sunyata

Kusalasara explores the significance of the Dakinis - a strong symbol of freedom. This talk was given at London Buddhist Centre, 2017.

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To share out your soul freely, that is what metanoia (a change of mind, or repentance) really refers to: a mental product of love. A change of mind, or love for the undemonstrable. And you throw off every conceptual cloak of self-defense, you give up the fleshly resistance of your ego. Repentance has nothing to do with self-regarding sorrow for legal transgressions. It is an ecstatic erotic self-emptying. A change of mind about the mode of thinking and being. Christos Yannaras

The default mode of living for the ego is to establish itself as the center of the universe. To be king. Now. Without any more delay.

And when we choose to accept this quest of the ego as the default mode of thinking and being, we enter a life of ceaseless contention with the circumstances that thwart us and the people who can't wait to be king themselves.

Blinded by this ambition, we trudge forward every day, analyzing our headway and modifying our strategy. It's an exhausting and rarely fulfilling way to live. The few that do seem to make it become our idols and give us hope that we, too, can make it to the top.

And yet, though the ego knows no other way to live, the soul does. There exists within us a divine calling to shed the ego's skin and become our true selves. And this mode of thinking and being is antithetical to the ego's understanding. It is beyond thought, a concept captured in the Greek word metanoia.

The soul's way of living involves letting go of the incessant campaign to be king and living another way - a way that exists beyond thought. It is the way of transformation.

Source Scripture

Four Score: John 5:31-40
Real Love Awaits: John 5:41-47
Relinquish Control: Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5
On the Other Hand: Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11
Spacing Out: Matthew 12:15-21; Mark 3:7-12
Learning by Immersion Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16

David Waits to be King: 1 Samuel 8 - 2 Samuel 2

Connect

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Email: info@awestruckpodcast.com

Extras

The Awestruck Podcast musical playlist 
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Resources to Explore the Life of Etty Hillesum

Wikipedia

Book: An Interrupted Life

Book: A Life Transformed

Quotes from Goodreads

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Christiane talks about how more than 10,000 hours of meditation and 40 years of studying Buddhist scriptures didn’t help her deal with debilitating fear when she was faced with the reality of breast cancer. It was then that she took steps to escape from a habit of "spiritual sleepwalking" and find a way to see through the 'me' that it is at the heart of our dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and suffering.

Christiane and I share a wide-ranging conversation about the importance of seeing through the 'me' … embracing the ordinary … why meditation may not be enough … shifting from spiritual illusions to simple reality ... spiritual bypassing … brainwashing and guru worship … and dealing with the stages of grief we might be going through during the new pandemic reality we find ourselves in.

This week’s FBA Podcast is the first talk in a sparkling, wide-ranging, thoroughly comprehensive ten talk series by Padmavajra on ‘The Diamond Sutra’ entitled Taking Mind to its Limits. We are taken through the work stage by stage, and here we begin with the opening scenes and the text itself as a revelation of Reality…

Talks given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2004

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Thay Phap Dang offers a beautiful and insightful talk with Emptiness (Sunyata) as main theme.

As you listen to the Dharma Talk, allow it to wash over your like a sprinkling rain. Allow yourself to sit comfortably and follow your breathing, relaxing your body.

May this talk and your practice bring about great benefit.

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This talk introduces the basics and brings us face to face with the Great Emptiness at the heart of practice.

Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2004

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This is the first talk in the series of the same name. It touches on aspects of Sangharakshita’s ‘system of meditation’, and most specifically the area of positive emotion. Parami is an ideal guide for this sort of material, steeped as she is in study and practice engaged with in the light of the ‘Bodhichitta’, and the Bodhisattva Ideal itself.

Parami is the International Women’s Order Convener for the Triratna Buddhist Order.

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Talk given at the Western Buddhist Order Convention, 2009

In this talk, “Out of Compassion for the World”, Parami explores the theme of the Buddha’s compassionate action and how ultimately it came from beyond self, beyond other – it emerged from his realisation of ‘Emptiness’. The Buddha realised full well how hard it was going to be to communicate what he had discovered to other people – to us. He knew that the grip of greed, hatred and delusion is very strong. He could imagine how vexatious it might be to teach. Fortunately for us, he could also see our potential. And so out of compassion he taught.

Talk given at FWBO International Retreat at Taraloka, May 08