Planet Dharma - The Launch Pod

A quadriplegic man in the hospital for 25 years sees the spaciousness through which all manifestations can arise, including the mind. Was no longer obsessed with the arisings. --- Part two of the "Why Practice the Paramis?" podcast from Aug. 23, 2013. The "he" referred to at the beginning is "Gerry," who was laid up in the hospital for 8 weeks unable to move. This talk was originally given on Dec. 13, 2007, in Kyoto, Japan. podcast.clearskycenter.org http://www.planetdharma.com/

Spiritual unfoldment talk transcript: "The important message that I want to convey tonight is: in order for you to move to your next understanding, your basic position about how you position yourself in relationship to your world has to go, has to change...in order for you to make the next step of unfoldment. It can't not go to the next level. And if you watch teachers, they do it throughout their lives. I watched it with my teacher. He reinvented himself, not in terms of just giving classes -- that's what he did, that was his job -- but in the way he imaged himself. Every decade it would go through a whole new turn -- a whole new person there if you had the eyes to see it. Outwardly it didn't look all that different. But he went from a stern Theravadin into a yahoo-ey Vajrayana to kind of an interesting epicure, connoisseur-y, renaissance-y kind of guy, to the gentle, relatively gentle, old man. But with each change the appearance changed. So if you look at the pictures of my teacher through the ages it almost looks like 15 different people, even though my experience of him, and I knew him for 30 years... he in some ways struck my ego as kind of the same. But if you look the pictures of him over time: completely different personic imagings. So, for you, (fill in your name), for you to make the next step in your spiritual unfoldment, unless you've already done it just recently, [you need a] complete shift and change in the environment. Why not? If someone else did it, it would be okay, right? 'But not me.' That's the point. Not that you have to do that, but why is it that you can't?" Talk originally given on Oct. 19, 2009 in Kyoto, Japan. Doug Sensei's teacher was the great Canadian lama, Namgyal Rinpoche. http://www.clearskycenter.org

Part two of the "Why Practice the Paramis?" podcast from Aug. 23, 2013. The "he" referred to at the beginning is "Gerry," who was laid up in the hospital for 8 weeks unable to move. This talk was originally given on Dec. 13, 2007, in Kyoto, Japan. http://podcast.clearskycenter.org http://clearskycenter.org/teachings/dharma-podcasts.html

Why? The paramis are qualities of character, or "perfections" of heart and mind that can be developed to support the path of awakening--practices which develop wholesome activity, growth and enlightenment. "It is so clear that the Teaching is the only refuge." --- What are the paramis? They are qualities of character, or "perfections" of heart and mind that can be developed to support the path of awakening--practices which develop wholesome activity, growth and enlightenment. In the Theravadin school of Buddhism there are ten. In Mahayana, six, considered to indicate a sequence of development: generosity, virtue (coolheadedness), patience, energy, concentration, and wisdom. For more on the paramis, search for "A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life" or "paramita." Also, "The Path Of Victory: Discourses on the Paramita" by Namgyal Rinpoche can be ordered from BodhiPublishing.org Transcript: Why practice the paramis? Well, as you remember, if you had a turban and it was in flames, what would you do? You'd put it out... or take it off. And so, to extinguish the flames of craving you must apply the antidote and the antidote is... the paramis. Simple as that. You are in a burning pit of passion, desire, fear, hope, ambition, worry, anxiety, wishful thinking. You know, "When my prince comes, when my house is paid for, when the banks get it all straightened out, everything will be fine." No it won't. Then you'll be 60 and you'll have a heart attack... or something. I talked to Gerry today, you remember Gerry? He's walking now, which is good, very fast [recovery]. They call him the poster boy for rehab. He was supposed to be in rehab for 3 months, but it looks like he'll only be there a month and he can walk with a walker. He said to me today, "You know, Sensei, I hate to say it, but this has been absolutely, totally, fantastically marvelous." Crushed from the knee to the ankle, thinking he'd never walk again, losing both the lower parts of his legs, having them rebuilt. He's walking, it's good, he's walking and he's probably happier than if he didn't obviously, and he wouldn't wish it on anyone, but he said "This was the most amazing experience of my life. It is so clear, it is just so absolutely clear that the Teaching is the only refuge." Because everybody else is busy. What are they doing when you're in hospital for six weeks, or in this case, two months? Moving on. When you're sitting there in the hospital bed for two months, what are they doing? Going to movies, having suppers, talking to their friends, oh, calling you once a week to see how you're doing. Maybe you get an hour of their time and then mostly they're going, "Well, okay, gotta go." He said it brought the teachings so home. The only refuge you have is your state in the moment and the only thing that maintains your state in the moment are the paramis. There is no other place to go except busyness, and the nature of busyness does exactly what? It hides the nature of your clinging. The more busy you are—and I'm not saying you shouldn't be busy; it's fine to be busy—but what I'm saying is that the busier you are the less visible it is—the clinging that's going on. When you're in your hospital room and you got nowhere to go, you're just left with it—the body and you: clinging. And you have to be in the moment. You have to give up... you have to let the passions and the feelings come and go. You have to give them up. You have to surrender them. You have to surrender your impatience with the process. You can't move. He wasn't supposed to move off his back for six weeks. Don't move, they told him. Never mind go for a walk. Don't move. Because your flesh is building...in his leg and if he moves them he disturbs them. Patience isn't something you have any choice about. Coolness—you either do that or you

