Karma

HARD LIGHT CENTER OF AWAKENING

Excerpt of a talk by Mark Griffin...

You can carry issues with you for years and years that you don't address. Because of fear, aversion, or afflictive emotions, every time you touched a difficult subject the mind was interrupted. And now suddenly you're old, and still you haven't addressed it. Then you die without having addressed it, and this just means that you'll have to reincarnate to deal with it.



Sooner or later, all these issues will have to be dealt with. They are the rocks, roots, weeds, and tree trunks that you'll most certainly run across as you plow the field of your life. Where do you get the energy to offset the obstacles in your life, to give you the courage so you can address these difficult areas? By giving rise to love of the enlightened condition, you draw energy from the very center of your being. It is a well of infinite consciousness, and a resource of infinite energy that will give you the power to deal with the problems and issues of your life.

Bodhicitta

HARD LIGHT CENTER OF AWAKENING

Excerpt of a talk by Mark Griffin...

The practice of Bodhicitta is a fundamental part of your daily spiritual training. By giving rise to love of the enlightened condition and sensing the presence of the spontaneously arising enlightened mind at the seat of the heart, you will experience the truth that enlightenment is not something outside of yourself, but exists within you as you.



Bodhicitta is the ultimate power of attraction that draws the infinite points of Self to a single place, encompassing the totality of the human experience in a single gesture. It posits the existence of the human form and its emptiness at the same time, expressing both the conditioned aspects of limited existence and the infinite consciousness of enlightenment.



It is the presence of enlightenment within that pervades all conditioned reality. As you bring your mind, energy, and attention to bear on the Bodhicitta, expressing it consistently, again and again, you establish a karmic connection to the ocean of enlightenment that exists within you.

Attention

HARD LIGHT CENTER OF AWAKENING

Excerpt of a talk by Mark Griffin...

You'll often find that when you bring your mind to bear on a particular topic, perhaps studying some painful part of your life, that in some uncontrollable way your attention is interrupted; the mind jumps and skips the subject. You'll think, "What was I thinking about?"; and you can't remember.



This is just how the mind works, and as dharma practitioners you must become accustomed to it. Ultimately, the mind is a machine and it can be trained to do anything. You must learn to recognize the interruption of attention and forcibly bring your mind back to the subject. This is the only way that you'll begin to see all the reasons why you didn't want to address the subject. This is how you process through a problem or an issue.