Planet Dharma - The Launch Pod

"I undertake to train myself to refrain from getting lost in phenomena" -- a suggestion from Sensei for a New Year's -- (from falling asleep in my own stories about me) --- Sensei offers a suggestion on something to do for a New Year's resolution for 2013. Some quotes from Sensei: "Where do you tend to undermine your own unfoldment?" "It's not hard to awaken. You just have to want to do it." Definition of "passer le temps": doing something simply to pass the time podcast.clearskycenter.org http://www.planetdharma.com/

Part 4: Q & A In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state. --- The metaphor: Traveling west to east, from Nagoya to Shizuoka to Yokohama before reaching Tokyo. "Tokyo" is the awakened state, while any city along the way is still part of conditioned existence. Question: "Could you speak a little bit to Westerners? We seem to have these expectations that our teachers need to prove that they're holy by living in a certain way to determined 'by me.' At least in North America we think you shouldn't smoke, should probably be a vegetarian, etc.…" "The lama in the vajrayana system -- the teacher, the guide -- becomes much more important because you're relying more on the person who's been to 'Tokyo' than you're relying on the map that you have in your hand or that you've been given. You're relying more on the humanity, the interhuman connection of it, more than a program. And in that sense it can b

Part 3: The Awakened State In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state. --- Part three of four on Doug Sensei's "The Map to Awakening" talk The ongoing metaphor:  "Tokyo" = Awakening "The ego is an artificial boundary produced to defend itself against being swallowed up. That the ego is there is not the problem. The problem is that it's there when it doesn't need to be there, which is, fundamentally, 99% of the time." "What is the awakened consciousness? The awakened consciousness is the being who doesn't see themselves as being inherently or 'existentially' separate from anybody or anything else. It says 'you and I are one consciousness. We have work to do. Let's get on with it.' " "In the fundamental essence, humanity is one consciousness laboring under the illusion that it is in separate bodies, and that's the source of all suffering. The source of all personal suffering is seeing yourself a

Part 2: Heading to "Tokyo" (Planetary Consciousness) In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state.  --- "We are one cell each in a body called humanity. And this, as I see it, is where the dispensation and the map for the future lies in terms of the evolution of human consciousness." -- Sensei Doug Duncan For the first part of this talk, listen to the previous Launch Pod podcast, "First, You Need the Map!" (FYI: The geographical progression eastward is Kyoto > Nagoya > Shizuoka > Tokyo) "We want our explorations to be wider, more incorporating than they have been in the past." "Samsara means from the ego point of view our lives go around and around on the same circle." "You're unfolding as a human being, but where you end up is going to be determined by which map and which aspiration you have." "If we want to survive and thrive as a species, and if we want the planet to be habitable, and if we w

Part 1: First, You Need the Map! In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state.  --- "The awakened consciousness is THE evolutionary step for humanity in total. The destination for the human species is awakening." -- Doug Duncan Sensei "You're going to be seeing more people awaken more speedily and more easily than ever before in history." "The absolute bottom-line fear, the main issue, for every human being throughout their life is the fear of disappearing, which is equated to mental illness. After all, mental illness is a real possibility. You see people fracturing and falling apart regularly and you're going to see more and more of it. Being "in control" is a way of managing the fear, of keeping you from mental illness. The idea of giving up control triggers the fear of losing a sense of who you are. It's a fear of disappearing, of being absorbed. The closest understanding we have of that is t

In meditation you just notice what arises rather than seeking after experiences, which are conditioned by the ego's need for stimulation, recognition and structure. --- Doug Duncan Sensei: "In meditation you're not trying to _change_ your sensations, your passions, your lusts -- you're trying to see it clearly." "All the skandhas -- form, feelings, perceptions, etc. -- happen at the same time. It's too compacted to get a good look at. So you take it apart." "Once you know your ego -- stimulation, recognition, structure -- you're already free of it. You don't have to change it. You don't have to fix it. All you have to do is take note of it." "If you identify with the label, that is the source of the suffering. From that, the suffering will pour forth." "The hungry ghost realm is marked by unfulfilled needs whose time has passed. The ego, by definition, in relationship to its sensing functions -- its cravings, its passions, its lusts, and so on -- is an unfulfilled need whose time has passed." Amitabha mantr

