“The Vortex of Becoming” with Benjamin this Sunday at Minneapolis Insight

Dear Community,

This Sunday we’ll explore what the Buddha called becoming (bhava): the restless, rolling-forward energy of the mind that is always trying to get somewhere or be someone, and what it might mean to stop. Our exploration is based on Ajahn Pasanno’s talk On Becoming and Stopping (Abhayagiri Monastery, 2012):

The word “becoming” is an innocuous little term. It doesn’t really evoke much of an image or much feeling. But the reality is that it is because of the nature of becoming that we continually experience suffering. It is why we continually experience conflict. It is why we are continually dissatisfied. We can’t resist becoming; we’re suckers for becoming … We recognize how much activity tends to sweep us up and pull us into movement, activity, restlessness, agitation. We lose our centers. … just one little seed gets planted, and the ball of becoming starts rolling.

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We need to be able to recognize that the movement to becoming is suffering, and to not be enticed by the voices of reason, the voices of justification, or the voices of habit and the emotional pull towards being and becoming. We need to [be] able to let go of the fear of letting go, the fear of not being something, not getting what one wants, not being what one thinks one should be or would like to be or have to be, have to get, have to become. There’s a tremendous, almost primal fear, of actually being peaceful, of really letting go, of putting stuff down, of putting identity down, of putting the compulsions down.

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We spend much of practice in so much more becoming. We think, “I’m going to practice the meditation so that I get these peaceful states that will then rise to wisdom into the future.” That is a good intention; it is a good thing to be doing. But it will still be unsatisfying when it is conditioned by the becoming-mind. It is not just worldly things that push us into becoming. It is the whole ball of wax. … We tend to keep trying to replace things all the time, to replace our aversion with being good little Buddhists. That’s a doing, a becoming.

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The very act of establishing mindfulness in a moment is an opportunity to step back from the impulse of becoming. … What does it feel like when we’re not drawn into that vortex of becoming? What’s the experience? … We return to a clear center, to awareness. … We know how to become but we don’t know how to stop. We’re not used to stopping. … Ask yourself, “What happens when I do stop? Does that mean I’m dysfunctional and that I can’t actually do anything at all?”

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

With mettā,
Minneapolis Insight

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