Held 25th August 2022 on Zoom

These are the questions we planned to look into:

  • Is it enough to just feel like Insight is the next thing in your spiritual career, or is it necessary to have an existential drive in that direction?
  • If you have embarked on the path of Insight, what drove you to do so?
  • Is it better not to approach Insight practice at all, rather than to approach it without the right drive/motive?
  • A traditional Buddhist practice to enter upon the path of insight is to contemplate the shortcomings of samsara. Is this, or should it be, part of Triratna practice, or would it be seen as “negative”?
  • If we are we encouraged to develop and remain in postive mental states, could this be inadvertently blocking off the intuitions about samsara which should drive our Insight practice?

RECORDING

25th August 2022 What Starts us on the Path of Insight?

Here are some of the points that came out:


Many people have had some kind of extraordinary experience in the past, and recalling that experience, and taking an interest in it, has been the key to opening up the path of insight for some. Experiences without context often do not open up any further, so sometimes what is important is to be able to bring a Dharmic framework to bear on what may have happened in the past.


Insight practices can be taught and practiced in a way that is not necessarily clearly oriented towards Insight – they can be coopted back to the happy/healthy human goal. Insight practices, and even samatha practices, are more likely to open up the path of insight when taught from an insight-oriented perspective.


Formally speaking, we identify ordination as being the start of the path of insight (this is the point at which insight practices are normally introduced, although we are now told that there should be some element of insight taught at every level). However, this is really quite arbitrary – some people will need insight practice long before ordination, while others may not be ready for it even though they are getting ordained.


At some centres, mitras are being taught insight quite explicitly. While this might not be officially approved, as long as they are willing, and they are provided with support, why not? There may be, in effect, two different streams of mitra convening in some places – the offical stream, with insight only studied quite theoretically, and an unofficial stream, with insight being taught directly and practically through personal communication.


Trauma has been a gatweay to insight for some. Perhaps this provides sufficient motivation / despair with samsara, that it makes it possible to ‘let in’ insight? However, it is also risky, in a teaching context, to touch on trauma.