During this talk, Peter described his intentions for his upcoming annual two-week self-retreat, organized around applying the concept and practices derived from reading (multiple times) “Stepping Out Of Self Deception-The Buddha’s Liberating Teaching Of No-Self” and “Awakening-A Paradigm Shift Of The Heart”, by Rodney Smith. The books develop a concept of two relationships to the universe, the horizontal (time-bound, afflicted by craving and clinging) and the vertical (timeless, limitless, unbound by craving and clinging). The vertical dimension is the eternal Now, the only moment of reality that is not inherently affected by craving and clinging, and can be realized through awareness of “stillness”, a quality of attention undisturbed by narrative, experienced holistically as “suchness”, an awareness described by and manifested by the Buddha. Peter’s intention is to cultivate samadhi/passadhi (stable attention/tranquility) including full sensational awareness of body sensations, sound, light, etc. and abide in that flow to investigate and understand the experience of stillness. This was followed by comments from those attending the meeting.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk:OPENING TO STILLNESS
Here is the handout provided for those attending, illustrating an excerpt from the Numerical Discourses, Udana 8.1, and an adapted graphic illustrating the horizontal and vertical concepts from the book “Stepping Out Of Self Deception-The Buddha’s Liberating Teaching Of No-Self”: Opening To Stillness handout
The next posted talk will not be available until early January as a result of Peter’s retreat, during which there will be no dharma talks. It is hoped that all reading this posting will enjoy a safe and happy holiday season!
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