What are the paramis? They are qualities of character, or "perfections" of heart and mind that can be developed to support the path of awakening--practices which develop wholesome activity, growth and enlightenment. In the Theravadin school of Buddhism there are ten. In Mahayana, six, considered to indicate a sequence of development: generosity, virtue (coolheadedness), patience, energy, concentration, and wisdom. For more on the paramis, search for "A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life" or "paramita." Also, "The Path Of Victory: Discourses on the Paramita" by Namgyal Rinpoche can be ordered from BodhiPublishing.org For a free transcript of this talk, email: podcast[at]clearskycenter.org

Bliss is present because there is no one trying to do anything. Be very clear about this: bliss arises when you no longer try to do anything. --- A one-minute excerpt from a talk by Doug Sensei on the Diamond Sutra held at Zofukuji Temple, Miki, Japan, on Jan. 4, 2013. You'll want to listen to this one over and over again. Transcript: "Bliss is present because there is no one trying to do anything. Be very clear about this: bliss arises when you no longer try to do anything. Whether it's a golf shot, a poem, a recipe, or singing a song in a band. You're not trying anymore. The minute you don't try to do anything, there it is -- the flow, I guess. You only can be a samurai when you realize you are already dead. The minute you put in a defensive motif of any kind it tightens your muscles, it slows down your reaction time, puts you in a sense of separation […] So, recognize awakening is... you already have to see your life as being over. My life is over. MY life is over. There's just life. My preferences and non-preferences are over. There's just options." podcast.clearskycenter.org http://www.planetdharma.com/

A one-minute excerpt from a talk by Doug Sensei on the Diamond Sutra held at Zofukuji Temple, Miki, Japan, on Jan. 4, 2013. You'll want to listen to this one over and over again. http://podcast.clearskycenter.org/ Transcript: "Bliss is present because there is no one trying to do anything. Be very clear about this: bliss arises when you no longer try to do anything. Whether it's a golf shot, a poem, a recipe, or singing a song in a band. You're not trying anymore. The minute you don't try to do anything, there it is -- the flow, I guess. You only can be a samurai when you realize you are already dead. The minute you put in a defensive motif of any kind it tightens your muscles, it slows down your reaction time, puts you in a sense of separation […] So recognize awakening is you already have to see your life as being over. My life is over. MY life is over. There's just life. My preferences and non-preferences are over. There's just options."

"I undertake to train myself to refrain from getting lost in phenomena" -- a suggestion from Sensei for a New Year's -- (from falling asleep in my own stories about me) --- Sensei offers a suggestion on something to do for a New Year's resolution for 2013. Some quotes from Sensei: "Where do you tend to undermine your own unfoldment?" "It's not hard to awaken. You just have to want to do it." Definition of "passer le temps": doing something simply to pass the time podcast.clearskycenter.org http://www.planetdharma.com/

Sensei offers a suggestion on something to do for a New Year's resolution for 2013. Some quotes from Sensei: "Where do you tend to undermine your own unfoldment?" "It's not hard to awaken. You just have to want to do it." Definition of "passer le temps": doing something simply to pass the time

