Mar 31 2016 95 mins 10
Alan invites us to move day by day through each of the Four Immeasurables in sequence and we´ve already started with Loving Kindness. Alan´s interpretation is that this is a good place to start, especially nowadays, when religion is completely gone from popular media, as if the secular world is the only reality. It is very easy to lose sight of what could be, of possibilities, and this may be very depressing. But reality is comprised of actuality and also of possibilities. Loving Kindness acknowledges what is already taking place but the aspiration here is for what could be for oneself, for others, for all sentient beings. But as we envision greater well-being, freedom from all suffering for all sentient beings, we may start to love this practice too much, become unbalanced and addicted to this “metta narcotic”. We can even lose grounding, lose touch with actuality. Then compassion brings us back - we start paying close attention to the suffering which is already actual, everywhere. The meditation on compassion starts toward ourselves and then we let the aspiration flow outwards .We can practice toward anyone that comes to mind, look into their eyes in our meditation and say “may you be free from mental afflictions you´re suffering from”.
Alan returns to the chapter on Mahayana Refuge and bodhicitta. But before that, he started recalling a story about Khunu Lama Rinpoche, one of the great beings of 20th century whose primary practice was the cultivation of bodhicitta. In a public setting, when the Dalai Lama first saw him and knowing who he was, he walked up to him and offered three prostrations. So on the one hand, we cultivate compassion, Karuna Bhavana, from the perspective of a sentient being's mind. But on the other hand, from the perspective of primordial consciousness, there is nothing to be cultivated. As Düdjom Lingpa said, when you tap into rigpa, that is ultimate bodhicitta – don´t look elsewhere for relative bodhicitta. We cultivate it to unveil the inner resources of compassion that were already there.
Regarding refuge, if one takes the vows to heart, offering their meals, all possessions, all to Dharma, until enlightenment, releasing all attachment, that can be revolutionary.
Alan discussed the eight benefits of going for refuge and then we finally moved to the generation of Mahayana. He first explained that Hinayana and Mahayana aspirations for enlightenment are not related to a specific school but to the motivation. If your intention is all about you becoming free, this will obstruct the emergence of an aspiration that embraces all sentient beings into your motivation and it prevents you from achieving ultimate enlightenment. So if you want to become a buddha, you will have to generate the Mahayana aspiration.
These first chapter on Refuge and Bodhicitta is maybe the most important to all of us, since cultivating Bodhicitta is a way of really transform our lives into Dharma.
Meditation is on the cultivation of Compassion.
Meditation starts at: 27:47
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Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Alan returns to the chapter on Mahayana Refuge and bodhicitta. But before that, he started recalling a story about Khunu Lama Rinpoche, one of the great beings of 20th century whose primary practice was the cultivation of bodhicitta. In a public setting, when the Dalai Lama first saw him and knowing who he was, he walked up to him and offered three prostrations. So on the one hand, we cultivate compassion, Karuna Bhavana, from the perspective of a sentient being's mind. But on the other hand, from the perspective of primordial consciousness, there is nothing to be cultivated. As Düdjom Lingpa said, when you tap into rigpa, that is ultimate bodhicitta – don´t look elsewhere for relative bodhicitta. We cultivate it to unveil the inner resources of compassion that were already there.
Regarding refuge, if one takes the vows to heart, offering their meals, all possessions, all to Dharma, until enlightenment, releasing all attachment, that can be revolutionary.
Alan discussed the eight benefits of going for refuge and then we finally moved to the generation of Mahayana. He first explained that Hinayana and Mahayana aspirations for enlightenment are not related to a specific school but to the motivation. If your intention is all about you becoming free, this will obstruct the emergence of an aspiration that embraces all sentient beings into your motivation and it prevents you from achieving ultimate enlightenment. So if you want to become a buddha, you will have to generate the Mahayana aspiration.
These first chapter on Refuge and Bodhicitta is maybe the most important to all of us, since cultivating Bodhicitta is a way of really transform our lives into Dharma.
Meditation is on the cultivation of Compassion.
Meditation starts at: 27:47
___
Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
