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More poetry, more Rumi, more listening joy from Vajradarshini. And what a title! In fact, this is another splendid journey around the idea of Enlightenment, using the languages of surrender and discipline from the Sufi context. It’s as heady as a sumptuous wine, but also sobering and down to earth, whether we’re “following a railing in the dark” or "wandering inside the red world”. Drink up!
Talk given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2005
| 1. | Starting with a poem by Rumi - not a 'sensible' talk (2:14) | |
| 2. | 'Enlightenment'; following a railing in the dark; wine in Rumi's poetry; the Dharma as studying the self; surrender and discipline (3:55) | |
| 3. | The Tavern - pushing off for Truth; 'managing' samsara and settling down (4:18) | |
| 4. | Fermentation; being cooked - slowly (2:55) | |
| 5. | How we are cups; two ways we limit ourselves - i. literalism; a quote from Aloka - abandoning ideas of what the 'path' is (5:06) | |
| 6. | Sangharakshita on literalism and craving; effective Going for Refuge and giving up limited ideas; the antidote to beauty (2:54) | |
| 7. | ii. Utilitarianism; Sangharakshita's idea of the Greater Mandala of Uselessness; literal takes on aesthetics; breaking the cups (4:48) | |
| 8. | Pushing off into truth; kinds of connection with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; Reality and form and emptiness; visualisation practice and life - things arising and dissolving (5:52) | |
| 9. | 'Fana' and 'baka' in Rumi's poetry - two streamings across the doorsill; Shams-e-Tabrizi - Rumi's teacher (3:04) | |
| 10. | The importance of reflecting on form and emptiness; the eight-point mind training - taking all obstacles with you on the path; the Bodhisattva Ideal from the perspective of emptiness; spiritual practice in a world neither real nor illusory (8:36) | |
| 11. | Pema Chodron on how to avoid burn-out; shunyata and unrealistic ideals; a quote by Dennis Potter near to death; the trivial and the important; birdsong (5:40) | |
| 12. | Hsuan-Tsang's 'trusting mind'; introducing the dirt we buy to the dirt we already have (2:17) |
Total running time: 51:39
