AudioDharma: Gil Fronsdal's most recent dharma talks

Gil Fronsdal: Jun 4-11: Gil Fronsdal & Nikki Mirghafori (2017-06-04)

Gil Fronsdal: Jun 4-11: Gil Fronsdal & Nikki Mirghafori (2017-06-04)

Gil Fronsdal: Jun 4-11: Gil Fronsdal & Nikki Mirghafori (2017-06-04)

Gil Fronsdal: Recorded: 2017-06-04

Gil Fronsdal: In our practice when there is a lot going on inside of us -- physical, emotional, mental -- it's helpful to have a reference point of stillness: not to stop the movement, but to allow everything to settle down and come to rest. Just seeing the mind clearly can allow it to settle. Part of how this works is when we start not identifying so strongly with the movement. Often, we’re reacting to it, or we identify with it and latch on to it. But if instead we focus on the stillness that is here, it helps us to dis-identify, to unlatch ourselves from this world of movement and activity. And when we unlatch ourselves, the mind has a chance to settle down and quiet. As you sit, you might look for some sense of stillness that you can find. It can be as simple as the body not moving. Or it could be a still place inside that feels like a grounded post, or a place where you are centered. And you start identifying with the stillness and start resting there, more than in the movement. This can also be done in walking meditation.

Gil Fronsdal: Meditation is like when you sit yourself down on a boulder in the middle of a river, and you just let the river flow by. One of the values of this instruction is not to get involved with anything, not to pick it up, not to resist, not to think about it – just letting the river flow. It’s just phenomena flowing through, and we are still, allowing everything to flow. But we get pulled into that world rather than just staying in our place and watching everything washing through. Suzuki Roshi was asked, “Where do you keep you mind in meditation?” and he said to keep the mind in the mudra, in the hands in this oval shape. And that becomes a place of stillness and stability. Having a reference place in the body, or in the gentle movements of breathing, can be a place to keep the mind. And so meditation can become very simple – the simpler the better. Just let everything flow through; don’t get involved. Thoughts, feelings, sounds, sensations, just coming through, as you sit on your boulder in the middle of the river.

Gil Fronsdal: Recorded: 2017-05-29

Gil Fronsdal: Recorded: 2017-05-29

Gil Fronsdal: Recorded: 2017-05-24

Gil Fronsdal: One of the first tasks in this practice is to arrive in the present moment. But the mind is busy, spinning out, concerned with the there and then rather than the here and now. In order to arrive in the present, we first need to understand all the ways in which we keep traveling and do not arrive. 'Saṃsāra" literally means wandering. We need to see how fear, anxiety, ill will, doubt, etc. keep us traveling on and on. It can be compassionate to turn towards what's happening now, and this is the movement towards arriving *here* -- settled, composed, grounded. It is exquisite to harness the mind, and far more satisfying than getting back onto the thought-train. We can be more complete when we are fully here and not blinded by our thoughts. It is a radical thing, and really satisfying, to learn to be *here.*

Gil Fronsdal: To arrive in the present moment, we need to understand all the ways in which we do not arrive, but are wandering. We need to see how fear, anxiety, ill will, and doubt drive us to travel on and on. <br><br>Additional key words: saṃsāra; mind; busy; spinning; here and now; there and then; awareness; thoughts; composed; present; grounded; caught; thought-train; attention; settle; let go; welcoming; desires; fueling; preoccupations; ill will; hatred; resentment; distraction; compassion; recognizing; past; future; anxiety; doubt; open; relaxed; blinders; radical; satisfying.

Gil Fronsdal: Recorded: 2017-05-24

Gil Fronsdal: An analogy for the mind: when you drop a marble into a big bowl, it will roll around and eventually come to rest at the bottom – unless you push it and it keeps going. But if you stop pushing the marble, it comes to rest. If we left our mind alone, it would come to rest. Sometimes the very thing to put the mind to rest is to stop pushing the marble. We have to learn to let it go. If you keep letting go, any burden will eventually go away. As long as we are engaged with thinking or trying to fix things, our thoughts and burdens will keep spinning around. But if we can really arrive in the present moment, we have access to a deep sense of well-being and goodness. As you practice today, see if you can let your marbles settle. It's more *not* doing than it is doing: doing less; letting things be.

Gil Fronsdal: The Ten Entanglements, viewed from personal and societal viewpoints

Gil Fronsdal: The Buddha represents a concentration of goodness for each society that encounters him, which is represented through that society's stories. Opening our hearts to what's really here. This includes social issues such as poverty, oppression, and war as well as the heavenly messenges of old age, sickness, and death. To address all of this can bring happiness and freedom to our hearts, personal and collective.