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.
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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.
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 23, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk was preceded by the “Guided Mindfulness of the Mind Meditation”, which can be found in the Audio section of the website. The focus of this talk is a review of the Third Foundation of Mindfulness, Cittanupassana (chee-tah-noo-pah-suh-nah), Mindfulness of the Mind. Peter read a quote from the Satipatthana Sutta regarding the characteristics of this contemplation, which is to be mindful as to whether the mind is afflicted or not by desire, aversion or ignorance. The contemplation also investigates whether awareness is expansive and inclusive or contracted and exclusive, alert or dull, calm or restless, and the transient and impersonal nature of the mind. Peter related these characteristics and functions to contemporary psychological research investigates where the brain is activated as cognition occurs, noting that as the cognitive process develops, prior life experience overrides current stimulus input and fabricates a self. He reviewed what the teacher and author Culadasa calls “Introspective Metacognitive Awareness”, the ability to be mindful of the broad ranges of awareness that vipassana investigates without becoming identified with one aspect of the flow of experience as being an enduring and autonomous self. This was related to the value of being able to track personal reactivity in regards to the stressors present during the pandemic. The review was followed by discussion among those attending the Zoom meeting regarding the talk.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Cultivating A Wise Mind
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 23, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This meditation focuses attention on the Third Foundation of Mindfulness, Cittanupassana (chee-tah-noo-pah-suh-nah), Mindfulness of the Mind. The guided meditation builds attention through mindfulness of the body/breathing and mindfulness of feelings, the first two of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. Peter then invited meditators to engage the contemplations mentioned in the Satipatthana Sutta for the Third Foundation, that is, whether or not the mind is afflicted with desire, aversion or delusion, whether the scope of mindful awareness is expanded or contracted, alert or dull.
Following this guided meditation is a posted Dharma talk recording entitled “Cultivating A Wise Mind” that relates the Third Foundation of Mindfulness to what the teacher/author Culadasa calls “Introspective Metacognitive Awareness”, the ability to maintain a primary focus of attention on the sensation of breathing with a more expansive peripheral awareness of the transient and impersonal elements of the mind’s function. This meditation supports the practice of vipassana and has applications for coping with the stresses of the pandemic.
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 17, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk was preceded by the posted guided meditation “Overcoming Impulsive Reactivity”, which follows the training indicated in the Second Foundation of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of Feelings; the meditation can be found on the Audio Recording page of this site. Feelings are the “driver” of how the mind makes meaning from what we see, hear and feel in the body, and cultivating clarity and equanimity of feelings is an important skill for acquiring stress resiliency, particularly as we are dealing with the disruptions caused by the pandemic. Peter used the Four Noble Truths concepts in relating to Post Traumatic Growth, an area of contemporary research that focuses on how we can emerge from this difficult time with more gratitude, appreciation for the simpler things of life and more enriched relationships. The talk was followed by discussion among those attending the Zoom meeting about how mindfulness can be beneficial for not only coping with stress but also for reevaluating our goals and aspirations in ways that are more optimistic and positively adaptive.
Here are the notes prepared for the talk: Turning Poison Into Medicine Here is an additional document, an interview with Jack Kornfield from the New York Times about mindful and compassionate coping with the pandemic: Jack Kornfield NYT interview
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 17, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This meditation focuses on the Second Foundation of Mindfulness, Vedanupassana (vey-duh-nah-nu-pah-sah-nah), Mindfulness of Feelings. In Buddhist psychology feelings are not emotions per se, but are the urgency and impulsivity of the body in response to a stimulus; the modern psychological term affect is more appropriate, as it is the immediate response of the body/mind process to the experience. From a Buddhist perspective, feelings are the bridge between what the body senses and the meaning-making that the mind fabricates in response to the feeling. The more mindful and equanimous a person is as the feeling is investigated, the more opportunity there is to modify the meaning-making in more adaptive ways. This ability is essential for a person’s resilience to stressful, even traumatic experiences, such as the current pandemic. The topic for the Dharma talk which will be posted after this one is “Turning Poison Into Medicine” and develops what some contemporary researchers are calling Post Traumatic Growth (Look up the term on Wikipedia!), which is the ability to become more grateful regarding life and relationships and optimistic despite difficult circumstances. During the meditation, Peter made various comments that encourage investigating how the feeling of urgency (craving) is a different quality of experience than the meaning-making narrative that accompanies it (clinging); craving and clinging are core characteristics of dukkha. One can train attention to mindfulness of breathing or the body to interrupt the narrative, cultivating equanimity and increasing stress resilience.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:19 — 83.0MB)