Unfettered Mind

Practices 25 - 30 A question about anger; commentary on verses regarding the six perfections: generosity, morality, patience, effort, meditative stability, wisdom

37 Practices of a Bodhisatva 7 (retreat)

Meditation on Practice 21 What is like in your meditation practice when you don’t fight as much? Working with sleepiness and noise. Opening to what arises and to the experience of attachment.

Practices 18-21 Questions on pain as a messenger, Buddha nature and emptiness. Commentary on compassion as action in the world, staying sane in difficult situations, balance as ongoing adjustments.

Practices 12-17 Working with anger, practicality and perfection, balance in relationships, pain and compassion, working with slander, shame and enemies, is practice for building skills or for being present

Practice 11 / Taking & Sending Questions on practices 4 - 10, compassion as the centerpiece of practice, two meditations on taking and sending along with question from participants

Practices 4 - 11 When everything is going well in life, what is practice about? Letting go of conventional concerns, finding a good teacher and the functions of teachers, the prison of patterns, refuge prayer, karma as instruction instead of karma as explanation, creating conditions so you can listen to what's inside you, the illusion of control, embracing life fully

Introduction / Practices 1-3 The origin of the text, about the author, emptiness as a means to an end (compassion), meditation, commentary on first three practices

"When I notice a change in my emotions I focus on what is occurring instead of the emotion itself. Is this repression?" "How can I get to sleep when my mind is full of thoughts?" "Instead of a fixed daily meditation routine, is it enough just to sit and breathe peacefully when one can?" "How can I handle the changes that are occurring in my life as a result of practice?" "How do I recognize a transition or transformation in energy?" "I don't have an absolute relationship with anything in my life, let alone one with practice. And I envy people that do. How can I develop one?" "A lot of what I feel when sitting is unpleasant and I find I am resistant to that experience. Any way to shorten it?"

Difference between teaching and learning, faith and belief; the three important things: impermanence/change, compassion, and faith; opening to doubt; the direction of the present. Questions from participants: What is the most productive question you’ve asked yourself? How do I not carry the past into the present? How do I stay focused on this path when at times I just want to be coddled?

Why meditate? Why practice taking and sending? What should I do when I find myself interrupting my meditation at the same point every day? Why meditate on death and impermanence? Why does it seem that my daily meditation doesn't directly relate to my daily life? What is the difference between equanimity and indifference?

Meditating to experience life in a different way; meditating to be a better person; attention in speech; coming to terms with who you are; taking and sending; living in a world that ignores impermanence.

Meeting and resting with experience instead of labeling experience during meditation; not making facts out of your feelings; justice and vengeance; four stages of conflict; keeping your heart open after the loss of a relationship.

Putting attention on the experience of breathing; what to do when lost in confusion; working with strong patterns; dealing with life's setbacks; working with depression

Religion/Spirituality as personal exploration; Practice and the importance of one's own volition; Is nirvana the last delusion; the four things that are impossible to have: control, security, ground, and self; practice as a way to be present; how to find your way among the variety of practice choices