Activating The Virtuous Cycle: Work On The Cushion

This is a 5-part series showing practitioners how to take contemplative practices off the cushion and integrate them into their daily lives to better embody their inner values. Based on secular Buddhist principles and integral coaching, the Virtuous Cycle Method is a systematic way of transforming destructive emotions and negative mind states to more positive, beneficial ones. This Part II focuses on the first element of the Method - work on the cushion. During this formal practice, the aim is to generate a mind that opposes harmful mental states and cultivate positive or virtuous ones. We do this in a way that involves a meditative investigative process that uses awareness, reflection, analysis, absorption, and antidotes.

Transcript

Welcome,

Friends.

This is part two of a five-part series called The Virtuous Cycle Method,

Mindfulness to Unite Values with Action.

Today,

I'll be discussing the three primary elements of The Virtuous Cycle Method.

Then we'll take a deeper dive,

Focusing on the first element,

Which is work on the cushion.

Before we begin,

I invite you to fully arrive in this space.

I encourage you to mute your background music or TV set,

Minimize computer screens that might be visible,

Tend to that lovely meal that's cooking on the stove,

Close the door.

Whatever you need to do to encourage privacy,

Quiet,

And an ability to fully show up with minimal distractions,

I encourage you to do that now.

Now,

Taking our seats,

We settle in and allow the body and mind to be fully present,

Attentive,

And open in this moment.

We can acknowledge that sometimes it's a small act of bravery to try to let go of distractions and just be with our minds,

Which can often act like monkeys swinging from one tree to another.

So,

Let's offer ourselves some kindness.

Let's take three deep inhalations and exhalations.

On the first inhalation,

We more fully arrive in this moment.

Exhaling,

We allow ourselves to let go of what came before this moment,

Recognizing that we can always come back to it.

In the next inhalation,

We can more fully arrive still in this moment,

And as we exhale,

Allow ourselves to let go of future planning,

Acknowledging that we can return to that activity after this session.

Finally,

Deeply inhaling a third time,

Allowing both mind and body to open up to this present moment,

Fully arriving,

And as we exhale,

Fully letting go.

As you sit in a relaxed position,

Allow the breath to move in and out of the body at its own rhythm.

Notice the quality of the breath.

Is it deep or shallow?

Is the breath long or short?

Is it choppy or smooth?

Notice the quality of the mind.

Is it restless or calm or agitated?

This is mindfulness in action.

At any given time,

We can,

With intention,

Turn our attention inward to see what's there.

This is the beauty of mindfulness.

It's a completely mobile tool that we can summon at will to help us.

When we investigate our inner worlds,

We're not adding anything to what's already there.

Like a sculptor sculpting a work of art,

The sculptor seeks to remove that which obscures the work within.

Similarly,

We can use our attention intentionally to examine what's happening inside of us,

And from that stance,

We can better decide what,

If anything,

We want to do about it.

Now let's set an intention for this session.

By listening to this talk sincerely,

With an open mind,

An open heart,

May our efforts be of service,

Not only to ourselves,

But to those we care about,

To strangers,

Distant ones,

And all sentient beings.

Now then,

Let's turn our attention to the subject of this talk.

This program is for those of you who seek to apply their contemplative practices,

Whether mindfulness,

Meditation,

Or yogic practices,

To their work and personal lives in ways that more fully express your inner values,

Your ethical values.

In the last session,

I provided in some detail the context for these talks,

How and why I developed this virtuous cycle method,

And I discussed my background.

I invite you to visit that session for a fuller discussion.

Here,

I'll just highlight a few thoughts.

The virtuous cycle method was conceived out of my concern that practitioners may not be aware of how mindfulness and meditation tools can be used for more than simply relaxation.

In my observation,

Practitioners are interested in developing themselves as human beings living in alignment with their highest values,

But are unsure of how to take advantage of their contemplative practices in a more intentional way so that they're more fully integrated in their daily lives.

I liken this to finding a pot of gold on the street,

Removing just one gold coin and leaving the rest.

We're leaving treasure,

Treasure which is really beneficial,

Behind.

The virtuous cycle itself is based on a number of influences,

Including my experience,

Training in and understanding of Tibetan Buddhism,

Secular Buddhism,

And the Vipassana Insight tradition.

This framework is also informed by my integral coaching background.

The virtuous cycle method has three primary elements,

And each element has sub-elements.

I'll give you an overview of each before I go into detail.

