"Meditating Like A Mother" this Sunday with Jean Haley

Dear Community,

Sunday 10am Community Practice & Discussion with Jean Haley: "Meditating Like a Mother"

From Jean: Mark Epstein, in his book The Trauma of Everyday Life, likens the practice of meditation to that of a mother creating a safe, loving environment in which her child can learn and grow.

One of the central paradoxes of Buddhism is that the bare attention of the meditative mind changes the psyche by not trying to change anything at all.  The steady application of the meditative posture, like the steadiness of an attuned parent, allows something inherent in the mind’s potential to emerge, and it emerges naturally if left alone properly in a good enough way.  

When the Dalai Lama summarized his scholarly teachings on Buddhist thought with the paradoxical injunction ‘Transform your thoughts but remain as you are,’ he was pointing to this phenomenon. The thoughts he was after are rooted in the way we seek relief by finding someone or something to blame.  The trauma within prompts us to search for a culprit, and we all too often attack ourselves or our loved ones in an attempt to eradicate the problem.  This splitting of the self itself or against its world only perpetuates suffering.  

The Buddha’s method was to do something out of the ordinary, to make his mind like that of a mother.  Adopting this stance creates room for a transformation that is waiting to happen, one that cannot occur unless one’s inner environment is recalibrated in a specific way.

I found this to be an interesting and inspiring way to describe the practice.  We may not have had an attuned caregiver as a child, but we can provide a safe and loving environment for self-transformation as adults through the practice of non-judgmental awareness.    In meditation, we can be curious about our bodies and minds and learn, for ourselves, what leads to suffering and what leads to the end of suffering.   And, like a well-loved and secure child, we can learn to extend our love to others.

Please join us this Sunday to explore meditating like a mother – no experience necessary! Registration and Zoom information available here.

With metta (loving-kindness),
Minneapolis Insight