by Peter Carlson | May 14, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
There are two initial stages in the practice of mindfulness of breathing meditation: persistently maintaining present-moment awareness of the in- and out-breath, followed by increasing investigation of phenomena that emerge into awareness during the breathing cycle. During this meditation, training attention to investigate the breath cycle was cultivated by inviting a primary investigation of the physical experience of breathing, then letting the breath awareness become secondary while investigating and “looking closer” at other predominant sensations in the body, or investigating the nature of attention while attending to physical sensations to discover the self-fabricating nature of the mind. An important goal of vipassana practice is to investigate the interactions between physical sensory experience and how the mind makes meaning of the sensations. In the progressions of insight during the process of Awakening, this awareness is called namarupa, with nama relating to the mind’s function and rupa to the physical sensations that occur.
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by Peter Carlson | May 7, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This is the second of three planned reviews of the Five Hindrances, which are the initial focus for contemplation in the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness Discourse. Peter described the Buddhist concepts of Thina/Middha (tee-nah/mih-dah), Sloth/Torpor and Uddhacca/Kukkucca (ooh-dah-chah/koo-koo-chah), Restlessness/Worry as imbalances of the energy systems of the body and mind. Sloth/Torpor is an overactive parasympathetic system, producing too much tranquility, causing dullness and the inability to be clearly aware to dominate consciousness. Restlessness/Worry is an overactive sympathetic system, creating agitation, anxiety and worrisome, repetitive thought processes to dominate consciousness. The primary antidotes for these two hindrances is satisampajanna (sah-tee-sahm-puh-jahn-yah), mindful clear comprehension, cultivated through persisting present-moment awareness of the process of breathing. Earlier in the meeting, Peter provided a guided meditation for the cultivation of satisampajanna with mindfulness of breathing meditation; the recording of that practice can be found on the Audio page of the website. It is interesting to notice that steadfast investigation of the process of breathing can be beneficial in calming an anxious mind and alerting a dull mind. Other tactics for overcoming these hindrances were also reviewed. The review was followed by questions and comments by those attending the Zoom meeting.
Here are the notes prepared for this meeting: Notes For Overcoming Sloth and Restlessness May 6 2020
Next week’s topic will review the fifth hindrance, Skeptical Doubt.
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by Peter Carlson | May 7, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This meditation focuses on practicing satisampajjana (sah-tee-sahm-puh-jahn-yah), mindful clear comprehension, alternatively termed knowing, which is part of the First Foundation of Mindfulness. It is reflected as “Breathing in long, he knows ‘I breath in long'”, and again “…”when walking, he knows ‘I am walking’; when standing, he knows ‘I am standing'”; this quality of knowing attention is found repeatedly throughout the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse. During the guided meditation Peter made several suggestions regarding cultivating a knowing awareness, that is, being mindful of the three characteristics essential to Buddhist concepts about subjective reality: anicca (ah-nee-chah), the transient nature of experiences, dukkha (doo-kah), the distress and confusion that comes from being ignorant about anicca, and anatta (ah-nah-tah), the absence of an enduring, autonomous self. Clearly knowing functions to deconstruct craving and clinging and allows the mind to be free from the five hindrances and, alternatively, able to bring the seven awakening factors to maturity.
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 30, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk is the first of a series of reviews of the contents of the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, Dhammanupassana (Dah-mah-noo-pah-suh-nah), Mindfulness of Mental Phenomena. The primary focus of this talk is the first two of the Five Hindrances, Sense Desire and Aversion/Ill-Will. Peter described how an initial sensory stimulus initiates a cascade of thoughts and feelings that “capture” a person’s attention, and because of ignorance about the changing and impersonal nature of thoughts and feelings, a self that is distressed and confused is experienced. He referred to the guided meditation “Understanding Impermanence Meditation” that was just posted and can be found in the Audio archive as a beneficial way to interrupt the actions of the hindrances effectively. He then talked about the characteristics of each of the two hindrances and strategies for setting them aside. Overcoming sense desire and Aversion/Ill-Will are especially important considering the distress and confusion caused by the disruption of the pandemic. Next week’s talk will focus on the next two of the Five Hindrances, Sloth/Torpor and Restlessness/Worry.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Setting Aside Sense Desire and Aversion.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:10:23 — 128.9MB)
by Peter Carlson | Apr 30, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
One of the three characteristics of human life is the transient nature of our subjective experience. In Buddhism this is called anicca (ah-nee-chah) and a goal of mindfulness meditation practice is to be able to monitor the changing nature of sensations, feelings and thoughts in consciousness, which provides liberation from dukkha, the distress and confusion that we are all subject to. During this meditation Peter suggested several progressive focuses of attention for increasing mindful awareness: the beginning and end of the in-breath and out-breath, the changing sensations during the breathing cycle, the changing nature of what attracts the mind from breath awareness and the changes in the body that occur as distractions such as the Five Hindrances create tension in the body. He also invited meditation students to notice changes in the quality of attention, from alert to inattentive, from agitated to tranquil and so on. It is hoped this meditation practice will be beneficial for all who practice with it.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:52 — 82.2MB)