DharmaMind Buddhist Group

Preparing for a Retreat

In this talk I've used the upcoming retreat for the group in Snowdonia as an example of breaking the habit of needless mental projections. Using this retreat as a metaphor for life I'm encouraging the student to rather than spend time creating situations in their mind about the retreat that may or not occur, to instead turn away from this common habit because it only produces burdens and expectations that almost certainly will not take place anyway. Best to arrive at the retreat without any expectations at all and so arrive with an empty fresh openness often described as a beginners mind. This is but an example of how we should approach everything we do in our life.

Liberation in the Mundane

We are creatures of habit, or looking from a dharmic perspective conditioned beings. This means when we learn something it then becomes a habit in our everyday life and it so often then becomes something we follow without any notion of being present through awareness, and so become like a mindless mechanical thing. The habit learned in the body takes over so that we can get lost in our thoughts and fantasies yet still perform the function that we set out to do. By living like this we are cutting ourselves off from the very source of our true nature and liberation and will be forever unfulfilled. The challenge that we all face is with energy (virya) be alive with ever present awareness and be with all of our daily habits and mundane routine, for it is just being like this that the door to freedom and awakening can only be found.

Cultivation of Detachment in Chan Buddhism

The heart of Mario's talk focuses on the fundamental danger of practice of unknowingly turning the practice itself into just another possession of the self. He focuses on the teachings of the early Chan masters who developed teachings and structures to alert practitioners of this danger that many would consider the greatest challenge of the spiritual path, in that of surrendering the notion of self without simply reinforcing it.

Professor Mario Poceski is an associate professor of Buddhist studies and Chinese religions at the University of Florida, USA. His latest books include:

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism (Blackwell 2014)
Introducing Chinese Religions (Routledge 2009)
Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism (Oxford 2007)

Embracing Life with Courage

This talk begins with a short acknowledgement of the Buddha's life during this month of Wesak, followed by the importance to focus on fully engaging with life as we learn to contain the habits that cause attachment and dukkha. We learn with a spirit of playfulness and experimentation to redirect our thoughts, speech and actions into a more skilful way of living all with the guidance of the six paramitas, as we slowly come to recognise the selfless engagement and function of our true nature and its aspiration of revealing the true human being.

The Fear of Letting Go (Pt. 3)

It is so easy to misunderstand our form of practice as just learning to be still and silent of mind and then expect wisdom to arise from this state. If your understanding of the training is along these lines then this is a misunderstanding and a grave error. You certainly needs stillness as a basic foundation and platform for wisdom but to really liberated what is your inherent wisdom requires commitment to change your stream of habitual attachments, through observation, investigation and restraint, all through practice within the four postures. These three talks highlight the need to be careful of retreating into your comfort zone that stillness can encourage but challenge this danger by willingly engaging with the whole of life.

The Fear of Letting Go (Pt. 2)

It is so easy to misunderstand our form of practice as just learning to be still and silent of mind and then expect wisdom to arise from this state. If your understanding of the training is along these lines then this is a misunderstanding and a grave error. You certainly needs stillness as a basic foundation and platform for wisdom but to really liberated what is your inherent wisdom requires commitment to change your stream of habitual attachments, through observation, investigation and restraint, all through practice within the four postures. These three talks highlight the need to be careful of retreating into your comfort zone that stillness can encourage but challenge this danger by willingly engaging with the whole of life.

The Fear of Letting Go (Pt.1)

It is so easy to misunderstand our form of practice as just learning to be still and silent of mind and then expect wisdom to arise from this state. If your understanding of the training is along these lines then this is a misunderstanding and a grave error. You certainly needs stillness as a basic foundation and platform for wisdom but to really liberated what is your inherent wisdom requires commitment to change your stream of habitual attachments, through observation, investigation and restraint, all through practice within the four postures. These three talks highlight the need to be careful of retreating into your comfort zone that stillness can encourage but challenge this danger by willingly engaging with the whole of life.

The Simplicity of Presence

This talk touches the heart of this training. This ancient form of dharma (no) practice is the essence of the DharmaMind Way. This training is about discovering that part of yourself that is never a part of your created mind of impermanence, but is that which is uncreated, permanent and ever present. Here you must find this 'place' and learn to trust and invite it into your daily life. By doing this you will surely let go of all that you dearly hold on to that you see diminishes your life and deprives you of your full potential. Learning to be just present is the gateway to this freedom.

The Fine Details Of Commitment

We all come to the practice of the dharma because we want change in our life, otherwise If we were happy with how things are we wouldn't bother, would we? Yet we so often think that these changes are some how done by acts of will and choice. What we often do not appreciate is that with change comes by giving things up and renunciation. Taking responsibility for your habits and be prepared to surrender them for the dharmic change we all so much desire. In order for this to truly take place we need to take our commitment off the cushion and into our daily life and look very closely at how so often we just don't want to give up even the smallest of habits and things we attach to.

Dancing with the Dharma by Mike Hogan

After practicing the Dharma for some years, it's easy to forgot why it's important to practice and how it can benefit your life. In this talk, one practitioner reflects on what got him started in the first place, and why he continues to do so. He reminds himself, in this deliberate act of reflection, that he practices to be fully human, embodied best by being able to dance freely. In the process he rediscovers what an immensely positive impact the Dharma has had on his life.