by Peter Carlson | Aug 23, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this second talk on a Buddhist way to cultivated benevolent relationship, Peter related the eightfold path to developing the quality of relationships, which he terms “practicing relationship”, from the most simple, as with a checkout clerk at a store, to the most enduring and intimate, as within families. Next week’s topic will be balancing energies between work and home life, as a continuation of Benevolent Lifestyle.
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by Peter Carlson | Aug 22, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this dialogue, Peter continued exploring the topic of “Benevolent Intention”. The focus this week is on how the factors of the eightfold path can be applied to cultivating wholesome relationships. His presentation was followed by a lively discussion. Next week’s topic will be “Balancing Life Between Work and Home”.
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by Peter Carlson | Aug 16, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This is the first of two dialogues exploring the vital importance of relationship experience for developing an integrate sense of self, that is, ego. Peter combines Buddhist teachings with current psychological understanding of how necessary relationship is, from just out of the womb throughout the lifetime of a person. When interpersonal dynamics are distorted, the self-states of each person are confused and conflicted. Benevolent Intention (Right Intention), combined with Clear Awareness (Right Understanding), manifested through Right Speech and Right Action (Benevolent Narrative and Benevolent Behavior), provide more integration in the succession of “selfing moments”. This integrative process provides the foundation for spiritual growth; relationship is the field of play for this process. Next week, Peter will discuss various aspects of Buddhist meditative process that fosters skillful relationship experiences.
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by Peter Carlson | Aug 8, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Continuing the series of dhamma dialogues regarding the Four Noble Truths, this talk begins exploring what is traditionally called Right Livelihood, part of the virtue aggregate of the Eightfold Path. As previously, Peter emphasized the importance of developing new ways of describing the concepts of Buddhism that are more accessible in the modern era. Because our culture is more complex and has more variable stressors, more categories are presented; the focus of next week’s dialogue will be Benevolent Relationships. Of course, even though the concepts can be described or categorized differently because the stressors are different, our nervous systems are likely quite similar in functioning relative to the Buddha’s era, so strong emphasis is placed during all these dialogues on cultivating the mind through meditation practice.
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by Peter Carlson | Aug 1, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this dialogue about the practice of Right Action, Peter again emphasizes the importance of combining a deepening understanding of our internal processes through mindfulness practice with a revisiting of the classic concepts and jargon of the Buddha. Peter offered some information from modern neuroscientific research that suggests how karma is formed through memory consolidation, citing various areas of the brain and their functions. This was combined with how the cultivation of samadhi (concentration/tranquility) and sati (mindfulness/insight) produce a “buffer zone” of non-reactive awareness that allows the application of benevolent intention to emerging behaviors. This was followed by a lively discussion of the implications that are presented through this new understanding of ancient wisdom.
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