The Observer and the Observed

(Back from two and a half week retreat with Ruth Denison, at Dhamma Dena Desert Vipassana Center, I am devoting the next few weeks to sharing Ruth's wonderful teachings.)

A while ago, I lamented the lack of media presence for women Buddhist teachers. As a small step, I took many short videos of Ruth throughout the retreat. Here is the first one in the series, catching Ruth during an impromptu sharing about her experience of awakening:

Very profound, and beautiful . . . 

One evening, I got a glimpse of the oneness alluded to by Ruth. She had asked us to join her for one last sitting, after a joyful dance to the tune of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. A few  minutes in, there was the experience of body dissolving, completely, and leaving only pure energy, boundless. A very powerful moment, that tore apart prior illusions of separateness and solidity. 

Only Seeing

(Back from two and a half week retreat with Ruth Denison, at Dhamma Dena Desert Vipassana Center, I am devoting the next few weeks to sharing Ruth's wonderful teachings.)

How to see form and shape without mind intervening and creating concepts? That is the challenge. The whole process is about consciousness seeing rather than thinking about. The mind is always working. We give it a rest with pure consciousness. We come to awareness so that the seeing experience is not constantly disturbed, and mixed with our thinking about it. This can only be realized in the present experience.

Tibetan Flags - Dhamma Dena Zendo

We practice by focusing on one sense experience, here seeing, and becoming aware when we all of a sudden start thinking. If thoughts come in and are relevant, then we are in atmosphere of reflecting. Then we go back to only seeing. We notice the tensing when the thinking mind gets involved. Always knowing what we are doing. We learn to use our whole equipment as a tool to achieve deeper purity of mind, and wisdom.

Like the Sun

(Back from two and a half week retreat with Ruth Denison, at Dhamma Dena Desert Vipassana Center, I am devoting the next few weeks to sharing Ruth's wonderful teachings.)

Ruth's Teachings on Loving Kindness.

I brought back with me the gift of Ruth's image of loving kindness as the sun that brings its warm rays to everything, regardless.

Sunrise at Dhamma Dena Vipassana Center

Here are my notes from her talks on metta (loving kindness):

Metta is love without distinction. You see that you can have you can have your heart open, even if someone acts in a bad way. You understand this person is behaving in such a way because he or she is suffering, and you extend compassion towards them, who have no precepts to guide them. You always keep a friendly heart, and you don't criticize yourself or others. I see every difficulty as a challenge for my practice to become stronger. You have to go very deep into that which is harmful, so that it becomes of benefit to yourself and others. Loving kindness does not sort out. It is even-minded. That does not mean you always say yes, but you don't blame and go into 'he could have done better'. Our rawness, our anger get transformed that way. 

From the Buddha's Discourse on Loving-Kindness:

"Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings."

Ruth gaves us several metta practices:

One morning she asked us to use our time walking back from the zendo, "to unload that which is hindering your heart", while becoming aware of the sun's warm touch on our bodies.

Another time, during sitting meditation, she asked us to extend love from our center into all four directions, and then placing both hands on the heart, bringing that same love to ourselves.

The biggest love lesson, I got from watching Ruth every day, as she gave selflessly of herself, from early morning to late night. Giving to us, her students,  her teachings. Giving to impromptu visitors,  the gift of her wisdom. Giving to the animals in the desert, the coyotes, the rabbits, the quails, the squirrels, the doves, each their kind of food. Giving to the ones in financial needs,  free tuition, and sometimes even free rent. Giving the plants scarce water, recycled from our daily activities. Giving, giving . . . with joy always.

"This is a radical practice." - Ruth Denison

I left Dhamma Dena with a light heart, ready to give.

Gimme Some Trouble

(While away on women's retreat with Ruth Denison, I decided to lend this blog to some of my favorite  Buddhist women teachers.)

Pema again . . . This is one of my favorite videos, from Pema Chodron:

Tsultrim's Demons

(While away on women's retreat with Ruth Denison, I decided to lend this blog to some of my favorite  Buddhist women teachers.)

Learning to feed our demon(s) with Tsultrim Allione:

Sylvia's Kindness

(While away on women's retreat with Ruth Denison, I decided to lend this blog to some of my favorite  Buddhist women teachers.)

Sylvia Boorstein reminds us to be kind to ourselves:

Khandro's Simple Wisdom

(While away on women's retreat with Ruth Denison, I decided to lend this blog to some of my favorite  Buddhist women teachers.)

I love the practicality of Khandro Rinpoche's teachings: