This week, Jack examines the quality of resolve and dedication known as adhitthāna, one of the ten pāramitās in the Buddhist tradition.
Show Notes
A Foundation of Resolve (Opening) – Whether it shows outwardly or is held inwardly, we all inevitably will face difficulty and suffering in life. Jack introduces the quality of adhiṭṭhāna, one of the ten pāramitās or “perfections,” which represents the bodhisattva’s resolve to become fully awakened regardless of the challenges.
“Adhiṭṭhāna means determination, dedication, commitment and resolve. It is one of the qualities that come out of our loving-awareness. It is inherent to the heart when we discover who we really are.”
Who Are You? (7:35) – What does it mean to be alive and who are we in this mystery? If adhiṭṭhāna represents our dedication, then what are we dedicated to?
Expressions of the Awakened Heart (16:15) – Jack explores what it means as human beings to be dedicated and what to become dedicated to. He discusses how this quality is supported by our mindfulness and meditation practices.
“Dedication is really an expression of the awakened heart saying, ‘In this life that I experience, there are certain things that I value.”
Jack further explores this question and looks at how the practice of loving awareness allows a profound shift of identity from a small limited sense of self to one of spacious wisdom in Ep. 67 of the Heart Wisdom Podcast.
Never Too Late to Start Over (34:10) – It can be discouraging to find our dedication when we are met with failure. Jack shares stories that prove that no matter what, it is never too late to start over and dedicate our lives to something more.
“Einstein’s dissertation was turned down as irrelevant by his physics department. Michael Jordan was cut from his basketball team. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t, that’s not the point. You are going to have praise and blame and gain and loss, it’s just how it is. So, ‘what do we do,’ is the question,’what do we make of this?”
Setting the Compass of the Heart (53:15) – Our resolve can quickly fade when the fruits of our labor are not apparent. Jack closes with words of wisdom to those whose dedication tends to be dependent on their success.
“Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even get you no result at all. As you get used to this, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but the value and the rightness. of the work itself.” – Thomas Merton
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