respect ourselves at all. Self-respect is a very rare occurrence in the
setting-sun world. But when warriors raise lungta and have some good
understanding of themselves, then they feel good and trust themselves. Therefore
the warrior of meek does not have to depend on gain and victory.
—1978 Kalapa Assembly, Letter of the Black Ashe I
Fruition: Contentment
Contentment means a sense of being satisfied and complete. This is not conventional
contentment, where we have finally found the perfect relationship, enough money, the
ideal home, and great success etc. Rather, it is letting go of the constant need to struggle
with our self and our experience. There is self-respect. Contentment means knowing that
all that is needed it contained in the present moment. Fundamentally, there is nothing
that needs to be fixed. We can begin to let go of the constant struggle to correct our
existing situation. This brings a sense of basic healthiness, or basic well-being and
simplicity. It is not based on any conditions or circumstances. Rather, it is a natural and
unconditional sense of genuineness and simplicity.
The Buddha taught that suffering is a result of roaming, the urge to keep looking
for an external source of happiness... Much of our stress these days is caused by
simple lack of contentment... The Shambhala teachings say that the confidence of
contentment arises from being friendly to ourselves and merciful to others.
Friendliness to ourselves is a result of meditation. —Sakyong Mipham, Ruling
Your World, “The Confidence of Contentment”
Meek
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In the Shambhala tradition, we sometimes will refer to this contentment as “Meek.”
Meek here does not mean being feeble; it just means resting in a state of
simplicity, being uncomplicated and at the same time approachable. Whether
others are hostile or friendly, the warrior of meek extends a sense of kindness to
himself and mercy to others…The beginning of the journey is this natural sense of
fulfillment that doesn’t need to beg from others.
—Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior “Authentic Presence.”
III.
Dialogue
After presenting the Ground, Path, and Fruition of contentment, allow the participants an
opportunity to reflect on what these teachings mean for them. The purpose of the
Dialogue is to turn the learning over to the participants and ask them to explore for
themselves. This mixes the teachings with personal experience.
Ask participants to break up into groups of three. The partners should introduce
themselves if they have not yet met. Each student will have an opportunity to speak as
well as listen.
Ask the participants to reflect on these questions:
In general, what are you experiencing after hearing this talk on friendliness and
contentment? What is coming up for you?
In particular,
“How do you experience friendliness or gentleness to yourself?”
“How are you aggressive to yourself?”
“If you have been meditating for a while, how does friendliness and aggression
affect your meditation practice?”
Participants are invited to speak openly about their response to these questions for a few
minutes. The teacher may give these instructions:
“Just see what arises as you speak about your response to these questions. There
is no need to reveal things that you do not want to say. Simply say whatever
arises in the present. Whatever is said is confidential. The purpose is to learn
more about our self and our relationship with these teachings. We can be
inquisitive about our mind and our life. This is our role as a student. Notice your
present experience as you talk about and listen to these topics.”
Speak Genuinely
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This is a practice of learning to speak genuinely, from personal experience. Stay with
your experience as you speak and simply notice what happens. There are no right or
wrong answers. We are not supposed to say something or realize something. We are
simply learning more about ourselves.
Listen Fully
Give the instruction to listen fully, with an open heart and non-judgmental mind. We do
not make comments or suggestions to our partner; we just listen. This is a practice of
learning to listen gently and mindfully. We let go of our habits, and really become
present with someone else. Often, it is the listening aspect that is most insightful and
challenging.
One student speaks for 5-7 minutes and the other two simply listen, without making
comments. After 5-7 minutes, ring the bell for the next student to begin. Let the
participants know that you will take care of timing, and that you will ring the bell to
change roles. The entire exercise takes 15-20 minutes or so. After the 15-20 minutes,
leave 5 minutes for open conversation between the three participants.
IV.
Group Discussion
After the exercise in threes, gather back together for an open discussion in a circle. The
teacher may simply open the discussion circle with the question: “What did you learn
from this exercise? Is there anything you would like to say or a question that you would
like to raise?” Remind participants to continue to practice listening to each other with
gentleness and mindfulness.
Concluding the Class
At a good stopping point, when the time is up, introduce the preparation for next week:
Introduce daily sitting practice
If participants would like, it is recommended that they could begin experimenting with a
daily practice. It is fine to practice for 5-10 minutes. Choose a time of the day that will
work for you. Often mornings or evenings are best. Pick a good place, such as a quite
room in your home. If you don’t have an “ideal” meditation room, don’t let that get in
the way. Even a corner of the bedroom is fine. Try to practice 3 or 4 times during the
week and see what happens. The key to meditation practice is some regularity. This is
not a quick process; it requires patience. The best way to practice regularly is to enjoy
and appreciate the opportunity to be gentle and rest the mind.
Participants’ Reading Assignment for Class 2:
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chapters 2, 3, and 7 “Discovering
Basic Goodness,” “The Genuine Heart of Sadness,” and “The Cocoon”
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Additional Reading: Turning the Mind into and Ally, Chapters 12 and 13
“Turning the Mind” and “The Joy of Being Human”
The purpose of the reading is to learn more about contentment and gentleness. Reading
should not be rushed; rather it could be contemplative and relaxing. While reading, take
time to put the book down and contemplate, especially when something strikes you as
relevant or challenging.
Meditation Interviews:
Please also announce and pass around a sign-up sheet for the meditation interviews that
will start one hour prior to each of the remaining 4 classes. Participants may never have
had a meditation instructor meeting before, so please introduce the value of these
meetings, and invite each participant to sign up for one slot on any of the remaining
weeks.
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Summary of Class Two: Contemplating Contentment
Theme: “Nowness Brings Contentment”
Threefold Logic:
Ground Not-Struggling
Path
Nowness and the Mindfulness of the Tiger
Fruition Contentment
I.
Sit and Shamatha Yoga
II.
Talk: “Nowness Brings Contentment”
• Ground: Not-Struggling
• Path: Nowness and the Mindfulness of the Tiger
• Fruition: Nowness Brings Appreciation and Contentment
III.
Contemplating Contentment and Appreciation
• Teaching Contemplation
1. Read or listen to the words of your contemplation. Close your eyes. Use these
words as the object of meditation, continually returning to them when distractions
arise.
2. In order to help rouse the heartfelt experience of the meaning, think about the
word.
3. As the meaning of the word begins to penetrate, let the word drop away, and
rest in that.
• We will use the word “contentment” as our object of contemplation.
• Give guided instructions on contemplating contentment
Introduce the Contentment Contemplation
• Students receive the Contentment Contemplation
IV. Discussion and Concluding the class
•
Present readings and contemplative assignment for next week
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Class Two: Contemplating Contentment
Theme: “Nowness Brings Contentment”
“The point of warriorship is to work personally with our situation now, as it is.
From the Shambhala point of view, when we say that human beings are basically
good, we mean that they have every faculty they need, so they don’t have to fight
with their world… We should feel that it is wonderful to be in this world. How
wonderful it is to see red and yellow, blue and green, purple and black! All of
these colors are provided for us. We feel hot and cold; we taste sweet and sour.
We have these sensations, and we deserve them. They are good.” —Shambhala:
The Sacred Path of the Warrior
Threefold Logic of Class Two
Ground Not-Struggling
Path
Nowness and the Mindfulness of the Tiger
Fruition Contentment
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Sit and Shamatha Yoga
Talk: “Nowness Brings Contentment”
Contemplating Contentment and Introduce the Contentment Contemplation
Discussion
Suggestions for the Schedule
7:00 I Sit and Shamatha Yoga
7:30 II Talk: “Nowness Brings Contentment”
8:00 III Contemplating Contentment Introducing the Contentment contemplation
8:45 IV Discussion
Refreshments
I.
Sit
Welcome participants back and review the basics of sitting meditation. Emphasize the
importance of gentleness toward oneself. Sit for 10—15 minutes. Introduce and practice
one or two rounds of Shamatha Yoga to allow people to stretch and synchronize mind
and body.
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II. Talk: “Nowness Brings Contentment”
Ground: Not-Struggling
What is Contentment?
This course is called Contentment in Everyday Life. But what is contentment? And what
brings contentment into our lives? As much as it is true that there is basic goodness, and
it is true that we can experience contentment in our lives, there is also the undeniable
experience of discontentment, agitation, suffering. We cannot ignore suffering, or just
“think positively.” We will discuss more about suffering and how to work with suffering
in class three.
For now, we will explore what we mean by contentment.
Ask the participants to offer their thoughts. What does contentment mean to you and
when have you experienced contentment? Allow the participants to make some remarks
and have a brief discussion as a group. After some discussion, begin the talk.
In class one, we discussed basic goodness and the importance of gentleness/friendliness
to oneself. Such gentleness may seem naïve to some of us, it may seem easy to some of
us, and impossible to others. Either way, there is often much more that we can learn
about being gentle with ourself and our experience.
When we are not gentle, there is an underlying sense of struggle.
