Rev. angel Kyodo Williams: Training the Mind to Transform (1 of 9)

Series Description: Rev. Angel Kyodo williams, Roshi, is one of the most remarkable Buddhist teachers in our world today. Her unique and powerful approach to practice has transformed the lives of so many. We are fortunate to welcome her to teach this unusual online program on the Seven Point Thought Transformation and invite you to join her. This program is by donation and your support of Roshi Kyodo is deeply appreciated. In this two day program, Roshi Kyodo will explore the power of neuroplasticity, our capacity to transform our brain and our mind. That same realization occurred to the sage Atisha some 1300 years ago and led to a science of training the mind toward the highest human accomplishment: unfettered and boundless compassion. Rather than producing extensive, complicated texts that only a scholar could love or understand, Atisha’s vast study was distilled into the “Seven Point Thought Transformation,” pithy, terse slogans that anyone could engage with to transform a mind of suffering into one of awakening and compassion. There’s no greater practice than one in which the evidence affirms the approach, no greater path of resilience than using what challenges you to face and love the life you have. Through personal investigation, creative confrontation, and rigorous practice, we will train our mind toward unshakable compassion together. Reverend Angel Kyodo Williams, Roshi, gives a Dharma talk introducing the practice of Lojong or mind training, which she covers extensively over her two day program, Training the Mind to Transform (2022). What is needed now, Rev. Angel suggests, is simplicity. There is a vast body of teachings and many complex practices, but at some point many of us will cry out for a straightforward practice. The causes of suffering may be complex, but the suffering itself, however painful, is quite simple. The antidotes of Lojong are as simple and immediate as suffering itself. Are we ready to come just as we are, simply and directly, to train our minds, without argument? The ability to directly transform the mind through the pithy slogans that Rev. Angel covers in this talk and in more detail in her two day program is one of the great secrets of Buddhism. To access the resources page for this program, please sign up by clicking here. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Upaya Podcast Series:Training the Mind to Transform 2022