Dharma Glimpses with Judy Lief

Today’s topic is about how our moment-to-moment habits and impulses congeal into solid psychological realities or realms of existence  •  the wheel of life depicts six such realms—gods, jealous gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell beings—worlds we create through pride, jealousy, passion, ignorance, greed, and anger  • the human realm is marked by passion, loneliness, and the search for c...

Another section of the wheel of life breaks things down into twelve steps, which illustrate how we perpetuate samsara  •  the first step is ignorance, which is represented by the image of a blind grandmother  •  the blind grandmother has put things in motion; she has produced grandchildren, but because she is blind she has no idea what their effect is going to be   •   today’s focus is on the prog...

A traditional image in Tibetan Buddhism is called the wheel of life; it pictures our life as a wheel that rolls along, and that we keep pushing along • the wheel of life is held within the jaws of a demon called Yama, which represents death; so the imagery depicts a deadly approach to things • at the hub of the wheel are three animals: a rooster, which represents passion; a pig, which represents i...

Samsara and nirvana are two fundamental concepts that run throughout the Buddhist tradition  •  Trungpa Rinpoche said it is by discovering the truth of samsara that we discover nirvana  •  samsara refers to an endless round of confusion, a compulsive, deadly serious approach to life  •  it is marked by a sense of unease, fear, and discontent, and also by things becoming frozen and solid  •  the wa...

According to the Buddha, there are four main postures for meditation: sitting, walking, standing, and reclining  •  walking meditation is often a part of group meditation practice, where there is alternation between sitting meditation and walking meditation  •  it provides a way of transitioning from sitting still and simplifying, as we do in sitting meditation practice, and re-engaging with the w...

The universal experiences of birth, sickness, old age, and death can serve as our teachers, interrupting assumptions that are not helpful in our journey  •  they can open our eyes to the ways in which we can either increase or reduce our suffering  •  birth refers to our literal physical birth, but it also refers to being thrust into new situations  •  we feel vulnerable but fresh; it is exhilarat...

On the surface, meditation is so simple, but somehow through that simplicity a lot of learning happens  •  we notice how our minds work, how we operate  •  it’s like inviting a mirror to help us see our potentials and our challenges much more clearly  •  meditation is like pure science: it is simply investigating without an agenda  •  post-meditation is like applied science: it is taking what we’v...

The buddhist tradition and training is not about adding anything; it’s about removing, or taking away  •  removing confusion, selfishness, conflicting emotions, ego fixation, ego absorption  •  when we remove obstacles what we find is that a quality of goodness or awakening already exists, like the sun behind the clouds  •  it’s like a sculptor approaching a solid rock: the sculptor simply removes...

The human mind is unique in that it can observe itself  •  many buddhist teachings, including the teachings on ego, come from simply looking directly at the mind and taking an interest in what arises  •  the sense perceptions are one obvious component of mind  •  the thinking process is considered to be a sixth sense perception  •  a second aspect of mind is the unconscious, or base consciousness ...

Ego isn’t so much a “thing” as it is a project — one that we’re very invested in, and one that is under constant threat  •  the ego is a construct or overlay, which is not that useful  •  however, because it is a construct, it’s also removable  •  ego is a paper tiger: it’s not as harmful or as necessary as it makes out  •  it begins with an initial split between self and others, which is like put...

The idea of “ego” in buddhadharma is different from the notion of having a healthy ego boundary, which is often associated with a sense of self-confidence, resilience, and inner strength  •  in Buddhism, the notion of ego refers to a sense of alienation and duality, of making solid or freezing experience  •  egolessness is very closely connected with non-duality  •  imagine putting a fence across...

The assumptions we make about human nature are an essential part of the Buddhist path  •  the view of Buddhism is the opposite of the view of "original sin"; it is the view of original purity, of original goodness   •  the Buddhist approach is that despite all the problems we face, we're starting from a point that is not troubled, that is close to hand, intimate, and pure  •  while...

