11.21.2024 Like Peanut Butter & Jelly   Being that you’re a “Weekend Reader” reader, I’m going to assume we can agree on a couple of things: 1) Buddhism has a lot to offer us when it comes to understanding our minds, why we suffer, and how we can mitigate that suffering. 2) Psychology, too, has a lot to offer us when it comes to understanding our minds, why we suffer, and how we can mitigate that suffering. So it stands to reason that a “Buddhist Psychology,” likewise, could be a very positive and powerful thing. Indeed, it is very much “a thing” — it’s called Abhidhamma (Pali), or Abhidharma (Sanskrit) — and is both positive and powerful. So much so that the modern scholar/monk Bhikkhu Bodhi has characterized it as “simultaneously a philosophy, a psychology, and an ethics, all integrated into the framework of a program for liberation.” You could say that psychology and the Buddhist view go together like peanut butter and jelly. Yet, the Abhidharma/Abidhamma doesn’t exactly have a reputation for tastiness — Buddhist teachers sometimes even downplay it, saying it’s too difficult, too “dry” for many of us to relate to. But what if it were served with a glass of milk (so to speak)? In his new series of Abhidharma teachings at Buddhadharma — Lion’s Roar’s special section for folks who want to deepen their study and practice of Buddhism — Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche has found a way to make it all go down easier, so that any of us can “take the first step to freedom” and bring Buddhist psychology to bear in our relationships with others, and ourselves. Plain-spoken and laden with warmth and encouragement, Mingyur Rinpoche’s teachings include an introduction to the Abhidharma, a short practice, a video to help us get in touch with the way our mind and body are interconnected, and a teaching on how the Abhidharma helps us transform our suffering, our experience, and our very selves. All this is rounded out, too, by reflections and an Abhidharma Q&A with Edwin Kelley, a supportive guide in Mingyur Rinpoche’s work to help us all taste the Abhidharma for ourselves. It’s all at Buddhadharma now. Just follow the links below. Thank you for your practice! —Rod Meade Sperry & Mariana Restrepo The Buddhadharma editorial team How Buddhist Abhidharma Practice Mitigates Aversion, Craving, and Suffering Mingyur Rinpoche shares Abhidharma practices that can guide you toward inner freedom, compassion, and wisdom. Also included is a short breathing/meditation practice. Abhidharma practice is similar to doing a scientific experiment in a laboratory. But in this case, the laboratory is our own body. Buddha said, “Take my words not because I say so. You need to take my words and then see for yourself through practice. Just like with gold—after cutting, rubbing, and burning it, gold becomes genuine.” In this way, we put the Buddha’s teachings into practice. ADVERTISEMENT Watch: Mingyur Rinpoche teaches on Mindfulness of the Body Mingyur Rinpoche teaches us what it means to bring our mind and body into the present moment. Also included is a helpful reflection on the subject from Edwin Kelley. The first foundation of mindfulness is inviting us to experience our body by bringing awareness to the physical sensations, to explore our experience from the inside. So we sit on the cushion, and we turn our attention inward and begin by examining our physical sensations. This is what Rinpoche refers to as “examining the essence of phenomena” or “penetrating wisdom” — learning how to be with our experience directly. Your Wisdom Is Your Superpower   Mingyur Rinpoche explains how Abhidharma practice can transform our suffering, our experience, and our very selves. It is not just the teachings of the Abhidharma alone that can really transform you. The Abhidharma is a lens to view your experience, but you must transform yourself, transform your kleshas, through your own experience. This is your wisdom. This is your superpower! Through inner exploration, you can free yourself from all the habitual patterns that lead to chronic stress, unhealthy emotional patterns, and other forms of suffering.