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Enter the Mandala of Awakening

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In this video, patrick Sweeney opens the Integral Mahamudra seminar of 2007. As he talks throughout this video, a central theme arises. Whether he talks about the importance and meaning of a bow, or waking up to the life that you have as opposed to the life that you want, it all leads back to an invitation; an invitation to step out of the Mandala of Confusion and into the Mandala of Awakening. Do you want to take that step with us?

The Nature of Mind

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In this video, Patrick leads the participants into the Mandala of Awakening ceremony, designed to invoke your Wisdom Mind. Buddhist ceremonies, and all their practices are designed to create a moment that "puts us on the spot," meaning that we create a moment that allows our dualistic mind to relax, that allows us to step out of chronological time, and to step out of the predictability of our own personal story line, into the vast space that is always there, into reality as it is, unmitigated by the self's thoughts, beliefs and concepts about it. This is a lovely description about the nature and intent of Buddhist ceremonies.

Enlightenment, Gradually…

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If enlightenment is the summit of a mountain, the Buddhist path to that summit is, at times, a steep and sudden approach, and at times, a gradual one. In this video, ISC Teacher Patrick Sweeney gives some background on meditation, the key practice in the gradual approach. Buddhist meditation is essentially the cultivation of bare attention. In his instructions on the practice, the Buddha taught mindfulness of the body, sensations and feelings, thoughts and emotions, and phenomena. In meditation, one befriends these perceptions without judgment, developing the capacity to look directly at what is present in the mind, with no effort to manipulate it. In this way, the mind slowly becomes transparent to the self. The practitioner's job is not to force growth, but rather to create the causes and conditions—the right circumstances of body, speech, and mind—whereby the mind's natural potential can unfold. 

Look at Your Mind

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In this video Patrick Sweeney leads participants through meditation practice. He invites us all to relate directly to our experience as it is, without trying to manipulate it, without judging it, and without trying to change it in any way. His ability to relate directly with experience as it is, and acceptance of any situation as it is, creates space and relaxation. In this video we think you'll feel that space and that relaxation, but check it out for yourself. 

The Beginning and the End

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In the Buddhist tradition there are two ways to learn "Right View" Trungpa Rinpoche taught that one way we arrive at Right View is by hearing the teachings, discussing, and debating. More importantly however, we arrive at right view through meditation. Meditation, in this context, does two things, it wakes us up from our ignorance (our dualistic mind), by waking us up to the unborn, undying awareness out of which all of life arises. It is these two types of waking up (waking up from our small-minded ignorance, by waking up to limitless awareness) that the tradition is designed to remedy. 

Seals of the View

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The goal of Buddhadharma, says Patrick Sweeney, is to transform ourselves into what we really are. Far from pumping ourselves up to obtain some egoic goal, the Buddhist path leads us in precisely the opposite direction. It dismantles the ways we defend against what we already are. The four seals of existence are impermanence, selflessness, suffering, and nirvana. Basically: 1. All compounded things are impermanent. 2. All phenomena lack self-nature. 3. All dualistic emotions and experiences are intrinsically painful. 4. Nirvana alone is peace, and is beyond concept. These four seals of the view define all of Buddhist practice. They describe the truth of the actual situation that we find ourselves in, what happens when we contract against it, and what happens when we relax into it.

Suffering and Its Resolution

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"I teach one thing, and one thing only: suffering and its resolution." -Gautama Buddha

The Buddhist tradition points to our illusions, helping us to see through them, and to pass through the suffering that our illusions bring. In this video, ISC Teacher Patrick Sweeney discusses our habitual, confused way of perceiving reality that distorts both our external and internal realities.

Externally, we are in denial of impermanence, always trying to "freeze" the world, to make it conform to our perception of it. This denial is apparent, for instance, in the way we approach relationships. Rationally, we know that relationships are impermanent. But emotionally, we don't behave that way! We cling to an internalized, static version of external reality.

Internally, our perceptions are just as distorted. Rather than taking refuge in the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), we take refuge in our own conceptualized self-sense. If you believe otherwise, just watch what happens when someone cuts in front of you on the highway. Are you interested in seeing the ways that you "freeze" reality and cause yourself to suffer as a result?