doc benway

What are you interested in studying?

Buddhism is that and so much more! Sutra is a via-negativa, Tantra a via-positiva, Dzogchen transcends both Ultimately, Buddhism does not teach us, as much as it asks us to engage in practice so that we may have direct understanding For anyone interested, I would recommend Mipham’s Beacon of Certainty (or the explanation by Anyen Rinpoche titled Journey to Certainty)

Actually, it is built on space - even better!

I have a different perspective. I mean no disrespect to anyone but I don't share the enthusiasm regarding these teachings. I see these videos as a cautionary tale. One can be blessed with powerful intellect and enormous knowledge and still never have a taste. One can have a thorough understanding of ever aspect of a bar of chocolate, its physical characteristics, chemical makeup, the source of the beans, manufacturing process, and so on; but if you never actually eat the bar, you will never experience chocolate. This person in the videos is missing a fundamental point regarding emptiness and the nature of citta. I do not question his translation of the sutras but each adjective discussed among those 17 points describes a specific characteristic of the abiding nature and none of these adjectives preclude the view of a self-empty abiding nature. Furthermore, whether the abiding nature is empty of self or not, makes no difference in terms of our realization, it's just theory. The teachings on emptiness are designed to help us let go of our conceptual blockage to deeper realization. They are not meant to be a comprehensive and definitive description of reality. That is beyond concept and description and best approached with openness and direct connection through meditation. When we grasp our conceptual understanding as truth, our realization is necessarily limited and blocked. If the teachings (whether shentong or rangtong) are bringing one closer to a direct realization of the abiding nature, meaning a direct personal taste, they are priceless. If they are causing us to adopt a specific belief, a conceptual view, then they are an obstacle. That very conceptual framework blocks the openness that is necessary for direct realization. This is perhaps one reason why it is said that a study of sutra takes countless lifetimes to bring us to liberation. There's a Tibetan saying about this that I'll loosely paraphrase. The Tibetans talk about it in terms of butter and skin but that's not something most of us can relate to. If life makes us hard, there is always the Dharma to help us. If the Dharma makes us hard, we are in real trouble!

Should? Only the trees can answer that, Ask permission, be very open and subtle. Connect with your direct inner experience. Do not manufacture or resist, simply rest and listen. Express gratitude for any insight and dedicate the merit to help others.

To address the OP - Safety and efficacy on the Daoist path are excellent, provided you have a personal relationship with a lineage holder. Without that both safety and efficacy are poor. Good luck!

Just picked up some fiction this morning at Busboys and Poets in DC (great place!) Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado Two stories in and I'm in awe of her talent.

In discussing the core of all knowledge, how can they be anything but?

I think you misunderstand me. I didn't mention trying to help or enlighten anyone. This approach is is for my own practice, my own growth. If it somehow benefits them, that is great! If not, that is equally fine. Whether or not it benefits them is mostly a function of where they're at and if they're ready for a change. I can't control that and attempting to will cause negativity for us both. I take this approach in large part for this very reason. One cannot avoid problems or challenging people but it is possible to turn those very problems into one's spiritual path.

Do you have a spiritual practice? I think it’s important to approach this with a method you find supportive, something that inspires confidence in you. My approach is to not attempt to break the connection but to feel it, embrace it, be with it fully. I then bring this energetic identity, the one who is attached, the one who feels the connection, into a supportive meditative space (we refer to it as inner refuge). The openness, clarity, and warmth that are naturally there in the refuge allow the identity to lose its hold and, slowly over time, dissolve and ultimately liberate. This is an approach that requires some fundamental familiarity with a supportive meditative space that can fully envelope and withstand whatever challenges I bring with me. Not something anyone can just sit down and do from scratch. Feel free to PM of you want more detail.

I try to approach this like silent thunder. When I encounter someone I find to be stuck, opinionated, fixed, unwilling to see an alternative perspective, I do my best to see how I may seem just like that to others, given any particular context or set of circumstances. Whatever view I hold, no matter how convinced I am of its veracity, is limited and relative. When I can see this directly, my irritation, frustration, or impatience towards the other person dissolves and some degree of understanding and compassion remain. Trying to see the other’s point of view, no matter how ridiculous or far-fetched, teaches me far more than simply dismissing them as fools and idiots. The US political landscape has helped me enormously in this regard. That said, it has also taught me to take the approach of not engaging, debating, or arguing, unless I am willing to pay the price. And to be clear, this is my intention, not something I have yet mastered.

Similarly, I’ve leaned away from the word emptiness in favor of words like openness, resting, and spaciousness, depending on context and participants in any given discussion. Emptiness invites the conceptual mind to engage, which often results in the error of nihilism, Words like openness, resting, or spaciousness connote a more practical and experiential approach to my ear that may lead us to direct realization. Genuine realization of emptiness cannot be misinterpreted in a nihilistic way.

