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Meditation: Lovingly Knowing Mind's Patterns

Greetings, friends. Greetings, and welcome.

Today we are going to continue our exploration—practice first, and then our exploration of this profound teaching of karma in our practice, in our daily life, in our understanding, and experientially. Not as a concept, not as fate, not as destiny that's been passed down magically, inexplicably from some unknown past life, but as an empowerment, as a way that we can shape and form who we are.

I'm going to start recording here one moment. There, okay. Technicalities out of the way. Let's start sitting together, and I'll say more.

I'd like to invite you to arrive in your seat, in this moment in time. Here. Here.

Inviting awareness to be bright and expansive. Not as something you do—awareness is always on, we don't 'do' awareness—but as if you're landing, you're sitting, you're resting in knowing of what is here already.

Aware, knowing your intention in this moment. Why am I here?

Aware of this body. Awareness infusing the body, all the nooks and crannies. And if and when the awareness knows sensations of tightness or holding, it engages with the intention to release, to relax, to let go. Knowing that a relaxed body allows for a relaxed, spacious mind.

Letting there be bright awareness of the breath being received in the abdomen. Calming, soothing, settling, stabilizing, connecting, and rooting us to the earth.

What kind of intention is operating in this moment? What kind of intending for the actions in the mind and heart? And what kinds of actions of the mind and heart are actually being performed? Remember, thoughts are actions of the mind.

And if we realize that the intentions or actions of the mind in this moment are not what we really would like to create for this being who is me—what we want to create, form, make, form formations—our only chance is through awareness, through mindfulness. To know, to understand, to see, and pause. And make a new choice, a choice that can shift and change this karma.

Each moment, with each action internally and externally—actions of thought, speech (which may be internal speech), the body—we form ourselves, we shape ourselves, we fashion ourselves in the future moments to come.

If in this moment challenges are arising, can we be kind? Can we choose to be kind? Can we choose to be accepting, allowing, non-reactive, spacious, gentle, loving? Loving to this body, to this heart, to this mind. And with whatever arises, gentle, gentle. Spacious awareness. Loving, releasing. Forming wholesome formations, one breath at a time.

If you find your mind has wandered, perhaps thinking about thoughts you don't really want to be thinking about—not in this moment, not period—becoming aware, and maybe dropping in the question so lovingly to yourself: "Oh sweetheart, sweetheart, what are you creating? What ossified patterns of the mind are you creating in this moment, darling?" Let go, sweetheart, let go. Let's create wholesome moments, wholesome formations.

If you want to create patterns of kindness, then be kind. If you want to form formations, patterns of wisdom, then be aware. Not sleepwalk in this moment.

As we approach the end of the sitting, can we connect with an intention for kindness and generosity towards ourselves? Without judgment for whatever arose or did not arise, we've done our best given the causes and conditions passed down previously. Can we create wholesome karma in this moment by being kind to ourselves, appreciative? "Thank you. Thank you, dear me, for showing up, for practicing in sangha^[1], doing your best."

And really connecting with this mental act of kindness and generosity, relishing it. "So many other things I could be doing with my life, and this is what I chose to do with my time. Yay!" Appreciation, not attachment to outcome.

And offering with generosity, again connecting with generosity, our collective practice, our collective goodness, sharing it with all beings everywhere. All beings in all circumstances around this world: those who are well and happy, those who are in a neutral state, and those who are suffering, grieving in war zones, etc., or facing any other challenges. Offering our goodness, our care, to all beings everywhere, including ourselves.

May all beings everywhere be safe, happy, healthy, and have ease. May all beings everywhere be free, including ourselves.

Thank you for your practice.

Karma (2/5): Awareness Is Key to Shifting Karma

Greetings, friends. Friends from around the world, this blue planet. Hi. Good moment, good day. Lovely to be with you, if not in space, then in time. And if not in time, if you're listening later, in heart space—connecting in the heart space of the dharma together.

Today I would like to continue to share some reflections about karma. I've been weaving some of the reflections into the guided meditation so that we can experiment, we can experientially explore this teaching of karma. Again, not as this magical thing that has been passed down to us, but as an empowerment, as the way we create, we fashion ourselves in the next moment—our future selves.

This teaching of karma, as I mentioned yesterday—just a very quick review to remember, because repetition helps us remember—has three intertwined parts of the same thing. Karma being the decision to do something, number one. Number two, the action that carries it out, and the action can be the action of the mind, of speech, and actions of the body, and these could be internal or external. And the third aspect of karma is what is made, what we make, the result of the action. So, the intention, the action itself, and what is made.