Give examples of struggling, for example: We struggle with our state of mind, trying to
fix it, change it, or ignore it. We struggle with our livelihood, often searching for a job,
or a better career, position, or notoriety. If we think of ourselves as meditators, we
struggle to spend more time practicing and feel guilty when we don’t practice. We
struggle with our relationships, feeling dissatisfied and looking for more or an escape.
We even struggle moment to moment, with the constant agitation of our thoughts,
keeping busy all of the time and staying distracted rather than being present. It is
difficult to simply be present.
Our habitual mind is constantly distracted by the past and the future; it rarely rests in
nowness. We experience this movement of the busy, discontent, mind when we sit in
meditation. We see very clearly how much discursive thinking is bubbling away inside
us. Such constant discursive movement is a sense of basic struggle or basic discontentment. It can lead to habitual activities in everyday life.
Give examples of habitual activities, for example: We are often caught up in rushing
through our meals, not being present during our walk, train ride, or drive to work or
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school, the mind wandering while we listen to our husband, wife, child, friend, boss... We
daydream about what we feel is missing in our life, and fantasize about what would make
it better. We wander into the past and future searching for contentment or safety. We are
rarely in our life as it happens.
The message of basic goodness is that we will not find contentment through struggle.
It is when we have an experience of non-struggling that we have a sense of relief. We
can let go and simply be genuine. This is the basis of contentment. Through meditation,
and mindfulness of everyday activities, we can work with this habitual mind, and learn to
rest in nowness.
“Ordinary preoccupations and activities have never stolen their mind away.”
Path: Nowness and the Tiger
When we let go of struggle this allows for a gentle awareness of present experience. This
is a sense of nowness, or being on the spot in our life. Nowness is another way of saying
mindfulness or being present.
The way to experience nowness is to realize that this very moment, this very point
in your life, is always the occasion. So the consideration of where you are and
what you are, on the spot, is very important. That is one reason that your family
situation, your domestic everyday life, is so important. You should regard your
home as sacred, as a golden opportunity to experience nowness. Appreciating
sacredness begins very simply by taking an interest in all the details of your life.
Interest is simply applying awareness to what goes on in your everyday life—
awareness while you’re cooking, awareness while you’re driving, awareness
while you’re changing diapers, even awareness while you’re arguing. Such
awareness can help to free you from speed, chaos, neurosis, and resentment of all
kinds. It can free you from the obstacles to nowness, so that you can cheer up on
the spot, all the time. —Shambhala: The Sacred Path, “Nowness”
The Mindfulness of the Tiger
What does it feel like to experience this sense of nowness? In the Shambhala teachings,
each of the stages on the path, such as contentment, is connected with an animal that
depicts this quality of warriorship: tiger, lion, garuda and dragon. The tiger is an ancient
image that symbolizes the basic quality of contentment, gentleness, and mindfulness.
The imagery helps us to get a feeling for this aspect of the path. The qualities of the tiger
are the foundation for the Shambhala journey as well as the basis for a sane and uplifted
human life.
The tiger moves slowly, with mindfulness and care. Its senses are awake and attuned. It
places each paw carefully. The tiger is present, curious and awake to one’s daily life
environment (likened to a jungle) and mind of the moment (also likened to a jungle).
One is willing to explore these experiences and environments, even if they are
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experiences of confusion, speed, fear, claustrophobia, richness, irritation, and so on.
Rather than looking elsewhere for contentment, the tiger is right now. In order to be
present, on the spot, there needs to be tremendous gentleness and trust.
As the Dorje Dradül writes in the first Slogan of Shambhala Training Level II:
The warrior is like a tiger, a casual tiger, an undisturbed tiger so to speak, yet one,
which is still youthful and in its prime. A prime, casual, good, well-groomed tiger
that is full of health and strength. When such a tiger walks, he walks slowly with
heedfulness, because he is not terrified of anything. The analogy of the tiger is
some notion of gentleness and inquisitiveness at the same time. If the tiger walks
slowly in the jungle, it is not mindless. But because the tiger likes his body and
his bounciness and sense of rhythm and muscular relaxation, there are no aches
and pains. From the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail, there are no problems.
Everything is like waves; he swims through the jungle. There is a sense of
relaxation and confidence as well as watchfulness: if anything happens, pssss!
The Sakyong writes,
The tiger is completely alert, whatever it is doing. It respects its surrounding; it
doesn’t rush into things. It knows when it must hunt in the plains and when it
must go to a cool place and rest. The tiger doesn’t run around in circles, looking
for something to eat. First it sits quietly and surveys the landscape, to see what
there is. Then it pounces with exertion.
The mind of the tiger is humble, free from arrogance. It looks before it leaps, and
whatever it is doing, it is completely engaged. This quality if meekness connects
it with the earth. Here in the West we associate weakness with meekness. The
Tibetan word for meek also means “content.” The tiger’s contentment comes
from knowing that everything it needs is contained in the present moment.
(Ruling Your World p. 42)
Walking mindfully with discernment, possessing tremendous exertion, we are
meek and gentle because we know we already have everything we need. We have
discovered our mind’s peace, and we have a plan for living our life. This
contentment is the confidence of the tiger. It is called “confidence” because it
stabilizes the mind and quells the aggression of wanting things to be anything but
what they are (Ruling Your World p. 81).
The Tiger and Mindfulness in Daily Life
The image of the tiger in its prime, moving slowly with mindfulness, helps to
demonstrate the quality of meditation in action:
• We can be present as we eat, dress, sleep, wash, take care of our home or
apartment, and relate with our schedule, is part of the path. We can be present as a
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way of living, day to day, not just on the meditation cushion.
• Therefore, learning to walk like the tiger is a practice. It takes reflection, learning, and
patience. It is not about a quick change overnight. We can aspire to lead a life that
embodies mindfulness, patience, contentment: the qualities of the tiger. The main skill in
living such a life is developing a sense of nowness—really being present when we wash
our dishes, make a cup of tea, listen to a friend, or walk down the street. We can be
present in our life.
Fruition: Nowness Brings Appreciation and Contentment
With the ground of not-struggling and the path of nowness exemplified by the tiger, we
come back to the present. We notice our world. When we are now, we can see basic
goodness in ordinary, simple situations. This brings appreciation for our world.
The point of warriorship is to work personally with our situation now, as it is.
From the Shambhala point of view, when we say that human beings are basically
good, we mean that they have every faculty they need, so they don’t have to fight
with their world. Our being is good, because it is not a source of fundamental
aggression or complaint. We cannot complain that we have eyes, ears, a nose and
a mouth. We cannot redesign our physiological system, and for that matter, we
cannot redesign our state of mind. Basic goodness is what we have, what we are
provided with. It is the natural situation that we have inherited from birth onward.
We should feel that it is wonderful to be in this world. How wonderful it is to see
red and yellow, blue and green, purple and black! All of these colors are provided
for us. We feel hot and cold; we taste sweet and sour. We have these sensations,
and we deserve them. They are good.
So the first step in realizing basic goodness is to appreciate what we have.
——Shambhala: The Sacred Path, “The Genuine Heart of Sadness”
The Sakyong comments on this class:
“Peace has to do with non-struggling. Contentment is more intelligent;
contentment is knowing that peace. Contentment is knowing what is enough and
knowing what is good. This leads to satisfaction, which is not wanting more.
Instead of keeping eating, buying, and trying to gain, contentment allows the
warrior to appreciate what we have.”
The tiger’s contentment comes from knowing that everything it needs is contained
in the present moment
—Ruling Your World, Sakyong Mipham, Chapter 4, p. 42
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We could say that appreciation is a sense of simple enjoyment. Contentment is being in
a state of feeling fulfilled, present, and not needing to look elsewhere.
Walking Meditation:
If there is time, introduce walking meditation with an emphasis on the slow, tiger-like
aspects of walking meditation.
This is a practice that bridges the sitting meditation with our everyday life. We can be
mindful of our movements as we walk through life. Move slowly, with mindfulness.
Bring mindfulness to the foot rising, like the paw of a tiger, moving through space, and
placing down on the floor. Allow the eyes and ears to be open. Feel the muscles in the
body. Feel the weight shift. Slow down and just be alive in the simplicity of moving.
We can drop the habitual, dis-content mind that is searching elsewhere for happiness, and
instead, just walk, look, feel, listen, and be.
After a period of walking meditation in the meditation hall, invite participants to move
around the hall and the Shambhala Center or go outside. Continue to walk mindfully,
but really allow the senses to open up. Notice sights, sounds, smells, and textures.
Appreciate the simple situation as it is. Be inquisitive about your world.
III. Contemplating Contentment and Appreciation
Through the talk on not-struggling, nowness, and appreciation, we intend to invoke a
feeling of simple contentment in the participants. This is like the experiential seed of the
class. We can deepen this experience of appreciation and contentment through directly
contemplating it as the theme of our practice. Contemplation is here akin to watering the
seed.
