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Guided Meditation: Generosity; Dharmette: Buddha’s Mind (4 of 5) Teacher - Kim Allen

The following talk was given by Kim Allen at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on October 10, 2024. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Guided Meditation: Generosity

Getting started together, I want to say that I appreciate the community that forms in the little chat. I do see it, though I don’t see it while I’m teaching because it's too much, but I check it out as we’re coming in. I always appreciate the warmth and friendliness and that many of you know each other. If any of you are new today, you're completely welcome into our little online chat community.

This week we are connecting with various wholesome qualities as a support for our meditation, bringing them in at the beginning and then allowing them to flavor the practice that we do. I hope you'll see over the course of the week that this is a skillful thing to do, and you're free to do it in whatever way works for you if you find it valuable.

The quality for today is generosity, such as sharing our care in the chat with each other.

Let's settle in now for sitting. Find a posture that's comfortable, giving your body some care. Maybe you're sitting, maybe you're lying down, or something else. Just allow the attention to come inward, feeling how the body is from the inside—not an idea or what you think it would look like in the mirror, but what it feels like to be in this body right now, whether it's comfortable or not, however much energy there is, and just settling into that.

Softening... maybe taking a couple of long, slow, deep breaths in. On the exhale, let the body settle into its posture. Perhaps finding as you settle out the obvious tensions that there's an internal strength or energy you can touch into. I find the body kind of naturally wants to be upright.

Perhaps feeling the contact points where you're sitting. Your weight is resting on something; feeling those pressure points and softening into them, allowing yourself to be supported. Giving your weight over to what you're sitting on.

Connecting with the simple feelings of breathing in and out so that we have a simple, rhythmic connection to the present—the natural breath.

And in this sitting, we'll again begin with a simple use of the mental aspect of the mind to deliberately bring in a memory of a time when you did an act that I'm going to call "clean generosity." It means it was simple, direct, and easy. Nothing complex that you had to arrange or debate about whether you were doing it; just something that was so easy, like as simple as holding the door for someone, or petting a dog that looked like it wanted petting, or handing somebody the change they couldn't find in their wallet at the checkout and saying, "Here, I've got that." Something really simple like that.

Just take into the body what it feels like to recall that moment, allowing it to register. Breathing with it, maybe allowing it to be distributed through the cells the way the breath does. Not to be grandiose or put a "self" into it; just staying with the feeling.

Then switch to recall a time when you received someone else's generosity, again in a really simple way. Maybe it wasn't even somebody you knew. How does it feel in the body to recall that situation? Really taking that in also.

Then letting go of this mental activity of bringing up memories and coming fully back into the present moment. Feeling the body sitting, the breath. Maybe really tuning in to the energetic side of the body—the flow of life force. And then also including the emotional side, the heart, allowing those to integrate. It's fine if in the present moment we have some difficult emotions or pain in the body; that's all part of the field. Maybe we'll remember that feeling of simple generosity and just allow those to be there.

Then gently relaxing even further in, taking up the mindfulness, the flow of occurrences in the body and mind. Perhaps with a focus like the breath, perhaps more open awareness. Just letting that flow on.

Can there be a sense in our way of meeting experience of generosity? Of giving the wholesome states our full attention or appreciation? Sometimes we skip over our wholesomeness. And for the unwholesome, giving them space to be there but not letting them get further entrenched.

Having a sense of how to guide ourselves with the normal flow of occurrences such that the mind stays fresh and free and on track. We can bring in the other qualities we've worked with, like clarity about what is helpful and what is not, and then having a very open and yet clear attitude about how to be with whatever is arising for us, like a good guide for ourselves.

A deeper aspect of generosity—really just a deepening and a spreading of it—is letting go. It's the same movement of mind that gives and that lets go. So allowing the mind to continually release what is arising, generously taking it in, seeing it, and then letting it go to turn to the next thing. Resting in the sense of letting go that allows experience to keep flowing.

One of the fruits of meditation practice is to begin to meet experience with a generosity of spirit—generosity of heart, if you prefer. That can begin internally with the willingness to greet and be with whatever arises. It's not all pleasant; it's not all wholesome. But to have a generosity of spirit: "Okay, this is here." And then further, to appreciate and really let register what is wholesome, what is beautiful—because there's a lot of that too.

