Lección 1
This Is Hard!
We begin with the obvious: this is hard! The coronavirus crisis seems like a disruption to “business as usual” but it’s really a wake-up call to come out of denial. The path begins with an approach that is simple but profound: being with our experience just as it is, without clinging to fantasies of it being better. Only from this willingness to be present with what is can we begin to turn the heart toward peace and wisdom. In this lesson we learn a basic mindfulness practice called “orientation.
Lección 2
Everything Is Workable
When we meet difficulty with presence, and take everything as part of the path, a powerful clarity arises in the heart. Traditionally called “faith,” in Buddhism this refers to the confidence we feel when we trust our teachers and elders, and the teachings, to guide us. We know everything is workable, and this becomes the path out of hopelessness and despair, and into the heart of practice. In this lesson we explore the Buddhist practice of “going for refuge.”
Lección 3
Pleasure Is The Path
Now we start to engage with the nuts and bolts of practice: how we direct our attention, and how to interrupt the habits of distraction and anxiety. The inspiration that begins our practice develops here into a subtle joy and confidence, but we have to attend carefully to the hindrances. In this lesson we bring together the first two aspects of embodied meditation practice: orientation to our physical space, and allowing our attention to connect with things that are pleasurable, beautiful, interesting, or at least neutral.
Lección 4
Enjoy Your Meditation
Do you treat meditation like a chore, or a self-care discipline, like exercise or cleaning your house? That’s ok, but like any discipline, it only really takes off when you begin to enjoy it. When you want to spend time doing it, not just for the hoped-for results like less anxiety or stress, but because it’s one of the loveliest parts of your day. Learning to make pleasure the heart of meditation practice builds embodiment, relaxation, and concentration, and helps you to both prioritize and deepen in practice. In this lesson we learn an embodied meditation style based in full body breathing.
Lección 5
Fall In Love With Stillness
Enjoying meditation means enjoying stillness. Even if stillness doesn’t come naturally to you, or if turning inward brings up painful memories or emotions, silence and stillness can be learned. Modern cultures have lost the taste for tranquillity, but learning to rest in a state that’s peaceful, sober, and lucid is one of the most nourishing gifts we can give to the body and mind. In this lesson we work directly with the senses, and how to minimize distraction and deepen relaxation.
Lección 6
Love & Happiness
It may seem like happiness is inappropriate in a moment of crisis, but the opposite is true! When we’re calm, resourced, and happy, it’s easy to care for ourselves and others, and happiness is one of the most powerful supports for insight and wisdom. The more we connect with our innate ability to be present and connected to goodness, the more happiness will become a part of everything we do, including how we respond in an emergency. In this lesson we learn a basic form of lovingkindness (mettā) practice.
Lección 7
Mindfulness—Not For The Faint Of Heart!
Meditation and mindfulness are not the first steps in practice, but build on the core skills of emotional stability and orientation to the present moment. Mindfulness in Buddhism is a systematic inquiry into our human experience, and demands courage, confidence, and self-love. It is embodied, emotional, and intimate. As it matures, mindfulness flowers into wisdom, and is the doorway to a radical shift in our way of being in the world. In this lesson we learn a classic Buddhist form of moment to moment mindfulness practice.
Lección 8
It's Like This
The heart of the Buddha’s wisdom teachings, known as Dhamma, is the invitation to understand our human experience directly, through intimate contact with life. Intimacy with life reveals three important aspects of all experience: nothing is permanent or ultimately reliable, and no experience, even of the body, heart, or mind, is stable enough to be called “me, myself, or mine.” These insights challenge the core of our identities, plans, and worldview, but they open into an extraordinary freedom. In this lesson we learn a simple practice for turning mindfulness toward clear seeing.
Lección 9
Enlightenment Means Growing Up
The heart of liberation is a specific kind of letting go. The challenge with letting go is that we can't do it on purpose, any more than we can rush the process of becoming a mature adult. It takes life experience, and the emotional integration of that experience, to truly grow up. As we develop even very basic forms of meditation and mindfulness, we begin to understand the habit of grasping and what it feels like when grasping releases. In this lesson we explore disengaging from addictive sensory stimulation and deepening in the joy of simple presence.
Lección 10
What Wisdom Feels Like
Because the habits we’re working to change have their roots deep in our being, it's important to recognize when they shift, even in subtle ways. Liberation is not an all or nothing experience. Every little release from grasping and fear is a little liberation, and every bit of insight builds on the last. In this lesson we practice recognizing when grasping is absent, and savoring the taste of liberation. And we set the foundations in place for a lifetime of practice, deepening in love and presence for the well-being of everyone in the world.
