by Peter Carlson | Jun 26, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
As is our custom, after a significant retreat event, there’s a dialogue about the retreat experience amongst the participants. Since much of what occurs is deeper than conscious awareness, having the opportunity to talk about the experience among other knowledgeable meditation students can consolidate the learning and make it more accessible in daily life routines. The group discussion this evening was among experienced practitioners, so the dialogue was at a more advanced level. Next week’s dialogue will begin to explore the next stanzas of the Satipatthana Sutta, mindfulness of mental objects, involving the Buddhist concept of self-structure, the Five Aggregates of Clinging. This series of explorations will include a core principle of Buddhist psychology, paticca sammupada, usually translated as dependent origination.
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by Peter Carlson | Jun 19, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Following on last week’s dialogue, Peter described how the mind “transforms energy into information”, and that the hindrances are “energy dumps” that distort perceptions and create distress. The setting aside of the hindrances through mindfulness of breathing creates a zone of clarity and non-reactivity, preparing for the investigation of emerging self-states that vipassana practice cultivates. The demons are the hindrances and the angels are the manifestations of the freed up energy. These manifestations are recognizable as the increase of compassion, generosity, patience and internal happiness.
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by Peter Carlson | Jun 12, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this talk, the hindrance of skeptical doubt was discussed, using the Buddhist concept of panca bala, the five powers or five faculties to describe the dynamic balancing of energy/tranquility and faith/discernment through ongoing mindfulness practice. This was followed by dialogue to make the abstract principles more concretely understood. Next week’s topic will be exploring the transition from overcoming the hindrances to cultivating wisdom.
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by Peter Carlson | Jun 5, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this dialogue, Peter and the sangha explored the characteristics of restlessness as an overactivated sympathetic nervous system process combined with rumination about a particular topic related to regret, remorse or possible negative consequences. Peter described the classical description of this hindrance and the antidotes. Cultivating samadhi reduces the activation of the nervous system and vipassana investigates the conditional characteristics of an ongoing worry narrative, seeing it as impersonal and transient. Next week’s talk will focus on the remaining hindrance, skeptical doubt.
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by Peter Carlson | May 29, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
It is our custom to dedicate a night’s dialogue to reviewing a significant retreat experience by a member of the Sangha. This report is exceptional, as Peter’s 2 week self-retreat was significantly altered by disease. During this talk, Peter described the onset of methycillin resistant staphylicoccus aureous bacteriea (MRSA), a dangerous infection of the skin. During the first week of the retreat, concentration practice proceeded normally, while what initially appeared to be a spider bite was developing into MRSA. After several visits to a local clinic for medication and draining the abscess, further complications warranted hospitalization, due to mental fogginess and difficulty with balance. This effectively ended the formal sitting aspects of the retreat, while Peter was still able to practice mindful awareness of the mental hindrance (“sloth and torpor on steroids”). During the hospitalization and upon returning home to begin recuperation, Peter reflected upon the impermanence of existence and the nature of suffering, bringing to the discussion this phrase: “We only lose what we’re attached to.”. This was related to attachment to the form of mindfulness of breathing meditation, being on retreat, the onset of aging and the vicissitudes of illness and loss of functioning. Peter recalled that the Buddha’s teaching on the nature of reality emphasizes non-attachment: to believe in life after death is a mistake, and to believe that there’s no life after death is a mistake as well. The point of the teaching is that attachment to any view automatically creates insecurity and dissatisfaction. The remainder of the evening was a lively discussion of the meaning of non-attachment in everyday life. Next week’s dialogue will explore the hindrance of restlessness and worry.
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by Peter Carlson | May 8, 2014 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This is the third of five talks about the hindrances. In this week’s dialogue, Peter talked of sloth and torpor as a dysregulation of energy in the mind and body. If the system is too tranquil, dullness, drowsiness and lethargy arise; if the system is too activated, the hindrance of restlessness and worry arise.
At this point, he described 3 strategies for setting aside sloth and torpor: mindful noting of the first signs of dullness, ways to intervene in the development of sloth and torpor, and ways to minimize the likelihood that sloth and torpor will recur. After explaining the concepts, Peter talked of his own recent experience of lethargy related to being ill with shingles. Following this there was more dialogue involving others who were present. Peter will be in a two week self-retreat from May 9 to May 23. There will be no more dhamma dialogue postings until May 28, when he will report on his retreat experience.
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