Live Session Summary, Sunday, January 29, 2023: It was good to be with you today for our Live session. Here is a summary of today’s theme, which continued the exploration of ‘The Paths of Wellness and Awakening.’ I began by recapping the distinction between, on the one hand, the path of wellness or well-being, which, in the main, emphasizes the importance of limiting or mitigating negative and afflictive mind states—anxiety, depression, addictive behaviors, negative mind states—and the path of awakening, which, while also concerned with abandoning painful and distressing states, gives major emphasis to the potential for the deepest peace and happiness and of ending suffering in our lives, which the path of awakening promises. I discussed how awakening points to the potential for the deepest freedom that goes far beyond the goals of everyday well-being—and involves a fundamental transformation of how a person experiences being alive and engaging in the world. This is exemplified in the story of the Buddha following his awakening: “It is said that soon after his enlightenment, the Buddha passed a man on the road who was struck by the extraordinary radiance and peacefulness of his presence. The man stopped and asked, “My friend, what are you? Are you a celestial being or a God?” “No,” said the Buddha. “Well, then, are you some sort of magician or wizard?” Again the Buddha answered, “No.” “Are you a man?” “No.” “Well my friend, what are you then?” “I am awake.” (From Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom) With the Buddha’s awakening, all of the kilesas, the afflictive states that kept him tied to the world of suffering, were uprooted. He was henceforth known by the term ‘Buddha,’ or ‘one who has awakened.’ He described his transformation poetically:
‘Seeking but not finding the house builder, I traveled through the round of countless births: Oh painful is birth ever and again. House builder, you have now been seen; You shall not build the house again. Your rafters have been broken down; Your ridge pole is demolished too.’
(Nanamoli, Life of the Buddha) The Buddha taught that awakening is available to all, irrespective of race, class, gender, or other characteristics—and I shared the story of the murderer Angulimala, who, in confronting the Buddha, renounced his harmful ways and became a monk and, ultimately, an arahant, or awakened one. Our capacity to awaken to the deepest freedom, however, depends on training our heart and mind. The Buddha said, nothing can do you more harm than an untrained mind, not even your worst enemy; and nothing can do you more good than a trained mind. I shared the story of Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and Zen practitioner, standing at the corner of 4th Street and Walnut in Louisville, Kentucky, showing the way experiences of awakening open us to the wonder of life and the beauty of all beings. He said, ‘Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God's eyes. If only they could see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time, there would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed . . . I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other.’ I shared the poem, ‘There was a time I would reject those…’ by Muhyiddin Ibn Al-’Arabi; Martha Postlethwaite’s ‘Clearing’, and Rumi’s ‘The Guest House’; and included in the meditation a practice on the ‘four elements.’ (You can find a version of this in my meditations on Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/hughbyrne/guided-meditations/four-elements-meditation ) We’ll continue the discussion of the path of awakening, including how mindfulness leads to awakening through insight or clear seeing in our next Live session at 9am Eastern on Sunday, February 12. Till then, be safe and well—and may all be safe, free from harm, and awaken to our true nature. Warmly, Hugh 🌻 💜 🙏🏻
