2024-07-21 | Dharma Talk | The Practice of Loosening the Grip of Clinging | Laurie Winnette

Appamada

00:01:14 - Poem - What is Our Life About - By Ezra Bayda (see Below) 00:17:39 - Laurie Explains the Dharma Activity (see Below on YouTube) 00:19:34 - Participants go into pairs for 26 minutes Exercise Get into pairs. Decide who will speak first Each person will take 10-15 minutes to do the clinging exercise separately Each person will share their experience of the exercise with the other for 5 minutes. Return to group 1. Think of a time (it could be now when you were caught in the illusion of a separate self. Not the worst situation, something small. 2. Notice the clinging that arises. Recall without judgment your feelings sensations. and state of mind 3. Practice letting go by relaxing the tightening of the mind and body. It is a relaxing of your grasp on how you want things to be. Say to yourself, "I don’t need things to be my way. don’t need them to be any way….content either way, because no matter what happens, the universe is truly divine 1. Notice the clinging that arises. Recall without judgment your feelings sensations. and state of mind 2. Practice letting go by relaxing the tightening of the mind and body. It is a relaxing of your grasp on how you want things to be. Say to yourself, "I don’t need things to be my way. don’t need them to be any way. um content either way, because no matter what happens, the universe is truly What is Our Life About? Ezra Bayda Our aspirations, our calling, our desire for a genuine life, is to see the truth of who we really are— that the nature of our Being is connectedness and love, not the illusion of a separate self to which our suffering clings. It is from this awareness that Life can flow through us; the Unconditioned manifesting freely as our conditioned body. And what is the path? To learn to reside in whatever life presents. To learn to attend to all those things that block the flow of a more open life; and to see them as the very path of awakening— all the of the constructs, the identities, the holding back, the protections, all of the fears, the self-judgments, the blame— all that separates us from letting Life be. And what is the path? To turn away from constantly seeking comfort and trying to avoid pain. To open to the willingness to just be, in this very moment, exactly as it is. No longer ready to be caught in the relentlessly spinning mind. Practice is about awakening to the true Self; no one special to be, nowhere to go. Residing in the Heart, just Being. We are so much more than just this body just this personal drama. As we cling to our fear, and our shame, and our suffering, we forsake the gratitude of living from our natural Being. So where, in this very moment, do we cling to our views? Softening around the mind’s incessant judgment, we can awaken the heart that seeks to be awakened. And when the veil of separation rises, Life simply unfolds as it will. No longer caught in the self-centered dream, we can give ourselves to others, like a white bird in the snow. Time is fleeting. Don’t hold back. Appreciate this precious life.