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Guarding the Three Energies: Living Non-Self through Mindful Thought, Speech, and Desire
Today’s talk begins with the need to recognize and prioritize our deepest needs by learning to preserve three vital energies—thinking, speaking, and sexual energy. Drawing on Taoist and Buddhist traditions (and the example of Mahatma Gandhi’s fasting), we see that economizing these energies—through non-thinking, mindful speech, and transforming sexual desire with compassion and understanding—frees us to devote ourselves to spiritual realization. Our daily habits (meals, reading, TV, conversations) either drain or nourish these energies, and an intelligent, communal program of practice is essential to protect them from society’s distractions.
Next, the insight of non-self must move from theory to living experience: knowledge of no-self is merely a map, whereas true understanding arises when we practice mindfulness and concentration (“kung fu”) in each moment—looking deeply into a flower, a cloud, a child—to touch the reality of non-self. This practice ripples through generations: seeing our father in ourselves and ourselves in our child nourishes patience, gentleness, and freedom from anger.
Devotion and meditation are not opposed but can merge. Whether lighting a candle, bowing, praying, or chanting, mindfulness and single-pointed concentration transform acts of devotion into one-hundred-percent meditation. Doubt—held as a question mark—keeps us open, preventing dogmatism by inviting continuous exploration rather than collapse into disillusionment. Finally, “letting go” is not renouncing love but releasing fear, anger, and wrong views so that our practice can mature. True freedom lies beyond before/after, being/non-being, and only through sustained, concentrated practice can we touch the ultimate dimension.
