We will meet next
Sunday October 2 pm for 15 minutes of silent meditation followed
immediately by a talk/discussion lasting until approximately 3:30. In this
meeting I will discuss my talk this past week-end in Raleigh, North Carolina at
the Self Inquiry Group, as well as share my observations about the week-end and
the other speakers. To summarize briefly, I began my talk with a reference to
the famous lines from The Heart Sutra "Form is only
emptiness, emptiness only form". The meaning of these lines cannot be
understood through reason or logical thinking. They can only be understood
through an experiential realization or awakening. In recent years a lot has
been written about awakening, some of it by people who actually do intuitively
understand at least some aspects of awakened awareness. Many people who
write or talk about awakening have had at least a solid glimpse of the reality
described in The Heart Sutra, yet it is very rare to read or hear
about the embodiment of this awareness and its manifestation in daily life. It
is possible though not always easy to live a life that appears ordinary on the
surface yet continuously demonstrates the free movement of this direct and
unpremeditated awareness in daily life. In this talk we will consider what this
embodied manifestation of no mind looks and feels like, and
how it is both similar to and different from ordinary, self-centered
functioning. The free thought and action that emerges from direct
awareness is equally and immediately available to everyone, all the time. What
prevents us from recognizing and 'surrendering' to it? We have all had
experiences where this unhindered awareness occurred in our life. What was it
like?
2 comments:
Hi Michael,
Did they video the conference at all do you know?
Lou X
Yes, it was recorded and will hopefully be available at the Self Inquiry Group site, as are the previous year's retreats. It will take a while (months) to edit and prepare the recordings, though.
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