Understanding Our Mind
By Myoshin Diane Benjamin
"Allow the teachings to enter
you as you might listen to
music, or in the way the earth
allows the rain to penetrate it.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
Over the past seven weeks, I have been convening a class at Clouds to discuss Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Understanding Our Mind, which explores the ancient Buddhist teacher Vashubandu's 50 Consciousness Only verses. This material is not always easy to grasp, so I have been sharing this reminder at the beginning of every class.
But I think this simple teaching applies far beyond the formal study of Buddhist texts. Dharma teaching is everywhere we look - “Dharma gates are boundless,” we recite in the Four Bodhisattva Vows - but often, we resist it. Our attachment to habitual ways of thinking and perceiving closes our minds and hearts. Our seeds of fear, anger, and delusion make the soil of our consciousness difficult to permeate. Those negative seeds were really watered in me by the recent national election results, and I felt extremely exhausted and shut down.
Fortunately, last week, I attended a meditation retreat for several days, which helped soften and stabilize my mind and body. We all have just such an opportunity coming up at the beginning of December with our Rohatsu sesshin. You can come for as little as a half hour or as much as seven days. In the silence of sesshin, we can allow the teachings of each moment to gently fill us, like music to the ear or rain to the earth.
Myoshin Diane Benjamin (she/her) is a lay dharma teacher, a path that reflects her deep interest and engagement in the ways that Buddhist practice both permeates everyday work and family life, and supports engagement in social change. Myoshin began practicing Buddhism in 1996 and received dharma transmission in 2022 from Sosan Flynn. She taught for over a decade in the children’s program at Clouds in Water, and has practiced at Hokyoji and Ryumonji monasteries and attended numerous retreats with Thich Nhat Hanh and his community. She has worked for many years in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, and is also a musician. Additionally, she is fully certified to teach the Realization Process.
