by Peter Carlson | May 29, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
It is our custom to dedicate a night’s dialogue to reviewing a significant retreat experience by a member of the Sangha. This report is exceptional, as Peter’s 2 week self-retreat was significantly altered by disease. During this talk, Peter described the onset of methycillin resistant staphylicoccus aureous bacteriea (MRSA), a dangerous infection of the skin. During the first week of the retreat, concentration practice proceeded normally, while what initially appeared to be a spider bite was developing into MRSA. After several visits to a local clinic for medication and draining the abscess, further complications warranted hospitalization, due to mental fogginess and difficulty with balance. This effectively ended the formal sitting aspects of the retreat, while Peter was still able to practice mindful awareness of the mental hindrance (“sloth and torpor on steroids”). During the hospitalization and upon returning home to begin recuperation, Peter reflected upon the impermanence of existence and the nature of suffering, bringing to the discussion this phrase: “We only lose what we’re attached to.”. This was related to attachment to the form of mindfulness of breathing meditation, being on retreat, the onset of aging and the vicissitudes of illness and loss of functioning. Peter recalled that the Buddha’s teaching on the nature of reality emphasizes non-attachment: to believe in life after death is a mistake, and to believe that there’s no life after death is a mistake as well. The point of the teaching is that attachment to any view automatically creates insecurity and dissatisfaction. The remainder of the evening was a lively discussion of the meaning of non-attachment in everyday life. Next week’s dialogue will explore the hindrance of restlessness and worry.
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by Peter Carlson | May 8, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This is the third of five talks about the hindrances. In this week’s dialogue, Peter talked of sloth and torpor as a dysregulation of energy in the mind and body. If the system is too tranquil, dullness, drowsiness and lethargy arise; if the system is too activated, the hindrance of restlessness and worry arise.
At this point, he described 3 strategies for setting aside sloth and torpor: mindful noting of the first signs of dullness, ways to intervene in the development of sloth and torpor, and ways to minimize the likelihood that sloth and torpor will recur. After explaining the concepts, Peter talked of his own recent experience of lethargy related to being ill with shingles. Following this there was more dialogue involving others who were present. Peter will be in a two week self-retreat from May 9 to May 23. There will be no more dhamma dialogue postings until May 28, when he will report on his retreat experience.
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 30, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This dialogue follows on the previous one, which focused on the nature and function of aversion and ill-will. This week the focus is on how to recognize and interrupt the development of this hindrance. During the discussion, the experience of aversion was explored to increase process awareness as to the first signs of the aversion, how it actually manifests, how to set it aside, and how to minimize its re-occurance. Peter also talked of the importance of setting aside the hindrances in order to cultivate mental clarity and stability, and then to revisit the hindrances to realize the essential nature of experience, as impermanent, non-self, and subject to the suffering that arises from craving and clinging.
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 23, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this dialogue, Peter first described the classical way of understanding the hindrance of aversion and ill-will. He then provided a review of current neurobiological understanding of how various brain structures process incoming stimuli to assess for either threat or reward. During this phase, he explained the close association between the avoidance of unpleasant feeling and the onset of addictive behaviors. This was linked to the emphasis placed on serenity in the various 12-step organizations, particularly the 11th step regarding daily meditation and prayer. This was followed by a clarifying dialogue among the sangha members about this process. Next week’s talk will explore more directly how we can notice the arising of aversion , the nature of arisen aversion, how to dissolve aversion and how to avoid the future arising of aversion.
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 16, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
It is customary in our sangha to provide the opportunity for a person who just completed a significant retreat to “think out loud” about the retreat experience, as this supports integrating the deep changes retreats foster into regular life routines more effectively. Robert just completed a three month retreat at the Providence Zen Center in Rhode Island. He spoke of his experience, followed by a question and answer period.
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