by Peter Carlson | Jun 4, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk is the first of several reviews of Sattasambojjangha, (sah-tah-sahm-bow-jahn-gah), the Seven Awakening Factors. The factors are mindfulness, investigation of mental phenomena, energy/effort, joy, tranquility, concentration and equanimity. Each of these factors will be reviewed individually over the course of several weeks. During the talk, Peter emphasized the integrative characteristics of the factors, as the cultivation of each supports the unification and capabilities of all the factors in supporting, first, the setting aside of the Five Hindrances and second, realizing the direct experience of impermanence, dukkha and non-self aspects of subjective reality. After the review, there was discussion among the participants to clarify and expand on the concepts.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: SATTASAMBOJJHANGA
Next week will be a review of mindfulness as an Awakening factor.
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by Peter Carlson | Jun 4, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This meditation is intended to provide ways to realize the potential of the satisampajanna (sah-tee-sahm-pah-jah-nyah) concept, translated as mindful clear comprehension. There are four contemplations involved: a worthy goal, suitable means for achieving the goal, monitoring the process of realizing the goal, and keeping the process aligned with Awakening. In the meditation, the worthy goal is to remain mindfully aware of what passes through one’s focus of attention; the suitable means is cultivating mindfulness of breathing, while continuing to investigate what is passing through one’s focus in order to maintain persistent clear comprehension mindfully, with the end goal being furthering the process of Awakening. This capability can be extended with training beyond formal meditation practice in order to integrate mindful clear comprehension into one’s daily life routines.
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by Peter Carlson | Jun 3, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Pancupadanakkhandha (pahnch-ooh-puh-dah-nah-kahn-dah), is translated as the Five Aggregates With Clinging, with these characteristic elements: form (physical sensations), feeling, perception, mind conditioners and consciousness. Contemplating these concepts persistently and deeply fosters the process of deconstructing the misconception of an enduring and autonomous self, a major goal in the process of Awakening. Peter reviewed each of the aggregates to provide a deeper understanding of how they operate as singular as well as cooperative elements of personality. An Awakened being such as the Buddha still experiences the aggregating process, but this is termed Pancakkhandha (pahn-chah-kahn-dah), the Five Aggregates, meaning that the personality dynamic is not afflicted with craving and clinging. Realization of this concept is facilitated by a guided meditation “Focused Attention And Peripheral Awareness”, which can be found in the audio archive.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: UNDERSTANDING THE FIVE AGGREGATES
Next week’s talk will focus on an overview of the Seven Awakening Factors.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:01 — 102.6MB)
by Peter Carlson | Jun 3, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
When beginning any mindfulness of breathing meditation, the recommendation is to focus with persistence and curiosity on the sensation of breathing in and out exclusively. As attention becomes stabilized and disciplined, an additional recommendation involves maintaining primary attention on the breathing process while expanding attention to also include peripheral sensational awareness, such as body sensations or sounds in the room. This becomes the basis for vipassana (vee-pah-suh-nah), insight meditation. This guided meditation is intended to facilitate this process. Peter suggests considering self-experience as the hull of a boat in the midst of the currents in a river and the breath sensations are like an anchor embedded in the bed of the river and persistent attention focused on the breath as the “rope” that connects the anchor with the bow of the hull. Other sensory stimuli are like objects floating past on the current, “bumping” into awareness; when simply noted as peripheral without attachment, the stimuli come and go and there is no craving and clinging, no dukkha (doo-kah). When attachment occurs, simply note the experience and “reset” the anchor of breath awareness into the bed of the stream of consciousness.
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by Peter Carlson | Jun 3, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk focuses on reviewing Salayatana (sah-lah-yah-tuh-nah), the Six Sense Bases, a concept for contemplation found in the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness: the eyes and seeing, ears and hearing, nose and smelling, tongue and tasting, reflected in the mind with cognition. All sensory stimulation is processed through the functions of the mind, referring incoming stimulation with categories relating to prior experience. This process manifests as the subjective experience of being a self relating to the world, and this whole process is to be understood and deconstructed, discovering the absence of an enduring and autonomous self. Skillful attention is cultivated to investigate the distinction between the sensory stimuli and the transient and insubstantial fabricating function of the mind, a concept called namarupa, with nama representing the meaning-making process and rupa the sensory stimuli. The This talk is meant to be supplemented by the recorded “Guarding The Sense Doors” meditation found in the audio archive.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Salayatana, The Six Sense Bases
During the talk Peter referred to another important concept for contemplation, paticca samuppada, (pah-tee-chah sahm-ooh-pah-dah), translated as dependent origination; the title here reflects a different approach to understanding the concept: Contingent Provisional Emergence
Next week’s talk will focus on the next conceptual topic in the Fourth Foundation, the Five Aggregates With Clinging.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:37 — 125.6MB)