Theism and materialism are closely related  •  "theism" does not simply refer to specific religious traditions, but more broadly to the human tendency to always want to be saved, to have someone else do our spiritual work for us  •  theism is similar to the literary device of deus ex machina  •  nontheism, on the other hand, constantly throws us back on ourselves  •  the essence of nonth...

In some ways the Buddhist teachings are all about being on a journey  •  in order to get anywhere, we have to have a sense of the lay of the land, and a sense of where we're trying to go  •  the first thing you look for is an arrow saying "you are here"  •  where are you starting from? where are you trying to go, and how are you going to get there?  •  treasure maps place an "x...

At this level, the fundamental teachings of the Buddha can be expressed in just four small points  •  the first point: acknowledging the difficulties of life — the reality of pain, suffering, and confusion  •  instead of sugar-coating our experience, we can actually face the reality of suffering — and then do something about it  •  the second point: how ignorance and desire perpetuate and enhance...

Two additional streams run through the Profound Treasury teachings: mindfulness practice and awareness practice  • mindfulness, also called shamatha , means “peace” and refers to the stillness and stability of mind  •  awareness, also called vipashyana , is the counterbalance to mindfulness. It refers to the insight and clarity of mind  •  so we settle the mind, and we clarify and brighten the min...

When people hear the word “buddha” or “buddhism,” what usually comes to mind is the idea of meditation   or mindfulness training  •  but the practice of meditation is so much richer when placed in the broader context of studying or sharpening the mind, and also the context of activities of life  • discipline, meditation and study form a system of checks and balances  •  meditation — taming one’s m...

When Trungpa Rinpoche first came to the West he was struck by our obsession with materialism and materialistic success  •  he referred to materialism as a “spell” or a thick black fog that traps us in a particular fixed view, one that is not very healthy or uplifting  •  generally, materialism is a deadening quality where things and people are viewed merely as objects  •  1) physical materialism:...

“Dharma” is everything; it is a very intimate and personal way of looking at everything we do  •  what are our preconceptions, our beliefs, our hopes and dreams?  •  have we really ever felt comfortable in our own skins?  •  do we even know who we really are?  •  dharma is every experience, from the most profane to the most profound  •  it includes our neuroses and our sanity, our fear and our cou...

“Touch and go” refers to how we relate to thoughts, distractions and sensations that arise during sitting meditation  •  it represents a middle way between the extremes of avoiding our experience and getting seduced by whatever arises  •  the “touch” and the “go” happen almost simultaneously  •  the example of a neighbor stopping by to say hello when we are chopping wood  •  welcoming and apprecia...

Finding the right balance in our practice keeps us engaged with without being overly effortful  •  too loose = being spaced-out, indulgent, forgetful; too tight = being really hard on ourselves  •  sitting practice presents a dynamic, moment-to-moment set of choices: should I relax more? should I tighten up more?  •  this dynamic is reflected in our posture and in our thought process  • when you b...

The skills we learn in formal meditation practice can be applied on-the-spot as we face challenges in our daily life  •  training to come back into your body; giving yourself just a moment to come back to simple physical presence  •  tuning in to our breathing provides a gap, interrupting the flow of habitual or panic mind   •  letting the situation tell us what to do  •  acknowledging our emotion...

In meditation we are practicing being more wholeheartedly present  •  learning to recognize our escape valves, the ways we hide out from our immediate experience  •  wholeheartedly feeling what we feel  •  recognizing the process of checking in and checking out  •  training to be more present with the ups and downs of ordinary life allows us to be more present with others  •  each time we bring ou...

Meditation as a way of making friends with yourself  •  inviting in all aspects of yourself to a banquet of experience  •  workability: staying with our experience, whatever it is, at is arises  •  being more present in a heartful, gentle, kind way  •  becoming more familiar with our patterns at an early stage,  before they become overwhelming  • mindfulness or “heartfulness”?  • what we think we...

The story of the tree, the rock, and the blade of grass  •  flexibility, steadiness, resilience: these are the qualities that are cultivated in meditation practice  •  rooted and flexible; you may be knocked over, but you bounce back  •  seeming power can be quite weak and brittle, easily undermined when circumstances are hard  • the porcelain cup breaks, the lacquer cup bounces  •  from softness...