| |
|
Dharma Talks
|
2015-09-24
On effort
67:21
|
|
Patrick Kearney
|
|
|
Here we examine the nature of effort in meditation practice. We see how the traditional understanding of meditation as war is not necessarily an effective way of conveying right effort (sammā vāyāma) in the contemporary world. We find that our relationship to time is central to finding right effort, and how the work of meditation can become play. Finally, we see how the Buddha teaches different strategies fit different situations, and that right effort takes different forms in different contexts.
|
|
Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre
:
Month Long Retreat led by Patrick Kearney
|
|
|
2015-09-09
Equanimity: Equally Close To All Things
48:22
|
|
Shaila Catherine
|
|
|
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. Shaila Catherine describes the importance of developing 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 equanimity. 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. This talk includes many practical suggestions for cultivating equanimity.
|
|
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
|
|
|
2015-09-05
The “Thinning” of the Self: Exploring and Practicing Anattā (“Not-Self”) 1: Introduction and Overview
45:58
|
|
Donald Rothberg
|
|
|
The teaching of anattā (“not-self”) points to one of the three fundamental areas of liberating insight taught by the Buddha (along with the teachings on impermanence and on suffering or dukkha). Yet anattā can very challenging and confusing for contemporary practitioners. Is there “no self” (as anattā is sometimes translated)? How do we make sense of our feelings of individuality, identity, ancestry, and vocation? How do we address our own personal experiences of woundedness, trauma, and oppression? Are these all simply to be “transcended”? How is a sense of self actually in many ways important for contemporary spiritual development, and how is working with our own individual conditioning, whether psychological or social in origin, central to our liberation? How do we integrate attending to such conditioning with opening as well to the power and energy of experiences beyond the habitual sense of self?
In this daylong, we will explore these vital questions primarily in a practical way. Using the metaphors of “thinning the self” and working with a “thick” sense of self, we will cover three aspects of practice: (1) cultivating, in several ways, the “thinning” of the self, both in meditation and in everyday life, including working with the Five Skandhas or “aggregates” of experience; (2) tracking and working with different manifestations of a “thick” sense of self, both as appearing in experience and as hidden to awareness; and (3) opening to experiencing beyond a fixed sense of self, as awareness, compassion, and responsiveness deepen.
|
|
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
|
|
|
2015-09-01
Make Me One with Everything
59:50
|
|
Lama Surya Das
|
|
|
Lama Surya Das speaks about his most recent book, “Make Me One with Everything, Buddhist Meditations to Awaken from the Illusion of Separation.” Becoming one with everything, by seeing through separateness, is the heart of what Lama Surya Das calls “co-meditation.” “Co” means with. So, co-meditating is not just meditating with other people, but with everything that arises. This opens the door to what Buddhists call “everyday Dharma,” which integrates mindful Dharma into daily life. Everything is the object of our meditation; there are no distractions. When we co-meditate, we are being one with everything, not against it nor apart from it. This is the meaning of “inter-being.” This is also the answer to our great loneliness and the alienation that we feel today.
|
|
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
|
|
|
2015-08-25
Refrain from Taking Intoxicants
23:19
|
|
Jason Murphy
|
|
|
This talk by Jason Murphy is the sixth in the speaker series Ethics, Action and the Five Precepts.The five training precepts are not commandments nor are they a list of “don’t dos.” Instead, they have an over-arching principle of ahimsa, or do no harm. In other words, following the precepts can be seen as a way to stop us from spilling our suffering onto the rest of the world. In addition, the aim of observing the precepts is to allow practitioners to be blameless and at ease, thereby preparing their minds for meditation. The fifth precept deals with not taking alcohol, drugs or other intoxicants that will lead to heedlessness. This precept is really about seeing clearly: we cannot see clearly and develop our wisdom when we intoxicate our mind.
|
|
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
|
|
In
collection:
Ethics, Action, and the Five Precepts
|
|
|
2015-08-17
Ignorance and Delusion
28:12
|
|
Shaila Catherine
|
|
|
Shaila Catherine discusses how ignorance (sometimes referred to as delusion) is the root of all unwholesome activities. Ignorance is present any time that we fail to see the three characteristics of experience: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self. The wisdom that develops through insight meditation practice can overcome and uproot even deeply conditioned ignorance. Wisdom helps us to understand suffering and the cause of suffering, and awaken compassion for ourselves and others who suffer due to ignorance.
