Hello folks, I took detailed notes, so figured I’d share it here. The next lecture is tomorrow at 9:30 at 13508 Broadmeade Ave, Austin, TX 78729 He talked about the four practices in spirituality 1) Discernment - seeing the harmful from the helpful. That which brings pain vs joy. That which strengthens vs weakens us. That which is permanent vs impermanent. 2) Non attachment - having seen this clearly, we stop being attached to the impermanent or that which causes pain in the long term 3) The six treasures (restraining the mind, restraining the senses, pulling back, forbearance, concentration and deep faith) 4) An intense longing from freedom I’ll elaborate only on 3 since I didn’t take notes yesterday when he talked about 1 and 2, and he’ll talk about 4 tomorrow Restraining the mind - just as we are careful about what food we put in our bodies for physical health, what we put in our minds via what we read, watch, ideas we ponder and whom we spend time with affects our mental health How do desires come in? Our mind is like a house with a small living room and a giant basement. We polish only the living room where we entertain visitors and put all the garbage in the basement. And we’re rarely aware of what’s in the basement (unconscious). When we engage in an activity (eg drinking coffee for the first time) and enjoy it, a new conditioning enters the basement. Next time we pass by Starbucks, we’ll have a desire to drink coffee. We drink it again, and the conditioning strengthens. If we later decide we need to not indulge in a desire (eg refraining from sweet things after a diabetes diagnosis), we need to exercise will power. Saying yes strengthens it. Saying no weakens it Knowing when to say yes vs no needs wisdom. Pain comes from getting this wrong. Restraining the senses - Some of this has been discussed above. Additionally, our senses have a defect. They always look outward. They are not good at asking “who is seeing this world?” Or “what do I know about this person?”. When we shut our external perception during meditation, we may have better luck in looking at this person.

Huge shoutout to @Venkat A for sharing details about the event yesterday, but I went to see a talk about discernment and non-attachment from a Swami. It was a great experience and the energy in the room was very joyful and calming. Also got to meet Venkat in person for the first time. Would have been great to take a picture with him for the group, but just wanted to throw this in here since this is what I think community is all about! Glad I got to share that experience with you! 🙏 Wish I could go to the other talks, but unfortunately my work schedule won't allow me to do so. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Sometimes we live in anticipation, waiting for that next big thing, and it creates unnecessary suffering. Because once we arrive, there's always another thing. All the while, we were meant to be here. This is the challenge of a mind that's always projecting forward or pulling from the past. It's how we survive as a species, but unchecked, it drives unnecessary reactivity. The middle way is a daily practice of coming home, to yourself, to the present moment. It doesn't have to feel like work. It's simply settling into the body, settling into the mind. A place that's always here. A place of rejuvenation, of freedom. And here's what most people get wrong about meditation: it's not saying no to the world. It's saying yes. Because sitting with reality, exactly as it is, is an act of courage and compassion.

How's your meditation practice coming along? What went well today? What was difficult? Drop a GIF, comment, or question to connect with the community and uplift one another!

How did your practice go today? - What went well? - What was difficult? If you haven't practiced yet, when are you going to meditate later today? What kind of technique are you going to use? How might this impact your life? Share below by just dropping a GIF for an intention, or you can do a short check-in. Also, if you have any questions about your practice today, feel free to drop it in the comment box.