This review focuses on how the Wholesome Mind Conditioners activities produce qualities that reflect 6 ethical, relational and Wisdom components supporting the process of Awakening: Abstaining from Unwholesome Speech, Abstaining from Unwholesome Actions, Abstaining from Unwholesome Lifestyle Choices, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Wisdom. The discussion emphasizes how these qualities mature from mundane issues toward issues approaching realization of Nirvana.
There will not be a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, as there will be a one-week retreat underway. Those attending the retreat will be provided an opportunity to share their experience during the Zoom meeting of October 27.
This talk provides a thorough review of the core Buddhist concept Paticca Samuppada, typically translated as Dependent Origination. A different rendering of the concept is provided, including reference to a contemporary concept, complexity theory which led to the term Contingent Provisional Emergence. The Theravadin tradition describes 12 elements to the concept and each is reviewed, with emphasis on the nonlinear aspects of how the moment-by-moment process of self organization operates.
This talk can be accompanied by: “Guided Investigating Feelings Meditation”, found in the archives, to reinforce the importance of mindfulness of feelings to realize the potential of the paticca samuppada concept.
Here are the extensive notes prepared for this talk; it is recommended to download and read them to more thoroughly understand the concept: Contingent Provisional Emergence Review
This meditation is intended to focus attention on the impermanence of feelings, either related to physical sensations or mental phenomena. Cultivating skillfulness in this practice facilitates the ability to realize the benefits suggested in the concept of paticca samuppada, typically translated as dependent origination, but also to be understood as contingent provisional emergence, the focus of the Dharma talk presented the same evening “Reviewing Contingent Provisional Emergence”, which is a thorough review of paticca samuppada from a contemporary perception informed by complexity theory and neuroscientific research.
It is customary for members of the Orlando Insight Meditation Group to be provided the opportunity to “think out loud” about a recent significant retreat experience. This verbalization supports increasing clarity for the individuals who attended the retreat about the benefits gained from the experience, while providing information and inspiration for those hearing their comments. Mitch Sullen and Charla Butler participated in the first 10-day intensive retreat provided for African-Americans at the Dharma Dhara Center in Shelburne Falls, Massachussetts, and they reported much benefit from the familiarity of the social conditions there in terms of deepening their understanding of the Dharma and the meaning of Sangha. This approach to teaching provides instruction and support for the practice of vedanupassana, which first develops high levels of concentration and tranquility, followed by rigorous, systematic investigation of physical feeling sensations throughout the body as a way to discover and release deeply embedded conditions of the mind, thereby providing liberation from dukkha. Both Mitch and Charla provided their observations of the site and retreat processes as well as their own subjective experience.
This talk reviews those qualities of awareness that are the highest development of consciousness attained through mindfulness meditation. They represent the harmonious integration of mind conditioning functions with the flow of conscious awareness. Each of the 12 cetasikas are reviewed with the intention to foster meditative awareness of these states of mind as they are occurring–this pairing produces a remarkable level of mental stability, lucidity and flexibility, for directly observing how the mind liberated from craving and clinging operates. There is a recording entitled “Guided Contemplation of the Six Beautiful Pairs of Cetasikas” posted in the website archives, which is intended to integrate the concepts of this talk into meditative awareness.
