Dear Common Ground Friends,
Unpleasant experience has a compelling way of calling attention. We all know how the dull ache of a joint or the sting of criticism demands its say. But the Buddha’s teaching on feeling tone reminds us that every pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral feeling brings its own habitual reaction. Our practice isn’t about excluding pleasure or mistrusting joy. Pleasant experience can fill and nourish the heart in very important ways. We can simply practice noticing what the mind does next. And we can be honest when the feeling of being nourished tips into clinging.
The Buddha included humility and the absence of conceit among the beautiful qualities we can aspire to cultivate. The Karaniya Metta Sutta encourages us to develop a heart that is “able and upright, straightforward and gentle in speech, humble and not conceited, contented and easily satisfied...” (Amaravati translation). These qualities are worth remembering not only in difficulty, but also when things go our way. It is natural to feel happy when things unfold as we hoped, and these moments offer an opportunity to notice how the mind relates to that happiness. Fulfilled desire, for example, may bring with it a sense of relief, and be followed by unexpected restlessness, a new want, or fear of loss. Seeing this clearly is its own kind of freedom.
Our practice invites us to tend to the mind in all the moments of our lives. Can we appreciate and linger in the good without feeding conceit? Can we invite curiosity about our motivations, and notice when conviction leads to self-righteousness, or happiness leads to a sense of superiority? In the middle of a pleasant moment, we might ask: What does this feel like in the body? Is clinging needed in order to embrace the nourishing effect of pleasure? Practice with the good times builds the steadiness we will draw on when circumstances change, as they always do.
Peace,
Shelly Graf
Co-Guiding Teacher
p.s. If you're free next Saturday, consider joining Gabe Keller Flores and I for a workshop: Relating Wisely to Technology
Weekly Guiding Teacher Reflection
Friday, Nov 6th, 10:35 p.m.