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Rodney Smith's Dharma Talks
Rodney Smith
More and more, the teaching practice takes me into the community where I engage directly with students. My focus right now is on bringing the continuity of the Dharma into the market place. Although retreating is an important form for self-knowledge, I find myself less interested in the immediate results of a retreat and more interested in helping students investigate their relationship to the ups and downs of their everyday life.
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2012-05-15 Fundamentals of the Dharma: Wise View 59:12
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Wise view is fundamental to everything we do in the dharma. Having adirection establishes a context for all dharma activities. Without it weflounder and move in the direction of our conditioning toward pleasureand ease. Simply stated, wise view is the view that our thoughts distortour perceptions away from the inherent interconnection of all things.Working in clear alignment with interconnection allows us the courageand intention to move toward the difficult, toward that which seems toseparate, and confirm the truth of oneness. All dharma activity must bein accordance with that intention, or it will further support theconditioned sense of separation.
Seattle Insight Meditation Society
In collection: Fundamentals of the Dharma
2012-05-01 Fundamentals of the Dharma: Generosity 57:07
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Why is generosity a fundamental dharma issue? The dharma opens us beyond our self-limitations, and generosity is the essential direction of that opening. There is a balance between staying within ourselves and our understanding without idealizing the dharma while working with our edges that keep us contained within ourselves. Generosity is the authentic journey out of that container where we realize we were never alone or isolated. Generosity is the manifestation in action of connectedness and is the fundamental conduit of a life lived from the heart.
Seattle Insight Meditation Society
In collection: Fundamentals of the Dharma
2012-04-17 Fundamentals of the Dharma: Sila 61:13
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We usually approach ethical conduct (sila) from either righteousness (morality) or idealism (I must never harm any living thing!) but not often from stability and unification of heart. From the heart we just see what is appropriate to do and do it within the context of connection and nonharm. When we transgress we learn and move on and never expect anything miraculous or perfect in any way. We simply live within the fullness of our humanity, and that is enough.
Seattle Insight Meditation Society
In collection: Fundamentals of the Dharma
2012-04-03 Fundamentals of the Dharma: Staying Within Yourself 2:02
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In the West we have little preparation for dharma practice because our lives have not been tuned to staying within ourselves. We have been taught to look outside for approval and to compare ourselves to others. How can we possibly find ourselves within any comparison? All we will ever find is a sense of lacking. Leaning toward the world does not allow us to find our own stability, and yet we cannot question the sense of self without inward evenness and dependability.
Seattle Insight Meditation Society
In collection: Fundamentals of the Dharma
2012-03-29 Application Of The Four Foundations 44:46
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The four foundations move us from form to formless but also give us a view and appreciation to make the journey
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge :  March 2012 at IMS - Forest Refuge
2012-03-22 Exploring The Fourth Foundation. 43:01
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The Buddha removes the self from consideration by remembering each mind state, simple as it is.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge :  March 2012 at IMS - Forest Refuge
2012-03-15 Third Foundation: Just This 45:09
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The Buddha seems to be suggesting to advance ourselves as little as possible in the Third Foundation. When we see what is arising minimally as "just this," we are essentially taking ourselves out of that seeing.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge :  March 2012 at IMS - Forest Refuge
2012-03-08 Second Foundation: Dissolving Form 48:33
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The second foundation begins to dissolve the form of "I' and the body/mind begins to slowly lose its boundaries revealing the formless.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge :  March 2012 at IMS - Forest Refuge
2012-03-01 Applying The Four Foundations 39:10
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The principles of the Four Noble Truths, we are all familiar with, but the application of the principles lie within the integrated understanding of the Four Foundations.
Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge :  March 2012 at IMS - Forest Refuge
2012-02-21 Fundamentals of the Dharma: Samadhi 56:47
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The Buddha once said that his teaching directed us toward three principles: sila (ethical conduct), panna (wisdom), and samadhi (firmness of mind). Samadhi is the fundamental principle of a steady and harmonious mind. During samadhi, consciousness is not wavering with each thought but firm and stationary, allowing attention to be bare and free for observation. There is a component of wisdom within samadhi since the mind is resolute and unperturbed by states of mind, yet there is a difference between samadhi and awareness. Awareness is not a state of mind and samadhi is a conditioned state that changes over time; awareness is more easily acknowledged when the mind is firm and steady.
Seattle Insight Meditation Society
In collection: Fundamentals of the Dharma

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