Welcome everyone.
So we're going to do some stabilizing meditation in this session.
We'll do some analytical meditation in this session.
And let's begin by getting ourselves in a meditative posture.
So most important,
Whether you're on a cushion or a chair,
We want to have our torso upright.
And just to get ourselves settled in the room,
Let's just do some breathing meditation for a few minutes.
So let's cultivate our motivation for this session this morning.
And to quote Venerable Chodron,
Who is quoting the Buddha,
As long as we have the seeds of anger in our mind.
We will find someone or something to get angry at.
An ordinary being like me,
Who has not had a direct realization of emptiness,
I have an ordinary mind.
So I have the seeds of anger in my mind.
And with that,
Then it's just easy for anger to arise.
So that's something to own.
We can be honest about that.
We're all in the same boat.
And so when I was first getting to know the Dharma,
I acquired the book.
Working with anger early on.
And it sat on my bookshelf in Canada.
In a pristine state for many years.
I would gift some of my friends the book.
For their birthday or a Christmas present?
Really recommending they should read it.
And I was in denial about the fact that I have a problem with anger,
Like everyone else.
And so fortunately at some point,
Venerable Chodron's teachings,
Of course,
Opened up my mind to the fact that this is the state of ordinary beings,
And she gave teachings on the topic from various other texts.
And then at some point,
Some of the nuns were offering meditation in Spokane,
And we went through the book,
Word by word.
Which was a really fantastic experience.
And so we could feel a little bit discouraged that maybe we've read the book three times now.
And we get up from our seat.
Something strikes us as unpleasant.
And anger comes to mind,
We may think,
Ah,
I'm a failure.
But don't let your mind do that.
Just realize this is the state of things and how wonderful we can learn antidotes to anger.
We can learn to recognize anger.
And start working on reducing its frequency.
And intensity.
And at some point in the future,
And for me,
It's eons away,
Um,
Direct realizations of emptiness will root that out,
Will dig it out from the root,
Those seeds of anger,
So that it doesn't arise again.
So let's rejoice,
Being willing to admit to ourselves that anger does arise in our mind.
And to be curious about how to work with this mental state.
When it does come up.
And this will bring satisfaction over time.
We'll be happier.
And the people around us will be happier.
And then we can keep in mind this very long.
Grand motivation.
Of doing this kind of work so that,
One step at a time,
We can get closer and closer to becoming a fully enlightened being,
And at that point we can truly be of benefit to every living being.
So the topic for our analytical meditation is to take a look at how attachment works in our life.
An attachment is often a trigger for our anger.
So it's very good to get familiar with this negative mental state.
So in the Buddhist worldview,
Attachment has a very specific meaning.
And it refers to a mental state or attitude where we exaggerate or superimpose good qualities on a person?
On an object.
Or an idea.
And then once we've done that,
We've superimposed these fabulous qualities.
Onto someone or something.
Then we cling to them.
Or it.
We don't want to be separated from it.
Because we regard that person or thing as the source of our happiness.
I get my happiness from them.
I get my happiness from that thing.
That's the meaning of attachment.
So now let's take a look inside and ask ourselves,
Okay,
What am I attached to?
You might think of.
Different possessions.
Or various people that you definitely don't want to be separated from.
Or ideas that you cling tightly to.
So let's take some time right now.
Let's do an inventory of people and things we're attached to.
That we don't want to be separated from.
And then whittle that list down to one person or thing.
So first the inventory,
Then pick one.
And if you're having a little bit of trouble right now recognizing what you're attached to,
It's likely because we don't think that we're superimposing good qualities.
Or exaggerating good qualities on someone or something.
It's just what we do.
And we think those good qualities are in that person.
They're in that object.
And if that's the case,
Where you're struggling to think of what you're attached to,
Then think of the things that you hold on very dearly.
That for sure you don't want to be separated from.
At all.
And when you find that person or thing.
That's a good indication of what.
You're attached to.
In the Buddhist worldview,
Animals are also considered to be persons.
So if you haven't found something yet,
Maybe it's your pet.
So now you've identified a person.
Animal or a thing and ask yourselves.
How does this person feel?
My pet,
This thing appear to me.
And listen carefully to how your mind makes stories.
Describing this person,
This animal or thing.
What stories are you telling about that person?
And the next step is to ask yourselves,
Are these stories that I tell myself about this person or thing or object?
Are these stories really true?
Does that person or thing really have?
All the good qualities that I'm attributing to them or it.
Or can I really look carefully and see?
If there is some exaggeration.
Some overestimation.
And then with all these good qualities that we perceive in that person or thing,
Does this then cause us to develop unrealistic expectations of them?
So what could these unrealistic expectations include?
Well,
Expecting them always to be there.
For who?
For me.
They should always be there for me.
They should always make me happy.
They should always make me feel satisfied.
They should always make me feel safe.
And when I'm with that person or thing,
I'm always going to be comfortable.
In fact,
I'll be comfortable forever.
Are these realistic expectations?
Or maybe we might even think that when I'm with that person or thing,
Then I will feel worthwhile.
When I'm with that person,
I will be successful.
And respected.
Can anyone or anything Deliver in that way.
Let's take another deeper look at how we behave.
When we're attached to someone or something,
Or even to an idea.
To get someone else's approval or attention.
We may do very manipulative things.
We may drop hints.
We change our behavior so that somebody will notice us.
And perhaps in the past.
To get positions that we were attached to,
Or to get somebody else's approval.
We actually undermine our own ethical standards.
And then to return to these unrealistic expectations that we develop of people and things.
What happens in our mind when they absolutely,
Of course,
Can't deliver on making us happy,
Making us feel satisfied,
Making us feel safe and special,
Protected,
All of that.
What arises in our mind.
Likely anger.
So see if you can find examples of that in your life,
And not to feel guilty about it,
But just to recognize this is what attachment does.
So to conclude this meditation,
Let's do our best to recognize.
That attachment is actually our enemy.
We get fooled at first because there's some temporary hit of happiness that's very brief.
And we often think of attachment as our friend that makes us happy.
But when we look carefully at our own experience,
As we did in this meditation.
We begin to see how clinging to things and people and ideas.
Actually destroys our peace of mind?
And destroys our happiness.
And when we can see that attachment destroys our peace of mind and happiness,
And profoundly impacts our relationships with others in a negative way.
And that gives us some energy to want to counteract our attachment.
And not follow it blindly.
So let's make that determination.
