“IT’S OUR MIND THAT’S CREATING THE PROBLEM”
My Notes from Lecture by Ven. Robina Courtin, a Buddhist Nun
Antara Davis
There’s what happening to you, and there’s what you DO about it.
That is the whole practice. Just be kind. Just be happy – very advanced practice J
It’s so simple but our minds are so complicated we can’t hear it. We have to slow our minds down so much just to get the profound teaching of “just be happy.”
What happens is just what happens. If we could just let that be, we’d have no problems in life, we’d be
getting somewhere – that’s actually movement. What happens and how we deal with it is the most amazing portrait of how we are and who we are. It’s also showing us with great clarity and precision the work that we have to do.
It’s our mind that creates our problems in our life. As we change our mind we change everything around us. How do we change our minds? Buddha gave us 84,000 teachings on this and each one is cleaning a different aspect mostly it’s ignorance and lack of awareness
ASK YOURSELF…What is my resistance to just allowing this from being what it is?
Once you ask this, it gets very profound, it gets deeper and deeper into letting go. That’s what happens when you inquire about this . Ask, what I am bringing to this that’s making it a problem? Then just let that go. Whatever is making it a problem is coming from the mind. It is perception, our way of viewing the situation. Everything I have any suffering over is because I am holding onto something. Ultimately there is NOTHING to hold onto, you can’t hold onto anything, it all changes, yet without truth and dharma we are stuck like flies on flypaper to samsara/illusion and delusion.
When you think you have reached your limit, realize that you have no limits, your mind has no limits. Any limits you think you have are just your perception. Know that whatever happens, you can deal with it.
Once you put yourself on the road of awareness and Enlightenment, theres no turning around.
Awareness is so important. When you are aware of your actions and the reasons for them, it clears the mind – it is the tool of clearing the mind.
-- First there’s awareness of your problems,
-- then there’s the practice to slow down to prevent it from recurring,
-- then there’s a clearing of the mind,
-- then you see life exactly as it is.
When you can be with things as they are, YOU are in control of the situation. Sounds crazy but it’s true. You’re in control because you are letting things be how they are and just deal with it. It’s the resistance that keeps you stuck, it’s wanting to control, to manipulate that keeps you stuck. When you are free from trying to control, you just dance with what IS. That’s what the DALAI LAMA does, its so simple, its almost beyond our comprehension. It blows my mind how simple it is. It’s us who makes our life extremely complicated and we make life difficult, telling ourself some fancy twisty storyline with unending details and you can’t see how simple it is. Because whatever is, it just IS. No matter how twisted and horrible, it just is.
When you catch yourself before you do a negative action, you can change your mind. When you change your mind, you change the situation. You are not the victim. But sometimes karma is so strong its very difficult not to do negative reaction.
When ego gets attacked, try thinking IMMEDIATELY “WOW! This is great! I’m so lucky this is happening” – you have to think this right away or you will get stuck in the storyline. You have to treat your mind like a little child, training it in the beginning how to think correctly. Even when your depressed or discouraged, you don’t have to press the first domino, bring to mind your awareness because it dissolves.
A lazy mind is not working to generate merit. The mind needs to be strong to start generating merit. It’s that merit that brings light, dispelling darkness of delusions, and allowing clarity and enlightenment to happen. So make the mind strong so you can change it.
Grind this into your mind: Be kind. Until it becomes your breath. It takes a lot of constant effort but that is what it takes to transform mind/life very fast. Then once you have this dharma mind, you just stay with it through all life instances, stay with it. It’s the greatest adventure to find out about your mind. Your Buddha mind is never going to leave you, the adventure is to clean up the obstacles to find the freedom of Buddha mind that is already there. Solve your own problems, see things differently, not just for your benefit but for others. And then you become a vehicle for healing because we all need the healing.
The greater the hurt you have in your life, the greater the ability we have to transform.
When you blow it, the good part is that it cuts your pride, it shows you how much work you have do.
If you recognize the gap between your mind & BUDDHA mind? Then you see that’s your practice, that’s your work to change your mind towards that.
KEEP the Dalai Lama in your heart & keep checking in w/him
When you Wake up – think, what is BUDDHA gonna send me today?
BUDDHA is not out there. He’s in you. If DALAI LAMA is out there, we have a problem. The fact you can perceive DALAI LAMA out there means your one of the fortunate ones, that’s why you have to do the work, because it means DALAI LAMA is IN you, he isn’t really out there.
The DALAI LAMA appears in human body , and if he’s sick, it’s because of your mind, it’s because you cannot see him in any other way. You have to purify your mind to see him truly. Everything is screaming out EMPTY. And we can’t hear.
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