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Dharma Talks
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2009-06-27
Service as a Path of Practice
45:25
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Donald Rothberg
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How do we take our service as a path of practice? Most basically, we take helping others as the center (or a major part) of our lives, and we examine, in our service, what helps develop “selfless” service and the barriers to such service, especially a sense of duality between self and other. We explore how a connection between “inner” and “outer” practice structures a life of service, and how such practice can also be understood as the development of particular qualities—we focus on the development of (1) clarity of intentions, (2) generosity, (3) gratitude, and (4) compassion, and on some of the challenges that arise when cultivating such qualities, and in service generally.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Volunteer Appreciation
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2009-06-23
The Awakening Prophet
63:39
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Donald Rothberg
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One interpretation of Jewish mindfulness connects mindfulness with the Jewish prophetic tradition. This suggests an understanding of spiritual practice as involving both "inner" transformation toward liberation and "outer" transformation toward a liberated society; actually, the two are intimately connected. We first explore, partly through music, the prophetic tradition. We then examine how both our inner and outer practice can be understood in similar ways, following the core principles, in terms of development in wisdom and mindfulness (the mind), compassion and love (the heart), and courage and skillful action (the body).
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Jewish Mindfulness
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2009-06-10
Practicing with Anger, Pt I
60:12
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Donald Rothberg
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For many of us, it is hard to know how to practice with anger. We explore some of the reasons for confusion about anger, including the mixed messages we get about anger in many settings, the different connotations of what is translated as "anger" East and West, and the conditioning around anger. We then outline three ways of more "inner" work with anger, through 1) mindfulness, 2) reflections and 3) heart practices like lovingkindness, compassion and forgiveness.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2009-06-09
Equanimity
41:43
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Shaila Catherine
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This talk explores equanimity as the fourth of the four qualities called Brahma Viharas. Previous talks in this series addressed loving kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy. Equanimity allows us to remain present and awake with the fact of things—equally close to the things we like and the things we dislike. It is important to develop equanimity in two arenas: 1) in response to pleasant and painful feelings, and 2) regarding the future results of our actions. Equanimity develops in meditation and in life. We can use unexpected events that we cannot control to develop this quality. Our job is not to judge our experiences, but to be present and respond wisely. Equanimity is a beautiful mental factor that can feel like freedom, but if "I" and "mine" still operate, there is still work to be done. Many suggestions are offered for cultivating equanimity.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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Four Brahma Viharas
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In
collections:
Four Brahma Viharas,
The Ten Paramis
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2009-05-26
Compassion
22:19
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Shaila Catherine
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Compassion, karuna, is the intention of non-cruelty. It is the aspect of loving kindness (metta) that responds wisely to pain, and wishes to alleviate suffering. Compassion training helps us to remain present with pain. There is no need to fear pain, no need to consider pain bad or wrong. A compassionate self-acceptance allows us to remain present and responsive in the face of life's most difficult moments. With compassion we can ask "How can I help?" and stay present to respond.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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Four Brahma Viharas
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In
collection:
Four Brahma Viharas
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2009-05-20
Practicing with the Shadow, pt III
The Collective Shadow and How We Work with It
65:24
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Donald Rothberg
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We first revisit the exploration of the shadow, how it forms, and how we work with it, we then look into the nature of collective shadow phenomena, how the personal and collective shadow inter-penetrate, and how we work with the collective shadow. The key, as always, is to establish a relatively safe space to develop awareness, compassion and wisdom, leading to skillful action.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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