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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
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Retreat Dharma Talks
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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| Regular weekly talks given at the lower Spirit Rock meditation hall |
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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2014-10-01
Ethical Practice 1 - An Introduction
58:11
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Donald Rothberg
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We explore the meaning of ethical practice - its relationship to meditation and wisdom practice, how it is more a training than a following of external principles, how there are individual, relational, and social dimensions to our ethical practice, and how it can deepen for us. There's a brief overview of the five lay precepts and a taking of the precepts.
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2014-10-22
Ethical Practice 3 - Deepening Our Ethical Practice
60:54
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Donald Rothberg
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Starting with the observation that often our ethical practice may be taken for granted, we look for ways to deepen our practice. We look to find our own personal ethical learning and practice, whether related to the individual, relational or social aspects of our ethical practice.
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2014-11-19
Generosity
63:40
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Donald Rothberg
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We explore the important of generosity practice (including how it appears in different cultures), focusing on low it counteracts greed (especially), hatred and delusion. We suggest a number of practices for the next week.
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2014-11-26
Gratitude
59:09
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Donald Rothberg
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We explore the nature of gratitude and offer a number of forms of gratitude practice. We cover different expressions of the nature, what we're grateful for, being grateful even for difficulties, and the challenges of gratitude practice.
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2014-12-03
Practicing with Craving, Greed and Grasping
69:35
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Donald Rothberg
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In the context of the teachings of the Four Noble Truths and of generosity, gratitude and Dependent Origination, and our previous practices. We explore the nature of craving, greed and grasping and how to practice to explore and transform these qualities.
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2014-12-10
Race, Racism, and Spiritual Practice 1
69:15
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Donald Rothberg
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We examine, in the context of contemporary concerns about racism, how we relate teachings about suffering, compassion, transforming ignorance, courage, and skillful action to our responses to racism. We also look briefly at the history of race and racism, and suggest ways of responding to racism individually, relationally, and collectively.
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2015-01-07
Race, Racism, and Spiritual Practice 2
1:10:25
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Donald Rothberg
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We continue to explore race and racism and how we respond to these through our practice. We focus on (1) the challenges of responding to collective suffering, (2) exploring the ignorance related to race and social conditioning on many levels, and (3) working with the various emotions and thoughts that arise in exploring race and racism.
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2015-01-21
The Thinning of the Self
63:55
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Donald Rothberg
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Insight into "not-self" (anatta) is one of the core aspects of wisdom. After briefly reviewing some of the challenges of understanding anatta, we look at four practical ways to explore anatta, through focusing on 1) everyday and meditative experiences of "flow", 2) studying the "thick" or strong sense of self when it appears, 3) practicing in other ways to "thin" the self, and 4) opening to awareness without a sense of self or identification with the contents of experience.
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2015-02-11
Thinning of the Self 2
62:09
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Donald Rothberg
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We look in more depth at two more ways to "thin" the self, to explore anath:
1. cultivating of "flow" and
2. examining several ways that there is a "thick" sense of self
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2015-02-18
Thinning of the Self 3
67:32
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Donald Rothberg
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After a brief review of the last two talks - on the general theme of "not-self" and two ways of practicing (opening to the flow of experience, examining the "thick" self) we look at further ways of practicing including being aware of the particular constituents without adding "my" and "mine"; cultivating heart practices such as lovingkindness, compassion, forgiveness and empathy and opening to a "pure awareness" what has been called in the Thai Forest tradition, the "primal" or "radiant" mind.
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2015-04-01
Taking Everything as Learning pt 1
44:50
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Donald Rothberg
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As our practice matures, we increasingly intend, and have the capacity to take whatever arises in our lives as part of our practice. We explore what makes this intention hard to implement and what supports taking everything as part of a learning process.
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2015-04-01
Taking Everything as Learning pt2
15:12
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Donald Rothberg
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As our practice matures, we increasingly intend, and have the capacity to take whatever arises in our lives as part of our practice. We explore what makes this intention hard to implement and what supports taking everything as part of a learning process.
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2015-04-08
Taking Everything as Learning 2
60:14
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Donald Rothberg
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After a review of some of main themes related to taking everything as learning, we look especially at what qualities and practices support taking everything as learning. Including mindfulness, equanimity, confidence and faith, heart practices, setting intentions and using the imagination to stay open to possibilities.
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2015-05-06
Othering & Belonging 1
58:06
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Donald Rothberg
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In the contexts of our practice of examining the nature of self and of a recent conference on "Othering and Belonging," we look at ways that we create an "other." We may do this in terms of social groups (according to race, age, gender, religion, ability/disability, educational level, etc.), interpersonally, or in terms of parts of oneself (I "other" my fear or shame or brilliance). This week we focus on "othering" (the "other" is often noticed, but not really known or seen), how to track our own ways of othering, and how to work with and transform othering, opening to greater compassion, wisdom, and connection.
