In the talk, Donald reflects on having just completed, four days before the talk, four weeks of practice at Spirit Rock. He particularly focuses on three themes from the retreat, exploring each theme in terms of both its retreat context and its daily life context. The first is the theme of listening deeply to one's own "intuition" and what "calls." The second is the theme of developing samadhi (usually translated as "concentration"--the unified mind and heart and body) and in particular practicing the eight jhanas as taught by the Buddha. The third is the theme of bringing the retreat learning and explorations into daily life, and how in particular to cultivate the first two themes in the daily life context. The talk is followed by discussion.

Questions are précised and read into the file: 00:38 Q1 Buddhist cosmology I find terribly overwhelming. If I just focus on what is helping me, will I be missing out on much? 02:07 Q2 I really value your teaching that it all comes back to clinging. 02:55 Q3 Yesterday you mentioned a shift that can be sensed before the tone of pleasant or unpleasant actually arises. Can you say anything more about this shift before the vedana quality actually appears? 04:23 Q4 This seems so interwoven. I guess it's a tangled skein. 12:17 Q5 You mentioned that it was helpful to point the citta towards kaya sankara rather than the vaci sankara. Is that what allows the development of equanimity? 16:52 Q6 I am confused. Are the heart and the citta two different things? 19:44 Q7 About the taints/ asava, is this a linear sequence? 28:15 Q8 Isn't part of the beauty of what you've done with samadhi as well is that to enter samadhi you've experienced non-fabrication of the 5 hindrances. 30:13 Q9 When I practice the jhanas I find I get to a certain point where I can't get further into calmness. Is that where I should start to investigate? 35:13 Q10 I have a resistance to being grounded. It seems I prefer the fizzy state. 42:37 Q11 In relating to signs and to being able to set signs aside, what role does beauty play in the dhamma? 44:58 Q12 Could it mean that it reduces the energy in unhelpful sankaras? Q13 There might be a time when I'm experiencing an upset and I would just put myself in front of a tree and the experience of viewing, considering the tree gives time for the capacity to identify with something wholesome and helpful.

Overview of the second tetrad, with emphasis on step five (piti); five kinds of piti presented and five jhanic factors as preparation for jhanas and antidotes to hinderances.

This is an examination of the steps in the Gradual Training as represented in MN 39 The Longer Discourse at Assapura. Here the Buddha includes beautiful similes for the five hindrances and the experience of the four jhanas. Our study has the aim to deepen our own practice and progress on the path.

Exploring the map of the jhanas, their beauty and benefit, and how samadhi practice connects with insight and the understanding of emptiness and dependent origination. This includes a guided practice that builds on the guided practices during the retreat. Closing of the retreat.

00:06 Mind in body or body in mind; 01:31 Citta voice and thinking mind voice – how to bring them together; 03:12 Mind storm leads to confusion, compulsive thoughts; 05:51 Sleeplessness, especially accompanied with anxiety; 08:02 how to ensure qualities like love are not coming from self-centeredness or craving; 11:09 Fear around upcoming surgery; 13:34 Losing the balance of mind when overcome with pain; 20:22 Others means of practice in addition to meditation; 21:59 Practicing meditation with the aim of attaining jhānas; 27:04 Getting a sense of pīti during meditation; 34:55 If there's no self who inherits the karmic residues from past lives; 36:51 discernment vs judgment.

00:13 Working with tinnitus; 03:06 ‘sensing a way home to what I am’; 04:42 Becoming more comfortable with non-doing; 06:57 Mention not-self/anattā in the suttas; 11:26 Focusing on one point with breathing; 14:45 Feeling I should be doing something; 16:12 Building more energy in the practice as one ages; 22:32 Feeling angst about ending of the retreat; 23:15 Recollecting one’s virtues as preparation for death; 25:01 Having lost our ability to express open steady presence; 26:13 Refusing to identify with someone or some movement; 27:10 Aches in my shoulder in long sits; 29:06 Arūpa jhānas.

Concentration: This dharma talk is the last in a series on the Eight Fold Path. It includes techniques for quieting the mind (shamata), the nature of concentration, and the necessary elements to reach concentrated states in a sustainable way. Also included is a description of the Jhanas (high states of concentration) and the value of experiencing these states to help strengthen faith. Brief Q & A at the end included.

A guided meditation and talk exploring a way of practice developed from and inspired by Rob Burbea's Counting Within the Breath (see Practicing the Jhanas retreat) to steady the mind & heart, develop a whole body sensitivity, brighten awareness, and overcome the common hindrances to feeling free.