I try to convey that the wisdom and compassion we are looking for is already inside of us. I see practice as learning how to purify our mind and heart so we can hear the Buddha inside. In doing so, we naturally embody the dharma and help awaken that understanding and love in others we meet.
I try to use the formal teachings as a doorway for people to see the truth in themselves. I feel I'm doing my job when people look into themselves to come to their own deep understandings of the truth, access their own inner wisdom and trust in their "Buddha-knowing," as Ajahn Chah called it, which is different from their intellectual knowing.
The Buddha-knowing is a deeper place, underneath the concepts, which is in touch with the truth, with our seed of awakening. I want practitioners to have more and more confidence in, and familiarity with, that deeper place of knowing. It is accessing this dimension of our being that becomes the guide to cutting through the confusion caused by greed and fear. We have everything we need inside ourselves. We do not need to look to a teacher when we remember who we really are.
With our thoughts we make the world,"says the Buddha. What limiting beliefs do you have about yourself and practice? What would it be like if you were not constrained by them. This talk also explores the different temperaments that people bring to practice, seeing there is no one right personality style that is required for awakening.
The source of our awakening is right inside us. As we learn to listen deeply to the wisdom and purity of heart that is connected to the truth we are following the Buddha's instructions to be "be a lamp unto yourself."
Practice is more than a mere dry analysis of reality. A heartfelt spirit in practice not only give us enthusiasm and confidence but can flowers as deep devotion to the Dharma.
