Q and A about how different practices fit together

Q: Kenneth, I have a few questions about the differences between Theravadan practice vs. what I'm used to. For example, I have been spending a lot of time on lojong training, the six paramitas, working with emotions, ethics, etc. I know that the practices you're teaching me give me space to recognize the emptiness and impermanence of, say, emotions, but is there room for both kinds of practices? Also I read this book Practicing the Jhanas and clearly that sounds like something very separate from what we're doing, right? Learning how to reach each Jhana?

A: With Lojong practices, you are cultivating the mind states and mental behaviors associated with enlightenment (relative boddhicitta) and you are also doing 3rd Gear practice (Absolute boddhicitta). So there is no conflict whatsoever between this and what I teach. You are simultaneously "acting" enlightened and "being" enlightened. I am also asking you to "get" enlightened by practicing 1st Gear practices that work through time. This 1st Gear aspect is straight-up human development. There is synergy everywhere with these practices.

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Jhana is just what happens when you concentrate. It shouldn't be thought of as other than your experience. It's the inevitable consequence of a well trained mind. As you develop your powers of concentration, you will naturally visit all of the jhanas. See if you can think in terms of "dynamic jhana" in which you move up and down through a spectrum of mental strata rather than "static jhana" in which you try to cultivate one particular experience. You can't outsmart nature or the natural process of awakening, so manipulating experience in the name of progress is not the most efficient practice.

Do all of these practices. For now, I would prioritize the 1st Gear practices I modeled for you on the telephone (See "How to Get Enlightened:")

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See if you can do these practices all day long, on and off the cushion. While at work, are you embedded in thought? Objectify it. Are you lost in mind states? Objectify them. Traveling around town, are you tense, lost in body? Objectify body sensations and be free.

Keep me posted and continue to ask for clarification. Read the essays on this website about the Progress of Insight, the jhanas and the ñanas. All of this is a comprehensive program for finding the happiness that does not depend on conditions. Use my recipe and modify it to your taste. It's your mind. The more you do these practices, the more you will see how they fit together and the more confident you will feel to add practices from other teachers and other teachings until you find just the right mix for you.

May you awaken in this lifetime,

Kenneth

Thanks for this, Kenneth - very helpful. I can keep my lojong slogans on the desk while I'm at work (today is "regard all dharmas as dreams") and objectify the emotions, thoughts, sensations, etc.

Jon