| |
|
Retreat Dharma Talks
|
|
Monday and Wednesday Talks
|
| Regular weekly talks given at the lower Spirit Rock meditation hall |
|
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
|
|
| |
|
2019-04-10
From the Ordinary Habitual Mind to the Buddha-Mind 3: Practicing with the Body 1.”
1:26:32
|
|
Donald Rothberg
|
|
|
After an overview of ten aspects of the transformation of the ordinary habitual mind, and a review of the first, examining how thinking is transformed, we look at (1) the nature of contemporary habitual experience of the body, (2) the nature of the awakened experience of the body, and (3) how we practice to enact this transformation, particularly focusing on various aspects of mindfulness of the body.
|
|
2019-05-01
From the Ordinary Habitual Mind to the Buddha-Mind 4: Practicing with the Body 2
66:25
|
|
Donald Rothberg
|
|
|
We contextualize our conditioning in relationship to the different “parts” of our experience—related to our thinking, emotions, and body—by examining some the social and cultural history of the last few hundred years, in which thinking has been increasingly differentiated from emotions and the body. We then examine further the nature of our ordinary, habitual experience of the body. The main focus is on a number of “body practices,” including mindfulness of the body in both formal meditation and daily life, ways to self-regulate when there is high activation, using the body in investigation of experience, and the body as a key to presence in speech and interaction.
|
|
2019-05-22
From the Ordinary Habitual Mind to the Buddha-Mind 5: Opening to the Awakened Heart
57:02
|
|
Donald Rothberg
|
|
|
After a brief account of the ten parameters of transformation that we’re considering in this series, we look at one of them--the ordinary habitual “heart,” our emotions and our access (or not) to kindness and care. We examine many factors that block or limit the awakened heart of kindness and love, including greed, hatred, and delusion; several dimensions of social and historical conditioning; the split between mind, body, and emotions; unhealed wounds; emotions like fear and anger; and attachment to views. We point to some of the ways, including in meditation practice, to access the awakened heart.
|
|
2019-06-05
From the Ordinary Habitual Mind to the Buddha-Mind 7: Transforming Our Ordinary Sense of Self 1
61:05
|
|
Donald Rothberg
|
|
|
After situating today’s theme in the context of the nature of the “ordinary habitual mind” and how it is transformed, we look at the fourth parameter of transformation: the nature and sense of self. We start by recognizing the often conceptually confusing nature of this area, and then proposing a primarily practical way to approach the area. We first identify the conditioned sense of self as permanent, independent, and separate, how this sense of self manifests in various ways and why this can be a problem, connected with suffering. , We then briefly suggest how the elements of such a conditioned sense of self are absent in an awakened being and how other positive qualities are present. Finally, while recognizing a number of complexities, including developmental issues, we look at two practical ways to explore and transform the conditioned sense of self: (1) by looking out for and being mindful of when there is a “thick” or “big” sense of self, and (2) finding various ways, in the flow of daily life as well as in formal meditation, to “thin” out the self, developing ways of experiencing with no or much less of a sense of self.
|
|
|
|
