Ep. 289: Sitting on 6-16-26 (Chanting and the Heart Sutra)
Jun 17, 2026 · 1 hr 9 min · 10 segments
- Speakers
Bernie RhieHost
Jun 17, 2026 · 1 hr 9 min · 10 segments
Bernie RhieHost
So, um, for the sitting tonight, uh, I think let's just keep it simple and we'll just, um...
Yeah, it's gonna be basically just following the breath, um, feeling the sensations of the breath.
But I think, um, as a way of sort of connecting our practice to the Heart Sutra, I think I invite us, like, think about when you return your awareness to the breath.
As a moment when you're sort of have this opportunity to let go of whatever storyline, whatever, you know, emotional story, whatever cognitive story, planning, worrying, uh, remembering.
Whatever may be sort of pulling on you, asking you to identify with it, to go along, to run along with the story.
When we return to the breath, we're not saying, "That's not me." We're not repressing our thoughts or feelings.
Be there as long as it likes, and instead of getting caught up in it, let me return instead to just the breath, just the experience of this present moment." Our thoughts, our stories, our emotions, maybe most of all, I think one of the wonderful things about them, one of the seductive things about them, is they give us a sense of solidity and stability.
We know what we hope for, right? And when we identify with thoughts or feelings, part of what's happening is we are creating, solidifying this sense of self.
That anxiety, that's me." Right? What if we just refrain from that identification, let whatever's happening be there, and just instead return to just the vividness of this moment as it is? I remember a few years ago now, someone who's a regular in this group heard me give a talk about groundlessness, and he said to me, like, "Even after decades of sitting, I'm not sure I've had that experience of groundlessness.
You know, what is it?" But I would actually suggest that groundlessness is nothing other than what I've just described.
This kind of refraining from making a ground of whatever it is that's passing through our minds or hearts at this moment.
And in that moment of letting go, it's like we're just leaping free, right, into space, saying, "I don't know what I am." I'm just saying, at this moment, I'm not that thought.
But at heart, it is simply this, this refraining from making solid ground out of whatever it is that is running through our minds at that particular moment.
So, um, for the sitting tonight, uh, I think let's just keep it simple and we'll just, um...
Yeah, it's gonna be basically just following the breath, um, feeling the sensations of the breath.
But I think, um, as a way of sort of connecting our practice to the Heart Sutra, I think I invite us, like, think about when you return your awareness to the breath.
As a moment when you're sort of have this opportunity to let go of whatever storyline, whatever, you know, emotional story, whatever cognitive story, planning, worrying, uh, remembering.
Whatever may be sort of pulling on you, asking you to identify with it, to go along, to run along with the story.
When we return to the breath, we're not saying, "That's not me." We're not repressing our thoughts or feelings.
Be there as long as it likes, and instead of getting caught up in it, let me return instead to just the breath, just the experience of this present moment." Our thoughts, our stories, our emotions, maybe most of all, I think one of the wonderful things about them, one of the seductive things about them, is they give us a sense of solidity and stability.
We know what we hope for, right? And when we identify with thoughts or feelings, part of what's happening is we are creating, solidifying this sense of self.
That anxiety, that's me." Right? What if we just refrain from that identification, let whatever's happening be there, and just instead return to just the vividness of this moment as it is? I remember a few years ago now, someone who's a regular in this group heard me give a talk about groundlessness, and he said to me, like, "Even after decades of sitting, I'm not sure I've had that experience of groundlessness.
You know, what is it?" But I would actually suggest that groundlessness is nothing other than what I've just described.
This kind of refraining from making a ground of whatever it is that's passing through our minds or hearts at this moment.
And in that moment of letting go, it's like we're just leaping free, right, into space, saying, "I don't know what I am." I'm just saying, at this moment, I'm not that thought.
But at heart, it is simply this, this refraining from making solid ground out of whatever it is that is running through our minds at that particular moment.
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