THE RIGHT SORT OF HEALING: full moon – Monday 13th January 2025

Confusion ceases by maintaining
a meditation practice focused in the body,
by avoiding that which should not be done,
and by mindfully doing that which should be done.

DHAMMAPADA v. 293


The concept of ‘healing’ is obviously helpful. If we break our arm, for instance, we do what we can for it to be healed. Once the break is healed, we feel good. How we relate to those good feelings really matters. As with sunshine, the way we relate to it determines whether or not we risk getting skin cancer. Becoming lost in the pleasant sensation of a little sunbathing could mean we end up having a lot of it, with regrettable consequences. When we become lost in the pleasant feelings associated with a wound healing, we risk wanting to ‘heal’ everything that we find disagreeable. Becoming lost in good feelings risks distorting perceptions, thinking we have to heal everything. Even the Buddha in his old age had painful feelings in his back, which he apparently eased by sitting in the morning sun. Where we find pain, ideally we would want to do what we can to help, though that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any more tsunamis or old age. Hence the Buddha’s emphasis on cultivating a wise relationship with suffering. Embodied mindfulness and wise reflection sustain that cultivation.

Q: "What practices do you recommend during the first few months of intense grief?"


(approx. 9 minutes) KEYWORDS: Q: "After a bereavement I found it impossible to sit in meditation (breath and body scan). There was too much agitation in the mind and no motivation to meditate. What Buddhist practices do you recommend during the first few months of intense grief?" Wound, judging, healing, massage, relationship to pain, perception of absence, allowing, shared predicament.

Q:  "How can we learn to really let go of deep trauma?"

(approx. 12 minutes) KEYWORDS: “When you've been affected by a deep personal trauma that results in emotional responses such as ' betrayal', 'deep disappointment ', 'ingratitude', and so forth, how can we learn to really 'let go'?” (approx. 12 minutes) KEYWORDS: 'How can we wisely address our impacted body mind states? Whilst the head can come to a better place, the heart continuously struggles. How can we move beyond regret, and the deluded self?' Vibhavatanha, printing press, self-improvement, in-breath, victims, denied dukkha, Vulture’s Peak, backlog, overwhelmed, sadness, anger, good friends, exercise routine, singing, compassion.





Q: Can Tension Be Used Creatively In Practice?

(approx. 11 minutes) KEYWORDS: Q:"You often refer to tension. Can this be a creative, dynamic force, rather than misperceiving the natural tension inherent in life as a negative force. How can this energy be applied within daily life practice as a skilful means?" Affluence, weak, frustration, balance, happiness, wisdom, Dhammapada verse 290, carbon dust, diamonds, transmutation, pressure, two types of suffering, itchy wound, distraction, spiritual faculties, rightly aligned, head, heart, belly, congruent, resilience, strength, tolerating the intolerable, deepening.