Week Six: Skillful Mourning (Chapters 12-14) Self-Guided Practice

Wednesday, March 24th, 2021

This week we are exploring how to use Skillful Mourning to liberate ourselves from fixation on pain and grief. For today's self-guided practice, you will practice Skillful Mourning. Skillful Mourning uses the Seven Homecomings, earth touching, breath practice, and other visualization practices. 

In this practice, we hold and allow ourselves to experience a spacious awareness so we can move through our experience and gradually experience liberation over time. 

You are welcome to practice SNOELL, The Seven Homecomings, or Tonglen formally or informally as you work with Skillful Mourning. 

Decide which practices, when, and how often you do each practice today or throughout your week.

During your self-directed practice today ask yourself: 

What do I notice when I see my experience as an experience and not as inherently who I am?

As I mourn, what am I remembering that I have lost that I want to reclaim, bring back into my life, my heart, my way of being in the world?

If you feel comfortable, please share what comes up for you in the comments below.

If you have not already watched Monday’s talk, please do. In the talk, Lama Rod explains how Tonglen helps us cultivate space for ourselves.

Content

Week 6 Talk: Skillful Mourning

Practice: Skillful Morning Practice (written instruction or audio guided meditation via Google Drive)

Inquiry: What cycles need to be broken in your mourning? What is being created that is new because you have mourned skillfully?

This week we:

1. Learn how to use Skillful Mourning as a way to liberate ourselves from fixation with pain and grief 
2. Use the practice of Skillful Mourning to metabolize and to hold space for grief
3. Reflect on what is coming up for you in your practices as you work through your relationship to pain and grief