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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
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Dharma Talks
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2003-01-18
Non-Doing
45:47
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Rodney Smith
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Carry the statement, "Seek first to understand before being understood," throughout this week. How does this intention create a listening attitude? Experience the effect of listening on your heart, how it opens you to caring. How does your behavior change when you allow actions to flow from listening instead of making assumptions prior to the action? Watch how the phrase interrupts reactive and impulsive thinking. Do you see the potential for changing many of your relationships through this intention?
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Seattle Insight Meditation Society
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2003-01-01
Suffering And Its End
55:55
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Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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RESPECT FOR SUFFERING
The suffering that arises in the practice is a noble truth, something worthy of respect. You can’t just push it away. If you’re going to end suffering you have to give it space, understand it, and approach it systematically.
INTERCONNECTEDNESS
Interconnectedness is not always pretty. It means that our bad actions can have endless repercussions, and that our happiness is dependent on a very fragile web. But by becoming more skillful in our actions we can turn the principle of interconnectedness into a good thing: a path to a happiness that’s truly independent.
BEING STILL
The quieter you are, the more you see. Being quiet is a form of doing, and sometimes it’s the most skillful thing you can do: You learn perspective and sensitivity, and you position yourself in the best spot to recognize insight when it arises.
THE WORLD IS SWEPT AWAY
Instead of trying to find our happiness in a world of change, we take that changing world and turn it toward the changeless, look for that which is unchanging right here, right now.
THE THREE CHARACTERISTICS
The teaching on the Three Characteristics is meant to liberate the mind from unnecessary burdens. The normal mind shadows everything that happens, but as you bring the mind to every more subtle levels of stillness and ease, you can detect ever more subtle levels of inconstancy and stress, and so naturally let them go.
FIVE TALKS ON ONE CASSETTE OR CD
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Metta Forest Monastery
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2002-12-22
Desire for Enlightenment
53:00
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Shaila Catherine
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Desire is usually described as a hindrance to meditation, but to realize deathless liberation we must want to be free. A burning desire to awaken opens the heart and mind to a possibility of freedom otherwise not known. This talk examines the force of desire as both a form of craving that perpetuates suffering, and as a necessary and wholesome factor that supports the realization of nibbana (nirvana) and the end of suffering. We examine hindrances, pain, and obstacles from which we want to be free in order to realize unconditioned awakening. Working with desire has some risks, but it is a powerful force that encourages curiosity, investigation, and openness to possibility—the possibility of discovering a profound fearlessness, and enduring happiness, the possibility of enlightenment.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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Tuesday Talks
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2002-12-12
The Poison Arrow
46:43
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Stokes Valley Monastery Retreat, New Zealand
The poison arrow of ignorance spreads its toxins through passion, desire and ill will. By sitting still, applying mindfulness and surrendering to what is, the right view will illuminate our minds and will help us extract the arrow and heal the wound.
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Sati Saraniya Hermitage
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2002-12-10
A Mind Empowered 5 Ways
34:01
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Ayya Medhanandi
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Learn how we can refine our mental skills of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. Enhanced by right view and a deepened understanding of the Four Noble Truths, these spiritual powers vanquish hatred and fear, nurturing our readiness to forgive, and the blessed qualities of universal loving-kindness and compassion. A talk given during a 10-day retreat at Bodhinyanarama Monastery, Stokes Valley, New Zealand in 2002.
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Bodhinyanarama Monastery, Stokes Valley, New Zealand
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2002-12-09
Chariot to Nibbana
57:21
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Ayya Medhanandi
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What is the best chariot according to the Dhamma? A commentary on the Buddha’s conversation with Ananda about the noble vehicle that will carry you victoriously along the spiritual path - to Nibbana, full awakening. A talk given at a 10-day retreat in Bodhinyanarama Monastery, Stokes Valley, New Zealand in 2002.
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Bodhinyanarama Monastery, Stokes Valley, New Zealand
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2002-12-07
Self-Kindness and Self-Indulgence
42:31
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Rodney Smith
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Study a few of your behaviors this week such as sleeping, eating, or recreational enjoyment such as listening to music or watching videos. How much of these activities arise from self-indulgence and how much from self-kindness? Are all forms of entertainment self-indulgent? Since almost any action can be either indulgent or kind, what determines which way you label it?
When you consider yourself equally deserving (self-love) then the quality of your action is as important as the result. Do you believe this is a true statement? What does self-love have to do with the way you do things? Isn't it good enough that the results benefit others? Explore this question this week and watch whether you consider yourself equally deserving in your actions.
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Seattle Insight Meditation Society
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2002-12-06
Sangha: A Path of Relationship
45:21
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Rodney Smith
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Questions for personal inquiry: Do you experience most interpersonal relationships as growth opportunities or troubling? Do you make space in your life for others? Do you frequently feel isolated and lonely? How much of the isolation comes from assumptions about self and other? Do you make the effort to attend gatherings of like-minded people? Reflection: What was your life like before you knew the existence of "a Path"? What is different now? How does the sangha support that Path and your growth on it? Would the Path be the same without the sangha? What efforts do you make to build cohesion in the sangha? Exercise: Become active in your support of like-minded people. Befriend someone from the sangha, volunteer for a community activity, join a like-minded group or become socially engaged in meaningful action. The sangha like the dharma takes each one of us to make it complete.
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Seattle Insight Meditation Society
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2002-11-05
The Judging Mind
42:26
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Rodney Smith
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Judgement is a defense against feeling inadequate. The belief in inadequacy is a defense against the fear of being nothing. The fear of being nothing is a defense against silence, in which our nothingness is confirmed.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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2002-10-18
Self-Judgement And Compassion
61:13
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Carol Wilson
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Our habit of aversion stems from our not deeply understanding the First Noble Truth, -and thus reacting to difficulty with various forms of denial, resistance, avoidance. When we see that our tendency to judge ourselves is based on misunderstanding the way things are, we can open to our experience with more wisdom and compassion.
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Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center
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