RELATING WITH THE SUBTLETIES OF THOUGHTS

The connection between small ideas and large
ideas is very important. For instance, sudden
dramas, such as murdering somebody or creating
immense chaos, begin on the level of minute
concepts and tiny shifts of attention. Something
large is being triggered by something quite
small. The first little hint of dislike or
attraction for somebody eventually escalates and
brings on a much more immense scale of emotional
drama or psychodrama. So everything starts on a
minute scale, at the beginning, and then
expands.Although emotions are seemingly very
heavy-handed, large-scale, and crude, they have
their origin in the subtle twists that take place
in our mind constantly.We experience the arising
of such thoughts right now, all the time. It is
possible for people who have been practicing
meditation and studying the teachings, who are
opened up and intrigued, to see this pattern. If
you have been practicing, you are somewhat raw
and unskinned, which is good. Being able to
relate with the subtleties of mental shifts is
connected with the principle of paying attention
to every activity that we do in smaller doses.

From "The Power of Flickering Thoughts," in THE
TRUTH OF SUFFERING: and the Path of Liberation.
Forthcoming from Shambhala Publications.


Of interest to Ocean of Dharma subscribers:

A weekend conference on Mindfulness, Love and
Relationship sponsored by the Omega Institute and
the Shambhala Sun Foundation will take place
April 3 to 5 in New York City. The presenters are
Sylvia Boorstein, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, John
Tarrant, and Polly Young-Eisendrath. A chance for
those with an interest in meditation and the
contemplative traditions to bring this together
with the thorny issues of love and relationship
that we all face. These teachings are part of the
"What the Buddhists Teach" series. For
registration and further information, go to:

https://www.eomega.org/omega/registration/workshop/38667fdf3f5bf8b8e192cc6e5a3b78ec/

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright
Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
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