This talk explores the Nobel Eightfold Path and the Three Trainings of virtue (sila), concentration (samadhi), and wisdom (panna). We look at how the trainings lead directly to liberation.
After a brief review of past weeks, we examine the Buddha's basic teachings on self and not-self in terms of 1. the model of the "aggregate" of experience, 2. The link between a sense of self and conceptualization, and 3. practices to discern self and open to not-self.
The suffering of perceiving ourselves as separate selves expresses as fear, aggression, shame and a host of other afflictive emotions. This talk examines how, by taking refuge in the present moment, and taking refuge in love, we reconnect with our wholeness, and the timeless presence that is home. This inquiry includes a guided meditation on the power of prayer to carry us back to our natural belonging.
Equanimity is the mindful presence that neither grasps nor resists experience and is the ground for unconditional love and wise action. Arinna shares a variety of moving stories of deep equanimity and reflects on the position of equanimity as last in several important Buddhist lists. Concludes with a brief Q&A session.
