The Launch Pod

"We are one cell each in a body called humanity. And this, as I see it, is where the dispensation and the map for the future lies in terms of the evolution of human consciousness." -- Sensei Doug Duncan

For the first part of this talk, listen to the previous Launch Pod podcast, "First, You Need the Map!"

(FYI: The geographical progression eastward is Kyoto > Nagoya > Shizuoka > Tokyo)

"We want our explorations to be wider, more incorporating than they have been in the past."

"Samsara means from the ego point of view our lives go around and around on the same circle."

"You're unfolding as a human being, but where you end up is going to be determined by which map and which aspiration you have."

"If we want to survive and thrive as a species, and if we want the planet to be habitable, and if we want to be in good places, we have to see the self as other." "You are me and I am you."

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"The awakened consciousness is THE evolutionary step for humanity in total. The destination for the human species is awakening." -- Doug Duncan Sensei

"You're going to be seeing more people awaken more speedily and more easily than ever before in history."

"The absolute bottom-line fear, the main issue, for every human being throughout their life is the fear of disappearing, which is equated to mental illness. After all, mental illness is a real possibility. You see people fracturing and falling apart regularly and you're going to see more and more of it. Being "in control" is a way of managing the fear, of keeping you from mental illness. The idea of giving up control triggers the fear of losing a sense of who you are. It's a fear of disappearing, of being absorbed. The closest understanding we have of that is the fear of mental illness, where you're no longer compos mentis; you're no longer sane."

"Will meditation drive you crazy? No, life drives you crazy. Meditation shows you that life is crazy. If you don't meditate you can assume that life is normal, but the minute you start meditating, life looks pretty crazy."

"In terms of the awakening experience, you have to meet these fears of being out of control, of being crazy, of losing your identity. Because that's how the ego has projected the awakening experience back onto itself as the reason for not doing it. Don't think you can't do it (awaken), because the depth of your being knows you can. The depth of your being is prepared for it. The organism knows that this is part of the potential program. Your brain, your body, your organism as a human being knows it has the capability and the possibility for awakening."

"In most conventional ways when we say I love somebody, it means 'I can control them' or 'I can manipulate them' or 'I'm with her/him because I like being controlled by her/him'; 'I like the way she/he controls me, I like way she/he manipulates me'. And this is what we call love. Because love is usually a deal--a deal about your ego and their ego being able to dance to similar music. And it's not a bad thing. I'm not putting this down at any level. But that deal doesn't lead to awakening. Having said that, you can still be married and have a family and be awakened, but you can't set up family and profession and kids as a false destination. You've got to bring them toward awakening; it doesn't work the other way around."

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Doug Duncan Sensei: "In meditation you're not trying to _change_ your sensations, your passions, your lusts -- you're trying to see it clearly." "All the skandhas -- form, feelings, perceptions, etc. -- happen at the same time. It's too compacted to get a good look at. So you take it apart." "Once you know your ego -- stimulation, recognition, structure -- you're already free of it. You don't have to change it. You don't have to fix it. All you have to do is take note of it." "If you identify with the label, that is the source of the suffering. From that, the suffering will pour forth." "The hungry ghost realm is marked by unfulfilled needs whose time has passed. The ego, by definition, in relationship to its sensing functions -- its cravings, its passions, its lusts, and so on -- is an unfulfilled need whose time has passed."

Amitabha mantras: OM AMITABHA HRIH SVAHA for lovingkindness in the world OM AMI DEVA HRIH (when a person is dying) "Enter the friendly shining" OM RATNA KUTA HUNG (for animals) "Enter the jewel state of consciousness"

This talk was recorded on April 7, 2010 at Maitreya House in the United Kingdom http://crystalgroup.org.uk/maitreya.htm

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"Awakening isn't so much that you're fixing what's wrong or improving what's gone off as you are expanding your range to include what you exclude." "Namgyal Rinpoche mentioned two ways to increase your intelligence: increase the range of what you eat and increase the range of your sexual experience." "'Unwholesome' means choosing things that you may be habitually comfortable with but which aren't taking you forward. They're holding you in place in a limited conditioning based on security and comfort." "When you start to meditate and you're doing Amitabha practice, this is a place where rather than seeking after familiar and comfortable experiences you just note the ones that are arising." "You really need just two things for awakening: a good heart -- the actual desire for the welfare of other beings -- and determination (cetana)." This talk was recorded on April 7, 2010 at Maitreya House in the United Kingdom http://crystalgroup.org.uk/maitreya.htm

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In this concluding section, Sensei answers such questions as: How do you live in the moment and still plan for the future? Aren't there authentic pleasures that are not based on addiction? How can you not identify with the objective world in a healthy way that still allows you to function?

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In the end, the nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain that is at the core of all of our beings. Getting on with the spiritual work means learning to be okay in the present moment, just as it is, without need for stories or elaborations, knowing that we're going to die, that no absolute security is to be found, that everything is impermanent.

Part 4 of 5, public talk, Winnepeg, Canada, Sept. 2009

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Part 3 of a public talk given in Winnepeg, Canada, in Sept. 2009

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"If you want freedom you have to come to terms with being okay in the now doing nothing." -- Doug Duncan Sensei

"All of your bad states are entirely your responsibility. Your state is totally under your control as long as you can exercise the mindfulness to be present in the moment. When you remain present you won't go to the addiction or to a negative mind state."

"On the spiritual path, you're not fighting your addiction, you're fighting the inability to face the appetite or addiction. It takes patience and determination to sit through the state and study the pattern, rather than simply being driven by early childhood conditioning."

From a public talk given in Winnepeg, Canada in September 2009

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"If you look at the nature of your consciousness, you're always one step ahead of yourself or perhaps one step behind yourself, but very rarely are you actually in this moment just as it is." -- Doug Duncan Sensei

The nature of appetite or addiction is thinking, 'What's next?'" In our modern lifestyles, we are addicted to being busy, always going from one thing to next, seeking happiness in the next moment. This is an addictive pattern. Seeking cannot produce peace and contentment. Happiness cannot be found in the next moment. Only in breaking the pattern, the addiction to the immediate reward of the chemical rush, do we find that consciousness can reside pleasantly in this moment, undisturbed for a period of time.

The cycle of addiction is rooted in a strong sense of survival in one's being. Rather than fighting against it, look at it with reason. Decide to meditate, to do nothing but rest peacefully in the moment for one or two hours a day. In meditating, one's habit is absent, so initially boredom will arise.

Boredom is the result of the withdrawal from mental addiction, the addiction to 'What's going to happen next?' Boredom is followed by fear and anxiety, which have some survival value. So how do you marry the survival value of planning and organizing with the idea of being present in the moment? Stay tuned.

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In this last part of his talk, Doug Sensei gets down to the nitty-gritty. It's your work to do. We need to pay attention to and recognize what's going on in inside -- our mental states. And not let ourselves be ruled by subconscious conditioning.

Mantras mentioned:

Chenrezig (Jewel in the Lotus) mantra (for your heart): Om Mani Padme Hung Manjushri mantra (for your head): Om A Ra Pa Tsa Na Dhih Vajrapani (The Holder of the Diamond) mantra: Om Vajrapani Namah Hum

Deity: Red Shinji, wrathful Red Manjushri: the most wrathful of all the deities in the mandala

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