This is intended to be a resource for cultivating mindfulness of breathing meditation, providing several suggestions during the experience to support developing more skill and confidence in the practice of a fundamental Buddhist training for self-awareness and self-discipline.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:56 — 41.1MB)
During this talk, Lili Fernandez describes the importance of integrating the Five Precepts into daily mindfulness practice. Her experience as the mother of two young boys creates the opportunity to find different and creative ways to train the mind towards virtuous actions while interacting with her sons. She invites participants in the meeting to share their opportunities to integrate mindfulness and the the Precepts during daily life experiences.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Mindfulness on and off the cushion
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:40 — 55.5MB)
Samadhi describes how the mind is unified during the process of Awakening, and this talk reviews the various stages of concentrated awareness that are cultivated.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: JHANA CULTIVATION-IS IT NECESSARY and Samadhi Passadhi-Unifying a Distracted Mind
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:13:11 — 67.0MB)
This talk describes a way that Buddhist psychology explains human personality formation as an aggregation of five factors in order to “deconstruct” the belief that there is an enduring/autonomous self.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: REVIEWING THE FIVE AGGREGATES
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:13 — 23.1MB)
Allie Vaknin provides a review of the Joy Awakening Factor during this talk, clarifying the various ways that joy can arise as an internally generated phenomena, not dependent upon external circumstances.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:58 — 56.7MB)
This talk provides a review of two of seven Awakening Factors, Tranquility and Concentration, which are so integrated in their functioning that their manifestation is called samatha (syah-mah-tah) in Pali. Peter Carlson provides a review of each of the two, including skillful means for cultivating them, both while meditating and in the context of lifestyle choices. Additional emphasis is provided to clarify the characteristics of concentration, as either the highly concentrated experience of jhana or the more inclusive but very stable kind of concentration important for vipassana practice and the full development of the Seven Awakening Factors.
This talk can be supplemented by the “Guided Tranquility and Concentration Contemplation” that preceded this talk and which is posted in the archives of this site.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Tranquility and Concentration
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:28 — 57.2MB)