[…] counterproductive. With the pushing into experience, it’s the hardening. With relaxing and receiving, it’s going dull. And those are two things you want to watch for. Okay? Taking in more and more Ken: Now, any questions or comments about your experience from the last week of meditation practice? Nobody? Nobody meditated? Yes. Okay, up […]

[…] as the genesis for a very deep form of compassion. But if you read Kongtrül in The Great Path of Awakening, he is recommending that you cultivate taking and sending, because through that you engender compassion, and with that engenderment of compassion, you open the door to having this level of awakening mind. So, it depends […]

[…] reading. So have I been clear about this distinction? Okay. The four steps of standing up Ken: So, in the beginning you’re going to feel like you’re taking step by painful step, but you do this enough times, they just start to come naturally. So first four: you’ve come across them in other contexts, […]

[…] be based. Hence faith and trust form an inevitable part of spiritual practice. And, people being people, are inevitably abused. This evening I want to focus on taking what we’ve worked with so far, and bringing it together as best we can. To review, and I’m doing this because we have tomorrow night, and […]

[…] “So he’s infallible, right?” I said, “Perfect. That is the literal trap that you fall into.” It doesn’t at all mean that your teacher is infallible. That’s taking it literally. What it means is that–for whatever reason—you regard this particular person as how you experience an awakened mind in the world. That’s what it […]

[…] specific. And it’s really good to learn the tools, but don’t get distracted by trying to figure out every last little detail about the tool. That’s like taking a screwdriver and okay, so what’s the shaft made of, what’s the width of the blade? Why don’t you just take it and turn the screw? […]

[…] And this is written very simply, very nicely, and covers again the same material. The Three Levels of Spiritual Perception. Now, in terms of resources, anybody who’s taking this class, if you aren’t already I want you to enroll on Facebook. Student: Us? Ken: Facebook’s changed; your teenager will die! Look, Steve Chase and […]

[…] form of practice, sitting for a half an hour, doing qigong, sitting for a half an hour and so forth. If you have regular practices, such as taking and sending, or power practice, or Chenrezi some of you are doing, death meditations, whatever. Use one of those half-hour sessions—if you have two then you can use […]

[…] with all people, but this stuff is still in them and still driving their reactivity. So, sometimes just to imagine yourself in front of you and doing taking and sending with you. Gradually it opens up. And in the same way that we’re talking, respecting Newcomb’s question, you’re letting the patterns open to you. Another application—I […]

[…] until it disappeared completely as a separate religion, shortly after which the landscape of religion in India changed drastically because of the Muslim incursions, and eventually Muslims taking over and ruling India for several hundred years. Basically, I think, until the arrival of the British. The extent to which Buddhism disappeared can be appreciated […]

[…] because jealousy is the opposite of that. You resent the success of others. Again, if you read the chapter on patience in Shantideva, where he’s going through taking and sending practice and discussing joy, he’s absolutely hilarious on our reluctance to really feel joy in others’ successes. It’s so wonderfully precise about the kind of stuff […]

[…] if when you know the history of Buddhism you look at these practices and you go “Wow!” They’ve got so many different elements. They’re so rich. And taking and sending is, while a very, very simple practice, has a great deal of richness to it. So in a certain sense it partakes of a bit of […]

[…] astute minds. In any event, anywhere along this path, one can find oneself falling into just being present. In the summer retreat we did in Santa Fe, taking and sending, which was totally focused on Sūtrayāna practice, there were a number of people who were doing taking and sending, and the bottom just fell out of […]

[…] actually in this country. The way you break the spell of intoxication by pleasure and power is through the technique that I introduced you to this morning, taking and sending. Take in the pain of suffering of the world and give your experience of pleasure and power to others. Shatters that illusion very, very effectively. A […]

[…] for the Path to Enlightenment also says that in order to cultivate action bodhicitta one of the pratimoksha vows is required. The Treasury of Abhidharma says that taking refuge is necessary in order to receive a pratimoksha vow. The Bodhisattva Bhumis mention that without the Mahayana family one cannot receive the bodhisattva vow, even […]