by Peter Carlson | Sep 7, 2017 | Listen to Dharma Talks
The concept of emptiness (sunnata in Pali) is a core aspect of the Buddhist Awakening process. This is the first of two discussions of emptiness, with the focus on how the operation of the Five Aggregates, Form, Feeling, Perception, Mental Formations and Consciousness creates the false belief in a separate, enduring and autonomous self. Each of the aggregates is described, with the emphasis on how craving and clinging affect mental formations and consciousness, creating what the Buddha called “The tyranny of I, Me and Mine”. The ability to use mindful investigation with the underpinning of understanding the operation of the Five Aggregates to see through the illusory self was explained. Emptiness is the creativity that is available when a person deconstructs the process of craving and clinging.
This was followed by a lengthy and lively discussion of the evening’s topic.
Here are the notes prepared for this discussion: Emptiness And The Five Aggregates
Next week’s discussion will be organized around exploring how deepening one’s meditation practice provides a different way to recognize the reality of emptiness and benefits that can be realized from consistent daily meditation.
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by Peter Carlson | Aug 31, 2017 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk summarizes the process of perfecting those qualities of mind called Paramis. During the talk, Peter reviewed the sambojjhanga, the seven awakening factors to describe how their increasing effectiveness overcomes any deficits in the functioning of the Paramis.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: COORDINATING THE PARAMIS
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by Peter Carlson | Aug 24, 2017 | Listen to Dharma Talks
As is customary, this talk reviewed the weekend retreat at the Franciscan Center in Tampa. It is beneficial to “think out loud” about one’s retreat experience among folks who may have participated in a retreat or may contemplate going on retreat. The verbalizing process draws memories from the retreat experience to other parts of the brain’s function, integrating the insights and making them more accessible during daily life routines. During the talk, Peter reviewed extensively the benefits of combining and integrating mindfulness of breathing with intentional scanning through more and more subtle manifestations of sensations throughout the body. He reported how the intentionally increasing practice of sensory investigation stabilizes attention, deepens insights, and provides a more effective way to interrupt internal narratives.
There are guided meditations recorded by Peter on week-long retreats posted on the “audio” page of the OIMG website, labeled “Body Sweep” or “Body Scan”, for supporting this practice.
Next week’s talk will be an integrative review of the Paramis, those wholesome mental qualities that are perfected during the process of awakening.
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by Peter Carlson | Aug 17, 2017 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk explores the 10th Parami, upekkha, typically translated as equanimity, or neutrality. Peter describes an additional Buddhist term that applies to this Parami, tatramajjhattata, typically translated as “that quality of mind that is balanced in the middle“. The cultivation and perfection of equanimity is a crucial aspect for the process of awakening (it is one of the seven factors for awakening, and one of the four Divine Abidings, along with lovingkindness, compassion and sympathetic joy, as it represents the optimal balance of energy (not too much–agitation, or too little, sloth and torpor) and attention (not too attached, or too distracted), which must be dynamically managed with mindful investigation and the ability to redirect attention skillfully. This explanation of the balancing process that produces equanimity was followed by lively discussion among the participants about how the concepts can be realized through practice.
Here are the notes prepared for this discussion, including a graph representing the balancing elements: The Benefits Of Perfecting Equanimity
There will be further discussion of the Paramis focused on how they interact dynamically in ways the promote the process of awakening during a future talk.
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by Peter Carlson | Aug 10, 2017 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This week’s talk continues the exploration of the Paramis, the perfecting of mental characteristics during the process of awakening, focusing on Metta, lovingkindness. This week’s presenter is Mike Maldonado, who has participated in a two week lovingkindness retreat and made a significant effort to research this topic. Mike began by describing the characteristics of metta, which emphasize the benefits of a quality of loving friendliness towards all beings. He reviewed the classical definitions of the practice of metta and facilitated a lively discussion of how one might cultivate lovingkindness on a daily basis.
Here are the notes Mike prepared for this talk: The Benefits Of Perfecting Lovingkindness
Next week’s talk will focus on the Parami of Equanimity
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by Peter Carlson | Aug 5, 2017 | Listen to Dharma Talks
As is our custom, one of the sangha members, Brian Tamm, talked about two recent retreat experiences: a 10 day retreat in the manner taught be S. N. Goenka, followed by a weekend retreat in the Korean Zen tradition. He described the daily practice schedules followed during the first retreat, emphasizing the technical teachings of what Goenka called “vedanupassana”, mindfulness of feelings, the second of the four foundations of mindfulness. The retreat provided several days of intensive focus of attention on the sensation of breathing at the rim of the nostrils or the upper lip to cultivate a stability of concentration, followed by several days of repeatedly, systematically moving investigative attention from one small area of focus to another over the entire surface of the body. The goal of the practice is to develop the ability to focus on subtle vibrations that occur naturally throughout the body, eventually with the ability to notice the vibrations wholly throughout the body. This practice cultivates one of the seven awakening factors, investigation of mental phenomena. The intention of the practice is to notice the impermanence of experience along with the changing nature of self-state organizations that occur within the context of bodily experience; this practice is called vipassana, or insight into the impermanent nature of reality, dissolving the illusion of a separate, enduring self. The Zen retreat was more formal and ritualized in practice, with emphasis placed on the shared experience of the participants, combined with in-depth contemplation of kong-ons (koans) to further insight into the impersonal nature of reality.
Next week’s discussion will involve a presentation on lovingkindness as a Parami, that is, a quality of intention that is perfected during the process of awakening. The talk will be presented by Mike Maldonado.
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