And what I mentioned yesterday is that in Pali^[2], this expression—"one forms formations, one constructs constructions, one fabricates fabrications"—is so powerful. And to think of this again in the terms of a potter; in the suttas^[3], karma is likened to a potter creating a piece of pottery. There are acts of creation, intending to create, to form, to shape, and then what is made, the pot, that then is an ossified karmic relic. I love how Andrew Olendzki^[4] puts this: "ossified karmic relic" that's put in the kiln and we take forward. It's become who we are.

So what I'd like to add today—well, many things, but we'll see how much time we get—is another way, perhaps, to consider this idea of karma. In every moment, of course, we are shaping, we are fashioning ourselves. For those who have young ones or have had younger ones in your lives—children, cousins, nephews, nieces—when you care for them, you want to send them into the future with the best possible gifts.

Imagine your future self as your child, as your most important, precious child. This being who is you, whose care is entrusted to you first and foremost. You need to care for this being, for their well-being, for their body: brush their teeth, comb their hair, wash their body, feed them, take them to the doctor^[5], really take care of this being. Wouldn't you want to send the future version of yourself into the future equipped? Give them the best gifts possible? Of course. And the way to do that is what we make. What we make for this being who is ourselves. What sandwiches do we pack in their lunchbox and send into the future? Is it junk food or is it wholesomeness? What kind of food for the heart do we pack for ourselves, for our future selves? And that's in the teaching of karma: what do we make? What do we fashion in this moment with our intentions, with our actions—again, actions of the mind, speech (internally, externally), actions of the body in the world? And the relic, what is made, what is created, that's sent forward.

Western thought is often concerned about what we do in the world with our actions to bring about external changes that we intend, whereas Buddhist thought is equally concerned with how we affect our own well-being with the decisions we make, how we are changed by our own actions. And this is profound. How are we changed by our own actions? Karma is mainly about how we shape ourselves and how we are shaped by ourselves through our actions moving into the future. Neuroscience these days, of course, tells us that our brain is plastic, our self is plastic, and just as the brain shapes the mind, the mind shapes the brain. Our intentions are conditioned by our dispositions, and our dispositions in turn condition our intentions. Our actions are merely a go-between for our intentions and our dispositions.

I love this part especially. I love how Andrew Olendzki puts this, that our actions are really the go-between, because our dispositions condition our intentions, and our intentions condition our dispositions. They both, the intentions and dispositions, are conditioned by each other, by past dispositions and intentions.

You might think, "Wow, okay, how do I change this? How do I change this in the middle of this?" And that's where awareness, mindfulness, becomes key. Every moment of awareness, we have the chance, we have the option, we have the privilege to shift, to change.

So if you find yourself—as I was suggesting in the guided meditation—if you find yourself thinking, "Wait, sweetheart, do you really want to be thinking about this?" You become aware. "Do you really want to be creating this kind of creation, form this kind of formation?" Because it will become the tendency of your mind, the tendency of your brain, the tendency of your heart—use whatever frame you want. This will become your tendency. The more you think about this, the more you are this way, it will become more and more. So, sweetheart—again, not with anger, because you don't want to be creating formations of anger, formations of hatred for yourself. You want to be creating formations of kindness. "Oh sweetheart, do we really want to be thinking about this right now? Is this really good for us, for our future self or our present?^[6]" No, it isn't. "All right, darling, let's change. Let's shift. Let's turn the karmic formations. Let's create some wholesome karmic formations."

The same applies not just in meditation but in daily life, in the midst of whatever is happening. Say, in a moment of anger, whether it's acted out and verbalized, or unexpressed and seething, we're layering a thin layer of anger, and a more angry disposition is being created, ossified. A moment of kindness—a moment of kindness to ourselves in that moment of, "Sweetheart, you're having a hard time"—a moment of kindness to ourselves or a moment of kindness to others can shift that disposition. And little by little, we can reshape our character. We can reshape our very own character.

This teaching is so beautiful, and so profound, so empowering. The opposite of what Westerners usually take it to be. It's so empowering. There's more to say, but it's time. I'd like to thank you for your practice, for planting wholesome seeds of kindness. Oh, and I'll also say, last night as I taught Happier, I also brought in karma with mettā^[7], planting seeds of kindness, mettā as shifting karmic formation. Those who would like more teaching around this can find Happier on the IMC channel and listen to it.

Thank you so much for your practice. Be well. And maybe as an invitation for today, when you become aware, please be aware in the midst of when you don't want to be doing something or thinking something: "Oh sweetheart, do you really want to make this the pattern of your mind? Is this really what you want to send yourself into the future with, sweetheart?" And shift with kindness, not with judgment, not with hatred. That's important. With kindness. Thank you all. Thank you for your care, for your attention. See you tomorrow.