Practice & Discipline

This audio is a recapitulation of the second session of the course: INGREDIENTS FOR AWAKENING II. These ingredients are key to our transformation. They are related to our effort to achieve a more peaceful and harmonious existence. In this second session, we will mull over their relevance, concluding with a concentrative meditation.

Transcript

For the rough stone to become a smooth and polished bowl,

A lot of water has to run through it.

The way back home is usually a long way.

You advance bucket by bucket,

Shovel after shovel,

Accumulating moment of consciousness after moment of consciousness,

Until the alchemical furnace reaches a certain temperature and can burn off some of the impurities that blind us.

One is that the effort put into the early stages or into the process itself should be joyful.

Each session will generate its small or large dose of calm.

Take it as a celebration,

As a special and nourishing space.

And the other observation is that during the practice itself there should be no effort in the sense of forcing,

Of contracting,

Of resisting.

The more you clench your fist,

The less water you will contain in your hands.

You have to maintain a relaxed,

Light,

Receptive attitude.

The big mind is in the antipodes of tension.

As an object of concentration,

We will use our breath.

Put your attention on any of the different sensations that your breathing generates in you.

There is nothing to do,

Nothing to achieve.

Simply breathe slowly.

Remember that awareness is applicable at any time of the day,

To any activity.

Learn by practicing.

Become a meditation master.