Starting to become able to tolerate the fullness of experience, the fullness of this being human. For some, it's a big process to release the resistance, the holding, the "Oh, I don't know about that" kind of feeling. I think it's quite ongoing for us to keep opening that way.

It then can spill outward and start to come into our life in certain ways: meeting other people with a generosity of heart, seeing them as the complex beings they are, having seen our own complexity, and so affording them some flexibility in our response, some generosity in imagining the possibilities for them, some willingness to release reactivity that might come up.

So, less often meeting the world with a sense of grasping, or fear, or resistance, or attack, or dulling out and turning away. More and more having the width and breadth of heart that we can meet what is arising in some way and find a skillful approach to it. There isn't just one, so we'll each find our way. But this generosity of heart and spirit can be felt by others. Even if they don't know what it is quite consciously, it's a feeling that's brought, and it tends to bring out the possibilities for others.

The world needs this kind of energy. It can't be faked, but the degree to which our practice cultivates it, we can become aware of it and let it express. So may there be just a sliver more of the generosity part as you go out into the world today.

Dharmette: Buddha’s Mind (4 of 5) Teacher

We'll continue on with these ten attributes or epithets¹ of the Buddha's mind, of which we'll talk about nine in detail. We've seen up to now that the Buddha's mind was free of all defilements and he was able to manifest that in his behavior and way of meeting life. Furthermore, he turned that liberated mind toward seeing clearly how the universe operates—how it is for people with their minds and bodies and karma and life and death. He was willing to take in the whole picture, the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful. He saw and understood all of that and could not be thrown off by any of it.

These are captured in the epithets we've talked about so far: Arahant, Sammā Sambuddho, Vijjā-caraṇa-sampanno, Sugato, and Loka-vidū². That could be the end of the story—he had complete knowledge, inner and outer, and those two aren't so separate for a Buddha—but it isn't the end of the story, actually, because the Buddha chose to act. Specifically, he chose to teach. The two attributes or epithets for today are about the Buddha's skill in teaching. He was a great teacher, and we are all the beneficiaries of that, still learning his teachings to this day.

Remember that we're meant to reflect on these qualities and turn them over in our mind. When we consider this great teaching of the Buddha, we can be uplifted and inspired by that. We might also see that some of how we train and teach ourselves is there; we've learned something from the teachings about how to guide ourselves skillfully. I mean, nobody's there with you on the cushion—my voice comes in sometimes, but it's you and your mind. So, how are we training and teaching ourselves throughout the day, guiding ourselves?

And third, reflecting on the Buddha's teaching qualities can prompt us to consider our qualities as students also. These are some of the things I want to bring in today as we talk about the two attributes that relate to teaching.

The first is a longish one: Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sārathi³. Sārathi is a trainer; it was literally the name of a profession, like an elephant trainer or a horse trainer, back in the Buddha's time. Anuttaro means "unexcelled"—there's no one better. And Purisadamma is an interesting word. Purisa means "person," and damma has to do with taming. It's not to be confused with Dhamma (D-H-A-M-M-A), which is the Dharma; this is damma (D-A-M-M-A), a different word, and it has to do with taming. So Purisadamma is usually translated as "persons to be tamed." The full phrase is usually translated as "unexcelled trainer of persons to be tamed."

The Buddha teaches those who are trainable. It's interesting, right? I find myself, when I reflect on this, thinking that if the Buddha is the unexcelled trainer of persons to be tamed, first of all, we have to admit that there are parts of us that would probably do well to be tamed. We can think about how this is the side of the Buddha that can meet what is unskillful or unwholesome in the world and find a way to put that more on track—to train it up so that it's not wandering around and causing problems.

One question for us is: Are we willing to be tamed or trained? There's some room for humility here. It's important to admit that we really are under the sway of greed, hatred, and delusion. Sometimes we go too far and see ourselves as only possessing those qualities, but sometimes we also have an idea that we don't. I actually had to explicitly admit early in my practice that I wanted to be trained. It's not that I thought I was perfect, but somehow the admission mattered. I remember a moment where I decided, "You know what? I really want to submit myself for training here." Maybe like in a twelve-step program, you have to have that moment where you say, "Yeah, this is a problem; this mind could use a little training."

