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Dharma Talks
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2009-11-11
Emptiness & Compassion III
64:01
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Donald Rothberg
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We review the teachings on emptiness in the context of the broader teachings on the centrality of developing wisdom and compassion, expanding our examination of these teachings from last time. The last part of the session involving doing several exercises, partly explaining experience as a flowing "stream" (and seeing what obstructs the flow) and partly doing a series of four exercises with "ordinary objects" designed to take us out of our ordinary way of constructing things.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2009-11-06
The Mature Heart - the Integration of the Four Brahmaviharas
1:12:48
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Donald Rothberg
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Preceded by a short chant by Rebekkah La Dyne, our yoga teacher for the retreat, we explore two main modes of transformation - one going into suffering, one involving beautiful states. We then focus on the latter, as expressed in the practice of the Brahmaviharas, the cultivation of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity - examining their near and far enemies, and how the four interpret each other in the mature heart.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Cultivating Clear Seeing, Opening the Heart
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2009-09-18
What More Can I Give?
21:32
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Ayya Medhanandi
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After long years of monastic renunciation, living in seclusion and devoted to spiritual practice, I began to question if this was enough. Was I deluded about the quality of my efforts? Had I really let go the world living with so much peace and natural beauty around me? Had I understood the deeper levels of freeing my heart? What more could I give to open to the truth of this timeless teaching? What must I do? So I asked for a sign. And the answer came. I had to venture again into the unknown and serve. Just like gold is purified by fire, I have to give back, to share the suffering, the joy of sacrifice in the Dhamma – to know the sacred mother of compassion.
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Ottawa Buddhist Society
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2009-07-22
The Beautiful Qualities of Compassion and Equanimity
55:19
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Sally Armstrong
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The four Brahma Viharas are loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. The foundation practice is metta, or loving-kindness, which cultivates a friendly and kind attitude towards ourselves, others and all experiences. When this caring heart meets suffering, it naturally responds with compassion. But the last Brahma Vihara, equanimity, the quality of calm acceptance, is necessary keep the heart in balance and open to all the joys and sorrows of our lives.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Metta Retreat
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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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2009-05-12
Our Wisdom Heart
42:34
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Sharda Rogell
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As we walk the path of wisdom and compassion, we discover they are not separate. What happens when we let go of our identifications with our mental constructions and our mind drops into the heart?
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Wood Acres Retreat Center
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Our Wisdom Heart
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2009-04-04
Batik Buddha
38:54
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Ayya Medhanandi reflects on the meaning of the different mudras or hand gestures used by the Buddha himself when he gave teachings. Each represents an important quality for us to practise and develop such as fearlessness or compassion. You can see these mudras that she describes on the batik cloth that was gifted to the Ottawa Buddhist Society at https://ottawabuddhistsociety.com/about-the-obs/latvian-buddha-batik/
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Ottawa Buddhist Society
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2009-04-01
Awakening Through Conflict
1:20:40
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Tara Brach
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The wisdom of the Buddha can guide us not only in discovering inner freedom, but in healing that which divides us from each other. While conflict is inevitable--we are wired toward flight and flight when our needs are not met--it is possible to have our patterns of interpersonal reactivity be the very grounds for awakening. This talk draws on the work of Non Violent Comunications (Marshal Rosenberg) and explores how mindful communications are an interpersonal meditation that gives rise to compassion and understanding.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
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2009-03-20
Unencumbered
19:12
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Fire is our teacher - the fire of pain, the fire of persevering through difficulty and the fire of going beyond what we think we are capable of. For we are greater that we know and our journey is one of learning to trust what is right and true. When the heart’s compassion, wisdom, and generosity mature, there is no space for fear. All the dross of the world melts away in the silence of pure presence. Here is the absolute sanctity of awareness, unencumbered, and joyous in the knowledge of pure love itself.
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Ottawa Buddhist Society (Sisters of St. Joseph Convent)
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2009-03-19
Ice Melts
28:52
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Within us is the seed of awakening. And yet we are so blind. Can we free ourselves by seeing through clouds of delusion, greed and hatefulness? Do we have the resolve and patience to begin and the humility and forgiveness to keep going in hard times? Vigilance in ethical practice, unremitting mindfulness, inner stillness, and sharp discernment melt ignorance and purify the mind. Not only that – joyous and aware, we radiate a fearless unequivocal compassion. When the sun rises, darkness disappears. Just so, we emerge from our blindness, at peace with all conditions
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Ottawa Buddhist Society
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2009-03-18
Fierce Gifts
36:07
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Ayya Medhanandi
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When life presents fearsome obstacles, be your own spiritual ally and turn those obstacles into windows that open to the depths of the heart. There, cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, radiant joy and the wisdom of discernment, behold the fierce gifts of the Dhamma that defy delusion and rescue us from the mire of every perceived burden.