In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state. Full talk: part 4 of 4 --- The metaphor: Traveling west to east, from Nagoya to Shizuoka to Yokohama before reaching Tokyo. "Tokyo" is the awakened state, while any city along the way is still part of conditioned existence. Question: "Could you speak a little bit to Westerners? We seem to have these expectations that our teachers need to prove that they're holy by living in a certain way to determined 'by me.' At least in North America we think you shouldn't smoke, should probably be a vegetarian, etc.…" "The lama in the vajrayana system -- the teacher, the guide -- becomes much more important because you're relying more on the person who's been to 'Tokyo' than you're relying on the map that you have in your hand or that you've been given. You're relying more on the humanity, the interhuman connection of it, more than a program. And in that sense it can be very much faster, because you don't have to stop and look at your map all of the time." How can you tell the charlatan from the real teacher? "You look at the teacher from the point of view, 'Do I feel that he loves me? Do I feel that he has my best interests at heart? And does he act that way?' Not whether I agree with him, whether I like him, whether that's something I approve or disapprove of, but 'Do I feel that he or she is basically on my side?' That's what you can trust." The Aquarian Age is all about 'group guru' -- how to come together as a group, a community. The four stages of the womb journey: 1st stage: Bliss in the womb 2nd stage: Contractions (intermittent) 3rd stage: Birthing (violent); trauma 4th stage: Plop and cut Concepts such as personal mastery, shifting the burden, and creative tension vs. emotional tension are based on the recommended book "The Fifth Discipline" by Peter Senge. podcast.clearskycenter.org http://www.planetdharma.com/

The metaphor: Traveling west to east, from Nagoya to Shizuoka to Yokohama before reaching Tokyo. "Tokyo" is the awakened state, while any city along the way is still part of conditioned existence. Question: "Could you speak a little bit to Westerners? We seem to have these expectations that our teachers need to prove that they're holy by living in a certain way to determined 'by me.' At least in North America we think you shouldn't smoke, should probably be a vegetarian, etc.…" "The lama in the vajrayana system -- the teacher, the guide -- becomes much more important because you're relying more on the person who's been to 'Tokyo' than you're relying on the map that you have in your hand or that you've been given. You're relying more on the humanity, the interhuman connection of it, more than a program. And in that sense it can be very much faster, because you don't have to stop and look at your map all of the time." How can you tell the charlatan from the real teacher? "You look at the teacher from the point of view, 'Do I feel that he loves me? Do I feel that he has my best interests at heart? And does he act that way?' Not whether I agree with him, whether I like him, whether that's something I approve or disapprove of, but 'Do I feel that he or she is basically on my side?' That's what you can trust." The Aquarian Age is all about 'group guru' -- how to come together as a group, a community. The four stages of the womb journey: 1st stage: Bliss in the womb 2nd stage: Contractions (intermittent) 3rd stage: Birthing (violent); trauma 4th stage: Plop and cut Concepts such as personal mastery, shifting the burden, and creative tension vs. emotional tension are based on the recommended book "The Fifth Discipline" by Peter Senge.

In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state. Full talk: part 3 of 4 --- Part three of four on Doug Sensei's "The Map to Awakening" talk The ongoing metaphor:  "Tokyo" = Awakening "The ego is an artificial boundary produced to defend itself against being swallowed up. That the ego is there is not the problem. The problem is that it's there when it doesn't need to be there, which is, fundamentally, 99% of the time." "What is the awakened consciousness? The awakened consciousness is the being who doesn't see themselves as being inherently or 'existentially' separate from anybody or anything else. It says 'you and I are one consciousness. We have work to do. Let's get on with it.' " "In the fundamental essence, humanity is one consciousness laboring under the illusion that it is in separate bodies, and that's the source of all suffering. The source of all personal suffering is seeing yourself as separate." Creative tension vs. emotional tension: from Peter Senge's book "The Fifth Discipline" (pp. 135-142): "The gap that is between our current reality and our vision is called "creative tension." This gap is a source of creative energy…" Summarized well here: http://thecreatingspace.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/creative-tension/ Question from audience: [How are you] supposed to judge what's good and what's bad? Suggested rules/criteria for a broader vision of a "good" or "bad" (moral) act: 1. Is it conducive/does it lead to awakening? (Helping us individually or as a group to move forward?) 2. Would it be okay if everybody on the planet did it/behaved that way/said that? 3. Would it be okay if everybody knew? "But good and bad depends on where the scale is...as your wisdom and compassion deepen, the scale moves. What your parents see as good and bad, though true for them now, may not be true anymore as they move toward awakening. The good and bad may shift and the scale may shift." "What's your personal vision? Is Tokyo on the map or are you happy with Nagoya or Shizuoka? What do you need to do to move your organism a little down the road towards Tokyo? How do you determine what that is, see what that is? And what might that be? What kind of actions or behavior or lifestyle do you think you need to produce that will be more conducive to that journey?" podcast.clearskycenter.org http://www.planetdharma.com/

