[Stephen Butler]

Bem-vindo Fernanda!

Your English is great and I really found what you wrote moving.

Thank you so very much for being part of the course and for saying hello. We are so glad that you could be part of what Jamyang has so kindly made available. They are amazing and have so many programs for all levels of interest. Thanks for listening to the podcast as well.

I was raised Catholic and have so much gratitude for growing up in a kind and devoted household.

I was really touched by your words about trying to integrate meditation and self-reflection into one’s life. That notion of integration is really where the work gets done right?

I found it so interesting to read that you felt “…a profound (belief) about the major gains of controlling the mind.” Do you feel this belief came from your experiences as a nurse? You touched upon the evidence-based benefits of meditation and self-reflection practices with such sincerity. I would love to hear more.

Warmly,

Stephen

[Stephen Butler]

Greetings Jude!

Thank you for your kind comments. We are so glad that you are finding some benefit in the sessions. You are right in saying that the pandemic can provide the opportunity to be with oneself in a deeper way through reflection. At the same time, I have some friends who have really found the lockdown jarring and challenging. Like you hinted at, it is good to acknowledge both dimensions and to to try our best to be with them in a gentle way. If we can get some degree of stability with that then we may begin to open up to the possibility of the lockdown as a chance to deepen our practice.

I know many in the UK have been in and out of (3?) lockdowns! Has it become and easier to adjust to a new lockdown?

Thanks so much for sharing!

Stephen

[Stephen Butler]

Hello Katrin and Alessia,

Sharawa’s instruction is really applicable to this situation. Letting them come and go really helps us to cultivate stability in meditation. The ability to be with thoughts and emotions in a gentle way can be hard especially when many myriad emotions and thoughts come and go.

Thich Nhat Hanh uses the word “stopping” as the operative quality of what can be called shamatha or calm-abiding. So what are we “stopping?” We try to stop our long-held habit of being carried away by our thoughts and physical and mental sensations. We do this in a gentle way again and again. We often have strong habits to jump on thoughts, to analyze and adjudicate our thoughts and subsequent reactions to those them.

This really helps me!

Stephen

[Stephen Butler]

Hello Kamlo,

You bring up some great points about practice. The twists and turns of learning to play a musical instrument or climb a mountain have times filled with clear signs of progress and times that feel like we are treading water without making progress. The more time I spend with practice I sometimes feel like I am sliding back down to kindergarten and then to pre-K and below! But I am slowly taking this feeling to be a good thing for me!

There are two bits of advice that help me to cope with feelings of lack of progress during study, practice or meditation.

The first is to be steady even if only in small amounts. Even if I have little time for practice my own teachers have emphasized that being steady is very important. The steadiness allows the chance to bond with the practice again and again. Focusing on being steady, even if we can only afford five minutes on some days, is helpful as it gives us the confidence (and hopefully joy) of sticking with it. It also reminds us to not be so focused on achieving a feeling or experience through practice.

The second thing that helps me is to simply be with the feeling of “not meditating well.” Like thoughts and other emotions, that feeling can be a focus of practice and practicing being with the feeling allows me the space to reorient my view in relation to that feeling. That gives me some confidence to re-engage with it in an open way and bring it on the path.

On the traditional side, there is a quote from a Kadampa geshe, Geshe Dolpa:

“Steps of the path, steps of the path!
They all come down to three short words:
look far ahead,
think very big,
keep a pace.”

Love connecting and sharing about these journeys we are all on. That is a huge support too!

Warmly,

Stephen

[Stephen Butler]

Hello Sajda!

Thank you for sharing a bit of yourself here! It is such and honor to be collaborating with you, Kamlo and the Jamyang team on this course.

To all in the forum, make sure you follow Science & Wisdom LIVE (http://www.sciwizlive.com) and the illuminating discussions that they present.

Sajda, I have a question for you about your journey in studying and practicing mind-body disciplines like yoga and tai-chi. Did your experience with those disciplines help you as you began your journey with Buddhist mediation? I know that many people have had experience with those disciplines before coming to Buddhism and/or practice them in tandem with a meditation practice.

Thanks for sharing!

Warmly,

Stephen

[Stephen Butler]

Hello Laura!

Stephen here! Thanks so much for sharing your feelings about the course, what brought you here and what you liked about it.

Just to be clear, my partner Scott Snibbe leads the meditations and discussions. I am glad that you found Scott’s delivery and content helpful.

As many of us know, Buddhism comes from India and carries with it many cultural references and idioms. Tibetan Buddhism preserves and utilizes many of these Indian cultural idioms and also carries elements that come from Buddhism’s interaction with Tibetan culture. This can sometimes seem overwhelming for sure! However, the Buddha and the lineage of teachers and practitioners that follow his lineage emphasize that the main point is this: that the mind is workable and can be developed to reduce the suffering of ourselves and others and establish them in greater states of wisdom. Great teachers like his His Holiness the Dalai Lama emphasize this again and again. The Buddha and these teachers emphasize that critical inquiry is never abandoned in favor of blind faith or acceptance of a belief that does not make sense to oneself. One thing to remember is that these teachers teach the same thing to heritage practitioners in the Himalayas and Tibet. I know and live with people who grew up within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and can attest that they too have doubts about some of the cultural idioms that get intermingled with Buddhist practice!

You mentioned that practice can be difficult. I think that many of us can relate to that feeling! I have had difficulties in practice for sure and still do! With practice I think a bit of difficulty is par for the course. In activities like hiking, studying or even traveling there are difficult points. Sometimes practice can even feel really difficult. It is always ok to take a break from practice and this is even mentioned by masters. Take a break when you need to. This will keep one mentally and physically fresh. We never want practice to ever approach “burnout” or “overwhelm.” Maintaining a light feeling of joy is so helpful when we practice.

There is a great bit of advice from teacher and author Pema Chodron that touches on the feeling of difficulty and the dense, vibrant visual imagery of Tibetan Buddhism. Ven. Pema says that when we see all the images on thangkas (Tibetan religious paintings) we can remind ourselves that, like us, they exerted themselves in practice to benefit themselves and all beings and it was difficult! They may have even felt that it was EXTREMELY difficult at times! Those word comfort me and reorient me when I see all those images in a Buddhist center, temple or monastery.

It is so wonderful to have you on this journey with all of us!

Warmly,

Stephen

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