Discovering the Heart of Buddhism: Mind
Please bless me that my heart and mind turn towards the Dharma
This weekend is about exploring what is meant by mind in Buddhism and how it fits into the idea of the personal mandala of body, speech and mind that we have been exploring this year. Sometimes we talk about mind as heart, sometimes as awareness or the space of awareness. Sometimes we talk about the nature of mind as the nature of the Universe and as Buddha Nature. At other times we talk about the mind as a stream of thoughts that come and go. We also talk about the deluded grasping mind that takes for real what is not real.
But what gives the mind continuity and coherence? What remembers, reasons, plans, imagines, pursues aesthetics, creativity and intellectual rigor, not to mention a spiritual path? Not all conceptual thinking is deluded. What kind of mind is it that formulates strong intentions and follows them through? Who or what chooses to enter one world rather than another? Who or what follows the path to Awakening and who or what is liberated? What is this mind and how do we relate to it as we follow the path to Awakening? We talk about the emptiness of mind while at the same time knowing we need to use it well, so there is much to explore and many loose ends to bring together that are taken as given in DHB and in Buddhism in general.
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