Dharma Monday

Online: The worldly winds

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Q What is a Buddhist's favourite brand of vacuum cleaner?
A Any one, so long as it doesn't come with attachments.

So the joke goes, everyone laughs because they know that being without attachment is a core Buddhist goal. What does it mean exactly?

We suffer because we want things to be other than they are. What would it mean to stop doing that? It means to welcome every life experience as it comes and allow to pass without needing to hold on to it if it is good, or push it away if it was bad. This is the teaching of the worldly winds. Life pushes us around in a multitude of ways, like a boat tossed around in a storm. We bend ourselves out of shape in even more ways trying to get what we want and avoid what we don't.

The worldly winds is a teaching that presents 4 pairs of opposites: a thing desired, and a thing undesired. As we go through life we cannot avoid experiencing both states. As much as we are intent on only getting the good, the unpleasant will surely follow. We will move through this cycle many times.

Over the next 5 weeks we will explore

  • pleasure and pain
  • loss and gain
  • praise and blame
  • fame and shame

We will explore the unique focus of each pair of opposites. We will look at how to address the changing nature of our lives by cultivating compassion and equanimity. We will look at more skillful ways to address the unpleasant aspects of life. We will practise techniques to reinforce more positive mental states so that when the worldly winds blow, we remain grounded and free.

27 July Mary Anna Smith - praise and blame
Things go wrong and it is very unpleasant. It’s possible to stay in the unpleasant moment and use the gap created by a non-reactive space to problem solve more effectively. Most of us, however, would rather get angry and hold someone to account. Mary Anna will look at the 5 most common blaming thoughts that lead to reactive states and explore dharmic alternatives that promote peace and connection. She will also explore the practice of “rejoicing in merits” as a skillful way of utilising praise.

When

27 July 2020  7:00pm-9:00pm

Cost

Location

Image of The Auckland Buddhist Centre - online
The Auckland Buddhist Centre - online

virtual meeting room

Led by

Portrait of Mary Anna Smith
Mary Anna Smith

Mary Anna first started attending the Buddhist Centre in 2000 with a friend as a place to catch up for a weekly gossip. The friend and the gossip…

Portrait of Dharma Mondays team
Dharma Mondays team

A team of order members and mitras