In meditation you just notice what arises rather than seeking after experiences, which are conditioned by the ego's need for stimulation, recognition and structure.  --- "Awakening isn't so much that you're fixing what's wrong or improving what's gone off as you are expanding your range to include what you exclude." "Namgyal Rinpoche mentioned two ways to increase your intelligence: increase the range of what you eat and increase the range of your sexual experience." "'Unwholesome' means choosing things that you may be habitually comfortable with but which aren't taking you forward. They're holding you in place in a limited conditioning based on security and comfort." "When you start to meditate and you're doing Amitabha practice, this is a place where rather than seeking after familiar and comfortable experiences you just note the ones that are arising." "You really need just two things for awakening: a good heart -- the actual desire for the welfare of other beings -- and determination (cetana)." This tal

The nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain at the core of our being. Resisting the urge to give in rather than face the appetite or addiction takes patience and determination.  --- In this concluding section, Sensei answers such questions as: How do you live in the moment and still plan for the future? Aren't there authentic pleasures that are not based on addiction? How can you not identify with the objective world in a healthy way that still allows you to function? http://www.planetdharma.com/

The nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain at the core of our being. Resisting the urge to give in rather than face the appetite or addiction takes patience and determination.  --- In the end, the nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain that is at the core of all of our beings. Getting on with the spiritual work means learning to be okay in the present moment, just as it is, without need for stories or elaborations, knowing that we're going to die, that no absolute security is to be found, that everything is impermanent. Part 4 of 5 of a public talk given in Winnipeg, Canada, in September 2009 http://www.planetdharma.com/

The nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain at the core of our being. Resisting the urge to give in rather than face the appetite or addiction takes patience and determination. --- Part 3 of a public talk given in Winnipeg, Canada, in Sept. 2009 http://www.planetdharma.com/

The nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain at the core of our being. Resisting the urge to give in rather than face the appetite or addiction takes patience and determination.  --- "If you want freedom you have to come to terms with being okay in the now doing nothing." -- Doug Duncan Sensei "All of your bad states are entirely your responsibility. Your state is totally under your control as long as you can exercise the mindfulness to be present in the moment. When you remain present you won't go to the addiction or to a negative mind state." "On the spiritual path, you're not fighting your addiction, you're fighting the inability to face the appetite or addiction. It takes patience and determination to sit through the state and study the pattern, rather than simply being driven by early childhood conditioning." From a public talk given in Winnipeg, Canada in September 2009 http://www.planetdharma.com/

The nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain at the core of our being. Resisting the urge to give in rather than face the appetite or addiction takes patience and determination. -- "If you look at the nature of your consciousness, you're always one step ahead of yourself or perhaps one step behind yourself, but very rarely are you actually in this moment just as it is." -- Doug Duncan Sensei The nature of appetite or addiction is thinking, 'What's next?'" In our modern lifestyles, we are addicted to being busy, always going from one thing to next, seeking happiness in the next moment. This is an addictive pattern. Seeking cannot produce peace and contentment. Happiness cannot be found in the next moment. Only in breaking the pattern, the addiction to the immediate reward of the chemical rush, do we find that consciousness can reside pleasantly in this moment, undisturbed for a period of time. The cycle of addiction is rooted in a strong sense of survival in one's being. Rather than fighting agai

Part 3: You Cannot Let the Unwholesome Run You The real work is to pay attention to and recognize what's going on in inside -- our mental states. We cannot let ourselves be ruled by subconscious conditioning.  --- In this last part of his talk, Doug Sensei gets down to the nitty-gritty. It's your work to do. We need to pay attention to and recognize what's going on in inside -- our mental states. And not let ourselves be ruled by subconscious conditioning. Mantras mentioned: Chenrezig (Jewel in the Lotus) mantra (for your heart): Om Mani Padme Hung Manjushri mantra (for your head): Om A Ra Pa Tsa Na Dhih Vajrapani (The Holder of the Diamond) mantra: Om Vajrapani Namah Hum Deity: Red Shinji, wrathful Red Manjushri: the most wrathful of all the deities in the mandala http://www.planetdharma.com/

Part 2: Why Wait for Spring? The real work is to pay attention to and recognize what's going on in inside -- our mental states. We cannot let ourselves be ruled by subconscious conditioning. --- It's the basics for awakening. Recognize the wholesome for the wholesome. Recognize the unwholesome for the unwholesome. And you always know that the unwholesome state is unwholesome. You just aren't admitting it. Om ah ra pa tsa na dhih. Hail to the wisdom that is ripening. (Manjushri mantra) This talk was given by Doug Duncan Sensei on Aug. 14, 2010 at Clear Sky Center, BC, Canada. http://www.planetdharma.com/

