by Peter Carlson | Apr 23, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk was preceded by the “Guided Mindfulness of the Mind Meditation”, which can be found in the Audio section of the website. The focus of this talk is a review of the Third Foundation of Mindfulness, Cittanupassana (chee-tah-noo-pah-suh-nah), Mindfulness of the Mind. Peter read a quote from the Satipatthana Sutta regarding the characteristics of this contemplation, which is to be mindful as to whether the mind is afflicted or not by desire, aversion or ignorance. The contemplation also investigates whether awareness is expansive and inclusive or contracted and exclusive, alert or dull, calm or restless, and the transient and impersonal nature of the mind. Peter related these characteristics and functions to contemporary psychological research investigates where the brain is activated as cognition occurs, noting that as the cognitive process develops, prior life experience overrides current stimulus input and fabricates a self. He reviewed what the teacher and author Culadasa calls “Introspective Metacognitive Awareness”, the ability to be mindful of the broad ranges of awareness that vipassana investigates without becoming identified with one aspect of the flow of experience as being an enduring and autonomous self. This was related to the value of being able to track personal reactivity in regards to the stressors present during the pandemic. The review was followed by discussion among those attending the Zoom meeting regarding the talk.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Cultivating A Wise Mind
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:31 — 105.3MB)
by Peter Carlson | May 16, 2024 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Mindfulness of Feelings is the Second Foundation of Mindfulness, and during this talk, Peter provides a review of the various categories of feelings, which are not emotions, but rather the impulsive reactivity we all experience that precedes craving and clinging. Managing feelings skillfully is key for developing the process of Awakening. Some of the current neuroscientific research findings that are found in different areas of the brain that identify how feelings arise, associated with thoughts and then regulated are reviewed that seem to validate aspects of human experience as described in Buddhist teachings.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk, which provide a more extensive review than from Peter’s verbal comments: Skillfully Managing Feelings
There is a recording posted in the Audio section of the website under Guided Meditations entitled “Guided Contemplating Feelings Meditation” that is intended to support this talk and to build ways to skillfully manage feelings.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:50 — 57.5MB)
by Peter Carlson | May 7, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This is the second of three planned reviews of the Five Hindrances, which are the initial focus for contemplation in the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness Discourse. Peter described the Buddhist concepts of Thina/Middha (tee-nah/mih-dah), Sloth/Torpor and Uddhacca/Kukkucca (ooh-dah-chah/koo-koo-chah), Restlessness/Worry as imbalances of the energy systems of the body and mind. Sloth/Torpor is an overactive parasympathetic system, producing too much tranquility, causing dullness and the inability to be clearly aware to dominate consciousness. Restlessness/Worry is an overactive sympathetic system, creating agitation, anxiety and worrisome, repetitive thought processes to dominate consciousness. The primary antidotes for these two hindrances is satisampajanna (sah-tee-sahm-puh-jahn-yah), mindful clear comprehension, cultivated through persisting present-moment awareness of the process of breathing. Earlier in the meeting, Peter provided a guided meditation for the cultivation of satisampajanna with mindfulness of breathing meditation; the recording of that practice can be found on the Audio page of the website. It is interesting to notice that steadfast investigation of the process of breathing can be beneficial in calming an anxious mind and alerting a dull mind. Other tactics for overcoming these hindrances were also reviewed. The review was followed by questions and comments by those attending the Zoom meeting.
Here are the notes prepared for this meeting: Notes For Overcoming Sloth and Restlessness May 6 2020
Next week’s topic will review the fifth hindrance, Skeptical Doubt.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:14:40 — 136.7MB)
by Peter Carlson | Nov 7, 2019 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This is the first of a series of talks about the Brahma Viharas, the Divine Abidings: Metta (lovingkindness), Karuna (compassion), Mudita (sympathetic joy) and Upekkha (equanimity). During the talk, which focused primarily on Metta, Peter read an excerpt from research published in 2010 that described the emotional and interpersonal benefits from cultivating positive emotions for the vagus nerve, an important nerve complex that connects the brain with the function of the heart and the intestinal wall. This research suggests the benefits derived from Metta meditation. Peter then described the evolution of his Metta practice, beginning in 1983 with a one-week retreat led by Sharon Salzberg, an authoritative teacher of Metta. He talked of how important the words of the mantra are and the benefit of focusing attention on the “heart chakra” while practicing Metta, as this seems to involve the strengthening of “vagal tone”, the optimal balancing of energy transmission from the brain into the body and back again.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: The Value Of Metta Here is a rendering of the Metta Sutta ( a translation of which was read by Peter during the talk), accompanied by Peter’s version of various levels of Metta mantra practice: LOVINGKINDNESS MANTRA
The focus of next week’s talk will be the value of practicing Karuna, compassion.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:20 — 112.3MB)
by Peter Carlson | May 10, 2018 | Listen to Dharma Talks
This talk focuses on the Second of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Vedanupassana, Mindfulness of Feelings. The Buddhist view of feelings isn’t just about emotions; more emphasis is placed on affect, the potency or impulsive urgency associated with any moment of experience. When unskillfully managed and conditioned by clinging, affect manifests as craving, that is, for pleasant experience to arise and continue or for unpleasant feeling to be avoided or gotten rid of. Peter described some of the important neural brain structures associated with affect and cognition, emphasizing that affect is the “driver” of cognition, as suggested by traditional Buddhist doctrine and current neuroscientific research. This makes mindfulness of feelings a crucial skill to develop, that is, to perceive feelings as just mental phenomena, not a self, not “my feelings”. Modern research demonstrates that mindfulness of breathing meditation develops areas of the brain that function to regulate the degree of reactivity to affect, thereby interrupting craving and clinging.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: Understanding Feelings
Next week’s talk will focus on a review of paticca samuppada, dependent origination, a key concept of Buddhism describing how the selfing process operates and demonstrating the crucial role mindfulness of feelings plays in the process of Awakening. Peter will explain a different view of this concept that he calls contingent provisional emergence, which combines traditional Buddhist views with a contemporary complexity theory of personality organization.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:24 — 114.3MB)