The Power Of Our State Of Mind

Sometimes I don’t realize how powerful my state of mind is. I walk into the house or a meeting with something “on my mind,” and whatever that is constructs my experience. I have no inherent animosity towards the person in the room, but because of a recent frustrating call, for example, frustration infuses the next conversation and can even become its whole form.

Mindfulness disrupts habit energy. When I pay attention to what I’m walking in with, I get to choose whether to bring it along or not. I’d like to think there’s very little mindfulness, and therefore very little choice, happening among most world leaders right now. I realize that’s a kind of benefit-of-the-doubt perspective that not everyone feels is appropriate, and I understand. But as usual, I just can’t help but believe that if true choice were happening, the world would look very different.

Transcript

Hey everybody, It's Judy. This is Wake Up Call 524. How crazy is our world right now? It feels like such a good time to be together, To be taking time to be together, To sit, To study. So thank you for being here. And it feels like a good time to study these verses, These verses of the Dhammapada. So that's what I mentioned last time is that that's what, That's what we'll do here for a while. And we're exploring this possibility as Gil Fronsdale puts it of radical personal change. Or Bhikkhu Bodhi says, Learning how to avoid all evil, Cultivate good and cleanse one's mind. You know, What a great time to be doing that. So the first chapter of the Dhammapada is called either Dichotomies or it's called Pairs. It's probably called other things too. And the reason it's called that is because there's a verse that explains what happens when we live one way and then the next verse explains what happens when we live another way. And so it's kind of one way being paying attention and the other way being not paying attention or one way being waking up and the other way being not waking up. Or one way meaning devoted to practice, Understanding how the mind works, Cultivating the mind and the other not doing that. So the first pair shows up in the first two verses and here's how Gil Fronsdale translates it. He says, It says, He says, It says, All experience is preceded by mind, Led by mind, Made by mind. Speak or act with a corrupted mind and suffering follows as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox. So this is this image of a cart being pulled by an ox and the wagon wheel follows the hoofs of the oxen who are pulling the cart. So corrupted mind and then all experiences preceded by mind, Led by mind, Made by mind, Speak or act with a peaceful mind and happiness follows like a never departing shadow. So going to these verses, But I wanted to make one disclaimer, Which is that, You know, For everything that I've read about the Dhammapada is that it's really intended to be, To be read by each of us close to the heart, You know, And that it's offered for us to understand what we can take away what we can, You know, Find support, Find awakening in what we can. So I'm going to offer what the verses seem to me to be saying how they feel supportive for me. And this may not resonate with you or with your understanding. And so I hope I hope if you feel if I'm off track that you'll take your own path with these verses. Maybe even tell me what you're what you're seeing what your understanding is. And either way, Just, You know, Take what I'm offering with a grain of salt, Or, You know, An ocean of salt, Whatever is the most appropriate. And then the other thing I'll say is that, You know, Before before I started thinking about talking about the Dhammapada here on the wake up call, I thought I should study it with a teacher. And I could not find a class, You know, There's so many classes out there that you can take so much study that you can do, But I couldn't find anything specifically going through all the verses. So since teaching is the other best way I know how to learn, And also a very humbling way to know to learn. Here goes. Okay, So big beginning of the first verse, All experience is preceded by mind led by mind made by mind. So the first part, All experience is preceded by mind. So Joseph Goldstein talks about filters, About the way that we we see the world through whatever filter is present in the mind. And so could be the filter of kindness. And this is in the moment, Although some of us have more sustained filters. And so it might be the filter of kindness or compassion or patience or generosity, Or equanimity, Or it might be the filter of anger or frustration or disgust, Right? I might be exhausted, You know, Writing a memo late at night or reviewing a lease or reading the paper. Or I just might not be sleeping. Well, You know, I might be I might have a moment of horror by what the other side offers up in a courtroom or in a brief, Right? So whatever is is present in the mind sets the precedent for our experience. All experience is preceded by mind. Right? So that's the first piece. And then to all experiences led by mind. So the mind first sets this precedent precedent, Right? We all know about that. And it informs, Or maybe it determines our experience in the moment. And then it leads us forward based on that precedent precedent, Whatever filter is present. So joy, Love, Anger, Frustration, Whatever leads us forward into a filtered experience. So I walk into a meeting, Angry from a previous call, And we all know this. And unexamined, Uncorrected, The anger, First it precedes and then it leads my experience in the meeting. And then three, All experience is made by mind. It's not only that mind through its filters sets the precedent for experience, And then leads into an experience that comports with that filter or those filters. It's also that mind constructs the experience itself. So a group of us arrive at a meeting and mind, My mind, The minds of others, All the minds there construct everything about the meeting together, Its tone, Its duration, Whether there's patience and moving towards one another or impatience and a siloed kind of experience, Which intellectual components come into the meeting and which don't. And this is probably the piece we're most aware of. For example, Somebody shows up unprepared, Right? And so those are the three kind of beginning beginnings of the opening lines. I got to see James and Jane yesterday for lunch. Thank you for lunch again. It was really sweet. And we talked a little about the Dhammapada and James said that he prefers this translation of these opening lines, Which is by Thomas Byram. We are what we think, All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, We make the world. So, I mean, That's it, Right? Very succinct, Very clear. With our thoughts, We make the world. And then the next two verses say how. So speak or act with a corrupted mind, You know, A mind that's defiled, A mind that's filled with the filters of the three poisons, Greed, Hatred, And delusion. And suffering follows as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox. Speak or act with a peaceful mind and suffering follows as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox. Or Byram says it this way, Speak or act with an impure mind and trouble will follow you. Speak and act with a pure mind and happiness will follow you. And I love DeRaw Williams's way of explaining this. They say, I just love this. If the previous moment was clear and clean, We see the results in the next moment. If the previous moment was clear and clean, We see the results in the next moment. That's it. That's it. That's those whole first two, First two verses for me. Okay, And then here's Jack again, Jack Kornfield, Do not merely read these words, But take them in slowly, Savor them, Let them touch your heart's deepest wisdom. Okay, So let's sit. So finding, Finding your posture for this day, This sit and settling in, Finding a posture that you can be still, Come to stillness with for 10 minutes. Just feeling the body sitting or standing or lying down, If you're lying down, Walking, Locate the breath in the body, Just that sense of breathing in and breathing out, Sensation of the body breathing. Probably by now, It's a familiar enough sensation, The sensation of breathing, And we've paid attention to it enough times that it's a familiar, It's a, Yeah, Kind of a a delight, A joy to come to that sensation of breathing is happening. See if that's true for you. And then checking in with the mind, How's the mind doing? What's happening? You know, Not for the purpose of changing anything, But just to see, Just to have that same familiarity. Oh, Ease is present, Peace, Or agitation, Or confusion, Or joy, Or fear, Could be anything. And of course, It's going to change coming and going. But just checking in what's happening in this mind, This mind, Heart. And whatever is present in the mind, Whatever, Whatever is noticed, Can it be noticed with kindness? Can it be noticed with love? Making a decision to honor and to, Yeah, Just be kind to whatever is happening in this mind, Heart right now. If the previous moment was clear and clean, We see the results in the next moment. With our thoughts, We make the world. Thanks, Everybody. It's really great to sit with you. Good to see you all. Take care. Be safe out there.