Dhamma Talks
Mindfulness Evolution And Politics
This seems to be a very conflicted year in our culture--economic and ecological upheaval, political divisiveness and hostility abound. This talk begins a series of explorations of how the Four Noble Truths are relevant to current circumstances. Peter proposed that...
Mindful Grieving
This week's talk is dedicated to grieving the massacre at the Pulse nightclub on June 12. During the talk, Peter read a rendering of the discourse on lovingkindness, the Metta Sutta, and described how Buddhist concepts counter the human tendency towards hatred and...
Self State Liberation
During this talk, Peter reviewed last week's topic, "The Selfing Story" and added to the concept of the Five Aggregates the additional concept of paticca sammuppada, typically translated as "dependent origination". He substituted the term "contingent provisional...
The Selfing Story
During this talk, A Buddhist understanding of anatta, the absence of an enduring, autonomous self was described. The Western term "ego" was presented as a process that winnows through all the sensations stimulating the 5 sense doors, creating a dynamic flow of...
Mindfulness And Relationships
During this talk, the Upaddha Sutta, Half (Of The Holy Life), was quoted, (translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu). In the sutta, the Buddha tells Ananda, his personal attendant, that relationship is a core aspect of the practice of the Four Noble Truths. Peter related...
Tara Brach Retreat Report
It is customary to allow someone who has just completed a significant meditation retreat to review the experience during a meeting. Brian completed a one week retreat with Tara Brach, a well-respected author and teacher. After the review, there was a lively question...
Mindfulness and Addiction
During this talk, the topic of "process addiction" was reviewed, qualifying addiction with 5 criteria: 1) often activated or contemplated, 2) increases in frequency and intensity over time, 3) becomes a lifestyle organizing function, 4) acted upon and defended despite...
Mindfulness and Depression
This talk continues the exploration of what Peter terms "self-state conflict", with discussion of the characteristic symptoms of depression in the context of Buddhist concepts and practices. One of the primary causes of depression is what is called "intrusive...
Mindfulness and Anxiety
Last week's discussion was organized around how stressful contemporary life is, compared to the largely agrarian cultures that characterized the earliest centuries of what is now called Buddhism. The results of culturally induced stress in this consumeristic era were...
The First Noble Truth and Stress
The Buddhist First Noble Truth, the reality of dukkha, was described in contemporary terms. The traditional translation of dukkha is "suffering"; modern commentators prefer words such as "stress", "insufficiency", and "dissatisfaction", among others, to describe...
