Chapter 2 of “Karma: Awakening From Belief”
[…] move the third time, he’s waiting for you. I call it the rule of three. So, anytime you reproduce a dynamic three times, you’re stuck in a reactive pattern. Very useful. So, the third time you catch yourself lying about something, take note. The evolutionary process is already well underway. It’s there; it’s in you. […]
Chapter 4 of “A Trackless Path I”
[…] in touch with all of that material. Claudia: Exactly. Ken: Yes. So I don’t think we’re really saying different things here. Because one of the characteristics of reactive patterns is they create imbalances. Claudia: Yes, that’s true but it is my experience that [Ken and student chuckling]…don’t laugh before I get it out. That those […]
Chapter 4 of “Four Immeasurables”
[…] we? Molly: Nothing. Ken: And in being nothing? Molly: We have no self. Ken: Yes. And in being nothing, we are? Molly: Then we don’t have these reactive patterns I guess. Ken: Now you’re being very logical. If I am nothing, if I am no thing, what’s all this? It doesn’t go away, does it? […]
Chapter 2 of “Chö: Cutting Through the Thickets of Thinking”
[…] the original meaning of dakini was something that trapped you in reactive patterns. And in buddhism it became a symbol of when you woke up in that reactive pattern you had all of the energy of the reactivity but now it didn’t trap. It opened, and you’re awake. So it became a symbol of that […]
Chapter 2 of “Five Elements Five Dakinis”
[…] the case, but this is how we relate to things: “See what you made me do.” No. Everything we do, everything we do, comes either because a reactive pattern has taken over and we’re doing it, or because we decide to. And taking that responsibility is very, very important. And I know all of you […]
Chapter 30 of “Then and Now: A Commentary on The Jewel Ornament of Liberation”
[…] what are we doing in practice? There are many ways that we can describe this, but basically we’re moving in a different direction. We’re no longer letting reactive patterns call all the shots. And the consequence of that, is that we’re going to experience the operation of these internal and reactive patterns, but not act […]
Chapter 7 of “The Jewel in the Lotus”
[…] happen. You have to experience this stuff, because the only way we become clear is by experiencing the unreleased emotion that is at the core of every reactive pattern. And when we’re very heavily defended against those, then we are going to be going through those defenses. And when you go through those defenses, you […]
Chapter 3 of “The Jewel in the Lotus”
[…] awakened compassion. Well, when you really do this, what do you experience? All of those parts of you that weren’t really comfortable. As you were saying, Catherine, reactive patterns come up. Because this is very direct, how intensely do the reactive patterns come up? [Unrecorded] Well, they are. And so if you do not have […]
Chapter 9 of “Mahayana Mind Training”
[…] we’re trying to control our experiences, could you say that one more time? Ken: What, what? Student: When we’re trying to control our experiences, we …[unclear] our reactive patterns? Ken: We’re invested in; we’re projecting a reality on the world. You know, making things real rather than … I mean you experienced this during the […]
Chapter 9 of “Five Elements Five Dakinis”
[…] the meditation that we didn’t do. Which you may be interested in doing on your own. Which will take you into much deeper understanding of how the reactive patterns limit you, and also open up ways of moving in different directions. And this is on page 232 and 233 [in Wake Up to Your Life] […]
Chapter 31 of “Then and Now: A Commentary on The Jewel Ornament of Liberation”
[…] opens. Chuck: I see. And I think that being able to see the situation, you can see other people when they get caught up in their own reactive patterns. You see them standing in line and having a hissy fit and all that. And you can sort of empathize with them instead of … Ken: […]
Chapter 5 of “Finding the Way”
[…] going to get it through your intellect. In fact, speaking personally, I found my intellect an exceedingly unreliable tool because it is almost always in service of reactive patterns. I have found my intellect an exceedingly unreliable tool because it is almost always in service of reactive patterns. A friend of mine, a very good […]
Chapter 8 of “Power and Presence”
[…] that interior world. Now, how many of you have met the old man with the red eyes? What’s he like? Guy? Guy: He’s the embodiment of a reactive pattern that has no awareness. Ken: You’re giving an interpretation. What’s he like? Guy: Untrustworthy. Ken: What do you feel when you run into him? Guy: Danger. […]
Chapter 8 of “37 Practices of a Bodhisattva”
[…] clarify for myself that what it seems to me is that anger is always caused by opposing experience or fighting experience. So, therefore, anger is always a reactive pattern? Ken: Yes. Anger is a reactive pattern, because in anger you see the object of anger as something other, and there may be a very, very […]
Chapter 2 of “The Jewel in the Lotus”
[…] more and more that those are irrelevant considerations. And you begin to see that this experience, which we call life, large portions of it are consumed by reactive patterns, we aren’t actually present for it at all. And so, the second aspect of motivation arises. There are these reactive patterns, and they’re consuming my life […]