{"id":1945,"date":"2011-12-04T09:34:36","date_gmt":"2011-12-04T14:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=1945"},"modified":"2011-12-04T09:34:56","modified_gmt":"2011-12-04T14:34:56","slug":"liberation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/12\/liberation.html","title":{"rendered":"Liberation For You and Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Buddha\u2019s teachings aren\u2019t just about making yourself feel good, they offer the potential of life transforming awakening \u2013 liberation from the anguish of suffering. This liberative potential is not just for you and me; it carries the potential to transform the entire planet.<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Buddha taught the causes of suffering and the way to bring an end to suffering. This occurs by training our minds in awareness, comporting ourselves with awareness in the world, and developing a wisdom that sees clearly into the nature of reality (so far as we can experience reality).<\/p>\n

Meditation is the key to training the mind, but meditation is not enough. It\u2019s quite possible to become an expert meditator without becoming liberated unless there are accompanying changes in attitude and behavior. We can become attached to being a meditator and that will limit liberation. We can become addicted to the blissful states that meditation can produce and that will sidetrack liberation.<\/p>\n

All three need to be brought together\u2014the calming of the mind through meditation, being good in the world, and seeing the world, including the mind, as it is. Out of these three working together we can actually move through our days skillfully without digging ourselves into a deeper hole.<\/p>\n

When all unskillful attitudes and actions cease, liberation follows. It\u2019s simply the natural state that emerges when we stop pushing and pulling against experience. It\u2019s a place where nothing can touch us because we are not desperately trying to protect some mistaken view of ourselves. We can engage life fearlessly, compassionately, and with great contentment because we have stopped the mind\u2019s automatic grasping. No grasping means no suffering. No suffering means liberation.<\/p>\n

I think we have a misguided notion of liberation in the West, and perhaps in the East as well. Liberation doesn\u2019t mean transcending reality to some ultimate realm. The Buddha was very much a man subject to the laws of physics, just like you and me. He was likely an exceptional man but what taught was not superhuman. It is attainable by anyone willing to give it a try.<\/p>\n

The Buddha\u2019s liberation was understood to be a permanent way of being. That\u2019s probably not a realistic goal for you and I. It\u2019s a difficult goal for a monk sequestered in a monastery without the challenges of the world as distractions. For those of us living in the world, I think it\u2019s reasonable to seek a less permanent form of liberation (after all, everything is impermanent, right?).<\/p>\n

If you test the Buddha\u2019s teachings for yourself, you just might find that his insights are accurate\u2014that certain mental states lead to certain emotions in predictable ways; certain emotions lead to certain actions in predictable ways; and certain actions lead to certain consequences in predictable ways. You can start to map out the trail of suffering. It\u2019s neither mystical nor rocket science. It\u2019s simple cause and effect.<\/p>\n

During meditation, as the mind quiets, you will experience moments of cessation. The mind stops pushing and pulling. It rests in the now. The sense of \u201cme\u201d drops away and you (whoever that is) experiences bliss. The more you practice the more frequently these moments come and the longer they may last.<\/p>\n

The more you practice the more readily you will recognize that you are pushing and pulling in ever more subtle ways, and you will stop yourself sooner and with more ease. For 99.9% of us on the planet, this is how liberation can be experienced in daily life.<\/p>\n

The idealization of liberation places an obstacle in the way. Who needs that pressure? Relax. You don\u2019t need to do it perfectly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Buddha\u2019s teachings aren\u2019t just about making yourself feel good, they offer the potential of life transforming awakening \u2013 liberation from the anguish of suffering. This liberative potential is not just for you and me; it carries the potential to transform the entire planet. The Buddha taught the causes of suffering and the way to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,9],"tags":[39,344,201],"class_list":["post-1945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddha-101","category-mindfulnesss","tag-buddha","tag-buddhist-psychology","tag-liberation"],"yoast_head":"\nLiberation For You and Me - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/12\/liberation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liberation For You and Me - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Buddha\u2019s teachings aren\u2019t just about making yourself feel good, they offer the potential of life transforming awakening \u2013 liberation from the anguish of suffering. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1945"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1949,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1945\/revisions\/1949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}