The first element is called on-the-cushion work,

And this is our formal practice.

Here,

We're opposing harmful mental states and cultivating positive or virtuous ones.

We do this in a way that involves thinking,

Which might be surprising for those listeners who view meditation as involving the elimination or curtailment of thinking.

But this is not just any type of discursive thought.

Rather,

It's a very resourceful,

Intentional way of thinking about a subject.

The on-the-cushion work involves five sub-elements.

Specifically,

We use awareness,

Reflection,

Analysis,

Absorption,

And antidotes,

Or ARA cubed.

The second primary element is called work off the cushion and into the world.

This is the heart of our practice,

Where we bring our inner values into our everyday lives.

It's where the rubber meets the road,

So to speak.

This involves using our mindfulness training to become aware of the type of stimulus or trigger that is troublesome for us.

Using our mindfulness training to recollect the aspiration we developed on the cushion,

Applying an antidote,

And then responding with wiser action.

So,

Our work off the cushion involves the three elements of mindfulness,

Antidote,

And wise action.

The third and primary element is called checking our progress.

This is a practice that helps us stay connected with our intention to move from unskillful ways of acting in the world to more skillful ways.

It's an activity that we perform at the end of each day and involves five sub-elements I call the five R's.

One,

We review our actions that day as they relate to the subject we're working on.

Two,

We rejoice in the actions that move us toward our new way of being.

Three,

We regret harmful or unskillful actions.

Four,

We take remedial action.

And five,

We resolve sincerely to do better.

Now,

Let's take a bit of a deeper dive.

Let's take a closer look at the work we do on the cushion,

Which is element number one.

Again,

On the cushion work is our formal practice.

It involves the meditative practices we engage in on a cushion or chair or mat to train and develop our minds and hearts.

In the context of the virtuous cycle,

The aim of our formal practice is to combat harmful mental states or impulses and cultivate positive mental states and qualities,

That is to say,

Virtuous mind states.

The work on the cushion is mentally active.

It's not a relaxation practice,

Which is a very different type of practice and one which,

Of course,

Is very useful.

As I said before,

This virtuous cycle is for those who seek a more intentional way of applying their mindfulness or meditation practices in the workplace and in their personal lives in ways that more fully express their inner values.

We're trying to transform those harmful mental states,

In other words,

Those destructive emotions.

In this formal practice,

We're trying to cultivate awareness of the particular harmful mind state we want to subdue or get control of.

And for the remainder of these talks,

I'll use destructive emotions as a sort of shorthand for the negative mind states I'm referring to.

In doing so,

I recognize that the subject of emotions can have some complicated nuances.

In fact,

The more we learn about emotions,

How they're formed,

What mental and physiological processes are involved,

For example,

The more we realize how much we don't know.

But I think most of us can agree that getting control over an emotional response,

Whatever its components,

That is harmful to ourselves and others,

One which destroys relationships and undermines trust and connection,

Is a worthy aim.

So first,

We want to bring awareness to our current way of being with the destructive emotion we want to work on.

We must first have some understanding of where we sit right now,

Because otherwise our meditation practice has no focus,

Thereby decreasing its transformative power.

Right now,

Most of us are on autopilot with respect to much of what happens in our minds.

It's like we have an unconscious operating system happening in the background.

By becoming more aware,

We are awakening,

That is,

Bringing the unconscious into our conscious awareness.

We're moving from having our thoughts be an unconscious subject to being a more conscious object.

Awakening allows us to begin to discover our unconscious ways of being with the subject that we want to investigate.

Turning off autopilot and being more fully awake and fully present helps us to better see how things really exist in the world right now.

This is valuable because it allows us to connect with our family,

Friends,

And colleagues from a place of greater presence,

Curiosity,

And concern,

Rather than superficiality and habit.

If conflict is our topic,

For example,

Awakening allows us to recognize the stories we tell ourselves about those with whom we're in conflict,

For example.

Awakening allows us to begin to discover our unconsciously held beliefs about conflict.

It helps us to get in touch with our body's responses and the information that it conveys to us,

Furthering our understanding about how we show up in conflict.

So,

How do you choose which emotion you want to work with?

Well,

You can use your intuition or examine the objective evidence to help figure this out.

For example,

When you ask yourself the question,

What emotions do I really want to be better at or get control of,

What comes up for you?

You might recall specific instances.

These likely involve situations where you or those you've cared about experienced a lot of suffering.

