The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving Kindness

Mahayana5 Buddhism talks about bodhicitta, which means “awakened heart” or “courageous heart.” Bodhicitta has the qualities of gentleness, precision, and openness, being able just to let go and open up. Specifically, the purpose of tonglen is to awaken or cultivate bodhicitta, to awaken your heart or cultivate your courageous heart. It’s like water

It is simply a process of seeing what is, noticing that, accepting that, and then going on with life, which, in terms of the technique, is coming back to the simplicity of nowness, the simplicity of the out-breath.

This technique with the breath is said to be without a goal. You are not doing it to achieve anything except to be fully present. Being fully present isn’t something that happens once and then you have achieved it; it’s being awake to the ebb and flow and movement and creation of life, being alive to the process of life itself. That also has its so

The second part of this particular teaching is realizing that you’re not a victim of anything, and neither are you a patient that some doctor has to cure. You’re actually a sane, healthy, decent, basically good person, and you can find your own balance.

So when we say, “I take refuge in the buddha,” that means I take refuge in the courage and the potential of fearlessness of removing all the armor that covers this awakeness of mine. I am awake; I will spend my life taking this armor off. Nobody else can take it off because nobody else knows where all the little locks are, nobody else knows where i

By the willingness to do tonglen, you find, after some time—a few days or a few months or a few years—that you have a teacup full of courage, that somehow, by doing the practice, you awaken your heart and you awaken your courage.

Inquisitiveness or curiosity involves being gentle, precise, and open—actually being able to let go and open. Gentleness is a sense of goodheartedness toward ourselves. Precision is being able to see very clearly, not being afraid to see what’s really there, just as a scientist is not afraid…

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Taking refuge in the dharma is, traditionally, taking refuge in the teachings of the Buddha. Well, the teachings of the Buddha are: Let go and open to your world. Realize that trying to protect your territory, trying to keep your territory enclosed and safe, is fraught with misery and suffering. It keeps you in a very small, dank, smelly, introvert

He said with a lot of clarity. “You are never going to get it all together, you’re never going to get your act together, fully, completely. You’re never going to get all the little loose ends tied up.”