We start off with samatha meditation which brings some temporary relief from stress for many of us. We may notice that on a good day our focus is relatively clear and we experience a ‘good meditation’ often access concentration, perhaps even dhyana. But more often than not, the hindrances are our main experience. We may notice that in more favourable conditions such as on retreat, our meditation improves, but back home, familiar patterns reassert themselves.
The following paper was originally put together as the concluding one of a series of seven for a course on the theme of dependent arising and emptiness largely based on Rob Burbea’s book of the same title. Consequently there are references to previous papers and ideas. Most of those cover well known dharma topics and would not be new to most Order Members. This paper is perhaps a little different and strays into an area of the dharma which has not perhaps been considered too widely in the Order. I hope you find it interesting.
Alokadhara – October 2023Â
In some ways enlightenment is good word for the end of the path. It implies seeing and realising things in new and different ways. Although we know that our rational understanding is only a small part of the transformation needed for full enlightenment, our views and how we hold them are nevertheless an important part of the process.
Having a mentor enables you to talk through your experiences in meditation and reflection. This brings those experiences out of the subjective and enables you to see  what is going on, as it were, more objectively. Talking these things through with someone who understands, is an invaluable part of the process of integration and assimilation.
On a recent MIG forum, we were in a general discussion about people’s experience of insight and someone (apologies, I can’t remember the name of the person who it was), asked what about love?
One of my own perspectives around these very interesting and pertinent questions, is related to the experience of interconnectedness and what that means in my life and practice.
I'm not sure exactly when this was established as a certainty for me, but it remains a fundamental part of my way of being now. That certainty that I am not separate, apart from everyone else or from anything else, that everything I do connects me one way or another with everything else, is just now a given. I can no longer understand my practice as being just about what I do separately from all others.
