Dharma Seed - Dharma Talks from Retreats

Strengthening the two wings of Awakening: Wisdom and Compassion

This nine-day insight meditation retreat offers an opportunity to strengthen both the wisdom and the compassion wings of awakening. We will explore a variety of different practices taken from the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, alongside the four brahma-vihara heart practices of kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

2018-08-03 (10 days) Te Moata Retreat Center

2018-08-03 01 talk: retreat opening 19:54
Jill Shepherd	Download Listen
Retreat opening talk, with an overview of the practice and supports for our inner journey, including commitment to non-harming through taking the five ethical precepts

2018-08-03 02 meditation: mindfulness of breathing 33:20
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Short body scan to help release tension, then mindfulness of breathing emphasising calm

2018-08-04 03 instructions: introduction of mindfulness and the practice of mindfulness of breathing 15:45
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An overview of what is meant by mindfulness, its purpose, and beginning instructions for mindfulness of breathing

2018-08-04 04 meditation: mindfulness of breathing 30:01
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Guided meditation stabilising awareness on the breath, emphasising ease and calm

2018-08-04 05 short instructions: continuity of mindfulness and walking meditation 10:27
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Instructions for maintaining continuity of mindfulness throughout the day, followed by walking meditation instructions

2018-08-04 06 guided dyad meditation: mindfulness of body 34:19
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Guided dyad (pairs) meditation practising vipassana out loud, naming physical sensations in the body

2018-08-04 07 talk: Four Noble Truths 41:53
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An exploration of dukkha and an overview of the Four Noble Truths

2018-08-05 08 instructions: different approaches to mindfulness 15:38
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An exploration of mindfulness as a way of relating to experience, and understanding when and how to apply different approaches to help keep the mind balanced

2018-08-05 09 guided meditation: mindfulness of the breath, physical sensations, and sounds 28:39
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Using the breath as home base, then gradually opening up the field of awareness to include physical sensations throughout the body, then sounds

2018-08-05 10 instructions: walking rotating through senses 7:59
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Short instructions for a variation of walking meditation, tuning in to physical sensations, then seeing, then hearing

2018-08-05 11 instructions: mindfulness of the body as a collection of anatomical parts 8:35
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Instructions for exploring the body in terms of its anatomical parts

2018-08-05 12 guided meditation: mindfulness of the body in terms of its anatomical parts 29:03
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Guided meditation beginning with a reading from the Satipatthana Sutta on the anatomical parts of the body, followed by reciting of the 32 parts then body scans knowing the body in terms of its skin, flesh, and bones

2018-08-05 13 talk: sukha, happiness 42:00
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Exploring the role of sukha, happiness, in the Buddha's teachings, and how the silence, solitude, simplicity, slowing down and stillness of being on retreat support the development of that happiness

2018-08-06 14 instructions: contemplating the body in terms of four elements or qualities 11:45
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An introduction to mindfulness of the body in terms of the four qualities of earth, water, fire, and air or wind, as a way of gaining insight into the body's impermanence and interconnectedness

2018-08-06 15 guided meditation: contemplating the body in terms of four elements or qualities 14:25
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A short guided meditation exploring the qualities of earth, water, fire and air or wind within the body, and also externally

2018-08-06 16 instructions: feeling tone or vedana 27:22
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Exploring vedana or feeling-tone as the Second Establishment of Mindfulness

2018-08-06 17 guided dyad meditation: feeling-tone 17:16
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Guided dyad (pairs) meditation exploring unpleasant then pleasant feeling-tone

2018-08-07 19 instructions: mindfulness of the mind 28:46
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Ways to practice mindfulness of thoughts, emotions, moods and mind-states

2018-08-07 20 guided meditation: mindfulness of thoughts and emotions 26:08
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Beginning with mindfulness of breathing, then including physical sensations, sounds, thoughts and emotions, knowing their impermanent nature, then opening up to choiceless awareness

2018-08-07 23 talk: the hindrance of aversion and the brahmavihara practices as antidotes 53:43
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Ways of working with the hindrance of ill will or aversion, including an overview of the four brahmavihara practices of kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity as antidotes to ill will

2018-08-08 24 instructions: metta 16:21
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How physical and mental seclusion supports samadhi, stability of mind or concentration, and how the reciting phrases method of metta practice also helps strengthen samadhi

2018-08-08 25 guided meditation: metta for the benefactor 27:30
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Guided meditation practising metta for the benefactor, using the reciting phrases method

2018-08-08 26 short instructions: radiating energy method of metta practice 6:55
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Very short instructions for practising metta using the radiating energy method

2018-08-08 27 guided meditation: metta using the radiating energy method 19:49
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Guided metta meditation using the radiating energy method, without reciting phrases or in relation to categories of people

2018-08-08 28 talk: an overview of the brahmaviharas with a focus on compassion 42:17
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Exploring how all four brahmavihara practices strengthen and support each other, then focusing on compassion and self-compassion as antidotes to afflictive mental states

2018-08-09 29 instructions: compassion 12:36
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Instructions for practising compassion for a good friend who is currently experiencing challenges

2018-08-09 30 guided meditation: compassion for a good friend 28:58
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Guided compassion meditation for a good friend, using the reciting phrases method of practice

2018-08-09 31 instructions: mudita or appreciative joy practice 14:53
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An overview of mudita, appreciative joy, as one of the four brahmavihara practices, and how to practice it for a good friend

2018-08-09 32 guided meditation: practising mudita or appreciative joy for a good friend 21:19
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Starting with metta practice, then turning it towards what's going well in a good friend's life, and offering them mudita or appreciative joy using the reciting phrases method of practice

2018-08-10 34 instructions: Seven Factors of Awakening 16:50
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An overview of the Seven Factors of Awakening, their relationship to the five hindrances, and their role in supporting insight

2018-08-10 35 guided meditation: exploring the Seven Factors of Awakening 28:28
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Mostly silent meditation practising choiceless awareness, with occasional instructions to check for the presence or absence of each of the seven factors of awakening: mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity

2018-08-10 37 talk: anatta or not-self and the five clinging-aggregates 43:34
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An introduction to anatta or not-self and an exploration of the suffering that comes from clinging to the five aggregates

2018-08-11 38 instructions: equanimity generally, and as a brahmavihara practice 18:22
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Bringing equanimity to the ending of the retreat and the inevitable ups and downs, then instructions for the brahmavihara practice of equanimity for a difficult person

2018-08-11 39 guided meditation: equanimity for a difficult person 25:10
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Guided meditation cultivating equanimity for a so-called "difficult" person, then oneself, using the reciting phrases method of brahmavihara practice