Nathan Glyde has been practicing and studying meditation since 1997, and sharing teachings on retreats since 2007. In 2004 he co-founded SanghaSeva whose retreats emphasise wisdom and compassion in ecological and humanitarian service.
Emptiness doesn't imply detachment, or that another's suffering doesn't matter. Understanding emptiness and Dependent Origination liberates love from self-concern, and opens wise ways to interact with and change the world. "The Sūtra says that outer things are not at all real – it is the mind that manifests in various ways. This teaching that dismisses outer forms was only a device to counteract the strong attachment that we have to things." –Chandrakīrti
Some very obvious things need to be looked at with more honest clarity; One of those is our sense of self. It just seems so obvious, practically undeniable, that “I am”. Yet a separate self is impossible to find; what a paradox.
The 5 hindrances to deep ease are ways of looking at and relating with the world. By adjusting our view and creatively participating in the fabrication of body-heart-mind we can get free of these common entanglements of dukkhā.
There is always a little more we can see, and a little more we can learn; especially about how our way of looking is shaping what we see. There is always a way of looking shaping our view, there is no neutral mode, so we don't ever see the world passively. Understanding this brings a deepening understanding of liberation.
A broad talk: The comparing mind; Working with the inner critic with skill and care; Inquiry of scale when we question how we measure up; In moments of calm we can open further into the emptiness of all things; using the inquiry of refutation: Neither One Nor Many.
Opening talk of the trekking retreat. Investigating identity, personality, committee of mind, negativity bias, and the power of nature, perception, and attending to neutral and positive phenomena in shaping experience.
Using imaginal feeling to breath in ways beyond an anatomical understanding is easier, and more natural, than it sounds.
We can attune to the breath as a movement of energy, which can enliven and relieve body tension. We can still the heart-mind and resolve the body contraction, while cultivating an unshakeable attentiveness.
In this way we bring nourishment and a sense of greater aliveness with the in breath expansion, as well as letting be and relaxation on the out breath release.
