Ordinary Mind Meditation Podcast

In this episode I share a lesson and guided meditation I did on the Meditation and Mindfulness Discord Server (https://discord.gg/Fpz9Wu) on the practice of Listening Meditation. The practice of Mindful Listening has infinite depths and layers, but to start with, one must simply learn to rest the attention on the faculty of hearing, without entertaining perceptions and building conceptions on top of them, getting carried away in thought as we usually do. Chan Master Sheng Yen put it this way: "Let’s train ourselves so that our ears become like a sound absorbing board. Simply listen, listen, and listen… If the sound is loud, do not give rise to any resistance; if the sound is weak, do not strain yourself to listen to it. All you’re doing is just listening, accepting everything without any discrimination. Most importantly, do not give the sounds a name. You may hear a girl screaming, a boy cursing, a dog barking around the corner, or a cat meowing on the roof. It could also be that the sounds of birds, chicken, cows, or even sounds of cars, horns honking, televisions, radios, motorcycles, air-conditioners, all present themselves to you at once. Even then, you listen without naming them, without making any discrimination or distinction of the spectrum. Merely play your role as a sound absorbing board, without seeking or following anything, without echoing anything that rings in your ears." Try it out for yourself, by joining this guided practice. 

In this episode I share a lesson I gave on the Meditation and Mindfulness Discord Server (https://discord.gg/Fpz9Wu) on the topic of Not Self. It's quite usual to hear Buddhist teachers speak of "No Self", but as I describe in detail, this is nothing but teaching nihilism disguised as Buddhism. Nowhere did the Buddha say that there is No self. He simply stated very clearly that what we usually take to be the self, our "egoic" self, is nowhere to be found, and is unfit to be considered a self. We also look at the Surangama Sutra, where the topic of what an actual Self might be comes up. Mostly, it's an episode about explaining why one cannot see one's head, or bite one's teeth. Why the wordless cannot be put in words. Confused? Then listen! 

The practice of Mindfulness of the Buddha (Chinese - Nianfo), which is most commonly practiced by reciting the name of Amitabha Buddha, is by far the most popular form of Buddhist practice in the world, although not quite yet in the west.

About this most universal and direct method of cultivation, Master Hsuan Hua said: "With Zen and Pure Land, one is like a tiger with horns, A teacher of humans in this life, a Patriarch or Buddha in the next. With Zen but not Pure Land, nine out of ten go astray. With Pure Land but not Zen, ten thousand cultivate and ten thousand go."

In this episode, I share a lesson I gave, where I briefly explain the myth and the psychology of Buddha Recitation, and then guide a short practice.

Daniel Scharpenburg has said about himself, "Most Buddhist Teachers probably look at me the same way as Vampires look at Count Chokula." I find this very telling, as his humility and lightness of spirit are evident in his approach. In this conversation you'll hear me getting to know Daniel, and we discuss such topics as Studying Buddhism online and the day to day practice of a modern-day Buddhist teacher. To learn more about Daniel, go to https://danielscharpenburg.com, or listen to his podcast here: https://anchor.fm/daniel-scharpenburg. 

Short but sweet, Buddhist Bits is presented to you by Bodhi&Bass. Bite sized tips for applying mindfulness in everyday life. This time: Compassion. Although this saccharine sounding word has by now been reduced to a stereotype of weakness and naivety, in fact it is quite the opposite. True compassion is simply the understanding that, save for pathology, people act for one reason only: happiness. And yet, all too often we take the wrong route on the way there, and end up causing suffering instead. A wish for all to be free of such suffering, is compassion. In this spirit, Karmapa Rangjung Dorje made this aspiration, "The true nature of beings is always Buddha. Not realising that, they wander in endless Samsara. For the boundless suffering of sentient beings May unbearable compassion be conceived in our being." In this 3 minute episode, we explore compassion, and learn of a new lens through which to view people's motivations and actions. 

Short but sweet, Buddhist Bits is presented to you by Bodhi&Bass. Bite sized tips for applying mindfulness in everyday life. This time: Blame. We can easily find ourselves feeling indignant, righteous or even angry when we see any type of wrong being committed. We usually transfer the blame onto someone and feel they should pay a price, This is the pervading sentiment behind what our society calls "justice". But what if what's actually going on is us justifying our emotional reactions? In the Dhammapada, the Buddha said: "Indeed, this is an ancient practice, not one only of today: they blame those who remain silent, they blame those speak much, they blame those who speak in moderation. There is none in the world who is not blamed. There never was, there never will be, nor is there now, a person who is wholly blamed or wholly praised." In this 3 minute episode, we rethink blame.

Short but sweet, Buddhist Bits is presented to you by Bodhi&Bass. Bite-sized tips for applying mindfulness in everyday life. This time we answer the question, "how should we deal with boredom?" In today's world we dread feeling boredom. In fact, most of our entertainment is designed to feed this fear of boredom. But if we get down to it, what exactly is boredom? Why do we experience it, and how can we transform the dissatisfaction and aversion we feel as a result of it? In the Ahara Sutra, the Buddha says: "...And what is the food for the arising of unarisen dullness & drowsiness, or for the growth & increase of dullness & drowsiness once it has arisen? There are boredom, weariness, yawning, drowsiness after a meal, & sluggishness of awareness. To foster inappropriate attention to them: This is the food for the arising of unarisen dullness & drowsiness, or for the growth & increase of dullness & drowsiness once it has arisen." Check out this brief episode for a quick and accessible tip for dealing with boredom in your daily life! 

I'm often asked about the beads that I wear around my wrist or neck, and so I thought I'd share this as a Buddhist Bit. They have many functions, but most basically, this is the original "fidget spinner". Actually, they can be oh-so much more than that. 

The Three Poisons (or Roots) that form the basis for all that is unwholesome, that which propels us through life with so much discomfort and suffering, are rendered in English as Attachment, Aversion and Ignorance, or as Greed, Hatred and Delusion. In this Buddhist Bit, I offer three antidotes for dealing with the poisons. These little reminders can be brought to mind with three deep breaths, wherever you might be, and can aid greatly in relieving the grasping, clenched feeling that plagues us so often.

Restlessness is one of the most difficult hindrances to deal with in meditation as in daily life. Here are two short tips for dealing with it, the first from Chan Master HsuYun and the second from Vajrayana Master Thrangu Rinpoche.

A brief and powerful practice to bring mindfulness into your daily activities.

In the final session of our Birdseye View series, we get down to the question of Enlightenment. We explore the different ideas that exist about it, and look at different aspects of enlightenment and awakening experiences. We practice a version of Silent Illumination, a technique through which we provide the space for an insight into the nature of Mind to take place.

In Session VI of our Birdseye View of the Buddhist Path series, we dive into the often murky waters of emptiness. We explore how this often misinterpreted concept is actually the stepping stone to understanding and balancing the Absolute and the Relative in our lives. We practice a general self-enquiry technique, a first step in the direction of discovering the most basic existential truth: Who Am I?

Session five of the Birdseye View Series demystifies and brings clarity to the topic of Karma in Buddhist thought. Don’t worry, you’re probably not about to turn into a bug because of that mosquito you swatted yesterday. After understanding what Karma is, we practice looking into causes and effects on the level of the body and mind in every moment. We learn to let go of conditioning and to plant positive seeds in the garden of the mind for peace and contentment in every moment.

In the fourth session of the Birdseye View of the Buddhist Path Series, we dive into a topic which serves as the bedrock of the spiritual path. Although easily mistaken for a Victorian guilt trip, virtue and renunciation are actually the causes for great joy and can serve as a compass in times of confusion or doubt. We practice “The Primary Practice” – a type of body scan meditation that also includes all of the five physical senses and then gradually opens the heart to the totality of experience.

In the third installment of the Birdseye View of the Buddhist Path Series, we talk about compassion. Rather than the sappy sticky substance that it is often imagined to be, compassion is sharp and open-eyed, and is arguably one of the key elements to true happiness. In the guided meditation we learn techniques for developing our ability to embody the compassionate attitude.

In this second session of our Birdseye View Series, we explore the urge to feel in control and the notion of “self” – what such a so called “self” is made up of, and how it functions as the lens through which we ordinarily filter reality.  We practice an advanced version of the Healing Breath technique, and then practice recognizing our thoughts and emotions without getting caught up in them.

In this first session of the Birdseye View Series we will explore the various practices and skills needed on the spiritual path. We’re going to learn about the basic purpose of Buddhist meditation and practice the Healing Breath technique, before learning to rest our attention on a single point as a stepping stone to developing ‘every-moment-wakefulness’ or ‘non-abiding-awareness’.