Chapter 6 of “Death: Friend or Foe?”
[…] I live this life? So what I’d like to start with is just to go around—and we can start with you, Jean—and what have you come to in your reflections? We’ll just go turn by turn. Jean: On the one hand, two things happened. On one hand, there’s something incredible—I don’t know—inspiring, about living […]
Chapter 4 of “Mind Training in Seven Points”
[…] this is what I was referring to earlier—then you learn that these techniques actually enhance the experience of presence. Student: How do you know if you are resting in presence? How do you know if you’ve arrived in presence? Ken: You know. It isn’t a question. You’ll just know. In fact, you won’t know, […]
Practice Material
[…] bow to the aware Ever-present Good. Eight conceptual approaches Once known, mind itself is like space.The nature of space is that there is nothing that is space. In the same way, examples cannot really point out awareness. Yet I rely on such methods to shed light on key points. What is it like when […]
Chapter 11 of “37 Practices of a Bodhisattva”
[…] on translation Ken: Okay. This evening we’re focusing on verses 31 to 34. If you don’t go into your own confusion, You may just be a materialist in practitioner’s clothing. Constantly go into your own confusion And put an end to it—this is the practice of a bodhisattva. You undermine yourself when you react […]
Chapter 10 of “37 Practices of a Bodhisattva”
[…] how we could all slip very easily slip into the irritation and resentment. The thing is, this is one of the things you actually learn from shamatha—just resting with the breath—you really learn patience. How many times do you have to let go of thinking? When people start with me, after two or three […]
Chapter 6 of “Being Mahamudra”
[…] mind like sky, I experience unlimited expansion just like I do when I look at the sky. And the breath like the wind brings me back to resting on my breath. Ken: Okay. Anybody else? Thank you. Julia. Julia: Release, an experience of release. Ken: Pardon? The experience of release. Okay. Pam. Pam: I […]
Chapter 1 of “Guru, Deity, Protector”
[…] small point. Ken: Yes, but tomorrow morning I just want you to take your time to settle. So just do regular sitting practice, whether it’s mahamudra or resting with the breath or whatever. And then I’ll actually introduce practices as we go forth. Thank you. Okay. Guy. Guy: You said that Karma Kagyu was […]
Chapter 2 of “Finding the Way”
[…] truths Ken: Today is entering the village. And as I was saying last night, this retreat is primarily about how to explore your own experience. The aim in Buddhism—just to review this very briefly—the first formulation Buddha gave is known as the four noble truths. First noble truth is there is suffering, the truth […]
Chapter 3 of “A Trackless Path II”
[…] all of those and know them for what they are, you never fall into confusion. And that’s precisely what one’s practicing in mahamudra. It starts off with resting attention. The shamatha practice in the context of mahamudra means being able to experience what arises, whether it’s a sound, a sight, a physical sensation, and […]
Chapter 11 of “Then and Now: A Commentary on The Jewel Ornament of Liberation”
[…] ,and an experiential level. The intellectual level is just understanding it. The emotional level comes about by taking in the intellectual level or the conceptual level and resting in the experience of the emotional reactions to that. The first meditation: I’m going to die Ken: So, when you consider the statement, “I’m going to […]
Chapter 4 of “Buddhahood Without Meditation”
The bear hunt Ken: So, here’s tonight’s teaching in a nutshell. A guy gets a new rifle. Student: A new iPod? Ken: A rifle. [Laughter] Student: An ancient Sufi story? Ken: Arguably a modern Sufi story. This is quite deep. So, he heads off into the mountains. He’s going bear hunting. Comes across a […]
Chapter 6 of “Five Elements Five Dakinis”
[…] Up To Your Life, Ken McLeod, p. 223 And rest like that until you either fall into dullness or fall into distraction or busyness. When you are resting like that thoughts may arise, but if you can rest there and just let the thoughts come go, that’s fine, there’s no problem. When you find yourself […]
Chapter 10 of “Mind Training in Seven Points”
[…] was going to bring this up anyway. I’ll try and keep on track. Let me come to back to that point, okay? Resolving imbalances Ken: So you’re resting in presence. You sense an imbalance. A sense of other and “I” comes up. Now do taking and sending with exactly that. There is some pain, […]
Chapter 11 of “A Trackless Path I”
[…] And in a certain sense among the modern Buddhist traditions, I would say that Theravadan in this respect has the clearest relationship with power. And in shamatha, resting practice, when thoughts arise or thinking arises and you recognize it, the exercise of power is you come back to the breath, or you come back […]
Chapter 6 of “A Trackless Path I”
[…] permeating your experience. Again, I want to emphasize: don’t try to hold onto this. It’s a case of opening or dropping—whichever way you want to consider it—and resting there. And when it dissipates, it dissipates, don’t try to bring it back. Do it again. That’s that business of returning to it rather than trying […]