|
|
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
|
|
|
2015-08-10
Soulmaking (Part 2)
1:13:29
|
|
Rob Burbea
|
|
|
The set of talks and meditations from this course outlines the foundations and some of the possibilities for opening up a practice of the imaginal. Please note that this set forms a progressively unfolding series of teachings, so the talks and practices will probably be more fully understood and absorbed if they are taken in order.
|
|
Gaia House
:
Path of the Imaginal (Longer Course)
|
|
|
2015-08-10
Soulmaking (Part 1)
1:15:46
|
|
Rob Burbea
|
|
|
The set of talks and meditations from this course outlines the foundations and some of the possibilities for opening up a practice of the imaginal. Please note that this set forms a progressively unfolding series of teachings, so the talks and practices will probably be more fully understood and absorbed if they are taken in order.
|
|
Gaia House
:
Path of the Imaginal (Longer Course)
|
|
|
2015-08-09
What is an 'Image'? (Part 2)
61:56
|
|
Rob Burbea
|
|
|
The set of talks and meditations from this course outlines the foundations and some of the possibilities for opening up a practice of the imaginal. Please note that this set forms a progressively unfolding series of teachings, so the talks and practices will probably be more fully understood and absorbed if they are taken in order.
|
|
Gaia House
:
Path of the Imaginal (Longer Course)
|
|
|
2015-08-09
What is an 'Image'? (Part 1)
1:18:04
|
|
Rob Burbea
|
|
|
The set of talks and meditations from this course outlines the foundations and some of the possibilities for opening up a practice of the imaginal. Please note that this set forms a progressively unfolding series of teachings, so the talks and practices will probably be more fully understood and absorbed if they are taken in order.
|
|
Gaia House
:
Path of the Imaginal (Longer Course)
|
|
|
2015-08-08
Energy Body: Instructions (2)
46:46
|
|
Rob Burbea
|
|
|
The set of talks and meditations from this course outlines the foundations and some of the possibilities for opening up a practice of the imaginal. Please note that this set forms a progressively unfolding series of teachings, so the talks and practices will probably be more fully understood and absorbed if they are taken in order.
|
|
Gaia House
:
Path of the Imaginal (Longer Course)
|
|
|
2015-08-08
Energy, Image, Emotion (Part 2)
32:36
|
|
Rob Burbea
|
|
|
The set of talks and meditations from this course outlines the foundations and some of the possibilities for opening up a practice of the imaginal. Please note that this set forms a progressively unfolding series of teachings, so the talks and practices will probably be more fully understood and absorbed if they are taken in order.
|
|
Gaia House
:
Path of the Imaginal (Longer Course)
|
|
|
2015-08-07
Energy, Image, Emotion (Part 1)
63:23
|
|
Rob Burbea
|
|
|
The set of talks and meditations from this course outlines the foundations and some of the possibilities for opening up a practice of the imaginal. Please note that this set forms a progressively unfolding series of teachings, so the talks and practices will probably be more fully understood and absorbed if they are taken in order.
|
|
Gaia House
:
Path of the Imaginal (Longer Course)
|
|
|
2015-08-07
Energy Body: Instructions (1)
1:34:14
|
|
Rob Burbea
|
|
|
The set of talks and meditations from this course outlines the foundations and some of the possibilities for opening up a practice of the imaginal. Please note that this set forms a progressively unfolding series of teachings, so the talks and practices will probably be more fully understood and absorbed if they are taken in order.
|
|
Gaia House
:
Path of the Imaginal (Longer Course)
|
|
|
2015-07-09
Buddhism in Brief
20:10
|
|
Shaila Catherine
|
|
|
This is the first talk in a speaker series titled Fundamental Buddhist Principles 2015. Buddha was a human being, whose mind opened to the truth of things, to the nature of life. He understood the causes of suffering, and developed a path of teaching that enables others to realize the truth of things for themselves. He was awakened, which means greed, hatred, and delusion were uprooted from his mind. So when we meditate, we examine our mind with the goal to understand what is really happening in our encounter with experience. What happens in our seeing, hearing, smelling, or tasting? What happens when we feel with our body? What happens when we think or feel emotions? Is that encounter affected by greed, hatred, or delusion? Or are we seeing the nature of these experiences arising and passing away, with a mind free of clinging? This talk also includes basic Buddhist teachings such as the Four Noble Truths, the Three Training (virtue (sila), meditation (samadhi) and wisdom (panna)), and the Three Primary Contemplative Skills that support meditation (concentration, mindfulness, and investigation).
|
|
Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
|
|
In
collection:
Fundamental Buddhist Principles 2015
|
|
|
|