They may be situations where you felt like your emotions were out of control,

Where they controlled you instead of the other way around.

They may be instances where you felt profound embarrassment,

Loss,

Or regret.

These are all good candidates for your inner work.

Another technique is to look to other evidence.

What has your boss or your colleagues,

Family,

Or friends noticed and told you about?

For example,

That you need to get control of your anger,

That you're too easily frustrated or become too easily impatient.

Perhaps it's that your actions undermine the trust of family members or friends.

Consider this information and feel into whether any of it rings true and might be the source for your on-the-cushion work.

You can probably think of other ways to discover the particular destructive emotion you want to work with,

And that's great.

Go for it.

So,

Once we generate awareness of the emotion that brings us trouble,

And we've developed a basic desire to do better,

This helps generate an intention to oppose that harmful emotion or mind state.

Here we go deeper than our superficial desire to change and examine more deeply why transforming this destructive emotion is desirable.

To develop a powerful opposition in our minds to our current way of being with respect to the destructive emotion we're targeting,

We use reflection,

Analysis,

And absorption.

I identified these sub-elements earlier.

Here I'll go into more detail,

But the process really is better understood by doing it.

And that's what we'll do in the next session where I'll guide you step-by-step through what I'm about to describe as reflection,

Analysis,

And absorption.

So don't worry if you think you don't fully understand it right now.

Engaging in the meditation itself in the next session should help clarify things.

So let's talk about reflection,

Analysis,

And absorption.

These involve an intentional,

Methodical way of thinking about a subject.

They're directed at discovery,

Uncovering,

Truth-telling,

And insight about the way something actually exists rather than how we hope or mistakenly believe it does.

This part of the method is so crucial.

We do this in a way that involves thinking,

Which might be surprising for those of you who view meditation as involving the elimination or curtailment altogether of thinking.

But this is not just any type of discursive or ruminative thought.

Rather,

It's meditative thought,

Which is a very resourceful,

Intentional way of thinking about a subject after we've quieted our minds.

Here,

I'll borrow from Ratnaguna's book,

The Art of Reflection.

Ratnaguna,

Also known as Gary Hennessey,

Is a Buddhist teacher and writer.

In his book,

He writes that reflection is disinterested,

But not uninterested,

Thought.

It's unbiased by personal interest or advantage.

He notes that the ability to attend is essential for reflective thought,

And that this skill is the ability to give our full,

Undivided attention to something over a sustained period of time.

This ability to place sustained attention on an object is what we're training when we engage in practices like mindfulness of our breath,

Or gazing into a flame in one-pointed concentration,

Or placing awareness on the movement of our body during vinyasa flow yoga.

So these types of meditation,

And others,

Have the beneficial effect of establishing a foundation for us to do this mental cultivation work,

This mind training.

In fact,

Skillful thinking has long been a central feature of Tibetan Buddhism.

The tradition of debate is an excellent example.

I've studied at monasteries where I've been privileged to watch monks debate.

Even recently,

I was at retreat in Nepal where a debate conference was ongoing.

Monks actively debate one another regarding Buddhist doctrine.

In doing so,

They're testing the reasoning of Buddhist principles and theories,

Testing their own logic and understanding,

And defending their views.

So this tradition still very much plays a significant role for Buddhist monks in their education and training.

Perhaps debate is particularly resonant with me as it seems to be shade to the Socratic method that I learned in law school.

As a person with legal training,

I appreciate the emphasis on a methodical and analytical way of testing a proposition,

And rejecting the notion that we should accept a theory based on blind faith alone.

In any event,

Thinking skillfully sits very well alongside what many of us conceive as genuine meditation.

That is,

Concentrating on one object,

Such as the breath or the body,

To the exclusion of thought.

In fact,

Some of the most effective training I've taken involved monks literally sitting side by side.

One guiding us through an analytical process concerning a Buddhist theory,

And the other guiding us through absorption,

Or concentration,

On the conclusion and meaning flowing from that analysis.

When practiced over time,

I find this to be a very effective way of moving from aspiration being all in our heads,

A sort of intellectual exercise,

To embodied feeling,

Conviction,

And action.

The analysis piece is a natural extension of the reflection process.

In analysis,

We ask ourselves questions not in a way meant to elicit criticism and judgment,

But rather in a way meant to elicit clarity and understanding about a situation.

A critical part of the analytical process is the conclusion we reach.

This is another way this meditative thought process is distinguished from discursive thinking.

