"Investigation" as Second Awakening Factor this Sunday with Jane Rauenhorst; Full Moon Gathering this Monday at 7pm; Alex Haley Teaching Elements Retreat at Spirit Rock in August

Dear Community,

Sunday 10am Community Practice & Discussion

This Sunday Jane Rauenhorst would like to explore together the second factor of The Seven Factors of Awakening: Investigation.  

Here is a link to an article by Santikaro Bhikkhu entitled "The Investigation of What Is Important: The Second Factor of Awakening" from the Barre Center for Buddhist studies.

Here are some excerpts from the article for your consideration and to perhaps engage your curiosity about how you experience investigation:

When mindfulness (the first factor of awakenting) has become well es­tablished, then that mindfulness can take up part of experience and investigate it….. I like to think of the image of a jeweler working with precision….. they hold up a jewel, and they look at it very carefully. They ex­amine its color, texture, clarity and shape. They examine it for flaws of various kinds…. This whole examination is very active; there’s partici­pation; it’s dynamic; it’s engaged.

When investigating, you can use the simple idea of observing the stuff that arises: is it wholesome or unwholesome? Is it stuff that keeps us enmeshed in suffering, or does it offer support in getting free of suffering? Does it support letting go of our egoistic ten­dencies and so on?........ Or we investigate healthy dhammas, the healthy spiritual qualities, the healthy emotions or healthy mental states in order to strengthen them, to allow them to awaken us.

We use whatever tools will help us look at experience in a way that reveals its hid­den aspects. It can be something very simple like: Is this suffering or not suffering? Is it wholesome or not wholesome? This kind of questioning is not a judgment….but encourages you to look at it and see how it’s unwholesome, why it’s there, where it comes from. This is the process of investigation.

In­vestigation involves starting to look at the assumptions, the beliefs, the theories, the dogmas, the ideologies that we to some de­gree carry within us, perhaps unconsciously……. It could be a political ideology, a cultural bias, a personal­ity quirk or anything else that has created the structure of view, beliefs and ideas we live with. I believe it’s important to spend part of our time investigating these cultural assumptions, beliefs and biases, and to let our meditation practice liberate us from these kinds of things—issues of racism, patri­archy, sexism, just to name a few.

We look forward to practicing together and considering the how investigation is part of your path.  Registration and Zoom information available here.

Full Moon Gathering this Monday evening, July 3rd, at 7pm

We will gather from 7:00 to 8:30 PM, Monday, July 3rd via Zoom, for shared meditation and reflection on the values and practices that give our lives meaning and balance.  This month, Jean will offer a contemplation of how our lives are enriched when we take refuge in the goodness and kindness of others.  We hope you can join us to connect to our inner wisdom and the shared wisdom that arises in community. Registration and Zoom information available here.

Alex Haley Teaching Spirit Rock Retreat in August

Founding teacher of Minneapolis Insight, Alex Haley, will be co-teaching a retreat August 6 - 12 at Spirit Rock in California on the topic of "The Elements: Cultivating an Embodied Experience of Emptiness and Fullness." Several of our community members will be in attendance. If you have any questions about attending residential retreats, please feel free to reply to this email. Details and registration for the retreat can be found here.

With metta,
Minneapolis Insight

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