In contemplating contentment, we are learning that we can let go of trying to be
something we are not. We appreciate what we are and what we have. This is
unconditional contentment. This allows for tremendous gentleness with ourselves, which
in turn we can offer to others. This contentment is truly the antidote to materialism and
the greed and clinging in much of our society. Contentment could be understood to be
the very pith of the basic Buddhist path. That is, if we ask what it feels like to have
extinguished craving, it is a sense of simplicity and unconditioned contentment.
Give instructions on what to contemplate:
So much of the time, we think about what we are missing in our life, what we want, what
is wrong. We occupy our self with various problems with our self or our career, or our
relationships. This contemplation gives us the opportunity to shift from struggling
toward a glimpse of contentment. We will contemplate what we do not have to struggle
with and what we do not have to fix in our life.
Teaching Contemplation
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This class might be the first introduction to contemplation practice for many participants.
Chapter 12 from Turning the Mind Into An Ally (TMA) clarifies the basic logic of
contemplation. The director should simply clarify why we contemplate and the logic of
contemplation. See the Appendices on Contemplation in the back of TMA and Ruling
Your World for an outline of the complete practice. In this context however, please keep
this explanation simple, with fewer steps. For example there are three simple steps:
1. Read the words of your contemplation, or listen to them
spoken (as in a class situation.) Close your eyes. Use these words as the object of
meditation, continually returning to them when distractions arise. Here, we use
the word “contentment.”
2. In order to help rouse the heartfelt experience of the meaning, think about the
word. Feel the word. Bring ideas and images to mind to inspire the meaning.
Stay with the theme of the contemplation.
3. As the meaning of the word begins to penetrate, let the word drop away, and
rest in that. Rest in the “glow” or experience of the meaning. Become familiar
with that meaning as it penetrates. This third step does not always happen. That is
fine. This is a practice, so just stay with the contemplation and see what you learn
through this process.
We will use the word “contentment” as our object of contemplation. During step 2, the
teacher may choose to help guide the contemplation to give the students some support for
the experience:
First, bring the word “contentment” to mind. Now think about something in the body or
your senses that you appreciate that you do not have to fix. For example, you may
appreciate a relative sense of health, or the fact that your legs work. You may appreciate
your eyes, and the fact that you can see your world. Take a moment to contemplate the
fact that you do not have struggle with this, it is already fine as it is. After a while, let the
thoughts and the image fall away and just rest with that feeling. Notice any feelings in
your heart, or your stomach, or your throat. Think “contentment.”
Next, repeat this process by thinking about a person that you do not have to fix or
struggle with too much—someone you appreciate. Again, contemplate this person until a
certain feeling arises. Then, let the thoughts and images fall away and stay with the
feeling that remains. Think “contentment.”
Again, move through this process by thinking about something in your circumstance that
you do not have to fix; e.g. the way the sunlight comes into you apartment in the
afternoon, or the fact that there is still clean water and that there are still trees in the
world. After some time, let the thoughts and images fall away and stay with any feeling
that remains. Think “contentment.”
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Now, just contemplate the word “contentment” and explore the meaning. See what arises
and relax with the feeling.
After some time, take some comments and questions from the participants.
Introducing the Contentment Contemplation
Clarifying Contemplation Practice
Pass out the Contentment Contemplation. There could be a lhasang burning and each
participant could come forward and receive the Contentment Contemplation. The
director should describe precisely how to contemplate the Contentment contemplation as
a daily practice (there is a morning and an evening section etc). See “Introducing the
Dignity Contemplation.”
We are now formally introducing contemplation practice. To prevent this new practice
from complicating or confusing the simplicity of sitting practice, we should clarify that
the most important and foundational practice is still sitting meditation, identifying with
the breath. Participants should understand the purpose and logic of contemplation, and
how it is different from shamatha. Participants should feel clear that they know when
they are doing contemplation on a theme, a question, a phrase, etc. and when they are
following the breath. Contemplations use words, sitting meditation does not.
Contemplation is a practice that can support the journey and bring out some of the main
themes of the teachings. Contemplation does not replace shamatha. A rounded session
would always begin with a period of sitting meditation, for at least ten minutes. Then
participants could do the Contentment contemplation. Please take the time to make sure
that participants are clear about the relationship between contemplation and sitting
meditation.
Because this is an introduction to contemplation, the director would next introduce the
Contentment contemplation. This will be the main contemplation practice for the rest of
the CIEL course. See “Introducing the Contentment contemplation.”
IV.
Discussion
Discuss contentment, nowness, and contemplation.
Contemplative Exercise for the Week
Each week, we will offer a contemplative exercise to help bring the teachings into our
life. For this week:
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Continue to practice meditation for 5-10 minutes a day. Suggest that participants begin
to try the “Contentment contemplation” in the mornings and evenings—after sitting for at
least 5-10 minutes.
In addition, see what it is like to make decisions from a place of contentment instead of
struggling mind. When you have an important decision to make during this week, take a
moment to feel the breath, be present, and contemplate contentment. Now go back to the
decision. Conclude your day with the evening section of the Contentment contemplation.
Reading for Next Week
Turning the Mind into an Ally: Chapter 2 “Bewilderment and Suffering” and hand
out from The Truth of Suffering, “Introduction and Chapter 1: “Recognizing the
Reality of Suffering”
Additional Reading: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, “The Four Noble
Truths”
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Summary of Class Three: Suffering and the Four Noble Truths
Main Theme: “Meeting Suffering with Gentleness, Nowness, and Inquisitiveness”
Threefold Logic:
Ground The Truth of Suffering
Path
The Path
Fruition Meeting Suffering with Gentleness, Nowness, and Inquisitiveness
I.
Sit, Contentment contemplation and Shamatha Yoga
II.
Talk: Suffering and the Four Truths
III.
•
•
Ground: Hinayana and The Truth of Suffering
The First Noble Truth
Three Patterns of Suffering:
i. 1. The suffering of suffering
ii. 2. The suffering of change
iii. 3. All-pervasive suffering
•
Path: The next three Noble Truths, and the path of Meditation
o The Truth of the Cause of Suffering
o The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
o The Truth of the Path
 Shila, Samadhi, prajna
•
Fruition: Meeting suffering with:
o Gentleness
o Nowness
o Inquisitiveness
Dialogue: Looking at Suffering (in pairs)
Ask the participants to reflect on these questions:
“How do you experience suffering in your life?” (about 5-7 minutes each)
Follow up question:
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“How do you meet suffering when it arises?” (about 5-7 minutes each)
IV.
Discussion and contemplative assignments for next week.
Class Three: Suffering and the Four Noble Truths
Main Theme: “Meeting Suffering with Gentleness, Nowness, and Inquisitiveness”
Threefold Logic of Class Three
Ground The Truth of Suffering
Path
The Path
Fruition Meeting Suffering with Gentleness, Nowness, and Inquisitiveness
Components of the class:
I Sit, Contentment contemplation and Shamatha Yoga
II Talk: Suffering and the Four Truths
III Dialogue: Looking at Suffering
IV Discussion
Suggestions for the Schedule:
7:00 I Sit and Contentment contemplation; Shamatha Yoga
7:30 II Talk: Suffering and the Four Truths
8:15 III Dialogue
8:45 IV Discussion
9:00 Refreshments
I. Sit and Contentment Contemplation
Sit for 15 minutes and about 5 minutes of Contentment contemplation. Practice one or
two rounds of Shamatha Yoga to allow people to stretch and synchronize mind and body.
II. Talk: Suffering and the Four Truths
After the practice period, check in with the participants.
How was the Contentment Contemplation this week? How was the contemplative
exercise on making decisions? How is meditation practice going?
Briefly review where we have been so far:
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In Class One we introduced the theme of Contentment. We emphasized a sense of
“friendly to oneself.”
In Class Two we discussed not-struggling, and nowness. We introduced the analogy of
the tiger, moving slowly with mindfulness. Contentment comes from being present,
noticing our world. We contemplated appreciation and contentment.
Ground: Hinayana and The Truth of Suffering
Although we have emphasized basic goodness, contentment, and appreciation, life is not
always beautiful, pleasurable, or even tolerable. As much as it is true that there is basic
goodness, there is also the undeniable experience of suffering. In the Shambhala
Buddhist tradition, we acknowledge suffering. In fact, true contentment in everyday life
can never come from ignoring suffering. Rather, we must see it directly and genuinely,
with gentleness.
“The first noble truth, the truth of suffering, is the first real insight of the hinayana
practitioner. It is quite delightful that such a practitioner has the guts, bravery,
and clarity, to see pain in such a precise and subtle way. We can actually divide
pain into sections and dissect it. We can see it as it is, which is quite victorious.
That is why it is called the truth of suffering.”