I've found that when we actually draw conclusions about a subject we're examining,

This helps us take a more committed stance.

And it's a stance born out of skillful thinking,

Not the mere adoption of a position based on uncritical review.

Often when we engage in discursive or unfocused thinking,

The thoughts are like the needle in a record going round and round on the same song,

Digging deeper and deeper grooves.

Ruminating can be a comfortable habit,

But because we haven't wrapped up our thinking on a subject that has drawn some conclusion after close examination,

It's hard to move forward and to stop repeating the same tune.

After wrapping up the analytical process by drawing some conclusions from it,

We then dwell mindfully upon that conclusion,

As the Dalai Lama puts it.

This absorption is a bit like Shavasana,

The final pose in yoga,

Which I view as a practice of bodily integration through stillness.

Similar to Shavasana,

Absorption is the space in which the mind is allowed to integrate the mental work that has come before it,

And to do so not through active thinking,

But through stillness.

Through mindfully dwelling on the conclusion,

A deep sense of conviction arises in the mind of the truth of the fact,

And that conviction spurs inspired ethical action.

So to review,

So far in our work on the cushion,

We've mostly addressed our current way of being with respect to our destructive emotions.

We've identified the destructive emotion we want to work with,

And we've developed our intention,

Conviction,

Or strong desire to oppose continuing in the same harmful way with that emotion,

Through a process involving reflection,

Analysis,

And absorption.

Naturally,

During the analytical process,

We'll get a glimpse of the new way we want to be with the emotion that gives us trouble.

So the work we've done so far naturally sets the stage then for antidotes.

Antidotes are opposite,

Positive forces that oppose our destructive forces,

Or destructive emotions.

So here,

I'm using antidotes in a slightly different way than in traditional Tibetan Buddhist doctrine,

Which focuses on antidotes as practices to counteract obstacles to our meditation practice.

In my own training and experience,

Antidotes have this broader meaning of an opposing force to a harmful mind state,

Which I think is a very useful portrayal of what we're aiming for.

It's also the way the Dalai Lama speaks of antidotes in his book,

Beyond Religion.

As I'll discuss shortly,

Antidotes include the mental cultivation we do on the cushion,

Or a mental or physical act we perform at the time of the triggering event or even later.

Antidotes allow us to cultivate positive mind states,

Retrain our brains,

And therefore engage in new actions by laying down new neural tracks.

There's a great deal of exciting neuroscience that supports what long-time meditators have known all along.

And that is that we're not stuck with what we've been born with,

Helpless to change our destructive emotions.

This is really good news.

Previously,

Scientists believed the human brain was unchanging after a certain period of development.

The conventional belief was that our brains were fixed by adulthood,

Immutable,

Hardwired,

Fixed in form,

Fixed in function.

But emerging data from neuroscience tells us that our brains have neuroplasticity.

That is,

Patterns and structures of the brain can and do change over time,

In response to our experiences and even our thoughts.

And that's quite remarkable.

Research into meditation and mindfulness has skyrocketed in the last few decades.

Through the work of neuroscientists like Richie Davidson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Sarah Lazar at Harvard,

We're learning that when we retrain our brains with meditation,

It produces larger and denser neuromass,

That is the gray matter,

In areas such as the prefrontal cortex,

Which is primarily responsible for executive functioning such as planning,

Problem-solving,

And emotion regulation.

We're learning,

For example,

That brain training with meditation strengthens helpful neural connections and weakens unhelpful ones in various regions of the brain.

As Dr.

Richardson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison put it,

With meditation,

We can intentionally shape the direction of plasticity changes in our brains.

If you've been meditating for a while to cultivate certain positive mind states,

Such as loving kindness or compassion,

You've likely experienced for yourself this directional shift.

So what shift in your mind do you want to train?

What positive mind states or emotions do you want to cultivate?

If your mind bends towards greediness,

Perhaps you want to cultivate contentment.

If it's ill will or hatred towards others,

Cultivating friendliness and compassion are suitable antidotes.

The choices are so very many.

Me,

Myself,

I've worked with many different antidotes over the years as I've sought to curb various negative mind states that cause me trouble.

For example,

I've often worked with the negative emotion of ill will.

Whether from so-called natural disposition or growing up in a very harsh environment or something else,

Over the years I developed a strong habit of dislike and hostility towards others.

And this has really gotten in the way of creating genuine connection with others,

Even those who clearly mean me no harm.

So in the meditation cushion,

Taking ill will as the emotion I want to oppose,

I work with the practice of loving kindness.

