by Mary Ann | May 13, 2011 | Study Resources
by Peter Carlson
In thinking about the topic for the Wednesday night meditation and discussion group, I reflected on why I go to retreats myself. I begin a two week self retreat in our back yard this Saturday, and I thought it would be useful for me and for the Sangha to talk about the benefits of the intense training that retreats support. The dialogue was recorded and posted through our web site, but I feel inspired to write this article to supplement the talk. The talk included bullet points, and they won’t be included in this article. I hope it is helpful.
Buddhism combines two tracks of spiritual development: conceptual and experiential. The concepts are what we read about and talk about, including the value of ethical behaviors, the importance of truly seeing the conditions of the mind as they constantly change, and so on. The experiential development comes about through meditation, which we are encouraged to practice daily. The purpose of a meditation retreat is to provide a structure for deepening the experiential part significantly. (more…)
by Mary Ann | May 2, 2011 | Study Resources
Awakening is a process through which the mind clearly comprehends the stress that arises due to craving and clinging, that is, wanting pleasurable mind states, wanting to be rid of unpleasant mind states, and clinging to provisional, transient identifications in the mind that seem to define a permanent self, but are, in fact, just constructions of imagination. The underpinning of awakening is the development of ongoing self-awareness, typically best accomplished through intensive meditation retreat practice, accompanied by a commitment to daily meditation when not on retreat.
What I’m attempting to do here is to point out how the skills of introspection and impulse regulation developed during retreat experiences can be applied at home. (more…)
by Mary Ann | Apr 15, 2011 | Study Resources
PROVISIONAL ARISING OF SELFING MOMENTS by Peter Carlson
In Pali, this is termed paticcasamuppada; its traditional translation is dependent origination. I prefer to translate it as contingent provisional arising.
The word contingent is understood to mean that a moment of experience depends upon other co-occurring factors. The logic of contingency is as follows: if A occurs, B occurs; if A doesn’t occur, B doesn’t occur. In the incredible complexity of life, the amount of contingent variables far exceeds the number of letters in the alphabet!
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 1, 2011 | Study Resources
Our Wednesday night meditation and study group just completed several weeks of exploring the Mahayana/Tibetan practice called Lojong, which is usually translated as “mind training.” Peter prepared the document posted below that noted this practice from the perspective of someone who has a lot of experience with Theravadin Buddhist practices. He sees Lojong as a way to implement the Wisdom aggregate of the Noble Eightfold Path, which combines clear awareness/vipassana practice with benevolent awareness/compassion practice. It is hoped that those who read this will be inspired to pursue this practice.
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by Mary Ann | Mar 1, 2011 | Study Resources
By Peter Carlson
The value of the Buddhist approach to life is threefold:
- There is a clear understanding of the way the mind works, either to create and sustain stressful states of mind or to alleviate that suffering.
- There is an ongoing valuing of harmlessness, compassion, generosity and tolerance.
- There is a high value placed on routinely training the mind through meditation.
Currently, the world we live in is very stressful. Despite all our creature comforts there is a persistent unsatisfactoriness looming. We have intervals that are comfortable and reassuring, followed by sleeplessness, restlessness, and stress-induced illnesses. (more…)
by Mary Ann | Feb 27, 2011 | Study Resources
By Peter Carlson
I have frequently reflected lately on the experience of change while meditating. Of course, impermanence is a fundamental concept of Buddhist psychology and is regarded as an essential nature of reality. My meditation practice over the last several weeks has been an investigation of the flow of change in the mind as it occurs. This makes the concept of impermanence an embodied experience rather than just an intellectual exercise. My goal is to experience changing mind states openly, without preference and with the least amount of emotional reactivity. This is hard to do—the mind easily slips into identifying with the arisen mental states, which creates a turbulence of wanting or not wanting. (more…)