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37 Practices of the Bodhisattva - verse 9
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Ken McLeod continues his commentary on the 37 Practices of the Bodhisattva with Verse 9. Watch the other videos here.
9
The happiness of the three worlds disappears in a moment,
Like a dewdrop on a blade of grass.
The highest level of freedom is one that never changes.
Aim for this—this is the practice of a bodhisattva.
What is your experience of achieving a sense of freedom in life? What stands in the way?
For more of Ken McLeod's teachings, visit Unfettered Mind.
Thanks Ken for a taste of the freedom of being open & at one with our relationship with life & living. What stands in my way; ahhh such old habit patterns but then I'm learning to embrace them.
What stands in the way? Hmm, lack of capacity, which is just that, being at a point in my practice where freedom is a direction headed for but not achieved. Yet when I reflect on where I stood a year ago in this path, I am astounded by the changes. Does freedom come all at once-highest level or in increments?
Insights, energetic experiences, states of mind and emotion, and moments of awakening and freedom -- they come and go. Some are fleeting, barely remembered the next day; others are profoundly transforming. In any case, we are left with what Ken describes as an on ongoing engaging and responding to life itself -- not a state that is "free" of life and its changes. .
~ George Draffan, on behalf of Ken McLeod
I'm currently undergoing profound psychological changes due to years of psychotherapy. The challenge of my Buddhist practice for the last several weeks has been "being okay" with an unresolved and often confusing psychological condition. What I've discovered through meditation is that Mind is ALWAYS OKAY, even when it is evolving and changing on the psychological level. I believe that this is the freedom that never changes spoken of in today's verse.
Yes, everything is changing, including the condition of our psyche. In his commentary to this verse, Ken suggests that "nirvana" is the ongoing process of letting go as things change, and that freedom is in the experiencing and engaging of life itself -- those ever-changing sensations, feelings, and thoughts.
~ George Draffan, on behalf of Ken McLeod