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Ottawa Buddhist Society
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2009-03-11
Without Anxiety About Imperfection
1:17:06
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Tara Brach
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The nature of being human is that we get caught in anger and judgment, hurt and fear. This talk explores what it means to be without anxiety towards this universal emotional conditioning as it appears in ourselves and others. Condemning imperfection binds our identity with an imperfect self. As we learn to pause and open to the direct embodied experience of emotions, we discover a space of presence that is filled with compassion and wisdom. Like the ocean, we can include difficult waves of experience and yet remember our inherent vastness, mystery and wholeness.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
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2009-03-11
Practicing Compassion, I
58:28
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Donald Rothberg
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The practice of compassion can occur both as a formal practice - one of the four practices of the Brahmaviharas - and as an everyday practice in the context of our lives. Compassion practice works because it helps us to to open to our deeper being. Yet to do this, we have to learn also to open to pain - and suffering - understood as the reaction to pain.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2009-03-04
The Divine Abodes: Equanimity
1:15:36
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Tara Brach
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Lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equinimity, are natural expressions of our awakened heart. In this series of four talks, we will examine what arouses these qualities of a wise heart. Each talk will include guided reflections. Equanimity is the balanced and open quality of presence that arises when there is no resisting or grasping after experience. It is through the space of this wise presence that unconditional love is free to shine through.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
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2009-02-25
The Divine Abodes: Joy
1:18:31
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Tara Brach
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Lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equinimity, are natural expressions of our awakened heart. In this series of four talks, we will examine what arouses these qualities of a wise heart. Each talk will include guided reflections. Joy naturally arises from the heart space that welcomes all that is. This talk describes four pathways of discovering and inhabiting this intrinsic openness of Being.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
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2009-02-23
The Joy Of Mindfulness
51:40
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Sylvia Boorstein
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Based on the concept that mindfulness cultivates insights which lead to wisdom to manifest as compassion that is experienced as joy, this talk is about 1) the joy of awakened physical awareness, 2) the joy of psychological clarity, 3) the joy of knowing universal truth, 4) the joy of service and 5) the joy of realizing the basic goodness of human beings.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Insight Meditation February
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2009-02-18
The Divine Abodes: Compassion
1:17:46
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Tara Brach
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Lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equinimity, are natural expressions of our awakened heart. In this series of four talks, we will examine what arouses these qualities of a wise heart. Each talk will include guided reflections. Compassion naturally arises as we allow ourselves to be touched by suffering--our own, those we know, all beings. As we discover our shared vulnerability, the pain of separation dissolves and our hearts open to widening circles of belonging.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
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2009-01-14
Humble Of Heart
1:11:49
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Tara Brach
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As consciousness evolves, there is a deepening understanding of the interdependence of all of life. This wisdom naturally leads to an authentic humility--an awakening from the burden and violence of self-importance. In this talk we explore the relationship between being humble of heart, and living with kindness and compassion. There is particular attention to the necessity of humility and deep listening--as individuals and societies--if we are to respond to conflict in a way that can bring peace to this earth.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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IMCW Wednesday Evening Talks
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2008-10-30
Ascending the Altar
34:52
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Ayya Medhanandi
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What is renunciation? Patiently we learn how to let go of the thoughts and actions that enslave us to samsara. And we begin to understand what it takes to tame the ego and cultivate greater and greater compassion in its boundless quality. Through this magnificent process, we study the way to ascend the altar and sit with our teacher, the Buddha.
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Birken Forest Monastery
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2008-06-06
At the Shrine of the Awakened - Unfathomable Love
35:51
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Ayya Medhanandi
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What is spiritual beauty? Kindness, forgiveness, unconditional love? Can we sustain a hallowed inner space that will not be degraded by unkind thoughts? When noble virtue protects the heart at its innermost core, we repair and train the mind to go beyond all brokenness. Relinquishing the burden of endless struggle, we harness awakened wisdom and compassion to free ourselves. We are a pure clear vessel of unfathomable love.
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Ottawa Buddhist Society
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2008-05-14
Self And Not Self III
57:31
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Donald Rothberg
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Transformation Beyond the Constricted Self
After a review of teachings about not-self, and an exploration of the ways that the self appears as an overlay on, or constriction of, the flow of experience, we look in this final talk at what si there when a constrictive self is absent: 1) individuality without identification, 2) awareness, 3) wmptiness of phenomena and self, and 4) compassion and responsiveness.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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2008-05-10
A Little Renunciation
32:45
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Ayya Medhanandi
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How training the mind in following precepts, such as the rules regarding the use of four monastic requisites - food, robes, shelter, and medicines, can win us greater patience, faith, gratitude, calm, courage, and mindfulness. Such ways of renunciation test our commitment to the path and teach us how to forgive and let go even our fears so that we harvest the riches of joy, compassion and inner peace.
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Toronto Theravada Buddhist Community (TBC)
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2008-04-04
Opening Talk for Insight Meditation and QiGong
37:00
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Norman Feldman
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Opening Talk for a retreat where the silence, sitting and walking of Insight Meditation and the movement of QiGong are seamlessly woven together into a form that invites us to gently explore the ways in which we define and limit ourselves, allowing insight into our true nature to arise, freeing us to live in a woser and more compassionate relationship with ourselves and the world.
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Gaia House
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Insight Meditation And QiGong
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