“Mother's Love in Buddhist Teachings” with Jane this Sunday at Minneapolis Insight

Dear Community,

Sunday 10am Community Practice & Discussion

This Sunday Jane, in honor of Mother’s Day, would like invite community members to explore some of the ways in which the power of a mother’s love has been referenced in the Buddhist teachings. 

For instance: In The Karaniya Metta Sutta (The Buddha’s Words on Loving-Kindness) The Buddha states that we must protect our commitment to loving-kindness “as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child.”   

And in his book The Zen of Therapy, Mark Epstein references a 1979 talk by the Dalai Lama in which: 

The Dalai Lama used mother/infant imagery, not as a metaphor for ultimate understanding, but as an introduction to the qualities to be cultivated in the search for inner peace.  In doing so, he made it clear that kindness is central to both the beginning and the end of the entire journey of awakening.  There was no talk of emptying the mind, watching the breath, relaxing the body, or dealing with stress.  There was only a discussion of the kindness of mothers.

Epstein also is known for his exploration of the complexity of our own more complicated relationships to our real mothers and states that in the face of such realities our meditation practice can act as a caring parent to our own mind.  Epstein states that: “Our minds are like children, and mindfulness, like a good enough parent “holds” them so that they can grow up and come to their senses.” 

I have always found these (and other) references to a mother’s love within Buddhist practice intriguing.  I look forward to exploring this territory together. 

All are welcome to join this exploration on Sunday! Registration and Zoom information available here.

With mettā,
Minneapolis Insight

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