BRINGING HEART INTO THE WORLD

-- an interview with Jeremy Logan

Jeremy Logan has studied and practised insight meditation for the past 22 years. He has been teaching retreats throughout New Zealand since 1993 and offered a four-day residential retreat at Otaki in September 2006.

Jeremy frequently offers classes and dharma talks in the Wairarapa where he lives with his partner and son and works as a counsellor, supervisor and facilitator of change programmes in the field of domestic violence. People in the Wairarapa know Jeremy for his quiet thoughtfulness, loving presence, his knowledge of buddhism and his slightly wicked sense of humour.

We at INSIGHTAotearoa were intrigued by a statement in Jeremy's publicity for the retreat, The Heart of Understanding, "Learning to bring a non-judgemental attention to our lives creates a foundation for transformation and profound discovery." We thought our readers might be interested, as we are, to hear him elaborate a little on this in relation to the retreat and his work and asked him to give some of his precious time for a conversation with us.

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INSIGHTAotearoa : First of all, have I introduced you adequately or is there something you would like to add?

Jeremy : The teachings that I offer are grounded in my experiences as a practitioner and through retreats initially in the insight meditation tradition and later from my exposure to the non-dual teachings of dzogchen and the advaita vedanta teachings of Ramana Maharshi and W.H. Poonja-ji whom I spent time with in the early '90s.

INSIGHTAotearoa : What about those influences are most important to you?

Jeremy : Meditation retreats provide the opportunity for understanding the dharma, the way things are, through direct experience, as opposed to relying on belief or taking what other people or teachers have said. I have immense respect and gratitude for the Buddha's teachings, which embrace meditation, ethics, inquiry, compassion and wisdom and encourage people to engage in practices of understanding and freedom. Spending time with Poonja-ji, a master in the advaita tradition, opened me to the realisation of a freedom already present, already available in the here and now. Both of these traditions are very influential in my life and teachings.

INSIGHTAotearoa : I notice that you say the retreat is for "those experienced in meditation as well as those beginning." You talked earlier about four days being for "those ready to take the risk." Can you say some more about this?

Jeremy : The retreat is geared towards both those with experience and those who would like to enter a retreat space with little or no experience. Taking that first step to doing a retreat can be a little frightening, with the mind worrying about what's going to happen, who will be there, will I cope -- especially with the silence etc., etc.. The retreat environment and structure is set up to support people to be with themselves in a very intimate way, where they have the opportunity to see more clearly into their heart-mind experience, their lives and their environment in a way that can be very transforming.

INSIGHTAotearoa : Can you elaborate a little on creating a foundation for transformation and profound discovery?

Jeremy : Generally most people are caught up in the busyness of their thinking minds. Transformation of the mind and heart occur as we create more spaciousness and openness in the mind and heart which lets us begin to see more clearly the way things are. This often turns out to be quite different to what we may have imagined or think things are. Mindfulness and non-judgemental awareness provide a foundation for depth of experience and insight that is transforming, that changes the way we view ourselves and the world, that opens or reveals us to our own inherent qualities of compassion and wisdom, and which can lead to a greater sense of our freedom in the here and now.

INSIGHTAotearoa : Takes us beyond the mind to what is embodied in the name of this retreat... The Heart of Understanding. What prompted you to offer this now?

Jeremy : The teachings we engage in direct us towards developing qualities of compassion, kindness, empathy, non-reactivity, love, openness which we may call qualities of the heart and which are central to buddhist practices. We also practice to deepen our understanding and awareness in order to see things as they really, to discover our true nature, to realise freedom.

INSIGHTAotearoa : Is it related to a need you see in the sangha community or a wish of yours to offer something in particular?

Jeremy : I have been reading a book by the prison activist and meditation teacher Fleet Maull, called Dharma in Hell, and in it he says "in the midst of global crisis, kindness may be too easily dismissed as a soft issue, or a luxury to be addressed after the urgent problems are solved." But "kindness," he says, "is of greatest need in all those areas, kindness toward the environment, towards other nations, towards the needs of people who are suffering. Until we reflect basic kindness in everything we do our political gestures will be fleeting and fragile."

The practices we engage in are for transforming the heart and mind, to soften and open our hearts to our own and others lives, to our joys and our suffering, to let go of what is hurtful and harmful and to cultivate ways of being with ourselves, with others and the environment with greater kindness, empathy and wisdom, qualities which I believe are sorely in need in these troubling times.

INSIGHTAotearoa : So it's about the need for more 'heart' in the world generally?

Jeremy : Developing qualities of the heart is one way that we as individuals can make a difference at a time we are bombarded by tremendous suffering on a daily basis, particularly through the papers and TV and can easily feel helpless to make a difference. Our individual response to life, no matter how small, has I believe the potential to flow out like ripples on a pond and make a difference.

INSIGHTAotearoa : And in your work with domestic violence/stopping violence what role do these 'heart' qualities play there and do they give you a particular focus for the work?

Jeremy : Well I hope that the practices I have engaged in over the years have helped me to be to be present, to be less reactive, and to be able to be with people's suffering with greater compassion and kindness, to be with people in a way that enables them to address those areas of their lives that need addressing from a place of greater acceptance and openness rather than reactivity, self hatred and self-judgment.

-- Jeremy Logan was interviewed by Gaye Sutton in July 2006

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A Thought for Today

If we do a little of one kind of practice and a little of another, the work we have done in one often doesn't continue to build as we change to the next. It is as if we were to dig many shallow wells instead of one deep one.

In continually moving from one approach to another, we are never forced to face our own boredom, impatience, and fears. We are never brought face to face with ourselves.

So we need to choose a way of practice that is deep and ancient and connected with our hearts, and then make a commitment to follow it as long as it takes to transform ourselves.

— Jack Kornfield, "A Path With Heart"