Chapter 3 of “Living Awake: Surviving Stressful Times”
Review of translating principles into strategies Ken: One of the things that I want to continue to underline is the translation of principles into strategies. I’ve started work on a book about translation, which actually started two years ago but then sat on the shelf for two years. Translation is a very interesting process. One […]
Chapter 3 of “Living Awake: Who Am I?”
The problem of forgetting Ken: This is the third installment in the program, Who Am I? What was it like eating lunch with this tension between the story and no one? Student: I forgot to do it. Ken: You forgot to do it. Just a second. How many forgot to do it? Okay, now this […]
Chapter 3 of “Buddhahood Without Meditation”
Experiences with the primary practice Ken: I’d like to start off this evening with any questions or experiences you had with the tools that I presented to you yesterday. Yes? Student: I really appreciate you adding a dimension of the primary practice of opening your heart to the experience. It adds a whole other dimension […]
Chapter 3 of “There Is No Enemy”
I made it myself Ken: There is No Enemy, October 22nd. Afternoon session. Here we are see. You’d think that living in LA I’d know to do that all the time now but … So, one day Nasrudin was sitting in the tea shop with his buddies and they were having a philosophical discussion which […]
Chapter 3 of “Stalking Death”
A sense of just experiencing Ken: Yesterday we talked about change. Everything changes; nothing stays the same. And in your meditation, we talked about change in the world of sensory experience, change in the experience of the body, and change in our sense of ourselves, our relationship with the world, our philosophies, views, values and […]
Chapter 3 of “Meditating on the Four Immeasurables”
Compassion Ken: We’re going to spend a month on compassion. So we’ll be doing this for four weeks. And part of the reason for that is that in the end, compassion is what all spiritual practice is oriented towards. And the presence or absence of compassion defines whether there is spiritual understanding or not. One […]
Chapter 3 of “A Trackless Path II”
The evolution of spiritual practice Ken: April 5th, Thursday. [Laughter]. August, August 5th, August 5th. What am I doing in April? August 5th, Thursday, 2010. That is the right year, isn’t it? Yeah. Okay, and this is A Trackless Path 2, the first full day, really. Okay. So, these sessions we have here in the […]
Chapter 3 of “Releasing Emotional Reactions”
Being with difficult feelings Ken: This afternoon, for the most part, what I’d like to do is to hear some of your experience with this technique. And, using your experience as a basis, expand and offer refinements to this practice. As I said this morning, we all start off with gaining ideas. But as our […]
Chapter 3 of “Karma: Awakening From Belief”
Doubt even your teachers Ken: We’re the ones that don’t exist. While we’re waiting for people to gather, one of the things that I enjoy very much is just responding to questions. So let’s be a little informal here and anything that’s come up through your practice this morning, or through anything that’s been said, […]
Chapter 3 of “Practicing the Diamond Sutra”
Introduction and opening prayers Ken: Let’s begin with the prayers. Let my heart turn to practice.Let practice become a path.Let this path dissolve confusion.Let confusion become wisdom. Knowing there is nothing outside or inside to free me, I take sanctuary in buddha.Knowing that experience and awareness are not two, I take sanctuary in dharma.Knowing there […]
Chapter 3 of “Finding the Way”
Student feedback Ken: A brief debrief. What was your experience with this? Let’s hear it from the people who were asking the questions. We started off with the question, “What are you doing here?” And then the person who was going to continue asking questions had the four options: “What leads you to say that?” […]
Chapter 3 of “The Unfettered Mind”
Three Sufi stories Ken: There were once two mystics talking. The first one said, “I had a disciple once. In spite of all my efforts, I was unable to illuminate him.” “What did you do?” asked the other. “I made him repeat mantras, visualize symbols, dress in special garb, do quite elaborate complex exercises, inhale […]
Chapter 3 of “Guru, Deity, Protector”
Confidence Ken: If there aren’t any questions, then I’ll tell stories. Yes? Student: Could you go over the faith of confidence again? Ken: Okay. Essentially, confident faith is described as the feeling of solidity that comes from a rational appreciation. That is, you study the stuff, you think about it—it makes sense. So you say, […]
Chapter 3 of “37 Practices in Four Parts”
Meditating in good times and bad Ken: Verse four, or practice number four. You will separate from long-time friends and relatives. You’ll leave behind the wealth you worked to build up. The guest, your consciousness, will move from the inn, your body. Forget the conventional concerns—this is the practice of a bodhisattva. 37 Practices of […]
Chapter 3 of “Being Mahamudra”
Observing or listening? Ken: I want to do three things. I’m not sure that we’ll get all of them done. The first thing is very directly related to practice and is going to be very important in the days ahead. In some psychological and some spiritual and even some Buddhist traditions, there is the notion […]
