Distinguishing commentary from direct experience, Gil Fronsdal helps us break free from the conventions and comparisons that the mind makes.
In this episode, Gil Fronsdal speaks to listeners about:
- Paying homage to those who have purified their hearts
- Direct experience versus attempting to describe things
- The way that comparison arises
- Self-image and appreciating our own suchness
- Resting in the part of ourselves that is not an idea or a concept
- The conditioning that can happen from society
- Wisdom from sitting with physical pain
- Living in the present moment instead of the stories we tell ourselves
- Letting things be as they are
- Seeing God in our simple, direct experiences
- Coming back to the breath and practicing all throughout the day
- This 1998 talk was originally published on Dharmaseed
“Most of us know the wonderful smell of a rose, but if you could try to describe in words what that fragrance is, you’d have a hard time I think. The actual sense, the direct experience of smell, is something we can all experience – seeing this flower as it is. In Buddhism, there is a lot of emphasis on seeing things as they are.” – Gil Fronsdal
