Dharma Glimpses with Judy Lief Judy Lief

[This episode was originally published on July 12, 2022] Recently I came across a disturbing study indicating that people who spend a lot of time in silent meditation practice can actually become less loving, less generous in their interactions with others • that made me think about the importance of balancing the simplicity of meditation with the cultivation of friendship, love, and kindness • my teacher, Trungpa Rinpoche, emphasized that meditation practice, at...

The focus of this episode is listening • we might think of listening as something passive, but it is actually a very active process, one that is closely associated with paying attention • a traditional dharmic example of listening fully and properly is that of a deer in the forest: when a deer hears an unfamiliar sound, its listening becomes instantly heightened • listening is talked about as the first step in developing insight or prajna • some...

The Buddha's life can be seen as a template for our own journey along the Buddhist path • the Buddha grew up in a palace, surrounded by safety, comfort, and security • but growing up in such a sheltered environment, he started to feel claustrophobic and curious • one day the Buddha snuck out of the palace grounds with his attendant and encountered a series of “teachers”: someone who was very ill; someone who was extremely old; and the body of a dead person&...

As you get older, your sense of physical balance declines a bit; and so you might think, well, I'll just try to be balanced and just stay there • but if you're working with a trainer, they deliberately try to throw you off balance • they're looking to see if you can return to balance when you're thrown off — which is the whole point • in meditation practice, we're continually trying to find the balance between too tight and too loose • as ...

In this episode, I'd like to explore the topic of confusion • a traditional chant has the line, “Grant your blessing so that the path may clarify confusion” • as you practice meditation and see how your mind works, you begin to uncover deep patterns of confusion — not confusion in the ordinary sense, but fundamental misperceptions that can lead to increased suffering for ourselves and others • for instance, it’s important to clarify our relationship with ti...

In this episode, I'd like to focus on awareness, or vipashyana • while mindfulness refers to stabilizing, grounding, and focusing the mind, vipashyana is about clarity, openness, curiosity, and inquisitiveness • vipashyana is a natural outgrowth of mindfulness practice: as the mind settles, it begins to naturally clarify • vipashyana draws us outward; it is based on taking a genuine interest in the details of our life, in the details of our perception, and ...