It’s actually quite simple, Buddha is awake. All beings are fundamentally Buddha, only their realization is obscured. Many beings awaken in the three times. They manifest in response to the needs of sentient beings.

Buried or else burnt Cabbage is a tasty treat Yum yum then toot toot!

Such an important question for practitioners! In my experience, the heart is more the door to the mind’s essence whereas the head and brain are more related to its activity and contents, if that makes any sense. Thoughts are indeed mind, as opposed openness, presence, and warmth, which is its essence. My relationship to heart and mind continues to evolve and refine. I have found the best way forward in this arena is simply trusting and engaging in practice, knowing that it will work and ultimate bring us to clear understanding. If comfortable, prayer is also very valuable. Engaging the conceptual mind obstructs openness and clarity.

I don’t want to be a downer but here’s another vote to use a great deal of caution teaching meditation to folks with mental health challenges. While it may be calming to the active mind, meditation eventually exposes suppressed and repressed content. It can be disorienting and lead to feelings of depersonalization for some. The folks you’ll working with may be very raw and sensitive and may go too deep too fast. I would agree with focusing on practices that help integrate mind and body as mental illness breaks down that connection. Anything that is grounding is advisable. Standing, walking, simple qigong, easy taiji, and calisthenics would all be safe and healing, IMO. I’m happy to hear you have an opportunity to help these folks who are so vulnerable and often neglected. Don’t forget to all take care of yourself.

Fun discussion. Getting on a plane right now. I look forward to seeing what has transpired when I next check in.

Nothing wrong with dying... People do it all the time!

I agree, it happens both with and without training depending on the individual. It is simply a transient state although it can be quite prolonged and profound. I did not mean to imply the mind is never quiet. Thought and activity of mind will eventually resume and continue as long as we are alive. My point is that our meditation should eventually be stable with and without the activity of mind, speech, and body. Quieting the mind is simply the first step toward identifying the mind’s nature, independent of its contents. Once that nature is realized with certainty, we rest there as consistently as possible and any activity eventually loses its power to disturb. If our meditation is limited to times of a quiet mind, we are missing enormous opportunity to practice and grow. Once again, just my opinion and observation.

Clearly they return so you can rest easy...

My perspective on meditation differs front freeform. Hard to know about Spotless as he hasn’t defined it clearly. With respect for others’ opinions, I’d like to offer my own. Meditation as I use the word is not the “absence of thought or any movement of mind.” Thoughts and movement of mind are a normal characteristic of the human condition and will be with us until death. Meditation is when thoughts and movement of the mind do not disturb the ability to rest in open presence, that very resting in fully open presence is meditation. Thoughts come and go and there is no one there to engage, follow, suppress, or elaborate. There are stages one can observe. At the stage of “meditation” as I suspect Spotless is using the label, thoughts and activity of mind are compared to snowflakes falling on the ocean. As soon as they arise, they dissolve with no effort whatsoever and the stability of the meditation is untouched. The stage before that is likened to sunshine melting frost, activity arises and the practitioner is aware and then rests in open awareness, permitting the activity to liberate. There is a very subtle doing there, I refer to it as effort. At earlier stages a variety of methods are used to liberate the activity but more effort is needed and until the effort is no longer needed, it is appropriate. All of this is meditation in my usage of the label. I respect others’ preferences to restrict the meaning of the word but I personally find it more supportive for beginning and intermediate practitioners to be more inclusive with the terminology. In the beginning it is useful to exert effort to quiet the mind in order to realize the mind’s nature, as opposed to what we usually experience which is its contents and activity. To have the expectation that all thought and movement of mind cease completely is an error in the view, in my opinion.

Meditation is my core essence It is as it is, highly nutritious and healing both I actively engage whenever not engaged and remember, then reconnect and continue That is my experience Yes, changing and growing with peaks and valleys and storms and sunlight. Practices fluid and responsive to need. At times I pursue it, at others it pursues me, and best of all is when we are For me the formal practice is a refuge and a gift, healer and healed, the Five Wisdoms. I integrate with the Nature as often as possible but life intervenes with me. Practice deepens the connection and leads to progressively more subtle and fertile places. Beyond the releasing and falling away is opportunity for ripening and full expression of perfected qualities. My life and practice unfold together in surprising and wonderful ways.

Sending you love and hugs my friend.

My father was very harsh and demanding when I was young. Very quick to anger but also easy to hug and kiss. The rare beating was difficult. Even more painful when he accidentally broke my nose with a baseball. I was so hurt and angry! Each night at dinner he would vent and criticize, leave the table in anger and slam his bedroom door. He would get furious if he heard my music, sometimes breaking my radio or instruments. And yet I never felt unloved. As he has aged he has softened. He is now drifting slowly into dementia and becoming very warm and open. At first, I didn't know how to be with this new person. It felt alien and a little uncertain to connect. It is getting easier and more joyful to be with him, to be more intimate. I wish we lived closer. I know he will be gone relatively soon and cherish what little time we have left together.