by Peter Carlson | Mar 7, 2019 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Our community has a tradition allowing folks who attended a significant retreat to “think out loud” about the experience among others who have some idea of the issues discussed, in order to consolidate and clarify the benefits gained and to share their insights with others who have not been on retreat, perhaps inspiring them to consider a retreat. Eight of the thirty-five who attended the retreat were at this meeting and reported their insights and how this has affected their daily life since the retreat.
The retreat was organized thematically around two suttas of the Pali Canon. Here are the copies the retreatants worked with: Two Sorts of Thinking MN 19 The Relaxation of Thoughts Vitakkasaṇṭhāna Sutta
The retreat experience was very much appreciated by all who attended. Shaila commented during the retreat on the sincere and well-informed commitments of those participating in the retreat. Additionally, Peter reported arrangements have been made for the next retreat at the Franciscan Center in Tampa to be led by Shaila Catherine from December 7-13, 2020. The theme of the retreat is yet to be determined.
Next week’s discussion will resume investigation of the Anapanasati Sutta, the Mindfulness of Breathing Discourse. The focus will be on the section of the Sutta that regards “calming the mind conditioners”, and will specifically explore the Universal Wholesome Cetasikas, those conditioners that coordinate to form every moment of consciousness that is liberated from dukkha, that is, distress and confusion.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:40 — 116.6MB)
by Peter Carlson | Feb 21, 2019 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Every moment that the mind is afflicted with dukkha some combination of Unwholesome Mind Conditioners is cooperating to produce distress (emotional upheaval–from desire to hatred) and confusion (not understanding impermanence and the absence of an enduring and autonomous self as a result of craving and clinging). This discussion describes the elements of the Unwholesome Mind Conditioners in more detail. Mindfulness of breathing meditation cultivates the Wholesome Mind Conditioners that manifest through vipassana practice and counter the frequency, severity and endurance of dukkha. This was followed by discussion to clarify how mindfulness of breathing practice actually contradicts the activation of dukkha.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: THE-UNWHOLESOME-MIND-CONDITIONERS
There will not be a posting of next week’s meeting on February 27th, as Peter and the recording equipment will be at a one week retreat with Shaila Catherine in Tampa with many of the local Sangha. A senior member of the Orlando Zen Center, Robert Lockridge, will give a talk entitled “Dae ja, Dae bi (Great Love, Great Compassion)-Zen and the Bodhisattva Ideal”.
The week following that, on March 6, those who attended the Shaila Catherine retreat will have an opportunity to “think out loud” about the benefits of the retreat, the topic of which is overcoming distraction.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:53 — 111.5MB)
by Peter Carlson | Feb 14, 2019 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This is the first of a series of discussions describing the cetasikas, those factors that condition the selfing process. In the context of the Anapanasati Sutta, investigating and calming the mind conditioners are two of the sixteen stages in the process of Awakening and are preceded by breath awareness that relaxes the body and calms the mind, reviewed in previous discussions. This talk reviews the first 13 cetasikas. They are termed “Universal” and “Occasional” mind conditioners, which are considered as ethically neutral or malleable in their function, meaning that their self-manifestation depends upon whether they are accompanied by Wholesome or Unwholesome cetasikas. The Universal cetasikas participate in every moment of self-formation, and the Occasional cetasikas occur predominantly but not always, and are conditioned by internal mental processes. The cetasikas were described in detail and this was followed by general discussion regarding how they can be mindfully recognized and “calmed” through the practice of mindfulness of breathing.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Factors That Condition The Mind
Next week’s discussion will focus on the first of the Unwholesome Mind Conditioners which appear in every moment of distress and confusion (Buddhism terms this experience as dukkha).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:22 — 116.0MB)
by Peter Carlson | Feb 7, 2019 | Listen to Dharma Talks
The last several talks investigated how the cultivation of anapanasati, mindfulness of breathing, creates the mental and emotional circumstances allowing for the onset of vipassana practice, that is, the ongoing observation of the ever-changing mental processes that constitute what we call a “self”. The identification with this emergent “selfing” process creates distress and confusion, as the fabrication process cannot reliably reflect the most appropriate understanding of and response to ever-changing life circumstances. During this talk, Peter describe the cetasikas conceptual structure as a way to understand the selfing process as made up through the action of sankharas (mental conditioning factors), which are “stored” through the combined manifestation of multiple elements stored in various cetasikas. This explanation was followed by discussion among those attending to clarify the concepts, in preparation for more detailed discussions of the cetasikas in the following weeks.
Here are the notes prepared for this discussion: Calming The Mental Formations
Next week’s discussions will cover the beginning cetasikas categories of Universal Cetasikas and Occasional Cetasikas.
by Peter Carlson | Jan 31, 2019 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk focuses on how persistent investigation of the breath frees up “mental energy” from the hindrances, thereby releasing subjective awareness of piti (joy) and sukha (happiness). After describing the classical Buddhist definitions of these qualities of awareness, Peter discussed the characteristic of piti as an enthusiastic engagement of investigative awareness regarding what is emerging into consciousness and of sukha as a feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment. These qualities are supportive of vipassana, the investigation of the three characteristics of Buddhism; impermanence, the absence of an enduring and autonomous self and the distress and confusion that results from craving and clinging to a false view of self.
This was followed by discussion of how the experience of joy and happiness manifests among the participants in the meeting.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Mindfulness of Breathing and Joie de Vivre.doc
The topic for next week begins a series of discussions of how mindfulness of breathing cultivates more clear awareness of the practice of vipassana through analyzing the categories of the mind conditioners called cetasikas. The discussions elaborate on these stanzas from the Anapanasati Sutta (translation by Gil Fronsdal):
He trains himself, ‘I will breath in experiencing mental formation.’
He trains himself, ‘I will breath out experiencing mental formation.’
He trains himself, ‘I will breath in calming the mental formation.’
He trains himself, ‘I will breath out calming the mental formation.’
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:05:19 — 119.6MB)
