April 5, 2023
The Illusion of Effort and the Straitjacket of Identity
La ilusión del esfuerzo y la camisa de fuerza de la identidad
This session explores the concept of maya (illusion) as it applies to meditation and the sense of self. The teacher guides students to see that the real illusion is not in sensation itself but in the identification with contraction and the belief that something must change for us to be okay. Through direct dialogue, participants discover how quickly identification can dissolve and how the engine of ego requires the perpetual sense that something is wrong.
meditation
The Illusion of Effort
A meditation exploring how being present requires no effort and how our sense of struggle is itself the illusion we can learn to see through.
dialogue
The Straitjacket and What Wears It
A student questions the usefulness of the word "illusion" for direct bodily experience, and the teacher uses the student's own felt sense of contraction to illustrate where the real illusion lies: not in sensation itself, but in the identification with it.
dialogue
The Illusion of Contraction
A student struggles with the word "illusion" because, in moments of deep contraction, the suffering feels utterly real and inescapable. The teacher guides her into the direct experience of contraction and demonstrates how quickly identification can dissolve.
teaching
Where Wanting Comes From
A reflection on how fear quietly drives our choices, and the practice of learning to feel that fear rather than act from it.