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Tricycle Retreats |
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The Final Week of Rodney Smith's "Selfless Practice"
Rodney Smith's Tricycle Retreat, "Selfless Practice," ends this week. Over the last month, through his videos and discussion comments, Smith has been investigating the Buddha's teaching of anatta, or no-self. Smith has invited us to discover the truth of anatta for ourselves by offering us advice on what to be on the lookout for when dealing with the subtle ways of the ego. Paradoxically, sometimes trying too hard to understand anatta can become an obstacle for understanding. In Week 4 of the retreat, "Applying the Practice," Smith makes the following statement in the discussion: More » -
Surrender: Week 4 of Rodney Smith's "Selfless Practice"
In Week 4 of his Tricycle Retreat, Rodney Smith talks about two different strategies we can use to deal with problems in our lives: adaptation and surrender. After discussing some of the limitations of using adaptation as a strategy, Smith considers the strengths of surrender as a means to end suffering. Smith says: More » -
"Applying the Practice: Adaptation and Surrender": Week 4 of Rodney Smith's "Selfless Practice"
In “Applying the Practice: Adaptation and Surrender” (Week 4 of his Tricycle Retreat, “Selfless Practice”) Rodney Smith says: “The effect of an unconscious life is suffering.” How can we live a conscious life? The beginning of Smith’s retreat this month has been about identifying the primary obstacle for living a conscious life (the belief in a separate self), and now, building on last week’s teaching, he’s discussing ways to overcome that obstacle. One strategy in particular that Smith explores—one that we often use for dealing with problems that we have—is adaptation. While adaptation is a valuable human talent, it has some limitations.Smith says: More » -
A Week 3 Round-up of Rodney Smith's "Selfless Practice"
"The Practice of Selflessness"—Week 3 of Rodney Smith's retreat "Selfless Practice"—ends today. The discussion page on the retreat this week has been very lively, and at times maybe even a little testy.For example, one participant takes umbrage with Smith's discussion of no-self. More » -
Wise Effort: Week 3 of Rodney Smith's "Selfless Practice"
One of the topics that Rodney Smith explores in "The Practice of Selflessness," Week 3 of his Tricycle Retreat, is Wise Effort. Once we begin to understand selflessness (Wise View) we naturally want to make an effort to release the need to be separate. How can we do this? Smith advises us to use what he calls the four R's of Wise Effort: relax, release, relinquish, and rejoin. Smith covers each of these R's in "The Practice of Selflessness," and he also goes through them in his recent book Stepping Out of Self-Deception.From Stepping Out of Self-Deception: More » -
Selflessness vs. Impermanence: Week 2 of Rodney Smith's "Selfless Practice"
In Week 2 of his Tricycle Retreat, "Selfless Practice," Rodney Smith asks: "Who wants to deal with anatta [selflessness] when they could deal with impermanence?" More »
