- Review, Foundations of Meditation, Mindfulness, Class VI, September 15, 2026
- This practice is about understanding suffering and the release of suffering. We do this by studying the mind and body through direct experience. Through this process we are uncovering and practicing qualities of the heart. and after studying your mind, Mindfulness of Mind.
- The reason for my teaching is not for merit or good deeds or good karma, or concentration, or rapture, or even insight. None of these is the reason that I teach, but the sure heart’s release. This and this alone is the reason for the teaching of a Buddha. The Buddha
- Last time Mindfulness of Mind: Three types of mind that we described: greedy mind, hateful mind and deluded mind. These are called the three kilesas. Mindfulness of Mind also includes the world of emotions and thoughts.
- Understand that most of the world’s problems are due to these kilesas.
LIMG Sangha Breakfast, quite awhile ago. Such dear Dharma sisters and brothers in this pic
- “Mind is the forerunner of all states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought” The Buddha in the opening line of the Dhammapada,
- All of these kilesas we use wisdom to resolve them. Let us use wisdom to talk about using last week’s example to understand attachment.
- What is attachment? Clinging tightly to peoples, places and to the point there is suffering. Recollect the 2nd Noble Truth, the cause of suffering is craving and clinging. Craving and clinging are mutually supportive.
- Last week the example was, my wife Susan and i were in CT and my daughter became upset and threw the key at the car. I told the group that although there was awareness on board and some calm, yet I had anxiety. Skill: So I ask myself, what is the attachment? The anxiety was due to a “not a good father.” The attachment is to “good father,” yet when causes and conditions throw that “good father” into question, there is the suffering, anxiety, around rattling the view of myself as “good father.”
- Another example: suppose there is no mindfulness on board and I touch a hot skillet. I may react in anger and blame my wife or myself. In these moments, without mindfulness, we become deluded. There
- is usually strong emotion and thinking. Feels like we are disconnected from the world around us. This is old karma, the old habitual ways of reacting to the world. We store this karma in the unconscious for the next similar event.
- With wisdom and mindfulness, I can touch the skillet and be with the feeling tone, and just note the unpleasantness of the heat manifesting there and the sensations. What is the mind like? Or I may drop my attention to the body and see if the anger is manifesting there and explore this. We can also be kind to ourselves for the antidote for hate is love. This experiential understanding of hatred. We can also explore the disconnection with the world around us and see what is the attachment.
- Story of Ghosananda
- In the previous example could be the attachment to the always pleasant life? Or that I have an aversion to surprises. Or if my wife cared she would not leave a hot skillet on? Or I must be a dummy to touch the hot skillet. The idea that “I” should be more aware and “I” should not have these things happen to me.
- With this wisdom, we can break this train of associations that lead to old karma and create new associations that lead to new karma.
- With hatred, kindness, with delusion can use wisdome look directly at the experience. And, with Greed, generosity.
- Munindra would call wisdom, generosity and virtue the three pillars of the Dharma.
- The Buddha would give strong emphasis to generosity and virtue
- These are qualities of the heart that support the development of calm and concentration
- Generosity is a quality of the heart where we give to support the efforts to liberation of others. Fosters a sense of connection, humbleness, and non greed. Our practice is a sense of generosity and compassion to help others.
- “If one knew their power of generosity, they would leave not one morsel of food unshared.” The Buddha
- Virtues are foundational to our path of liberation. Sila is about harmony in the community. We practice speech and actions that are non harmful, such as not taking life, not taking something of another without the object being freely offered. We practice sexuality that is non harmful, and our relationship with substances is not harmful.
LIMG Board with an Alien image of Lindsay included