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2021-04-08-Mindfulness of Breathing (72) Independence, Freedom, Ending | Otter.ai

2021-04-08-Mindfulness of Breathing (72) Independence, Freedom, Ending

Insight Meditation Center16min

Gil Fronsdal

00:02

In these, now over seventy, talks and guided meditations, we've gone through a particular discourse of the Buddha: the discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing –mindfulness of breathing in and breathing out. At the heart of it are these very simple –almost like Cliff Notes – instructions on Mindfulness of Breathing.

Gil Fronsdal

00:44

The text goes on, and there is more teaching the Buddha gives, building on or extending these sixteen steps of mindfulness of breathing, which also represents the development and growth – the onward-leading nature of this practice. As we do this practice, something gets born inside, begins to unfold, or express itself. There are a variety of things. Some of those things are called the Seven Factors of Awakening.

Gil Fronsdal

01:18

The way it's presented in the text, it isn't so much that we practice the Seven Factors of Awakening, but that we recognize them. In other places, the Buddha is quite explicit that for some of the factors of awakening, the very recognition of them is the nourishment, the food that allows them to keep growing.

Gil Fronsdal

01:40

There is an organic growth that happens as we start to learn how to give ourselves over and trust the process of being aware of our breathing, of being present – not caught up in our thoughts, distractions, and preoccupations. We learn to be with ourselves in a caring way. And so the Seven Factors of Awakening develop.

Gil Fronsdal

02:08

They're called factors of awakening for two reasons. One reason is that they lay down the foundation, or the conditions, upon which awakening can happen. The word Buddha means "the one who's awake." It comes from the Pali word for awake. Buddhism, in a sense, can be translated into English as 'awake-ism.' This is an 'ism' that has to do with liberation, with freedom of mind, of heart – in such a way that something wakes up: some kind of awareness.

Gil Fronsdal

02:50

When a person has a first taste – a first glimmer – of what awakening, liberation, is – so much so that it gets their attention. It's really: "Oh, this is central! This is really what practice is about. This is the center. I want to make this the center of my life. Nothing else is as important. Even the tremendously valuable love and compassion I have for others. Nothing compares to freedom." Freedom allows for love and compassion to be clean and supportive for everyone, including ourselves.

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