“In Praise of Boredom” with Jane This Sunday at Minneapolis Insight

Dear Community,

In Pema Chodron’s new book, Another Kind of Freedom, she offers commentary on Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s original teachings.

The title of one of the chapters is "Boredom." In it, Pema states that Chogyam would praise boredom. He would say that “when doing the practice as instructed... boredom is inevitable. The practice can be exciting at the beginning, but after the honeymoon period, the excitement wears itself out……You start thinking, I'm supposed to get something out of Buddhism and meditation. I haven't. I'm bored stiff.” He goes on to say, “Boredom is important because boredom is an ondoing process, an undoing of the ego’s attempt to avoid the nitty-gritty of the present moment.”

Chogyam taught that there were two types of boredom. One that is like the hindrance of restlessness. The other is like a mountain stream, cool and refreshing. Pema talks about the pitfalls of trying to avoid the first type and how she came to understand the second type of boredom.

In reading this chapter, I reflected on the many ways in which boredom shows up in my practice and I am curious how others experience and work with boredom. This Sunday, I look forward to practicing together and exploring the many facets boredom.

Please join us. All are welcome! Registration and Zoom information available here.

With mettā,
Minneapolis Insight