This is a meditation that seeks to cultivate friendliness,

Understanding,

And warmheartedness towards oneself and others.

I practice this regularly and have found it to be very effective in disrupting having a habitually negative response to others.

In session 5,

I'll talk about antidotes,

This time in the context of reviewing our actions for the day and applying a remedy.

This highlights the fact that an antidote is not only mental cultivation,

But can also be a type of physical,

Remedial action to counter negative mind states.

For example,

Performing karma yoga,

Which is selfless action for the benefit of others,

Can be an antidote to negative actions generated by a greedy mind.

We can train our minds in an antidote immediately following an analytical meditation session.

We can also make it the entire focus of a meditation session.

This is especially true once we've become familiar with how we relate to the destructive emotion we want to work on.

We can apply an antidote at the time of the triggering event.

We can also use an antidote at the end of our day when we're performing remedial action.

If there's interest,

We can devote other sessions specifically to identifying and working with antidotes.

Just let me know by leaving a comment.

So,

To wrap up this segment,

Let's review what was discussed and look at what comes next.

We've been talking about a process for integrated and sustained change,

Lasting transformation.

I've called this change process the virtuous cycle because it's one which helps us cultivate virtuous action so that we can take our contemplative practice off the cushion or mat and into the world in a way that better aligns with our inner values.

It has three primary elements and we've been discussing the first element,

Which is called work on the cushion.

In work on the cushion,

We oppose destructive emotions.

Those destructive emotions generate harmful behaviors.

And instead,

We train our minds to develop more virtuous,

Beneficial emotions,

Which in turn engender more positive actions in the world.

We start this cycle with mindful awareness.

By searching inside ourselves or considering others' feedback,

We bring awareness to those emotions which have caused us so much trouble and suffering.

Once we generate this general awareness,

This helps us activate a more powerful intention to oppose the destructive emotion.

We use reflection and analysis to understand more deeply our current way of being with respect to the destructive emotion we're targeting and why transforming that destructive emotion is so important.

Then in the absorption phase,

We dwell mindfully on the conclusions we reach in the analytical process,

Integrating these new insights.

That sets us up for feeling powerfully motivated to cultivate a new,

More beneficial way of being with the emotion we're working with,

For laying down new neural tracks.

To do that,

We apply antidotes,

Which is the cultivation of opposing mind states.

In Part 3,

The next session,

I'll lead you through a guided meditation where we apply this method step by step.

For now,

Let's take a few moments to regain our stillness and allow for the integration of this new learning.

We do this through a period of reflection.

Again,

Find a good posture,

One that's balanced and grounded.

Take a few deep breaths.

Scanning the body,

Release areas of tension.

Invite relaxation to enter once again.

Now allow the breath to develop a gentle rhythm of inhalations and exhalations.

Then place your awareness in a gentle and relaxed way on the breath,

Moving in and out of the body,

At the belly or the chest,

Wherever you feel connected to the breath more deeply.

When distractions occur,

Such as thoughts or sounds,

Avoid getting entangled in them.

Avoid creating a story around them.

Simply note,

Oh,

Thinking,

Or oh,

Hearing,

And return to the breath.

This allows you to rein in your mind and bring it under your control.

Now let's turn our attention to today's talk.

How do you perceive the role of thoughts in your current contemplative practice?

For example,

Are they something to be banished altogether?

Are they to be investigated?

Are they to be subdued?

What is the role of thoughts in your current contemplative practice?

What differences,

If any,

Do you see between everyday discursive thinking and the type of thinking described in this talk?

What do you think is the role of meditation in helping people manage their emotions?

I proposed that through the process of neuroplasticity we can retrain our brains with meditation,

Even intentionally shaping the direction of those changes in our brains.

Does this seem realistic?

What other conclusions do you draw from today's talk?

Now completely let go of the reflection and allow once again stillness to enter.

The effort that we've undertaken today to develop ourselves,

To develop our minds and our hearts,

This effort is not only for our own benefit,

But also for the benefit of others.

When we develop our minds in more wholesome directions,

More beneficial actions follow.

We can approach ourselves and others with less anxiety,

Fear,

Or ill will,

And this reverberates throughout our communities.

We dedicate this effort then,

This positive energy that we create,

To all beings,

Including ourselves,

So that we all may be free from suffering,

So that we all may experience true happiness,

And so that we all may experience true peace.

May it be so.

Namaste.