Sokukoji Buddhist Temple Monastery

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“Whatever is seen with the eyes is vividly unreal in emptiness, yet there is still form.” This line is from the Sadhana of Mahamudra, which we chant at every new moon. If you see this, you will see that what’s fundamentally important is not threatened. This is a dream. How do we bring this about in our life stream? The more difficult this gets, the more it is incumbent upon us to practice; instead of trying to fix the confusion, just be with whatever arises in the mind stream. https://youtu.be/mQLMI1UoUuE

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The world reminds us that we’re not important all the time. You can make use of this understanding by looking at the self-centeredness that we continually fluff up while ignoring the complete spaciousness of our minds as they are. When any kind of fear or sensitivity that hasn’t been looked into gets triggered, we go to war with it or try to blame somebody. This creates the illusion that we are important. It could even show up as humility. Just look at this, without looking for credentials. https://youtu.be/vu9O8QIjllA

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The first of the four noble truths is the truth of sufffering (dukkha). Why are we suffering? Because we want something else; this is the second noble truth. Trying to be happy and trying not to suffer can tie up your whole life and it will persist if you try to stop it. There’s no particular way to deal with this other than to just see what it is through the simple practice of shikantaza or zazen. Even a basic mindfulness practice can be helpful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O09SZM69VO0&t

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Are you ready to step into this kind of training, working with your opinions and preconceptions, your judgements, your beliefs, your unexamined conclusions? If you need to step on the path, it will be obvious to you. It will probably be necessary to meet someone who sees what this is and can teach it out of their realization, out of what they see. If you are ready to be a student, not just someone who collects information and knows things, you become liberated from what you know. It’s an incredibly vast and open territory, where there’s no one there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXFfAR-d7-A

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Quite often we hear this from others: “Just let go.” The very nature of self-centeredness is to manipulate or take control of something. It just reinforces the self-centeredness. You don’t have to let go. Rather, see the way in which you hang on. It’s about looking at that area that’s not very pleasant to observe. In Trungpa Rinpoche’s words, be genuine, get to know yourself, and make friends with yourself. Everything is basically good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZL6CVKCboA

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Whatever shows up in the mind stream, don’t second it, agree with it or go along with it. The added commentary tends to validate and personalize it as somebody who feels this way. That “me” feeling is unreal – it’s a collection of ideas and opinions, hope and fear. Don’t try to fix it, and don’t set up standards to try to protect yourself from the open dimension in which everything is arising without reference points. If it’s coming your way, just receive it and allow the consciousness to be flooded with that feeling. This approach is the beginning of humility. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf2Ofw33Hbw

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We constantly do things we don’t have to do because of paranoia about what might happen. The idea is to put a little bit of tension on our impulsiveness to act. When you do that, there is much more clarity around that which you are doing and what you actually have to do. Hopefully, it’s to train your mind. Don’t go in any direction unless there’s some kind of understanding. Less is better. This is why it’s so important to receive what’s happening. https://youtu.be/ZNWYTNeYefI

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