Dear Friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another common translation for the faculty saddha<\/em> is “confidence.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gil Fronsdal describes a nuance of confidence compared to faith:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Confidence is different from faith. We can have faith that something is important and useful, but that faith can be at a distance. It’s like we have a treasure and know that we have the treasure, but we don\u2019t actually use the treasure. The confidence of saddh\u0101 is what gives us strength to actually engage in the practice. We have confidence that it is worthwhile. The greater our challenges, the more useful it is to tap into our confidence.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.audiodharma.org\/talks\/11050<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n While faith may be what gets us interested, confidence is what gets us practicing. But we don’t need to have “perfect” confidence to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gil reminds us that we can “borrow” confidence if we don’t have enough confidence in ourselves. He says, “That is one reason why it\u2019s so useful to meditate together with others” – and it’s true for me. There have been times I thought I couldn’t last another second, but I know one of my friends (in the meditation hall or even on zoom) is sticking with it, so I feel their confidence to sit through this. And in turn, my sitting with this can encourage confidence in others. So it’s beneficial both ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, we<\/em> can do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gil also reminds us that the confidence doesn’t have to be big – “just enough to be able to do it.” Just this breath, just this moment. If I think I need to be mindful all day, I’m setting myself up for disappointment. Just this breath – that I can do. Oh, and now this one – okay. Breath by breath, moment by moment – we can build some continuity, which can lead to more confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflection<\/strong>: Practice<\/strong>: Perhaps you might even want to try a standing posture as an expression of confidence. As Steve Armstrong describes in this meditation (30 minutes, including initial comments), is something we do often, so you may find this a useful practice to take into life: Poem<\/strong>: Close your eyes. A new confidence will come alive May our practice spark a flame of confidence in each other, Dear Friends, Another common translation for the faculty saddha is “confidence.” Gil Fronsdal describes a nuance of confidence compared to faith: Confidence is different from faith. We can have faith that something is important and useful, but that faith can be at a distance. It’s like we have a treasure and know that we have the treasure, but\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[330],"tags":[220,28,109,331],"class_list":["post-1522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jan-2023","tag-faith","tag-gil-fronsdal","tag-standing","tag-steve-armstrong"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1523,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522\/revisions\/1523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Think of someone who has inspired confidence in you. How do you feel (body, heart, and mind) as you remember this? Does the memory of this confidence inspire some confidence in this moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In your practice today, try to embody confidence as you take your meditation posture. Feel grounded and upright, dignified in your posture. See if assuming a posture with a sense of confidence inspires an attitude of confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.dharmaseed.org\/talks\/66115\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ll close today with part of a poem from John O’Donohue, “For Courage”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Gather all the kindling
About your heart
To create one spark
That is all you need
To nourish the flame
That will cleanse the dark
Of its weight of festered fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To urge you towards higher ground
Where your imagination
will learn to engage difficulty
As its most rewarding threshold!<\/p>\nFrom the books, Benedictus (Europe) \/ To Bless the Space Between Us (US)., as found on
https:\/\/grateful.org\/resource\/for-courage\/<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Andrea<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"