The following talk is given by Tara Brock, meditation teacher, psychologist and author.

I have a question regarding rain and really pertaining to the eye of rain.

At the retreat somebody asked James about eye and he talked about how there's the danger

when you get into the eye of switching from investigating to interrogating.

I'm curious if you have any suggestions as far as not getting off on a false refuge when you get into that eye and becoming...

Let me do a check. Is there anyone here that's completely unfamiliar with the acronym rain?

Don't be shy. I'll just briefly review it because I find it just a very valuable handle for especially when we're in reactivity

to use the wings of mindfulness and compassion to untangle the tangle.

So the R- of rain is recognized and it's said in us that just goes, okay, I'm stuck, you know, I'm often in angry reaction or whatever it is.

So with the R you're recognizing it kind of naming it in some way and the A is allow.

And often when we're in reactivity, the allowing it's not a full blown acceptance.

It's not I like this, it's not I want it to go on. It's a willingness to pause and just let B for the time being so that you have enough of a space that you can engage a little more presence.

Okay, so recognize and allow. It's like putting a frame around a picture so you can then really begin to become intimate with the picture.

The I is investigate with kindness. It has to have both wings in it. If it's just investigate, there'll be some aversion or reactivity that won't allow a clear scene.

If it's just kindness, it could get all gloppy and gooey and not have any acuity. So it's investigate with kindness.

Now the purpose of this is anything that you bring into awareness. You're no longer identified with.

The reason there's a tangle is because the I, the sense of self has gotten reactive.

So the different layers of experience that we investigate and really just notice what's happening in that noticing there's a dissolving of the stickiness.

So one level you want to investigate is how is this experience playing through my body?

That's the primary place is the body because we tend to dissociate.

So again, it's not interrogate and it's not analyze. It's feel into the body.

We also investigate the feeling tone, you know, or more accurately the emotion because if we're not aware, oh, oh shame, that's shame.

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