Part three of four on Doug Sensei's "The Map to Awakening" talk The ongoing metaphor:  "Tokyo" = Awakening "The ego is an artificial boundary produced to defend itself against being swallowed up. That the ego is there is not the problem. The problem is that it's there when it doesn't need to be there, which is, fundamentally, 99% of the time." "What is the awakened consciousness? The awakened consciousness is the being who doesn't see themselves as being inherently or 'existentially' separate from anybody or anything else. It says 'you and I are one consciousness. We have work to do. Let's get on with it.' " "In the fundamental essence, humanity is one consciousness laboring under the illusion that it is in separate bodies, and that's the source of all suffering. The source of all personal suffering is seeing yourself as separate." Creative tension vs. emotional tension: from Peter Senge's book "The Fifth Discipline" (pp. 135-142): "The gap that is between our current reality and our vision is called "creative tension." This gap is a source of creative energy…" Summarized well here: http://thecreatingspace.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/creative-tension/ Question from audience: [How are you] supposed to judge what's good and what's bad? Suggested rules/criteria for a broader vision of a "good" or "bad" (moral) act: 1. Is it conducive/does it lead to awakening? (Helping us individually or as a group to move forward?) 2. Would it be okay if everybody on the planet did it/behaved that way/said that? 3. Would it be okay if everybody knew? "But good and bad depends on where the scale is...as your wisdom and compassion deepen, the scale moves. What your parents see as good and bad, though true for them now, may not be true anymore as they move toward awakening. The good and bad may shift and the scale may shift." "What's your personal vision? Is Tokyo on the map or are you happy with Nagoya or Shizuoka? What do you need to do to move your organism a little down the road towards Tokyo? How do you determine what that is, see what that is? And what might that be? What kind of actions or behavior or lifestyle do you think you need to produce that will be more conducive to that journey?" For more information visit: http://podcast.clearskycenter.org http://www.clearskycenter.org

In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state. Full talk: part 2 of 4 --- "We are one cell each in a body called humanity. And this, as I see it, is where the dispensation and the map for the future lies in terms of the evolution of human consciousness." -- Sensei Doug Duncan For the first part of this talk, listen to the previous Launch Pod podcast, "First, You Need the Map!" (FYI: The geographical progression eastward is Kyoto > Nagoya > Shizuoka > Tokyo) "We want our explorations to be wider, more incorporating than they have been in the past." "Samsara means from the ego point of view our lives go around and around on the same circle." "You're unfolding as a human being, but where you end up is going to be determined by which map and which aspiration you have." "If we want to survive and thrive as a species, and if we want the planet to be habitable, and if we want to be in good places, we have to see the self as other." "You are me and I am you." "We are one cell each in a body called humanity. And this, as I see it, is where the dispensation and the map for the future lies in terms of the evolution of human consciousness." -- Sensei Doug Duncan For the first part of this talk, listen to the previous Launch Pod podcast, "First, You Need the Map!" (FYI: The geographical progression eastward is Kyoto > Nagoya > Shizuoka > Tokyo) "We want our explorations to be wider, more incorporating than they have been in the past." "Samsara means from the ego point of view our lives go around and around on the same circle." "You're unfolding as a human being, but where you end up is going to be determined by which map and which aspiration you have." "If we want to survive and thrive as a species, and if we want the planet to be habitable, and if we want to be in good places, we have to see the self as other." "You are me and I am you." podcast.clearskycenter.org http://www.planetdharma.com/

"We are one cell each in a body called humanity. And this, as I see it, is where the dispensation and the map for the future lies in terms of the evolution of human consciousness." -- Sensei Doug Duncan For the first part of this talk, listen to the previous Launch Pod podcast, "First, You Need the Map!" (FYI: The geographical progression eastward is Kyoto > Nagoya > Shizuoka > Tokyo) "We want our explorations to be wider, more incorporating than they have been in the past." "Samsara means from the ego point of view our lives go around and around on the same circle." "You're unfolding as a human being, but where you end up is going to be determined by which map and which aspiration you have." "If we want to survive and thrive as a species, and if we want the planet to be habitable, and if we want to be in good places, we have to see the self as other." "You are me and I am you."