open heart

The open heart, dharma in everyday life by Tenzin Palmo

Is a cave necessary in order to be a practioner?

In a bodhisattva’s path their are 6 paramitas in order to attain enlightenment. Everything has to be taken on in the path. What happens on the way is important. Retreat centers often became places where we look to see what we gain; it becomes a game of ego. There is always something else. Trunkpa Rimpoche called it spiritual materialism. The only practice is where we are now. All our neurosis is in this moment. It’s important to address the junk that is happening within us. It’s important not to suppress the shadows, and just to look at the light. We need dharma cause we are sick and its like a medicine. The ego loves to feel sorry for itself. The dharma helps us to look at ourselves in a naked open manner. Helping us became real and more conscious and mindful. When we are doing something we should know what we are doing. Often our mind and bodies are disconnected from each other. Look at the mind 4-5 times an hour. It helps us to step back and watch our mind.

The first task in learning how to mediate is turning the volume down of the mind. Its important to get the mind to be spacious, vividly present. This wakes up the mind from endless dreaming. Thoughts and feelings are just thoughts and feelings, they are not us. It’s important to select skillfully and recognize them. Thoughts are like bubbles, don’t make them real. We need to control our thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness is dhyana to remember or recollect. Habitual tendency is to forget to be present. You have to know what you are doing when you are doing it.

Open the heart

How to be open and sensitive yet exist in this world. It’s important not to create walls around us. Be completely open without solidifying it. Dalai Lama takes in the sorrows and sufferings of the world with his in breath, and breathes out compassion. Keep our hearts open to the pain in the world. At the same time remembering that this sorrow is temporary and there is an intrinsic Buddha nature that is beyond subject object duality. We need wisdom to understand and compassion to deal with the pain of others.

How do we overcome our fears and extend our compassion.
India is a wonderful learning opportunity to keep our hearts open, while looking at the play of samara. We lose people that we love. It’s important to use what’s right in front of us as a source of our practice.

Anger is clear energy, once we understand that we see it as a moment to transform mental defects into energy. Tantra teaches us that the more kleshas that we have the more wisdom we can gain, if we are able to transform the kleshas. Its good to have strong emotions if we know how to deal with them skillfully.

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