—The Truth of Suffering, VCTR, p. 13
Hinayana
The recognition of suffering is the starting point for the hinayana, or “narrow path” of
Buddhism. Each stage on the Buddhist path is associated with a yana, or “vehicle” for
the journey. The hinayana refers to the precision of the meditative discipline and
mindfulness in daily life. It emphasizes simplicity, awareness of the present, and an
understanding of the causes and conditions that keep us trapped in suffering. It offers a
path of individual liberation from suffering.
Hinayana means “narrow path” and is the beginning stage. One begins by using
one’s present state of being as the working basis. This is the intent of the
Buddha’s four noble truths. Our lives are involved with achievement and
pleasure-seeking, which automatically means trying to correct the existing
situation. Therefore there is constant discomfort; we are constantly in a state of
unwillingness to accept things as they are. Acknowledging this is the realization
of the first noble truth…The hinayana discipline is narrow. It permits no
entertainment, but works on the basic patterns of life. This way it provides a solid
foundation for spirituality. (Collected Works vol 3 p. 529).
The term “hinayana” should not be taken pejoratively, it is not “lesser.” In the
Shambhala Buddhist tradition, the emphasis is on the hinayana as foundation for the
path. One might remember the famous story of Trungpa Rinpoche waking up an entire
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Vajrayana Seminary in the middle of the night to give the teaching: “Don’t forget the
hinayana.”
The foundational hinayana teaching of the Buddha is called the Four Noble Truths. The
teaching of suffering is the first of the four truths, and will be the focus of this class. All
beings experience suffering; it is true that suffering arises in our life. The Buddha’s
teachings emphasize the importance of acknowledging and working with suffering
directly in our own experience, just as the warrior tradition encourages us to see the
quality, nature and experience of fearful and habitual mind, (called the cocoon).
The First Noble Truth: The Truth of Suffering
...This is what most of us are doing: traveling from one place to another, searching
for a lasting happiness...day in and day out, and according to traditional
Buddhism, lifetime after lifetime, we don’t think beyond accomplishing the
immediate desire to find the missing piece, the one that will bring us real
happiness.
—Turning the Mind Into An Ally, p. 10
We must begin to see the actuality of duhkha a Sanskrit word which means
“suffering,” “dissatisfaction,” or “pain.” Dissatisfaction occurs because the mind
spins around in such a way that there seems to be no beginning and no end to its
motion. Thought processes continue on and on: thoughts of the past, thoughts of
the future, thoughts of the present moment. This creates irritation. Thoughts are
prompted by and also are identical with dissatisfaction, duhkha, the constantly
repeated feeling that something is lacking, incomplete in our lives.
—Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism p. 152
Suffering is traditionally divided into Three Patterns of Suffering:
1. The suffering of suffering
2. The suffering of change
3. All-pervasive suffering.
1. The suffering of suffering
This is basically the experience of suffering that we normally think of as pain or
difficulty. It is when bad things happen.
It is known as the suffering of suffering because first you have birth, which is
terribly painful, and on top of that you have sickness, old age, and death. Having
been born, you get all that lumped on top of you; and on top of that, you come
across things that are not desirable. —The Truth of Suffering, p. 26
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2. The suffering of change
This is when we experience pleasure or something desirable, but then it changes or ends.
So, there is pleasure from a Buddhist perspective. Ice cream tastes good. Falling in love
feels good. However, it always transforms into pain, because it does not last.
The suffering of change includes two categories: trying to hold on to what is
desirable; and not getting—or not knowing—what you want. In the first case,
you discover something desirable and then it is gone. In the second, you are
unable to discover what you want, which causes you tremendous anxiety. Either
you fail to find out what you really want or it keeps changing. —The Truth of
Suffering, p. 26
3.
All-pervasive suffering and Egolessness
This is the fact that we are not solid and independent beings. This is the teaching of
selflessness or egolessness. There is no independent self that will last forever. WE are
constantly changing and shifting, so there is a background of instability. We can never
have lasting and permanent pleasure, not only because the world is in flux, but because
we are in flux. Our mind changes, our body ages. This leads to a background of anxiety
or uncertainty: an all-pervasive suffering.
All-pervading pain is the general pain of dissatisfaction, separation, and
loneliness....So pain is inevitable as long as there is the presence of discontinuity
and insecurity.
Myth of Freedom, “Suffering”
Path: The next three Noble Truths, and the path of Meditation
In this class, we emphasize suffering, the first noble truth. We can then very briefly
describe the following three noble truths.
The Four Noble Truths could be phrased:
1. The truth of suffering.
The truth of our endlessly discontent mind. The reality of suffering.
2. The truth of the cause of suffering.
The origin of that discontentment is craving, always looking elsewhere for
satisfaction.
3. The truth of the cessation of suffering.
It is possible to bring an end to this discontentment and craving.
4. The truth of the path.
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The path is to apply mindfulness and awareness in all our activities, by training in
meditation and in everyday life.
The Four Noble Truths can also be presented as a medical diagnosis.
The 1st Truth is the diagnosis—describing the disease (suffering)
The 2nd Truth is the cause of the disease. (craving, discontentment)
The 3rd Truth is the prognosis—can the patient heal? (yes!)
The 4th Truth is the cure, the path to recovery. (the path of meditation in everyday life)
How to bring about the Cessation of Suffering: The Path
The path is mindfulness, nowness, in body, speech, actions, and livelihood. Life
experiences themselves become a way of honing our understanding of life. This was
expressed by the Buddha as the Noble Eight Fold Path, which can be summarized as a
path of discipline in everyday life (shila), meditation (samadhi), and understanding or
insight (prajna).
Shila: The discipline is to continually remain aware of our body, our speech, and our
mind. This leads to ethical actions in how we interact with other beings. We learn to
refrain from causing further harm to ourself or others.
Samadhi: Meditation is the heart of the training path.
Prajna: The path is also a journey of understanding and insight. We need to see our
mind and our experience with great clarity and precision. We come to understand how
the mind and the world functions.
The Noble Eightfold Path:
There is no need to go into the Eightfold Path, however, if you choose to, it can be
presented as a narrative of the path:
First the participant must hear the Right View, specifically the Four Noble Truths.
Having heard this view, then the participant must establish the Right Intention, and
decide to orient their lives toward this view. With this intention, the practitioner
begins to train in the proper conduct in harmony with this view: Right Speech, Right
Action, Right Livelihood. This means not causing harm. This virtuous conduct then
creates further possibilities for meditation experience, the first stage of which is
Right Effort, or knowing how to place the mind. This leads to Right Mindfulness,
and in turn establishes Right Concentration.
Fruition: Meeting Suffering with Gentleness, Nowness, and Curiosity
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This section of the talk may be the most experientially meaningful to participants, so
please give it time.
It is important to re-emphasize that in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition, we do not
ignore suffering and simply focus our attention on “basic goodness.” Rather, we are
willing to explore why we do not experience this goodness all the time. Therefore, a
study of suffering and its causes are how one begins to find a cure. The cure, however
cannot come without an understanding of the illness. This logic is essential to this class,
as it establishes the fearlessness needed to acknowledge and understand the suffering
mind and body.
Meeting Suffering with Gentleness
The way that we work with suffering is with tremendous gentleness. This was presented
in class one. “Friendly to oneself.” Meditation practice allows us to be gentle enough to
stay with our experience, even if it is suffering. We can meet suffering with friendliness,
instead of further aggression. Meeting suffering with friendliness means noticing it,
sensing it, but not immediately trying to destroy it or run from it. Instead of adding more
aggression and resistance to suffering, we can meet it gently, with friendliness to ourself.
Meeting Suffering with Nowness
Further, we can meet suffering with a sense of nowness or mindfulness. This was
presented in Class Two. “Move slowly, with mindfulness.” We can stay with our
immediate experience, in the present without having to run away into the past or future.
By staying present, even when we are suffering, we cut the habitual cause of suffering:
craving. When we suffer, we usually crave something else, something that will destroy
the pain or give us pleasure. We try to destroy the person causing us pain or grasp a
person who we think will give us pleasure. According to the Noble Truths, this approach
just perpetuates the dissatisfaction. Instead, we can gently stay aware and present, even
while suffering. This means staying in the present, rather than wandering into the hopes
and fears of the past or future.
Meeting Suffering with Inquisitiveness
Finally, we can meet suffering with a sense of inquisitiveness or curiosity. Contentment
comes from being curious about our world, even if it is pain, garbage and filth. We can
become curious about our habitual or fearful minds, so that we may understand them.
With the gentleness and nowness, we can stay with our present experience enough to
begin to explore it and understand it. Why do we suffer? What is it like? How do we
perpetuate it? We may even notice, “Oh, I am experiencing suffering right now. In fact,
I am experiencing the suffering of not knowing what I want etc.” Inquisitiveness leads to
insight, knowledge, prajna. What we first experienced as suffering can therefore
transform into greater understanding of our mind and our world.
