The Contemplation of Stillness

During this talk, Lezlie Laws uses references to several books on contemplative stillness to develop greater conceptual understanding of the characteristic of the mind when unburdened by craving and clinging.  She also shares the insights regarding stillness she realized while attending to the recent passing of her beloved dog Dash.  This talk was preceded by a guided meditation entitled “Guided Stillness Contemplation”, which is posted within the Guided Meditation folder in the archives.

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Guided Stillness Contemplation

Lezlie Laws provides useful suggestions for cultivating insights regarding stillness, a stable and non-reactive characteristic of the mind during meditation practice.  This recording is intended to provide support for discussion of stillness during the Dharma talk that followed this meditation titled “The Contemplation of Stillness”.

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Managing the Selfing Story

During this talk, Peter, a retired psychotherapist, describes the intersection between core Buddhist concepts and a well-researched contemporary psychotherapy approach called Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy.  He reviews the schema concept that categorizes various cognitive distortions and describes how Mindfulness of Feelings and Mindfulness of Mental Phenomena can be effectively applied to counter these distortions through the cultivation of Mindfulness, Investigation of Mental Phenomena and Right Effort.  He suggests that the “selfing story” represents various aspects of the Five Hindrances, and that countering the dysfunctional schemas creates a process that clarifies the mind for further spiritual development, towards Awakening.

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2025 Deerhaven Retreat Review

It has been the policy of the Orlando Insight Meditation Group to dedicate a meeting following a significant retreat experience to allow those who attended a retreat to “think out loud” about their experience in front of a supportive audience.  This provides an opportunity for those talking to “connect the dots” about the experience, as well as informing and inspiring others to consider attending a retreat.  This talk is exceptional, as several participants reviewed the Deerhaven retreat, while another person, Ashley, who attended a retreat organized through the Goenka tradition of body scanning practices, shared her experience.

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