Lama Surya Das’ Awakening Now Podcast EP. 72 “Awakening with Mindful Awareness”
This time on the Awakening Now Podcast, Lama Surya Das examines the importance of cultivating mindful awareness in our journey of awakening.
“Buddhism is based on The Buddha’s enlightenment experience that he promised anybody can experience by cultivating such a path. Why become a mere Buddhist if you can become a Buddha?” – Lama Surya Das
Lama Surya Das is joined by Paul Samuel Dolman for a chat
that touches on the importance of remembering our true natures, bringing
awareness to social action, and learning to love the world by starting with
ourselves.
“My mind is crazy like all minds are, my egoic mind will run
wild. If I just bring it home with meditation, I ground myself and remember
that I am an infinite being. I need constant reminding.” – Paul Samuel Dolman
Lama Surya Das explores the ways in which our egos allow our innate and limitless awareness to get caught up in the trees of our desires and fears.
“This is the bigger picture. Not getting caught up in the trees, but glimpsing the whole forest at once. Not being lost in the trees, but also having the bigger picture in mind as we negotiate relative decisions and turnings amidst the alleys and byways of skyscrapers – the big forest.” – Lama Surya Das
How can our practice loosen up our fixed perspective of “I” relating to “it?” Lama Surya Das introduces the Clear Light practices of the Dzogchen Buddhist tradition that addresses this question of identity.
“Not ego or self, being liberated – things arising and dissolving by themselves. Like thoughts that come and go if we let them. This kind of practice is not about thought swatting. Awareness of whatever arises is the view of meditation in Dzogchen.” – Lama Surya Das
Radio host CJ Liu joins Lama Surya Das for a conversation about how we can get in touch with our inner Buddha nature when we are distressed or overwhelmed with the suffering and injustice in the world.
“We need to listen to each other because we are talking to each other and not listening. This person says this and the other person is not listening to what the other person is saying, they are taking a little fragment of that and going off in some other direction. You are not listening because your position has to be right, there is no winning in this scenario.” – CJ Liu
Dr. Ian Dunican joins Lama Surya Das for a discussion about ways that meditation practice can improve our quality of sleep.
“We are going to start looking at the positive benefits of meditation and sleep because many people report these benefits, but they have not been studied in this applied setting of the retreat.” – Dr. Ian Dunican
Lama Surya Das discusses unity in diversity, and finding the “one” in the “many.” This helps us to see others in ourselves, contributing to a peaceful existence. He also shares stories about renowned spiritual guru Neem Karoli Baba and his first-hand experiences.
Lama Surya Das continues his discussion around the Dzogchen practice of naked awareness and how its fruits manifest in our lives.
“The naked awareness practice; just seeing, freeing the mind. Experiencing, first, second is recognizing, seeing through and remaining undeceived, and third is allowing. – Lama Surya Das
It was a pleasure to explore the benefits of Tibetan Dream Yoga with Dr. Ian Dunican of Sleep4Performance. Dr. Dunican is an expert in the field of sleep and performance, focusing on elite athletes. He is based in Perth, Western Australia.
Lama Surya Das is one of the foremost Western Buddhist meditation teachers and scholars. He has spent over forty-five years studying Zen, Vipassana, Yoga, and Tibetan Buddhism with the great old masters of Asia. He is the author of the best-seller "Awakening the Buddha Within" and 12 other books. His Latest release is "Make Me One With Everything: Buddhist Meditations to Awaken From the Illusion of Separation". Follow him on Twitter- @LamaSuryaDas on Facebook- Lama Surya Das, and Instagram- lamasuryadasusa. His retreats, teachings, and events can be found on his website- www.surya.org.
