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We first look briefly at the general framework of this series of talks and discussion; we examine: (1) the conditioning of the “ordinary habitual mind,” understood through examining 10 different parameters of that mind; (2) the nature of the “Buddha mind” in terms of these 10 parameters; and (3) how we practice with a given parameter to enact this transformation. Today’s talk is the second covering the nature and sense of self; we review some what was covered last time. We then take the rest of the session examining one manifestation of the “thick” self—the conditioned sense of the “doer.” We look at a number of ways in which the doer becomes more obvious, as when there is anxiety about not doing anything; we might notice this sometimes on a vacation or in retirement. We also examine the cultural dimensions of the conditioning around finding identity as a doer. We then look at how it’s possible to have our doing come more out of presence and being, with reference to the teachings of the Buddha and Chuang-Tzu especially. We conclude with a series of exercises in which we develop a sense of doing that comes more out of presence and being.
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