Listening to the heart : a contemplative journey to engaged Buddhism

253 Pages·2014·1.94 MB·English

by  Thanissara

Praise for Listening to the Heart
“Listening to the Heart takes us on a liberating journey. Kittisaro and Thanissara
inspire us with their personal stories of struggle and insight and share their deeply
lived understanding of the Buddha’s teaching. A beautiful book.”
— , author of Mindfulness “Genuine and insightful, Listening to the
JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN
Heart is both a memoir and a clear guide to authentic practice. Kittisaro and
Thanissara unfold the layers of their experience to share their understanding, from
deep inner processes to vital social and relational aspects of living a good life.”
— , author of Lovingkindness and Real Happiness “This is a
SHARON SALZBERG
wonderful and profound book, deeply researched, written with illuminated
elegance; it challenges us all both to deepen our sacred practice and to act for
compassion in the world.”
— , founder of the Institute for Sacred Activism and author of The
ANDREW HARVEY
Hope “This book is luminous in clarity and depth. Let these teachings turn you
toward the jewel of your own awakening heart.”
— , PhD, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge “From Oxford to
TARA BRACH
Thailand to South Africa, from monastery to frontline work in the crying heart of
Zulu country, Thanissara and Kittisaro share their amazing journey. Written with
honesty, courage, and deep wisdom, Listening to the Heart shows how to free the
mind and open the heart. Even more, the deep caring and love that permeate the
pages inspire the reader to want to make a difference in the world—and the book
provides the map to do it. Highly recommended.”
— , cofounder of Spirit Rock Insight Meditation Center and coauthor
JAMES BARAZ
of Awakening Joy “Thanissara and Kittisaro are the embodiment of Buddhist
wisdom. Their teachings are clear, simple, elegant, and profound. They have a
way of cutting through jargon and reaching the truth without resorting to dogma.
We are blessed to have two such teachers among us.”
— , editor in chief of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine “I’m not sure
SATISH KUMAR
there is anyone who can strip away our naive illusions about the spiritual life as
deftly and elegantly as Thanissara and Kittisaro. As we witness their sacred
pilgrimage unfolding, we are awakened to the timeless noble truths of our
precious human condition and set free.”
— , guiding teacher at Spirit Rock Insight Meditation Center and
SHARDA ROGELL
author of Pressing Out Pure Honey “Listening to the Heart is three books in one. It is
a guide to deep understanding of Buddhist dharma, an explanation of
psychological growth, and a love story.… It is a joy to read and filled with
profound wisdom.””
— , author of Emotional Chaos to Clarity and Dancing With Life
PHILLIP MOFFITT

Copyright © 2014 by Kittisaro and Thanissara, (H. R. and L. M. Weinberg). All rights reserved. No portion
of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the written
permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.
Published by
North Atlantic Books.
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712
Cover photo © iStockphoto.com/Shrekton
Cover and book design by Mary Ann Casler
Listening to the Heart: A Contemplative Journey to Engaged Buddhism iis sponsored and published by the Society
for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences (dba North Atlantic Books), an educational nonprofit based in
Berkeley, California, that collaborates with partners to develop cross-cultural perspectives, nurture holistic
views of art, science, the humanities, and healing, and seed personal and global transformation by publishing
work on the relationship of body, spirit, and nature.
North Atlantic Books’ publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our
website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kittisaro, author.
Listening to the heart : a contemplative journey to engaged Buddhism / Kittisaro and Thanissara.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-58394840-8
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-58394-839-2
1. Spiritual life—Buddhism. 2. Meditation—Buddhism. I. Thanissara, 1956– II. Title.
BQ5660.K58 2014
294.3′444--dc23 2014021828
v3.1
To our parents,
for the precious gift of life
Contents

Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
PREFACE
CHAPTER ONE: An Invitation, Kittisaro
CHAPTER TWO: A Stab to the Heart, Thanissara
CHAPTER THREE: A Steady Mind, Kittisaro
CHAPTER FOUR: The Practice of Presence, Kittisaro
The Five Jhana Factors
The Buddha’s Analogy for the Experience of Jhana
Working with Illness and Pain
CHAPTER FIVE: Two Kinds of Peace, Thanissara
CHAPTER SIX: The Grit That Becomes a Pearl, Thanissara
CHAPTER SEVEN: Desire: The Core of the Matrix, Thanissara
The Three Spheres of Desire
The Deeper Intention of Desire
CHAPTER EIGHT: Dew Drops and a Lightning Flash, Kittisaro
Teachings from the Depth
CHAPTER NINE: Nibbana: The Beautiful, Kittisaro
CHAPTER TEN: Contemplative Ease, Kittisaro and Thanissara
Return the Hearing
Kuan Yin’s Enlightenment
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Radical Reflection, Kittisaro
Skillful Means: Returning to the Source
The Shurangama Samadhi
CHAPTER TWELVE: The Wounded Warrior, Thanissara
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Through the Night Door, Thanissara
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: The Nectar in the Fire, Thanissara
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Until the End of Time, Kittisaro
The Four Bodhisattva Vows
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: An Intimate World, Kittisaro and Thanissara
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Preface

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.
—Zen master Dogen
T
his book invites you to join us on a contemplative journey. Although it feels
like we’re going somewhere, in the paradoxical path of awakening we’re learning
to be more fully here, now. Though it sounds simple, this is not so easy to do.
Lost in the dream of getting to the place we think we need to be, we generate all
sorts of problems for ourselves and others. The poignant irony of our endless
seeking is that what we are looking for is already here within the heart. When we
stop, even for a moment, we taste peace. This is the taste of the Dharma.
The intention of this book is to share the paradoxical journey of being present.
Sharing connects us with the mystery of life. Imagine sitting with a group of
friends around a log fire under a night sky where a burst of stars shine like
diamonds. As stories flow, the quality of listening deepens. Listening to the
spoken words emerging from the silence connects us to the heart. The heart
fathoms and meaning is found. Contemplation is the art of deep listening; it
enables discovery.
Since 1992 we have lived, practiced, and taught the Dharma together. The
layout of this book alternates our different voices, one chapter after another, in
which we explore the awakening process as it threads through our lives. Similar
to the Buddha and his teaching style, we return to core themes repeatedly, in
order to deepen their meaning.
Through these pages, reflections, and stories, we meet as writer and reader.
The deeper invitation of this book, however, is to stay with that inner quietness
that listens, reflects, discerns, and distills insight. This contemplative process, what
Ajahn Chah called “reading the book of the heart,” is the way of peace, the road
home. The words are simply an invitation to listen into the heart. As we listen,
we hear the stillness and silence of the unmoving.
We also hear the world. These are uncertain times. So many structures and
certainties are breaking apart. At any time a tsunami, hurricane, or earthquake can
devastate, or the financial institutions of an entire country can collapse. Change is
happening at such an immense pace, it’s hard to have any idea of where we are
headed. Our experience of time and distance is ever-shrinking as the Internet
moves us into warp speed. Every day a flood of information makes “out there”
more obviously “right here.” As the consequences of actions rebound ever more
quickly, it’s as if there is no distance between thought and what it materializes.
Everything is immediate. We live in increasingly virtual realities, and at the same
time are confronted with the likelihood of no sustainable Earth for future
generations. For many species, it is already too late.
Life has always been intensely challenging on planet Earth, but it’s hard to
imagine another time when the stakes were so high. We may feel anguished by
what’s happening, but what’s happening is happening. None of this is outside the
Dharma. The intensity of our times is pushing, squeezing, and pummeling us.
The image that comes to mind is of a birth canal. It is as if we are being born into
a different way of understanding everything. We are being called to be midwives
of consciousness as it evolves out of a dualistic perspective.
We are awakening into an awareness that knows no ultimate separations.
There is no other that is out there. We can talk about differences, such as national,
geographical, and relational boundaries. However, consciousness, when it is
aware of its own nature, knows itself as everything. It is reader and writer, the
stars in the ink-black night and the one looking at those stars. As we realize this,
we are drawn into intimacy with all life.
Yet we all experience a separate sense of self. The journey of the personal self is
one of great struggle. At first, contemplative practice highlights the sense of self
caught in its own fears, projections, and desires. We encounter the complex
territories that are pertinent to awakening, the wounds that need to be healed.
Finally, we see our true nature as both empty and yet interconnected with
everything else, which is freeing and deeply nourishing. If we rush to this insight,
and prematurely bypass our personal difficulties and negative emotions, we
become split and disassociated rather than integrated and embodied.