We bring the desires, the unfulfilled ones. We start to put [desires] down little by little, as we unfold, as we soak in this land, in this practice. ... It starts to work. Trust. It happens. It will happen. We start to become more mindful, we start to feel lighter, we start to feel freer, little by little, moment by moment by moment. Sometimes it feels like we’re enchanted with our suffering. This word “enchantment, ” it’s like the fairy tales where someone gets a spell put on them. We’re sometimes enchanted in the world with our suffering. We hang on to it. We hang on to all this stuff we have from the past. Me, mine, my history, myself, my F’s in chemistry quizzes, mine! We start to let go and become disenchanted, unenchanted. This fairy tale, this spell breaks, sometimes, and we have a moment of clarity. And we see things differently. We see things more clearly when we allow it, when we allow ourselves to really be with the practice. Freedom is possible, and it does happen. It can happen anywhere.
Nikki Mirghafori
Spirit Rock Residential Teacher
Nikki Mirghafori, PhD, is a Buddhist teacher and Artificial Intelligence scientist. She was empowered by the living Burmese meditation master Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw, with whom she practiced the jhanas and detailed analytical vipassana. She serves as a Stewarding Teacher and on the Board of Directors at Spirit Rock.