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The opposite of inquisitiveness is arrogance, a sense of not needing to learn
anything at all. “If we aren’t humble and receptive, we can’t learn anything.” –
VCTR “Shambhala Training Director’s Talks,” July 1978
This sense of meeting suffering with gentleness, nowness, and inquisitiveness may not
bring an end to suffering in the way that we expected. Bad things still happen. Pain still
happens. Loss still happens. But we can discover confidence and contentment when we
can meet that pain with gentleness, nowness, and curiosity. Suffering can then become
part of the path of further liberation and awakening.
Discussion: It would be helpful to have a brief Q+A here.
III. Dialogue: Looking at Suffering
After presenting the Truth of Suffering and advice for how to meet suffering, allow the
participants an opportunity to reflect on what these teachings mean for them. The
purpose of the Dialogue is to turn the learning over to the participants and ask them to
explore for themselves. This mixes the teachings with personal experience.
Work in Pairs
Ask participants to break up into pairs, each student with one partner. The partners
should introduce themselves if they have not yet met. Each student will have an
opportunity to speak as well as listen.
We are going to look directly at suffering. This means meeting suffering with gentleness,
nowness, and curiosity. Rather than ignore it, or try to push it away, we can explore our
own personal experience of suffering. This is actually an act of friendliness. We are not
only gentle and mindful when things are pleasant—we can also learn to be gentle and
even inquisitive when we experience difficulty. We let go of the judging mind as much
as possible, and just notice what arises.
Allow participants an opportunity for personal, individual exploration of their own
habitual mind. The purpose is not so much to fix or overcome suffering here, but rather
for participants to really get to know themselves in an intimate way. The point is not
necessarily therapeutic; we are not trying to figure out a “source” of our psychological
patterns. Rather, we are spending time exploring the habitual mind, rousing our
intelligence as warriors.
Topics for Dialogue
Ask the participants to reflect on these questions:
“How do you experience suffering in your life?” (about 5-7 minutes each)
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One student speaks for 5-7 minutes. Just speak openly about what suffering,
dissatisfaction, or pain you experience. What categories of suffering ring true for
you? What does suffering really mean in your life? The other partner simply
listens, without making comments. After 5-7 minutes, ring the bell for the next
student to begin.
Follow up question:
After the first question, ask the participants to explore a further question:
“How do you meet suffering when it arises?” (about 5-7 minutes each)
Are you gentle with yourself? Do you try to escape suffering? Do you ignore
suffering? Do you fight it and try to destroy it? Do you try to fix it? What would
it mean for you to meet suffering with gentleness, nowness, and curiosity?
V.
Discussion
After these Dialogues, come back together as a group. If it is a large class, you may
choose to have two smaller groups. You may begin the discussion by simply asking,
“What was that like for you? Is there anyone who would like to say something or ask a
question?”
Possible Themes and Questions that Students may ask:
If suffering is the First Noble Truth, what is basic goodness?
Does this mean that we should just accept everything and never improve the conditions of
our life?
Why did the Buddha begin his teachings with these 4?
What is samsara?
Why would a spiritual path want to emphasize that there is suffering?
How is contentment possible if everything is suffering?
Isn’t there anything good in the world? How does pleasure fit in?
Is pleasure “bad” in Buddhism?
Is the purpose of meditation to stop our thoughts?
How do we see samsara, the four noble truths, and “the me plan,” in our society?
What is the connection between meditation and ending suffering for our society and
planet?
What is “wrong view”?
Concluding the Class
Participant Reading Assignment To Prepare For The Next Class
The Sanity We Are Born With: “Prelude: The Meeting of Buddhist and Western
Psychology” and “Chapter 4: An Approach to Meditation”
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Advanced Reading: handout The Myth of Freedom: “Working with Emotions:
The Dualistic Barrier”
Contemplative Assignment For The Week: Continue with sitting meditation and the
Contentment contemplation. Also, explore what emotions are the main causes of
suffering for you? If you could choose three main emotions, what would they be and
when do you notice them arising? You may want to keep a journal and take some notes.
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Summary of Class Four: Working with the Emotions
and Buddhist Psychology
Main Theme: “Staying with Emotions”
Threefold Logic:
Ground Recognizing Klesha
Path
Not causing harm
Fruition Staying with Emotions with Gentleness, Nowness, and Inquisitiveness
I.
Sit and Contentment Contemplation; Shamatha Yoga
II.
Introducing Working with the Emotions
a. Define Mind
b. Define Emotions
c. Define kleshas
III.
Outer and Inner
a. Outer: Mindful Discernment; Refraining From Causing Harm
b. Inner: Stay; Neither Acting Out Nor Suppressing
i. Drop the Storyline and Stay with the Emotion
ii. Feeling Emotions in The Body
iii. Putting it All Together: Staying with Emotions with Gentleness,
Nowness, and Inquisitiveness
iv. Meditation and Emotions
IV.
Dialogue (in pairs)
First Dialogue: Talk about when you have caused harm, or have felt harmed by others
(5 minutes)
Second Dialogue (same partners): Talk about an emotion that you have been
experiencing in your life. After a while, begin to describe how this emotion is making
you feel right now.
(7-10 minutes)
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V.
Discussion and contemplative assignments for next week. Announce
celebration in Class Five.
Contentment in Everyday Life
Class Four: Working with Emotions and
Buddhist Psychology
Main Theme: “Staying with Emotions”
Threefold Logic of Class Four
Ground Recognizing Klesha
Path
Not causing harm
Fruition Staying with Emotions with Gentleness, Nowness, and Inquisitiveness
Components of the Class:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Sit and Contentment Contemplation; Shamatha Yoga
Introducing Working with the Emotions
Outer and Inner
Dialogue
Discussion
Suggestions for the Schedule:
7:00 I Sit and Contentment Contemplation; Shamatha Yoga
7:20 II Introducing Working with Emotions
7:40 III Outer and Inner
8:00 IV Dialogue
8:45 V. Discussion
9:00 Refreshments
Teaching Resources for This Class
Myth of Freedom “Styles of Imprisonment” and “Working with Emotions”
I.
Sit and practice the Contentment Contemplation
Leave some time to check in and answer questions about the Contentment contemplation.
How is it going for participants? How is the sitting practice going? Are you noticing a
connection between the classes and meditation experience?
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II.
Introducing Working with Emotions and Buddhist Psychology
The most important aspect of this class is the long Dialogue that follows the talk. It is in
this exercise that most of this material may become more personal and meaningful.
In general, the CIEL course is deepening our understanding and experience of
contentment in meditation, and how we can experience genuine contentment in everyday
life. In Class One we emphasized a sense of friendliness and gentleness with oneself. In
Class Two we emphasized not-struggling, nowness and appreciation, and learned about
contemplation practice. In Class Three we explored the truth of suffering, its causes, and
how we may meet suffering with gentleness, nowness, and curiosity. With this ground,
we can become more precise, and look directly at the mind. We can explore the
relationship between emotions and contentment as well as suffering. As ever, we take the
attitude of meek when working with emotions: gentle, mindful, present, and curious
about our immediate experience.
The teacher could define mind and emotions:
Mind is fundamentally open, clear, and neutral. In Buddhism, mind is defined as “clear
and knowing.” It is clear in the sense that it is open and neutral. It is knowing in the
sense that it is aware. Because it is aware, the mind also forms and creates thoughts,
concepts, and emotions. This is part of the energetic display or movement of the mind.
Teachers may want to actually demonstrate this for the class:
Mind is like the crystal ball on the shrine. It is clear. However, if we place a red cloth
behind the crystal ball, it takes on the color of red. The crystal now looks red. Similarly,
the mind is originally clear, but can take on the “color” or energy of a thought or an
emotion. In this class, we are exploring specific “mental events,” (samskaras) or the
“colors” of the mind—emotions.
Emotion is sometimes defined as “thought with a lot of energy.” Here we are exploring
the thought and the energy in order to learn more about our emotional experience.
Discursive thought might be compared to the blood circulation which constantly
feeds the muscles in our system, the emotions. Thoughts link and sustain the
emotions, so that, as we go about our daily lives, we experience an ongoing flow
of mental gossip punctuated by more colorful and intense bursts of emotion. The
thoughts and emotions express our basic attitudes toward and ways of relating to
the world and form an environment, a fantasy realm in which we live.—Cutting
Through Spiritual Materialism, “The Bodhisattva Path”
Mind also includes what are known as emotions, which are the highlights of
mental states. Mind cannot exist without emotions. Daydreaming and discursive
thoughts are not enough. Those alone would be too boring. The dualistic trick
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would wear too thin. So we tend to create waves of emotion which go up and
down: passion, aggression, ignorance, pride—all kinds of emotions. —The Heart
of the Buddha, “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness”
The emotions are composed of energy, which can be likened to water, and a
dualistic thought process, which could be likened to pigment or paint. When
energy and thought are mixed together they become the vivid and colorful
emotions. Concept gives the energy a particular location, a sense of relationship,
which makes the emotions vivid and strong. Fundamentally, the reason why
emotions are discomforting, painful, frustrating, is because our relationship to the
emotions is not clear. – Myth of Freedom, “The Dualistic Barrier”
Klesha
In particular, we should distinguish between fluid and open emotional experience and
stuck or fixated emotions. These fixated emotions are called kleshas in the Buddhist
tradition. Kleshas are literally, “Afflictive emotions.” Trungpa Rinpoche sometimes
called them “neuroses.” In this class, we are mostly focusing on these fixated emotions.
