by Peter Carlson | Nov 30, 2023 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk provides a brief overview of traditional American holidays from Halloween through New Year’s Eve, from their origins centuries ago up to how current consumerism and social conflict has created a stressful and potentially damaging series of events during the Fall and early Winter periods. The overview is followed by a review of a Buddhist “decision tree” process called “The Four Clear Comprehensions” that provides a way to integrate mindfulness and Right Effort to realize appropriate goals for gift giving that don’t disrupt the principles of Right Speech/Action/Livelihood. The review is followed by a dialogue between Peter and a few of the participants to illustrate how this decision-making process works.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk, which includes a description of The Four Clear Comprehensions: Giving Presence Over The Holidays
The talk for next week will provide a review of the basics of mindfulness practices.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:33 — 54.5MB)
by Peter Carlson | Nov 23, 2023 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Following a long-established custom, this meeting is focused on providing opportunities for those who attended the annual Deerhaven one-week residential retreat to review their experience. Due to the occurrence of the meeting on Thanksgiving Eve, only 3 of the 14 who attended the retreat are present to talk of their experiences and insights.
Next week’s talk will focus on bring Buddhist principles and practices to the holiday season, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:01 — 44.9MB)
by Peter Carlson | Nov 20, 2023 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk provides information about how to identify and set aside the five hindrances to concentrated and tranquil awareness, preparatory to developing the process of Awakening through the practice of vipassana, insight into the conditioned nature of the mind.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Renouncing The Five Hindrances
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:26:26 — 79.1MB)
by Peter Carlson | Nov 20, 2023 | Listen to Dharma Talks
A core principle of Buddhist psychology is paticca samuppada, dependent origination. During this talk, an alternative translation is offered–contingent provisional emergence–which incorporates contemporary scientific and psychological understandings of this important concept for understanding how karma forms and how it can be changed through diligent and mindful clear knowledge of what arises and passes away in consciousness.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: CONTINGENT PROVISIONAL EMERGENCE AND KARMA
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:17 — 84.5MB)
by Peter Carlson | Nov 20, 2023 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk provides a way to understand how one’s self-experience develops from what is termed “self-state conflict” through “self-state integration”, leading to “self-state liberation”. We all experience conflict between how socially conditioned ideals of oneself and the world are conflicted, and how diligent, mindful, and clear knowing of Buddhist principles and practices cultivates an integrative process of personality organization–“good mental health”– and how this sets the conditions for spiritual Awakening.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Self-State Integration And The Awakening Process
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:27:38 — 80.2MB)
by Peter Carlson | Nov 20, 2023 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk provides a review of how to understand the anatta doctrine from a contemporary scientific and psychological perspective in order to realize the absence of and enduring/autonomous self.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:31 — 25.2MB)
