Keep Yourself Centred
In this talk on the seventh anniversary of the beginning of this group it is an appropriate time to reflect on what it has to offer. The importance of keeping yourself focused and to resist making the commitment to the dharma complicated and confusing is at its heart. The essence of the group is to provide an environment of trust and support so that the student has the opportunity to let go of what they dearly hold on to and discover the freedom that comes from non-attachment.. We never lose focus of this fundamental opportunity.
Comments:
This talk is a valuable reflection on the importance of our Sangha, how critical it is to have a consistent and stable form with no diversions and distractions, and that each person supports the standard, giving and taking as needed. I recognise in my own mind the tempting, almost instinctive urge to complicate and create, and add to the practice. Āloka reminds us to return to the simplicity of the training, and not to create. Buddhism can be a new mask, another way of creating an image depicting the person we want to be seen as. But this journey is the opposite – we have to let go of everything, discard lifelong baggage and open completely, with utter trust, to what is within.
The themes that Aloka addresses encapsulate the reasons why I joined this group add why I stick with this group: our practice is centred around simplicity, commitment and authenticity.