Buddhist psychology traditionally delineates these as the five root kleshas:
1. Passion/Attachment
2. Aggression
3. Ignorance/Prejudice
4. Pride
5. Jealousy
III.
Outer and Inner Ways of Working With Emotions
Generally speaking, one could say that we have an outer, or external, way of working
with our emotions, and then a more profound practice path of working with emotions.
Here, outer has to do with how we work with emotions in a public situation, with another
person or a group. The inner has to do with working in a meditative way with the energy
of emotions as a profound learning path of transformation. The outer provides sanity,
keeps of from causing harm to our self or others, and makes it clear that unskillful
behavior that reacts from an emotional state is often not helpful. The inner adds the
psychological depth that does not reject emotions, and comes from the view that
emotions are ultimately an expression of wisdom. Emotions are ultimately not separate
from basic goodness. The problem arises when these emotions are fixated upon, or
become stuck, or become intertwined with ego and its storylines. This class will present
this overall view.
Outer: Mindful Discernment; Refraining From Causing Harm
In traditional Buddhist terminology, this approach is the Abhidharma method of noticing
and discriminating mental events as they arise and dissolve.
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Based upon training in meditation practice we can cultivate gentle mindfulness of present
experience. We are aware of whatever is arising. This includes emotions that arise in the
present: “I am experiencing rage.” “I feel depression.” “Right now, my mind feels very
wild.” Without judging or over-analysis, we can simply notice the present experience of a
feeling, or a state of mind. We can notice klesha as klesha. That is, we can realize, “This
state of mind that I am in seems pretty solid. I feel caught. This is klesha.”
Further, out of a sense of friendliness to oneself and mercy to others, we aspire to never
create harm. This is the basic hinayana discipline. It also simply avoids personal
humiliation and embarrassment, or rejection from our friends and family for our
outbursts. When possible, the hinayana practitioner walks away from entrapping
emotional outbursts. This is the element of renunciation. As Shantideva says, when
caught by on overwhelming emotion “Become like a block of wood.”1 This means, stop;
don’t react habitually. Notice what is arising. Such mindful discernment is the result of
our meditation practice, and the sense of gentleness and nowness that we have been
learning.
What maintains kleshas is the sense that somehow they are going to help us or protect us.
But if we come to realize that klesha often causes harm, there may be some sense of
renunciation. Renunciation is not beating the emotion away. Rather it is mindful
discernment and inelligence: we realize that perpetuating the fixated emotion is not
helpful.
The Sakyong comments on this class:
“There is a difference between seeing an emotion and letting it be there on the one hand,
and having that emotion take over your space and mind. You have to work with it, or else
the emotion will seep into your mindstream and get stuck. You need insight and wisdom
to distinguish between emotion and mind. Further, you need confidence, infused with a
sense of goodness and windhorse. This provides the stability to not get overwhelmed by
emotion.”
Discussion: Have a brief discussion about this outer way of working with emotions.
After a few minutes of discussion, present the inner aspect of working with emotions.
Inner: Stay; Neither Acting Out Nor Suppressing
This is more of a vajrayana-Shambhala understanding of working with emotions.
1
Shantideva in The Bodhisattvacharyavatara:
“When mindfulness is set at the gateway of the mind, For the purpose of safeguarding,
Then alertness will come, And even what's gone will come back again. Whenever I've
recognized that, at the start, The way my mind has some fault, I shall remain, at those
times, like a block of wood, Able to restrain myself.”
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Within the safe space of the meditation container, we can practice neither suppressing
emotions nor acting them out. This is the middle way of working with an emotion.
Acting out means that we feel so overwhelmed with the emotion that we have to get rid
of it, discharge it, spread it around, or act upon it. We may also act on the emotion by
defending the emotion, and spend time thinking about why we are right, etc.
Suppressing means that we are so overwhelmed with the emotion that we try to beat it
down, cover it over, or ignore it. Instead, we can stay with the emotion, without acting
upon it or suppressing it and pushing it away. This is a subtle sense of being gentle,
present, and awake. It is a middle way between acting our and suppressing.
Drop the Storyline and Stay with the Emotion
What does it feel like to experience staying with an emotion?
We drop the story line around the emotion and just feel the actual energy of the emotion.
By story lines we mean the thoughts and concepts that defend, protect, explain, and feed
the emotion. “This is what he said to me and this is why he was wrong. Next time I am
going to….” Or “I am the only one who felt that way. I must really be a failure.”
We will explore this notion of dropping the story line in more detail later in the WOS.
Here we emphasize the sense of not acting out, nor suppressing. However, it is essential
to let go of the concepts and thoughts as much as possible, and instead, stay with the
immediate, felt-experience of the emotion.
Feeling Emotions in The Body
Often, when we drop the storyline and stay with the energy of the emotion, we are left
with a feeling in the body. We learn to sense this feeling in the body and stay with it,
instead of losing our self in the storyline. Instead of the habitual experience of “I hate my
boss so much, she is so mean.” We may learn to explore: where is the emotion in my
body? Is it moving? It is big or small? What am I really feeling? We can notice, “Right
now, I am experiencing so much anger and frustration. My whole stomach is in knots.
My jaw is so tight!”
Putting it All Together: Staying with Emotions with Gentleness, Nowness, and
Inquisitiveness
This sense of staying with the emotion is only possible because of the gentleness,
nowness, and inquisitiveness in which we have been training. Through gentleness, we do
not reject our present experience. Through nowness, we do not wander into the past or
future. Through inquisitiveness, we become curious about what is arising. We are gently
and mindfully present, feeling the energy of the emotion in our body and experience. We
can then stay present and learn from the emotion.
This changes our relationship with emotion. Instead of being caught and trapped, we can
allow an emotion to arise, but it does not overtake us. We stay with the energy of
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emotion, without returning to habitual patterns. This allows some space and freedom
from emotion, on the one hand, but also means that we are not at war with ourself and our
emotions.
Here the Vidyadhara explains how to begin to work skillfully with emotional energies:
“A problem arises when we tend to become too ambitions in terms of dealing with
emotions – particularly those involved with the spiritual practice. We’ve been
told to be kind, gentle, good people. Those are the conventional ideas of
spirituality. When we begin to find the spiky quality of ourselves, we see it as
anti-spirituality and try to push it away. That is the biggest mistake of all in
working with our basic psychological patterns. Once we try to push the biggest
problems away and look for a dramatic cure for them, we are constantly pushed
back, defeated all the time. The idea is not to seduce ourselves into trying to
create a Utopian spirituality, but to try and look into the details of the peak
emotions, the dramatic qualities of the emotions. We don’t have to wait for
situations, which are regarded as big and meaningful to us; we should make use
of even the small situations in which these emotions occur. We should work on
the small or minor irritations and their particular emotional qualities. Do not
suppress or let go of irritations, but become part of them; feel their abstract
qualities. The irritations then have no one to irritate. They might fade away or
become creative energy. If we are able to work brick by brick with those smaller,
seemingly insignificant emotions, at some point we will find that removing each
brick has taken away the whole wall.
–The Sanity We Were Born With, “An Approach to Meditation”
Meditation and Emotions
In meditation practice, there is a sense of not trying to change the emotion or the
experience of suffering. Stay with it, relax with it, and explore it.
When emotion arises during meditation, there is a tendency to think that we have done
something wrong. Instead of identifying yourself as a failure, or conversely feeling
justified, here we are training in neither acting out nor suppressing. We learn to say,
“What about trying to actually notice this quality of mind.” If we judge ourselves too
harshly, we are looking somewhere else for contentment. Thoughts or emotions that seem
unspiritual will often be interpreted as failing on the path. Here, we are willing to see the
emotion arise and dissolve when we stop fighting it.
At the same time, we also do not encourage it. During meditation, we do not defend the
emotion or try to justify why it is arising. Nor do we “figure out” or psychoanalyze the
source of the emotion in the past. We simply let it arise in the present. We do not need to
decide what to do or not do about it. We simply notice.
On the outer level, we do not allow the emotion from taking us over. This is at best a
temporary solution; the emotion is sure to arise again. On the inner level, we work on
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developing a relationship with emotional patterns through the gentleness and nowness of
the sitting practice of meditation. We are willing to stay awake.
IV.
Dialogue (about 45 minutes)
In order to explore our relationship with emotions, we will look directly, with gentleness,
nowness, and inquisitiveness.
