Teacher's Blog
This blog contains reflections, encouragement, and occasional instruction from Sutrayana teacher Neil McKinlay. Click on any thumbnail below to read a full post. To comment and converse, select 'Teacher's Blog Discussion' at the bottom of a post, then click the appropriate title / topic thread. Neil often takes part in discussion for one post until another appears.
Four Kinds of Hello
August 28, 2019 | Neil McKinlay
What should I write here? The task is to introduce myself. A plain enough endeavour on the surface of things. Yet one aim of this Sutrayana Study and Practice Intensive is to delve beneath surfaces...
Lojong Egolessness
September 10, 2019 | Neil McKinlay
In accepting the ‘lojong invitation’ for this unit, I’ve come to see how much thinking goes on as I do my wandering. More specifically, how much I think about the many ways things ‘should’ be different, the many ways things are ‘wrong’ through these times. ‘He should do this,’ I say to myself. ‘She should do that. And this should be some other way.’
Lojong Emptiness
September 24, 2019 | Neil McKinlay
Seeing what I was doing - which is, as we’ve discussed, the main point of these ‘don’ts’ - encouraged something to release. This wasn’t volitional; it seemed to just happen. Tension unwound, heart-awareness opened, and that ‘couch’ underneath me vanished.
Contemplation One
October 7, 2019 | Neil McKinlay
For many of us, the spiritual journey begins and is continually reaffirmed by our visceral sense of samsara - simply defined as being caught up in what ‘I’ adds to experience. Note a moment from today - during your practice or your everyday activities - in which you were caught up in this way.
Contemplation Two
October 8, 2019 | Neil McKinlay
The practice of somatic meditation allows us to realize a series of developmental outcomes that mark a gradual loosening of samsara. An outcome noted in the first turning is egolessness - simply defined as a relatively ‘I-less’ flow of ever-changing experience. Note a moment from today - during your practice or your everyday activities - in which you glimpsed egolessness.
Contemplation Three
October 9, 2019 | Neil McKinlay
The practice of somatic meditation allows us to realize a series of developmental outcomes that mark a gradual loosening of samsara. An outcome noted in the second turning is emptiness - simply defined as experience that is empty of all we think. Note a moment from today - during your practice or your everyday activities - in which you glimpsed emptiness.
Contemplation Four
October 10, 2019 | Neil McKinlay
The practice of somatic meditation allows us to realize a series of developmental outcomes that mark a gradual loosening of samsara. An outcome noted in the third turning is buddha nature. Buddha nature can be simply defined as what remains in emptiness. What remains is often described as wisdom (aka: clarity, vividness, openness), compassion (aka: sensitivity, warmth, attunement), and power (aka: responsiveness). Note a moment from today - during your practice or your everyday activities - in which you glimpsed buddha nature.
Welcome Bodhisattvas
November 4, 2019 | Neil McKinlay
We gathered Saturday. From across the globe, from various walks of life, with video backdrops revealing books and shines, cabinets and clothes, artwork, staircases, and furnishings, we gathered to witness and commit.
