by Peter Carlson | Feb 28, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
It is our custom to dedicate the Wednesday night meeting after a significant retreat to discussing the retreat experiences. This meeting is the first one after a one week retreat at the Deerhaven Retreat Center. It is hoped that finding the words to describe the insights and skills acquired during the retreat to a well-informed and interested Sangha will help the yogi understand more clearly what happened, and make the insights and skills more accessible and useful. It’s also hoped that those hearing the reports will benefit from the information and perhaps be inspired to attend a retreat themselves.
[s3mm type=”audio” files=”wp-content/uploads/2013/02/11130637/2013 Post Retreat Review.mp3″ /]
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by Peter Carlson | Feb 27, 2013 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation
The Buddhist concept of selflessness is not well understood by many Westerners. The misperception is that selflessness means emptiness like interstellar space, or a blank mind. This is not the understanding expressed by Peter in this guided meditation. When the mind is stable in focus and serenity is experienced, there’s a quality of softness or spaciousness in the mind. When the mind is caught up in the internal narrative that we call “myself”, it’s as if looking at a page and only seeing the print. The spaciousness is noticing the paper around the print as well as the print. Selflessness goes even further–it’s noticing the paper, the print, what’s around the paper, what sounds are apparent–the totality of present moment awareness without preference for any part of the experience, including the “self” that seems to be witnessing all this! During this meditation, Peter helps the listener open more and more to the inner spaciousness and quietude, until all the sensations that are in awareness have no reference to a body. Sensations that would normally be assigned a “space” in the body, such as pressure of the back on the chair, aches in the knees, sounds, etc., would not necessarily be identified as such. Instead, what is noticed is a difference in vibration, contraction, pressure, heat, etc. that exists as different than where there’s no sensation. Even the “self” that’s noting the sensations becomes another area of very fine vibrations, but doesn’t demand a location–just present awareness. This direct awareness of the field of awareness without any designation can be considered as selflessness. It’s quite peaceful, and reduces the strongly conditioned concept of self that we normally identify with.
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by Peter Carlson | Feb 27, 2013 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation
Lovingkindness is the companion to insight practice in the cultivation of the Buddhist concept of wisdom–insight provides Right Understanding, while lovingkindness supports Right Intention. In this guided meditation, Peter offers a slightly different mantra for accessing the internal benevolent energy we call love. There is an accompanying mp3 file entitled “Guided Radiant Lovingkindness Meditation” that provides support for expressing lovingkindness out into the world.
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by Peter Carlson | Feb 27, 2013 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation
Mindfulness of the body is a fundamental practice in the Buddhist tradition. Body awareness includes physical sensation as well as hearing, seeing, smelling and tasting. There’s nothing imaginative about sensation-mindfulness is most important as the process of mental association emerges. During the body scan meditation, the attention is persistently focused on whatever sensation emerges on the surface of the body. Beginning with sensational awareness at the top of the head, in this guided meditation, Peter repeatedly suggests progressive awareness of sensation, moving over the facial area, then the scalp, the neck and so on, ending with the sensations noticeable in the feet. Finally, the meditator is invited to sit with open awareness for whatever sensations appear in the body. The value of this practice is that, when practiced repeatedly, sensations become evident all over the body, subtle tingling or vibrations, and this awareness provides a stable and ever-present foundational focus, from which the meditator can note the emergence of thoughts and emotions through vipassana practices.
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by Peter Carlson | Feb 27, 2013 | Intro to Buddhism & Meditation, Listen to Dharma Talks
Mindfulness of the body is a fundamental practice in the Buddhist tradition. Body awareness includes physical sensation as well as hearing, seeing, smelling and tasting. There’s nothing imaginative about sensation-mindfulness is most important as the process of mental association emerges. During the body sweep meditation, the attention is persistently focused on whatever sensation emerges on the surface of the body. Beginning with sensational awareness at the rim of the nostrils, in this guided meditation, Peter repeatedly suggests progressive awareness of sensation, moving over the facial area, then the scalp, the neck and so on, ending with the sensations noticeable in the feet. Finally, the meditator is invited to sit with open awareness for whatever sensations appear in the body. The value of this practice is that, when practiced repeatedly, sensations become evident all over the body, subtle tingling or vibrations, and this awareness provides a stable and ever-present foundational focus, from which the meditator can note the emergence of thoughts and emotions through vipassana practices.
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