First Dialogue:
Have the class choose partners and work in pairs. Try working with someone you have
not worked with before. Talk about when you have caused harm, or have felt harmed by
others. How did emotions play a role? How did mindfulness or lack of mindfulness play
a role? How do we cause harm with body, speech, or mind? One partner speaks for 5
minutes. Ring the gong for the next partner to speak for 5 minutes. Listen fully, speak
genuinely, stay with your present experience as it arises.
After this period of dialogue, (with each partner having a turn to speak and listen) ring
the gong and describe the second dialogue:
Second Dialogue:
Continue working with the same partner. Now, the first partner talks about an emotion
that you have been experiencing in your life recently. Describe the situation. Describe
how it makes you feel. Don’t just say, “angry,” or “afraid,” or “jealous,” describe the
qualities of this anger, fear, jealousy. Really look at it and explore it.
After a while, begin to describe how this emotion is making you feel right now. It is
important that the speaker speaks from experience in the present at this point, rather than
talking about what happened in the past. How are you experiencing the emotion right
now? Don’t just say, “angry.” Say, “It makes me feel red and hot and my throat feels
tight.” Etc. or “Right now, I am feeling very excited, maybe a bit agitated. There is a lot
of movement in me.”
It is also fine to say, “I hate this exercise and that is what I feel right now.” The main
point is to speak about your actual experience in the present. So, if you feel resistance to
having to talk about an emotion, talk about the feeling of resistance. Whatever you are
experiencing now, or in your life, let that arise and stay with it. Stay with the feeling in
your body. There is a sense of not trying to change the emotion or the experience of
suffering. Stay with it, and decide that you are going to look into it.
Be open and inquisitive about what you are experiencing. Remind the class that we are
training in being gentle, present, and curious about our experience. This also requires
bravery, and a sense of humor at times. (About 7-10 minutes for each partner).
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The other partner just stays present. The listener also needs to be willing to stay present
with the emotions that are arising as they listen. The listener may feel uncomfortable or
challenged by what the other person is saying. Try to stay present with that feeling and
notice it, without needing to get away from it. Come back to the sensations in your body.
If the teacher feels this would be good for their class, the listener may also make some
simple suggestions:
After a few minutes of just listening, every now and then if it feels helpful, the partner
may choose to say something like, “Can you stay with this feeling?” Or, “Remember to
be gentle with this emotion.” Or, “You don’t need to get rid of this emotion right now,
just let it be.” Or, “What would it be like to drop the storyline and stay with the feeling in
your body?” Or, “Can you be curious about what you are feeling?”
After about 7-10 minutes, ring the gong and switch roles. You may ask everyone to take
a deep breath, rest the mind for a moment, and start fresh. Encourage the class to stay
with their experience with gentleness, nowness, and inquisitiveness.
Summary of Dialogue:
Work in pairs
1. 5 minutes each: “How have you caused harm etc…”
2. Next, 7-10 minutes each: What emotions are you experiencing in your life right
now? How are you feeling this emotion right now?
V.
Discussion
After this Dialogue, there may be a lot of energy and perhaps pain in the room. Come
back as a group, and remind the class that we are training in being gentle, present, and
curious about our experience. This also requires bravery, and a sense of humor at times.
Then, ask if the participants have any questions, or anything that they would like to
comment upon. What was the experience like as the listener? Make sure to leave room
to answer questions. Make sure that if anyone needs to speak with an MI or the Director
after class, that this can happen. The point of these exercises is to learn more about our
emotions, and meet what arises with the friendliness, mindfulness, and inquisitiveness of
the tiger.
Concluding the Class:
Contemplative Exercise For The Week: Continue with sitting meditation and the
Contentment contemplation this week. Also, continue to work with mindfulness in all
activities, in speech and mindfulness of one’s own mind. In particular, notice and work
with any emotional energies every morning on your way to work, at work, at school, with
interactions with strangers, or at home home. Whatever emotion you experience, notice
what it might mean to work with it in an “outer way.” During meditation practice, notice
do your best to work with emotions by neither suppressing them or going off on a tangent
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with them, but staying with the energy of the emotion and relaxing with it.
Participant Reading Assignment to Prepare For The Next Class:
Ruling Your World: “The Path of the Tiger” especially Chapter 9, “The
Confidence of Contentment”
Additional Reading: True Perception (Dharma Art), “Art in Everyday Life”
Information For Next Class:
Announce that next week there will be a celebration during the class. Ask everyone to
come early next class (6:30 perhaps) to set up the meditation hall with puja tables for the
reception and to prepare the food.
Also, given the celebratory nature of the class, Class 5 may go longer than previous
evenings.
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Summary of Class Five: The Confidence of Contentment
Theme: “Simple Confidence and Trust”
Threefold Logic:
Ground
Path
Fruition
I.
Gentleness, Appreciation, Nowness, and Inquisitiveness
Free from Arrogance and Deception
Simple Confidence and Trust
Sit and Shamatha Yoga
II.
Talk: Simple Confidence, Free from Arrogance and Deception
Read “Meek” from the Letter of the Black Ashe
a. Ground: Gentleness, Appreciation, Nowness, and Inquisitiveness
-Review Classes1-4
b. Path: Free from arrogance and Deception
“Because they trust themselves, they have no need to convince others by deception.”
c. Fruition: Simple Confidence and Trust
III.
Dialogue (in pairs)
1. “How do you experience a sense of simple trust and confidence? Is this
difficult for you? Do you feel that there is some sense of deceiving
yourself and others in your life?” (5-7 minutes each)
2. “What have you learned about discovering the confidence of contentment?
How are you experiencing trust and confidence right now? Speak from
your present experience.” (5-7 minutes each)
Part 2: Celebration and Dharma Art
Announce the Joy in Everyday Life course and upcoming Shambhala Training Levels
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Class Five: The Confidence of Contentment
Theme: “Humbleness, Confidence, and Trust”
Threefold Logic for Class Five:
Ground
Path
Fruition
Gentleness, Appreciation, Nowness, and Inquisitiveness
Non-deception, free from arrogance
Genuine Confidence and Trust
This final class has two parts. The first is a review and culmination of the CIEL course.
The second is a celebration and dharma art exercise. In order to accommodate this, the
class may go longer than previous nights.
Set Up:
Everyone comes early to set up together. Try to have the set up finished by 7:00, so that
the evening is not too late.
Part I. (1 to 1.5 hours)
I.
II.
III.
Sit and Shamatha Yoga
Talk: Simple Confidence, Free from deception
Read verses on Meek
Dialogue (20-30 minutes)
I.
Sit and Shamatha Yoga (We will do the Contentment Contemplation in the
beginning of the celebration, once food has been passed out.)
II.
Talk: Genuine Confidence, Free from Arrogance and Deception
Ground: Gentleness, Appreciation, Nowness, and Inquisitiveness
In presenting the ground, we can review the whole course so far.
Much of the journey through CIEL has gradually introduced the themes of contentment,
and how we can bring this into our everyday life:
In class one, we emphasized being friendly to oneself. The ground is always
gentleness.
In class two, we emphasized a sense of appreciating our world through nowness.
We contemplated contentment. Walk slowly with mindfulness, like the tiger.
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In class three, we looked at suffering and met suffering with gentleness, nowness,
and inquisitiveness.
In class four, we applied what we learned to working with emotions. We
emphasized an outer and an inner way of working with emotions: Not causing
harm, and neither acting out or suppressing the emotion, staying with it in the
present.
In summary, contentment in everyday life can come about when we are able to be
friendly to our self and appreciative of the present. We can meet the suffering that does
arise with gentleness, nowness, and inquisitiveness. We can feel confident that we can
work with our own emotions in the same way, by gently staying with our present
experience.
Because we can be gentle, present, mindful, and appreciative, we can feel a sense of
genuineness. Even when we are challenged by difficult emotions and suffering of all
kinds, we know that we are on the path of meeting the challenges with greater gentleness,
nowness, and curiosity. This can bring a genuine, simple, sense of trust.
Through such a gentle, mindful, inquisitive, and content way of being, we can be more
simple and genuine. We can trust our self in a basic way, without having to puff ourself
up or prove ourself.
Path: Free from Arrogance and Deception
However, we may not experience that sense of trust all of the time. If we feel
untrustworthy, we may try to cover that up with arrogance. We can let go of arrogance,
defensiveness, or a sense of being bloated with our own importance. If we are bloated
with the poison of arrogance, we will close down our curiosity and bring an end to
learning. A humble sense of inquisitiveness is an expression of trusting our self. This
curiosity is what allows us to go forward on the path, and continue to learn. This is the
experience of Meek.
Contentment is free from arrogance. Arrogance here is a hindrance in getting
started, like the analogy of the upside down teacup—if the teacup is upside-down, there is
no space for filling it up with good tea. If we are arrogant and closed off to life and
learning, we cannot go forward. Arrogance is thinking one is already all set up with what
one needs to know; that one is not interested in learning more, or exploring a different
perspective.
