Sokukoji Buddhist Temple Monastery

https://youtu.be/bC_h6nis7MQ

What makes the self-centeredness, the "me"-feeling stronger, more assertive and pushy, like a dictator? When a negative emotion shows up in your mind stream in all its variations we tend to personalize it. Something triggers us and suddenly we are enraged. There is no direct cause; everything is done with everything else. It’s called dependent origination. What strengthens the ego is commenting on it. This is the petty mind, the embodied negativity of the 7th consciousness or the paranoid mind. This is the part of the consciousness that thinks there is somebody. Just see that your comments are stories. The goal of spirituality is to realize your true nature. You have to transcend that by receiving what is actually happening in your life. https://youtu.be/Ra2Gougv154

Questions from Sangha: How do we appreciate difficulty? Whatever arises in your mind stream needs to be appreciated. It’s hard to appreciate something in its completeness without giving it space. With space it will not solidify. How do we appreciate anger? You might not produce out of the anger if you’re fully receiving the anger you’re having and not trying to get rid of it by blaming someone. Have the willingness, the awareness to just be with what arises. Sit down, hold still and appreciate that you even have a mind and your apparent identity. https://youtu.be/oG8yAP1cF0A

The spiritual path is not about cause and effect; there is no transaction happening here. If you think so, you’ll go in circles. The awareness needs to drive this incredible vehicle of the Buddha’s Dharma. Stop looking to see whether you are making progress and just look at the obstructions. You have to awaken, and to do that you have to look at the walls of the mind, no matter how crazy that may feel or how outrageous that may look. Watch the movement of the mind that’s continually obstructing your buddha-nature. You’re already Buddha. https://youtu.be/E0pfO1fUt40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pzP9FJrwSE

https://youtu.be/DMHSdHNPFp8

What appears is not what it actually is. No matter what you do, you can’t really cover up what is. If you try to cover up what is, it will create problems for you and for others. It is important to observe whatever shows up in front of you as it is. You may need to look through your projections to see fundamentally what is showing up. Initially fixation, fear or a need to be in control causes us to grasp, reject or shut down as a way to find temporary, artificial, and conditional security. The practice of sitting meditation is about seeing through this attempt at security by training your mind. Watch what continues to appear until you see that what you have been looking at is your projection based on fear. https://youtu.be/U4Lq9jnAKDI

Watch what arises in your mind stream without adding your personal little stamp of approval, disapproval or disregard. Don’t meddle with anything that shows up in the mind stream. Be fully responsible, cognizant and aware of how much you add on. Sit down, hold still and watch the movement. Don’t add to it, don’t subtract from it, don’t judge it and don’t distract yourself from it. Watch the movement. Whatever arises has a dependently arisen right to be there. How do you know that? It shows up. It is relative truth and it is partially true. We like to trap it into cause and effect and ignore where it actually came from. What needs to be seen is not what needs to be controlled. Commit yourself to see the truth for yourself. https://youtu.be/1e4Lsw_3T3c

https://youtu.be/E7GNrBXSKqQ

https://youtu.be/7bj1Z1GXM6s

https://youtu.be/-Q8O435WfCY

https://youtu.be/C7G9XI5fcBA

“We know nothing until we know everything” is a line from a poem by 14th century Christian mystic St. Catherine of Sienna. When we realize this all questions go away and you know deeply what ‘this’ is all about. It is possible to approach this realization directly by looking deeply into our mind stream through the sitting practice of shikantaza. Give into the fundamental nature in front of you by looking at how you want something else. https://youtu.be/oS80EKYcjo0

https://youtu.be/DVEqdW-CgMU

https://youtu.be/ySq0fGP2IC0

The ego, the self-centered aspect of the mind, is very intelligent at defending itself. It uses this intelligence to confirm or reify someone who knows everything, someone who understands. Hold still and watch the constant propaganda of the mind. You don’t need to stop or control anything. What’s happening is totally appropriate; it’s utterly, completely perfect because it’s happening out of dependent origination. Who you are transcends personality. https://youtu.be/yssHUNqZcpM

https://youtu.be/li5priPpojs

Chogyam Trungpa’s very direct way of saying this is, “The best relationship is no relationship.” When I say relationships don’t work, I mean we have expectations, transactions, and agreements. We think there is someone here in relation to someone over there. We even have little relationships with ourselves called conflicting emotions. It’s painful. Find out who you are so that going into relationship there is no confusion about anything. If you are a true student, you are no longer evaluating your life or your relationship based on how you feel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkqUfppg2Nc

https://youtu.be/zocFTlZX55o

Craving, desire, or greed for otherness is just a basic way of saying we want something else. This constant inner chatter about ourselves and who we are is substantiating and validating a “someone” who’s doing something. When it ramps up it fuels the believability in the separation and the promise that you can actually get your heart’s desire. Just observe the clutching action of the mind without correcting it. Nothing is broken. The ancient practice of shikantaza is a way observing whatever is arising in your mind as dependent origination. Start now. https://youtu.be/rH3vw9_nTQo