Guided Mindfulness With Breathing Meditation
This meditation provides training for cultivating persistent attention to breath sensations, ending with a contemplation of spaciousness.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:58 — 41.2MB)
Understanding Equanimity
Equanimity is the quality of present-moment awareness and behavior that is highly valued in all spiritual endeavors. Theravada Buddhism has developed an extensive analysis of equanimity to support the process of Awakening conceptually, and this talk reviews those concepts, using the Visuddhimagga, translated as “The Path of Purification”, as a guide. Two primary areas of practice that will be reviewed are associated with the cultivation of lovingkindness, compassion and sympathetic joy, along with the function of equanimity as one of the Seven Awakening Factors.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Cultivating Equanimity
Next week’s talk will “Go back to the basics” with a guided training meditation focusing on mindfulness of breathing meditation, followed by a Dharma talk that will provide an insightful review of how mindfulness of breathing meditation beneficially affects the neural structures of the brain and the function of that practice for advancing the process of Awakening.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:41 — 57.4MB)
2023 Shaila Catherine Retreat Review
After anyone in our community participates in a significant retreat experience, the meeting that follows is dedicated to providing an opportunity for those attending to “think out loud” about her or his experience. It is well-known that much of what is experienced during a retreat is more thoroughly integrated when a person attempts to describe what insights occurred to a well-informed and supportive audience. This recounting might also remind others who were at the retreat of insights that occurred for them, and additionally provide inspiration for others to commit to a residential retreat in the future. Shaila Catherine is a very well respected teacher and author regarding Buddhist psychology and meditation training. Peter, who has been on dozens of long retreats, reports on the powerful impact her Dharma talks had on his practice experience and insights during the retreat. His comments are followed by others, several of whom report this to be their first retreat, who then describe their own insights.
The topic for next week’s talk will review the characteristics of equanimity, which functions to balance the practice of lovingkindness, compassion and sympathetic joy, collectively known as “The Four Divine Abidings”.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:04 — 51.3MB)
Working With Sympathetic Joy
Sympathetic Joy, Mudita in Pali, is the quality of consciousness that happily celebrates the success and happiness of others, regardless of any material or status benefit for oneself. The cultivation of mudita involves integrating lovingkindness with the in-born capacity we all have for empathy. This talk reviews the classical understanding of mudita and how contemporary psychological research supports how this awareness is formed in the brain through the practice of mindfulness, investigation of mental phenomena and Right Effort.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Working With Mudita
Next week’s talk will be provided by Lezlie Laws, one of the teachers who is being mentored by Peter. The topic she reviews will focus on how the core teaching of Buddhism about impermanence affects our contemporary issues of time management.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:15 — 54.2MB)
Working With Compassion
This talk reviews the characteristics and cultivation of compassion, which results from the developed application of mindfulness, investigation and Right Effort on the built-in capacity of humans for empathy. Contemporary research shows that the parts of the brain associated with internal awareness and interpersonal empathy, essential components of compassion, are developed and matured through ongoing mindfulness meditation practice. Following the talk, there was discussion about the usefulness of cultivating compassion in one’s life.
here are the notes prepared for this talk: Working With Compassion
The topic for next week’s review will focus on the intersection between empathetic joy and generosity.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:03 — 60.5MB)