Arrogance is here a sense of not wanting to learn; feeling self protective regarding
exposing oneself to new forms, new places of learning, and new ways of seeing oneself
and the world. The opposite of arrogance is modesty -- the inquisitive desire to open
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further, learn more – the tea cup that is turned up rather than down. There is no other way
to step upon the path.
Modesty does not necessarily mean thinking of yourself as small or tiny.
Modesty here means feeling true, feeling inquisitive, gentle, with a sense of
longing. —Letter of the Black Ashe I (1979).
Because of this sense of inquisitiveness and trust, the warrior can be genuine. We do not
have to pretend to be anything. We can let go of feeling that we need to be someone else,
or be somewhere else. We can be present with things as they are. Therefore, we don’t
have to convince our self or anyone else. We do not have to deceive others. We do not
have to hold on to a story of who we are. We can just be direct and genuine.
Deceiving our self and others is the result of not trusting our self. If we do not trust our
self, we will think that we have to be someone different. We may think that we are only
valuable if we have gain, victory, fame, wealth, etc. However, we have been training in
letting our self be as we are, with gentleness. Therefore, we do not have to deceive others
in any way. We are not as dependent upon feedback and confirmation from others. We
have a gentle, simple sense of trusting our self.
Fruition:
Genuine Confidence and Trust
The fruition of contentment is a genuine, humble, simple sense of confidence and trust.
This is a genuine sense of self-respect. Because there is a sense of friendliness toward
our self, we are more able to rest in our experience in the present. Because we can be
now, we can appreciate our self and our world. With this gentle, present, appreciation,
we can meet suffering without adding further aggression to the situation. We can learn a
sense of humble curiosity about moment-to-moment experience.
Based upon this training in contentment in everyday life, we may have a glimpse of
trusting our self. This is not just a fantasy or a hope. We can actually experience, in a
basic and genuine way, a sense that we can work with our life and our emotions. In this
way, we can trust our self as we are, not as we think we should be. Therefore, we
experience confidence. We do not have to be afraid of who we are.
Teachers should read aloud the verses on Meek from The Letter of the Black
Ashe. We could simply describe this as a “poem” on Meek written down by the Dörje
Dradul.
III.
Dialogue
Work in pairs.
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3. “How do you experience a sense of genuine trust and confidence? Is this difficult
for you? Do you feel that there is some sense of arrogance or deceiving yourself
and others in your life?” (5-7 minutes each)
4. “What have you learned about discovering the confidence of contentment? How
are you experiencing contentment and confidence right now? Speak from your
present experience.” (5-7 minutes each)
Gather back as a group and hear from the participants. How was that dialogue?
II. Part 2 Celebration
This section of the class should be offered as a celebration, something like a “feast,”
performed in the context of the “Contentment contemplation.” (We should not refer to it
as a feast, as feast is a specific vajrayana practice.) One suggestion is that the tables
could be set up with two facing each other to create a wide table for 8 people. These
tables can then be put in a horse-shoe shape to make serving simple. Alternatively, set
the room up with cushions in a circle, and use gomdens or oryoki tables in front of each
place. If possible, one of the participants could be responsible for the music. Give
suggestions to the kind of music to be offered.
Begin this section with five minutes of the “Contentment contemplation.” This session of
the Contentment contemplation can bring together everything that the participants
experienced in the first half of the class. Next, food and drink can be passed out and the
director can discuss the importance of celebration and community for Shambhala. We
eat, drink, and celebrate our experience together. We can be mindful of eating, tasting
each bite.
Celebration Is Not Separate from the Path
In Shambhala, we understand that the journey requires and includes celebration, joy, and
community. Tonight we are eating in the midst of our practice to demonstrate that
ordinary activities, relationships, and celebration are not separate from the path. The
basis of a sane society understands the inseparability of the sacred and the every-day.
Therefore we are going to eat and celebrate together to conclude the CIEL Course.
During the period of eating, there could be a suggestion to bring complete mindfulness to
each bite, tasting every flavor and feeling every texture, and enjoying the contentment of
being awake and present. This could be the main exercise in bridging meditation practice
and ordinary experience. How does it feel to eat in this way?
Shambhala Art
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After some open eating and discussion time, there could be a Shambhala/dharma art
presentation specific to the theme of CIEL, such as precision, slowness, nowness,
appreciation, and gentleness. This might be an ikebana demonstration, a photography
presentation, a video, or an exercise with the group. Talk with an artist in your
community who can help with this. Alternatively, if there is no Shambhala art
presentation, it works well and builds community for each person to make a short
offering such as a poem or a song. You might also try a group doha on Contentment and
the tiger. Each person contributes a line and then somebody reads the whole thing out at
the end.
Enjoy the celebration.
Towards the end of the evening, make remarks about the value of continuing to go
forward as a group, supporting each other in the path. Briefly describe the Joy in
Everyday Life, announce dates for upcoming Shambhala Training Levels and welcome
people into the community as much as possible…
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Appendix: Complete Meditation Instructions
Shambhala, Buddhism, and the whole path are based on meditation practice. It becomes
the way to experience the teachings for ourselves, and test their truth. This meditation
practice is called “shamatha” a Sanskrit term, meaning peaceful abiding. We abide in the
present. We practice simply being present.
By meditation here we mean something very basic and simple that is not tied to
any one culture. We are talking about a very basic act: sitting on the ground,
assuming a good posture, and developing a sense of our spot, our place on this
earth. This is the means of rediscovering ourselves and our basic goodness, the
means to tune ourselves in to genuine reality, without any expectations or
preconceptions. —Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
Peaceful abiding is a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness refers to the natural ability of the
mind to place its attention on something, and rest there. In this case, we train in placing
the mind on the breath. We synchronize the mind with the body through the breathing
process. Withdrawing from other distractions, one gathers the mind and follows the
breath as a relaxed focus of mindfulness. The breath is always now, the present. In this
way, the mind trains in resting—even in the midst of difficult mental states, bodily
sensations, or chaotic events in our lives. Resting means resting in basic goodness. We
practice simply being.
The practice reveals our human inheritance of steadiness, sanity and basic goodness.
Attitude
As we approach our meditation session, we do so with a sense of gentleness and
inquisitiveness. We are willing and interested to stay with our experience in each
moment, whatever that might be, rather than strive to become a perfect meditator. This is
the deeper meaning of peace—we are not struggling to peaceful, we are accepting
whatever arises, moment after moment. In this way, we discover our natural goodness
and sanity, and the habits that obscure this goodness. (This is the beginning of
warriorship.) If one begins the spiritual journey with an attitude that rejects the
experience in the present, it will be difficult to rest in basic goodness. Encourage
participants to “start where they are” and begin to find their spot in nowness.
Precise instruction:
Gather the Mind
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(Please see Turning the Mind Into An Ally p. 58 “How to Gather a Scattered Mind.”)
Posture
See p. 68 The Heart of Warriorship Teaching Guide
Turning the Mind Into An Ally p. 225
Placement on the breath as object
Please refer to “The Heart of Warriorship Teaching Guide” p. 36 in which the
Vidyadhara describes the three approaches to working with the breath. This
overview is helpful to the director, as it encompasses Levels I-V.
See Chapter Four, “Taking Our Seat” from Turning the Mind Into an Ally
Using the breath as our object of meditation is very good because the air moving
in and out allows us to have some kind of steadiness in contrast with our
discursiveness. It also allows us to relax. This is the virtue of the breathing.
Through placing our mind on this process, we relax our whole being. Tensions
begin to dissolve. The breathing soothes the mind and allows it to rest. As our
thoughts slow down and we settle into ourselves, the division between mind and
body lessens. We start to feel our heart beating. We sense the flow of our blood.
We can almost feel our bones. We become a whole being, with a synchronized
body and mind.
The Sakyong has been emphasizing: “meditate from the heart.” This means to meditate
with the whole being, not just the brain.
Working with thoughts, labeling
See Chapter Four, “Taking Our Seat” from Turning the Mind Into an Ally”
....But that is not all that is happening. As we sit and place our mid on the breath,
the natural playfulness of the mind continually arises. The movement of thoughts
and emotions distracts us. We tend to get lost in the flood.
(Give examples of kinds of thoughts and emotions.)
Give instructions to notice thoughts in a friendly non-judgmental way; to lightly touch
the thoughts with awareness; label them “thinking,” and release them like opening one’s
palm; and return the mind gently back to the breath.
When receiving this instruction, some people may feel it is important to try to block
thoughts. Remind them to let the thoughts come through without resistance, but to notice
them when the awareness occurs, touch them, label them, and then let them go.
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Offer the understanding that there are no good thoughts to cultivate or bad thoughts to
reject – all of them are simply noticed as they are, and labeled so as to learn about the
nature of the thinking mind. Thinking mind is not a problem, it is when we cling to
thoughts that we get lost.
Repeat: **If a participant begins the spiritual journey with an attitude that rejects their
experience in the present, it will be difficult to rest in basic goodness. Encourage
participants to “start where they are” and begin to find their spot in nowness with a sense
of gentleness and acceptance.
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