Unfettered Mind

Discussion with participants on the origin of attention; thoughts, mind, and freedom from reacting; inference, intellect, and experience; discomfort and the death of duality; mirror, mirror on the wall; the importance of stability.

The problems of idealizing; seeing the mirror; awareness; commentary on Aspirations for Mahamudra.

Satori, enlightenment, and laypeople; parallels with martial arts training; what compassion is really like; commentary on Aspirations for Mahamudra.

The utility of deception; faith, trust, and not knowing your reaction to what you haven't experienced; the union of seeing and resting (guided meditation); what it the teacher in one's experience; questions from participants.

Common mistakes and pitfalls regarding emptiness and Mahamudra (believing emptiness is a thing, attempting to offer explanations to those who do not practice, etc.); a reading of One Sentence Pith Instruction and Recognizing Mind as Guru; integrating practice and life; questions from participants.

Retreat’s daily schedule and routine; subject matter for retreat (Buddhahood Without Meditation); sitting with questions rather than trying to answer them intellectually; the challenge of doing nothing; the importance of silence; resting & seeing.

Participants’ accounts of what is like to do nothing; overview of Dzogchen from the perspective of outlook/view, practice, and behavior; willingness, know-how, and capacity and related tools for Dzogchen practice.

Participants’ accounts on using tools described in previous sessions; discussion on guru yoga, negative emotions, and faith; instruction and questions on sky gazing; instruction, discussion, and experiences on using the breath and questions to learn how to rest in the view.

The hunter and the three bears; how different sets of instructions point to the same thing (Asanga, mind-training, mahamudra, dzogchen); forms of knowing; letting direct experience soak in to your core; the sense of self and ant colonies; the nature of experience; form and emptiness.

Question regarding translation of Dogen’s Genjokoan; If objects and experiences are empty and there is no self, why does it matter what I do?; the struggle between patterns and ethical/virtuous behavior; Buddhist ethics as a way to create the conditions for a quiet mind; what would life be like if you could experience fully whatever arises?; intention; meeting what is there; what is buddha nature?

Seeking ‘the experience’; the illusion of choice; recognizing what is arising and resting; useless and useful planning; resting as a means, not an end; the nature of mind; working with resistance; meditation instruction; emptiness and awareness; what is meant by ‘May I know that mind has no beginning.’

The story of tea; commentary and questions on The Wisdom Experience of Ever-Present Good and understanding apparent contradictions in the text.

Conduct and behavior as ways to both set conditions for practice and enhance / deepen practice; the story of Mrs. Foo; applying the principle of the middle way; tightening up your life and keeping your intention clear; two lists of metaphors for conduct and behavior; engaging in a chosen behavior so as to experience in yourself the related reactive emotions.

Historical tendency of practice being both separate from and more important than other daily activities; stabilization of attention (with and without activity) as the only type of practice; why incorporating practice into your life doesn’t work; why incorporating your life into your practice does work; using the primary practice continually; including your whole life in everything you do; the only thing you can know is what you experience; a knowing that is immediate and direct but not conceptual; find appropriate response through the four steps of standing up; open to both poles of a reactive pattern to step out of it.

A reading of the heart sutra; discussion of the sutra's purpose; commentary on what is meant by 'be a lamp unto my feet'; how the title of this talk, Anything Is Possible, relates to the heart sutra; the relationship between form and emptiness; karma and memory; practice as building a capacity to experience in attention whatever arises.