The Buddha took effort to its far point, bringing himself close to death in the pursuit of awakening. Then he had a change of understanding, let go of self-punishment and awoke. We too need to discern when our effort is skillful, and when we are out of balance in striving. How to recognize and let go of unskillful striving.
We naturally want to reject, ignore, deny, our unpleasant experience. In this talk Martin both encourages us and shows how to turn our attention "fearwards", daring to look deeply and to see clearly through our defenses and distractions, to freedom from fear.
The First Noble Truth, that of "Dukkha" -- is to be understood, so said The Buddha -- yet often when we think about it, our reactions can tend towards aversion: "life is suffering." I feel this is an inaccurate reflection of the freeing potential of understanding this teaching.
This talk explores maintaining an open and inquiring attitude to all that arises. We are reminded that there is no wrong experience, no feeling we shouldn't have; that all experience is worthy of our caring, curious, contactful attention.
In honor of Valentine's Day, Wes reflects on everybody's favorite 4-letter word. As usual, he provides an insightful and entertaining perspective on the topic illustrated with a wealth of poetry. A discussion with the sangha ends the evening.
Our longing is to realize and embody loving presence, yet we each have deeply conditioned habits that bind our hearts. This talk reflects on these habits, and explores how we can free ourselves by bringing a mindful, compassionate attention to places where we are most trapped in feeling separate, fearful and unworthy.
We review the basics of concentration practice,and then focus on concentration practice as a path of purification, and then on wise effort in concentration practice.
Desire forms the sense of self by fracturing the mind into what it wants compared to what it has. In moving with what it wants, it has to dismiss or resist reality (what it has) and form its own imaginative response. The sense of self is part of that fantasy buildup and has a central role in keeping it going.
The Buddha pointed to at least five routes to different levels of happiness for lay people: sense pleasures, merit, concentration, insight, and awakening.
We begin four weeks of attention to the three meditative factors of the Eightfold Path, starting with concentration, and including a concentrative exercise and attention to wise effort in concentraton.
The 3rd foundation can be utilized to gain insight into how to work with strong emotions. So often there is confusion between emotions and our relationship to them.
How our practice of connecting with and feeling our own stress strengthens our capacity to contain it. When we can contain it without contracting, we can access creative intelligence and compassion.
This talk looks at experience through the lenses of the Buddha's teaching in the five aggregates. We take a close look at the ways we cling to feeling, perception and formations.
A presentation of non-Buddhist perspectives on enlightenment through stories and quotes of Advaita (non-dualistic) teachers such as Ramana Maharshi,
Poonjaji, Eckhart Tolle, and Adyahshanti. The talk ends with a brief guided meditation.
As we study the Third Foundation of the Satipatthana Sutta we ask what is the mind and how does it seem to create a sense of self having the experience of an external world?
Loving Kindness is seen as central in the Buddha's path of practice and increasingly in mindfulness-based applications. This talk considers the reasons for this.
This talk looks at experience through the lens of the Buddha's teaching on the five aggregates. We take a close look at the ways we cling to the body, feeling and consciousness
