Chapter 4 of “Releasing Emotional Reactions”
Nasrudin as a doctor Ken: Here’s your reflection for today: Visiting a sick friend, Nasrudin was just in time to see the doctor arrive. The man in the house was in the house for less than a minute, and the speed of his diagnosis stunned the Mullah. First the doctor looked at the patient’s tongue. […]
Chapter 4 of “Karma: Awakening From Belief”
Reflections on karma practice Ken: Okay. I’d like to start by hearing from you something about your experience with this practice. Student: It’s like a concept that the karma is creating your own reality. It’s like your interpretation of things that I’ve heard for years, but finally having it make sense and gel for it […]
Chapter 4 of “Practicing the Diamond Sutra”
Due to technical issues, only the first 18 mins of this class were recorded. Ken provided a summary, appended at the end of the transcript. Mind training: suitable under any circumstances Ken: Why are you focused on a Great Path of Awakening or lojong at this point? Student: At this point, because when the slogans […]
Chapter 4 of “Finding the Way”
A teaching story Ken: Someone asked, “How can the small understanding be an obstacle to a great one? If a person has acquired capacities which enable him to understand important things, will these not inevitably enable him to overcome the distorting influence of small thoughts?” Saad Nimrah said, “Pick up stones, all of you. Small […]
Chapter 4 of “The Unfettered Mind”
The immovable mind Ken: Today we turn to the matter of action. In case any of you have been following the progression of this retreat, it’s basically going from stillness to action. Certainly in the Taoist and the Buddhist traditions, the view is that action arises from stillness or, if you want to be mystical […]
Chapter 4 of “Ideology & Wisdom”
Wisdom is an interesting word Ken: The topic was ideology and wisdom. Wisdom is a very interesting word in English. How many of you are wise? Student: [Laughter] It depends on the situation. Ken: Okay. How many of you know someone who is wise? Let’s do this with a different word. How many of you […]
Chapter 4 of “Guru, Deity, Protector”
The energy of guru practice Ken: Quite clearly from the experience that you’ve been relating to me in the interviews and so forth, you can see how the practice that we’ve been doing yesterday and this morning, is a practice that can actually be done over a longer period of time. [Laughter] One of the […]
Chapter 4 of “Being Mahamudra”
Building capacity Ken: I talked earlier about willingness, know-how, and capacity. Today is going to going to be primarily about different ways of building capacity. The traditional and probably most widely practiced method for building capacity is known as shamatha, which means, if you translate it literally, resting in peace, though it doesn’t have the […]
Chapter 4 of “37 Practices in Four Parts”
Student questions Student: On the title it says, “A summary of how an awakening being behaves.” [Laughter] Is awakening accurate or could it be awakened? How did you decide on that translation? Number two, are the dates accurate? Ken: Are the dates correct? Student: On the front, he would be 124 when he died. Ken: […]
Chapter 4 of “37 Practices of a Bodhisattva”
Student questions on the text Ken: But in our culture where we don’t have this same worldview, the same cosmology, we’re more likely—and I think it is more appropriate for us—to look at what we’re calling inner interpretations of this text rather than the outer. I don’t mean to dismiss the outer, but I want […]
Chapter 4 of “Power and Presence”
Powerlessness Ken: Here we are back again. You’re getting hit with a lot today, but I think that’s okay. More this afternoon. You can digest it all this evening. First off, any questions coming out of our work earlier this afternoon? Sophie. Sophie: I was just curious about this whole notion of power because when […]
Chapter 4 of “Chö: Cutting Through Demonic Obsessions”
The three levels of chö Ken: Saraha, one of the great Indian masters about the third century—I like his version. Nagarjuna said the same thing, but not quite as elegantly as Saraha. Saraha said, “People who believe in reality are stupid like cows, but people who believe in emptiness are even stupider.” It’s actually incurable […]
Chapter 4 of “The Jewel in the Lotus”
Broken compassion Note: Students were not recorded. Ken: Okay. Any questions to start with? We’ve been doing this practice for a little while now, being awakened compassion. Any questions? [Unrecorded] You said it, not me. Codependence, and inappropriate boundaries, and being taken advantage of, and being someone’s doormat, are all expressions of broken compassion. So […]
Chapter 3 of “Monsters under the Bed”
Seeing through the eyes of the monster after it eats you Ken: One day a samurai paid a visit to a Zen teacher and said, “I face death on the battlefield every time I go out. Please teach me about heaven and hell.” And the the Zen master looked at him and said, “Why would […]
Chapter 3 of “Four Immeasurables”
Loving-kindness: opening to your life Ken: So, this is our third class in this series of six on the four immeasurables. I think we’ll begin following basically the same format that we did last time. What was your experience with loving-kindness? That’s what you were working on last week, wasn’t it? Anybody have any insights, […]