Why is it that sometimes we don't? Why is it that we need to make this admission conscious? We're not free because we have ignorance in the mind—that's kind of the root problem. In English, the word "ignorance" suggests something passive, like we just don't know something. But in Buddhism, avijjā⁴ is actually an active turning away. Something in our mind doesn't want to see, and so we look away. That's actually why it takes effort to train our mind—why our mind keeps wanting to go back. There's a part of it that doesn't really want to wake up. Working with that is part of the training, like working with an animal.

And maybe it's not only our own willful effort. I see this quality of the Buddha also as a practice where we offer ourselves up for training. It's not just a task for me to do, but more like an offering up: "Yes, I submit myself for training. I will follow these instructions because I know that my mind will benefit from that."

That's one side of the teaching. Then we get to the inspirational side, which is the term Satthā Deva-manussānaṃ⁵. Satthā is a teacher (satthār is the root word), and Deva-manussānaṃ means "of gods and humans." So the Buddha is the "teacher of gods and humans." This is similar to the training, but the "trainer" part is like working with an animal that needs to be guided to good behavior. Then there's the "teaching" part—the actual imparting of knowledge and skills, the supporting of what is wholesome in us. We're not just like an animal being trained; we have the capacity to understand the process, to learn the principles of the Dharma, to be touched in the heart by the teachings. It's not quite the same way a dog is touched by our training. There's a more elevated side of the Buddha's teaching also.

For us, then, there can be the inspirational side and the practical question: Are we being intelligent students? Are we using all of our beautiful, amazing capabilities of mind and heart to bring the Dharma into our lives and let it flower? Do we listen to the Dharma? Do we ask questions so that we can understand? The dog doesn't ask questions about why it's being trained a certain way, but we're meant to participate and bring in our understanding, our engagement, our enthusiasm, and then put that into practice.

I think that's why it's said specifically "gods and humans." In the Buddhist cosmology, those are the higher forms of mind—ones that can really understand and participate in their training. A satthā—a teacher more than a trainer—is someone who empowers us, who grows the good in us for our own benefit, so that eventually we can become our own teacher. Gods and humans have the capability to also take on the qualities of being teachers. It's said at the first stage of awakening in this practice that we become "independent in the Dharma"—we become able to walk the path ourselves, to stand on our own two feet, if you will.

That's really a beautiful thing. As a student, we have a choice about how we navigate, how we have relationships with teachers. I would suggest that we look for teachers who want us to be strong, to be smart, and to be beneficial in the world—teachers who want us to discover our own inner wealth and who have the qualities that the Buddha named in those who teach the Dharma.

A few months ago, Gil⁶ did one of these five-day series on the qualities of a teacher from the Udayi Sutta⁷. There are five of them (at least in one of these lists), so I'll just review them briefly, but it might be interesting to look back on that week.

1. A teacher should teach step-by-step in a progressive understanding so that you can move toward greater and greater good, greater and greater wholesomeness.
2. A teacher should speak giving reasons, helping you understand what you're doing and why.
3. A teacher should teach with care—with love, concern, and tenderness—not with cruelty, beating you into shape, but with care and kindness.
4. A teacher should teach not for profit, but for the intrinsic goodness of the Dharma, wanting to share it with people.
5. A teacher should not teach in a way that exalts themselves and disparages others. Even if they have a distinct teaching style, they simply teach that as the embodiment of how they teach, without claiming that others aren't doing it right.

Teaching, being a student, finding a teacher, and finding the qualities of the teacher within ourselves—this too is part of the awakened mind and the awakening mind that we have. One upshot of reflecting in this way is to have gratitude for our great fortune in having encountered the teachings, and also amazement at the Buddha's generosity and compassion to teach. We can also be grateful to the long line of practitioners and other teachers who have kept this Dharma alive over the centuries so that it comes to us and we can still learn and benefit from it.

Everyone here has seen the benefit of the Dharma in some way. Thank goodness that it was taught, that we heard it, that we had the opportunity, and that we're even having the opportunity to practice it. The amazing teaching of the Buddha is still echoing today, 2,600 years later, and we can embody that through being a sincere and engaged student of our own humanity, letting that flower forth and become most of what we can be.

Thank you for doing that in your own unique, special way, and for this chance to be together today. Tomorrow, there's even more about the Buddha. Take care.