Dhamma Talks
Mindful Coping With Pandemic Distress
This talk is meant to complement the talk on March 24, 2021 that focused on how the stress in 2020 from the pandemic created anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress or addiction problems for many people. The focus for this talk is on how mindfulness of breathing...
Buddhism and Mental Health During the Pandemic
This talk reviews the stresses we all endured during 2020, and how they affected most people, as related to mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and addiction. These disorders were reviewed during the talk, as Peter has been a...
Reviewing Buddhism And Neuroscience
The intersection between classic Buddhism and neuroscientific research is remarkable in how much the content of Buddhist concepts and the practice of meditation overlap with the development of highly sophisticated computer-driven technology. This talk reviews the...
Reviewing Exclusive Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation, March 10, 2021
This talk reviews the meditation practices represented in the Visuddhimagga, the common reference source for Theravada Buddhists. This approach to meditation is intended to lead to the extraordinary levels of consciousness called jhana, and which are only found in...
Guided Exclusive Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation
This guided meditation provides training in the cultivation of highly persistent and detailed mindfulness of breathing meditation as recommended by the teachings of the Pa Auk Sayadaw, who is an acknowledged master of jhana practice. The goal of this practice is to...
Review of Body Scan Meditation Practice March 3, 2021
This talk reviews a practice Peter learned from attending several retreats that followed the teaching of S. N. Goenka that he called vedanupassana, mindfulness of feelings. During the talk the history of this form of "dry vipassana" is reviewed and Peter describes...
Guided Body Scan Meditation
This guided meditation follows the teaching of S. N. Goenka in the practice of "dry vipassana". During the practice, suggestions are provided for building sensitivity to subtle sensations always present in the body. This heightened sensitivity increases the ability...
Mahasi Sayadaw Noting With Vipassana Review
This talk reviews a mindfulness meditation practice protocol developed by a Burmese teacher named Mahasi Sayadaw, who had a great influence on the important contemporary American Buddhist teachers Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salsberg of the Insight Meditation...
Guided Vipassana With Noting Meditation
This guided meditation follows the insight meditation system promoted by Mahasi Sayadaw and through the Insight Meditation Society that practices "noting" briefly what arises in consciousness as a way to cultivate vipassana, insight into the the impermanence of...
How Buddhism Came To The West February 17, 2020
This talk continues a series of reviews of the development of Buddhism from the time of the Buddha forward, as Buddhism was influenced by various historical eras. The focus for this review builds on the talk on February 3, 2021 that explored how Western colonialism,...
