Chapter 1 of “Karma: Awakening From Belief”
[…] Such relief, don’t have to be anybody, a little counter-intuitive. So, all forms of mediation practice—and it doesn’t matter what—they’re developing attention. Sometimes they develop attention very directly, as shamatha does. Sometimes they’re getting rid of the blocks in the way of developing attention—things like death and impermanence, many of the purification practices in […]
Chapter 4 of “Living Awake: Surviving Stressful Times”
[…] this country functions overall. Part of the reason for this is that for the last approximately thirty years in the political arena, the effort has been to direct people to focus their attention on what frightens them. In Buddhism we have what are known as the three marks of existence. Again these are some […]
Chapter 8 of “Five Elements Five Dakinis”
Guided direct awareness practice Ken: This morning, not a lot to add, I wanted to do one thing this morning and one thing this afternoon. Last night, I talked briefly about the three kinds of meditation practices: the practice of presence, or direct awareness, purification practices and energy transformation practices. Up to this point, […]
Chapter 6 of “37 Practices of a Bodhisattva”
[…] levels at which you work with stuff. If you can simply experience it completely in presence, then it arises, and dissolves as released on its own. That’s direct awareness level practice. But not all of us have that level of attention all the time. I will hold up my hand here. The second level […]
Chapter 3 of “Being Mahamudra”
[…] the person in the watch tower. Watch what’s going on. While this is quite explicitly mentioned in some of the Tibetan traditions, in the three traditions of direct awareness practice that I’ve been trained, it is not mentioned at all. Or if it is, it is with the idea that this is a mistake. […]
Chapter 8 of “Buddhahood Without Meditation”
[…] a very unlucky bird. [Laughter] Ken: Then it wouldn’t be an empty sky. Art says, “Nothing.” That sound like anything we’ve talked about at this retreat? You direct your attention at what? Student: Nothing. Ken: Nothing, exactly. And how many times have you done this? When you look at awareness, what do you see? […]
Chapter 2 of “Five Elements Five Dakinis”
[…] expressions of awake mind or pristine awareness. And we’re going to be using the symbolic representations because they speak to us in terms of imagery and emotion directly rather than simply through a conceptual framework. And in that way we take in things more deeply. And in the exercises we’re also going to work […]
Chapter 14 of “Then and Now: A Commentary on The Jewel Ornament of Liberation”
[…] used? Raquel. Raquel: When you’re relinquishing control? Ken: Okay, when you’re relinquishing control. Want to go a little further? Raquel: That could go in a couple different directions. It could be because you can’t explain it or because you don’t want to take responsibility for it, or … Ken: Okay, anybody else, Randye. Randye: […]
Chapter 3 of “Learning from the Lives of Lineage Holders”
[…] both take the best of the other. And so they come out actually very similar. The difference with Bön is that it does everything in the opposite direction of Buddhism, so in Buddhism you circumambulate, so it’s like walking clockwise, and in Bön you circumambulate walking counterclockwise, so forth, so forth. Anyway, he’s born […]
Chapter 2 of “Monsters under the Bed”
[…] are not being met and our expectations aren’t being met. It can even move into our practice. Quite easily, actually! We bring some of those emotional needs directly into our practice and our expectations about what we should be getting from our practice and how it should feel when we practice. All of those […]
Chapter 1 of “Ganges Mahamudra: Tilopa’s Pith Instructions to Naropa”
[…] happened in one’s dreams, and so forth, being able to experience deep states of meditation while asleep and many, many other practices. And then, you also had direct awareness traditions, which as far as I can tell probably came from Central Asia. The origins of these particular traditions is not clear. But there are […]
Chapter 1 of “Buddhahood Without Meditation”
[…] is not how you learn to meditate. This is how you learn to sit still.” Our interests are in meditation. So in Dzogchen and really in any direct awareness practice, suppleness of mind, which goes very, very much with suppleness of body, is extremely important. Ken: So not only are you adults, you can […]
Chapter 5 of “37 Practices of a Bodhisattva”
[…] And you also find it quite extensively in Hinduism, TM for instance. Wanting is seen as the source of struggle, suffering, in life. And so the most direct route would seem to be, to decrease wanting. That naturally, or logically, I’m not sure if naturally, but logically leads to a life of withdrawal, away […]
Chapter 2 of “Power and Presence”
[…] way that leads towards fulfilling your intention in the most elegant way possible. Let’s try it again. Just try it gently. You could try reaching in different directions. I think we get a confusion about efficiency, and I think that gets in the way of power. We think that the most efficient way is […]
Chapter 4 of “Finding the Way”
[…] All of a sudden, I was more present, as opposed to thinking, “Stop thinking, then you’ll relax, and then you’ll become more present.” There was a really direct connection between the habit of these muscles clenching and sucking me away into my head, away from what’s around me. Ken: Okay. Guy. Guy: I agree […]
