Bodhicitta - Where Suffering, Longing, and Love Meet
Summary
Shin Mon Michael Newton explores the concept of bodhicitta, the aspiration to awaken for the benefit of all beings, emphasizing that this compassionate mind is inherent in everyone despite life's suffering. He discusses the interdependence of all phenomena using the image of Indra's Net and explains how the four bodhisattva vows serve as a lifelong directional compass rather than achievable goals. Drawing on Dogen’s teachings, Newton highlights that awakening is not a future goal but a present reality accessible through daily practice and the acceptance of impermanence. The talk concludes w…
Topics discussed
Introduction and setting the scene with rain
Imagining the first visit to a zendo
Common motivations for starting Zen practice
The truth of interdependence and Indra's Net
Explaining Indra's Net and shifting motivation
Defining Bodhicitta and the Bodhisattva path
Bodhicitta as the soft spot and capacity to love
Buddha nature and inherent awakened mind
The call to practice and the four Bodhisattva vows
Vows as directional compasses for practice
Accessing Bodhicitta amidst suffering
Dogen's life and the origin of his insight
Dogen's teaching on Bodhicitta as a moment-by-moment way
Bodhicitta as inseparable from impermanence
Practice without grades and the arising of the mind
Bodhicitta and remaining open to vulnerability
Personal story: A moment of Bodhicitta at hospice
Meeting vulnerability as an opportunity to awaken
Dogen's three types of mind and the discriminative mind
Practices for cultivating Bodhicitta
Bodhicitta training and meeting an uncertain world
Courageous commitment and fostering intimacy
Conclusion: Personal longing maturing into universal care
Closing poems by Dogen
Outro and donation information
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