Hello and welcome.
Let's get started by getting into the meditation position,
Whatever that means for you,
Whether it means that you're going to be sitting in the cross-legged position,
On a cushion,
On a chair,
Standing,
Laying down,
Or perhaps even walking.
Whatever it is,
Take a moment,
Find your balance,
Find your center,
And bring the awareness forward.
We will have a silent meditation in a bit,
But for now,
Let's contemplate something.
Let's talk about determination.
In our practice,
If we are wanting to bring the things and experience we have on the cushion into our daily life,
We must have the determination to practice daily with our whole heart,
Mind,
And being.
Determination is actually the eighth mental perfection that helps all the other perfections grow with steadiness and ease.
If we can develop and practice a real sense of determination in our meditation,
Then no matter what ails us,
We will eventually be able to conquer it.
It's the great thing about determination.
It's like water against rock or steel even.
It will eventually cut through it.
Determination helps us in fulfilling all of those other mental perfections.
Its characteristic is an unwavering decision to practice meditation and practice with the Dharma.
Determination's function is to overcome hesitation,
And the temptations that arise within us,
Whether that be to not practice,
Only have practice or practice,
But with no devotion behind it.
And its manifestation is unfaltering persistence in the task of going from this point that we now find ourselves in on the meditation cushion and in meditation to the next point wherever we find ourselves in our practice.
When the Buddha placed his back against the trunk of the Bodhi tree,
He made a declaration that we can use to remind ourselves of the importance of the task at hand,
And how reverently we should devote ourselves to attaining awakening in this lifetime.
Buddha said,
Let just the blood and flesh of this body dry up and let the skin and sinews fall from my bones.
I will not leave this seat before attaining that absolute supreme enlightenment.
He was so determined he invincibly seated himself there,
From which probably not even a hundred earthquakes could have wavered him.
It's not that we need to have this kind of great devotion,
But if you do,
Now a little more power to you.
In our practice of meditation and practice with the Buddha Dharma,
When we feel we have reached a limit or plateau,
I think this is when our true effort of determination begins to kick in.
Just when you despair and think it is impossible to go any further,
You will become apathetic,
Or if you have the necessary determination and effort,
You continue to practice with an unyielding spirit,
And turn towards wisdom and insight.
Many times I think it is really significant in our awakening,
And it is decided by these sort of single sittings where real effort and determination is made,
That we make our way closer to awakening.
Many people think that to become awakened is boom,
And that's it.
But they forget that after Buddha's awakening,
He lived another 50 years,
Where he continued day after day to work with the Dharma,
And to be a part of his practice.
I have always enjoyed the way Zen master Dogen put it,
That this everyday tea and rice is enlightenment itself,
That our practice of day-to-day meditation is enlightenment itself,
And is the encompassing nature of Buddhahood,
And is Buddha nature itself,
Because we are sitting where a Buddha is sitting.
So,
Let us sit with this,
And find the spirit of determination that I know is within us.
The spirit of determination,
That no matter what thoughts or feelings arise,
We will notice them,
And we will return to the breath,
Or to the body,
Or to whatever focus you choose.
A bell will ring at the end of this practice,
Followed by a short statement.
You can continue to meditate after the bell if you wish.
Let us begin.
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