Q4-20130628-Larry_Rosenberg-IMSRC-retreat_closing-19835

Talk: 2013-06_28 Retreat Closing.json Start_time: 00:52:45 Display_question: How do you discern wise action when there is so much doubt and judging mind? Keyword_search: feedback loop, choiceless awareness, judging mind, doubt, selfing, awareness, wisdom, skill in action, Buddha, law of karma, Mom, children, Dhammapada, skillful, wholesome, Americans, beneficial, silence, discernment, compassionate Question_content: Questioner: I have a feedback loop going of practicing, you know, choiceless awareness, and feeling the appropriate action, in the moment. And then judging mind is very strong for me. So, it will come in and say, well, don't you think you're special? Don't you think you know what the right thing to do is? Oh, I'm so great, because I know the right thing to do. And I see that that's just a thought pattern. But it does spark a little doubt of knowing. Larry: It sparks? Questioner: A little doubt of knowing, whether it truly is wise action, that spontaneously arises out of this situation, or if there is some selfing informing it. So, if you have thoughts on how to discern that? Larry: Look, it all has to do with awareness. There's no special formula. For example, wisdom is, skill in action. So, to use the Buddha's guideline, if something is beneficial for you and others, then it's skillful, it's wise. If something could be skillful for you, but not for others, that's not wise, and unskillful. It's the reverse. Fine. But how do you tell? Well, as your wisdom grows, and that grows out of the clarity of mind, and your interest in finding out, when I do this, I get that learning from your life, as you live it, everything has consequences. Because what the law of karma is saying, or just in common sense, our actions, verbal and physical, and even the kinds of mind states that we cultivate, all day long, they have consequences. And if some of us start in this, we're being encouraged to. Break_line: You're a mom, the way you take care of your two children. Your mind is your child now. In other words, because we're trying to educate it, guide it, so that it's wiser. Now alll you can do is, the best you can do at the time, as the way you are now, rather than… I don't have any secret formula, but as the mind gets clearer, its discerning ability, is naturally enhanced. Now, when the mind becomes very clear, then you have fewer choices, which is good news, although Americans typically don't hear it that way. We want lots of variety, many flavors, because you see what is so obvious, and it may not have been obvious, when the mind was a bit more muddled. Break_line: So that's why read the Dhammapada, the very first one, the quality of mind, everything flows from that. Now, when you take on this meditation practice, we're improving what is skillful is, more and more, having content in the mind, that is beneficial. It's sometimes called wholesome. Not crazy about that term, but it's beneficial, rather than thoughts, that are destructive. More and more with awareness, that starts to get weaker, and the mind starts having more positive, loving, compassionate, wise thoughts. And then, best of all, is no thought. When the mind in my own case, and I'm hardly alone in this, the most important healing in my life has taken place, in the silence. So don't underestimate that. When the mind becomes quiet, stay, bathe in it, let it work on you. There's nothing you have to do but receive it. So, practice is a constant refinement of your understanding, your ability to understand. It's like when you're a child, you do the best you can. And usually it's silly, but as you grow, if you're learning, you're more discerning. Discernment is part of… do you see what I'm getting at? End_time: 00:56:54