Dhamma Talks
Joy To Gratitude And Generosity
During this talk on Thanksgiving Eve, Peter describes how the cultivation of mindfulness of breathing meditation frees energy from being bound up by the Hindrances, creating the buoyantly engaged interest characteristic of the Awakening Factor of Joy, which provides...
Contemplating Joy, Gratitude, and Generosity
During a meeting on Thanksgiving Eve, Peter leads a guided contemplation describing the progression from mindfulness of breathing meditation to joy and then through gratitude to generosity. Concentrating the mind frees up energy normally bound up by the Hindrances,...
What Is RAIN?
During this talk, Lezlie Laws describes the acronym RAIN: Recognize, Accept, Investigate, Non-Self as a way to approach the challenges of everyday life. She is a proponent of spiritual journaling, and shares an excerpt from her personal journal entry to demonstrate...
Cultivating Right Effort
During this talk, April continues her review of the Noble Eightfold Path, focusing on Right Effort, describing the Four Noble Efforts and how to develop them skillfully. Her review includes questions and comments from those participating in the meeting. Here are the...
Perfecting Renunciation
This talk continues a series of reviews presented by Allie Vaknin focusing on the paramis, those wholesome conditions of the mind that, when cultivated to their greatest potential, create the conditions for Awakening, the direct realization of Nirvana. Allie...
Contemporary Right Livelihood
Each generation must understand the principles found in the Noble Eightfold Path in the context of the culture of that time. During this talk, April Koester continues to review the Virtue component of the path, specifically how current developments such as artificial...
Post-Meditation Investigation
During this talk, Lezlie Laws continues her review of the Five Hindrances, emphasizing how various teachers such as Joseph Goldstein, Shaila Catherine, and Gil Fronsdal approach effectively setting them aside.
Mitch Sullen’s Retreat Report
It is our custom to provide an opportunity for someone who has recently completed a significant retreat to "think out loud" about the experience, as sharing important insights helps that person integrate what was learned and informs those listening about the benefits...
Five Aggregates and Dependent Origination
During this talk, Allie provides a review of the Five Clinging Aggregates--form, feeling, perception, mental conditioning factors, and consciousness--as a way to understand how personality operates from a Buddhist perspective. She relates this self-creating process...
Neuroscience And The Four Noble Truths
This talk continues to review how contemporary neuroscientific research supports the validity of important Buddhist concepts and practices, focusing on the first three of the Four Noble Truths. Peter refers to a previous talk titled "Neuroplasticity and Non-Self",...
