Talks by Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat of Planet Dharma
Episodes
Monday Dec 24, 2012
Monday Dec 24, 2012
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.
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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 be very much faster, because you don't have to stop and look at your map all of the time." How can you tell the charlatan from the real teacher? "You look at the teacher from the point of view, 'Do I feel that he loves me? Do I feel that he has my best interests at heart? And does he act that way?' Not whether I agree with him, whether I like him, whether that's something I approve or disapprove of, but 'Do I feel that he or she is basically on my side?' That's what you can trust." The Aquarian Age is all about 'group guru' -- how to come together as a group, a community. The four stages of the womb journey: 1st stage: Bliss in the womb 2nd stage: Contractions (intermittent) 3rd stage: Birthing (violent); trauma 4th stage: Plop and cut Concepts such as personal mastery, shifting the burden, and creative tension vs. emotional tension are based on the recommended book "The Fifth Discipline" by Peter Senge.
Friday Nov 16, 2012
Friday Nov 16, 2012
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.
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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 as separate." Creative tension vs. emotional tension: from Peter Senge's book "The Fifth Discipline" (pp. 135-142): "The gap that is between our current reality and our vision is called "creative tension." This gap is a source of creative energy…" Summarized well here: http://thecreatingspace.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/creative-tension/ Question from audience: [How are you] supposed to judge what's good and what's bad? Suggested rules/criteria for a broader vision of a "good" or "bad" (moral) act: 1. Is it conducive/does it lead to awakening? (Helping us individually or as a group to move forward?) 2. Would it be okay if everybody on the planet did it/behaved that way/said that? 3. Would it be okay if everybody knew? "But good and bad depends on where the scale is...as your wisdom and compassion deepen, the scale moves. What your parents see as good and bad, though true for them now, may not be true anymore as they move toward awakening. The good and bad may shift and the scale may shift." "What's your personal vision? Is Tokyo on the map or are you happy with Nagoya or Shizuoka? What do you need to do to move your organism a little down the road towards Tokyo? How do you determine what that is, see what that is? And what might that be? What kind of actions or behavior or lifestyle do you think you need to produce that will be more conducive to that journey?"
Wednesday May 02, 2012
Wednesday May 02, 2012
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.
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"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 want to be in good places, we have to see the self as other." "You are me and I am you."
"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 want to be in good places, we have to see the self as other." "You are me and I am you."
Sunday Feb 26, 2012
Sunday Feb 26, 2012
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.
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"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 the fear of mental illness, where you're no longer compos mentis; you're no longer sane." "Will meditation drive you crazy? No, life drives you crazy. Meditation shows you that life is crazy. If you don't meditate you can assume that life is normal, but the minute you start meditating, life looks pretty crazy." "In terms of the awakening experience, you have to meet these fears of being out of control, of being crazy, of losing your identity. Because that's how the ego has projected the awakening experience back onto itself as the reason for not doing it. Don't think you can't do it (awaken), because the depth of your being knows you can. The depth of your being is prepared for it. The organism knows that this is part of the potential program. Your brain, your body, your organism as a human being knows it has the capability and the possibility for awakening." "In most conventional ways when we say I love somebody, it means 'I can control them' or 'I can manipulate them' or 'I'm with her/him because I like being controlled by her/him'; 'I like the way she/he controls me, I like way she/he manipulates me'. And this is what we call love. Because love is usually a deal--a deal about your ego and their ego being able to dance to similar music. And it's not a bad thing. I'm not putting this down at any level. But that deal doesn't lead to awakening. Having said that, you can still be married and have a family and be awakened, but you can't set up family and profession and kids as a false destination. You've got to bring them toward awakening; it doesn't work the other way around."
Wednesday Oct 19, 2011
Wednesday Oct 19, 2011
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.
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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 mantras: OM AMITABHA HRIH SVAHA for lovingkindness in the world OM AMI DEVA HRIH (when a person is dying) "Enter the friendly shining" OM RATNA KUTA HUNG (for animals) "Enter the jewel state of consciousness" This talk was recorded on April 7, 2010 at Maitreya House in the United Kingdom http://crystalgroup.org.uk/maitreya.htm
Friday Oct 07, 2011
Friday Oct 07, 2011
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.
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"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 talk was recorded on April 7, 2010 at Maitreya House in the United Kingdom http://crystalgroup.org.uk/maitreya.htm
Saturday Jun 11, 2011
Saturday Jun 11, 2011
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.
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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?
Saturday Jun 11, 2011
Saturday Jun 11, 2011
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.
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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
Friday Apr 22, 2011
Friday Apr 22, 2011
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.
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Part 3 of a public talk given in Winnipeg, Canada, in Sept. 2009
Friday Apr 15, 2011
Friday Apr 15, 2011
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.
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"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