Part 1: Nobody's Perfect The real work is to pay attention to and recognize what's going on in inside -- our mental states. We cannot let ourselves be ruled by subconscious conditioning. --- "sabbe sankhara dukkha'ti" All conditioned phenomena are filled with suffering. This talk was given by Doug Duncan Sensei on Aug. 14, 2010 at Clear Sky Center, BC, Canada. http://www.planetdharma.com/

Sensei answers questions and riffs energetically on cause and effect -- karma -- and a range of other subjects from the point of view of the Buddha (ultimate truth vs. relative truth) --- Doug-sensei says: "Action is intention. Be very careful about this. There's no thing that you do at any moment ever that isn't intended. Every single thing you do is intended, whether you acknowledge the intention or not." Reference: Prajna Paramita = The Heart Sutra Relevant section: "O Shariputra, all dharmas are forms of emptiness, not born, not destroyed, Not stained, not pure; without loss, without gain. So in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness. No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind." Ultimate vs. Relative Truth = The Buddhist Doctrine of Two Truths From p. 41 Luminous Mind, Kalu Rinpoche: "All things can be viewed according to two levels of reality: the relative or conventional level and the ultimate level. These two truths correspond to two points of view, two visions

Sensei talks about going against the flow by meditating, reflecting and taking on the challenge to let go, abandon, renounce, and give up the idea that samsara is resolvable. --- Doug Sensei says: "Your journey to awaken is upriver! Samsara is noted for being endless. You are not going to awaken by keep makin' the same choices, goin' down the same stream. Unless, of course, the choice you're making is to meditate, contemplate, reflect, study, listen to your mentor. But fundamentally you have to take the challenge -- not just to meditate or contemplate, but to take the challenge to go upriver for you! And no Buddha can do this for you." "It's not about rebelling against society. It's not about fixing or destroying society. It's irrelevant. Your challenges are irrelevant to what society is doing. Your challenge is to leave it behind, to walk on, to let go, to abandon, to renounce, to give up the idea that samsara is resolvable!" Term: skandhas For a good explanation: http://tibetanlama.com/buddhism/The_Five_S

Doug Sensei rapidly outlines the Buddhist teachings -- how to awaken -- giving life to them with direct commentary suited for people today. --- "You're not looking at suffering clearly enough. You're drugging it out. You're in a dream state. Instead, you have to see the true nature of what you're attached to -- that it's impermanent, that it's subject to loss, that you can't ever own it, and that which owns it is itself a dream." Continuing with another talk from Dec. 2009 retreat, Doug Sensei rapidly outlines the Buddhist teachings -- how to awaken -- giving life to them with direct commentary suited for people today. An overview of the teachings from the book, "Gems of Dharma, Jewels of Freedom," the classic handbook of Buddhism by Gampopa, considered the 12th century forefather of the Kagyu traditions of Tibet. Translated by Ken and Katia Holmes in 1994, "according to the detailed explanations traditional to the Karma Kagyu Lineage". See: http://www.samyeling.org/ Part 1: The Prime Cause -- The Enlight

Part 3: Wake Up, Little Suzy Teachings based on the book "Gems of Dharma, Jewels of Freedom" by Gampopa.  Your preferences are shaped, formed by conditioning. Ultimately everything is insubstantial and you need to see that. --- Your parents have done their job, but they mentored you for a worldly existence. "The insubstantiality of the problem and the insubstantiality of the person experiencing the problem ends every problem. And by having meditative concentration, you just tell that little imp --- poof!" "Bliss, clarity, non-clinging is your birthright." Buddhist term: Sambhogakaya http://www.planetdharma.com/

Teachings based on the book "Gems of Dharma, Jewels of Freedom" by Gampopa. We are constantly seeking satisfaction. Merely accepting the cycle of getting temporary satisfaction and then seeking again is switching off. You need to transcend it instead. --- Student question: "Don't we just accept that there is a cycle of getting temporary satisfaction and then seeking again?" Sensei: "What are you taking refuge in, my friends?" Concept: Switched-Off Potential (for Enlightenment) Another incisive retreat talk! http://www.planetdharma.com/