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2015-05-13
Othering and Belonging 2
67:20
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Donald Rothberg
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After a brief review of the theme of "othering", we look some more forms of "othering" and how we practice in examining "othering" in ourselves. We then explore the area exponentially in an exercise, followed by discussion.
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2015-06-10
Othering and Belonging 3
65:16
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Donald Rothberg
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After an introductory outline of the nature of creating an "other" we look at three ways of practicing:
1. Studying the process of "othering" in oneself, in relation to both others and self;
2. Countering the process of othering and
3. Developing farther universal belonging, the "beloved community".
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2015-06-24
Practicing the First Ethical Precept--Non-Harming
65:11
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Donald Rothberg
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Set in the larger contexts of the importance of ethical practice, we focus on the meaning and practical of non-harming, with some reflections on responding to the killings of nine African Americans at a bible study class in Charleston, South Carolina.
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2015-07-15
Practicing the Fourth Ethical Precept - Wise (or "Right") Speech 1
63:31
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Donald Rothberg
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We continue with our exploration of ethical practice, set in the context of the overall training to awaken. We focus in this first session on Fourth Precept ("Right" or "Wise" Speech) on the four core ethical guidelines for speech (truthfulness, helpfulness, speaking from the heart, and good timing/appropriateness of the speech), in the context of the general importance of speech practice, suggesting a number of ways of practicing.
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2015-07-22
Practicing the Fourth Precept 2 - Empathy
68:35
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Donald Rothberg
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In the context of our ethical practice we took a look at a second aspect of speech practice - practicing empathy through an overview and a practice with guidance in the last part of the session.
Roughly 68 minutes in duration.
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2015-08-19
Practicing the Middle Way
65:27
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Donald Rothberg
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We explore the balance of active and receptive effort and letting go and other expressions of the middle way--as a general principle in concentration and insight practice in everyday action and in accessing the depths of our being.
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2015-09-23
New Beginnings: Falling Short, Re-Connecting
60:47
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Donald Rothberg
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At this time of year (Harvest Festival, Yom Kippur etc.) of new beginnings and seeing where we have "fallen short" or want to forgive in some part of our lives, we go through a series of reflections, traditional and contemporary, leading to a re-dedication to our deeper intentions.
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2015-09-30
Practicing with Anger
64:39
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Donald Rothberg
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After looking at the multiple sources of confusion about anger for western Buddhist practitioners, we examine a number of perspectives and ways of practicing with anger.
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2015-10-07
The Urgency of Now - Connecting Inner and Outer Transformation
66:23
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Donald Rothberg
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As we face multiple crises, yet also open to new transformations - inner and outer- a new type of spiritual practitioner is needed, who is able to connect inner and outer transformation. Echoing the Buddhist bodhisattvas, Jewish prophets, Jesus, many indigenous leaders, Gandhi, King, and Dorothy Day, among others, the "new bodhisattva" follows a new kind of training which is outlined.
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2015-12-02
"One Who Set Out to Study Fear"
66:18
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Donald Rothberg
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An exploration of the importance, personally and socially, of practicing with fear. We work especially with these tools: (1) mindfulness and the study of fear (What is fear? How does it manifest in the body, emotions, and thinking); (2) heart practices like metta and compassion; and (3) developing wise and skillful responses.
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2015-12-09
Studying and Practicing with Fear 2
62:38
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Donald Rothberg
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We continue the investigation of the nature of fear, and the skillful ways to work with fear, both internally and externally, bringing in further emphasis on compassion, empathy, understanding and learning from those who have faced fear deeply.
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2015-12-30
Coming Alive With the New Year
52:25
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Donald Rothberg
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We explore through reflection and a ritual, the process of renewal - stopping, opening to both the difficult and the beautiful, letting go and setting intentions.
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2016-01-20
Impermanence
61:42
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Donald Rothberg
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Based on the earlier meditation, we examine the importance of reflection on and mindfulness of, impermanence, both gross impermanence and moment-to-moment impermanence; why it's difficult to be deeply aware of impermanence; practices to explore impermanence; and deeper understandings opened up by practices with impermanence.
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2016-02-10
Impermanence 3
18:23
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Donald Rothberg
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After a brief review including practicing with "gross" impermanence (and death), we focus on (1) practicing with more subtle, moment-to-moment impermanence, (2) or some characteristic challenges to practicing with impermanence, and (3) on how practicing with impermanence takes us more deeply.
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